I'm holding on for you
Chapter twenty-four
Please Read, Enjoy and Review!
"How's your dad doing?" Troy asked from next to Gabriella as he handed her the chocolate ice-cream that he had just paid.
It had been three weeks after Annie and Gregory went back to their houses. Three weeks that hadn't been quite easy for any of the two teens. Since Annie was staying home to take care of her newborn –with the help of her husband, of course– Troy had no option but to endure Jack and his second family all by himself; Nicole and Isabelle weren't exactly that helpful. A couple days a week, he'd go visit Annie and help her and her husband around with their kids, but the teen wasn't exactly happy being in a house with two obnoxious little kids running around and asking him stupid questions every five minutes, and a wailing baby who wouldn't shut up for anything in the world. Troy wasn't very patient with kids, but sometimes it was better than being at home, trying to tolerate Lydia and her daughter; especially when his father's girlfriend would try to bond with him by asking him personal questions.
Boy, she had no idea how pointless was her effort.
Gabriella hadn't quite been in candy shop, either.
The brunette took her ice-cream cone gratefully and gave her boyfriend a half-smile. "I don't know," she let out a quiet sigh. "He's been… acting off, recently," she explained as they began walking around the park once again.
On Tuesday of that week, the brunette had expressed her thoughts about how they hadn't exactly had any alone time that wasn't at his house or hers. Troy, thinking that what she was really asking for was a date, decided to take her to a place that was… important to him –the park that his mother used to take him to when he was younger.
The brunette had asked him why his mother took him to that park instead of the one that was in front of his house. He had responded that he always asked her to take him there because that one had a swing-set and the other one didn't.
Troy laced his fingers with hers, biting down on his ice-cream. He frowned at her. "What do you mean?"
"He just…," she shook her head, struggling to find the words. "I don't know, he just hasn't been himself. When we came home after the Hospital everything was fine, he was acting like he usually was; he ate well, he laughed, he joked around," she looked down. "Now he... he doesn't even talk to me, you know?"
"He doesn't talk to you?" Troy asked, confused.
His girlfriend shook her head. "It was from one moment to another," she said. "He barely talks to Tom, and even though we've asked him what's wrong, he says that it's nothing, gives us a weird smile and then locks himself in his office," she bit the inside of her cheek, eyeing her untouched ice-cream, thoughtfully. "I'm afraid he's hearing voices and doesn't want to tell us."
"Have you asked him about it?" the blue eyed teen asked and Gabriella shook her head.
"I guess not," she admitted softly. "But then, why wouldn't he talk to us?" she asked rhetorically. "Why doesn't he want to tell us what's wrong? I mean, we're his kids, he's supposed to tell us if something's going on, right?"
Troy bit his lips together, a sinking feeling in his stomach. He didn't like seeing Gabriella so worried. He missed her bubbly behavior. Recently, she had been… quieter; but now that he knew that her father wasn't exactly getting any better, he wasn't surprised. He let out sigh and frowned, pondering for a second. "Maybe he's… still a little… embarrassed for what happened three weeks ago," he mentioned.
Gabriella shook her head. "No, that's not it," she said. "We sorted that out. I'm almost 100 percent sure it's something else," she looked up at her boyfriend. "I know him, Troy. If he was just feeling bad about his…episode, he would've said something. It's something worse."
"Like hearing voices in his head," he repeated her suspicion.
"Exactly," she affirmed. "I don't know, Troy, I just… I have never been more worried about him before, you know? It kills me not to know what's going on in his head. How can I help him when he doesn't let me?"
"You can't," he answered honestly. Gabriella stared at him and Troy immediately wanted to punch himself as he saw the look on her face. Maybe a little too honest, he thought. He took in a breath and then let it out slowly, trying to think how to fix his 'useful' reply. "What I mean is that you can't really force him to tell you, Gab," he rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. "All you can really do is wait and be there for him when he's ready to tell you what's going on."
The brunette sighed and looked down at their interlaced hands. She couldn't believe that they had been dating four months already. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she mumbled, finally taking a bite from her chocolate ice-cream, which was beginning to melt. "It's just hard for me to not know."
Troy couldn't help but give her a small chuckle and a sympathetic smile. "I know, Cupcake," he said. He knew that better than anyone else. Gabriella licked her ice-cream and looked up at Troy. He continued to smile at her. "Remember who you're talking to."
For some reason she blushed and gave him a tiny smile. "I guess I'm a little bit pushy, aren't I?"
"A little bit?" he joked with his monotone voice and then chuckled when his girlfriend elbowed him.
"I think I liked you better when you weren't this honest, Cinnamon Roll," Gabriella mumbled, rolling her eyes. Troy smiled at her and let go of her hand so he could wrap his arm around her shoulders. The teenage girl leaned into him as she continued eating her ice-cream.
Troy pressed a kiss to her temple. "Give it time, Gab," he murmured against her skin. "Things will fall into place."
Gabriella nodded her head. "Alright."
Thomas Montez came home early from work that Wednesday. It was around 5 PM as he dropped his jacket on the armchair and sighed. Gabriella wasn't the only one who was worried about their father, he had also noticed the strange behavior that Greg had taken; it wasn't really hard to miss. Not only wasn't he talking to them like he usually did, but he hadn't been eating properly either. Around 1 AM, Tom would suddenly wake up, hearing him get up from his bed and wander around the house. The first couple of times Tom confronted him about it, Greg answered him that he only wanted a glass of water; but getting a glass of water didn't take two hours. Never.
So he had decided to take the rest of the day off to check on his father. His sister had told him that she was going to go out with Troy. He couldn't exactly tell her not to go, she hadn't exactly been able to go out with her boyfriend since they came back from the hospital; she deserved that time out in his opinion. It was his turn to stay home in case their dad needed something.
"Hey, dad, I'm home!" he called out, making his way to his dad's office. There was no answer; it didn't surprise him. He pushed the door open and stepped in. His breath caught in his throat as he took in the sight before him.
Papers were scattered around the room, all over the floor and on the desk and on the chairs. They were full of doodles in black ink; some looked like eyes and mouths. You could barely see the floor or the chairs, or the desk for that matter. Greg sat behind his desk, staring blankly at the screen of his computer. He was as still as a statue; Tom wondered if he was breathing.
"Dad?" Tom called softly, taking a step forward. Greg didn't turn to look at him; he just continued staring at the computer. Tom took another step, and picked up a paper from the floor. He frowned. They weren't doodles –they were names in cursive letter.
Gabriella, Maria, Gabriella, Maria, Thomas, Maria, Gabriella, Thomas, Gabriella, Gabriella, Gabriella Anne, Maria, Maria, Gabriella, Gabriella, Gabriella, David Thomas, Gabriella, Maria.
Their names. But not only Tom's and Gabriella's, but their mother's as well. Tom looked up at his dad, who continued staring at the computer screen. What was he staring at? Tom's heart was beating rapidly against his ribs; he couldn't help it, he was starting to freak out. It was an understatement to say that he wasn't expecting this. How could he? Gregory had never done anything like this before.
He finished making his way to his dad and stood behind him, looking at what he was staring in the computer screen. His frown deepened. He had opened two pictures –one of Tom and Gabriella at her 17th birthday at their old house, and another one of Greg and Maria at their wedding.
"Dad…" Tom trailed off, confused as to why Greg had a picture of their mother. He thought he had gotten rid of them all after she left.
"They look alike, don't they?" Greg finally spoke up. "Gabriella and your mom. They are almost twins, right?"
Tom looked down at his father for a second before looking up at the pictures again. They did. They had the same high cheekbones, the same nose and the same smile. The hair and the eyes were Greg's, though. Maria had straight hair, while Gabriella's was curly. They had the same skin tone, as well.
Tom shook his head, not understanding what was going on. He looked down at his father. Was that why he was having trouble talking to Gabriella recently? Because he realized she looked like Maria? Tom always knew that Gabriella looked a lot like their mother, but he never thought that would be a problem for Greg.
"Dad, where did you get all this paper from?" Tom asked. "Why did… why did you write down our names on it?"
Greg finally snapped his eyes from his computer to look at his son. He frowned. "What?" he asked, confused. Before Tom could even think to answer him, Greg turned his head around and looked down at his desk. His eyes widened, surprised as they continued to travel to the floor of his office. "I…I…I did that?" he asked, shaking his head with confusion.
Tom sighed. "Well, I sure didn't," he commented. He shook his head; he needed to get a doctor, and not Chad's mom, but a psychiatrist. Greg was getting worse; maybe he needed a new medication. The one he was taking wasn't working anymore. Tom looked down at his dad and he felt his stomach sink to his feet as he saw the look on his face; he was looking around the room with disbelief and… fear in his eyes. Greg wasn't oblivious to the fact that he was losing control of himself.
"I'm getting worse," he murmured, his voice tight with emotion. Tom felt a lump starting to form in his throat, but he gulped it down and then cleared his throat. He shook his head, but didn't say anything –he couldn't exactly lie to the man.
"We'll figure this one out, Pa," Tom placed a hand on his back in comfort. "We always do."
Greg nodded at him, but for the first time, for some unknown reason, he didn't believe him. He honestly didn't think they could figure this one out. As he looked around the room, he felt like crying; he didn't even notice what he was doing anymore. Why had he done that? He remembered scribbling something on those papers, but he didn't know what he had written or how they ended up all over his office.
A moment later, Tom had managed to get him out of his office and into the living room. He gave him a glass of water and turned on some soccer game that was on ESPN. Greg had been living in Albuquerque since he was 19, but that didn't mean he was any less of a Mexican; he still enjoyed a good game of soccer, even if it was the European Cup. In fact, he liked that one better; the players did know how to make a game thrilling.
Tom, seeing that his father was beginning to relax and getting into the game, silently left the room to clean up the mess in his office; he didn't want him looking at it if he went back to get something –he would only get depressed and worried all over again. He stepped into the room and began picking up the sheets of paper. His frowned deepened with each page he picked up.
He noticed that in the papers that weren't occupied by badly drawn eyes and mouths, his name began disappearing while Gabriella's increased along with their mother's. There was a point where his name could no longer be found.
Maria, Gabriella, Maria, Gabriella, Maria, Gabriella, Maria…
There was one paper in particular that caught his attention and made him frown worried. He picked it up from the desk, and for some reason his stomach twisted with discomfort. Written in big bold letters, he read:
Maria= Gabriella.
But before the almost 28 year old man could give it any further thought, he heard the doorbell ring. He quickly finished picking up the rest of the papers from the desk and dumped them in the trashcan next to it and then made his way out.
"I got it," he told his dad, who was in the process of standing up. Greg nodded at him and sat back down. The doorbell rang for a second time. "Coming!" he yelled out.
When he opened the door, he felt his heart jump into his throat, stopping him mid-breath. He paled. Before him stood a short girl with short red hair and bright green eyes, a small pink suitcase sitting at her left.
"Diana," he managed to breathe out. His ex-fiancée gave him a shy smile.
Having finished their ice-creams, Troy and Gabriella continued walking around the park until they found a nice spot underneath a tree. Since it was almost 6, the sun was no longer hitting them hard on their skin, but the shadow the tree was offering was still inviting. Eager to finally be able to sit down after walking around for a while, Gabriella rushed over, letting go of her boyfriend's hand, and accommodated herself down on the grass.
Troy rolled his blue orbs at her childish behavior, but smiled like he always did; after all, that's what he loved the most about her. With his hands deep in his pockets, he finished his way towards her at his own pace, unconsciously playing with the heart-locket that he now always carried with him.
Right after Annie got out of the hospital, Troy took Gabriella's heart-locket to a jewelry store to see if they could fix it up a little. Since he always carried it with him, waiting for the precise moment to give it back to her –thing that never happened, since none of the alone moments they've had seemed right enough to him–, it became a little embossed in the front, where the 'G' was engraved, and the chain broke. Like he had once said, it was poor quality.
Biting the inside of his cheek, Troy let out a sigh. He had kept it mostly because he thought he would never be able to have Gabriella, but now that he was certain that he did, he no longer knew why he still carried it with him. He had kept it for almost three weeks now with no reason whatsoever but the fear of her reaction; after all, she had lost it almost a year ago.
Huh, Troy thought as he sat down next to his girlfriend. He couldn't believe that on November it would be a year since he first met Gabriella at Savannah's Flower Shop. He unconsciously smiled as he remembered her slipping on a water puddle and falling flat on her back as two huge flower arrangements fell over her. Back then he would have never admitted it, but she looked so cute worrying over what her boss would do to her for dropping the arrangements.
Gabriella, who had gotten her good mood back, arched a curious eyebrow at her smiling boyfriend. After all, she had gone out with him so she could get a small break from everything. She placed her chin over his shoulder and bit back a smirk as he turned to look at her. "What are you thinking about?" she asked.
Troy smiled at her as they locked eyes. "The day I met you," he admitted, softly. He searched for her hand and laced their fingers. Gabriella groaned and buried her face in his shoulder; Troy chuckled.
"Oh, don't remind me, that day was so embarrassing!" she complained.
The blue eyed teen smirked at her, enjoying her embarrassment. He leaned his head against the tree trunk and waited for her to look back up at him. "I never got to thank you for helping me pick out those flowers for my mom," he told her.
Gabriella gave him a half smile. "It was no problem," she told him. "Did you know that you were the only one who ever bought those flowers? Apparently they were too expensive for other costumers. Savannah had to stop ordering them, not only because they wouldn't sell, but because they had to be cut off of some tree; so they weren't exactly commercial."
"I really don't care, Cupcake," he told her impassively, shaking his head. He then chuckled when Gabriella smacked him on the chest.
"Jerk," she rolled her eyes but then smiled as she felt Troy's lips on her temple. Their eyes locked one more time and Troy watched Gabriella bite her bottom lip before he leaned down to kiss her. He placed his hand on her cheek and rubbed it with his thumb, his heart pounding happily. Seconds later he pulled back and watched as Gabriella smiled a stupid grin at him. He smiled back.
Troy slid his hand from her cheek down to her neck. He didn't say anything. He just looked at her; he looked at how her eyes glowed with peace and joy. She looked extremely beautiful. He sighed. Well, she always looked beautiful to him.
"What?" the brunette asked, curious as to why he was looking at her so intensely. Troy shook his head and leaned down to peck her lips, squeezing the back of her neck lovingly. He knew it was time, and whatever was her reaction he'd just have to deal with it.
He cleared his throat after pulling back. "I've got something for you," he informed her, dropping his hand from her neck and moving it towards the right pocket of his jeans. The brunette cocked her head to the side with curiosity.
"Troy, didn't we agree that you wouldn't buy me anything else?" she arched an eyebrow at him, giving him a disbelieving look.
Troy rolled his eyes at her as he pulled the necklace out of his pocket, making a fist of it so the brunette wouldn't see it yet. "You agreed to that, I didn't."
Gabriella gave him a look. "Troy."
"Relax, Cupcake, don't get your panties in a twist. I didn't buy it," he said and ignored the glare his girlfriend shot at him. He gulped silently. "Actually, it's yours," he stated, his voice a little bit quieter, and the brunette's glare quickly disappeared to be replaced by a confused look.
"Mine?"
Troy sighed and moved his fist to her, his eyes never leaving her face. Gabriella looked down to his fist and watched it open. Her eyes went wide as plates and she felt her stomach coil around itself as she recognized the familiar 'G' engraved on the heart-locket her boyfriend was holding. The heart-locket she had lost almost 10 months ago, the one with the picture of her father, her brother and her at their old house, the one that she was forced to let go of since it was nowhere to be found.
Troy, whose breathing had stopped, waited nervously for her to do or say something. His heart was beating quickly and he was having trouble to keep his hand from shaking with nerve. Not that he would ever say it out loud, but he was actually afraid of his girlfriend's reaction; not like when he was about to tell her about his mother's death, but he was still… scared.
"Where did you get this?" the brunette asked, her sudden trembling hands taking the heart-locket from his palm.
The blue eyed boy dropped his hand. "I found it," he cleared his throat. He watched Gabriella stare unbelieving at the heart-locket between her fingers. "In my front lawn, after w-we crashed when you were taking Calah out for a walk."
"I thought I lost it," she breathed out, feeling her eyes filling up with tears. She passed her thumb over the engraved 'G', just like Troy had done so many times. She noticed that the cover was shinier, smoother, and that the chain was new, but there was no doubt that the necklace was hers. She looked up at Troy and the boy felt his throat close. "You've had it all this time?"
Troy nodded silently, his eyes glued to hers.
"Why?" she asked with disbelief. "Why didn't you give it back sooner? Why did you keep it? Do you know how much this necklace means to me, Troy?" she voiced out the questions in the order as they came to mind, her voice becoming tight with emotion as she tried not to cry. She had cried a lot recently, she was growing sick of it.
Troy sighed again, looking down at the small space between their legs. He dared to place his hand over her thigh and rubbed it with his thumb. He looked back up at her.
"I'm an idiot," he stated. "That's my excuse for keeping it," he told her. The brunette continued giving him a disbelieving look, obviously not satisfied with his answer. She opened her mouth to reproach him, but closed it as Troy spoke up again. "I just… I didn't know how to give it back to you, Gab. There was one time I tried putting it in your locker, actually the Monday after you lost it, but...I just…I couldn't."
"And why not?" she frowned at him, her voice firm and disgruntled. Troy didn't blame her though; he knew the heart-locket meant the world to her.
Troy sighed, his brow furrowing a bit as he looked back down to his hand rubbing her leg; it surprised him that she hadn't pushed him away yet. "Damn, Gab," he breathed, his bangs falling in front of his eyes, forbidding Gabriella to see them. The brunette's frown deepened; his hair annoyed her so much. Even though she wasn't exactly pleased with him at the moment, she lifted her hand up and pushed his hair back and out of his eyes. Troy looked up at her.
"Your hair annoys me," she murmured in explanation, still looking at Troy with a displeased expression.
Troy gave her a quick shy smile before sighing. "I wanted to have something of yours," he explained. "I never thought that I would…that you would ever be my girlfriend, or even my friend, so I just thought that keeping your heart-locket would be the closest thing to having you. It was a stupid idea, but at the moment it was enough for me to keep it. I didn't know it meant that much to you… at least not until I opened it months after," he explained. "After I opened it, I tried to give it back to you numerous times, but I didn't know how, at least not without having to bring my walls down. I've been carrying it around in my pocket for more than four months, trying to find that opportune moment, but none of the alone moments we've had seemed good enough. I guess… some part of me wasn't ready to give it back, at least not until you knew about my mom," he confessed with a slow sigh, his hand squeezing her thigh tenderly. "I was...insecure. And I'm sorry."
Gabriella shook her head and looked down at her heart-locket. "Damn you, Troy," she let out a shaky breath, her eyes still fighting back the tears. The worst part is that she understood his reasons, especially since she knew how his stupid little twisted head worked. It wasn't surprising. But that didn't mean that she was fond of his insecurity, especially when it made him keep something as important to her as her heart-locket.
Her understanding didn't make her displeasure go away. "Damn you," she repeated. She didn't know what else to say. She couldn't tell him that it was okay, because it wasn't, but she couldn't exactly yell at him or be angry at him, because she wasn't either. She just was… overwhelmed. It was just too much. She thought she had lost the most precious object to her because she had been a distracted clumsy idiot like always. She had been so angry at herself because her father had worked so hard to give it to her when she turned 15.
He hadn't been able to throw her a party like any other Latin-American parent would. But Gabriella didn't complain about it, she didn't even want to have a party; she didn't care. Actually, she thought it was… pathetic. She didn't want to have one of those ridiculous puffy dresses that she wouldn't be able to wear ever again or waltz around with every male she had invited or have that idiotic Last-Toy ceremony or the stupid coronation like if she was a princess.
It wasn't like she had gone to one of those before, she didn't have any other Mexican friends and all her cousins were boys. She had only gone to a couple of Sweet-Sixteen's, and, even though it was nearly the same shit, it was different. Her aunts were the ones who continuously rambled about it when she was 14 and she went on vacations to visit her grandparents in Mexico City; she had returned to Albuquerque with red eyes and a cold –the pollution there could be something horrible if your weren't used to it, especially when it was winter.
Her aunts weren't exactly excited about the idea of the traditional 15-Años, they were actually ranting about how she should do something simpler; a nice cute dress, a few guests, cake and the dancing with her father and brother. But still, Gabriella wasn't fond of the idea; and even though they were in a better economic state back then, it wasn't like her father could afford a party.
Gabriella had told him that she wasn't mad, that he shouldn't feel guilty, but Gregory still felt like he wasn't being fair; so in the morning of her birthday he surprised her with that golden heart-locket. The brunette came to love that necklace so much; she only wore it when she felt like she needed some luck. And boy she thought she needed it to get through Troy's thick walls.
"Gabriella," Troy called her name, seeing that she was deep in thought as she stared down at the heart-locket. The girl looked up at him, her eyes unreadable. Troy wanted to wince at her cold expression; she had never looked at him like that before. "Gab, say something…"
Gabriella shook her head. "I don't know what to tell you, Troy," she said with a sigh. "I honestly don't."
Troy felt a pain pierce through his chest, but he nodded. He was expecting her to react differently, maybe yell at him or something, but her silence and her cold stare was what he got; and, damn, it was worse than what he had thought. He sighed and removed his hand from her thigh, bending his knees up.
"Gab, I'm sorry," he apologized.
"I know, Troy," she rested her head against the tree trunk, looking at him. She shook her head. "And I'm not mad at you, I just…" she trailed off with a quiet sigh. "I don't know. I'm just not happy that you kept it for so long."
Troy kept quiet.
"My dad gave this to me when I turned 15, you know?" she told him. "It's… sort of my lucky charm. You don't know how upset I was when I lost it, I felt guilty and angry and sad and I was so pissed off at myself for being such an idiot," she looked up at the branches of the tree, trying to keep the tears from flowing. "I thought I'd never see it again and..." she trailed off again, a lump forming in her throat. A moment later she knew her eyes had betrayed her when she felt Troy's thumb wipe away a tear that had managed to escape.
She looked down at her boyfriend and she felt her heart sink to her stomach with sudden guilt as she saw the pained expression that had taken place in his face usual serene face. More tears began flowing down her cheeks. "Damn, Troy," she shook her head, beginning to feel desperate. "I want to be mad at you, but I can't! How can I be mad at you when I know how your twisted head works?" she exclaimed. "And how can I be mad at you when you're giving me that face?" she frowned, moving one of her hands up and pinching his cheek roughly. Troy winced and pulled away, but didn't say anything; he didn't think he was in any position to complain.
Troy watched Gabriella sigh and shake her head one more time. His heart continued beating wildly against his chest as he waited for her to outburst once again, but he was surprised when she leaned forward and pressed her forehead to his shoulder. He blinked; he would be lying if he didn't say he was a little taken aback by her weird change of behavior.
"Gab…" he tried to speak as he placed a hand over her shoulder.
"Shut up," she murmured. "Right now, I really don't like you," she breathed out. Troy grimaced as he rubbed her shoulder, slowly. Perhaps it would be better not to say anything, at least not yet. After a couple of minutes the brunette looked up at him and rested her chin on his shoulder. Troy stared back.
Damn those blue eyes, she thought bitterly as she unconsciously passed her thumb over her heart-locket. And damn his scared little broken heart. She was angry that she couldn't be angry at him. Did that make sense? Probably not, but that's how she felt. She could imagine how he had felt with the whole situation; it wasn't hard. Trying to wonder how to give it back, keeping it so he could have a little piece of her, feeling guilty when he found out that it was important to her…
He had acted selfish. But then again, so had she. She had continuously nagged him until she got him to open up to her only because she was too stubborn to let him win. She had acted selfish because she had wanted him as well, no matter the cost.
The brunette frowned annoyed once again as Troy's hair fell on his eyes. "I'm going to cut your hair when you're asleep," she complained, pushing his hair back. Troy continued being quiet. Gabriella licked her bottom lip and pulled back. She let out a quiet sigh as she stared at her boyfriend's sorry face; it looked like he was waiting for her to say that she forgave him.
Well, better late than never, right?
"You got it fixed?" she asked.
"Yeah," Troy nodded. "With so much carrying it around, it…needed it."
"Okay," Gabriella nodded. "Thank you."
"It was no problem, Cupcake."
Gabriella gave him a half smile. "Help me put it on, Cinnamon Roll?" she asked, her voice still quiet. Troy smiled back and nodded, opening his hand to her. Gabriella placed the heart-locket in his palm and turned her back to him, lifting her hair up.
Troy stared down at the heart-locket one last time, letting out a nostalgic sigh. Silently, he said his goodbyes to it and passed his thumb over it one last time before he placed it around Gabriella's neck. Unconsciously a cycle of fear and uncertainty closed along with the clasp. Troy was no longer afraid to lose her now that he allowed himself to have her. He no longer needed the necklace to have some sort of connection to her. Gabriella Montez wouldn't go anywhere, at least not without him.
It was around 7 when Troy finally dropped Gabriella off at her house. She couldn't wait to tell her dad that Troy had found her necklace. She was now smiling from ear to ear as she looked down at it as she walked up the porch's steps. She was just glad that she had her heart-locket back, even if Troy had kept it for almost 10 months.
The golden-skinned girl opened the door and stepped inside, but before she could yell out to anyone, she found a note on the entrance table. With a curious frown, she picked it up and immediately recognized her brother's handwriting.
Gabs,
I had to go out for a while. It's a long story. I'm just going to tell you that Diana showed up at our doorstep. I don't know the time, but I'm sure it's around 6, I hope to be back by 7 or perhaps 8 for dinner.
I left dad watching a soccer game, I'm pretty sure that by the time you get home he'll be back in his office or probably asleep. Call me if anything happens. We're at the café that you work in.
Love, Tom.
Gabriella's curious frown turned into an annoyed one. Diana? What the hell was Diana doing in Albuquerque? The bitch dumped her brother because she didn't want to move! Why would Tom want to talk to her? He wouldn't take her back, would he? Because if she came down here it would be to try to get Tom back, right? It was obvious!
The brunette rolled her eyes and shook her head, scoffing. Who was she kidding? She was talking about Tom! Of course he would take her back! The stupid banana brain was in love with her. Plus, from all the years that she knew that red-head bimbo, she knew she was a smooth talker; she would bet a million dollars, if she had them, that she would convince him to forgive her.
She sighed. "Ugh, you're such an idiot!" she growled and crumbled up the note before tossing it back on the table. Well, it was his problem, not hers.
Gabriella walked into the living room and dropped her purse on the armchair in front of the window and immediately looked at the couch to see if her dad was asleep there. He wasn't, so the brunette immediately thought that he was in his office checking for any important mail.
"Dad?" she yelled out. "I'm home!" she took off her red hoody and tossed it on the armchair next to her purse before heading for her dad's office. "Dad?" she called him again as she pushed the door open. She stepped into the office and frowned. He wasn't there either.
"That's weird," she murmured to herself. As she went to turn around and leave, thinking that he was perhaps taking a shower, her eyes caught the sight of a big pack of sheets of paper in the trashcan next to her father's desk. Curiously, she walked further into the office and took them out.
Maria= Gabriella.
She read in big bold letters and immediately frowned, taken aback. "What the…?" she said underneath her breath as she browsed through the other pages. Her name and her mother's were continuously repeated, sometimes Tom's, and then there were eyes and mouths badly drawn. For some reason her heart began picking up its pace. Had her dad done this?
But why? And why did her name and her mother's were the most repeated?
Gabriella couldn't think through it much when she heard someone step into the office. She turned around and found her father standing there.
"Hey," she immediately greeted, still frowning worriedly. She placed the papers behind her on the desk, deciding to not mention anything about it. "I thought you'd be in here. Where were you?" she asked.
Gregory didn't say anything; he just continued staring at the young girl in front of him. Gabriella wasn't surprised by his silence, though. No. What surprised her was the sudden new speed her heart had taken and the sudden urge she felt of running out of there. For a moment, she didn't understand why, it was just her father not a murderer; but as she looked up at his expression, but really looked at it, she suddenly understood.
His stand was rigid, his hands were balled into fists, his expression was hard, angry, and his eyes weren't the usually warm brown that made Gabriella feel her father's love, they were pitch-black. The brunette took a step back, trying to find a way to run out of there. The man that stood before her wasn't her father.
"Daddy?" she said, her voice quivery and weak.
Greg shook his head. "You've got a nerve to show up in here, Maria," he growled ominously at her and Gabriella's eyes went wide; for some reason her mind quickly focused the papers behind her on the desk. Maria=Gabriella.
"No, wait," she shook her head. "Dad."
"You left us," he took a step further into the office. "You left your kids," Gabriella's hands began trembling. "Forget about me, you left Tom and Gabriella without a mother!" he yelled at her.
"Daddy, no," she took another step back as Greg took one forward. "It's me! I'm Gabriella!"
Gregory chuckled bitterly and shook his head. "Listen to that, Jason," he commented as his eyes darted to the corner of the room. Gabriella quickly turned her head to the corner, finding it empty. She shook her head, turning back to her dad. He continued stalking at her. "You're going to pay, Maria, for my kids."
Tom sighed as he stepped out of his car and slammed the door behind him. He rubbed his face tiredly and looked up at the darkening sky. After having a long talk with his ex-fiancée, which didn't really lead anywhere, he dropped her off at a small Motel two blocks away from there, both deciding that it would be better to take a couple of days to think things through before taking a decision if to whether take back on their relationship or not.
He retrieved the keys out of his pocket and started making his way up the path to his house. But then his keys fell down to the ground as he jumped startled, his heart immediately picking up his pace as he heard his little's sister high-pitched scream penetrating into his ears.
"Gabriella?" he breathed out, suddenly feeling scared. He quickly picked up his keys and rushed into his house, many scenarios crossing his mind of his dad going into another episode. But no, what he was about to find was nowhere near to another catatonic stupor episode.
Tom rushed into his father's office and his eyes went wide. "DAD, NO!" he yelled.
To be continued.
Sorry that it's short and sorry for the cliffhanger, I couldn't help it! xD But I had this chapter planned up to end up like this. Well, I hadn't planned Gabriella getting her heart-locket back, but I actually need her to have it; you'll see why.
Next chapter's going to be a little confusing, but you'll get it, don't worry.
And I'm so, so, so, SO, so sorry for the wait! I was a little stuck in the middle of the chapter, plus my brother got me playing this freaking RPG game called 'Diablo III' and IT'S FUCKING AWESOME!
It's so damn addictive! I haven't been able to stop playing it! And the story is great! And the heroes are so amazing! I chose a Wizard and now I'm level 50!
…I need help… I really do. I'm not even a gamer girl! But I just can't stop playing it!
Ask those who are following me on twitter xD
Anywho! I didn't really like this chapter, but I hope you did. This story is almost over now. A couple more chapters, perhaps an Epilogue and that's it!
Don't forget to leave a review behind!
Lots of love,
Mary.
P.S: Sorry for Grammar and Spelling mistakes!
My twitter: btzzmary
I follow back ;) just remind me to follow you!