Summary: Sometimes life doesn't hand you sugar all the way through; Gabriella has learned that the hard way. In sickness and in health, she must put a smile on her face, because some people would give anything to see her hurt. Troyella.

I Want Out

Previously:

I was extremely confused as a reaction to my feelings in the dream. I had felt so protective over something, and I couldn't even figure out what it was in my sleep, let alone now! Troy wasn't in the dream at all, so I knew it wasn't him I needed to defend, but there was no one else either. I had needed to protect the thing that had let out the cry in the circle of darkness. But it had disappeared before I could try to find out who or what it was.

What could that mean?

And now:

He stretched in one fluid motion as his legs dragged himself out of the taxi. He grabbed the one, not overly large, suitcase he had brought, slammed the door, and walked to the curb as the bright yellow taxi sped away. His bright green eyes swept the sidewalk and the passers-by when they landed on one particular individual. His eyes narrowed on the small man.

"Travis!" he barked in a sharp tone.

The old man's eyes snapped up at his name and he jumped as he saw the face across the street. "Hello," he squeaked. The younger man rolled his fierce eyes beckoned Travis to his side of the road. Carefully looking both ways, Travis scurried across the street and fell into step with the younger man.

"Where is your car parked? We need to get out of the open."

"It's just across down the street sir … there, you see?"

The green-eyed man looked slightly to his left and saw a shabby blue car. "Hmm, indeed … I would've thought the partner I chose would have been slightly better off. Oh well, I guess not everyone can be perfect…" his voice trailed off, but the meaning was clear, and whether on purpose or not, his shoulders rose to look more intimidating. The two men continued to walk at a brisk pace until they reached the car parked on the side of the road. Travis hurried to the driver's side and hopped in while the green eyes scanned the streets again. He was about to step into the car when his eyes stopped on something. Her. He quickly snatched the camera out of his duffel bag and steadied it on the roof of the car.

Snap. A brief flash of light went off in the dim lighting of the evening but no one paid any attention whatsoever to the man beside the car. He looked at the picture he just took as it shot out of the cheap instant camera and he snarled to himself. Fuck her.

"Come on, sir, let's go. We don't want anyone to see you."

The green eyes travelled longingly along the brunette's curves, coming to rest on her pert breasts that were amplified by the deep purple, slightly low cut camisole for a few brief seconds. He forced his eyes up the rest of her petite body and he almost lunged across the street when his eyes found her lips. He blinked, trying to refocus, and then stepped into the passenger seat.

"Yes Travis. Gabriella can't know I'm here yet; it would ruin everything."

The old man nodded and turned the key in the ignition. "As you wish, Mr. Mitchell."

Turkey, ham, bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, mayonnaise, and mustard… Troy's brilliant white teeth sank into the whole wheat bread and his eyes fluttered closed as he groaned. Subway was definitely the best.

Gabriella giggled from across the table and his eyes opened to find her smiling at him with tired eyes.

"Wah?" his voice was muffled from the bite of sandwich that was stuffed into his ravenous mouth.

"You're acting like you haven't eaten in months, not hours."

Troy's eyes narrowed at her and he said sarcastically, "well, sorry for being hungry." His eyes moved over to her untouched, still wrapped, buffalo chicken sandwich. "Why aren't you eating? Aren't you hungry?"

Gabriella yawned, "I'm just so tired; I couldn't sleep last night. I think it's interfering with my appetite."

His hands lowered his sandwich down to the table and he finished chewing his previous bite. His hand reached across the table and he ran his fingers along her thin forearm. His foot touched hers gently under the table. "Baby, you have to eat something; it's not healthy for you."

"Troy," she sighed, "I told you; I'm not hungry."

"Gabriella, if you refuse to eat, I'll … well, I…" he paused and then pushed his 'melt' sandwich away from him, "I won't eat either. I'm now on a food strike. I will not eat until you take a bite of your sandwich."

Gabriella frowned. "You should eat Troy; just because I'm not hungry doesn't mean you can't eat. It's not healthy for you either; and your tummy will be upset." Troy shook his head like a little boy refusing a punishment. "Troy, c'mon, just eat your goddamn sandwich!"

"I'm getting a craving for something else now…"

Gabriella blushed a brilliant shade of ruby red and turned her head, avoiding eye contact. Her hand pulled itself out of his grasp and curled itself with the other one in her lap. "Troy…" She still couldn't handle the outrageous things he said to her, whether it was in public or in private. His hand reached for her hand once again and grabbed it from across the table. He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a sweet kiss to each individual finger; he then lowered their hands and tangled their fingers together.

"You're beautiful."

The blush deepened, "please stop."

Troy sighed and re-wrapped his sandwich, grabbed his and her things and left the small Subway restaurant. He walked her over to a wall and set their things down on the ground, backing her up against the brick. "You are the most stunning woman I have ever met, Gabriella, and I swear I am going to tell you every single day until you accept it without question."

A single tear fell from her chocolate pools and Troy caught it and swept it away, before tucking a loose strand of her hair away from her face. He leaned down and pressed a short to kiss to her lips. When she didn't respond, he kissed her again for the same length of time.

"I'm just going to keep kissing you until you kiss me back," he warned, and he kissed her again, "and I could do this for a very long time." Another, slightly longer kiss was pressed upon her lips and she smiled faintly. Troy felt the smile against his lips and said sternly, "Gabriella, I'm going to find something else to do to persuade you to kiss me…" when she still refused to kiss him, he moved his nose into her neck and breathed deeply before biting softly. "Hey there gorgeous, are you going to kiss me now?"

Gabriella shook her head and mashed her lips together tightly. Troy's head moved up and he gave her earlobe a quick lick. Gabriella's lips parted slightly and she relaxed farther into the brick wall when his teeth nibbled along the tender flesh of her ear. "Kiss me baby," he whispered into her ear and she turned her head abruptly, connecting their lips within two seconds. His tongue shoved itself into her mouth and he swallowed her gasp. He pulled away and she smiled playfully, but then a huge yawn escaped her mouth.

"Fine; I give in. We'll go back to the hotel so you can sleep and you can eat later. The only catch is that once we get back, you can't do anything else until you eat."

"That sounds great." Gabriella grabbed Troy's and hand and they walked the few blocks to the hotel.

They walked into the room and Gabriella headed straight for the bed. Troy busied himself with putting her sandwich in the mini-fridge, while setting his on the table, prepared to eat it right away because he was still extremely hungry, having eaten only four bites of it at Subway.

"Hey Gabi," he started, making his way over to the bed, "I was thinki…" he trailed off as he saw her lying on top of the covers, barely on the bed, fast asleep. Troy chuckled, gently picking her up and pulling the covers down. He placed her in the bed and pulled the blankets up around her; she sighed, snuggling further into them. He walked back to his sandwich and basically threw it into his mouth.

GPOV

The black cloaks had surrounded me; I could only see blackness around me. The wind howled toward me from an unknown direction and I shrunk back into myself. A high pitched shriek came from my right and I spun toward the noise, surprised when I could find nothing. The same shriek, only more pronounced, sounded again and I took a step toward the black mass that surrounded me. They took a step toward me.

My eyes narrowed and I took another step toward the noise. They came, once again, straight toward me. Step by step, I came closer to them, until, if I reached my hand out, I could touch them. I didn't. I took a deep breath and took another step.

A bright flash of light overtook me and I immediately took a step backwards, and it was gone. I gasped when I saw beneath one of the cloaks. The face of the thing was covered in a mask, but through the eye holes, I could clearly see two big, black, hollow eyes staring straight back at me with no emotion. Like they saw right into my soul, and couldn't care less about it.

The shriek pierced the thick air again. I took a deep breath in through my nose and retook my last step into the cloaks. The white light came again, but this time I was prepared; I took another step, and another. And the light disappeared and I was met with a new sight. There was a huge thrown in front of me; only there was someone sitting in it; someone small.

I walked quickly towards it and as I got just feet from it, the creature raised its eyes. I stumbled back as I saw the deep green eyes staring back at me intently. Unlike the earlier black eyes, these eyes looked like they didn't know me at all, but yet they did – and they needed to know me even more.

I finished the distance between us, and realized the creature was part human. But it had a different quality that made me extremely uneasy. I reached my hand forward – I don't know why… wanting to touch its cheek, maybe. Or to see if it would reach back.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw something coming toward me, and I didn't have time to turn my head toward it before the creature gently wrapped its tiny hand around my finger.

The brightest flash of white light interrupted my vision; I couldn't see anything. And this time, when it disappeared, there was nothing … no sound, no smell, no colour. It wasn't even like there was just no light … there was nothing at all. I was in trapped, in a complete and utter world of absolutely nothing.

NO ONE

Gabriella's eyes snapped open and she breathed heavily. Trying to calm herself down, she sat up in bed. Troy heard the bed squeak and made his way over to her, sitting next to her on the bed and kissing her cheek briefly. "Hmm I'm hungry," she stated and then giggled as she remembered earlier in the day.

"Finally!" Troy rose up onto his feet and swept over to the fridge, and grabbed her sandwich. Troy brought the sandwich over to the bed and handed her the sub. She placed it next to her and pulled him down on top of her.

"Umphh," Troy groaned as she landed, trying not to put too much weight on his fiancée. Gabriella giggled and swept his hair away from his face. "Gabriella…" he whined.

"Mhmm?"

"Am I squishing you?"

Gabriella snuggled further into his shoulder and tried to pull him down to rest on top of her. "Not at all. I'm comfy." She wrapped her arms around his neck, and successfully pulled Troy to lay flat against her.

"I could get used to this," Troy said jokingly, "I mean I can feel every single curve on your absolutely stunning body. And don't start blushing." She did nonetheless.

AN: Hope you enjoyed. I do not own Subway.