DISCLAIMER: I do not own High School Musical or High School Musical Two. They are the property of Disney Channel. They are being used by me for entertainment and I am making no money off of their use. Please do not sue.
A/N: This is my first HSM Fan Fiction. I've read several, but have never written my own. I've read a few with this general idea, but hope that I can manage to take this in a very different direction. Thanks for reading it! Please review and leave a fully constructive comment. I love having readers help me come up with new ideas! Thanks a ton...in advance! :-)
Summary: Troy Bolton's parents are going through a rough time. He seeks comfort from Gabi, and entrusts her to keep his secrets. One day, however, the issues become too much to keep a secret and Troy is faced with one of the most difficult situations of his entire life. Warning: Abuse (sexual, physical, emotional) and content meant for readers above age 13 featured ahead.
A Broken Wing
Chapter One:
"Ella," he whispered softly with mild desperation in his voice after he crawled through her window and into her bed, "Please, Ella, wake up."
Slowly, Gabriella Montez awoke from her night's rest and looked into her boyfriend's broken blue gaze, "Rough at home?"
Troy Bolton, the number one jock at East High School, looked at his girlfriend with a twisted expression, "To put it mildly, yeah. You could call it rough."
She ran a hand through her long black hair and sat up in her bed as she moved closer to him, "Well, you can stay here. Mom's on a business trip."
He smiled at her sadly and and rested his head on her shoulder, accepting the much needed comfort of Gabriella's warm embrace as she wrapped her arms around him. Troy wasn't usually one to accept solace or pity from anyone. He didn't often sneak into his girlfriend's house through her window and wake her up in the middle of the night because his parents were fighting, though the situations in which he willingly sought her consolation were greatly increasing in number with each passing week.
But when his father was drunk and came into his room looking for a good time, Troy Bolton left the premises of his childhood home and went to one of the only safe havens he could always count on. Gabriella never abandoned him or turned him away. If there was risk of her mother discovering his presence, Gabi usually hid him in her closet until the moment of danger had passed. There were nights, though, when she told Troy she was going to the restroom and instead woke her mother, telling her of the frightened look in Troy's eyes and his need for her presence.
Ms. Montez was aware of the situation in its entirety and promised her daughter that they would do whatever they could to protect the boy she had come to love as a son when they had made the dreaded move to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Troy, however was not willing to admit to anyone, even Gabi, that his father was abusing him. Without him admitting to the heinous acts, nothing would hold up in a formal complaint.
Furthermore, he had requested Gabriella to promise secrecy about the situation. The last thing Troy had wanted was for his friends to be aware of the fact that he was in a position which warranted visits to her home at least once a week in the middle of the night. Gabi, knowing how much his pride would be wounded in the case of her revealing that information, had agreed to keep it to herself. But even she was aware of the fact that some promises had to be broken in the instance of someone else's safety.
"Thanks, Gabs," he whispered quietly as his breathing evened out and he was able to relax in her room. Troy's soft voice pulled Gabriella from her silent reverie quickly.
Smiling at him warmly, she smoothed her pink and green quilt out across the bed and laced her fingers with his. Eventually, Gabi spoke to him in a quiet and soothing voice, "Let's get some sleep, Troy. I still have some of your clothes here from last month when your parents went out of town and you stayed with us for a while. This will all feel better in the morning."
He sighed softly and nodded, standing from her bed and stripping down to his wife beater and a pair of green and blue plaid boxers. She smiled at him and patted the bed beside her, pulling down the quilt and sheet beneath and waiting for him patiently.
Slowly, Troy climbed beside her and pulled the sheets over his toned body and resting his head on the pillow, staring at her until she rested beside him. He closed his eyes for a few moments and Gabi just watched him, wondering silently about what had occurred during his evening. He was quiet and waited for her permission before doing anything. Eventually, his eyes opened once more and he caught her staring, "Ella, what is it?"
"I'm worried about you, Wildcat," she whispered softly. "You aren't being yourself. I really wish you would tell me about home and what your parents are doing to you."
"They aren't doing anything to me, Gabs," he said reassuringly. "I just hate hearing them fight, that's all."
"I want to believe you."
"Then do," he pleaded. "Please?"
Gabriella sighed quietly and ran a hand lightly over his bicep, "I would if you didn't act so different lately, so wounded."
"I am fine," he repeated, seeming slightly irritated with her concerned manner..
She nodded, "All right, Troy. Let's just sleep, okay Baby?"
Troy let himself roll onto his side and pulled Gabriella into a warm hug as soon as she rested back with him. He kissed her shoulder restfully, avoiding the blue fabric of her tank top with ease and closed his eyes once more, falling into a somewhat fitful, but overall deep sleep. Within minutes, knowing that her wildcat was safe and sound in her bed with his arms wrapped around her torso gently, Gabriella fell asleep as well and intended to handle the situation more fully with the next sunrise.
--
Troy's eyes fluttered open in the morning to the sound of his girlfriend singing along to the RENT soundtrack. Gabriella was already fully dressed with her hair down in its usual curly manner. Troy sat up in bed and watched her silently until she turned around and noticed that he had awoken. She smiled and sat on the edge of her bed, kissing him tenderly, "Morning Wildcat."
"Why didn't you wake me?"
"You were sleeping like the dead," she answered with a smile, "I figured you wouldn't take near as long as I would to get ready, so I let you sleep. I think you needed it."
Troy smiled at her, "Thanks, Ella. I appreciate it. Now, I need to shower and get dressed."
Gabi pulled a pair of Troy's boxers from the bottom drawer of her dresser as well as a pair of jeans and a red American Eagle polo. She rested them on the bed beside him and returned to her make up. He smiled and shook his head, "Thanks. I'll be back shortly."
She gave him a small wave as she returned to applying her mascara. The basketball star left her bedroom and walked down the hall into the Montez's bathroom. He chuckled quietly to himself as the realization he would be using Gabi's Sea Breeze scented shampoo and conditioner dawned on him and pulled a clean towel from the linen closet. He stripped himself of the wife beater and ran a hand gently over the bruise forming on his lower abdomen. Troy sighed and shook his head, disgraced with the fact that East High's star jock couldn't even protect himself from his drunken father. Eventually getting over the sight of the dark purple wound, he pulled his boxers off and slipped into the shower.
Warm water cascaded down his body as he scrubbed with a wash cloth to clean his skin. He took care with the bruised area on his abdomen and eventually turned his attention to his mop of brown hair. He quickly washed it and turned off the water. Troy stepped from the shower and dried his body. He grabbed his clean boxers and put them on. Gently, he ran his hands over the bruise one more time, but refused to let himself look at it. Slowly he pulled on his jeans and red polo before leaving the bathroom. When he arrived at Gabi's room, he plastered a smile on his face and entered. He dropped his dirty clothes in her laundry basket. She gave him a funny look, but Troy was quick to answer, "For the next time I spend the night at your house."
Gabriella shook her head and walked over to kiss him again. She wrinkled his nose at the feeling of stubble, "Roughing it today, are we?"
"Sorry," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck in a shy manor, "I didn't have a way to shave this morning."
"That's all right," she said, "I kind of like a rugged man."
He smiled and kissed her again, "Exactly what I wanted to hear."
Gabi smiled as she pulled away from him and grabbed his hand, "If we don't leave soon, we'll be late for school."
He sighed, "Or we could just skip today?"
"And your father would kill you because you would be ineligible to practice this afternoon," she reminded him, knowing that the thought would be unpleasant, but enough to pull him to go to class.
Sighing he nodded, standing up and walking from her room, "Let's go, then."
Gabi knew the prospect of seeing his dad again was what changed Troy's apparent good mood. She followed him out of the house and climbed silently into the passenger seat of his red truck that he and his father had fixed up the summer before. Troy silently drove them both to school while Gabriella thought through the past few months trying to find the change. She realized it was shortly after the school year started in August, nearly five months ago. Something had happened in those five months, and all she knew for certain was that Troy's parents had begun arguing nightly. A divorce was looming, and she was grateful that Troy would soon be old enough to be on his own.
The truck stopped suddenly in East High's Senior Parking Lot. She sighed softly and lowered herself out of the truck. Slinging her book bag over her shoulders, Gabs walked over to Troy and gently took his hand. He squeezed hers gently and they walked in stride to their homeroom. Chad Danforth, Troy's best friend since preschool, was already in his seat and Troy stood by his buddy's desk, "Hey man. What's going on?"
Troy smiled broadly, "Great! How about you?"
"Just training for our championship game," Chad answered with excitement. "Prepping for our back-to-back championships!"
"You know it," Troy answered, sinking into his desk with Gabi directly in front of him. She turned around before the bell rang and offered him a warm smile. Troy nodded back, telling her that he was fine. Soon enough, the shrill ringing of a school bell echoed through the classroom and the rest of their homeroom took their seats to listen to Mrs. Darbus give the daily announcements.
Once they were released from the classroom, Chad was right next to Troy with Jason and Zeke close behind, "Free period work out?"
Troy nodded, knowing that as their team captain, he had to lead the impromptu practice and pray that his father didn't have the desire to be present and assist with the team's training. With smiles and animated conversation, Troy and the rest of his team walked toward the men's locker room at East High to change out for their upcoming drills.
Before parting with the guys, Gabi quickly gave Troy a kiss on the cheek and hugged him, "I'll see you in the gym, all right?"
Troy smiled at her broadly, his blue eyes shining with her presence and the ease of being back with his friends, "Sounds good. See you soon."
She walked away with a small bounce in her step and Troy followed the rest of the guys to the locker room and got ready for the next fifty minutes of his life. Grabbing his number fourteen jersey and basketball shorts, Troy quickly debated the easiest way of changing. He could simply play off the bruise, if noticed, as a minor accident occurring during his usual evening training sessions. Deciding that it would be easy enough to lie to the guys about it, Troy quickly changed, facing the lockers, and managed to avoid the notice of the injury by any teammates.
He was relieved and ready to go. Slipping on and tyeing his basketball shoes he stood up and looked at the rest of the guys, all in various states of dress, "Move it, Wildcats! We have a championship game in two weeks and I sure as hell don't want to lose it!"
Chad stood by his side, having been voted a co-captain by the team members, and watched the team quickly get ready. As soon as the vast majority were prepared, he and Troy led them to the gym, in step, and began the usual warm-up routine. After running the laps, taking the team through a series of stretches, and allowing a fifteen minute shoot-out, Troy gathered the twelve teammates up for a pep talk and division for a scrimmage.
"Shirts versus skins," Zeke suggested when Jason pointed out that everyone had warn the same red practice jerseys and they would be required to waste time to walk back and grab the scrimmage shirts.
Troy bit his lower lip and shrugged, "Whatever, Chad and I pick teams, I'm shirts."
Chad looked at Troy silently. It was rare that his friend refused the opportunity to play shirts versus skins on the skins side. There was something about Troy when Gabriella was sitting In the corner of the gym doing homework in which he would refuse to wear a shirt at all costs. His manly side enjoyed showing off. Yet, Danforth knew better than to question his friend's reasons in front of the team. Quickly they went through the process of picking teams, filling out the line up, and began their scrimmage.
Troy put his all into the game, wanting nothing more than to plunge into an activity he loved to avoid thinking about the issues taking place in his daily life. In the thirty minute drill, he managed to score 24 points, including three shots for three-points. Toward the end of the free period, he called the game to an end, rounded up the team, gave a quick pep talk and dismissed them from the gym. He walked slowly with Chad, joking about the game that just took place and planning for the upcoming Championship game against Westside High School. They would often plan their strategies for games weeks in advance, knowing that the preparation would lead them to victory.
They entered the locker room to find it quickly clearing out. The guys all had places to be for the next period, but Chad and Troy both had Team Sports next and needed to be in the gym anyway. Troy changed from his basketball practice attire into a pair of blue gym shorts and his t-shirt from Twinkle Towne and nodded at Chad as he ran from the locker room to meet Gabriella before she left for Advanced Chemistry. He caught her putting her books away in the corner of the gym and jogged over.
"Hey Wildcat," she smiled at him, "good practice!"
"Definitely," he said, pulling her into a hug.
She shrugged him off, "You're still sweaty, Troy!"
"Sorry," he answered sheepishly." You ready for Advanced Chemistry?"
"Maybe. We have a huge test today, and I can't say that I'm looking forward to it."
"You'll ace it," Troy told her confidently before kissing her forehead lightly. "Now get to class, Ella."
She giggled quietly and nodded, "I know your dad teaches Team Sports. Are you feeling okay with that?"
"Not really," he answered honestly. "But it'll be all right, I have Chad with me, after all!"
Gabriella nodded and waved at him as she left the gym. Troy watched her walk away, amazed at how safe and comfortable he felt with her nearby. Yet, once she had left the area, he turned and met Chad at the doorway to the locker room and the two made small talk until Troy's dad walked by them to get to his office. Chad, in his usual fashion, greeted him with enthusiasm, "Hey, Coach Bolton! Good day?"
Troy's father smiled at his son's friend, but ignored the presence of his own off spring, "Yes, it is, Danforth. Thanks."
Chad nodded and gave Troy a pat on the back as he went to talk to one of the guys in their class who had just emerged into the gym. Sighing softly, Troy followed his friend and attempted to be his typical self as he joined the conversations. The bell soon rang and, as per usual, a few students trickled slowly from the locker rooms. Kelsi, their friend and a pianist turned composer, approached the two of them. She grinned widely at Troy then turned to Chad. She stood between the two, "Good morning, boys?"
"Excellent," Danforth answered, running a hand over his afro to smooth it. Troy rolled his eyes and his dad appeared in the gym.
"All right, five minute jog around the gym and then we'll continue our friendly soccer unit," He began loudly. "Some new team captains for the day, Miss Kelsi and Mr. Leon, you'll be choosing our teams."
Kelsi squealed quietly and Troy laughed as he looked over at the other chosen student. He was the runt of the class with a bowl cut and large glasses. He almost felt bad for him, knowing that the rest of the class didn't make much of an effort to get to know Leon, but at the same time, he was taking Team Sports for conditioning and training. He couldn't spend time trying to make the other students feel welcome when his father would be breathing down his neck to run faster and play harder.
"All right," the older Bolton began, "Go!"
With that, Troy and the rest of his class took off at a brisk jog. His father followed him with his eyes and quickly shouted at him, "Bolton, you got lead in your shoes? Pick up the pace!"
Troy heard his dad and broke out in a run, knowing that nothing would ever be quite enough to please the man. As he passed him the next time, he spoke, "Sorry, sir. Won't happen again."
"I should think not," Mr. Bolton muttered under his breath as his son ran past. A few minutes later he blew his whistle and gathered them in to separate into teams for the soccer match. Kelsi had first pick and called Troy, Leon took Chad, and the teams evolved from there. After Troy and his pseudo-brother offered competitive glances and walked away from each other, the game began. Soccer wasn't Troy's main sport, but that didn't stop him from playing hard and doing quite well.
The teams were tied with four minutes left in the period. The one minute announcement had been made, and Troy knew that he had approximately sixty seconds to score on Chad's team in order to beat them. Kelsi kicked the ball in his direction and he quickly dribbled through the gym, preparing to score. From the right, suddenly, Chad pounced before him in an attempt to steal the ball. Troy attempted to maneuver around him, but tripped over someone's feet and hit the ground, his t-shirt and wife beater sliding up to reveal the dark purple bruise along his midsection right above the boxers.
Troy winced from the pain, but quickly recovered just enough to pull the t-shirt down and, hopefully, avoid the aftermath and questions. He kept his eyes closed long enough to feel confident to stand and walk to the locker room on his own. Once Troy sat up and opened his eyes, his gaze focused on his father's. He sighed softly as his dad spoke, "You all right, son?"
"Fine," he muttered. "Not that it matters. Just let me go change."
"Hold on," his father stopped him before he could stand up. "Where'd you get that bruise?"
Troy's blue eyes darted around the gym, ensuring their privacy, before answering the question, "From you, over the last few nights of torture."
"You shut your mouth, boy. That injury came from somewhere else. Anywhere but from me, all right?"
Troy nodded and made to stand up, pushing his father out of the way, "I tripped during my training session a few nights ago, Dad."
The older Bolton nodded and watched his son walk away. Troy moved slowly, but made it to the locker room without assistance and dropped onto the bench in front of his locker, opening the door and pulling out his neatly folded jeans and polo shirt. Chad sat down next to him, already fully changed and ready to head to his next class, Advanced Composition, with Troy.
Before giving his friend a chance to change, however, Danforth began asking questions, "What the hell did you do, man?"
"What do you mean?"
Chad rolled his eyes, "The giant purple bruise just above your boxers, where did it come from?"
"I tripped training the other day," Troy answered monotonously.
"I don't buy it."
"Well, that's too bad," Troy answered, hating the fact that he was lying to his best friend, "Because it's the only answer you're getting from me."
Chad glared at him, "I don't believe it, not for a second. But you'll tell me when you're ready."
Troy nodded, knowing that it was one story he could never reveal to Chad. He quickly changed, not worrying about who saw what, as he was the only person left in the room save his best friend. As soon as he was ready, the two boys walked together to their next class across the school. They made small talk, neither one wanting to touch on the obviously sensitive subject that was eating away at both of them.
Fine
A/N: End of Chapter One. Please, please, please review this! Let me know if it's good or if I should just give up. I have a full outline for this and a few more chapters written which will be steadily put out during the summer as long as I get some decent feedback!