Troy gets to Gabriella's house in a few minutes and frantically knocks on the door but receives no answer. He quickly jumps the fence and climbs the tree to her balcony, only to be met with a sight that broke his heart. Gabriella's face was buried in her pillow and her wretched sobs tore through her chest, her phone lying a few feet away. Troy opened the door – finding it unlocked – and headed towards her, dying to take her into his arms and ease her pain.
At the first contact of his arms, she screamed. "It's just me Baby Girl." At the sound of his voice, she scrambled into his lap, holding him in a death grip. She released all the hurt and pain in harsh sobs while he held her tightly to him, caressing her sweetly. After about 20 minutes, her tears had mostly subsided and he caressed her cheek. "It's alright Angel."
She was quiet for a few seconds. "How did you know to come?"
"Chad showed me the messages that Sharpay sent you, I'm so sorry Baby, I'm so sorry, you don't deserve any of that."
She shrugged. "I don't -"
"Brie, she's taken it way too far Baby, she should not be abusing you." Gabriella only shrugged. "Baby please, I don't want you to believe anything she's said or will ever say to you. She is just a jealous, selfish, vindictive b**ch that isn't worth your time or your tears."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't apologise, it's all her fault, if anyone should be apologising, it's her not you. Are you ok though Baby?"
"I guess, it just really hurts, I don't even know what I did wrong to them."
"Nothing Angel, you have done absolutely nothing wrong I promise. And I'm going to stop you before you start thinking about this: I love you Brie, I love you more than anything in the world, I only want you Baby Girl. You are the sweetest, most beautiful and perfect girl and girlfriend, you are my world and I'm so lucky to call you mine."
She snuggled into him. "I love you too Wildcat."
"No more Sharpay ok, it's just you and me for the rest of the weekend, deal?"
"Deal."
"Seal it with a kiss."
She giggled, turning on his lap and kissing him, which quickly turned passionate. When they broke apart for air, Troy laid back and pulled Gabriella on top of him. After texting his parents that he was staying the night, he reattached their lips. After a few more minutes of making out, they pulled apart and he stroked her cheek to which she leaned into his touch. "You're beautiful Brie." She blushed and buried herself into his chest while he rubbed her hip. "It's getting late Angel, how about we have some dinner?"
"Sounds good, what should we watch while we eat?"
"Anything you want Angel, if you want to watch The Notebook to cheer you up, you can."
Gabriella giggled. "The Notebook? To cheer me up? Troy have you ever seen The Notebook?" She saw the boyish grin on his face and laughed. "Not tonight but some other time, I'm showing you why that movie would not cheer me up."
"Sure thing, I'll watch any movie you want Brie, as long as I'm watching it with you."
"You are so cute Wildcat. Why don't you order pizza and I'll pick a movie."
"Sounds like a plan Angel, margherita pizza and chocolate covered strawberries?" He saw her grin and tapped her nose. "Coming right up Beautiful."
Later, they sat next to each other with the pizza in front of them, waiting for the movie to start, "So what did you end up picking Baby?"
"To All The Boys I've Loved Before."
"Is that a hint there Beautiful?"
She giggled. "Of course not Wildcat, I just relate to the character a lot, we're pretty similar."
"How so?"
"I mean, we're both pretty quite at school, she only has one friend and I don't have any -" He faked a pained expression, making her giggle and kiss his cheek. "Except you Baby but we can't be together at school which I guess is one difference. We're both dating the cute, popular athlete of the school and..." She hesitated finishing the sentence. It's not that she didn't trust him, she just wasn't sure if she was ready to share a part of her that no one knew about, well no one but Kelsi.
"And?" He probed gently, noticing her hesitance. "What were you going to say Angel, you know you can tell me anything."
She sighed. "I know Baby, it's just... I've never shared this part of me before."
"You know you can always ask or tell me anything right? I would never judge you or make you feel bad andI'll always be there for you."
She nodded. "Ok the last thing is that we both write down our feelings. Her character writes down her feelings for her crushes in letters but I... I write my feelings in songs."
"You write your own music, Brie that's amazing." She only blushed in response. "You don't have to say yes if you're not comfortable but could I hear one?"
After a bit of hesitance, she got up and got her lyric book, deciding which one she wanted to share with him. "Umm, this one I wrote after the whole incident with Chad and Sharpay, the positive outlooks in it are from you helping me believe in myself."
I am the diamonds you left in the dust /
I am the future you lost in the past /
Seems like I never compare /
Wouldn't notice if I disappeared /
You stole the love that I saved for myself /
And I watched you give it to somebody else /
But these scars no longer I hide /
I've found the light you shut inside /
Couldn't love me if you tried /
Am I still not good enough /
Am I still not worth that much /
I'm sorry for the way my life turned out /
Sorry for the smile I'm wearing now /
Guess I'm still not good enough /
...
Release your curse /
'Cause I know my worth /
Those wounds you made are gone, you ain't seen nothing yet /
Your love wore thin /
And I never win /
You want the best so sorry that's clearly not me /
Oh oh this is all I can be /
...
Guess I'm still not good enough
(Credit to Little Mix, Good Enough)
Troy was shocked, the beauty and power conveyed in her voice and the lyrics she'd written could only be described as incredible. "Wow... Brie I - I have no words, that was amazing."
"Thanks Troy, it means a lot to me, do you... do you want to hear one more?"
"I'd love to Angel if you want me to, you're an amazing writer and singer."
She blushed. "I umm wrote this one for you."
For all those times you stood by me /
For all the truth that you made me see /
For all the love you brought to my life /
For all the wrongs that you made right /
For every dream you made come true /
For all the love I found in you /
I'll be forever thankful Baby /
You're the one who held me up /
Never let me fall /
You're the one who saw me through, through it all /
You were my strength when I was weak /
You were my voice when I couldn't speak /
You were my eyes when I couldn't see /
You saw the best there was in me /
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach /
You gave me strength 'cause you believed /
I'm everything I am because you loved me /
...
I'm everything I am because you loved me /
(Credit to Celine Dion, Because You Loved Me)
Troy lost the ability to speak. "Troy, what did you think?" Her obvious nerves snapped him out of his reverie, he tightly embraced her chest and kissed her neck, making her giggle. "I guess you liked it?"
"Liked it? Brie, I don't any words exist for how much I loved it, for how much I loved you." Her response was to kiss him which quickly turned from sweet to passionate. After a few minutes, they pulled away. "We should probably get back to the movie Angel."
She nodded and turned herself back to the TV screen but that was a mistake, the situation became uncomfortable for Gabriella. After their passionate kiss and the current feeling of Troy's hand rested on her thigh, watching the hot tub scene of To All The Boys I've Loved Before caused Gabriella to start squirming, leaving Troy extremely confused.
"Brie, you ok Baby?" She nodded, avoiding eye contact. Troy turned her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Why are you squirming Angel?" She shrugged and tried to turn away but he held her firm. "I'm not letting you go until you answer my question Baby."
She sighed. "You're going to laugh." She looked down and he caressed her cheek.
"Hey, if something has made you uncomfortable, of course I'm not going to laugh, I'm going to try and help you fix it."
"It's embarrassing."
"What's embarrassing?"
She mumbled her response quietly. "I've gotten so worked up now but I'm not ready for anything."
He smiled softly and lifted her chin. "That's nothing to be embarrassed about Baby Girl. I can help you but you have to talk to me when something's bothering you otherwise I can't fix it."
"I know I just -" She shrugged not knowing how to finish the sentence.
"It's ok, just make sure you tell me about stuff like this, you can always tell me anything."
"I know, thanks Troy. I love you."
"I love you too Angel, how about we finish off this food and go up to your room so we can talk more up there." Gabriella nodded and that's what they did.