Falling
It was mid February when Troy slowly made his way through the crematorium towards his parents plaques; they were together next to a small pond and Troy liked to come here to think, especially on days like today which marked five years since his Dad, Jack had passed away after having a heart attack. Losing his Dad had been tough on Troy, they'd always had a good relationship as father and son but also as Coach and player and following Jack's sudden death Troy had felt like a part of him was missing. The grieving process had been made harder when only four months later his Mum had passed away too after a chest infection had turned into pneumonia and her grieving body wasn't strong enough to put up the fight.
Lowering himself onto a nearby bench Troy was thankful to be able to take the weight off his leg; the broken bones in his foot had healed exactly as expected and so his physio regime for his knee had started two weeks ago and while Troy was in very good shape, physio was kicking his butt and he was glad it was Friday and he had the weekend to rest.
"Are you sure you don't want me to wait in the car? I understand if you want a moment with them." Troy shook his head at Chad and gestured for him to join him on the bench.
"You know Mum would be pissed if you sat in the car and didn't actually come and see them; you were like a second son to her." Chad had picked Troy up from physio on his way home from work, everyone was doing their bit to make sure Gabriella didn't have to go to the hospital that often and today Troy's session fitted in well with Chad finishing work.
"How were the girls this morning?"
"They were okay, I don't think Amelia really remembers them any more to be honest, she was only five when they passed and Summer wasn't much older than that. Maddie gave me an extra big hug before she left for school but she's going out this evening anyway so I don't think she'll spend too much time dwelling on it."
"How about you? How are you?"
"I'm okay, I think about them all the time but since meeting 'Brie I've thought about them more, how they're missing out on me falling in love; how I'm missing out on getting to take her home to meet them."
"They would have loved her and you know it; Lucy would say she's exactly the person you need in your life and Coach would tell her all of your bad habits just to try and scare her off but it wouldn't work, she wouldn't go anywhere." They both sat in silence remembering their childhood which was filled with fun times involving Jack and Lucille. "Hang on! Did you just say falling in love?"
Troy chuckled at his friend's slow uptake on what he'd just said. "Yes Chad I did, I'm falling for 'Brie hard, there's no way out now."
"Dude that's big, does she feel the same way?"
"I think so, you know her past so you understand that falling in love scares her but she's told me that the fear is slowly going away and that she sees me in her future, that's enough for me to know that letting myself fall for her isn't totally crazy."
TGTGTGTG
The following afternoon and Troy sat resting on the couch; his physiotherapists had told him to take it easy over the weekend and so he'd rotated between the bed and the couch, feeling guilty that he hadn't been able to go outside and watch the girl's with the horses like he'd wanted to.
He was half watching the TV and half half scrolling through his phone when giggling could be heard from outside and the door opened slightly although there didn't appear to be anyone there, however the giggling did get suspiciously closer. "Amelia Mae if you're trying to make someone jump, it's usually best to do it as quietly as possible." Amelia popped up behind the couch, her giggling intensifying at having been caught.
"I told you to go in quietly Amelia in case he was sleeping." Amelia stopped her giggling and turned to hug Gabriella in an attempt to cover her not so quiet entry into the room. "Maddie, tell your Uncle what you just did."
Troy looked over at Maddie as she curled up on the couch and she couldn't hide the proud smile that was on her face. "I helped Summer take off Skye's riding gear and I did it voluntarily."
"That's amazing Mads, I'm sorry I wasn't there to see it."
"It's okay, we were quizzing Gabi anyway."
"Why were you quizzing Gabi?" The smile on his girlfriends face as she sat next to him and held his hand told him that the quizzing was harmless but that didn't stop him wanting to know the girls' intentions.
"Because we needed to know a few things about her to make sure she was a suitable match for you and you'll be pleased to know that she is; she passed the Thompson sisters test." Troy loved that his nieces were looking out for him, exactly like they knew their Mum would have.
"Uncle Troy did you know that Gabi was born in New York?"
"No Summer I did not know this." Troy said turning to look at Gabriella who simply shrugged.
"You never asked and it never came up in conversation."
"How did you being born in New York lead to you going to college in California and then your parents living here Gabi? If you don't mind telling us that is."
"I don't mind telling you Mads but it is a long story, are you all sitting comfortably?" Everyone nodded and so the story began. "I lived in New York up until I was seven at which point my Mum was offered a promotion but it would involve us moving about a lot. We talked about it as a family and agreed she should go for it; Dad could work from home and just pop into his company's nearest office when they needed him to and at that age it just seemed like a big adventure to me. From the age of seven to seventeen we lived in eight states."
"Which ones?"
"Well 'Lia the first one was obviously New York and then it was Georgia, Kentucky, Iowa, Texas, Colorado, Utah and then California. Stanford had always been on my list of colleges and so when we moved to California right as it was time to start applying, Dad took me to an open day and that was it; Stanford was the place for me. I qualified as an Elementary school teacher and that's where I stayed until I came to run this place." Gabriella kept the last part of her story vague; Troy obviously knew the truth and Maddie knew parts of it but it wasn't something that the younger girls needed to know right now.
"Was the school you worked for mad when you left kinda suddenly? You didn't go back after your parents died, did you?" Summer looked nervous asking this question, she knew more than the adults thought she did and she didn't want to get in trouble if they thought she'd been eaves dropping.
"No Summer you're right, I didn't go back after they died, there was someone there who wasn't very nice to me and by staying here I was able to get away from him." Gabriella smiled softly at Summer letting her know she wasn't in trouble and then turned to look at Troy; the pair silently communicating that a separate sit down chat with Summer was definitely on the cards. "I was able to leave so suddenly because I didn't work for any specific school; I couldn't get a job straight out of college and so I signed up to an agency and did substitute work. The schools in my area all got to know me quite well and so I was very rarely out of work. I was sad that I didn't get to say goodbye to any of them but it was for the best and when I phoned and told the agency they were sad to be losing me but I didn't have a contract or anything tying me to them so I wasn't letting anybody down with any prior commitments."
"How did your parent's end up here?" Troy asked keen to learn more about how Gabriella's parents had ended up taking on The Ranch.
"Mum got transferred again just as I started college and after being here for about six months Dad took partial retirement; they'd agreed Albuquerque would be the place they made their forever home and so he wanted to start taking life at a slightly slower pace. One day he saw this place was up for sale and who knows why but he started looking into it and by the end of that week he'd convinced Mum they should at least come and view it. Really long story short they both fell in love with it and made an offer which was of course accepted; they both then fully retired and started running this place. They didn't run it for money like I do, it was more of a project to stop them getting bored to be honest but the odd person did pay them every now and then to look after an animal of some kind for them while they were on holiday. I wasn't able to visit them very often but the times I did it was easy to see how happy they were and that's how I knew that moving here myself would help make my life happier too."
"If you hadn't moved here then we would never have met you and you and Uncle Troy wouldn't be together."
"You're right there 'Lia and think how boring my life would be without you and all of your crazy onesies."
TGTGTGTG
"Troy play?" Troy looked into the eyes of his best friend's son and as the little boy looked back at him, he couldn't get over just how alike Chad and Aiden really were.
"I've got a sore leg little guy so I can't play but if you go back over to Amelia I'm sure she'll help you down the slide again." Aiden looked over to where his sister was playing with Amelia and Maddie on the play set and was soon running in that direction leaving Troy sat watching on the porch steps.
Yesterday evening when Gabriella and Summer had made their way outside to bring the animals in Troy had gone with them and perched himself on the ladder in the stables to offer Gabriella silent support as she spoke to Summer about her past. She'd left out the exact details of her abuse but had told Summer that her ex-boyfriend hadn't been a very nice person and that the ways he'd treated her weren't ways anyone should ever be treated. She'd also filled Summer in on how her parents had passed away, the young girl having never been told how it had happened, just that them passing was the reason for Gabriella being here. Troy had watched as Summer realised why Gabriella had been so understanding whenever she or her sisters missed their Mum; she didn't just understand what it was like to lose a parent, she understood what it was like to lose a parent in such a tragic and horrible way.
"Troy?"
"Abigail, what's wrong sweet girl?"
"Play?" It was as Troy pulled Abigail onto his lap that he realised she was holding a tennis ball.
"Oh, you wanna play with the dogs?" Abigail nodded and so Troy called Barney and Zeus over to sit at his feet, he knew there was no point calling Luna; she was too busy being Summer's shadow as she helped Gabriella on the other side of the yard. "Okay, so we say Barney Zeus, fetch and then we throw the ball and they they chase it." Troy launched the ball across the yard for Abigail and couldn't help but laugh at how happy it made her watching them chase the ball.
"Uncle Troy, can you help us please?" He pushed himself to his feet and then launched the ball across the yard one more time before making his way over to Summer and Gabriella; thanking Maddie as she made her way over to Abigail with another ball in hand, ready to continue playing fetch.
"How can I help Sum?"
"Can you please tighten the straps around the trees so that the hammock doesn't fall when people sit on it?" On the right hand side of the yard, near to the pond, were two trees which Troy had always thought would look good with a hammock between them; seems he wasn't the only one.
"Is this new 'Brie?" Gabriella shook her head and held Troy's crutches as he leant against one tree to tighten the strap and then cheekily hopped his way over to the other one to do the same. "Don't look at me like that, I didn't put any weight on my bad leg."
"No you didn't but I'm also pretty sure that hopping is not taking it easy mister." Gabriella tried to stay serious with Troy but as she handed him back his crutches, he placed a sweet kiss on her cheek and she couldn't stay angry with him for long. "In answer to your question, no this isn't new, it just got taken down when Sharpay was trying to figure where she wanted everything set up for the wedding; I think Zeke took it down a day or so before I met you guys and I kept forgetting to ask him to put it back up."
"Well I'm glad I could help but as the person who technically put it up I should get to test it out first." Troy carefully lowered himself onto the hammock and used his good leg to push himself back and forth. "Will you stop doing something for five minutes and come and sit with me please?" Gabriella stopped helping Summer tidy up the toys that were scattered about the yard and settled herself next to Troy.
"You were the one who said we'd take the twins for the day but you're also the one who can't stand for longer than five minutes without getting tired which means you're not the one who has to tidy up after them." Troy knew Gabriella wasn't really moaning but she also wasn't wrong in what she was saying. Chad had asked him on Friday if they could have the twins for the day; Taylor had been having a rough week at work and Chad wanted to take her out for the day to help her relax and de-stress.
"I know I'm sorry but I felt bad for Tay, you know she lets things get on top of her sometimes when work gets tough."
"I do know that and at least I have the girls to help me do the running about and tidying up; plus they're the reason you're outside getting some fresh air, so I can't be mad about that."
"I'm sorry I've not been much help since we've been here, I'll make it up to you once I'm on my feet again; I can give you more money too if you like?" When he and the girls had moved into The Ranch Gabriella had stopped receiving the money Troy paid her while the girls were under her care; instead he started giving her money to contribute towards food and bills. She'd opened her home to them without a second thought, the least he could do was make sure she wasn't out of pocket because of it.
"I don't want more money Troy, you contribute more than enough as it is; besides I laugh so much more having you and the girls here, that's payment enough for me."
TGTGTGTG
It was late Friday afternoon when Troy made his way into the house feeling tired but proud; today marked three weeks of physio meaning he was roughly half way through his predicted treatment time. His hard work was paying off and he was now able to walk short distances without his crutches and had started work on getting up and down stairs again; his therapists were happy with his progress and he looked on track to be fully back on his feet within the next three to four weeks.
Right now though, things were on track to be a relaxed weekend; Maddie was sleeping over at Sophie's and then tomorrow the boys were taking them on a double date so that left Troy with only two of his nieces to occupy. "Hi girls." Summer and Amelia smiled at Troy as he made his way into the lounge. "How was school?"
"Good, how was physio?"
"It went really well thanks 'Lia, they're really happy with my progress. How about you Sum? Good day?"
"Yes thanks, I'm glad it's Friday though, it's been a long week."
"It has indeed, where's Gabi? Is she out in the stables?"
"No, she came in not long ago and went upstairs; she didn't say much other than she was in her room if we needed her but she didn't look very well to be honest, she was moving quite slowly." Troy was immediately concerned, Gabriella had seemed fine when he'd left but she was very good at hiding how she felt; she didn't like to show when she was feeling weak.
"Okay, I'm gonna go up and check on her. Summer can you turn the oven on so it starts heating up ready to cook the pizzas and Amelia can you help her get the toppings out and start making the pizzas? You know which toppings Gabi and I want right?"
"Yeah pepperoni for you and just cheese for Gabi." Summer answered as she turned off the TV and followed Amelia through to the kitchen. "We'll be fine Uncle Troy, go and check on Gabi." Happy that the girls would be okay Troy made the slow but steady journey up the stairs towards Gabriella's room. Since that first night she'd stayed in his bed with him, Gabriella had spent most of her nights upstairs but every now and then she would ask Troy if she could stay with him. On the nights she wasn't there Troy missed her and so he cherished the nights she chose to stay with him; holding her close and always getting a good night's sleep.
He knocked on the door and when he didn't get a reply he slowly made his way in, surprised to find Gabriella curled up in bed. As he moved closer he realised she wasn't asleep but the paleness of her skin and the redness in her eyes told him she wasn't okay. "'Brie sweetheart, why are you in bed? Do you not feel well?" When she didn't answer and refused to look him in the eye Troy moved to crouch down next to the bed; he was careful not to kneel on his left knee but was glad that his progress now allowed him to bend it without too much pain. "'Brie please tell me what's wrong? You don't have to be embarrassed to tell me anything, you know that. I just want to help you feel better."
"I got my period today." Her voice was quiet and Troy could tell she'd been crying.
"Okay and that's making you feel a bit rough is it?" Gabriella nodded and pulled on Troy's hand so he was sitting on the bed.
"When I was with Nick he made me go on the pill, he always used a condom because he was incredibly adamant that he didn't want children and well you know I never chose to be with him in that way, so taking as many precautions as possible made sense, if it had to happen then it should be safely. When I moved here I came off it because it was making my mood terrible and I didn't really want to be on it if I didn't need to be. Since coming off it, every now and then I get really horrible periods, I mean they're never nice but one's like this they really kick my butt."
"I'm sorry baby, have you taken anything to help with the pain?"
"Yeah, I took some painkillers, which have kinda taken the edge off and I've got my heat pad under here with me...I just don't like letting it get the better of me, I hate showing that I'm feeling weak."
"I know you do but 'Brie it's just me, you should be able to show your feelings to me, that way I can help make it better." Troy ran his hands through Gabriella's hair and instantly felt her relax at his touch. "Listen, the girls are downstairs making the pizzas, why don't you come down and eat as much as you can to help you feel better and then after that I'll run you a nice relaxing bubble bath, how does that sound?"
"It sounds really lovely Troy, thank you."
"Don't thank me, you've been looking after me the entire time I've been here, it's about time I get to return the favour."
TGTGTGTG
"Alright you two, you've got drinks, you've got snacks, you're in your pj's and you've got pillows and blankets; I think you're all set for this movie marathon. Now Summer are you sure you'll be okay with the animals in the morning?"
"I'll be fine Uncle Troy, Amelia is going to help me and I promise that if we really get stuck I'll come and get you."
"Okay, now what time is the TV going off by?"
"Midnight, we know the rules Uncle Troy; you should go and take care of Gabi, we'll be just fine." He knew they would be and so he blew them both a good night kiss before heading through to his bedroom where Gabi was waiting for him after her bath.
She'd text him to say she was dressed and so he didn't knock as he walked in but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Gabriella. She was dressed but she was making her way out of the bathroom and she looked like a dear in the headlights when she realised Troy had caught her without any socks on.
"Don't look at my feet." She told him as she jumped onto the bed and pulled the covers over her feet. Silently he walked over and sat down next to her feet, he didn't move the covers but rested his hands on top of it over them.
"Sweetheart, you know I would never make you tell me things about your past that you don't want to but I saw your feet as I came in; those don't look like every day sore feet, did he do something to them?" Gabriella nodded silently. "Please can I see them?" Again she nodded and so he pushed back the covers and gathered her feet onto his lap.
"They're burns." She told him as she watched him lightly trace the scars that sat under the ankle bone on the outside of her feet.
"How?" She pulled her legs up to her chest and Troy took this opportunity to move closer to her; laying her legs out over his thighs and pulling her into his side.
"Sometimes he would smoke and I didn't like it; I asked him not to do it in the apartment but he didn't like that. He lit a cigarette and then put it straight onto my foot, it hurt so much Troy but I was scared that he'd hurt me more and so I just let him do it, I was completely under his control. I don't know if he knew what he was doing but it wasn't until the next day when I went to put my shoes on for work that I realised he'd burnt me right where the top of my shoe sat. I made it through the day by putting plasters over the burns and then soaking them in antiseptic solution when I got home. That night he was really apologetic and looked after me but the day after that he came home angry and didn't think twice about burning me again, especially once he realised that his placement of the burns caused me pain all day." She paused to take a deep breath and wipe away the tears on her cheeks.
"I don't know how I never got a bad infection but I managed to look after them well enough with over the counter treatments that I never had to see a doctor, I really didn't want to try and explain how I'd been burnt in such an odd place. Because of where they are they don't heal very well and so that night at the hospital Taylor spotted them and took care of them for me; she also got me some prescribed ointment to put on them because even after all theses years, they still get irritated easily by shoes."
"Why do they look so sore now?" Troy ran his hand up and down Gabriella's shins hoping to offer her support and comfort at the same time.
"I'm breaking in new work boots, remember I got some delivered the other day? They're so sore Troy, I've been putting the cream on them but then today when my cramps started to really kick in, I was finding it really hard to walk; it was just so painful."
"I'm sorry 'Brie, if I was here I would have helped you get things done, why didn't you ask the girls to help you?"
"They did for a little while but it's Friday and they both looked tired so I told them to come in and chill out on the couch, I'm hoping they'll be more than willing to help tomorrow though."
"Summer's already got tomorrow under control, she's pretty confident that she and Amelia can handle it on their own and if not she's promised to come and get me, you don't need to worry about that. Now, what can I do right now to help you feel better?"
"Could you re-heat my heat pad and get me some more painkillers?"
"Absolutely and when I come back will you let me rub some of that cream onto your feet? I want to do everything I can to ease your discomfort." She nodded and curled up under the covers once Troy left the room, letting her eyes drift close as she waited for him to come back.
"Here you go my lovely, two painkillers, a glass of water and a warmed up heat pad." Gabriella sat up against the headboard to take the painkillers and gratefully took the heat pad from Troy to press against her stomach. "Now, where do you keep this cream? In the bathroom?"
"Yeah, its under the sink, it's pretty obvious which one it is." She pulled her trouser legs up so they weren't covering her feet and smiled at Troy as he came back and settled her legs over his thighs like before. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry? Why on earth are you sorry?"
"For hiding this from you, I didn't mean to; I just wear socks all the time so that the children don't ask questions and it's not that I didn't think you or the girls couldn't handle it, it's just habit to have my feet covered. You remember at the wedding how Taylor and I had quite long dresses? Shar did that on purpose because she knows how I feel about my feet, even with the long dress I still put make up over the scars in case they did get seen."
"And yet you still looked absolutely stunning that day." Gabriella blushed as Troy finished up tending to her feet. "How are you feeling now?"
"Rough." She admitted as Troy got up to put her cream away and wash his hands. "But the painkillers are starting to kick in and I'm hoping you're going to take the weight off that leg of yours and come and give me a cuddle."
"Budge over then." Gabriella shuffled over enough to give Troy room and as soon as he was settled she curled into his side. "Will you stay in here with me tonight? Let me look after you?"
"You've been looking after me all evening Troy and you've had a long week of physio, you need rest."
"I am resting right here with you in my arms and I would rest and sleep a whole lot better if you would stay there all night, please 'Brie."
"Okay but only because I'm already to comfy to move."
TGTGTGTG
He'd been woken up not only by the need to use the bathroom but also by his knee throbbing painfully and so after taking care of the first problem he's headed through to the kitchen to take care of the second. As quietly as his crutches would allow he made his way over to the living room to check on the girls, they were both sleeping peacefully on the different sections of the couch with all three dogs sprawled about on the floor; no doubt ready to protect them if the need arose.
As he made his way back into the bed room, Gabriella was making her way out of the bathroom and he looked at her through worry filled eyes. "I'm okay Troy, I just needed to pee, that's all. Did you finally wake up to take your painkillers? I was considering waking you up to take them, you were groaning in pain as you slept." She crawled back over his side of the bed to get to hers and rolled onto her side as he settled in next to her.
"Yes I did take my meds which allows us to get on to the topic of why you were awake to know I needed them, you were asleep when I did wake up."
"I've been drifting in and out of sleep, there's something on my mind and it won't go away." Troy turned on to his side to face Gabriella and cupped her right cheek in his hand, running his thumb back and forth as he did.
"What's on your mind sweetheart? Are you willing to share?"
"The burns...they're in other places too."
"Where?"
"My chest." Her hand came up and ghosted over her breasts. "And my hips, places that can't easily be seen."
"Why has that stopped you sleeping? 'Brie, do you think it'll make me not want to be with you?" She nodded and so he moved so that their foreheads were resting together. "I don't need to see under your clothes to know how utterly beautiful you are. I hope that some day you do let me see under them so that I can prove to you exactly how attracted I am to you."
"I don't know when that will be Troy; you could be in for a long wait."
"And it's a wait I'm willing to undertake. I'm not going anywhere; baby my feelings for you have gotten so strong since the girls and I have been staying here, the way you have let us into your home and have taken care of me, I don't know where I'd be without you. I'm falling for you 'Brie and I know that scares you but I need you to know that so I can prove to you I'm not going anywhere. It's pretty simple really, I need you in my life, you're just as much a part of my world as the girls are." A couple of tears slipped from Gabriella's eyes at hearing the sweet, heartfelt words Troy had to say.
"Thank you, I really needed to hear that." Troy pressed a kiss to her lips and was surprised when she was the one to deepen it. "I don't know when I'll feel confident enough for you to see me naked or when I'll feel attractive enough for us to become intimate but knowing how you feel and that you aren't going anywhere; it makes those things seem possible...before we met I didn't think I'd ever feel this way about a guy again."
"I'm honoured that I could be the one to help you feel that way." He cupped her face in his hands and pressed his lips to her; smiling internally when he felt her relax into the kiss but it was her who pulled away first, stifling a yawn as she did.
"I'm sorry but it is some crazy time in the morning and I'm not exactly feeling one hundred percent, I'm glad we've had this chat but can we please go back to sleep now." Troy chuckled but rolled onto his back and pulled Gabriella into his side, allowing her to find her favourite resting spot on his chest. He linked his left hand with her right on his stomach while his other hand started soothingly running up and down her back; something he'd quickly learnt helped his girlfriend to fall asleep.
"Troy?"
"Yes my lovely?" She was on the brink of sleep but clearly she had one last thing to say.
"Just so you know...I need you too...I'm not going anywhere either."
TGTGTGTG
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