Cuddles And Hugs
Luna lay with her head on Gabriella's chest; her Mum was hurt, she didn't normally lay on the stables floor and she was shivering and so at a loss of what else to do Luna lay herself as close to her owner as she could, to at the very least share some of her body heat and hopefully offer some comfort.
Barney on the other hand was pacing, he to was aware that something wasn't right with Gabriella, they'd both been there when she'd fallen and so he'd taken on the role of protector, he was alternating between pacing back and forth at the entrance of the stables and going over to check on Gabriella and Luna.
Gabriella lay on the stables floor shivering because she was wet from the rain but also because she was scared; she'd reached out for help but the storm had caused her phone signal to fail and she wasn't entirely sure that help was even on it's way. She didn't think her injuries were too bad, she was pretty sure she wouldn't need a trip to hospital but while she lay with her legs trapped under the fallen shelves she wasn't able to fully assess the damage.
She lay stroking Luna's head trying to figure out how exactly she was going to free herself when Barney stopped his pacing and his ears pricked up; he'd heard something, help was here.
"Barney." He was immediately at her side and she gave him an ear rub for listening. "That's probably Troy," she told him of the noise he'd heard. "Go greet him and bring him here." Barney took in what she was saying for a second before turning and taking off in a run in the direction of help.
It seemed like forever but it can only have been a few seconds before Barney was back at her side and Troy was right behind him and on seeing that help was actually here she burst into tears.
"'Brie, hey no don't cry, I'm here now, you're safe." Troy knelt down next to her and cupped her face in his hands, brushing away the tears that trickled down her cheeks.
"I wasn't sure if you were coming," she told him shakily. "My phone signal is bad because of the storm."
"I couldn't hear much of what you said but I knew you needed help, now tell me does your back or neck hurt? Did you hit your head?" Troy desperately wanted to wrap Gabriella up in his arms and comfort her but his first aid training told him he needed to make sure she wasn't seriously injured before moving her.
"I didn't hit my head and my neck and back are fine, I'm just not strong enough to sit up and get the shelves off me."
"Okay let's get you sat up and then I'll get these shelves moved, what hurts?" He asked her as he momentarily left her side to grab a nearby empty crate he could use to lean her against.
"My left knee mainly, I think I've cut it on something and my right hip is kinda sore but I think that's more because I landed on it when I fell." Troy nodded his understanding as he eased her into a sitting position against the crate and then took his coat off and draped it over her in hopes of calming her shivers.
"Let me know if anything I do causes you more pain, no need to be brave, if it hurts tell me." Slowly Troy started moving the wooden planks that made up the shelves off of Gabriella's legs and was pleased to see she'd come off relatively unscathed.
"Well I'd say you're going to have a lot of bruises but other than your knee I think you've come out of it pretty well." Gabriella dared to look down at her knee and was relieved to see that although there was a considerable cut on the inner side of it, the damage was no where near as bad as it had felt when it was trapped.
"I don't need to go to the hospital, do I?" Troy heard the vulnerability in her voice and now that it was clear her injuries weren't serious he settled next to her and wrapped her up in a hug.
"No 'Brie, I don't think you need a hospital trip this time, just a long shower to warm and clean you up and then a dressing for your knee." Just as he was about to ask her how her fall had happened a loud clap of thunder could be heard and Gabriella jumped out of her skin.
"You not a fan of storms?" Gabriella shook her head and snuggled herself further under Troy's coat.
"No, I've always been scared of them. I was getting the animals in when it started raining but thankfully I managed to get them all in successfully before the thunder and lightening started, apart from getting soaked of course. When the storm started to pick up I figured I would just get a start on the feeds for tomorrow morning in the hopes that it would pass by the time I was done. I was up the ladder when an extra loud boom sounded and made me jump; I tried to grasp at the shelves for balance but the ladder was already wobbling and I went tumbling down, bringing the shelves with me. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't answered my call, I didn't want to interrupt your time with the girls but the others are all busy today and I didn't know what else to do." Gabriella's tears returned as the realisation of what could have happened without Troy turning up hit her.
"Please don't cry, you aren't trapped any more, you aren't seriously hurt and you got a Troy cuddle...although if you wanted a cuddle all you needed to do was call and ask; you didn't need to get trapped to have a cuddle." Gabriella smiled at Troy's ability to easily make her feel better. "Okay beautiful, let's get you inside and then we'll make a plan from there."
TGTGTGTG
An hour later and Gabriella smiled as she heard her front door open and laughter filled her home.
Once he'd gotten her safely inside, Troy had ordered her into a nice warm shower and when she'd emerged dressed in her comfiest pyjamas he'd lifted her up onto the island worktop where he'd sanitised and then put a dressing on her knee before telling her his plan.
He didn't want to leave her on her own, the cut on her knee really wasn't all that bad but she was a little unsteady on her feet and that coupled with the fact that she was clearly terrified by the storm still raging on outside, left him with no doubt in his mind that Gabriella would not be on her own tonight.
She had of course told him that she would be totally fine but as he lifted her off the worktop and watched her wince as she walked he told her he wasn't taking no for an answer; he was going to pop home to pick up the girls and Zeus and they would come back and take care of her.
She was supposed to be resting but she wanted to make the house look somewhat presentable, it wasn't exactly a mess and despite the fact the girls now treated this place as their second home Troy had never really been here longer than half an hour and her ever growing feelings for him made her want to get things just right.
"Uncle Troy, I don't think Gabi understands the meaning of 'rest'." She turned round from her linen cupboard to find Maddie smiling at her cheekily and laughed as all three girls quickly wrapped her up in a Thompson sister hug.
"I did sit down for about five minutes but then I figured if you guys were all going to stay here for the night you were going to need fresh bed linen..." she trailed off realising that she really didn't have a good excuse for not resting like she was told.
"Well thanks for finding us fresh covers but we can take it from here." Maddie took the pile of bed linen Gabriella had stacked to the side for them and the three girls headed upstairs to make the beds.
She leant against the doorway of the linen closest as Troy made his way over to her with an attempt to look disappointed on his face.
"I'm sorry I..." she started to apologise but he simply smiled at her as he took her hands into his.
"I know that you're fiercely independent and used to taking care of yourself but please, at least for the rest of the weekend will you let us look after you...let me wrap you up in more Troy hugs."
"What about the girls?"
"The girls are fine with it; according to Amelia I smile different when I hug you. She asked me if you make me extra happy which I said you did and Summer thought that maybe I make you extra happy too, she said you never seem nervous around me like you do with other people."
"I always try to hide my nerves when delivery guys come but Summer is one observant girl, nothing gets past her; she's right though, you do make me extra happy. What about Maddie?" Gabriella was aware that although Maddie was completely fine with her and The Ranch now, she was still the one out of the girls who might have something more serious to say about her Uncle finding romance.
"She's totally fine with it too, remember the day before the wedding she told you Jen would have liked you? She just repeated that to me and then told me that she thought her Mum would one hundred percent approve of you and that I shouldn't let me being their guardian get in the way of falling in love."
"I'm not sure about love Troy, I still have a lot of walls that need to come down before I can let myself fall in love." Troy smiled softly as he cupped Gabriella's face in his hands to avoid her gaze drifting from his.
"I know, I just told them it was at least good to know that they're happy with you and I getting to know each other better, plus all they'll see is the hugs and cuddles and hand holding. The things that I know are still bothering you, the things from your past, they don't need to know about anything that relates to that. This is about us 'Brie, we control what happens here; let them see the simple things and we'll decide if and when they know the rest."
"You always know just what to say don't you?" Troy shrugged as he moved his hands down to her hips to pull her into a hug.
"I try...so will you let us look after you? Let me give you Troy cuddles and enjoy our company?" She simply nodded and cuddled herself closer to him as another boom of thunder sounded and she heard him chuckle as she yet again jumped.
"Don't laugh at me Bolton, I can't cuddle with you if you're laughing at me and I need Troy cuddles to make the storm less scary." Troy chuckled at her again but tightened his grip around her to stop her escaping the cuddle because now that they could cuddle without anybody asking questions he wanted as many Gabriella cuddles as he could get.
TGTGTGTG
The next morning and Gabriella lay in bed as the smell of breakfast being cooked wafted through from the kitchen. Last night, just as they were heading to bed, the girls had told her she shouldn't worry about getting up to tend to the animals because they were going to do it for her. She'd been reluctant at first, the girls had never helped her do a full morning routine with the animals before but they'd told her they were pretty confident they could do it all, especially because she'd already gotten all of the feeds ready and they were in specific buckets that related to a chart on the wall, so she'd agreed to their plan on the basis that if anything went wrong they'd come and get her straight away.
She'd expected to wake up early anyway, her body clock was used to getting up early to tend to the animals and so she was surprised when she had looked at her alarm clock to see that it was coming up for nine o'clock, this was the latest she'd laid in for a long time. Slowly she forced herself into a sitting position and then swung her legs over the side of the bed before cautiously pushing herself to her feet, her whole body felt stiff and her knee throbbed as she took a tentative step but her hip didn't feel any where near as bad as she'd expected it to; silvering linings she told herself as she made her way into her bathroom.
Five minutes later and after taming her crazy bed head curls into a bun she made her way into the kitchen, nervous for Troy to see her so soon after she'd woken up but also looking forward to the idea of another Troy cuddle.
"Good morning," Troy greeted her as he attended to the things he had cooking on the stove.
"Morning," she replied quietly stuffing her hands into the pockets of her hoodie. "How did you sleep?"
"Very well thank you, the flowery bedding made all the difference." Gabriella laughed; yesterday when Maddie had taken the bedding from her she hadn't told her which ones were intended for which person but she'd expected the teenager to use common sense. Turns out that although Maddie was very aware that the purple flowery covers were intended for her and the checked yellow and grey ones were intended for Troy, she'd decided that her Uncle would have a much better nights sleep surrounded by purple flowers; something Troy had simply shrugged his shoulders at when he'd found out, so long as the bed and the covers were comfy he really didn't care but the girls had still gotten a giggle at the idea of their Uncle curled up under a purple flowery duvet set. "How about you? How are you feeling today?"
"Sore" she admitted as she moved out of her bedroom doorway and closer to him. "But breakfast smells amazing so I'm sure that'll help me feel better, as well as maybe...a Troy hug?" Smiling he turned down the settings on the stove and closed the gap between them to wrap her into his arms.
"You take a seat at the table, breakfasts nearly done and the girls should be back soon." Right on cue the back door opened and the girls filed in, followed closely by the dogs.
"Good morning ladies, everything go okay?" The girls all nodded as they made their way over to the sink to wash their hands.
"Maddie willingly went within six feet of a horse." Summer told her as Troy left her side to finish off breakfast and she helped the girls to get everyone a drink.
"Only because you couldn't open Pippin's stable door, I wouldn't exactly call it willing."
"I'm going to fix that stable door when I'm out there fixing the shelves." Troy spoke up as he started putting plates of food onto the table. Everyone settled into a chair and it was then that Gabriella realised that while Maddie and Summer had been outside in their pyjamas and a hoodie, Amelia was dressed slightly differently.
"Miss Amelia, did you really wear your zebra onesie to see to the animals?" Amelia nodded, her mouth already too full of food to speak. "Did the horses look at you like you were a bit strange?"
"Yeah, Skye didn't recognise me until I took the hood down." Conversation died down for a while after that as everyone enjoyed the delicious breakfast Troy had put together for them.
"Are you gonna be okay doing things this week Gabi? Do you need us to come over and help at all?"
"I'll be fine thanks Maddie, I've got a couple of children coming tomorrow and Tuesday for a few hours after school but they aren't even staying for dinner so I don't need to worry about that and everything else I can just do at my own pace. I have been injured and carried on running this place before you know."
"Yes but I bet none of those injuries involved falling from a ladder and being trapped under some shelves." Troy said looking at her pointedly.
"Well no but I promise you guys that I will be just fine and if I'm not I know you're all just a phone call away." Maddie seemed to accept this answer as she and the others set about tidying up after breakfast. "Thank you for breakfast," Gabriella turned to Troy as she reached over to link their hands together in his lap. "You're right in what you said yesterday, I am very independent but I could get used to having breakfast made for me every once in a while."
"Noted." Troy replied as he gave her hand a squeeze. "Maybe next time I'm here for breakfast you won't worry so much about taming your hair; I know you don't realise it but your crazy bed head curls are incredibly sexy." With that said he pushed his chair back and headed towards the stairs, smiling as he turned to walk up them and saw that although she was blushing her eyes were focused right on him.
TGTGTGTG
Gabriella yawned as she headed back towards the house on Wednesday morning; just because she was used to getting up early every day, it didn't mean her body always liked it.
She laughed as Barney unsuccessfully tried to catch a butterfly and then watched as he stopped dead in his tracks and his ears pricked up; they had company. She wasn't expecting anyone but as the dogs took off in a run towards the gate she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as a certain blue eyed man and his four legged friend made their way through it.
"This is a nice surprise," she said as she tickled Zeus' ears to greet him.
"Well you see the girls all got off to school early today and so Zeus and I thought that rather than sit at home and have cereal for breakfast we would visit our local bakery and bring fresh pastries to share with out new favourite people...well I did at least, Zeus just wants to run around with Barney and Luna." Gabriella laughed at the three dogs who were already chasing each other around.
"That's very lovely of you but how do you know that I've not already had breakfast."
"Well I don't," he admitted as he linked their hands and started leading them towards the house. "But I know from what the girls have said that you don't tend to eat before seeing to the animals so I hoped if I got here early enough that would also be the case today."
"Luckily for you I'm on a go slow today so breakfast hasn't even crossed my mind yet, your timing is perfect."
"Well in that case you take a seat and I'll rummage through your fridge for fruits and juice to accompany our pastries."
"I'm just going to go and freshen up, won't be long." Troy gave her hand a squeeze as she headed off towards her room and he started to lay out their breakfast.
She returned a few minutes later and Troy immediately rose from his seat at the table when he saw that her hair, which had been piled up in her typical messy bun, was now flowing freely over her shoulders.
"'Brie you look beautiful, absolutely beautiful." He wrapped her up in a hug and could immediately feel her heart racing as she cuddled into his chest.
"It's not exactly bed head sexy," she told him with a shrug. "But I figured it's a start."
"Thank you, I know you've only taken it down for me so thank you. I think you're beautiful anyway, I'm hoping you know that by now but there's something about your curls flowing freely that makes your natural beauty radiate even more." She dared to peek a look up at him, despite the crimson colour that now covered her cheeks and was rewarded with a smile and a tender kiss being pressed to her forehead. "Come on, let's eat," he led her over to the table and they took a seat side by side, looking out of the window over The Ranch. "I have something I want to talk to you about."
"Okay, what's up?" She asked as she helped herself to a croissant and some fruit.
"So Chad and Maddie have both asked me if I'll go to the basketball game at East on Friday night; Chad really wants the team to meet me and the cheerleaders have got a big display at half time."
"Taylor mentioned this to me when she called yesterday, she said Chad was really worried about asking you."
"I do want to go, Chad just knows that I'm nervous, that place holds so many memories of my Dad and I, I don't want my emotions to get the better of me in front of the team."
"Have you not been back since your Dad died?"
"No, it never worked out me getting to see Maddie cheer last year. Jen went though and she said although it's weird being back the atmosphere is just like it used to be when I played; she said Dad would love that the East High spirit is still alive and kicking."
"So you walk in there with that in mind and I think you'll be transported back to your High School days in no time." Troy smiled at her as he thought about what he wanted to say next.
"Here's the thing, Summer and Amelia want to come too, they want to see Maddie cheer and I think they also want to see for themselves that my jersey is indeed still hung up in the gym...will you come with us? I know that a High School basketball game isn't exactly your thing but I would really like it if you'd come with us and I know that Mads would love it if you saw her doing her thing."
"You're right, it's not exactly my ideal way of spending a Friday night but for you and the girls I can make an exception; Taylor said Chad's parents are having the twins for the night so she'll be there with me and the girls when you inevitably get sucked into basketball land by Chad and the team."
"You'll come? Really?"
"Yes Troy really, I'm not going to pretend that I won't be nervous but the idea of getting to see this East High that you guys speak of so much makes it seem a little more fun." Troy's smile was huge as he scooted his chair closer to hers and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"Thank you 'Brie." She settled her head against his shoulder and smiled as she felt him rest his head on top of hers. "You have no idea how much this means to me."
TGTGTGTG
Gabriella had been right, as soon as Troy had stepped foot into the gym at East High he'd been transported back to his High school days on the team when he was doing his best to make his Dad proud; only the difference was today he was the one feeling proud.
He often ribbed Chad that the team would never win anything with him as their Coach but the truth was the team were playing at an amazing level and this was all down to Chad. He'd been allowed into the locker room to watch as Chad had given the team their pre game pep talk and as much as it had been about the plays he wanted them to do and the strategies they would use he had ended it by telling them he simply wanted them to be able to say at the end of the game that they'd done their best, if they could do that then they would have a happy Coach, no matter what the score was. It had reminded Troy of when Chad would rally their team up, back when they themselves were Wildcats.
Troy's proudness had only escalated at half time when the cheerleaders had taken to the court for their big display; being able to watch Maddie in her element doing her thing had caused him to take a couple of deep breaths to keep his emotions in check. She and Sophie were tumblers on the team and it made him laugh how she wouldn't go anywhere near the horses at The Ranch but yet she fearlessly threw herself across the gym floor to perform skills that made him feel sick just watching as she would twist multiple times in the air before landing safely on her feet and then continuing on with the fast paced routine.
It had been weird that people knew his name and had baffled him when the team seat speechless at his presence as Chad introduced him to them but the fact was that basketball was a big deal at East High and for as long as he kept the point scoring record in the eyes of the student body he was pretty much a celebrity.
"They did it Uncle Troy, they won!" He smiled at Amelia's excitement as he wrapped an arm around her to keep her safe as the crowds rushed down from the stands to help their team celebrate. "Can we go down to Chad and help him celebrate?"
"We can but you have to promise not to let go of my hand, there's a lot of people here and I don't want to lose you, how about you Summer? Do you want to come down to the court?" Troy looked to where Summer had been sat between Gabriella and Taylor and although she was now stood up, it was clear to him that she wasn't enjoying herself anywhere near as much as her sister. "Sum? You feeling okay?" He scooted past Amelia and Gabriella and put his hands on Summer's shoulders only to feel her shaking despite the warmth of the gym.
"Erm yeah, I'm fine...you should take Amelia down to see Chad, I'm okay." Despite her reassurances Summer was awfully pale, far from what Troy would call 'okay'.
"Troy you take Amelia down to see Chad, Taylor and I will look after Summer." Gabriella could tell that Troy was conflicted over joining in with the celebrations and taking care of his niece.
"Are you sure? I don't have to go down to Chad or speak to the team."
"You do." Summer brought his attention back to her. "Take Amelia and enjoy yourself, I'll be fine with Gabi and Taylor." Troy looked at the women on either side of him and was once again thankful to have such amazing friends.
"Okay...we'll meet you outside in a little while, thank you." He turned to Gabriella and squeezed her arm on the way past before taking Amelia's hand and leading her down to the court.
"Alright Summer, let's get out of here." Gabriella and Taylor both wrapped an arm around the shaking young girl and didn't let go until they were outside and sat on the edge of the fountain near the entrance to the school.
"Let's just sit here and take in some fresh air, take some deep breaths honey." Taylor watched as Summer did as she'd instructed and smiled as the young girl's shaking started to calm down.
"You should have told us if you weren't feeling good Sum, I would have brought you out for fresh air at any time."
"I know Gabi but I honestly was fine for the most part, it was just towards the end when everyone started getting even louder that I started getting a bit dizzy, I feel much better now."
"Good but if it helps I quite often come to watch the games and support Chad and when the noise levels go up in there it can get quite overwhelming so for your first time I'd say you did pretty well and you got to see Maddie cheer, she was pretty awesome wasn't she?" Summer nodded but didn't say anything and it was then that Taylor and Gabriella realised that the young girl sat in between them was crying.
"Summer sweetheart, what's wrong?" The ladies both wrapped an arm around her and waited to see if she would clue them in to the reason behind her tears.
"Maddie was so amazing, I haven't seen her practise for a while and she's improved so much...I was watching Uncle Troy and he was so proud of her, I'm so proud of her...it's just times like this when I look for Mum to be there smiling proudly too and then I remember that she's not there and I...I miss her, I miss her so much." Summer crumpled into a heap against Gabriella as her tears took over and Taylor moved her arm to allow her friend to wrap the young girl up in a proper hug.
"It's okay to miss your Mum Summer, I miss my parents all the time."
"You do?" Gabriella nodded as Summer pulled back from their hug and gratefully took the tissues Taylor was offering her.
"I think about them all the time but there are certain events or times of the year that make me miss them more." They sat quietly as Summer processed what Gabriella had said but the silence was soon interrupted when the others appeared in front of them.
"Summer what's wrong? Uncle Troy said you weren't feeling good in the gym, do you still feel bad?" Summer shook her head as more tears slipped free and Maddie looked to Gabriella for clues as to why her sister was upset.
"She's just having a moment Maddie like you did a few weeks back at The Ranch." That was all it took for Maddie and Troy to understand that Summer was missing her Mum and they were both quick to pull her up and wrap her into a hug, something which Amelia quickly joined in on despite not understanding the reasons behind it.
"You did great tonight Sophie, you girls are so fearless throwing yourself across the floor like that." Sophie had been with Maddie as they'd left the school and Taylor figured Summer would appreciate the attention being taken away from her.
"Thanks Mrs D, those were some of the most complicated tumbles we've done, I think we were both pretty nervous before hand and I don't know about Maddie but for me once we were out there the adrenaline took over completely."
"Well you were both amazing, you should be really proud of yourselves."
"Thanks Taylor, I'm still okay to go to the diner right Uncle Troy?" It was tradition for the team and cheerleaders to go to the local diner after a game whether it be to celebrate a win or drown their sorrows in milkshakes after a loss.
"Yes, I said do didn't I? Sophie is your sister still okay to bring Maddie home?"
"Yeah, she finishes work at nine so by the time she gets to the diner we should have Maddie home to you by ten at the latest."
"Okay, well text me if anything changes, have a good time." Troy handed Maddie ten dollars and she hugged him in thanks before she and Sophie headed off to the diner.
"Alright team, I am a very proud Coach tonight and I don't think the teens should be the only ones to celebrate, I suggest we head to the ice cream parlour, my treat?" Troy glanced at Gabriella, he was her ride home and we was very aware of how far out of her comfort zone tonight had been, he didn't want to force her to stay out longer than she had to but the smile that he was met with as they locked eyes gave him the answer he needed.
"Sounds good, if Chad's paying we should choose the biggest ice creams possible girls."
TGTGTGTG
Twenty minutes later and Troy and Chad slid into a booth where the ladies sat waiting, Chad having stayed true to his word and paid for everyone's orders; everyone except from Gabriella.
"Are you sure you don't want anything Gabs? I don't mind going back and getting you something."
"I'm sure thanks Chad, just not that hungry, I'm happy to sit here and see how much of that sundae these two actually get through." She gestured to where Summer and Amelia sat with the biggest ice cream sundae she'd ever seen in front of them, having decided that this was the best way to get Chad to spend the most money.
"Fair enough but the offer still stands if you change your mind." Gabriella smiled at him as she settled more comfortably into the bench seat and enjoyed the atmosphere around her.
"You doing okay?" Troy moved closer to her so he could link their hands together in her lap.
"I'm fine Troy, just tired and my knee is sore, I think I'm gonna have a lovely bubble bath when I get home."
"Do you want me to take you home now? I'm sure Chad and Taylor wouldn't mind dropping these two off later." She smiled up at him as he moved to wrap his arm around her, laying it casually on the back of the booth behind her.
"No don't be silly, I'm resting my knee now by sitting down and I really do want to see how much ice cream these two can get through; Summer seems to have cheered up now."
"Yeah...thank you for looking after her earlier, I'll have a chat with her later, let her know that it really is okay to miss her Mum but I'm sure she appreciated hearing it from you at the time."
"Well I understand how she feels, you and the girls have been through so much, it hurts to go through that as an adult, it must be so hard for them to get their heads around it all; they're lucky to have you help them through it."
"I'm trying my best, I know I'm not always going to get it right and give them the answers they want but I'm trying...knowing they have you there for them too now helps a lot."
"You have me too Troy," she said as she turned to look at him. "You keep telling me I can have Troy hugs whenever I need them but you should know that Gabriella hugs are there for you whenever you need them too."
TGTGTGTG
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