Chapter 11

"We're going home." Gabriella's voice sounded.

"What's going on?" Troy looked over to Sharpay who helped Gabriella organize the Princess's belongings. Confused, he stood by the doorframe of the bedroom as he looked at his wife and assistant.

Sharpay was silent. She glanced back at Troy when he looked over at her for an answer. But there was no answer from either woman. Gabriella was busy packing the last bit of her clothes while Sharpay helped. Invisible was what Troy felt like at the moment. He was standing there, confused.

He fell asleep to Gabriella's head snuggled comfortably against his chest but woke up to Gabriella and Sharpay packing everything in a suitcase while he watched in confusion. Their honeymoon wasn't supposed to end until this weekend, he had plans for them to shop for souvenirs and tour the city later on in the day. However, all his plans seemed to have slipped into oblivion the moment Gabriella announced she was going home.

To top it all off, there was a look of fear of Sharpay's face. She usually had a smile on her face and was always happy to serve the royal couple. But today, she had neither a smile nor a frown on her face. After packing the last item into her suitcase, Sharpay automatically zipped the suitcase and set it on the ground.

Gabriella was also silent. Her stale expression seemed unfazed by anything Troy had said. There was an almost indescribable tension between the three of them. Troy's expression was actually painful for Sharpay to watch. She so badly wanted to say something and break this awkward tension but what could she do as an assistant? Listen to who you were serving of course, and that would be Princess Gabriella Montez Bolton, who was as silent as ever.

"Gabs?" Troy asked one more time and was ignored one more time.

Ignoring him once again, Gabriella walked towards the bathroom and shut the door behind her, leaving Sharpay and Troy in the room alone.

"Sharpay, what's going on? Why does Gabriella want to go home all of a sudden?" He walked over to stand next to the blonde. "Please talk to me."

"I don't know... your highness. She called me in early in the morning and said we needed to pack. She barely talked to me this morning, she barely even looked at me." Sharpay walked around the room to check for any objects the princess had left behind. She genuinely felt bad for the Princess. She felt bad she always had to deal with the pressures of being Crown Princess but at the same time she couldn't help but feel a bit of envy. The Princess was usually nice to her so she really was fond of Gabriella as her boss. Her previous job as an assistant manager at a four star hotel sounded really cool but truth be told, she was just constantly surrounded by lazy employees and tedious paperwork behind a desk.

Although being a personal assistant sounded like a downgrade, the pay was higher, benefits were better, and her job was overall more adventurous. But there was a tiny part of her that always wondered what it would be like if she became the Crown Princess herself. Troy even said if they hadn't broken up, he would have proposed. What if she was the Princess of Canovia? Would Troy be happier? Would she be happier knowing she ended up with the man she loved the most in her entire life instead of working for his wife?

"I'm going to call Chad and get him to pack all my stuff in super speed. I'm not letting her go back alone." He looked around the room to start organizing his clothes as he held his phone up to his ear. Whatever the issue may be, he was determined to find out.

She was in the limo again. But this time she wasn't traveling in the limo with Sharpay but with Troy. She usually traveled around in a limo from event to event with Sharpay. Sometimes she would change in the limo while Sharpay read her a summary of her next event to get her ready. But today was different. She was in the limo on the way back from the airport and there was nothing but silence. She wasn't rushing to change into anything and there wasn't Sharpay there to help her with anything. Gabriella looked out the window to find pedestrians on the sidewalk. Funny to think something as common as a pedestrian seemed so far away to her nowadays. She could only dream of walking down the street without being recognized and mobbed.

Troy was sick of it. He was sick of Gabriella's sudden change in mood again. They were fine just last night but now she was being difficult once again. The honeymoon was indeed over. Everything seemed so perfect and of course it all came to an end when she wanted to pack everything and return home this morning. "Gabriella?" He tried one last time. He wanted to give her space but how much space did she really need? It was about time she at least spoke to him a little.

What could she say to him? It wasn't like he could actually help. If anything she was making everything worse and making his life even worse by destroying his already tattered image. She could feel internal shame more than shame put upon her by the rest of Canovia.

"Gabriella, can you stop pretending like I don't exist? I'm your husband and I want to know what's going on! You can't expect me not to question you when you suddenly decided to cut our honeymoon short. Everything was going so well yesterday, I just don't get it."

"I've disappointed my parents. My mom is getting harassed by reporters and my dad thinks I'm a shame to the family. Everything is just fucked up because of me." A weight of a million pounds just dropped down to the ground. Her shoulders relaxed a little as they were tense ever since she ended that phonecall with her father. "I don't know how to fix it. I'm not even helping your case either. You married me for a reason, and I'm not doing a good job at it."

Troy wasn't used to seeing his usually sharp-witted and headstrong wife so beaten up. From the day he married her, he thought she was unbreakable. Even when she was upset, she had a way of being sharp and a way of defending herself. Even when she was insulted by the Queen, she was still walking around with her head held up high. But this time it was different, she didn't speak, she couldn't even let a single mocking statement leave her lips to tell him to shut up or leave her alone. And that was when he knew, she didn't want him to leave her alone. She needed somebody.

"Gabriella…" He could only see the profile and back of her head as she avoided his eyes. She was still staring out the tinted windows, her bottom lip quivering as she bit down onto the flesh. His hand slowly moved towards her thighs and above her small fingers. Her perfect manicured hands under his own felt strange to him. Even after their kisses and even sex, he realized the feeling of her hands felt the most foreign to him.

His hand was warm and wrapped around her entire hand comfortably. Gabriella turned her head to find his blue eyes waiting there, staring into her brown orbs. Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to blink them away. She was weak, all she had done since she got married was cry. Why did she let people around her break her down? "My dad called me and said he was embarrassed of me."

His hand tightened around hers before he called out to alert the limo driver in the front. "Sir, can we make a detour and go to West Canovine City? Oak Tree Road?"

She couldn't deny how comforting it was to have his hands around her own. She was a woman that barely needed protection but right now, she would give anything to be protected from the rest of the world and just have someone to be there and understand her emotions. When the world was against her, at least she had his hand around her own. For a short while, she felt like Mrs. Bolton and not the Crown Princess.

"We're going to see your parents."

"Troy, I don't know if that's the best idea… I look like a mess." She freed her hand from his grip and started to rub off the smudged makeup below her waterline.

"You need to talk to your parents. If you put it off, you're just going to mope around and be upset and cry more."

"Troy—"

"You need it, babe." Her stubbornness was back, the headstrong Gabriella he knew was back. The corner of his mouth turned up to form a half smile when she stopped protesting.

"Your highness, what is the reason for your sudden visit?"

"I thought you were on your honeymoon, your highness!"

"Can I get a quick picture over here?"

"Can you make a statement about the leaked pictures?"

Would it ever be possible to get used to the paparazzi? Before she married into the royal family, she occasionally had paparazzi and reporters trying to get a shot of her during parties and events that she attended with her father. But during all those times, she was never the main attraction. It was always her mother and father who got interviewed and photographed the most. She was simply a boring heiress who inherited a boring company. Although she mingled in high society, nothing about her ever screamed Paris Hilton.

But now, she had her share of annoying photographers that wanted to get a shot of her entering the place she used to call home. She faked a smile at all the photographers as she walked past them with her arms linked underneath her husband's arm. She was the Crown Princess and that meant smile no matter what. The public didn't need to know that she was suffering; the public needed a strong woman as their Crown Princess.

Troy tried his hardest to make his way into the gates of the Montez family home as quickly as possible. The photographers got a warning from the Montez family to stay clear and away from the entrance gate after the incident with Maria Montez.

The path leading up to the front door was paved with stone. There was a fountain in the middle of the front yard that stood a statue of a nymph. Behind the fountain, there were rose bushes planted on the side of the walkway that lead to the wooden French doors of the Montez mansion. It wasn't the royal palace but it was extravagant nonetheless.

The couple took the small steps up the walkway and pressed on the delicate white button that sounded the doorbell. A middle aged man dressed in a suit came up to the door a few seconds later, welcoming to couple inside the home.

"Miss Montez! We have missed you so dearly!" The man leaned in to hug Gabriella.

Clearing his throat, Troy stood awkwardly by their side. The aroma of soft sweet maple scent filled the room.

"Oh, I'm deeply sorry, your royal highness. I should have introduced myself." He turned his attention towards the Prince as he smiled. "My name is Jonathan and I am the Montez family butler. I have been serving the family for over two decades. I got a little carried away seeing Miss Montez, I mean Crown Princess Gabriella Bolton come back for a surprise visit." Jonathan politely nodded his head at Troy to show his respects to a member of the royal family.

Troy smiled back at the tall man in front of him to show his respects back. Following behind Jonathan into the home, Troy could hear his own shoes against the laminated hardwood floors. The perfectly glossed hardwood floors led towards a carpet of double stairs that led up to the second floor. He had been to a fair share of parties and events hosted in mansions but this house was a complete different creature just like Gabriella. It had a distinct scent that he could sometimes get a whiff of in Gabriella's clothes.

Troy watched as the older man led the couple to the living room. The walls were painted a beautiful light red-brown with leather sofas that color-coordinated the curtains and all the décor in the rest of the room. Compared to the royal palace, Gabriella's home was almost just as extravagant but definitely smaller. However, Troy spent most of his time in his own room anyway, so the rest of the palace really wasn't what he called home.

The two sat down on the couch comfortably as Gabriella smiled at the familiar surroundings. Home. Every time she came home from the United States, she always noticed the sweet scent that slowly clung to her clothes, hair, and became a part of her identity again.

"I'm going to have Kendra fix you guys some tea." Jonathan hurried towards the kitchen to alert the house maid, Kendra, at their beloved Miss Montez's return home.

"Where are your parents?" Troy looked around the meticulously decorated room. Soft classical music played dimly through the ceiling speakers. Everything in this house seemed so perfect with the elegant decorations, maids, butlers, and even down to the soft music in the background. The Montezes were always surrounded by such exquisiteness. The exquisite decorations and lifestyle didn't shock Troy. He had seen even wealthier families and been to a bigger and more lavish home, his own assumptions shocked himself. He always thought Gabriella lived in a large single family home with a dog and maybe the occasional housekeeper. Until now.

Her old life wasn't all that different from life in the palace. She still had servants, still had expensive meals, and lavish vacations. So she really did marry him to keep her life from being transformed into a less luxurious equivalent?

"They are probably busy right now. My father is usually busy with work right now and my mother might be out running some errands with my head housekeeper." Her tone of voice was so casual and so native. This was where she belonged and this was the home she was used to.

Troy nodded as he leaned back into the sofa to relax a little.

Jonathan, along with Kendra, returned to the living room with a pitcher of iced tea and two glasses on a tray.

Gabriella dozed off after taking a few sips of the ice cold drink, her head leaned against the armrest of the sofa as Troy sat there almost uncomfortably tapping his foot to the slow-paced classical music.

The vibration triggered by his iPhone buzzed in his pocket as he pulled it out to unlock the screen. A message from Sharpay Evans read, 'Is the Princess okay?'

There was no 'your highness' to conclude the question. Sharpay was speaking to Troy, not Crown Prince Troy Bolton III.

'She's fine. Thanks for asking, Shar. We're just at her parent's home.' Right when he hit send, he could hear footsteps nearing the living room and finally stopping when he caught the sight of the older Montez woman walking towards the couple.

"Your highne—I mean Troy?" The way Maria Montez' lip curved into that bright smile had to be a Montez trait that he had seen in Gabriella as well.

"Hello, Maria." Troy stood up from his seat and flashed her a smile as well.

"I didn't know you guys were visiting..."

Gabriella's eyes fluttered open upon hearing her mother's voice. Her mother, the woman she was thinking and worrying about this whole time was right in front of her. Just hearing her voice made everything a little better. To know she was at least not crying made her feel more content than what her father told her earlier. She smiled at her mother's figure by the doorway and immediately stood up from her seat. "Am I not welcomed home anymore now that I'm married?" She walked towards her mother with open arms, ready for a hug.

"Oh, mija..." Maria wrapped her arms around her daughter tightly. "My sweet girl."

The rest of the evening went by with Gabriella helping in the kitchen with that everlasting smile of hers. That was when he knew she had two loves in the world—painting and cooking.

Kendra and one other kitchen maid brought out their plates and drinks. "This is chilled avocado gazpacho and a steak salad with chipotle ranch dressing." She quickly left after a little description of the food.

Just like the palace. Troy thought to himself, except there wasn't a cook, just a kitchen maid who did home-cooking.

Gabriella stabbed her fork into the food and into the juicy meat of the cut up steak pieces. Her father had greeted her with a simple, 'Didn't know you were staying for dinner.' When he got home from work, there was no hug, no 'sweetheart', just a flat and unwelcoming greeting.

She took a bite of the lettuce and meat while glancing over at her father's glass. The dark carbonated liquid created bubbles that floated up top only to dissipate. And the slice of lemon floated atop all of the sugary liquid. Her father's favorite drink was always coke with a lemon but that never helped with his high blood sugar levels.

"Dad, you shouldn't drink coke all the time." Gabriella voiced her concern as her father gave her a side glance.

He didn't say anything back, instead he reached for the glass and brought it closer to his lips to take a big gulp of the drink.

"Kendra!" Gabriella called out as the maid walked back towards the dining room. "I told you not to give Dad any soda. He's already pre-diabetic, he can't have one every night like he used—"

"It's not Kendra's fault." Jorge finally spoke. "Stop blaming things on other people. If I want to have a coke, I'll have a coke."

"I'm not blaming Kendra, I'm just letting her know my wishes since I no longer live here and can't pay attention to little details at home."

"Kendra's doing fine. I don't need you to order her around when you don't even live here anymore."

"This is my home, dad."

"No, the palace is your home, you are part of the royal family now." He set his fork down while he looked up at Gabriella's eyes. His eyes were a darker shade of brown than usual and his attitude was colder than his usual fatherly front. There was still that hint of disappointment in his voice that hadn't seem to have gone away since their phone call earlier. "I hope you never forget that."

"Dad, is this about what we talked about this morning again?" The tension in the room went from family-friendly to family-feud in less than once second. The ice cold stare her father was giving her made everyone else in the room uncomfortable. Kendra quietly backed up and left the dining room while Maria Montez looked over at her son-in-law across the table awkwardly.

"Hey, Troy… I made some bread pudding earlier, do you want to come take a look at the dessert to see if you want some?"

He looked up from his food to find Maria motioning for them to exit the room. The food in his plate was only half eaten and the food on her plate was barely even touched. Troy understood Maria's motion and quickly went into the kitchen with Maria to let the father and daughter finish the intense dinner table conversation.

"Gabriella, why are you here?" The harsh tone in his voice matched the harsh nature of his question.

"I'm here because I'm worried about mom after what you told me this morning. And you told me to come back."

"Your mother loves you and has always been afraid of hurting you and pressuring you. She won't say anything, Gabriella. I saw her crying by herself, she didn't even cry in front of me."

"I know, dad. And I'm here to try to fix things."

"How? Those pictures are out there. When your mom goes grocery shopping she sees them. When I go out into one of our chain stores, I see them by the checkout line. Those magazines are leaking pictures after pictures. What am I going to see from you next? Nude pictures? Sex tape?"

"Dad... I already explained—"

"People outside of our country are calling you the Paris Hilton of Canovia. When I got to work today, I caught my employees passing around a new issue of Canovia Weekly Magazine with pictures of you snorting cocaine and posing with your drugged up friends. This is a disgrace." He was livid and his voice was almost loud enough cause the floor to rumble. This was her father. The father she looked up to and sacrificed for to save his company. But of course nothing she did ever mattered. She was a disgrace because of her old partying pictures. She was a disgrace for things she didn't intend.

Tears welled up in her eyes again for maybe the hundredth time today. Being Crown Princess had done nothing but tax her emotions. She was tired of it all, tired of being judged and being insulted. All the pressure she had to live with everyday outweighed all the appreciation and fan sites. She never asked to be Crown Princess and never asked to have these pictures of herself be released.

"The only mistake I've ever made in my life was letting you study overseas and then believing you were mature enough to be Crown Princess of our country. I should have never even mentioned anything about the company failing and never offered you for marriage." Jorge continued. "I'd rather sell this damn house and all my sports cars to save the company than have a daughter that disgraces the country."

He said it. He said everything she felt but only imagined how it would actually sound. And the sound of it was much worse than she imagined. From her belly button piercing to every tattoo she ever had, her father never approved and now that there were pictures of her circulating, what did she expect? He was the CEO of one of the biggest companies in Canovia, he was a man of power, how could he have a daughter who was now being called a drugged up heiress who married an ex-party boy Crown Prince?

If she could take back those nights she snorted a line, smoked a joint, or posed with a red Solo cup next to one of her drugged up friends, she would. But she couldn't turn back time.

And in that moment, all she wanted to be was Gabriella Montez, plain old Gabriella Montez who still had passion for art and lived in NYC.

She wanted to be the carefree Gabriella that she barely even remembered anymore.

Hopefully this chapter wasn't too similar to the last one, and I hope you guys liked it! Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought!