Then and Now
Hey guys, thank you so much for all of your reviews on the last chapter! They all mean so much to me and really do keep me writing, please review this chapter as it is my favourite one in this story so far, and hearing your thoughts on it really will mean a lot to me so let's see if we can get ten reviews before I update please! The chapter is named after the song Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls, but it took me a lot of debating between that song and I Got You by Leona Lewis, for reasons that you'll hopefully discover later in the chapter, I did choose Iris, please let me know if you think that was the right decision. As always, I hope that you enjoy reading the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it and please review with your thoughts!
And I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
Iris – Goo Goo Dolls
Chapter 7 – And I Don't Want The World To See Me
"Elro, do you want to leave?" Kelsi muttered, watching the boys' disappear behind her Dad into the stockroom at the back of the counter.
"No Keli, I'm going to have to face up to him someday, I can't let this rule my life forever," The raven haired girl shrugged with a sigh as she grabbed a seat at one of the booths, picking a marshmallow off of the top of her ice cream, "it's hardly fair on you or Chad or any of the others to make you choose between us, especially as they barely know me at all and I made myself look like a right twat when I first met the others." Giggling, Kelsi slid into the booth beside Gabriella just as the door to the shop dinged open and three excitable boys dashed in, heading straight for the stock room, Jason pausing momentarily to give Kelsi a peck on the lips before following Zeke and Ryan.
Trailing the boys' more calmly, Sharpay and Taylor collected their regular ice creams from where Mrs. Nielson had them waiting for them, before joining Kelsi and Gabriella in the booth. "Hey guys, what are you doing here?" Taylor questioned, grabbing a spoonful of her caramel ice cream as she sat next to Kelsi.
"Well, we were just coming in for a relaxing ice cream until they all showed up," Kelsi sighed sadly, throwing a glance at Gabriella who was watching Sharpay let her ice cream drip from her spoon in amusement.
"Do you know how many calories this crap has in it?" Sharpay shrieked, looking directly at a giggling Gabriella as she shoved the ice cream away from her.
Gabriella just shook her head at the blonde, pulling the ice cream back in front of her, Kelsi and Taylor shaking their heads in horror, urging Gabriella not to do it as Sharpay grew red faced. "A) Sharpay, you're like way to thin anyway," Gabriella laughed as a beam lit up Sharpay's face at the compliment and Kelsi and Taylor simply rolled their eyes, tucking healthily into their own ice creams, "And B) as my Mami always taught me, ice cream is good for the soul and for confessions." Kelsi and Taylor both laughed, watching in amazement as Sharpay actually started to eat the ice cream.
"G-d I forgot how much your Mom used to ride on the four of us whenever we started to give the ice cream a hard time," Kelsi grinned at Gabriella who nodded emphatically, "She would basically go out and buy us each a tub and then sit and watch until we'd all eaten every scrap, and confessed everything that was worrying us or simply eating us up at the time, regardless of whether it was all four of us and likely to take up her entire night, or if it was just one of us. She was truly a remarkable woman."
"That she was," Gabriella smiled warmly, a mourning look filling her eyes.
"Well then, I propose a toast," Sharpay smiled, feeling each of the girls' curious eyes on her, "Gabby, what was your Mom called?"
"Maria Gabriella Montez," Gabriella smiled softly, each of the girls' awing when they realised that she was named after her Mother, causing her to blush a scarlet colour.
"To Maria Gabriella Montez, thank you for teaching many young girls the true value of ice cream and for sending your daughter here to us to give us some entertaining drama over this summer," Gabriella flicked a marshmallow at Sharpay, but the blonde managed to duck just in time, "May she rest in peace as she will be sorely missed by all of those who knew her."
The four girls' sat at the table raised their plastic spoons together as Sharpay leaned over and gave Gabriella a giant hug, welcoming her to the group once more as they all started to dig into their melting ice creams. The chatter seemed to stem easily between the four of them, and before they knew it, an hour a half flew by, the only interruption being the Sex and the City theme song suddenly blaring out of Gabriella's iphone which she excused herself to go and answer.
"What was all that about Gabs?" Taylor questioned with a smile, returning to the table with a third round of ice creams as Gabriella also slid back into the booth and Sharpay started to moan about death by ice cream until Kelsi elbowed her.
"Nothing much, just Jake and Lorraine saying that they were going to be out all night tonight, they've been visiting friends in Phoenix and they've decided to stay the night rather than start heading home now," Gabriella smiled, digging into the layer of chocolate sauce covering her ice cream.
"How come you've got the Sex and the City theme song for you ring tone Gabby? I really didn't see you as the sort of person that would watch the show or the movies," Sharpay questioned, still eyeing up this round of ice cream as though it were her worst enemy. Gabriella however, glanced to Kelsi, and both young girls burst out laughing, much to Taylor and Sharpay's shock and bewilderment. Grabbing her phone out again, Gabriella began to dial a number she knew off my heart. Within seconds, Kelsi's blackberry that she had placed on the table roared into life with the exact same tone.
"Okay, now I'm doubly confused," Taylor sighed, still watching the giggling girls.
"Basically Tay, there were four of us, me, Elro, Duffy and Avril who all wound up as the best of friends living around the same area of New York," Kelsi grinned, looking at Gabriella who nodded, encouraging her to go on. "We all fell in love with Sex and the City at the same time and obviously being that we lived in New York and there were four of us, we each assigned who we thought the others were to them, freakishly, we all picked different people for everyone to which was a surprise. We assumed that we'd end up with like two Carrie's or something, but it worked like a charm, and they fit us like a charm."
"Who got who?" Taylor asked with a grin, clearly intrigued by the idea as Sharpay also leant forward, eager to hear.
"Well, we decided that Kelsi was Charlotte," Gabriella grinned, looking at the blushing composer, "Because she was most definitely the Mother hen of our group and always talking about the Prince Charming that she had waiting for her back here in Albuquerque. Avril became Miranda because once a show got started at school, the girl became obsessed, it was like impossible to tear her away from any project for anything, and Duffy landed Samantha, which suited her perfectly," Gabriella laughed, and Kelsi shoved a hand over her mouth to stop her ice cream from ending up all over the table.
"What was her last bed notch count up to?" The blue eyed brunette questioned, a chuckle escaping from her as Gabriella shrugged slightly.
"I have no idea, I think that she'd lost count," Gabriella laughed as the others all burst it fits of laughter once more. "I always did love how she could make a hump 'em and dump 'em routine actually seem classy," Gabriella smirked, "I do know that she'd given up on high school boys and was onto college ones, though I don't think they knew she was only seventeen."
"Well then that leaves you to be Carrie then, right Gabby?" Sharpay questioned curiously as she started to blush.
"That's because they would all go to her for advice on anything and everything and because they all knew that she was waiting for the right guy to come along and sweep her off of her feet, which just so happened to be moi," Troy smirked as all of the girls whirled around to see the group of sweaty boys now stood at the entrance to the booth.
"Briella did you hear the awesome news?" Chad grinned, squashing into the booth beside Taylor as Ryan did beside Gabriella, with the rest of the guys' balanced precariously on the edge. "Oh and Jase, pass the dog up please," Chad grinned as Jason reached down and picked up Pippin, placing her on the table as everyone watched her scamper to the other end and squeeze in between Sharpay and Kelsi, immediately claiming more of the booth than the five guys as she stretched out.
"What awesome news?" Gabriella questioned curiously, "Do you mean Jake and Lorraine being away tonight?"
"Yep," Chad beamed, "Would you be able to cover for me please? Only one of the guys' on the team Shawn Klapow is having a party for players only tonight and I really need a good night out."
"Sure," Gabriella shrugged, "I did it flawlessly for certain people for a year," She glared at Troy who winced while the guys all laughed at him, getting pounded by their respective girlfriends' if the girls' could reach them, "So doing it for someone that I actually like will be no problem whatsoever. And on that note I better take Pippin home, she's probably about ready to eat the table by the looks of her. Oh and Chad, here's your car keys, I'll just walk her home."
"If you're sure," Chad smiled, pocketing the keys and laughing as he watched Gabriella climb over the back of the booth before having Pippin handed to her by Sharpay, "See you later Briella."
"You know what, I could really use a good walk home to," Troy smirked, starting to stand up until Ryan and Zeke pushed him back into his seat, Gabriella mouthing a thank you to them before fleeing out of the door, everyone else simply glaring at a chuckling Troy.
Hearing the buzzing of a phone along with the loud sounds of the Sex and the City theme song surrounding her, Gabriella shot upright, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as her hand grasped around her nightstand, trying to find her cell phone. "Taylor, what the hell? It's like..." Gabriella trailed of, glancing at her alarm clock through bleary eyes, "Twenty past two! Tay why are you phoning me now? It's way too early!" She whined tiredly.
"Sorry Gabs, but I'm a bit stuck here," Taylor laughed nervously, "I really need your help."
"Tay, what crisis at two in the morning could possibly need my help? And if you say anything to do with hair, clothes or my brother, I may just kill you," Gabriella growled, throwing herself back onto her cushions once more and placing her spare hand over her eyes, gently rubbing the sides of them as they fluttered closed.
"Well, you see Gabs, it's Troy," Taylor muttered, causing Gabriella's eyes to snap open as she sat bolt upright, her heart pounding at the simple sound of his name, "And your brother. You know how they both went to that damn party that the other basketball player Shawn Klapow was holding for players only? Well, erm, I kind of got a phone call from Chad about an hour ago and it was barely eligible."
"What do you mean?" Gabriella questioned, her brow furrowing in puzzlement as she hopped around her room in the dim light from her bedside table attempting to pull a pair of jeans on.
Taylor sighed on the other end before yelling something about staying away from the road to Chad as if he were a small child, causing Gabriella's confusion to grow further. "Basically Gabs, they've had just a little bit, ok a hell of a lot, too much to drink," Taylor muttered and Gabriella could hear the irritation in her voice. She couldn't help but laugh slightly when she realised that her brother would pay for this little stunt in the morning. "Fundamentally Gabs, will you please come and get Troy? I was just going to take them both back to mine, even though I know the Danforth's aren't there tonight, but Troy started muttering something about how Ella told him never to leave parties if he was too drunk and no one was there to pick him up. For some reason, he won't let me take him home and then he went on to say that he wouldn't leave until you came and picked him up because you always come for him when his head hurts. Now though, I'm reaching the end of my tether because he's staging a sit in and refusing to move from the front lawn until you come for him and Chad's playing chicken with the cars left on the road, if the cars don't kill him, I will!"
Gabriella couldn't help the laughter that flowed freely as she pulled her hoody over her head, grabbing her Chad's car keys and the house keys, "Chill Tay, just give me directions and I'll be there as soon as I can, I know how stubborn Troy can get when he's drunk, regardless of how much I currently don't want anything to do with him, I'll take care of him tonight, G-d knows Lucille will kill him if he goes home."
"Thanks Gabby, I owe you big," Taylor laughed softly down the phone, before yelling at Chad once more to move away from the road again.
Pulling up at the curb outside of the house that Taylor had directed her to; Gabriella pulled up her hood and stepped out of the red Audi SUV, laughing as she took in the scene in front of her. Chad was sat on the curb, his elbows rested on his knees with his head in his hands, a pout covering his face. Taylor meanwhile was crouched in front of him, lecturing him on the dangers of traffic and roads while he rolled his eyes at her and huffed louder. Gabriella's gaze then flickered over to where Troy was sat in the middle of the lawn, gazing up to the stars, swaying side to side and singing 'we shall not be moved' at the top of his lungs.
Gabriella's giggles obviously attracted attention though as Troy's singing abruptly stopped and he let his stare twist over to her face, a look of recognition lighting up his features. "Eeeellllllllaaaaaa!" He called out, a gleeful expression on his face while he held out his arms for her like a child would for their parents at the end of a long day at nursery, while a child like grin lit up his face and he flicked his hair out of his sparkling baby blue eyes.
Regardless of how furious she was at Troy at this current moment in time, Gabriella couldn't help but giggle, having forgotten just how adorable and funny drunk Troy could be. "Hi Troy," She waved softly, walking slowly towards him as he watched her with large eyes. Tilting his head slightly to look at her, Troy laughed as his whole body suddenly tilted sideways, landing him on his back as Gabriella appeared above him, still giggling gently to herself. Taylor smiled at her, helping Chad over to where the pair of ex-lovers were stood or lying, dumping him on the ground next to his best friend.
"Sorry about this Gabs," Taylor smiled sadly. "But he literally wouldn't move until he saw you, although if I heard one more chorus of that song, I was about to scream."
Gabriella just beamed at Taylor, still chuckling softly, but her chuckles turned into full blown laughter when Troy decided that it would be fun to start singing again, very drunkenly, and very off key. "When the sun shines we'll shine together, told you'll I'll be here forever," Gabriella winced as the lyric flew unaffectedly out of Troy's mouth given that the drunken boy had evidently forgotten the events of the last few months, while Taylor shot a nervous and worried glance at her, "You can stand under my umbrella-Ella-Ella-eh-eh-eh. Ella is that song about you?" Troy questioned, still lying on the ground as his confused expression appeared to grow while he looked at the laughing girls.
"Oh Troy shurup," Chad slurred, throwing out a hand that managed to smack across Troy's facing, "It too loud." He moaned, still keeping his arm across Troy's face where the chestnut headed boy had practically started to eat Chad's arm.
"On that note, we're out of here," Gabriella chuckled, reaching down and hauling Troy to his feet, gently pulling him to the red SUV and forcing him up into the passenger seat once she had the door open, placing the bowl that she had brought with her, just in case, onto his lap as she buckled up his seat belt.
"Thank you Ella," Troy beamed, placing a kiss to a chuckling Gabriella's cheek.
"No problem Troy," She smiled, hopping down and closing the door, heading back over to where Taylor was still stood with Chad. "It's always amazed me how freakishly polite that boy becomes when he's drunk," Gabriella shook her head, placing her hands on her hips as she looked down to her now sleeping brother.
"How did you just get him into the car? You're so tiny and well Troy's obviously not fat, but the boy has a hell of a lot of muscles," Taylor muttered in disbelief, still gaping at Troy who had now fallen asleep in the passenger seat of the car, "Not that I've been looking," Taylor added hastily, noticing the aggravated look that crossed Gabriella's face at her words.
Glancing at Troy quickly, Gabriella smiled softly, stretching before wrapping her arms tightly around herself. "Months and months of practice Tay, he called me whenever he was in a situation like this, and quite frankly, at that point in time, I was happy to help and pleased that he didn't just attempt to get home by himself," Gabriella laughed sadly, "Would you like me to get Chad into your car for you?"
"Please," Taylor whispered desperately, noticing some of the lights in the neighbouring houses switch on as other basketball players' girlfriends, non-basketball playing friends and siblings roared away with the overall incredibly drunk boys, leaving only Chad, Taylor and Gabriella stood outside.
Crouching next to Chad, Gabriella continually shook him while he waved his hand around madly, attempting to hit her but missing by a mile every time. Eventually, the grumbling Chad sat bolt upright, glaring at Gabriella through narrowed eyes and mumbling to himself. Taking her hand when she offered it, Chad allowed himself to be heaved to his feet, stumbling and almost falling once more on numerous occasions until Gabriella finally managed to manoeuvre herself under his arm, half dragging, half leading him over to where Taylor now stood, the passenger door of her jet black BMW M3 convertible. Launching Chad into the passenger seat, Gabriella stepped back and allowed Taylor to buckle him in; standing up and leaning on the door once she had done so.
"Thanks Gabs, I honestly don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been able to come to get Troy," Taylor smiled sincerely, wrapping the curly haired girl into a hug.
"Tay, it's fine, I say how much I hate him, but," Gabriella gaze flickered over to the angelic sleeping boy in the front seat of her car and a gentle, peaceful glow overcame her face, "I would still lay down my life for that boy, and who knows, maybe one day I will be able to forgive him, because quite frankly, I'm already finding it hard to resist."
Taylor nodded slightly, about to say something when a noise from inside the BMW interrupted the two girls, and the roof started to fold down, "Chad what did you do?" Taylor whisper yelled at him, focusing a glare on the young boy as he looked back up at her innocently.
"I wanted to press the big button," He giggled, reaching over to press it again and laughing when the roof started to fold back up.
"On that note, we're definately out of here," Gabriella laughed, heading towards the Audi containing the sleeping Troy. Looking back over her shoulder, she laughed when she saw Chad continuously pressing the button and Taylor rubbing her temples in frustration, "Have fun with that Tay," she laughed as the dark skinned girl stuck her middle finger up at her new best friend.
"Switch with me Gabby, please," Taylor begged, but Gabriella just shook her head, climbing into her car.
"Not a chance," She whispered, tenderly stroking Troy's bangs out of his eyes as he snored softly.
Pulling into the Danforth's driveway a few minutes later, Gabriella sighed sadly, a soft smile dancing across her lips as she watched the boy she still loved with all of her heart sleeping serenely beside her. Hopping out of the car, she cast one quick glance to the Bolton household next door, before shaking her head and making her way to the passenger door, opening it and jumping up onto the edge of the seat beside Troy.
"Troy," She muttered, gently shaking him as he started to mumble, his once peaceful sleep now disturbed. "Troy come on, wake up," Rolling her eyes as Troy turned his head away from her, burying it into the backrest of the seat, a wicked grin formed on Gabriella's face as she realised the perfect plan to get the basketball star to get up. Leaning over so that she was hovering right above his ear, she gently brushed his hair out of the way and whispered seductively, "Troy, I'm taking my top off," before leaping out of the way as the blue eyed boy shot bolt upright, rubbing his eyes as he turned to look at her, a frown forming on his face when he realised that she was indeed still fully clothed.
"Ella-la you l-lied to me," Troy hiccupped, his eyes wide with horror, "That's not what I opened my eyes for!" Gabriella giggled as he pointed at her hoodie, using one finger to flick the ties hanging from the hood in disgust.
"I know Wildcat, but I need you to be extra quiet and to come into the house with me, is that ok?" Gabriella grinned, addressing Troy as she once talked to the neighbourhood kids that she would babysit.
"Ooh, are we playing a game?" Troy questioned, his face directly in Gabriella's, who winced at the scent of alcohol on his breath, "Because me and Chad were great at playing the quiet game."
"I'm sure that you were Troy," Gabriella laughed, gripping his elbow as she locked the car and led him towards the front of the house, still amazed at how eligible Troy's talking was, in comparison to the bumbling idiot that she had left poor Taylor to take care of.
Stumbling into Gabriella's room, Gabriella deposited Troy onto her computer chair, quickly hunting around in her closet for some of Troy's old clothes. Pulling out a pair of his jogging pants and a t-shirt, Gabriella carefully made her way back over to him, smiling as she saw the teenage boy watching her closely. Stooping down, she started to untie the laces on his trainers, slipping of his shoes and socks before ordering him to stand up so that she could remove his pants. Trying to ignore the giggling Troy, the dark haired girl couldn't help the smile and the blush that crept slowly over her face at everything that Troy kept reminding her of, and the rude comments he kept making as she stripped him of his jeans and pulled on the jogging bottoms. Standing to her full height once more, Gabriella started to undo the buttons of Troy's light blue shirt, feeling herself heat up as he placed his hands onto her hips, steadying himself as his piercing cobalt eyes remained on her, his gaze unwavering. Troy only started to fight her when she attempted to pull the t-shirt over his head however, informing her that big boys did not wear tops for bed.
Laughing, Gabriella quickly shed her own jeans, hoody and t-shirt, slipping the top which she previously had out for Troy over her head. Knowing that he was still watching her the entire time, Gabriella was comforted by only two factors, one, he had seen everything before, and two, there was no way that he was remembering any of this in the morning.
"Ella," Troy started off pensively, causing her to look over to him as she speedily brushed her loose curls, "Are you sure you're eating enough? You look waaaaaayyyy to thin."
Chuckling, Gabriella moved over to her bed, nodding slightly as she pulled back the blankets on the bed, "Yes Troy, I am eating plenty thank you very much. Now it's time to get into bed, come on, you're already going to regret tonight in the morning."
"No I'm no-ot," Troy sung out, a cheeky grin covering his face as Gabriella started to laugh again, careful to have her features turn back to serious once more as she stood up and stared at the blue eyed boy, folding her arms across her chest and raising her eyebrows to show him that she was deadly serious. "But I don't wanna go to bed Ella-la that's weally borwin!" Troy whined, sounding increasingly like a child as his hiccups got the better of him and he allowed Gabriella to lead him to the bed, pushing him into it and onto his back, quickly covering him with the covers before he had any chance to protest. "Ella-la, where's Vicious?"
Gabriella chuckled quietly as she sat on the floor by the edge of the bed, thinking about the 'special' relationship that Troy and Pippin had shared over the year that they had been thrown together. "Don't worry Troy," She teased tenderly, "The big bad doggy's not coming to get you, she's locked downstairs."
"Good," Troy beamed, nodding his head once in an affirmative gesture, "Ella, come lie with me!" He grinned, peeling back the quilt.
Shaking her head, Gabriella watched him with wide eyes, knowing that realistically, she would give anything just to clamber into the bed with him, but knowing that she truly had to resist. "No Troy, it's time for you to go to sleep, now," She told him sternly, forgetting that he was the only one still alive that could read her like a book, sober or drunk, and that her eyes were obviously betraying her at this given point in time.
"Elllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaa puh-lease!" Troy pleaded and Gabriella couldn't help but burst into another fit of giggles, "Please Ella," he hiccupped.
Shaking her head, Gabriella gently ran a hand down the side of his face, "Tell you what, how about a compromise?" Grinning as he nodded, "If I sing to you until you fall asleep, will that satisfy you?"
"Ok then, what is you going to sing?" Troy questioned childishly as he continued to watch her through those tired large sapphire eyes.
Sitting back on her heels, Gabriella didn't even have to think as she started to blurt out their song, word for word, "And I'd give up forever to touch you,
Cause I know that you feel me somehow,
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be,
And I don't want to go home right now," Feeling her eyes fill with tears, Gabriella glanced down and got lost in the oceans staring back up into her own chocolate orbs, his clumsy hand reaching up to wipe away the few tears that fell, giving her the strength to continue with the song once more. "And all I can taste is this moment,
And all I can breathe is your life,
Cause sooner or later it's over,
I just don't want to miss you tonight.
And I don't want the world to see me,
Cause I don't think that they'd understand,
When everything's made to be broken,
I just want you to know who I am.
And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming,
Or the moment of truth in your lies,
When everything seems like the movies,
Yeah you bleed just to know your alive.
And I don't want the world to see me,
Cause I don't think that they'd understand,
When everything's made to be broken,
I just want you to know who I am." Seeing Troy start to fall asleep, Gabriella stopped singing and left her hand soothingly running up and down his face, lulling him deeper into a dream world.
"I love you Ella," Troy whispered as his eyes shut finally and his soft snores filled the room.
"I know Troy," Gabriella muttered, pressing a kiss to his forehead as she stood up. Sighing, she ran a hand through her flustered curls, ignoring the tears flooding to her eyes as she entered her bathroom, filling a glass with water and grabbing two painkillers, placing them next to Troy on the nightstand, she smiled once more at the sleeping boy. Grabbing her armchair, Gabriella threw the cuddly toys off of it and dragged it over to the bed, wrapping herself up in a spare blanket whereby she could keep a vigilant watch on him for the duration of the night.
Gabriella watched Troy fall into a deep slumber, knowing that truthfully, the rest of the world would never understand their relationship as it stood, and that they would never truly see the special relationship that the two held ever again. "I love you too Troy," Gabriella muttered, drifting off into her easiest night's sleep since her Mother's accident, her hand clutching tightly onto one of Troy's.
I hope that you guys enjoyed it, please review and I'm sorry for the epic authors note at the beginning!