Thank You
"Maddison Lucille if you do not get down these stairs right now I'm sending all three dogs up there to rub themselves all over you." Luke looked over at Troy and judging by the smirk on his face; that threat was one he was more than willing to go through with.
Today was the day of Luke and Maddie's date and while she'd been looking forward to it all week, now that she was all made up and ready to go, the nerves that had been bubbling under the surface all week were now starting to spill over.
Just as Troy was about to send the dogs up to get her, movement was heard and Maddie started to make her way down the stairs. She was wearing a burgundy coloured pinafore dress with a black long sleeved top underneath along with black tights and her black biker style boots; over her arm she had her black leather jacket and in her hand she had her black sparkly clutch purse. Her make up was a simple smokey eye look and Gabriella had helped her to get her hair into waves and had pulled back a few bits from each side to meet in a small clip at the back of her head. Maddie hardly ever wore dresses and this proved to Troy just how much this date meant to his niece.
"Wow!" It was Amelia's quiet comment from the living room doorway that pulled Luke from the trance he'd been in as Maddie had descended the stairs.
"I second that." He told Maddie as he stepped forward and helped her down the last couple of steps. "You look stunning Mads."
"Thanks, you don't scrub up too bad yourself." Luke was dressed in black jeans with a grey long sleeved shirt; he had khaki green coloured shoes on and was also sporting his varsity jacket.
"Troy Bolton you better not be putting too much pressure on that leg." Maddie laughed as Troy grabbed his crutches from against the wall he'd been half leaning against and completely took the weight off his left leg before Gabriella made her way to the bottom of the stairs.
"Thanks for helping me get ready Gabi; I really appreciate it."
"No problem; I'm glad I could help. I need to head outside and finish off in the stables so have a good evening, enjoy yourselves. And you," she said to Troy poking him in the chest when she got close enough. "Say goodbye to these two and then back on the couch with your leg up; I don't want you moaning at me when your foot is taking too long to heal and you can't start physio because you didn't rest it properly." She gave Troy a stern look before tip toeing up to kiss him on the cheek and then making her way outside.
"Alright you two I best do as I'm told so I won't hold you up any longer just make sure to have her back by midnight Luke." Nodding his understanding Luke moved to open the front door but stopped when he realised Maddie wasn't following him.
"Midnight Uncle Troy? That's two hours after my curfew."
"I know but it's a special occasion and I trust Luke to take care of you and get you home safely, so midnight it is." Maddie walked over to Troy and wrapped him up in a hug allowing him to whisper some last minutes words in her ear. "Remember to relax and enjoy yourself; you deserve this night Mads, go and have fun."
TGTGTGTG
Half an hour later and Maddie and Luke were seated in the corner booth of an Italian restaurant, they'd ordered their drinks and now sat in silence as they both looked over the menu.
"Hey." Maddie looked up to see Luke smiling at her across the table. "You don't need to be so nervous you know, it's just you and me having dinner and getting to know each other better away from school; nothing to be nervous about."
"I know and I'm trying but this place is kinda fancy Luke, are you sure you can afford it?"
"I wouldn't have booked it if I couldn't, I told you I've been saving up some of my allowance and I've been helping Dad out at his garage to earn a little bit extra. I told you I wanted you to have the best first date ever and that starts with yummy food. So, what are you thinking of having?"
"I'm thinking the spaghetti and meatballs; it's my favourite but this menu has so many yummy sounding things on it."
"You're right it does, here's what I'm thinking though, do you want two or three courses?"
"Erm...two?" Maddie answered in a question making Luke chuckle.
"Okay so then the question is which two; starter and mains or mains and dessert?"
"Well I do like dessert but some of the starters are catching my eye..."
"How about we have starters and mains here and then we can get some dessert from somewhere else later?" Maddie nodded her agreement and as the waitress returned with their drinks they ordered some garlic bread and mozzarella sticks to share as starters along with her spaghetti and meatballs and Luke's margherita pizza.
"Tell me something I don't know about you." Luke reached across the table to hold Maddie's hands, stopping her from nervously picking at her nails.
"Well I would tell you my middle name but Uncle Troy ruined that by yelling it up the stairs at me...how about since I've been going to The Ranch with my sisters I've learnt that I'm really not a horse person."
"No? I can understand why, they can be quite big. Okay now something you don't know about me is that my middle name is Andrew; after my Grandpa."
"My middle name was the same as my Mum's and it was her Mum's name; if I ever have a daughter I think I'll pass it on to her too, keep it going through the generations." Maddison relaxed slightly in her seat, she liked Luke; a lot and if he was willing to put so much time and effort into making this date the best he could for her then she was willing to put her nerves aside and enjoy herself as she slowly started to let him into her world.
TGTGTGTG
Troy and Amelia were curled up on the couch watching a film, Gabriella was in her temporary room having a shower and Summer was pacing. Maddie had told her she would leave her something on her bed but when the getting ready and the nerves had taken over she'd forgotten and now Summer didn't know what to do.
She paced up and down the landing as she worked up the courage to knock on Gabriella's door and ask for help; she couldn't wait until Maddie got home and there was no way she was going to talk to Troy and so Gabriella was her only option, she just needed to figure out what to say.
"Summer? You okay?" The young girl stopped her pacing and turned to see Gabriella standing in her bedroom doorway.
"Erm no, not really. Maddie said she was going to leave me something I'd asked her for but she forgot and now I need it and I don't know what to do, can you help me?"
"I'll try my best, come and sit on my bed and tell me what you need help with." Gabriella watched as Summer nervously took a seat next to her and waited until she found the courage to tell her what was wrong.
"I started my period today at school and I had a couple of pads with me because Maddie gave me them a while back so I wouldn't be completely caught out if I did start at school but now I need more."
"Okay, is that what Maddie forgot to leave you?"
"Yeah, I asked her on the walk back from the bus stop after school and she said she'd give me some of her supplies but she was obviously distracted with the date stuff and she forgot."
"And that had you pacing up and down the landing because you didn't know what to do?" Summer nodded. "And you didn't come and talk to me straight away because?" Summer shrugged and Gabriella wrapped an arm round her shoulders. "Is this why you haven't showered yet? Because you wanted fresh supplies?" Again Summer nodded. "Okay, let's pop down to my room and we'll get you the things you need and then you can come back up and take a nice warm shower."
Half an hour later and Summer sat on a stool at the kitchen island while Gabriella put her hair into two French braids. "I didn't mean to offend you earlier by not coming straight to you, I guess I was kinda embarrassed."
"It's okay, I get it; just remember that all women go through this, there's nothing to be embarrassed about, what you're going through is completely natural."
"I know, I've watched Maddie go through it every month for the past however many years, it's just kinda weird when it's me that's going through it, I feel off somehow, does that make sense?" Gabriella tied off the second of Summer's braids and turned her stool so they were facing each other.
"It does make sense, you're hormones are just a bit all over the place that's all, they'll settle down and you'll learn the best way to deal with them too. You obviously feel comfortable talking to Maddie about it but you know that you shouldn't ever be embarrassed to tell me anything, I'll always do my best to help you."
"I know Gabi, thank you for helping me tonight but there is one more thing; could you maybe tell Uncle Troy for me?" Gabriella wasn't sure that Troy would be ready to learn that another one of his nieces would have her hormones flying every where every month but as with everything she'd watched him do while taking care of the girls; she was sure he'd simply just take it in his stride.
TGTGTGTG
"One triple chocolate sundae with two spoons." Maddison smiled at Luke as he placed the dessert down on the table in front of her and then sat down next to her, rather than on the other side of the table.
They'd come to the ice cream parlour for dessert after playing a round of crazy golf at the local indoor course and as much as Maddie had laughed and smiled; Luke could tell there was a small part of her that was holding back. "You know you can tell me if I've done something wrong or if you aren't having a good time? I won't be offended." Maddie took a big scoop of sundae, giving her a moment to think about what she wanted to say.
"You haven't done anything wrong, you've been amazing all evening and I've had the best time, I'm just trying not to let my emotions get the better of me."
"You know that you can tell me anything Mads; if something is bothering you then talk to me, let me help."
"You know how you were worried about taking me somewhere that would remind me of my Mum."
"Yeah, did you used to play crazy golf with her?" Maddie shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut, she was not about to cry.
"Not my Mum...my Dad." Luke put his spoon down and wrapped an arm around Maddie's shoulders, encouraging her to lean against him as he did. "When we were little Dad used to work a lot and Mum would be at home taking care of us but he would make a point of taking us out probably one Friday night a month to give Mum a break; he used to take us to play crazy golf. Amelia was only little, like three maybe but I remember we always just used to laugh so much, none of us were very good at golf, we just enjoyed spending time with our Dad." She quickly reached up to catch a tear that dared to try and break free.
"I'm sorry, the last thing I wanted tonight was for you to cry." Luke passed Maddie a napkin and she dabbed at her eyes. "I don't think I've ever heard you mention your Dad."
"It turns out that what I always thought was him working a lot was actually him going drinking a lot, I just prefer the idea that he was out working to provide for us all, you know? I don't really talk about him because the way he passed away...it was his own doing...he wasn't out providing for us or thinking about us at all really. I'm sorry, I really don't wanna talk about him any more."
"Then don't." Luke reached up to wipe away another tear that had managed to break free. "Just know that if you do ever want to talk about him or anything to do with him that I'm here for you; always."
"I know you are Luke and I appreciate it. I'm just going to go to the bathroom quickly and freshen up, I'm determined to finish that ice cream and enjoy the rest of my evening with you; I'm having the best time, I don't want it to end just yet."
TGTGTGTG
"So I kinda lied when I said my Mum had text asking me to pop home; I've actually arranged an early birthday present for you in the back yard, if that's okay?" Maddie was in shock, Luke had already given her the best first date ever and now he had something planned for her birthday, this guy really was full of surprises.
"Of course it's okay, I just can't believe you've done something for my birthday, thank you." Luke simply smiled at her as he linked their fingers and led them through the gate and into the back yard.
"There's something I wanna give you for your birthday but there's also something I wanna talk to you about; I just hope this location doesn't make it too cheesy." In the corner of the yard under the family's gazebo was a blanket with two bean bag chairs set up on it but what really took Maddie's breath away was that fairy lights had been wrapped around the legs and structure of the gazebo and in the darkness it looked truly magical. Maddie took a seat on one of the beanbags and smiled as Luke placed a blanket over her legs before sitting down next to her. "So I know it's a day early but I wanted to give it to you while it was just us; Happy Birthday Mads." Luke handed Maddie a small gift bag with pale purple tissue paper sticking out of the top and she reached in to find a small square box.
"Oh wow." Inside the box were earrings in the shape of a Wildcat's head; designed to look exactly like East High's school mascot. "How did you get these? They don't sell them at school do they?"
"No, I found someone online who makes custom made earrings. You've always got different earrings in and so I figured that would be a good first gift to get you; it was my Mum who suggested something relating to wildcats. So I found this person online, sent them a picture of the mascot and they made these, you like them right?"
"Yes...Luke they're amazing, thank you so much." Maddie moved her bean bag closer to Luke's and leant into him as he wrapped one arm around her shoulders and the other held both of her hands in his lap; the earrings now placed safely back in the gift bag. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
"Okay erm when I came to pick you up earlier your Uncle and I were talking for a few minutes before he shouted up to you and so you should know that he knows what I'm about to do and is perfectly fine with it."
"You don't need to sound so nervous; it's just me you're talking to, I'm not going to laugh or anything." Luke smiled at Maddie; she'd just proven to him that what he was about to do was the right thing to do and she didn't even know it.
"Maddie I know that this is only our first date but I feel like we've been flirting and being all couple like for so long now and I want you to know that I think you're beautiful, amazing, talented and of course a little bit stubborn and I well I want to know how you feel about making us official?"
"Official? As in like boyfriend and girlfriend official?"
"Yeah...if you want to be." Maddie wasn't sure her smile could get much bigger as she moved to properly look Luke in the eye.
"I can't think of anything I want more but you really spoke to Uncle Troy about this? What did he say?"
"He said that I make you happy and that you deserve happiness after everything you've been through and then he told me that if I ever upset or hurt you there are a whole line of people who would be willing to hurt me; apparently firefighters protect each others families too."
"I can't believe you asked him; I also can't believe he threatened you."
"I was expecting it, my Dad did it to my sister's husband when they first started dating. I don't ever want to hurt you but it's good to know that you're so protected anyways." They sat in silence for a while after that, the evening air was chilly but with the blanket around her legs and curled up in Luke's arms, Maddie felt perfectly warm.
"Did you have these lights on all evening waiting for us?"
"No, my Mum helped me set it up yesterday after school and then I text her as we left the ice cream parlour and she came out and turned them on for me, it wasn't too cheesy was it? I wanted it to be romantic; I wanted it to be the top memory you had from tonight."
"It wasn't cheesy at all, it was just the right level of romance. Thank you Luke; you wanted to make today the best first date and I think you've managed to do that and then some, you've made me feel so so special, just thank you."
TGTGTGTG
Three months after his birthday and Troy once again found himself back at the bowling alley, only this time his bowling skills weren't anywhere near as good. Just like on his birthday the girls were in one lane only this time they were joined by Luke, Sophie and Matt and so he and Gabriella had been shoved over to the adult's lane; not that they minded, Maddie was having the best birthday and that was really all that mattered.
It was the first time since being injured that Troy had put on proper clothes having spent the last week of his recovery in sweats and basketball shorts but today he'd managed to find a pair of jeans that were comfortable, even with his brace and boot on. He had however given up on bowling, even with his good balance he was struggling to stand up and get the ball down the lane and so after a couple of goes he'd handed over his turns to Abigail and Aiden, who for a couple of two year olds were actually very good bowlers.
Troy was now sat at the end of their two lanes with his foot resting on the twins' stroller watching everyone as they took their turns, although he was watching one person more than the rest. Gabriella had grown increasingly quiet since he and the girls had been at The Ranch and every time he'd tried to talk to her about it something had gotten in the way. From the other children Gabriella had in her care, the day to day running of The Ranch and of course looking after the girls it had been hard for the two of them to find some time for themselves and add to that the fact that Troy spent a lot of time sleeping because of his medication; he'd never managed to get to the bottom of what was bothering his girlfriend.
"See something you like?" Troy smiled at Taylor as she took a seat next to him.
"She's not right Tay; you can see that too right?"
"She's trying to hide the fact she's not sleeping properly I can see that much; has she said anything to you?"
"No, it's been a bit of a crazy week and honestly I've spent a lot of it taking naps; we've not really had much time just us for me to be able to talk to her, has she said anything to you or Shar?" Taylor shook her head as Chad waved her over to take her turn but she pointed to their children; indicating to him that they should go for her this time.
"She hasn't said anything because I think she's trying to pretend that everything is just fine but can I make a couple of observations?" Troy nodded and so she continued. "I think she probably isn't sleeping properly because you know what it's like in a new bed, it takes a few nights to settle in, you'd probably be the same if your meds weren't making you so tired. I also think that maybe being back at the hospital last week is affecting her more than she's letting on."
"I know it was tough for her to make the choice of being their for me and then picking me up the next day but she never showed it at the time nor has she mentioned anything about it since."
"I think that maybe it's not just the new bed that's stopping her from sleeping, I think that maybe...Gabi's troubles have always showed themselves through her dreams and I'm thinking that maybe being back at the hospital has triggered certain memories for her and those memories are showing themselves in her dreams or if you were to ask her she'd probably say nightmares."
"You're saying being at the hospital has triggered off memories of her abuse and that along with a different bed is causing her to get very little sleep?"
Taylor nodded. "I would say so but like I said she hasn't said anything to me. I think she will talk to you, she like you has probably just been struggling to find the right moment and I don't think she'll find that moment with other people around. If you haven't had the chance to talk to her by the end of the weekend, let me know and we'll have the girls one evening in the week and give you guys the chance to talk."
"Thanks Tay, I really appreciate it. I might take you up on that offer to have the girls even if we do get the chance to talk, I love them to pieces but it would be nice to have a cuddle with Gabi for once without being interrupted."
"We'll have the girls for an evening if, once you're back on your feet, you take the twins for an evening, we could use a date night." The pair shook hands on the deal and Troy once again thanked his lucky stars that he had such amazing friends.
TGTGTGTG
That evening and Troy watched as Gabriella cleaned about in the kitchen despite the fact it had already been cleaned after dinner. The girls were all upstairs, Maddie had Sophie staying over and so they were occupied by gossiping and the action movie marathon they'd decided they were going to stay up late into the night and watch. Summer and Amelia were also having a sleepover; Troy knew that Summer loved having her own room but that Amelia missed having her sister in with her and so he'd immediately said yes when Summer had asked him if Amelia could stay in her room for the night. He'd told them they could stay up watching films until midnight but it had been an action packed day celebrating Maddie's birthday and so he was pretty certain that neither of them had the energy to stay up that late anyway.
He made his way over to the kitchen island and leant himself and his crutches against it, waiting until Gabriella finished rinsing around the sink before holding his arms open for her to step into. She nuzzled her face against his chest and he could feel the fatigue radiating from her as she struggled not to fall asleep in the middle of the kitchen.
"Sleep with me tonight? Wait, no that's not what I meant." He quickly worked to reword what he'd said when she looked up at him with wide worried eyes. "I just meant stay in my bed with me tonight; the girls are all occupied with their sleepovers and so I figured this would be a good time for us to have a big old snuggle and a chat, wouldn't you agree?"
"I don't know Troy, what will the girls say when they realise I stayed the night with you?"
"Probably nothing because we're grown ups and we're allowed to share a bed but if you're worried about it then we'll just tell them you woke up early and came down and saw my light on and came in to see if I was okay. At least come in for now and snuggle; if you really want to go upstairs to sleep then that's fine but if you fall asleep down here then that's fine too. Please 'Brie, I just wanna spend some time with you, we haven't really had the chance to do that since I got hurt."
"Okay." She finally conceded. "Let me just go upstairs and get changed and ready for bed and then I'll come and join you."
Fifteen minutes later and she crawled into bed next to Troy, immediately curling into his side and enjoying the feeling she only got when she was in his arms. "Thank you for joining me, I've been missing Gabriella cuddles if I'm honest."
"You can have a cuddle anytime Troy, you know that."
"I do know that but you can't deny it's been a bit of a crazy week, most of which I've admittedly spent napping which makes me feel bad knowing that you haven't really been sleeping at all, have you?" He felt her tense in his arms and was worried he'd done wrong by calling her out on her recent behaviour but his worries soon left when she moved them so they could be face to face; a sign she was willing to talk. "Beautiful, when was the last time you got a full nights sleep?"
"A full night? Before you got hurt."
"And since then?" He reached up to move her hair over her shoulder and she grabbed his hand and held it against her chest.
"The night you were in the hospital wasn't a full night but I kinda expected that, I was worried about you and I could hear Maddie moving about upstairs when she couldn't sleep so it didn't really bother me. The first night you were here wasn't great either but I put that down to sleeping in a different bed and worrying about whether you were sleeping okay down here; the nights after that...what did Taylor say to you today? She knows me pretty well, she could probably tell what was wrong without even talking to me."
"She thought that maybe being back at the hospital might have triggered off some horrible memories for you?" Gabriella nodded and Troy could see the tears starting to build in her eyes even through the dim light being given off by the bedside lamp. "She also said your feelings tend to manifest themselves in your dreams...or are they nightmares?" A sob made it's way up her throat and he pulled her against him, allowing her to burrow into his t-shirt as her tears flowed freely.
"It's so horrible Troy, the last couple of nights I've barely slept at all because the images are just so vivid, so real."
"Can you tell me about it?" Troy spoke softly to Gabriella as he moved her away from him so he could wipe away her tears and see her face as they spoke.
"It wasn't so bad to begin with just images that would pop into my dreams and I would wake up with a start but I could fall back to sleep again. As the nights went on the images got worse and started to take over my dreams more and more until I wasn't having nice dreams any more, they were all nightmares. Thursday night was the worst, I was back in the apartment in California and he was hitting me; I knew it was a dream but I couldn't wake up, the abuse just kept getting worse. How I didn't wake up screaming I don't know but when I did wake up I was shaking and my ribs hurt like I was actually feeling the pain from what he'd done. It was around five at that point so I took a shower to try and wash it away and then made an early start out in the stables. You slept quite late that day so I'd pulled myself together by that point; I knew Maddie could tell I wasn't okay but I just told her I hadn't slept well and sent them off to school. I know you've tried to talk to me about it a couple of times but like you said we've barely had anytime together and I knew this had to be the kind of chat were it was just us, I knew it was likely I'd get emotional."
"I'm sorry I didn't find time to talk to you sooner 'Brie, I hate that you've been going through all that while I've been sleeping so well."
"You needed the rest Troy and besides we've talked now and I feel so much better for it, thank you." She snuggled back into him and he held her close, hoping to make her feel as safe as possible.
TGTGTGTG
"Troy?"
"Yes baby?"
"What happens if I fall asleep down here?" They'd been dozing in each others arms for the last half an hour or so now; both so content that the idea of moving hadn't crossed their minds.
"Well it's like I said earlier we tell the girls that you woke up early and ended up coming in here for a chat; they won't think anything of it 'Brie, I can promise you that."
"I know that, I just mean what happens if I have another nightmare? I feel so comfy and content right now I really do want to spend the night here, I just don't want you to see the mess I turn into after a nightmare." In that moment it occurred to Troy that the reason Gabriella had so far insisted on them having separate rooms wasn't because she was worried about taking that big step in their relationship but because she was worried about him seeing her after a nightmare.
"I want you to stay here too not only because I like the idea of waking up next to you tomorrow but also because if you were to have a nightmare then I would be able to take care of you. I would hold you in my arms like I am now and let you know that you're safe here, that it wasn't real, that the hurt wasn't real and most importantly that he wasn't real; he can't ever hurt you again."
"I want to stay here and spend the night with you; I don't care what we tell the girls, you're my boyfriend, if I wanna spend the night in the same bed as you then I will." Troy simply tightened his grip around her and placed soft kisses in her hair but as sleep started to take over again one last thought crossed his mind.
"'Brie what I said earlier, when I got my words all messed up; you know I would never force you to do anything, don't you? When we reach that point in our relationship it will be because we've both decided we're ready and I don't care how long that will take because when it does happen I know it will be truly magical."
"I know you would never force me to do anything Troy and I also know that when we do take that step it will be magical like you said because the things you make me feel now are amazing and I know that once we have that connection it will only make those feelings sky rocket. Thank you for taking care of me Troy, not just tonight but the rest of the time too, I know I tell you all the time you make me feel special but you really do, I feel so special around you even when you're simply just smiling at me across a room. Thank you for helping me learn what a true relationship is; the word love still scares me but as my feelings for you grow each day that fear becomes less and less obvious and the idea of having you in my life forever sounds like a really lovely idea." She was barely awake but hearing those words meant Troy was falling asleep a happy man; his feelings for Gabriella were growing by the day and he was glad that love was starting to scare her less because he was pretty sure that's where this was heading.
TGTGTGTG
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