Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from HSM! I do however own the original ones so the adorable Keegan is mine=]=]

Chapter 1 - Life Now

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A 24 year old Gabriella Montez walked into her apartment after a long day at work. It was 8:00pm on a Friday, she always had meetings on Fridays until this time. She was head of the music department in a local high school and she loved it. All the kids liked her and when she was teaching a lesson they all respected her and did their work. She originally moved to New York to be the next pop sensation and the record label really believed in her until something happened that changed her life completely.

She sighed as threw her keys on the kitchen counter. She shuffled through the mail before throwing it with her keys. She took off her shoes and then followed the sound of giggling. She smiled as she entered her bathroom and saw the sight in front of her.

"Hey guys" she smiled. They both looked up and smiled.

"Hey Gabs, have a good day at work?" The 19 year old asked.

"Yeah, it was good thanks Louise, how has he been?"

"Good, he ate all his dinner and he has just started having his bath" they both smiled at the little boy in the tub.

"Ok well you can leave if you want? I got this" she said as she crouched down my the tub. Louise stood up, dried her hands then smiled. "I'll pay you tomorrow if that's ok?"

"Yeah it's fine, see ya Gabs" she waved. "Bye Keegan" she blew the little boy a kiss then left.

"Have you been a good boy Keegan?" Gabriella asked her son.

Keegan James, Gabriella's little boy, was four years old. He had celebrated his forth birthday 4 months ago. He was born on the 13th May and she loved him more than anyone else in the whole world. He was her life now. He reminded her so much of his daddy and she loved that about him. His dad wasn't around but it didn't mean she didn't love him still. He had his eyes, his hair and even his personality. Even though they had never met she was sure if they did they would be like best friends as well as father and son.

"Yeah, I have mommy, I did lots of drawings at school and then when Lou-Lou picked me up I ate all my dinner up" he said happily.

"Your mommy's good boy aren't you?" He nodded as she kissed his head.

"Mommy?" Keegan said in his innocent little voice.

"Yes baby?" She smiled.

"I cried at school today" his bottom lip stuck out.

"Oh why baby?" She stroked his wet hair as he explained.

"Some of the other boys in my class said that I was stupid, and they said that my daddy doesn't love me like their daddy's do" he told her.

"Awww baby, your daddy does love you, them boys were just being silly" she hugged him and then lifted his towel. "Shall we go get you in your jammies?" He nodded his little head and held his arms up. Gabriella lifted him from the tub and wrapped him in his towel. She carried him through to his bedroom.

She dried him and then got out his pajama's. He stepped into the bottoms and then lifted his arms to get his top on. Gabriella then ran a brush through his hair and smiled at him.

"Mommy?" He asked again.

"Yes Kee?"

"Can you tell me about my daddy?" He asked sweetly.

"Again?" She smiled. "We only talked about him yesterday baby" she laughed.

"But I have never met him so I want you to tell me again, I like the story mommy" she smiled.

"I like the story too" she kissed him. "Shall we get in mommy's bed and snuggle up whilst I tell it?" Keegan nodded and ran to his bed, got his teddy bear that he cuddled every night then dragged Gabriella to her room. Gabriella laughed as he jumped in bed smiling.

"Come on mommy" he said.

"Can I get ready for bed first?" He sighed then nodded. She laughed and went to get her night clothes. She put on the plaid bottoms and the over sized T-Shirt before tying her hair up in a messy bun. She then climbed in bed and Keegan snuggled into her side. It was now 8:30pm, past his bed time but she would let him stay up later as it was weekend tomorrow.

"You will need this won't you mommy?" He handed her his teddy.

"In a while yes, now where shall I start?" She smiled as she took the teddy from him.

"Talk about how you and daddy met" he smiled up at her, the exact smile his dad used to have.

"Well, mommy was living with a very good friend who was like her mommy" she started as he nodded. "And she had a nephew who was being a naughty boy at home so he came to live with us" she smiled as she remembered. "His name was Troy..." Keegan interrupted.

"Troy Bolton, like my last name to wasn't it mommy?" He said quickly.

"Yeah it was sweetie" she smiled. "Well mommy and Troy became best friends and we told each other everything" she continued. "Even our secrets, and one day Troy's daddy got really sick so we had to go and visit him" Keegan nodded again. "And after a few days Troy's daddy couldn't get better so the angels took him to take care of him for Troy and his mommy" Keegan interrupted again.

"Were they the same angels that took your mommy and daddy?" He asked.

"Yes, they are very nice angels and like looking after poorly people" she smiled. "After a while me and Troy started to be boyfriend and girlfriend" she laughed at his scrunched up face. "And we fell in love with each other" she smiled at the memory.

"Like Cinderella and Prince Charming?" He asked.

"Yeah, just like that" she nodded. "And we went on holiday for the weekend and whilst we were on that holiday mommy ended up getting pregnant with a baby" she felt tears touch her eyes at the thought of her baby.

She had been pregnant with a baby girl called Esme Rose but at 7 and a half months she ended up having a still birth.

"And mommy and Troy was very happy, but after a few months mommy got some sad news" she told him.

"The angels took Esme too" he added.

"That's right" she smiled. He knew the story enough to tell it himself.

"But Esme wasn't sick was she mommy?" He asked innocently.

"No, she wasn't, we don't know why the angels took her but they must have needed her to have done so" she smiled at his naivety. "And so after the angels took Esme mommy got really upset and decided to leave LA and move to New York, Troy was very upset about it and so was I, me and Troy promise we would always love each other and then a few months after living in New York mommy found out she was pregnant again" she smiled as she knew he was going to finish the story as usual.

"And I was the baby in your tummy, wasn't I mommy?" He smiled.

"Yes you were, and mommy gave you this teddy bear, can you remember why?" She asked him, knowing he would.

"Yes, it was Esme's and Esme would have been my big sister so you said I could have it" Gabriella nodded and kissed him.

"That's right" she smiled. Keegan yawned and she stroked his hair from his face. "You get some sleep now baby" she whispered handing him his teddy back as his eyes drifted shut. "Mommy loves you baby boy" she whispered as he snored quietly.

Gabriella carefully got out of bed and went downstairs. She sighed as she sat on the sofa. She touched the locket Troy had given her at the airport. It had the same pictures in it, it was in the same condition. The only times she removed it was if she was in the bath or something that could ruin the pictures.

Telling that story always brought back so many memories for her. She missed Troy more than ever, she still loved him. She had never met anyone else worth her love. Some guys took her on dates but as soon as they heard about Keegan, her four year old son, they ran for the hills.

She felt guilty. Troy didn't even know Keegan existed, no one back in LA did, she couldn't tell them. Troy would have been a great dad to but by the time she knew she was pregnant she was settled in her apartment and didn't want to give it up and move again. She kept this to herself and when people asked where his dad was she just told them he worked really hard in another part of the country and would call and write all the time.

Truth was she spoke to Troy a handful of times when she first moved but then it got too painful, for him as well she could tell by his voice. So she cut off all contact with him and her friends, she couldn't bare to hear about them all being happy when in truth, before Keegan came along she was miserable.

She still spoke to Taylor though and Michelle because they were two people she could bare the pain for. Not that she couldn't for Troy, she could handle her pain. She just didn't want him in pain, that was too much to bare. She asks about all her friends though when she talks to Michelle and Taylor.

Chad and Taylor were now married and she was expecting her first baby in a few months. She was having a little boy and Chad was over the moon about it. The restaurant was still a huge success and they still talked to Troy all the time. Even Ben and Cal called them sometimes.

Ben, Cal and Troy had opened up their own music school for under 16's. Apparently it was a huge success and they were all very happy. Ben was now engaged to her old friend Sarah, Cal had been in a relationship with a girl called Zara for a few years and Troy was still single. Seems he couldn't find anyone good enough for him either. Apparently all he did was compare them to Gabriella and then said he just couldn't move on, he wasn't ready. This set off her guilt again because she had a part of Troy with her. She had Keegan, his first son. But he had nothing of Gabriella with him.

Lucille was living on the street from Michelle who still lived in the same old house. Troy was living on his own in an apartment that was a fifteen minute drive from his mom and aunt. She sighed as she thought about all of them. Troy should know about Keegan, this wasn't right. She had to do the on thing she never wanted to. She would have to go back to LA and face the music.

She stood up, shut off all the lights then went to the computer in the lounge. She turned it on and once it was loaded she went on the airline website. She looked through flights from New York to LA and found two seats available for next week. They were cheap enough so she type din her credit card details and booked them. She was going to LA. She was going to give Keegan the chance to meet his daddy, it was the right thing to do.

With that done she sent Taylor an email explaining that she was coming back next week and that she wanted to meet up as she had something majorly important to tell her or more like show her. She then shut off the computer and went to bed. She crawled in beside her little boy who instantly snuggled into her side. She knew she shouldn't let him sleep in her bed but she would do anything for her little boy.

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Troy was just locking up the school when he heard someone behind him. He turned and smiled at Ben.

"Hey man, what are you doing here?" He asked his business partner and best friend.

"Just going to meet Sarah, walk her home from work, why have you only just locked up Troy?" He smiled.

"Just got that paper work finished, I have that business meeting next week don't I? So it needed doing so you and Cal could look over it" Ben nodded.

"You need to not push yourself to hard though man, you take everything too seriously these days" he sighed.

"Yeah, I just don't feel like me anymore" Troy told him. "It's like I'm not living, I'm just going through the motions of life" he explained.

"Call her Troy" Troy shook his head.

"It's probably not even her number anymore" he told his friend.

"You could at least try, how do you know she doesn't feel the same? What if she wants to come back but doesn't think you'll take her back?" Ben asked.

"She knows I would never turn her away, she is always welcome back" Ben shook his head.

"Maybe she needs reminding of that, Troy it has been 5 years!" He exclaimed.

"Ben, please don't start, I've already had Cal on my back about it today" he sighed.

"Then maybe you should start listening" he said before stopping. "I need to go meet Sarah but just think about it ok?" Troy nodded.

"Right dude, will do" they waved to each other then Troy got in his car and drove to his apartment.

It took him half an hour to get there and when he did he sighed. It was quite a big apartment for only him. He didn't even know why he bought one so big. It had two bathrooms, three bedrooms, a kitchen, lounge, family room, dining room and then in the back garden it had a mini basketball court and swimming pool. He walked through to his room and got changed out of his work clothes and into a pair of sweats.

He then settled down into his sofa in the family room as his cell rang. He sighed and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Dude guess what?!" It was Chad. (Troy/Chad)

"What Chad?"

"Taylor just got a message of Gabs, she is coming back to LA!" He announced.

"What?!" Troy shouted as he stood up.

"Yeah, next week, she said she has some big surprise for Tay" he said happily.

"OMG!" He said in shock.

"Dude this is awesome, we're getting her back" Chad said, Troy could tell he was smiling.

"Yeah, awesome, ummm man I need to go" he said quietly.

"Ok dude, speak later"

"Yeah bye Chad" he hung up and sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

Gabriella, 'his' Gabriella was coming back to LA. Why now? Why after all this time was she returning? What was this big surprise? He didn't know all he knew was that someway his life was about to get flipped upside down and he didn't know whether to be happy or nervous about that. One thing he was happy about though...

He was getting her back!

I know it isn't as long as normal but I just wanted this to be kind of like a filler into what they have been doing and feeling since Gabriella left=] So she is coming back to LA? Will she stay or leave for New York again? What will Taylor say about Keegan? What will Troy do? Only one way to find out...

Read Chapter 2 of the sequel to 'Dance With Me'=]

Reviews Please guys=]

xxx Paige xxx