Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

About a week later, I found myself packing up my apartment. I had asked for a job transfer to New York. I had some family there, and I found a place to live. I decided that instead of staying here where everything reminded me of Troy and made me sad, I would go to New York and start fresh where I could be with family that I hardly ever get to see.

I hadn't talked to Troy since I left the wedding. He had tried calling me a couple of times, but I couldn't face him just yet. I knew that he was probably busy the rest of the time trying to get the woman of his dreams, and I couldn't bare to hear all about it.

I had just packed up another box and decided it would be the last for the day so I could take a break. I sat down on the couch and looked around me. Boxes were stacked everywhere. I decided to call my mom while I sat there. She was expecting me in New York next week.

"Hey, Mom."

"Hey, Mija. How's the packing coming?"

I smiled at her question. Of course she would jump straight to that topic. She was very excited to get me to New York so I could spend more time with her. "It's going, Mom," I laughed. "I don't have much to pack now. Mainly just my clothes and stuff like that. The moving truck should be here tomorrow to load up everything."

"When are they expecting you to report to your job?"

"Not for another week. So once I make it up there, I'll have a few days to unpack and get settled before having to worry about being at work."

I looked over at the door as I heard a knock. I got up and walked in that direction.

"Ok. Well I guess I will see you on Monday when you get here. I can't wait to see you, sweetheart!"

I opened the door, the phone still to my ear as I stared in shock at the person on the other side of the door. "I can't wait to see you either. I have to go, though. Someone's here. I'll see you in a couple of days."

"Ok, sweetheart. I love you."

"Love you, too. Bye." I ended our call as I stared at my best friend, Troy Bolton, standing there looking as handsome as ever. Would I ever be able to see him as a friend again? And what was that in his eyes? Hurt? Confusion?

"What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised by his presence.

Troy looked shocked by my question. "Am I not allowed to stop and see you now? Especially when you won't answer or return my phone calls?"

"No!" Troy's eyebrows shot up at my outburst. "I mean…that's not what I meant. Come in. I just…wasn't expecting you." I stepped back from the doorway, allowing him to step inside. I shut the door and led him through my maze of boxes to the couch.

Troy paused before sitting down, looking around him at all my boxes. He finally looked back at me, frowning. "What's going on? Are you moving?"

"Uh…yeah…actually I am."

"Oh…so…did you find a better apartment? House?"

"Umm…actually…I was wanting to talk to you at some point about this, but I just didn't know how. I guess now would be the time…"

"What's going on, Gabriella?" Troy asked. "Does this have something to do with the conversation you were having when I got here? I heard you say something about seeing someone in a couple days. Did you and Matt get back together?"

"Troy, sit down…please." Troy sat down slowly next to me and waited for me to answer his questions. "Troy," I said, reaching over to take one of his hands in mine. "It's not so much about the apartment that I will be living in. Actually, I got transferred at work. I'm moving because of my job."

"What? Why? Why would they do that? Didn't you tell them you'd rather be here?"

I looked down, unable to look him in the eyes any longer. I felt a finger on my chin as Troy lifted my face back up to him. "What's this all about, Gabriella?"

I felt tears spring to my eyes, but knew I just had to get it all out. "I didn't tell them that, Troy."

"Why not? You could have fought them. What ever happened to what you wanted?"

"Troy, I didn't fight them because I asked to be transferred."

"What? Why would you do that?" I lowered my gaze again and didn't respond. "Gabriella? Why do you want to be transferred? I thought you were happy here."

I nodded. "I thought I was too."

Troy brought my gaze back to his once again. "What changed?"

I couldn't lie to him. "The guy I'm in love with isn't in love with me. He loves someone else and there's nothing I can do about it. I can't stand by and watch him fall even more in love with someone who isn't me. I have to get out of here."

Troy actually looked sad at that revelation. "Where are you going?"

"New York. My family is up there. My mom, mainly."

Troy nodded, but I couldn't overlook the hurt expression that passed through his eyes. "Don't move all the way across the country, Gabriella. Please?"

"Why, Troy? I need to get away from here. There's just too much. And besides…you won't even notice I'm gone."

"Of course I will! How could I not?"

"Troy, you've got your life now. Your life as you move on from Sara and move on with this other girl who has claimed your heart. You don't need me around. You'll be so busy, you'll never realize that I'm not really here. But we can still talk."

I chanced a look right in Troy's eyes and noticed them looking glassy. "How can you say that, Gabriella? I do need you around. You have no idea how much I need you. And I may regret saying this later, but that girl? That one that I told you I'm in love with? She's actually trying to throw away her chance at being with me because she wants to move clear across the country from me. But I need her to know one thing…" Troy grabbed both sides of my face as realization finally donned. "…she needs to know that I would travel to the ends of the earth if it meant that I could stay by her side."

I had tears running down my cheeks. "Really?"

"Really. I love you so much, Gabriella. And I don't know if you feel the same way for me, but if it means I will at least get to see you, I would move to New York just to be near you." I just sat there with Troy's hands still on my face, tears running down my face, as I took all his words in. I was shocked. I never thought he actually felt the same way for me that I felt about him. "Gabriella, I can't live one day without you in my life. This past week was absolute torture when you wouldn't answer my phone calls. I missed you so much. And it literally hurts to even think about you not being here. I hope I didn't make things awkward between us because as much as it hurts to say this, I want us to at least stay friends because I need you in my life in some way."

Troy's thumbs wiped away some of my tears before he removed his hands from my face. I swallowed and cleared my throat before responding. "And what if I don't want to be friends?"

Pain was evident as I looked into Troy's eyes. He sat there and stared at me, tears springing to his eyes as well. "Then I won't have a reason to live."

I hurt for him with that statement. "What if I don't want to be just your friend? What if I want to be much more?"

I saw Troy looking back and forth between my eyes, questions in his eyes as he searched to be sure he heard me correctly. "What?" he whispered.

"What if I want to be much more than friends, Troy. What then?"

A smile broke out on Troy's face. "Then I would be the happiest man on earth."

I smiled at Troy, reaching up to wrap my arms around Troy's neck. "Troy, I love you, too. So much. I can't imagine my life without you in it either. I don't ever want to be without you."

Troy leaned down and kissed me, a smirk on his face. I deepened the kiss, enjoying the feeling of finally having his lips on mine after all this time of longing for him.

When he pulled back, he reached up to brush some hair out of my face. "There is still this problem of you moving to New York that we need to talk about."

My heart sank then. I had momentarily forgot about my moving. How were we supposed to have a long distance relationship when I am moving at the very beginning of it?

Troy must have seen my expression change because he immediately tightened his arms around me. "Hey…don't worry about it. We'll figure it out. We'll be fine. Believe me…" He pulled me even closer to him. "…I'm not letting you go that easily." Troy smirked at me, making me smile back at him. I nodded at him, knowing he was right.

"We can do this."

"We sure can. Now…when are you supposed to be leaving? How long do I have until I have to give you up to New York?"

"Well the moving trucks will be here tomorrow to take all this stuff," I said, gesturing to all the boxes stacked around us. "Then I have a flight out there on Monday."

"Okay…so two days?" I nodded. "Well, we should make the most of the time, then. What do you have left to do before the moving trucks get here?"

"I just have some of my clothes to pack."

Troy helped me finish packing before he left for the day, saying he would be back the following morning. We spent every waking moment together before I left on Monday. He drove me to the airport, both of us in tears as we said our goodbyes. He promised me we would see each other again soon, though.

Please leave a review! Third and final chapter should be up soon. Thanks so much for reading.