Gabriella woke the next morning and smiled as she looked up at her boyfriend who was still holding her tight. She almost laughed as she noticed that her hand rested on his heart, it was such a line from a romance novel but she adored it. Her thoughts were interrupted by Chad's voice. "What the -"
"Shh." She whispered, not wanting to wake Troy. She tried to sit up and giggled quietly when Troy only gripped her tighter and buried his face in the crook of her neck. "I don't want to wake him."
Chad sighed. "G, he should be worried about you, not the other way 'round."
"I know Chad, and he is. Believe me, our conversation last night proved that, but I love him, so I'm going to worry about him as well."
The junior nodded. "Why is he in your bed?"
"I asked him to be. I just woke up and I felt safe with him holding me, I knew I'd feel safe and sleep better if he was holding me for the night."
"Ok." The boy ran his fingers through his hair. "The doctor umm - Doctor Miller told us what happened, are you ok?"
It was Gabriella's turn to sigh. "I can't really answer that question Chad. I mean, after what Austin did to me and getting in the accident, of course I'm not ok. But I know that, with you and Troy, Locky and the girls, I'll be fine. It may take a while but eventually, everything will be ok... one day."
"I admire your optimism Gabs."
"We've got to, if we don't have hope, how do you expect to get through this, get the girls through this and Locky -"
Chad cut her off. "Gabriella, you know I love Locky and the girls, but right now is not about them. We'll figure all that out later, just like we always do but right now, it's about you and getting you through what you've been through."
"I just want to get past it. It's done now and at least we don't have to worry about Mom and Austin anymore."
Chad inwardly sighed, knowing she was trying to avoid the subject but also knowing that if he continued to push, she'd shut herself away completely. "That's true, but now we have a different issue. Coach and Mrs Bolton have taken a temporary custody of us while social services try to contact Dad. There are only three things that are going to happen G, either he's gonna take us, to wherever the hell he's living, he'll give custody to someone else or we're going into foster care and we'll most likely be split up."
Gabriella felt the lump in her throat. "I know... I know that the foster care is a possibility and the most likely option at this point, I just don't want it to come to that. I'm not willing to lose you guys. But if Dad takes custody, we're going to have to move but I love my life here, I love this town."
Chad moved to his sister's side. "I know, no matter what happens, something's going to go wrong. I'm sorry G." She only nodded, trying to control her emotions. "But maybe, if we can get in contact with Dad, we can compromise, I have an idea. I don't want to get your hopes up and we'll have to talk to Coach and Mrs Bolton, but if they agree and we get Dad on board, we may be able to stay together and stay here."
"I hope it works."
"Me too Sis, me too." He kissed the top of her head. "I'm gonna go and call Coach, I'll ask him and Mrs Bolton to come with Locky and the girls so we can explain everything that's been going on at home and ask them about my plan. I love you G."
"I love you too Superstar." He grinned and winked in response, making her smile. After he left, she turned to her boyfriend, the love of her life. She brushed the hair from his forehead, whispering, "I can't live without you Troy, I love you Baby." He stirred and opened his eyes, looking at her sleepily. "Good morning."
"Good morning." He said, snuggling his face into her shoulder before he seemed to realise where they were. "Oh my god, Brie, are you -"
She leant their foreheads together. "Shh, it's alright."
He manoeuvred them so that she was resting on his chest. "Is this ok?" She nodded in response. "Good, I want to make sure you're comfortable. You're coming to stay with me right?"
"Chad said that your parents have temporary guardianship until they find our dad." She could see the question in his eyes, asking what would happen after. "I don't know what happens after they find him, but none of the options are looking good. If my dad doesn't want us, we'll go into foster care and they're going to split us up. But if he does want us, we'll have to live with him, wherever he lives now." The tears filled her eyes. "No matter what happens, I'm gonna lose someone I love."
He sat up bringing her into his arms, holding her. "Oh Baby, it's gonna be ok, you'll see."
She looked up at him, her bottom lip between her lip, attempting to stop the tears. "I can't lose you."
"Baby that'll never happen." He said, pulling her into his chest as she cried. "I promise Baby, I won't let that happen, I won't let you get taken away from me, but look at me." He lifted her chin. "I promise you that even if you get taken away from me, I'll fight for you and you'll NEVER lose me. I'll come down for holidays and I'll come down on weekends, no matter how long I have to drive, even if I only get to spend an hour with you during that time. I love you Sweetheart and the only way you'll lose me is if it's what you want."
"Never, I love you too much to ever be away from you." She shook her head, burying her face in the crook of his neck. "Chad said that he may have a way to stay in Albuquerque and keep Locky and the girls with us, but he needs to get your parents and our dad to agree. I don't know what it is, but I really hope it works."
"Me too Brie, me too." He said as she tucked her head back into the crook of his neck, her arms wrapped tightly around him.
A couple hours later, the door opened and Jasmine and Imogen came running in with Lachlan, Jack and Lucille trailing behind. The twins ran straight for Gabriella and Troy lifted them both onto the bed to hug their older sister but noticed the way she flinched at the contact. "Careful girls, Ella is still sore, you have to be very gentle."
"Sorry Ella." They said sadly.
Gabriella noticed the tears in Jasmine's eyes. "Are you ok Angel, did he hurt you?" She asked, pulling the older twin into her arms as Troy kept the younger twin in his lap.
"I'm sorry Ella, you got hurt."
She shook her head. "Don't say sorry Baby, don't ever say sorry. I promised you and Imi that I'd always protect you, and I'm always going to keep that promise. Don't feel bad Jas, you have nothing to worry about, I'm just glad he didn't hurt you." Jasmine only snuggled into her chest in response so Gabriella turned to Jack and Lucille. "Thank you for coming and for taking care of Locky, Jas and Imi last night."
Lucille shook her head. "No Gabriella, don't dare thank us for that."
Chad took over. "I'm guessing you guys are wondering what's going on so I'm going to tell you and hopefully you can help us out with something." At their nod, Chad told the Bolton parents everything. By the time he finished, their jaws were practically on the floor. "So because of all that, we have something we'd like to ask you. We're planning on talking to our dad when we get in contact with him and we really don't want to leave Albuquerque, we all love it here. So our proposition to him, if you agree would be for us to stay here and have you guys as our guardians. You wouldn't have to do anything aside from being on the legal documents and such. Dad would give us the same amount of money he does now which would be enough for rent and food with a bit left over for things we need. So if we can talk to our dad, would you be willing to take guardianship of us?"
Without a second thought, Lucille answered. "Of course we will, anything you kids need."
"Thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to us." Their moment was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in."
Chad, Gabriella and Lachlan gasped at the figure who entered the room while the twins hugged the juniors tighter.