I don't own HSM or anything involved with HSM. I simply play the "what if" with the characters in it.
The stars were shining brightly tonight and the moon radiated through the darkness of the night sky. It seemed as if the heavens were encouraging her, reaffirming her decision by simply illuminating her path down the sidewalk. The cracks and bumps in the concrete beneath her feet caused Gabriella to keep her head down in order to watch her steps on the path that she knew like the back of her hand.
The night air was chilly and her breath came out in small billows of smoke from her mouth. Gabriella instinctively wrapped her arms around her to further insulate the petite frame of her body. She loved nights like this. They were the best kind for long night walks wrapped in the arms of the man she loved. A broken smile graced Gabriella's plump lips as she recalled so many strolls with Troy on nights like these that served as a prolonging of their eventual separation for the day.
They would talk about everything and nothing. Their future, both together and individually had been the main topic conversation until it had been decided that Gabriella was to attend Stanford early and Troy would stay here in Albuquerque. She kicked herself now, looking back, for not being able to see sooner that something had been troubling him. She should have seen the torment in his stormy blue eyes that she could lose herself in. She should have realized that the moment he begged her to leave him behind that she needed to stand up for their love like he had done so many times.
Her feet stilled and Gabriella looked straight ahead and realized that she stood on their front porch, the front door staring her down. In normal circumstances, she would simply knock as a courtesy before seeing herself in the house. Mrs. Bolton hated it when Gabriella refused to let herself in. You're a member of the family, sweetie, members of this family don't knock. Gabriella couldn't bring herself to walk in and so she knocked timidly on the thick mahogany door. The friction between the door and her cold fingers stung slightly.
There was no movement or sounds behind the door to signal that anyone was going to let her in. Just when Gabriella was about to turn back, there was a click of the lock and a quick turn of a doorknob to reveal a rather disheveled and worn-out looking Mr. Bolton standing before her. Gabriella didn't really know what kind of greeting she would receive, mainly because she had never really been Coach Bolton's favorite person. Nothing, however, could have prepared her for the fierce hug that engulfed her within moments of Coach Bolton opening the door.
"We are so glad you came back," his voice was raspy and raw, as though he had been crying for days on end. He probably has been.
The hug was quick, but shook Gabriella to her core. Coach Bolton had never greeted her so warmly, only Mrs. Bolton. Immediately, Gabriella searched behind the man in front of her for any sign of the woman who had quickly become a second mother. There was no sign of her.
"Please come in, Gabriella," Coach Bolton's words brought Gabriella back to attention and quickly obeyed, stepping beyond the threshold of the door to enter the living room that she knew so well, "make yourself at home."
The sounds of pots and pans rattling in the kitchen caught both their attentions and soon, the sound of tears forced the both of them to run into the kitchen. Mrs. Bolton was sitting down on the cold, stone floor, surrounded by cooking utensils, her face in her hands and tears slipping through the seams of her fingers. Coach Bolton immediately rushed to sit beside his wife and wrap Mrs. Bolton in his bulky arms. "Shh, honey, it's going to be okay."
This seemed to cause Mrs. Bolton to cry even harder, "Jack… wha-what are we going… to do?" Her breath came out in short gasps and sobs wracked her body, forcing Mrs. Bolton to shake with emotions that engulfed her frame, "He's so… lost and – and hurt."
"Mrs. Bolton," Gabriella began timidly as she lowered herself to the kitchen floor, catching both the attention of Coach and Mrs. Bolton. Coach Bolton gave Gabriella a sad smile and a quick nod, encouraging her to continue, while Mrs. Bolton smiled widely through her tears at the sight of her son's girlfriend, soul mate, she corrected internally.
"Gabriella Montez," the older woman began, "It's Lucy, and I thought I told you never to knock?"
Tears quickly formed in Gabriella's chocolate irises at the joke. Lucille Bolton quickly stood up and pulled Gabriella with her in a fierce hug that made the young woman smile with joy and cry with heartache. The two women held each other, willing each other to stay strong for the man they both loved with all their hearts and souls.
"I'm so glad you're here sweetie," Mrs. Bolton continued, "we were so happy when Troy said that you came back. He missed you so."
Gabriella's eyes closed in torment at the mention of his name. I love you too much to let you wait. His words echoed like a clap of thunder within her mind and tore through her like a knife. She opened her mouth to respond to Lucille's remark when the sound of the front door opening caused the three of them to turn their heads. There he was.
Troy Alexander Bolton had always been handsome. His shaggy hair that once hung beautifully in his face, the smooth bone structure of his face, the lean muscles of his legs, arms and torso, and those awe inspiring sapphires-for-eyes came together in one all too pleasing package. But as he stood here before Gabriella Anne Montez, Troy Bolton was drop dead gorgeous. His shaggy mane was gone, replaced with a short buzz cut. The smooth features of his boyish face had been replaced with a rough and sculpted bone structure, complete with a daring and all together sexy scruff. The lean muscles of his body were perfectly sculpted and bulky beyond belief. The childlike spark from his eyes replaced with an intense and passionate gaze. He looked tired and worn and much too old.
"Troy," Gabriella's voice was airy, yet stale with the pain that their earlier meeting had caused her.
Tears immediately filled his eyes and for a moment, Gabriella prayed that he had seen the light, that he would rush to her side and engulf her in his warm, safe, and thrilling embrace. Just for a moment, Gabriella hoped he understood that they would get through this together.
"Why are you here?" The question wasn't menacing or accusing, simply shocked and shaken. The last place Troy ever thought he would see Gabriella again was his house mere hours after their last conversation.
"Troy," Mrs. Bolton started, the tone of her voice sounded as though she was warning Troy to behave, to remember just who he was talking to. It changed, suddenly, to that of a mother's, easing her child's fears and worries, "she came to see you. And you will listen to her, you two will talk this out."
"Mom, I under-" Troy began, preparing himself for yet another argument between his parents. They seemed to be arguing about anything and everything these past few weeks.
"No, Troy," Jack Bolton spoke up, having stayed silent until the proper moment. If there ever was such a thing, this was that moment, "You need Gabriella," Jack's soft grey eyes glanced briefly at the girl whom he should have always shown more kindness to, shown more appreciation and acceptance to, "and you need her. More than you are willing to admit to her or yourself." he turned back to his son, who's own eyes glistened with tears and who's brow furrowed in agitation.
"Your mother and I will be outside. Talk," and with that, Jack and Lucille Bolton stepped away from their son and the woman they loved like a daughter and walked out the back door that was attached to the kitchen.
A silence unlike one they had ever shared hung over them like a thick, looming cloud. It threatened to engulf the young couple and swallow them whole. Gabriella spoke first, "You left before we could finish talking."
"I thought we were done," his words were quick and concise, as though he was trying to keep himself in check and not let go any more than was needed. Gabriella saw it as an opening, the key to clear up this whole mess.
"You thought wrong," Gabriella's words were sharp and almost menacing, daring him to refute her claim.
"I thought that I made myself clear," Troy's voice had taken a deeper, gravellier tone that made Gabriella weak in the knees as well as enrapture her in amazement, "you will not wait here for me and let your life go by. You have too much to give, Gabriella, to sit and wait around for a Marine draftee who was barely able to graduate from high school."
"First, of all, you are much smarter than you would ever dream of giving yourself credit for," Gabriella answered quickly, "Second, I don't think I made myself clear. I am not going to let you go through this alone. I love you, Troy," her voice, which had been stern and authoritative, suddenly turned soft and determined, "and yesterday you told me that you loved me too much to let me wait. I love you too much to leave you now."
Troy's head hung in uncertainty. Gabriella could see his jaw twitch annoyance but the look that stretched across his face for a split second spoke of a happiness that shook him to his core. In another second, however, the blank and stony expression that had seemed permanently etched onto his face returned, "Gabriella, I can't let you do this."
She was angry now and beyond talking about this rationally, "Dammit, Troy! This isn't up to you! I am trying really hard to understand why you're doing this, I really am, but the only answer for this bullshit is that you're punishing yourself!"
Her breath came in short gasps as the words spewed out of her mouth. It suddenly dawned on her, "Oh my God. You are punishing yourself."
Troy's eyes that had once been glued to the floor shot up to gaze onto her delicate face as worry and grief etched themselves onto the contours of his face, "Gabriella, I'm ju-"
"You're punishing yourself, for something you haven't even done yet," the words fell from her lips like a poison, "You think that after all of this, after the war, whatever you are going to do… you won't deserve this. Deserve us."
His lack of response only fueled Gabriella to continue and the fire within her to fight for them roared back with a fury that scared her, "So what, Troy. You just decided to push me away? To just let what we have fall away, like it was nothing?"
"I'm not going to be who you fell in love with, Gabriella," Troy found an inner strength that he thought had all but died at the sight of her in his house. The turmoil in his voice was painfully visible and cut them both to their cores, "I'm going to be a shell of who I used to be. Sure, I'll be able to pretend, I'll be Troy the Basketball Boy for my family and for Chad and… but not with you. I can't lie to you and I don't want to."
Troy swallowed the bile that was rising in his throat as he forced himself to finish, "You deserve someone who can see beauty in anything and everything. A guy who is corny and cheesy and makes you laugh about stupid stuff that doesn't matter and then say things that knock you off your feet. When I get back from all of this, I know what I'll be and it won't be that. I love you too much to hurt you that way."
Gabriella stood there and suddenly, the few feet that separated them seemed as if it were an entire ocean. A cold sense of dread and fear washed over her petite frame and left Gabriella to wrap her arms around herself. Toffee colored irises rose up to lock onto cerulean ones….
"I don't understand why you're doing this, Gabriella," Mrs. Montez huffed out in a patronizing tone.
Gabriella had throne several articles of clothing into her suite case, not really caring what she had packed, only that she was packing.
"Mom, I have to go," Gabriella paused to look at her mother, searching for the right words to say in order to make her mother understand, "Something's wrong, with Troy."
Mrs. Montez jumped slightly at her daughter's words as well as the fear and utter sadness that they were saturated in. But she needed to say this now, before Gabriella made one of the biggest mistakes of your life, "Honey, maybe Troy is realizing that the two of you were simply…"
"Simply what, Mom?" Gabriella asked, knowing the turn their conversation was taking, "a high school fling? A meaningless high school relationship that in the grand scheme of things won't mean much?"
Mrs. Montez lowered her head, trying to help her daughter understand. She wasn't expecting Gabriella's next sentence, "I love him, Mom. I love him so much that I can't breathe because of it. Everything I do, everything that I say, he's always there, hidden to the world but with me every step of the way. He's a part of me, Mom and if let him go, and I tried, Mom, I'll regret it for the rest of my life. I can't give up on us without a fight."
"What if he isn't willing to fight for the two of you?"
The question shook Gabriella for a moment and forced the young woman to envision the possible reality of a life with Troy. It wasn't one she wanted and wasn't one she would accept, not when she was almost certain that he felt about her the same way she felt about him.
"That won't be an option."
That won't be an option. Gabriella let a single tear roll down her soft, rosy cheek, "I don't know what to do or say to make you understand, Troy. I'm not going anywhere. I love you, no matter what. Yes, you'll be different; you'll be harder, more serious and a little less… youthful. You'll contemplate and view life in a completely different way, but that doesn't mean you'll stop being you."
"Gabriella…"
"I'm not finished, Troy," her tone was finite and challenging. Troy hushed and let her continue, "I love you too much to let you walk away from the best thing that has ever happened to you. And if you love me like you say you do," Troy's head popped up, ready to retaliate after her insulation of his commitment and affections for her, "then you won't let me walk away from the best thing that has or will ever happen to me."
Gabriella closed the small distance between them and grasped his rough, stubbly face in her hands, "I love you Troy, and you deserve that love now and forever."
She kissed him then as she had never kissed him before. It was a loving, smoldering, passionate kiss that left both them tingling with the promise of what was to come. Gabriella wrapped her arms around her love's sturdy neck as she pulled him closer to her tiny frame. Gabriella curled her tongue around Troy's as she felt his hands travel down to the small of her back.
Troy Bolton was drowning and there was nothing he could do about it, nothing he wanted to do about it. Her words lingered in his mind and resonated deep within his soul. I love you Troy, and you deserve that love now and forever. Oh how he hoped and prayed it were true. Whether he believed it was another matter entirely. For now, he was content to hold Gabriella, the woman who challenged him and completed him and leveled him all in one glance, the woman he loved, in his arms. For now, he would kiss her and let her remind him of their love before it came to a crashing halt. He would give in this once before he would leave to fight, protect and kill in a war that seemed, for now, another world away. For now, Gabriella would let him….
Alright! You know the drill. Hit that review button and leave me with your comments, quips or whatever!
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this chapter. I hope it was worth the wait.
-shaganlovessoccer
