Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own High School Musical, or any of the characters associated with it. Nor do I own Rascal Flatts, where the title of this story comes from. I do, however, own any of the characters you don't recognize, but that isn't exciting at all....I'd much rather own Troy and Gabi. There is still hope for Christmas, right?

Authors Note: Alrighty, story time. I tried to not write this story but it kept yelling at me that it needed to be written. I told it to at least wait until after Christmas break started, and it finally agreed. So to fulfill my promise, here it is. Right now it is rated T, but there is a good possibility it could change to M, all depends on how much....er, details I get into when I'm writing. So if you don't want to read M, the I suggest reading something else, just in case. Okay, enough of my talking, here is the first chapter.

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The lights are blinding. A harsh glow that refused to go away no matter how much she squeezed her eyes closed. She wanted to flip over and hide her face but something was holding her down. A nice something, they were soft, warm hands that were running up and down her arms in a soothing manner, but also holding her back from breaking free. The touch almost distracted her enough to forget that the light was accompanied by pain, a pain she had never felt with this much intensity before. It didn't seem natural that anybody could still be alive with this much pain. Something must seriously be wrong with her, it was the only explanation.

All of a sudden the light didn't seem quite as harsh, actually it felt inviting. The pain, it wasn't as prominent anymore either, like something happened to elevate it. This must be what dying felt like. Then why was she crying? Well at least she thought it was herself who was crying.

"You did it, Baby. I'm so proud of you." Came a handsome voice to the left of her.

Just the sound of that foreign voice, and the kiss to the temple that followed, washed an even greater calm over her. But did what? She thought she was dying, so what possibly could she have done to make this man so proud of her? This man that had called her Baby…that's it, it was a babies cry. Her baby. It all came rushing back to her, where she was, why she was there, the man sitting next to her. As long as she could fight the light, then she could remember. But fighting was hard, the light was so pretty now, it was calling to her.

"We are losing her." Was the last thing she heard before everything went black.

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Gabriella shot up in bed as fear overtook her body. It was the few seconds after waking when dreams still feel so real that you can reach out and touch them, or in this case, nightmares seeming too real for her liking. She allowed the seconds to tick by slowly before taking a deep breath to compose herself. "It was only a dream, Gabi" she reassured herself. Of course it was only a dream, a dream that was the farthest thing from reality.

In reality, it was moving day. The day had come to move from her apartment in San Francisco to her mother's house in Albuquerque. She talks like this has been a long thought out plan, but in actuality this had come about exactly two days ago. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she would be twenty-three and living with her mother. Nothing in her life has gone according to plan.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the incessant ringing of her cell phone. "What?" She barked.

"Well good morning to you too, my normally charming daughter."

"Sorry Ma. I was just…thinking." Mrs. Montez could detect the slightest drop in her daughter's voice indicating she wasn't in the best state of mind.

"Gabi, you have to stop thinking so much."

"Wow, never expected to hear my own mother tell me it's okay to stop thinking." She joked, because it was the only thing she knew how to do right now.

"You know what I mean, Honey. If you keep dwelling on the past, you will never be able to move forward." Silence. It was clear Gabriella had different feelings on this particular subject. "I really think moving back home will be the best thing for you right now. You will get to be around all your friends…"

"That's the last thing I want Mom." Gabriella cut her off. "They all know me as 'Gabriella Montez, freaky genius girl, future lawyer', now what are they going to think of me?"

"They aren't going to just ditch you Gabi."

"You mean, like I did them?"

Her mother didn't know how to respond to this. She had never gotten the full story about what happened between her daughter and her friends; she just assumed they had drifted apart when Gabriella moved out to Palo Alto to attend Stanford.

"Do you not want to come home, Honey?"

"It's not about what I want. Right now, it's more about what I need, and unfortunately that means returning to the land of the Wildcats." In a much more timid voice, she added "I need you, Mom."

"I know sweetheart, and I'll be here, as soon as you step off that plane."

"Okay, I love you Mom. See you in a few hours."

Gabriella closed her phone before allowing a response from her mother. After shaking her head to try and dislodge any unpleasant thoughts, she took a long look around her bedroom. Her whole life was packed up into boxes and suitcases. Just as it was five years ago, but back then it had been a change for the better, not to mention she had the person she loved most by her side. Now, everything was different, she had no one. She knew she couldn't blame anybody but herself for that, but it didn't change the fact that it still hurts, especially at a time like this.

She climbed out of bed knowing if she didn't get a move on she would be late for her plane, which took off in a little over three hours. Three more hours of normal, three more hours of pretending everything was okay, three more hours she could still tell herself her life wasn't crumbling down around her.

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"Going on vacation, Miss Montez?" The doorman asked Gabriella as she passed by pulling two suitcases towards the awaiting cab.

"No Nolan, I wish I was going on vacation. I'm actually moving back to my home town. Well as home town as it gets for me." She replied, with slight bitterness in her tone.

"Is that so? Well I am going to miss seeing you come and go. You always seem to brighten my day, I think there is just that special quality about you, and you don't even realize it."

"Aw, Nolan. That's so sweet, I am going to miss you too." And she really would, she had become quite fond of the doorman she had seen almost everyday for the past few years. With no one else around, he had become a staple she could count on being there everyday. He even listened when she would stop and just want to rant about her day, while never judging her for it. She couldn't stop herself from running up and giving him a hug, the first of their three year relationship. After he responded and returned the hug, she couldn't seem to coax her arms to let go, resulting in a longer hug than would be considered normal for acquaintances.

"Is there a reason you are returning home Miss? I'm sure all of San Francisco is going to miss your presence." He asked after finally being released from her grasp.

"I highly doubt that, but no, no reason, it is just time to move on. I don't think there is anymore California can offer me."

"I see." Little did Gabriella know, Nolan was a lot more observant than she thought. He noticed that her normally up beat personality seemed to darken every year around this time. There had to be more to the story than she was telling him. But he was just the doorman, it was not his place to pry.

"Goodbye Nolan." She whispered, on the verge of tears. With one last look up at the apartment building she had come to love and call home, she climbed into the cab. "To the airport, please."

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Gabriella could feel a pair of eyes on her. They had been staring at her for the better part of an hour. It was really starting to creep her out, so she had not yet braved a look to see who the eyes belonged too. The Eyes cleared his throat, as if to get Gabriella's attention. She focused her attention back on her laptop to try and convey the message that she was very into her movie and didn't want to be interrupted. Actually, she had no idea what movie she had put in, although she was staring at the screen she had not yet comprehended what she was seeing. "Aw, fuck, Red Eye! Now I'm going to be paranoid that The Eyes are going to kill me! Real smart Montez, way to pick 'em."

"Hi." The Eyes finally braved. "Ooh, sexy, sexy, voice. No! You can't think that, he is supposed to be creepy not sexy."

"Uh…hi." Gabriella weakly answered, without returning his gaze.

"Whatcha watching?"

"Red Eye." She tried to respond without showing her insane, uncalled for paranoia.

"Oh, that's a good one. I love Rachel McAdams." Upon discovering they had something in common, Gabriella finally looked up and gave him a weak smile. Big mistake. Eyes connected; piercing blue with chocolate brown. It took her back to a place she didn't want to be. Back to when she was with him, and everything was right in the world. "But I have to admit, it's more for her looks than her acting ability…not that that isn't amazing as well. Does that make me shallow?"

Gabriella laughed. "No, that just makes you like every other man."

"Is that a good thing, or bad thing?"

"Neutral."

"Well Miss I like to stereotype men, do you have a name?"

"Montez." 'Montez, what are you thinking?! Why would introduce your self using Montez?! Idiot.' "Uh…Gabriella Montez. And you?"

"Bond. James Bond." Clever. She couldn't tell if this was his way of making fun of her or trying to flirt. She simply raised her right eyebrow and stared at him. "Not funny? Okay, I'm stopping the funny guy act now, I was never very good at it anyways."

"No, it was….funny. Really." Okay, so she wasn't the best liar.

"Well my name really is James, I just wasn't blessed with a last name like Bond. If I was, this flirting thing would be much more affective."

"Ah, so that's what you are doing?" I guess it was better than making fun of her.

"Is it working?" Gabriella was silent; she didn't know what to say. He really was an attractive, charming man, and she didn't want to hurt his feelings. And to her surprise she really was enjoying talking to him. "I take that as a no."

"It's not you, it's me. Most clichéd line ever, but its true. I just don't do men."

"Lesbian?"

"NO! No, I just haven't had the best luck with men and for the time being, I've written them off. I just need a break." Wasn't exactly the truth, she had extremely good luck when it came to men, well one man in particular. If only she didn't have to go and screw up the best thing that had ever happened to her, her life may be way different, way better, than it was now. But he didn't need to know her life story. "Ha! I speak of him as if he is my entire life…but if I am not lying to myself, that is pretty much exactly what he is. My life. My old life."

"Fair enough. I'll just let you get back to your movie then."

"No! I may not want a relationship right now, but that doesn't mean I don't want to talk to an attractive man." She blushed.

"Oh, so now you think I'm attractive?" He joked.

And that's how it went for the remainder of the flight. Gabriella was surprised with how at ease she was when she talked to him. It felt good to be able to forget about all her problems and just enjoy somebody's company. She hadn't felt that in quite awhile, especially recently.

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"Well this is my bag, have a good life Gabriella. I think you will have better luck with men in the future, I can feel it. It's just a shame I couldn't be the one to turn your luck around." He said while giving her an awkward hug.

"A shame indeed. But thank you, I hope you are right." Gabriella returned as she watched him walk off, probably to never be seen again.

She sighed and took a look around the familiar airport. Home sweet freaking home. She spotted her mom waving madly from the other side of the airport; could she be any more obvious? But she had to admit, she did get a warm fuzzy feeling from seeing her mom, who she had neglected to visit for way too long. 'There is no place like home.' She told herself before glancing down and noticing her red ballet flats. 'How ironic. Does Dorothy do returns on ruby red slippers?'

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AN: I hope you liked it, but instead of just hoping, I want to know whether you did or not...so that means feedback! Yep, reviews are greatly appreciated

It takes me a bit to get the crazy ideas in my head down on paper and combined with life being life, I wouldn't expect updates every other day. More like one or two a week.