In 4 months...

A lot can change.

The doorbell rang ripping Gabriella out of her day dreams. She got up and walked towards the front door.

"Oh you're back!" the blonde screamed a second before she hugged Gabi.

"Yes." the brunette agreed, a little breathless.

"So, how was Europe?" Miley asked as she walked into the beach house.

"A lot of work." Gabriella answered as she closed the front door.

"Really? I thought you were there to have some fun."

"It was fun. Especially Portugal." the brunette answered smiling.

"Ronaldo?"

She shrugged, "He's a nice guy."

"Yeah, and hot! I saw the paparazzi pictures of you guys in the magazines."

"We're just having fun. Neither of us is ready for another relationship."

"He likes you. He really likes you." she said smiling as she threw herself on the couch.

"Yeah well... So what's your plan for today?"

"Actually, I was thinking of a weekend getaway."

The brunette returned her smile, "I'm all in."

"But before that, I gotta get something to eat. I'm starving." the blonde said getting up. "Besides, I need to get inspired for the menue at my wedding." the blonde said grinning.

"Do you have a place yet?"

"Paris." she said nodding, "I'll fly over to France in a week to check out some locations. Mindy picked out some locations. She said we will love them."

"I still can't believe you didn't visit her!" the brunette yelled as she stormed into the kitchen. The white kitchen was filled with sevaral people, all cooking the dinners which get ordered. All busy.

The dark blonde man didn't react. Instead, he continued working.

"How dare you not visit her! How dare you-"

A bell interrupted the brunette from exploding.

"Another Italien salad with a steak. Medium." the waitress said, standing next to the brunette. "Oh hi Alex. Are you teasing him again?"

"Not teasing, I just wanna get some sense into this man's head!" she said in a loud voice.

"I am working. Some of us work, you know." he said in a cool voice.

"Not for long. Jamie is going to switch with you in five." she said smiling.

He turned his head to the side, "What?"

"You heard me. You're gonna do it today."

"No!" he complained, "There is no way I will do it today!"

"It's time." Amanda said.

"Oh yeah, it's time." Alex agreed nodding.

"Alex, I... I can't... I mean..." he said as he saw Jamie walking into the kitchen.

"Ready to take your job, boss!" the blonde man said smiling.

"We should go..." Alex said to him.

"Alex, " he started.

"Wait, do you have cold feet? Does Troy Bolton have cold feet?" Alex asked him surprised before she laughed.

"I do not have cold feet. It's just..."

"It's just what?" she asked him as she followed him into the restaurant.

"She's happy with that soccer guy. That Ronaldo." he started, leaning against the bar. "I don't want to... I mean, maybe we're not..."

"Oh no, you guys absolutely belong together." she ensured him. "She's gonna be thrilled to see you."

"She's going to ripp my head off. She's going to be furious, not thrilled. I know her."

Alex smiled, yeah he did know her. "She will be happy in the end."

Troy brushed through his dark blonde hair and sighed, "I don't know. The last time I spoke to her was-"

"Five years ago."

"Yeah. But she was so mad at me. She said that I did it every time she was happy."

"You dowhat?"

"Every single time she's happy I pop up again. I destroy her happiness. Every single time I destroy it." he explained.

"You won't destroy it. She's only happy when she's with you. Pure happiness is what she feels when she's with you. Not with Andrew, Sasha or Cristiano."

He breathed in, "Okay... Okay, let's go."

Alex smiled, "We don't have to go anywhere. She's here." she said as she saw Miley and Gabriella walking in.

"What? I... She's here?" he asked her in panic.

"I can't believe that you have cold feet!" Alex whispered into his ear.

"Haha... And what now?" he asked her.

"Miley told her that she's hungry to get her into your restaurant." Alex started explaining. "But don't worry, you guys shouldn't really meet for the first time in such an ambiance. She's going to get her to the beach. Somehow."

"She will drown me in the ocean."

The brunette smiled, yeah he did know Gabriella well.

The brunette walked barefoot through the sand, feeling every single sand grain between her toes. It was a warm day in Santa Barbara, but yet cloudy and windy. The waves were crashing against each other, making the soundtrack to her confused thoughts. Perhaps Miley was right. Perhaps she was ready for another relationship. Ready for the next chapter in her life. Maybe Cristiano was... No, he definitely wasn't boyfriend material. He was all for fun. He was... He was not him. Gosh, why wasn't he here with her? Why wasn't he...

She brushed away a tear from her cheek and brushed through her dark brown hair. This was ridiculous. He was dead. She was at his funeral. She had to move on at some point in her life. She had to move on.

"Gabriella," she heard a voice behind herself. That voice sounded just like his.

She stopped feeling the luke warm water reaching her feet. He was dead. She was imagining things. She continued walking. He was dead. She was at his funeral. She... He was dead.

"Ella!" she heard someone yell her favorite Nickname.

The brunette stopped and turned around. There he was. Standing right in front of her. After five years. After his funeral. He stood there. In front of her. The love of her life. His eyes. She would never ever forget his eyes. She was shocked. More than shocked. How... Why...

"Gabriella, I'm so sorry," he started as he walked up to her.

She slapped him. With salty tears filling up her eyes she slapped him as hard as she could. She felt anger and pain. She felt emotions building up inside of her. Emotions she wasn't ready for.

"I guess I deserve that." he said, feeling his right cheek burning.

She slapped him again. This time the left cheek. "You are dead." she said into his crystal blue eyes.

"Ella, " he started again.

"No. You are dead. I was at your funeral! You died in Afghanistan!" she yelled at him with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Gabi, I...The bombings in Afghanistan a couple of years ago... I survived." he said taking a deep breath. "All of my camerades died. I woke up in Israel. A family saved me. I had no papers. No identity. No memory. Just your picture in my pocket." he said into her eyes. "I still have your picture in my pocket. The one which has your handwriting on the back."

She remembered that picture. A picture of her. "What does it say? What did I write on the back?" she asked him, trying to hold the tears back.

"Keep safe. That's what you wrote."

It was him. "Why didn't you visit me?"

"I got a new identity from the CIA. I was now Christopher Tomson. An author. A cook. A restaurant owner." he explained further.

"When did you remember? How did you get your memory back?" she asked him.

"I went to a psychiatrist to help me get my memory. All she helped was giving me those dreams. I dreamed of a whole life. In the end, I decided to write them down. That's when I wrote my first book. Alex talked to me on the plane a couple of months ago, asking me questions about the characters. I met her and Miley at Geoffrey's four months ago. They told me that my dreams weren't just dreams. It was my memory getting back to me. My memory which was tied to this picture. This picture brought me back. Kept me safe. It brought me back to you." he finished, looking into that beautifull face.

"Why are you here?" she asked him. "After five years... Why are you here now?"

"I've been looking for you. Ever since I got out of Israel. I've been looking for you. I searched whole Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Lastly, I decided to move to Malibu. I wanted to look for you here in the States. But now, standing in front of you..." he stopped. She had changed. She moved on. She fell out of love for good. She was happy. Happy without him. She deserved to be happy. More than anyone else.

"What?" she asked him.

"I don't want to destroy your happiness again. Like I've always done. You seem happy with that soccer player." he said, referring to Cristiano Ronaldo.

She was silent. She listened.

"Anyways, I just want to thank you."

"For what?"

"Thank you for saving my life." he said into her warm chocolate brown eyes.

"You're welcome." the brunette said nodding. He got more mature. In five years not only his appearance changed, his character did as well. He wasn't the player he had been once anymore. He grew into a fine man. He was still goodlooking, he was still the most attractive men she'd ever met. He still gave her those feelings. When she was with him she felt whole. She should be thrilled to see him alive. To be able to talk to him. But she wasn't. She was hurt. She felt pain. She felt betrayed. "Well then, have a nice life." she said, turning around.

He watched her walking away from him. He wanted to scream. His heart wanted to do kiss her so badly. But his head was thinking straight. It was the right decision to let her go. She was happy with Ronaldo. She deserved to be happy with him. To find happiness. The happiness she never had with him.

"No, no, no... Don't walk away from him!" Miley said, bitting her nails.

"He said that she would be mad." Alex said, watching the two from the veranda of Troy's restaurant. "She didn't seem so mad."

"She slaped him."

"But that's not really mad."

"For me it is."

"I think she hasn't realized it yet." Alex said with her eyes focused on the couple at the beach.

"Who are you stalking?" a woman asked. She was far over 70. She was dinning with her husband.

Miley looked to her left, "We're hoping that two soulmates will find their way to be together again."

"Oh you're that actress, aren't you?" the man asked Mils excited.

She nodded.

"Will you give us an autograph? My niece adores you!" the woman asked, "Her name is Clea."

"Oh, oh she turned around!" Alex cried, pointing at her.

She stopped walking. The brunette stopped walking and turned around. "Why didn't you contact me?" she asked him, letting her shoes fall into the sand. "All these years..."

"I got my memory back four months ago. I woke up one morning and remembered everything. Just like that. It was the day when I opened my third restaurant here in Malibu."

"You didn't answer my question." she said noticing.

He sighed, "I didn't want to destroy your happiness again. I did it once, I did it twice, I didn't want to do it a third time."

She nodded, "Thank you for your honesty."

He smiled softly and waited for her to continue to walk away from him. But instead she stayed. She didn't move. She didn't say a word. She just stood there.

Seconds passed and neither of them talked. Neither of them moved. They just stood there, keeping their distance. Staring at each other. Getting lost in each other.

"What do you want me to say?" he asked her at last.

She was silent. She just looked at him. "Why don't you fight for me?"

"Gabriella, "

"Why are you letting me go? Again?" she asked him in a shaky voice. Her heart was breaking into millions of pieces. She felt every single emotion she tried to bury at his funeral four years ago. Everything was coming right up. She felt anger, confusion, pain, happiness and so much more.

"Because you deserve more. You deserve someone who makes you happy. Not someone who causes you pain every time you look at him." he explained, walking up to her. "What we had was filled with drama. Filled with too much pain. I've caused you too much pain. You've caused me too much pain."

"Love tore us apart." she finished his thoughts.

"I rather see you happy than hurt. I brought you nothing but pain. As I see, you can live without me. You're better off without me."

"Life? You call this a life?" she asked him with gestures. "This is not a life. I buried my heart with you the day of your funeral. I buried my happiness that day. A part of me died with you. I am not happy. I am not myself anymore. I'm a walking zombie. I just function. But I am not alive." she said to him, "I smile when I think it's appropriate. I laugh when everyone else laughs. And sometimes... Sometimes I feel something like joy again. But those times are rare."

"Do you feel joy when you're with Cristiano?" he asked her.

She shrugged, "Sometimes. He makes me laugh. But he doesn't make me wanna love him."

He was silent. This time it was his turn to listen.

"I feel joy when I'm in the studio. I feel free when I'm in the recording studio. I feel peace when I'm writing a song. I feel almost like myself again when I'm finishing a song. And I smile every time I hear one of my songs in the radio. I smile and close my eyes. Then I remember. I remember how happy I was. I remember how sad I was. I remember how much pain I felt. I remember how it feels to laugh your heart out. But most of all... I remember how love feels. Not the kind of love I feel towards Mils, Alex, Holly and Andy. But true love. The love which almost hurts. A love so strong that you nearly wanna die. A love so beautifull that you want to do nothing but smile. Truely smile. A love which fills you with happiness. Pure joy. That's what keeps me going." she said to him, brushing through her long dark brown locks. "That's what keeps me alive. Your love keeps me going. But not Cristiano. Not Andy. Not Miley. Not Alex. Not Holly. It's you." she said into his eyes.

He was silent. He just stared at her. "I forgot about you. How could I forget you? How could I fortget the love of my life?"

"Why don't you fight for me then? Why... How can you let me go then?"

"I can let you go, because I know you are okay. You're better off without me. I rather hurt myself than hurt you again. I want to see you happy, not sad." he said as he noticed that there were dark clouds coming up.

"I'm not okay." she ensured him as she heard the thunder. "Don't you... I mean, aren't you..."

"Of course I still love you. I've always loved you, Ella. I'm always gonna love you."

"You're a coward then." she said into his eyes, before she continued walking away from him. The rain stared to drop on him heavily as he watched her walking away from him. She was right. He was a coward.


A new chapter! Hope you like it.

Please review.

Xoxo Nic