Chapter 11
Troy and Gabriella walked into the emergency room, and up to the front desk.
"Hi, she's got abdominal pain and she's pregnant."
The receptionist wheeled a wheelchair over and helped Gabriella into it. "How far along are you sweetie?" She said, pushing her towards an exam room.
"2 months." Gabriella finally said.
They got Gabriella up onto the hospital bed, and she pulled out a stethoscope listening to Gabriellas heart beat. Gabriella took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves, but Troy looked white and it worried her.
"Alright, your heart sounds good. I'll get the doctor in here and we'll check on the baby. Sit tight!" She said cheerfully, skipping out beyond the white curtain.
"Not like I have any choice in the matter." Gabriella said, attempting to lighten the mood.
Troy glanced at her and leaned forward, grabbing her hand in his. "Stop it."
"Stop what? Come on Troy, lighten up."
"No. Stop joking about this." He said in a low growl.
"Why are you so serious right now?" She questioned.
"Because Gabriella. Jealous people did this to you because they want what they can't have, do you not see something wrong with that?! I fucking hate not being able to have you safe while you're at my school!" His face was red with anger, and for the first time ever she was actually frightened of him.
"I'll be okay." She said, trying to stop the conversation from getting worse.
"You will, but what about the baby? And what about the next game, or the one after that? I'll be there for the next 3 years, you plan on sticking it out till then?!" he shot back, but she didn't have time to answer because the doctor had walked in.
"Sorry to interrupt guys, I'm doctor Hans. I'll be evaluating you today, can you tell me what happened?" He asked, sliding next to her bed.
Gabriella sighed and knew that this conversation with Troy was long from over. She let go of his hand, and sat her self up higher on the bed.
"I got shoved into a bathroom sink and hit my stomach. It really hurts, and I just wanted to make sure I was okay."
"When was your last doctors appointment?" He asked, getting gloves on.
"I have one next Friday, I'm not sure when my last one was."
"Alright, lay back for me and pull your top up."
Gabriella did as she was told and pulled her navy blue jersey to her chest, exposing her slightly swollen stomach to this complete stranger. She clenched her eyes shut and silently wished her doctor were here and Troy wasn't angry.
The doctor squeezed some jelly on her, and ran the ultrasound machine over her stomach as she winced in pain.
"I'm going to put my headphones on, give me one second I'm just going to listen to the heartbeat and make sure everything is alright."
After a few moments passed her hung the headphones up and wiped her stomach off. "Go ahead and sit up." He jotted down some notes on the paper and dropped his gloves in the trash. "The baby looks good, very healthy heartbeat is strong as well. You have some internal bruising where your buckle was so I'm going to give you an ice pack. Ice on for 10 off for 5 for the evening, and you should be fine. I'll be right back with that." He disappeared behind the curtain, and silence fell upon the young couple once again.
The doctor returned, handing her an icepack. "You're all set. Do you have any questions?" He asked.
She shook her head, "Thank you."
She hopped off the bed, and walked out of the room leaving Troy who was still sitting in the chair. She had always been able to stand up for herself in high school. She was never the one to back down from something, but this was different because it was dangerous to her and the baby. She knew she couldn't just stop going to his games, it wasn't fair on either of them. But without Troy talking to her, she had no idea how to fix it.
He unlocked the car and climbed in, glancing at her as she opened her own door and slid in quietly. He always opened the door for her, and that just made her even more uneasy.
The ride back to his dorm was silent and she dreaded going inside, wishing she could just get in a car and go back to her own bed. This wasn't the first time they fought, but it was different because it made her afraid of him.
He pulled in to the parking lot and cut the engine, pulling his keys out and opening his door. "Get out." He said before slamming his door shut and walking towards the dorm.
She stayed in the car, if they were going to fight it would be out in an empty parking lot not a populated dorm room with an intoxicated roommate.
Not hearing her footsteps behind him he stopped and saw she was still in the truck. He rolled his eyes and headed back, "Get out of the truck Gabriella!" he yelled.
She winced, fear was the only emotion she had right now. She didn't understand why he was so angry, or why he was taking it out on her. She was also scared of being back on campus with the crazy 'troy bolton fan club running around, most likely drunk from their celebration."
"No." She said, tapping her doors lock.
He pulled his keys out and unlocked the truck, sliding back into the drivers side slamming the door.
"You want to sleep in the truck?"
"Whatever." She glanced at her cell phone and took the ice pack off of her stomach, making a mental note to wait 5 minutes.
"Just come up and go to bed." he sighed.
"No." She said flatly to the windshield.
"Why the hell not?!" She winced again as his loud voice bounced off the windshield.
"Because I don't want to go anywhere with you yelling at me. I didn't do anything." She said, trying to appear calm.
Troy bit his lip and looked out his window, shielding his silent tears from her view. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, I was just scared." He was terrified of losing this baby he was getting used to, he was worried about Gabriellas safety and worried about how his life was going to turn out.
"I was scared about the baby too, but getting angry and yelling at me doesn't help the situation." she said.
"It wasn't just the baby. Every time you and I get to a comfortable level where everything is going well something or someone comes along and messes it up. I'm sorry for yelling at you and being a jerk." he sighed, glancing at her. "Please talk to me, I'm sorry."
"We can not fight with each other. We need each other, and I need you to be strong for me." She undid her seat belt and slid over towards him slowly, still afraid to touch him. "When you yelled at me in the hospital, you scared me."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, it just came out like that. I. I don't know. We need to turn Sarah in, I mea-"
"No." Gabriella cut him off, and stretched her legs in front of her. "I don't want to do anything, except be there at your next game wearing my slightly larger t-shirt, with my hair in pigtails and cheer you on like nothing ever happened."
"She won't leave you alone then, you need to set boundaries or-"
"No, I don't want to give her that. I don't want her to know she's getting to me, because then she will be happy about it."
He was always amazed with her ability to overcome any obstacle that came her way in life. This was no exception, because she was being assaulted.
"I don't want you to be there, I don't like worrying about you."
"I don't like worrying about you on the road late at night, or at away games on a bus where the driver could get tired and run off a freeway, or when you fly and I'm not with you, I don't like worrying about you landing safely. Worry is a part of life, and a big part of a relationship. I'll be at your next game Troy, I need you to believe in me like you always have. Can you do that for me?" She asked.
He looked into her coffee brown stained eyes and smiled. "I can do that." He reached out for her hand and watched her flinch at his sudden movement. "God gabby, do I really scare you that bad?" He was mentally kicking himself for letting her see that side of him.
She sat still not moving her hand that he was holding, and it turned clammy at his touch.
"Honestly, yes." she said to the floor.
His heart broke in two and he let go of her hand as he watched the color come back to her face. He scared her, scaring her and hurting her were two things he never wanted to do, and now he'd done both.
"Why did it scare you so much?" He asked.
"I guess because I've never seen you that angry, and you were yelling at me."
"Did you think I would hit you?" He asked, praying the answer was no.
She nodded her head slowly and began nervously picking at her long hair. "I guess."
He scooted closer to her and saw her flinch again, but continued towards her slowly and put an arm around her.
"Gabriella I'm sorry I let you see that side of me, but putting you in the hospital out of pure jealousy is stupid. You are the most important person in my life right now, and when someone hurts you I just...I get pissed off. I promise to watch myself, and not lose my temper, okay?"
She nodded her head, but her body was still stiff under his arm.
He reached across her lap and took her right hand in his left and squeezed it. She smiled a forced smile, and he sighed knowing he needed to fix what he did. He leaned forward and tilted her head to the right giving him perfect access to her neck. He slowly inched towards her and began kissing his way up and down her thin neck.
She swallowed and closed her eyes, enjoying his touch. Something she hadn't had in about a week or so.
His tongue flicked across her skin, but he felt nothing relaxing. It was actually having the opposite effect on him, but he pushed that aside and focused on Gabriella. He cupped her face and kissed his way towards her mouth, feeling her turn her head towards him. He laid his lips over her own and waited for her to return the kiss. It was only a few seconds in reality before she began kissing him back, but to him it felt like an eternity. He also realized in the middle of all this that he hadn't really kissed her in a long time and wondered why she was so calm. He wanted to move things along, but he also wished he could go upstairs, doing this in his old truck wasn't very romantic.
Her hands buried themselves in his hair, and he felt her body relax underneath his own as he silently celebrated this step in the right direction.
Their tongues caressed each others and their hands explored each others bodies, as if they were doing it for the first time. They both knew that it was because it had been so long, and because they had been through so much the last few days.
"TROY!"
They jumped apart, startled from the voice that yelled at them from outside the truck. He glanced at Gabriella who turned white again and tensed up. He cursed whoever it was outside for undoing what he had just done.
"Stay here, okay?" Gabriella nodded and Troy slid out of the truck into the warm air.
"yew gotta hot girl in there huh bolton" Jeffs slurred words made it obvious that he was drunk, and you could smell the alcohol on his breath.
"Hey man, you shouldn't be out here. Campus security is going to get you and kick you off the team." Troy said quietly, trying to calm him down.
"Psh I aint worried bout no team. I've got this. I've got it." He rambled, staggering towards Troy.
Troy groaned, knowing their games would suffer if he got kicked off because he was one of their first strings.
"Jeff, let's get you upstairs quietly okay?" He took a step forward but Jeff took off for the truck instead.
"I wanna see yur purty girly bolton!" He opened the door and Gabriella looked at Troy, but smiled. "Hi purty girl!" Jeff cooed at her.
"Hi Jeff." she said softly.
"You know mah name?"
"Yes, you are Troys room mate." She said, backing away from him.
"Who the hell is you?" he slurred.
"Gabriella."
"Oh hell I know yew! Hi Gabbsterr!" He jumped up in the truck and Troy ran over to get him back out. He knew Jeff, and when he was drunk he liked hitting on girls, and was very aggressive.
"Jeff, buddy how about we head upstairs now? Gabby will come too." he tried.
"Will you sleep wif me gabster? I get so lonely." He ran his hand up her thigh and grabbed her zipper to her jeans. Gabriellas back his the driver side door, and she pushed his hands off as Troy jumped in and began pulling on his legs.
"I want you so bad, come here." He crawled into the truck and put his hands on her stomach.
Troy ran around the side of the truck and opened up his door, putting his arm out to keep her from falling out.
"I'm so sorry! I hate it when he gets like this." Troy said pulling her out of the truck and slamming the door. He pulled out his dorm pass and handed it to her, "Open the door and head on up, I'll grab his. Stay in my room with the door locked, and don't open it unless it's me. Got it?"
She nodded and ran towards the dorm looking around her, slightly paranoid.
About 25 minutes later Gabriella heard a soft knock on the door, "Troy?"
"Yeah" She opened the door and he walked in locking it behind him. He turned around to see her in one of his t shirts and a pair of his boxers. Her hair was brushed out, and her make-up was gone but she never looked more beautiful than she did right then.
"You alright?" she asked, bunching his t shirt up and sitting down on his bed.
"Yeah he fought like hell but he finally passed out. Look, I'm really sorry about what happened earlier."
"Troy, it's okay. I'm a little sensitive right now that's all."
"Gabriella..." he walked towards her and sat down next to her on the bed. "I want you to know that I would never let anything happen to you or the baby. But I need you to trust me, even when your hormones are telling you not to."
She looked at the floor, ashamed that he even needed to tell her that. She knew Troy would never hurt a fly, and knew that he wished he could protect her all the time.
"I know you do."
"Do what?"
She giggled softly, "I was thinking about something and said that instead of answering you. I do trust you Troy, I just need to go with my gut on it. I'm sorry."
He smiled at her and sighed, "It's really late. How bout we go to bed?"
"I don't get the rest of what you started in the truck?" She pouted.
He raised his eyebrow at her and she smiled back at him.
"Ah, well where did you think it was going?" he joked.
"Well it wasn't going to be you and your hand tonight."
His mouth fell open at her bluntness, and he felt his cheeks flush. "Gabriella Montez....I do believe you are being vulgar."
She felt her own cheeks flush, and she looked at the wall in front of them. "It was on the radio while I was getting ready for bed." She said innocently.
Her innocence made a smile creep onto his face. "Catchy is it?"
"Slightly."
"Slightly." He laughed, shaking his head at her. He fell in love with her more every second he spent with her. He put his arm around her and kissed the side of her head, a gesture they were both very fond of. "I love you Gabby."
"I love you too. But you know it's been almost a month since you've touched me."
"Are you serious?"
"Mmmhm. Last time we made love, 8 weeks ago tomorrow. Last make-out was 4 weeks ago in my dorm room, until Joz walked in on us. Everything else has been pretty much kiss and go."
Troy sat thinking about what she had just said. He had been so pre-occupied with the baby, housing, practices, his schoolwork and everything happening back home he hadn't realized his relationship took a backseat.
"Geeze Gabby, I'm really sorry!"
She nodded, knowing he was probably just busy with more important things. After all, isn't having sex what got them into this? "It's fine I guess. Not like it's a necessity to life." She pulled his covers back and climbed between them. She was always fascinated by the way he kept his room, and always made his bed. Jeff gave him hell for it, but she thought it was sexy. "You coming to bed soon?"
"Gabby, don't go to bed like this." He poked her leg through the blanket, and sighed.
"Like what? I'm not mad."
"I know but, I'm sorry. I don't want you to feel neglected or anything."
"Troy. Not having sex won't make me feel neglected. We've only had it twice, not like we did it all the time."
"Do you like it?"
She looked into his cerulean eyes, and blushed a deep shade of crimson. "What?"
"Do. You. Like. It." He tapped her leg between every word.
"How am I supposed to answer that?" she asked, shifting uncomfortably on his bed. This was where they conceived their baby, and she was feeling a little awkward.
"How about honestly?" He said, scooting up towards her.
"I don't feel comfortable right now."
"Gabby, you and I both know that you are not at all shy in bed."
"No, but it makes me uncomfortable talking about it." She said.
Troy straddled her and placed his thumb under her chin, gently pulling her face up so he could look into her eyes. He could often see what she was feeling by what color brown her eyes were.
"Why?"
"It just does. You and I have never talked like this, why start now."
Her eyes showed lust, something he hadn't expected in the middle of this but he pressed the issue and his luck.
"We're adults now, that's why. Why shouldn't we talk about sex? We have it."
She pulled her face out of his gentle grasp and rubbed her head with her hand. "Troy I just feel awkward, I don't know why."
"What makes you squirm more: Talking about sex, or talking about us having sex" He tried, hoping he was getting to the real issue.
She bit her lip and glanced at him quickly before finding a hole in the ceiling very interesting. "Us."
"Why is that?"
"What's with all the questions? Do I have to take a test at the end?" she threw at him, blowing her bangs out of her eyes.
"You are going to give birth to a baby Gabs, you can't be shy around me. I want to know everything about you, your fears, and doubts, your triumphs and losses. I want to know how you feel about me, and having sex with me. Is that a crime?"
"No. This is just happening so fast!! God, it's like I'll start drowning and something will come along and save me. It's usually you, and I mean how long can I depend on you to bail me out of every situation?! It's hardly realistic." She wiped a random tear quickly before it fell, and sniffed.
"Gabriella, you can count on me to be there for you when you need me, and when you don't. I'm nothing without you in my life, and I wouldn't jeopardize what we have for anything in the world."
"Aren't you scared?" She asked, she'd been wondering how he managed to stay so strong about this.
"Of course I am. I'm terrified Gab, terrified. But I know that i've got you right there beside me, and that makes it a little less scary."
She smiled at him and felt her heart soar with love for this man she met so many years ago, at a party she didn't want to be at.
"Troy?"
"yeah?"
She took a deep breath, "I do like it. A lot."
He smiled at her and felt proud, a feeling he was no stranger to but at this particular moment it was very beautiful.
"Me too." He squeezed her legs, and smiled. "You wanna make out?"
"Yeah, but you need to change Bolton. You smell like vomit, it kills the mood." She giggled sweetly, and pushed his bangs out of his eyes.
"Why thank you sweetheart. I'll be right back." he kissed her on the forehead, and headed into the bathroom for a quick shower.
Having never had a serious relationship with anyone before, she wasn't sure what they were all about. But she really felt that sex wasn't a factor in this, and it never would be. Having sex was great, but she connected more with him while they cuddled and talked about life. Kissing him was amazing too, but again she loved the simple things like his kisses on the forehead, hand holding and hugs just because.
Troy suddenly emerged from the bathroom and jumped onto the bed as naked as the day he was born. Gabriellas face turned about as red as it could get and she covered her face with her hands.
"Troy Bolton!"
"Yes?"
"Put clothes on, that isn't good for my health." she joked, if only he knew what that did to her right now.
He chuckled but climbed into bed instead of making his way over to the dresser.
"Nah, you know when you aren't here I sleep naked. When we start living together, you know things are going to be different." He smirked at her from under the blankets, and ran his hand up her thigh.
She shivered at his touch, and her core was hot with lust.
"Troy, you...you can't do this...not now.'
"Why?
"Because you wanted to go to bed, and getting me all turned on isn't going to make me very comfortable."
"Oh, you don't want it to be you and your hand tonight?" he joked.
"n-no" she stammered, as his hand brushed the fabric covering her bottom half.
"How about mine then." It wasn't a question, and it was clear he was determined to do something to her.
He stuck his index finger into Gabriellas mouth, as she sucked on it not really knowing why. He pulled it out and kissed her delicately on the mouth, and re-adverted his attention to her lower half.
Pulling his own boxers off her body, he felt her body tense up. "Relax your body, and open your legs a little bit."
She did as she was told and pulled her heels up to her butt, giving him perfect access. He slid his hand down her stomach and put her in immediate pleasure. She forgot about being pregnant, about the nasty girls at his school, getting housing, managing her schoolwork and a baby. She forgot about her argument with Troy, and her bruised stomach, the drunk roommate that hit on her and her final that was coming up that Thursday. Being with Troy was always like this, even if they were just watching a movie. He always managed to bring her out of the real world for a while, which is what she needed from time to time.
Her toes curled at the intense feelings that were running through her body, as Troy leaned up and kissed her neck.
"Mmn Troy!" She ran her hands through his sandy blonde hair, and pulled his mouth towards hers.
He kissed her gently, losing himself in her sweet taste. He never wanted to be far from her, and at the moment it hit him, he would have to travel a lot of the season and she wouldn't be able to go.
Her body shook as she gasped, clenching her eyes shut once more to stop them from rolling. He pulled his hand out from between her legs and wiped it on the sheets. He got off of her, and laid down next to her pulling the blankets over him. He didn't want to ruin the moment they had just created together, but he couldn't shake the fact that they would have to face time apart.
"Wow...." Gabriella sighed heavily, "You are really talented Troy, have you ever done that before?" She asked.
He simply turned his head to look at her and smirked, "No, but thank you."
She smiled back at him, and grabbed his hand. She circled his palm with her index finger and sighed, "Do you ever feel like perfect is just out of reach?"
"I'm always an inch too short to reach it." he related to that feeling all too well.
She giggled. "Well being this close is good enough for me. I still can't believe we are in college. You know what I miss?"
"Your mom's brownies?" he laughed, rubbing his stomach. "Because I would have to agree with you there."
She giggled, "Yeah, I miss those too. But I miss the snow, remember the lodge we met at? It was so romantic looking and beautiful."
He smiled at the memory of the spotlight finding her in the lodge, and the man who brought them together on that little stage. "Yeah, it was really nice I guess. I was too engrossed in basketball and snowboarding to notice anything else."
"I think I'm going to go to sleep babe, I can't keep my eyes open. I love you." she whispered, closing her eyes.
"I love you too." He said into the darkness, letting his own eyelids get heavy. Tomorrow was a new day, with new challenges and obstacles. One day at a time...
