After slow dancing at their new spot, Gabriella gave Troy directions to a restaurant that she had discovered during orientation a couple weeks before she moved into her dorm. Troy pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and the couple got out of the car. They walked hand-in-hand into the restaurant and were seated immediately.
"How's mom doing? I promised her that I would call when you got here, but I just didn't want to lose any time with you" Gabriella said.
Lucille, Troy's mother, loved Gabriella as if she was her own child. She was so proud of Gabriella for getting into Stanford and was one of the first people to know that she got accepted.
"She's fine. I talked to her before I came here. She told me to tell you that she loves you and misses you a lot" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled.
"I miss her too. I'll give her a call next week and fill her in on everything" Gabriella said.
"No, you both are going to talk about this weekend. I am sure. She's going to want to know everything" Troy said jokingly.
Gabriella smiled.
"It's only because we love you" Gabriella said.
"Have you talked to your mom?" Troy asked.
"Not really. I just feel like if I call, I will want to go home and I don't want to do that. Thankfully, you came up here and the thought of me wanting to go home has gone away" Gabriella said.
"So you are feeling a little homesick and that's why you don't want to talk to mom?" Troy asked.
"I guess. If I talk to your mom or mine I know that I will want to go home" Gabriella said.
"I wish I could take that feeling away from you" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled slightly.
"You are helping take it away by being here" Gabriella said.
Troy took Gabriella's hand in his.
"I'll always be here. Even though I may be a hundred miles away, I am still right here" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"I have something for you" Troy said.
Gabriella looked at her boyfriend confused. Troy reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He placed the box in front of Gabriella.
"Open it" Troy urged.
Gabriella looked at Troy and smiled. She then looked down at the box and took off the top. Gabriella gasped and looked up at her boyfriend.
"Baby, it's beautiful" Gabriella said taking the necklace out of the box.
"I figured that a beautiful necklace like that, deserved to be worn by a beautiful girl" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled. She leaned over and kissed Troy's lips softly.
"I love you and thank you" Gabriella said.
"I love you too" Troy said.
"Can you put it on me?" Gabriella asked.
"Of course, come over here" Troy said moving over so Gabriella could sit next to him in the booth.
Gabriella moved to the other side and handed Troy the necklace. Troy placed the necklace in the correct position and clasped it together. Gabriella looked down and smiled.
"You didn't have to do that" Gabriella said.
"I know, but I wanted to. Consider it your graduation present from me" Troy said.
Gabriella smiled.
"I'll always wear both of the necklaces together" Gabriella said.
"Good" Troy said.
Gabriella moved back to her seat and looked at her boyfriend. The couple ordered their food and then looked at each other again.
"So next weekend am I going to come to you?" Gabriella asked.
"I would love it if you did" Troy said.
"Then it's settled. I'm coming to Berkeley next week" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"Thank you baby" Troy said.
"We made an agreement remember? Every weekend we would see each other" Gabriella said.
Troy nodded. The couple's food came and they ate. Once they finished, the couple paid and left the restaurant. Troy and Gabriella got into the car. Troy looked at Gabriella.
"Where do you want to go next?" Troy asked.
"Can we just drive? Like how we used to" Gabriella said.
"Of course" Troy said.
Flashback
Gabriella and Troy were seventeen years old. They were currently driving around. Troy knew there was something on his girlfriend's mind.
"Baby? You okay?" Troy asked.
"My dad was diagnosed with lung cancer today" Gabriella said.
Troy pulled over and parked his car. He looked at his girlfriend.
"Brie, baby, I'm so sorry" Troy said.
Gabriella let her tears fall from her eyes.
End of Flashback
"Baby?" Gabriella asked.
"Hmm?" Troy asked looking over at his girlfriend.
"What do you see in your future?" Gabriella asked.
"Like as in career wise or life wise?" Troy asked.
"Both" Gabriella said.
"I see myself starring in a couple plays and musicals and I see us taking our relationship to the next level. Why do you ask?" Troy asked.
Gabriella smiled.
"What does the next level in our relationship include?" Gabriella asked.
Troy looked at his beautiful girlfriend.
"Well, I hope to put a ring on this finger and be able to call you Mrs. Bolton" Troy said kissing Gabriella's ring finger.
"You would want to marry me?" Gabriella asked.
Troy nodded.
"You mean the absolute world to me. I couldn't see my life without you. You are the one for me" Troy said.
Gabriella's eyes filled with tears. She wiped them away trying to hide them from Troy.
"Baby, I didn't mean to make you cry" Troy said wiping her tears away.
"No, it's not because of you. I just didn't know any of that. I couldn't see my life without you either. I love you Troy" Gabriella said.
"I love you too Gabs" Troy said leaning in and kissing Gabriella's lips softly.
"Do you think we are going to fight a lot when we start school?" Gabriella asked.
Troy looked at Gabriella confused.
"I think that maybe once in a while we may argue, but I know that we will be able to get through it. Do you think we will?" Troy asked.
"I don't know. I just don't want to lose you" Gabriella said saying the last part softly.
"You won't ever lose me baby. I'll always be here. No matter what the situation is" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"How did we get so serious all of the sudden?" Troy asked.
"Reality set in" Gabriella said.
"Let's pause this conversation and pick it up another time okay?" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"Do you want to go back to your dorm and take a nap?" Troy asked.
"Is that what you want to do?" Gabriella asked.
Troy nodded.
"And it gives us some time to snuggle. I'm going to miss snuggling with you every day" Troy said.
"Me too" Gabriella said.
Troy drove back to Gabriella's dorm. He parked his car and the couple got out and walked to the front door of Gabriella's building. Gabriella swiped her key card into the slot and heard the door unlock. The couple walked into the building and went upstairs to Gabriella's dorm. Gabriella swiped her key card into the slot one more time and the door opened. The couple walked in and smiled when they saw Sarah watching television.
"Hey" the couple said simultaneously.
"Hey" Sarah said.
The couple walked into Gabriella's room. Troy shut the door behind them. Gabriella walked over to her bed and pulled back the covers. The couple got into Gabriella's bed and looked at each other.
"You tired?" Gabriella asked.
Troy nodded. Gabriella kissed Troy's cheek softly.
"I love you. Never forget that okay?" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded.
"I love you too" Gabriella said.
The couple fell asleep in each other's arms. The next morning, Gabriella woke up and saw Troy sleeping next to her. She smiled as she watched her boyfriend sleep. Gabriella kissed Troy's forehead softly. Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella and smiled in his sleep. Gabriella giggled softly as she saw the smile appear on Troy's face. She placed soft kisses on her boyfriend's chest and made her way up to his face. Troy opened his eyes slowly. He smiled.
"You forgot one place" Troy said.
Gabriella looked at her boyfriend confused. Troy leaned in and gently kissed Gabriella's lips. Gabriella pulled back and smiled. She wrapped her arms around Troy's neck and snuggled into his chest.
"How did you sleep?" Troy asked.
"The best sleep I have had in four days" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"Good" Troy said.
"I don't want this weekend to end" Gabriella said reminding herself that Troy had to go back to school tomorrow.
"I don't either sweetheart. But, we have plenty of weekends to spend together" Troy said.
Gabriella sighed and kissed Troy's bare chest.
"I'm going to miss you" Gabriella said.
"I'm going to miss you too Brie. More than anything" Troy said.
"What do you want to do today?" Gabriella asked.
"I don't know. Let's just see where the day takes us" Troy said.
"Are you trying to tell me that you just want to stay in bed all day?" Gabriella asked.
Troy nodded and kissed Gabriella's neck softly. Gabriella closed her eyes and smiled. Troy made a line of kisses from Gabriella's neck to her lips. Gabriella unbuttoned Troy's pants. Troy removed Gabriella's shirt and placed kisses around chest. He carefully pulled Gabriella's pants down a little. Troy then looked at Gabriella.
"I love you baby" Troy said.
"I love you too" Gabriella said.
Troy moved Gabriella's underwear to the side and entered her. She gasped and gripped Troy's shoulders. The couple made love with every single emotion they could feel. An hour later, Troy watched Gabriella sleep. He loved watching her sleep because she looked so peaceful. Troy saw the marks on Gabriella's neck and smiled. Gabriella started to stir and she opened her eyes and saw Troy looking at her.
"Mm" Gabriella said.
Troy kissed Gabriella's swollen lips softly.
"How long was I asleep for?" Gabriella asked.
"Only an hour" Troy said.
"What do you want to do?" Gabriella asked.
"Can we continue our conversation from earlier?" Troy asked.
Gabriella looked at Troy.
"Sure" Gabriella said.
"Do you think that the distance is going to be hard?" Troy asked.
"Yeah. I just don't want it to come to a point where we just give up and break up" Gabriella said.
"We will just have to work on how we are going to do this. We both are going to have different schedules and other stuff that we are involved in. But if we want this to work, we need to try to make the time" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. Tears ran down Gabriella's cheeks. She grabbed Troy's boxers and a t-shirt and put them on and walked out of the room and went into the bathroom. Gabriella closed and locked the door behind her. She leaned against the bathroom door and slid down to the floor and cried. Fifteen minutes later, there was a knock on the door.
"Brie, can I come in?" Troy asked.
Gabriella sniffled and stood up. She opened the door and looked at her concerned boyfriend.
"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Troy asked closing the bathroom door so the couple could have privacy.
"This is going to be hard" Gabriella said.
"Baby, we knew it was going to be hard. We talked about this when we applied for school" Troy said.
"Yeah but that was then, before we got accepted to our schools and this is now" Gabriella said.
"Come here" Troy said.
Gabriella walked over to Troy and looked at him. Troy wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and kissed her lips softly.
"I love you" Gabriella said.
"I love you too babe. We are going to be fine. I promise" Troy said.
"How do you know?" Gabriella asked.
"I know because I don't want to be with anyone else. Some days are going to be harder than others, but we are going to get through it" Troy said.
"What if you find a pretty girl at school?" Gabriella asked softly.
Troy pulled away from Gabriella and looked at her.
"There is no way in hell I would ever find someone else. You are the love of my life Gabs. I love you with every ounce of my being. There is no possible way that I would ever find another girl" Troy said.
Gabriella looked down at her hands. She knew that Troy was getting upset.
"I'm sorry for bringing it up" Gabriella said quietly.
Troy took a deep breath and released it.
"Baby, you have nothing to be sorry for. I know you are worried and it's okay to be" Troy said.
Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy's waist and buried her face in his chest. Troy kissed Gabriella's head softly. He felt something wet on his shirt and knew Gabriella was crying. He rubbed her back soothingly and let her cry so she could get release all of her stress about the situation. Ten minutes later, Gabriella pulled away and wiped her eyes, that were now red from crying. She looked up at Troy.
"Feel better?" Troy asked.
"A little bit" Gabriella mumbled.
That night, the couple fell asleep in each other's arms wishing that the following day didn't have to come. The next morning, Troy woke up and saw Gabriella sleeping in his arms. He smiled. Troy didn't know how he was going to be able to leave Gabriella without feeling awful about it. He was pulled out of his thoughts when Gabriella started to talk in her sleep.
"I love you Troy" Gabriella mumbled.
Troy smiled and kissed Gabriella's cheek softly. A couple minutes later, Gabriella stirred and opened her eyes slowly.
"Good morning" Troy said.
"Morning" Gabriella said.
"Were you dreaming about me?" Troy asked.
Gabriella nodded against Troy's chest.
"How did you know?" Gabriella asked.
"You were talking in your sleep and said that you loved me" Troy said.
Gabriella giggled.
"Well, it's true. I do love you" Gabriella said.
Troy smiled.
"And I love you. I have to get on the road soon baby" Troy said.
Gabriella sighed and nodded.
"Okay" Gabriella said.
The couple got out of bed and got ready for the day. Troy looked at Gabriella.
"Baby, I have to go. Traffic is going to be crazy" Troy said.
Gabriella nodded. The couple walked downstairs and to Troy's car. Troy wrapped his arms around his girlfriend.
"I love you" Troy said.
"I love you too" Gabriella said.
"This week will go by fast and you will be in Berkeley before you know it" Troy said.
"I hope so" Gabriella said.
Troy leaned in and kissed Gabriella passionately. Gabriella put her hand on Troy's cheek. Troy pulled away slowly.
"I'll call you when I get I to my apartment" Troy said.
"Okay" Gabriella said.
Troy leaned in and kissed Gabriella's lips one last time.
"Love you baby" Troy said.
"Love you" Gabriella said.
Troy got into his car and drove away. Gabriella walked back to her dorm and buried herself in her bed. School hadn't even started and the couple was already seeing how hard it was going to be to keep their relationship the way it has been for the past three years.