DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

"I think I have everything," I was saying as I stepped out of the washroom, freshly showered, blissfully happy the next morning. Troy had already showered before he'd even woke me up and he was sitting on the couch, slight scruff growing in, T-shirt and jeans filled out quite nicely. "Kelsi normally double checks me, but since someone didn't wake me up in time…"

"You were tired," he replied, standing up and walking over to me.

"How very presumptuous of you, sir," I joked, knowing there was no way I could possibly deny it. He flashed that damn cocky smirk at me right before we were so rudely interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Told you time wasn't on our side," he said softly, just a brush of his lips across mine before he walked over and answered the door. Kelsi rushed in, giving Troy a quick one-armed hug before walking quickly to me.

"We have got to hurry, we're going to miss our plane," she said so quickly that if I didn't know better would have sounded like one long word.

"Relax, Kelsi," I said with a lazy smile. "It's all good, we'll make it."

"Oh…God, who are you and what did Troy do with Gabriella?" she asked, then shook her head. "Scratch that, I don't want to hear it."

"Chicken," Troy muttered, laughing when Kelsi flipped him off.

"Oh, you're one to talk," I teased her, and her pink cheeks told me I was right. "Uh huh, you just shut the hell up. I got my things together."

"A…hem…" Troy cleared his throat.

"Troy…got my things together, and now we're ready to go."

"And you have everything?" Kelsi asked. Troy handed my return ticket to me and smiled at his brother's non-girlfriend.

"Now she does," he answered.

"Okay…then…we have to go!" she exclaimed, picking up my bag and placing it on my shoulder.

"Guess it's time," I said to him with a shrug. He leaned in for one last soft, lingering kiss.

"Until later," he whispered against my lips.

"Of course." Kelsi and I were rushing out the door when I remembered that Troy was going to be speaking with Jessica. I turned back and was stopped before I even said a word.

"I'll tell you all about it," he said with a smile, leaning up against his doorframe.

I could only smile in response.

"Are you still angry with me?" Kelsi was asking as we flew over the country.

"Not…exactly?" I replied honestly. "I would say I was more hurt than angry, to be completely honest with you." I shrugged it off…wow, that was so unlike me… "I'll get over it, though. Best of intentions, right?"

"Riiiight," she drew the word out, still looking at me as if I were an alien. "You…realize that's a window seat, right?"

"Mmm hmm," I said, staring dreamily out at the scenery.

"Earth to Ms. Montez." That wasn't Kelsi's voice. I turned to see Dr. John Craig standing by our seats, leaning over slightly. "If you don't mind I would like to speak with you."

I blushed, biting my bottom lip as I looked up at him. My, but he was a hot one. If my heart wasn't so invested I would do more than take a second look, without a doubt. And now…now, he probably would like to throw me off this damn plane.

"You could take my seat in first class, if you wish," he said to Kelsi, whose eyebrows seemed to disappear into her hairline.

"Go ahead," I whispered to her, giggling as she kissed my cheek and walked quickly towards the front of the plane. John settled into her seat, his broad shoulders nearly touching mine. He looked over at me, flashing an easy going smile. "Okay, tell me how much you hate me now."

"I don't," he said, his deep voice soft and inviting. "Ms. Montez, I would like to show you something." He handed me his driver's license, causing me to raise an eyebrow. "See that?" He pointed to his birth date. "Well before yesterday; don't think for one second that I didn't know what you were up to."

I blushed as I handed his license back to him, unsure of what to say next. "I'm…Dr. Craig, I'm so sorry, and embarrassed, and…"

"I have to admit it was pretty damn hot seeing you like that," he said, causing me to blush further. "Not just the dress either. But, I digress…I only had your best interests at heart. Yours and Troy's, no matter how misguided his intentions were. Or mine, for that matter."

"You could have at least told me he wasn't the one engaged to Jessica," I stated, poking him slightly for effect.

"Yes, I could have," he agreed. "However…hear me out, Gabriella." I closed my mouth as he used my first name, his dark chocolate eyes sincere. "He needed to see what he was doing to you. And…honestly, if you had known Jess was engaged to someone else would you have had the same reaction?"

"That's a hypothetical question, of course," I muttered. I pondered his question for a moment, remembering how happy, how perfect they had looked in each other's arms. "If I had walked in and seen…what I did…no, I probably would have had a similar reaction, perhaps not the same…but similar."

"And therein lies the problem," he said, his voice still as soft. "Can you honestly deal with their relationship, as it is? I know dealing with all of the success and the issues with that, such as the paparazzi as you well know now…that has to be difficult enough. But you…" He chose his words carefully before continuing. "You don't strike me as the kind of person that lets their guard down too easily. My perception of you is one who simply doesn't give their heart away, but when you do it's given completely." I looked away briefly, wondering how he could know that much about me. When he touched my arm softly, I looked back into his eyes, his words reaching into my soul. "Can you live with loving someone whose heart may never be completely yours?"

"I'm not sure," I answered honestly, proud of myself for keeping the tears at bay.

"You deserve nothing less," he said, still touching my arm. "Remember that."

One good thing about that damn black dress was not a soul who had seen the video had any clue that it was me. Especially not with me dressed in traveling clothes with my hair down, light makeup, and no entourage. The girls, however, were another story entirely. Once we'd touched down in Albuquerque and were in the cab to go back to my house, Kelsi's phone was ringing.

"What's up?" I asked as she was barely able to get a word in edgewise.

"Well, Ms G… guess it's a good thing you don't work tomorrow," she replied, holding the phone away from her ear. "Taylor and Sharpay are meeting us at your place."

"What ever happened to 'What happens in Vegas?" I asked, my voice almost higher than usual.

"Don't whine; it's unbecoming." Kelsi's words made me blush as I remembered Troy saying the exact thing to me on the phone in what seemed like an entire lifetime ago.

Once back in my apartment, I had my bags discarded along with my shoes and had grabbed a Diet Pepsi for myself, milk for Taylor, and wine for Sharpay and Kelsi. Oh my, had Girls Night ever changed!

"Why are you not drinking?" Taylor asked, pointing an accusatory finger at me.

"No…not like your sitch," I said, shaking my head. "I'm just not quite up to par yet, not after that night at the club."

"We haven't heard from either one of you all weekend!" Sharpay exclaimed. "And then the video, and all the hoopla since…"

"Hoop..la?" I asked, my eyebrow raised, looking between Sharpay and Kelsi, who merely shrugged.

"Everyone's trying to speculate who you are and what your relationship is," Sharpay tried to explain.

"And why you're pissed at him, don't forget that one," Taylor added, and Sharpay agreed. I had to laugh.

"Where the hell do I start?" I asked, wiping tears from my eyes from the laughter.

"Okay, even I have to admit he was being a bit of a dumbass there," Kelsi piped up.

"GAH, just SPILL already!" Taylor said.

"Oh…alright, did you two know what this freak was planning?" I asked, indicating Kelsi.

"Naaaah," Sharpay said.

"Oh, fuck that, I'm not in trouble for this on my own!" Kelsi interrupted. "They both knew! Not…everything I did, but they knew."

"Bitches," I muttered, then took a drink of my Diet Pepsi. "Just for that I'm not telling you anything."

"At least tell us who the fuck Jessica Carter is," Sharpay pleaded. "And why they believe there's this big war over him."

"Excuse me?" I asked, looking over at Kelsi, who shrugged and shook her head.

"There's some big to-do about him taking you upstairs one night, and then today being seen with her," Sharpay began to explain. "I mean, one report is she's marrying someone else, another report says she's left her fiancé for him, another report says that they were all over each other…"

I felt the blood drain from my face with every word. There's no way… no way in hell he would be all over Jessica Fucking Carter just hours after being with me. Wait, he had done that before, hadn't he? No…they were just talking, he told me he would give me all the details when he called me.

I stood and walked over to my laptop, Kelsi behind me saying, "Gabi, don't… don't do it, you know how the fucking paparazzi is. He said he'd tell you, talk to him first."

"I'll talk to him," I said softly, remembering John's words also. "I would just like to not be blindsided first."

"Kelsi's right, they like to spin these things," Taylor added her input. My macbook didn't take long to power up, and I was quickly on the web typing in the dreaded .

"Maybe it was really nothing, right?" Sharpay asked, her voice small as the pictures were splashed all over the front page. "Oh…that's new."

Jessica and Troy, arms around each other… kissing.

"That's such a blurry picture…maybe it's misconstrued, maybe they were just saying goodbye…" Sharpay, the overly optimistic one was saying. "I mean, is he all touchy-feely?"

My jaw was set as I looked over all five pictures they had on their front page, in various stages of hugs, hand-holding, the kiss. Was he touchy-feely? Did I need to tell any of them just how touchy-feely he'd been with me the night before?

"I'm sure this is blown out of proportion," Kelsi was saying as I heard my phone ring.

"Excuse me," I said softly as I turned to get the receiver, knowing damn good and well who it was. The girls were murmuring their respective excuses as they looked at the damning evidence, and I wondered briefly what Troy's excuse would be. Or would he even have one?

"Ello, Not Telling," he said, his tone forcibly light.

"I've already seen the pictures," I cut him off.

"Fuck," he muttered. "Gabi, I just… I was saying goodbye to her."

"Is that all?" I asked. His pause told me volumes. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"I said I was going to tell you everything," he spoke up. "And I'm going to…I just want you to know, to understand…I didn't know. I thought you were…"

"I was what?"

"I thought you were just being cheeky…or catty, if you will."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I demanded.

"When you said she had…"

"…changed her fucking mind," I said through clinched teeth.

"And not that she has, but…"

"She doesn't want you to be with me."

"She didn't say that, Gabi…she said she's…confused, and you know I have been too, and I don't… Damnit." He took in a deep breath.

"After last night you don't know what you should fucking do, just…perfect."

"No, not after last night, after the last… God, how many years now? You don't get it, you still don't get it even after I tried to tell you."

"And apparently you think I don't deserve any better than to be strung along… again." I felt the tears threaten, but my anger kept them in check.

"You're wrong." His voice was so even, so controlled, I wondered how long he'd rehearsed what he was going to say to me.

"No…no, I've been right this whole fucking time."

"Christine…"

"Stop it!" I yelled, not giving a damn that the girls were now paying attention to me. "My name is Gabriella. Just like with Travis, you need to get it right."

"Okay, I'm sorry."

"No, that's the problem with you," I continued, my venom renewed. "You're not sorry; you're so used to things being handed to you, women throwing themselves at you, people bending to your every whim."

"You know better."

"No, what I know is you've expected me to understand that you'd rather be with Jessica…"

"I didn't say that."

"You don't have to." I wiped a tear away, so tired of the drama, so foolish for believing one night could fix anything.

"Gabriella, everything I have said to you has been the truth."

"It's what you're not saying that tells the whole story," I pointed out, and he sighed quietly.

"I have some time off soon…"

"Don't." I couldn't stop the tears that time. "I can't go through this again."

"Gabriella…"

"What is it going to take for you to see?" I asked, pushing Kelsi's hand off as she walked up behind me. "You are just setting yourself up, Troy. And when I'm not there anymore, how soon before Jessica changes her mind? Again."

"Not there…" The words were so soft I barely heard them.

"You have to choose. Yeah, I'm being that girl, Troy, and before you say I have no right, you need to put yourself in my shoes." I took a deep breath, remembering Jessica's words. "I'm not kidding myself, though. I know all about your history, I know I can't compete."

"Stop."

"No…no, I can't," I said, walking up the stairs, away from everyone. "I can't stop because you…damnit, you made me believe, and right now part of me really hates you for it."

"I never made any promises to you."

"Touché," I replied, wiping the tears away. "I just can't keep doing this, I can't stay on your fucking string."

"I don't know what you want from me." His voice was small, I could almost see him with his head bowed, massaging his temple.

"I want what I felt last night bottled up at my disposal whenever I need to feel happy," I said, knowing it probably made no sense to anyone but me. "I want that freedom…to love like it's never going to hurt."

"But it does." I was silent, wondering his meaning, sure he was talking about Jessica.

"Troy, I have to go." I wasn't lying; I couldn't rehash the same conversation with him over and over again.

"Don't say it," he cut me off.

"Those pictures said it for me."

"No…no, they didn't."

"Troy, I…"

"Damnit, give me…time. I'm being honest with you, Gabriella. I need…time. Please." I was silent, unsure of whether I should agree. Could I do that, keep my heart on the line? "You know…the optimist in me, it's gonna take that as a yes, okay?" he continued, and I swear I could hear him sniffle just a little bit. "So, I wanted you to know…that I'm happy that you were here, and…I'm sorry that everything got so fucked up…and…that thing? That thing you want so badly? Yeah, I want it, too. So, until later…okay? Until later." He didn't wait for my reply before hanging up the phone.

I sat in stunned silence before I turned off the receiver, sitting on the edge of my bed when Kelsi peeked her head in.

"Are you okay?" she asked. I peered up at her through my tears.

"I'm…not sure," I answered honestly. "I…don't know…I…"

"Ice cream?" she asked, holding out the pint she'd retrieved from my freezer. I smiled.

"Yeah," I agreed. "That sounds perfect."