A/N: I do not own HSM or any of the characters apart from the ones I have created.

Chapter 21

(Troy's POV)

" It's been two weeks!" Taylor yelled as she slammed the front door shut and stared at me, hands on her hips.

I groaned and ran my hands through my hair.

"Tay, that key is for emergencies." I growled as I rolled off the sofa and padded into the kitchen in my socks.

"This is an emergency." She said as she followed me and sat down at the island. "Troy. You haven't left this house for two weeks except to go and get more beer."

"How do you know?" I asked angrily.

She raised her eyebrows at me.

"Troy you live in the same apartment block as Sharpay and Kelsi. How could I not find out?"

I sighed and threw myself into the chair next to her.

"She's gone Taylor and it's all my fault." I told her glumly as I took a swig out of the half empty beer bottle from last night and winced as the alcohol hit the back of my throat.

"Hey it's not your fault." She said softly as she put her hand over mine. "It's just what Gabi does. I'm sure if you give her a bit of time she'll come back. She always does."

I shook my head.

" No not this time. You didn't see the look in her eyes Taylor." I buried my head in my hands as I remembered the look on Gabi's face when she turned and ran away. " I screwed up and now it's too late."

"Who says?" Taylor asked me.

I turned to her.

"What do you mean?"

"Who says it's too late?" She said as she got up and started searching the apartment for something.

I got up and followed her.

"Gabi did. She said that we could never be together." I stopped as a sofa cushion went flying past my head.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I yelled as I walked into the front room and found Taylor with her head stuck down the back of my sofa.

"Ah ha!" She yelled triumphantly as she pulled out my car keys. She grinned as she waved them at me.

"Oh no!" I said, backing away as I realised what she wanted me to do.

"Why not?" She said frustrated. "You're a wreck without her and if Gabi is anything like she was ten years ago then she's feeling the same."

I shook my head. "No Tay. I'm not going to see her."

"Troy you have to!" She yelled. " You two are meant for each other. You can't just give up!"

I started rubbing the back of my neck.

"I don't know Taylor. What if she doesn't want me?"

"You'll never know until you go see her." She said as she held the keys out to me.

I grabbed them and smiled.

"Let's go!" I shouted as I ran towards the door but Taylor grabbed me before I got there.

"Not like that." She said as she looked me up and down.

I looked down and saw what she meant. I was still wearing the clothes I wore to court the day I last saw Gabriella and was covered in all kind of stains, mainly beer and Chinese food.

"Maybe I better have a shower and get changed first?"

Taylor shot me a look and pointed towards the bathroom before smiling and shaking her head slightly.

"Boys." She mumbled.

(Gabriella's POV)

"Gabs are you sure this is the right thing?"

I sighed and turned around to look at Savannah. She was leaning against my bedroom door, staring at me and I took clothes out of my wardrobe and folded them before putting them in my suitcase.

"Sav I said I would only stay until the case was over. The case finished two days ago. Danny was found guilty and he's going to be in prison for a long time. My job here is done."

"Yeah I know but I thought this thing with Troy..."

"Is over." I cut her off before zipping the suitcase shut and walking out into the hallway.

" But..." She began but I cut her off again.

"Sav you heard what Katrina said in court. Not only did I have Troy's kids without telling him but I let my husband hurt them, worse than that I let him kill my-OUR-baby. If you were him would you be able to look at me everyday knowing that if it wasn't for me you would never would have had kids let alone have the heartbreak of knowing that one of them had died without even knowing their father?"

I waited for her to answer but she said nothing.

"That is why I am leaving." I said quietly as I picked up the suitcase and took it downstairs.

Three hours later the bags were packed and waiting by the door. I didn't have enough room to take them and the kids so Savannah volunteered to take the suitcases to the airport while I went and picked the kids up from school.

"Are you sure this is okay Sav." I said as I bit down on my bottom lip.

"Of course." She said as she hugged me tightly. "I'm sure as long as your sure this is the right thing. You know you don't have to go. You can always come stay with me."

I smiled slightly as I pulled away and grabbed my bag off the hallway table.

"You know that I'd love to but I can't. It's better for everyone if I just go."

She sighed. "If you're sure?"

I smiled sadly. "I'm sure."

"Oh I'm gonna miss you!" She whined as she hugged me again.

"I'm gonna miss you too Sav." I said tearfully as I opened the door and walked out onto the front porch. She followed me to my car and waved at me as I drove away.

(Troy's POV)

I walked up to the front door and found Savannah standing there, staring into the distance.

"Hey Savannah. Is Gabi here?"

She jumped and looked at me.

"N-no." Savannah stuttered. "She's just gone out to get something."

I nodded and put my hands in my pockets. "Okay. Cool. When is she coming back because I need to--"

"SHE'SNOTCOMINGBACK!" Savannah blurted out.

"W-what?" I looked at her, shocked.

"She's not coming back." She said softly as she put a hand on my arm.

"What do you mean she's not coming back?!" I shouted angrily. " Where is she going?"

"She's going home. She said she would only stay for the case and now that's over she's got nothing to stay for."

"She's got me!" I snapped.

"No Troy she hasn't. She broke up with you remember?"

I sighed and looked down at my feet as I slowly nodded.

"Tell me where she is Savannah." I pleaded with her but she just shook her head.

"I can't Troy she made me promise not to."

We walked out of the house together and after a moment I looked up.

"What do I do now Savannah?"

She smiled at me sadly and squeezed my arm gently.

"You move on." She said quietly as she locked the door and walked over to her car. I did the same and waved goodbye as I pulled out of the driveway.

I drove around for a bit then parked so that I could see Gabi's house without being seen by Savannah. I watched her as she went back to the house and started throwing luggage into her car. Half an hour later she had put the last of the luggage in the back of her car and pulled out of the driveway. I put my police training to good use and followed her all the way to JFK airport without being seen. I was right behind her all the way but somehow I managed to lose her in the crowds as she entered the building.

"Oh shit!" I yelled as I started looking around the terminal for her but saw nothing. I ran round looking for Gabi's flight information when a woman announced announced that the last flight to Belfast was leaving from gate 2 in 15 minutes.

Gate 2! That was the other end of the building. There was no way I'd get there in time!

"Please God don't take her away from me again." I muttered under my breath as I started running.

(Gabriella's POV)

Where is she! The flight's leaving in 10 minutes!

I began to pace the departures waiting room while the kids sat quietly on the floor playing with a jigsaw puzzle I had bought them as an apology for dragging them out of school in the middle of the day. I kept pacing and glancing at my watch until I heard someone shout out my name.

I looked up and saw Savannah heading towards me with two trolleys full of luggage.

"Gabriella Montez!" She yelled. "Are you going to stand there staring or are you gonna help me?"

I ran towards her and grabbed a trolley off her.

"Thanks." She huffed as she blew brew a stray piece of hair off her face. "Do you know how hard it's been to find you?"

" Oh yeah. Sorry about that." I said casually. " There was some sort of mix up. My flight's taking off from gate 12 not gate 2."

"Hey don't worry about it at least I found you." She said as she reached over and hugged me. I hugged her back until I saw something move behind her shoulder and pulled away.

"Sav when I left did Troy come to the house." I said quietly.

"Yeah."

"And what did you tell him?" I said as calmly as I could.

"I told him that you had left and that you weren't coming back."

"So you didn't tell him where I was?"

"No of course not!"

"Then would you like to explain to me how he's standing behind you right now."