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Gabby sat there patiently in her class. Last night she had barely gotten any sleep being that she was so anxious about her day with Troy today. She looked completely serene and attentive sitting there in the classroom next to Taylor but inside, her brain was having a debate with her heart.
She had every right not to meet up with him. I mean, he was an irresponsible rocker, dangerous and carefree and just, not in the plan! She had every right to not meet him and just go straight to the apartment and read and enjoy a quiet day alone. But at the same time, did she really want that forever? To be that same bookworm that she had been all through high school? Sitting alone on weekends on those nights where all her friends had dates and none of the guys would ask her out, as beautiful as she was, because she was such a stick in the mud. This was college! A chance to break free and experience life! And Troy would be there, he knew exactly what he was doing because he trusted life! And in some weird way, she wished she could be like him, but feeling and experiencing it with him would suffice.
She made up her mind, she would meet him, and try her best not to be too scared whilst with him.
The professor dismissed the class for the day and Gabby hightailed out as fast as she possibly could, with Taylor trailing behind her.
"Gabby! Slow down! Whats the rush?" Taylor said as she dodged past a group of professors.
"Um, nothing, I just have somewhere to go." Gabby said as she slowed her pace around the corner.
"Oh really?" Taylor said grabbing her arm, making her stop abruptly and turn to her, "Does it have anything to do with the lead singer from Spares?" Taylor then pointed to the nearby building where, sure enough, Troy was, right on time.
Gabby turned to where Taylor pointed and her heart stopped, it was obvious he had not seen her come around the corner as he was looking into New York Traffic and smoking a cigarette, his dark aviator shades reflecting the little bit of sun that happened to show its way past the tall buildings. He wore dark loose fitted jeans and a white shirt with a faded guitar printed on it. His leather jacket was a dark brown and had a single red strip going down the length of both sleeves from his shoulder and his hair was tossed casually, in other words, damn he was fine!!!! Like badass and rebel without a cause!!!!
"Uh, well, he, uh, and then…um." Gabby stuttered to her best friend trying to find the right words.
"you don't have to explain Gabby! In fact I'm pleasantly surprised that you're seeing him!" Taylor smiled.
"Well, not necessarily seeing him, he's showing me around the city and…"
"Well, anyway, he's a big step from your last date, that computer studies student, who was it…Timmy?" Taylor chuckled and Gabby just blushed red.
"But seriously Gabby, keep your self safe, even if just a little, this is untread territory for you and I don't want to see you get hurt, k?"
Gabby nodded and they hugged before Taylor went in a separate direction for her afternoon class. Gabby inhaled deeply and strode forward with as much as she could muster and blushed furiously when she saw Troy look over in her direction and throw down his half way through cigarette.
Troy watched as she strode closer to him. Her mere presence mesmerized him as he tried to figure how she could look so effortlessly innocently beautiful. Be hind his shades, his eyes surveyed her and her outfit which he deeply approved. She was dressed modestly again in a dark blue plain form fitted t-shirt that was under a brown zipup hoodie with Columbia University written across the front in blue. She also sported comfortable light jeans and pink tennis shoes and her hair fell in light waves as they always were.
She approached him cautiously and stopped about two feet in front of him, staring at the ground and not looking up. He then approached her and Gabby willed herself not to back away and stay there and dared herself to look into his eyes and once she did, Troy took that as a signal and put his hands on her waist to pull her close and kissed her, soft and yearningly and pulled away abruptly.
He leaned towards her ear to whisper and felt her shudder under his touch as his lips brushed her ear, "I knew you would come, and I'm glad you did."
His deep voice sent warm electricity coursing through her every system and felt the cold as he pulled away but handed her the helmet and sat himself on the bike and she sat behind him, closer than before and wrapped her arms around his torso, making him smile inwardly. He revved the engine and they sped up into the traffic, dodging traffic and honking cars until all the sounds of the city completely meshed themselves into a warm and subtle grumble, as if listening to music come a mile away.
On the drive, Troy would shout all the places to her, his favorite places to eat, where his band had played, the places he would never forget. They passed Times square in all its whirlwind of color and Gabby turned her head looking side to side as if the jumbles of people stood still and the flashing lights became a beautiful blur that soared past her but somehow, always remained with her. She watched the performers in the street wave to her making her giggle which she knew Troy heard and felt him smile.
Next, they found themselves driving slowly past Radio City Music Hall and she looked at all the brightly colored musical posters as if large beckoning invitations to step out of the norm and into a surreal and far off fantasy, even for a few brief moments.
Then found themselves driving by Rockefeller Center with it's packed amounts of people and brightly colored flags representing different nations that symbolized international gathering and similarity in the most abrupt way, she may not have ever noticed it, but being with Troy made her aware of all of her surroundings in the most surreal way, like just being with him made all of the atmosphere come to life.
As Troy pointed out all of the places, he looked back to her every now and then just staring around her in awe, as if just being struck suddenly with how beautiful this city was just as he was when he just drove through the city to clear his mind, he was glad he could share that with her.
After about 2hrs of driving, Troy pulled into a spot that looked as if a new building was going to be put up there but surrounded by people taking pictures and reading the plaques that surrounded the gated area. Troy got off the bike and took his helmet off and helped Gabby off.
As she took her helmet off she looked around curiously and then to Troy who caught her questioning glance.
"This place, I've never been to." Troy said peering around, "This is ground zero."
Then Troy made his way down the steps and into a small museum like place with Gabby following close behind, hugging her arms around herself as a sudden chill over took her and she clutched her sweater closer. She watched Troy stroll closer to look at the remnants of the Twin Towers and she found herself looking around and then being drawn to a bronze plaque on the wall, it listed all the victims of 9/11 and Gabby read each person's name silently when suddenly, a tired looking man who looked quite weathered, started playing America the Beautiful on his harmonica and Gabby moved on to pictures on the wall that showed everything that happened in chronological order.
Somehow, the sense of the loss of the families and the great tragedy struck her in the most sudden way and she felt tears sting her eyes and she looked away from the pictures and down to the floor.
Then, she felt two strong and somewhat gentle familiar hands on her upper arms.
"Lets go." Troy said simply but softly and took her hand to lead her up the stairs and back to the bike where they put on their helmets and rode off.
Gabby clung to Troy needing him for support as she pulled herself together again, she had never realized how emotional the whole place would make her, even though she wasn't there when it had happened, but her heart opened and all of the emotions and feelings swept into her. She would never trade that experience for the world.
Before she knew it, they had arrived at a small diner called, "Red's", simply, and they got off in silence, placing their helmets down and entering the diner. Gabby was hit by the fact that she felt she had stepped back in time to the eighties as the walls were covered with posters from the Bangles, to the Police, the Postal Service, etc. the stools by the counter was deep red and spun and the tile floor was black and white checkered.
Troy led them to a small booth near the back and a middle aged darkhaired waitress greeted Troy, it was obvious he came here often, and took their orders, Gabby asked for a basket of chicken nuggets and a root beer and Troy ordered a cheeseburger and Coke with one Heineken.
Gabby looked at him suspiciously and he simply shrugged and smirked, "Don't worry I have a high alcohol tolerance."
Once the waitress left, Gabby began to look down to the table as she felt Troy's intense stare that seemed to look right into her.
"Um," Gabby began, "Thank you, for, you know, showing me around. It really meant a lot to me, now I know why New York means a lot to you."
Troy nodded and took a drink from his beer, he was so unreadable sometimes, "Thanks." He said .
"For what?" Gabby said looking to him and her eyes met his.
"For finally beginning to trust yourself, and then trust me." He smiled and Gabby felt her heart melt.
They talked through the meal, Troy asking questions and Gabby answering them accordingly and vice versa. Gabby was in the middle of talking about her puppy who obtained a kidney infection when Troy cut her off.
"Why are you so scared all the time? Like, you need everything to be explained and planned for you?"
Gabby's eyes grew wide at that question, no one ever bothered to know why she acted the way she did, except for her best friends and family but, they were there during the time it happened.
"You wouldn't get it."
"Try me." Troy said, silently urging her to tell him.
Gabby took a deep breath, "My father, he died when I was 14. He was always so daring. He went on these fun adventures and lived for the thrill, he would take me along sometimes if my mother allowed and I used to do all these adventurous things with him, we had no fears."
"What happened?" Troy eyes dark and unreadable.
"One day, we went on a rock climbing adventure, just me and him, and drove all the way to the nearest cliff. He was doing fine, I was watching right there. Then the rope gave in…I watched my father fall 5 stories and heard him, watched him, hit the ground. He was dead on impact."
For Gabby this was weird, she had never talked about this before and thought she would break down instantly once she told it, but she didn't. she sat there staring into Troy's eyes, full of compassion and understanding. He didn't say anything for a while, he let all of it just soak in before he spoke.
"I'm sorry, but you couldn't do anything. But from the sound of it, your dad lived like there was no tomorrow. He sounded so sure of himself. He knew that you don't have forever to live, but you just have to…live. He sounded like a really cool guy."
Gabby smiled faintly to him, taking his words to heart. He spoke so frankly to her and he didn't push her or mince his words like her string of psychiatrists. He really spoke to her like he knew.
They talked for a while longer and Gabby felt that Troy was still keeping something from her, he was still the greatest mystery to her, and she had no idea why. Troy called for the bill and Gabby looked at him intently.
"Troy, whats that on your wrist? It looks like a hospital band." Gabby said as she pulled his arm closer to her and looked upon the plastic band. It had his name, room number, hospital name.
Troy gently tugged his arm out of her grasp and looked on the band.
"I keep this as a reminder, that life is too short and its all about living for today and not letting my fears keep me down." He said quietly.
"You're still not telling me what the story is behind it." Gabby said softly.
"A few years ago, I was diagnosed with leukemia. It really brought me down hard in high school when I was still thinking about my future and then, with this disease, it was hard for me to grasp that I might not even have a future. Then they found me a bone marrow match and I've been in remission ever since. It was then I decided to make music my life and live the way I do now, no regrets." He finished, his eyes never left hers.
"Wow." Was all Gabby could say, but it made Troy smile anyway.
"Yup, wow." He agreed.
Once the bill was paid, they went back outside to the bike and took the comfortably silent ride back, each still reeling from the fact that they had just shared the most important secrets of their lives with each other, it ended the day absolutely perfectly.
Troy dropped her off back at the apartment and got off the bike with her, taking off his helmet too. Gabby had her arms wrapped around herself and Troy had his hands jammed in his pockets.
Before either could say anything, Troy wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her bringing her closer still and deepening the kiss finally as Gabby wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him closer. The kiss was perfect and when they felt themselves running out of air, Troy pulled back and began working down her jaw line to her neck where he kissed her hard and Gabby was sure it would leave a mark but was in such euphoria she couldn't care. It was when she felt his hands reach underneath her shirt and graze her stomach that she pulled away alittle and Troy retracted his hands back to her hip and kissed her lips again but pulled away suddenly so as not to get carried away or he would take her upstairs then and there and have her.
He went back to his bike and winked at her giving her a small smirk and slipped his aviator sunglasses back on.
"My band has a gig tomorrow night at 'The Coal Room' bring anyone you want, just say that you're gonna come." He said, as if knowing she would come.
Gabby smiled and blushed a little before nodding and with that, Troy sped off without his helmet on and just let the wind blow through it.
Gabby watched his form disappear and sighed contently to herself as she brought out her apartment key and went in.
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