WARNING: This story contains themes of depression, SI (self-injury) and suicide.

This is dedicated to the sweet reviewers of the last chapter: LA AngelxZV, Jenny, AngKeats, and pumpkinking5. You all are so awesome!

Shout out to the following people for adding this story to your favorites list and/or me: charlottedean98 and LA AngelsxZV.

"Hi there," he whispered into her ear as he slipped his arms around her from behind. The final bell had rung just minutes ago and the halls were flooded with students eager to leave.

"Troy," she scolded as she tried to pry his arms off her. "People are going to get the wrong idea."

"They already have the wrong idea," he said with a slight shrug. He kissed her cheek sweetly before finally letting go, his arms falling to his side. "Besides, it's not like I haven't done that before."

"I know," she said with a bit of a huff. "But for some reason, I'm getting twice as many glares today."

A smirk fell on his lips as he leaned against the closed locker besides hers. "You didn't hear?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Hear what?"

"Apparently, you're pregnant and we're getting married over spring break."

"What!" She screeched as she slammed her locker shut. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope," he said, his lips popping at the second syllable.

"Why- How- Where- What?"

He bit back a laugh as she tried to form a proper question and looked up at him with wide eyes. He draped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her towards him as they walked down the hall. "You have some really nosy neighbors."

"What are you talking about?"

"Someone saw me leaving your house last night and rumors kind of spread from there."

She groaned and covered her face with her hands "This is mortifying. I just want to die." She felt the weight on her shoulders disappear and so she spun around on her heels. "What is it?" she asked with a slight frown, matching his.

"You shouldn't say things like that."

"I was joking," she said as she stepped closer to him.

"Well, I'm not laughing."

"Troy," she said softly as she tried to uncross his arms from over his chest. "I didn't mean it like that. You know that."

"Do I?"

She bit her lip and looked around for anyone that might be listening. The halls were almost empty with just a few stragglers. Still, she took step forward and lowered her voice. "I didn't mean it," she repeated. "If you need more convincing, then fine. But just not here, okay?"

He blew out a breath and pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry," he muttered as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Sometimes I just worry too much." He felt her nod into his chest and even tighten her grip around his waist. "C'mon," he said as he smiled and released her just enough so she wouldn't have to walk backwards, "let's get you to Darbus."

"You're not helping out?"

"I wasn't planning on it."

"Please?" she pleaded, "Just an hour or two?"

"Fine," he replied in a slightly exaggerated tone. "But you have to help me with my Chemistry homework later."

"It's a deal."

"I just need to let my mom know, she gets paranoid when I don't tell her when I'm coming home late." He reached into the back of his pocket and slipped out his phone. He saw that he had a few missed calls from his mother and another number that he didn't know. "Do you know whose number that is?" he asked as he showed her his phone.

"That's my mom's."

"Why would she call me?"

"It's probably because I left my cell at home."

"Why don't you call her back? She called like 5 times since school got out." Just as the words left his lips, his phone lit up to show that he was receiving an incoming call. "Answer it," he said, as he held the phone out for her.

"I can't," she said as she shoved the phone back to him. "I was kind of mean to her when I left this morning. Please, just answer it, but don't tell her you're with me."

Sighing, he slid his thumb across the screen and then brought it to his ear. "Hello?" he breathed into the phone. "Oh, hi Ms. Montez. How are you?" He nodded his head to her words and stopped to lean against a nearby locker.

Gabriella stood in front of him as she bit down on her bottom lip and played with the frayed edges of her long sleeve.

"Gabriella? No, she's not with me. I think she mentioned that she's helping Mrs. Darbus after school." With his free hand, he reached out to stop her fidgeting and linked their hands together. "Okay, I'll let her know, Ms. Montez. Bye."

"Well?" she asked with a wide-eyed expression.

"Your mom is apparently with my mom."

"Really?"

He hummed in agreement as he slipped his phone back in his pocket so he could take her other hand in his. " She wanted me tell you to come home now, or she'd make a big seen about dragging you out of here."

"She wouldn't do that."

"I don't know. She sounded pretty serious."

"That's a first," she said with a slight scoff.

"Gabriella," he said in a warning tone. "She's trying to understand, please just help her."

She doesn't speak for a moment or two as she weighed her options. "Fine," she muttered as she dropped her head against his chest.

"That's my girl," he said with a slight grin as he placed a kiss at the crown of her head. "C'mon, I'll drive you."

"Actually," she began ash pulled away slightly from his body, "I drove here this morning, so I'm good."

"Okay, I'll just follow you to your house then."

"No, I think I should probably do this alone."

"Are sure?" he asked, somewhat surprised by her slightly confident attitude.

She nodded and then surprised him by kissing him on the cheek. "But there is something you could do for me."

"Just say the word."

"Stay here to help out Darbus in my absence?"

He groaned and fought the urge to roll his eyes. "But I only agreed because you were going to be there."

"I know, but I feel bad for bailing on Darbus. Besides, Sharpay will be there to keep you company."

"But she's not you."

She smiled softly at his words and leaned up to kiss him again, but this time on the lips. "Please, Troy?"

"Okay, I'll do it, but you owe me one."

"I promise to help you in Chemistry and Pre-Calc."

"It's a deal, " he said, repeating her words from earlier. He release one of her hands and brought his hand to cup her cheek. "Call me if you need me, okay?"

"I wouldn't think twice."

Troy ran the pad of his thumb across her bottom lip and then swooped down to kiss her. She responded instantly and even smiled against his lips.

This felt normal.

This felt right

-TWLOHA-

He wanted to ram him head into the wall. That would be at least be more exciting than what he was doing. He sat in the back of the auditorium as Mrs. Darbus paced about the stage, droning on and on about the sanctity of the arts. To his right, Sharpay was giving him the detailed summary of the upcoming play. Every few minutes, he'd check his phone.

Still no word from Gabriella.

"What?" he asked somewhat startled as he almost dropped his phone. He looked up to see Sharpay staring down at him with her hand propped on her hip. "What's happening?"

She rolled her eyes at him and stepped around him so she could walk onto the auditorium isle. "Darbus wants us to come forward so she can distribute tasks," she said as she walked away.

"You're being sassier than normal," he commented as he came to stand behind her.

She threw a glare over her shoulder before returning her attention to the eccentric woman in the front.

"Mr. Bolton, I didn't expect to see you here."

He gave his teacher a sheepish smile and slight shrug. "Gabriella had something important come up at home, so she asked if I could take her place."

"Well, how unfortunate for Ms. Montez, but how fortunate for the theater. Miss. Evans?"

When Sharpay didn't reply at once, he gave her a slight nudge forward. "Who's not paying attention now," he teased, earning a stab to his shin by what he assumed was her heel. "Sharpay!"

"Yes, Mrs. Darbus?" she asked sweetly, completely ignoring the annoyed boy behind her.

"Use 's height to our advantage. Take the banners out of the prop closet and hang them around the school."

"Is the ladder in there too?"

"It should be. If it isn't, then it should be on stage right."

She nodded and began to walk away from the small crowd. "Just don't stand there, Bolton," she said without a glance over her shoulder.

Without a word, he followed her to the backstage area. He watched as she fished through her purse for a set of keys and unlocked the door.

"Grab the ladder, it's way in the back," she said as she moved a few things around.

He nodded as he pushed up his sleeves to his elbows and stepped over a few things scattered on the floor. He moved a door off of its hinges and was able to lift the metal ladder with ease. He could feel tension in the air, but he tried to attributed it to the stuffy closet. She was more talkative this morning, he thought as he exited the closet with the ladder in hand.

She walked out of the closet just a few moments later. She juggled the rolled up banners, scissors and duct tape in her hands as she locked the door.

"Where do we start?" he asked as she led him out of the drama corridors without a word.

"Cafeteria."

Her one worded response made him frown. "Shar, is everything okay?"

"Just peachy."

"Slow down," he said as he tried to keep up with her quick strides while carrying the ladder. Against his pleas, she walked faster. He rolled his eyes and finally caught up with her at the end of the hall, just outside the cafeteria doors.

"The banner needs to be just above the entrance," she explained as she began to unroll one of the banners.

He nodded as he began to set up and position the ladder. "Shar, how long have we been friends?" he asked as he noticed that she had yet to look at him.

"Since grade school."

"Since grade school," he echoed as he watched her cut up strips of duct tape. "Don't you think, by now, I would have picked up on a few things about you?"

"Obviously not," she muttered as she finally turned to face him. "Go ahed and climb up the ladder and then I'll hand it to you. Use the door frame's edge as a guideline to get it straight."

"Sharpay."

"Bolton, I've got shit to do, so let's speed this up," she snapped as she gave him a slight shove towards the ladder. "Besides, I'm sure you're just dying to run off to Gabriella."

He couldn't place the tone of her voice. It sounded almost bitter to his ears, leaving him completely baffled. Not knowing what to say, he climbed up the ladder and took the corner of the banner from her outstretched hands. He positioned the edge of the banner and smoothed down the tape that Sharpay had previously cut. "How does that look?" he asked, his right hand still stretched out.

"Troy."

His ears perked up when he heard the way she softly said his name. "Yeah?"

"What happened to your wrist?"

"Shar, I can-"

"You promised you stopped."

Hastily, he climbed down the ladder and looked at his friend of almost 10 years. "Shar, I kept my promise," he said as he noted the way her eyes began to water.

"First you and then Gabriella. I still don't understand how both of you could do that to yourselves."

The words flew out of her mouth so fast that he almost didn't catch it. But he did catch it and when the words finally clicked in his mind, he felt his anger begin to boil. "Wait, what about Gabriella?"

"She cuts too," she said as she stopped her pacing and turned to face him. "Or she at least told me she was getting help. But today, I noticed a bandage on her wrist so I'm not sure."

"When did you find out?" He still didn't raise his voice.

"A few weeks ago, but no more than 2 months."

"You knew," he began, biting back his anger. "You knew all this time, but didn't say anything?"

"She swore she was getting help!"

"And what? You never asked her about it again?"

"She seemed fine!"

"But you didn't do anything about it!" he shot back, matching her irritated tone. "What kind of friend does that?"

"Really?" she said with a slight laugh. She glared at him as she placed her hand on her popped out hip. "You want to question my quality of friendship? Tell me, Troy, what kind of friend goes after a guy that she knows her friend likes?"

"What are you talking about?"

"She told me that she didn't have feelings for you," she muttered as she dropped her gaze to the floor. "How could you be so blind?"

Her confession left him dumbfounded and opted to remain quiet as she continued on.

"I have been in love with you since middle school. Remember when we used to spend all night talking about the most random shit?"

He nodded, still not knowing the right thing to say.

"I know we drifted a bit when we started high school because you had basketball and I had theatre, but we were still Krystina passed away," she paused, her voice wavering for just a second, "and I was there for you every step of the way. You talked to me because you knew Chad and Ryan wouldn't understand the emotional stuff."

"Shar-"

"I'm sorry, this is stupid," she said as she swiped at a tear that had fallen down her cheek. "I have to go."

He called after her and when she was halfway down the hall, he began to chase after her. When she was within arm's reach, he pulled her back by the strap of her purse. "I had no idea." As soon as the words left his lips, he knew that it wasn't what she wanted to hear. He was about to elaborate further, when he heard his ringtone echo around them.

"You should answer that," she said quietly. "It might be Gabriella."

Pulling out his phone, he glanced at it for just a second before bringing to his ear. "Hey, are you alright? No, I'm not doing anything important." He winced at his poor word choice as he noticed the look of pain that flashed over her features. "Yeah, I know exactly where that is. I'll see you soon."

He dropped his gaze, not wanting to see the pain he caused. "I have to go, I'm really sorry Shar."

"It's whatever," she muttered and walked away.

-TWLOHA-

Troy pulled up in-front of the familiar building with ease. It was a single office space with limited parking by the curb in-front. He walked through the door without hesitation and was instantly greeted by an elderly woman.

"Troy, I didn't see you on the schedule today."

"Hey, Ms. Mary," he said with a small smile. "I know I don't have an appointment today. I'm actually here for a friend. Gabriella Montez?"

"Oh, honey, you know I can't divulge patient information."

"I know, I know. How about this, may I use the restroom?"

She let out a laugh and shook her head at his antics. "Go ahead, sugar. You know where it is."

"Thank you Ms. Mary," he said with a grin and took off down the hall. He passed a few closed doors and jogged up a short flight of stairs. "Gabs?" He noticed her in the corner of the couch, her knees pulled up to her chest and her head bent down.

Collapsing on the couch beside her, she looked up with a startled expression. "Oh, hey."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she naturally molded into his side. "So, what's going on?"

"When I got home, mom surprised me with an appointment with a psychiatrist. We got here and mom talked to Dr. Gibson first as I filled out this questionnaire. When I was done, she told me to come into the room. It was awkward and she asked me all these questions. It was going alright, i guess, but then she asked me if I ever attempted suicide. That's when mom jumped in and told the doctor what happened last night."

"Don't be mad, Gabs. If Dr. Gibson is going to help, she had to know."

"I know, but it was just so-" She stopped mid-sentence and let out a groan of frustration.

"So what happened next?"

"She wanted to speak to Mom alone again so that's when I left to call you."

"Why do you sound so anxious? The hard part is over."

"I don't know, I just have this feeling in the pit of my stomach that I can't shake."

"It's going to be alright, babe, stop your worrying."

He felt her nod against his shoulder and he just held her tighter. They fell into a comfortable silence as they waited for the doctor and her mom to walk out. The pair sat up a bit straighter as they heard the door open,

"Gabriella, you can come back in now."

She stood up and took a step forward before turning back to look at him. "Is it okay if Troy come in too?"

"If that's what you want."

He took her outstretched hand and followed her into the room he had been in so many times before. He gave a curt nod to Ms. Montez as she paced the small office.

"Gabriella," the doctor began as she sat down in her chair, folding her hands together on top of the desk. "From what you and your mother have told me, both together and separate, I am extremely concerned about your wellbeing." She paused and shuffled the papers a bit on a desk. "The questionnaire I had you fill out was a way to quantify your feelings. It gives me almost a tangible score so that I know where you stand."

Troy nodded as he vaguely remembered taking the questionnaire himself. That's when he was formally diagnosed with major depression and general anxiety disorder. At the time, he knew he was depressed, it was just surreal to hear from a professional's mouth. He watched as Gabriella kept her head bent down and played with the peeling corner of her bandage.

"If I take that into consideration and the incident from last night, I can't in good conscience allow you to go home."

His head snapped forward, as soon as the words were in the open air. He was about to question it when the brunette beside him beat him to it.

"What do you mean I can't go home?"

"I've discussed it with your mother and we both think that it's your best interest. You've had two attempts in such a short timeframe."

"Last night was the only time, I swear," she pleaded as her eyes welled up with tears.

"And what about the car accident?"

"I didn't mean it!"

"Gabs," he cooed as he rubbed her back in an attempt to calm her down. "Is this really necessary?"

"I'm afraid so."

"You can't do this!"

"Actually," the elder woman said, removing her reading glasses and placing them on the desk, "I can. As a mental health provider, I can put you in up to a 72 hour hold if I think you're a danger to yourself or others."

"I won't do anything, I promise. Please, you can't have me committed."

"I'm not having you committed, Gabriella. I just want you under a thorough psychiatric evaluation for at least 24 hours. When your 24 hours are up and if everything checks out, I'll release you and the only time you'll have to see me is for appointments in this office."

Troy scooted his chair a bit closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders like he had done so many times before. "It's okay, you'll be okay," he muttered as he pressed a kiss to the side of her head.

"Troy," she cried, "I promise I won't do anything."

He dropped his voice so she could only hear him and said, "I know you won't, so convince them that you want to get better." He raised his head, seeing the solemn look the doctor was giving them. "Do you have to call an ambulance or something to bring her there?"

"No, you guys can take her. I have already made arrangements with the hospital, so they'll be expecting her. Gabriella," she paused, only speaking when the young brunette finally looked up, "I'm not trying to punish you. This might even seem extreme to you, but it's necessary."

"Sweetheart," Ms. Montez said in a shaky voice, "let's go so we can pack some things for you."

Troy was able to coax the girl in question to stand and allowed her to lean against him for support.

"Remember what I said: no clothing with removable drawstrings, shoelaces or metal."

"Yes, doctor," she said with a slight nod. "We will see you in an hour."

"See you soon," she said as she stood as well.

Troy guided her out the room and down the flight of stairs. He offered a weak smile to receptionist, who looked at them with knowing eyes.

"Gabriella, we parked this way," Ms. Montez said with a nod in the opposite direction.

"I want to ride with Troy."

"Sweetheart, I'm sure he has better things to do than-"

"Actually, I don't," he said, quickly cutting her off. "There's nothing more important than this - than Gabriella - right now."

Ms. Montez sighed and gave a polite smile to the young man that had been by his daughter's side since the beginning. Her eyes swept over Gabriella, who had yet to look at her. She took a step forward and kissed her daughter's forehead. "I'm only doing this because I love you. This is too big for just me and you and even Troy to handle. I love you, Gabriella."

"We'll be right behind you, Ms. Montez."

"Thank you, Troy," she said quietly as she walked in the other direction.

He led them to his truck and helped her into the passenger side. She sat with her head facing forward and her hands perched in her lap. Just as he was about to close the door, she called his name softly.

"Is this what it has come to?" she asked, turning her head slightly to look at him.

For moment, he is transported back to that night when he found her waiting for him in that sheriff's car. Her eyes were the darkest he had seen in awhile and she didn't look like she had any more tears to cry.

"Am I so broken that I need to be in a hospital to be fixed?"

"Gabriella," he began, drawing out the letters of her name as he gently grabbed her thigh to turn her so she was fully facing him. "Answer me truthfully: do you regret last night?"

"Yes." she said without a second thought.

"Then tell them that," he said as he gripped both sides of her face and leant his forehead against hers. " Let them know that you want to keep living. That is what you want, right?"

"Right."

"Repeat after me: I'm not broken."

"I'm not broken," she echoed and for once, she believed it.

Don't hate me, I know it seems crazy. I know it the state of California and Florida people can be placed on a psychiatric hold so it's not too far of a stretch for Gabriella, considering what she has been through.

Speaking of a stretch, think we can break 100 reviews before the next chapter? I know it would make my day lol

Just a head's up, this story may have 1 or 2 chapters left, depending on how I feel. Like the scene with the psychiatrist, that was completly not in my story outline origionally. Let's see if creativity strikes. XD

Have a good weekend and thank you for reading!

Much Love,

Kae xx

To Jenny: Thank you for the review. I don't mind you being impatient, that must mean you really like it, right? Lol and ohmygosh, I think I was your age when I got my fanfic account and here I am 8 years laters. I feel old lol don't rush growing up.

To AngKeats: Yes! I'm back! Always good to see a familiar name XD I hoped you liked this chapter and I love your enthusiasm for this story. Lol I have my own Troy but sometimes, I wish I had this one as well