Where to Turn Chapter 8: The Final Straw, a high school musical fanfic

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Chapter 8. The Final Straw

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Troy and Gabriella jumped off the couch and ran over to the window. Sure enough, there was Jack Bolton pounding at the door.

"Hide." Gabriella whispered.

"What?"

"Hide! I'll try to stall him." Gabriella whispered a little louder.

"No! You have no clue what he can do! I'm not leaving you alone." Troy whispered sternly.

"Just trust me, ok? You can hide under the coffee table. It's hard to see under there." Gabriella whispered as she pushed him towards the small table infront of the couch.

"Be careful." Troy said before he ducked under it.

Gabriella walked over to the door, trying to hide her nervousness as best as she could.

When she got to the door she opened it with shaking hands.

"Hello, Mr. Bolton! What brings you here?" she asked as calmly as she could.

"You know darn well what I'm doing here. Where's Troy?" Jack said sternly. He had dark circles under his eyes indicating that he hadn't slept all night.

"I have no clue! Did you check Chad's house?" Gabriella asked putting her best acting skills to work.

"Twice. I know he's here. And I'm not leaving without him." Jack said pushing Gabriella out of the way.

"Wait! How did you find out where I live?" Gabriella asked as Jack walked into her house, knocking things down as he went.

"School records." Jack mumbled as he walked through the house opening doors and looking behind furniture.

"Mr. Bolton, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Gabriella said nervously as Jack became even more angry.

"For the last time, WHERE IS HE?" Jack yelled stomping over to Gabriella and slapping her across the face.

No more than two seconds after he did this, he felt something running into him with the force of a freight train. What ever it was that hit him had knocked him flat on his face.

"That's it! You can mess with me, just not with her!" Troy yelled as he continued to sit on his dad's back.

"I'll do what ever I want!" Jack said flipping his son over so he was sitting on him. "Starting with you!"

Jack then pulled back and punched his son square on the face. Troy heard Gabriella scream when Jack did this. He knew he had to protect her so he tried to ignore the pain shooting through his jaw as he fought back.

Troy took a few swings and finally hit Jack hard enough to distract him. Then he flipped his dad so he was sitting on his back once more. He grabbed both of Jack's wrists and twisted them behind his back, so that he couldn't move without hurting his wrists.

"Quick, call the cops!" Troy shouted at Gabriella who ran to the phone and dialed 911.

"Hello? My boyfriend's dad is attacking us. I live at 3948 Whittman Ln. in Albuquerque. Ok." Gabriella said into the phone. "Their on their way."

"Let me go now, Troy!" Jack shouted.

"Yeah right!" Troy said smiling.

Then, with one forceful push, Jack jumped up, throwing Troy across the room. He landed on the coffee table that immediately cracked on contact. Troy could now feel his sides stinging. When he looked down, he saw his shirt spotted with blood. He looked over at Jack who was making his way over to Gabriella. Then with one last burst of strength, Troy jumped over and grabbed his dad's leg. This caused him to trip and bang his head on the floor, knocking him out.

After he was sure his dad wouldn't hurt Gabriella anymore, Troy collapsed on the floor holding his sides. Just then the cops rushed in the door. Seeing the older man unconscious on the floor, they ran over to him and got him on hand cuffs. As they took him away, some paramedics helped Troy up and bandaged up his wounds. They discovered upon removing his shirt that collision with the table had broken a couple of ribs and left him with a few good sized gashes. The paramedics were able to take care of this quick and were soon gone, along with Mr. Bolton. Hewas immediately thrown in jail for child abuse.

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"Troy, I just spoke with your mom. She said that all the flights to here are booked." Jackie said walking into the living room. "She'll be here in a few days. In the mean time, your going to be staying here. You can sleep in the guest bedroom."

Troy and Gabriella were sitting on her bed watching tv. She had her head on his shoulder while he had his arm around her.

"Thank you, Mrs. Montez." Troy said smiling.

"You didn't have to do that, Troy." Gabriella said after awhile.

"Do what?" Troy asked confused.

"Blow your cover and get your dad even more ticked off."

"I had to. I couldn't just sit there and watch you get beaten too! Your to pretty for that." Troy said smiling as he brushed a loose strand of hair from her face.

"Well, thank you." Gabriella said before pulling him into a kiss. When they pulled apart Gabriella leaned up and whispered in his ear, "No boy has ever taken a punch for me before."

"Good thing to hear I didn't break a rib for nothing." Troy laughed, never breaking eye contact.

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That night it was hard for Gabriella to sleep. She kept thinking about what had happened earlier that day.

Take this heart of darkness.

I give it up.

And all the emptiness,

you fill it up.

The memories off the fight just wouldn't leave her head. She finally convinced herself that everything was over and it wouldn't happen again.

The times I feel like nothing,

you bring enough.

And so I can live for something,

you lift me up.

She fell asleep around midnight. Only to be awoken an hour later by Troy down the hall.

"Stop! Leave her alone! Stop! Stop!" was what she heard down the hall. She immediately jumped out of bed and ran down the hall. When she got to Troy's room, she saw him tossing and turning in his sleep.

"Troy! Troy, wake up! It's only a dream!" Gabriella said softly as she shook him.

When he woke up he took one look at her and threw his arms around her and started to cry.

And all these bad dreams,

I wake up to the light.

And when I can't see,

I wake up to your eyes.

Wake me up.

"Troy, it's ok. It's ok. It was only a dream. Nothing bad is going to happen." Gabriella whispered softly into his ear as she rocked him back and forth slowly.

"Gabriella, it was horrible! He slapped you, but when I tried to get up, I couldn't move! So I just had to sit there and watch him beat you up! And I couldn't do anything!" Troy managed to get out before bursting into tears again.

It's ok, Troy. Like I said, it was only a dream. Shhhh. We're gonna be fine. He can't hurt us anymore." Gabriella continued to say as she cradled his head and stroked his hair.

There's a light up ahead.

She got up and sat beside him on the bed as he continued to cry into her shoulder. After a while, Troy stopped crying. But he still continued to cling tight to her.

It get's so complicated,

if you live enough.

Turn into what you hated.

Your breaking up.

"What if that did happen." Troy whispered looking up. "What if I didn't or couldn't get up to help you?"

"Troy, all I know is that it didn't. And it won't. We're safe now. He's in jail and can't hurt us." Gabriella whispered stroking his cheek with her thumb as she stared into his blue, sorrow filled eyes.

The times I feel like nothing,

you bring enough.

And so I can live for something,

you lift me up.

"Thanks." Troy said reaching up and taking her hand."Thanks for being there for me."

"No problem." Gabriella said smiling.

Troy placed his hand under her chin and pulled her lips to his. As they kissed, Troy forgot all about what had happened to them the previous day and focused only on what was happening now. He was with his girlfriend who loved him and cared for him.

And all these bad dreams,

I wake up to the light.

And when I can't see,

I wake up to your eyes.

Wake me up.

When they broke apart, Troy smiled as he lay back down.

"You want me to stay until you get back to sleep?" Gabriella offered.

Troy just nodded as he closed his eyes and yawned.

As he drifted off to sleep, Gabriella never took her eyes off his sleeping face. She thought about how much his life would be affected now that his dad was in jail. His mom would have to raise him for a while Other kids would probably pick on him about it. But no matter what, she would be there. Right by his side through it all.

Soon she felt drowsiness kicking in. But when she got to the door, Troy started tossing and turning again. So, she eventually just pulled back the covers and crawled into bed with him. Soon he had his arms around her and she was there to chase away the bad dreams for him.

There's a light up ahead.

Wake me up.

Wow! That was the longest chapter I've ever written! There'll be one more chapter after this. Afterwards I'll be focusing on my other fic. The song is "Light Up Ahead" by Further Seems Forever.