This chapter is dedicated to Kae because without her this chapter would be really REALLY bad. Well hope ya like it!

Troy ran to Gabriella's house. Troy was drenched from head to toe. Just moments after leaving his house, rain fell from the sky.

Troy started banging on the door. " Gabi, open up I need to talk to you!" he pleaded through the wooden door. "Gabs come on, please, I'm sorry let me make it up to you!" he begged, still banging on the door."Gabriella,come on I'm soaking wet. I'm begging and I might start crying again, please open the door!" he said once more, pressing his ear to the door to hear if there was any movement inside.

Gabriella opened the door so quickly Troy didn't have a chance to get off the door so he fell in the middle of the doorway.

She rolled her eyes. "Please don't tell me you've suddenly 'fallen' for me." she said referring to the fact that he had just fallen on the floor; in her doorway.

"No, I mean yes, I have fallen for you but that's not what I came here to tell you." he said standing up.

Gabriella examined Troy. His t-shirt stuck to his skin showing off his tight abs and muscular arms ; his jeans stiffened from the rain.

"Gabriella , I'm really sorry" Troy said, sincerity evident in his voice, "I really am, I was just mad and disappointed because you wouldn't tell me your secret."

"'Sorry' doesn't cut it Troy," she replied bitterly, " I've been through to much."

"Please, give me another chance , please!" Troy begged. He literally got on his knees and begged.

"Why should I forgive you Troy?" she asked.

"Because you can't give up on us!" he proclaimed.

"Us?" she looked shocked " There is no 'us.' There never was." she said, trying to convince herself as well as Troy.

"What about everything we've been through." Troy reasoned as he stood up, "You can't just forget it."

"There's nothing to remember and there's nothing to forget either," she said, "There are no memories, Troy!"

"Yes there are! We've learned a lot about each other over these past few weeks. I learned that everything that happened was my brother's fault. For years I have been blaming the wrong person." Troy replied, his voice thundering,"I've been blaming you, I thought you were the cause of my brother's death. I learned that you were raped. I was just in a fight with my mom, she told me that she was with him when he died and that the last thing he said was 'Mom, take care of Dylan and Troy and tell Gabi I'm sorry!'"

Gabriella didn't speak so he continued talking.

"I told my mom that saying sorry wasn't good enough because it will never take away your memories of what happened that night. It wont help that you may never be comfortable around guys. Sorry doesn't help that he's dead and I'll never see him again. It also doesn't help you forget all the pain he's caused you. I know why you flinch at my touch, why you don't want to be alone with me and why you didn't want to come with me to his grave. I truly understand and respect that it's all too painful for you, I get it." he said looking at her straight in the eyes.

She looked away. "I don't want to talk about this anymore," Gabriella started walking away, "You know where the door is."

Troy ran and grabbed her arm so she couldn't walk any further.

"No Gabriella if you're not going to talk about it now...when are you?"

"Never!" she bellowed at his face and attempted to break free from his grip.

"Gabriella you can't keep this bottled up inside. Face it, you need to say something." he said still holding on to her arm.

"Fine, you want to talk?" Gabriella yanked herself away from him and looked at him with anger smothered across her face."What about trust? What ever happened to it?"

"I trusted you! I never would of given you a chance but I convinced myself that you were different from your brother so I gave you a chance I trusted you! I trusted you with my life... even with my heart! And how do you repay me? You blow it up in my face!" she screamed at him.

"You know I never wanted to hurt you." Troy said.

"But you did anyway!" she spat, "I've been through so much. I can't keep getting hurt like this, Troy."

"What about me?" He was becoming more and more frustrated.

Gabriella looked at him, tears forming in her eyes.

"You don't think I got hurt too? I just found out that my brother raped you! My brother, my own flesh and blood! Don't you think it makes me feel bad enough that he's part of my family and that he did awful things to you? News flash Gabs, your not the only one with problems and some people are much worse then you, so don't act like you're the only one who needs to worry about anything!" he screamed,"What am I supposed to do?"

His expression seemed to soften.

"What can I do to make you forgive me? I want to have some part in your life whether it's your friend or an acquaintance. But how can I if your not willing to trust me again? You've been hurt. I've been hurt. We've both been hurt, Gabriella, but we can deal with it...together." Troy said with hope in his eyes.

"Why do you care? Why do you insist in being in my life?" she questioned.

"Because I love you!" he yelled with all the courage he could muster.

Gabriella had a shocked expression on her face. "Y-You do?"

"Yes, I do," he sighed, "I've loved you forever! I've loved you since I first set my eyes on you, I thought you were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. When Zac started going out with you I didn't talk to him for a month because I was so jealous. I was so angry at Zac because he got you and...he didn't deserve you. You were too good for him. I'm mad he didn't shower you with gifts and spoil you rotten like you should be." Troy said .

"You were really that jealous?" Gabriella asked, widening her eyes with shock.

"Yes, I mean I acted horribly toward you because I thought you killed him, but I had to resist the urge to just walk up to you and kiss you or comfort you when you're sad. I hate seeing you that way, it breaks my heart. I'd feel sick to my stomach."

Gabriella smiled.

"I love when you are happy. Nothing...nothing can make me feel more content." Troy beamed back at her.

The tears that were coming began to streak down her cheek and for the first time in a long time she could say that they were tears of joy, not sorrow.

"Gabs." he said while looking at her wipe her tears away.

She looked up at him. " I really am sorry, you know that right?" he asked

She nodded. "Please forgive me." he said

She took a deep breath and let out a loud sigh then nodded. " I forgive you Troy, but you have to earn my trust back." she said

Troy smiled at her before kissing her cheek.

Ok, how was it? I thought it was good. Not that my opinion really matters! lol! R&R - Kiki xoxo :)

P.S. - HSM2 comes out tonight:)