Chapter Two:

Taylor pushed open the door that led to the master bedroom and found Gabriella sitting at the end of the bed. Her friend wore a sleeveless, black dress that stopped just past her knees. The dark gray half-sweater that she wore overtop was one that Taylor had given her when they were seniors in high school, but the sweater still seemed to fit the way it had then. It didn't look like Gabriella had done much with her hair, but Taylor couldn't really blame her.

Stepping inside the room, she slowly found her voice. "Ready?"

Gabriella looked up and Taylor felt tears gathering in her eyes. Her friend's face was as pale as the white sheets that lined the bed she sat on and there were circles almost the color of coal resting beneath her dark brown eyes. It looked like Gabriella hadn't slept a wink since Troy had died three days earlier.

Gabriella gave a hesitant nod in answer to Taylor's question, but didn't make a move to get up.

With a sad but reassuring smile, Taylor reached for the other girl's hand. When Gabriella locked hands with her, Taylor gave it a gentle squeeze and helped her stand. "You're strong, Gabby. I know you'll get through this."

Gabriella didn't answer her and Taylor wasn't sure if that was because she couldn't find her voice or if she just didn't believe her. Studying her friend, she guessed that it was both.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, both Ryan and Chad waited for them. They were both dressed in black suits that any other day Taylor would have said they looked dashing in, but today it wouldn't seem right to make a comment like that.

Ryan stepped forward, his eyes directed at Gabriella. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" he said quietly.

Gabriella met his gaze and gave a slow nod. Ryan put his hand on her elbow and steered her into the living room. "There's…." he paused and took a deep breath. "There's something I need to give you." His trembling hand reached into his jacket and searched for a moment, before he pulled it back out. As he opened the small jewelry box, Gabriella's breath caught. "This is from Troy, Gabriella. He…." he blinked away the tears that threatened to spill. "He bought it for you the day he died."

Gabriella stared at it for a long time before she brought up a shaking hand. Her fingertips brushed against the pearl and a lone tear slipped down her ashen cheek.

"D-Do you want me to help you put it on?" he asked after giving her a minute to study the necklace.

A nod. Ryan sighed. She hadn't spoken one word to any of her friends since the day her husband died. How he longed to hear his friend teasing Troy about something he had done, to see them both smile and laugh. Ryan had always put them on the pedestal of perfect couple, but now Troy was gone and Gabriella was alone, her heart shattered into a million pieces.

Ryan lifted the necklaces from its box and moved to stand behind Gabriella. With trembling fingers he clasped the gold chain behind her neck. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder and was about to say something when he thought he heard her voice. Turning her around to face him, he said, "What?"

Gabriella's eyes were downcast, but she slowly brought her gaze up to meet his. "Did…." She paused, taking a shaky breath. "Did h-he say anything?" her voice was lower than a whisper and Ryan had to listen close to catch her words.

Gathering himself, he gave her a nod. "Yes."

Gabriella swallowed hard. "W-What?"

Ryan hesitated, trying to decide what all to tell her. He wasn't sure if she'd like the idea of Troy telling him to take care of her, so he decided to leave that part out, for now. "He-" the words caught in his throat. "H-He wanted me to tell you that he loved you."

Gabriella's tears came and she choked them out in a sob. "I just don't understand, Ryan," she cried as he gathered her in his arms. "I don't understand."

Ryan didn't know what to say. He didn't understand either. He kept asking himself if there was something he could have done that would have saved Troy's life. Or what would have happened if the police would have gotten there five minutes sooner? Would Troy and Gabriella be together right now? Sighing, he rested his chin on the top of her head. "I know."

After a few more minutes he pulled back and handed her the handkerchief he had stuffed into his suit pocket. "Are you ready?"

Gabriella wiped her eyes and then seemed to slip back into silence. She nodded at him.

Ryan put a hand on her arm. "Okay then. We'd better get going."

It was a dreary day in Albuquerque. The skies were gray and filled with clouds that threatened to spill rain at any moment. Being in the southern part of the United States, the weather wasn't extremely cold, but it was still chilly as Troy's friends and family gathered around his gravesite. Mr. Bolton held an arm around his wife, who seemed to be shaking like a leaf as she stared at her son's coffin. Taylor comforted Chad, who was crying over the loss of the man who had been like his brother all of his life. Kelsi, Jason, Zeke, Martha, and several of the other wildcats stood in a line at one side of the group. Ryan stood with one arm wrapped around his twin's shoulders and his other hand resting on the small of Gabriella's back. As Ryan watched the coffin being lowered into the ground, he recalled some of Troy's last words. Promise me that you'll take care of her for me. Ryan suddenly felt overwhelmed at the promise he had made to his dying friend. How was he supposed to keep that promise? Would Gabriella let him take care of her? His gaze drifted to the brunette who stood at his side. She looked so fragile; like if the wind blew too hard she might break. Her arms were wrapped protectively across her waist and her head tilted to one side as she watched her husband being lowered into the cold, hard ground. Underneath her gray, woolen coat, she shivered. Ryan wasn't sure if it was because she was actually cold or if it was just her reaction to seeing Troy's body being buried, so he pulled her a little closer to him, giving her warmth and comfort all at the same time.

On his other side, Sharpay leaned her head against his shoulder and sniffled. His twin had always been the drama queen in high school, but after graduating she had softened, befriending most of the wildcats in the process. As soon as Ryan had contacted her about Troy's death, she had taken a flight out of New York so that she could be home for the funeral. He had been surprised that she hadn't brought Marc, knowing that he and his sister has gotten pretty serious. When Ryan had asked Sharpay about it, she had simply told him that she didn't want all of her friends to meet him under these circumstances. Ryan had agreed with her.

When the service was over, Sharpay walked over to talk with some of their friends, leaving Ryan with Gabriella. A few people came over to them and gave her their condolences, but after a few minutes, they were left alone. Gabriella tugged on his suit coat to get his attention and he glanced down at her. "Yeah?"

She covered her stomach with one hand and held on to his arm with the other. "I-I don't feel so good, Ryan," she said, her voice weak.

His eyes filled with concern. "Are you gonna be sick?"

"That's what it f-feels like."

Ryan looked around at all of the people that were still mingling by the gravesite and then his eyes locked with Gabriella's. "Do you want me to take you home?"

She merely nodded, afraid that if she tried to speak, she might lose the little that she had eaten in the last 72 hours.

Ryan stopped only to tell Sharpay where he was going and then he walked her over to his car. Opening the passenger's door for her, he waited until she was seated and then hurried to his side of the vehicle.

It took only a little more than five minutes to reach the house and when they did, Gabriella didn't wait for Ryan to open her door for her. She threw it open and rushed inside the house.

Ryan followed quickly just in case she might need him. When he stepped inside the house, Gabriella was no where to be seen, but it wasn't too hard for him to guess where she had gone. He silently waited outside the closed bathroom door, frowning at how sick she was. Ryan desperately hoped that there wasn't anything seriously wrong with her. He reassured himself that it was probably just because she hadn't eaten much for the last few days.

After about half an hour, she emerged looking even paler than she had at the funeral. He furrowed his eyebrows in concern. "Are you okay?"

Gabriella hesitated as if considering telling him something, but then she just shook her head. "I'll be fine."

He followed her to the living room where she collapsed onto the couch. "Do you need anything?"

She looked as though she was gonna shake her head again, but then she rested her hand on her stomach and said, "Maybe some soup…..if you don't mind."

Ryan offered her a small smile and nodded. "Coming right up."

He searched the kitchen cupboards until he found a can of chicken noodle soup, then he quickly prepared it, thankful that Gabriella was actually hungry for something. But, when he returned to the living room with the bowl, she was laying down, fast asleep. He set the soup on the coffee table and pulled the blanket from the back of the couch, gently blanketing it over her small form. Taking the bowl back to the kitchen, he slid it in the microwave so that he could reheat it for her later, assuming she would still want it.

Gabriella's eyes fluttered open and she instantly felt a weight on her body that hadn't been there when she had fallen asleep. Looking down, she realized that there was a blanket covering her. She scanned the room and found Ryan sitting in the recliner, his head rolled to one side as he slept. Surprisingly, she felt a small smile crease her lips and she tossed her blanket over Ryan like he must have done for her. Gabriella felt her stomach growl, begging her to give it some food. She began to walk towards the kitchen, rubbing her abdomen. "Are you hungry in there, little one?" she whispered, speaking to her unborn child for the first time. "Mommy is gonna have to find that soup Ryan made, so she can feed you." After looking through the fridge and in the oven, she finally found it in the microwave. She set it for a minute and a half and got herself a glass of milk while it heated up.

As she ate, she thought about her baby. She hadn't told a soul about her pregnancy because she had wanted Troy to be the first to know and she had decided to wait until Christmas to tell even him. Christmas. Just three days ago she had been thinking that this would be the perfect Christmas. Now she knew that it would probably be the worst one that she had ever had. She would probably be spending the holiday with her mother now. It wasn't that she didn't like being with her mother on Christmas, she had just been looking forward to this particular Christmas with her husband, the man she had loved.

Gabriella sighed. She was tired of asking, why him? She just wanted everything to be okay again.

Not feeling very hungry, she almost pushed away the rest of her soup, but then she thought of her baby. Even if she didn't have an appetite, it couldn't be very good to keep nutrients from her body. Gabriella had already lost her husband, she wasn't about to lose her baby too.

I hope that you all had a very merry Christmas!! And I'd like to wish you all a happy new year!!

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LanaLang79