Happy tears collected in Gabriella's eyes. "I love you, too, Troy," she returned.

Smiling, Troy leaned down to capture the princess' lips in a passionate kiss. For the first time, the kiss turned into a heavy make-out session in which Gabriella found herself lying on top of Troy with her hands underneath his shirt.

When they finally pulled away from each other, Gabriella rolled off of Troy and cuddled up in his arms beside him.

Taking the blanket, Troy drew it up so both he and Gabriella were covered with it. Then, he pressed a kiss into her dark curls and said, "Let's rest now, sweetie. When we wake up, we can go see if we can find any kind of good restaurant to eat at."

"Pizza?" Gabriella suggested hopefully.

"If we can find a pizza place, then yes, we can go get some." Troy smiled with satisfaction. He had gotten his princess girlfriend to love pizza.

"Thanks." Resting her cheek on Troy's chest, Gabriella closed her eyes and, despite all the rest she had gotten on the plane, instantly fell asleep.


"They're gone!" Jack announced to Lucille after thoroughly searching the White House and calling Troy's cell phone several times.

"Where do you think they would've gone?" A tear ran down Lucille's cheek at the thought of her son being lost. Although he was an adult, she still worried about him and wanted him to be safe, and her worry increased when England had begun to attack. What if they killed him because of Gabriella?

"I have no idea," Jack replied honestly. "The only obvious place I can think of is England, but I highly doubt they would go there because Troy doesn't want Gabriella to go back to Buckingham Palace and from what he's told me, Gabriella doesn't want to go back, either."

"Troy's car is still here, though, right?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, but the airport isn't too far. They could've walked there in twenty minutes. And if they made it to the airport, there's no limit to where in the world they could've gone. I mean, they both have passports, so they could be in any country, any city..."

"Will we ever find them?"

"Well, I'm not giving up. I'm gonna keep trying to see if I can find out where he went. Maybe if I call the airport, they can tell me whether or not Troy bought a ticket there. I doubt they'll be able to tell us where exactly he went, though, because I'm sure they're required to keep that information private."

"But still, we could find out if he's more likely to be close or far from here."

"Yeah. I'll go call now and see what they can tell me." With those words, Jack pulled his cell phone cell phone from his pocket and, using the internet app he had on it, looked up the number for the airport and dialed it quickly. When someone answered, he said, "Hello, this is President Bolton. I was just wondering if you could tell me if my son, Troy, was at the airport last night."

A pause settled across the room during which the person on the other end of the line was speaking.

"Oh, yes, I see...yeah, I understand...well, thanks anyway. Bye." Jack hung up the phone and shook his head sadly. "They can't even tell me if he was there or not. They said that all information is kept private there."

Lucille sighed. "What are we going to do? We have to find him!"

"We will," promised Jack. "We will."


Back in England, the King had read the latest news headline: US PRESIDENT'S SON MISSING ALONG WITH ENGLAND'S PRINCESS. And in short, his reaction wasn't one that was pleasant.

"I cannot believe this!" the King exclaimed as he paced back and forth in the living room of the palace. "I cannot believe they are missing! I am sure that horrid young man is keeping her hostage. My daughter would never disobey this much!"

"Your Highness, it is far from pleasurable to tell you this, but the rumor is that they eloped," Charles, the man that had given the King the idea that Gabriella had gone to America with Troy, spoke after picking up the newspaper and scanning the article.

"What?" The King's eyes were blazing with anger. "Eloped? Do you mean to tell me that my daughter deliberately ran away with the president's son and that her plans are to wed him without my permission? I will not allow that!"

"What are you going to do?" the Queen, who was sitting on the leather sofa, inquired.

"I will take the next available flight to the United States and search for her until she is found. When she is, I will take her away from that thoughtless young man and she will be disowned from the royal family, but will still be required to stay at the palace so we are able to keep a close watch on her. We will make her one of your ladies-in-waiting, my Queen." The King looked at his wife. "What do you say to that?"

"I will work her harder than any of my ladies-in-waiting have ever worked. She will fetch me a glass of water in the middle of the night if I happen to wake up thirsty, and I will make sure she is the one that retires to bed late and is required to rise before dawn."

"Perfect." The King smirked. "Now, if I find her and she is expecting a child, I will allow her to rest until the baby's birth, but after that, we will put the baby up for adoption. I do not want to have anything to do with a child that is not filled with pure English blood."

"Neither do I," the Queen agreed.


Troy smiled as he saw Gabriella's eyes open. "Hey, sweetie," he greeted, kissing her forehead and running his fingers through her curls. "Are you all rested up now?"

The princess nodded. "Yeah. And now I don't want to make it seem like I'm rushing you to leave or anything, but could we get something to eat soon? I'm getting really hungry."

"I'm hungry, too, Brie. Let's get ready and then we'll go see if we can find somewhere to get a pizza at." Troy slid out of bed and put his sneakers back on, not caring that his t-shirt was wrinkled and his hair was tousled.

"Could you give me a second?" requested Gabriella.

"Brie, sweetie, you don't have to get completely ready just to go to a pizza place. You can just throw on a pair of shorts under your nightshirt, pull your hair up, and go. Besides, it'll be better that way. People won't be able to recognize you as easily."

"Is that why you're leaving looking like you just rolled out of bed?" Gabriella teased.

"Hey, don't make fun of my look," Troy responded playfully.

Giggling, Gabriella grabbed a pair of denim shorts from the suitcase, then went to the bathroom to put them on. When she was finished with that, she took a hair band and gathered her hair up into a messy ponytail, then slipped on a pair of sandals.

"You ready, Briella?" Troy checked, using a new nickname he had just thought of for his girlfriend.

"Briella?" repeated the princess. She walked over to Troy and took his hand, signaling that she was ready to go.

"Yeah, it's my new nickname for you," Troy explained as he opened the door to their room. While walking down the hall, he continued. "I can think of a lot of nicknames for you. Brie, Briella, Brielle, Ellie, Ella, Gabby, sweetie, sweetheart, hun, honey, cutie, baby, baby girl, beautiful, gorgeous, love, my love..."

"You know, I should have a nickname for you," Gabriella decided. "You seem to be able to think of an endless amount of things to call me, but for you, I can't think of anything."

"That's okay. I'm fine with you using my name." Troy smiled at his girlfriend before pushing the door to exit the hotel open.

"But I want to think of something special to call you."

"Well, if you want to, then go ahead." Troy shrugged. "I don't mind. I'm just saying that it's okay if you just call me by my name, but you're more than welcome to think of a nickname for me."

"I'll see what I can come up with."

"You do that." Smiling, Troy took his finger and gently tapped Gabriella's nose with it, causing a giggle to come from her mouth. "You're so cute when you giggle, Brie."

A light blush covered Gabriella's cheeks.

"Hey, wanna ride on my back? I'm not sure how far we'll go until we find a pizza place and I don't want your little feet to get sore from walking."

"No, I think I'm fine," Gabriella answered.

"But do you promise me to let you know if your feet start getting sore or if you start feeling tired?"

"Yes, I promise, but how long are we gonna be walking around here?"

"I don't think too long, but maybe you'll get tired in a short time period." Troy shrugged.

A few minutes passed in silence in which Troy and Gabriella continued to wander the streets of the seemingly vacant city searching for a pizza restaurant-or any restaurant for that matter. However, so far their search was unsuccessful.

"I see a something up ahead!" Gabriella exclaimed, pointing to the faint shape of a small building a little way into the distance.

"Let's go!" Troy started to pick up his pace, but then remembered that Gabriella would need to stay caught up to him and slowed back down.

It wasn't long before Troy and Gabriella were standing in front of the building which had a sign that read: Vinetown Restaurant-open 7 days a week.

"What do you think, sweetie?" Troy queried, turning toward the princess.

Gabriella chewed on her lip thoughtfully. "We could try it. I mean, it wouldn't hurt."

"But you have your heart set on pizza, don't you? Brie, I haven't known you for years, but I have known you long enough to recognize those cute little expressions you make. Right now, you're thinking that you want pizza, but you don't want to risk hurting my feelings by saying so. And to be honest, I want pizza, too, so let's keep looking. I see another building up here."


Fifteen minutes later, Troy and Gabriella found themselves sitting at the wooden table of a nearly deserted pizza parlor. Besides them, there was only one man there to eat and one guy that looked as if he were barely out of high school there to prepare the pizza. Troy and Gabriella had gotten their pizza immediately because many had been baked ahead of time.

"You like your pizza, honey?" Troy inquired, reaching across the table to take Gabriella's hand in his.

Gabriella nodded as she took a bite of her slice of pepperoni and extra cheese pizza. "Yeah, it's pretty good for something that's made in a place as empty as this."

Troy laughed. "I have to agree with you, baby girl. I thought the pizza was going to be total crap, but it isn't. Now I know where we'll be going to eat most of our dinners."

"We could try that restaurant we passed on the way here. Or get something from the grocery store we saw right next to here."

"Yeah, I guess, but I love pizza." Troy smiled.

Letting out a giggle, Gabriella said, "But I'd like to have some other kinds of American food like grilled chicken, cheeseburgers, hotdogs..."

"Well then, tomorrow we'll get something different from the grocery store and see if there's any kind of stove we can use in the hotel. And for breakfast, we'll go out to that restaurant and get some eggs and bacon or something."

"Sounds good to me." A smile spread across Gabriella's face as Troy looked straight into her eyes.


That night, Troy and Gabriella were lying in bed, Gabriella letting out small whimpers while burying her face into Troy's chest. There was a thunderstorm, and thunder was one of her biggest fears. She knew it wouldn't be able to hurt her, but because her parents had never been there for her when she was little, the scared feeling had never gone away.

Four-year-old Gabriella sobbed at the loud crash of thunder that sounded outside of her window. "M-Mommy! Daddy!" she cried out. "I-I'm scared!"

"What is going on?" the King asked as he walked into the room.

"I-I'm scared." Tears continued to rush down the little princess' cheeks.

"What in the world is there to be afraid of?"

"T-The noise..."

"What is wrong?" queried the Queen, who had just appeared in the doorway.

At the next loud boom, Gabriella jumped out of bed and wrapped her arms around her mother's waist. "I-I'm scared. I don't like the noise. I want it to be over. P-Please, Mommy, please! Make it be over!"

The Queen pried her daughter away from her and looked her straight in the eye. "Princesses are not cry babies. Princesses handle things in a proper and graceful way. I thought you knew by now that tears are not an option for a member of the royal family. Now get back into your bed."

"And do not bother us again," added the King harshly before following the Queen out the door and closing it behind him.

Little Gabriella tried her hardest to fight back tears, but she just couldn't manage it, and the fact that her parents had rejected her had made the situation worse. Did they not love her? Was she really a bad child? So many things that no four-year-old should have to think about floated through Gabriella's head.

"I'm here," Troy spoke in a comforting tone, stroking Gabriella's hair and kissing the top of her head. "I won't let anything hurt you. I promise."

"I-I'm sorry," sobbed Gabriella as she brought her face up to Troy's. "I-I shouldn't be crying."

"No, don't be sorry, sweetie. You're scared, and that's okay. I'm here. I'm not leaving you. I would never leave you." He cupped her chin in his hand and kissed her sweetly on the lips. "I love you. And part of love is always being there no matter what."

"T-Troy, you know...no...no one's ever loved me before."

Sympathy stabbed Troy. He couldn't imagine what it was like for Gabriella to grow up without having someone to love her. He didn't understand how he would've made it through his childhood if his parents hadn't always been there to love and take care of him. If he could, he would go to England and have a talk with the King and Queen about how cruel they were to neglect Gabriella. However, that wasn't possible, so he erased that idea from his brain and concentrated on what was happening right then. "Well, now you do have someone that loves you." He pulled his girlfriend a little closer to him.

Gabriella smiled through her tears. "You don't know how lucky I feel to have you." Just as she spoke, a loud clap of thunder sounded and she buried her head in her boyfriend's chest once more.

"It's okay," Troy murmured as he pulled the covers up further. "I'm here."


I just wanted to let you know that I'm pre-writing a bunch of chapters for this story so that for one, I can see how many chapters there are until the M-rated one and judge when I want to update, and for two, so that I only have to worry about constantly writing chapters for one story once I start school again. I'm also pre-writing a new story that I should have the first chapter for up by Christmas, just so you guys know:) I'm also writing a back-to-school oneshot which I'll post in a couple weeks. But anyway, I hope you enjoyed this update! I wrote the next chapter and that one's still T-rated, so I should have that up in a week or two:)