Chapter 2: Finding Neverland
"Troy."
This felt familiar, he thought as hand brushed through his hair. He was taken back to last summer; to the week before senior year started. He remembered sitting under the oak tree in Gabriella's backyard – the same one he climbed to reach her bedroom – with his head on her lap and her fingers combing through his hair. Up until that moment, he'd never felt so relaxed in his life. This made him feel the way he felt then.
"Troy."
It can't be. His heart raced at the melodic sound of his name. For weeks, he dreamt about it and had finally come to accept that he would never hear that voice again, yet there it was. Yet, that voice – her voice – had just spoken his name.
"Open your eyes, Wildcat."
He did, and he found his vision hazy and unfocused. Blinking a few times, his sight began to clear and he wanted to cry when he saw her leaning over him. She smiled as blue and brown met for the first time since that night they said their goodnights – neither knowing that it would be their last.
"Gabriella," he breathed, sitting up and turning to her.
"Hi."
He didn't speak, instead, deciding to crush his lips against hers. She returned his kiss with earnest and everything else fell to the wayside. He could be dreaming, but he didn't care. He just knew that she was here and he'd missed her more than he'd missed anything else.
I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your son has been in an accident.
Panic filled Jack Bolton's lungs as he burst through the doors of the Emergency Room. He knew he should wait for his wife's arrival, but he needed answers. He needed to know if his son was okay. Stumbling towards the receptionist, he smacked his hands down against the counter and startling her. He instantly felt bad for scaring her, but his concern for his boy was greater.
"Troy Bolton. I'm looking for Troy Bolton."
She nodded, seeing the terror in his eyes. "One moment, Sir," she spoke as she turned to the computer in front of her and began typing something into it.
"Jack!"
He swiveled just as his wife launched herself into his arms. "It's okay, Lucy. Everything's going to be okay."
"Have you heard anything?"
He shook his head. "I just got here."
"Sir?" He looked to the receptionist. "He's currently in surgery."
"Surgery?" Lucille squeaked out, feeling her legs giving out from underneath her. Jack held her up and to his chest.
The receptionist gave her a sympathetic smile. "Just have a seat in the waiting area. The doctor should be with you shortly."
Nodding, Jack ushered his wife to the waiting room and lowered her into a seat. He, then, sat down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face into his neck and cried. He knew he had to be strong for her, but he was having a hard time doing so.
Peace. That was the word he could use to describe how he was feeling at that moment. With his back against the soft grass and her head resting on his chest, Troy felt at peace and he never wanted it to end. He twirled a piece of her dark hair around his finger and sighed deeply.
"What's on your mind?" she asked, lifting her head slightly so that she could place her chin on his chest.
"How I never want to leave," he answered. "How I want to stay here with you forever."
There was a look in her eyes that told him she didn't approve of what he wanted. "You can't stay here, Troy."
"Why not?"
"Because." She sat up. "Because you don't belong here."
"How can I not belong here?" He propped himself on his elbows and stared at her silhouette in confusion. "You're here."
She twisted around so that she could look at him. "What's the last thing you remember before you woke up here?"
Though her question bewildered him, he tried to think back to the time before he found himself in this place with Gabriella at his side. He remembered being in the school parking lot and he remembered leaving it, but after that was a complete blur. "I don't," he started, shaking his head in response, but then it all came back to him.
"Troy?"
"I crashed my truck." His eyes met hers. "I remember it, now. Am I…am I dead?"
She shook her head. "No. No, you're not dead, and that's why you can't stay here." He watched as she stood and started away from him.
He jumped up and followed, grabbing her hand to keep her from going any further. "But I want to." He pulled her to him, resting a hand on her waist. "I want to stay here with you."
The smile she gave him was full of sadness as she reached up with her free hand to take his ear between her fingers. "I want you to stay here, too," she said as tears began to fall, "but you can't. There's too much for you back there."
"It's nothing without you."
"It's everything without me."
"Bolton?" Jack and Lucille stood and the doctor walked over to them. "Hi, I'm Dr. Marsh." He shook hands with both of them.
"How is he, Doctor?" Lucille asked. "Is he okay?"
"Your son is going to be fine. He has some minor cuts and bruises, and a shattered wrist. Luckily, he was already unconscious before he hit the water so there was little to no water in his lungs, but unfortunately, he also had some bleeding on the brain. We were able to get that under control, though, so he doesn't seem to be in any impending danger, but we're keeping him in the ICU for observation just as a precaution"
"Can we see him?"
"Of course, follow me."
Clinging to each other, they followed Dr. Marsh to the ICU ward of the hospital and Lucille nearly fainted at the sight of her baby boy with bandages covering his head. Jack caught her before she fell and Dr. Marsh went to grab a chair for her. When the good doctor returned, Jack helped her into the chair and kept a hand on her shoulder.
"When will he wake up?" Jack asked, knowing his wife was done asking questions for the moment.
"We don't know. It's up to him now."
"Paging Dr. Marsh. Paging Dr. Marsh. You're needed in the OR."
"Excuse me." They nodded and he exited.
"How could this have happened?"
"You know how."
She looked at him. "You're not saying… You don't think that he did this on purpose, do you?"
He shrugged. "I just know that he's been miserable without Gabriella. I'm not saying that that's what really happened, but I'm not saying that it's not a possibility."
Turning her gaze back to her son's prone figure. "Do you think he'll wake up?"
"I don't know, Lucy. We just have to wait and see, and pray that we're enough for him to want to wake up."
"I can't lose him, Jack. I don't think I could live if I did."
He knelt down in front of her. "We won't lose him," He took her hands in his, "and if we do, we will get through it together."
Feeling fresh tears forming behind her lids, she wrapped her arms around her husband and buried her face into his neck. His arms wound around her as she sobbed; his hands rubbing her back in a comforting manner.
By the next day, the entire school knew about Troy's accident. Though it had been on the news, none but the members of the basketball team knew the rest of it. Of how Troy was currently in a coma and the doctors weren't sure if he would wake up. Chad was a mess because of it. He couldn't imagine losing his best friend whom he's known since Pre-K.
Taylor found him on the roof, sitting on the bench that she imagined had been witness to many of Troy and Gabriella's moments. Remaining quiet, she moved closer and took a seat beside him. Neither said a word, instead preferring to take comfort in each other's presence.
"When we were eight," Chad started, breaking the silence, "I accidentally broke a vase that had been in my family for years. I knew my dad would kill me for running in the house and, incidentally, breaking it. Troy knew it, too, so he took the fall for me. To this day, I've never been able to repay him back. Now, I might not get the chance."
"That's not true."
"Isn't it?" He turned to her; his brown eyes full of sadness and anger. "Troy loved Gabriella more than anything – more than basketball. He loved her so much that he decided he was going to forsake U of A, the school we've been dreaming of attending since we were ten years old, and go to UC Berkeley because it was close to Stanford just so that he could be close to her. They say that you can't find real love in high school, but Troy did and she was taken away because some asshole didn't get enough sleep and got behind the wheel. Do you really think that he'd want to wake up when he could be with her?"
"I don't know, but I do know that Troy is strong and that he loves his parents and that he loves you. You're his brother. Do you really think he'd just leave you behind?"
He put his head in his hands. "I hate this!"
There were tears sliding down Taylor's cheek now as she witnessed the complete breakdown of someone she had known to be so strong. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she watched as his attention went to that shoulder and he took her hand in his.
"You have a choice that I didn't have, Troy," Gabriella voiced as she looked into her boyfriend's bright blue eyes that held so much sadness that she wished she could take away. "I was dead the moment my mom's SUV was hit. There was nothing that could be done for me." She moved closer to him, placing her hands on his chest. "But you, you have a choice to go back."
"But what if I don't want to go back?" He took her hands. "What if I just want to stay here with you forever?"
"So you'd leave everything behind? What about your parents? What about Chad? All of the members of your team? You'd leave them?"
Glancing away from her, he let her words settle into his head. Honestly, he never stopped thinking about the people waiting for him. He thought of how his parents would react to him never waking up again; how Chad would become a completely different person without him. It hurt to think about the lives that would be effected by his death. Much in the same way that lives were changed when Gabriella died.
"I won't be able to live the same life without you," he answered, his eyes finding hers again.
"But you'll live."
Threading his fingers through hers, he held her hand tight, knowing that she was right. He remembered when his grandfather died. His grandmother was a complete mess without him, but she lived another ten years without him, though his absence was always felt. He would live without her because he would live for her. Reaching up with his free hand, he brushed the back of his fingers against her cheek.
"Do you remember how I told you that I had narrowed my choices down to three schools?" She nodded. "Well, on the morning that you left, I'd already decided on which one I was going to go to."
"Which one?"
He gave her a small smile. "University of California at Berkeley."
"What?"
"University of California at Berkeley. A school that was only going to be thirty-nine point six miles from you."
"Troy, I…"
He shook his head. "You don't have to say anything."
"Why? Why would you follow me all the way to California?"
"Because I would have followed you to the ends of the Earth if it meant staying by your side."
Instead of answering with words, she pushed herself onto her toes and kissed him soundly. His hand grasped her waist and pulled her closer. Breaking away just moments later, he stared into her chocolate brown eyes and remembered that New Years Eve when they first met; how he stared into her eyes and knew he would never be the same. He loved her then; he loved her still.
"You have no idea how much I'm going to miss you."
"But I do." She touched his jaw, realizing what his words meant. "Because I'll miss you just as much."
They kissed again as he began to feel himself begin to slip away. "Something's wrong."
"Nothing's wrong; you're waking up."
"What?" His voice was panicked. "No, I don't wanna go yet. I wanna stay here just a little while longer."
She shook her head. "You've already chosen. Even if you never actually said it, your heart has already chosen to return to the world of the living."
The world around him was beginning to fade in front of his eyes and he looked to her; his mind screaming at him to tell her the truth before it was too late. "I love you, Gabriella."
Smiling, she pushed up onto her toes once more. "I love you, too, Troy," she whispered before connecting their lips for the last time.
I will always be here.
He awoke with the taste of her still on his lips. The beeping beside him told him where he was and his gaze fluttered over to the sight of his mother sleeping away on the chair beside his bed. His mouth was dry from disuse, but he wanted to get his mother's attention. It was then that his father walked into the room; his blue eyes widening when he saw that his son was staring right back at him.
"Troy?"
"Hi, Dad," he croaked out with a small smile.
Never in his seventeen years of life had Troy ever seen his father cry. In that moment, though, when Jack saw that his only son was awake and alive, the usually 'made of stone' Coach Bolton broke down and cried tears of joy that his boy had returned to him. He crossed the room and hugged his son the best way he could without hurting him.
"I'm so glad to see you, Son."
"I'm glad to see you, too, Dad."
"Jack?" Lucille asked as she begun waking from her slumber. When she saw Troy looking back at her, however, she became fully awake and tears began to fall from her eyes. "Troy?"
"Hi, Ma."
She flung herself at her baby boy and cried. "Don't ever scare us like that again," she reprimanded as she pressed kiss after kiss to his forehead.
"I won't. I promise."
Gabriella's funeral came and went while Troy was recovering in the hospital, and though he was upset that he hadn't gotten a chance to say his final goodbye, he was slightly relieved that he didn't have to see her in that cold state. He would rather remember her the way he saw her in his dream world: alive and smiling at him. He was released three days afterwards, but was still forced to stay at home. This caused him to miss prom (though he wouldn't have gone anyway) and the last full week of school.
One Saturday evening, a month and a half after Gabriella's death, Troy found himself sitting in his bedroom feeling as if he were going to go stir crazy. Luckily for him Chad came bursting through the door like a whirlwind; going through his dresser and throwing articles of clothing at him.
"Get dressed, we're going out."
"Where?" he asked as he stood.
"You'll see."
After getting dressed, Troy followed Chad to his car, still curious as to where they were going. He didn't think much of it, though; guessing that they would be meeting with the other members of their team to hang out. When Chad bought them to East High, however, he was a bit bewildered.
"Why are we here, Chad?" he asked.
"You'll see," Chad responded before pulling open the door to the school building.
His confusion grew. Why was the school unlocked on a Saturday evening? As they traversed through the empty hallways, Troy's mind memory realized that Chad was leading him to the rooftop garden and his confusion deepened. When they reached the open air, he was amazed to find most of the senior class standing around on the rooftop; each with a lit lantern in their hands.
"It's about time!" Taylor exclaimed as she walked over to them.
"Calm down, woman. I said I'd bring him, didn't I?" Chad smirked.
"Yeah, but you're fifteen minutes late."
"That might have been my fault," Troy answered. "It's hard to get dressed when you have an arm in a sling." Though he only had a shattered wrist, Dr. Marsh wanted him to keep it in a sling so as to keep it from being agitated. "What is all of this?"
"A candlelight vigil," responded Jason Cross, one of the members of his team, "except with lanterns instead of candles."
"We wanted to do something for Gabriella," spoke Kelsi, the brilliant musical composer whose song had given him the courage to refuse to give up on Gabriella back when they were just friends. It seemed like a lifetime ago, yet it had only been a year. "And for you. We know you missed her funeral, so we wanted to give you something to help you say goodbye."
Tears trickled down his cheeks and he reached out to pull her into a tight hug. "Thank you."
"Don't thank us. It was all Chad and Taylor's idea." He released her and looked at his best friend and the girl who was hurting just as much as he was.
"Thank you."
"It's nothing, Hoops."
"We just wanted you to see that we're here for you."
"Yeah, we're all in this together."
A chorus of laughter filled the air and Taylor handed Troy the lantern that was meant for him. He held it as she lit it and he smiled when he saw Gabriella's name, as well as his, written on it. So much lost, so much found.
"Everyone ready?" Taylor asked and a chorus of 'yes' rang out. She looked to Troy. "Will you do us the honors?"
He nodded and released the lantern. Around him, glowing lights followed, but he could only concentrate on his. He was brought back to the summer before senior year when he had made an ass of himself and almost lost his friends to his ego. It was only until Gabriella had quit her job at the country club and ended their relationship that he realized how stupid he was being. She was his voice of reason and now she was gone. A single tear slid down his face as he watched the glow from the lanterns grow further and further away. He hoped that wherever she was, she could see them and know that they were for her.
Gabriella Montez
December 18th, 1990 – April 11th, 2008
Troy stood at her grave with his eyes fixed on the picture that sat against the headstone. He stared at her smiling face in the photograph and quickly flashed back to his dream world where that smile was accompanied by a laugh. His heart warmed as he remembered that sound. Kneeling down, he was careful to move his flowing red robe out of the way and placed a matching red cap on top of the gravestone.
"We did it, Gabs; we graduated," he whispered as he reached up to trace the etching of her name. "I just wish you could've been there with us. I know you're probably wondering why I'm here. Don't worry, I'm not staying long." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the 'T' pendant that had once found a home around her neck. Her mother had given it back to him, claiming that Gabriella would have wanted him to have it, but he knew he couldn't keep it. "I came to give you this. No matter what your mother says, it belongs to you. I wish I could have gotten a chance to place it around your neck, but I kinda missed your funeral. You remember, right? Crashed my truck? Ended up in a short coma? I spent a week and half recovering from it." He placed it beside the red cap and kissed her gravestone. "I hope you know how much you truly meant to me. I meant it when I said that I wouldn't be able to live the same life without you. You brought so much into it when I met you and it's going to be completely different now that you're gone." Tears slid down his cheek and hit the grass below. "You changed my life, you changed me and I'll never truly get a chance to repay you for it. So I'll make you a promise: I'll live for you; I'll live the life you would want me to live. I'll live long and happy, but only if you promise that you'll be the first one to greet me when I die. Promise?"
The wind blew around him and he took that as a response to his question. Nodding, he stood and started away from her grave, but stopped mid-step. He turned and stared one last time at the picture of her smiling face and smiled back.
"I love you, Gabriella."
As he walked towards his father's car, he felt as if someone had just grabbed his hand and he looked at the empty space. He knew it was her, though he couldn't see her, and it brought him peace. To him, this was her telling him that no matter where he went, no matter what type of life he lived, she would be by his side; that she would never truly leave him. It gave him true hope in the saying: 'The people you love never really leave you if you keep them in your heart.' In his heart is where she lay and in his heart is where she would stay. Forever and always.
A/N: I'm not considering this a reentry into this fandom. This story was pure spur of the moment, inspired by an HSM music video I made six years ago called 'Airplanes.' It was meant to be a single chapter story, but I made it into two knowing that it would be freaking long if it was just one chapter. Both are nine pages long, btw. First chapter gets its name from 'Wildfire' by Marianas Trench (what I was listening to when I started writing it). Second chapter is named after 'Finding Neverland' sung by Zendaya from Finding Neverland the musical (also what I was listening to when I wrote it).