As noted by Anna, smoking is neither big nor clever and as an ex-smoker I can happily state it's the worse thing to take up. So even though Troy makes it seem cool- it's NOT. And please don't shorten your life or risk your health to be like him. Thank you.

Thank you for reviews as always and those of you who really type what you think make me smile!

'the once anonymous 14' – too much sugar- and 'life sux and then u die' – the beast is the one talking- love it ;)

p.s Tenney- holy shit balls- seriously I laughed so hard at that!

If anyone has any story suggestions for me to read let me know!

CHAPTER 11

Even with her hands over her ears and tears streaming from her eyes, forcing them closed in pain, Gabi could still hear Sharpay's announcement and see the thousand looks to her at that moment when everyone realised how Sharpay had screwed her over.

She had felt so beautiful tonight. She had felt like she belonged, like she had a place and that actually, things might be alright. In a matter of seconds, her nemesis had changed all that; irrevocably. She could never go back there now. She could never show her face again.

She didn't even wait for Taylor or look for Troy as she ran, she just made sure she lost herself in the darkness; too ashamed to go home before curfew. How was she meant to tell her dad she got awarded with the Ugliest Beast award? How was he meant to hear that his daughter had been destroyed in front of everyone that way?

She knew they would find her eventually though, and although he was the last person she wanted to see, she was glad it was her dad's car that pulled up by the path next to the woods where she ran for comfort and anonymity.

She heard two doors open and cringed as she imagined Troy there and she hid her face, under her released hair, in her arms as she heard footsteps approach.

"Gabi, honey…" Philip's voice soothed her as he scrambled down beside her.

"Is he here, dad?" She mumbled from her arms.

"Yeah, he told me where to find you…" He answered easily, knowing exactly who she was referring to.

"I can't see him now." She whispered, frightened.

"It's ok, honey, shh, it's okay…" Her dad assured, hugging her as she sobbed out her pain, eventually clinging onto his neck to hug him back.

"Let's get you back to the car…" He suggested, helping her up, throwing his jacket around her to keep her warm. Gabi sensed Troy's presence, stood by the passenger side, his demeanour showing his nerves and worry without him having to say a word.

Gabi avoided his gaze as she climbed in the back and cuddled up on the back seat, still crying and sniffling helplessly as the two men looked at each other.

"If you get in, I'm sure she'll want to talk to you later." Philip offered.

Troy nodded and slid back into the car, throwing a look over his shoulder to Gabi's huddled form, wishing he could comfort her.

Watching her leave the ballroom had been the worst moment of his life and his horror at Sharpay's plan had overwhelmed his normally calm temperament. Luckily for him, more people seemed to be on his side than hers and he wondered if Chad and Taylor hadn't been working hard to change people's opinions of Gabi since they'd been together.

Philip copied his action as he belted up and started the car; checking on Gabi before pulling away. On the way back, he flicked a look to Troy.

"Thank you for coming to me." He expressed now that their panic had calmed.

"I'm sorry for what happened," Troy relented.

"I don't think you can be responsible for that, Troy." Philip assured.

"I said I would take care of her." He blamed himself.

"You did the right thing." Philip repeated.

Troy pressed his lips together and looked into the back seat again, noticing the cries had stopped. By the time they pulled up at the Montez' house, it was obvious Gabi had fallen asleep.

Troy watched as Mr Montez lifted her out and took her to her room, laying her on the bed and tilting his head.

"She's my little girl." He beseeched. "Why do they have to be so cruel?"

Troy realised the older man had tears in his eyes and he stepped up to touch his shoulder.

"She outshines all those other girls. They're jealous of that…" He tried to comfort the man.

"She lost her mom. Can't they see what she went through? Can't they give her a break?" His voice broke too with the word and his body rocked with his unspent sobs and Troy found himself unsure of what to say or do. He didn't have to worry for long because Philip turned and left the room, obviously embarrassed at his outburst.

Troy bit into his upper lip as he watched him go, and then closed the door behind him. He set about removing Gabi's dress to make her comfortable, finding her dressing gown and putting it over her gently, stroking a comforting hand over her shoulder as he did so. He pulled up the duvet and shrugged out of his jacket, ridding his tie and stripping off his shirt so he could relax in his vest and trousers, against her head board.

He watched as she slept, stroked her hair if she fidgeted and constantly blamed himself for the events of the night. He should never have taken her. He should never have put her in that vulnerable situation.

He wondered, as he sat there, if she would ever forgive him. He wondered, even, if she would ever recover.

/

"Troy?" a croaky voice called for him. He awoke groggily and realised he had fallen asleep awkwardly against Gabi's headboard, all crooked and painful.

"Ouch…." He murmured, straightening by slipping down onto the mattress and stretching out. "You okay?" he whispered back.

He squinted in the twilight and her silence told him more than he needed to know. He rolled onto his side and held her, cuddling her into his strong arms.

"I'm sorry, Gabi." He whispered.

/

Gabi chewed on her midnight snack and looked at her two men with big brown eyes, trying to gauge their reactions so that she could say the right things to assure them.

Her father looked exhausted; like he had never predicted having so much to deal with and she felt bad for bringing the stress lines to his face. Troy was more relaxed. Their cuddle while she had slept had been her life-line. If she hadn't woken up in his arms, with the irrevocable evidence that she was loved, then this dinner might have turned out differently. But he had been there. And he had held her while she needed to held. And although they hadn't talked, he understood her silence and didn't try to break it.

"Thanks for the food, Mr. Montez," Troy spoke then. "It was awesome."

"You're welcome." Philip replied, smiling tightly before he checked on Gabriella to make sure she had eaten.

"It was lovely, dad." She added, bringing his gaze to her.

"How are you feeling now?" He wondered, reaching out to cup her upper arm.

She nodded and pressed her lips together, not sure what words could describe how she felt. Mortified? Destroyed? More in love with Troy than ever before?

"Okay." She answered carefully.

"Why don't you and Troy watch some TV for a while?" He suggested.

"Doesn't your dad wonder where you are?" She asked Troy instead.

Troy smiled softly. "He already called. He said it's cool for me to stay."

Gabi looked to her father, wondering if he agreed to this. He nodded and she knew then that he had clicked onto how important Troy was to her and it struck her that although he didn't know how to deal with the fallout of the ball, he somehow knew Troy did and he wanted him around to help.

She kind of gave him silent brownie points for that, thinking he wasn't such a bad dad after all, when he was home to be one.

"Can we watch a DVD?" She appealed to her best friend.

"Sure," Troy nodded, getting up from the dinner table to come over and hold out his hand for her to take. She slipped hers into it and followed him to the lounge, casting a look back on her father before they went in through the door.

"He seems so sad," she sighed.

"Your dad?" Troy checked with lifted brows and she nodded to confirm. "Yeah, it kinda hit him hard."

"That's the worse thing about it…" She mused, frowning a little. "I kind of expect it now, you know? But I didn't want him to know what people thought of me."

"It's what one person thinks, Gabi. No-one else thought what happened was funny or justified." He swore seriously.

"Does she really like you that much?" She asked, trying to make sense of it all, the pain washing over her in burning waves as she remembered the moment over and over, like a bad song she couldn't get out of her head.

"She doesn't even know me. Not like you do. She just wants to be popular." He smirked, sitting on the sofa and pulling Gabi into his lap, curling her into his arms.

"I feel…empty….like my whole heart has been zapped out and there's nothing of me left." She commented with a raw voice, clinging to his top as she snuggled closer.

He held her tightly and winced at her words, not knowing what to say to make her feel better.

"You're always you, Gabi. They can't take that away from you. You might lose your way sometimes but I have faith in you." He assured.

"I'm sorry you saw that Troy. I cringe just thinking about it…" She apologised weakly.

"Hey, don't you for one second apologise for what Sharpay did." He said firmly. "She got her reward- they expelled her for what she did."

"What?" She gasped, looking into his face.

"It's true. She's out. She won't be able to hurt you again."

"I can't believe they did that…Why..?" She was bewildered, trying to imagine a world where Sharpay didn't rule by fear.

"Why? Gabi, what she did to you was horrendous." He argued and he felt her shudder as she remembered it again.

"I didn't expect them to expel her." She said again.

"Well, they did. You'll be safe now." He added tightening his arms a little as he said it, then loosening them again, a soft smile creping across his lips as he brushed her hair from her face. "You don't have to hide anymore."

"Do you know what hurts me the most?" She beseeched with her large eyes, comfortable in his arms while his fingers traced tender lines down her face and hair. He shook his head, indicating for her to continue.

"That our first date was ruined." She explained, "Her words destroyed me. I felt mortified when she did that, but I wanted tonight to be so special…"

He kissed her forehead before he sighed. "You don't know how special every night with you is to me. Every moment."

"Troy…" She rolled her eyes, blushing at his words.

"I mean it, Gabi. My dad is off god knows where, doing god knows what and sure, its nice he can be casual enough to let me stay here tonight. But do you know how much it hurts me deep down that he doesn't even care that I'm not home? He didn't even ask me how tonight went. He didn't ask me anything about you or where we're at or all the normal things dads ask their sons when they're actually interested in their lives. You're the only one who cares about me."

"Your mom cares." She answered, tucking his too-long hair behind his ear affectionately. "Just like me."

He rubbed his lips together and squinted into her eyes. "I wish he did, too."

She changed positions in his lap, getting onto her knees to hug him around the neck, comforting him the same way he had her just moments before.

"Damn!" He swore.

"What? What is it?" She pulled back, concerned.

"Tonight wasn't about me…" He sighed heavily.

"Tonight is about both of us." She said, cupping his face.

"But…"

Her lips came down on his softly, but with purpose and he couldn't deny how good it felt to be kissing her again. He didn't expect it to happen tonight, not after everything else, but here it was.

Tonight was different, he could feel it in his blood as she sank her hands into his hair and wriggled closer, her position in his lap perfect for him to be able to run his hands up her sides and tickle them into her mane of hair.

She touched his neck and shoulders, familiar ground, before letting her hands draw lower to his chest. His hard, unrelenting muscles excited her fingers and brought her breaths sharply in and out, something she wasn't used to as she struggled to breathe.

"You okay?" He checked, bracing her waist which was festooned by her dressing gown.

"I…I'm fine…" She assured breathily, her dark, intrigued eyes fixing on his before they flicked to his mouth and she tilted her head to kiss him again, this time straddling his thighs as her need became greater. The burning ache she felt deep inside, it was foreign, but she liked it and she wanted more as her hands trailed lower still, to his tummy. There, she pulled out his vest and worked it up his torso, meeting his eyes as she had to break the kiss to pull it off completely.

She took her time and slowly peeled the white cotton vest from his body, revealing tanned, taut skin beneath that made her want to kiss him all over. Troy Bolton had the best body, she thought to herself as she paused from her action, feeling frightened now she had bared him.

He smiled at her, his hands dropping from her waist to cover hers that were hooked onto his belt.

"We don't have to do anything," he whispered, assuring her. She took another moment and licked her lips, leaning forward to experimentally kiss him again, letting her hands retake their previous trip over his upper body.

Satisfied that he wouldn't take advantage of her, she leaned back to untie her robe, fighting with it a little before she flung it away, behind her.

"Stupid thing…" she muttered as it went, cross with it having got caught.

Troy chuckled at her, and then stared in silence at her; her amazing, curvy body bared too before him.

"Oh wow," he barely managed a whisper, his eyes darting from her shapely legs wrapped around his, to her rounded hips, up her toned stomach and to her small, perfectly sized breasts.

He let his hands do the talking as they covered every inch, finally cupping her bra- clad breasts.

"Oh god!" She sobbed, both her hands flying up to cover her face.

"Whoa, Gabi…"

"I shouldn't have started this. I should never have…I'm so sorry…I…" Her breaths were fast and panicked and her words did not make sense but he knew she was flipping out and he loved that he knew that about her.

"Hey…hey…" He tried to snap her out of it, gently grasping her arms and hands as she rocked crazily from side to side, still covering her face.

"Stupid, stupid…" She berated herself.

"You are not stupid…" He smiled at this, capturing her into a hug before she could climb out of his lap.

"I can't do this, Troy. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, I thought I could. I wanted to…"

"Would you hush?" He commanded, chuckling at her crazy words.

"I never meant to…" She began again.

"I understand." He interrupted. "You don't have to feel bad or apologise."

"But…but…"

"But what?" He asked softly, moving her hands from her face.

"When…oh god how do I say this?" She wondered.

"Just say it." He insisted.

"When I dated this guy, before the scars; before I met you, if we were making out and I stopped, or felt weird, he said that I was teasing him. He said I couldn't keep stopping. That it's painful for boys you know…" She beseeched, referring to his arousal.

Troy closed his eyes and sighed, wrapping his arms back around her. "That's bullshit."

"It doesn't hurt?" She checked.

He twisted his lips. "Maybe a little. But it goes. It doesn't mean anything if you're not right with it." He added.

"I want to be right with it," she said in a small voice, her eyes sad and regretful.

"Well it's okay if you're not." He repeated. "I promise I'll take care of you, okay?"

"Okay." She nodded, showing her vulnerability and he knew that tonight was not the right time for them.

"Let's get that DVD in before your dad busts us…" He grinned to break the awkward moment.

Gabi smiled back and kissed him on the lips before retrieving her gown, curling up beside him, under his arm that encased her into his side.

Troy Bolton had more than the best body. He had the best heart, too.