Promises are Forever
~NOTE: I do not own any of the characters or disney.
Chapter Four
Her stomach was in knots. It wasn't the first time that her stomach had been in knots while walking up the Bolton's front steps. This was just a regular visit, not anything special. It wasn't like Troy was waiting inside for her at the door.
Maria and Gabriella got onto the front porch. Gabriella knocked, then opened the door. She had been to the Bolton's so many times that they told her just to come in. The door was always open. With so many kids constantly coming and going, Lucille got tired of unlocking the door after Peyton and Tyler became of age to go outside by themselves.
Gabriella hoisted the bag of cookies and peanut butter pie higher on her shoulder and walked in. The house smelled of vanilla candles and sauteed green beans. Jack Bolton was sitting on the couch watching some sports game on tv. She figured that it was basketball, the Bolton family's favorite sport.
"Hey Coach, we're here.", Gabriella said over the roar of the tv.
"Gabriella, Maria, so good to see you guys. Wow, Gab, you look great, you too Maria!" Jack was always one to complement the Montez women as soon as they walked into the room.
"GABRIELLA!" Peyton's voice echoed throughout the whole house. She ran down the staircase and practically ran Gabriella over. "It's so good to see you. I missed you so much!", she said while pressing her face into Gabriella's grey jacket.
"I missed you too Pey, where's your mom? I'm going to go say hi to her before you drag me up into your room."
"I think she's in the kitchen. I'll go get her." Peyton's little body darted into the kitchen and came back 30 seconds later, dragging Lucille Bolton behind her.
"Oh Gabriella, Maria, it's been too long.", she said as she hugged both of them.
"I'll be in the kitchen with Lucille, Gabi.", her mother told her as both of the mothers walked down the hallway into the kitchen.
"Let's go upstairs, i redid my room! Now it's blue and green and purple and," Peyton continued talking as they walked up the large staircase to the second floor of the house.
The Bolton house was huge. There were three floors, a two car garage, and a huge backyard containing a half basketball court and a built in swimming pool. The living room, kitchen, dining room, and office were on the first floor. All of their bedrooms were on the second floor. Luckily, they had five bedrooms so each child could have their own room. Peyton's room was across from Lucille and Jack's room and next to Tyler's room. Further down the hallway were Troy and Mark's rooms. Gabriella spent many hours in Troy's large bedroom. He had pretty much everything a teenage boy would want. They also spent a lot of time on the third floor. The third floor was the ultimate hang out spot. There was a large flat screen tv, tons of board games, a mini fridge, a microwave, and a large comfy sofa.
Everyday afterschool from sixth grade to senior year, Troy and Gabriella would go up there and do their homework together. They were both on the same academic level, Gabriella just a little bit smarter than Troy, and would mostly have the same homework. Gabriella really didn't want to go upstairs with Peyton. Being up there without Troy would break her heart.
She walked into Peyton's room and smiled. Peyton was such a happy girl, considering the circumstances of her older brother. Gabriella looked around at all of her pictures. They were mostly of Peyton and her friends at parties, or hanging out on the third floor.
"Gabi, I want to show you something. I was kinda bored last week, and I was really missing you and Troy, so I made you a scrapbook. I hope you like it. No one knows that I did this, so you can show them later if you want to."
Gabriella took the scrapbook from Peyton. The book itself was a shade of aqua, her and Troy's favorite color. Ever since they first became friends in fourth grade they both always loved that color. The picture on the cover was from their high school graduation. Little eight year old Peyton was sitting on Troy's shoulders with his graduation cap on her head. Gabriella was standing infront of Troy with his arms wrapped around her stomach. It was the perfect picture for the cover of their scrapbook.
As Gabriella flipped through the pages, memories filled into her head. Their first school play, their field trip to the Grand Canyon, their first date, and other memories. The last page in the scrapbook was of Gabriella and Troy, but the picture was different than the other ones. This was a picture taken on Troy's birthday this past April. April 17th to be exact.
Gabriella woke up late on April 17th. Tears flooded into her eyes the moment she turned on her phone and looked at the date. It was Troy's 24th birthday. As soon as she realized that she was going to be late for work, Gabriella slipped on a pair of black dress pants and a random shirt from her closet. Putting makeup on would be a bad idea, considering she knew that she would be crying all day.
She locked up the apartment and drove to the law firm. All she wanted to do was to be sitting at home, alone, with her favorite picture of Troy next to her side. She knew that she had to go to the hospital today, but also knew that Troy's family would be there too. Gabriella hated crying infront of them, expecially Peyton, even though they were all feeling the same way.
Work was a boring day. Gabriella didn't feel like doing anything. When her boss walked into her office and saw the tears falling down Gabriella's innocent face, she let her leave. She drove to her mother's house and walked upstairs to her old room. Maria wasn't home and the place was awfully quiet. A few hours passed before her mother came home to find her daughter in a puddle of tears on her bed.
"It's ok baby, everything will be alright. Do you think Troy would want you like this right now? Let's go over to the Bolton's house. I bet Peyton would love you to be there." As always, her mother's calming voice convinced Gabriella to go to the Bolton's. They walked inside to find Lucille crying on the couch and Peyton watching from the staircase.
"Hey Pey," Gabriella said to the mortified girl as she watched her mother crumble to pieces, "let's go upstairs."
The two girls walked into Peyton's room and stayed there for hours. Peyton cried in Gabriella's arms. She was glad that she could be there for Peyton, because her mother was in no condition to support her daughter.
At 6:00pm the Bolton and Montez families drove over to the hospital to visit Troy. Lucille and Jack went into the room first, followed by Mark, then Tyler. Peyton wanted Gabriella to come in with her, and she couldn't say no.
Thinking about Peyton's words to Troy broke her heart. She had so many feelings tucked up in her head, Gabriella wondered how she didn't have a breakdown.
"Hey big bro," Peyton started talking to Troy, "I really miss you. Do you remember when I was little and you would pick me up and run me around the yard like I was flying? I got an A on my math test last week. It was pretty hard, but dad helped me understand it. Gabriella is here too. She came over today. Please get better soon, I miss you so much. I want my brother ba..." Peyton never finished her sentence before she broke down. She fell in tears onto Troy's stomach, where she hugged him and tried to finish her sentence. Gabriella walked over to Peyton and tried to pick her up from off of Troy.
"I'm sorry," she said, "I just couldn't finish. Thanks for being there Gabi."
After those words, Gabriella started crying. She hugged Peyton as they both sat down on the end of Troy's hospital bed. They sat there for ten minutes, until Peyton calmed herself down.
"Gabi, can I take a picture of you and Troy? I just want him to know that we were here for him, you know?" Gabriella couldn't resist. She laid down next to Troy and kissed his cheek as Peyton snapped a picture.
"Wow, Pey. I love it. Thank you, so much." Gabriella hugged Peyton and saw a tear form in her innocent blue eyes.
"I'm glad you like it. I just missed him, and you, and you know."
Gabriella completely understood her. "Hey Pey, I think dinner's ready. Let's go eat."
They walked down the stairs to find all of the Bolton's, minus Peyton and Troy, sitting at the table along with her mother. They ate a wonderful meal, as always. Tyler finished first and practically ran back to his room. Peyton looked worried as she turned to look at Gabriella. Something was going on with Tyler and it was bothering Peyton.
After dessert Lucille walked up to Gabriella. "Gabriella, do you want to sleep over? I think Peyton needs someone, i'm not sure what's bothering her and she won't tell me. Maybe you can help her."
"I'd be delighted to,"she responded. Gabriella still had a ton of sick days and her boss was very understanding.
For the rest of the night, Lucille, Jack, Maria, Gabriella, and Peyton watched old home movies. They ranged from Troy's potty training video, to Peyton and Tyler's graduation.
When it was time for Maria to leave and everyone to go to bed, Gabriella walked with Peyton up to her room.
"Is something bothering you Pey, you looked worried when Tyler left before." She didn't mean to just go into the subject, but it just came out.
"I think Tyler is hiding something from us. He's been acting really strange these past few months. I'm not sure if it's because of Troy's accident, or girl problems. I don't think that he has a girlfriend, and i know that he's not doing drugs. I just don't know what's going on with him. Wait, nope." Peyton continued thinking, but nothing came to her mind.
"Does he ever start to act strange when you mention anything about Troy, or anyone else?"
"Troy? I don't think that's been it. I mean we're all sad but he was the first one to kinda return to normal after his accident. He does give me this look when I mention your name though. And he hasn't been down all day. Maybe he likes you!"
The thought of Troy's baby brother liking her made Gabriella laugh. He always was shy around her. Maybe Tyler did like her, or maybe it was something deeper than that.
"I think im going to go talk to him, I haven't really had a conversation with him since your graduation party."
"Good luck." said Peyton as Gabriella walked out of the room and down the hallway to Tyler's door.
She knocked on the door, nervous about what was going to happen in a few seconds.
Tyler opened the door and gave Gabriella a look that no one ever gave her before. He didn't look happy or mad.
"Hey Gabriella. May I ask why knocked on my door?" Peyton was right. He seemed different, but in a weird way.
"I was wondering if I could talk to you, actually."
"Sure, I guess. Come in."
Tyler's room was a red color. There were trophies along all of the shelves. Most of them were for basketball, with a few baseball ones as well. There was a few picture frames on his bookshelf. One of his family, one of him and Troy, and one of him and his basketball team. Nothing was out of the ordinary in his room. It looked exactly like Troy's room had when they were 15.
"So, um," Gabriella began, "how's your summer been?" She knew that she sounded dumb, but there was no other way to start to find out what was troubling him.
"Alright, I guess. Mark has been over a few times with Kendra. She's having a baby."
"Oh really, that's great!" Gabriella completly forgot that Mark wasn't home while she had been there. He was 27 now, and had been married for two years now. Mark and Kendra were high school sweethearts, but she always thought that they seemed awkward whenever her and Troy were around them.
"I guess so. Do you miss Troy?"
Gabriella was not expecting this to come from Tyler's mouth. "Yeah, all the time. It's been pretty hard these last few months."
"Yeah, does Peyton seem okay? She isn't really sad ever, you know."
"She's fine, she said she's usually ok. That's kind of funny that you asked me about her, cause she's worried about you."
Tyler looked dissapointed. "Worried about me? Im fine, I really am, i'm not sure why she would be, be, be..." He broke down in tears. Gabriella was astonished.
She moved over next to Tyler on his bed and hugged him. The poor kid was so worried about his little sister that he didn't notice that he began to shut himself away in his room. Lucille and Jack must have thought that it was just a phase, but Peyton knew that something was wrong.
"It's okay Ty. You don't have to worry about Peyton. She's fine, I promise. Tyler looked up at her with his tear soaked eyes.
"It's just that Mark has his own family now and Troy isn't here. I just feel like I have to protect Peyton now that they're not around, and I thought that I was doing a bad job. You were always there for Peyton, like a big sister. She would always come to you for those problems. Then you wern't here for almost three months and I didn't know what to say to her. I'm glad you and Troy became friends because you're everything that Peyton could have ever wanted. I just hope that Troy gets better soon, i've been lost without him. I didn't think I needed him as much as I do, I just can't take it. "
Gabriella held Tyler tighter in her arms. She didn't really think that Tyler was ever hurting. Peyton was fine, but she was a naturally happy girl, and she had Gabriella to text when she was upset or lonely. Tyler had no one. She understood that talking to your parents wasn't the same as talking to a sibling, and none of his friend would provide the support that he needed.
"I know how you feel Ty. My dad died when I was seven, and I had no one to turn to. But then I met Troy, and he lit up my life. He was the best friend and brother that I never had. I miss him too." Gabriella was suprised that she didn't start crying after mentioning the two men she loved most in the world. "You can call me whenever you need someone to talk to Ty, i'll always be there to listen. If you need anything i'll come over."
He looked up at Gabriella and smiled, just like he used to when they were both a lot younger.
"Thanks Gabi," was all that he said as she let go of him and walked out of the room. Life seemed a lot brighter. She just helped a boy that was hurting and needed someone to talk to.
Gabriella walked down the hallway to Peyton's room. She was asleep with a picture of Troy and the bear that he had gave her on her eighth birthday. Gabriella pulled the covers up over Peyton and turned off the light.
The house was silent, except from the usual snoring coming from Jack Bolton. Gabriella walked down the hall to Mark's room. She opened the door to find the room empty, except for a king sized bed. They only needed a bed, she figured. She closed Mark's door and opened Troy's. Everything was the same as it always was. All of the things that Troy actually needed were at their apartment, like his good clothes and cologne. Whenever they came to visit, both him and Gabriella would stay in his room. It was the perfect place for the two of them to be alone. They had numerous conversations in here, and tons of memories.
Gabriella put on a pair of Troy's old sweats and a t-shirt that he slept in when he visited his parents. It felt so good to be in here. Troy spent most of his life sleeping in this room, and spending time with Gabriella. As she laid down in his bed, she looked at the numerous pictures all around his mirror and on his nightstand. Most of them were of him and Gabriella, with the exception of some family pictures and high school basketball photos.
The picture that stood out the most was one taken in their junior year of high school.
It was a sunny September day. Troy and Gabriella just came back upstairs after playing outside with Tyler and Peyton. They were both exhausted and laid down on the cool floor next to each other.
"You gotta love those two kids." Troy said inbetween long breaths.
"Yeah, I have no idea how your mother survived with four children."
"Five, you practically live here, but Maria is like a second mother so I guess it balances out."
The two of them sat there laughing and poking each other for ten minutes or so.
"Ella, I don't know what I would do without you."
She hadn't expected him to say this. Ever since she had broke her arm that past summer, she felt something new between her and Troy. They were still best friends, but something else was there. Troy started to act different. She liked it, but didn't want to tell him how she felt about him in case he didn't feel the same. The last thing that she wanted to do was to wreck their friendship of eight years.
"Same here Troy, you changed my life. If you hadn't talked to me on that day in fourth grade I would have been friendless and alone in my room doing homework like the nerd that I am."
"Ella, I like you, more than a friend. We get along so well, it's like we were destined for each other."
She didn't know what to say, she liked him too, but didn't want to sound corny.
"I feel the same way Troy. I like you too."
He leaned towards her and kissed her soft lips. It was a short kiss, but it meant the world to both of them. Just at that moment, little Tyler ran into the room. He had a look of suprise and dissapointment, but at that moment in time, all Gabriella cared about was Troy.
Sorry it's been so long since I uploaded a new chapter. So what do you guys think? I start writing and I can't stop! Please, please, please review! I want to know what you guys think! :)