Christmas Past

From: Gabriella Montez

To: Diego Montez; Milla Hayes-Montez

Subject: Merry Christmas!

I realise you're both living in the same house, but I'm sending you both this email because I don't know which of you will check your emails first. Whoever gets up with the girls, I'm guessing.

Anyway, I'll call later, but I just wanted to wish you all a very, very merry Christmas. And Mil, I know we've talked about this, but remember: if Mom makes some kind of festive snack and it's totally gross, you must not give in to your good manners and say "Oh Maria, that was so delicious, you must give me the recipe." Just remember the peppermint eggnog.

Did you hear that we might get snow? I mean in the city and not just up on the hills? I'm not sure I remember the last time it did that. Anyhow, snow or not, it's really, really cold here, though I know I can't compete with you on that front. I just checked the weather and it says you guys had another snowfall last night.

Man, I can't WAIT to see you all. We are building a snowman FIRST thing when I arrive next week.

G xxx

From: Diego Montez

To: Gabriella Montez

Subject: re: Merry Christmas!

Hey sis! Merry Christm…wait a second…you're two hours behind us in New Mexico, right?…G, you're emailing us at quarter to five in the morning?

Why, Gabby, why? I didn't even know that quarter to five in the morning existed until we had the girls. And you're on holiday now. What are you doing up so early? And don't say work; if you say work I'm telling Mom. Or worse: Sharpay.

D

From: Gabriella Montez

To: Diego Montez

Subject: re: Merry Christmas!

No, not work. I just couldn't sleep. And not because I was lying in wait for Santa, before you ask, I've just had a lot on my mind. It's a long and not especially interesting story, and I'll tell you all about it when I see you next week, but the short version is that work's been…interesting. It's going to be OK (though if you'd asked me that same question less than 12 hours ago, I might have been less optimistic), but it's still been kind of stressful. And D, play down the stress part of that when Mom asks how I'm doing, would you? The last thing I want is for her to spend the next couple of days worrying that her daughter is near-suicidal on the other side of the country. I'm absolutely fine (apart from the slight sleep-deprivation) and I'm spending the day at Shar and Zeke's.

Lots of love to all of you, and especially those of you that have been up since the early hours. I'm guessing you and the girls, right?

Gabs xx

From: Diego Montez

To: Gabriella Montez

Subject: re: Merry Christmas!

Aly's still sleeping, but Kate's been up since six and says hi. Or she will when she can talk. They've both learned some really cool stuff since you last saw them; Kate has this great bit where she waves her hands about and makes herself go cross-eyed, and Aly likes putting her feet in her mouth. It's hilarious.

Sorry to hear work's been stressing you out, Gabs, but I'm glad you're sounding positive about it. So it all turned around in the last 12 hours, huh? You always were on the lookout for a Christmas Miracle…

I was so shocked at you being up at 4:45 on Christmas morning that I blanked the part of your email about the snow. I don't think I remember it ever snowing in Albuquerque; we always had to go find our snow up on the foothills if we wanted some. And yeah, we had more snow yesterday, thankfully not too much or we would have got stuck at church last night.

Oh, and re: the snowman making, supplies have been assembled, and are waiting for your arrival.

Merry Christmas sis, talk to you later,

D x

"…honestly, Mom, I'm fine. I mean, it's weird not being with you guys of course…no, I can't wait either…OK, so I'll call you tomorrow. Yeah, and I'll email my flight details to D…OK, I will, and I'm sure they'll send their love to you to too…give everyone my love and tell Milla that I need pictures of the girls in their Christmas dresses…yeah, and everyone here said to say hi...I love you too, Mom…OK, bye."

Gabby stifled a yawn as she slid her cell phone into the pocket of her coat, and drawing her feet up onto her seat, stared out at Sharpay and Zeke's darkening garden. She had come out onto the veranda to phone her family in the hope that the late afternoon chill would wake her up, but to no avail. She yawned again. The events of the previous week, with Elliot's bombshell and Troy's strange appearance at the midnight service had combined to make the very idea of sleep on Christmas Eve a distant and unlikely prospect. She had fallen into bed at just past one in the morning confidently expecting to be asleep in minutes, and yet every time she felt herself dropping off, she'd hear Elliot's words again, and would be struck with an infuriating desire to analyse them. For a while, she had attempted to convince her brain that lying awake and obsessing would not provide the answers she was looking for, without success. Finally, having tried soothing herself with herbal tea and boring herself with the Studio's Annual Financial Report, she had fallen asleep in front of Miracle on 34th Street, waking several hours later with early morning sunshine in her eyes and a crick in her neck.

Still working the kinks out of that crick, she stretched her legs out to rest them on the basket chair opposite hers and took a sip of coffee from the huge mug that had been pushed into her hands as Taylor caught her putting on her coat to go outside. Sleep deprivation aside, it had been a lovely day so far. Lovelier than she would have thought possible, if she was honest. After a really cold run and a really hot bath, she had spent a happy few hours in the kitchen listening to all the Christmas music on her laptop and making muffins to add to the brunch at Zeke and Sharpay's. She had been sent the recipe that morning by Martha Stewart's Festive Countdown, having been signed up for daily emails by her mother, who clearly felt her daughter was in danger of losing her Holiday Spirit. It had been a while since she had made time for baking, and she had forgotten how relaxing she found it. She had spent almost the entire night over-thinking, but with the fairy lights lit, an orange zester in her hand and the kitchen full of the smell of cinnamon and brown sugar, all the questions that had been circling over and over the night before seemed somehow less...important.

When she arrived at the Baylors' house, Sharpay, Taylor and Kelsi had met her at the front door, ostensibly to help unloading boxes from the car, but really to interrogate her about the Journal article, which Kelsi had read late the previous night, and had brought round that morning for clarification. Gabby had given them the short version: that Elliot had apologised, both in person and in print, and had asked her to stay on at GMA, that Troy might not be quite the villain that they had all initially thought, and that she was at least thinking of accepting. Unsure as to how she would go about explaining certain details, she had left out a number of things, including Troy's precise level of involvement in the Journal article, his bizarre appearance at the midnight service, and her feelings regarding the whole episode which were, she was beginning to realise, not what she might have expected.

"OK Montez, spill."

Gabby looked up with a start to see Sharpay leaning against the doorframe, a mug in her hand and a suspicious look on her face. She grinned and removed her feet from the chair opposite so her friend could sit down.

"Anything particular you had in mind? State secrets? My latest celebrity crush?"

"No, I...actually, yes...celebrity crush?"

"Bieber."

"Seriously."

"OK, fine...apart from Taylor Hanson, you mean?"

"Obviously."

"What's the name of that show where he reads people's minds and solves crime?"

"The Mentalist?"

"Yeah, what's that guy called?"

"Simon Baker. Good choice." Sharpay took the chair offered, nodding. "One of my editors has been bugging me to do a profile on him for ages. She says it's because he might have some interesting insights on the fashion industry, having once been a model, but I suspect it's because he's hot and she wants to interview him."

Gabby raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that exactly what you did with David Boreanaz a couple of years ago?"

"Um, yeah, so anyway..." Sharpay was suddenly very interested in untangling the tassels on her scarf for a moment, before looking up. "You never answered my question."

"Which was..."

"What's going on with you?"

Gabby shrugged. "I'm fine."

Sharpay stared at her for a moment and then shook her head decisively. "No, I'm sorry, but a perfectly happy person wouldn't sit outside on her own on Christmas Day staring at my garden. It's just not that beautiful."

Kelsi appeared in the doorway that Sharpay had just vacated, and came out onto the veranda, followed by Taylor. "Well, it's a whole lot prettier than my garden, I'll tell you that for free. Jase and I always mean to spend our weekends working on it and then at some point on Sunday afternoon, we always realise that we've forgotten again." She indicated to the other two chairs on the veranda. "Do you mind if we join you?"

"Not at all! Do you think we'll be missed though? I don't want your parents thinking I'm being really anti-social, Shar," Gabby checked her watch, "I have been out for a pretty long time."

"Gabs, seriously, I don't want to dent your ego, but you're not being missed. None of us are, actually. Ryan and Jaime have gone for a walk, Shar's Dad is helping Zeke with the goose, Zeke's Dad is reading his new book on the British Museum, Jase is whipping Chad at Mario Kart, and Shar and Zeke's Moms have discovered a shared love of Michael Douglas and are watching The American President. Right now, if we all ran in and shouted 'We're back!', they'd all look up say 'Really? Where've you been?'"

"In that case, pull up a chair," Sharpay waved a hand at the empty chairs, "and help me quiz Montez here about why I just caught her sitting and staring out at my garden looking like Joey Potter."

"You're normally with your family for Christmas, aren't you?" Kelsi looked sympathetic. "Are you missing them?"

"No, I...well, yeah, I am, but no, that's..." Gabby paused and shook her head. "Damn, you're good. From 'I'm fine' to 'No, that's not it' in less than a minute."

"Yep, that's why they call me the Sydney Bristow of Fashion Journalism." Sharpay put her mug down beside her chair and swung her feet up onto the coffee table. "So if it's not that you're missing your family, then what is it?"

Gabby looked round at her three best friends. She had tried it before, and there was really no point in trying to put anything past them. Taking a deep breath, she began. "I could tell you it's all about having to quit at GMA, but that would only be a part of it, because really, I suppose it's also about Troy."

"I knew it!..." Sharpay punched the air. "I mean, do go on..."

Gabby looked hard at her for a moment. "Yeah, so anyway...when you guys met me at the door this morning and asked me what was going on with Elliot's quote in that article, I told you the truth but I didn't exactly tell you the whole truth." And taking another mouthful of coffee to fortify her, she told them what Elliot had told her the previous night.

"So Troy wrote that article?" asked Taylor, when she'd finished.

Gabby nodded. "Well, the exact words were down to the guy who wrote the piece, but um, yeah, basically."

Kelsi looked confused. "And he didn't tell you?"

"I know, right?" Gabby flung out her hands in frustration. "I yelled at him right in the middle of the lobby, I slapped him for crying out loud, and since that moment, I've been fantasising about pushing him down a disused mineshaft. And now Elliot tells me that he turned down the offer to anchor GMA on his own and then wrote all those things about me. Why didn't he tell me? It's like he wants me to hate him."

"But you don't," Sharpay sat forward in her seat, "do you?"

She could have denied it. She could have reeled off a list of the things that annoyed her about him and produced her well rehearsed performance of a girl who would have rather slammed her hand in a car door than spend any more time with Troy Bolton, but she'd been playing that person for weeks now, and she was sick of it. However irritating it was to admit it, Sharpay was right.

"No," she said slowly, "I don't."

Clearly determined not to overplay the fact that her friend had just admitted to not hating Troy Bolton, Taylor stayed on topic. "But you don't think he feels the same?"

Gabby shrugged. "I can't really imagine why he would, to be honest, not after the way I've treated him since we met."

"OK, let's say you're not his favourite person right now." said Kelsi, "The fact that he wrote that article suggests he still wants to work with you, right? I've not known him very long, but I'm fairly sure that if he knew you regretted some of the things that had happened in the last few weeks, he'd be just as anxious as you to work on your professional relationship. That is...unless it's not just a professional relationship you want..." she trailed off as she saw her friend's face, "Oh boy."

"I know." Gabby nodded. "It's a mess. I mean, obviously I'm thrilled that things weren't quite what I thought they were at GMA, and I'm thrilled that there's a way I could have my job back, but then again, if it means working with...him...especially since it looks like he doesn't much care if I hate him or not..." she paused, "I'm just not sure I can do it."

"Look, G," Sharpay, who had been staring out at the garden in much the same way as Gabby had been, turned suddenly. "You don't have to make any decisions now, do you?"

Gabby shook her head. "No, Elliot's expecting my answer when I get back from Vermont."

"Sharpay nodded. "OK then. So don't feel like you have to decide what to do right now. Go see your family. Make some snowmen. Play with your nieces. Avoid your Mom's eggnog. Then come back and we'll be here to talk it over with you." She shrugged. "You never know, things might seem clearer in the new year."

"Shar's right, Gabs," said Taylor, "You're not going to be seeing Troy or Elliot before the beginning of January, and there's nothing you can do before then. Don't let it ruin your time with your family. I know you, you'll try not to let it affect you, but if you don't decide to deal with it in January, it'll be bothering you the whole time. Besides," she sat up, pulling her coat tighter around her, "I'm getting kind of cold out here and I think what I really need to see is you taking my boyfriend down at Mario Kart."

"On top of the whipping he just got from Jase?" Gabby laughed. "You don't want to totally crush him, do you, Tay?"

Taylor grinned. "Not totally, but he's really been asking for it since he beat us all in the summer. I've tried to put up with all the bragging and the trash talking, but it's been hard."

"Well, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been practising for just such an occasion as this..." Gabby got to her feet and gathered up the cups, pausing with her hand on the door. "You're right, by the way.. There's no point in stressing about this now; I'll deal with it in the New Year. And guys...thanks. For everything. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Sharpay slung an arm round her friend's shoulders. "Ah, enough of the mushy stuff, Montez, you've done the same for all of us. On a number of occasions, as I recall. Now, let's get inside quick before Zeke throws my Dad out of the kitchen and one of us has to go be his sous chef."

On entering the house they discovered that little had changed since Kelsi and Taylor had gone out onto the veranda. Ryan and Jaime were still out, the Moms were still sighing over Michael Douglas and his trombone-playing daughter and Zeke and Vance Evans were (to Sharpay's amazement) still enjoying each other's company prepping for dinner. Chad and Jason had stopped playing Mario Kart, though, and were demolishing a plate of sugar cookies while looking at Theo Baylor's holiday photographs, taken earlier that year on a trip to Alaska.

"You mean that actually happens?" Chad was saying, looking disbelievingly at a series of pictures of the northern lights, "The sky actually goes that colour?"

"Pretty amazing, huh, Danforth?" Sharpay sat down on the sofa next to her father-in-law and reached across him for a cookie. "He showed them to me yesterday evening and I thought something must have been wrong with his camera. That or he's suddenly become a genius with Photoshop."

Theo laughed. "That's pretty much what everyone says when they see them, but I promise, it really was that colour. Absolutely no photoshopping. Of course, Renée'll tell you that's because I wouldn't know how, but that's only because I made her come out photographing with me almost every night we were there."

"We've got to go see this for ourselves, Kels, it's just so...wait, that's not..." Jason, looking through the pictures, stopped short at one and peered at the screen before looking up with a grin. "So Theo, I see you guys took in a Jessica Simpson show while you were in Alaska?"

"We what?" Theo leant forward, and laughed as he saw the picture. "Ah. Yes. No, that is Jessica Simpson, but it was taken in New York. Ren's boss lives on Central Park West, and he and his wife invited all their editors and spouses to a brunch where we could all watch the Thanksgiving Parade going on below us."

"Ooh, like in Miracle on 34th Street?" asked Taylor, catching Gabby's eye.

Theo nodded. "It's a while since Ren's made me watch that movie, but yeah, as I remember it. Anyhow, when they realised that I had my camera with me, they asked me to take some pictures of the parade for their grandchildren, who normally came to watch it with them but hadn't been able to make it this year."

"Well, I guess that lets you off the hook as far as the Jessica Simpson pictures go." Chad scrolled through the remaining pictures. "They must have been stoked with the shots you took, these are awesome."

Theo smiled. "Thanks, yeah, they were pleased. They wanted to pay me for them, actually, but I would have felt a bit strange about selling shots of pop stars in Santa suits and people dressed as elves to my wife's boss, so they just paid the postage when I sent them the pictures."

"Did you enjoy the parade?" asked Kelsi. "When I was seven, I campaigned for about four months to go to New York and watch it for my birthday."

"And did you?"

"Nope, I got a puppy."

Theo raised his eyebrows and whistled. "That's some consolation prize."

Kelsi laughed. "I think they'd decided to give me a dog before I started my New York Campaign, but once it started, they totally wisely decided that the benefits of a puppy would far outweigh going to see a parade."

Theo nodded. "I can see that. I don't think we'd watched the parade since Zeke decided it was lame and he'd rather watch the football, so I was kind of surprised by how much we enjoyed it." He turned in his seat. "You're a New York boy, aren't you, Chad? You ever been?"

Chad shook his head. "Nope, I watched the football like Zeke, and I also had two older brothers who told me how lame it was almost as far back as I could remember." He looked thoughtful. "Didn't stop me from dressing up as one of Santa's helpers when I was in college though..."

Taylor sat up straight in her chair, a cookie half way to her mouth. "What? You? Dressed up as one of Santa's helpers? When? Why? And how come I've not seen incriminating evidence of this?"

Chad nodded resignedly. "See, that's why I never told you. In answer to all those questions, McKessie, I did dress up as one of Santa's helpers, I did it on three consecutive Christmases, and I did it to help out a friend from college." He turned to the others to explain, as further explanation was clearly needed. "This guy's family owned this great little bookshop in Chelsea, and each year they had a this kind of book festival running right up to Christmas. You know, book readings and kid's parties and stuff like that. Anyway, the first year I knew this guy, almost his whole family went down with flu right before Christmas, which reduced their potential workforce by about two thirds, and he asked - or begged, really - anyone who lived in New York if they could spare some time to come and help out. So, being the stand-up guy I am, I said yes and," he shrugged, "I really enjoyed myself."

"So you did it for the next two years." said Taylor, shaking her head in disbelief. "You, who looked at me like I was crazy when I suggested you wear a tie to the office Christmas party."

"Yep," Chad slung his arm round his girlfriend's shoulders, "I'm a mystery, honey, no point trying to figure me out."

"Danforth, you never answered Tay's last question."

Taylor nodded. "Oh, right! Thanks, Jase. Chad, how come we've not seen any evidence of this shadowy part of your past?"

"Yeah, thanks, Jase." Chad looked hard at his friend for a moment, before turning back to Taylor. "You've not seen any pictures because I don't have any. I surprised myself by how much I enjoyed helping out, but I can't say I was especially jazzed at the idea of people taking pictures of me wearing a stripey scarf and a pointy hat, although..." he trailed off thoughtfully, "I do remember someone taking pictures. Maybe Hoops would know."

Gabby almost choked on her cookie. "Hoops...you mean Troy?"

Chad looked at her in surprise. "Yeah, didn't I say that? The guy we helped out was on the same basketball team as us."

"But..." Gabby looked from Sharpay to Taylor to Kelsi, and found that their expression exactly mirrored her own. "Troy hates Christmas."

"Troy?" Chad scoffed. "Troy who volunteered us both for the book festival in the first place? Troy who gave festive book readings every day to audiences of thirty plus children? Troy doesn't hate Christmas, Gabs, where did you get that idea?"

"I..." Gabby started to speak and stopped. This picture of Troy was totally at odds with everything she knew about him. And yet... She remembered him reading Goodnight Moon to that group of pre-schoolers, remembered the enthusiasm with which he had thrown himself into the Christmas workshop. Was it really so difficult to imagine Troy actually loving Christmas? How could she have got it so wrong?

Sharpay came to her rescue. "I guess he's always just seemed a bit baffled by Christmas stuff," she said, shrugging, "and when he first came to dinner with us, he said something about having spent Christmas on his own in St Bart's last year, didn't he? I mean, if that doesn't scream Scrooge, I don't know what does."

"Yeah, I'd forgotten that," Chad looked thoughtful, "I kept meaning to ask him about it."

"So you're telling me that for three years in a row, the both of you donned pointy hats with bells on, and there are most likely no pictures of this?" said Taylor, getting right back on message.

Chad rolled his eyes. "Sad as that must be for you, McKessie, that is exactly what I'm saying. Though actually, Hoops only did it the first two years. The last year he had to go to a funera..." he trailed off, looking thoughtful.

"A funeral?" Kelsi looked concerned. "Right before Christmas? Well, that'll suck the festive spirit right out of you."

"Whose funeral was it, Chad?" It felt like she was totally prying into his private life, but Gabby suddenly felt she had to know.

Chad paused as he tried to remember. "We never met, but I think she was Troy's nanny. Or his Mom's nanny. Maybe both. Anyhow, Troy got kinda offloaded onto her whenever his parents wanted to go somewhere where a little kid would cramp their style - I know, classy, right? - and so naturally, he got attached to her. Troy always said that she was the only person connected with his family who thought Christmas was something more than a golden opportunity to buy a whole new wardrobe and have a series of incredibly chic parties at ski resorts, so he always tried to go upstate to see her at some point during the holidays. Said it gave him perspective. Anyhow," he took a deep breath, "our third year at Georgetown, Troy was totally slammed by midterms and didn't get up to see her before his presence was required at the Bolton Lodge in Stowe. It was only when he got to Vermont that he discovered that she was really sick and although they'd paid for the best care for her, his parents hadn't considered it important enough to tell him. Or maybe they knew that he'd make a scene and leave. Which he did, and got to the hospital just in time to say goodbye before she...died."

"Wow." Sharpay finally broke the shocked silence, looking across at Gabby. "Well, I guess that...explains it?"

"Yeah," Gabby nodded slowly, hoping she didn't sound as taken aback as she felt, "I guess it does."

At that moment, Ryan and Jaime got in from their walk and, having seen Michael Douglas happily reunited with Annette Bening, Renée and Darby rejoined everyone, reporting that dinner prep was still continuing apace in the kitchen. Gabby was glad of the distraction, but though it may have stopped the girls from watching her worriedly, it did nothing to stifle out the voice in her head telling her that she should go and see Troy. Chad's story had fitted the last few pieces into the puzzle, filling the gaps that had been confusing her. Had she been able to continue thinking that he simply didn't like Christmas that much, she could have provided herself with a number of reasons why going to see him was a very bad idea, but she now understood the flashes of sadness she'd thought she'd seen in in is eyes, understood why he'd been in church the night before, but knew that among the other, less noble reasons for wanting to see him, she also just wanted to make sure that he was OK. She had no point of reference for this kind of thing - she certainly couldn't empathise with someone who had been so terribly betrayed by their family - but she could put aside all the niggling worries that had come to the surface out on the veranda with the girls and sympathise with the guy, couldn't she?

If she had stayed in the living room, surrounded by some of the loveliest, noisiest people she knew, she would have had a good chance of drowning out or at least ignoring the little voice telling her to go and see him, but a few moments later, as Zeke and Vance came to join them all, and Gabby took all the mugs out to the kitchen to rinse them before commencing the next round of coffees, a thought struck her, a thought so undeniably true that she was in the hallway with her coat on before she knew what she was doing: He'd do the same for you.

"Leaving, Montez?"

She started guiltily in the act of putting her scarf on. "Oh! Chad, I um...I was just about to make the coffee and I...er..."

"Do you know where he lives?"

His question caught her off-guard, and for a moment, she produced a fine impersonation of a tropical fish. Finally, she managed to shake her head. Chad grinned, and reached for his phone. "I'll send you his address."

Once again, I have nothing but apologies for my serial lateness where this story is concerned. No excuses. Thank you so much to everyone who has read it and/or reviewed it and/or messaged me to make sure I hadn't forgotten this story. I hadn't, honestly. Just writer's block. Two parts to go after this! And one of those is an epilogue! Happy (kind of late) Christmas!