That afternoon, Troy snuck up on Gabriella as she was putting her belongings into her locker. He wrapped his arms around her waist and placed a kiss on her neck before he felt her lean back into him. "Hey Baby."
She reached up and thread her fingers through his hair from her place. "Aren't you supposed to be at practice Wildcat?"
"Dad cancelled practice today for a district meeting or something so I have the afternoon off. Think you can join me?"
"I'm supposed to go to the daycare today."
He turned her around and held onto her hands. "Come on, surely you can miss out on one afternoon, please? This doesn't happen often and there's not many times outside of school when we get the chance to be by ourselves. I don't want you to feel like you have to but you deserve a day off too Brie. " Seeing that she was considering it, he pushed a little further. "You could just tell them that you're not feeling well. It would probably be good for you to miss a day or two so that the kids don't get too attached to the idea of you being there everyday, we are graduating this year, I know Charlie's gonna have some adjusting to do."
She bit her lip and smiled, shaking her head. "Alright then, I'll just have to go down and talk to Amanda, I'll tell her I have a migraine. Are you wanting to pick Charlie up while we're there?"
"I think it'd be a good idea for her to spend the afternoon there with the other kids, just once without you and selfishly, I want you to myself for a bit but I will pick her up earlier than usual, I don't want her to be there by herself for no reason."
"Ok that sounds good, let's just go down to the daycare and then we can go."
They went down to the daycare and Amanda was of course accepting of the reasoning, and they decided to go back to Troy's house knowing that Jack wouldn't be there, not wanting to risk getting caught by one of Gabriella's parents and having to explain everything. They walked into his room and he threw himself onto his bed making Gabriella laugh before she was pulled to sit down beside him. "I know it's not much but it's home. Is there anything you'd like to do this afternoon?"
She moved to lean against him on her side. "I don't mind, it's just nice to get some time to ourselves outside of school."
"Thank you for being here?"
She smiled softly. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
"Me neither." He leaned down to connect their lips but just as they were about to touch, they heard the front door slam and Troy's heart jump. "You have to go now."
"What?"
He gestured her to the window. "My dad cannot find you in here, I don't want to give him any ammunition against you, he can't know about you. I won't let you get hurt."
She climbed out but turned back to him. "Promise me you'll be alright?"
"I promise."
Just as Gabriella moved out of view, Troy's bedroom door slammed open. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
"You cancelled practice so -"
Jack shoved the boy and sneered. "You should've taken practice. I didn't give you captain for nothing and now we're gonna lose the championship because you wanted to slack off. If we lose the championships, you're in trouble boy."
"I wasn't gonna slack off, I was using the afternoon for homework."
The boy stumbled back as the man struck his face. "What have I told you about talking back. Enough with the bullshit and where the hell is that little brat?"
"She's not here, thank god." He whispered the last part under his breath.
"What was that boy?" He only shook his head, making Jack more furious as he grabbed the boy's throat, choking him. "WHEN I ASK YOU A QUESTION, YOU ANSWER, UNDERSTAND?"
"Yes sir." He choked out.
Jack loosened his grip and shoved the boy back before leaving the room. Troy dragged himself to the window, climbing out and collapsing against the house. Gabriella was immediately at his side and he could see the tears glistening in her eyes as she cupped his cheeks. "Troy, a-are you ok? Is it always that bad?"
He covered her hand with his own and leant into her touch. "I'm fine, that was actually quite tame for him."
She pulled him into her arms and kissed his forehead. "I didn't know it was this bad. I'm scared for you and Charlie, I hate that you have to live like this. I wish there was something I could do to help."
"There's nothing you can do Brie, not without anyone taking Charlie away from me and I can't let her be taken from me, I can't lose her."
"Shh it's ok, no one is going to take her away from you. How about we go get her for peace of mind and maybe double check the paperwork at the daycare to make sure that he has no way of taking her out of daycare. I know they've been doing some changes with it."
Troy's eyes widened. "I didn't even think about that."
"It's gonna be ok." She stood up and held her hand out, which he took. "Let's go get your little girl."
They arrived at the daycare centre and saw that the lady at the front desk was still there, Troy spoke. "Hi, I'm Troy, Charlotte Bolton's dad, I've heard there have been some changes with paperwork."
"Yes I've been starting to contact parents, we're wanting to update the contacts and emergency contacts for all the parents." The lady pulled out Charlotte's file. "Alright, I'll get you to double check all your and Charlotte's information are correct but I see that you don't have an emergency contact for Charlotte so that needs to be rectified."
Troy nodded and looked over his and Charlotte's information – making no changes – before he paused for a few seconds and turned to Gabriella. "I know that this may be a bit much to ask but would I be able to put you down as her emergency contact?"
The grin on her face melted his heart as she pulled him into a hug. "Of course Troy, I'd be honoured." He placed a kiss on her forehead before gesturing her to fill out the emergency contact section of Charlotte's file.
After it was all completed, Troy wanted to double check with the lady about the contacts. "So no one else can come in and pick Charlotte up without my say so except Gabriella? It's only the two of us who can?" The lady assured him that that was the case, taking the weight of the worry off of his shoulders. They walked into the daycare and Charlotte ran to Troy.
"Daddy! Gabi!"
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her cheek. "Hey Angel, did you have fun today?" She nodded and leant against his shoulder. "Are you ready to go home?" She nodded again.
At that moment, a group of the other kids ran over and hugged Gabriella. "Miss Gabi, why weren't you here today?"
"I wasn't feeling very well this afternoon. Did you have fun today?" They all nodded. "That's very good. Well I'm going to have to get going now but I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye Miss Gabi."
They signed Charlotte out and walked outside to the parking lot, Troy turned to his attention to his daughter. "Are you sure you're alright Charlie? You didn't say bye to any of your friends."
"Not fun without Gabi."
Gabriella tucked the girl's hair behind her ears. "I'm sorry Baby Girl, but I promise that I'll be there tomorrow." She nodded. "Alright, I'll let you and Daddy go so you can have some dinner but I'll see you tomorrow. I love you Charlie."
"I love you Gabi."
She kissed the girl's temple before Troy put her in her carseat. He turned back to his girlfriend and took her hands in his own. "Thank you for today, for everything you did, I really appreciate it."
She smiled and leaned up, placing a soft kiss on his lips, blushing when they pulled away. "Because we got interrupted earlier, I know it wasn't a good day for you and it's terrible what you have to go through, but I hope I can help in anyway I can."
"You're already helping Baby, more than you know. I don't think Charlie and I would get through it without you."
"Well anything else you need, no matter what it is, I promise I'll help with everything I can do."
"You're already doing enough but thank you." He sighed, "I guess I should probably get going, would you like me to drop you home?"
She shook her head. "No it's fine, I just want you to worry about your little girl, don't worry about me."
He shrugged. "Of course I'm going to, your my girl." He connected their lips in a sweet kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow Brie, have a good night."
"You too, bye Wildcat."