Gabriella hears the phone ringing in the background. She was tired and there was no denying it as she slammed her hand down on the perfect white pillow by her head next to the other slightly matching wrinkled pillow that was being occupied by her head. She grunted as she turned her head so that her cheek was laying lifelessly on the pillow as she opened one of her eyes slowly to glance at the clock which read 1:30. Gabriella groaned again as she buried her head underneath the white pillow case to block out the sun that was coming through the windows on her other side and illuminating off of the walls.
Gabriella shut her eyes tightly as she heard whoever was trying to call her on the phone stop as her house turned to silence. Gabriella got home at three in the morning barely making it to her room as she remembered just walking in and sliding out of her dress which she was pretty sure was still in the corner of her huge room as she flopped down in her king size bed wearing only her strapless black lace bra with matching panties.
Gabriella snuggled under the covers more trying to heat up as she thought of how well the night had gone. The kids were ecstatic to Gabriella's liking, her and Taylor made up and Gabriella knew that with each fight they had and each time they forgave each other would only make their friendship stronger showing just how much they could overcome, and then there was Troy…and the kiss. Gabriella just wanted to see Troy again even though she saw him less than 12 hours ago.
Gabriella smiled as she wrapped her blankets around her even more as she thought of Troy's lips on hers. And even though she 'freaked' out on him in the coat closet, he came out and acted as if nothing happened when the gang was around as they made small talk like friends would do except for the fact he had a smile on his face the whole time thinking no one noticed, when Gabriella did which made her smile like an idiot knowing that she was the one that made him feel like that. Gabriella licked her lips from under her pillow as she could almost taste the minty scent of Troy fill her mouth as his breath tickled her own set of lips.
"Brie?"
Gabriella smiled even wider as her head was till buried underneath her pillow as she could almost hear Troy's voice calling out to her.
"Brie?" There it was again but this time Gabriella heard her bedroom door open and felt someone press their semi warm lips to the back of her neck and mumble, "Brie?"
Gabriella jolted from her spot as her eyes widened and she flipped over in bed so that she was out from underneath the guy and laying on her back on the other side of the bed. Gabriella was slightly panting from the surprise of this 'invader' walking into her room let alone her house. Gabriella made sure that the covers were over her as she looked up to see Troy kneeling down on the ground while his elbows were resting on the bed with his hands laying where Gabriella's body was just laying.
"Troy?" Gabriella gasped out as she caught her breathing and brought it down to normal. Troy smiled at her showing off his perfect white teeth and the sparkle of excitement and happiness in his eyes as he looked at Gabriella who had her hair pulled back in a high pony tail which he guessed she slept in since there was a few loose curls and he couldn't help but let his mind wander to what she was wearing underneath the covers which she held tightly to her chest as she showed off her perfect tan shoulders. "What the hell are you doing here?" Gabriella asked surprised that he was in her bedroom.
"Well it's 1 o'clock so I thought I'd see what you were up to today." Troy said with a grin.
"It's 1:30." Gabriella pointed out.
Troy shrugged. "Okay, so I've been here for a while now, but now that you're up we can do something." Troy said with hope in his eyes.
Gabriella sighed. "Troy, you know we can't." Gabriella said sadly. "I just have to wait til Ryan gets home because he doesn't deserve that or this." Gabriella said motioning towards Troy and herself.
Troy sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. "When does he get back?" Troy asked knowing that Gabriella was right, he just couldn't get the kiss they shared out of his head and being a guy, he was bound to keep thinking about it and more as he let his mind wander.
"Tomorrow." Gabriella said wishing that it would be that day instead of having to wait 24 hours.
"Okay, I can wait." Troy said.
Gabriella smiled thankfully at Troy. "Thank you Troy." Gabriella and Troy were both silent that is until Gabriella's home phone went off again and Troy picked it up and handed it to her. Gabriella looked at him confused and then realized he probably brought it upstairs with him.
"It's been going off the whole time I've been here." Troy said.
"Thank you." Gabriella said as she looked down at the caller id and saw that it was her mother. To Gabriella it seemed as if she had a switch in her body that was installed ever since her father died about 11 years ago when she was 13 years old that would automatically make her body tense up and set her jaw as she spoke every word through a barely opened mouth as her words came out proper and sharp. "Hello Mother." Gabriella greeted as she turned her body and put up one finger indicating to Troy that it would only take a moment.
Troy nodded as he stood up and left the room getting the idea that Gabriella wanted to be by herself to have a private conversation with her mom or as Gabriella called her, her mother.
"It's true, I dropped out of the shows. All of them and you can accept that or just leave it and forget." Gabriella said in her uptight voice again as she sat up in bed forgetting that she was in nothing but her strapless bra and matching panties as her covers fell off of her upper arms to reveal her lacey bra.
Troy turned around to look at Gabriella one last time before leaving her room to give her privacy but couldn't help showing his confused face as he wondered why Gabriella was so upset with her mom that would make her talk like her mom was just a person who she saw and talked to once every year? But his confused face turned into something else as he felt the blood rush up to his face as he now knew what Gabriella was wearing, or not wearing and as wrong as it was in this situation of Gabriella talking to her mother nonetheless, Troy couldn't help but feel turned on a little as he saw Gabriella's breasts being held in her thin black bra.
Troy turned on his heel again and left Gabriella's room before she caught him staring and hoping she hadn't already as she was too engrossed with the conversation she was having with her mom. Troy closed his eyes as he tried to stop his mind from wandering away from him and thinking about what else Gabriella was wearing to match her bra under the covers and wishing that he could just go in there and lay with her with no disruptions or nagging voice in the back of his mind telling him that this relationship could hurt everyone if Ryan was still in the picture.
"I can't believe that you would just throw your career out the window." Anna Montez said into the phone with her high defiant voice piercing through the phone that just taunted everyone with how perfect and crisped it sounded as if it belonged to a high important women when in reality her mother had only acted like that since Gabriella started her modeling and they were rolling in the money because of it.
"Mother, I'm not throwing it out the window, I'm starting something new." Gabriella said. "I'm producing another album." Gabriella said matching her mother's business tone as her eyes flickered with a tint of happiness as she spoke of her music.
"You've been modeling for as long as I can remember Gabriella." Her mother said dramatically.
"Mom, I was 14 when I started." Gabriella pointed out dully as she stood up from her bed and stretched feeling a slight chill as the warm blankets unwrapped around her body and she walked with confidence over to her cabinet and pulled out a pair of dark blue jeans that fit her well to her every curve and an orange tie-front hoodie tee, (pics in profile.) that she threw over her head easily as she pulled the phone away from her ear for a second and away from her mother's annoying high pitch voice.
Anna continued talking ignoring what her daughter said as she sat at her big wooden desk with her hair in a tight bun propped up on her head without a stray piece of hair to be seen. "I would just hate to see you be disappointed." Anna sighed to show how upset she was.
Gabriella rolled her eyes as she held back the gagging noises she wanted to let loose on her mother for trying to make her feel guilty. Gabriella pulled the hair tie out of her hair as she started running a brush through her hair.
"Gabriella Marie Montez, are you just getting up!?" Her mother's voice screeched through the phone.
Gabriella rolled her eyes at her mother's attempt to try to scold her when she was in New York and Gabriella was all the way in LA. "Mother, it is New Years day, I had a tiring night." Gabriella said clearly as she changed ears to hold the phone on her shoulder.
Gabriella could almost picture Anna's horrified face thinking of all the things her daughter could've meant with that sentence of 'tiring night' and Gabriella had to just laugh as she could picture her mother start calling the therapist to let him know Gabriella was 'acting' out again just like she did in her teen age years.
"What does…" And for once Gabriella heard Anna's real voice again that rarely showed until Anna cleared her throat again. "Do not ruin your life." Anna warned with a glare even though Gabriella couldn't see.
"Relax Mother, I was at a charity event, you know the one I organize?" Gabriella asked rolling her eyes again as she looked at herself in the mirror deciding she looked pretty good with her curls hanging loosely around her face.
"Good." Anna huffed out. "For a second I thought that you were resorting back to your 'old self,'" Gabriella shook her head knowing exactly what her mother meant, she meant she thought Gabriella was acting like her teenage smoking pot self. "Well…" Anna cleared her throat again. "I better get going. Talk to you later Gabriella." And without waiting to receive Gabriella's good bye the phone line went dead and Gabriella carelessly threw the phone down on the bed with a sigh as she walked out of her room and when she opened the door she almost ran into Troy who was waiting outside her bedroom door, leaning against the wall deep in thought.
Troy looked at Gabriella and smiled. Gabriella raised her eye brows with a smile on her own face. "You up for a movie?" Gabriella asked.
"I pick." Troy told her as he started walking away from Gabriella.
Gabriella followed closely behind. "No way! My house my pick." Gabriella said with a smile as Troy stopped right before the stair case to wait for Gabriella.
Gabriella caught up to Troy who had a certain look in his eye. "I don't think so Montez." Troy said and before Gabriella knew what was happening, Troy's hands picked Gabriella up and carried her down the stairs with her flung over his shoulder and Gabriella kicking and squirming.
"Troy, you're gonna drop me." Gabriella squealed with laughter.
"I would never do that, or at least not on purpose." Troy joked.
"Troy!" Gabriella shrieked.
"Yes Brie?" Troy asked innocently as he made his way over to the shelf that held all of Gabriella's dvd collection.
"Put me down." Gabriella said as her fists collided with Troy's back.
"Kicking and hitting me aren't gonna get me to let you go." Troy said with a smile as he scanned over the DVDs Gabriella smiled innocently as she stopped her squirming and Troy continued to look through the DVDs. Gabriella decided that it was time to see Troy squirm and although some people would call this mean, Gabriella called it payback. Gabriella placed both of her hands on Troy's back and started rubbing his back through his dark blue t-shirt. Gabriella felt Troy immediately freeze up as her hands continued to sooth into his back.
"Are you gonna let me down?" Gabriella whispered into his ear.
Troy swallowed a small moan as Gabriella continued to drag her tantalizing fingers up and down his back. Troy nodded slightly as he grabbed the closest DVD and said, "You play dirty." Troy stood up and set Gabriella down gently as she smiled at him.
"Good choice Bolton." Gabriella said sitting down on her couch. "So what DVD are we watching?"
Troy went over to the TV and put it on. "Um…" Troy looked down at the case and mentally kicked himself. "Titanic."
Gabriella let out a small laugh at the look on Troy's face. Troy playfully glared at Gabriella as she shrugged. "You're the one that picked it, not me."
Troy walked over and sat next to Gabriella as she hit play. "I call a redo, I was being distracted and I didn't get to see what DVD, it's not fair." Troy pouted.
Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Go cry me a river." Troy looked at Gabriella as the previews started to play and Gabriella just smiled at him. "Enjoy the movie." Gabriella taunted.
The movie was now at the part where Jack was drawing Rose in a sketch and Troy was getting extremely bored. He looked down and over at Gabriella as she absentmindedly rested her head on his shoulder, or at least he thought she was resting on him absentmindedly. Troy could feel Gabriella's gentle breath on his neck as her eyes were glued to the screen. His thumb was rubbing over her knuckles as her hand rested on his leg, near his knee and all Troy could think about was, 'One day', one day and he could kiss Gabriella Montez any damn time he wanted to without feeling guilty.
"You think love exists like that?" Gabriella asked in a soft voice as her other hand that wasn't by Troy motioned towards the TV screen.
Troy looked at Gabriella. "I…I never really thought about it." Troy said. "What do you think?"
Gabriella sighed. "I mean, it has too right?" Gabriella asked. "There has to be at least one person out there for me that I would be willing to die for." Gabriella said as her eyes went back to the TV to see that they were in the boiler room scene and the foggy car.
Troy sighed as his thumb continued to roll over Gabriella's knuckles soothingly. He turned his head once again and without even thinking, he connected his lips to the side of Gabriella's head. Making his way down to her ear, jaw line, and then situated his body even better to press his lips to Gabriella's.
Gabriella was shocked, she didn't know what to do when Troy's mouth made it's way down to her jaw line and then her lips. She closed her eyes finding herself getting lost in Troy's ways and started kissing back as her hand snaked it's way around his neck, pulling him closer as he adjusted his body again so that Gabriella was laying on the couch while he laid on top of her, carefully so that he didn't hurt her by putting all of his weight on her. Troy's one hand softly caressed Gabriella's cheek as his other hand was propping him up on the couch when Gabriella's hand was wrapped around his neck, sending shivers up and down his spine as she would gently play with the tiny hairs on the back of his neck when her other hand would graze over his chest and rock hard abs.
The need for air was becoming unbearable as Troy disconnected their lips and started covering Gabriella's exposed neck with his mouth as Gabriella tried to catch her breath. "We can't…" Gabriella breathed out as Troy nipped at her neck and made his way up her jaw line again. "Ryan doesn't…" Gabriella's lips connected with Troy's again as Troy's mouth covered up what Gabriella was going to say next.
Troy's hand moved down from Gabriella's cheek to her upper arm only to be dragged down and brush over her stomach, causing Gabriella to pull him closer. Gabriella tugged on Troy's bottom lip gently as Troy's tongue ran across Gabriella's bottom lip. His hand stay stationed on her stomach as they both pulled back and before they caught their breath to start kissing again, Troy stopped himself and rested his forehead against Gabriella's.
They looked into each other's eyes as Gabriella's hand unwrapped itself from Troy's neck and traced Troy's jaw line before resting on the hand by her side which was supporting him so that he wasn't completely putting all of his weight on her.
Before either one of them could say anything, Troy's phone started going off and they both sprung apart from each other as if they were teenagers again getting caught by their parents. Troy looked down at his phone and mumbled, "Shit."
"What's wrong?" Gabriella asked.
Troy put his phone away and looked at Gabriella with a soft smile to tell her that it was nothing big. "Nothing really, I'm just late for a meeting with my sports agents." Troy said.
Gabriella nodded her head. "You should go then." Gabriella had no idea what just happened between them. Of course she knew that everyone would call that a kiss, but didn't she tell Troy that they had to wait until Ryan was out of the picture, and here she was kissing him back.
Troy stood up and scratched the back of his neck not really wanting to go, but knowing he had to. "Yeah…umm? I'll see you tomorrow?" Troy asked.
Gabriella shook her head no and Troy looked at her confused. "Ryan gets home tomorrow." Gabriella said quietly looking at the ground afraid that if she looked up into Troy's capturing blue eyes she would get lost in them and end up giving him a good bye kiss and then he would never want to leave.
"Right…" Troy trailed off. "…Brie?" Troy asked which made Gabriella look up at him. "I'm sorry."
"What? Don't apologize." Gabriella said. It was Troy's turn to look confused again. "I kissed back." They were both silent and Gabriella stood up. "Troy, you better go. How about I call you tomorrow?" Gabriella asked as they made their way to her front door.
"Yeah, I'd like that." Troy said opening the door and stepping out. "Bye Brie." Troy said as he shut the door after hearing Gabriella say, "Bye Troy."
Author's Note--Hope you guys liked it. This was kind of a filler chapter so that I could introduce Gabriella's mother a little bit more into the story. Here's a preview for the next chapter which I hope will be up by tomorrow.
"Hey Baby." Ryan greeted with a big smile on his face as he engulfed Gabriella in a hug and nuzzled his face into her neck. "I missed you."
Gabriella sighed as they pulled away and Gabriella took a seat on the couch. "Ry--Ryan…we have to talk." Gabriella said as Ryan's face dropped.
---
"Hey, can I come in?" Gabriella asked.
"Of course."
Gabriella stepped into his house and looked around like it was her first time. "So…" Gabriella drew out the word. "I'm sorry I didn't call yesterday…I was just thinking about my life…my career…my future…and every time you came to my mind." Gabriella said softly as lips came crashing down on hers.
