le maniera l'amo

Chapter Three

Disclaimer: All characters affiliated with the High School Musical franchise are not mine. Original character and plots are.

I'm a bitch for not posting as promised, I know. But yours truly is having a play she wrote performed professionally and she is in two shows with leading roles and another audition coming up, all in the week or so I was away. So don't hate to much, please??

Thank you for all of the alerts!! To those reading, I love you for it!! I know it's so hard to review, so I just thank you for taking the time to read this piece.

This chapter is total Troy/Gab. Their relationship is going through a lot and I would love honest feedback on how you think I am doing with it.

Love you all!!


Gabriella's alarm went off, the beeping sound filling the small space of her double dorm room. Clare was gone, having her first class of the day start at 8:30. Gabriella rolled over, her eyes squinted as the morning sun shone through her window, as she groggily read the time beaming back at her in red neon digits. 9:17.

Typically, any wake up time after 7:30 was a late start for Gabriella. As of late, though, she hadn't been falling asleep until well after midnight, gratefully looking back in retrospect to the day she had decided to take her Tuesday law class at 12:30.

She fell back against her pillow and closed her eyes, wishfully willing herself to fall back into her previous dreamless sleep. Sleep was the only time the constant headache she had had for the past week subsided; otherwise, the dull pain was always present during her waking hours. She knew very well that the large coffees keeping her functioning were truly awful for her health, but with the stress of Julie and her boyfriend, she wouldn't be functioning with a Starbucks in hand for a large portion of the day.

What had been driving Gabriella insane, aside from the stress, was the fact that she had no one to confide in about it. Everything was just piling up inside her and she felt as if any day now it would all come spilling out in the form of a major breakdown. Usually, Troy would talk her through and be with her, but as of late he was in a delicate state as well.

Realizing that sleep was now out of her reach, Gabriella rolled to her side and reached for her cell phone on her bedside table. She clicked it free of the charger and found that she had two texts and a message. She knew very well what the one text would say; Troy had taken to sending her 'I'm sorry, I love you' notes every morning. Gabriella knew it was because he felt guilty about his sister's admittance to the hospital and the fact that he and Gabriella were now visiting her every two to three days. They were even scheduled to take her out on pass the coming weekend, as it was hard for Coach and Mrs. Bolton to make the commute every weekend. Kristen, Julie's IP therapist, also believed that "stitching the tear" in the siblings' relationship was necessary to her recovery. Little did Kristen realize the extra mounds of stress that were being placed on the already very stressed freshman.

Gabriella held down the number two button on her phone and pressed it to her left ear, rolling to her right side to gaze out the window as the phone rang.

"Morning," Troy greeted, his voice holding a bit more cheer than Gabriella was accustomed to hearing. Every since the first time Gabriella had visited Julie nearly two weeks ago and she had snapped at Troy, he had grown somber as the visits continued in the same repetitive pattern.

"You sound upbeat today," Gabriella commented, yawning loudly. "Sorry, just ignore me."

"No, I find it cute," Troy said with a laugh. "And kind of a turn on, knowing you're laying in bed, alone, in one of my old shirts."

Gabriella glanced down at her nightwear; the yellow and purple Laker's logo stared blinding back up at her from the front of Troy's tee shirt.

"I cannot deny that fact," Gabriella admitted.

"Which one was it?"

"I'm still in you're Lakers tee shirt." She smiled as Troy groaned.

"What?" she teased. "Thinking about those Lakers girls and their nonexistent dance costumes?"

"No," Troy growled huskily. "I'm thinking about you in much less."

"Okay, the depression meds have made you extremely horny," Gabriella remarked. "Speaking of, did you take them?"

"Yeah," Troy replied, referring to the antidepressants Julie's doctor had placed him on a week ago. "They took hold, I guess."

"The doctor did say to give it a week," Gabriella reminded. "Look, I know you hate it-"

Troy sighed.

"I don't. I needed them," he broke in. "I know I did. I just wish you had come to me before just bringing it up in session."

"I'm sorry, but you wouldn't have agreed if I had talked to you before hand, and you know it," Gabriella defended. "You're letting yourself go and I feel like I have to be there to make sure the pieces of you stay together."

"I can keep a handle of myself," Troy argued. "I know this has been hard, but Gabs, you can worry about you too. You're not my mom."

Gabriella ignored the unintentional jab Troy had shot at her.

"Your mom and dad tried to reach out and you pushed them away," Gabriella reminded. "I'm here, whether you like it or not. I will take all the shit you throw at me, but I'm here, Troy, and not leaving. We're there for each other, remember?"
Troy sighed again.

"Yeah, I do," he admitted. "I know. I'm an ass." Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"Just get your ass over here," she commanded. "You can crash in my room while I'm at class; I know how tired you are." She bit her lip and added on afterthought, "Can you make the drive?"

"If I feel like I'm going to fall asleep at the wheel, I'll call you," Troy said. "It'll be your job to keep me awake."

Gabriella smiled devilishly.

"Oh, I have ideas if that occurs," she purred in the sultry voice she knew unwound Troy. She smirked as she pictured his face, eyes closed, mouth hanging open, phone pressed to his ear, a film playing over in his head.

"I'm exhausted," he said in monotone, toying with her. "Prepare to keep me awake. And when I get there, the real thing over the voice would be great..."

"Troy." Gabriella's voice turned stern. "The meds are working; I'm very happy for that. You're not going to feel as stressed and you'll be lighter; we won't fight as much and that will be amazing. But we agreed that having sex to put our feelings aside-on both our parts-is a not happening."

Truly, Gabriella was happy to hear Troy sounding more like his pre-hospital self. The past two weeks, ever since the first spat on the way home from the hospital, had been reoccurring days of the same small fight: Troy would be ambiguous about his visits for therapy sessions, in the few days before Gabriella had been invited to attend, an ivitation she declined until further notice. Troy didn't understand why she had put them off, for he didn't know she had also been calling Julie and had sent her a care package. Eventually, both came clean, but they also realized that the stress and edginess they were feeling was causing them to isolate those who cared. Gabriella had done it after her dad died; if no one was around, there was no one to talk to. If you couldn't talk to anyone, there were no feelings to deal with. It was a vicious cycle and Gabriella and Troy both knew they were going to have to deal not only with Julie taking a toll on their relationship, but their own actions as well.

Many a time, after an extrememly emotional visit, Troy would pull the truck onto a deserted street and he and Gabriella would just sit, the air simmering, until one reached over for the other hungerly, another coping method for not dealing with the feelings. Gabriella knew it was bad; Troy knew it was bad. It was just so easy to kiss and forget about what was really happening. They both knew, though, that to see another day or week, mouth or so together, the talking, no matter how painful, would have to happen.

Troy moaned in her ear; she heard a door slam in the background.

"Are you leaving already?" she asked.

"Yeah," he nearly growled. "I need to see you before I get to horny to function."

Gabriella snorted.

"That seems to have been all the time lately," she taunted. "I think you've been doing well in the functioning department." Her tone turned serious as she added, "Really, Troy. Not many people would be able to cope this well with everything you're dealing with."

The line went silent for a minute. Gabriella could hear the padding of Troy's feet, picturing him sliding his Ray Bans onto his face as he approached his truck, the engine roaring to life.

"That thing really is loud," she joked half-heartedly.

"Yeah," Troy deadpanned.

"Troy," Gabriella said, trying to keep her tone from flipping into a pleading voice. "This is what I hate. We'll be joking, I say something, you go cold."

Troy sighed.

"I just hate talking about Julie more than I have to," he explained. "I don't want to ruin time with you with all that stuff."

"Troy, it's your life right now," Gabriella reminded. "I'm in this with you. I'm done walking away, and I thought you were too. After the two previous summers, I'd thought we learned that lesson."

"I really don't see how me being a jerk and you having issues with separation really relate to my sister," Troy said.

"Issues with separation?" Gabriella pursed her lips and cocked an eyebrow. "I wasn't the one who came chasing, Wildcat."

"I didn't mean it like that!" Troy cried, frustrated. "I just meant that we both have our separate things to work through. And you know I wanted to come after you. Don't make that into a bad memory."

"It's not!" Gabriella defended. "Really, that's one of the sweetest things you've done for me. I was stupid and emotional...you were there for me, Troy. You were willing to base college decisions off of my actions! You were able to be sympathetic and really try to understand what I was going through! Why can't I return the action?"

"I'll be there in fifteen," Troy responded. "I want to finish this in person and I don't want to get pulled over or something. Wait for me."

Gabriella nodded, and even if he couldn't see the action, she was positive he would know she had agreed. The call ended and Gabriella pulled on leggings and belted the shirt so it cinched in at the waist. Changing her clothes did not fill fifteen minutes, so Gabriella busied herself with straighting her side of the room, and as that took about thirty seconds, she moved on to Clare's, trying to keep her thoughts from straying to the ugly outcomes that realistically-hopefullly-would never occur in her relationship, but outcomes that still haunted her thoughts anyhow.

Her back was turned to the door when Troy came softly in, the paddings of his flipflops muffled by the carpet. Gabriella had abandonded her cleaning and was now sitting on her bed, arms wrapped around her knees, pulling her legs tightly to her chest, her chin resting atop her knees. She had been patiently watching the walk outside for Troy, but her eyes had closed, the exhaustion finally catching up with her.

Troy came to her side, kicking his shoes off before laying down behind her. His weight caused the bed to sink, the movement startling Gabriella awake.

"Oh!" she cried softly, turning her head to look down at his somber face. She turned her body. "Hey. You came."

"Of course," Troy said, taking her hand, pulling her onto his chest. She stiffened initially but melted onto him, which Troy took as a good sign.

"You're tired," he commented in a murmur, wrapping his arms around her thin frame.

"Hm," she agreed, cuddling into his side. "Because you aren't. At least I can sleep during the drives. You miraculously keep yourself awake."

"Caffeine is an amazing thing," Troy put in. Gabriella grinned and propped her chin on his chest, looking at him as he supported his head with his hand.

"So, what was so important that it could not be said over the phone, causing my extrememly drowsy basketballer to drive to tell me in person?" she asked.

"You are way to good for me," Troy replied.

"Doesn't answer the question. Why aren't you letting me return the gesture for what you have done for me?"

"My previous response did answer that question: you are way to good for me, wanting to visit Julie, coming every trip, believing that I somehow deserve the same treatment that you do, because I so do not," Troy stated. "I've been such an asshole, it's ridiculous and my actions have been inexcusable."

Gabriella pulled herself closer to him, meaning her frame was nearly laying flat on top of his. Troy was to focused on her next response to even allow his thoughts to turn into that of a horny fifteen year old.

"Yeah, you're an asshole," she repeated, "a sensitive, caring asshole who is dealing with so much shit right now it's not even funny."

Troy's baby blues widened in surprise.

"So not what I expected," he commented. "Can all of those adjectives be used in the same sentence with asshole? You're smart."

Gabriella laughed.

"I just want to be there for you, Wildcat," she explained. "And I'm sorry if I seem pushy or overbearing, but you have no idea of how much it kills me to see you like this. It really hurts, Troy, to see you struggle, because you're normally so collected and prepared."

Troy nodded.

"I guess I've been pretty ungrateful," he replied. "Isn't coveting a sin or something? 'Cause if it is, I've been sinning since New Year's Eve 2006. Seriously, I lucked out in life."

He leaned forward to press a kiss against her lips. Gabriella smiled against the embrace, bringing her hands up to rest on his cheek and neck.

"So be a good boy and keep me happy," she murmured. "You're luck is not running out anytime soon. I promise."


I don't believe this was at all cliche, but than again, I wrote it, so what do I know?? Please review and give some feedback and what you want to see go on. The next chapter will bring Julie back in, maybe focus on her a bit in treatment. I know it's heavy, but bear with me. Jimmy is returning as well!!!

-youMEANeverything14