Here's the next chapter for you guys, I'm loving the response to this story, so thank you and enjoy!

Making it Through Together

Troy shrugged his t-shirt over his head the next morning, as he left his en suite after taking his morning shower. Gabriella hadn't woken up when he'd gotten out of bed, something he was happy about, it had taken her a while to get to sleep last night, and even when she was finally asleep she was still tossing and turning most of the night.

After quickly running a comb through his hair, so that it looked half decent, he then turned his attention to the half a dozen small and medium sized boxes that were stacked up by the wall near his balcony.

The boxes were the ones that he and Gabriella had located yesterday, as the ones that contained her clothes. He'd taken them through to his room, so that when Gabriella needed them, she could get to them, without having to look at all of the boxes which brought back memories, memories that right now, she was finding impossibly hard to deal with.

It was gonna be a while before Gabriella could move into the box room, no matter how quickly they sorted out the boxes. The room hadn't been used in years except for storage and needed a good lick of paint and some furniture before it was anywhere near ready for Gabriella to move into.

It was at that moment, when Gabriella moved and tightened her grip on the pillow he'd placed in his place when he'd gotten up, that he decided that he would make her feel as much at ease as possible while she was in his room, and to start with, he'd find somewhere for, at least, a few of her clothes to be stored, other than in boxes.

So, after opening the curtains, just a little bit, Troy started about the task of moving his clothes around. Being a teenage boy, he wasn't exactly organised, but he knew where everything was, and he knew what he'd be able to move in order for Gabriella to have a place for her clothes.

Twenty minutes later, half of the hanging space in his wardrobe and two of his draws had been cleared and cleaned out ready for Gabriella's clothes. He was proud of the work he'd done in such a short amount of time and just as he was about to start moving Gabriella's clothes in, she started to become restless, but thankfully rather than having a nightmare, she slowly woke up.

"Morning," Troy greeted, as he sat down on the side of the bed next to Gabriella, who was combing her hands through her hair, in an attempt to make it look slightly less wild.

"Morning, what time is it?" Gabriella asked, as she settled herself back against the pillows which she'd organised against the headboard.

"Half nine," Troy responded looking at his alarm clock on the bedside table. "How'd you sleep?"

"Quite well actually, after I finally got to sleep that is."

"Well that's good then, I was expecting you to say badly, seeing as you were tossing and turning most of the night."

"Really? Sorry, I didn't keep you awake did I?"

"No, I was fine, I stayed awake a little longer after you fell asleep, just to make sure you were ok, but I once I was asleep, I was asleep. I didn't really notice until you moved out of my arms and you were rolling about, you settled down again quite quickly though."

"That's alright then, how long have you been awake?" Gabriella asked, as she massaged her left wrist with her right hand, the evidence of her restless night's sleep, coming through as pain in her wrist.

"Your wrist hurting?" Troy questioned, noticing Gabriella's pained expression and completely ignoring her question to him.

"Yeah, I probably rolled on it a lot last night; I'll take my medication when I have breakfast."

"By the expression on your face I'd say you really want them now. So, why don't you go and jump in the shower and I'll pop downstairs and get your meds for you, sound good?"

"Yeah it does, thanks Troy." Gabriella responded, as Troy got up off of the bed, allowing her to get up and start her day.

TGTGTGTG

Troy laughed at his youngest sister who was laughing and pointing at her twin, who was trying, very unsuccessfully, to fit as much banana in his mouth as possible.

"What's your brother trying to do hey Soph?" He asked, as he got up from his seat to clean up Sam, who had now spewed his banana up all over his high chair table, obviously deciding he didn't want banana anymore.

"Sam, nana." Sophie exclaimed, pointing at her twin brother and then his messed up banana.

"You got that one right Soph." Troy replied, as he ruffled her hair before cleaning up Sam's unwanted breakfast.

Troy had arrived downstairs to get Gabriella her tablets to find Lucille situating the younger four in front of the telly in the lounge and still in her night ware.

He'd found out that Jack had gotten ill over night and that Sam and Sophie had come in to wake them up. She'd brought them downstairs because Jack had finally gotten back to sleep and she didn't want them to wake him up.

After getting Amber and Lillie to keep and eye on Sam and Sophie, Troy had told Lucille to go back to bed and get some more sleep because she'd been up looking after Jack, and promised that as soon as he'd given Gabriella her meds for the morning he'd come back down to give them all breakfast.

So that's exactly what he'd done and after finding Gabriella already out of the shower and dressed, quicker than he'd ever be able to, he was able to give her, her meds and explain what was going on.

She's volunteered to go and see if Jazzy was up and offer her a hand because she wasn't exactly stable on her feet right now. Troy had double and then triple checked she was okay with this, and after her telling him she was totally fine, he let her head off to help Jasmine.

That was why now, ten minutes later, Troy was in the dining room with his younger four siblings and Jasmine and Gabriella were just making there way in.

"Jazzy!" Amber and Lillie exclaimed, as they got up from their seats and ran for their sister.

"Hey guys, how are you?" Jasmine asked, using a chair to lean on.

"Fine," Was the answer given in unison.

"Well that's good then, how about you sit back down and finish your breakfast and I'll come and have some as well?"

The girls nodded and sat back down in their seats, although both now wanted to sit next to Jasmine.

"Lillie, why don't you move across one and then I'll sit in the middle and be next to both of you?" The girls both liked his idea, and so after Lillie had moved across one and Jazzy was settled in her seat everyone was happy.

"You need any help Troy?" Gabriella asked, from her spot in the door way, the same place she'd been since she and Jazzy had arrived downstairs.

"Nope, I've got it, thanks Gabi," Troy replied, as he finished cleaning up Sam and his banana and left him to quietly munch his way through some reasonably sized pieces of fruit.

"Okay, well I'm not really hungry so I'm just gonna head back upstairs." Gabriella said and before anyone could reply she'd left the room.

Troy looked at Jasmine, who was looking back at him with the same look, something was up.

"You be alright with these?" Troy asked, as he grabbed some more toast from the kitchen and brought it back through for Jazzy to start on.

"Yeah I'll be fine, go, she needs to eat Troy."

"I know, I'm going." Troy said, ruffling Sam and Sophie's hair before heading after Gabriella.

He didn't have to go far before finding her sat on the bottom step of the stairs crying. Silently he made his way over and sat down next to her, resting his arm on his leg, he held his hand palm up and waited for Gabriella to interlace her fingers with his.

When she did he simply gave her hand a quick squeeze and got them both to their feet. He turned to her, keeping his right hand interlaced with her left, and with his left hand cupped her face, and using the pad of his thumb wiped away her falling tears and tear tracks, taking away any hint of her tears from the younger children. They needed to talk about this, but right now they both needed breakfast, and so, wordlessly, Troy gave Gabriella's hand one last tight squeeze before leading her back through to the dining.

Jazzy knew Gabriella had been crying by the way Troy was acting around her, but she also knew she didn't need to say anything because Troy could handle it. He may not do it straight away, but she knew he'd get Gabriella to talk, and that was all that mattered.

TGTGTGTG

"Okay I think that's everything we need for now, so I'm gonna make some phone calls while Jack's asleep, you guys just stay down here and relax, you've done really well Gabi, thank you." Lucille shot Troy a knowing look, before she got up and left the basement, to head back up to the mini whirlwinds that were her youngest children.

Troy tightened his grip around the shaking brunette beside him and pulled her close. They had only been talking about the funeral arrangements for five minutes when Gabriella's tears had started, now half an hour later, they still hadn't stopped. From the moment Gabriella's tear had begun to fall, Troy had instantly wrapped his arm round her and hadn't moved his arm once.

Now as they sat there in almost silence, Gabriella's sobs stopping it from being complete silence, Troy realised how much he really did care for Gabriella.

Lucille had brought home children for the night many times before and yeah, of course he'd been kind and looked after them, but there was something about Gabriella that made him want to get to know her more, that made him want her to turn to him rather than his Mum, and something big, that made him what to be her protector.

Troy was brought out of his daydreaming when Gabriella began to cough and splutter, her crying had become too much for her and she was seriously struggling to catch her breath.

"Gabriella listen to me, you need to breath, take some deep breaths, in and out, just focus on your breathing Gabi, come on, you're okay." Troy loosened his grip around Gabriella and soothingly began to run his hand up and down her back, hoping to offer her comfort as he did.

"T-troy, I…" Gabriella was cut off as another round of coughing hit her.

"Gabi its okay, don't worry, just breath honey, please, you're okay sweetheart, you're okay."

It was another good five minutes of Troy's gentle coaxing until Gabriella's breathing was back to normal, even though her tears still hadn't stopped.

"Gabi can you sit back against the sofa a second? I need to get you a bottle of water, I'm only going over there to the fridge." Gabriella looked from Troy to the fridge, which was across the room in the corner, and then gave him a slight nod, before moving her body from leaning against him, to leaning against the sofa.

"That's it, you're doing really well Gabi," Troy encouraged, as he grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge, the whole time keeping as much eye contact with Gabriella as possible.

Sitting back down he handed her a bottle of water and noticed how bad her sniffling had become, knowing he'd have to let out part of his feminine side.

"Sit tight and I'll get you some tissues." Troy told her, making sure she knew what his every move would be, knowing she needed simple things like that right now.

"You k-keep tissues down h-here? I thought this place was s-supposed to be your p-place, all manly and e-everything." Gabriella asked, her tears slowly subsiding.

"It is manly, but sometimes I have small people down here, like when I've had a tough day at school, or playing basketball, or I've had with Dad over basketball, I bring the littlies down here and play with them here, it makes them happy and makes me forget things. Inevitably one of them is going to need a tissue at some point so I keep a box down here, I just keep it hidden, the boys already say I'm wrapped round all of their little fingers." Troy said, as he reached into a cupboard and produced 'man size' box of tissues. "Even my tissues are manly, although the boys are right, I am wrapped round all of their little fingers, even Jessie and Jaz at times." Troy confessed, as he sat back down and placed the box of tissues in Gabriella's lap.

"They all l-love you s-so much though Troy, anyone can tell that." Gabriella replied, as she blew her nose and wiped away her tears and tears tracks.

"I know, I just don't like to admit it," Troy said, as he took a swig from his water bottle. "So, I was thinking, because Dad is ill and everything, maybe you and me could take the rest of them out for a bit? You don't have to come, you can stay here with Mum and Dad, but I was just gonna take them to get some ice cream in the park, it's only a fifteen minute walk away, it's up to you."

"I guess getting out of the house wouldn't be a bad thing, is Jazzy coming?"

"Dunno, hadn't asked her to be honest, although if that was the doorbell I hear, I'm betting that it's Jake, so she might now, although Jake does have a soft spot for the little ones when he's met them at games so they might come, save things being awkward between them by themselves."

Gabriella laughed. "Shall we go up and find out then?"

"Only if you're ready to."

Gabriella nodded, as she blew her nose one last time, "I'm ready, lets go." She said, standing up and offering her hand to Troy.

Troy took the lead and led her back up the basement stairs, but didn't fail to point out how amazing he found her laugh on the way.

"You've got a beautiful laugh Gabriella, it was really nice to hear it." Gabriella blushed and didn't respond verbally, but did squeeze his hand in a sign of thanks.

Troy himself wasn't so sure how a laugh could be beautiful, but at the time that just felt right to say, a beautiful laugh for a beautiful girl.

TGTGTGTG

Troy smiled as he watched Jake and Gabriella interact with his younger siblings. He and Jazzy were sat on a bench in the children's play area of the local park, him suddenly not having the energy to play and Jazzy not being able to due to her ankle. Neither of these facts had stopped Gabriella or Jake taking a set of twins each and doing what ever was asked of them, they even seemed to be enjoying it.

"She's looks like she doesn't have any other care in the world," Jazzy spoke up, breaking Troy from his trance of watching Gabriella with Sam and Sophie.

"Yeah she does, Jake doesn't seem that bothered either though."

"True, he's got nieces and brother and sisters though, he's just as used to it as we are."

"Ah, I always wondered why he was so good with them, you like him then?"

"Yeah, I guess, he's been good to me Troy and I need that right now, you like Gabi though don't you?"

"I guess, I mean she's an amazing girl, but I can't exactly get to know the real her with all the emotions that are running through her right now, although I do think she's pretty cute, whether she'll ever think the same is a different thing all together though."

"She'll think the same one day, maybe not any time soon, like you said, there's a lot of emotions in her right now, but one day she'll like you as well, it'll just take time and patience, things you seem to have a lot of for her anyway."

"Yeah but they're exactly what she needs right now. Things are gonna get a lot worse before they get better for her Jaz, the funeral is next week, but we'll make it through together, I just hope she realises that."

"She does Troy, she already thinks a lot of you as it is, she trusts you as much as she does Mum, if not more, and that is something pretty amazing for someone who's been through everything she has."

"Yeah I guess you're right. I think we should round them up, my head is pounding suddenly, I need pain killers and my bed, you okay to walk?"

Jasmine nodded and got up as they others started to make their way back over. "I'm fine, I'll push the buggy, you look pretty rough though Troy."

"Thanks for that, now I'll have Mum looking after me as well as Dad, that's all she needs, especially looking after this lot as well."

"Hello, I'm here, I am old enough to look after them, besides Mum already said Jake could stay for dinner, so it's fine, you should head straight to bed." Jazzy told him, as she headed over to the push chair and used it as her crutch home, Jake holding hands with Amber and Lillie, while Gabriella kept her arms firmly wrapped round Troy, noticing herself how bad he suddenly looked.

TGTGTGTG

Gabriella smiled to herself, as she finished putting away her last piece of clothing in the spaces Troy had provided for her. She'd seen the spaces when she'd gotten out of the shower this morning, but Troy had briefly told her about them when they'd gotten home, just before he stripped down to his boxers and collapsed onto his bed. Gabriella had then managed to catch Lucille and between them they were able to move Troy under his duvet and then leave him to sleep off whatever it was that was making him feel this way.

"Looks good," Gabriella turned round to find Lucille in the doorway.

"I thought so too, Troy cleared it for me when I was asleep, so I thought why not put my stuff in it while he's asleep."

"I'm not asleep." Troy's voice made them both turn their attention to the bed.

"Hey sleepy head, how you feeling?" Lucille asked, as she walked over to the bed and put her hand to Troy's forehead, he wasn't running a fever.

"Better thanks, the painkillers and sleep worked. How did I end up in bed? I remember being on it, not in it."

"That'd be us," Lucille answered. "Gabi didn't want you getting cold so she caught me and we managed to help you move, you were half asleep so you had no idea what we were doing. Gabi you want some dinner now that Troy's awake, I can bring you both some up?"

"Yeah I guess I am hungry, thanks Lucille."

"No problem, I know you're hungry Troy, be right back." She said, and with that she'd left the room.

"Everything away then?" Troy asked, as he stretched in bed and then sat up leaning himself back against the headboard.

"Yep, all sorted, thanks Troy, I didn't fancy living outta boxes."

"I didn't think you would, that's why I sorted my stuff out, I knew I'd have room, I just spread it all out for the sake of it. Can you do me and favour though and grab me my t-shirt and some sweats from the chest of draws, top draw?"

"Sure, you want this t-shirt?" Gabriella asked, picking up the one he'd thrown on his chair after taking it off carelessly earlier.

"Yeah please, just grab any sweats from the draw, I don't mind." Troy said, as Gabriella grabbed the first pair of sweats she could and threw them and the t-shirt at him to get changed in bed, while she grabbed her own sweats and his hoodie and headed in to the bathroom to change.

Emerging from the bathroom Gabriella found Troy dressed, sat up in bed with the telly on and a tray of food in front of him.

"Why didn't you eat earlier Brie?" Troy asked, as she settled herself next to him and he handed her, her food.

Gabriella sighed. "It's stupid."

"I bet it isn't"

"It sounds stupid to me though."

Troy shrugged. "I don't care, I told you I'd help you Gabi, you obviously have a problem with meal times so, talk to me sweetie."

"It reminds me too much of being in a family. I just lost me entire family and now I'm being pushed into this amazing family that I just can't cope with when you're all together, sorry Troy."

"You've got nothing to apologise for sweetie, I completely understand why you're saying that, I'm used to it and can get overwhelmed by it sometimes. Why don't we work on it step by step, eating with a bigger amount of people as we go along. We're in this together Brie, every step."

"Thank you Troy, you're doing so much for me, it means a lot, more than you'll ever understand."

"I can't even began to understand what you're going through Brie, I'm not even going to try, but I will be with you through it all, every single step, we'll make it through together Brie, I promise you."

TGTGTGTG

Here's another for you guys, hope you like it!

It doesn't exactly make sense, it's a bit of a mess if you ask me, just like I'm a mess right now, so we match!

Tell me what you think and:

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!