AN: It's my birthday, lalalalala. :) So I'm sorry you all hated the last chapter, and I'm also sorry to reassure you that NO! It was not a dream. :( As I said to someone else, I had to kill of Eva to keep the story going. I wrote the story up until when she got hurt (when I wasn't planning to kill her off), and got the huge attack of writer's block imaginable. And after an episode of Desperate Housewives, I realized that I had to kill of Eva in order for the story to progress the way I wanted it too.

In case you haven't noticed in my stories, they're all Gabriella-tragic stories. In this one, she gets raped and loses her daughter, and in WSB, she gets hit by a car. Well, I would like to assure you that in my up-coming HSM fic, The Light of Love (title is a work in progress), it will also be a Gabriella-tragic story. So don't forget to check that one out when I post it!

Title: Time Will Tell
Rating: T
Author: MadiWillow
Summary: Gabriella is raped in senior year and falls pregnant. Without telling her friends about it, she and her mom move to Florida. Six years later, she sees an old friend... and it all goes downhill from there.
Genre: Romance/Tragedy
Chapter: Chapter 6

After the phone conversation with her mother, Gabriella had had two requests for Troy: if she could stay over longer and if he would call their friends and invite them to the funeral. Troy had, of course, said yes to both things and after that, Gabriella went into a withdrawal.

She barely came out of her room. The only times she did were for a little food or to use the bathroom. She wasn't showering or changing her clothes, and she was barely eating. Troy was worried.

But her mother, Maria, arrived the afternoon of Eva's death and Troy had volunteered his house to her too. She'd gone it to check on Gabriella and had stayed in her room for over two hours. When she'd come back out, she'd promised Troy that Gabriella was going to get through it.

While Maria had been in with Gabriella, Troy had called Taylor. She'd been happy to hear from him and wanted to talk to Gabriella, to apologize and talk to her. But Troy had told her that that was out of the question, and told her all about Eva.

Taylor had dissolved into tears on the other line, and Troy had sat there, listening to her cry for about five minutes, before Chad came onto the line and he told him too.

"Dude..." breathed Chad weakly. "You can't make me tell everybody else about this too... you just can't..."

"Don't worry," said Troy, although he'd hoped that Chad would. He wasn't so eager to tell five more people about this, but he'd had Chad tell them about the rape, so he owed to it him. "I'll call them."

Sharpay and Kelsi had had the same reaction; they'd both sobbed endlessly until they're respective fiancées had tore the phone away and Troy had told them. Ryan, who was newly single, Zeke, and Jason didn't cry, but had been choked up. All of them promised to come down as soon as possible.

While Maria had been in Gabriella's room with her, Gabriella had asked her mother and him to plan the funeral, which was to take place that Saturday. So that's where Troy and Maria were; in Troy's kitchen, planning the funeral of a five-year-old girl.

"What song should we play?" Troy asked Maria. "Is there a song that Eva really liked that we could use?"

Maria thought for a moment. "Actually, yes. Do you still have the sound track from the musical you and Gabi were in?"

"Yeah," said Troy immediately. "Uh, why?"

"Well, when Gabi was in college and I had to help take care of... Eva..." Maria took a deep breath to control herself. Troy had yet to see her cry over Eva, although she was probably doing that to stay strong for Gabriella. "To calm Eva down as a baby, we would always play that CD for her. We played it before we put her down for a nap, when she was fussing, just all the time. Some of her first words were words from the songs."

"Really?"

Maria nodded. "Especially the duet, What I've Been Looking For."

"Should we play that, then?"

She nodded again.

On Friday, Chad, Taylor, Zeke, Jason, Sharpay, Kelsi, and Ryan all came over to see Gabriella for the first time in six years, but she'd locked herself in and Troy and Maria couldn't get her out. So the seven friends left, deciding that it would be fine to just see Gabriella the next day at the funeral.

Saturday morning rolled around and Troy almost felt like he couldn't get out of bed. How much had his life changed since he met Gabriella? Well, for one, he realized he was still in love. He loved Gabriella, and it broke his heart to see her in this situation. She'd been through so much, and she was only twenty-three years old. He hadn't been through half of the stuff she'd been through.

He slowly got up and dressed himself in black dress pants and a long-sleeved black button-down shirt. He wore a black tie and black dress shoes and then peered into Maria's room. As he'd expected, she'd already left for the church to help get ready.

Troy knocked softly on Gabriella's door. There was no answer. He knocked again. "Gabriella, come on. We have to go to the funeral."

The door flew open and Troy was attacked by a mob of black. Gabriella fell into him, her arms around him, and sobbed. Troy patted her on the back sweetly and led her back into her room. They sat on the edge of the bed while she cried.

"Troy..." she wept, pulling away from him. Her mascara hadn't run (she'd probably worn water-proof just for the occasion) but her cheeks and eyes were red. She'd probably spent the whole night crying.

She seemed to be dressed like death itself. She was wearing a black suit, a black headband in her greasy, pulled-back hair, black tights, black pumps, and pearls around her neck and in her ears.

"Gabriella, it's okay," whispered Troy. "It's going to be okay..."

"No!" cried Gabriella. "No, nothing is ever gonna be okay again! Never! I shouldn't be here!"

"What do you mean?"

"A mother should never have to bury her child," sobbed Gabriella. "It's not right!"

Troy tucked a stray lock of curly hair behind Gabriella's ears. "I know..."

She collapsed back onto the bed, crying and curling herself up into the fetal position. Troy slowly lay down next to her, his face just inches away.

"Last night... I was thinking about her..." she sobbed. "There's so many things she's not gonna be able to do. She's never going to go to middle school, graduate high school, graduate college..." She let out another sob. "I'm not gonna be there to help her get ready for prom... or when she calls me to tell me she got engaged... or watch as you walk her down the aisle..." Troy felt her heart leap up into his throat. Had she said what he thought she said? "... or be there when she has her first baby..." Gabriella let out a despairing scream. "Troy! This can't be happening to me! She's not gone!"

Troy decided now would not be the best time to bring up what she'd said about him walking Eva down the aisle at her wedding. Instead, he said, "Gabriella... I know it's hard, but... no, scratch that. I'm sorry. I have no idea what it's like... I don't know how you do it."

Gabriella blinked through her tears at him. He didn't know how she could see. "What?"

Troy shook his head. "You've been through so much as such a young age... you were raped and had to move away in your senior year... you moved away from so many great friends that loved you because someone took your innocence away... and then you were able to get yourself through college and to a job you love, while being a single parent..." Troy sighed and continued. "You had to go through the person who you loved the most not believing you about it... and then this." He sat up. "If I were you, I'd be dead."

Gabriella sat up slowly and wiped eyes with her sleeve. "You really think I'm strong?"

"I know you are," responded Troy. "You're the strongest person I know. I don't know anybody who could go through all that you've gone through."

She blinked at him and then gave him a small watery smile. She leaned forward and gave him the smallest of pecks on the lips, so softly that Troy wasn't sure if he felt it. Then Gabriella put her head on his shoulder and whispered, "I forgive you."

Troy and Gabriella got to the church a little late, after most of the others had arrived. Gabriella spent a good twenty minutes hugging their old friends. Sharpay, Taylor, and Kelsi all sobbed with her while Chad, Jason, Zeke, and Ryan kissed her on the cheek and spoke with higher voices than usual.

There were more people there than Troy had expected Eva's friend from school, Zack, was there with his mother, and Gabriella's grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins had all flown in from various parts of the country. There were also a many strangers there, since Eva's death, and the shooting, had been making headlines in their local newspaper ever since it happened. The shooter had committed suicide at the scene, like had happened with so many other similar cases.

After a half hour of greetings, Troy, Gabriella, and Maria took seats in the front row of the church, and the service started.

After the minister of the church spoke for a moment about death and letting go, he announced, "Eva's mother, Gabriella Montez, would like to make a eulogy," before sitting down.

Gabriella stood up, her legs trembling, and started to walk towards the front of the church. Then she spun around and whispered tearfully, "Troy... please come with me."

He didn't even hesitate. Jumping up, he grasped Gabriella's hand tightly in his own as she led up him up to the front.

She took a deep breath before speaking into the microphone, "Thank you all for coming." Troy squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Um... well... as you all know, Eva's death came as a huge shock for all of us." She swallowed. "Me, especially. At the hospital... they said she would be okay... but, well, I guess they were wrong." She glanced at the coffin, which was open, revealing Eva's pale, peaceful face.

Gabriella couldn't take it. She collapsed upon sight of her dead daughter's face and sobbed on the ground. Troy bent down and hugged her. He whispered in her ear, "You can do this. You're strong."

She sniffed and nodded against his chest. She stood up shakily, leaning on Troy for support. When they came into view of everyone again, they could see that they were all in tears.

"I'm sorry," said Gabriella softly into the microphone. "I just... I really don't know what I'm going to do. Eva told me, right before she died, that she didn't want me to cry." They heard Taylor let out a loud sob. "She told me not to be sad," said Gabriella, her voice squeaking. "She told me to be happy. But I just can't. Not without her."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, controlling her tears.

"When I found out I was pregnant with her... well, I thought my world was over. Not all of you know this, but... Eva is the victim of a rape."

Gasps sounded throughout the room. The only people that knew about it was her mother and, more recently, her friends. Her grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and Zack and his mother had no idea.

"I'm sorry that not all of you knew that... it might've made things a little less awkward at family reunions-," a small laugh rose from the section of the pews containing her family, "-but I just didn't want people to know. I didn't want to be pitied... I thought my life was over. But Eva turned out to be the biggest blessing of all. She was gorgeous from the moment she was born, and she was intelligent beyond anything I could have imagined. In fact, after the first week of kindergarten, the teacher called and asked if I would like it if she moved up to first grade, since she was so advanced. I didn't really want her to, because I didn't want her to be the youngest in the class..." She shuddered. "But now that I think about it, I should have." She let out an involuntary sob.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered again. Troy tightened his hold around her waist, and she took another breath and started again. "Last night, I started thinking about all the things that I wouldn't be able to do with Eva." Troy felt his stomach drop; he wished she wouldn't think this way. "Eva is never going to go to prom – well, now that I think about it, I didn't go to my senior prom. Just junior prom." She let out a tiny laugh. "But she's not going to get to graduate high school. Or college. Or get married. Or have her first child." Gabriella took a deep breath. "But at the same time, Eva had a great life. Not long, but a good one. She may not have had any siblings, or lots of money, or lots of friends, or a father-," she glanced quickly at Troy. "But she did have me. And my mother. And not only that, but she taught me a valuable lesson, which was that there is always something to be happy for. And she brought me back together with someone I love." She looked at Troy and he stared back. Did she really love him? "Thank you."

She led Troy back to their pew and they sat, side by side, hands intertwined. Maria gave Troy a smile through her tears.

The minister went back up and said a few more things before the service ended and the duet that Troy and Gabriella had sung in the musical, What I've Been Looking For, began to play, driving Gabriella to tears again. Everybody lined up to say their good-bye's to Eva, and Gabriella, Troy, and Maria stood next to the coffin, shaking people's hands as the song repeated itself.

Many of the strangers hugged Gabriella, saying over and over again how sorry they were for the tragedy. Gabriella hugged them all back, crying while Troy kept his hand on her shoulder.

After the people they didn't know all left, they had two black stretch limos bring Gabriella, Troy, Maria, the rest of her family, Zack and his mother, and their seven friends to the cemetery, where Eva was to be buried.

Before they'd closed the coffin, Gabriella had placed a single white rose on her daughter's chest and whispered, "I love you," tears dripping onto her lifeless body. As they lowered her to the ground, Gabriella sobbed and wept into Troy's chest, causing him to get a huge wet spot on his shoulder, but he didn't mind. Everyone had cried.

After that, they'd had the limos take them back to Troy's house, where they'd hired a caterer to come set up the food, so when they got there everything all ready. Everyone sat around the house, sipping wine and eating, trying to make idle chit-chat, but everything seemed so... wrong.

"Oh, Gabriella!" cried Sharpay, throwing her arms around Gabriella's neck and hugging her so tightly that her face had turned slightly blue by the time Sharpay released her. "I can't believe all of this happened to you, I feel so terrible-,"

"Don't," said Gabriella earnestly. "I understand."

"No, but we were horrible!" Sharpay informed her. "I can't even believe we could be so bad-,"

"It's okay," Gabriella said weakly.

Taylor burst into tears again and embraced Gabriella, so tightly she thought she was going to explode.

"Taylor..." gasped Gabriella. "Let go..."

Chad, looking strangely pale, put his arm softly on Taylor's shoulder. "Come on, Tay. You're choking her." When Taylor let go of her, still weeping, Gabriella noticed a gold wedding band on Chad's hand.

"You guys are married?" she asked weakly, feeling her heart drop. She'd missed her two best friends' wedding...

He nodded. "For a year." Noticing her expression, he quickly added, "We would've invited you, but... we didn't know where to send the invitation," he finished lamely.

She smiled a little. "Don't worry. I know that's not why, but I don't blame you."

"We're sorry, Gabriella!" sobbed Taylor from inside Chad's arms. "We should've invited you, we were terrible people-,"

"It's not your fault!" Gabriella assured her, feeling bad for ever having brought it up. She didn't want Taylor to feel guilty about her wedding during Eva's funeral. "I understand completely."

Taylor shook her head but said no more, tears splashing onto Chad's shoulder.

Gabriella then chanced a look at Sharpay and Kelsi's left hands, and saw that they both wore engagement rings on their fingers.

"So you two are engaged?" said Gabriella lightly.

The two of them nodded. "Zeke and I are planning our wedding for April," Sharpay explained.

"And Jason and I are getting married in June," added Kelsi. "Hope you can make it."

Gabriella nodded enthusiastically. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Ryan put his arm around Gabriella and squeezed her shoulder lightly. "So how are you holding up?" he asked gently.

She turned her head up and offered a small smile. "I'm doing alright." She'd always looked at Ryan like an older brother, and she was glad that he and all her friends were back together.

Troy slipped her arms around her waist, holding her protectively, and soon she found all of her friends had their arms around each other, forming a tight circle. Taylor was still crying, though not as hard, and Sharpay and Kelsi had a couple tears rolling down their cheeks.

"I wish we could have met Eva..." said Kelsi softly from her spot in between Troy and Jason. The other six nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure she was such a remarkable little girl," Ryan said. Gabriella heard herself let out a sob, and every head turned toward her.

"She must've been; look at her mother," said Sharpay earnestly.

"She was," Troy informed them. "The sweetest little girl you could ever have imagined."

Gabriella heaved a shaky sigh, trying to control her cries. "I love you, Eva," she whispered, her eyes closed tight.

"We all love you, Eva, even if we didn't know you," said Sharpay.

Troy added, "And we all love you, Gabriella."