"Chad Danforth, if there is any sort of fountain in that flat, you are to go nowhere near it, do you hear me?" instructed Taylor as she, Chad, Chucky, and Troy piled out of the car they came in. The guys all chuckled at Chad, who had a bashful look on his face.

"I got it Tay, I think I'm traumatized already as it is. I can't believe I did that at the ball and ruined Gab's night for her," mumbled Chad, still feeling down as he had all day today and the day before. "Plus I don't think her grandparents were all that happy to see me there this morning after I kinda tipped over that heirloom vase in addition to being the spectacle I was Saturday night."

Chucky nodded his head in agreement. "I will give you that I was even embarrassed for you at brunch after that but her parents and Gaby seemed to smooth it over well enough. You're just lucky that vase was only fifty years old."

"As opposed to what?" scoffed Chad.

"Oh, one hundred or more," offered Chucky with a grin. "Come on dude, cheer up! Gabriella has cleared her schedule the best she can to hang out with us for the rest of the week since we didn't really get to see her yesterday. I know Troy is excited about seeing her again tonight. Focus on that."

Chad thought about what his brother said and found himself smiling at what the night could hold for his best friend. "Ah, good point bro. Troy, you ready for tonight?"

Troy rolled his eyes as the focus turned on him suddenly. "Come on you two, it's not like I'm offering her the cure for AIDS or anything monumental like that."

"It's pretty up there I'd say," replied Chucky with his own grin.

"All right boys, you keep dancing around what's going on. I want to know what's up," stated Taylor, giving each of them a look they all knew she borrowed straight from Sharpay.

As it seemed to be happening lately, Troy was saved from answering as he saw Gabriella's car pull up with Tessa, Sharpay, and Ryan. He gave Taylor an apologetic smile as he jogged over to the driver's side and opened the door for Gabriella. Troy offered her his hand and she took it with a smile as she stood up. He took a second to survey how beautiful she looked in the black flowing skirt that ended mid-calf and the red top that hugged her curves nicely yet in a tasteful manner. 'How she pulls that off when any other girl would look slutty, I'll never know,' he thought as Troy gently shut the door for her and followed the others into Chris's flat where he was having his birthday party.

On the way, he saw some flashes of light and was surprised Gabriella didn't seem fazed by it. "You don't care that your picture gets snapped like that now?" asked Troy, seeing he had Gabriella's attention as he held the door to the flat open for everyone else to go through.

Gabriella smiled as she looked back over her shoulder and waved. "Not when it's done by those two guys. Martin and Henry are kind of like my resident photographers who document my life but take care on what they choose to sell and to whom. We have a mutual trust that was established back when I first came to Copanvy."

Troy nodded his head at the two men across the street, who waved back at them. "Ah, I can see they are definitely fans of yours then. Then again, who wouldn't be?"

"Oh stop," replied Gabriella as she herself went through the door, letting Troy finally close it firmly behind him.

The eight of them made their way up two flights of stairs before they reached the closed door that allowed the pounding music to flow into the hall. They exchanged quick glances before they opened the door, Gabriella leading the way.

She scanned the room that served as the main party room, Chris's living room, and instantly spotted her close friend and dance partner, laughing and serving drinks. She shook her head and moved in his direction, a grin on her face as he almost spilled some of what he was pouring onto the counter. "Come now Chris, it's only 9 PM. You can't be drunk already," she teased, smiling more as he turned around and wrapped her in a big hug.

"Nah, not drunk, just uncoordinated. You should know that Ella," he returned with a grin that seemed to permanently be on his lips.

"No kidding, I have the fresh bruises to prove it," she answered, pulling back and pointing to a nasty bruise on her calf. "You just better hope that it's gone by Wednesday or that makeup can cover it up otherwise Rodger is going to have your head Christopher."

Chris just smirked at this. "Don't worry princess, it'll be okay. If not, we'll just use whiteout and color it brown."

Gabriella rolled her eyes at this. "Whatever you say. Happy birthday Chris!"

He took the offered present from her and grinned. "For me?"

"Duh, open it!" she exclaimed.

As he tore at the paper of the rectangular present, Chris paused only to greet the rest of Gabriella's friends, taking extra time to greet Tessa and kiss her, making them both blush before he returned to the task at hand. Chris opened the lid of the rectangular box and saw two envelopes. He gave Gabriella a questioning look, which she innocently returned before he opened the first. His jaw dropped to the floor as he saw what the first one held. "A first class ticket voucher/IOU to be used only to Albuquerque, New Mexico? Are you crazy?"

Gabriella laughed at this. "Maybe but I thought you'd like to go back, and in style, whenever you want."

"Someone is playing matchmaker and it isn't us," murmured Sharpay, enjoying the blush that just intensified on Tessa's cheeks.

"Shut up Shar," returned Tessa, feeling good at least that Chris seemed happy with Gabriella's gift to visit her judging by the grin on his face. He looked up at that moment and gave her his best flirty smirk, which she found herself returning while her cheeks remained warm.

"Dude, what's in the second envelope?" called out Chad, curious as to what else Gabriella could get Chris.

Chris guiltily looked back down at the unopened envelope. He opened it and gasped as he saw a pair of season tickets now in his hand. "Season tickets to the Louvis Knights? Are you fucking serious? I love you Ella!"

Gabriella giggled as she was quickly swept up off the ground as Chris spun her around. "I thought you'd like them both, just not sure which one more since you on one hand get to see Tessa whereas the other you get to sit courtside to watch your favorite basketball team, you sports nut."

"You are fucking fantastic! What did I do to deserve you as a dance partner?" asked Chris as he set Gabriella down again. "Thank you so much Gabriella! Honestly this is all too much but I'm not complaining!"

"Figured you wouldn't," returned Gabriella with a grin on her face. "Best go hide those before some drunk person spills a drink on them."

"Oh shit, you're right. Tessa, come with me so I don't forget in a drunken move later where they are?" invited Chris as Tessa immediately nodded, the pair moving to his bedroom.

Chucky let out a chuckle as Chad offered up a new bet. "Fifty bucks says they come back out in an hour, Tessa's hair all messed up."

"No deal, that's a given," replied Sharpay, a smirk on her face. "Tessa give up that opportunity? I doubt that. Oh, and Gabriella, whenever that guy in there that's probably screwing our best friend right now comes out to New Mexico, you better come out with him or I will take that as a slight."

"Sure Sharpay, whatever you say," returned Gabriella with a small smile. "Of course I'll come out with him. I just didn't disclose that to him."

"So are the Louvis Knights any good?" questioned Ryan, having been people watching a moment before but now looking at Gabriella.

Gabriella shrugged, looking back at Ryan and missing the exchange of glances between Chucky, Chad, and Troy. "I believe so. Chris is always raving about them and I know my dad enjoys the games when he can make them. Soccer and basketball are pretty huge here but basketball I think is growing. If it wasn't pre-season, I'd offer to take you guys this week but I think that'll have to wait for another time as I don't think they have started any scrimmages. The team usually comes by the palace to meet with the grandparents before their first game played, even if it is pre-season. I guess you can call them the official team of the palace or something."

"Oh, that's okay Gabster, I'm sure we'll be back at another time where we can see them," Chad quickly said, forcing a smile on his face while Troy nervously looked away, this time Gabriella noticing.

'Okay, something really is going on,' she thought as she saw Troy look back a few moments later, his blue eyes focused just behind Chucky's shoulder so anyone else would think that he's engaged in the group when he really wasn't.

Chucky observed Gabriella's sharpened gaze on Troy and shook his head, knowing Troy was going to have to tell Gabriella and everyone else tonight or risk having it slip out unplanned. 'Better do it now Troy before your surprise goes awry.'

An upbeat song started filling the room, one that the gang all recognized, and followed its magnetism towards the designated "dance floor" as Sharpay, Taylor, and Gabriella especially started getting into the rhythm. Chad, Chucky, and Troy held back while Ryan went right ahead and joined the three women in dancing to the music.

Troy watched as Gabriella's body started becoming one with the music, a sight he had seen so many times in his time spent with her yet was something he didn't realize until then that he greatly missed. As some time passed, as indicated by the song changes, the three men stood there watching and chuckled as eventually Chris and Tessa both emerged again, Tessa still having sex hair despite how hard she tried to smooth it out.

Chad, Chucky, and Troy all shared a laugh only to be heard by Tessa and rewarded with one of her famous glares. "Ooo, better watch it. Tessa seems to still have some feistiness in her," commented Chad with a chuckle. "Speaking of feisty, I've never seen some of these moves these women are doing out there."

"Oh, like the more dirty bump and grind? I think it's sexy," replied Chucky. "Although I bet Troy hasn't noticed anyone besides Gab. Right Troy?"

At the mention of his name, Troy turned his head and looked back at his two companions, tearing his gaze from the brunette who was enjoying her time well spent dancing with her best friends. "What was that?"

"Exactly," returned Chucky with a laugh. "Dude, get over whatever inhibitions you have and dance with her and then tell her! This is the night, one that is for sure void of Patrick and any other stupid guy here in Copanvy who is stupid enough to think they have a chance with her."

Just the mere thought of Patrick made Troy feel jealousy grow again only to be squashed a second later. "They do have chances with her, all of them, including Patrick. Gabriella is a free woman and I can't stop that just because I want to."

"Maybe but you can lay your heart and intentions on the line and see if she feels the same. You'll never know if you don't try Troy. We came all the way here, did what we did, especially you, for this opportunity," Chucky reminded Troy. "It's all up to you now, as much as my blood lil bro and I may want to get involved, it doesn't matter because you make the calls and shots here."

"Come on Troy, take the chance. Think about what drove you here, why you came, why you've done what you have. I may not be as smart as you or Chucky when it comes to women but I know that you will sorely regret it if you don't come clean tonight," said Chad, laying an encouraging hand on his best friend's shoulder.

Troy stared back at both Chad and Chucky, who had both done so much to help him get here once his decision was made and nodded his head. "You two are absolutely right."

"Atta boy. There's our guy!" exclaimed Chad with a grin.

Troy barely heard him though as he purposely strode out to the dance floor and approached Gabriella, who was laughing at something Taylor just said to her. "Hey Brie," he greeted. "Can I join?"

"Of course," she replied with a smile, turning so she was facing him. Troy surprised her a little when he ventured to put his hands on the side of her swaying hips but she just smiled in response, actually enjoying the feeling it gave her. 'May as well enjoy it Gabriella. This is probably the last time you get to be like this with him before he's a married man. Speaking of, where's Celeste? Did she truly not come with him?'

For the next hour, the group of friends continued dancing while they also talked. Gabriella greeted a few people from the ballet company who came by and talked but she mainly focused on her friends, especially the brown haired man who was now dancing with the front half of his body flush against her back. She turned her head and looked up at him, blushing a little as she saw his intense cerulean eyes staring back at her, a smile playing on his lips. Just then, a slow song came on and most of the non-couples began to abandon the dancing area. Troy was about to leave after he unwrapped his arms around her waist but Gabriella found herself reaching out and pulling him back by his hand. "Dance with me?"

Troy searched her face for a moment before he nodded, placing his arms around her waist with her facing him this time, smiling more as he felt her wrap her hands around his neck, absently playing with the hair on the back of his neck. The two continued to not say anything as the song continued on, not really paying attention to who was around or what was going on. It was just them and the music, but mostly just them.

A few songs passed, leaving both to be even closer together in proximity to each other, Gabriella leaning her head against Troy's shoulder, letting herself be free of the restrictions she usually put on herself in this type of situation, one where she was in front of many other people. Whenever she was in a restaurant or at a ball or at the park, Gabriella had developed a type of ability to censor herself to make sure she didn't do anything out of line or that could be misconstrued. Right now though, Gabriella lost that skill by just being in Troy's arms again.

She let out a sigh as the new song began to play and froze for a moment, forcing herself to relax again as the music continued, her ears being the gateway for her mind to focus on the lyrics. Troy felt Gabriella stiffen first before he heard the lyrics himself, wondering if fate was at it again with their lives.

Oceans apart day after day
And I slowly go insane
I hear your voice on the line
But it doesn't stop the pain

If I see you next to never
How can we say forever

Wherever you go
Whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes
Or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you

I took for granted, all the times
That I thought would last somehow
I hear the laughter, I taste the tears
But I can't get near you now

Troy first heard the sniffle before he felt the wetness of her tears on his chest. Before he could do anything to help soothe her though, Gabriella ripped her body away from his as she ran away out of Chris's flat. Getting over his shock, Troy spared the rest of their friends only a brief look before he tore after her, following her up two more flights of stairs before she burst through a door and let it slam in Troy's face before he opened it again. He kept this slower pace of his though as he saw they were on the rooftop of the building and didn't want to rush into anything out of being anxious. "Gabriella? Brie?"

Her name rolling off his tongue sent shivers down Gabriella's spine as she shook her head, keeping her back towards him as she leaned her hands against the half wall around the perimeter of the building. "You should go Troy."

"Do you really want me to? I will if you really and truly want me gone Brie but I don't think you do," he replied softly, slowly walking towards her. "What is it, what's wrong?"

As Gabriella felt Troy's presence right next to her at the wall, she took a deep breath and let it out, calming her emotions as she wiped at the tears before daring to look at him. "This, us, this façade we fall into whenever we're together like this. That song, it felt like fate waking me up. Chris has no idea of what that means to me so he wouldn't have programmed that in with some stupid intention of hooking us up in his mind."

Troy saw the hurt and the longing combined on her face. "What was fate waking you up to then Brie?"

"To you having a fiancé, not even a girlfriend but a fiancé back home. To us not being together, to us not making it through the long distance and everything else we said we would do together. Most of all, to the fact that despite your beautifully sung song, you didn't wait Troy, you didn't wait for me like you promised," stated Gabriella, looking him in his eyes briefly before she gazed out over Louvis again. "But what's done is done, and you are happy and I truly am happy for that."

He couldn't help but scoff at this. "Brie, did you just hear yourself? You stand there talking about how upset you are that I didn't wait and then you say that you're happy I moved on because I'm supposedly happy. I don't think you mean that one bit, I think you wish we were together again, like we were meant to be, and should always be, and I agree."

"What?" asked Gabriella, shocked at his words. "But how can you think that when you're engaged to Celeste?"

"I'm not, not anymore," replied Troy. "I haven't been for a little over a month now…"

Troy walked into their apartment, ice-cream creations in hand, and closed the door softly to hear Celeste happily humming from the dining room. Hearing that was like pouring acid into an open wound but Troy steeled himself against his softer emotions, knowing what he had decided on doing was really the best for the both of them. 'She really does deserve someone better.'

Realizing he had to do it before he lost his nerve, Troy placed the ice-cream cartons in the freezer before walking into the dining room. "Hey Celeste."

Celeste looked up at him and smiled, feeling it vanish though as soon as she saw the troubled look on his face again. "Troy, what's wrong? The walk not work?"

Troy let out a sigh as he sat down in the empty seat next to her, forcing himself to ignore the many wedding articles that were scattered around the table, almost mocking him in regards to what he was about to do. "Actually it did, a lot."

"Then what's troubling you?" questioned Celeste, a puzzled look on her face.

Seeing the real concern in her eyes made Troy feel even worse so he decided to do what he came home to do as quickly and as painlessly as possible, at least he hoped. Troy gently took Celeste's left hand in both of his and stared down at the engagement ring he so happily slid on her finger on that special night. 'God, this is so tough.'

"Troy?" she asked, her voice starting to have a certain edge to it that alerted Troy to her nervousness, to how anxious she was.

"Celeste, you have been nothing but amazing to me, ever since I met you. You really and truly are such an amazing woman, I still can't believe that you chose me to spend the rest of your life with. It's so flattering and humbling though that I, as much as I hate this, to be fair to you, I have to end our engagement," said Troy, hearing how rushed his words were but seeing that she clearly understood them. "I thought I was ready for this, I thought we were ready but it turns out that I'm not. I'm so, so sorry Celeste."

He stared at her as a range of emotions crossed her face, hurt, anger, sadness, love, hate, but most importantly, recognition. Celeste gently took back her hand to wipe away some of her tears but surprised him with a nod. "I knew it was coming to this, but I guess I was being selfish."

"Wait, what?" asked Troy, this time being the one confused. "What are you talking about?"

She took in a deep breath before she forced herself to look at him again. "I'm not blind Troy, and I am certainly not as dense as your best friend. I saw the chemistry between you and her at the wedding. I may not have seen the sparks at the first meeting at the pizza place but it was unmistakable when I saw you two dancing, the way you looked at her during the wedding ceremony. I know it wasn't our wedding you were thinking of Troy and it's okay."

Troy adamantly shook his head. "NO! It's not okay, you don't deserve this!"

"But it is how you feel, how you breathe, how you live. I think you honestly meant it when you proposed, when you said you loved me, when you tried to move on by dating me. Seeing Princess Gabriella though again, I think it reopened a dusty box of your history together that you had long since buried in a corner in your mind. Some part of me since the wedding has wondered if things would change between us and I became more aware of what was going on with you. You tried your hardest Troy to keep us together, to go through with this wedding, to honor your commitment to me but I think something must have snapped in you to bring you to this now. To be honest, I've known for some time now that I would hear those words from your mouth and I am at least happy in that you didn't say them the day of our wedding," confessed Celeste. "And before you ask me how, because I know you will, I know you that well, I knew because of instinct but also because you confessed your love for her in your sleep. That cemented it for me Troy. I knew you were hers in those four words. Maybe you have always been hers."

Troy was silent for several minutes, speechless in fact, until he found his voice again. "So you're fine with this? With us being over?"

Celeste sadly shook her head. "I'm not fine or okay with this but I accept it. There's a difference there. All I can say is that she must be something special for you to hold onto her and what you had after all this time. I guess all this is all irrelevant now."

Troy and Celeste both stared at the wedding articles spread out around the table before he noticed her slowly taking the engagement ring off her finger. He put out his right hand and laid it gently over her left, stopping her movements. "We may not be together anymore, we may not be getting married, but I want you to keep the ring, and I want you to know Celeste, with every cell in my body, that I do love you."

"Just not as much as her right?" responded Celeste, bitterness in her voice. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for."

"No, it was totally called for and I deserved that. I'd rather not talk about Brie because this, right here, is between you and me. Celeste, a major reason why I convinced myself this was the right thing to do is because I knew how unfair I am being, to keep you tied up when you deserve to be in love with someone who is in love with you back. To be with someone whose heart is fully yours, without a doubt. I can't deprive you of that experience Celeste, as much as I've wanted to try to make this work. I'm a huge jerk and I know it but I want you to know that I really, truly, do love you and wish nothing but the best for you," said Troy, blinking back some of his own tears as he watched hers get watery.

Celeste used her right hand to wipe some of the tears away again and nodded her head. "I know you do and I love you too. I understand in some ways why this all happened and all I can hope for you now is that you find the happiness and love you are seeking with her. I have another confession to make."

"What?" asked Troy, feeling puzzled again.

Celeste stood up from the table and walked into their bedroom before appearing again with a few somewhat glossy pages in her hand. She handed them over to him and watched as his expression became even more shocked as he looked at each of the articles or pictures. "You know I've always been a bit celebrity obsessed, that's how I recognized Princess Gabriella after all, but I don't think you realized I looked at so many sources. These are the latest of what I've seen."

Troy looked at the pages and saw that most of them were pictures of Gabriella with a man he began to recognize as Patrick but some others when she was with other men. 'My God, how many guys is she actually seeing or are they just friends?' he wondered.

"I guess, some part of me, the selfish part, wanted to keep on going like we were because I knew that she was seeing these men in Copanvy, hoping that it meant that we would stay together but I know now that what I did, it wasn't fair to you and I'm sorry," said Celeste, genuine sincerity in her voice and in her eyes.

He forced himself to put the pages down on the table and looked back at his now ex-fiancé. "Don't be, you have nothing to be sorry for," he murmured as he ventured to embrace Celeste, happy that she returned it.

They stayed that way, in each other's arms, just memorizing the way it all felt just then, knowing as soon as they pulled apart they would have to deal with reality such as how to tell everyone the news, what the living arrangements would be, and how to behave with each other.

"And shortly after that, I started working on how to get myself back to you," concluded Troy, still carefully looking at Gabriella's face, watching the emotions continue to cross her face.

After some time, Gabriella finally looked back at him, a troubled look now on her face. "So you came to Louvis, you came to Copanvy, for this week just to see me?"

He immediately shook his head and gently placed his hands on her shoulders to turn her around so they were facing each other now. "No, don't you see, I've come here to fight for you. To fight for our love, our history, for you Brie, something I should have done quite a long time ago."

"What are you talking about Troy? You're here for a week and as much as it means to me that you came, I don't see how all of this can change what we are to each other. At the end of the week, you'll be going back home to the U.S. with everyone else," replied Gabriella, still trying to absorb everything Troy had just told her, trying to wrap her mind around him no longer being engaged.

Troy shook his head. "Do you really think so little of me and my commitments? I decided three and a half weeks ago I wanted to fight for you with everything I had, despite the uphill battle Paul advised me we're going to have, and to do that I've moved myself here. I knew I couldn't ask you to move for me so I came to you, an actual citizen of Copanvy and all. Your dad helped with that too by the way."

'Oh Mom and Dad both are so in trouble,' she thought quickly before she turned her attention back on the man in front of her. "Are you serious? How can you just break off your engagement to Celeste and do all this in the span of a month though Troy? Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," he replied, knowing he needed to show her exactly how certain he was. "Gabriella, you may still be shocked, I'm sure you still are, but I want you to know that even though we lost touch right after you moved away, that we ended things so long ago, I've always loved you and it's always been you. Dating other women, even being engaged to Celeste, if I was honest, was all out of trying to fool myself into believing that you weren't the love of my life, just my first love. Brie, it's always been you, always, and it still is. I know I have no right to demand you to stop seeing other men but if you aren't committed to one of them, I want to ask that you at least keep us in mind, keep me in mind. This may be selfish of me to say but Brie, Gabriella, after all this time, I need you to know, I'm in love with you. I really, and truly, love you."

Gabriella stared, opening and closing her mouth a little, until she finally found her voice. "Is all this serious? Or am I going to wake up from this beautiful dream to find my sad reality again, the one without you in it?"

Troy felt relief as he chuckled, placing the palm of his right hand on her cheek to cup her face. "If this is a dream, I hope this is one that we'll both never wake from," he murmured, leaning in and capturing her lips with his, grinning from happiness as he felt her return the kiss, the single sign he needed to finalize the validation of his actions that started a little over a month ago. 'This is what it is all about.'

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