Complicated

Troy walked into the Montez's house without knocking, like he had done for the past ten years. He called for Chad, but didn't get an answer. He walked through the house, thinking that perhaps Marie would be in. Seeing that the back door was open he stepped outside and saw Gabriella sitting down on the patio, her knees drawn up to her chest and a baseball cap on her head.

Troy had been best friends with Chad since he moved to Albuquerque, eleven years ago. He was only ten, he'd just lost his Father and his Mother was a drunken mess. His sister Taylor was Chad's cousin, Gabriella's age. Marie had become a surrogate mother to the Danfourth children, having them to stay over practically every night and taking care of them when their Mother didn't. Eventually she'd gotten in touch with their uncle sir. James, their last living relative, in England and explained the situation. He'd flown over to take custody of his late sister's children, settling in Albuquerque with them.

Marie's sister had married an English man and had Michael, now known as Chad . When the two were killed, she and her husband took Chad in. Gabriella was five at the time, Chad was nine. Despite living in Albuquerque for practically his whole life, Chad never lost his British accent.

Gabriella didn't turn around or show any sign of hearing Troy so he tapped her on the top of her hat, "Hey kiddo."

She replied with a barely audible "Hey", and Troy could hear that her voice was husky with tears. He settled down next to her and gently took her cap off, letting him see her red, puffy face. He was silent for a few moments, waiting for her to speak.

"I'm fine Troy."

He placed a hand on her knee comfortingly, "You don't cry if you're fine." She repeated her previous words but he shook her head, not believing her for a second, "What's going on?"

A few more tears slid down her face and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his chest and sifting his fingers through her hair. It made him ache to see her so sad. She was like a second sister to him, she always had been. She pulled away after a little while.

"It's nothing…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to have an emotional breakdown on you."

"It's obviously something Gabriella."

She looked into his deep blue eyes, then spoke in a whisper, "It's embarrassing." Troy's mind went into overdrive. Embarrassing? Girl problems? That really wasn't his area of expertise, but she clearly needed someone to talk to, he couldn't leave her in the state she was in.

"What do you mean?" She didn't answer and he lifted her chin to meet her eyes. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what it is."

"You'll probably hear about it from Taylor anyway."

"I'd rather hear about it from you." She sighed in resignation and wiped her eyes one last time before taking a shaky breath. She had to be sure she wasn't going to start wailing again.

"Ryan"

"Evans? Your boyfriend?"

Gabriella looked down and let out a small snort. "Make that ex-boyfriend…well, you know he's a freshman in college and…well we'd only been going out for a few weeks but he…he said he really liked me and, and I thought if I didn't…he'd go find someone else…"

Troy's heart dropped as he realised what she was trying to say, and a sick feeling began to grow in his stomach.

"Anyway we…we…two nights ago. I told mom I was sleeping over at Kesi's and I stayed with him, on campus. We…slept together and everything seemed fine yesterday when I woke up. He said he'd call me, but he never did. I figured something had happened…I was gonna go to see him after school. But when I got there today, I heard some guys talking…about me and Ryan…"

She took a deep breath and looked down, not wanting to see Troy's face.

"One of them said Ryan told him I'd fi-finally given it up…I didn't want to believe…I didn't think…I left school at lunch and took a bus to the campus. I went up to his room a-and he wouldn't let me in…then I heard her voice…"

She covered her face with her hands and bent over, sobbing loudly. Troy's fists tightened in anger, but he reached for her and cradled her against him, his eyes dark with rage. Hurting Gabriella was like hurting his sister. And Ryan would pay for that. "Ssh, it's okay. It's gonna be okay."

She stayed in his arms for a few more minutes, then pulled away and wiped her eyes. "Why did he do that? Was it me…was I…"

"Gabriella, Ryan Evans is a womanizer. You did nothing wrong, none of this was your fault."

"I was so stupid. Everyone told me to stay away from him, Taylor, Kesi, you, Chad, Zeke. And I thought I knew best. It's just…he was my…first and I wanted it to be special and then he…"

Suddenly there was a sound from in the house. Chad. Gabriella quickly grabbed her baseball cap from the floor and shoved it back on her head, wiping the last remnants of tears from her face.

"Troy, I went round yours looking for you. What are you doing here?"

"Came to see you of course. Gabriella was keeping me company."

Chad frowned slightly and looked at Gabriella, who kept her face down to the ground. "Why aren't you in school?"

"Erm health-ed was cancelled." He seemed to accept the explanation, much to Gabriella's relief. Troy and Chad had finished college that year in the summer and now had to get jobs. Troy majored in singing, due to his great talent, and was starting work at Marie's record company the next week, she was even selling off some of his demo's and album's there. Chad had majored in Basketball and wanted to open his own Basketball Court, but hadn't got the money or the place yet.

The two left, after Troy squeezed Gabriella's shoulder. She had no doubt Chad would find out what had happened between her and Ryan, but she wasn't ready to tell him, not yet.