We Love Pretending

Chapter 35 - Ridding My Life Of You.

The doorbell rang shrilly one again, the person outside obviously impatient, but the sound was ignored again. All Troy could focus on was the weeping beauty in front of him.

He stared at her face, the tears she shed rolling down her cheeks at an alarming rate. Her eyes became blood shot and tired, red rimmed and sunken. Her hair, which usually flowed and shined, was sticking limply to her head, strangling at the ends, and no longer looked like it could float on air. Her lips were creased into a sharp line, trying to hold in the sobs and screams of aggravation that threatened to fall out. And all the time Troy held her as close as possible, with her body shaking in desperation.

The doorbell rang again, like they knew they were in here - but also knew they were ignoring the door. Troy wanted to slam the person up against the wall and shout that they wanted peace. They were probably an annoying reporter anyway. But reporters didn't come at this time at night, so it didn't make sense.

Outside rain was threatening to pour. The clouds were heavy and dark, leaving a midnight blue blanket over the land. The wind whipped through the cotton wool-like features which decorated the sky, making them fly in all different directions. On any other day or time Troy would have commented on how beautiful the sky looked that night, but not tonight. Not right now. When someone so much more beautiful was crying into him.

The bell wailed, and Gabriella cries seemed to grow louder. The shushing comforting technique he had been trying was not being successful, unfortunately, and her cries only grew. Troy pulled away from her shaking body, holding her head in his hands. It pained him to see her face looking so frail and fragile in his strong hands.

He pecked her lips, them wavering at the kiss. "Maybe you should go upstairs, try and rest, while I find out who is at the door." He suggested quietly. Speaking normally didn't seem right for the mood.

He watched as the clogs in her brain worked, figuring out what was best to do. She looked directly into his eyes, seeking guidance, and much have found something reassuring, because she nodded. Standing up, he gathered her into his arms bridal-style, and they headed for the stairs.

Once in his bedroom, he lay her on the bed. Her hair splayed out on the pillow, in all directions, like a mermaid on a rock. Her body folded down comfortably, too weak to stand or lie out straight. Although her body was still shaking, she seemed stilled, like the covers were relaxing her, and he pulled them around her body, tucking her in like a father to his child at bedtime. With a kiss on her forehead, the doorbell rang right on cue, and Troy groaned in annoyance. This alighted a small giggle from Gabriella - the first time she had laughed that day - and he smiled encouragingly at the sound.

Gabriella smiled slightly, tears still coursing gently down her cheeks. "Thank you. I love you." She mumbled, her eyes drooping.

Troy stroked her hair comfortingly. He smiled as her breathing steadied, the events of the day taking its toll on her body. He watched her for a couple of minutes, the only sounds being her breathing and the irritating doorbell downstairs.

Once he was sure she was asleep, he got up and left, taking his feet slowly downstairs. Gabriella wasn't the only one who was tired - the day had been hard for him too. But it seemed like everyone was firing at Gabriella - Charlie; Max; the paparazzi were actually throwing more questions at her than him. The blame was being put on her small shoulders, and it was no doubt too hard for her to take. Some people that taken things too far, especially Max, who hadn't even been involved. He sighed; right now he longed for sleep. Beside Gabriella, with her body curved into his. It really didn't seem like it was just yesterday morning when they had woken up together.

The doorbell rang again, and he clenched his hands in rage. This person was going to get it; the noise was muddling up his brain, which was already foggy. Watch out whoever is behind this door!

His feet clomped across the hardwood flooring, and he gripped the handle tightly. It didn't help that there was reporters outside, watching their every move. When he'd peeked outside earlier, there had even been tents. He rolled his eyes at the memory - some people were taking things too far! And when this door opened, they'd all be looking for pictures. Whoever this was, they'd better have a good reason.

With the handle in his palm, the flesh closing around it, he took a deep breath, steadying his nerves and angry energy. Then he opened the door. The rage, anger, infuriation he felt when he saw who is was, was almost unbearable. He felt venom go into his bloodstream, clog up his veins and shoot through. He felt his face harden, his jaw retract, and his teeth grind. He felt his wrists snap and his fists clench harder, nearly breaking off the door knob he was still holding. The only purpose of holding it was to make sure he didn't punch the human standing in front of him.

Charlie.

The flashes were unnoticeable to Troy. There could have been the whole nation of America taking pictures, and he still wouldn't have noticed. All his energy and focus were on Charlie, standing in his doorway, with a small smirk playing on her lips. But her eyes, they told a different story. The shouts around him didn't quite catch in his ears either, they just flew past. It was like no-one was in the world but him and her, staring each other down, the Troy winning. He ground his teeth more, exercising his restraint, before opening his mouth to speak.

It sounded harsh. "What are you doing here?"

Charlie smiled the best she could, trying to break the tension filtering from where he was, to her standing a mere metre away. She breathed in, noticing his mood, and not wanting to hurt it. She knew it would only end badly, but she couldn't help the proud note in her voice being heard.

She smirked. "I just thought I'd pop in and see how you were. I'm guessing Gabriella is here too, and we've not seen each other in so long…' She shrugged animatedly, fakely. 'I thought, why not see how you both were."

It was deadly obvious this was all a joke to her. He looked at his watch, the cameras outside capturing each moment that went by. "At midnight?"

Her eyes widened. "Gosh, is that the time? Really? I had no idea!"

He rolled his eyes, but failed to see the saddened look in her eyes. "I would have thought the sky would have told you that." He snapped.

He tried to keep his voice down, for fear of waking Gabriella. That was the last thing she needed. To be woken from sleep and find Charlie, the one who had caused this nightmare, standing on their doorstep. It would only break her down more.

Charlie, was lost on his sarcasm. She leaned forward on her toes, peering into the house. Then she leaned back, cocking her head to the side. "Where is Gabriella? Is she not here? I could have sworn the news said she was."

Troy stood still in the doorway. He knew she was trying to get him to let her in, but she wasn't stepping over this threshold yet. Not until he was sure of her reason for coming. He liked to have the power to shut the door in her face; something he wished he'd done all those years ago. So he stood his ground, with his feet apart, guarding the door.

He crossed his arms. He knew that the cameras were watching his every move. But for the first time in his life, he didn't care if they were watching. Maybe they would see the truth in what happened; catch snippets of their conversation and see that Charlie sold their story out of spite. Maybe finally they would have luck on their side.

He matched her stance. "So you did watch the news today then. Hear anything interesting? Like a certain Max Witherspoon?"

It was then that a guilty look splashed across her face. Her eyes widened for a moment, but then sunk back, scared of his reaction, what he was going to do and what she was going to say. "Yes… I, uh… did hear that man speak." She stuttered.

Maybe Troy had found her hole; her weakness. "Did you really? Was it interesting for you, to hear what he had to say? Or did you already know what he was going to say because you'd brainwashed him?"

She stared at him indignantly. "What do you mean?!"

He glared. "Did you already know him, Charlie? Did you get him involved? Or was it just all by chance that he found about this, huh?"

The cameras clicked furiously.

"It was all over the world, Troy. Anyone could have found out. The whole world knows, he could have got that information easily!"

She was shouting now, and he could see the reporters with microphones and cameras coming closer to the scene. He felt like they were filming for some type of film, not filming his real life. He tried to keep his voice down when he replied.

"And who's fault is that, Charlie?!"

She pointed at him furiously. "You had that coming all along, Bolton!" She screamed, and he was sure it would wake up the whole neighbourhood. It was so loud and screechy, Troy wanted to cover his ears. He heard movement from upstairs, knowing that Gabriella was resurfacing, and he cursed under his breath. Then he penetrated his eyes into hers, making her shrink backwards.

His anger pumped furiously. "Charlie! You had this coming all along, so listen carefully. When I was with you, I realise now I was miserable. It took me being with someone else; someone so much better than you, to realise that - but I know it now! You've never loved me, never once in your life! And yet you go around like you are the one who is saddened, and hurt! I should be the one for ever believing you loved me in the first place, only to find you sleeping with YOUR BOSS!"

Troy heard the reporters gasp, and Charlie must have too, because she looked down self-consciously. She couldn't look up, and Troy felt suddenly free from any ties he had with her, because she was definitely losing.

He pointed at her fiercely. "You cheated on me. Do you even know how much that hurt Charlie? No. You don't. Because you've never felt that. And why? Because I've never cheated on you! And you make out like I have! Like Gabriella is the one I cheated with! Correction Charlie - I wasn't with you! I wasn't with you when I started with Gabriella. Gabriella Montez is the best thing that has ever happened to me and you want to take that away!"

Charlie cowered backwards, the audience they now had growing larger. Troy was sure the news was outside, filming live, but that didn't matter. It felt so good to get all this off his chest.

Behind him Gabriella's slow and carefully quiet footsteps pattered. When he looked around, she was coming closer, still in her close, eyes red from crying, with a blanket wrapped loosely around her. She looked almost frightened. And tired; exhausted by all of this. He pulled her into his side, and she caught sight of Charlie. At the sight of her enemy, the one person who had made her life suddenly miserable, she began to cry once more. And he'd never seen Charlie look so ashamed.

"SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE, CHARLIE! You've made an innocent, lovely woman cry tears of terror. You've caused this! All of this!' He gestured quickly to the crowds around them. 'And I can't wait for this to be over. Because then you'll be away. Away from us and everything you've inflicted on us! It has hurt us more than you can imagine, and you should be so sorry." He ended quietly, choking up himself.

Charlie hunched forward weakly, one tear strolling down her cheek. She gulped, trying to steady herself. She'd never felt worse. "I'm sorry, truly I am."

Troy grabbed the door handle, Charlie noting with her eyes it was going to be closed. She shot Gabriella an extra sorry, but none of them listened. The only sound now was the three's sorrowful sobs.

Troy wiped his eyes angrily. "Charlie. Sometimes sorry just isn't enough."

And he closed the door, taking in her sight as she fell to the floor in a crying heap, with the cameras no longer taking pictures just looking on at the scene in amazement. Quiet awe.

Troy held Gabriella close, each other's tears running down their cheeks. She stroked her hair while she held him tightly.

"It's alright now; she's out of our lives."

And for once, the statement was true.

A/N; Phew. That was hard to write, and I hope it blew you away the right way. I think, in the reviews you'll send me (pretty please!), that I'll hear a lot of cheers. Charlie got what she deserved!

This was quite a lot shorter than the last few chapters, but it felt good to stop here. Only a few more chapters to go now, until this is finished, and I'll be sad to say goodbye to 'We Love Pretending'. So, I've put myself a goal: try to get up to 1000 reviews before it finishes. But, obviously, I need your help.

PLEASE REVIEW!

And also, last chapter, I enquired who read Twilight FanFiction, to find quite a lot of you did. I've finished writing my one-shot, and some of you said you'd like to read it. So, straight after I've posted this, I'll post that.

It's called...

'Addicted'.

Interested? Find it on my profile, and please read. It's a little different, obviously becuase I'm using new characters, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. It doesn't have drama, basically pure fluf. So please read; it'd make my day!

Also, reviews would make my day... So go press those (purple/pink/blue/grey) buttons!

:D