So call me crazy but I'm starting a new story! Updates should be swift because it's actually already written and finished so all I'll need to do is upload.
This is loosely based off Pixie Lott – Broken Arrow, it was my inspiration for writing it but it's only really loosely based off it like I said.
I know this story will seem somewhat similar to one of my other stories that is on hiatus at the moment but it plans out very differently. It is rated M for some violent and later sexual scenes but I don't think I really need to tell you that =P
Gonna throw in a little disclaimer in here, I don't own the songs I'm using! If I did I'd be a musical genius and well I'm not!
I'm planning to update once a week so keep your eyes peeled for regular updates!
Enjoy and review!
~TG~
'He's the part that is missing,
I miss him, I'm missing him,
Oh I miss him I miss him, I'm missing him,'
-Pixie Lott – Broken Arrow
~TG~
Twenty one year old Gabriella Montez sat on her bed looking through the photographs she had strewn across her bed.
She loved looking at photographs of her past; she looked at them as physical memories for the times that her mind had failed her.
Her brother had been killed when she was just five years old, physical memories were all that she had left. She could picture odd days but had no real solid memories of the brother that she had never gotten the chance to know.
She picked up another picture, smoothing it over with her thumb gently.
This was one of her favorites.
In the picture were an elderly man and a small girl, her thick curly brown hair reaching to her shoulders. The elderly man was brushing his thumb softly against the small girl's cheek, looking at her with total adoration.
The elderly man was Gabriella's grandpa, her best friend. He had passed away in 2003, following the death of her beloved grandmother and preceding only by days the death of her second grandfather.
That year had been a struggle for Gabriella; she had pushed most of the memories from her mind, struggling desperately to deal with her feelings alone.
She had never sought help, fearful that she would be branded as weak and crazy if she ever shared how much she was struggling.
A knock on the door broke Gabriella from her trance; quickly she wiped the tears from her cheek and got up to answer the door.
"Hey there Beautiful," As she opened the door, the voice of her best friend Troy Bolton flooded her ears. She giggled quietly, Troy had always been a flirt but Gabriella didn't mind, he never failed to put a smile on her face.
Troy and Gabriella had been best friends since both had arrived in California. Gabriella had moved from upstate New York to study law at Stanford while Troy had moved from Albuquerque to study Marine Science at the University of California Berkeley.
They had met through mutual friends and had been inseparable ever since.
"Hey Troy," Gabriella smiled as she stepped aside, letting her best friend enter her apartment and settle himself on the large couch.
Troy frowned, he studied Gabriella for a moment and worry took over his body. Her eyes were red and swollen, her cheeks puffy and tear stained and the sounds of quiet sniffles filled the air.
Quickly he leapt up from the couch and pulled Gabriella firmly into his arms.
"Ella? Beautiful, what's the matter?" Troy asked concerned, wrapping his arms tighter around her petite body and snuggling his face into her neck.
Gabriella sighed slowly; in all the time she and Troy had been best friends she had never once shared the bitter past that haunted her.
She had always feared that Troy would think she was crazy, damaged by her past experiences. She feared that he would leave her, not wanting anything to do with anybody that was so emotionally broken.
But today, it looked like she had no choice.
"Um, I've got some stuff I think I should tell you," she whispered fearfully, grabbing Troy's hand and leading him towards her bedroom.
As they entered her bedroom Troy frowned again, wondering why there were photographs strew across her bed. Troy hadn't seen these pictures before, he and Gabriella had spent numerous nights flicking through photo albums from her childhood but he had never set his eyes on these.
"Sit, can you just listen and not talk until I'm done?" Gabriella asked quietly, watching Troy as he nodded silently and encouraged her to go on. "Well ok, I had a brother…other than Nikolas; he was killed when I was little. This is him," Gabriella handed Troy a photograph of a teenage boy, he was standing next to a younger boy, a small girl and had a baby cradled in his arms.
Troy studied the photograph carefully, he knew the younger boy to be Gabriella's older brother Nikolas, the girl in the photograph was most definitely Gabriella, and this meant that the baby was most certainly Gabriella's younger sister Gianna.
Troy was shocked, he had been sure that he knew everything about Gabriella, to know that she had been hiding such a traumatic past experience pained him.
"Ella, why didn't you tell me?" Troy asked, picking up another one of the photographs laid on her bed and looking at it closely.
Gabriella winced; she had feared that would be Troy's reaction. She hugged her legs tightly to her chest and rested her face on her knees, willing away the tears that were quickly forming in her eyes.
Troy noticed Gabriella reaction, threw down the photographs and wrapped Gabriella tightly into his arms.
"I'm not mad sweetheart, just worried. I thought we told each other everything, why did you feel you had to hide this from me?" He probed gently, pulling them back further onto the bed so that they were positioned comfortably in a laying position.
Gabriella scrunched her eyes up tightly, she hated being openly vulnerable and wished with everything she had that the feelings she was feeling would just disappear on their own.
"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to think I was crazy. You know how much I struggle with my grief for grandpa; I didn't want to add something else to the list of things that have made me so messed up. I just wanted to be normal," Gabriella snuggled her face into Troy's neck, breathing in his calming scent as he rubbed his hand up and down her back soothingly.
Troy sighed quietly, he had spend many hours comforting Gabriella as she, even after so many years, struggled through the grief of losing her grandpa. Not once had he any idea that there were other issues within her that were struggling to come out.
"You're not crazy Gabriella! Don't ever feel like you can't share something like that with me, I would never think you were crazy. You shouldn't bottle stuff up, you know that." Troy tightened his grip on a now sobbing Gabriella. He was at a complete loss as to what he could do to help her; deciding the only thing he could do was to hold her, he wriggled down the bed slightly and pulled Gabriella to lie against his chest, stroking her hair soothingly as she cried.
"I miss him so much Troy, what am I supposed to do without him?" Gabriella sobbed; Troy knew she was talking about her grandpa; this was a line he had heard hundreds of times before.
Gabriella's grandpa had been her world growing up, while both her parents worked full time and Nikolas was at school, her grandpa had taken care of herself and Gianna on an almost full time basis.
While Gianna had always been favored for being the youngest, Gabriella had always known she was her grandpa's favorite. It was no family secret that Nikolas was only half brother to Gabriella and Gianna. Gabriella's mother, Natalia, had been married once before, he had been the father to both older brothers. Natalia had thought she had found true love when she had married Gabriella's father Giovanni, sadly two years after the birth of their youngest daughter the couple divorced.
Gabriella had been the first grandchild to her grandpa, he was at the beginnings of old age and neither of his sons had had children, he was sure that he would never be blessed with grandchildren. He had been overjoyed by the birth of Gabriella; she was the light of his life, the chance of a grandchild that he never thought he would get.
"I know you do Beautiful, but you just have to keep living your life. He wouldn't want you to be sad, he would be so proud of right now you know that? You've grown into this stunningly beautiful, smart, kind woman. Ella, I know you miss him, but you just can't let that destroy you." Troy pressed a delicate kiss to her forehead, savoring the feel of her skin against his lips, knowing that it would be a long time before he got to feel that again.
Troy was no stranger to his own feelings; from the moment he had been introduced to Gabriella by a friend at a party he had been captivated. She had been wearing a short tight silver dress and her long curly hair flowed freely down her back, he hadn't been able to take his eyes off her all night.
The friend who had introduced them had informed Troy that Gabriella didn't date, that something had happened in her past that stopped her from opening up to others enough to let them into her life in such an intimate way.
From that day forward, Troy vowed that if he couldn't be with Gabriella as her boyfriend, he would be with her as her best friend.
It wasn't until now that he realized just why she hadn't wanted to enter into any form of relationship. Everyone she had loved, everyone she had trusted, had disappeared from her life leaving her sure that anyone she got close to would do the exact same thing.
He wondered if there would ever be a right time to tell her how he felt about her. The friendship that they shared seemed too sacred to destroy, and he feared that revealing his feelings for her would do just that.
While it was evident that Gabriella still had a lot of issues to work through, her friendship with Troy had enabled her to recover from her distrust of people and she had begun dating a guy she had met at work.
Twenty two year old Seth Keres was a Mathematics major at UC Berkeley. He had met Gabriella while working in a local coffee shop and had instantly charmed her with his smooth personality. Troy had been wary of Seth the first time they had met at Gabriella's apartment; he liked to think he was a good judge of character and in his opinion was Seth couldn't be trusted.
Seth and Gabriella had been dating for six months and as much as Troy wanted to express his dislike and distrust for Seth, he made Gabriella happy and he endeavored to keep his opinions to himself to protect her happiness.
It wasn't long before Troy realized that he had been drifting in and out of sleep for the last three hours as Gabriella slept contently snuggled into his arms.
"Ella, wake up Beautiful," Troy whispered against Gabriella's cheek, hoping to wake her from her much needed sleep gently rather than forcefully.
He watched with longing as her nose scrunched up and her eyes flickered open, it was the littlest expressions that Troy loved most about Gabriella.
"What time is it?" Gabriella asked quietly, her voice husky from sleep and her eyes only just adjusting to the light that still shone through her bedroom window.
"A little before six, you fancy going out and getting some pizza?" Troy asked as he brushed a stay piece of hair from her eyes, falling deeply into her auburn eyes.
Gabriella shook her head slowly, pushing herself up from the bed and settling herself on the edge.
"I can't tonight, Seth is coming to pick me up at seven and we're going for dinner," Troy frowned; he knew that Gabriella loved Seth, or at least thought that she did, and it concerned him to think that she had so easily trusted a man that Troy was sure was not to be trusted.
He pulled Gabriella back into a laying position once again, pulling her head towards his chest and cradling her in his strong arms.
"Will you just be careful? I don't know what it is about him Gabriella, but I just don't trust him." Troy whispered his words of caution against her silky hair, kissing her head lovingly as he spoke and wrapping his arms around her head protectively.
Gabriella felt fear begin to rise within her veins; she had been keeping something else from Troy, something huge that she was sure she could never ever tell him. It was a secret that would destroy his world, a secret that Gabriella had, and always would, struggle to keep quiet.
~TG~
Gabriella looked at herself in the mirror and smiled; she usually didn't get excited for dates with Seth but for some reason tonight was different.
She was wearing a black dress with white butterflies and black belt around her waist, thick warm black tights, a black cardigan and stylish black heels. Her thick black hair flowed down her back in loose curls and her makeup was natural yet beautiful.
A knock on the door signaled Seth's arrival.
"Uh you look amazing," Seth moaned as Gabriella answered her door. He pulled her into his arms, rubbing himself against her before moving his hands down and squeezing her butt firmly.
Gabriella cringed slightly, she had been excited for this date but her excitement was quickly wearing away.
She wasn't a virgin…no, that time had long passed in high school, but she had only slept with Seth once. He had played on her vulnerabilities and somewhat taken advantage of one of her bad days and sweet talked her into sleeping with him.
She hated that she had allowed him to do that, at the time it had seemed like a good idea, a good way to relax and forget about her problems. Afterwards however, she felt sick; she couldn't believe she had given in to what he wanted.
"Can we just go eat Seth? I'm really hungry," Seth grinned at his girlfriend, grabbing her hand harshly and pulling her along the corridor towards the stairs and down to their awaiting car.
Seth was born into a family of money; he had never worked a day in his life and threw around his money like it was trash. Soon after they began dating Gabriella found out that Seth had been arrested for drunk driving, the only reason his case had not gone to court was because he had offered to pay for the police department to have their main building renovated.
Gabriella hated that he flaunted his money in such a way, she disliked lots of things about Seth but there was something about having someone to love and who seemed to love you back that had always kept her from leaving.
After a short car journey the couple made their way into a fancy Italian restaurant in Fremont. Seth had brought Gabriella here before, just a couple of weeks after they had begun dating, it had been a nice evening but Gabriella wished they had gone somewhere a little more relaxed.
"So, did you do anything nice today?" Seth asked, making small talk between them as they looked over the menus that had been placed in front of him.
Gabriella thought for a moment before she spoke, knowing that telling Seth she had spent most of her day with Troy would anger him.
"Um, Troy came over and we just hung out for most of the day. You know, watched movies, talked and stuff," Gabriella spoke cautiously, looking up at Seth as she spoke before quickly glancing down at her menu once again.
Seth clenched his fists; he hated that there was another man closer to his girl than he way, he hated knowing that Troy spent nights snuggled up with Gabriella in her bed when she would never allow him to stay after dates, and he hated that Troy always seemed to be around.
"Do you have to see that guy? Doesn't he have any other friends? I don't want you to see him anymore," Gabriella slammed the menu down on the table when she heard Seth's words, she very rarely got angry but Seth really knew how to push her buttons.
Before Gabriella had the chance to reply the waitress appeared to take their orders.
The rest of the meal was eaten in silence, Gabriella's anger towards Seth preventing her from speaking and Seth's anger for Gabriella and Troy building within him.
"I thought we could take a romantic walk on the beach," Seth spoke firmly as he and Gabriella got into their chauffer driven car after their intense awkward meal.
Gabriella sighed; the only place she wanted to be was snuggled in her bed at home…definitely not walking on a deserted beach with Seth.
"I'm sorry Seth, I'm really tired. Can you just drop me home?" Gabriella yawned as best she could to make her statement more believable, desperate to get away from Seth and get back to her comfortable bed.
The car pulled up outside Gabriella's apartment block and the driver stepped out, opening their door to allow them to exit.
Seth stepped out behind Gabriella, surprising her and he walked close behind her towards the door of her apartment block.
"Seth, I meant drop me home alone…I really don't want you to come in," Gabriella spoke forcefully as she unlocked the main door and began to move in, attempting to close the door behind her and block Seth from entering.
Her attempts failed; Seth quickly moved his foot in the way to prevent the door from closing completely, he pushed it open violently causing Gabriella to fall backwards against the hard marble floor.
Seth violently grabbed Gabriella's arm, yanking her up from the floor and forcing her towards the elevator.
"Seth, let me go! You're hurting me Seth, please just let me go!" Gabriella struggled against Seth's strong grip as the elevator door opened on her floor and the pair made their way towards her apartment. She wished with everything she had that someone would appear…somebody anybody who would alert someone that was in trouble.
But nobody came.
"Open the door," Seth demanded, shoving Gabriella towards her door and watching over her and she shakily turned the key in the lock and opened the apartment door.
Seth pushed Gabriella into the apartment, grabbing hold of her arm once again as he walked inside and dragged her towards the bedroom.
Gabriella's fear began to heighten, tears sprung from her eyes and the pain that was radiating from her wrist became more intense.
She winced as she felt Seth pull his body against hers, groping her breasts and he moved his hands down to her hips. As he reached the end of her dress his fingers began to work their way up the inside, reaching the top of her tights and pulling on them slowly.
"Seth, stop it!" Gabriella pulled all her strength together in order to push Seth away. He wasn't a small man; he had been a boxer during his high school years and continued to play the sport socially throughout his years at college.
Seth's anger began to spill from his body, his fists clenching once again as he lunged towards Gabriella.
"You stupid bitch!" Seth shouted angrily as he swing hid fist, feeling it come into contact with Gabriella's face as she fell to the floor. He looked down at the crumpled girl, her hand rising to her lip and crying harder as she realized she was bleeding.
With rage still seeping through this veins; Seth reached down and pulled Gabriella back up to her feet, shoving her harshly against the wall and stepping forward so his face was just millimeters away from hers.
"It's because of Troy isn't it? You won't sleep with me because you're giving it up to him? That's it isn't it?" Seth shouted angrily, pushing Gabriella back and forwards into the wall to accentuated his words. When she didn't reply he let her go, watching as she sunk down to the floor. "You disgust me," Seth spoke firmly, kicking her in the side so as she fell from a sitting to a laying position on the floor before walking out of her apartment leaving her completely alone.
Gabriella took a deep breath, rubbing tears from her eyes as she stood up slowly to look at herself in the mirror.
Her lip was swollen and bleeding, her cheeks puffy and tearstained, and a large red mark had formed on her cheek.
Slowly, she got out of her clothes and into a comfortable pair of track pants and one of Troy's old t-shirts, wincing as the soft material brushed against her still bleeding lip.
Just as she had managed put a cool cloth on her lip her doorbell rang, causing the fear within Gabriella to return.
Cautiously she approached her door, looking through the peephole to identify just who it was ringing her bell.
She relaxed slightly as she saw Troy standing patiently at her door, only to have fear replaced with apprehension upon realizing she would have to explain why she was in such a state.
Sighing she opened the door, looking down at the floor as Troy came into view.
She heard a gasp, it was only seconds before Troy had bundled her into his arms, shut the door and pulled them down onto the couch.
"What the hell happened to you Gabriella?" Troy asked; pulling Gabriella's body away from his own and observing her injuries, carefully checking to ensure there was nothing serious.
Gabriella's eyes began to well with tears once again, fearing how Troy would react when he realized she had been keeping another secret from him.
"…I fell," Gabriella whispered, hoping desperately that Troy would believe her story, cuddle her and tell her to be more careful in the future.
Troy shook his head, resting his forehead against Gabriella's and looking deep into her eyes.
"Like hell you fell, he did this to you didn't he? Elle, Beautiful, how long has this been going on?" Gabriella scrunched her eyes up tightly as she listened to Troy's words, realizing that she could no longer escape the truth that had been haunting her for the last five months.
She snuggled herself deeper into Troy's protective embrace, relishing in the feeling of being so cared for and loved after being so horribly violated.
"I didn't want you to be angry…so I didn't tell you. I knew that you would go out there and try and find him and I didn't want you to get hurt. This is the worst it's ever been, it's usually only just little bruises in places no one can see…I'm so sorry!" Gabriella's tears began to steam down her cheeks as she revealed everything to Troy.
Troy shook his head; shocked by what he was hearing, he couldn't believe that Gabriella had kept something so serious a secret for so long.
He wrapped his arms tighter around her sobbing body, running his hand up and down her back comfortingly and placed delicate kisses against her head.
"Oh god Gabriella, I'm gonna look after you now I promise. He's never coming near you ever again, you hear me…I'm going to take care of you! God my Ella, what's he done to you." Tears began to collect in Troy's eyes, the thought of the girl he loved suffering in such a way was just too much for him to bear.
He hated that he had been right; he knew that he couldn't trust Seth but he had never imagined that it would go as far as it had. He didn't want to press Gabriella to talk; he knew that now it was all out it the open, she would open up to him when she was ready.
~TG~
It had been two days since Seth's brutal attack on Gabriella and Troy had not once left her side. Despite the fact that it was summer break and the July sun was beating down, neither had left safety of the apartment.
Troy had done nothing but pamper Gabriella for the last two days; cooking dinner, running her hot baths with bubbles, massaging her stiff shoulders, and snuggling in bed with her while she slept safely tucked into his arms.
"Why don't we go and have pizza and watch a movie today?" Troy suggested, hoping to encourage Gabriella out of the apartment and into the summer sunshine.
The pair had been snuggled up in bed all morning, watching reruns of Friends and picking on left over Chinese food from the night before. Gabriella snuggled herself deeper into his chest, not wanting to leave the comfort and warmth of her current position, no matter how sunny it was outside.
"I really don't want to Troy. Seth hasn't even called me in the last two days, the last thing I want is to run into him in the street," Gabriella sighed, hating that the man she thought she was in love with was effectively making her a prisoner in her own home.
She picked up the TV controller, flicking through the movie channels for something to watch.
"We can watch a movie here and order in pizza, please can we just stay here for another day?" Troy couldn't deny Gabriella's request, he had seen her broken once already this week and wasn't about to let that happen again.
Just as Gabriella was about to start the movie they had chosen the phone rang, interrupting their comfortable cocoon of togetherness.
Troy sprung up from the bed, conscious that the person on the other end of the line might be Seth.
"Hello?" He asked, as he picked up the receiver from its stand in the hallway and waited patiently for the caller to identify themselves.
"Who am I speaking with? This is Natalia Montez; I'd like to speak with my daughter." The voice of Gabriella's mother filled Troy with relief, while he knew that Natalia often gave Gabriella a hard time he was relieved that he wouldn't have to explain to Gabriella that it was Seth that had called her.
"Natalia, its Troy. I'll just pass you on to Gabriella," Troy made his way back into the bedroom, snuggling himself back into bed and he handed Gabriella the phone and let her know it was her mother.
He pulled Gabriella back into his arms, it pained him to think that before long another man would be holding her like this and that he would never get the chance again, but now was definitely not the right time to share his feelings.
"Hey Mom," Gabriella cheerful voice greeted her mother as she held the phone to her ear, curious as to why her mother was calling her at all.
"Gabriella, your sister and I are going to the summer house for a couple of weeks this summer and thought that you should join us". As much as Natalia Montez loved her daughter, she often overlooked Gabriella's plans in order to fulfill her own; this was to be one of those situations.
"Actually Mom, Troy has offered for me to go and spend a couple of weeks down in Albuquerque with his family. He's been desperate to show me around, we thought we would go next month," Gabriella knew that her mother's reaction would be one of distaste, for some reason she had never been too fond of Troy.
Natalia Montez hadn't remarried following her divorce from Giovanni Montez when Gabriella was seven and Gianna was just two. Since the divorce she had always seemed bitter, not once relishing in either daughters happiness and constantly telling Nikolas that his marriage would never work out.
"You're wasting your time with that boy Gabriella, I know that you're in love with him but he won't ever love you back. Men are just worthless; you should know that by now. All he is doing is distracting you from your studies!" Gabriella sighed, this was a lecture she had had before but electively chose to ignore every time, she loved her mother more than anything but it frustrated her how pessimistic she could often be.
With a swift 'Bye Mom' and an 'I love you', Gabriella hung up the phone. She wasn't in the mood for one of her mother lectures; all she wanted was to sleep off the headache that was still lingering from two days previously.
Troy had been pestering her to report Seth to the police, but she had made a decision, no matter how many times Troy told her to report it…she wouldn't.
As much as she knew that she shouldn't, she loved Seth and she was sure that deep down he loved her too. She had decided next time she saw him she would suggest that he got some help, some counseling to help him manage his anger, that way she wouldn't have to involve the police and make him even more angry.
She wondered to herself, maybe just maybe things would get better on their own.
So there you have it, first chapter. I have it pretty much all written, there's nine chapters so I'm thinking one update a week =D I don't want it to be over too quickly haha! I apologize for any spelling mistakes that I missed while proof reading =P Look out for the next update and don't forget to review.