Troy thought a lot about Gabriella and their relationship in the past couple of days. As great as they may have been at times, Troy knew that there would always be a seed of distrust with Gabriella. He knew he couldn't blame her; he did, but what Troy wasn't expecting was Gabriella to judge his character. Troy would never share this with Gabriella, but the car accident changed his life. If he thought his life was a mess before he left Gabriella, none of that compared to what Troy went through the following months. And he was about to pull it all out in the open in front of Gabriella.

* Gabriella's house*

Gabriella heard two knocks on the door and felt her heart race and her mouth become dry. She knew she had messed up, but it wasn't just because James got to her, but it was because she added on to Troy's guilt. She opened the door to find Troy looking down, not being able to look at Gabriella.

"Come in." Gabriella gestured inside. Troy followed her inside. If he was honest, he was expecting to be hurdled by the small girl he'd grown fond of. Gabriella sensed what he thought when she saw him look around the house. "She's at her friend's house." Troy just nodded. Gabriella felt the awkward tension. "Do you want anything to drink or eat?"

"No, it's okay, I'm good. Thank you, though." Troy said softly, trying to muster up a smile for Gabriella's sake. "Um, I don't want to seem upfront, but I can sense things are awkward right now. Do you think we can start talking about….well, you know." Troy pursed his lips together, waiting for an answer.

Damn. He always knows. Gabriella thought. "Yeah, we-we should do that." Gabriella sat down before taking a deep breath. "Before we talk, I want to say sorry, Troy. What I did and said to you was way out of line, and it wasn't fair to you for not listening to your explanation."

Troy just stared at Gabriella with an unreadable expression before nodding and saying thank you with a small smile.

"But Gabriella, I want to know how you even heard about what happened?" Troy questioned. This question had been eating up Troy ever since the day Gabriella came over.

Gabriella prepared herself. A part of her hoped he wouldn't ask her that, but in retrospect, how could he not? "Um, James came over here after I dropped off Rosie at daycare the other day." Troy was shocked and felt his eyebrows rise involuntarily.

"He somehow found out that Rosie had a seizure and he was upset. He came here to talk to me, and well, I was pretty angry about how he was treating me…" Gabriella zoned out, being reminded of what James did to her that day.

"Gabriella," Troy stated, which woke up Gabriella's trance. "You okay? I lost you there for a second.

Gabriella shook her head, trying to get back to what they were talking about. "Sorry. Um, but yeah, he was upset that he didn't know about what happened. Then he threatened me, saying that he was going to claim full custody of Rosie. And well, that scared the shit out of me. James is the most unpredictable person I've ever come across. I was fighting him about that, and then he brought up something that caught my attention." Gabriella looked up at Troy.

"Go on, Gab." Troy encouraged softly.

"He told me that you were in a car crash and how it killed two kids. I was just scared that James would do something if I kept being around you, and the whole thing got me spooked out about Rosie. One fucked up thought connected with another, and this mess happened." Gabriella tore her gaze away and let out a deep sigh before facing Troy.

"Shit, Gab. I don't know what to say to that. But are you okay now?" Troy was concerned, but he sure as hell wasn't expecting that explanation.

"I will be." Gabriella nodded to herself.

"Okay then, I guess it's my turn to explain." Troy pressed his hand down to prevent his leg from shaking any further. He took one more deep breath and laid it out in the open. "I was with my mom when it happened. We were going off the freeway, and we got passed by a fast car, which threw my mom and me off a bit. I'm not proud of it, but you know how I get when anyone crosses me and people I love." Gabriella knew that, and she had talked about it with Troy, that it made her feel scared sometimes, and he promised to stop acting so and to be patient and level-headed when things took a turn for the worst. He owed that to Gabriella because if he didn't listen, so many situations could have gone worse. But this time was different. "This guy was speeding and swerving. I immediately knew he was drunk, but this was like 4 P.M. He was wasted beyond belief. I tried to ignore it, but then my mom pointed out that there was the sign that says 'baby on board on the back of the car. I started freaking out because we ended up behind his car and saw two car seats in the back. He saw me checking out the car and then rolled his window down to say something. He asked if I wanted to race. Of course, I said no, because well, I would never do something like that, much less when two kids were in the back seat. There were two boys. The light turned green, and he told me to watch him. Next thing I know, he broke quick and I-I, he crashed me from behind. Gabriella wasn't wearing his seat belt. He died on impact."

Gabriella's throat started to swell up. She couldn't imagine seeing something like that. Just the thought made her feel sick.

"My mom and I, along with a couple of other people gathered around the car. But my main concern was getting to those kids. Both of them-" Troy stopped to gather himself before continuing. "Neither of them were buckled either. Both of them ended up on the floor in the front seats. They were so tiny. They couldn't have been older than three. Both of them were injured. There was a guy behind us too who also got it, but he was a paramedic. So he and I went to the car to try to get the kids out. There was so much blood, Gabriella. We pulled both of them out but one of them, the youngest one. He couldn't make it. We knew he wasn't going to make it. The doctor tried to help with what he had, but it wasn't enough." Gabriella sensed that Troy wouldn't be okay and felt even guiltier for putting him through this heartbreak again. Troy shook his head and continued. "The worst part was his brother. He was crying and screaming like no other. He kept trying to get to him, but there was no way I would make him watch his brother die. He was still lying down, and I didn't want to risk hurting him more, so I covered his view. He scratched me and kicked me to the point where I knew he would get up and run. I looked at the doctor, not knowing if I should pick him up. He nodded to me for a second but went back to try and revive the other brother. So, I picked him up and held him. I tried to hold on tight, and eventually, he gave up on fighting and just cried. I did what I could've done, and I whispered to him, saying it was going to be okay when he and I both knew it wasn't, but he just gave up. But I made sure he didn't look because all I knew was that if he did, he'd never be okay." Troy didn't even realize he was crying until Gabriella reached out to wipe away his tears. Troy moved back from Gabriella. "I-I need some air." Gabriella nodded, understanding. Troy disappeared into the backyard.

Gabriella decided to see him because he did not deserve to be alone. She walked out to see him sitting on the bench with his head in his hands. Gabriella slowly walked over to him and sat down next to him. She hesitated but grabbed one of his hands and held it in hers. "Talk to me." Gabriella chided.

Troy looked up, letting his hand rest in Gabriella's palm, but he made no move to look at her. "I keep doing this."

"Doing what, Troy?" Gabriella squeezed his hand.

"I keep killing these kids. I get it why you wouldn't want Rosie around me, and I understand Gabriella, I understand." Troy shut his eyes and broke down even more.

"Look at me right now, Troy Bolton," Gabriella demanded, throwing Troy entirely off guard with his tone and looked at her.

"You are not a killer. You did not kill that child." Gabriella stated.

"Gabriella, no, I di-" Troy tried to convince her, looking away.

Gabriella would not let the man she loves sabotage himself into thinking that horrible nightmare.

"I said, look at me." She waited until Troy looked at her. She grabbed his face with both of her hands. "Now, you listen to me and don't you dare look away. You are not a killer. Troy, you've saved those kids. And I'll tell you how. That little boy who was in your arms, Troy, you saved him. I even know that he would never, ever be the same if he saw his brother died. I'm more than sure that was traumatic, but you saved him from anything more than that. You are not the one who killed that little boy. His father did, and deep down, you know that. Everyone who was there with you that day knew that. You saved one of them. Then remember that little girl who had a seizure? Troy, you didn't make her have that seizure. But you helped while she was having one. You helped to keep her safe as much as she could. Even that little girl knew that. Why do you think she gave you that hug? And Aiden, god, I swear Chad Danforth has corrupted his child, doing god knows what." Gabriella paused, letting out a strained chuckle seeing Troy finally smile, even if it was a small one. She knew she was getting through with him. Gabriella continued. "But when Chad came to chew my ass out, which I'm happy he did. He said that Aiden loved you so much. I know he sees you as another father. After losing his mother, I wouldn't be able to trust if I were that baby boy, but he trusted you." Now Gabriella couldn't hold back her tears, and she gave him his final testament. "But Troy, most of all, you saved Rosie. And I'm not talking just about the seizure. Physically you saved her that day because I froze, but you knew what to do through it and after that. But you saved her with something that no one else or I could ever do. She loves you. She's been scared all her life with James and so many other things, but God Troy, she loves you." Gabriella paused and made Troy face her. "Because you saved Rosie, you saved me. Troy Bolton, I love you. I love you so much that it hurts. And I don't ever want you to say something like that ever again. You are our hero." Troy put his hands on top of Gabriella's and continued to cry. "But most of all, Troy, you are not Jack," Troy told Gabriella of how much he used to hit and yell at Troy when he was a little boy. His father and mother couldn't conceive another baby due to his mother's health, so he blamed Troy for all of that, saying he didn't deserve to be alive and that he was a monster. Troy vowed that he would never, ever hurt his future children like how his father did to him. Troy drew in a sharp breath, having no idea what Gabriella would say, talking about Troy's deranged father. "You are not like him. He treated you and your mother in the most terrible way. I know he said and did terrible things to you when you were a little boy. You have the biggest heart for the people you love, especially those tiny humans that, for some reason, a good reason, who can't get enough of you. You are not him. You are Troy, and Troy Bolton is the most amazing man I have ever met." Gabriella couldn't help herself for what came next, what she's been wanting to do since their paths crossed again. She kissed him, and it was the most amazing thing that could've happened for both of them, and Troy kissed back. The stars had aligned again. What came after could wait for another time, but right here, right now, was the perfect place for them to be.