Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Always There
It was 2am and Troy was dragging himself back to his dorm after a long 5 days on the road with his team. He hadn't realized just how hard and how different college basketball could be when you weren't playing with your best friend. Chad was at U of A, playing hard for the Redhawks and loving every minute of it. Troy couldn't help but wonder if Chad was just happy to be out of Troy's shadow and have the attention fall to him. He didn't mind though. He wasn't a guy who wanted all the attention when it came to his playing anyway.
As he made it closer to his door, he was making a list of things he needed to do. Shower. Sleep. Call Gabriella. Eat. At this point it was a toss up as to anything besides sleep would actually get accomplished. Gabriella had been hard to reach while he was away. Something about a huge project presentation that needed to be completed. School was always important for Gabriella. It was one of the things that Troy loved most about her. Her passion was overflowing, that it was almost enough to make Troy take a greater interest in his coursework. Almost.
Troy arrived at his room and dropped his bag in a heap on the floor and stopped. Directly in front of him, curled in his bed, wearing his old wildcat t-shirt, was his girlfriend. A smile graced his face and he couldn't help but be amused at the soft snore she seemed to be making.
"Well that's one thing off the list." Troy spoke to himself.
He quietly tiptoed over to his bed. He toed his shoes off, removed all his clothes except his boxers and crawled into bed behind her. Gabriella showed no sign of waking up. As Troy wrapped his arm around her waist, Gabriella instinctively moved herself closer and reached to grab his arm and laced their fingers together.
A soft mew escaped her lips as Troy placed a soft kiss in her hair. He would worry about why she was in his bed in the first place tomorrow after he was rested.
----
The light came streaming in the window as Gabriella started to wake up. She began to stretch when she realized that she was alone in the bed. She figured Troy would be in bed with her, unless he didn't come home after all. She quickly sat up and scanned the room. She located Troy's gym bag by the door where he must have dropped it last night. It was then that she became aware that the shower was running. Just as she was considering joining him, the shower shut off and moments later Troy walked out of the bathroom. His torso was bare and still glistening with beads of water running down his ridiculously toned abs. She couldn't help but stare. It didn't matter that she frequently saw him in this state of undress. Without fail, she would always be drawn to this man she was happy to call her boyfriend. When she finally looked up, she caught his smirk.
"Good morning." He spoke with humour in his tone. "Like what you see?"
She blushed but didn't break eye contact with the piercing blue orbs that shone with mirth.
"Good morning." Gabriella replied. "You should know by now that I can't seem to help myself. I don't know why you thought today would be any different when I haven't seen you in 5 days."
"Does that mean that you'll take your clothes off and allow me the same privilege?"
"Haha, you wish hotshot."
"It was worth a shot I guess." Troy started to make his way over to Gabriella. "I'll settle for a kiss?"
"That could be arranged."
Their kiss was a perfect blend of passion, longing and love. It was what Gabriella had been looking forward to since he left.
"I missed you." She whispered through his lips. "It's been a crazy few days while you've been gone."
Troy pulled back and looked into her eyes. It was only then that Troy saw something lurking underneath her excitement to see him again.
"What happened?"
"I....I just want to sit here with you. Is that a crime?"
"Brie...."
"Shhhh....just give me a hug and tell me you missed me too." She whispered as she clung to his shoulders and pressed her face into the crook of his neck.
"Of course I missed you." Troy replied, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer to him. "I always miss you when you aren't with me. But baby, you're scaring me a little. Please just tell me what's going on. Why are you here in my room. Not that I mind of course, but it's not like you to not tell me when you're coming and now you're here and I can tell something has made you upset and I just......I'm rambling aren't I?"
"Yeah you are. But it's strangely comforting. You don't need to worry. I'm fine. I just....I'm feeling...I.."
"You what?"
"Promise you won't do anything rash? Promise me that you'll stay calm?"
"Brie....what happened. Why would I need to stay calm?"
Gabriella pulled back to look Troy in the eyes. She stared into the deep blue pools and could read the worry and concern in them. She took a deep breath and continued.
"Well you know that assignment that I've been working on non-stop?" Troy nodded his head in agreement. "It's finally done and the other night my group decided that we should go out and celebrate a little bit."
"And..."
"And, well I decided to go because I was missing you a lot and I thought that it would take my mind off of you long enough that I could try to enjoy myself. I'm not really sure what happened....just what Cassie told me." Gabriella look down at her hands and began wringing them together.
Troy was beginning to run scenarios through his head. Each one worse than the previous one. He was getting more and more concerned. Not able to handle the silence anymore, Troy brought his hand to Gabriella's chin and slowly lifted her head to look him in the eyes.
"Did someone hurt you? I swear if someone hurt you I will make them regret the day they were born." Troy seethed with anger.
"No Troy, no one hurt me." Gabriella breathed. "But that doesn't mean that someone didn't try." She muttered the last part under her breath.
"Ok. I'm just going to say it.....I...I think I was given a date rape drug at the bar the other night." Gabriella squeezed her eyes shut waiting for the explosion she knew was coming from Troy.
She was surprised when it didn't come. She opened her eyes to see Troy's face. It seemed to be frozen in shock. The hand that was on her chin was hanging in the air. Gabriella raised her hand to grab his and used her other hand to cup Troy's face. She began stroking his cheek with her thumb trying to ease the tension that she knew was boiling underneath.
"Troy." Gabriella tried to catch his eye. "Troy, I need you to take a deep breath and calm down. I'm right here and I'm fine. No one hurt me. I was lucky. My group was around me when I started to feel funny...."
"Are you sure you're okay? I mean are you sure. You said you weren't sure what happened. How can you be sure....."
As fast as the shock had taken over Troy, he had snapped back just as fast. He gripped the hand that was holding his and moving to clasp the hand against his cheek.
"OK. Ok I'm sorry. I'm calm. I'm listening. Start from the beginning...."
"Well Cassie, Jade, Phil and I decided to head to that new place just off campus. Lutz I think it's called." Gabriella brought their hands together in her lap and continued with her story.
"We were sitting in a booth near the dance floor just relaxing and talking about how happy we were to be done with the assignment. Cassie went up to get us some drinks and while she was gone this guy came up and started trying to chat up Jade and I."
FLASHBACK
"Hey ladies! Looks like you guys could use some company."
"And you would be?" Jade replied with a little bit of snark in her tone.
"I'm the guy you'll remember in the morning after having the time of your life."
Gabriella let out a laugh and rolled her eyes at this guy's attempt.
"Well I'll tell you right now that I'm not interested. But thanks for stopping by....Enjoy your evening." Gabriella spoke as she tried to shoo him away.
By this point Cassie was returning to the table with the drinks and Phil was attempting to appear intimidating.
"Who the heck is this guy?" Cassie set down the drinks and started to move infront of the guy, pushing him back away from the table.
End of FLASHBACK
"So our night continued on. I didn't really drink much....I think that's how the guys knew something was up." Gabriella stared off into space remembering.
"I remember going up to get a round of drinks from the bar. The guy came up to me while I was there." Gabriella felt Troy's hand begin to clench as he listened intently to her story. "He started to try to talk me up. I told him point blank that I wasn't interested. And I turned back to get the drinks. I paid the bartender and I guess I was distracted by Jade coming up to check on me. I don't really know what happened after that...."
Gabriella paused and focused on Troy's expression. She could see him take a deep breath as he tried to relax his tense muscles.
"Keep going." Troy encouraged.
"I woke up in my room and my head felt like there was a jack hammer inside of it. Cassie was with me. I was so confused Troy. I didn't know how I got back to my room and why I felt so sick. Cassie tried to fill in the blanks...."
FLASHBACK
"What happened last night? I don't remember drinking so much..." Gabriella threw her hand over her eyes after seeing Cassie.
Cassie moved from her spot by the desk and came to sit on the edge of the bed. She handed Gabriella some advil and water. As Gabriella sat up, Cassie started to explain what happened.
"Gabs....You didn't have more than 3 drinks last night."
"Only 3? Really? Then why do I feel like I drank the entire bar and then some?"
"What's the last thing that you remember about last night?"
"Uhhh...Phil went off to try to chat up that girl? And then it was my turn to....get...the...drinks? After that I can't remember.....Cassie...what happened to me." Gabriella spoke softly on the verge of tears.
"Well you know that weird guy that tried to hit on you and Jade?"
"Yeah, he thought that he would be able to get in my pants."
"Well, I think that he slipped something in your drink. When you came back to the table, we all just kept talking and finished our drinks. It wasn't long after that you started acting weird...and out of it."
"What do you mean? What was I doing?"
"Well you started rambling about how much you missed Troy and how you couldn't wait for him to get back. And then you started dancing and spinning around on the dance floor....." Cassie took a deep breath and looked Gabriella in the eye. "That guy came up again and tried to dance with you."
"Please tell me I didn't dance with him. Please...." Gabriella pleaded with her.
Cassie smirked a little before answering. "Oh trust me you didn't. Even with all drugs in your system, you still knew enough to stop him. And boy did you stop him....." Cassie laughed a little. "As soon as you realized that he was trying to dance with you, you turned around and proceeded to tell him that you were in a loving, committed relationship with Troy. And even if you weren't, you would never consider dancing with him because his eyes weren't blue."
"Seriously? I said that? I never realized just how much I love blue eyes I guess." Gabriella replied. "Then what? How did I get home?"
"Well....this guy wasn't too keen on letting you get away. In hindsight it makes sense, but at the time we didn't really know what was going on and why you were acting funny. I was just on my way to rescue you from the creep when he tried to make you dance with him. He tried to grab your waist but you weren't having that. You reacted so fast Gabs. Like a ninja.....You ripped his hand off of you, yelled at him to back off and to never touch you."
Cassie paused and took a breath. "I was almost to you when he grabbed you again. I was just about to step in when you got this look in your eye. It was scary. Like determination and fear all wrapped into one. You tried to yank your hand away again but he wouldn't let you go.....so you kneed him REALLY hard. He bent over in shock and released your hand."
"Really? I kneed him?" Gabriella was surprised by her reaction. Generally she wasn't a violent person.
"Yeah, hard, like I said. But that seemed to be your breaking point. I think everything was catching up to you. Your emotions about our project and missing Troy and the alcohol and I guess the GHB. You turned to me in shock. Your face was really pale. You looked so confused too. I grabbed your arm and pulled you away. I've never seen you so stunned. By the time I had you off the dance floor, you had started to trip and stumble. You were mumbling and I couldn't understand a word you were saying."
Gabriella couldn't believe what she was hearing. She couldn't remember any of this. It was so bizarre and very scary to hear about what had happened. She had never felt more thankful for her group than in that moment.
Cassie continued with her story. "By this point Jade had found us and was wondering what was going on. You could barely stand up and we were starting to get worried because you hadn't really had that much to drink.....It was Jade that figured out that you were drugged. She had heard about a few people who had been drugged recently and the signs were the same that you were exhibiting."
"Then what?"
"Well we realized that we needed to get you out of there. That whoever drugged you was waiting for you to be alone and of course we weren't letting that happen. We dragged you out to the cab and started to get you in it. You were still out of it but you kept demanding that we find Troy. You were convinced that he was there and that we couldn't leave without him. When Jade told you that he wasn't there and that he was still away playing ball, you lost it. I've never seen anyone so upset in their life. You were unconsolable. You were sobbing so hard that I thought you were going to hyperventilate."
Gabriella was stunned. She couldn't believe all this had happened.
"We got you back to your room and I stayed with you all night to make sure that you were still breathing and everything.....it was scary Gabs. I called my sister. She's in med school and she said that you would be fine not going to the hospital as long as someone stayed with you to make sure that you were alright and fed you lots of water if you were awake."
Gabriella was silent.
END FLASHBACK
Troy was stunned. He was absolutely floored. How could something like this happen to Gabriella....and how could he not have been there to stop it.
"Troy....Troy....looked at me. This is NOT your fault. So you can't stop that brain of yours from blaming this on yourself." Gabriella stated. She grabbed his chin and made him look directly at her. "I am here and I am fine. I wasn't hurt and I went to the doctor to make sure that everything was out of my system."
"Brie....I can't believe this happened. I mean what if Cassie and Jade hadn't been there with you. What if that guy had been able to get you alone...what if you'd..."
Gabriella cut him off by covering his mouth her her hand. "Stop. Now. There is no point in going through the what ifs. It doesn't matter because they didn't happen and I'm here and I'm fine."
Troy grabbed her hand away from his mouth and laced their fingers together again before he spoke.
"Are you sure? Why didn't you call me after you found out. You said it was a few days ago. You should have called me."
"I know" Gabriella responded but looked down. "I wanted to call you so much but I didn't want you to worry or worse not be able to focus on your game. This was such a huge trip for you and the team and I didn't want to burden you with something that you couldn't fix anyway. I wanted you back here so bad but I knew that I had to wait."
"Gabriella.." Troy deliberately used her full name to grab her attention. "You could never be a burden. I would have worried about you, yes, that is a given, but I still wish you would have told me."
Gabriella sighed and looked back up. "I know. You're always there for me, no matter what. You'd think I'd remember that by now."
"You'd think that genius IQ of yours would be more adept at remembering important things like the fact that your boyfriend is hopelessly in love with you and will always, always be there when you need him."
"I know. Why do you think I was here when you got home. I didn't tell you earlier, but I've been staying here since it happened. I don't really know why, but I think I just felt safer here. I didn't want to be anywhere near campus, so I came here."
"You are always welcome here whenever you want and I was so glad when I came home to find you here."
Gabriella stared into his deep blue eyes once more before looking down again. She released a small chuckle.
"What's so funny?"
"You realize that we just had a very intense conversation while you were in nothing but your towel?"
Troy looked down and back up to Gabriella. "Huh. I guess we did. When you tell me shit like that, I tend to forget everything else. I'm surprised that you were able to concentrate long enough to get it all out."
Gabriella blushed as she focused on their hands again. She was a little surprised when Troy pulled his hands away from hers, but relaxed as he placed them both on her face and pulled her eyes up once more.
"I love you." Troy's eyes shone with sincerity and his tone was serious. "I need you to take care of yourself when I'm not here ok? Because I'm holding the most important thing in my hands right now and I can't lose it. I won't lose it."
Tears sprung in her eyes as she replied in kind. "I love you too. So so much. Thank you for always being there for me."