DISCLAIMER: I do not own High School Musical or any related characters.
A/N: So this is the new chapter and I hope that you all enjoy it, second last chapter, so you'd better! Just joking, here it is.
Saving Me
CHAPTER 12
THE SMILE ON YOUR FACE
Gabriella sat at the table in her kitchen tapping the counter nervously. Today was the Scholastic Decathlon and Gabriella had never felt so nervous, she wasn't quite sure why she was nervous she'd done these things hundreds of times before but all the same she was nervous. Sighing she ignored the amused look her mother sent and stopped tapping. Why was she so nervous? She knew the material off by heart or at least she thought she did, for a moment Gabriella panicked, did she know the material as well as she thought she did? What if she slipped up and forgot something? Or misspelled something? Or read it wrong? Unconsciously Gabriella started to tap the bench again; her drumming fingers were the only thing that could be heard in the silent kitchen. She knew her mother kept on sending her amused looks; she didn't know what was funny and she wasn't particularly keen on finding out. Where on earth was her father? Gabriella froze as the thought burst into her mind. She couldn't believe that she had just thought that, where had it come from? Why had it suddenly appeared? Gabriella knew her breathing was shallow and she made an attempt at calming down. It worked, sort of. She could feel her breathing become more even and her body relax, but her mind seemed to be going a mile a minute, the questions flowing through her mind seemed to pick up speed and Gabriella began to feel dizzy.
"Gabriella, it's time for you to go to school" Carmen's voice, laced with amusement, broke through Gabriella's thoughts and she looked at her mother.
"Huh? Oh right, school, um, where's my bag?" Gabriella's sentence amused Carmen much more than her actions; she fought the urge to laugh and instead settled on a gentle smile.
"It's sitting next to your chair, which is where it has been for the past fifteen minutes" she told Gabriella gently and Gabriella looked at her, fear evident in her eyes.
"You'll come to the decathlon, won't you mom?" Gabriella asked and Carmen's smile grew wider as she got up and walked over to her nervous daughter.
"Of course, I wouldn't miss it. Have a good day at school" Carmen said kissing Gabriella's forehead.
"Thanks mom, love you" Gabriella left the kitchen with Carmen wondering exactly what had happened to her daughter of the past few weeks. Although Carmen wouldn't tell Gabriella, but she guessed the entire reason Gabriella seemed more like the Gabriella before Carlos passed on was because of the boy that had shown up a few days to talk to her. Carmen had opened the door as he had been leaving and seen them together. She had seen the look on Gabriella's face and knew that the content smile that had been on her face, had only ever shown itself when she had been with her father. Carmen had a funny feeling that the boy had been the one that Gabriella had let in.
Gabriella, upon arriving at school, went in search of Troy. She didn't want to see Taylor just yet, mainly because she would begin quizzing her about the decathlon, she didn't want to see Chad, who had strangely begun to talk to her, she had a sneaking suspicion that both Troy and Taylor had gotten on his case about her and he had decided to give her a go and to his surprise she was everything that Troy had told him she was, he'd said as much. No, she didn't want to see Chad because the only thing he would be talking about was the basketball game, he'd actually taken to giving her and Taylor lectures on basketball, which they'd found amusing the first ten times. She just wanted to see Troy because he would know exactly what to say to her, he always seemed to. Sighing in relief she turned a corner and saw him at his locker, Gabriella walked quickly and reached him without him noticing her.
"Hey" she said softly and he turned to face her, an annoyed expression on his face, which softened when he saw who it was.
"Hey" he replied and Gabriella laughed slightly at him.
"What?" Troy grinned at her shutting his locker door and leaning against it.
"You thought I was a cheerleader didn't you? Coming to wish you good luck?" Gabriella replied and Troy turned slightly red.
"You got me, I was getting annoyed, hey what's wrong?" he asked her suddenly concerned and Gabriella froze. How could he do that? How could he see right past her defenses? How could he know something was wrong?
"Um, nothing" she replied a little too quickly.
"You're lying to me Gabriella" he said and before she could protest he pulled her into a hug, Gabriella relaxed instantly and her arms crept around his waist.
"Now are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Troy asked quietly, Gabriella shivered as she felt his warm breath on her cheek, this was unfair, he wasn't allowed to do that, he wasn't allowed to use her weakness against her. Gabriella knew that as soon as Troy so much as touched her, everything crumbled and she always told him the truth, it was something that he had picked up on the last few days and he used it all the time.
"I had a freak out this morning about the decathlon and while I was having it I slipped back into thinking I was in my old life and Dad was still alive, at least that's what it felt like, and than I almost asked Mom where dad was" she admitted softly, so that only he could hear.
"Gabriella, have you let go yet?" Troy asked as his hand rubbed her back.
Gabriella pulled back from him and looked up to see he was very serious. She looked at him curiously.
"Let go of what?" she said curiously, she hadn't left the circle of his arms, she'd just moved so that she could see his face clearly.
"Your dad" Troy replied and Gabriella felt her mouth drop open. Where had this come from?
"What do you mean 'let go'?" Gabriella snapped and Troy sighed.
"Gabriella, sometimes when I watch you, it seems like you want to be living your old life, it's like you want to live it because if you don't you're going to forget your dad. When I say let go, I mean let go of your old life and let go of your memories" Gabriella stared at Troy in shock, unable to believe that he had just said.
"Of my memories" she repeated blinking and Troy's hand continued its path, Gabriella didn't know what to do.
"Gabriella, you're not remembering your good times with your dad. You keep reliving the day and you're not letting go of that day, when you have to. Gabi, you're not going to be happy until you let what happened go and start remembering your dad the way he wanted you to remember him" Troy said sounding slightly frustrated with her. Gabriella stood frozen as she realized what he had just called her, she'd asked her mother to not call her that and she had obliged. But it sounded so……different coming from Troy. Gabriella didn't know how it made her feel.
"How can I let go, Troy? I haven't been back to the grave since we buried him, I don't want to go back to the grave until I find out why it happened! That's all I want, is to know why it had to happen to me and than maybe I can let go" Gabriella said and she felt a single tear slide down her face as he looked at her.
Troy didn't say anymore he just pulled her closer to him, Gabriella closed her eyes and leaned into him and wondered if Troy was right. She wondered if she did need to let go of her dad so she could find the peace that she had been craving. She wondered if she needed to let go so that she could remember him the way he had wanted her to remember him. She wondered if she needed to let go so that she could be content again.
"Come on, we have to get to homeroom" Troy said after a moment, Gabriella pulled away from him and smiled, Troy didn't let her go, however, he kept his arm firmly around her shoulders and after a moment she slipped her arm around his waist.
They reached their homeroom and paused, neither really wanting to enter. Finally Troy sighed and Gabriella grinned.
"We have to go in" he said sounding less than happy.
"Mmm-hmm, if I don't see you before good luck with your game" Gabriella said kissing his cheek.
"Good luck with your decathlon" he replied with a grin, dropping a kiss on her forehead, Gabriella smiled back at him and than reluctantly they separated as they walked into the room. Both knowing that they weren't going to get a moment alone till it was all over.
Gabriella watched the clock nervously. It was last period and every minute pulled her closer to the decathlon. She was nervous; she'd admitted it several times to Taylor and a few times to Chad and both of them had begun to find her nerves amusing. Gabriella still wasn't sure why she was nervous and she still wasn't that keen on finding out. She wished Troy was there to help her calm down, but she hadn't spoken to him since homeroom. He'd walk into class late and leave before anyone was out of their seats. She'd looked at him a few times during the course of the day and she'd noticed that he was nervous as well, she didn't blame him, he was carrying the weight of winning the game on his shoulders and she could tell that he wasn't particularly happy about it. Gabriella was snapped out of her thoughts by the bell, she sat there, frozen, completely terrified of the thought of doing what she was about to do.
"Gabriella? Are you okay?" Taylor asked looking at her friends worriedly.
Gabriella looked up at her, at loss for words. Taylor looked at her with raised eyebrows, unable to read her face. Taylor wished Troy hadn't left so he could get Gabriella to talk.
"Yep, I'm great, sorry zoned out for a second" Gabriella replied and braced herself for a Troy related comment.
"Oh okay, well come on" Taylor replied and Gabriella gave her a bizarre look, Taylor just shrugged in reply and the two girls headed to their respective lockers.
Gabriella reached hers and yanked it open, ignoring the entire school thundering past to the gym. She placed her books in and felt herself prick her finger on something.
"Ow" Gabriella muttered pulling it out and examining the wound.
After deciding it was harmless, Gabriella turned her attention back to her locker to see what had pricked her finger. On closer inspection Gabriella found a single red rose and a note, both from Troy. She could feel a stupid grin forming on her face as she read the note and smelled the rose. For a moment she felt completely calm and prepared for whatever came next.
Gabriella walked into the classroom the decathlon was being held in and looked around for her mother. A sick feeling arrived in her stomach when she discovered that her mother wasn't there yet. This wasn't fair; her mother had said she would be here. Gabriella closed her eyes and counted to ten and than reopened them, only to be disappointed again. She wasn't there.
"Gabriella, we've got three minutes before we start" Taylor whispered to her and Gabriella nodded absently, her eyes desperately scanning the seats to find her mother.
"Don't look so worried, I told you I wouldn't miss it" her mother whispered in her ear.
Gabriella spun around to face her and felt a relieved smile break out on her face.
"I wasn't worried" she replied and Carmen smiled at her and than noticed the rose her daughter held.
"Secret admirer?" she asked nodding at it and than watched in amusement as Gabriella went a deep shade of red.
"I'm going to choose not to answer that" Gabriella replied and felt Taylor pinch her, Gabriella looked at her curiously and than realized that the competition was about to start.
"I'll talk to you later" she whispered to her mother who nodded and went to find a seat.
As soon as her mother left Gabriella's nerves took hold and she began to feel slightly sick. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. It didn't help, Gabriella allowed her eyes to drift down and rest on the rose. Almost immediately the feeling of nausea receded and Gabriella felt calm enough to stand up and join her teammates, who were waiting for the start of the competition. She looked at Taylor and they exchanged a confident grin, both prepared for what was coming.
For Gabriella, the decathlon flew by. To her it felt like it had just started when they announced East High the winner. Gabriella stood there as the congratulations swirled around her, feeling slightly incomplete. She didn't know why she feeling incomplete, she just did and she couldn't figure out whether it was because her dad was missing or because Troy was missing. She jumped when Taylor grabbed her hand.
"We won, thanks to you, anyway we have to get to the gym the game just finished and the Wildcats won" Taylor said and Gabriella blinked a few times and then registered what she had said.
"Okay, sure, let me tell my mom" Gabriella nodded as she spoke and was already unbuttoning her lab coat.
Gabriella walked into the gym, and looked around the gym with a sarcastic expression on her face. This definitely wasn't unusual, all these people hugging other people that they didn't know. The teachers were celebrating by jumping around and hugging each other and in the middle of it all she could see Troy. Smiling she pushed through the crowd to reach him. Once she had she slipped her hand into his.
"Hey" she whispered in his ear, he turned his head and grinned at her.
"I heard you won too" he said and Gabriella blushed furiously.
"Yeah we did, although the celebration wasn't as big as this" she said and he laughed.
They stood there in silence for a moment as people milled around them, Troy nodded at a few people and spoke to a few as well, but he never let go of Gabriella's hand. She stood there silently and watched him as he spoke; she observed the dried sweat on his forehead and how his hair stuck to his head, she observed how relaxed he was. Her eyes crept along his jaw line, up over his moving mouth, she followed the curve of his cheek and than blushed when her eyes met his blue ones, which were looking at her curiously. Gabriella could feel her stomach flip as the eyes turned serious, and the emotion that seemed to fill his eyes when he was looking at her surfaced.
"Troy! My man, your dad wants us on stage" Chad jumped up out of no-where and Gabriella suddenly realized how close Troy's face was to hers, she went a deep shade of red and let go of Troy's hand.
"Okay, Chad" when Chad had bounded away Troy continued "Look, the school's holding an after party. So save me a dance?" he asked her, Gabriella smiled up at him and nodded.
"Sure" she replied and he was forced to run off when they heard Chad's voice yelling for him.
Gabriella stood there for a moment and than wrapped her arms around herself, she could see some girls giving her envious looks and her mind returned to the nervous feeling in her stomach that had seemed to disappear. Gabriella looked around and suddenly found she couldn't be there anymore, she needed to get out of the gym. She needed time to think.
Gabriella stared at the stars, she was on the rooftop and although she could hear music blaring from the gym, she found the night silent and still. Gabriella sighed as her mind drifted back to Troy's words this morning, he wanted to her let go and the more she thought about it the more his words began to make sense to her. All she remembered was the day and the night before. Her mind kept on running into a brick wall when she tried to remember any of the good times. She just couldn't. Gabriella sighed again and her mind turned to the nervousness she'd felt and that's when she realized what had been wrong. How could she not have known that? It had been obvious to her mother why she was so nervous, so why had it taken her so long to figure it out?
"Hey, what are you doing up here?" Troy's voice broke through her thoughts and Gabriella jumped and turned to face him.
"Thinking" she replied, noticing he had changed and his hair was slightly damp.
"About what?" he asked.
"You know how I was nervous today? I finally figured out why I was nervous" Gabriella replied and Troy came and leaned against the railing beside her.
"And why where you nervous?" Troy said not looking at her.
"Today was my first competition without my dad coming to watch me. I think that maybe I thought that I couldn't compete without him coming to watch me" she replied quietly.
They were both silent for a moment and Gabriella looked at the stars. Unsure what he was going to say next.
"You know how this morning you told me you wanted to know why it happened to you?" he asked and Gabriella looked at him in surprise, his voice was low and careful.
"Yes" she replied and waited as he turned his head to look at her, his eyes unbearably bright.
"Maybe it happened to you because you needed to learn to live as yourself and create a life that is your own. I know you were close to your father, but you were living in your father's shadow. Maybe you needed to learn to appreciate him as his own person and you needed to learn to be your own person. Maybe that's why it happened to you" Gabriella stared at him and opened her mouth to respond, when a song started to play and Troy turned to her. Silently he offered her his hand and she accepted, he spun her around and than slipped an arm around her waist while she rested an arm on his shoulder.
It's amazing how you
Can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word
You can light up the dark
Try as I may
I can never explain
What I hear when you don't say a thing
The smile on your face
Lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in you eyes
Saying you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand
Says you'll catch me where ever I fall
You say it best
When you say nothing at all
All day long
I can hear people talking out loud
But when you hold me near
You drown out the crowd
Try as they may
They can never define
What's been said between your heart and mine
The smile on your face
Lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes
Saying you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand
Says you'll catch me where ever I fall
You say it best
When you say nothing at all
The smile on your face
Lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes
Saying you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand
Says you'll catch me where ever I fall
You say it best
When you say nothing at all
That smile on your face
The truth in your eyes
The touch of your hand
Lets me know that you need me
The song faded out and Gabriella and Troy stopped moving. She looked up at him and smiled, it did amaze her how he managed to speak right to her heart, he always managed to light up the dark for her, she couldn't explain what happened when he just looked at her. The smile on his face left her in no doubt that he needed her, as she gazed into his eyes she knew that he would never leave her, his touch told her he would catch where ever she fell. He did drown out the crowd when he held her and there was nothing to define what was being said between them at that moment. Gabriella slipped her arms around his neck as his hand moved to caress her cheek, she shivered as his hand made contact with her cheek. As she looked up at him, her breath caught in her throat as he leaned in closer and closer. Gabriella's eyes drifted shut as their lips connected for the first time. This was different from when he kissed her cheek or her forehead, because there was something indescribable about it. Gabriella felt his arm that rested on her waist tighten and she felt a new sensation. Gabriella felt Troy catching her right before she hit the ground, she felt him silence the questions forever, she could feel him take away all the leftover pain and she felt elated. He made everything alright, he could read her like an open book, there was no way that she could hide from him, he'd known her for two weeks and he already knew her inside out.
They pulled apart, the need for air finally getting to them. Troy kept his face close to Gabriella's and she smiled.
"Wow" he whispered.
"Thank you Troy" she replied and he looked at her, confused.
"Thank you for everything, thank you for seeing past my defenses, thank you for forcing me to confront my feelings, thank you for putting the pieces back together, thank you for catching me, thank you for making me feel again. Thank you for saving me" Gabriella said and he smiled.
"Your welcome" Troy said and he kissed her again.
Gabriella smiled inwardly and returned the pressure of his lips. Try as she may she could never define what's being said between his heart and hers.
A/N: Done! I hope you all liked it! I'm working on the next chapter for 'Crash World' those who are interested so it should be up soon, as should the next chapter for 'Chemicals React', so yeah, oh the song was 'The Smile On Your Face' by Paul Brandt. I'll try and update soon!