Troy woke to his phone ringing early the next morning, he squinted at the screen that read 6:15am and rolled his eyes at Jack's name as he answered. "Dad?"
"Morning Troy, your mom and I are just checking in, Lilly said you made it to Denver."
"I did, I'm at the hospital with Gabriella."
Lucille spoke up. "How is she Troy, is she ok?"
"She's... as well as she can be, they've hurt her, bad but the doctors are happy with her progress and don't have any major concerns, I'll be able to tell you more later when I know but I got here kinda late."
"That's alright, we're glad she's ok. We'll leave you to it, just keep us in the loop and let us know when you'll be coming home."
"Ok and can you tell Lilly that if we're not coming back this afternoon, that I'll call her and Jakie too." Jack and Lucille agreed before they said their goodbyes and hung up. Troy turned to go back to sleep, intending to hold Gabriella but found her already awake, looking up at him. "Morning Brie, everything ok? I didn't even realise you were awake."
"I'm fine, I heard the phone ring but I was too comfy, that's the best sleep I've had all..." She trailed off, not knowing how to finish the statement. "How long was I gone for?"
Troy looked at her sadly. "10 days."
Gabriella closed her eyes as if she was in pain. "I'm sorry, how was Livie?"
"She... was ok, she handled it well considering, she was quite clingy to me but she said you told her if you ever weren't there that she could come to me." He lifted her chin and pecked her lips. "And I really appreciate that."
The mention of her sister immediately put Gabriella in a better mood and Troy could clearly see that. "What else did I miss?"
"Well I recorded the twins' speeches from the presentation for you to watch, I think you'll love them. And I can't believe you never told me how smart Lilly is, she's so mature that it blows my mind." The latter statement made her giggle. "She told me she knows we're together."
"Oh um, look I can explain -"
He shook his head. "I'm not angry Baby, you don't need to explain anything. I've realised that I underestimated her and I think that's a big reason she's struggling with my parents. You haven't treated her like a child and you've been straight with her unless it's something she shouldn't know and she loves that. But I think she clashes with Mom and Dad 'cause they're trying to shelter her from every little bit of information and just keep her in the dark and I think it's driving her crazy."
"Yeah it would be, she's always been curious and I figured if it's not gonna hurt her, there's no harm in telling her things." She held Troy's hand in her own. "And I'm sorry for not telling you that I told her, we just tell each other everything and I didn't want to fight about it."
"I get it, I probably would've argued it 'cause I was under the same mindset as my parents but I get it now and I know Lilly is way more switched on than she's given credit for."
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation and Doctor Reese entered. "Good morning Gabriella, how are you feeling?"
"I'm alright thank you."
Doctor Reese went about checking Gabriella, when she finished, she turned to the pair. "Ok, you've responded very well to everything and there were no abnormalities through the night so if all goes well for the next few hours, we should be able to let you go by this afternoon. I just have one more question I need to ask." Gabriella nodded for her to continue. "I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but those cuts on your legs, did you do that to yourself?"
Gabriella shook her head. "No, he- my kidnapper did as a punishment."
"I figured as much. I'll leave you two to it and I'll be back in a few hours where we can hopefully let you get back home."
"Thank you Doctor Reese."
After the woman left the room, Troy turned to his girlfriend. "Would you be comfortable in telling me what happened?"
Gabriella sighed before starting. "I don't really remember much about how I got there, all I know was that I was walking to history then I woke up in the car." The girl told her boyfriend everything she could remember and by the end, he had her hand tightly gripped in his as he pulled her closer to him.
"Shit Brie, I'm so sorry, that's awful."
"It's ok now, I'm just glad they're gone and I'm back with you."
He sighed for a second and faced her properly, taking both her hands in his own. "I love you." Her wide-eyed expression caused him to ramble. "And I know this is not the place to tell you, anywhere would've been better than this. But I've been so worried about you Brie and I hated the thought of losing you and not being able to tell you that I love you and I-"
He was cut off by her giggle. "I love you too Wildcat."
Troy exhaled before laughing mortified to himself, rubbing his neck. "I could've planned that better and not completely embarrassed myself."
She shook her head, cupping his cheeks. "You have nothing to be embarrassed about, it was so sweet."