Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Chapter 2

Troy sat up in bed thinking about the conversation with Gabriella the day before. He had lay awake all night thinking about what she had told him. He had two main thoughts going through his head, and both of them revolved back to one major thing: he couldn't believe she was trying to manipulate him into getting back together. The first thing he was thinking was that maybe she had reverted back to her old ways and had gotten pregnant and was now trying to pin the pregnancy on someone who she thought was more reliable than a one night stand. His second thought was that maybe she wasn't pregnant at all and was just doing anything in her power to get him back. Either way, he couldn't believe she would stoop so low.

However, he had a conflict arise in him the more he thought about it. First of all, he still loved her and hated thinking the worst of her. Secondly, in the time he'd gotten to know her more personally, not once had he seen the side of her that he'd come to know about from her past. Could she really have been telling the truth? For the longest time, he'd been debating on whether or not to contact her and try to work things out, but he'd always chickened out and never actually took that step. Now this new knowledge definitely threw a curveball, but still made him wonder if maybe he was overreacting to the whole thing.

As he sat there thinking, Troy couldn't help but beat himself up for the way he had treated Gabriella. Even if she had betrayed him, he knew she was searching for some sort of help. He wasn't sure why she didn't just reach out to her family, but he could tell by the look in her eyes that she had wanted his help for some reason.

Thinking back on the hurt that he'd seen written all over her face, he couldn't help but feel regret for the way things had ended between the two. Plus, he had lots of questions for her now that he felt needed to be answered. Troy got ready and drove to Gabriella's parent's house, expecting to find her there. When he knocked on the door, her mom answered.

"Well hello Troy. What are you doing here?" Maria asked.

"I was looking for Brie. Is she here?"

Maria shook her head and Troy saw the anger flash through her eyes. He knew she must be upset about the pregnancy. "No, she's not here…nor will she be here any time soon. We refuse to take responsibility for carelessness. Honestly, I thought she would be with you. You are the father, are you not?"

Troy looked at the ground then back up to Maria. "I'd like to say I am, but I'm not sure," Troy said quietly. "Gabriella told me yesterday that I am, but considering her past…"

"You think she cheated on you?" Maria asked, surprise evident in her voice.

Troy shrugged. "I'm not sure what to think anymore, honestly."

Maria let out a sigh. "Troy, I definitely don't agree with the situation that my daughter got herself into, but I do know one thing. Gabriella would never cheat on you. She loved you very much and wouldn't ever try to hurt you like that."

Troy nodded slowly, understanding what Maria was saying and beginning to believe it himself. "I made a big mistake yesterday when she came to talk to me and told her to get out. Do you by chance know where I could find her?"

Maria shook her head. Her hard exterior returned. "I refuse to talk to that girl. You won't find her here or at her brother's. We refuse to take care of such an irresponsible person. Perhaps she found one of her friends to take her in. She took her things and left yesterday morning, though."

Troy frowned thinking about Gabriella. She could be anywhere and he had to find her. "Thank you, Maria." Troy turned and left, wracking his brain trying to figure out where she would have gone. Most of her friends either didn't live in the area anymore or didn't have the space to take her in. And she wouldn't go to just anyone. She wasn't one who asked people for help.

He called her cell phone, but it went straight to voicemail. Where could she be? He called her friend Taylor, but Taylor hadn't seen her. He called a few more of her friends, but none of them had seen her either. He started to get worried. Had she left town? Where would she have gone?

Lucille called Troy and asked him to run some errands for her while he was out. He agreed, figuring he could think about his next step in searching for Gabriella while he was getting things done for his mom. He went to Wal-Mart and picked up the few items Lucille needed. As he was leaving the parking lot, he spotted a car parked in a remote area of the parking lot that looked like Gabriella's. He drove over by it and found that it was Gabriella's. She was sitting alone in the car with all her belongings in the backseat.

Gabriella was sitting in her car. She had slept there last night, not having anywhere else she could go. She hadn't slept very well. Not only was the seat of her car not very comfortable, but being in such a public place made her uncomfortable as well. She worried constantly throughout the night about her safety. She wondered how safe she was and if anyone would actually bother her. Thankfully she had made it through the night without any problems, but that didn't make her feel any better. She was still worried about having to do that again for multiple nights until she was able to set up alternate arrangements.

Gabriella counted the cash she had on hand. She had four hundred dollars in the bank and another seventy-six dollars in cash. She could have gotten a hotel room for the night, but she was trying to use her money sparingly until she found a job so she could get by. Using her money for something like a hotel would have taken a good amount of the money she had and she wasn't willing to part with it so easily when she knew she would need food and a few other necessities in the days to come.

Gabriella grabbed her phone, turning it on, and started going through all the numbers she had, trying to figure out if there was anywhere she could go. She knew she needed to make the calls now before she had to go shut her phone off. She wouldn't be able to pay for a phone until she had a job. When the phone loaded up, she realized she had four new text messages. They were all from Troy. She began reading them.

Can we talk?

I really think we need to discuss what you told me yesterday.

Where are you?

Please call me and let me know you're ok.

Gabriella was surprised that Troy had even tried contacting her considering how their conversation had ended the day before. Just as she was about to send him a message back, she noticed a car pulling in next to hers. She was shocked to see that it was Troy. How did he find her? He got out and walked to her window, signaling for her to roll it down.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hi," Troy said back, just as softly. "Can we talk?"

Gabriella hesitated for a moment then nodded her head. "Yeah, I think we need to."

Troy pointed towards his car. "Why don't you hop in and we'll talk."

Gabriella got out of her car and got into Troy's. Troy got back in on the driver's side and turned towards Gabriella.

"What are you doing sitting in Wal-Mart parking lot in your car?" Gabriella shrugged and Troy sighed. "Brie, I know about the situation with your family. I went to your parent's house this morning to see you. Your mom made it very clear what she thought."

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah…which is the reason you found me in my car."

"Is this where you're staying? Because I've called some of your friends and they said they haven't seen you, so I know you're not staying with them."

Gabriella turned and looked out her window. She was ashamed of the fact that she was currently living out of her car. She knew she really didn't have any other options until she found a job and earned an income, but she also knew she couldn't lie to Troy. She just didn't want him to start feeling sorry for her.

"Brie, did you sleep in your car last night?" he asked quietly.

Gabriella felt his hand on her arm, rubbing it gently. She turned and looked at Troy. "Yeah," she said quietly.

Troy felt a deep compassion for Gabriella like he'd never felt before. "Brie," Troy whispered, grabbing Gabriella's hand. "I was an ass yesterday. I can't believe I treated you the way I did."

"I understand, Troy. Why should you believe anything I say? You were right. I didn't trust you enough to tell you what my past was like when I was in college. I should have just been honest with you but I was so afraid of you thinking less of me. But you changed me. You made me want to be a better person and I strived so hard to be that person. You made me grow up and I never once pretended to be the person that you saw. What you saw was me. I always knew I could be myself around you."

"Brie, I'm so sorry for everything I've said and done." Troy paused and took a deep breath. "I have to admit that this morning as I was thinking through things, I was thinking the worst of you. I kept thinking that in some way you were still lying to me. Either the child wasn't mine and you had cheated on me, or you weren't pregnant at all. But…"

Gabriella interrupted him. "You thought I cheated on you?" she whispered harshly, hurt lacing her voice. "I can't believe you thought I would hurt you like that."

"I'm so sorry, Brie. I know now that I was wrong. Your mom even let her hard exterior down long enough to tell me that. I think I've been so concentrated on the fact that I didn't know about your past that it's been clouding my judgment. I know that's no excuse, but that's the truth." He paused for a moment and looked out the window before returning his gaze to Gabriella. "Are we really going to have a baby?" he asked quietly.

Gabriella nodded. "Well, I am, at least. It's up to you on whether there will be a "we" involved in that or not."

The two of them sat quietly as Troy thought about his response. The pause in conversation made Gabriella feel anxious. She knew what answer she wanted to hear from Troy. But what if that wasn't the answer he was willing to provide? What if her fear was still going to come true, even after some of the things he'd already said had given her a little bit of hope for the future? What if she truly was left to herself to take care of this baby alone? Could she do it all alone with no support?

Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! This is another story I've had on my computer for quite a while that I've been working on slowly. I had written it as a one-shot originally, but going back and re-reading it, I found I wasn't very happy with it. So I've been re-writing and turning it into a longer story. I'm estimating maybe 8 or 9 chapters. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think!