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Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Merry/Happy whatever you believe!

Chapter 1: A Christmas Tradition

Gabriella Montez tossed her purse carelessly on the side table of her house. She didn't understand why they couldn't just spend the entire day together. Was it so hard to ask for their families to get along? Apparently so. His car wasn't in the driveway so he was still stuck at his parents' house.

Letting out a well-needed sigh, she trudged to the living room of their three-bedroom house. She sat down on the sofa, propping her feet up on the end. She allowed her hand to glide up her shirt and gently run over her still flat stomach as she closed her eyes.

She smiled as she heard the door slam shut. At least he was home. "Baby?" His deep voice rang out through the house.

"Living room." She called out tiredly. Her eyes fluttered open when she felt his presence. "How was the fam?" She asked with a smile.

Troy Bolton flicked his dirty blonde hair out of his piercing blue eyes, "They fan-fucking-tastic." He commented dryly. Walking over to the sofa, he lifted her tiny feet off the edge of the sofa and sat down. Removing her three-inch heels, he began rubbing slow circles over her petite feet.

She let out a guttural moan, "That feels good Wildcat."

Troy chuckled, "So how were your parents?"

Gabriella let out a sigh, "They still hate you. I swear after what? Eleven years? They still haven't gotten over the fact."

Running a hand through his hair he leaned over and kissed her stomach, "I just didn't realize the East-West Rivalry was that deep."

"Who the fuck cares, not me, not you, not our friends. They can get over themselves. I told my dad that Zeke would walk me down the aisle if he couldn't get over himself and his issues with your dad."

Troy lifted a hand to push a curl back behind her ear, "Well let's hope it doesn't come down to that. At least we're both doing well enough not to need them financially."

Gabriella let out another sigh, "Still, it's whatever. At least the gang will be here soon. We should break out the booze." Troy gave her a look and she giggled, "Not for me or Pay, for the rest of you."

Troy grinned, "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten."

"And what would make me do that? The fact that you're constantly talking to my stomach or the morning sickness?" Gabriella cocked her head to the side, letting her long black locks fall to one side.

"Both." Troy gave her the famous Troy Bolton smirk that had girls going weak at the knees in high school.

The two stood up just as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it. I'm so ready to sit down and see the gang. Ready for some peace and quiet." Gabriella muttered.

"And you're expecting that from Chad?" Troy asked as he followed her to the front door of their spacious L.A. home.

Gabriella giggled as she opened the door, "Hey Zeke! Hey Shar!"

"I brought sparkling water for us!" Sharpay Evans squealed as she hugged Gabriella and Troy.

"And I brought you ladies cheese and chocolate. Everything's homemade." Zeke Baylor handed Gabriella the boxes that had her big brown eyes even wider.

"I love you both." Gabriella gushed, giving Zeke a hug as he shook Troy's hand.

"Hold the door!" Looking over Zeke's shoulder, Gabriella saw Chad Danforth and Taylor McKessie making her way to them.

"We brought booze, none for you Hot Stuff and Ice Queen, sorry." Chad gave them a large grin as Sharpay and Gabriella rolled their eyes.

"Anyone else here?" Taylor asked as she removed her sweater. The one thing that was certain, was that Christmas in L.A. was bound to be warm, even Christmas Night.

"Nope." Gabriella and Troy said together as they all migrated to the kitchen for plates and glasses.

"Sorry we don't have anything laid out, we both just got home." Gabriella apologized.

"Don't worry Brie, it sucked for all of us, although I'm sure you four took the brunt of it tonight." Chad rolled his eyes.

"No shit, you know mother actually brought up abortion." Sharpay slammed her fist against the marble counter, "I almost chocked her."

Zeke wrapped an arm around her waist, "Don't worry about it babe. It's going to be fine and you know it. They don't control us. They never have." The doorbell sounded. Excusing herself, Gabriella went to the front of the house.

"Hey Kels, hey Jase." She opened the door wider for their tired friends. They smiled and followed the loud laughter of Sharpay to the kitchen. Just as Gabriella was going to close the door, she saw Ryan Evans and Ashley Reynolds coming up. Holding the door opened she gave Ryan a kiss and Ashley a hug before leading them also into the kitchen.

Troy had piled food on a tray and led the way to the living room. Everyone sat down comfortably and silence overtook the small group. "So did everyone's day suck?" Ryan asked with a grin.

"Yeah." Was the unanimous answer.

"It's Christmas, you'd think they could at least be nice this one day." Gabriella muttered, "Damn hormones." She wiped a tear out of the corner of her eye and everyone laughed, including her.

"I hear ya Boo." Sharpay rolled her eyes.

Everyone got silent again. No one moved. Everyone was thinking back to why they didn't get along with their families. No matter what happened, they knew their families wouldn't like each other. But still, they could hope for a little miracle on Christmas. Especially since next year there would be a drastic change. Gabriella and Troy would be married with a child, as would Zeke and Sharpay.

"At least we have this tradition." Ashley commented.

"A quick get in, get out with our families and then on to our real family." Taylor sighed as she rested her hand on Chad's thigh.

He grasped it, interlacing their fingers, "Through thick and thin." He brought her hand up to kiss the back of it. Taylor sighed in contentment.

"This is nice though." Kelsi's small voice rang through the air. "Even if we do spend like every waking minute together." She giggled, chuckles echoed through the room.

"Well we're making up for lost time in high school, since we couldn't all be together then." Troy scratched the back of his head.

"Oh Zeke," Zeke looked toward Gabriella, "I told Dad that you would give me away if he was going to be an ass." She looked over at her big brother that she'd known since before she could walk, "Would you?"

Zeke smiled, "Of course Bell." Gabriella nodded her thanks.

The room settled in silence again. It happened like that every year. Everyone would individually go to their families' houses. They would be yelled at for dating someone from the rival school, even though they were 28 and this had been going on for eleven years. Then they would meet at Troy and Gabriella's. They would drink and talk, and sit in silence. It didn't matter, they were just away. Away in a nonjudgmental zone where everything was perfect. Even though their lives were far from it.

So this started off as a oneshot, but I decided it would be a fun cliché story, just like everyone does only with my own twist. We'll see how it turns out. I've got so much going on, but at this point I really don't care. Maybe starting to get this out of my system we'll help me update and clear my head. I still have another idea, but I am holding off on that for the moment.

Review!

Mollie XOXO