Chapter 39

Troy and Gabriella were sitting downstairs watching a movie while they waited for Troy's parents to arrive home from their weekend away. Neither was paying any attention to the screen however, both lost in their own thoughts. They were both dreading the inevitable upcoming explosion that would occur when they revealed their marriage to Coach Bolton. Any thoughts about Troy's mom's reaction were overshadowed by the thought of his father's anger.

Gabriella was mostly worried about Troy being hurt by his father's angry reaction. Jack had in the past been very unsupportive of anything that came between Troy and basketball, and Troy had been hurt in the past when Jack had reacted more like a coach instead of a father. Yes she was concerned what would happen if the Boltons refused to let her stay with Troy once her mother left but she was more concerned that this could shatter Troy's relationship with his father beyond repair. Gabriella knew that if pushed Troy would choose her over his parents and she didn't know what she could do to prevent that choice from having to be made.

Jack and Lucille arrived home about 6pm, and greeted their son quickly before taking their bags upstairs. Troy knew they were taking the opportunity to check the house for any damage or evidence that he'd had a broken the rules and had a party. Their suspicions didn't worry him; if things had been different he might have attempted to hold a small gathering. Unlike other kids he didn't really have to worry about parties at his house getting out of hand, most of the school was too intimidated by Coach Bolton, that and last time he had got caught having a party Coach had all his PE classes running suicides for a week. He was a little concerned that his parents would check his room though and notice Gabriella had been staying with him or worse that they would smell the scent of sex in the air. Troy and Gabriella had done their best to prevent this, putting away Gabriella's clothes and bag, washing the sheets and towels, and leaving the window open. Troy didn't mind his parents knowing that he was having sex, he doubted they'd be surprised anyway especially after finding condoms left in his bathroom. But he wanted to tell them on his own terms.

Apparently they had passed inspection because his parents came back into the lounge with smiles and asked how Troy's weekend had gone.

"Pretty eventful, we have some things to talk to you about but it will take a while and I want you to listen to the whole story before you say anything okay?"

"Is everything alright? You're not hurt?" Lucille asked, then added "Is it Maria?" seeing that Gabriella looked just as worried as Troy.

"Everything's fine Mama. No-one's hurt and no it's not really about Mrs Montez. Well maybe kinda a bit, but she's fine, don't worry." Troy answered trying to calm his mother down.

"You better not be telling me that Gabriella's pregnant." Jack said in a cold hard voice. He knew that they would support his son no matter what but he didn't want his son to throw away his future.

"No of course not" Troy yelled getting angry when he saw that his father's words had hurt his wife. He wrapped his arms around her and demanded that his father apologise.

Lucille added her glare to her son's letting Jack know that he would be in serious trouble later if he didn't make a sincere apology and start being more accepting of his son's relationship.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that" Jack said softly.

"Is this about Maria and Gabriella moving away?" his mother asked, she had been expecting Troy to bring the topic up for the last week but she was a little put out that he did so in front of Gabriella, she thought Troy should have known that they would need to talk it over just the three of them before they could make any offer for Gabriella to stay with them. If in fact that was what Troy was wanting.

"Not really, but it's sort of related. It's a long story."

"Well then if it's not something we urgently need to do something about, maybe we should discuss it over dinner. I thought maybe Chinese. Would you like to stay Gabriella?" she asked not quite as warmly as usual, attempting to let Troy know that he should think about whether it was appropriate to have this discussion with Gabriella present.

"Yes I would like to stay if it's okay with you?" Gabriella replied looking up at Troy's parents. She had noticed the coolness of the invitation and her anxiety increased, they had not even begun to tell the Bolton's about their marriage and already both of them were displeased with her for some reason.

Troy and Gabriella excused themselves to wash up while Jack went out to collect the food and Lucille set the table. As soon as they were alone Gabriella threw herself into Troy's arms "Oh Troy," she cried softly "They are already mad at me and I don't know why. What are we going to do?"

Troy thought for a moment "I don't know why they seem to want you to leave, they obviously don't know about the wedding or they would have gone completely mad. Maybe they want you to go home so they can tell me off about something. If it was something minor they might not want to embarrass me by scolding me in front of an audience or you by having to listen to me being scolded. They always used to send Chad home before telling me off unless he was involved too."

"I guess that makes sense." Gabriella replied doubtfully.

"How about I go down now and you stay up here until Dad gets home. I'll ask what's up and if she's angry with me it'll give her a chance to vent and then I'll know what's going on. We need to try to sort this out before we tell them, hopefully it's just a misunderstanding." He gave his wife a small kiss. "I love you Babe"

Troy walked down and found his mother unpacking the dishwasher, he started to help then asked "What's wrong Mum? Are you upset with me and Gabriella for something?"

"Not exactly Troy but are you sure that we should have this conversation in front of Gabriella later. It might be better if we talked it over ourselves first. You are really putting us on the spot if you ask us to let Gabriella stay with us after her mom leaves without giving us the chance to talk it over in private. It's not fair to your father and I or Gabriella. I had hoped you had the maturity to realise that."

Troy nodded "You're right mama, or you would be if that was the whole story. But there is something we need to tell you both that involves Gabriella, and she wants to be here to help explain it. I also thought that Dad's more likely to listen to both of us together rather than losing his temper before he has the whole story."

Lucille looked at her son and noticed for the first time the tension in his eyes. "It's really bad isn't it?" she asked quietly.

"I don't think it's bad at all Mom. But you and Dad might." Troy answered quietly.

"Are you and Gabriella in some sort of trouble?" she asked worried about her son.

"No Mama" Troy answered "No trouble, we're alright it's just..." his voice trailed off. "I think it's best if I wait and tell you both together, it's big mama but please try to remember that it's something I chose to do and I don't regret it. I won't regret it no matter how upset you and Dad get about it, or what you say and do. It was my decision to make, and we have thought through all the consequences. It was the right thing to do. I'm really happy and I hope you and Dad can be happy for us too.." He trailed off again and gave his mother a sheepish grin.

Lucille was really worried now, what had he done? She looked at him carefully examining his face for any hints of his emotions. She was surprised to see that under the surface tension, which she attributed to the upcoming confrontation, he actually looked happier than he had for a long time. She was also struck by the maturity she saw in his face. For the first time Lucille looked at her son and saw not the little boy she loved, but the man he was becoming. He was standing there telling her that he knew she was unlikely to approve of his actions, but that he believed that he'd done the right thing for him regardless of her opinion. He was being honest and up front with them, and no matter what she thought about whatever it was he was going to say she had to respect his courage to stand up for his actions.

"Okay Troy, I'll leave it for now. Why don't I go up and get Gabriella. I didn't mean to make her feel unwelcome."

"Thanks Mama"

Lucille walked lightly up the stairs and found Gabriella sitting on Troy's bed talking on his phone. "Troy can't talk to now Chad I'm sure he'll call you later."

... "No we haven't, after dinner" ... "Yes you can ask him about it when he calls" ... "Chad Danforth don't you dare ask him that." ... "No Chad I won't"... "Bye Chad" she said hanging up before he could say anything else.

Lucille stopped just out of sight of the doorway, slightly taken aback by the conversation, she would hesitate to even answer Jack's phone but clearly Gabriella hadn't hesitated she had picked it straight up and had spoken for Troy and although he was just downstairs had told Chad he was unavailable instead of calling him to the phone.

She tapped lightly on the open door, and entered. Gabriella glanced up and the smile on her face dimmed a bit when she saw that it wasn't Troy. "Hi Mrs Bolton, is it time for dinner?" she asked slightly nervously.

Lucille came in and sat on the bed "Not quite yet, I came up to apologise for making you uncomfortable earlier. I was being unfair. It was nothing to do with you and I want you to know you're always welcome here" she said smiling warmly at the girl who meant so much to her son.

Gabriella gave a very small smile "Thank you" she said quietly hoping that Troy's parents still felt that way after they heard about their marriage.
"Have you decided where you are going when your mother goes to Mexico?" Lucille asked thinking she was changing the subject.

"Well I think so. It's not totally sorted out yet. I can't really talk about it though." Gabriella said blushing in embarrassment at not being able to give a straight answer.

Lucille wasn't sure quite what to think of this, but respected Gabriella's wish not to discuss it.

They heard Jack's car pull into the drive, and headed downstairs to meet them. Gabriella went straight to Troy and wrapped her arms around him. He lowered his head and they had a quick whispered conversation. Lucille noticed Troy looked a little less apprehensive and as he smiled at Gabriella she was struck by the tenderness in his eyes.

Lucille pulled Jack into the kitchen. "Jack please promise me that you will listen to your son when he explains what's going on later." She said in a quiet but firm voice.

"You know what he's going to tell us?" Jack asked. He shouldn't be surprised that Troy confided in his mother first but he was a little hurt.

"No he insisted on telling us both together. But he's very serious about whatever it is. I get the impression that if we try to force him to change his mind or to stop whatever it is that we could lose him." Lucille said worried.

"Why? What did he say?" Jack demanded slightly annoyed.

"Just that he believes he has made the right decision and will continue to believe that he has no matter who disagrees with it. It was more the way he looked when he said it than the words, whatever this is about he is totally committed to it."

Jack nodded "Okay I will try."

"I mean it Jack. Troy's growing up, it is time to let him make his own decisions." Jack had a suspicion she was talking about more than just the upcoming conversation but didn't pursue the issue."

"Okay I get it. Listen to Troy. Hold my temper. Give him a chance to explain."

Lucille backed off knowing she had done as much as she could, it would be counterproductive to push her husband further and she would just have to hope for the best. She called everyone to the table and they began helping themselves to the various dishes. As she watched Troy serve himself she noticed that he was wearing her father's wedding ring. Having been left it in her father's will, the ring was his by right to wear but she had never seen him wear it before and she wondered if he had put it on for emotional support in the upcoming discussion. That would mean that Troy felt that his Grandparents would have accepted the situation even if she and Jack might not. These thoughts brought her comfort if Troy felt that her parents would have supported him then it couldn't be anything too dreadful, her father was a sensible man, if a little overly given to grand romantic gestures, and Troy was like him in many ways.

A second possible reason for Troy to be wearing his Grandfather's wedding ring occurred to her. 'Surely not' she thought 'he couldn't have more he wouldn't have without her and his father. Would he?' She looked at Gabriella's hands hoping to be proven wrong.

A/N: Thankyou to Kiara (glad to hear you're alright), Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016 and iminlove13 and Winterzkisses for your support.