A/N: Once again, you're stuck with me because HSMandChelseaFCfan is busy lol. Hope you all had a merry Christmas. I got a new phone and a hsm mp3 player lol. Don't own HSM...

Chapter 13 – Breaking down

"You can't scare me like that again, okay?" Gabriella said sternly as she stroked Devon's forehead. She was sat on the edge of the hospital bed Devon was occupying and everyone had agreed to let the brother and sister have some time alone.

He smiled weakly. "I'm sorry."

She giggled. "No matter how strange or mean it might sound, thank you. Without you getting sick, Troy and I would still be fighting. I was so scared when they said you had appendicitis. I kept thinking about…"

"Cody." Devon whispered.

Gabriella kissed his forehead. "Yeah. But, the point I'm getting at is that Troy and I are friends again."

Devon smiled weakly up at his sister. "You didn't need me and my messed up appendix to be friends again."

"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked in confusion.

"Troy wouldn't let you go." He exclaimed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, yeah. We're best friends." She said softly as a giggle escaped her lips.

"No. I meant about how you two are totally obliv-" Devon started until Troy walked in with two Styrofoam cups.

"Hey. How's it going? Brie, I got you a hot chocolate." He smiled as he handed her one of the cups.

She smiled gratefully as she accepted the warm drink. "I've warned him he's not allowed to scare me again like he scared me yesterday."

Troy sat down on the plastic chair near the bed and lifted his own cup to his lips. He rested his other hand on Gabriella's knee and used his thumb to stroke part of the skin that was visible through the tear in the knee of the denim. "How are you, Big D?"

Devon yawned and coughed slightly. "I could really do with a drink."

"You're not allowed one yet, Don." Gabriella said apologetically. "You're still recovering from the anaesthetic."

Troy squeezed her knee very slightly and took another mouthful of his coffee. "You'll be out of here in no time. I promise."

"And he doesn't make promises he doesn't keep." Gabriella finished, glancing across at Troy and she blushed when she caught his eye.

Troy rolled his eyes. "Have I ever?"

Gabriella sipped her hot chocolate and sighed. "No. Just keep it that way."

There was a knock at the door and Maria walked in, carrying a clipboard and wearing her lab coat. "Sorry Kids, visiting hours are over and it's getting pretty late. You've got school tomorrow."

Gabriella sighed. "Can't you pull some strings, Mom? I really want to stay here like I did last night."

"Last night was a one off. We were all shook up and it's our policy to ask families if they want to stay over. But, not tonight. Devvy's out of here next week, I've got the night shift. It's fine. Go on. Go home." Maria said sternly as she started reading over her son's chart.

Gabriella finished her drink and threw it into the trash can by the bed. She leaned over and kissed Devon's forehead. "I'll come by after school, okay?"

He nodded and smiled up at her. "Can you bring my Nintendo DS? It's totally boring here."

Troy threw is empty cup into the trash can and dug into the pocket of his jeans. "Here, you can borrow mine. Mario brothers is in it at the moment. I'll bring some more games tomorrow."

Gabriella smiled slightly to her herself and turned back to Devon. "Get some rest, okay?" She kissed his forehead one last time before standing up and leaving the room.

"When are you going to tell her?" Devon asked quietly, placing the games console on the cabinet next to the bed.

"Tell her what?" Troy asked in confusion.

Devon glanced at Maria – who was still writing on his chart – and then turned back to Troy. He rolled his eyes dramatically, reminding Troy of Sharpay. "Troy, just because I'm six years old, doesn't mean I'm stupid. But, I think you are. Why have you waited this long?"

"To do what?" He exclaimed.

"Ask her out." Maria said softly, stepping forward and placing the chart on Devon's bed. "Now we have that sorted out, Troy you really need to go."

Troy nodded and kissed Devon's forehead – just like Gabriella had done – and then stood up. "See you, Big D." He muttered as he left the room and spotted Gabriella sat in one of the plastic chairs which lined the corridor. "Hey, Brie. Ready to go?"

She looked up and smiled brightly. "Yeah. Sure." She stood up and brushed her jeans off before looking up and noticing Troy staring at her. "What? Do I have something on my face or what?"

Troy shook his head and brought his keys out. "No. It's…It's nothing."

* * *

"So, he's okay?" Sharpay asked worriedly.

Gabriella giggled and nodded. "Yes, he's fine. He's recovering. So, he'll be back home next weekend, a week off school and then back to his normal self."

Martha breathed a sigh of relief. "When you text us all about it, we were worried sick."

"What about me? I was terrified." Gabriella muttered, turning back to her locker.

Troy, after hearing what had just been said, slipped his arm around her waist. "I'm telling you, there is no way the Knicks will get to the play-offs. It will be the Lakers."

"You would say that." Chad exclaimed. "You're from L.A."

Gabriella broke from his arm and slammed her locker, walking down the corridor, causing him to frown. "Brie! Brie, wait up." He called, quickly leaving his current conversation and following his best friend.

"What did you say?" Chad exclaimed.

"We were talking about Devon. Calm down, Chad." Taylor said quietly.

Zeke walked over and slung his arm around Sharpay's shoulder. "Pay, that's a sore subject, don't you think?" He raised an eyebrow before groaning in realisation. "Sharpay, you can't use that subject to try and get Troy and Gabby together."

Sharpay ducked her head. "I wasn't. Honestly. I was genuinely worried about Devon."

"Well, don't talk about him for a couple of days." Zeke said sternly. "You know how she is with him."

Sharpay sighed. "Okay, fine! Maybe I knew she'd get upset and Troy would comfort her. I am her best friend, knowing that Troy Bolton is perfect for her. And I know she loves him."

Chad chuckled. "Shar, you know Gabby better than the most of us. Which, admittedly, still isn't much. But, the point is, you know that she will deny her feelings until he asks her out."

"Then I need to talk to Troy." Sharpay said determinedly. "There is approximately thirteen minutes until homeroom and then Troy and I have Biology together…without Gabby."

Kelsi sighed, snuggling into Jason. "Something tells me that this whole thing is getting blown out of proportion. Sharpay, just leave it."

Sharpay raised her eyebrows as she looked around at her friends. "When have you known me to leave something alone? Would it make you guys happy if I just offered to help him instead of pushing him?"

Taylor sighed. "Is that the best you're offering?"

"Take it or leave it." Sharpay said, looking around the group before looking at her brother. "Ry…"

"I say it's better than her pushing Troy into doing something he's not ready to do. But, remember that he's just lost his parents. I highly doubt that girls are going to be at the front of his mind." Ryan said dubiously.

"No, no." Sharpay said, taking out her cell phone. "There is most certainly one girl at the front of his mind."

* * *

Troy slowly wrapped Gabriella in his arms and sighed. "Brie, they're just worried about him."

Gabriella turned around and cried into his neck. "I love him so much."

Troy kissed her hair and rubbed her back soothingly. "I know, I know." He pulled back and wiped her tears away. "What's this really about? I know you're upset about Devon but, this is isn't it, is it?"

Gabriella forced her way from Troy's embrace and sank onto the bench. She fiddled with her hands and let a sigh escape her lips as Troy sat next to her and pulled her closer to his body. "Not exactly."

"You want to tell me? I mean, I know all about your pill and stuff, I highly doubt this will make me feel weird about you." He tried to joke. "Please don't cry. No matter the reason."

She giggled slightly and wiped her eyes before turning to him. "Troy, I'm a senior next year. I want to go to Stanford which is one thousand and fif-"

"-ty three miles from Albuquerque. I know, Brie. You told me last night." He said quietly, twirling some of her hair around his fingers.

"What if Don gets ill while I'm at college?" She whispered. "I can't just fly back home. What if Don needs me?"

"Brie, you can't worry about things like that. You're not even a senior yet. Stop worrying. When you go to college, you'll be eighteen and Big D will be seven. I'm looking into U of A and if I get accepted and I want to go, I'll be here." Troy encouraged.

Gabriella avoided his eyes and sighed. "Troy, this is my hometown. I'm going from Albuquerque to Silicon Valley in California."

"You're really going to miss this place, aren't you?" He whispered.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, you've got ages yet. Devon wouldn't want you to give up your dream for something that might not even happen, would he?" He whispered as his fingertip traced her cheek.

"That's not all of it." She muttered, looking away.

"What?" Troy asked worriedly. "What else is there?"

"Well, I was thinking, really, about how I don't think I can be away from-" Gabriella sighed as she was interrupted by the bell, signalling homeroom. "We better go." She got to her feet and held her hand out for Troy to take.

He intertwined their fingers together and got to his feet and they rushed to grab their things which both of them had dropped. "Tell me another time, okay?"

Gabriella grabbed her folders and sighed to herself. "Yeah." Another time.

* * *

"So, Troy," Sharpay started enthusiastically once they had been set some questions to do, "you and Gabriella are okay now?"

Troy nodded absent-mindedly. "Yeah. She knocked some sense into me." He punched some numbers into his calculator before scribbling down the answer.

"Has she had any problems with Chris?" She asked, her work lying forgotten on her desk.

"She hasn't mentioned any." He muttered before lifting his head and sighing. "You want a heart-to-heart, don't you?"

"Well…" Her voice went unnaturally high with sheepishness.

"Shar, we're in the middle of biology and I'm really struggling with this." He exclaimed before ducking his head and scribbling some working out in his notebook.

"That's not the only thing you're struggling with." She muttered before pretending to turn back to her work.

"Huh?" Troy asked in surprise as he lifted his head again. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, it's nothing." She waved her hand dismissively. "You're right. This work is really difficult."

"Sharpay!"

"Mr Bolton!" Mr Cabot warned.

"Sorry, Sir." Troy apologised before lowering his voice again. "Tell me what you're talking about."

Sharpay sighed, Ryan's words repeating themselves in her head. "I was curious as to when you were planning on asking Gabby out."

"What?" Troy exclaimed in disbelief. "Why would I ask her out? She's my best friend, she's still suffering from Chris-" He stopped himself when he spotted Sharpay's expression. "And you're not buying this, are you?"

Sharpay shook her head. "Not one little bit."

"Am I that obvious?" He mumbled.

She nodded. "Not to her. She thinks you don't feel the same way."

"How is that, exactly? I don't even know what I'm feeling. All I know is that it's not how a friend should feel about another friend. Especially when they share a room." He whispered.

She raised her eyebrows and laughed softly. "Troy, do you need any help, by any chance?"

"Do I have the chance to say no?" He asked worriedly.

Sharpay grinned triumphantly and shook her head whilst tapping her pen rhythmically on her desk. "No way."

"Does everyone else know about me and these feelings?" Troy asked worriedly.

"You mean how you're in love with her?" Sharpay asked conversationally.

"I am not in love with her." Troy exclaimed.

Sharpay raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not." He hissed.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Troy…"

"Well, I don't think I am." He admitted. "Like I say, I don't know. I'm seventeen, how do I know what love is?"

"Do you want her to be safe?" Sharpay asked quietly, noticing how he avoided her eyes.

"Yeah. But that doesn't prove anything. I want Chad to be safe. I'm not in love with him." Troy exclaimed indignantly.

"That isn't what I meant. I meant do you want her to be safe, even if it meant giving your life in return?" She asked quietly, twirling her pen around in her fingers.

Troy sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Sharpay…"

"What?" She asked, leaning towards him.

He swallowed and glanced around before letting his eyes land on hers. "I'm not telling her. Not yet."

* * *

"You and Troy okay now?" Taylor asked softly.

"I think so." Gabriella muttered as she reached for her lunch bag.

"What's there to think about?" Taylor asked as she shut her locker and stepped closer to one of her best friends.

Gabriella shrugged and sighed. "Do you ever feel like there's this whole other side to the guy you thought you knew inside out and back to front?"

Taylor drummed her fingers against the lockers and thought about it. "Another side to Chad? The boy struggles while deciding how much food to feed his fish."

"Tay, I really didn't mean it like that." Gabriella whispered as she closed her locker and leaning her forehead against it. "Every time I come close to understanding Troy, he changes and I get really confused." She pushed herself from the lockers and shrugged slightly. "One of the first things he said to me was that he doesn't like change. So, why does he keep changing?"

"I can think of one good reason." Taylor muttered as she ran a hand through her hair.

"What?" Gabriella asked.

Taylor shook her head. "I didn't say anything. But, what I was going to say was that there is one word that sums both you and him up."

Gabriella raised her eyebrows quizzically and opened her brown paper bag before taking out her sandwich. "Yeah?"

"Hormones." Taylor said while rolling her eyes. "Every teenager in this school is dosed up on the things."

Gabriella giggled briefly before taking a tiny bite from her sandwich. "I just don't know what to believe anymore. I don't know if I can trust him if he keeps changing every five seconds. He comes here and I met this really cool, honest guy and he made me laugh and he was good with my brother. Now, the only thing I know has stayed the same is that he's good with Devon."

"Does he make you laugh?" Taylor asked softly.

Gabriella thought about it for a couple of seconds before nodding. "I guess. I just don't know anymore."

* * *

Troy Bolton was not one to back down from a challenge. That was how everyone had always known him. He knew how the votes for captain were in the upcoming afternoon and his adrenaline had already started pumping around his body. But, his most prominent thoughts were of a Filipino girl who he had heard claiming that she didn't trust him anymore. He couldn't exactly blame her. He had been a jerk and changed after saying how he hated change. Why? One word: Gabriella. He had changed simply because he wanted her to be happy while in school.

So, because she didn't trust him, Troy now viewed his potential relationship with Gabriella as a challenge. So what would he do? He would walk straight up to the table she was sitting at and grab her hand, dragging her silently to the balcony above the cafeteria.

"Troy!" Gabriella exclaimed. "I was talking to Taylor!"

"And that can wait." He said over his shoulder.

"Troy, what are you doing?" She laughed softly while tugging on his hand. "My lunch is back there."

"You can share mine. It's exactly the same." He glanced over his shoulder at her before he finally stepped onto the rooftop garden.

"How do you know?" She asked quietly as she stood in front of him.

"I asked you to make it for me." He teased before dropping her hand and walking over to the bench, setting his lunch beside him.

She followed him and sat down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "What's up?"

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and sighed. "My mom and dad… They're really gone, aren't they?"

Gabriella sat up straighter and nodded. "Yeah. They are."

"The votes for captain are in, like, two hours. And my dad isn't the coach." He whispered. "My mom and dad were always there. And now they're not." He swallowed loudly before removing his arm from Gabriella's shoulders and burying his face into his hands.

Gabriella rubbed his back soothingly and planted a kiss on the top of his head. "You'll make captain, I know it."

"But, who am I going to tell?" He exclaimed as he sat up. "You. And Big D. And then who?"

Gabriella shrugged slightly. "Troy, I don't know." She whispered. "Don't hold the tears back. Please."

Troy bit his lip and sniffed before collapsing into her arms. "I miss them so much."

Gabriella held him tightly as he sobbed into her neck. "I know you do." She whispered. She pulled back and wiped his tears away. "Hey, hey. Come on, now. It's usually the other way around. Come on, Troy. Don't cry!"

Troy forced a laugh out as she wiped his cheeks with her soft hands. "You know, when I was thirteen, I had this real big fight with them and I went to this beach about an hour from where we lived. It's where my parents got married."

"I thought your parents grew up in Albuquerque?" Gabriella asked as they both settled back into the bench. She rested her hand on his thigh and looked across at him.

"They did. But, my mom had always had this fantasy about getting married on a beach. Anyway, I went to that beach and I went to the exact spot where they said 'I do' – they carved their initials into a brick in the wall." He smiled softly at the memory before turning back to Gabriella. "And I just sat there. After that day, every time something bothered me, that's where I'd go."

She smiled slightly. "You were close to your parents?"

"Closer than most teenagers are." He joked.

She slouched in her seat and looked away, gazing over her hometown. "Even if your parents aren't around anymore, you're so lucky to have had a relationship like that for seventeen years." She whispered, getting to her feet.

Troy stared at her and smiled sadly. "It can't be easy."

She shook her head. "It's not. Especially when there's living, breathing proof that it's possible, you know?"

"I do miss my parents. But, I found something I didn't expect to ever find." He said softly as he got to his feet and held both of her hands in his own.

"What's that?" She whispered softly.

"A little brother. Big D rocks!" He exclaimed as he stepped away and grinned.

"Right. Devon." She muttered, folding her arms.

"And someone I'm not afraid to cry in front of." He finished gently, leaning down to kiss her cheek. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on top of her head. "Brie, you're the best person I've ever known."

Gabriella kissed his chin before pulling back and giving him a watery smile.

It told him everything.