Not even going to lie, mocked myself a little bit for not taking years to update this like I usually do (In a "wow, don't get carried away" sort of way, that is).

"Babe..." He started, climbing onto the bed next to her laying his face as close to hers as he could. "I'm sorry."

She scowled, flipping herself over without a response, and he couldn't help but laugh as her hair flicked into his face.

"Babe..." He moved an arm over her, resting his chin on her shoulder. "I really am sorry. I didn't know." He paused, blowing softly on her cheek as he waited for a reply, grinning when she swatted him away. "It's the sweetest present ever, and I love it very much." He sighed, moving his hand to her face, tracing her features. "I'm even willing to give you the title of the best gift giver in the whole entire world, which is big because I like having that title."

She turned onto her stomach, burying her face into the pillow as she continued to ignore him. He grinned at the opportunity she had unknowingly presented him with, swinging a leg over her body as he began to massage her shoulders. "This is nice."

"..."

"We should do this more often."

"..."

"It's better with less clothes, of course."

"..."

"Babbeeee." He whined, leaning down so that his mouth was just behind her ear. "I'm so sorry. You're the best wife in the whole world!"

He began blowing on her ear after once again gaining no response, laughing as she swatted him away again, pressing a kiss to the back of her head. "I had no idea you were doing that, I thought you were pulling away from me. Please don't leave me for Barney the dinosaur."

Gabriella shifted sharply, attempting to push him off of her, and he hesitated before complying with her request, knowing that he could easily keep her trapped until she communicated if he wanted, but that was definitely not the best way to go about grovelling.

She stood up, scowling at him once more before stalking out of the room, not even acknowledging him as he followed. "Where are we going?"

He sighed as she slammed the bathroom door shut behind her, locking it before he could follow. "Best wife in the world, please come out." He knocked lightly. "I'll love you forever and ever." He tried, before quickly adding, "I'll do that anyway, but it'd be easier if you came out." He leaned his forehead against the door. "Ella, are you making a great escape through the window?" He sighed. "I really do need to know because that's quite a drop and I don't want you to get hurt."

Silence.

"Also, doors are an option. Like, you can open them and walk through them and you don't have to jump or anything."

He stepped back, sliding down the wall opposite the door when she once again failed to respond. "I'll just wait out here, then."

Troy knew he should be taking this more seriously. That his playful attitude probably wasn't helping to diffuse the situation, but not even her frosty demeanour could pull him down from his high. He'd been terrified that morning, that she was slipping away just as he felt they had really started getting there. He'd started the fight. She'd ended it.

"What the hell is going on?"

Gabriella stared back at her husband, almost retreating at his tone. "What?"

"You and Sharpay. I know you're hiding something from me. Whatever the hell it is, just tell me now and get it over with."

"It's nothing."

"Sure." He shot back. "I'm sure your meetings with her lawyer boyfriend are nothing, too." He barely waited for her expression to change. "Damn it Gabriella, why don't you just be honest with me for once. You still want to leave. You can't forgive me for being an ass. I get it."

"You're being an ass now!" She defended, attempting to storm past him. He caught her arm. "Get off of me."

He didn't. "I can't live like this any more. I can't do it. It's too difficult. I can't keep living each day wondering if it's going to be the day you leave."

Sighing, he registered the hurt in her eyes, and he internally debated whether or not he had gone too far – in all honesty, he had stopped questioning whether or not she would stay months before, despite her lack of committing to it.

She pulled herself free of his grasp. "I can't believe this."

"You're the one keeping things from me." He continued. "You're the one sneaking off with your friend to meet lawyers. If you still want..."

"You know what those meetings were about?" She retorted. "Making sure I had all of the information I needed for this." She pulled a letter out of her bag, throwing it at his feet. "I hope you enjoy your wedding present."

She turned on her heel, quickly moving up the stairs as he picked up the paper from the ground. He read through the information twice, a wide grin taking over his features. The confirmation that her last name had been officially changed. The gesture he hadn't even known he'd been waiting for.

"Fuck."

He stood up, pressing his ear to the bathroom door again, listening for any sign that she was even listening to him.

"Ellllaaaaa" He sang. "Gabbbbbbyyyy." He frowned when yet again, he gained no response. No sarcastic remark or demand that he stop. "Gab, come on, I said I'm sorry."

Silence.

"Ella, guess what!" He called through the door. "I love you on days ending with the letter y." He paused. "You get it? Days ending in y? They all do!"

He knocked lightly when he was once again met with silence.

"Gab, if you don't come out, I'll cry."

"That's emotional blackmail." She shot back, her voice clear despite the barrier between them.

"I'm sorry I was an ass." He apologised again. "I promised I wouldn't hurt you again and I did, and I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, this does mean that you're officially the most awesome person in this house." He waited, but she didn't respond. "There's a medal and everything!"

He sighed, heading down the hallway and to the top of the stairs, spotting the requirement for his plan almost immediately.

"Teddy." He called softly, gaining the dog's attention. "Here, boy." He smiled as the dog bounded towards him, jumping up at him as soon as he could. "You want to help me get mommy out of the bathroom?" He led the dog back to towards the door, knocking again. "Babe, will you come out for Teddy?" He looked down at the dog expectantly, frowning at the blank stare he got in return. "Come on, dude, you're meant to be helping."

He grinned at the sound of the door being unlocked, giving a quick thumbs up to the dog as it was swung open.

"That's just pathetic." Gabriella evaluated, ruffling the dog's head.

"It worked though." His grin almost made her smile. Almost.

"It didn't." She decided. "I'm hungry."

"Would you not have known that before you shut yourself in the bathroom?" He followed her as she headed downstairs, the dog at her side. "Are you trying to undermine my quite frankly stunning planning ability?" She didn't respond, but he heard the sigh she let out. "Are you still mad at me?"

"Yep."

"But you are talking to me?"

"Yep."

"You never usually do."

"I realised that one of us has to be the adult in this relationship and it's clearly not going to be you."

"Was this a bathroom epiphany?"

"It was an adult realisation. I know you're not good at adult things."

"Babe, I'm pretty great at adult things. You made that pretty clear!" He claimed, grinning at the double meaning of his words, as she turned to him, rolling her eyes. "Well yeah, you made that part clear, but the other adult stuff that I do at work. Paperwork and scheduling and planning. Intense stuff."

"I know that you're capable of doing your job, Troy." She sighed. "But when it comes to serious emotional connections, you can be one hell of a child. Especially when you don't get your own way or there is a situation you can't control."

"So..." He started, acknowledging what she was really getting at. "We're talking about this? Already?"

"I don't see any point in waiting." She shrugged, pulling herself up onto the counter. "Why did you kick off? I'm allowed to have secrets."

He stepped towards her, a part of him wondering whether kissing her would delay the inevitable conversation. "I just..." He began. "I love you. So much that it hurts. And the idea of losing you again... I panicked."

"If I was going to leave, I would have done it months ago. I wouldn't have let you stop me." She took an apple out of the bowl on the counter next to her and began playing with it in her hands. "I wanted it to be a surprise."

"I'm sorry." He pouted, closing the gap between them. "It's just that when I heard you were talking to a lawyer..."

"I wasn't." She interrupted. "I was talking to Sharpay. Her boyfriend just joined us for lunch a couple of times. He barely even acknowledged I was there."

He knew his relief was obvious. "It really is a great gift."

"I wasn't sure how you'd react."

"You never needed to doubt that I'd want this." He laughed. "Why now?"

"I've been thinking about it for a while. I just... I wanted to be sure it was the right thing and for the right reason." She paused. "Why were you so convinced I was planning on leaving?"

It was something he had thought about for a brief moment following their fight, but wasn't sure how to explain without upsetting her. "You never really specified that you weren't still thinking about it. You were so set on it when we first got married that even when things were great, even though Sharpay kept telling me you were happy, that you wanted to stay, I was still worried. I needed to hear it from you. I just didn't realise that."

"I probably should have said something." She shrugged. "I just figured it didn't really need saying because I didn't leave. Shar did tell me to say something, I guess I should have."

"I didn't want to just assume." He grinned. "You're a flight risk!"

"I am not!"

"You so are. Biggest flight risk ever."

She pushed him back slightly, jumping off of the counter. "Am not!"

"You're such a flight risk that Shar said she may have to introduce special measures on Friday." He smirked. "Make sure you actually show up."

"Like it would matter if I didn't." She laughed. "Of course I'm going to show up, do you have any idea how much planning went into this?"

"Do you have to stay at Shar's Thursday night? I don't like being away from you."

"We said we wanted to do this properly this time." She reminded him. "And it's one night, you'll survive." She laughed at his pout. "If it makes you feel any better, Taylor will be there too."

"How are things going with her?"

"Pretty well. I'm reading her book, the one about us, fully." She bit her lip. "She wants you to read it too."

"Why?"

"Because everything I have a problem with, she's said she'll take out if we decide we're okay with it being published. She wants to make sure you're okay with it all too."

"How much of it have you had a problem with?"

"A couple of things." She admitted. "Nothing huge, and not all that much. She knows me, I guess."

"Soooo..." He drew out the word. "You'll admit you overreacted?"

She scowled. "No."

"You shut her out of your life for so long over something you've just admitted you're okay with."

"I didn't know that at the time!"

"You didn't try to know that."

"Whose side are you on?"

"Yours." He smiled, kissing her forehead. "Always yours." He paused, waiting until she leaned into his embrace before adding. "Even when you're wrong."

She slapped him playfully, walking past him and out of the kitchen. "I just forgave you for being an ass like, five minutes ago, and you're already being mean to me."

He chuckled. "I thought you were hungry?"

"You're cooking."

- Drunk-

"So, does being married feel different?"

"Shar, I've been married for a year."

"Yeah but like, with a proper wedding and everything."

"Despite the 'proper' wedding, I've still been married a year."

"But does it feel different this time?"

"How much have you had to drink?"

"It's an open bar." Sharpay defended. "It would be wrong to not make the most of it." She looked down at Gabriella's empty glass. "You, however, don't seem to be drinking enough..." She glanced around. "What's the point in having a husband if he doesn't get you instant refills?"

"I want to remember this wedding, Sharpay." Gabriella laughed. "I'm sticking with one."

Sharpay surveyed her for a moment. "Nah, that's not gonna work for me. I'm getting you more champagne!"

She laughed, shaking her head as the blonde walked away, inevitably getting caught up on the dance floor before completing her mission, and turned, looking up as a hand was placed on her shoulder. "What took you so long?"

He grinned sheepishly, opening his pockets slightly so that she could see the variety of condoms inside. "The guys thought they'd be funny."

"Aren't they meant to do that before you get married?"

"Apparently we didn't give them the opportunity when we eloped in Vegas."

She laughed. "Sharpay's trying to get me drunk."

"That's my job!" He exclaimed. "That woman, no respect." He sat down next to her. "How long until we can get out of here?"

"An hour." She smirked. "Maybe two."

"I'm starting to think we should have eloped again."

"And give my mother another reason to hate me?"

"She doesn't hate you. She hates that she didn't get to control every aspect of your life."

"That's not much better." A laugh. "And she'll probably do that to Clara, anyway."

"Nah." Troy decided. "We'll help Clara elope."

"My mom would never forgive us."

"Your dad would find it hilarious, though."

"He's always been a pretty laid back guy." She shrugged. "No idea how he ended up with my mother."

"I can see it." He answered. "I mean, he didn't seem all that laid back to me, when he, you know, threatened to castrate me if this doesn't work out."

"He what?!" There was an amused glint in her eye as she struggled to stifle her giggles.

"When we first saw him, after we first got married, he told me that although he now knows about the um, misunderstanding we had, it still hurt you, and if anything hurts you again, he'll make sure I can never have children."

She couldn't help but give in and laugh. "My dad is like, the gentlest guy ever, that just wouldn't happen."

"Believe me." He smiled softly. "It did. It was kind of sweet. I get it. You're his baby girl, and if I ever want to know what that is like, then not hurting you is definitely the way to go." He frowned as she looked down, quickly adding. "Now now, I don't mean now."

She moved off of her chair, settling herself in his lap. "Maybe soon."

"What?"

"I've been thinking about it a lot." She admitted. "I don't know if we're ready, I doubt that I'll ever know that because I'm not sure it's something you even can know, but I think we're a lot closer to it than we were when it last came up. We're in a better place now. We're solid, and there was a time when I wasn't sure we'd ever be able to get back here."

He kissed her softly, lingering longer the necessary before pulling away. "I love you so much."

"I know." She replied, laughing an his playful hurt expression. "I love you, too."

"Do you know what would be awesome right now?" She shivered as he whispered the question into her ear, shooting him a questioning gaze. "Our hotel room, and less clothes."

"And the moment is ruined once again." She laughed.

A camera flash went off in front of them, and they turned to the source in unison. "Clara!"

The teenager grinned in response, meeting her brother-in-law's eyes. "It's payback for telling the bartender I'm underage."

"Hey," He defended. "What kind of a brother would I be if I let you binge drink? You're lucky I managed to convince your mom to let you have that one glass of champagne."

"That's a tradition." Clara pointed out, "And mom is big on tradition. She didn't need convincing." She glanced to her sister, holding out the envelope that neither had noticed was in her free hand. "Mom asked me to give you guys this. She didn't put anthrax in it, I asked. She said she was exaggerating when she said she was so mad about the whole Vegas thing she could kill you."

"When did she say that?"

"After we got home, after visiting you that time." Clara elaborated. "Dad thinks she would have been more mad if you had married a stranger. I told him that Troy is strange."

"Love you too, kid."

"I know. I brighten your existence." Clara laughed, before spotting one of their cousins trying to get her back on the dance floor. "Bye."

They both watched until she was a safe distance away before turning to face each other and laughing.

"Your sister is the complete opposite of you in so many ways, yet she's exactly the same."

"I actually get that." Gabriella laughed, before gesturing to the envelope in her hands. "What do you think this is?"

"We could guess..." He shrugged, grinning knowingly. "Or we could open it. That's a real option that's available to us right now."

She rolled her eyes, slowly opening the envelope and pulling out it's contents, her eyes widening. "Did you know about this?"

"Your dad asked me if they could."

"This is... wow."

"We leave tomorrow. Three weeks in Europe. Just the two of us."

- Drunk -

"You realise you can put me down now, right?"

"Don't want to."

"Troy."

"It's my job to carry you over the threshold." He insisted. "Are you trying to get out of tradition?! Your mother would be appalled!"

She glanced back to the front door. "You already have carried me over the threshold."

"That's only one door." He grinned. "The house has plenty more."

"You're insane."

"You're beautiful."

"If you put me down now, you can save some of the unnecessary carrying for later." She suggested. "I want to call Chad and check on Teddy."

"I'm sure Teddy's fine." Troy assured her, but gently put her down anyway. "You'll see him tomorrow."

"Why wait until tomorrow if I can see him now?" She decided, turning and heading down the hallway. "I'm sure he missed me."

"What do you mean see him..." Troy broke off when he saw her returning with her laptop and wandering into the living room and setting the laptop on the coffee table. "Are you serious right now?" A smirk. "You're going to video chat with our dog?"

"Yes." She nodded. "It's been three weeks, we left him with Chad, it's the responsible thing to do."

"I'm pretty sure Chad didn't accidentally kill our dog."

"Only pretty sure?"

"I'm sure." He laughed, taking her hands and pulling her to him. "Completely sure."

She responded to his kiss, releasing her hands from his to wrap her arms around his neck and almost forgetting her task as he lowered her onto the couch, his hand edging dangerously to the bottom of her shirt.

The sound of the laptop forced them apart, and they both looked to the screen as it lit up, laughing at it's timing.

"You still want to video chat with the dog?"

"Nope." She pushed him off of her, swinging her legs off of the couch. "But I do want to check my email."

"Tease!"

She smirked, moving herself onto the floor to properly sit in front of the screen and opened up her email account. "Looks like my sister sent us some of her pictures."

Troy moved to sit next to her, looking between her and the screen.

"You're going to hurt your neck if you keep doing that."

He laughed, choosing to focus on her as she scrolled through the pictures Clara had sent her. Her eyes narrowed and he smiled at the confusion in her expression, forgetting to question it until she turned to him, gesturing towards the screen. "Care to explain?"

He followed her gesture, gazing at the picture that was on the screen before his eyes widened. "That little..."

"Troy..." He turned to see his wife's amused expression as she turned back to the picture. "It's a pretty interesting position you're in there, I'll give you that."

"Well... you see..." He stuttered, and she turned to him expectantly. "Chad said that..." He paused, waiting for her to stop laughing. "He said that it would be funny if we all jumped in when you threw the bouquet. So we kind of ran into the back at the last minute."

"You understand the point in the tradition, right?" She laughed. He nodded. "You do realise that we're already married?"

He nodded again. "I'd marry you every day if I could."

"Please don't say things like that when I'm trying to mock you."