Once they heard the car drive away, Gabriella felt Troy's hand squeeze her shoulder, making her look up at him. "You and Lilly were talking for a while." The girl nodded and the boy pulled them into the living room, sitting on the lounge curled up next to each other. "Was everything ok? Do you want to talk about it?"

"She just wanted to make sure it was ok that they were going without us?"

"Was that all?"

Gabriella sighed, knowing she was going to have to tell him the full story. "No, I don't want to betray her trust too much because she told me in confidence but basically she was worried that if she spent time with your parents, I'd feel like I'm being replaced and she didn't want me to stop being her sister because she was having a relationship with them."

"Geez that's heavy stuff." The girl nodded in agreement. "Are you upset about it in any way, like is there truth behind some of her worries?"

"Truth?" Troy nodded, making Gabriella sigh. "Yes and no, I'm glad that she's starting to spend time with your parents. I know that I'll never get the chance to know mine and I would never take away her chance to have her mom and dad. She deserves to have that, she deserves to have a happy childhood. I know how much it means to your parents to have a relationship with her and I hope for all of them that it's exactly what they want. I could never be upset with her for that."

"But?"

She exhaled slowly. "But it also scares me. I'm just her sister and we're not even biological sisters in any way. Yes I've raised her up until now, but now she has her parents. I'm sharing the responsibility of what I used to have and as their relationship grows, she'll come to me for less and less. It's great now and I love the relationship we have but she's only just turned seven. She's still a little kid and she wants that now, but what happens when she gets older and starts becoming a teenager, I don't think she'll want to have as much to do with me as she does now, especially when she knows more about all of this. Right now, she may be worried about losing me – which will never happen – but really the opposite's more likely to happen later on."

Troy looked down at her sympathetically, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "So really, the only thing you're upset about is that you're scared you'll lose your little sister?"

Gabriella nodded. "She's the only thing I've ever had, I can't lose her."

"I know the feeling Brie." Repositioning them so they were more comfortable, his fingers absentmindedly traced her arm while he spoke. "I was devastated when we lost Lilly. Mom was a wreck, Dad was furious and Jakie was too young to understand any of it. I freaked out when she wasn't there on the driveway, I picked up Jakie and I looked all around the yard and down both ends of the street before I told my dad. He sent Jakie away and he yelled so much and I felt so guilty. The whole town looked for her everywhere but she was gone. When we didn't find her, we didn't want to admit it but we thought - I thought she was dead. I cried myself to sleep every night for a year because I thought I was the reason my sister was gone and I've blamed myself ever since for that day. Every milestone Jakie reached, I wanted her there and I felt like I lost her." He looked down at his girlfriend who had tears in her eyes and played with a loose strand of her hair. "I know what you're feeling Brie and I know it's the worst feeling imaginable but you won't lose her. She's right here and you've been through too much together. She's always gonna love her big sister. You're her Bria."

Gabriella giggled slightly, trying to stop her tears. "I'm sorry, I'm venting this and you've been through way worse."

Troy shook his head. "We've both been through shit Brie. Yes Lilly was taken from us and it was devastating and everything to do with that situation was the worst experience of my life but I can never imagine going through what you and Lil did. You were taken from your parents, you were neglected and abused. You were kidnapped and the life you knew was a lie. That's a lot of crap to happen to one person and the fact that you survived all that and turned out how you did, you're so strong Baby. So don't think for a second that our situations don't compare because you've been through a lot more than I have."

The girl hugged him tightly leaning against his chest as he returned the gesture, stroking her hair. "Thank you for this, I really needed it."

"No worries." He said, gently pecking her lips. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"How about onto some lighter topics now?" The girl nodded, wiping her hands over her face to try and neaten up her appearance. Troy smiled down at her. "You're beautiful."

"Trooyyy." Gabriella whined, "you can't say things like that. I've been crying and I'm a mess."

He shook his head. "You are beautiful and you'll see it one day." She rolled her eyes in response. "Did you just roll your eyes at me?" Gabriella only bit her lip and shrugged in response. Troy manoeuvred them so that she was flat on the lounge and he was hovering above her, tickling her ribs. He smiled down at her as she thrashed around underneath him. Giving her some time to breathe, he smirked down at her. "Anything to say?"

Knowing he was teasing, she smiled. "I'm sorry I rolled my eyes."

Troy chucked and sat back on his legs, pulling her so that he sat on the lounge with her straddling his lap. Gabriella smiled and leaned forward to connect their lips in a sweet kiss. She rested her hands on his neck as his rubbed up and down her side. Pulling back, she tugged on his shirt and he pulled it over his head. Connecting their lips again, Troy undid the buttons on her blouse, leaving the item over her shoulders. Troy gasped slightly as he felt her kiss her way down, her lips moving to suck on his neck. Pulling back before she would leave a mark that his parents would question, she made her way back up to his lips. His hands moved down to her hips and rubbed her against him, their jeans the only separation between them. They both breathed heavily at the sensation, which only spurred Troy to continue the action with more force.

Gabriella pulled back from their kiss for air and gripped his shoulders tightly. Troy, knowing the girl would continue their ministrations, moved his lips to her neck, sucking and nipping gently. His hands moved from her hips and trailed them up to her breasts, cupping them through her bra. Her nails dug into the skin she was gripping him, making him suck harder on her shoulder.

Their actions were stopped as they heard a car pull up on the driveway and their eyes widened. They separated from each other and fixed up their clothes, hiding all evidence of what they'd been doing. Rubbing her shoulder, she felt sore and moved the sleeve of her shirt to reveal the red mark. Seeing this, Troy sighed, lifting her hand to kiss the back of it. "Sorry Baby."

She shook her head. "It's ok, as long as it's not visible. The last thing we need is for your dad to think we're doing this."

Troy only nodded as the door opened and the twins ran in with toys in their hands. "Hey guys, did you have fun?"

Jacob nodded. "Yeah and look, I won two basketballs on the claw machine." He said, throwing one to Troy.

"That's awesome Bud." Lilliana came to stand beside Gabriella and Troy smiled. "How about you Lil?"

"It was fun." She turned to her sister, handing her a small stuffed toy. "I won this for you." Gabriella asked if she was sure and if the girl wanted to keep it. "It's ok, I won it for you. I want you to have it."

"Thank you Sweet Girl, I love it."