Hey all :) Well, between a whole load of real life crapooola that I won't bore you with, and HSM3 finally being released here in Aus and me seeing it three times in five days, teamed with a fairly hefty case of writer's block, you'll have to excuse me for not having this chapter up sooner. It's a long chapter though, so hopefully that makes up for the wait a little bit.

I have to thank the amazingly patient and talented Dani (Pandora147 – if you're not reading Someday then shame on you!) for all her help with this one, and always having time to go over my work with me when I'm whining about wanting to delete entire chapters because they are driving me so nuts. Again, you should probably blame me if she's not writing as fast as she'd like.

Thanks also to Jessa – who totally has a new 'puter, yo! – for giving me her hypothetical opinions on Gabriella's thought processes.

Thanks last but not least to all of you guys for your amazing reviews. It's YOU that I write for.

Hope you enjoy,

Kylie xox

Chapter 10: A New Door Opens

As the reality of the situation hit, something inside Troy snapped. He fled from his apartment, bursting through the entrance to the lobby of the building just in time to see Alexis' car disappear into the night. Troy turned and began to jog in the opposite direction. The light drizzle turned into a drenching downpour of rain as the heavens suddenly opened in all their glory. Troy broke into a run, closing his eyes as they filled with the rain drops that were pelting at him front on.

He had no idea where he was going, he just ran. He had to get away. He had to clear his mind. He ran and ran and ran, through street after street, park after park, down sidewalk after sidewalk, running – just running, anywhere.

Time suddenly had no meaning – he had no idea of how long he had been running, or even where he'd been. All he knew was that he'd come to a sudden stop, pushing his sopping wet hair out of his eyes and staring up at the familiar white building in front of him...

Gabriella groaned as she rolled over in bed, a loud knocking echoing through her apartment. "Urrrgh," she mumbled. "Go away!"

She pulled her pillow over her head, trying to block out the sound, but it only got louder.

"Urrgh! Fine! I'm coming!" she yelled, throwing back the covers and pulling an oversized sweat shirt over the top of her baby blue tank top and white polka dot pyjama shorts as she crossed the living room towards the front door, which she yanked open. "What?" she snapped. "Don't you know what...Troy?"

Troy Bolton was standing in her doorway, dripping wet – absolutely soaked to the bone. His face was pale, his hands shaking - tear's mingling with water droplets that were snaking their way from his hairline down his face. His shirt was clinging to his well defined chest, his water drenched jeans riding low on his hips.

Troy opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

"Troy? Troy, what's happened? What's wrong?" Gabriella fretted, placing a hand on his arm and leading him into the apartment, grabbing a towel from a pile of freshly folded laundry as she went. She handed him the towel and he gave her no response, staring at the towel like he had no idea what it was as he continued to struggle with finding any words – causing Gabriella's panic to escalate. She had never seen him like this, and her mind immediately jumped to the worst possible conclusions. Was someone hurt? Had someone died? She helped him over to the couch and sat him down, taking a seat beside him. "Troy, please – you're scaring me."

Fiddling nervously with a corner of the towel, Troy's fixed, glazed eyes were focused straight ahead as he finally found a voice – albeit a raspy, barely audible one. "It's over... She's gone... It's...it's over."

Gabriella was hit by a sinking feeling deep in the pit of her stomach. "Troy... What's over...?" she asked carefully.

"Alexis, she..." Gabriella felt her heart drop. "It's all just...over..." Troy trailed off, his head suddenly snapping up, his eyes flickering sideways and landing upon Gabriella. As if he'd been in a stupor this whole time, and only just realised where he was and who he was talking to, Troy jumped up – a rambling tirade of apology mingled with a garbled explanation spilling from him before Gabriella had a chance to say a word. "Oh my god, I'm sorry. Oh my...Ella, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have...I didn't even think, and..." his eyes swept over her, taking in her attire, "Oh god, I woke you up, didn't I? I don't even know why I...I'm sorry..."

Gabriella's heart melted and she rose from the sofa to stand in front of him, rubbing her hand comfortingly up and down his arm. "Hey, hey – shhh," she soothed, her voice soft, her eyes full of compassion. "You've seen me in pyjama's plenty of times before! It's ok, Troy – it's ok. Just tell me what happened."

Troy wiped furiously at his eyes. "I shouldn't have come here. I don't even know why I came here, I just... I just had to get out and I ran and I ran and then I was here which is a bit fucked given the situation and I don't even know why I'm upset since it should have made my life easier but instead I'm just a fucking mess and... Fuck Ella, you don't need any of this crap," he finished, dropping the towel to the floor in frustration.

Gabriella laughed in spite of her worry. "Your crap is my crap Troy. You don't just come to someone's house in the middle of the night and walk out without explaining to them what is going on."

Troy fell silent, rubbing his hand over his face before slowly sitting himself back down on the couch. He had barged in on Gabriella unannounced – practically in the middle of the night: the least he could do was give her an explanation.

"I fucked up. I fucked up so bad."

She sat down silently beside him, looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue. Troy sighed and rubbed his hand over his face once more before opening his mouth to – finally – speak properly.

"After you went home on Sunday, Alexis asked me outright if we knew each other before the whole peanut thing. I told her we didn't. I don't know why I didn't just tell her the truth, I just...I didn't want to hurt her, I couldn't do it to her at that very moment. I needed time to sort out my own head before I went and dropped that bombshell," Troy glanced at Gabriella quickly. "And I do realise that makes me sound like the most selfish asshole alive, but..."

"Troy," Gabriella interrupted, placing a comforting hand on his knee. "You cared. You made a mistake, but your intentions were good," she told him softly.

Her gentle touch calmed Troy as he closed his eyes for a moment. Opening them again he re-commenced his explanation. "There was a box in my spare room that was full of bits and pieces I kept from high school...random photo's, yearbooks...as well as pictures of the two of us, and every single letter, card or note you ever wrote me..." both Troy's and Gabriella's cheeks coloured slightly at this admission, and Gabriella averted her eyes, staring into her lap. Nevertheless, Troy continued. "On Monday, Alexis decided to surprise me by making dinner ready for when I got home from work. She came across the box, and...well..."

"Oh Troy," Gabriella looked up just as he looked away, blinking furiously. He was NOT going to cry again. "No..."

Troy shrugged and looked back at Gabriella. "I lied to her, Ella. I...I deserved this, and more."

Gabriella frowned. "But surely she wouldn't end a perfectly good relationship because of one lie," her eyes suddenly widened, fear and guilt coursing through her. "She didn't... She doesn't think that we...?"

Troy knew what she was asking without her even having to say the words. He shook his head. "No. She knew I would never do that to her. But I should have told her the truth from the very beginning. It shouldn't have ended like this. I shouldn't have let her find out this way," Troy spoke faster and faster has the shock and guilt he was feeling took control. Tears pricked his eyes and he closed them, willing himself to hold them back. "It should have been me to tell her the truth... to tell her that... to tell her that..." he trailed off, overcome by emotion and leaving the rest of his sentence unsaid. 'To tell her that it needed to be over because I'm in love with you...'

Gabriella was struggling with her own emotions, thought and feelings as she watched the man in front of her fall apart. A man who was normally so composed, so together – so brave. She couldn't help but feel that this was her fault – that if she hadn't have come back into Troy's life, he and Alexis would still be perfectly happy right now. But right now, he didn't need to be lumped with her guilt on top of his own. He needed a friend.

"Troy..." she started carefully. "I know you're hurting and I'm so, so sorry about everything that has happened but...but you can't beat yourself up about it. You're a good guy Troy, and Alexis knows that – she does. You made a mistake – you're only human, we all do it. You were scared, I...I get it," Gabriella was trying her hardest to sound confident and sure of herself when her head was screaming 'I understand because I feel the same way! My feelings are confusing the hell out of me too!'

Troy hung his head. "I don't deserve the sympathy, Ella, I really don't...I've screwed up everything. Me and my stupid, mixed up...I just...I can't believe she's gone for good..."

Gabriella didn't need to see his face to know that his tears were now falling freely. His shoulders were shaking, his head in his hands, his very foundations crumbling before Gabriella's eyes. So she did the one thing that felt right. She slipped a slightly tentative arm around his trembling shoulders, before reaching her other arm out and pulling him to her in a tight hug. Sobs racked Troy's muscular body as he clung to her, crying out his anguish, hurt, shock and guilt.

Gabriella felt his tears wet against the crook of her neck and her heart broke for the pain he was feeling. She soothingly began to rub her hand over his back.

"It'll be ok, Troy. It will all be ok," she whispered to him, her tone comforting. "Shhh...I promise, it will get better. I promise."

Gabriella fell quiet as Troy's sobs began to subside. Eventually he pulled back, his slightly bloodshot eyes meeting her sympathy filled ones. She gently wiped a stray tear from his face as he cupped her cheek in his hand, his eyes searching hers.

"Gabriella, I..."

Gabriella could hardly breathe. She suddenly forgot why he was there and the anguish tormenting him as she found herself drowning in a sea of blue. The rhythmic caress of his slightly calloused thumb on her cheek was mesmerising, causing a fog to filter through her mind as she allowed her eyes to drift closed.

"Ella, I..." she opened her eyes as she felt Troy stiffen, removing his hand from her face and straightening up. "I...I'm so, so sorry for dumping all of this on you. It's the last thing you need and...and I should just...go..."

As Troy trailed off a booming clap of thunder rocked the apartment, accompanied by a flash of lightening that spliced across the dark and unforgiving night sky. Gabriella winced at the sound as she created a distance between them, moving to the window and peered out into the raging storm.

"It's really coming down out there," she said softly. Mesmerised by the sheets of rain pounding against the glass, Gabriella didn't realise Troy was right behind her until he spoke. She jumped, turning to face him.

"I, uh...I'm so sorry I dragged you out of bed. Thanks for," he paused for a moment, before settling upon "Thanks for everything. Again, I'm...I'm sorry to have dragged you into my fucked up mess and, yeah – I'm just gonna head off..."

Another crack of lightning ripped through the midnight sky, further illuminating both of their features which glowed in the dim light of Gabriella's apartment, a crash of thunder following seconds behind.

Gabriella glanced over her shoulder at the brutal weather before turning back to Troy, shaking her head. "There's no way you're going back out in that," she said simply.

"Gabriella, I..." Troy started only to be cut off.

"Troy, it's dangerous out there. You're already soaking wet. You're not in the right frame of...I just don't think you should risk going out in..." the rest of her sentence was drowned out by an almighty rumble and yet another flash of lightning, as if mother nature was trying to prove Gabriella's point.

"I don't..."

"Troy, this is me talking as a concerned friend – I have it on good authority that the bed in the guest room is actually pretty comfy, believe it or not, but you can give me your opinion on it in the morning, ok? I'm not letting you go out in this weather. You're drenched enough as it is," she pointed out, gesturing to his shirt which was still stuck to him. "I won't take no for an answer."

Troy just nodded numbly. He was emotionally exhausted – there was not an ounce of argument left in him. "Ok. Ok, I'll...Thank you," another rumble of thunder echoed through the atmosphere as he conceded defeat.

Gabriella gave him a sad smile. "I know it all seems hopeless right now, and it's mixed up, and it hurts, and it just seems like there's no way out...but it will get better. You need to try and get some sleep – things will seem clearer in the morning. They always do."

Troy just nodded, his entire body beginning to know the ache of exhaustion, his muscular frame shivering as he finally started to feel the cold.

"Come on, you need to get warm before you end up with Pneumonia. The bathroom is first on the left right there, directly opposite the guest room. Give me your shirt and your jeans and I'll start drying them off while you shower."

As a testament to just how numb his mind was, Troy's expression remained blank as he obediently peeled off his soaking shirt and soggy jeans, not a thought given to modesty. Gabriella felt her cheeks grow warm as the chiselled abdomen area was exposed to her for the first time in six years. She forced herself to tear her eyes from his body and instead focused on his face, his eyes haunted and his expression somewhat broken. Her stomach churned with guilt as that nagging voice in the back of her head kept chiding her. This is all your fault...

Blocking those thoughts out, Gabriella took Troy's wet clothes from his hand and he jumped slightly as her touch coincided with a particularly loud clap of thunder. Standing there in the middle of her apartment in only his boxer shorts - a mess of emotions and confusion – Troy had never felt more vulnerable.

"There are fresh towels on the rack in the bathroom," Gabriella said, breaking the silence between them.

"Huh? Oh. Right. Ok, shower. Right."

Gabriella smiled softly as he turned and made his way towards the bathroom. When he reached the doorway, he turned to looked back at her.

"Thanks Ella," he said quietly, a rueful expression on his face. Gabriella nodded. A lingering moment of eye contact followed before he broke it, entering the bathroom and closing the door behind him.

Gabriella remained where she was for a moment before sighing softly and heading into the laundry. She wrung the rainwater from the shirt and tossed it into the dryer, closing the door and switching the machine on before pulling the belt from the jeans and wringing them out over the sink. Walking back out into the living room she noticed the water was no longer running in the bathroom. She hung Troy's jeans over the radiator to dry before heading towards the guest room.

"There's extra pillows in the..." Gabriella trailed off and couldn't help but smile to herself as she was met by the sight of Troy fast asleep on the guest bed, his green and white plaid boxers sitting snug on his hips, his hair slightly damp against the pillow. The comforter was bunched around his feet – he hadn't even managed to pull it over himself before succumbing to his exhaustion.

She moved silently over to the bedside, carefully grabbing the end of the pale blue comforter and pulling it over him, letting it rest at his shoulders. He subconsciously settled down further into the bed - grunting softly as he rolled onto his side, pulling the comforter tighter around himself.

She crouched down next to the bed, bringing herself level with his sleeping face and reaching out her hand, gently brushing some of his floppy hair out of his eyes. She allowed her fingers to run right through his hair until her hand came to rest at the back of his head.

"Oh Troy," she murmured. "What are we going to do with you?"

Leaning over, Gabriella brushed a soft kiss against his forehead before straightening up and moving back to the doorway. Leaning against the frame, she paused - watching Troy for a moment as he slept, before whispering him a 'goodnight' and switching off the light.

She padded back down the hall, flicking on the kitchen light and bringing herself to a standstill against the breakfast bar where she rested her hands, staring at her reflection in the door of the oven.

When Troy had ended their relationship she never, ever imagined herself in this position six years later – trying to squash down feelings for him that were flooding her all over again, and blaming herself for the sudden break up of him and his girlfriend.

Gabriella pushed herself away from the bench and poured herself a glass of water, flipping the kitchen light off as she walked towards her bedroom in darkness. Setting the glass on her nightstand, she pulled off the sweatshirt she had thrown over her pyjamas and climbed back into bed. Her head fell back onto the soft pillow and she closed her eyes, willing sleep to claim her. But as a hundred and one thoughts filled her head, she knew she was fighting a losing battle. Rolling onto her side, she flipped her bedside lamp on, the soft glow of the dim light illuminating the picture that lay face down on the nightstand, the silver frame glinting.

She reached out and righted the frame, gazing at the picture before her. A shiver raced through her body as she closed her eyes, holding the picture close to her heart and imagining the feeling of Troy's arms wrapped around her the way they were in the photo.

She was immediately flooded with guilt as she remembered that Troy was lying in the next room, going through hell...because of her. He'd just come out of what had seemed like the perfect relationship and she couldn't help but blame herself. Everything that had gone wrong for Troy seemed to point back to her as the cause. If she had never come back into the picture – if she had pushed him back out of her head after making sure he was ok at the hospital that day – he would have been completely happy and content with Alexis.

Alexis.

Even thinking the name caused a chill to run through Gabriella. She was such a great girl – a wonderful person, and really good for Troy. Gabriella felt terrible that she had felt no other option but to end a relationship with someone as fantastic as Troy because of a situation that would not have occurred if she had just had the self control to butt out of his life. Yet a part of Gabriella couldn't help but feel elated that Troy and Alexis were no longer together. As soon as that thought entered her mind, though, she felt horrified at herself for thinking it and the guilt increased tenfold.

'My god,' Gabriella thought to herself. 'Whoever thought I'd be a home-wrecking slut by age 24?'

Replacing the framed photo on her bedside table, Gabriella rolled away from it with a sigh. She had no idea why Troy had come to her apartment tonight. He had run numbly through the streets of Boston...and ended up at her building. Didn't he didn't have any other friends in Massachusetts? Or was his subconscious just telling him that that was where he belonged? Was it fate?

Gabriella groaned and rolled onto her back, throwing her arm over her eyes. They needed to talk in the morning, there was no way they could avoid that. But what was she going to say to him? And more importantly, what answers was he going to give her?

An endless buzz of questions combined with her feelings of guilt and self blame swarmed her as she eventually sank into a restless sleep, vowing that – when she woke – she would sit down with Troy and talk it all out until everything was sorted.

HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM

Gabriella rolled over with a groan as the glowing red numbers on her clock glared at her.

7.18am

She had tossed and turned until she finally fell asleep around 3.20am – 4 hours was NOT a sleep in her books, and 7.18am was practically the middle of the night considering it was a Saturday morning.

What had kept her awake half the night anyhow? Gabriella rubbed her bleary eyes as the rest of the room gradually came into focus. Rolling onto her side she blinked to clear her vision, catching site of the picture of herself and Troy sitting on the nightstand.

Troy...

"SHIT!" she cursed, sitting bolt upright before throwing back the covers and pacing her bedroom as memories of the previous night came flooding back, reminding her exactly why she hadn't slept well. Troy had turned up on her doorstep looking half drowned, and breaking down on her because Alexis had ended things with him.

And he was still in her apartment.

Asleep in the room next door.

Catching sight of herself in the mirror, Gabriella shuddered – her hair was frizzy and sticking out at about seven different angles, she had mascara smudges under her eyes having forgotten to remove her make-up, which only added to the dark shadows highlighting the huge bags there, and she was quietly confident that anyone that came within three feet of her was at risk of death-by-morning-breath.

Deciding a shower could only improve the situation, Gabriella headed towards the bathroom. As she passed the spare room, she found herself automatically drawn to the door which was open a chink. Peering through the tiny crack, she breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that Troy was still fast asleep.

Continuing on to the bathroom, she showered and scrubbed her hair and face before wrapping herself in her fluffy white bathrobe and heading back to her bedroom where she dressed in a pair of jeans, a purple camisole top and a grey cardigan. Running a brush through her hair as she made her way to the kitchen, nerves began to settle in Gabriella's stomach as she anticipated what would happen when Troy woke up.

Pushing any thoughts about The Conversation to the back of her mind, Gabriella busied herself with making breakfast. As she scrambled eggs, laid several strips of bacon in the frypan to cook, and popped some waffles in the toaster, she didn't even notice that she'd automatically began fixing what had been Troy's favourite breakfast back in high school.

She was just setting the table and contemplating how best to wake Troy, when she heard the creak of a door and footsteps muffled against the polished floorboards.

"Good morning," she said softly as he appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, hair sleep tousled and fists rubbing at his eyes.

"Hey," he replied tiredly. "That smells amazing."

Gabriella smiled. "Lucky I made enough for two, then," she commented. "Here, have a seat."

"Um, Ella...Would it be ok if, uh...Can I just grab my, uh," he scratched the back of his neck, his cheeks reddening slightly. "Uh, first...clothes...breakfast, um..." he mumbled.

"Oh!" Gabriella exclaimed, blushing as she clicked that he was wanting the clothes she had dried the night before, not quite able to believe her brain hadn't registered the fact he was standing half naked in her kitchen. "Of course. Yeah. Um. Gimme a sec," she hurried from the kitchen and grabbed his jeans from the living room and shirt from the laundry. "Here you go," she said, passing him the clothes. He murmured his thanks as he pulled on the shirt and pants, before taking a seat across from her at the table.

"So, uh...how'd you sleep?" Gabriella asked politely, inwardly cringing at herself – his world had crumbled. Of course he slept just fine. However is answer surprised her.

"Pretty well, all things considered. I just...crashed," he explained, a moment of silence following as he chewed then swallowed. "Thanks again for letting me stay, Ella. And for just...being there."

"Forget about it – I just did what any good friend would do," she said firmly before looking down at her plate, pushing the last few bites of bacon around with her fork. "We do need to talk, though."

Troy nodded. "I know. You deserve more of an explanation than the garbled mess of male angst I delivered last night."

Gabriella shook her head, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. He was still hurting – she could see it in his eyes – but he seemed more composed somehow, more...more Troy. "I did a month long rotation on the Psych ward at Mass Gen – lemme just say, you got nothing on some of those guys," Gabriella joked, causing a smile from Troy. It didn't quite reach his eyes, but it was a start. Silence fell between them once more, only to be broken by Gabriella, who found herself suddenly unable to control her own voice. "Troy, am I a home-wrecking slut?" she blurted out before clapping her hands over her mouth, her eyes widening in shock. "I totally didn't mean to say that aloud," she squeaked.

Troy couldn't hold back the hollow laugh that escaped his lips. "Don't let me ever hear you use those words in relation to yourself ever again, hear me?" he said. His expression turned serious before he spoke again. Without her saying it directly, he knew the reasoning behind her sudden question. "I won't let you blame yourself for any of this, Gabriella. Alexis and I," he began croakily, clearing his throat before continuing. "Alexis and I...it was more than just me lying to her. Something was always missing, and we finally realised that. A piece of my heart has always belonged to someone else."

Gabriella opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again as she realised he wasn't done.

"You were always in my heart, Gabriella, even if I didn't realise it until now. And I won't deny – it was the fact that the thought of you churned me up inside that started to make me doubt things. But I couldn't lie to Alexis about my feelings...She asked me – she asked me if I still...I couldn't say no, and...My god, Ella, I don't know if it's just seeing you again or if it's real or...I don't know, there's just...something," Troy concluded with a sigh.

Gabriella nodded, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "I feel it," she whispered. "I don't know exactly what it is, but it's...something."

"It wasn't fair on Alexis or I to try and salvage our relationship. It was over before we even realised it. And Jesus, I don't even know why I was like I was last night – if I was doubting the relationship, I should be happy she made a decision for me! Shouldn't I be thankful that she saved me having to end things? I just...I don't..."

"Oh Troy," Gabriella murmured, "You love her – of course it is going to hurt. I'd be questioning you more if you weren't upset about it."

Troy gave a soft laugh. "I should be looking on the bright side – at least we can spend time together without feeling guilty now," he looked at her almost shyly.

Gabriella's heart soared despite her head telling her to take a step back from her feelings. He wanted to spend time with her. But the sensible and practical side of her knew that – whether either of them wanted something to happen between them or not – he needed time. Time to grieve, time to heal, time to figure out what it was, exactly, that he wanted.

"Troy, I...I think you...I think we just need time," she started carefully. "Neither of us knows what the future holds, but..."

Troy nodded. "I don't want to lose you again Ella – as a friend, or as...whatever may be," he clarified quickly. "But you're right – it's going to take time for me to get over Alexis and find my feet again. I don't want to rush into anything right now, I just can't and it wouldn't be fair on...anyone," Gabriella nodded understandingly. "So why don't...Why don't we start over. We'll start over as friends – get to know each other again, and just...just see what the future brings."

Gabriella smiled. It was going to take time for him to heal and she was going to be there for him if he needed her – every step of the way, regardless of what the future held for either of them. She extended her hand across the table suddenly, her eyes sparkling.

"Hi, I'm Gabriella Montez. And you are?"

Troy couldn't help the grin that extended from ear to ear as he took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Troy Bolton. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Well there you go. I managed not to write a cliff hanger! Woop! Let me know what you thought! Just it that shiny review button and make all my dreams come true :p

UP NEXT: It's the re-start of a beautiful friendship.

Until then,

Kylie xox