Title: You're What's Important
Author: WriteTheScriptToYourOwnLifex3 (Mehh, I'm gonna change my username later on anyways lol)
Pairing: Troy/Gabriella
Summary: "Don't ever think for a second Gabriella that you're not important to me. You are the most important thing that has ever happened to me!" he yelled over the thundering of the rain, grabbing her arm gently and pulling her towards his strong frame, "You're what's important. Not basketball. You…"
Disclaimer: I own nothing? Except for my creative mind. K :)
A/N: Well, it's been a while since I've written something right? The ending kind of sucks but yeah. I just came back from vacation and I'm happy to announce that HOPEFULLY you guys will see more one-shots and maybe stories by me :) please enjoy! And if you didn't like it then it sucks to be you LOL. Just kidding. Btw, this is dedicated to everyone on ZF, especially to Britni (TinyDancer14) because I missed her birthday. WHAT?! IT'S NOT MY FAULT I WAS ON VACATION BRIT. Kthxs. :D Btw, anyone just as obsessed as I am about "Gotta Go My Own Way"? I mean, yeah I know it's a piano arrangement but frig man. I've been listening to it non-stop. IT'S SO SAD. I can't wait for HSM2 now :D Okay, enough of me rambling. Lol.
He stared at the doorframe of the locker room she just walked right out of. Here he was, ready for this big game against the Boston Celtics and the one person he loved more than anything else in the world left him.
He closed his eyes as the image of her crying played in his head. They both had yelled, but only she had cried. She said she couldn't take it anymore, being with a big basketball star. He had changed so much and she didn't like it one bit. Then he had yelled out that this was his dream, that nothing was as important than this.
That's when he saw her heart break.
"I'm so sorry Gabriella…" Troy whispered sadly as he sat back down in the empty locker room onto the bench and covered his face with his hands.
He paced in the locker room, nervous beyond words. This was the biggest game he would ever play. A chance to win that NBA championship and make his team mates and fans happy. It was like sophomore year at East High all over again… except this time it wasn't a game played in front of his family, friends, and fellow classmates. No. It was played against millions of screaming fans and pressuring coaches.
He sighed, taking a small glance at the silver band wrapped around his left ring finger. His heart ached. Not only would she not be there at his game. But she was mad at him too, she was mad due to the fact that he was always gone. She was mad because he wouldn't make time for her, his wife. It was because of that they hadn't spoken to each other in one whole month and it killed him inside.
"Troy," a grey haired man said entering the locker room, "The game starts in forty-five minutes."
"Thanks Coach," Troy smiled slightly when he looked up. His coach nodded before leaving the blue-eyed basketball superstar alone again.
Should he call her? Was she still mad at him? So many thoughts and questions filled his mind that he didn't even notice a brunette standing at the doorway his coach had just walked out off.
"Troy?"
His head snapped towards the direction of the door and his breath caught his throat. There she was, her brown hair tied into a messy bun, wearing just only a jacket, a shirt, and ripped jeans. Even so, she was still beautiful, to him at least.
"Gabri-"
"We need to talk," Gabriella said quietly, immediately silencing him. Her voice was serious and monotone. She sounded like she was determined to tell him something that she had thought over the past few weeks. It scared him.
Troy paled as he looked at her, "T-Talk?" he choked out. She nodded, her loose curls falling in front of her face.
"Can I come in?" Gabriella asked as he nodded and moved over on the bench so that she could sit down.
He had never seen her look so nervous and scared before. The way she fiddled with her wedding ring, the way her leg was bouncing up and down… something was up he just knew it. An uncomfortable silence fell upon them and just as Troy was about to speak, Gabriella started her talk.
"Troy…" she started shakily, "When you left a month ago, I did some thinking-"
"Thinking about what?" Troy asked interrupting her. He grabbed her hands and brought them up to his lips only for her to pull them away from his grip, causing his heart to drop.
"I thought about how this isn't high school anymore and how much we've changed since we graduated. I thought about how our lives have changed since we've gotten married almost a year ago and how I'm still in medical school and you're this big superstar basketball player…" she stopped. This was going to be so hard.
"Gabi, if this is about the insecurity about me leaving you for another girl, you have to know I would never do that to you," he assured her and he saw her shake her head.
"It's not that Troy…" Gabriella said forcing the tears not to leak from her eyes. "We both have changed. We're not the same people we knew a year ago. It's like we're not even married anymore because I'm always at school and you're always practicing… It's not that I don't love you Troy, I do with all my heart. It's just that I can't take it anymore-"
"So you're going to give up on us," Troy stated looking at her dead in the eye. Gabriella furrowed her eyebrows, "It's not like that Troy-" she reasoned.
"You just said you can't take it anymore. What can you not take, Gabriella?" he asked standing up his voice slightly rising.
"Everything!" Gabriella cried out as she stood up and faced him, "I can't take it anymore Troy! You try dating a star basketball player! You try dealing with the media and paparazzi outside of your house when your all-star basketball-playing husband is gone!"
Troy's heart softened, "Gabi-"
"I just can't take it anymore Troy!" Gabriella exclaimed, "I've changed, we've changed, and you've changed. I don't like it. Ever since they called you up to play for the L.A. Lakers you've changed, Troy. You've cancelled out on me this past year just because you had basketball. Last time I checked, you had another life you know. With your wife," she stated.
"Gabriella!" Troy groaned in frustration, "I don't care how much I've changed! This has been my dream! You know it has! Playing for the NBA has been the most important thing that has happened to me-" he stopped as the words left his mouth and he instantly regretted them. He swore that he could see her heart breaking into millions of pieces and more tears started to form in her eyes.
"So basketball was the most important thing that has ever happened to you," she said quietly as a tear fell down her cheek.
"Gabi…" he started as he reached out for her but she moved away. She looked him in the eye, "You see?" she asked softly, "The guy I married almost a year ago… he wouldn't have said that. The guy I fell in love with in High School wouldn't have said that. I know he wouldn't. When or if you find that guy I fell in love with my sophomore year at East High, tell him I miss him. Tell him he's the guy I love and will always love-" she stopped and she recollected herself, taking a deep breath before continuing, "-and come get me when you find him."
Looking at him once more she shook her head and left the locker room, his heart aching as her words hit him like a ton of bricks.
"Dammit!" Troy exclaimed and kicked the bench with his foot as he sat down and stared in the direction the love of his life had went.
"Troy! Fifteen minutes!" His coach said excitedly as he entered the locker room. He was shocked to see one of his star players not fully ready yet. Looking up Troy sighed and nodded as he stared blankly into space.
"Troy… what's the matter? You should be excited!" Coach smiled, but his smile faded when he didn't see Troy smile back. No, he wasn't like those other coaches that went all, 'Whatever it is player suck it up! We've got a game to play!' He was someone who was really down to earth and wasn't afraid to talk about his personal life. He loved to goof off and have fun.
"I am the stupidest guy on the planet, Coach," Troy said expressionlessly. Coach furrowed his eyebrows and Troy began to tell him what had happened between him and Gabriella a few moments ago. When he was done, Coach placed a firm hand on Troy's shoulder.
"Troy, what's more important to you as of this moment right now? Is it this game or is it the person you love more than anything else in the world? I have a wife and daughter, Troy, and I once was in this same position. I had to pick between them and basketball-"
"What did you do?" Troy asked.
"I wouldn't have my wife and daughter right now if I picked the wrong decision, Bolton," Coach replied earnestly as he stood up, "Just remember, on this team, there's always a spot open for you," and with that he left leaving Troy alone to ponder his thoughts.
"I know what I have to do…" he muttered, standing up and grabbing his stuff before heading out the door.
x-x-x-x-x
Gabriella tightened her jacket around her petite frame as the rain started to pour down harder on her. She had taken a flight from Albuquerque, New Mexico (yes, Troy had bought a condo down in Los Angeles and yes Gabriella should be living with him at that moment but she said to Troy that she would finish three years at the University of New Mexico then she would transfer to the UCLA and take the medical course there) to Los Angeles, took a cab from the airport to Troy's condo (only to find out he had already left for his game), so she took another cab to the Staples Center. Now, the streets were unsurprisingly empty, people probably watching the big Lakers game, something that Gabriella could really care less about, and no cabs were out causing her to walk to Troy's condo. It wasn't a long walk; just a couple of blocks but to make matters worse, it had started raining hard.
She did not regret anything she said to Troy a few minutes ago. Everything she said was true, how she changed and she didn't like it. But she did regret yelling at him and telling him how she felt before the biggest game of his life.
Gabriella sat down on a nearby bench, not caring if the bench was wet for she was already drenched in rainwater. She buried her head into her hands and sighed.
What Troy had said hurt her and he swore he never would hurt her. He told her. He promised. Was she not that important to him anymore? Were the vows they recited to each other a year ago suddenly fading away? She was too wrapped up in her thoughts she didn't see a black car pull up in front of her.
"Gabriella…" a voice called out in front of her.
Gabriella looked up from the wet bench, "What do you want?" she asked the male figure that approached her. She rolled her eyes as she stood up and started to walk away.
"I want to talk to you," he replied as he gently grabbed her hand.
"I don't want to talk to you Troy!" she exclaimed, tears were running down her face but you couldn't see them due to the rain that poured down on the both of them. She pulled her hand away from him and started to walk away, "Go back to your basketball game. After all, that's more important to you."
Troy groaned as he followed her, "Jesus Christ, Gabriella! Just listen to me please!" he called out to her, "Don't ever think for a second Gabi that you're not important to me. You are the most important thing that has ever happened to me!" he yelled over the thundering of the rain, grabbing her arm gently and pulling her towards his strong frame, "You're what's important. Not basketball. You…"
She looked up at him, her face red and swollen from crying. Her lower lip was quivering and he gently wiped her face with his hands, "Gabs, you're right, we have changed. But the guy you married a year ago, he's still here. The guy you fell in love with in High School is still here. I never left Gabi.
"This basketball stuff has made me forgotten that my most important thing in life is to make you happy. Gabi, I don't want you to think that you're second best to basketball; I never want you to think that. I love you more than you could ever know," Troy whispered. Right now, he didn't care about his basketball game, his wife was more important to him and he had to tell her before it was too late. Gabriella looked up, pushing a strand of her wet hair away from her face and immediately she felt herself drowning into pools of ocean blue. Now this was the Troy Bolton she knew. Not superstar basketball player Troy Bolton- but her Troy Bolton.
"I was stupid to say those things I said in the locker room, baby," Troy said quietly, softer than the pouring rain but loud enough for Gabriella to hear, "I wasn't thinking when I said it. I'm so sorry if I hurt you."
"I'm sorry too," Gabriella muttered quietly, gently placing her right hand over his cheek, "I sounded selfish. I regret yelling at you. I don't like it when I do, Troy."
"Gabs, you weren't selfish, you were just stating the truth. And well, you had to yell you know how hardheaded I am. I don't listen properly unless someone yells at me," he chuckled. Gabriella laughed as they soon were comforted by a silence between them, "I love you," she said as his grip on her tightened.
Troy smiled, "I love you too Gabi," he said and kissed her gently. Gabriella soon broke off the kiss, earning a pout from Troy.
"What about your game?" she asked. Troy's pout suddenly turned into a smirk, "Ahh, screw the game. That's not important."
"Then what is Mr. Bolton?" Gabriella asked again smiling even though she knew.
"Well Mrs. Bolton," Troy started, "What's important is a certain someone who's standing in front of me right now. Who looks beautiful than ever even though it's pouring rain out here, and well, I was wondering… since I don't have to and I don't want to be at the game right now- that a certain wife of mine would like to head back over to the condo and I can show her how important she means to me," he smirked as he kissed her forehead. Gabriella smirked back, "Your wife would definitely would like that," she replied, pressing her lips onto his and kissed him passionately. Gabriella smiled against the kiss finally knowing that no matter what, no matter what job Troy had, no matter how famous or not he was- she knew that she would always be important to him. Always.
Please R&R :D
