Summary: With junior year nearing its close, the gang is experiencing new drama that could very well tear them apart; pregnancy, betrayal, and anger. They all must learn to grow up before they reach their senior year.

I have no affiliation to anything, anybody, or anyplace in the High School Musical series. This is purely for fictional and entertainment purposes.


Wildcat Fever

Without You

One month.

One month into their junior year.

One month closer to their exams.

One month of pregnancy.

One month of doctor visits.

One month of anxiety pills.

One month of arguments.

One month of loneliness.

It felt much longer than one month.

Especially to Troy and Gabriella.

They were still separated. They didn't know each other anymore, but they still loved each other. They didn't even speak to each other. The last time they had spoken was when Gabriella had given him the ultrasound, revealing they were having a baby boy. It had been difficult, especially on their hearts. They both had no idea how to grieve or cope. It was just depressing.

Gabriella was nearing six months already, with it being closer to spring and closer to the end of junior year. Her belly had gotten bigger and she felt her baby boy kick every day. Though, she couldn't enjoy it all the way. Troy wasn't around anymore. She would see him at school, but they would avoid each other like the black plague. She just couldn't handle seeing him.

Obviously, neither could he.

She was still staying with Taylor. But, at night when her friend slept, she would stay up and cry. While her baby kicked and/or slept, she would cry. She'd cry over the fact that she was going to be a single mother. She cried because she was alone. She cried because she did not have Troy anymore.

She blamed herself, but she didn't know why. Troy was the one who was drinking. He pushed her for a stupid flask. Sure, he apologized and he was getting clean. She noticed throughout the month that he looked clean and free of alcohol. He looked happy. Well, as happy as he could be without her. He always had a sullen look on his face, but he looked healthy.

It was still his fault. She still couldn't trust him. She loved him, though.

She just didn't trust him.

That night, as she rubbed her swollen baby while lying in bed and staring out at the window from Taylor's bedroom, she cried. She let her tears hit the pillow. Her dreams were constantly filled with Troy and their baby. They were happy. They were a family. Then, she would wake up. It'd be dark. And, she was alone.

She knew she needed Troy. She loved Troy like crazy. Her heart told her to go back to him and forgive him. Love prevailed, right?

But, her head kept telling her to stay away from him.

She was used to using her mind with her studies so she could get good grades or go to a good college. But, was she supposed to use it when it came to love?


Sharpay slammed the door to her bedroom, running her fingers through her hair. They were at it again. Her parents were arguing. She didn't even care what it was about, anyway. Maybe it was about her father having another affair. Maybe it was about her mother's drinking or smoking. She didn't care anymore.

She stared at the pill bottle on her vanity and sighed heavily, shaking her head. "Damn it all."

She grabbed it and opened the bottle, spilling out what was left. She counted out a total of six. She didn't know how many it would take for her to black out. She just wanted everything to go away. She wanted the arguing to stop. She wanted everything to stop.

"Why is this happening to me? This needs to stop," she whispered.

She grabbed the pills and gulped them down dry before staring at the carpet. She felt normal. Maybe it would take a few minutes. Maybe she needed to go to sleep for it to work. She could still hear the shouting, but it was starting to drown out. She went to her bed and laid down.

She closed her eyes and prayed.


Gabriella clutched her head, feeling everything inside of her body spinning. She had a few beads of sweat on her forehead, but she ignored it and blamed it on her hot flashes. She quickly went into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water, enjoying the cold liquid running down her throat. She exhaled heavily with relief.

"Better," she whispered. She rubbed her stomach. "Mommy's okay."

She went back to the bedroom, expecting to ask Taylor if she wanted to hang out this afternoon. However, she stopped when she watched as Taylor looked at herself in the full length mirror. She was pushing up her breasts under her shirt to make them look bigger. She was sucking in her stomach. She was pouting her lips.

"Taylor?"

She jumped and removed her hands from her body as Gabriella walked into the room with furrowed brows. "Gabriella."

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing," she giggled nervously.

"It didn't look like nothing. Is everything okay?" asked Gabriella, sitting down on the bed.

"I'm fine," murmured Taylor, refusing to meet her eyes.

"Really? Look me in the eyes," demanded Gabriella.

Taylor looked her in the eyes, prepared to say the same thing. But, the words wouldn't come. She couldn't lie to her best friend, not after everything they had been through. She sat down on the bed as her eyes began to fill with tears.

"I was trying to see how I'd look with a flat stomach and big breasts," she murmured.

Gabriella stifled a laugh of disbelief. "Excuse me? Why in the world would you want to do that?"

"I was going to schedule to have surgery last month," revealed Taylor, choking back a sob.

Gabriella stared at her, stunned and upset. Her best friend wanted to have plastic surgery? "Are you crazy? Taylor, why would you do that?"

"Yeah. Why?" They both looked up in shock to see Chad at the doorway, staring at Taylor with angry brows. He shrugged, never changing his expression. "The front door was unlocked."

"Why do you want surgery?" asked Gabriella.

Taylor felt cornered. She had her boyfriend asking her questions and her best friend asking questions. It was humiliating, but she didn't want to lie. She promised herself that she would change and she wasn't going to break that promise.

She sniffled. "I want to get surgery so I could make myself look prettier."

Chad scoffed. "Are you crazy, babe? You are gorgeous. Why would you want to do that?"

"Because!" she shouted, standing up in aggravation. "I see all these pretty girls in school and I'm afraid that you will just get bored of me. You will want someone that is a lot prettier than me or something. I'm scared that what we have isn't enough."

Chad immediately grabbed her and kissed her. It was passionate and, from what Gabriella could see, it was filled with love. It made her miss the kisses she got from Troy. It made her miss the love she got from Troy. She watched Taylor and Chad with tears brimming her eyes.

"Taylor, you are beautiful. I love you, okay?" He gasped out a breath at his confession as he held her. "You are all that I want. I don't want anybody else. I promise."

"That's true?" she whispered.

"It's true."

Gabriella watched as they kissed each other again and quickly left the room. She didn't know what it was. She didn't know if it was their kiss or Chad's confession or the couple itself. But, her heart suddenly won over her mind.

Troy was still her Troy.

She was still his.

She would always be his.

And, this baby was his. It was theirs.

She was in love with him and he was in love with her.

She grabbed her bag, stopped to catch her breath as another bead of sweat hit her forehead, and left the house.


Troy was sweating, but not terribly. It wasn't that hot out, but it was still enough to make him sweat. He pretended to block an invisible opponent before sinking in the ball. He breathed heavily as the ball bounced away to the gate entrance. He took a quick swig of water before turning around to grab the ball.

He stopped.

"Gabriella."

She stood there in her beautiful, pregnant glory as she held the basketball. Though, she didn't look okay. She looked kind of clammy under her beautiful dress. It couldn't be the sun because it wasn't that hot. But, wait…

"Did you walk here?" he asked incredulously.

Gabriella nodded and stopped him from approaching her. "I'm fine. It wasn't that far."

He sighed. "So, what do you want?"

She winced at his tone. "Um…"

He closed his eyes in embarrassment. "I didn't mean for it to sound like that. How are you?"

It had been a while since they had spoken and it just felt awkward. But, it was slowly going away. "I actually wanted to talk to you. I kind of needed to get away from Chad and Taylor. It was getting kind of heavy."

Troy chuckled. "Glad that you escaped." He looked at her baby bump. "How is…the baby?"

She noticed how he refrained from saying 'our baby'. "He is fine. He kicks a lot." She let out a cough and touched her chest.

He furrowed his brows and walked towards her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I promise," she murmured.

"Let's sit down," he said, walking over to the patio chairs.

Gabriella followed him and tried her hardest not to let her pregnancy hormones get in the way as she admired his backside. "I miss you."

Troy stared at her from the chair, completely immobile. Was he dreaming? What did she just say? "Huh?"

She sighed and touched her forehead. "Troy, I don't know. My heart says one thing and my mind says another. But, after seeing Chad and Taylor, it just made me think. I miss you a lot. I love you, too."

"I miss and love you, too." Troy sighed. "But, what do we do?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I still don't know if I can trust you. I don't know what to do. I feel like I should trust you…"

"You can trust me," reassured Troy. "Gabriella, I am so in love with you and our son. I would do anything for you guys."

"That may be, Troy. But, I don't know what to do about us. I need to think about both of us, okay?" She sighed and rubbed her forehead, closing her eyes.

Troy watched her curiously. "Gabriella…"

She felt even more sweat on her forehead. She had a headache, too. She felt nauseous and it felt like her heart was speeding up. "I feel funny."

"Come here," said Troy, standing up and walking over to her. "Sit down, baby."

Gabriella tried to grip his hand so he could lead her to a chair, but her fingers slipped from the sweat. She lost her footing and fell on to the blacktop, landing on her side with a grunt.

Troy cursed under his breath and ran to her side. "Gabriella, are you okay?"

He turned her over and saw that her eyes were closed. He put his fingers to her neck and barely felt a pulse or even a breath against his chest.

She was unconscious.

"Oh, shit. Gabriella! Baby, come on!" he shouted.

He couldn't lose her again. He had too much to lose at this point. He wouldn't be losing just Gabriella. He'd be losing their son.


Four hours of silence.

Four hours of cold air.

Four hours of antibacterial stench.

Troy had been waiting to hear from a doctor for four hours. He had been away from Gabriella's side for four hours and he was scared. He had no idea what was wrong with her. He figured she had just tripped, but when she didn't wake up? He just got scared. It was something else. Something was wrong with her.

He removed his hands from his wet eyes as he sniffled, watching the other people in the waiting room. What if she was dead? What if their baby was dead? They had plans. They were going to get back together, right? They had a family to raise.

What was he going to do now? Without her in his world, he'd be lost.

"Troy?" He looked up to see the doctor.

"How is she? What about our baby?" asked Troy.

The doctor sighed. "She has a severe case of pneumonia that has caused her to slip into a coma."

"I didn't think that could happen," he muttered, feeling his heart picking up speed.

Gabriella. A coma.

"It's possible with pregnant women." The doctor paused somberly. "It's severe enough that we need to do an emergency C-section for the baby."

"At six months?" Troy scoffed, feeling the fresh tears run down his cheeks. "Our son…"

"There is still a chance that your son will survive, but it is really slim. We will do all we can, though."

Troy didn't even know what the doctor was saying anymore. Their son could die. Gabriella was in a coma. He couldn't lose either one and he didn't want to. He wanted both. He wanted it all in his life.

This had to be a dream, right?


He had no choice but to watch. He couldn't save her. He just had to watch strangers save her. He couldn't do anything about it.

He looked down at the operating room through the window as they prepared Gabriella for her C-section. He was nervous.

Would the baby survive?

Would Gabriella survive?

Would he survive?

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see Sharpay staring down at Gabriella, too. By the next few minutes, Taylor and Chad joined him in the room as they watched with tears as Gabriella's C-section was performed.

His tears came harder as he watched the doctors perform. He didn't want to see Gabriella be cut open, but he couldn't look away. He wanted to make sure that his Gabriella would be alive. He wanted to know that their son was going to survive.

How small would he be?

Would he be breathing?

How long would he have to stay here?

When would Gabriella wake up?

All of his questions hung in the air as he watched…

…and cried.