Disclaimer: I do not own 'High School Musical' or any related characters.

A/N: Alright, I have an announcement which isn't going to go down well. I was planning on finishing of Memories in the two weeks that I've got for holidays anyway, I can't do that. I have a legitimate reason too, I'm actually flying to South Africa tomorrow and I won't have internet access and I don't know how much time I'll have to try and write up a couple of chapters of Memories. However, I thought I'd post this, something that I found randomly in one of my folders and I hope its okay.

Enjoy!

Time's Up

He watched as she wove her way through the throng of casually dressed people that were packed onto the back porch of the Spanish style mansion she called home, smiling, greeting people in an easy, warm manner that was so practiced it was obvious she had been greeting people that way for years.

She was completely untouchable. The sassy, sexy, innocent woman with a touch of naivety was a paradox that made his head spin. She was ignored when her head was in a book and had everyone at her feet the moment she showed up in red. She was a girl who had rules made for her. The type of rules that made every male within a five mile radius of her itch to bend them, break them, rip the rules in two.

They probably would too, Troy Bolton found himself thinking, if Gabriella Montez, the paradox that made every male's head spin, wasn't the twenty-three year old daughter of the man that could bench them for the rest of their lucrative careers.

Taking a sip of his beer, Troy surveyed the barbeque area of the Carol and Joseph Montez's home. It was a nice setting, he thought, the kitchen opening up onto the wooden porch that served as both a barbeque and eating area and the porch smoothing from a large expanse of space into a winding ramp, lined by a controlled jungle of leafy, green plants, that led down to a fork that would either take the person to a pool that was surrounded by exotic plants or to a tennis court that he knew served both tennis and basketball. Depending upon the person's interest. It was a smooth transition from house, to eating area, to backyard and while Troy could appreciate it, the setting had stopped being important a while ago. The party that was being held on the back porch was much more important.

Troy, having lost sight of the sinfully red paradox that had caught his attention moments before, turned his interest instead to the casually dressed group of people who were adorning the Montez's back porch on the balmy summer evening.

From his position sitting on the railing in the corner of the porch, Troy scanned, assessed and then dismissed the people who stood, chatting to their various friends and acquaintances, as they waited for Joseph to announce the meat cooking on the barbeque ready to eat. He was well aware that he should be among them, mingling, letting his new teammates introduce him to their wives and girlfriends, perhaps sliding into mindless conversation about the difference between Los Angeles and San Antonio and explaining why he hadn't renewed his contract with the LA Lakers. The party they were all there for was, after all, for him. After all, Joseph Montez had to celebrate stealing the leading point scorer for the LA Lakers and what better way than throwing a carefully publicized party to introduce Troy to all his players and gloat about his victory?

It was, Troy thought as he took a swing of the beer he'd been holding, a sneaky move designed to make the staff at the Lakers bristle. Troy wondered what the men who used to control his career would do if they found out the Joseph's gloating was all for nothing, that Joseph had little to no influence on his decision. He figured that it would make them feel worse than what they already did. Knowing he left of his own accord rather than being swayed by promises of more money and more perks would probably be like rubbing salt into an already sore, gaping wound.

But that was something he was going to keep to himself for as long as he could. Well, he amended as he caught sight of his paradox again, at least until he was alone with a person who was dying to know why he had suddenly switched sides.

"You know, someone might think you're being anti-social." Troy didn't jerk at the voice, nor did he show any sign of surprise at the appearance of the slim blonde as she leaned against the railing he was sitting on.

"I doubt it. They haven't even noticed I'm here." Troy smirked slightly as he turned his head to look at Sharpay Evans, who was clutching a glass of red wine as she looked at him.

"Oh they've noticed. It's just that some of them have no idea how to approach you. Especially seeing as you made it clear you won't tell them why you suddenly came over to the Spurs." Sharpay's brown eyes twinkled with mischief as she spoke and Troy grinned as he took another sip from his beer, noticing the interest in the eyes of the people who surrounded them and wondering if they were going to approach him now that Sharpay had.

"Yeah well, all will become clear when the right person wants to know." Troy said and Sharpay bit back a laugh as she noticed the way his eyes were drawn to her best fried of five years.

"You know, it was pretty gutsy of you to do this. It could seriously backfire." Troy glanced over at the blonde, noting the low tone she used and realizing that even if his intent wasn't clear to anyone else, it was clear to Sharpay. She was blonde, beautiful and smart and Troy wondered why he hadn't realized she knew.

"I know. Do you think she does?" He asked and Sharpay shrugged, her eyes turning to the deck and latching onto her best friend. Troy waited patiently, knowing Sharpay wouldn't lie to him.

"Yes. She's just choosing not to acknowledge it." Sharpay replied and Troy nodded, sliding down off the railing.

"Thought she might do that." He muttered under his breath and then grinned when he heard Sharpay's chuckle.

"Yeah, well –" Sharpay was cut off by an arm slipping around Troy's shoulders and a loud exclamation from a stocky man with silver shot black hair.

"Troy, this is where you've been hiding!" Joseph Montez briefly glanced at his daughters best friend, who was hiding her smile in her wine glass before steering Troy into the throng of people who were all anxious to meet him and too nervous to make the first move.

As Troy smiled and greeted wives, girlfriends and players he wondered why he felt like he was being monopolized and then realized that he was. Joseph Montez would not let go of him as he steered him through the throng of people. It seemed Joseph had given Troy what he thought was enough time to assess the situation he was in and the people before dragging him into the deep end.

It was probably a good thing living in LA had taught him a thing or two about shallow small talk, Troy mused as he pretended to be enthusiastic about the business ventures of one of the wives. As the woman in front of him spoke, Troy highly doubted that the business venture was of little more than a pet interest to her, something she didn't have to worry about failing with because she had her husband's money to fall back on.

"Ah, there you are Gabriella!" Troy jerked out of his thoughts in time to watch Joseph grasp the elbow of the paradox he'd been watching earlier and drag her into his other side. Troy watched as Gabriella Montez moved reluctantly into her father's side. She avoided looking at him and Troy felt a flash of amusement at the way she twisted the hem of her dress as she warmly greeted the people that surrounded them.

"And you are?" Troy narrowed his eyes at his paradox as she turned to him and offered her hand, her eyes innocent and slightly nervous. Pulling his hand out of his pocket, Troy grasped the hand she offered.

"Gabi, this is Troy Bolton, I told you about him, remember?" Joseph said, rolling his eyes slightly at Troy, giving him the impression that Gabriella had little to no interest in his team. He glanced at Gabriella, who was waiting for him to reply nervously, Troy chose to make it easy.

"Yep, that's me. Troy. You're Gabriella, right? Your dad's told me a lot about you." Joseph had barely mentioned Gabriella in their meeting, but Gabriella didn't need to know that and it had the desired effect. Gabriella squeezed his hand tightly as Joseph let out a chuckle.

"Really?" Honey coated her tone as Troy let go of her hand and watched as she turned her attention to her father.

"Just a few things honey, nothing too important." Joseph patted her arm and Troy smirked slightly at her glare.

"Yeah, nothing too important." He agreed with a nod. Gabriella's lips turned downward in a slight frown. Troy got the impression that she knew he was mocking her slightly.

Before she could reply, Joseph broke in, looking slightly harried. "Troy, as much as I'd love to continue taking you around, I need to talk to Graham quickly. Gabriella, would you mind showing him the rest of the house?" Troy glanced at the tall, dark haired man standing just behind Joseph and nodded slowly.

"No problem. I'd actually like to see the backyard. Is that okay with you?" Troy asked, smoothly hiding Gabriella's sputter. Joseph nodded.

"Fine, you don't mind that, do you baby?" The warmth in Joseph's voice was enough to stop Gabriella's sputtering and for her to nod her assent. Troy watched curiously as Joseph absently placed a kiss in Gabriella's hair before following the tall dark haired man who'd been waiting for him.

Gabriella folded her arm across her chest as they watched her father walk away and then she turned to him, her brow furrowed. Troy forced himself to not raise his hand to trail his finger down the lines in her forehead, instead he grinned at her.

"You're honestly expecting me to do what my father asked, aren't you?" Gabriella snapped at him when she was sure the circle of people who had been speaking to Troy turned their attention back to the conversation that had been flowing before Joseph had interrupted it with Troy's introduction.

Troy forced himself to not turn the grin into a smirk at her tone. "I actually want to check out the pool. Show me the way?" He asked, gesturing vaguely towards the pool area. Gabriella glared at him and then glanced back at the group of people, some of the women who were glancing back at them curiously.

Troy watched as Gabriella deliberated walking away from him and having the women who's attention was only half on the conversation surrounding them gossiping about her abandonment of a man who her father had asked to show around or suffering through her fathers request. He fought back another grin when her shoulders slumped and she pressed her mouth into a thin line.

"Fine. This way." She tilted her head towards the ramp and Troy forced himself to not trail his hand down her back as she stepped past him and began weaving her way through the crowded deck.

Troy followed, catching Sharpay's eye as he passed her and winking as the blonde watched the Troy follow an irate Gabriella with barely concealed amusement. Sharpay turned away from the man she'd been talking to, to watch the two wind their way down the ramp and towards whichever concealed area Troy had wanted to see.

Troy found himself fascinated with the gardens as they walked down the ramp, he'd grown up in a backyard that had been overtaken by a basketball court and a pool where the gardens had been neglected in favor of keeping the pool pristine and the lawn at a reasonable length. He absently followed Gabriella as she veered to the left, following the path to the pool.

His attention turned from the gardens to the pool as they stepped into the enclosure, Gabriella staring straight ahead as Troy let out a low whistle. The pool was designed to be more of a waterfall pond than any type of pool he'd ever seen. The green foliage continued around the pool, disguising the edges and creating more of the illusion of a jungle. Troy found he enjoyed the tranquility of it, from the light sounds of the waterfall to the muted sounds of the party up on the deck.

"Okay, here's the pool. You've seen it." Gabriella's curt words warned Troy that she was impatient and less than happy. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Troy raised an eyebrow at her and watched as she stared at something over her shoulder.

"Yep. Nice pool." Troy nodded towards the direction of the waterfall. Gabriella's eyes flicked towards it before returning to the spot just over his shoulder. "You grew up in a nice place." Troy stated conversationally and Gabriella nodded, still staring at the spot over his shoulder.

"Yes. I did." She agreed and Troy sighed. Her eyes flicked to his face suddenly and he met her eyes. "Why are you here?" She looked half-horrified that she'd asked the question and Troy moved his shoulders.

"Because I was invited. I don't think you're dad would have been too pleased if I didn't show up to the party he was throwing for me, do you?" He asked pleasantly, pleased when Gabriella's face transformed from impatient to frustrated.

"That's not what I meant and you know it. Why are you here, Troy? Why'd you give up the Lakers?" She asked, sounding half furious and half terrified.

He didn't answer right away. Instead, Troy looked at the girl he'd fallen in love with and sighed. He could still see the naïve twenty year old he'd met at a Spurs v. Lakers game three years ago. He'd seen her sitting courtside, just to the right of the Spurs bench and had liked the way she looked.

She'd been giggling when he'd turned his head towards the crowd; he'd caught sight of her and the victory of scoring the basket that had pulled the Lakers well into the lead had dissipated when she'd looked directly at him and smiled shyly. The smile had been enough for him to engineer a meeting between them, their conversation as he'd helped her pick up the things that spilled from her purse when he'd run into her deliberately outside the change rooms had been enough for him to coerce her into meeting for coffee.

He'd learnt from that coffee meeting that she lived in San Francisco, was attending Stanford and was the daughter of one of the most ruthless coaches in the NBA. He'd also found her warm, unpretentious and funny. He hadn't been looking for someone when he'd met her, neither had he been intent on a serious relationship. Especially not a relationship that relied heavily upon his phone. But that's where they'd ended up. In a relationship that had him flying to San Francisco every time he had a break in between games and training sessions and her joining him every time he had a home game in Los Angeles.

A relationship that had grown into something more than he'd expected when he'd found himself calling her every time he'd landed in a different city to let her know he was okay, when he'd called her straight after every game and spent hours on the phone as she'd let him dissect every game before they'd sunk into conversations that had gone on for hours. It had been a relationship that had a deeper level that Troy hadn't thought he'd wanted.

Since the coffee shop, Gabriella had become his best friend, his lover and everything in between.

Now, three years after that coffee meeting and here they were, Troy mused, standing opposite each other at her childhood home because he'd figured out that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her a little over six months before.

"I'm here, Gabriella, because your times up. I gave you six months and now I want the answer." Troy spoke quietly and Gabriella's eyes widened at his words.

Troy watched as she visibly swallowed. "You abandoned LA and the Lakers because you wanted an answer?" Her voice was incredulous as she stared at him.

Troy found himself heaving a sigh at her words. "No. I 'abandoned' the Lakers because the Spurs offered me a better contract, professionally, anyway." He replied and Gabriella raised her eyebrows. "As for the leaving LA bit, you're here. Why would I even want to stay in California, if you're here in Texas?" Gabriella's eyes widened at his words and she paled slightly.

"I – I, for God's sake Troy, I said no!" She exclaimed and Troy rolled his eyes at the desperation in her tone.

"No. You mumbled something that very much sounded like yes, then panicked and fled LA. I gave you thinking time, Gabriella. I knew you needed that because you need to over analyze everything before you answer anything of importance." Troy spoke casually, as if he was speaking about what the weather was doing instead of the proposal that had scared her into fleeing.

"I do not over analyze things!" Gabriella exclaimed heatedly and Troy raised his eyebrows.

"No? So you haven't spent the last six months trying to figure out why I proposed? You haven't looked at our relationship from every other angle and ignored the fact that I proposed because I love you and there's that high possibility that I couldn't see myself in ten, twenty, thirty years without you by my side?" He asked silkily, watching as her eyes widened at his words and a blush stain her cheeks.

"I don't believe you!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air and causing Troy to force back a chuckle.

"Why not?" He felt genuinely confused at her disbelief in his words.

"Because you can't feel that for me! You and I both know that the only reason you think you love me is because I hung around for so long!" Now there was an edge of desperation to her voice as she spoke, as if she was trying to convince herself as well as him that he didn't mean it. Troy frowned at that and stepped closer.

"Really? What makes you think that? Because I generally know how I feel. Considering they're my feelings." Troy pointed out and before Gabriella opened her mouth to respond, he continued. "I love you, Gabriella and I know I love you because it's what I feel. I love you because for the last three years you were in every aspect of my life and I love you for accepting every aspect. I love you because you don't get irritated with my obsessive compulsion to relive every single game for an hour. I love you because you leave a mess in the kitchen I never use. I love you because you sit down and watch those true crime shows with me even though you hate them. I love you because you're you and you haven't changed since the first time I met you for coffee." Troy wasn't sure where the words were coming from or if she'd believe them, what he did know was that she was beginning to worry him with how pale she was getting.

For a moment, Gabriella was quiet, her head turned away from him and towards the rocky formation of the waterfall. Troy wondered if she was processing what he was saying or trying to think of another angle to convince him that he didn't love her.

He should have seen this coming, Troy thought as Gabriella folded her arms again and rubbed her upper arms. He'd known that she was insecure about their relationship. He'd known that there was a part of her that she listened to, too often and it made her vulnerable to him. It had been a vulnerability he'd never quite known how to handle and now he was faced with its full force as she turned her eyes back to him.

"Why do you want me? Why can't you be happy with a model or an actress with less brains and more confidence?" Troy blinked at her outburst and then rubbed a hand over his face as he felt frustration grow.

"Because I love you! Because I want you! I don't want a model or an actress for a girlfriend. I want you and I want you as my wife!" Troy exclaimed, frustrated, and didn't notice the way Gabriella froze. "Damn it, Brie, why is that so hard for you to accept?" He asked and Gabriella shook her head mutely.

"Because it is!" She looked frightened, Troy thought and he shut his eyes. He hadn't meant to frighten her. He just…Troy blew out a breath and opened his eyes.

"I don't get why, though! Nothing between us will change." Troy snapped and Gabriella's eyes flashed.

"Yes it will! Marriage is a huge commitment Troy! It's not something that you can just throw at me out of nowhere and then expect me to not panic! Why would you even think about proposing, we've only been together for –" Troy cut her off; furious that she was honestly questioning why he had proposed.

"Three years. And we've been living together for the last year. Tell me you haven't thought about it, Gabriella. Tell me you haven't thought about us getting married." Troy's voice had a hard edge as the thought of her never actually seeing them married sliced through the confidence he'd felt that she'd wanted the proposal as much as he had.

Gabriella's mouth opened quickly and then snapped shut at his words. Her eyes widened and Troy took a step forward to grasp her upper arms, drawing her close to his body so he could look down at her. Panic swam through him at her pale face and the indecision in her eyes.

"Baby, you can tell me anything." His voice was soft, hiding the blow to his confidence and his panic and changing his tack from hard and matter-of-fact to soft and coaxing.

"I – I thought it'd never happen." She whispered and the grip he had on her upper arms loosened slightly. "I figured that you'd get bored of me or meet someone else. Not propose." Troy nodded, rubbing his hands up and down her arms slightly.

"You do realize that I know you better than anyone, right?" He asked softly, waiting fro her nod before continuing. "And you do know that I know you've had our wedding all mapped out in that pretty little head of yours for more than a while, right?" At her gasped surprise Troy grinned smugly, even as he tightened his grip on her arms when she jerked back.

"How…how could you know that?" Gabriella spluttered, her face going red as Troy shrugged the grin still on his face as he realized that he had her. Whether or not she knew it, Troy knew that he had her.

"Because you mumble about it in your sleep." Troy grinned at her, softening it into a smile when he saw that she was still embarrassed. "Because I caught you looking through that wedding magazine when you thought I wasn't there. Because Sharpay called me up and told me that she'd caught you looking at rings." She'd begun to relax slightly when as he'd been talking and Troy drew her a little closer, slipping his hands from her arms to around her waist.

Gabriella settled against him. "Why didn't you run in the opposite direction when you heard me mumbling in my sleep? You always said you weren't ready for marriage. And I swear to God, Troy, that if you mention that episode of 'Friends' were Chandler convinces Monica he doesn't want to get married because of pigs or something, I will murder you." She added and Troy snorted before he pulled away slightly and grinned down at her.

"I didn't run in the opposite direction because I already had vague ideas about marrying you. You're interest simply got the ball rolling." Troy said softly and Gabriella raised an eyebrow. "And no, I didn't use a 'Friends' episode to make you think that I didn't want to get married and then propose to you. In case you've forgotten, I proposed when we'd just gotten back from that trip to Spain. Remember there were bags everywhere?" Gabriella smiled slightly at his answer, nodding at her own memories of when he'd proposed in the kitchen of their apartment.

"I remember. I remember I panicked. Why did I panic?" She asked and Troy, knowing that if he tried to answer, she would get mad. If there was one thing that Troy knew about Gabriella it was that if he even tried to tell her why she reacted to things the way she did, it would only make her mad and a furious, volatile Gabriella was something he knew he couldn't handle after six months of trying to get through to her.

"I don't know. But I need to ask you something." He paused before he asked the question he knew that she hadn't even realized she'd answered.

For a moment, he considered treating it lightly, getting an actual definitive answer from her mouth before he responded to her own question. Gabriella looked up at him in surprise as he placed a gentle kiss on top of her head and let go of her to slip his hand into his pocket.

Pulling out the velvet box, Troy kept his eyes steadily on her face as he lowered himself down onto one knee. Gabriella's mouth dropped open as she gazed down at him, Troy told himself not to smirk as her arms fell limply to her sides and he flipped the box open to reveal the ring which he had offered her six months ago. Gabriella stared down at the three brilliant cut diamonds set in the simple unadorned white gold band.

"Gabriella Montez, will you marry me?" Troy asked the question simply, knowing that there needed to be nothing else asked.

Gabriella's hand through to her mouth and tears formed before she nodded. "Yes. I will." She nodded vigorously and before she could add anything else to her answer, Troy rose, taking hold of her left hand and holding it up as he slipped the ring out of the box before sliding it onto her finger.

Raising it to his lips, Troy pressed a kiss to the back of her hand and smiled as a tear slipped out and she sniffled slightly. Pulling her closer, Troy slid his arms around her waist and pressed his lips to hers gently. Gabriella's arm twined around his neck as she fell into the gentle kiss and Troy smiled against her lips.

Pulling away, he nuzzled her neck before pulling away. "Glad you said yes this time." He murmured cheekily and Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"Me too. Was Dad in on this?" The question threw Troy off for a moment before he grinned and nodded.

"Of course. How else was I going to get you alone tonight without making a scene? Beside, the whole party had a two fold purpose." Gabriella raised an eyebrow at his words and Troy shrugged. "One purpose was to seriously rub it into that I'd finally gotten out of LA and the other, well, the other was to make sure you didn't run when you found out I was going to be here. After all, you couldn't exactly tell your dad that you couldn't attend the annual party because of me, could you?" Gabriella rolled her eyes slightly at Troy's grin and his tone.

"Think you're clever, don't you?" She murmured quietly, playing with the hair on the nape of his neck as Troy shrugged.

"No. If I was clever I wouldn't have given you six months. I would have given you a week before hunting you down and dragging you off to Hawaii and marrying you there." Troy replied with a snort and Gabriella laughed, shaking her head and pressing her lips against his once more.

"No you wouldn't have. You wouldn't have let me have anymore than my dream wedding because you want me to be happy. Even though I probably would have married you in Hawaii if you'd dragged me there." Gabriella smirked slightly at his stunned expression before Troy rolled his eyes.

"Of course you would have." Troy muttered against his lips, deciding to keep it too himself that she would have held eloping to Hawaii against him even if it was something that she wanted.

Gabriella rolled her own eyes at his response even as Troy leaned down to kiss her. As he kissed her, Troy knew that they were going to be married well before the six month deadline he'd set for the hotel in Hawaii.

A/N: Okay, I hope that was okay. As I mentioned before, I am going away for the next two weeks, which I've found is really irritating simply because I'm away during my holidays which is when I was hoping to finish Memories and finish off my major work for Extension. Anyway, I hope you all liked this. It is something after all, hopefully I'll get my other one up before I go to bed tonight.