Title: Heartbreak Melodies
Summary: No matter how hard she tried to forget him, no matter the logical reasons behind her leaving, Gabriella couldn't forget the way Troy made her feel. The way she would light up when he smiled. The way she would melt at the sound of his laugh. And the thing that made it the hardest? Troy refused to let her move on without a fight.
Rating: T for occasional strong language.
Disclaimer: All ideas written below are original and are not examples of plagiarism.
A/N Okay, for the last month or so, I have been completely obsessed with The Script's new album, Science and Faith, and there were a few songs in particular that captivated me; as the group have a talent for, not only writing a song, but writing an entire story and compressing it into only four minutes or so. So, listening to the album, got this idea for a story and decided to go with it. This will only be about three chapters long - I can almost guarantee that it will be no more than four. Each chapter (or at the very least, the first two) will be named after a song by The Script and I recommend you have the related song playing in the background to get you in the right mind frame for reading each chapter, as it will most definitely develop my idea even further and get you to connect to the fic. I will put the links for the songs in my profile, please give them a listen - and please, please, get the album - you will thank me for it!
Please, please, please review! I would absolutely love to know what you think!
The Script - NothingThey say a few drinks will help me to forget her
But after one too many I know that I'm never
Only they can see where this is gonna end
They all think I'm crazy but to me it's perfect sense
And my mates are all there trying to calm me down
Cause I'm shouting your name all over town
I'm swearing if I go there now
I can change your mind turn it all around
And I know that I'm drunk but I'll say the words
And she'll listen this time even though they're slurred (?)
Dial her number and confess to her
I'm still in love but all I heard was nothing
(Nothing, nothing …)
Gabriella nervously fluffed her curled hair and adjusted her dress. It was a sleek black number, hugging her body flirtasiously; it was enough to spark the imagination of those of the opposite sex, but by nobody's standards was it tasteless or slutty. It had been three months since she had been on a date. Three months since she had dressed up, and made her bright eyes smoulder for a night in male company. Her hesitant hand as she applied her lip gloss made her feel uneasy and, in the usual Gabriella-like fashion, she began to analyse her behaviour.
Perhaps she wasn't ready to put herself back onto the market. Yes, it had been three months since she became single, but dating another person gave her previous relationship a...finality, didn't it? A finality she wasn't sure she wanted. She sighed, berating her heart for once again getting involved and confusing her. Yes, she loved Troy and yes, it hurt to be without him, but she had left for a reason and the last thing she needed was to begin rethinking her much-considered reasons when her date was expecting her in less than an hour.
Nodding firmly at her reflection, Gabriella pressed her lips tightly together, deciding that she needed a pep talk - one given by someone other than her internal voice. Crossing the living room of her small apartment, she found her mobile laying her sofa, next to her purse and door keys. Dialing a familiar number, she waited patiently for the ringing to morph into the voice of her best friend.
"Helooo," came Sharpay's enthusiastic greeting.
"Shar," Gabriella began tentatively. "Would you be annoyed if your date cancelled on you with only..." she rotated her wrist, checking the time on the small face of her silver watch. "With only like forty minutes until you were meant to meet?"
"What?" Sharpay said sharply, "Daniel cancelled? What kind of man does that? That...that jerk! You know what, you're better of without him-"
"Shar," Gabriella interjected.
"If I'm being honest, I never liked him - you c do much better," she said matter of factly
"Sharpay!" Gabriella snapped, silencing her friend's outraged rambling.
"Yes?" She replied sheepishly.
"It...isn't Daniel...It's me. I'm not sure I want to go," Gabriella winced.
"Brie," Sharpay sighed, understanding Gabriella's hesitations yet not wholly supportive of them. "It's been three months, don't you think it's time you got back out there?"
"You make it sound as though this was a casual fling Troy and I had: I spent eight years of my life with him; three months doesn't erase that time and those memories," Gabriella replied, defensively, resenting Sharpay's insinuation.
"I was there for those eight years, Gabriella, it was me who did you're make up for your first date with Troy, so do not suggest that I don't understand what the two of you meant to one another." Sharpay was usually good-humoured, but whenever her love or understanding of her family and closests friends were question, another side of her personality was revealed.
Sharpay and Gabriella had known each other from the age of five and had grown together practically as sisters. During high school the two were seen as the unlikeliest of friends - Gabriella being the girl next door, and Sharpay the dramaic, highly-strung daughter of a millionaire businessman - however their bond withstood the snide remarks of high school and their friendship only strengthened.
"Look, I know that, okay?" Gabriella conceded, knowing her comment was unfair. "I just feel As though everybody is telling me to move on and...it isn't necessarily what I always want to hear."
"Gabriella. You left Troy, you decided it was over. This wasn't just a whim, you had your reasons, so, yes, to a degree people are going to wonder why you won't move on. I don't mean to sound cruel, but, Gabriella, he didn't die, you just left him; you can't put your life on hold for him."
"But what if I made a mistake?" She whispered with regret, finally voicing her deepest fear. She inhaled deeply, fighting the resurfacing image of Troy's pleading eyes as she closed the door of their apartment behind her for the last time.
"This is why you need to start dating again. If you keep putting it off, you'll sit around, going crazy wondering if your decision was wrong. Go out, and have some fun. Nobody's saying you should marry the guy,right? It's just drinks. And who better to start with than Daniel? He seems like a nice guy."
"You were telling me like 5 minutes ago that he was a good-for-nothing scumbag who didn't deserve my time," Gabriella chuckled, half-heartedly.
"Pshh," Sharpay waved her hand dismissively on the other end of the line. "I was just being a good friend. Seriously, I think you should give him a chance."
Gabriella sighed once more, twirling her hair between her nimble fingers in contemplation. She supposed she could do worse with her Friday night than go on a date...right? Her heart wasn't in it, but somehow she was able to see Sharpay's perspective. "If it sucks and I'm having a horrible time, will you throw me an 'emergency' call?" She requested in a young voice, recalling all the times throughout high school and college she had rescued her friends from mind-numbing dates, with reasons ranging from a dead dog to a fire at their homes - she had gotten really imaginative during the last few years.
"Of course, honey. How does a break-in sound?"
"Mine or yours?"
"Mine; I'll need the comfort of my best friend."
"Nice," Gabriella giggled, feeling a little more positive.
"Well, go on, you have to meet him soon."
"Yeah."
"Brie, don't over analyse it, 'kay? Just let go.".
()()
Although Gabriella politely thanked Daniel for his compliment, she couldn't help but feel a little uneasy at the way his eyes washed over her body in approval before he swooped in and pressed his lips to her cheek.
"Uhmm...you look nice, too," she supplied lamely.
"You're just trying to flatter me," he teased, looking down at his simple dress as though it were nothing special. He wore a plain black shirt and dark jeans, his blonde hair in a simple short back and sides cut. "So, are you ready to go?" He posed, extending his bent arm for Gabriella to latch on to.
She accepted his arm gracefully, smiling. As she slipped her petite hand into the crook of his elbow, she felt his biceps through the sheathing of his shirt. It didn't feel like...no! She stopped herself again: she had to stay in the moment and not let other things - or people - invade her mind.
"There's this bar not too far from here - I thought we could go. They do really nice cocktails and...I've only been a few times but the atmosphere is really nice. I heard they have karaoke every other Saturday, as well," A laugh boomed from his chest as he smiled enthusiastically down at Gabriella who was almost a whole foot shorter than him. "Not that I expect us to get involved or anything coz that's...pretty lame, if you ask me, but it could be fun to watch."
As they strolled down the street, their bodies illuminated by the bars and clubs of California, Gabriella felt almost as though her heart was in her mouth as they took a route very familiar to her. There were only a handful of bars in that were classy but still had karaoke nights. She was lying to herself; there was only one - one she knew very well. She contemplated asking Daniel if they could go somewhere else, but then thought against it. Perhaps that wasn't the best way to start a date?
About half an hour after they had got to the bar, Gabriella began to loosen up. There was a chance, of course, that it was the glass of wine swimming through her blood stream, but she liked to believe it was her finally being able to 'let go' as Sharpay had said. She wasn't, at this stage, seeing there being a follow-up date, but at least she was somewhat relaxed.
"You know," Daniel began, "I was a little surprised when you agreed to come out with me."
Placing a single nut into her mouth, Gabriella quirked her eye brow. "You were?"
"Well I..." Daniel suddenly stopped, scanning Gabriella's face earnestly. "This could sound stalkerish," he explained but Gabriella urged him to continue. "Well, I'd seen you a few times before I actually approached you, and I kind of asked around about you. I heard that...that you didn't date."
Gabriella, despite biting her lip, couldn't resist laughing at the rumour.
"Is it not true?"
"Partly," she replied simply before taking a sip of her red wine. "I..." They had chosen to sit in the booths with the black leather seating, and beneath the dim spot lights, Gabriella could see Daniel attempting subtly - and failing - to inch closer to her without her noticing, and his body inclining towards her while his eyes watched her with an intensity that didn't sit well with her. "I've recently come out of a serious relationship, so yeah, I wasn't dating but...not in the way I'm sure some people made it sound."
Daniel's nervous chuckled and guilty blush confirmed Gabriella's suspicions. "Did you think I was some kind of Ice Maiden or something?"
"Or something."
She shrugged, "I just wasn't really ready before."
Nodding with understanding, Daniel asked, "But you are now?"
In that second, every word of her and Sharpay's conversation, every second thought and hesitation flashed through Gabriella's mind, and she sucked in a sharp breath at the pain that once again began to worm through her heart. Daniel seemed to notice, perhaps that pain also flashed through her mocha eyes, and he reached over, brushing his thumb over the back of her hand.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that. I understand your situation," he promised, his blue eyes drilling into hers. "How about we say, right now, no strings and no expectations."
His suggestion, on the surface, seemed innocent, but Gabriella was untrusting. She had enough friends - male and female - and had over-heard enough conversations at college to know that when a guy of 24 used the term 'no strings attatched and no expectations', it was really code for 'we can do it and I can hit you up ocassionally when I need to get my dick wet but don't expect an emotional attatchment.' Wanting to avoid the topic entirely, Gabriella slipped her hand fro, under his, and took a glance to her left.
She pursed her lips momentarily before saying randomly, "I really love this song."
()()
Just when Gabriella thought she could handle no more of the shallow, uninteresting small-talk, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around as though whomever it was - even just a waitress bringing more snacks - may save her from her misery. The face she saw looming above her filled her heart with joy.
"Chad!" She sprung out of the booth, throwing her arms around her friend and attempting to engulf his broad frame into arms while squeezing tightly in praise of his timing.
"Gabs," came his boiyant reply, welcoming her embrace but eyeing her company curiously over her shoulder.
"What are you doing here?" She questioned when she finally pulled back, not being able to resist running her fingers over his chest to feel the tiny chrystals that made up the skull shape on his jet black t-shirt.
"You know, having some drinks," Chad shrugged evasively, "I looked over and I thought 'hey, I know that curly brown hair!' so I thought I'd say hi."
Gabriella had been so excited by Chad's appearance, that she only remembered that she had company when someone closeby cleared their throat. "Oh gosh, I'm so rude! Umm...Chad this is Daniel, Daniel this is Chad: we've been friends since high school," she explained of the man that was more of a brother to her.
"Nice to meet you, man," Chad said politely, all the while gripping his hand in a shake that said in no uncertain terms that he did not approve of his presence. "Uhmm...Gabs, can I speak to you for a moment," he said when he released his vice. He appreciated that her date - Darren, was it? - got the cue and excused himself to buy drinks.
"Can I get you anything," he offered, to which Chad refused. "Gabriella?"
"Uhh...Apple Martini would be great." When Daniel was beyond hearing distance, Gabriella turned back to Chad. "So, what's up?"
"You're on a date?" He said, his tone accusatory. It was understandable considering that he and Troy were best friends, and that he'd often been employed by Troy to get Gabriella to changed her mind when she left.
"Don't give me that look, I am allowed to date," Gabriella said firmly, rolling her eyes at his stance.
"I know you are, but...that guy?"
"He's not a bad guy, I mean..." Gabriella paused mid-defence and shook her head, causing her curled locks to flap wildly. "Why am I defending this to you? Listen, Troy and I aren't together anymore." As she spoke, she tried to mask the crack of emotion in her voice. "We can date other people."
"But..." Chad sighed and shook his head.
"Chad?"
"He's here, Gabs. Me, Troy and Jase decided to come out tonight and we came here."
Exactly what Gabriella had feared had confronted her and her head began to swim with the worry. "Has he seen me?"
"He's in the bathroom," Chad responded after shaking his head - and throwing a quick glance over his shoulder to check his information was still valid. "Me and Jase saw you just after he left. Jase says hi, by the way, but we thought it was best if someone stayed back and kind of distracted him if he came out."
"I knew, I knew we shouldn't have come here," Gabriella muttered into Chad's bicep, where she had buried her head. "I just wanted to drinks - non-awkward, non-complicated drinks - then he suggested we come here and I knew I was screwed, I knew it."
Chad wrapped a comforting arm around her, and Gabriella contemplated ditching Daniel while he was still at the bar, and saving herself the anguish, but just as the thought grew in appeal, she saw him approaching. Chasd felt her pull back, and immediately realised the situation.
"I can try to keep him occupied, but I can't promise anything."
"Thanks."
"An Apple Martini for you," Daniel smiled broadly as he approached, his voice - which Gabriella was finding increasingly obnoxious - cutting threw the hushed tones of Chad and Gabriella's.
Chad left when Daniel set Gabriella's Martini down, wleaving Gabriella with a reassuring whisper and Daniel with a warning not to hurt his 'sister'.
For half an hour following Chad's departure, Gabriella listened to Daniel talk about his experience in med school and his future career as a doctor. She began to wonder if something was wrong with her. Here she was with an articulate, ambitious, attractive man in front of her. She stopped reconsidering her thoughts. Sure, he was attractive according to the textbooks and society, but in actuality, she had never really liked blonde guys - at least not in that way. And, sure, his eyes were blue, but his had the effect of making him seem cold an unfeeling. They weren't like Troy's; Troy's were deep, everlasting pools of blue that conveyed his every thought and emotion. She loved Troy's eyes. She loved their warmth, and she loved the way they seemed to gaze directly into her soul. She could happily spend eternity gazing into Troy's eyes.
Just as the thought popped into her mind, she made the mistake of flickering hey eyes to her left - those eyes meeting hers. Those eyes showing his heart breaking all over again.
"Gabriella. Gabriella?" Gabriella tensed. The voice that called her name seemed harsh and raw in comparison to Troy's tender gaze, but she knew she had to tear her eyes from his, and refocus her attention.
"Umm..." she cleared her throat, hoping to dislodge the lump that waas forming there. "Yeah?"
"I was saying that umm...medicine turns a lot of people off when they think of the blood and the deaths."
"I suppose so," she said absentmindedly, looking at him but not really seeing.
Her flirting function had been disabled, she concluded. When she had first met Troy, she was seventeen and was without any experience regarding those of the opposite sex. Yet, as shy, retiring and bookish as she was, that basketball boy had managed to draw out that person within - so deep within, even Gabriella had not known she had existed - who was willing to accept her burgeoning womanhood and flirt with sexually. But with Daniel, she seemed completely inept. At twenty four she was once again unable to flirst, each of her attempts being forced and cringe-worthy.
"Is there something really fascinating going on at the bar that I can't see, because I've spent the last half hour speaking to your cheek," Daniel said tersely. He followed her eyeline and found himself staring directly at Troy who was snarling in his direction, a shot glass pressed to his lips. Sensing that he was more than your average admirerer Daniel glanced back at his date and narrowed his eyes.
"Remember I said I was in a serious relationship?" Gabriella asked meekly, rimming her cocktail glass in her anxiety.
In disbelief at the apparent awkwardness, Daniel muttered "No freakin way. And by the way he's giving me daggers I assume it wasn't his choice to end it?"
"Umm..." Gabriella winced and cast her eyes down at the table, running her fingers over the object as though she were examining ancient inscriptions. "We don't know each other that well so I'd rather not discuss my previous relationship."
"Oh, sure, I apologize of that seemed in anyway intrusive." There is was again: those impecable manners that Gabriella could not be enticed by.
()()
Just when Gabriella was certain her night couldn't possibly go further down the toilet, she heard Troy's slurred voice, demanding the young woman behind the bar bring him another shot. When he grew even more persistent and irate at her refusal, the intimidation felt by the petite bar maid was palpable as her face contorted and she called another member of staff to deal with the inebriated Troy.
The barman she called was much larger than Troy in height and width, but Troy being decidedly intoxicated - having opted to drown his sorrows and muffle the pained voices in his head with copios shots of tequila and glasses of brandy - didn't acknowledge the pysical differences and was not at all intimidated by his menacing stance.
"Listen buddy," he snarled, leaning over the bar with his eyes drilling into Troy's. "This is a nice place and we don't like our place associated with drunken rif-raf. I think it's time you settle your bill and leave."
"Like hell I will," Troy shouted back, outraged that he had been a customer of this bar since it had first opened, and yet he was having a guy in a too-tight black shirt who had only been working there a week, what was expected from their clientle - screw him. "This is fucking shitty customer service!" He bellowed, spinning in his stool to look at the crowd in the bar - a mixture of people who were pretending not to hear the dispute, people who tried not to stare but felt compelled to spare odd glances in his direction and finally, people who thrived on the drama and didn't dare tear there eyes away, for fear they would miss something exciting. "Shitty customer service!" He repeated to his audience.
At that moment, he felt the sensation of someone gripping his arm. When he turned to face the owner of the hand, his vision was blurred but he just about managed to recognise Jason's face.
"Dude, I think it's time we go. You're making a scene, dude, it's not cool," Jason advised, discretely, speaking in a hushed voice. Chad was behind him, nodding in agreement to his words and already getting his wallet out to settle the bill for the drinks they had ordered.
"I want my fucking drink! I don't care that I'm making a scene, Jason!" The exertion of yelling had caused the blood to rush to his head and he stumble slightly but quickly re-established his balance by gripping on to Jason's arm. "Maybe if I make a scene I can forget that the love of my fucking life is sitting over there with another fucking man!" The candour of his slurred, heart broken words elicited a sharp intake of breaths from those surrounding him and everybody - the ones who had been listening and the ones who hadn't - followed his eyeline directly to Gabriella.
()
While Troy had been making an ass of himself, Gabriella gritted her teeth, feeling the embarrassment he would have felt for himself had he been fully present.
"What a douche bag," Daniel snorted when Troy stumbled about after tearing down their customer service. "What kind of man can't handle his drink?"
"You don't know Troy," Gabriella said simply, biting her tongue.
"And I'm glad that's the case."
"You don't know him, so don't talk about him like you do," she snapped with a sharp tongue, restraining herself from saying more. "I've known Troy since I was seventeen and I've seen him drunk only three times, so don't you look at him and this that he's some waste of space loser because you have no idea how much of a man he is."
Daniel was just about to retalliate, questioning why, if he was so much of a man, she was sitting here on a date with him and not loved up with the drunk dude across the bar. But just as his lips parted, those pained words shot from Troy's mouth and silence fell. Gabriella weighed up her decisions: she could remain still and have pairs of strangers' eyes bore into her or she could have them bore into her - as she rose and slipped away. She chose the latter.
As though noone was watching, she slid from the booth, picked up her bag and walked to the bathroom casually - all the while with flaming cheeks. The second she got to the bathroom and did a quick scan to ensure it was empty, she let her head fall limp against the bathroom door and released a her phone from her bag, she immediately dialled Sharpay's number.
"This is a disaster," she said the very second the ringing ceased.
"You need a lifeline?"
"Not that kind of dreadful, Sharpay," she whined. Had it not been for the fact she refused to cry in a public decorum, she would have bursted into tears and let the anguish rush from her body. "Troy's here and I'm on date."
"Has he seen you?" Sharpay gasped.
"Would I be freaking out had he not seen me?" Gabriella snapped with a touch of nueroticism. "This is just...fucked."
"Listen, calm down. It's just a date."
"I know. And we did agree to date other people -"
Sharpay snorted: "To be fair you didn't really give Troy a choice," she muttered. Silence was on the other end of the line and she immediately regretted her words. "I may have had a few rum cocktails - don't blame me?"
"It's not about me being on a date it's just. Troy's here and he's like...smashed and I know it's my fault and then Daniel's telling me he's a douche for not being able to hold his drink and then...then every time I looked over Troy was giving me those eyes, those stupid eyes that make me melt and want to just have him hold me and...this is all so fucked up." Despite the resolve she had made, she felt a lone tear trickle down her cheek."
"Shar, I just...I'm gonna go," she sighed.
"Do you want me to come get you?" Sharpay offered, trying her best to rectify Gabriella's issues. "We can stuff our faces with ice-cream?" She implored.
"No, no thanks. I'm just going to go home."
There conversation ended a few moments later, with Gabriella promising to call Sharpay if she wanted company, even if it was three in the morning when the need presented itself. Gabriella retouched her lip gloss and gathered herself before exiting her confines.
Some eyes still found her when she reappeared but the majority had begun to entertain themselves. She heard the beginning of a meldoy that, months before, would have made her heart glow with the tenderness of its lyrics, but tonight it struck fear into her.
"Oh, gosh no," she mumbled repeatedly, as she rushed through the small crowd that had gathered by the mini stage. "Please, God, don't do this to me."
But Gabriella's prayers were unanswered as, before her, stood Troy, microphone in hand, swaying to the tune.
"Gabi!" He blurted out, the loud volume of his voice indicating he had loss the perspective of distance in his drunken state, not realising, being so close, Gabriella could have heard him whisper. "You 'member this? This your faverut sung." His tongue sounded heavy, his words not fully formed. "You sing it all time."
"Chad, Jason do something!" Gabriella hissed imploringly with wide-eyed horror.
"You don't think we've tried?" Chad posed incredulously. "He didn't just get this drunk - we've been trying to stop him for ages."
And then he began to sing, and even completely smashed their was a beauty in the vulnerabilty of his tone that warmed Gabriella inside. "If you're standing with your suitcase, but you can't get on the train - everything's the way that you left it, I still havent slept yet..."
"Troy, please, get down, you're not thinking straight."
"S'I am," he protested while the music continued to swirt around him. "If the truth is your a liar," he continued, "when you say that you're okay - still sleeping on your side of the bed going out of my head, now."
There was a vicious battle being fought between Gabriella's head and heart. The former remiding her of the reasons she had left, while the latter threatened to succumb to his heart-felt words, the women surrounding Gabriella in the bar whisering about how cute his pleading behaviour was.
"I can't do this," Gabriella whispered to herself, feeling the tears tingle in her eyes and fighting the looming combustion. She began to once again worm through the crowd towards the exit and Troy, spotting her attempt to depart only raised his voice and skipped to the chorus:
"...But even if wishing is a waste of time...even if I never crossed your mind: I'll leave the door on the latch if you ever come back, if you ever come back. There'll be a light on in the hall and a key under the mat if you ever come back, if you ever come back, there'll be a smile on my face and the kettle on and it'll be just like you were never gone." And he got louder still: "And they same I'm watsing my time. Gabi! They say you're never coming home," he rushed the words out, altering them slightly. "But they used to say the world was and how wrong was that, now?" Then he gave up completely and dove of the stage, fighting through his audience.
"Don't walk away from this, Gabi, please!" He begged shamelessly.
Gabriella was right by the door when she felt someone grip her arm. She knew from experience that it wasn't troy and saw Daniel peering down at her. "So, what you're just leaving. You were just going to walk out like that?"
"Hey, get your fucking hand off her!" Troy demanded, having closed in on them. "Who the fuck do you think you are holding her like that?"
"I'm not some fucking drunk loser that's who the fuck I am!"
Gabriella yanked her arm free, outraged at his attitude and stepped through the door, welcoming the fresh air on her skin. To her dismay, both men came after her, the disputer spilling onto the side street wherethe bar was located.
"Gabriella, listen, are you honestly telling me that this is the guy who you're leaving me for? This...this twat?"
Gabriella, who had previously been facing in the opposite direction, whipper her head around, her hair slapping against her face with the force of the action. "How dare you?" Gabriella demanded, a face like thunder as she pointed her slender finger at Daniel. "You think because you happen to sober today and because your in med school, you have the right to judge Troy!" Something had been activated within Gabriella that she couldn't repress and she continued. "You have no idea how big his heart is, how intelligent and responsible he is. You don't know a damn thing about him, and you know what?" By this stage, Gabriella didn't care that several pairs of eyes were trained on them inquisitively as people walked passed. "You don't know a damn thing about me."
Before the blonde's brain engaged enough to part his lips and dispute her statement, Troy had seen a chance and lept athis opportunity; exclaiming like an exciteable five year old:
"I know you, Gabi, I know you!" He took her hands gently in his own and shok his hands, gazing imploring while he continued. "I know you better than I know myself, Gabi, you know that!"
"Dude, you're embarrassing yourself," Daniel snarled, but Troy ignored him."
"I know how you like to drop rose oil in your bath because it reminds you of gardening with your dad. I know how, you still cry everytime you watch My Girl, and I know why you still cry. I know how you're afraid of cats and how -"
"Stop!" Gabriella pulled her hands free of his grasp, facing her palm outwards as though pushing Troy away but not actually touching him. When she shook her head, her curls bounced. "Both of you just stop it! You'reboth just talking at me and getting in my fucking head and..." Gabriella couldn't take any more; herchin began to tremble and she sighedin defeat when she felt tears, resulting from her over-worked brain, silently stream down her cheeks. She didn't care that her make-up was most likely smudge, or that she looked like a basket-case, standing in the street, dressed in her pretty dress with perfect curls, crying and she didn't care that people were staring. She just wanted the voices to stop.
"Don't cry, Gabi," Troy attempted, reaching out and grazing his fingers along her arm.
"Don't," she said, a pleading whisper couple with a vulnerable head shake.
She turned her back on both of them, wiping the palm of her left hand over her face in one rough swipe. Snivelling, she hailed a taxi and while she waited for it to pull into the curb, she licked her lips repeatedly in a hope to stop the tears that continued to burgeon. She knew both men when still watching her; she was used to sensing Troy's lazering eyes burn into her, and Daniel, she assumed he was still watching just through the bewilderment felt at being shot down.
She pulled open the car door and as she placed her left foot into the vehicle, Troy softly said her name and something about it, the way his voice seemed to travel directly to her heart, made her slowly swivel her head around to meet his eyes, turned almost navy blue with intesity of his stare.
"Let me get your taxi?"
Gabriella chuckled in an almost bitter 'it figures' kind of way and tipped her head. " Good night, Troy." With that, she climbed into the car and the door thudded softly behind her.
And that final exchange played in her head over and over during the journey home. That had been the essence of Troy, those five words embodying the reason for her love for him: even when, to be blunt, he was completely and utterly smashed, he still didn't want her to pay...
Nothing & If You Ever Come Back, courtesy of The Script
Hope you enjoyed! Please review! xoxo