Author's Note: I am sorry I took so long to update. It's a long story, but let's just say it involves my brother and the hospital. Okay, well anyway here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't High School Musical.

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"I am so embarrassed," Troy confessed as he and Gabriella walked into the publishers.

Gabriella chuckled as she saw him blush furiously. "Don't worry about it, Troy. You were probably distracted," Gabriella replied.

Troy let Gabriella walk in front of him, leading him towards a room. "Yeah, distracted," he mumbled so only he could hear. Gabriella had called him earlier, and told him about the invitation incident. Troy immediately felt like an idiot when he in fact saw the correction invitation on the table. Now they were at another publisher, since the one the agency left for the week. They came upon double doors, and Gabriella pushed through them forcefully. In the next room, there were about twenty desks, all facing the front of the room. When she entered, all the heads snapped up.

"Oh, hi Gabriella," one of them in front said happily, but frowned when he saw Troy.

Gabriella put on a fake smile. "Hey Jake, I'm here with my client, Troy," she introduced, making a hand gesture to Troy.

Jake smiled and took Troy's hand. Troy noticed that Jake's expression lightened when Gabriella said he was just a client.

"I have something for you," she said as she sat in front of his desk. Jake had short black hair, and brown eyes. Troy followed suit and sat in the chair next to her.

Jake grinned at Gabriella. "Well, I always knew you would come back to me," he said seductively.

Troy noticed that she grimaced a bit, but continued. "Not like that, I need you to publish something for me," she proclaimed.

Jake leaned back in his chair and made a face. "What do you need me to publish?" he asked.

"100 wedding invitations," she replied simply.

"100? Gabriella, you do know that I have special prices," he answered wiggling his eyebrows.

Gabriella rolled her eyes and gave a face of disgust. "For God's sake you're married!" she exclaimed.

Jake sent her a glare. "That's because you broke up with me," he snapped.

"Yes, because you were cheating on me! Which I see is a quality that you haven't lost," she retorted back, her voice cracking.

Jake narrowed his eyes. "I told you she was just a friend! She didn't mean anything to me!" he shouted. People in the room were starting to look up from their desks, taking more interest in Gabriella and Jake's argument rather than their own work. Gabriella was now standing over Jake's desk, tears forming on the edge of her eye lids. Troy was still in his seat, stunned at the sight that was taking place before him.

Gabriella scoffed. "That's really promising, Jake. You married a woman that doesn't mean anything to you. Never mind about the invitations, I can get them published by someone who isn't a cheating prick," Gabriella shot while taking Troy's hand and leading him out of the publishers. As they were walking out, they heard Jake trying to convince her to come back, but Gabriella kept walking straight ahead. She felt a tear escape her eye, and soon her vision was blurry from teardrops wanting to fall down onto her face. Gabriella walked out of the building and outside, but only to find that it had started raining. She stood on the sidewalk, under the extended roof top.

"Hey," Troy said softly as he saw a tear drip down her cheek. Gabriella didn't say anything, but just let the tears continue to fall. He pulled her to him and wiped the tears that were dripping down her face.

"It's okay," he whispered comfortingly, trying to calm her down. It did no good though, because then Gabriella broke down in sobs. He drew her closer to him; her face was now buried in his chest. Troy wrapped his arms around her, and he felt her breathing start to become normal again. She took a deep, shaky breath and pulled away.

"I'm sorry for crying like this, it just-" Gabriella stopped in mid-sentence, and looked down. "It just brings back memories that I've tried hard to forget, and when he brought it up again, I just couldn't take it," she replied, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

"Are you okay?" Troy asked carefully, concern filling his voice.

She heaved in a breath, her chest moving up and down slowly. "Lisa," she mumbled, sitting on the ground against the wall.

"Sorry?" he inquired, not understanding what she meant.

"Lisa was her name. He was supposed to take me out one night. When he didn't pick me up when he said he would, I got a little worried. After about an hour with no contact, I drove to his apartment. When I came in, I saw them. They were, well-" Gabriella told Troy but he interjected at the last part.

"I think I know what happens next," Troy said as he sat next to her on the sidewalk.

Gabriella nodded and looked down at the ground. "I really haven't dated since then, which was three years ago," she grumbled.

Troy sent her a look of sympathy, but she couldn't see it because she kept her face hidden. Suddenly, Troy had an idea.

"Hey, let's not do work today. Let's do something else," he suggested as he stood up and held a hand out to her.

Gabriella looked up at him questionably. "Something else?" she repeated, taking his hand and standing up.

Troy nodded. "Yep, something that's not work related. You're stressed, so we're taking a break," he replied with a smile as he started making way to the car. Gabriella laughed quietly as she followed.

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"Hello?" Taylor asked, answering her home phone, stepping away from her bubbling soup on the stove.

"Hey Taylor," Chad greeted happily.

Taylor felt a smile creep up upon her lips. "Hi, what's up?" she asked jovially.

She heard him chuckle on the other line. "Nothing too much, but I think we need to talk about Troy and Gabriella," he said.

Taylor put down her ladle. "Yeah, I think so also. You go first," she responded, leaning back on her kitchen sink.

"Troy left his phone here last night, and well he got a voice mail. Me being me, I checked it. It was from Melanie. She's coming back tomorrow, and with her parents," Chad informed her with slight disappointment in his voice.

Taylor groaned and let her head fall back. "Tomorrow? We're never going to get the back together with things at this rate. Especially with this Jeremy guy butting in also," she replied.

"Jeremy? Who?" Chad asked confused.

"Yeah, that's my part I need to tell you. When Gabriella left before, Jeremy left a voice mail also, when I was still in her apartment. Basically it said he wants to go out with her on a date," she answered, now stirring her soup.

Chad let out a long sigh. "Well, this is just fantastic," he said sarcastically.

Taylor let out a laugh. "Yeah, you can say that again."

"Wait, you said he left a voice mail?" he asked slowly.

Taylor had a confused look on her face, but answered, "Yes."

She heard him snap his fingers in the background. "Okay, then it's simple; delete the message before she gets home," he suggested.

Taylor poured the soup into a bowl and walked over to her couch. "Delete it? Isn't that invading privacy?" she asked nervously.

Chad scoffed. "Like you already weren't when you listened to the message?" he inquired.

"Touché," she answered rolling her eyes, "but I don't know what time she'll be home."

"Then go now!" he exclaimed with urgency in his voice, "hurry!"

Taylor jumped at the loudness of his voice, causing her soup to go all over her shirt. She growled, and muttered some curse words under her breath. "Alright! And thanks for making me spill my soup all over my shirt," she answered irritated, walking over to her bathroom.

"Oh, sorry. But go now, delete it, and then call me when the task is complete," he answered all spy like. Taylor rolled her eyes, and continued to wipe off the soup.

"Yeah, sure," she replied plainly. She gave up on cleaning her shirt, and made her way into her bedroom.

"Talk to you soon," he said before hanging up the phone.

"Okay, bye," she replied clicking the 'end' button on her phone. Taylor changed her shirt, grabbed her pair of Gabriella's apartment keys, and bolted out the door.

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"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Troy said as he watched Gabriella pour another shot down her throat. "Now, when I said let's do something else, I didn't think you would take it this way," he continued with a slight smile on his lips. They decided to go to get something to eat, and Gabriella spotted a grill/bar. They both ate sufficient meals for dinner, but Gabriella wanted to stop at the bar for a drink. Troy obliged, but soon one drink turned into another, and then another until the point where she started to drink shots.

Gabriella grinned and reached for another one on the bar counter. Troy quickly took it out from her reach, causing her to stretch for it. She staggered and lost her balance on her stool, and started to fall forward, but Troy caught her before her chin hit his chair.

"Okay, I think you've had enough for tonight," he muttered as he helped her sit back up on the stool. He then turned to the bartender, and left out enough money for all the beverages they had.

"She going to be okay?" he asked, eyeing Gabriella.

Troy looked at her, and saw that her eyes started to droop, and her body was starting to lean to the side. Troy immediately went to her before she fell, and helped her off the chair. He then turned back to the bartender as he took her arm and placed it around his neck, while his arm held her up by her waist.

"Oh yeah, she'll be fine," he answered with a smile.

The bartender grinned back. "Have a good night," he said as they toddled out the door.

Troy walked with Gabriella to his car, and placed her gently in the passenger side. He looked at her before he shut the door, and moved a piece of hair that was in her face behind her ear. He smiled as he closed the door and climbed in the driver's seat. Troy drove quietly to Gabriella's apartment, because she had fallen asleep. When they pulled up to the building, Troy carefully nudged her awake.

"Gabi," he said softly as he opened the passenger door. Her eyes opened slowly, and then she turned her head and looked at Troy. She smiled slightly before she started to descend out of the side of the car. Luckily he stopped her, and brought her out of the car into the sultry night towards her apartment building.

"Okay, which one is your key?" he asked as he let go of her waist and started looking at her keys.

Gabriella didn't answer and walked over to the wall. She slid down it carelessly and plopped down on the ground. She let her head fall back and hit the brick wall. Her eyes started to droop off again, and she wanted nothing more than to sleep. When Troy noticed this, he leant beside her and tried to keep her awake.

"Gabi," he said quietly. "Gabs, I need to you to tell me which one is your key," he said shaking the keys for her too see.

Gabriella looked at them warily, and then answered, "The one with the doggies and the moons."

Troy tore his eyes away from Gabriella and looked at the key chain. He saw no key with the pattern she described. He laughed slightly.

"Okay, you just sit there," he replied as he turned around and began to try keys in the main doorway. He was about through the fifth key when a familiar face opened the door.

"Taylor?" he asked, holding a hand in front of this face from the light.

"Troy?" she inquired equally confused, squinting at him on the ground. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

Troy stood fully up. "I'm here with Gabriella," he answered. "What about you?" he asked.

Taylor looked down at the ground. "I left some things in Gabriella's apartment. I was just picking them up," she replied. "Where is Gabriella?" she asked suddenly.

Troy smiled and moved to the side. Taylor squinted and saw a sleeping form of Gabriella against the wall. She chuckled. "She's drunk, isn't she?"

He put his hands up. "Basically," he answered laughing himself. "You want to help me carry her upstairs?" he asked heading over to Gabriella.

Just then a mischievous grin formed on her face. "You know what? Um, I just remembered, I have an appointment with my doctor, about um, a rash," she answered, keeping the door open.

Troy looked up at her with raised eyebrows. "At 10 o'clock?" he asked looking at his watch.

"Yeah, uh, he's nocturnal. Strange man, really. Anyway, honor's all yours. Oh, and her house key is the one with the red," she said as she wedged a stick in the door to keep it open. She then smiled and started to walk off. Troy looked after with a confused look on, but nonetheless picked Gabriella up off the ground bridal style and began to walk inside the apartment building. As he was walking up the stairs, she started to wake up. She looked up at who was holding her, and she saw Troy. She smiled as she continued to watch him. Once he reached her door, he set her down on the floor, where she staggered a bit, but regained her balance. Troy opened the door with the key that Taylor told him. As expected, the door swung wide open. He grinned as he helped her inside.

Gabriella yawned while staggering into her apartment. She stumbled in the dark, and then plopped down on her couch. Troy flipped on a light as he heard a weak sob from the couch. He snapped his head in the direction of the couch and saw tears falling from Gabriella's chocolate brown eyes. Troy hurried to the sofa and sat next to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, rubbing her back.

Gabriella shook her head. "Nothing, it's stupid," she replied swallowing.

Troy took her hand. "Nothing is stupid if it's making you upset," he replied.

Gabriella turned her head and looked in his cobalt blue eyes. She took a breath and then began to speak quietly. "Sometimes I just ask myself, if was adequate enough for him. If I passed his standard of women. And every time I think back to night where I found him, I apparently wasn't."

"Gabi, no. That's not true. He's an idiot. He doesn't know what he's missing," he replied as he wiped a tear away with his thumb.

Gabriella gave a slight smile and took a shaky breath. "Thanks," she muttered before enfolding her arms around him in a hug. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. He liked the feeling of having her close to his body, feeling the heat of it against his. She pulled away and then rested her head on his chest.

"Troy, this might seem a little weird for me to be asking, but would you mind staying with me tonight? Not as your wedding planner, but as a friend?" she asked quietly.

He looked down at her, and saw her russet brown eyes. "Yeah, sure," he answered with a smile on. She grinned back and relaxed into his chest. He put an arm around her back and he felt her place her hand beside her face on his chest. Gabriella felt herself drift off to sleep peacefully in the arms of Troy Bolton.

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Author's Note: Okay, not the best chapter, but my family has been hectic lately with my older brother in the hospital and it's really late as I write this; I'm surprised I even had the energy to sit and write it. I hope it's okay, and I will try to get the next chapter up much sooner than this one took. Please review! It will make me feel better! Thanks!