For the next week, Troy went about his life without Gabriella. He went to basketball practice and he went to his classes. He did his homework, ate and slept. And that was pretty much it.

When Friday came around, he was soo busy with basketball and homework that he totally spaced Gabriella was coming home today.

At around 4:00 he went out for one of his walks to the park to let some steam off.

Today was one of those nice September late afternoon days. The sky was clear, there was a warm breeze and the sun was shining. Walking down the path in the park, Troy was so lost in his thoughts, he didn't hear his name being called.

"Troy! Troy!"

He remembered where he was and turned around. There was smiling Gabriella running towards him. He grinned from ear to ear.

"Oh my gosh! Gabriella I completely forgot you came home today."

She ran into his arms. They hugged each other tight.

"I missed you Troy." She said softly into his ear.

"I missed you too." He said into her hair. They let go of each other.

"So how was your trip?" he asked her.

"It was wonderful. It was so nice to be home."

"I bet it was."

"So are you doing anything tonight" he asked

"No, why?"

"Well I've kind of wanted to go up the canyon and see all the colors on the trees. Would you want to go with me?"

"Yeah, I would like that." She looked down at her watch.

"Oh geez, I'd better get home so I can unpack before then."

"Oh, ok, I'll pick you up at 7:30. Ok?"

"Yeah that would be great, see you then." Then she stood up on her tippy toes and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Bye, Troy." She turned and walked away.

At 7:15 Troy left to go pick up Gabriella. When he got there she was already out waiting for him.

"Hey Gabriella, ready?"

"As ready as I'll every be." She said smiling.

As they were driving up they saw lots of pretty colors. The orange setting sun was perfect against the leaves and mountain. Everything was like a great big picture. They stopped in a picnic area to stretch their legs. As soon as they got out Gabriella noticing a sign to the side.

"Hey Troy do you want to go for a walk down this trail?"

He looked over at the trail.

"Sure, why not."

Gabriella led the way down the narrow path. Before they knew it they had walked quite a ways and it was starting to get dark. Troy looked up at the sky. Dark clouds were forming above them. Great, who wants to bet there's going to be a thunderstorm? He thought to himself.

"Gabriella, we should probably head back."

Then it started. The rain just started coming down. Gabriella ran over to him.

"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?" she shouted over the rain.

Troy saw a little run down cabin just to the right of the trail.

"Follow me!"

He held her hand and led her to it. It wasn't great, but it was dry.

"Whew, that was a close one." She said.

"I have bad news." He said to her.

"What?"

"We may have to stay here until morning." He said hesitantly.

"Great, that's just great. How are we supposed to survive with out freezing to death?"

"Here take my jacket. Its not huge but it will help." He held it out to her.

"But you'll freeze." She said worried.

"Ah, I'll be ok. You need it more than I do."

"Thanks."

She took it and then sunk to the floor. She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them.

"So now what do we do?"

"Well, I could go and get help." He said. Immediately Gabriella stood up in protest.

"No you won't. You will not leave me out here by myself." Just then a big clap of thunder rang out through the woods. Gabriella jumped and screamed. Troy took a step closer to her.

"Are you scared of thunderstorms Gabriella?"

"Nnnooo." She said pathetically. Another clap of thunder came. She ran to him and hid her face in his chest.

He laughed softly and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'll take that more as a yes."

"I've always hated thunderstorms. I don't know why I haven't gotten over it yet. You probably think I'm silly."

He leaned back a little.

"Now why on earth would I think that?" he asked her. She shrugged her shoulders.

He led her over to the corner of the room and sat her down. He wrapped the jacket around her tighter and said…

"Now, try to get some sleep. The storm will pass soon."

"Ok." She closed her eyes and tried to get comfortable.

He walked to the opposite side of the room and looked out of the so called window.

It was still raining pretty hard. He shivered. Its going to be a long night. Poor Gabriella, why did I ever take her here? He looked down at his watch. 11:35. He started to walk around the cabin, quietly as to not wake Gabriella. There was a rusting old bowl, a table with lose pieces of wood on it. There were scraps of wood all around. The floor was coated with a layer of dust and dirt. The windows were shattered and jagged. The door had been torn from its frame. I wonder what happened here?

About forty five minutes later the rain had stopped and the stars were out. And Troy was still awake. Suddenly he heard Gabriella stir behind him.

"Troy, Troy where are you?" she said in a scared voice.

He walked over to her.

"I'm right here Gabriella, its ok, go back to sleep."

He sat down by her.

"I can't sleep. I want to go home."

"I know I know, so do I." he said soothingly. She shivered. He put his arm around her. She snuggled into them.

"Troy, I'm glad you're here." She looked up to his face.

"Me to, me to." She laid her head down on his chest and soon fell asleep.

Troy laid his head back and closed his eyes and soon fell asleep as well.

(a/n: ok, how was that. i'll have the next chapter up soon. R&R please)