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Chapter one:
Gabriella raised one eyebrow at her husband, playful suspicion written across her pretty face. "Why won't you tell me where you're going?" she sat down on the edge of their king sized bed, watching as Troy rummaged through his sock door, obviously in search of his favorite pair.

Troy glanced at Gabriella out of the corner of his eye. "I did tell you where I'm going. Shopping with Ryan," he stated, shrugging nonchalantly.

"But you won't tell me where you're going shopping with Ryan."

"Honey, Christmas is two weeks away. Did it ever occur to you that I just might be buying you a Christmas present?" Troy sat down next to her, pulling the dark colored socks over his feet.

"Yes, that did occur to me, but you could still tell me where you're going. The mall, Wal-Mart….." she turned to him, a smile tugging at her lips, "the jewelry store."

"Now, Gabriella Bolton, if you don't stop guessing, you won't find any Christmas presents for you under our Christmas tree this year." Troy tried to make his voice sound strict, but the twinkle in his eyes gave away the fact that he was teasing her.

"All right, I'll quit asking you," Gabriella said, sighing in defeat.

Troy got to his feet and turned to face her. "That's all I ask." Smiling, he leaned down and claimed her lips with his in a soft kiss.

When he started to pull away, Gabriella wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back down, kissing him again.

"I'll be back," Troy whispered in her ear, causing her to giggle lightly. Walking towards the bedroom door, he called, "I love you" over his shoulder.

"Love you too." Gabriella watched her husband disappear from view before getting to her feet.

Downstairs she stopped to look at her and Troy's wedding picture. Both of their faces were lit with smiles that appeared to be spread from ear to ear. Troy stood behind Gabriella with his arms wrapped around her petite waist while she leaned her head against his chest. Her hair fell in dark ribbon curls past her shoulders and stopping just above her elbows. The look in her eyes showed pure contentment, just the way she was feeling today. She had the perfect husband who she was expecting her first baby with, unknown to him.

The corners of her mouth turned up as an idea came to mind. Going to the kitchen, she pulled out a pen and a piece of paper and sat down. Gabriella wrote down two words and her heart fluttered at the thought of it. She ran her hand over her stomach. I'm pregnant.

Quickly getting a box two feet high and two feet wide, she put the piece of paper at the bottom and filled the box the rest of the way with a bunch of Christmas colored tissue paper. Satisfied with her plan, she wrapped the present, put a name tag on it and addressed it to Troy. Gabriella couldn't wait to see her husband's expression when he found her little note in the box. This was going to be the best Christmas she had ever had.

Ryan studied the pieces of jewelry that lined the inside of the glass cases. Troy had asked him to help pick out something for Gabriella for Christmas, because he knew that Ryan had bought several things for Sharpay throughout the years. Ryan thought of his sister that lived all the way across the country in New York. He had been proud of her for becoming a Broadway star, but he missed his twin dearly. When she left, she had suggested that he come with her, but he knew that his home would always be in Albuquerque. That's where he fit in; where he belonged. But, he did feel like his sister was growing up and moving on without him, especially since she had met her boyfriend, Marc. Ryan had to admit that he was a nice guy and that he was good for Sharpay, but even thousands of miles away, he still felt like a third wheel. Sharpay had Marc, Chad had Taylor, Kelsi had Jason, and Troy had Gabriella. He couldn't help but feel like he would remain a bachelor for the rest of his life.

Sighing, he continued to scan the expensive items to find one that reminded him of Gabriella. Elegantly beautiful, subtle in a way that made her stand out, strong, peaceful…..Suddenly, there it was! Ryan motioned to Troy and his friend hurried to his side.

"Did you find something?" Troy's voice was filled with a slight urgency, making it seem like the world would end if he didn't find the perfect thing for his wife.

Ryan smiled. "I think so." He pointed to a gold necklace with a single, but beautiful, pearl hanging delicately from the chain. "How about that?"

Troy stared at it for several seconds and then his lips began to curve upward. "It's perfect." He got a clerk to assist them, so he could get a better look at the necklace and then he nodded enthusiastically. "I'll take this one."

The clerk's smile was polite and she took the necklace back from Troy. "I'll ring it up. Would you like it gift wrapped, sir?"

Another nod. "Yes, thank you."

"All right, I'll back in a few minutes."

Troy turned to Ryan. "Thanks for helping me find that. I really didn't know what kind of jewelry I should get her. I wanted it to be something unique," he looked down, a blush creeping into his cheeks, "just like her."

"Gabriella would have been happy with whatever you got her, but I think she'll love the necklace."

Troy looked back up. "How did it catch your eye?"

"I was just looking for something that reminded me of her. The pearl caught my eye because it was so….." he searched for the right word.

Troy had a faraway look in his eyes as he finished Ryan's sentence. "Beautiful."

Ryan gave a nod in agreement, a longing welling up in his heart. He wanted a wife of his own that he could cherish the way that Troy did Gabriella. Would he ever get that?

The clerk returned, carrying a small wrapped box in her hand. "Here you are, sir."

She named the price of the necklace and Ryan had to struggle to keep his eyes from bulging from his head. It was a good thing that Troy made good many at his job. Troy wrote out a check and exchanged it for the gift.

"Thank you," Troy said, excitement clear in the tone of his voice. He stepped in the direction of the door just as it flew open.

The next chain of events happened so quickly that Ryan barely realized what was happening. Guns went off, people screamed, glass shattered. Then time went into slow motion as he saw Troy falter. Hurrying forward, he caught his friend and they both sank to the ground. Blood flowed from a bad bullet wound to Troy's left shoulder. He had been hit. Ryan looked up to catch a glimpse at the assailant, but the two men that had entered both wore masks shielding their faces from sight. He quickly observed the scene. There were about two other people who appeared to be wounded from the bullets, but neither seemed as bad as Troy. He noticed the clerk that had waited on them reach below the counter and Ryan desperately hoped that it was a silent alarm.

As the armed men started shouting orders, he pulled his attention back down to Troy. Managing a small smile, he said, "You're going to be okay."

Troy took a moment to get his breath. "R-Ryan."

His voice was so quiet that Ryan had to lean down to hear him. "Yeah?"

"I-I want you t-to do something f-for me."

"Anything, Troy, you name it." Ryan kept his voice low, so as not to drag attention to them, but he made sure that Troy could hear him.

"You h-have to….give Gabriella h-her necklace."

Ryan shook his head immediately. "No, man, you give it to her. She's your wife."

Troy gasped for breath and then let out a sigh. "I-I don't…." he paused, "I don't t-think I'm gonna m-make it."

Ryan tried to hold back the tears that he felt surfacing in his eyes. He couldn't cry. He wasn't going to.

Before he could speak, Troy continued. "And, R-Ryan."

"Yeah?" he said, doing his best to keep his voice even.

"Promise me t-that you'll t-take care of h-her for m-me."

Ryan shook his head again. "Troy, you're-"

Troy reached for Ryan's arm, clasping it tightly. "P-Promise me, Ryan."

The tone of his voice pleaded for Ryan to tell him what he wanted to hear, but Ryan didn't want to even think that Troy would die. He hesitated, but the look in Troy's eyes made Ryan nod and say, "I promise, Troy."

Troy released another sigh, relief obvious in his expression. A few minutes later he couldn't seem to catch his breath. Ryan could tell that he was fighting against leaving his life behind, but they both knew he was losing. Troy managed to say one more thing, to tell Gabriella that he loved her. Then his breath continued to grow shallower until it was no longer there at all. Ryan felt his tears breaking loose and he slowly slid Troy's eyelids closed. He was gone.

Ryan was grateful when he heard sirens in the distance, but pain filled his heart, they were too late. Troy had been killed in cold blood and the assailant didn't even seem to care. He was too busy being angry about the sirens that were growing closer and louder.

The next minutes passed in a blur. He noticed the two men run out of the store, but he just sat there. The police cars and ambulances stopped outside, but he didn't make any move to get up or say a word to anyone. One of his best friends had just died and the only thing he could think about was, how am I going to tell Gabriella?

Gabriella glanced at her watch. She had thought that Troy would have been home by then. She pushed aside the piece of worry drifted through her brain. Troy was fine. Any minute now, she knew that he would walk right through the door with a bright smile spread across his face. They would share a kiss and she would completely forget about being worried about him. Gabriella nodded, trying to convince herself.

The doorbell rang, causing Gabriella's eyebrows to furrow. She wasn't expecting anyone and Troy wouldn't be ringing the doorbell at his own house. Shrugging, she headed towards the door. She wrapped her fingers around the cool medal of the door handle and pulled the large wooded door open. A smile pulled at her lips when she caught sight of Ryan standing on the other side, but it quickly faded. "Ryan? What's wrong?" her heart sped up as she took in his disheveled appearance. His face was pale, his eyes watery, but the thing that caught her eye was the small patch of red on his otherwise light blue shirt. She looked over her shoulder, desperately hoping to see her husband coming up behind Ryan, but all she could see was Ryan's empty car and the sprinkles of snow that were just beginning to fall. "W-Where's Troy?" she barely even recognized her own voice. It sounded squeaky and unsure.

Ryan took off his hat and rubbed the back of his hand across his forehead. "There's something I have to tell you." Ryan looked in every direction, but at her. With trembling fingers he held his hat in both hands, shifting from foot to foot unsteadily. For what seemed liked hours, he didn't continue and the pause made Gabriella's heart race even more. But, when he did finish, she felt her heart almost stop. "Troy's dead, Gabriella."

It felt as though someone had just kicked her in the gut. She inhaled sharply and stepped away from Ryan. "What?" her voice was deathly quiet as she stared at the man in front of her, praying that she had heard him wrong.

A tear slid down Ryan's cheek and he slowly spoke again. "These two guys came into the jewelry store, bullets flying….." he smoothed his voice, trying to be strong for Gabriella's sake. "Troy didn't make it."

Gabriella shook her head quickly. "No, it's not true," she swatted at the tears in her eyes. "It's not!" She reached toward a hook on the wall and grabbed her keys and a jacket.

As she tried to brush past Ryan, he caught her arm. "What are you doing?"

"I have to find him, prove to you that he's okay."

The tone in her voice showed that she was desperate to find her husband perfectly all right and unharmed, but Ryan knew what he was talking about. He had been there.

The hurt look in Gabriella's eyes broke his heart and he wished that he could tell her that Troy was okay, that he had survived. But the truth was that he hadn't. "I-I'm sorry, Gabriella, but Troy really is gone."

"No, he isn't," she yelled, trying to jerk her arm from his grasp. "Now let me go, I have to find him."

Ryan wouldn't release her arm. "I was there, Gabriella. He died in my arms."

"No!"

Ryan pulled her towards him, trying to comfort her, but she fought against him. Hitting her fists against his chest, yelling at him to let her go, that she had to find Troy. But Ryan held onto her until she quit fighting and her screams turned into sobs, soaking his shirt. As he wrapped his arms around her, he could no longer keep his own tears at bay. They flooded from his eyes and fell into Gabriella's dark hair, but she didn't notice.

As they stood on the front porch of the house, grieving over the loss of Troy, time seemed to stand still. For a few moments it felt as though the world was grieving with them.

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LanaLang79