Confessions

Author's Note: Howdy! So I am so thrilled right now because I am going to see Nickelback in concert on Monday night and I am so happy that I decided I would present the newest chapter of my story…I have most of the future chapters done so this story should be done within a month and a half. So review while you can!

Chapter Summary: A week has passed since Victor's home invasion and Troy and Gabriella have been staying home since the attack. A surprise visitor comes to the house and has very shocking news, which requires that Troy and Gabriella leave as soon as possible. But will something as simple as that be so easy?



For what I've done
I start again
And whatever pain may come
Today this ends
I'm forgiving what I've done

I'll face myself
To cross out what I've become
Erase myself
And let go of what I've done

- Linkin Park 'What I've Done'

--

A week had passed since the attack and Troy and Gabriella maintained a low profile from the media. The media went into frenzy when they heard about the attack and Troy and Gabriella's phone rang nonstop from the press. Thankfully, they police hired to watch over Victor and they kept Victor in their jail and the media attention eventually died down. When Troy told the police about Victor's true identity, police took the case a lot more seriously and kept a watchful eye on Victor now that he was in custody. Troy got a little bit more sleep with that reassurance but he was still wary of Victor. No matter how much security he had there to protect him, he would always fear that Victor would find a way to get to him and his family. He began working out to remain in top physical form and he kept an eye out for Victor.

Troy awoke earlier than usual; he awoke at quarter to seven in the morning. The police officer wouldn't be coming for another forty-five minutes. Despite waking earlier than usual, Troy didn't feel tired; he felt fully awake. He looked over at Gabriella who serenely slept as her chest slowly rose and fell within in each breathe she took. Troy smiled as he turned on his left side and he placed a hand on Gabriella's abdomen and he placed a soft kiss on the side of her stomach, causing her to stir. Her eyes slowly opened and it wasn't long until her chocolate colored eyes were staring into his ocean blue ones. A smile crept across Gabriella's face as she felt Troy's hand run up and down her stomach. She felt the baby moving as if to say 'hi I'm in here!'

"Good morning beautiful." Troy said as he pecked her lips quickly.

"Hey. What are you doing up so early?" Gabriella asked with fatigue still in her voice.

"I don't know. I just can't go back to sleep I guess." Troy said with no exhaustion in his voice. Gabriella nodded her head and the sudden sound of her stomach growling filled the room. Gabriella looked away in embarrassment while Troy giggled. The baby and Gabriella were definitely hungry.

"Well it seems that someone is hungry. I'll tell you what, how about I make you some breakfast and you and I just spend the day in bed? We haven't done that in a while and I kind of miss it." Troy suggested to Gabriella who stared at him as her hands rested on her pregnant stomach. She nodded her head with a soft smile and kissed Troy's cheek quickly.

"That sounds great Troy." Gabriella said. Troy nodded his head and he got up from their bed and he began to get dressed. He threw on a pair of dark jeans and he put a white t-shirt on and he threw a dark blue plaid shirt on top of that. As he began to walk out of the room once he was dressed, he suddenly heard Gabriella groan loudly in pain. He turned around quicker than he expected to.

"Are you okay?!" Troy asked with a great amount of concern in his voice. Gabriella stopped groaning in pain and she shut her eyes as she continued to rub her stomach gently with her hands.

"Yeah I'm fine; the baby is just kicking a little harder than usual." Gabriella insisted. Troy stared at her as she cringed from the painful kick. The baby was due in two weeks and the baby was obviously growing bigger within each week.

"Just rest here until I get back Gabriella." Troy told her as he turned to leave.

He stood in the kitchen and began to whistle as he poured hot coffee into a glass for both Gabriella and himself. After sipping his coffee, he went back to the eggs that were still cooking on the stove and he saw that they were done and he picked up the frying pan and he dropped the creamy yellow colored eggs onto a plate. The toast popped from the toaster and Troy was in the middle of spreading the butter over the small piece of toast. And, knowing how violent Gabriella's cravings for them were, Troy put a handful of black olives into a small glass bowl. He put the food onto a tray and he then picked up a daisy from their vase and he placed it on the tray. Gabriella's breakfast was ready now. He was prepared to go upstairs and feed Gabriella.

But then there was a sudden knock at the door.

Troy froze in his steps. Who was at the door? It may have been Victor; he might've escaped from the police station. He may have returned to finish what he started. Troy left the tray of food on the kitchen counter and he slowly walked to the front door and he was very hesitant about who was at the door. It may not have been Victor. It may have been the mailman with a package. It may have been his mom and dad coming to check up on them. Or maybe it was just a neighbor coming over to borrow the lawnmower. He didn't know. Troy picked up his baseball bat as he slowly began to open the door, fearing who it may be. And he gasped at who he saw. It was Philip; he was alive and alright. Troy sighed in relief as he dropped the bat to his side.

"Phil! Oh god, thank god you're alright." Troy said with a sigh of relief. Troy couldn't help but notice the panic and fear in Philip's eyes as he bolted into the house and he shut the door behind him. He turned to Troy with pure fear in his eyes.

"Troy, you have to get out of here. You aren't safe anymore." Philip warned with fear and caution in his eyes. Troy blinked in uneasy surprise. Victor was now in the hands of police…how could he not be safe anymore?

"Phil, what are you talking about? Who is out to get me now? Victor is in jail." Troy stated, trying to make sure that this wasn't some kind of joke. Phil wiped his hands on his black vest and he sighed as he looked into Troy's eyes.

"Troy…Troy I have a huge confession that I need to make." Philip informed Troy as his voice filled up with regret and anger towards himself. He did something; that much Troy knew. But what could Philip have done? Philip cringed whenever he saw a bug being squashed; he couldn't hurt anyone. But Troy knew that there were surprises held everyday.

"What confession?" Troy asked, afraid to know the answer. Philip sighed loudly as he ran his hands through his hair and he looked away from Troy. The shame he felt was obviously eating away at him since he could not even look Troy in the eye. For the longest time, Philip said nothing; he just stared at the floor in a pained silence. Troy became nervously impatient and longed for Philip to tell him what he did wrong.

"Tess and I have been helping Victor this whole time." Philip finally blurted out, still not looking Troy in the face. The news was like a sudden blow to the face for Troy. He and Gabriella trusted Philip and Tess and this whole time they betrayed them to Victor. They helped put Ethan in the hospital. They helped Victor when he wanted to take Gabriella away from Troy. They helped hurt them. Troy felt the room spinning. He couldn't imagine Tess and Philip doing this to them. How could they even do this? How could they betray their own friends?

"Why did you do this?" Troy asked, his voice going just above a whisper. Philip sighed as he walked towards the living room of the house.

"It all happened about last year when Tess and I were trying to open up our restaurant. We were having financial problems. We both didn't have enough money to start the restaurant and we also had to pay for our apartment and make plans for our wedding. We both didn't want to close off the deal for this restaurant; it has been our dream to own a restaurant together. And then one day, Victor comes up out of the blue claiming to be a lawyer for one of Tess' long lost uncle's and he said he died and he left Tess millions of dollars. We were both thrilled about the money left to her and we took it and used it to start the restaurant. He was always coming around at first and then he just disappeared for a while." Philip explained quickly taking a pause. Troy's eyes were staring down at Philip as he looked over at Troy.

"Then what happened?" Troy asked, trying to fight his anger. Philip sighed once more as he started to tell the rest of his story.

"But then about four months before your stalking started, he came up again and he claimed that he wasn't a lawyer and the money he gave us was from somewhere illegal and Tess and I could've gone to jail. Tess and I were freaking out and we began to panic. Victor then said that we wouldn't go to jail as long as we helped him exterminate something. It was you and Ethan. He said that if we helped him get rid of you and Ethan so he could have Gabriella, we wouldn't go to jail. I tried to talk myself out of this. I really did. You are the family I never was fortunate enough to have. But Tess talked me into it. She said whatever had to be done would be done and we should think about ourselves." Philip confessed, blinking back tears of guilt.

"But I thought you were abducted by Victor." Troy said, confused and unsure of how this story would fit into place.

"I went to see Ethan at the hospital. I saw him for the first time in months since the accident…and I cried when I saw him. He looked so small and fragile when I saw him hooked to all those tubes and all those monitors. I still remember those days when he would be running around my backyard like a maniac. The guilt of what I've done to him took over me. I went to visit Victor at his hideout and I told him I was going to turn everyone in. He argued angrily with me and told me that he would let me flee if I did one last thing for him. I had to pretend I was kidnapped by him so he could get your cell number, I had to cut myself all over that picture of Gabriella and then when I dressed in that clown suit to drop it off I fled out of here. But I came back about a week ago; I was the one who left that information about Victor on Chad's doorsteps." Philip told Troy who stared down at him angrily with fire coming out. Troy couldn't contain himself anymore and he punched Philip square in the face.

"Why the hell did you come back?!" Troy hissed through his teeth, hoping to not raise his voice and concern Gabriella. Philip moaned in pain but he looked over at Troy, still cringing from the pain.

"You really pissed Victor off this time. He wants you all to have a nice slow death. Tess sent me a text telling me the plan. He's going to come tonight when you are all asleep and he will kill every single one of you." Philip warned Troy. Through the anger and rage, Troy raised both his eyebrows in utter confusion.

"But I thought he was in jail. I talked to the police, he's in custody now." Troy informed Philip. Philip shook his head slowly as he walked towards Troy.

"The two police officers that you talked to…Charles Simms and Frank Jones, right? They both work for Victor as well. Victor used the same tricks on them like he did to Tess and me." Philip informed Troy. Troy groaned loudly as he ran his hands through his hair. This couldn't be happening; this could not be happening to him. He looked back at Philip who just stared at him with blank and bleak eyes.

"Why are you even here? Why aren't you there with Tess getting Victor out of prison so he can kill us?" Troy asked harshly, spitting out each and every word. Philip shook his head as he marched over to Troy and placed both his hands on Troy's shoulders.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you! I'm here so I can get you guys the hell out of here! I have a small summer cottage up north that victor doesn't know about. You and Gabriella are going to go there and stay there until I fix this Victor problem once and for all. I will make sure that Ethan is safe and taken care of and I will do anything you need me to do. I just need you both to leave right now!" Philip demanded, panic in his eyes.

"How do I know that this isn't a sleazy trap?" Troy demanded. Philip shook his head.

"It isn't. Look into my eyes and tell me if I am sending you into a trap." Philip said, his eyes solemn and dark. Troy just stared at Philip, unsure of how to react to this news. Philip betrayed him all these months. He and Tess betrayed them. He couldn't understand how two good friends of his since high school could do such a preposterous thing to him and his family.

"This heroic act of yours isn't going to change anything. This isn't going to change the fact that you damaged a friendship as powerful as ours just so you could have money and success. It will never change anything." Troy sternly told Philip as his blue eyes turned two shades of blue. His eyes looked almost cold. Philip bit his lip and he slowly nodded his head.

"I regret throwing something as precious as that away. I was a fool for taking our friendship for granted when I took that money. But we can't focus on me right now; we have to tell Gabriella the new plan and we have to get you both out of LA." Philip stated once more. Troy slowly nodded his head and he backed away from Philip, needing his space away from Philip.

The two awkwardly walked up the stairs together, both not breathing a word to each other. They had nothing left to say to one another and found that they had nothing left to talk about. But Philip was the last person on Troy's mind. He was wondering how he was going to explain all this to Gabriella. She was going to be a wreck. Troy knew that Gabriella was going to be hurt to know that all this time Tess was trying to help her; she was really trying to hurt her. And she would be devastated to know that Philip really wanted to help Victor kill Ethan all those times he said he wanted to have Ethan over to play. He didn't know how he was going to tell her this.

But then there was a sudden scream from their bedroom.

Troy and Philip exchanged terrified glances with one another before they bolted up the last few steps and aimed for Troy and Gabriella's bedroom. In the back of Troy's mind, Troy prayed to the lord that Gabriella was not attacked by Victor. He prayed that he wouldn't walk in to see Victor standing over his dead pregnant wife. Troy was kick to throw the door open and he gasped at what he saw. He saw Gabriella on the floor, writhing in pain. And underneath her pink and red pajamas, he saw that she was drenched. Her water had just broke…two weeks early.

"Troy! Troy, oh God, the baby is coming!" Gabriella hollered to him in pain. Troy ran to her side and tried to soothe her.

"The baby is two weeks early! Oh god, we have to get you to the hospital. Philip, can you help me carry her to the car?" Troy asked as Gabriella threw one arm around Troy's neck. Philip quickly ran over and he bent down and put Gabriella's other arm around his neck. Both men grabbed a leg from Gabriella and they picked her up and they cautiously carried her down the stairs. Gabriella yelped each time a contraction hit her and she gripped onto Troy's shoulder tighter each time. Kicking the front door open and then closing it swiftly, Troy and Philip raced to Troy's car and they opened it and swiftly put Gabriella into the back of the car, allowing her to lift her legs onto the seat. Troy closed her door before he turned to Philip and he stared at him.

"I should go now." Troy said as he turned to get in the car himself. Philip grabbed his arm and made Troy look at him quickly.

"I'm sorry. I really am. And I will not stop until Victor is gone." Philip swore to Troy. Troy just stared at him and he nodded briefly before he got in his car and drove off. He could only believe a lie for so long.

"You okay baby?" Troy asked as he looked back at Gabriella who was silently crying as each contraction hit her. Gabriella bit back a potential scream and she nodded her head quickly.

"I'm fine…what did Phil want?" Gabriella asked. Troy groaned quietly to himself at the mere mention of Philip's name. That name made him sick to his stomach.

"Just came to say hi." Troy lied.

He would tell her the truth later.

For now…he had to be there for the birth of his second child.

To be continued…



Well I know how you all LOVE your cliffhangers, so I put this one in! But we all know how to cure cliffhangers right? REVIEWS! Read and review and I will update!

Alanna xo