"Troy, I can't get out of bed," I half-whimpered the next morning when I awoke to find that Troy was no longer under the covers with me.

"I'm here," Troy soothed, walking into the room. By his wet hair, I guessed that he had taken a shower. "And today's our first day of spring break!"

"Oh! I totally forgot about spring break!" I smiled. "Can you help me get up and take a shower?"

"Of course." Troy lifted me into his arms and carried me into the bathroom, where he sat me on the toilet so I could get myself undressed. He then proceeded to pick me up and cuddle me a little.

"Wildcat, what are you doing?"

"You're beautiful," Troy responded softly, placing a gentle and not in the least bit lustful kiss onto my soft lips before ever so carefully placing me on the floor of the shower.

"Troy, I changed my mind. I want a bath instead since I don't have to rush around to get to school."

Troy picked me up and started filling the tub. "You're so picky," he commented playfully.

"Well, I'm hurt, and I would rather take a bath than a shower because I can't stand up without crutches and yesterday it was irritating to sit down in the shower," I explained, snuggling against my boyfriend's firm chest.

Troy walked over to the bathroom closet, pulled a towel from it, and wrapped me in it.

"What was that for?" I questioned.

"I thought you would want to be covered since we have to wait a few minutes for the tub to fill up," Troy replied.

"Well, as long as you're the only one that's seeing me, I'm fine, but thanks for being so thoughtful. You don't know how sweet I thought that was. Most guys wouldn't do that." I smiled a shy smile.

"You're most welcome. I did it because I love you and I want you to feel comfortable."

"You're the sweetest guy I've ever met."

"Thanks," Troy smiled as he turned off the water and, letting the towel slide off my body, placed me in the bathtub.

With Troy handing me what I needed, I washed up. When I was finished, I decided to relax for a little while and have a chat with Troy. After all, we didn't get alone time too much. It seemed as if our parents or Becky were always hovering around.

"So, do you like East High so far?" Troy wanted to know as he took a seat atop the bathroom counter.

I shrugged. "It's okay, I guess. I mean, lots of the kids are nasty, but the teachers seem nice-well, except for Ms. Darbus of course." I giggled. Ms. Darbus was the drama-obsessed homeroom teacher that Troy and I were both, unfortunately, stuck with.

"Oh, believe me. Nobody likes her," Troy said, rolling his eyes.

I, suddenly getting an idea, splashed Troy with some of the water I was surrounded by.

"What was that for?" Troy questioned. He sounded annoyed, but I could tell he was trying to contain laughter by the smile on his lips that he was trying so hard to destroy.

"I did it because I love you," I answered, giggling.

Troy walked over to me and lifted me into his arms, not caring that I was dripping wet.

I shivered at the cold air that hit my soaking skin. "Troy, I'm freezing!"

"And you're beautiful," Troy told me, kissing my forehead as he pulled me a little away from him and looked me over. "Very beautiful. I can't even describe how beautiful you are."

A deep crimson color washed over my face.

Knock, knock.

"Who is it?" Troy called.

"It's me." I recognized my mother's voice. "What are you two doing in there? It's been a while. Your parents, uncle, aunt, cousin, and I are all waiting to get showers. So please hurry up, and I really hope you're not doing anything you're not supposed to be doing."

"We're not, Mom!" I quickly assured.

Troy drained the water in the tub, helped me dry myself off, then wrapped me in my towel and kissed my forehead before carrying me out the door. Once out there, I hid my face in Troy's chest, thoroughly embarrassed by the fact that my mom and both of Troy's parents were standing out in the hall.

"Gabriella, if you say you weren't doing anything inappropriate, than what took so long?" my mom demanded.

"I decided to take a bath," I started. "And after I washed up, I decided to relax in the tub and talk to Troy."

"And Troy, why are you all wet?" Lucille questioned.

"Gabby splashed me," Troy replied. "And then I lifted her up and was holding her while she was dripping wet."

"Troy! You know you're not supposed to be fingering her up or touching her more than you need to," Jack spoke in a stern voice. "I don't know if you'll be allowed to help her shower anymore if you can't do that."

"Well, if I can't help her, then who will?"

"I would," my mom answered.

"Please, please, please," I begged, on the verge of tears. "Please, Mom. Let Troy keep helping me. I refuse to let you help me unless I can go in the shower in my bathing suit."

"Why?"

"Because I would be too embarrassed." I looked up at Troy and put on my sweetest face. "Wildcat, I want to get dressed. Please take me to your room."

"Alright," Troy acknowledged, placing a kiss onto my nose. He immediately took me into his room, shutting and locking the door behind him.

I burst into tears. "T-Troy, I-I don't t-trust a-anyone but y-you t-to h-help me s-shower."

"I'll do everything I can to get our parents to say I still can," Troy assured, kissing my forehead and handing me one of his t-shirts and a pair of his shorts. "Here; wear these. I know how much you like my clothes."

I dressed in the things Troy gave to me, then, after wiping the tears from my eyes, allowed him to pick me up and carry me out of his room.

"Can I please still help Gabriella?" Troy asked. "She said she doesn't trust anyone but me to do that."

"Well, I don't know. I just noticed you made a huge mess in the bathroom," Lucille began. "The floor's so slippery, it might as well be a water slide. If you can't be careful not to drench everything, I might say 'no.'"

"Sorry," Troy mumbled.

"Sorry," I echoed.

"Please clean that all up, Troy," Jack said.

"Okay. I will," Troy acknowledged.

"And Gabriella, I don't know why you don't want me to help you. I'm your mother! And I was a nurse. You don't think I helped people get in the shower before? And you're that ashamed to have me see you undressed?"

"Mom, it would be incredibly embarrassing. So embarrassing that I don't even know if I would speak to you again if you did that to me. It would be like torture. I haven't even let you see my in my underwear since I was five years old. I only feel comfortable with the person I trust most, which is Troy."

"You trust Troy more than you trust me?" my mom sounded raged.

I nodded.

"I can't believe it! I've lived with you for sixteen years and you don't trust me as much as you trust someone you've known for less than six months?"

"Troy's a wonderful guy. He does everything he can to make me feel comfortable. He doesn't look at me while he hands me what I need, and he keeps me covered as much as possible. Please, Mom. Please let him keep doing it."

"Fine. But if something like this happens again, that's it. This is the second time I've had this discussion with you about being careful, and I can't say I enjoy it too much."

"Same with me, Troy," Lucille agreed. "Now go put Gabriella down so you can clean the bathroom."

...

I know this chapter probably seemed pointless, but since later in the story, as you probably already know, Troy and Gabriella do 'it,' and their parents get angry, so I just want to show how strict they are about that now.