Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
Chapter 29 – Will You?
Troy and Gabriella's family spent as much time together as possible. The kids not only enjoyed getting to spend lots of time together, but they also liked the fact that their parents were getting along so well and loved each other again.
In two days, Troy and Gabriella would be celebrating their two month anniversary and Troy had a surprise for Gabriella. He was fixing dinner for their whole family. Only he had a few plans for the dinner that he had to get in order before it could happen. First, he asked Sharpay to take Gabriella shopping for the day so he could cook without her being around. Sharpay had agreed and Troy told her he would let her know when it was safe to let Gabriella come home. Next, he needed to talk to Alex. Alex had been doing surprisingly well with all the situations going on around him. He liked Gabriella very much and loved being able to play with his brother and sisters as much as he did.
Troy took eight-year-old Alex aside and sat down with him.
"Alex, I want to talk to you about something."
"Ok, dad. What is it?"
"Are you happy being with Gabriella and the kids all the time?"
"Yeah, dad. I love going over there. Annabelle and Caleb are so fun to play with. And Gabriella makes the best cookies."
Troy laughed at this. "What would you think about making them part of our family?"
"They are your family, dad."
"I know, but I mean Gabriella too. What would you think about her being your new mom?"
"Really? That would be so awesome! Would we get to live there all the time too?"
"Yeah, we would live there and you would get to play with Caleb and Annabelle all you wanted and eat lots of Gabriella's cookies."
"I love the idea. So are you going to marry her?"
"I hope so. She just has to agree to marry me."
"Oh…ok. I hope she does."
"Me, too. But you can't say anything about this, ok? This is our little secret."
"Ok."
Troy's plan was put into action and on Saturday morning Sharpay took Gabriella shopping while Troy came over and babysat after Gabriella had asked him to, not knowing that he was the one that came up with the idea. As soon as Gabriella left, he got to work decorating the dining room. He had bought roses for Gabriella and some new candles to put in the center of the table. He decided to cook Italian because he knew it was Gabriella's favorite.
When dinner was ready, Troy text Sharpay to let her know Gabriella could come home. A few minutes later Sharpay text him back to let him know Gabriella was on her way.
When Gabriella got home, she smelled something heavenly coming from the kitchen. When she began walking that way and walked into the dining room, she saw the four children and Troy standing next to a candlelit table, Troy holding a bouquet of red roses. Troy smiled at her and walked over to her giving her the flowers and kissing her lightly on the lips.
"What's all this for?" Gabriella asked, surprised by everything.
"Just because I love you. We all love you."
Gabriella looked around Troy at the kids who were all now sitting at the table, minus Abigail who was waiting to be put in her high chair. Troy picked her up and sat her in her high chair before pulling out a chair for Gabriella.
Dinner went very well, with light conversation about how each other's day went and what the kids did while Troy cooked dinner. As the kids talked animatedly with Gabriella, Troy couldn't help but smile. This is exactly what he wanted for the rest of his life and what he had missed for so long. Troy hadn't realized that he had zoned out for so long until he heard Gabriella trying to get his attention.
"Troy…Troy…Are you alright?"
"Huh? Oh…yeah…I'm fine…Just thinking."
"Oh ok."
Troy thought for a moment. The timing is perfect. "Actually, I have a question for you."
"Ok…shoot."
"What would you think of having these kinds of dinners more often?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean all six of us together for dinner like this, talking about our day and just enjoying spending time with each other."
"I would love that, Troy. More than anything. I love the time we get to spend together like a family."
"Me too." Troy got up and walked around the table to where Gabriella was sitting and knelt down next to her chair. He looked up into her eyes and held her gaze for a moment before continuing. "I love you Gabriella, My Brie, more than anything in this world. I have never stopped loving you, even through all the trials this world has thrown at us to try to keep us apart. Obviously fate has a bigger hand in this because here we are, back together. And this time I'm not letting you go." Troy pulled a ring out of his pocket. "Brie, will you marry me…again?"
Gabriella had tears in her eyes as she looked from the ring to Troy. "Troy, I don't know. I mean I love you but we have had so many problems in the past. Look at where those problems have got us. I don't know if I'm willing to risk everything to be married to you again."
Troy looked at her sadly. "But you just said it. You still love me. Isn't that enough?"
"I used to think so, but not anymore." Gabriella stood up from the table and looked down at Troy who was still kneeling next to her chair. "I need to think about this."
Troy looked to the ground, heartbroken, but nodded at Gabriella who grabbed Abigail to go clean her up.
Troy cleaned up from dinner, but by the time he was finished, Gabriella still hadn't come downstairs. Troy looked sadly up the stairs, thinking about going up to talk to Gabriella before he left, but figured it would be better to give Gabriella her space. Troy and Alex left and went home.
A couple days had passed since the dinner and Troy and Gabriella hadn't talked since then. It was Monday, and Troy had just found out at work that he was being sent away for a week long conference in a town four hours away, and had to leave the next morning. He called his parents and they agreed to take care of Alex while Troy was gone. Troy hated leaving Alex for that long, but knew that he didn't have a choice. Alex enjoyed spending time with his grandparents, though, and was looking forward to the week ahead. Troy promised to call every day and check in to make sure they were all doing ok.
On Wednesday evening, after Gabriella had gotten home from work, she decided to call Troy. She hated not talking to him, and the truth was she still loved him with all of her heart and couldn't imagine him not being in her life. She wanted to marry him and it hadn't taken her long to push away any doubts about them being together for the rest of their lives. Gabriella picked up her phone and dialed Troy's number.
It went straight to voicemail, meaning he had his phone shut off. She decided to leave him a message.
"Hey Troy. Um…It's Gabriella. I just…um…I just wanted to talk to you. I haven't heard from you for a few days. Please call me back. I still love you." She hung up the phone.
Gabriella waited near her phone for the rest of the evening but Troy never returned her call. By Friday, Gabriella was beginning to get worried that Troy wasn't ever going to call her back. How could I be so stupid? Why is it that every time he lays his heart out on the line I push him away? What if I have just lost the only man that I have ever truly loved?
Gabriella decided that instead of waiting for Troy to call her, she would go see him instead. She loaded up the kids and drove to Troy's apartment. When she knocked on the door, however, there was no answer and she hadn't seen his car in the parking lot either. She tried his cell phone again, but just like Wednesday it went straight to voicemail. She decided that she would go to Troy's parents and ask if they had seen or talked to him.
Gabriella drove over to Troy's parents' and rang the doorbell after getting the kids out of the car. Troy's dad answered the door.
"Hey Jack."
"Hey, Gabi. Hey, kids! Come on in."
"Actually, we can't stay. I just needed to ask you a question."
"Ok. Shoot." Just then, Alex stuck his head out the door and waved at the four of them standing there.
"Oh, hey, Alex. I didn't realize you were here." Gabriella looked up at Jack. "Is Troy here?"
"No, he's at a conference this week. He won't be back until Sunday. We've been taking care of Alex while he has been away. I thought he would have told you that."
"No, actually that's why I stopped by. I was trying to find out where he was. We haven't talked since Saturday and he's not answering or returning my calls. I went by his apartment but obviously he wasn't there, so I thought I would try here."
"I'm sorry, Gabi. I wish there was something that I could do. Just give him time. I'm sure that whatever happened between you two will be resolved. We're expecting to hear from him sometime tonight so when I talk to him, I'll let him know that you stopped by looking for him."
"Thanks, Jack."
Jack smiled and leaned over to give Gabriella a hug. "Whatever happens, you know you will always be my family."
Gabriella smiled sadly and nodded, tears forming in her eyes. She turned around and walked back to her car, helping the kids get buckled back into their seats.
By Sunday, Gabriella was feeling like fate was no longer on her side. She still hadn't heard from Troy. Jack had promised he would talk to Troy for her but maybe Troy hadn't listened. Maybe Troy and I aren't meant to be. Maybe this was just a way to get my hopes up only to have them crushed.
Gabriella fixed the kids lunch, and then during the afternoon, took them to the park. The kids had been playing for about half an hour when she felt her phone vibrate. She pulled her phone from her purse and saw that she had a new text from Troy. She got really excited, glad that she was finally hearing from him, only when she read the text, she wasn't so sure it was a good thing. Where are you? We need to talk.
She texted him back. I'm at the park with the kids. Come by my house in an hour.
An hour later, Gabriella waited for Troy to arrive. When she had gotten home, she had put Abigail down for a nap and was now watching Caleb and Annabelle play in the back yard. She heard the doorbell ring and suddenly got nervous. What if he has changed his mind? What if he has decided he doesn't want to be with me anymore?
Gabriella opened the door to find a nervous looking Troy holding a grinning Alex's hand. Troy looked down at Alex and released his hand. "Buddy, why don't you go play with Caleb and Annabelle for a while so Gabriella and I can talk?"
Alex nodded. "They're in the backyard playing," Gabriella said as Alex went running through the house to the back door. Gabriella looked back to Troy and saw that he still looked nervous and maybe even a little uncomfortable. Gabriella tried to grab his hand to pull him inside, but Troy jerked his hand back before Gabriella could reach it.
Troy saw the look of confusion and hurt and immediately regretted his action. All he wanted was to be close to her and hold her in his arms. But the past week had showed him that he couldn't do that any longer. Troy walked inside and went to sit on the couch. Gabriella joined him moments later.
Gabriella sat quietly and waited for Troy to speak. Troy continued to stare at the same spot on the carpet that he had been since he sat down.
"Gabriella…" Troy paused, unable to finish the thought as it was so heartbreaking for him.
"Troy, you never call me Gabriella. What is going on?"
"I can't do this anymore."
