"Gabriella! It's Ryan. Ryan Evans."
"Oh, lord," Gabriella parked herself on the grass and buried her face in her hands. "Sorry, Ryan. I didn't know it was you.
He didn't say anything. Ryan just sat down beside her and put one arm around her shoulder. It felt rather nice. Not the kind of roughness she was used to. They sat together in silence for a few minutes.
"I heard you and Troy fighting," he finally said, his voice not conveying any kind of feeling.
"Yeah, he's being a real loser these days," she said, with a nervous giggle. After everything Troy had done to her, it was no small wonder she was scared around guys.
But Ryan always spoke slowly, sincerity and passion in his every word. He had a lovely way of putting her at ease and she felt she could let her guard down around him. "But that's just normal Troy. I guess I'm used to it."
"That's not normal, Gabby. Especially coming from a boyfriend."
There was a moment of silence as Gabriella stared blankly at the grass rustling on the banks of the water trap. "You know more than you're letting on, don't you?"
"Yes. That's why I'm here."
So he knew. And what's more, he actually seemed to care. Unlike every other person at East High. They stared her down in the hallways, judgmental and aloof. Gabriella Montez is a bad girl, those looks said. Gabriella Montez will do anything her boyfriend wants her to do.
"Ryan," she began, her voice choked as she tried to quell another storm of tears. "I know you've heard the rumors. But they're true I'm bad. I want to be loved so much and he's the only person who ever seemed to care, but I don't even know what love is any more. I just don't know."
Ryan gently lay his finger over her mouth. "Shhh."
She let herself just cry with Ryan's arms around her. For the first time in a long, long while, she felt real love. This was a new kind of love though. The kind of love an older brother would give his baby sister when she scraped her knee at the playground. The kind of love a mother would give her grade-school daughter as she struggled over that first sheet of math homework. This kind of love was outpouring and unconditional and never-ending. She reveled in it, just sitting and letting him love her. Then he began to speak softly and slowly.
"You are not some random slut, OK? You are Gabriella Montez and you're the smartest person I know. You sing like an angel. You put up with so much and you want nothing in return. You have a great heart and it doesn't deserve to ever be broken."
He paused for a moment, playing with her hair a little bit.
"I know he makes you do bad things," Ryan whispered, "But you're not a bad person."
Gabriella could do little more than lay her head on Ryan's chest and continue to sob. She let it all out. Months and months of abuse and mistreatment and harassment rolled down her cheeks and fell to the ground, watering the earth.
"I know how it feels," he said, his voice wavering a little bit. "Oh lord, now I'm going to cry too."
Gabriella looked up at him, blinking back a veil of tears. "What do you mean?"
"I don't really like to talk about it," he let out a nervous cough. "Sharpay's not my real sister. I'm adopted. My dad, he used to do these things to me. Things that a father shouldn't do. I was about four and we had this safety class at my preschool. They told us to call 9-1-1 if we were ever in danger."
His bottom lip quivered; Gabriella could tell he was on the verge of tears.
"So that's what I did. I called 9-1-1 because I didn't know what else to do. The police got him, he went to court, and the Evans's are pretty much the only family I've ever known. So I know how it is. You try to forget about those things."
Gabriella just shook her head in shock.
"For a while I didn't know what love was, either. When you put trust in someone and then-" He struck the ground in a frustrated gesture. "You know what I mean."
"But how do you walk away from something like that? Like, I'm so scared right now that Troy is going to come after me and trap me and I'll never, ever be able to get away."
He was silent for a moment, pondering the stars and chewing on his bottom lip as he thought. "You know what you do?"
"What?" Gabriella smiled. There was a bold assurance in his voice.
"You give up the fight. Okay? It's not something you can handle on your own. Nobody can. Let someone else fight for you. Let me fight for you. My dad's a lawyer. We can make sure that Troy Bolton will never, ever come near you ever again."
Gabriella smiled. The moon illuminated Ryan's face, but there was something else there. A glimmer of hope lit up his face. She didn't know why she was trusting him- what if he turned out to be just another Troy?- but she somehow knew that she could.
"All right," she said, slowly and quietly. "Will you fight for me?"
She nervously brought one hand to Ryan's cheek, running her fingers up and down his smooth temples. Ryan leaned into her until their face were barely an inch apart.
"You know I will," Ryan said, drawing in a slow, quiet breath. His lips gently pressed against hers. The kiss was rich and brilliant, full of promise and meaning that Gabriella had never experienced before. It lasted only for a couple of seconds, but seemed like an entire lifetime whirring by.
"Gabriella," Ryan said, raising his voice above a whisper. "I will fight for you. I will fight for you and I will love you forever."
Gabriella slung her arms around Ryan's neck. "I love you, Ryan. And I never knew it until now."
Ryan smiled broadly. "I guess I didn't, either."
"What if- I mean, I don't think I can love you properly. After everything Troy did- those memories won't go away easily."
He nodded. "I understand. You let me know, all right? You let me know if I cross the line. But just know that one day you'll wake up and it won't hurt any more. It'll end. I promise."
He enveloped her in another big, warm hug. "Look up, Gabriella. Way up."
She did and was greeted with a smattering of stars, each brighter and bigger than the next. "Beautiful," she breathed.
"You know what that means?" Ryan grinned.
"What does it mean?"
"It means, Miss Montez," he laughed, "that it's getting pretty darn late. You got a ride home?"
She giggled. "Well, Troy was going to give me a lift, but that prospect doesn't sound very appealing right now."
"Here, I'll give you a lift." He stood, and in one bold movement, scooped Gabriella up like a little baby. She laughed in surprise and he carried her all the way back to the club, where his little black Solstice was the only car left in the entire lot. He gently set her down in the passenger seat, buckling the seat across her chest.
"Safe and secure, I trust?"
"Yep," she grinned, looking over at Ryan as he steered out of the lot. "You too, silly!" She leaned over, quickly doing up his belt, and sneaking a little kiss on his cheek as she did so.
By the time Ryan pulled into Gabriella's driveway, she was fast asleep and dozing on his shoulder. He gently unclicked her seatbelt and lifted her up, just like he'd done before. He looked down at her as she slept. Her lips were curled up into a small smile and her eyelashes fluttered on her cheeks as she breathed in and out. Lord, she was beautiful.
The front door was unlocked, as with every house in this safe neighbourhood, so Ryan carried Gabriella as far as her bedroom. He stood awkwardly in front of the door for a few moments. This was Gabriella's place. Her place which had been so rudely invaded by Troy so many times before. Did he really want to barge in like that? Yes, he decided, he did. From this moment on, that bedroom was going to be a place of safety and security. He wanted to chase out the monsters and ghosts that lurked in the corners, the screams and sighs and memories tangled in the curtains. The sobs fluttering against the windowpane like birds that flew in and couldn't get out.
He strode in, carefully transferring Gabriella to one arm, and pulled back one corner of her pink comforter. He set Gabriella down on the mattress, carefully to not wake her up, and pulled the blankets over her. There she was. Safe. Secure. That little smile was still on her face. What was she dreaming? He could only guess as he leaned over her, bent down, and gave her a small kiss on her rosy cheek.
"Good night, Gabby," he whispered. "Sweet dreams."