Hey, thanks for the reviews!
Vanilla just wanted to say, Troy doesn't get his braces off, sorry to disappoint you!
Please review my new one shot everyone or I won't post the next chapter lol!
TY
CHAPTER 11
Gabi grabbed her ringing phone, wondering who in the hell would call her before 7am.
"Hi" came Troy's voice, quiet and timid and Gabi frowned, looking between their houses but finding his blinds shut.
"Hi" she said
"I'm sick so I'm not going to school" he said
"What's wrong?" she asked, worried "And you're hiding" she accused.
"I'm sick" he said again "I'm sleeping"
"Oh. Okay. I'll come by later" she said gently, her mind already planning how she could cheer him up
"No!" he said quickly and she frowned "You might catch it" he said then
"I'm still coming" she said, undeterred
"Please don't" he begged
"You can't get rid of me that easily, Troy Bolton" she teased
Troy racked his brain for what he could say to stop her coming. He couldn't let her see him or his secret would be out. He put a hand up to touch his bruised cheek. He couldn't explain that away. And how was he supposed to explain why he hadn't fought back? He didn't even know himself.
"Please don't" he said again, chewing his lip
"You don't want to see me" she said suddenly, remembering how he had brushed her off on Saturday when she had called.
He closed his eyes, thinking about the party, how he had loved having her in his arms, how for those few short minutes he had just been himself and nothing else mattered.
"I …" he began but thought maybe it was best for her to think that. Maybe she could just presume he was being an asshole and it would protect him from being found out. Found out for the useless, weak, wimp that he was.
"It's okay" she said softly and he cringed at her voice "I get it. I'll see you around" she hung up the phone and moved to get showered, her usually happy face marred by a frown as she made her way into school alone.
---
"What's that face for?" Taylor asked as Gabi met her at the gate "You have cheer practice today, you're normally bouncing off the walls" she commented
"Troy. He's sick" she said and Taylor looked to her
"Okaay…"
"He didn't want to see me, when I offered to go round" she said
"Oh. And I thought you two would be snogging like crazy after Friday" she elbowed her with a grin.
Gabi blushed "It was the cupboard. Everyone snogs in the cupboard" she defended
"Mmm-mm. They don't normally go back in for more though" she smiled and Gabi smiled back
"He IS cute. But I don't get it. I thought he didn't like me and he did and now he doesn't…" she threw her hands up confusedly
"You know what we need? Pyjama party. Your house, Friday night"
Gabi nodded "Okay, will you tell Martha?" she asked "And what do I do Tay?" she beseeched her friend
Taylor looked at her, not used to seeing her friend worrying over a boy like this and she kind of liked the concern she showed for Troy and how he had looked so right with her at the party.
"You have to go round and see him." She shrugged easily
Gabi nodded and they headed to class together linking arms.
---
Gabi knocked on Troy's door nervously, wondering if he would let her in and no-one answered for her first two knocks so she went around the back of his house and looked up to his room, wondering if she could climb up onto his balcony. She was athletic but it was an awfully long way up and if she fell, she could get really hurt.
She looked to the tree at the side of the house and figured she could probably make it up to the balcony from the tree, but first taking her cell phone out and dialling his number in the hope he may save her risking life and limb.
He didn't answer so she took a deep breath and began climbing up the tree; a little unsurely at first, but so determined to reach her destination that she climbed all the way up, inelegantly dropping onto his balcony where she took a few breaths and wiped the sweat from her brow. That would look so attractive, turning up covered in sweat, she mused.
She straightened her clothes, wiping off the dirt from her jeans and she knocked tentatively on his French windows, not being able to see in because there were curtains covering them.
She knocked again when there was no response and started panicking that he wasn't in and she would have to climb all the way back down when the curtain shifted as he peeked at her from inside.
Oh shit,Troy panicked as he saw Gabi standing on his balcony, confused by the noise from outside his room and even more shocked to find her standing there. And now he had to grab his sunglasses and shove them on in the hope it would cover at least part of his bruised face.
If Gabi knew the truth about him, he really would be alone.
He opened the French doors and walked away quickly, getting back into bed and covering his body with the blanket
Gabi stepped into the dark room and watched him scurry away, fishing into her bag for her present for him.
She walked over, carrying the rare Batman comic and she stood at the edge of his bed, sitting down when he didn't move.
"I brought you this" she said, showing him the comic, eyeing him worriedly "Are you okay?" she asked
"My eyes hurt" he said and Gabi could tell he was lying. He was hiding something; she just didn't know what.
"Take them off" she said gently, putting the comic down and he looked to her but she couldn't see his eyes behind his shades and she felt fear crawling through the pit of her stomach as she began to realize why he was hiding away.
"I didn't want you here" he said in return and she leaned over to take the glasses off herself but his hand stopped her wrist and she pressed her lips together.
"I'm ok" he said tersely
"Look at me" she demanded gently and her voice was full of such pleading he felt his gut turn over.
"I can't" he said as he curled away from her and she was not deterred like he hoped she might be. He didn't normally have a problem repelling people. Why wouldn't she just go away for god's sake?
She stripped off her jacket and boots and lay on the bed, curling into his back and he flinched as her body made contact with his. She leaned up on her arm, leaning forward to stroke his hair and he tried to fight it but her touch was so comforting.
"Look at me" she said again and he sighed, knowing he couldn't hide from her and that she wasn't going away. But when he showed her his face, his whole life would be over and she'd never look at him the same way again.
He turned in the bed until he was facing her, also leaning on his arm and he slowly peeled off the shades, flicking his blue eyes down; effectively hiding their depths from her as Gabi took in his bruised face.
She reached out to touch his cheek and he moved his head before she could connect with the sore skin there, leaving her brown eyes wide with shock and hurt.
Gabi felt the fear emanate from her tummy around her whole body as her heart pounded heavily, realizing very quickly that this damage was not the work of the bullies from school.
Was his dad hitting him she wondered?
His eyes flicked up to hers then and she saw a mixture of emotions there. Fear, hope, hurt, desperation. She'd never felt such an urge to protect someone as she did right now.
She pulled him into a hug, clutching him to her fiercely, feeling him resist her by tensing up until she began to stroke his hair again and then she felt him go limp, his arms wrapping around her waist as he slowly realized she wasn't going to freak out on him.
She held back her own tears as her throat spasmed painfully but when his arms clutched her to him and she heard him crying, she let her tears slide painfully from her eyes.
His hiccupping sobs practically broke her heart as the whirling feeling of fear continued to eat her up and she didn't know what to do.
She cuddled Troy until he stopped crying and he kind of held her to him as he sniffled and sighed.
"School was boring without you" she offered nervously, wanting to break this awkward, bone crushing silence between them, wanting to hear his voice, his stutter.
"I h-have a game" he said quietly, so quietly she had to strain to hear him and she moved back so she could look him in the face
"Oh?" she whispered
"It's called 'What I like about you'" he said, his blue eyes so wide and soulful she felt like they reached down inside of her and pulled at her heart.
"Okay" she said shakily, baring a ghost of a smile
"I like the way you hold me" he said and Gabi felt some more tears slip down her face as she leaned forward and very gently kissed him on the lips "But I really don't know what you like about me…" he said brokenly.
"I like the way you make me feel" she said, repeating his phrase from last night
"How do I make you feel?" he wondered
She twisted her mouth, wondering what she could say. Friday night had certainly brought their friendship into a whole new dimension but she felt coy about revealing her feelings after knowing him for such a short time.
She considered him, knowing that confiding in him would bring him to trust her. And as his eyes searched hers she knew he wasn't sure that he could right now. He'd clearly never let anyone into his world before.
She'd kind of barged into it without being asked. But now that she was here, she wanted to show him she wasn't just a pretty cheerleader. She was made of stronger stuff.
"You make my skin tingle" she said and he opened his mouth in surprise, flashing his braces at her
Troy frowned, thinking how did it happen? How did it happen that the most beautiful girl in school not only befriended him, but lay before him telling him that he made her skin tingle?
He couldn't think of one thing that he had done to cause her to feel this way.
But she did. And it gave him a little comfort knowing that. But it also panicked him. He liked being friends, he liked the safety of it, he didn't like this minefield that lay before him and he wasn't sure what to say.
"Tell me about your mom" she begged as they lay on the bed facing each other, holding hands up in front of their bodies, their faces close. Gabi's eyes flicked over his face as he thought about his words.
"She died last year. Of a brain haemorrhage. I miss her. I miss her a lot"
"It's awful that she died" Gabi said gently
"When I wanted to start weights, she really encouraged me. She knew I wasn't doing it to use force against anyone, she knew it was my way of staying disciplined."
"You're strong Troy" she said
"I know, right, and you think I'm a wimp for just letting those bullies hit me?" he guessed with anguish, sitting up on the bed and breaking their contact.
"You should go" he said gently and she looked at him
"I don't think that" she said
"Then what do you think? Because that's what I think. I think why I let them do it when I know I could fight back?" he urged in his strained voice.
"I think you're a gentle guy who doesn't want to hurt anyone else, like they are hurting you" she said honestly and he looked to her once more
"You really should go" he said again
"You're coming with me" she said and he blinked at her concern
"I'll be okay" he assured her
Her eyes watched him. "I'm not leaving you"
"You have to. Please" he begged her with his eyes not to make this into a big deal
She felt her heart sink as she was caught between a rock and a hard place. "I'm coming by tomorrow" she promised.
He sank his head into his arms where he sat on the bed. "I can't stop you can I?" he wondered and she shook her head but he didn't see it, he just felt her hand sink back into his hair and he jumped at her hand touching him.
"Gabriella Montez is an unstoppable force" she joked, getting up "But tomorrow, please open the door so I don't have to climb your tree again"
He looked up and nodded, hoping he could trust her to go away and come back again without saying anything to anyone about what she had found out.
"Good bye Troy" she said sadly, leaving his room and making her way out of his house, taking a big gulping breath as the weight of his dilemma hit her full force.