Do You Remember? Chapter 11

Troy was not looking forward to tonight; he had to go to his parents' house for a family dinner. But that wasn't the worst part, it wasn't just his parents and him, it was his extended family including his little cousins. He loved his cousins a lot, don't get him wrong, but when all of them run up and pounce on him at once, that's when it started to get old. All of them look up to Troy as a God-like figure, they all do everything that he does, and want to be just like him since he is the oldest Bolton cousin. All of it together gets a little overwhelming, but this time it was worse because he felt like his world was crumbling quickly beneath his feet.

He sighed as he pulled on his dark wash denim jeans and buttoned them. He grabbed the towel off of the bed and rubbed it in his hair to try and dry it out from his shower. He then threw the towel back on the bed and walked over to the closet to pull out a shirt, which ended up being a plain white V-neck tee. Troy walked down the stairs to the kitchen and picked up his keys and his wallet from the counter and a can of red bull before heading out the door and climbing in his car. He had practically been living on red bull because of the lack of sleep. It almost felt as if he didn't have a purpose, he was just going through the motions without heading in a certain direction and he wasn't making any progress.

After arriving at his parents' house, he braced himself at the door, waiting to be attacked by seven pairs of tiny hands. There were three girls and four boys, and they were all under the age of eight. He took a deep breathe and plastered a fake smile onto his lips before pressing the doorbell. As soon as the ring echoed through the house, he heard the screaming of the children 'Troy!'… 'Troy is here!'… 'get him!' Apparently, Troy was the only one that hadn't made an appearance at the party yet. His mother opened the door and all the little kids rushed out the door and grabbed onto his legs before he even took a step into the house. "Hey guys… Do you want to let me in the house?" he laughed a little and placed his hands on the top of their heads lovingly. They all smiled up at him and grabbed his hands to pull him in the house so that he could spend hours upon hours playing with them.

Just Great.

"Troy honey, come in the kitchen." He heard his mother call as he finally got away from the children and sat down. He sighed and pulled himself back up and walked towards the kitchen. He entered and all of the older ladies of the family were sitting in there socializing with each other. "Could you give us a hand with setting up the table for dinner?" his mother asked as she pulled on the oven mitts to take the dinner out of the oven.

"Yeah I guess." Troy answered and started to walk towards the china closet with all of the fancy dishes that they used when there were people over. He grabbed the plates and a couple of the glasses and walked into the dining room. When he set the plates in a stack on the table, one of the younger girls came in, her name was Andrea and she was five. "Hey baby." Troy said and squatted down so that he was somewhat eye level with her. "What's the matter sweetie?" he asked as he saw that she wasn't her normal happy self.

"Eric won't play with me." Eric was her brother, and he was three years older than her. "He's to busy with the other boys playing cars." She looked down at the ground. Troy new that he had to find something for her to do so that she didn't start crying and that took her mind off of her brother.

"Well, how about you help me set the table for Aunt Lucille. And as a bonus, you can sit with me at dinner." A huge smile grew on her face as she nodded enthusiastically at her older cousin. Troy laughed a little and grabbed a plate off of the table. "Alright, put both hands out." She did as he said and stuck both arms out. "I want you to carry the plate with both hands as tight as you can so that you don't drop it." She nodded her head and grabbed onto the plate with both hands tightly. "Now, put one of these plates at each chair okay."

"yep." She giggled and made her way to the first chair. Troy smiled as he saw her struggle to reach the table because she was so small. He walked over to her and picked her up under her arms so that she could reach the top of the table. She smiled and placed it down softly on the table. "Troy?"

"Yeah munchkin…" he said and turned her around in his arms so that she was looking at him. She scrunched her eyes brows together and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Where's Gabi?" Andrea asked and clasped her hands behind his neck so she didn't fall backwards. Leave it up to the little child to bring up something that even the adults didn't have the courage to. Troy closed his eyes and took a deep breathe so that he wouldn't break.

"She couldn't come today Andrea. But she told me to tell you that she loves all of you and that she wishes that she could be here. I wish she was here too Princess." Troy said and smiled a little down at the young girl wearing a light purple dress.

"Okay dokay Troy." She was so carefree and innocent, Troy wished that life continued to stay that way for her when she grew up, but from experience, he knew that it probably wouldn't. Troy kissed her lightly on the forehead before setting her down on the ground. She skipped over to the stack of plates and got another one, holding it tight with both hands. He smiled and walked into the kitchen to get the silverware. He returned to find that all the plates were in their places.

"Andrea." He said and she ran over to him. "Here, hold these and give me one when I ask alright."

"Okay." She said cheerfully and took the spoons from Troy's hands into her much smaller ones.

"Alright baby, I need one." Troy said and smiled at her. She pulled one out and handed it to Troy. He took it and looked at the place setting in front of him. He couldn't remember what side the spoon went on. Gabriella was always the one to put the silverware in their places at these family gatherings. He closed his eyes and tried to remember what she tells him every single time that they set the table together, but all he could picture was her smiling face.

"Twroy, what you doing?" Andrea asked and looked up at her favorite cousin with confused eyes. Troy just smiled and guessed what side they went on, hoping that he was right. The two of them finished setting the table, and Andrea went back to play with her brother Eric and the other younger Bolton cousins. Troy on the other hand just wanted to get away from everything. He snuck out the back door to the basketball court, his place to think.

He picked up the ball lying on the ground and ran his hand over the bumpy surface. The familiar feel of being in control washed over him. He knew that as long as the ball was in his hands, it would be safe. He liked being in control. He dribbled the ball twice on the ground and jumped to take a shot. He made it, that was the first shot that he had made since the accident. He got his rebound, and shot again. To his surprise it went in again.

An hour later, Troy's father walked out onto the court and crossed his arms across his large chest. "Troy, what are you doing out here son?" he asked while taking slow steps towards his son. "There is a party going on and you shouldn't be out here."

"I just needed to clear my head." Troy said and threw up another shot, this one bouncing off of the rim. "There's a lot going on right now, and I couldn't handle being around all the people." Troy said and walked to pick up the ball that was lying still on the ground.

"You need to forget about her Troy, you're just wasting your time. Gabriella is not going to remember, she forgot about you so just walk away." Troy dropped the ball that was in his hands and looked at his father with pure disgust. He couldn't believe that that had just come out of his father's mouth.

"Wh…what did you just say?" Troy said in disbelief. His own flesh and blood was turning against him.

"You heard me Troy, you need to forget about your past and focus on the future." Jack said firmly and without hesitation.

"Dad, Gabriella is my past, my present, and my future. None of it works without her. How the hell could you say that I need to leave her behind?" Troy's anger was rising inside of him, and there was no stopping it.

"Watch your mouth Troy, I'm just saying that you need to look at all the options here. You can't let a little crush stop your whole world." That was it, in his many years of knowing his father; never in any of them did Troy think that he would turn that quickly. He loved Gabriella as a daughter since the first time that Troy brought her over, and now he I saying leave her behind? Troy didn't understand.

"What the fuck are you talking about? This is not a crush dad; I've loved her since the moment that I saw her. We've been having sex since we won the championship my junior year. I can't see myself with anyone but her. Every time that I close my eyes, her face is smiling back at me." Troy was outraged at his father. How could someone that has seen how happy Gabriella makes him suddenly tell him to leave her behind?

"Troy, I know what's best for you, I'm your father!" Jack Bolton almost screamed at his son who was shaking his head no very slowly.

"Correction, you were my father, now I want nothing to do with you." Troy said and walked back into the house to find his mother. He went into the kitchen and spotted her. "Mom, I need to go… I can't be here anymore." He said and turned to walk out the front door.

"Troy, what's wrong honey?" Lucille asked as she ran out the door after him.

"Your husband is a dick and I can't be around him. I'm sorry." He slammed the car door shut after he got in and brought the engine to life. He backed out of the driveway and sped off in no general direction, leaving his mother speechless on the front lawn. Without anywhere particular to go, Troy just went... he made a turn if he felt like it and went straight when he didn't. Little did he know, he was taking the pathway to Gabriella's house that was programmed into his head. Before he knew it he was parked outside their back yard and leaning his head back in the driver's seat with the windows down.

He just sat there and thought about what he was going to do now. He had tried everything that he could think of to get Gabriella to remember, and then to get her out of his head so he could be happy for a little while before returning to reality. That failed miserably, everywhere that he looked, she was there.

One more kiss could be the best thing
But one more lie could be the worst
And all these thoughts are never resting
And you're not something I deserve

Oh great, now he was hearing her singing. It's final, he was going insane. He just couldn't get her out of his head. But god did she have a perfect voice. He closed his eyes and listened to her.

In my head there's only you now
This world falls on me
In this world there's real and make believe
And this seems real to me

His eyes opened as the voice didn't seem to fade; in fact it seemed to get stronger. He looked up towards her balcony, and sure enough, she was sitting on the wood of the deck with her i-pod in listening to music and singing along like she did when they were younger. He watched as her eyes were closed and she wasn't holding back. Troy opened his door and got out, standing with the car between him and Gabriella. He leaned his forearms on the top of the car and studied her hoodie and boxer clad body, she was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen.

He didn't know what compelled him to do so, but before he knew it, he was walking into their backyard and standing at the base of the tree, the pathway to her balcony for him. He listened as her voice continued to carry the song with perfect pitch, and began to climb the tree like he did so many other times before that night.

You love me but you don't know who I am
I'm torn between this life I lead and where I stand
And you love me but you don't know who I am
So let me go
Let me go

He reached her balcony and put his foot on her railing and jumped onto the wood of the porch. Her eyes opened quickly and she looked at him scared. She pulled the headphones out of her ears and stared blankly at him. "Wh… what are you doing here?" she said and placed the i-pod in her hoodie pocket.

"Don't you think that I should be the one singing that song?" he asked and knelt down in front of her. She wasn't pushing him away yet, she seemed to relax in his presence.

"Why?" She asked and pulled her legs up to her chest. She bit her plump bottom lip and her eyes twinkled as she looked at Troy straight in the eyes. He closed his and took a deep breathe before singing back to her while holding a heated stare between them.

You love me but you don't know who I am
I'm torn between this life I lead and where I stand
And you love me but you don't know who I am
So let me go
Let me go

Tears formed in her eyes and fell down her cheeks slowly. Hs voice was perfectly in tune, and it felt to her that he was singing about more than just the words. There was so much emotion that he was holding back, scared to let her see what he was really feeling. But when singing, he poured every last drop of feeling into her through his eyes.

Those blue eyes.

"Gabi, I just want to talk with you." He said softly and she looked back into his powerful gaze. " Please… I can't do this anymore, I'm falling apart." He closed his eyes again and whispered softly repeating the lyrics to the song. "And no matter how hard I try/ I can't escape these things inside I know/ I know/ When all the pieces fall apart/ You will be the only one who knows."

"Okay" she nodded her head slowly and he sighed in relief. He sat beside her and leaned his head back against the side of the house swallowing back the tears. She hesitantly placed her hand on his jean clad thigh and rubbed her thumb in small circles. His eyes opened and connected with her deep brown ones.

He could tell by the way that she was looking at him that she wanted to know. She was confused and was seeking a route to known ground. She was lost and wanted to be found, but it might take some time for her to accept it.

"Troy, what's wrong? Tell me…" her voice shook a little as she spoke, making herself vulnerable to him. Her hand was still resting on his thigh, burning his skin from the contact. He wanted to touch her body, skin to skin but would have to hold back so he didn't scare her.

"My dad's an ass, my mom's in denial, and my whole family is fucking against me." He said and looked straight ahead into the tree that he had climbed up. Gabriella moved slightly closer to him, and squeezed his thigh with her hand comfortingly. Troy inhaled and his nose filled with her sweet scent. It was called "Pink Ice" by Rue21. He had picked it out for her about a year ago, because he could.

"Troy, it's gonna be okay." He looked at her and noticed for the first time that she was wearing one of his old basketball hoodies. It was one that he thought he lost but found out that she had stolen it from him about two weeks after. Troy had just let her keep it after he found out. He smiled and nodded a little.

"Yeah, I think it is." They sat in a comfortable silence for awhile, and before long, she had fallen asleep. He picked her up bridal style and laid her on her bed softly and covered her before exiting her room through the balcony doors, and going down the tree. He got in his car and drove towards his house. Little did he know, her mother had seen him leave, and smiled that her daughter was letting him in. This is what she wanted from the beginning.

LINE!

Gabriella woke up in her bed, not remembering how she got there. She propped herself up on her elbows and looked around with tired eyes. She knew that she and Troy sat on her balcony and talked last night, but she couldn't remember going to bed. She sat up and stretched her arms above her head, and yawned.

She swung her legs over the side of her bed and was going to go to the bathroom, but heard voices coming from downstairs. She opened her door and stood at the top of the steps where she could see the back of someone and her mother talking in the kitchen. Gabriella stood there and listened to the conversation.

"The doctor said that there still aren't really any improvements, but maybe we just haven't found that one thing yet." Her mother said and sat down at the counter.

"Yeah…" The other person said and she realized right away that it was Troy. She looked down at herself and realized that she looked awful. She turned back towards her room, but decided that she didn't want to miss the conversation, so she stayed. "She let me sit and talk with her last night." Troy said and her mother smiled. Maybe Troy was the one that put her in her bed…

"Yeah I know…" answered her mother with a slight smirk on her face. "I saw you leaving last night. You always preferred to get to her room through the balcony even when you two were just friends." Troy put his hand on the back of his neck and rubbed it nervously.

"Uh, yeah." He faked a laugh and put his hand back in front of him on the counter. Gabriella couldn't help but smile at this. She could almost bet that he was blushing. Wait, why was she smiling? Why did she want to hear what they were talking about?

"I think that she has a feeling that she knows you, and that there was something between you two, but she's scared to admit it." Her mother said and Gabriella scrunched her eyebrows together. She didn't think that, or at least she didn't realize that she did. She finally left the hallway and went back and sat on her bed, falling back into the soft mattress. She had a lot of thinking to do.

Line!

Troy went home that night after walking around the city for awhile and changed into a pair of black, red, and white plaid pajama pants and no shirt on. He was watching reruns on Fresh Prince, but not really paying attention. The clock was going extra slow that night. It was only 9:40, and there was no way that he would be able to fall asleep before midnight. The seconds were passing like minutes and the minutes were passing like hours. He couldn't stop thinking about a certain brunette and it was driving him crazy.

Ring…

Troy looked up and sighed. Someone was at the door, which would involve him getting up and answering the door. It was probably Chad or Sharpay coming to make him feel better. He pushed himself up and walked towards the entrance to the house. He unlocked it and opened the door without looking through the peep hole…

"Oh my God…" Troy stood shocked, frozen in place.

Can you guess who it is? Haha… there is really nothing I can say that would make any of you hate me less for making you wait so long. This is literally he first time that I have had time to write anything, but I should have made more time much much sooner to write this. I might go back and touch it up later, because I haven't read over it entirely yet.

Let me know what you think even if you absolutely hate it…

Oh, and this story was nominated for best tragedy by "The Wildcat Story Awards". So I think that you guys should go and vote for me :)

Love you all and please comment!

Song: "Let Me Go" by 3 Doors Down