Disclaimer: It's probably obvious, but I don't own any of the HSM characters or their related elements.

Written July 3, 2006

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 9 – The Safest Place

Entering the baggage carousel area, I dropped my bag near a wall and stretched my back. I had been on the plane for six hours, and fell asleep in a strange contorted position for the last two. Outside the windows, the sky already looked dark. My watch read eight o'clock, meaning it was already eleven here.

I picked up my bag and started to walk around, looking for Taylor in the scattered crowd waiting for my airplane. There seemed to be a family reunion going on in one area, and several people meeting up with their other halves. But I couldn't see Taylor's familiar face anywhere.

Then suddenly, I felt a tap at my shoulder. And turning around, there was Taylor, grinning like a fool. I felt a smile start to spread uncontrollably across my face. I'd forgotten how wonderful it felt to be with her.

She folded her arms. "Thanks for the wildly inaccurate e-mail, Gabi," she said, smiling. "I've been here for half an hour, back when your plane should have arrived."

I shrugged, grinning. "I guess the pilots didn't get the memo that Taylor McKessie hates to wait. Too busy trying to ensure the safety of their passengers, or something."

She frowned. "So inconsiderate." And then she melted into a delighted laugh. "Oh, I've missed you, Gabi. Come here."

And she threw her arms around me, hugging me tight. I hugged her back and felt a lump suddenly rise in my throat. Nobody had touched me with this much love in a long time. When she let go, I found myself blinking back tears, so happy to have someone who cared about me. A few escaped and I wiped them away with my hand, sniffling just a little.

"Hey, I thought you'd be happy to see me," she said, letting out a laugh. Then she paused abruptly. "Unless… you're not crying about me." She gave me a sideways look. "It's not Troy, is it?"

She'd gotten it in one shot. She could always read me like a book. Still trying to fight the tears, I nodded, unable to speak. Her face crumpled in sympathy.

"Oh, Gabi..."

She put her arm around me, and suddenly the tears started to fall as she walked us down to the airport train station. And feeling exhausted, I leaned on her shoulder and let her shepherd me all the way home.

----------------------------------------------

Taylor lived in the Murray Hills area of Manhattan, where all the young investment bankers rented tiny, gorgeous spaces for an exorbitant amount of money. Some time after I left New York, she'd moved to a brand new fifteen-story tower called the Cypress, a red brick building with huge glass windows dotting every floor. Getting into the apartment, I dropped my bag on the floor and walked around while Taylor went to the kitchen and fussed over something. We had fallen into our sisterly best-friend relationship almost immediately. It felt suddenly strange to think I had been across the country from her just this morning.

Her place was a studio apartment, meaning she simply had one big space shaped like an "L" and no bedroom. Instead, the end of the L furthest from the front door served as the "sleeping alcove," and the rest of it was the living room. But she had decorated the whole place immaculately, in rich shades of brown with white and aquamarine details, complementing the honey-colored hardwood floors. The small kitchen and bathroom to the left of the front door were clean with modern-looking fixtures. A panel of windows stretching across the entire wall opposite the front door added a brightness as well. None of it was as messy as she said it was.

I went over to the sleeping alcove, which was dominated by a queen bed covered in a soft brown duvet, with aquamarine pillows underneath. It looked so comfortable that I flopped down onto it without thinking. Taylor came in with a cup of tea, and I took it gratefully as she sat down at the end of the bed. It was past midnight, and it suddenly felt like we were at a sleepover, staying up late to bond over gossip and shared secrets.

She looked at me matter-of-factly as I sipped the tea. "So, what's going on with you and Troy?" she asked.

She had been graciously silent on the train ride home, but I knew she was dying for the details. My voice was quiet as I answered. "I don't know if I want to marry him anymore."

I'd never said that out loud, and the words cut through me like a knife. I felt the tears try to come up but fought them back. I didn't want to bawl like a baby all day.

"Wow," she said, nodding gravely. "What happened?"

"Well… we fought," I said. "And I started to realize that I don't know who he is, if I ever did." I choked suddenly. "And I don't even know who I am anymore. I think we… we might have jumped into this too soon."

She looked thoughtful. "What did you fight about?" she asked.

"Well… about us," I said, twisting the teacup in my hands. "But… it actually all started with Sharpay and Zeke."

I told her everything. All about Sharpay and Zeke's problems with the prenuptial agreement and the rest, and how Troy and I wound up fighting over the same things. And I talked about how I felt I was losing myself… and the second fight from yesterday.

She was quiet for a minute, then spoke up in a careful voice. "Well," she said, "okay."

I looked at her. "What does that mean?"

She shot me a stern look. "It means I'm thinking, so shut up for a second." She looked down at the bedspread, smoothing it out around her with her hand, then looked back at me. "Well… I don't know anything about Zeke and Sharpay. But you, I know." She paused. "Do you remember when you first moved to New York?"

I finished my tea and put the cup down on the bedside table. "Yeah," I said. "I remember being terrified, but it got better really fast."

"Yeah," she said. "But… don't you remember that you hung out with me a lot?"

I looked at her strangely. "Why wouldn't I? You're my best friend."

"But…" She stretched out the word but. "I helped you find your apartment, your first job, and a lot of your friends."

"You did not…"

But I trailed off. I suddenly knew she was right. I'd been dropped instantly into Taylor's world the minute I came to New York. I looked at her in a state of slight shock.

She shrugged kindly. "Well… it's just what you do when you go somewhere new. You lean on the people who can help you first. Then you branch out, find some things of your own." She paused and looked at me. "You didn't abandon me when you did go out to find your own stuff to do, either."

I'd brought her with me most of the time, actually. "No," I said, feeling my stomach twist.

"And I don't know, but you guys moved in together really fast—just like that," she said, snapping her fingers. "So you've kind of got two things going on right now… figuring out your place in a new city, and figuring out your relationship."

She shrugged again. "I guess I'm playing devil's advocate here… but doing that kind of doubly ensures you're going to be following his lead. For guidance in a new place… and because you both wanted to be a couple. You just naturally want to put your lives together in a way you never had before. But that also doesn't mean you won't find your own things, in time."

Of course she was right. I lowered my head, feeling suddenly shaky. She was making so much sense… and I hadn't thought of any of that when I had stonewalled Troy yesterday. A strange sickening wave washed over me, and suddenly a tear fell down my cheek. I brushed it away quickly and tried to concentrate on what Taylor was still saying.

"So, I don't know," she said, letting out a breath. "You guys aren't talking. And you need to talk about the babies and stuff. That you should have done for sure." She looked at me sideways. "But… besides that, as far as I can tell, I don't know if you've got grounds for dismissal just yet."

I looked up at her. "I don't?"

She shook her head, smiling, and moved to sit next to me. "No," she said, putting her arm around my shoulders. "You wouldn't be crying like this, all night, if you weren't really afraid you might lose him." She looked at me. "And you definitely wouldn't be still wearing his ring."

Looking down at my hand, I remembered how my heart leapt when he asked me to marry him. And then suddenly, I burst into tears, shaking. Despite everything that had happened, I wanted nothing more but to be back with him. Taylor was always right.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note: Ahh, Gabi's pretty lucky to have a best friend like Taylor. She's a real gem :) Also, thanks times a million to you readers as always. I'm quick with this chapter today, but even so you still found time to send me 11 reviews already for the last one! Fantastic work, and I can't wait to hear more from you. Hope you liked this one… I told you things were looking up…