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sixteen years ago, he was pushed onto a stage against his will and told by some random dude at a ski lodge that someday he’d thank him for this.
or not…
and for a while there, he thought the guy was crazy, that he was trying something to punk two kids into making fools of themselves.
but then she opened her mouth and sang and troy’s heart, for better or worse, was never the same. the start of something new indeed.
—
she was the music in him. that’s what got him. she awoke this thing in him, this beautiful beast that brought him so much joy. she led him to it in a lot of ways. she led him to finding a part of himself he’d never thought to explore. to expand his worldview beyond albuquerque, new mexico and east high politics. to see the world in a different light.
—
finding her was like catching lightning. long dark curly hair, a smile like sunshine, and the most beautiful brown eyes he’d ever seen. a warmth and light unlike anyone he’s ever known. she danced on a rooftop in the rain with him. she danced under a tree in california with him. and she danced in her bed at stanford where he knew she felt right at home.
she held his hand tight as the climbed onto the stage that sort of started it all back up again, and he’d be damned if he didn’t savor this moment.
—
following her to stanford was an impulse. it was wanting to find her there with him every day, and refusing to let her go. it was the way she set his heart on fire and never let up.
it was supposed to be fluke; two kids who met on vacation, never to see each other again. but then she showed up at his school, and with everything they went through, letting her go after lightning struck just felt… wrong.
—
he marries her on the rooftop garden of their old high school. a tiny ceremony with just their parents and best friends.
there was a time where he thought they wouldn’t get here. when, though he’d followed her to california, the distance and time between them was just too much and not enough. when they called it quits.for. three. whole. years.
but three years had nothing on lightning striking.
because she made everything around him electric, and he’d be damned if he ever let go of that again.
—
sixteen years ago, he met gabriella montez at a ski lodge in colorado pushed onto a stage against his will and told by some random dude at a ski lodge that someday he’d thank him for this.
or not…
but as he stands at the edge of a hospital bed, watching his wife gabriella hold their tiny new daughter, mere minutes after her birth, troy bolton is so thankful.
"hey, wildcat," gabriella's voice is soft, sleepy, exhausted, but she sounds so, so happy, his heart squeezes in his chest. "where'd you go?"
troy smiles at her, bowing down to press a long, lingering kiss to her forehead. "just thinking about how we got here. sixteen years," he murmurs against her brow, before moving over to kiss their daughter's crown. "and how much i love you both."
she grins tiredly, eyes squinty and dimples deep. "we love you, too, papa bear. best sixteen years of my life."