Love Song Requiem
by: LunarEclipse360
Disclaimer: not mine
A/N: you guys get a treat today, four stories updated. Why? Because I just got finished seeing HSM 3 and loved it. I can't wait for it to come on DVD. 'Can I Have This Dance?' and 'Scream' are my favorite songs. 'Can I Have This Dance?' is just absolutely beautiful and it made me emotional. 'Scream' brings out the angst in Troy that I've been waiting to see, one that was deprived of him in HSM 2.
Chapter 21
New York City
How could something so right feel so wrong and something so wrong feel so right? She just didn't understand anything anymore. She loved Daniel, she knew that, but at the same time she still loved Troy. He was that itch that you couldn't scratch; that song that you wanted to hate, but loved. She wanted to hate him, she really did, but her heart wouldn't let her.
"Gabriella?" She brought her mind out of her trance and looked over at Daniel. "You okay?" he asked, glancing at her.
"Yeah. I'm fine," she said with a forced smile.
"So how was it?"
"It was great. Devon is such a little cutie."
"Who does he look more like, Chad or Taylor?"
"Definitely Chad." Daniel smiled and Gabriella was grateful for his conversation starter. It got her mind off of Troy and the infidelity she committed the night before. "So did you win the case?"
"Yeah. It was pretty intense at the end, but my team pulled through."
"That's good."
"How was Troy?" he asked and her heart suddenly stopped.
"What?"
"You know, how was he? Was he being the same crazy guy?"
"Oh," she said, sighing in relief. "No. Actually, he was behaving himself. He even took me to see him sing."
"He sings?"
"Yeah. I couldn't believe it either, but he's actually pretty good." Daniel nodded and the conversation died. She looked down at her hands and went to play with the bracelet, but then it hit her; she had given it back to him. She sighed and twiddled her thumbs.
"What happened to your bracelet?" Daniel asked, noticing the golden trinket was no longer on her wrist.
"I, uh, gave it back."
"Gave it back? To who? I thought it was yours."
"It was, but it was a gift and I felt that I needed to give it back."
"A gift from who?" he asked, uncertain if he really wanted to hear the answer.
She bit her lip and looked out the window. "Troy," she mumbled.
"What?"
"He gave it to me as a birthday present when we first started going out," she said turning to him.
"And you kept it this entire time?"
"Well, yeah. What else was I supposed to do?"
"Give it back. He broke your heart, remember?"
"But until four months ago, I had no way of giving it back to him."
"Then you should have four months ago."
"I couldn't part with it. It meant too much to me."
"Then what made you give it back now?"
She sighed and looked down at her hands. "I finally came to terms with the fact that…I can't be with him. I don't want to be with him." A small smile graced her lips and she looked up. "I want to be with you." He smiled and reached over to take one of her hands in his.
It was a hard decision she made, but she had to make it. She wanted to move on with her life, not live in the past, and forgetting Troy was the first step towards that. Daniel was her chance at happiness and she wasn't going to let Troy destroy that.
Albuquerque
"How could she?" he asked himself as he lied face up on his bed staring at the bracelet in his hand. Hewas stillin disbelief that she gave the bracelet back. It was a gift from him to her and yet she didn't want it anymore. That's what broke his heart the most; the fact that she didn't want it anymore. Even if they hadn't been dating, he still would have given it to her.
A loud knock resounded through the apartment and Troy turned his head towards the door. Another one broke through the silence and he got up, putting the bracelet on his night stand. He walked to his front door and opened it, surprised to see Chad standing in front of him.
"Hey, Chad. What's up?"
"Not much. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"You sure? Cause we didn't see you at the airport. We thought you would come to say goodbye to Gabriella."
"She came over last night so I said goodbye then." Chad nodded and Troy motioned him to step into the apartment. Chad walked in and Troy closed the door behind him.
"By the looks of you, I'd say it wasn't what you were expecting," he said as he watched his best friend walk over to the sofa.
Troy sighed and sat down. "She gave it back."
"Gave what back?"
"The bracelet. She gave back the bracelet. It was like a slap in the face."
"Why?"
"Because it means that she wants nothing to do with me. When she gave me the engagement ring back, I knew that our relationship was as good as dead even if I didn't want to accept it, but now…now that she gave the bracelet back, I'm as good as dead to her."
"Troy…you knew from the beginning that you and Gabriella weren't going to pick up where you left off."
"I know, but I didn't expect it to be this bad," he said looking up at Chad.
"You crushed her heart. How could you not expect it to be this bad?" Troy looked at the floor, knowing his friend was right. "Do you want to know what she asked me the day she found out you were gone? She asked me what was wrong with her and I told her there was nothing wrong with her. Then she asked, 'then why did he leave?'"
"What did you tell her?"
"I told her that you didn't leave because of her. Do you know how hard it was to lie to her? I knew it was because of her you left, but I couldn't bear to tell her that. It was heartbreaking enough seeing the hurt look on her face."
"You know I would never hurt her intentionally."
"I know you wouldn't, but you did. What happened to make you even think of leaving?"
"It's a long story."
"I've got time."
"Well I don't. I have a job to get to. Not all of us can take off."
"Fine, but we are going to talk about this." Troy nodded and stood up, knocking fists with his best friend. "See ya later."
"Later." Troy waited for Chad to leave before going to take a shower.
-
-
It had been days since she returned to New York and for some reason she couldn't get into the swing of things. School was over for her and had been since she returned from Albuquerque the first time so there was nothing to occupy her mind. Still, she found it hard to get her mind on the more important things like her job and wedding preparations.
"Hey, Gabriella." She lifted her attention from the computer screen in front of her to her co-worker standing over her.
"Yeah?"
"There's a woman here to see you. She says her name is Carla Thomas." Gabriella's eyes widened at the name.
"Where is she?"
"In the conference room."
"Okay. Thanks." She stood up and made her way to the small conference room at the end of the floor. The second she opened the door, the woman sitting at the far table jolted her head up. Gabriella could clearly see that she was crying.
"Gabriella…I'm so sorry."
"Sorry about what?" she asked closing the door behind her before walking over to her. This woman was Daniel's ex-girlfriend. She had met her when she and Daniel were just friends. Things between the two seemed to be serious so it surprised her when Daniel told her they had broken up when she fled to New York after her wedding incident.
"There's something you should know," she said and took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant and…Daniel's the father."
"What? That's not possible, Daniel would never…"
"But he did. That day that you and Daniel got into that argument, he came to see me and…"
"No. I don't want to hear it. Daniel's not like that, besides he was visiting his parents."
"Do you really believe that? He wasn't visiting them, he was visiting me. I don't want it to be true either, but it is."
"How do I know you're not making this up to get back with him?"
"Why would I want to? I broke up with him. I don't want to ruin what you two have."
"Then why are you telling me this?"
"Because I thought that you should know. You deserve to know." Gabriella fell into the chair beside her and put her head into her hands. "I should go. I'm sorry, Gabriella, I really am." Gabriella listened as Carla walked away and waited for the door to close before she broke down in tears.
She didn't go home that day; instead she went straight to Daniel's to confront him about what she just learned. Her heart pounded in her chest as she made her way up the elevator to his apartment. She didn't want to believe it was true, but she knew asking him was the only way to find out the truth. When she reached his door, she knocked furiously and waited for him to answer.
"Gabriella, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"Is it true?" she asked as she pushed past him.
"Is what true?" he asked, closing the door behind her.
"That you cheated on me with Carla?"
"What? No! What makes you say that?"
"She came to my job today," she said, her voice wavering from her attempt to not cry again. "You know what she told me?" He shook his head. "She's pregnant and she says it's your kid."
"And you believe her?"
"It's hard not to, she looked so sincere. Did you really go see your parents that day we had that argument?" He sighed and shook his head. "You went to see her, didn't you?"
"Yes, but how is that any different than you going to talk to Troy?"
"Because it wasn't intentional when I did it. I meant to go talk to Taylor and he was just there. You, you meant to go talk to her."
"Okay, yes I did go mean to talk to her, but nothing happened. We talked, nothing more."
"Then why is she saying that her unborn child is yours?"
"Because she wants me back. She wants me to go back to her. You can't believe I'd actually cheat on you, can you?"
"Truthfully, I don't know what to believe anymore."
"Look, I would never in a million years think of cheating on you. You can count on that. I love you and I wouldn't dare take advantage of you," he said as he grabbed her hand. "I'm not like him," he whispered and pulled her close to him. She knew he was talking about Troy and he couldn't have been more right; he would never be like Troy. She only wished she knew if that was a good thing or a bad thing.