A/N: Ok, so after fighting with to let me post the last chapter, I spent plenty of time writing this. I know it's not that long, and a lot of it seems somewhat frivolous, but I tried to use most of it to just show interplay between Troy and Gabi. Also, some of you might recognize a part of of one of their conversations from a book, Sloppy Firsts. Just borrowed though, thought it would make it a little funny. (If I failed miserably.. just let me know.)

Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer ; Don't own it.

It was Sunday night, and Gabriella found herself still thinking about Taylor's mom. She wanted so badly to have the kind of relationship that Taylor & June had with her own mom. She knew it was terrible, but she kept imagining what June would've done if she was her mom and had been through the same situations as Maria had been through. Gabriella was in the middle of trying not to fantasize about a different mom, because it only served to make her feel guilty in the end, when her cell phone rang. She grinned when she saw Taylor's picture pop up on the display.

"Hello?"

"Hey Gabs!" Taylor was always in a good mood, it seemed.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing really, just wondering if you would actually do me a favor?"

Gabriella was curious what she could possibly do for Taylor.

"If I can, I will. What do you need?"

"Physics help! I can't read my own handwriting and left my book at school, so I was wondering if maybe you could help me out with some of the last equations we went over in class?" Taylor sounded innocent enough, but truth was, she called Gabriella just to talk. She had missed having friends that were girls, and although she wouldn't trade Chad or Troy for the world, last night and that morning had reminded her of what it was like to just talk.

They went over physics for almost a half hour, when the conversation started to deteriorate from equations to what exactly Mr. Cooper's toupee was made out of.

In between laughs, Taylor remembered.

"Oh! Gabs, my mom wanted to know if you wanted to maybe come over for dinner sometime? She says she misses having girls running rampant in the house ever since my sisters went to college. She really likes you, too."

"Oh, of course!" Gabriella was delighted with the prospect. "You're mom's amazing, Taylor. She's really funny and I can tell you look up to her."

"Yeah, well, we didn't always get along, but now that we do, life is so much better. But I'm sure your mom's great, too. I can't wait to meet her!"

Gabriella sighed. She was wondering if that would become an issue, but she decided to take the plunge and just tell Taylor.

"Nah...I mean, my mom...well, she can be nice, but the truth is she's never really home." Gabriella said quietly.

"Really?" Taylor's voice had dropped down too, getting ready for a serious conversation. "Where does she go?"

"Well, work mostly. I mean, that's why she always gets transferred, she works really hard. But she goes out drinking a lot, and then she comes home late after that. And even when she is home..." Gabi trailed off.

"What?" Taylor asked, concerned.

"We just don't talk is all. I mean, I can't remember the last time I had a civil conversation with my mom, let alone a talk like you and your mom have."

"Really?" Taylor almost didn't believe it. "Why don't you guys talk?"

"Just...something that happened in the past." Gabriella sighed. "It sucks, actually. I never really noticed how bad until I saw you and your mom."

"Well, maybe she'll get over it now that you're both getting older?"

"I don't know...it just seems like she'd rather be anywhere in the world except here, with me."

"Come on, you know that's not true, Gabs. A June bug told me that when you have kids, you give each one of them a part of your heart, and you can never get it back. They will always have that love, and couldn't get rid of it if they tried."

Gabriella smiled at her friend's attempt to cheer her up, although the knowledge that it came from, as she had dubbed June, a "real" mom, sort of made her more sad.

"Thanks, Taylor."

"That's what friends are for, Gabs."

They talked for about an hour longer, and after they hung up, all Gabriella could hear in her head was Taylor's voice, saying "that's what friends are for."

She went to sleep with a smile on her face, something that was happening more and more frequently.

----

Gabriella's life was going good. She had never thought she'd be able to say that after her father died, but it was quite clear to anyone who saw her now that plenty of things she never thought would happen were happening.

She had an almost-boyfriend, Troy Bolton, who just happened to be the star captain of the basketball team at East High, a best friend, Taylor McKessie, who was finally someone who would understand (and commiserate!) about the hardships of AP classes, and a boy that she had taken to looking at as a brother, Chad Danforth, who always knew exactly what to say to make her smile.

It was the first week of December, and the winter weather was starting to make it's way into Albuquerque.

"Does it ever snow here?" Gabriella asked Troy as he was driving her into school one morning.

"It can, but it hasn't in a couple of years. Usually melts by midday anyway, though." He slid her a glance. "Does that count as a question?"

"No! I was merely curious as to the climate of this particular region, and that was something I could've asked anyone. The questions I ask you are very specific to Troy Bolton."

"Okay then, fire away."

Gabriella loved the fact that she never ran out of questions for Troy, and that she constantly got to learn about him. Sure, sometimes it was random, trivial information, but Gabriella never forgot one bit of it, and neither did Troy.

"Favorite holiday album?"

"Would it be wicked lame of me to say The Carpenter's Christmas album?" Gabriella laughed and shook her head. "It's just that my mom plays it around the holidays constantly, and she has ever since I can remember. Anytime I hear that album, I'm just reminded of home."

Gabriella was constantly in awe of this seemingly insensitive guy in front of her, who revealed more and more layers of himself everyday.

"What about you?" He asked. "Just please don't say Christina Aguilera's holiday album...please."

"Actually, I was going to say the soundtrack the the musical 'White Christmas.'"

"Phew," Troy said. "I just hate how Christmas gets so commercialized every year. Like, how every new pop star uses a Christmas album to boost their sales. It's so frustrating."

"I know exactly what you mean!" Gabi almost shouted, excited that she had found someone who shared her view. "Especially when they redo classics that sound absolutely nothing like the original, and they just add in all their fancy vocals and ooh's and ahh's, and soon enough they're singing songs that have barely any reference to Christmas at all, and just mention presents, or snow in them!"

"Yes!" Troy agreed vehemently. "I love Christmas, but I hate how fake it can get. Like, fake Christmas trees depress me to no end."

"How about those ridiculously shiny silver fake plastic trees?"

"Unnecessary!"

They had pulled into the school parking lot and were getting out of his truck, continuing their conversation, which was serving to rile both of them up.

"I hate fake Christmas trees, but it's even worse when people spray them with glitter. Or fake snow."

"Exactly!" Troy practically jumped as they were walking up the steps to East High. "Christmas used to mean something, and now it's like one big pissing contest. You know, see how much money you can spend, who gets the best gift, whose parents waited in line the longest..."

"It's like nothing's real anymore! I used to get so excited to get Christmas cards in the mail, but now, I get them, and someone just hurried up and wrote their name on the inside, underneath the mass produced greeting."

They were inside now, in front of Gabriella's locker, which remained to be opened. They were just facing each other, almost shouting as they got more and more into the conversation.

"And people who hire personal shoppers to buy their kids gifts? It just..."

"Defeats the purpose!"They said together, grinning.

"You two realize you're freaking people out, right?" Chad popped up beside them, indicating the hallway full of people, almost all of them staring at Troy and Gabriella's heated conversation. Gabriella blushed and turned towards her locker.

"Sorry, man, just got into the moment, I guess." Troy said, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck, a sure sign of his discomfort. Chad just laughed.

"You two are perfect for each other." Gabriella's blush deepened and Troy didn't respond. Oblivious to their feelings, Chad continued. "Anyway, I'm just heading to Taylor's locker. See you in homeroom." And he was gone.

Gabriella finished up at her locker and walked with Troy to his in awkward silence.

"So," she started lamely, unsure of what to say to diffuse the situation.

"So, you need to stop riling me up, Gabi." He joked, lightening the mood substantially.

"I will if you will, Troysie." She smirked as he looked up with wide eyes. "What, didn't think I'd find out about the cheerleaders endearing nickname for you? I want a nickname for you!"

"First: Troysie is not endearing, it sounds like they're calling their pet poodle when they call me that. And second: you have a nickname for me, Wildcat, remember?"

"Well, yeah, but I'm sure every girl calls their b-" she paused, catching herself as she went to call Troy her boyfriend. "...friend that. Friend. Friend that's on the basketball team. You know what I mean."

What am I doing?! she silently admonished herself. Trying to freak him out before first period? 'Cause that's totally what's happening. He'll probably back off if he even gets an idea that I think we're boyfriend/girlfriend. That'll be a fun talk... 'Sorry, Gabriella, I have no idea whatever gave you that idea, did I say something that sounded like 'would you go out with me?'' Gosh, he probably hates me now... Her mental tirade was interrupted by Troy's arm around her shoulders.

"So," He started to walk down the hallway, arm still firmly in place. "I know this guy that would really like for you to look over his English homework, to make sure he didn't confuse his three types of irony."

"Oh yeah?" Gabriella smiled up at him as they walked. "Too bad, I don't know anyone who would want to do that for him..."

Troy let his arm slip off Gabriella's shoulder and down her arm so that they were holding hands, him stepping in front of her and blocking her way, making her stop walking.

"Hmm, that's too bad." He said, taking a step forward so that they were only inches apart. They were looking into each others eyes, slowing inching together, when a door slamming down the hall brought them back to the present. Flashing Gabriella a brilliant grin, Troy snatched the notebook out of her other hand and took off down the hallway. Gabriella stood there, wondering what had almost happened.

"Hey!" Gabriella shouted, realizing what he had done, "Give that back, Wildcat!"

----

"I'm home!" Gabriella called as she walked into the house on Friday night after hanging out with Taylor for a couple of hours after school. Troy and Chad had a basketball game that night at a different high school, so Taylor and Gabriella decided to forego it and hang out by themselves.

Gabi didn't get a response when she yelled, yet her mother's car was in the driveway, so she started peering into rooms, looking for her. She found her in the kitchen at the table, pouring over documents spread out in front of her.

"Hi, mom." Gabriella said curtly. They still weren't on the best of terms.

"When are you going to stop treating me like I'm the wicked witch of the west?" Maria Montez questioned as her daughter briskly walked by the table to the fridge, pulling out a can of soda.

"When are you going to start acting like a real mother?" Gabriella shot back, surprising herself even. It wasn't that she didn't mean it, it was just that she had never spoken to her mother like that before.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that until you start talking to me, I'm not going to talk to you."

"That's ridiculous Gabriella, I talk to you all the time, you're the one that shuts me out of your life! Why, I barely know a thing about this Taylor that you're always with, and I haven't seen Troy since that night in November, although I know you must see him still, too."

Gabriella was outraged at her mother's blindness.

"Are you kidding me?" She shouted. "You haven't shown an interest in my life for the past 7 years, why would it start now? You're never home, or if you are, you're drunk, you can barely stand to be in the same room as me, and you wonder why I don't want to talk to you? When's the last time you asked me how my day was, or what I did in school?" Her mother couldn't answer that, which fueled Gabriella more.

"I'm sick and tired of you picking and choosing when to be my mother! Newsflash, mom: I'm your daughter all the time, not just when it's convenient to you!"

"I didn't raise you to talk to me like that!" Maria shouted, standing up at the table.

"You barely raised me at all! Dad was the one who did the 'raising,' you were just there. So, no, I don't think you're the 'wicked witch of the west.' You're much, much worse." Gabriella turned to walk upstairs, tears falling freely from her eyes.

"Don't you dare walk away from me!" Maria Montez screamed, her voice trembling. "I have been there for you through everything, young lady. I have been your mother ALL THE TIME, not just when it's convenient, because newflash, Gabi:" She sneered, throwing her daughter's words back in her face, "having you as a daughter is never convenient!"

"You don't deserve me!" Gabriella yelled. "Dad always called me a gift! He said that he thanked God everyday for me, and that I was the best thing to ever happen to him. Who are you to say that I'm not 'convenient'?!"

"Your father's not here, Gabriella!" Maria screamed so loudly that Gabi's stopped crying out of pure shock, she had never seen her mother like this. "I am here, and I am left to deal with you, so you know what? LIFE'S NOT PERFECT, GABRIELLA."

Gabriella shook her head furiously.

"I wish you had died instead of him!" She shouted, instantly regretting it. She took a step towards her mom, and reached out. "Mom, I..."

She stopped talking as her mother's eyes reached her own. She looked cold and stony, and her face looked as though no tears had been shed at all.

"Me, too." Her mother said in a voice that sent chills up and down Gabi's spine. With that, Maria Montez turned around, grabbed her coat and purse and stormed to the dorm.

"I'm going out. There's food in the fridge." She said without turning around.

She walked out of the door, slamming it behind her, and Gabriella collapsed on the stairs, sobs wracking her body.

-

She had eventually made it upstairs to her room, curling up in a ball on her bed and continuing to cry. She was sobbing so hard that she was coughing, unable to get enough air in. It had been over an hour and she was no closer to calming down than she had been when her mother had left. Looking at the clock, she picked up her phone and hit number 2 on her speed dial.

"Hello?"

"Troy..." She managed to get out in between sobs.

"Gabi? Hey, is everything okay?" Gabi shook her head, despite him not being able to see her.

"No, no, no...everything's wrong." She heard background noises and assumed that he was probably at the afterparty of the basketball game. She instantly felt guilty for calling him about something that was no concern of his.

"Hey, hey..." He said quietly, as the background noises stopped. He must've walked out of the room, she figured. "First thing, why don't you calm down, okay, Gabi? Can you do that for me?"

"Y-yeah." She took deep breathes and tried to stem the flow of tears. She was doing okay, the tears simply pouring out of her eyes rather than the heaving sobs she had previously.

"What happened, Gabi?" He listened intently as she told him most of the story of her night with her mom. She left out the part about her father, but otherwise stuck to the truth.

"I said some terrible things to her, Troy...but she was so mean right back to me. I never thought she'd say stuff like that to me."

"And she's not supposed to, Gabi. She's the adult here, not you. She's not supposed to result to low blows and insults." Troy was being so understanding through all of this. He had hung up on her previously, saying that he would call her right back, and he had been true to his word. He had left the party, said goodbye to his friends, and called her the instant he was on the road again, driving back home. They had been on the phone for over an hour now, trying to sort through things and make sense of her night.

"Do you think she's coming home tonight? Troy asked.

"No, probably not. Probably won't show up until Sunday night, I'm guessing."

"Ah, right. Well, listen, Gabi, I'm going to go now, I promised my mom I would help her with getting the decorations down from the attic, and if I don't get them down tonight, she'll be banging on my door at 5 a.m. tomorrow. But if you need anything, please call me, okay? I'll be here all night, I don't care what time it is. You should go and get some rest, babygirl."

"Babygirl?" She had to giggle.

"Shut up." Troy said lightly.

"Nah, I like it. It's sweet. But, I don't think I'm going to get to sleep anytime soon. Too many thoughts running through my head."

"Alright, well, I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. Goodnight, Troy, and thank you...for everything."

"It was no problem at all. Goodnight, babygirl."

Gabi hung up the phone and flopped back down on her bed. She had actually felt a million times better after talking to Troy, although she did still feel guilty. She knew she shouldn't have said some of things she had said to her mom, but, thanks to Troy, she was now one hundred percent sure that her mom shouldn't have said anything she had said to her. Troy was right, her mom was the grown up in the situation and should have handled it like a grown up - like a parent, really, Gabriella thought - and she had done no such thing.

She lay there for a while, mulling things over in her head, when she decided maybe all that crying really had tired her out. She got up to go to her bathroom and get ready for bed. She had just finished washing her face and brushing her hair, and had her bottle of pills in her hand when she heard a noise in her bedroom. Curious, she walked out of the bathroom and into her bedroom, not thinking to put the bottle down.

She was surprised to see Troy Bolton standing in her bedroom.

"You really should probably lock that thing." He said, indicating her French doors leading out to her balcony.

"How did you..?"

"I'm an avid tree climber." Gabriella laughed at this and went to brush a stray piece of hair from her forehead when she noticed she still had the bottle of pills in her hand. Quickly putting her hands behind her back, she looked expectantly at Troy.

Troy had noticed the bottle of pills but decided to not comment on it at that moment. She had already had a pretty rough night, and she didn't need an interrogation from him at that point. He decided to let it slide, but only for the time being.

"So, the reason you're standing in my bedroom is..." She trailed off, waiting for his reply.

"You just...you sounded like you were having a really rough night. I wanted to come over and see for myself that you were okay. Thought maybe we could talk some more, if you wanted."

Gabriella's heart melted at the sweet boy that stood before her. He had just climbed a tree to see how she was doing, and here she was, standing there with no makeup on and questioning his motives.

"I'd like that." She smiled back at him. "Just let me change in the bathroom and I'll be right out, okay?" She turned to her bureau and grabbed a pair of boxers and a tank top, wrapping the pill bottle in them tightly, as to muffle the sound of the shaking bottles.

She retreated to the bathroom and proceeded to have a mental freakout.

Oh, god, what if he saw the pills? Would he even want to still be my friend? I know I'll have to tell him eventually, but please, Lord, don't make it be right now! I'll do anything, she thought frantically. She poured herself some water and almost spilt it all over herself when Troy knocked on the door.

"You okay, Gabs?"

"Yeah, I'm fine... be out in a second!" She called back, swallowing her pills and changing as fast as she could. She gave herself a good look in the mirror, realizing that there was nothing she could really do to help herself, as she had already spent the entire night crying. She took a deep breath and opened the door to her bedroom, only to find Troy sitting on her bed, waiting patiently.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hey," he straightened up, waiting for her to make the first move.

She walked over and sat on the bed next to him. She didn't say a word, just sat there next to him and rested her head on his shoulder, letting out a sigh. Troy just sat there, waiting for her to talk when she was ready.

"It must be pretty frustrating, huh?" She finally said, not moving from his shoulder.

"What is?" Troy asked softly.

"Me. I mean, you don't know much about me, but here you are, coming to my aid." She sighed. "I just don't know why you do it."

"Hey," Troy pulled back, turning to look at her. "Look at me," He implored, gently tilting her face to look at him. "You are an amazing, funny, overall great person. I came here because I care about you, and I hate seeing you sad. I came here because that's what friends do. Okay?"

She nodded slowly.

"Besides," he continued. "I know more about you than you think."

Her heart quickened at the thought of the pills. Did he see them? But her worries were cast aside when he continued.

"Every time you open your mouth, I learn more about the real Gabriella. The Gabriella that would never be mean to anybody, the Gabriella that knows how to cheer up even the saddest of people, and even the Gabriella that, yeah, may be a little bit afraid to become friends with someone, but makes a damn good one herself."

Gabriella's eyes filled up at this, but before Troy could ask what was wrong, she threw herself at him, wrapping him up in a hug.

"Thank you, Troy." She whispered.

"Anytime." He whispered back.

-

They sat together and talked for a long time, until Gabi realized that he should probably get home if he wanted to remain ungrounded.

As Troy was about to climb over the balcony - despite Gabriella's insistence that he could just use the front door ("I need practice!" he claimed) - he stopped.

"Gabi, if you're not doing anything tomorrow...or today, now, I guess," He laughed, as it was after midnight. "Why don't you come over and hang out at my place? You could help decorate the Christmas tree, if you want." He looked up at her hopefully.

Gabriella managed a nod, while on the inside she was dancing.

"I'd love that, Troy."

With a wink and a promise that he would call the next day, he was gone.

A/N: next up: Decorating with the Bolton's, and a surprise from Darbus!