So here's an update nice and early today! I wanted to get this chapter up while there was a chance because there's that insane blizzard we're supposed to get so i'm not sure what that means for me going to either of my jobs or if we'll lose any power (man i REALLY don't want to lose power!). I did try to write another chapter last night but for some reason it just wasn't fitting. I know what i want to write next and i know what i want to happen but i'm not sure if it's just not working or if it's writer's block and maybe i need some inspiration. So after i get done with what i need to do today i'll see if i can write some more. But, for the record, if i can't go to my second job one day this week i will be going in probably next Monday to make up for the missed time, so if that happens that means no update then. How this week goes will dictate how updates go next week so just be prepared please. Now that all that's out of the way, let's get to the reading.
Disclaimer: I do not own HSM.


Chapter Fifty

Taylor sat on one of the swings, silently counting the minutes until everyone would get there. Troy said Gabriella would definitely come, but Taylor had been waiting for fifteen minutes. Maybe she just got there early. Taylor had no idea what was going to happen between her and Gabriella but part of her hoped it would be soon. The conversation had been put off long enough and now Taylor just wanted to get it over with. If there was a bright side, it was that she was getting plenty of time to think things over. Taylor figured she'd start out a little mad, just to get everything off her chest. Then she'd cool off and have a real conversation with Gabriella. She just hoped it wouldn't be their last.

Taylor looked at her watch again. Another five minutes had gone by and she was starting to get hungry. She really wanted to get this over with now. Maybe she just needed to pass the time. She started lightly swinging a little. It added a nice light breeze; Taylor didn't like this dry California air very much. How did Troy and Gabriella adjust to it so quickly anyway? She glanced to the empty swing beside her, part of her hoping that Chad would join her first. She liked swinging next to him and having a light conversation. It was relaxing. But no such luck today. Taylor sighed and looked up at the sky. She started to let her mind drift.

"Is this seat taken?"

Taylor stopped swinging briefly and listened to the soft voice. She turned her head and Gabriella was somewhat nervous standing there. Looked like Taylor was getting her wish.

"You can sit there," she nodded.

Gabriella sat on the swing while Taylor started swinging a little bit again. There was a bit of an awkward silence between the girls, neither of them sure what to say. Taylor wasn't even sure where to start. Should she go off on Gabriella now, or should she let her explain? She decided to wait it out.

After a couple of minutes, Gabriella quietly broke the silence. "I'm sorry."

That was enough to get Taylor's attention. She stopped and faced Gabriella. "Sorry? Sorry? You tune me out for months and all you can say is sorry?" she questioned.

Gabriella opened her mouth to speak but Taylor cut her off.

"You promised me we would stay in contact. You made me pinkie promise…"

"Pinkie Pie promise," Gabriella corrected quietly.

"Whatever. But you made me promise that nothing was going to change between us. I get that you were busy moving when you first got here, but what about after that? You couldn't text me? You couldn't call? You couldn't even send an email or comment on Facebook and say, 'by the way, I'm here. How's everything going?' You couldn't even tell me to my face that you're pregnant. I had to find out by coming all the way here and seeing for myself. You're hiding it like it's some dirty, shameful secret but it's not. And if it is, it's only because that's what you're making it out to be," Taylor continued angrily.

"I was scared," Gabriella admitted softly.

"And you don't think I was?" Taylor demanded. "I was terrified, Gabriella. The way you dropped off the Earth so suddenly I thought something might have happened to you. Or that I did something to chase you away, that you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore. This is just like when you left for Stanford. You didn't bother to say anything; you just up and left. I felt like I pushed you away, that I forced you to make that decision. And now it's happened all over again and all you can do is just sit there and not say anything."

Taylor turned away and folded her arms. There was still some anger left in her, but as of currently she said everything she wanted to. In the back of her mind Taylor was also trying to take the baby into consideration. Just because she was pissed at Gabriella was no excuse to take it out on the little one. And Taylor had no intention of doing so. She just had to remind herself not to overdo it. It was a challenge, but one she was going to have to learn. She just needed something to get her started. Something to remind her not to completely lose it.

"Do you want the truth?" Gabriella asked, her voice still quiet.

Taylor turned to her. "Yes I want the truth. If you don't want to be friends anymore, if you don't think we can stay long-distance friends then just tell me."

"You think that's what this is about?" Gabriella asked shocked. "You think that just because I moved that I didn't want to be your friend anymore?"

Well when she heard Gabriella say it, it did sound kind of dumb. But it was Taylor's thinking and she had to run every possible outcome.

"Taylor, right now you're the only friend I have," Gabriella admitted.

Taylor raised an eyebrow. "You haven't met anyone here?"

"I've hardly even been out of the apartment," she said. "It was like this at Stanford, too. It took me a while to get used to being on my own. The only things that kept me out of my dorm were my classes, eating and Troy. But I don't have any of that here. Troy leaves for work and maybe sometimes I will meet him for lunch or I have to go grocery shopping but besides that I don't go out. I haven't made any friends here."

"Then why wouldn't you contact me?" Taylor asked. "I'm here for you, Gabriella. You know that. If you're unhappy or something's going on you can tell me."

"Tay I know how you get. I tell you one thing and you try to push me in the right direction or meddle in my life to make things better somehow," Gabriella said. "It's early admission all over again."

"I promised you I'd keep my meddling to a minimum. I'm going to keep that promise," Taylor told her. "And if I do meddle it's only to protect you."

Gabriella looked at her doubtfully.

"Ok, it's me thinking I'm protecting you," Taylor corrected rolling her eyes. Stupid minor details.

"I'm not a little kid. You don't have to look out for me," she replied.

The conversation was slowly evolving from one between friends to one that a mother and daughter might have. Taylor would have never even for a second imagined herself as motherly. But maybe she was that way towards Gabriella for a reason. In a sisterly way Taylor was the older one, always looking out for Gabriella and trying to give her advice or steer her in the right direction. Gabriella would be the younger sister, looking at the bright side of things or from a more childish point of view. It was how the girls balanced each other out. But now Taylor really had to evaluate her friendship with Gabriella. They could still be best friends. They could still call each other sisters. But Gabriella was living away and on her own now. Taylor couldn't just keep an eye on her anymore. She couldn't always meddle and try to protect Gabriella or however anyone wanted to look at it. A while back, Taylor and Chad admitted that in some ways they both still had some growing up to do. But at the time Taylor didn't realize her friendships had to grow up as well. Or that Gabriella was growing up as well.

"I guess…" Taylor paused to think of the right way to say this, to really say what was on her mind. "I guess maybe I still see you the way we met at East High. You were so naïve and clueless about the status quo, and we had so much in common and got along so well maybe I felt obligated to help you. Like I had to show you how to navigate through East High. And that I had to steer you away from Troy because just knowing how a lot of the jocks could be, I didn't want to see you get hurt. Even after that I still felt like I saw things when you didn't. The boyfriend rules, Troy and even the option of Stanford. I felt like I had to do whatever I could to push you in the right direction because you were my best friend. And that's what friends do, they help each other."

"I know," Gabriella nodded. "But you're not my mom. And we're way past high school. You can't just occasionally peer over my shoulder and make sure I'm ok. I have to learn to be ok by myself. It's just taking a lot longer than I expected. But I also know that no matter how hard I'll look for a friend out here, I'll never find one as good as you."

"Then why tune me out?" Taylor asked.

Gabriella looked down, a bit ashamed. "I didn't want to disappoint you."

Taylor couldn't help but let out a laugh. "I thought the whole point of this conversation was that I'm not your mother. How the hell are you going to disappoint me?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe by being pregnant."

"How would that even relatively disappoint me?" Taylor asked.

"Well your thinking does tend to be a bit conservative," Gabriella said.

It was true; there were certain subjects that caused Taylor to lean more towards the conservative side of the scale. But anyone's opinions could change. Sometimes even strong ones.

"Ok so maybe I tend to believe that a woman should be married before having kids. And stay married. Or not go out and get pregnant by every Jo Shmo out there…" she started.

"Tay," Gabriella snapped her out of it.

Taylor shook her head and went back on topic. "But you're getting married. I know you and Troy are going to be together forever. Hell, my sister even has two kids by two guys but she still grew into a damn good mom."

Gabriella raised an eyebrow. "Cassie had a second baby?"

"I'll get to that," Taylor said. "My point is I'm not going to judge you because you started a little earlier. I'm still going to be happy for you. And I'm still going to be the one to take your kid to meet Santa."

"Since when?" Gabriella asked.

"Since I decided about five seconds ago," Taylor answered.

Gabriella giggled. "So…does that mean none of this changes anything? You don't think I'm crazy?"

"Trust me, you're not the one I think who's crazy," Taylor said.

"Ok so who do you think really is crazy?" Gabriella inquired.

"Chad," she answered.

"Which means you think you're crazy for being so gaga over him," Gabriella laughed.

"You said it, not me," Taylor said.

"Because it's true," Gabriella teased.

"Shut up!" Taylor gasped.

Gabriella giggled. "So…. Friends?"

"The best," Taylor smiled.

The girls attempted to find a way around the chains of the swings to hug each other. When they couldn't and Gabriella really didn't want to get up they just settled for an awkward side hug. But at least they were able to laugh about it.

"So, details," Gabriella smiled. "When did Cassie have her second?"

"Right before Thanksgiving," Taylor answered. She took out her phone and showed Gabriella a picture. "Her name's Luca."

"She's adorable!" Gabriella squealed.

"Chad's been helping her take care of Kari while she adjusts to the new baby," Taylor said.

"How's Kari taking it?" Gabriella wondered.

"A little hard at first," she admitted, "but I think she's warming up to the idea. Chad really got through to her."

"And…is Luca's…father around?" Gabriella asked cautiously.

Taylor bit her lip. "It's a long story."

"Well I really hope everything works out," she said. "Cassie seems like a really good mom."

"She is," Taylor agreed. "And if you really want to see someone be overprotective, watch how she handles her girls."

"I'll take your word for it," Gabriella said. "What else is going on?"

"The usual," Taylor said simply. With very few exceptions, her life seemed pretty full compared to what Gabriella was going through. And really, Taylor didn't want to talk about herself. "What about you?"

"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked.

"Well…" she tried to choose her words carefully, "that first time with Troy…?"

Gabriella gestured to her stomach. "I'd say it was successful."

"So about four months, then?" Taylor guessed.

"How do you do that, memorize dates and timelines so easily?" Gabriella asked. "What, do you have a record book you keep of everything or something?"

"No," Taylor scoffed. She added under her breath, "Not of everything."

"What was that?" Gabriella asked.

"Nothing," she responded quickly. "You were saying?"

"That I'm four months along," Gabriella said.

"Any idea what you're having?" Taylor wondered. "Or how many?"

"One," she answered quickly. "Just one. I don't think we could handle two."

"So do you know what you're having, or are you keeping it a surprise?" she asked.

"Troy thinks it's a boy. I think it's a girl. We'll know in a few weeks," Gabriella said.

"Have you talked about names?" she inquired.

"Not really," Gabriella shook her head. "But I kind of like Bryn for a girl."

"How'd you pick that?" Taylor wondered.

"I didn't. Chad did," Gabriella admitted. "We were passing the time today, playing a game while we were waiting."

"Bryn Bolton," Taylor said to herself. "That does have a nice ring to it."

"So…?" Gabriella asked excitedly. "Are you going to try soon so we can have out kids close in age?"

Taylor laughed. "Are you nuts? I was freaking out while Cassie was in labor and delivery. Besides Chad and I aren't even engaged."

"But what about that ring you're wearing?" she wondered.

Taylor fiddled with the ring a little. "Birthday gift from Chad. It's from a vending machine."

"So he wasn't being creative?" Gabriella asked.

"Not like that," she shook her head. "Besides Chad keeps saying he's trying to save up. And he only just heard back about a part time job."

"Where?" she inquired.

"Pizza place. And it's right near the Albuquerquian," Taylor said.

"Sounds like lunch dates to me," Gabriella smiled.

"We'll have to see," Taylor said trying to think reasonably. "Chad also wants to talk to Mr. Evans. About maybe volunteering at Lava Springs with kids."

"He can do that?" Gabriella wondered.

"If Chad went to grad school it could have been an internship coaching kids," Taylor explained. "But maybe with this part time thing and making some money, maybe he can do both."

"You'll definitely have to tell me about it," Gabriella said.

Taylor nodded. "Speaking of the Evanses, about Sharpay…"

Gabriella quickly cut her off. "Let's go see how the boys are doing."

Taylor sighed and watched her friend head across to the baseball field. She was hoping to ask Gabriella why she invited Sharpay to the wedding. Not to mention if the wedding was even still on. But it looked like that was going to have to wait. At least the two of them made progress. And it made Taylor happy and relieved to know she still had her best friend. As long as Gabriella and Troy were happy with everything that was going on, then Taylor was happy. Part of her wished they still lived in close proximity to each other so she could be around their growing family. But this was how it was going to be right now and, who knew, maybe things would change in a year or two. That was good enough for Taylor.

"You coming?"

Taylor smiled when she saw Chad approach her.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Just thinking."

Chad chuckled. "What else is new?" he teased before kissing her.

Taylor smiled. "What was that for?"

"What? A guy can't kiss his girlfriend?" Chad asked sitting on the empty swing.

Taylor smirked.

"It's for working this out with Gabs," he clarified. "You still friends?"

Taylor nodded. "It looks like she and I were worried over nothing."

"Not a surprise," Chad said. "So you were just talking about the baby this whole time?"

Taylor nodded and started swinging. "The baby, her life, how we were feeling…I think we put everything pretty much out in the open. I'm sure Gabriella and I will be talking a lot more now."

"I'll prep my ears for the girlie screams," Chad joked.

"Very funny," Taylor followed her eyes.

Chad took her hand and swung lightly beside her, which made Taylor smile.

"So what were you and Troy talking about over there? Or was it just all game?" she wondered.

"Little of both," Chad said. "And thanks to Gabriella Troy missed that last ball. So I won the game."

"Always about winning with you," Taylor said. "Predictable."

"Hey we talked, too," Chad said defensively. "We were thinking about talking more. Maybe go on a double date."

The couples of Troyella and Chaylor hadn't been on a double date since before the move. It would be so nice to have all four of them together for once.

"What's the plan?" Taylor inquired.

"Dinner, probably," Chad said. "If you and Gabs wanna do lunch together, Troy and I can go somewhere. Then we can meet up and do something before dinner tomorrow."

"What about tonight?" Taylor asked.

"After the crazy drive we had yesterday I think tonight I just wanna go to the hotel, eat something and then go to bed," he said.

"So I take it you're not up for celebrating?" Taylor asked innocently. "You know, having pretty much gotten the job…"

"I can celebrate," Chad said quickly. He hopped off the swing and walked around so he was standing behind Taylor. He put his hands on the chains, lightly stopping the swing, and then wrapped his arms around her. "So it's a date?"

Taylor would hardly describe that as a date. But then again they were alone. They'd have a lot of time to themselves. Have some dinner, maybe watch some TV…. It was actually a good summary of their dates. So it might as well be one. And as far as Taylor was concerned, Chad could call it whatever he wanted as long as they were with each other.

"Of course."


I think that pretty much sums everything up now. Even though the last two chapters did touch on why Gabriella acted the way she did, this was pretty much her chance to get everything out in the open. Because she is someone that did one around a lot, i imagine her as sorta keeping the same attitude, that she's not going to stay in one place for long so why bother making friends. It also reflected how she was when she went to Stanford in HSM3; how Gabriella pushed herself away from everyone because she was so far away from them and didn't like it or anything. Her discussion with Taylor, i felt that was inspired from their interactions during HSM2 and HSM3. Taylor very much wanted to help Gabriella and push her in the right direction but has become more aware that she doesn't always take the right approach to doing so. I think that's kind of where her worry about losing Gabriella as a friend stems from. And Gabriella, recognizing Taylor as kinda the older sister-like person in their friendship, really didn't want to disappoint her about anything. While they did briefly touch on other subjects as well, having a conversation like regular friends do all the time, the point of it all was for them to work everything out. And, of course, having not gotten an answer yet as to why Sharpay is going to Troy and Gabriella's wedding i had to throw that in. So i'll just keep you guys guessing on the reasoning for that. xD I think that pretty much covers everything to do with my thinking this chapter through, so i'm gonna leave it at that. Like i said, the blizzard is gonna help dictate what i do about work which will dictate what i do about posting the next chapter. (Cause, let's be honest, i can't do anything while i'm working, and by the time i get home after an hour's drive i pretty much just want to eat and watch TV. Can't fault a girl for that can you? 0=)) Everyone else who's on the East Coast, good luck with whatever snow you're getting! Everyone else, enjoy this last week of January cause maybe it means finally remembering to write 15 instead of 14, am i right?:P See you all next time!