So it's been a crazy couple of weeks. I just started a second job and for the first week i was working there on Monday even though Mondays are my day off. I'm going to be there three days a week for a full day. Since last week i was also there on Monday, that's why i wasn't able to update last week. The job is about an hour away so, needless to say, by the time i got home each day i just wanted to relax. I've also been trying to figure out where i want to go with the next chapter i'm up to so that's not exactly helping either. :/ Anyway, i'll shut up now and let you guys get to reading.
Disclaimer: I do not own HSM.


Chapter Forty-Nine

After Taylor stormed off Chad followed Gabriella into the apartment. She occupied the couch and he sat in the chair across from her with his arms folded. His first thought was that he should apologize about Taylor. But then again she had every right to leave. She needed to blow off some steam and right now she was just not comfortable around Gabriella. Come to think of it, Chad wasn't exactly in his happy place either. He would have liked to know what was going on as well. Yes, he did view Gabriella as another sister. But that didn't mean he could talk to her about anything. Chad liked being around Gabriella and he thought he could trust her with stuff. Needless to say that trust was temporarily broken.

At first Chad didn't say anything. What do you even say to your girlfriend's best friend or your best friend's fiancé when they hurt someone? When they kept something secret? Chad had seen a show like this on TV once; women would hide their pregnancies for multiple reasons. But what reason could Gabriella possibly have? When someone found out they were pregnant they should be bragging and celebrating and talking about all these things with their best friends. Granted, Chad wouldn't have blabbed like a girl with Troy if he knew, but he'd still be excited and want to know some stuff. Troy and Gabriella were at a point now where they could start a family. Hell, they were getting married and that was the ultimate sign of starting a family because it meant they were becoming one. Chad wanted that someday. And right now his friends weren't exactly setting the best example for him, let alone getting him excited about that idea. These were things that Chad didn't think about before. Now they were coming to a boil all at once and really starting to bug him. And it really made him disappointed in Gabriella.

Gabriella could see that in his face. And then Chad saw her reaction. She looked down, wanting to avoid eye contact at all costs. It wasn't Chad's intention to make her feel bad. Ok, maybe he wanted her to feel a little bad. But he didn't want her to feel guilty or like any of this was a burden. He just wanted her to know how it felt, maybe. That made sense, didn't it? His look of disappointment stayed for a minute. Then, as he contemplated what to say, his look began to soften. Maybe jumping down her throat wasn't the best idea. Gabriella may have not wanted to hurt anyone or meant to, but it was done now. And even though Chad shouldn't be the one talking to her about it he was the only one around right now. And until Troy got back from wherever he was, it was just Chad and Gabriella.

"So how far along are you?"

Gabriella looked up, confused.

"Does it go by months, or weeks?" Chad asked.

"Either or," she shrugged her shoulders. "I'm around the four month mark."

Chad nodded. He was one to act without thinking, but this was a delicate situation and he knew it. So he was making sure to pay attention to every little detail. Gabriella was visibly sorry. And her tone of voice was soft, almost like she was afraid of saying the wrong thing. And Chad wasn't the one directly mad at her; even though he was irritated; he shouldn't blow up at her. The best thing to do for the time being was to keep the conversation simple.

"So much for being abstent, huh?"

"Abstinent," she corrected.

Chad nodded. "What made you change your mind?" He was careful with his wording; he didn't want Gabriella to know that Taylor clued him in. Chad had told Taylor that intimate discussions were different for guys than girls. Guys kept it short and simple; and, in the case of players, they'd brag about it. If Taylor's reaction had been any indication, girls liked to keep these matters to themselves. Even if their closest friends knew, it shouldn't be a continuing topic.

"Troy and I were already getting married. We were about to move in together. So I figured, what was the harm in jumping ahead? I guess I got my answer," she sighed.

"You make it sound like a bad thing," Chad stated.

"Oh no. A baby could never be a bad thing. It's just…" Gabriella paused for a moment. "It's not the right time. Troy and I wanted to wait a little bit before having kids. Settle into married life and save up for a baby. And I guess God had other plans."

"I don't buy that bs," Chad shook his head.

Gabriella looked at him confused.

"Ok I buy it a little," Chad admitted. "I know that sometimes God does decide things for us cause he doesn't make things happen to people unless there's a good reason. But he didn't make you and Troy get pregnant. You did."

"There wasn't even any time to talk about anything. We just…. Jumped right into it," she admitted sheepishly.

"You don't have to tell me. I know how it works," Chad said.

"So? Are you going to let me have it?" Gabriella wondered.

He shook his head. "I'm not the one who should be talking to you about any of this. I mean, if there's anything you wanna get off your chest I'm not going anywhere. I can listen. But Tay's the one who's really mad. You should be working this out with her."

Gabriella sighed. "I didn't want her to be mad at me."

"She's not mad at you for getting pregnant," Chad promised. "She's probably mad that you hid it from her."

Gabriella sighed and leaned back on the couch. She lightly rubbed her belly and there grew an awkward silence between the two friends. She didn't seem to want to talk anymore and Chad didn't know what to say. What should he even say? He couldn't ask Gabriella if she found a job; obviously that was being postponed. Should he even ask about the wedding? Or was it too soon? Should he excuse himself and go find Taylor? Or was he just unwelcome now?

"So how is it?" he decided to ask.

Gabriella glanced to him puzzled.

"Being pregnant, I mean," he clarified.

"There's a lot of morning sickness," she said. "I've been craving chalk and soap. And sometimes I get uncomfortable really easily."

"Did you start picking out any names?" he wondered.

Gabriella shook her head.

"Well…maybe I can help," Chad offered.

"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked. It seemed that her isolation from her friends the past few months had really gotten the best of her.

"When I went to basketball camp and Troy and I couldn't get to sleep, we'd try to tire ourselves out with this boring letter game. We'd go back and forth through the alphabet and come up with a word for each letter. First to fall asleep lost," he explained.

"I don't know," she shook her head.

"Too soon?" Chad guessed.

"I'm not ready," she admitted. "I'm not ready for this. Coming up with a name, actually deciding what to call it…it solidifies everything. For all I know the name can become a symbol for things I've lost."

"You haven't lost anything yet," Chad said. "Besides what else are we gonna do? You don't wanna talk about your life, I'm fine not talking about mine. So what's the harm?"

Gabriella shook her head. Then a small smile came across her face. "Do you really think you can come up with a name for every letter?"

Chad grinned, happy that he was making some progress. "Sounds like a challenge."

Gabriella sat up straight and eyed him. "Two rounds. One boy, one girl for each letter. Whoever comes up with the best names wins. Loser buys the winner a burger."

"What are the rules?" Chad asked.

"No out-of-the-box names or embarrassing names. They have to be real names. But they can't be names of anyone we know. And no words for names," she said.

"Like Olive?" Chad asked.

"That name already exists. It's good," she said. "Oh, and no names that sound like they'd be for a pet like Fifi or Fluffy."

It wasn't like the bets Chad was used to. And Chad loved his bets with Taylor. But this sounded like a fun little wager with Gabriella. And if it was something that would make her feel more comfortable then it worked for him. "Game on."

"Ok boy's round first. Start us off."

"Alexander."

"Troy's middle name, doesn't count."

Chad cursed to himself.

"Blaine."

"Carlos."

"Dimitri."

"Elliot."

"Fred."

"Something with G."

Gabriella giggled. "You're losing," she sang.

"Whatever," Chad rolled his eyes. "Just keep going."

"Harry."

"Ivan."

"Jeffery."

"Kevin."

"Lucas."

"Mitch."

"Noel."

"Perry."

"You skipped O."

"Dammit!"

"Give up now?" Gabriella teased.

"No, keep going," Chad insisted.

Gabriella thought for a moment before continuing. "Quinn."

"Isn't that a girl's name?" he asked.

"Unisex. It counts," Gabriella said.

"Show off," he muttered.

"Your turn."

"Royce."

"Seth."

"Ta…"

"You almost said Taylor."

"How do you know what I was gonna say?"

"Because I know how you think."

"I could've been saying another name."

"Like what?"

"Like…. Talon."

"You were not thinking Talon. You were thinking Taylor."

"Like we know any boy Taylor's anyway."

"It doesn't count."

"Yes it does."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "You're so competitive."

"You're the one who said unisex names count. So we going or what?" Chad asked.

"Fine," Gabriella gave in. She attempted to think of a name.

"You can't think of a U name, can you?" he teased.

"Like it matters. I'm still winning," she said dismissively.

"Then I'm skipping to V," Chad decided.

"Go ahead," she said.

"Victor."

"Winston."

"Xavier."

"York."

"Can that even be a name?"

"Yes, look it up."

"Zac."

"You missed three. I only missed one," Gabriella counted the score.

"There's still one round left," Chad said. "And I have three older sisters. I'm a girl name expert."

"You know you can't use their middle names either right?" she asked.

"I know that now," he mumbled.

"Ok I start off the round," she said. "Ariel."

"Bryn."

"Camilla."

"Danielle."

"Everly."

"Faith."

"Gale."

"Hailey."

"Ingrid."

"Jennifer."

"Kaycee."

"Lana."

"Marlow."

"Naomi."

"Ophelia."

Chad let out a laugh. "What kinda name is Ophelia?"

"A cute name," Gabriella defended her choice. "Are you going to continue or not?"

"Fine," he changed his mind. "Penny."

"Queenie."

"Riley."

"Sadie."

"Tiffany."

"Ursula."

"Veronica."

"Wendy."

"Xavia."

"Now you're just being lazy," Gabriella commented. "You took the X name from last round and made it feminine."

"It's a different name," Chad insisted. "You can't take points away for that."

"You just can't think of any X names for girls."

"Really, Gabs?" he asked. "We have two letters left and you make a big deal over an X?"

"Whatever," she sighed. "Yolanda."

"Zephyr," Chad finished.

Gabriella nodded. "I'm slightly impressed. Except for the X name you really do know your girls' names."

"We played a game like this when Beth was having her first," Chad said. "Beth picked letters she wanted to use for names and we all had to choose three names. We put them in hats and she picked them. Not that she went with any of our choices though."

"Well it sounds like you would have covered all the bases," she said.

"I guess so," he shrugged his shoulders. "So did you hear any you like?"

"I liked Elliot, Kevin and Bryn," Gabriella said. "Those were good choices."

"I told you, I'm a girl name expert," Chad said half-bragging.

"I thought for sure you would've used your sisters' names," Gabriella admitted.

"My parents were a little more…" he paused to think of the right word, "…unique with middle names."

Gabriella grinned. "Ok you have to tell now."

"I don't think so," Chad shook his head. "I don't give out my middle name to anyone. Troy doesn't even know my middle name."

"Does Taylor?" Gabriella inquired.

"She knows what it starts with," Chad answered. He glanced around the room. "So when do I get the grand tour?"

"You're pretty much looking at half the apartment right here," Gabriella said. "This is where we live and eat. That door leads to think kitchen and washing machine and that short hall leads to a toilet and bedroom."

"In the same room?" Chad raised an eyebrow.

"No, just right next to each other. The shower isn't much bigger," she admitted.

"And you're gonna fit a baby in here?" he wondered.

"We have to. It's all we can afford right now," Gabriella said.

"A tiny apartment next to the wrong side of town?" Chad asked.

"It's not as dangerous as it looks," she shook her head. "You just have to know where to go."

"So you like living on your own?" he asked.

"It gets lonely sometimes," Gabriella admitted. "I haven't exactly made any friends here."

"What about the neighbors?" he inquired.

"Some of them are nice, but everyone just seems to keep to themselves," she said.

"Sounds like you and Troy are living the dream. At least you can live by your own rules, come and go as you please," he said.

"It's not all it's cracked up to be. And it's only going to get harder once the baby comes," Gabriella replied.

"Would you move back to Albuquerque if you could?" he wondered.

"And make Troy leave his job?" Gabriella gasped. "He loves it there."

"You just don't seem very happy," Chad noticed.

"Sometimes you just have to make some sacrifices for the one you love," Gabriella said. "I know if it were reversed Troy would do the same for me."

"I know he would. But it's not all about Troy," Chad said. "He gave up U of A for you. It sucked for me, but the guy was just following his heart. But he ended up being happy where he was. You can tell him if you're not happy. You don't owe him anything."

Gabriella shook her head. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Troy may be my bro, but you're family to me, too," he answered. "I don't like seeing my sisters unhappy. The same goes for you. And I know you hate being away from everyone else."

"Chad…" she sighed.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is, you don't have to hide from anything. And if you need to, you can come back. I know Troy. I know he can be on his own for a while. But it doesn't mean you have to. You still got plenty of people for you back in New Mexico. And if there's ever anything you need, a thing or just someone to talk to, you don't have to hesitate. We'll be waiting for you," Chad explained. "We got your back, Gabs. Whether you know it or not."

Gabriella smiled. Chad knew somehow he'd be able to get something through to her. And maybe this was also the kind of pep talk she'd need before talking to Taylor. Chad wasn't badmouthing Troy in anything he was saying; he was merely trying to prove a point. And if that's what it took to remind Gabriella about her friends and she didn't need to worry about losing them or hiding anything from them, then so be it.

"Hey," Troy said walking into the apartment. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Some greeting," Chad joked.

Gabriella exchanged a quick kiss with Troy. "You're not surprised that Chad's here?"

"No," Troy shook his head. "I saw Taylor at Dunken Donuts on my lunch break a little over an hour ago."

Gabriella raised an eyebrow. "You just took your lunch break an hour ago? But what about the rest of your day? I thought you wouldn't be back until dinner."

"It just seemed like something was more important here," Troy said. "Besides I wasn't gonna miss a chance to see my bud."

Chad grinned and hit a high five with Troy. "That's my bro."

"How long as you in for?" Troy asked.

"Just for the weekend," Chad answered. "Merry Christmas."

"You know, the least you could've done was put a bow in your hair," Troy said.

Gabriella laughed.

"Watch it," Chad pointed at them.

"I'm joking," Troy said.

"So when's Taylor coming? Is she behind you?" Chad asked looking to the door.

"She was still having coffee when I left," Troy answered. "I told her if she wanted to see us to stop at the park. I pointed her in the direction."

"You think she'll really want to talk?" Gabriella asked concerned.

"I think she'll be ready by the time we see her," Chad said.

"Gabs is the one seeing her. You and I are gonna play baseball across the street," Troy told him.

"Fine, I'll kick your butt in a different state," Chad said.

"Whatever you say man," Troy replied, "I'm just gonna hit the bathroom and change and then we'll head out."

Gabriella waited until Troy was out of the room before turning back to Chad. "Do you really think she'll want to talk to me?"

Chad nodded. "I'm sure. And I guess you'll know where to find me and Troy if you need us. But you won't need us."

"How can you even be sure Taylor will be there?" she asked.

"I know my girl," Chad replied. "She's got a thing about parks when she's annoyed."

Gabriella shook her head.

"Ok, she also likes sitting on the swings," Chad admitted. He offered his hand to help Gabriella off the couch. "You ready?"

Gabriella sighed and took his hand. "As ready as I'll ever be."


This chapter was a lot easier to write than the last one. I feel like Chad/Gabriella talks are easier to come up with. They both seem a lot more laid back and have an ability to look at something from a more childish point of view, especially if they want to, which is kinda where the game came in. It seemed like something they'd do and it was fun writing the first name i could think of. Got to throw in some shout outs to the Wildcats that way. xD Chad and Gabriella's conversation also seems a lot more laid back than Troy and Taylor's, who are probably more level headed and can or do take things more seriously. I think at points in this chapter, though, the reason that she may seem a little out of character is because she has been away from her closest friends for a while and actually seeing them now is probably causing her to realize the weight of the situation. But, like Taylor, she probably is overreacting in thinking that she's losing her best friend over this. You'll get to see how this turns out next chapter and, as long as i don't have anything going on next Monday all day, i plan to update then. As usual, thank you to everyone who still reads and/or reviews this story. And as for Tris and Cass who reviewed last, i'm sorry if any of the dialogue made you uncomfortable. I've admitted that sometimes, when i decide to write right after watching TV, the shows i watch can influence my way of thinking a little. The other part of it is because i try to imagine how the characters interact with each other. And especially with Chad and Taylor, because i imagine them to be such a physical couple, that does play a part in their interaction. And like i said with the updates, as much as i can joke about not having a life, it does get really busy. I try to set time aside on a day i know i'll have time to write. Sometimes things to come up and i don't even get the chance to open up the document and therefore i forget to update or just don't update. And especially now, with my having two jobs, i can't always guarantee that i will update when i say. I may generally have Mondays off, but that doesn't always mean i will be able to write and/or update. With all that said, i'm off for the day. See you all next time! :)