"Troy, is that... You?"

Gabriella's hand reached through the thick white fog which surrounded her body.

Suddenly, a flash...

She was standing on green grass. A little boy and his father stood huddled by a gravestone, sobbing and crying. Imaginary tears fell down her imaginary cheeks. Her imaginary feet guided her towards the boy and his father, and then, she disappeared into thin air. She knew she was heading to the portal of Apex.

But, she didn't go to Apex.

Large drops of pounding rain hammered her petite body. She looked up at the pitch black sky, watching the lighter but dark clouds roll over and shed massive amounts of rain, like heaven was crying. She wasn't wearing a white dress. She wasn't walking in white shoes. She didn't have a white headpiece on. Her clothes, makeup, and hair was normal. Normal teenage clothes, black eyeliner, mascara, and foundation, with a light shade of lipgloss on her lips. Her hair wasn't curled, but was straightened. The rain slowly made it form back into her natural curls.

She looked around. It was nighttime. Not even a streetlight could find her lost body. And to make it worse, she was cold and soaked in the middle of December.

Was she alive?

...

Troy sat in the living room armchair by himself, staring by a black TV and a decorated tree. Aubrey, Lyle, and Talon were all sleeping upstairs, along with Jake and Julie's kids. The adults were sitting around in the dining room, talking about the guests that were coming over and planning Christmas day and Christmas eve. Troy had stepped aside for a minute to make sure that there wasn't a tornado coming their way. Of course, there wasn't, but he wanted to make sure.

His phone began ringing. Who would call at twelve at night?

He checked the number. The number was blocked.

He pressed talk and held the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Troy?"

"Who is this?"

"I found some quarters on the ground and found a pay phone. I'm soaked and I don't know where I am. Something went wrong on the way to Apex and I ended up here in the rain- "

"Gabriella?" He could her her voice becoming shaky as she began to talk.

"Yeah, it's me. I need you to find me."

He bolted out of his chair. His mom was about to ask where he was going, and he blurted "watch my kids" and slammed the door.

The rain poured over his body as he rushed to his truck. It came down in large drops which stung as they hit his body.

He got into his truck and pulled the keys from his other pocket. He started the truck.

"You're lucky there's only one pay phone around here. If you are around here, of course." Troy sighed and pulled out of his driveway. "I'll be there in a minute."

He pressed end on his phone.

...

He was a corner away from the pay phone when his truck sputtered. He looked at his gas meter. "What the hell... "

It still had an entire half tank left.

It came to a stop. He tried starting it with no luck.

"Damn it!" He desperately tried to start the truck with no luck.

He had no option but to find her by foot.

Troy opened the door and shut it, deciding to deal with the problem later, and started walking towards the pay phone.

The rain slithered into his shirt, down his pants, trickled across his arms, legs, and face... It only took ten seconds before he was soaked from head to toe. To make it worse, he was shivering and it was chilly 51 degrees. NOT the ideal weather to be standing outside in the rain.

He turned the corner, not being able to see the pay phone because it was so dark. There was usually a streetlight above it, but it was completely off.

Suddenly, it flickered on, and below it was a silhouette of a young girl sitting on the ground shivering, her knees pulled close to her chest.

"GABRIELLA?" He yelled to the silhouette. A head turned.

"TROY!" She stood to her feet and started running towards him.

He started also. His soaked shoes sloshed against the wet ground, throwing water all over himself and spraying it outwards. The water was so cold, so so cold...

They were so close, their hands almost felt as if they were already in one another's.

And then, they hit.

Their lips met and it was no longer a dream.

He held her waist within his strong hands, pulling her close, feeling her warmth as their lips moved with eachother's. Her arms flung around his neck.

It felt as if they were two long lost souls finally finding each other again.

He pulled back from her. "How long do you have?" He said, panting.

"I don't know. It just all happened and I ended up here."

He could feel her violent shivering and quickly held her close to his body.

"My truck broke down. I have to get it fixed or we'll be staying in it for the night." He kissed her forehead. "Come on, let's get out of the rain."

She agreed and they both began sprinting down the road, holding hands.

They approached the tired truck which grunted in dissatisfaction. Troy opened the door quickly and let Gabriella crawl in. He got in directly after her.

"Holy shit, it's cold... " Troy chuckled. "And wet."

"I'm so cold... " She shivered. "Do you have a blanket?"

"Yeah, in the back." He grabbed Aubrey's big blanket and threw it over Gabriella. "I've gotta go find out what's going on with the truck... Will you start it for me when I give you a thumbs up?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

He jumped back out of the truck and to the front of the truck. He opened the hood and looked around. "I can't see a damn thing... " He said to himself. "And I let Aubrey play with my flashlight earlier..."

He gave Gabriella a thumbs up.

She tried starting the car, and Troy looked into the motor. He couldn't see anything wrong. He unplugged a couple spark plugs and plugged them back in, confused as what was wrong. He gave Gabriella a thumbs up.

She turned the key again.

He searched around, but nothing.

Troy couldn't see a thing and he was getting cold quickly. He shut the hood and got back in the driver's seat.

"Anything?"

"I can't see fucking thing outside.. I'll have to wait until morning... "

She sighed. "So we're going to be here for the night?"

"Looks like it." He sighed.

They both panted and shivered in the cab of his dad's old truck. Troy started giggling.

"What's so funny?" She huddled into Aubrey's blanket. "We're in a car in the middle of winter, and it's pouring rain outside!"

"My dad and his shitty trucks... " Troy giggled on.

"Where's your phone? Can'go you call and get us a jump or something?"

"If I could, I would. My phone doesn't get service in this part of town. And I don't have any money on me for the pay phone. Do you have any quarters left?" He looked over at Gabriella.

"I only found four and the phone charges .75 a call. I used the fourth one because you have to add extra time. I didn't come from Apex with money."

Troy laughed. "Tell your friend God to send us a signal for my phone."

"I don't even know why I ended up down here. I thought I saw you in Apex, and then I ended up in a graveyard? Then I ended up here. Unfortunately, I don't know how much time I have before I leave."

Troy opened his wet arms and grabbed her, pulling her across the seat and huddled close to her. "Why haven't you came down for two years?"

"I thought you forgot about me... " She traced her fingers along his wet pants. "You seemed to move on after the last time I came. I stopped watching over you. And then you started having sex with those sluts and I figured that you were moving on. So I stayed in Apex, but I stopped watching over you and Talon.

"Oh god Gabriella, I never forgot about you... " He kissed the side of her head and squeezed her. "You are everything to me. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Talon, Lyle, and Aubrey. I have to take care of them... "

"Aubrey? Lyle?" She looked up at him. "You have more kids?"

"Yeah. Those girls you saw me having sex with? Two of them are their mothers."

"So you really did forget... "

"I was a drunk. I couldn't tell you right from left. It was a mistake."

"And you have two more kids because of it, right?"

"Yeah. My little Aubrey, she looks just like you. I kept thinking you were reincarnated into her but obviously you weren't. She is beautiful. Lyle acts just like me. He's such a funny kid. And Talon... He looks just like me when I was his age, but he has your big heart. He's a great kid."

She wiped a tear away that fell down her cheek. "My baby... I haven't seen him for three years... "

Troy pulled his phone out and went to his pictures. He turned the phone towards Gabriella. "Here's a picture of him."

She glanced over at the phone. "Yep, just like daddy, huh?"

"And here's Lyle and Aubrey." He flipped through a couple pictures and showed her.

She smiled. "I guess she does look a lot like me. They both look a lot alike."

He shoved it back in his pocket. "It's been rough, but we survived."

Gabriella sighed and looked at the splattering rain on the windshield. "I'm so tired... "

"So am I... " He looked back behind the seat and saw another blanket. "Whether you like it or not, I'm going to sleep naked. I'm not sitting in these wet clothes all night.

He took off his shirt and threw it by the gas pedal. He started taking his shoes off also.

"I guess you're right... " She looked at her clothes. "Mind if I take mine off too?"

"You know I don't mind that, at all." He grinned at her. "I don't mind lying beside a naked girl in an old truck."

Both shed all of their clothes and we're huddled together between two blankets, shivering.

He moved her wet hair behind her face and kissed her head. "I love you, Gabs."

"I love you too... " She looked up and pecked his waiting lips. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." He held her hand and rested his head on the seat, where both Troy and Gabriella fell asleep.