Author's Note: I had such a busy weekend that I didn't write this chapter until yesterday. I hope it's not too rushed and you enjoy the very first conversation between Troyella! Please send me reviews - I do appreciate them :D
Chapter Nine
Gabriella was still in shock over what just happened 30 minutes ago. She couldn't believe that Troy had just serenaded her with one of the most romantic songs she could ever think of. It was just too much of a coincidence that Troy's name would be drawn and that specific song was drawn for him at random. She would have to speak to Taylor and Sharpay and investigate the situation further. Nonetheless, she had loved every minute of it. The minute that Troy started singing the beautiful lyrics she knew she was in trouble. She could never get over hearing Troy sing. It was what had brought them together New Years Eve 11 years ago. He always seemed so confident and full of life once he started singing.
When Troy had started singing the chorus to "Far Away" she felt embarrassed at first because it was such an intimate moment and also because it was being displayed in front of all their friends, and especially Lucille and Jack. When he took her hand in his, she had felt the sparks immediately. His touch still made her tremble and the feeling was great. She had felt awful once he finished and wanted a reaction from her. She knew she couldn't at that moment; she was too scared of what she would say or do. Instead, she said good night to everyone and ran from the pool area and straight up to the guest room like the big chicken she was. She felt awful; here Troy was basically confessing that he still loved her and wanted her to hold on to him. It was the grandest gesture that anyone could ever ask for, but she was still confused because back in Boston there was someone waiting for her.
She knew her feelings were conflicted. Seeing Troy again after all these years and he still made her heart flutter and get butterflies in her stomach. But she had been going out with Eric for a year now and that had to mean something, didn't it? If Taylor and Sharpay's observations were correct, she had deliberately ended all her previous relationships after 2 months. With Eric, she didn't want to stop seeing him and wanted to see if things would progress. Now, after a year of dating, she cared for him deeply, but did she love him? She knew she could grow to love him but if someone asked her at this moment if she did, could she say yes? In Gabriella's heart, she knew she couldn't say yes or no to that question. It was up in the air and shouldn't she be fair to Eric after he'd been so patient with her all this time. He told her he loved her. She couldn't just leave him because Troy also told her he loved her – in fact, that he never stopped.
It was true; she had missed him over the years. But maybe Troy was just a chapter in her adolescent life and Eric was her future; part of her adult life. Gabriella groaned as imagined what she just said. One thing was for sure, she was not getting any answers to these big questions in her life tonight or this weekend. Gabriella was just about to change out of her dress when she heard a soft knock at the door.
"Yes?" She asked hesitantly, afraid of who was outside her door.
"Gabs?" Sharpay asked, "Are you okay, sweetie? Tay and I are worried about you."
"Come on in," Gabriella said quietly. She waited as the door opened and her friends came into the room.
Gabriella had no idea that seeing her friends would make her cry and as soon as she saw the concerned looks on their faces, the tears started forming. She walked over and hugged them.
"Gabriella, I am so sorry," Taylor said. "I swear if I knew you'd be upset, I wouln't have helped Troy with his plan. But you have to understand, he sounded so sincere and helpless, I couldn't help it."
Gabriella smiled at Taylor. "It's okay, Tay. I'm not mad at you or Troy – the truth is that I actually enjoyed his performance."
Sharpay's smile widened as she heard her friend's words. "I knew it! I knew that you were vibing with Troy tonight. Hello! Like I haven't noticed the looks you have been passing each other all night."
Gabriella blushed as Sharpay pointed out what she hoped her friends hadn't noticed. "Well, I can't help it. Have you seen the guy?" She joked. "But seriously, when he was singing that song to me, I could tell that he meant everything he was singing."
"Well, what are you going to do about it? I felt so awful when he called for you and you just left him there." Taylor asked.
"I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm just so confused by all of it. I just left Boston earlier this morning and my boyfriend told he loves me the night before. I didn't anticipate that Troy Bolton would also declare his love for me, too. But what I don't get is how he can even say those things to me when he's got a girlfriend. And then to confess his feelings like that in front of his parents, too."
"Had. He had a girlfriend." Taylor told them.
"What? You guys told me he's dating a teacher at the school." Gabriella exclaimed.
"He was. He broke up with her as soon as he heard you were going to be in Albuquerque. The guys just told him last night you'd be here."
"Now I feel awful."
Sharpay sighed. "Gabriella, Troy broke up with someone he wasn't even close to being in love with. He was so happy to hear that you were attending the reunion that he was honest about his feelings. You shouldn't feel bad at all, you should be happy."
"I guess I do feel kind of happy."
"Exactly." Taylor said. "Gabriella, that man is still unbelievably in love with you. He's never stopped. He told me so himself tonight. He has missed you for so long now – and we both know you've missed him too."
"I know I've missed him. And I think part of me will always love him, but I'm not sure if I can just leave Eric because of it. I can't do that to Eric. It's not fair."
Sharpay put an arm around her friend, "I know this is not what you want to hear, but maybe this weekend you have to find out what your heart really wants."
Gabriella shrugged, "I don't think a weekend is going to help me find an answer."
"Well, then, it's a start. What do you want to do at this very moment?" Sharpay asked her with a serious expression on her face.
"Um, go to sleep?" Gabriella suggested.
"No, besides that. What is it that you've wanted to do all evening? Come on, Gabs, don't make us say it." Sharpay urged.
Gabriella sighed and looked at her two friends. "Talk to Troy," she said quietly.
Taylor squeezed her hand. "And that my dear is what you are going to do."
"I know," Gabriella nodded. "Tomorrow before the reunion, I promise I'll talk to him."
"Forget before the reunion. Honey, you have to talk to him tonight. As soon as possible." Sharpay told her.
"What? That's crazy. It's practically midnight. Troy can't possibly still be here, is he?"
"No, Troy and Chad left a little bit after you came up here." Taylor said.
"Then how am I supposed to talk to him? I'm not going to call him."
Sharpay smiled over at her. "You're going to go to him."
"What?" Gabriella exclaimed. "That is an absurd idea! I'm not going over to his house at this time. Are you both crazy?"
"Gabriella, you need to talk to Troy as soon as possible. He just sang to you – you can't wait till the next day to talk about it. You need to find out what else he wants to say." Sharpay urged her again.
"I know you both care a lot about me and Troy. But, aren't you just pushing me a little bit too much to see him?"
"Only because we care. If you don't do this tonight, we're afraid you won't. You can't let this moment pass. You have to go to him." Taylor said encouragingly.
"Well, what am I going to say?"
"We can't tell you that. I'm sure you'll know as soon as you see him." Sharpay said softly, giving Gabriella's shoulder a squeeze.
Gabriella thought over what her friends just said. She knew they were right. She couldn't let too much time pass between what just happened. She needed answers and she needed them tonight. "Alright, I'm going to go over to Troy's."
"That's our girl!" Taylor exclaimed. "You can take my rental car. I already programmed his address into the GPS tracker."
Gabriella giggled at her friend's action. "I guess I really had no choice in the matter. One way or the other, you were going to get me there."
"Exactly." They both said in unison.
Gabriella laughed and hugged her friends. "Wish me luck," she said, as she grabbed her purse and Taylor's keys to her rental car and headed out towards it. As she got into the front seat of the car, she leaned her head against the steering wheel. "You can do this, Gabi," she said to herself. "It's just Troy, you've known him for a long time. All you need to do is go over there and ask him what he wants. It should be easy enough." She groaned as she started the car and began following the directions of the GPS. She knew in her heart that the situation was far from easy.
Troy was relieved to be alone at last. He and Chad had shot some hoops for an hour after they got back to his house. He had taken a quick shower and thought he would be ready for bed, but as soon as he laid his head on the pillow, he was wide awake. He couldn't get the image of the night's events out of his head. He was still a little shocked by Gabriella's response to his performance. No matter what Chad said, Brie blew him off. Troy wasn't sure if he should be upset by this or if he should just give Gabriella some time to think about things before he approached her again. This weekend was his only chance to show her that he still wanted to be in her life. He just had to convince her.
Tomorrow night was probably his best chance. Maybe he would get her alone before the reunion and they could have a long talk somewhere. Perhaps on the school's rooftop. The thought brought a smile to Troy's face. He and Gabriella had shared some great moments on the school's roof. It was one of his secret hiding places and she was the only girl that he'd ever brought up there. Even now that he was back at East High teaching, he would think about going up there, but he knew it wasn't the same without her. Maybe tomorrow night he could take her up there and tell her in his words, not Nickelback's, how he felt.
Thinking about the song again, Troy couldn't hold back his smile. He knew he had performed the song as best as he could. He also knew that no matter how hard Gabriella tried to keep her emotions hidden, he could tell that she had enjoyed his performance. If only he could tell how she really felt. When he had called out her name, she gave him the most generic response ever. She was so nonchalant about it. Maybe Chad was right, maybe it was too overwhelming for her at the moment. He just thought that she would've swoon or something. Didn't women like guys to serenade them?
Troy stared up at the ceiling wishing that he could close his eyes and fall asleep, that way tomorrow would be here sooner. Just then he heard the doorbell. Troy looked at the clock on his nightstand. It was almost 12:20 in the morning. Maybe Chad forgot something. Troy grabbed his robe and made his way down the stairs to the front door. He looked through the peep hole and was shocked at the sight of Gabriella on his door steps.
Troy opened the door. "Gabriella," he said, "this is a surprise."
Gabriella felt foolish for standing on his door step at such a late hour. "Hi Troy, I'm sorry for coming by this late. I just couldn't go to sleep and I was hoping we could talk."
"No, come on in. To be honest, I couldn't sleep either." Troy led Gabriella into his foyer and he shut the door. He led her to the living room. "Can I get you anything? Water? Juice? Wine?"
Gabriella thought for a moment. Maybe a little alcohol would help her nerves. "I'll have a glass of wine. But not too much since I still have to drive myself back to Sharpay's."
"Let's see, I have a nice pinot that I just opened. It's a 2004 Sonnet." Troy offered.
Gabriella smiled. "That sounds wonderful. Thanks." Troy left Gabriella as he made his way to the kitchen. This gave Gabriella a chance to look around his home for a few minutes. Troy's house was just like him – comfortable, modern, and welcoming. The walls of his living room were painted light blue. He decorated his walls with photos of his time with the Celtics; he even had his jersey framed. He also had pictures of his parents on the wall and ones of him, Chad, Jason, and Zeke. She walked over to the entertainment area and admired his flatscreen TV, his 5-disc DVD player, surround sound speakers, and his collection of DVDs.
"Like what you see?" Troy asked as he came back into the living room with two glasses of wine.
"Just checking your DVDs. You have quite the collection here. A little bit of everything."
Troy shrugged. "I like variety. I just have to have something from every genre for whatever mood I'm in."
Just then one of the DVDs caught her attention. It was sitting out on top of the DVD player. "Oh my God. I love this movie!" She grabbed the cover and flashed it at Troy.
He smiled as he recognized it. "Yes, that's a classic."
"Remember when we would watch it over and over. I swear, I could never ever get sick of watching that movie. I still watch it whenever I get the chance."
"Same here." The truth was Troy watched the movie simply to remember that it was one of Gabriella's favorites. She loved "There's Something About Mary" and they had watched it together her first summer in Albuquerque. They had quoted the lines over and over. This was one of the reasons why he loved Gabriella – she had a great sense of humor.
Gabriella took a sip of the wine and put the DVD back on top of the player. "Wow, this pinot is delicious. Good choice."
"Thanks. It's from a Santa Cruz winery. They make several Sonnets from different regions, but the Saint Lucia Highlands one is the best."
"It's so balanced. It's quite nice."
"Thanks. So, should we sit on the couch?" Troy gestured to his big comfy couch.
"Sure," Gabriella said quietly. So far she felt comfortable with Troy. They hadn't had any awkward lulls in their conversation. She felt like they could have a really good conversation. As Gabriella sat down on one end, Troy sat down at the other. She turned to face him, "Okay Troy. First, I want you to know that I'm really happy to see you. I think too much time has gone by."
"I couldn't agree more. It's really good to see you, too, Brie. I mean it." Troy was looking at Gabriella with the same look he always gave her.
"Here's the other thing, about tonight, I'm sorry if I gave you the brush-off after your performance. You have to understand, I was completely caught off-guard by it all."
"I understand. I guess I overdid it."
Gabriella looked Troy in the eyes. "You didn't overdo anything. I loved your performance. I really did."
"Well, I'm glad you liked it." She noticed that Troy was starting to blush. "Um, it really wasn't random that Taylor picked the song out." He said sheepishly.
"I know. Taylor told me your little plan. I guess the thing I want to talk to you about is all of this."
"What do you want to know, Brie." He said softly, more of a statement then a question.
"I mean those words in the song, what are you trying to say?" Gabriella looked at Troy's face again. She wanted him to really know that she was there listening to him.
"Brie, I was going to say all of this to you tomorrow, well, technically it is Saturday, and so I'm just going to say it now." Troy put his glass of wine down on the coffee table. He scooted a few inches closer to Gabriella.
Gabriella felt the heat of his body close to hers and it made her nervous. She took another sip of her wine, this time gulping a little more than she should. Troy was giving her the look again. "Okay, Troy, what is it you're going to say?" She said with a whisper.
Troy took her hand in his. He felt Gabriella flinch. "I'm sorry. Can I hold your hand while I tell you this?" Gabriella didn't say anything, but nod her head. Troy gave a small cough. All of a sudden he felt very nervous. Then he looked into her brown eyes. "Gabriella," he started. "Brie, I love you. I never stopped loving you. The biggest mistake I ever made was walking out of your dorm room and not fighting you to stay together. You don't know how hard it was for me to not have you in my life. After every good or bad thing that happened to me, you were the only person I wanted to share it with. I hate that we let so many years go by without speaking. Now that you're back in Albuquerque, I'm not letting you go that easily ever again. I miss you. I miss everything about you."
Gabriella could feel her eyes getting watery. Now she knew she wasn't ready to hear any of it. As much as she wanted to tell Troy how she felt, Gabriella couldn't. She still had Eric to think about. She really didn't know what to say and she felt awful.
"Gabriella?" Troy asked, looking at her with confusion. "What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry Troy, I thought I would be okay with hearing what you would say, but I'm now more confused than ever."
"Oh, yeah," Troy said sadly, "you have a boyfriend."
She nodded. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have come here. I really do appreciate what you told me. I do. It's just that I can't say anything to you right now because I have to figure it all out on my own. Please just give me some time."
Troy slowly nodded. "I know, Brie. I'm just glad that we are talking. At least I've put my words and heart out there. Now I'll be patient and wait for you."
Gabriella leaned over and gave Troy a hug. "Why do you always have to say the nicest things whenever I can't be nice back?"
"It's just who I am, Brie. And you are nice. I'm a big boy, I can handle it."
Gabriella leaned back and looked at him. "It is really good to see you again, Bolton."
Troy smiled at her. "It's good to see you, too, Montez." And then without thinking, Troy leaned over and kissed her. It was such a wonderful feeling. He ran a hand through her hair and deepened the kiss. Just as he was really getting into it, he felt Gabriella push him away.
"I'm sorry, Troy," she cried, as she got up and started heading towards the front door. "I have to go." And with one more look at him, Gabriella stepped out of his house.
Troy hung his head and made his way to lock the door. "Damn it," he muttered. It had felt so right kissing her. He knew she was into it, too. Troy took the wine glasses from the coffee table and brought them back to the kitchen. He was rinsing the glasses out, when there was a small knock at the door.
He opened the door to find Gabriella standing there again. Before he could say anything, Gabriella threw her arms around him and gave him a long kiss that took his breath away. As she leaned her head back, she whispered, "I've missed you, too, Wildcat." Then she reached up and brought his head down to hers so that she could kiss him again. This time, she wasn't going to let anything change her mind. She was going to go with what her feelings were telling her. And they were telling her she needed Troy Bolton.