A/N:

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The College Years

Chapter 2 "The Family"

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Troy and Gabriella had been waiting for what seemed like hours before Troy's dad showed up. No one had heard anything by then. Jack Bolton headed to the nurse's station to try to get some information. But, as soon as he was up there, a doctor stepped out and asked to speak with the Bolton family privately.

Troy motioned for Gabriella to follow, but the doctor objected.

"Only family members," he said quickly. Troy turned and looked at Gabriella, winking at her. He took her hand.

"Doesn't my wife count as family?" Troy asked. His father look slightly confused but didn't ask any questions. Gabriella smiled as the doctor shrugged and led them to a smaller, more private place.

He explained what had happened in the car accident. It had been a hit and run. Troy's mom and sister would be fine, but they would need to stay in the hospital overnight.

"When can we see them?" Jack asked.

"You can go see them now," the doctor smiled. He led explained to them where their rooms were located.

Once they were alone in the elevator Jack began to ask questions. Troy explained who Gabriella was and also explained that he didn't want to leave her alone in the waiting room when she had been so kind to not let him stay alone. That was when Gabriella realized that Troy was still holding her hand. Jack seemed to notice at the same time, but he didn't say anything.

"My sister's name is Hannah," Troy explained to Gabriella.

"His mom's name is Leanne," Jack added. Gabriella smiled and nodded.

"How old is Hannah?" she asked.

"Three," Troy responded quickly.

"Wow, quite a difference there," Gabriella giggled.

"Yeah, you can imagine what a shock it was to hear that I was not going to be an only child any more when I turned sixteen."



Jack shrugged, "It could've happened at any time. We just had more time for extracurricular activities once you were in high school."

"Ew," Troy sighed as the elevator dinged, indicating that they were on the floor they needed to be on.

They quickly found the room that Leanne and Hannah were sharing. When they stepped inside, the three of them were expecting to see them in the worst possible condition. They were quite surprised to only see a tiny cast on Hannah's arm and a sling on Leanne's. The cast didn't stop Hannah from being an active child. She was currently running around the hospital room while Leanne shouted at her, trying to calm her down. Hannah's path lead directly to where the visitor's were now standing. Troy reached his arms out and quickly scooped up his little sister, pulling her up enough so he could give her a kiss.

"TROY! You came to see us! You came all the way from college!" she yelled excitedly. Apparently Hannah had this idea that college was far away from home. Troy had told Gabriella the night before that he still went home for dinner once a week. "Who's the pretty girl you brought? Is she from college too?"

Gabriella laughed and waited for Troy's response.

"Yes, Hannah, she is from college. What do you think about her?" Troy asked.

"Hmm… well, she's too pretty for you. Why is she hanging out with someone so ugly?" Hannah asked, genuinely confused.

"I agree with Hannah," Leanne added in.

Troy shook his head and set Hannah on the ground, "Well, if you must be like that I suppose I'll leave you all alone to let Gabriella join the family."

Gabriella was laughing hysterically by this point. She was certain that she didn't look the least bit attractive anymore.

Troy's family loved Gabriella. For some reason that made Troy more comfortable too. He was holding her hand the whole time he was in the hospital room with her. The two of them excused their selves to find some food.

"Your family is really nice," Gabriella smiled as she walked with Troy.

"They really like you too," Troy said, looking down at Gabriella.

Troy insisted on paying for Gabriella's food from the cafeteria. Troy explained that Jack was going to stay overnight so they would take his car back to the apartment soon.

"You mean I am going to have to hang with the drama geeks again?" Gabriella asked with sarcasm.

"No, you don't have to," Troy smirked. "You could always stay over at my place."

Gabriella thought about it for a moment. She was scared to say yes, but she really wanted to.



"Really?" she asked.

"You can if you want to," he nodded.

"Okay, you're on, Mr. Bolton. I've never done something this daring, but what the heck?" she laughed.

--

"So, you're staying over there?" Ryan asked anxiously.

"Gabs isn't going to be a virgin for much longer!" Sharpay exclaimed.

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she threw the rest of her clothes in her overnight bag. "I'll be back sometime tomorrow. I love you. Don't spy on me."

"We would never!" Ryan exclaimed as Gabriella walked out the door.

She walked into Troy's apartment without knocking. He was supposed to be in the shower and had told her to just come in. But, when she walked in, there was Troy, naked.

"Oh my gosh! I thought I was supposed to just come in. I'm sorry," Gabriella exclaimed. She knew she should turn around, but she couldn't take her eyes off his body. Troy was momentarily in shock. He noticed Gabriella had a small smile on her face. She liked what she was seeing, which caused Troy to get slightly excited. He quickly brought the towel to his waist to hide his erection.

"No big deal," Troy said finally.

"Oh, it definitely isn't small," Gabriella mumbled before she realized what she was saying, "I mean, well… I meant exactly what I said," she said embarrassedly.

"Umm… thanks?" Troy replied.

Gabriella began to laugh and it didn't take long for Troy to join in.

"This is the most awkward situation I've ever been involved in," she giggled. "Go put some clothes on; I feel overdressed."

"I almost just told you to take off your clothes, then I realized how much more awkward that would've made this," he laughed as he walked back to his bedroom.