A/N: Uh...well, check it out lol. Don't own HSM
Chapter 8 – My home
Troy scratched his head in concentration as he continued filling out some paperwork which needed to be done. Granted, he only had about ten minutes for Gabriella to change but he figured she wouldn't take too long and she would be able to wait a couple of minutes. And that would give her plenty of times to find Allie and wrestle her into a thick coat, mittens, scarf, hat and the boots that would no doubt be on the little girl's feet.
He chuckled at Gabriella's protectiveness before scolding himself and turning back to his work. It was nothing important, a few bills which Sharpay had, coincidently, failed to mention she had 'forgotten' to pay. "No damage, haven't gone over the limit…" Troy spoke quietly as he ticked the respective boxes.
A knock at the door caused him to look up and he smiled softly as he saw a petite brunette woman walk into his office. "Oh, hey. You done?"
She nodded and walked over to sit in his leather chair on the other side of his desk. She snuggled into her thick, navy blue coat and slipped some pink fluffy glove. "Yeah. I am."
"Where's Allie?" He asked as he sorted through the pieces of paper to get them into some sort of order.
"I asked Zeke and Sharpay to let her stay over tonight." She mumbled.
Troy lifted his head and frowned. "Why?"
She sighed and shrugged. "We need to talk."
Troy stood up and crossed to his filing cabinet where he stored the papers safely. He walked back to Gabriella and leaned against his desk in front of her. "What about?"
"Everything." She whispered. "We don't know anything about each other and if 'we' is going to happen, I want to know everything about you. And judging from your questioning last week, you want to know everything about me, too." She smiled, letting him know she was kidding.
He breathed a sigh of relief and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Don't scare me like that."
She giggled and shrugged. "But, I mean it. Everything."
"You sure you're ready to tell me, I don't mind." He said reassuringly, stroking her cheek.
She leaned into his touch and sighed in contentment. "I'm sure." She whispered.
Troy removed his hand and chuckled when he heard her whimper slightly. "Don't worry. I'm just going for my coat. Did you drive here?"
She stood up and shook her head. "Zeke drove me." She replied.
"Does he know about me?" Troy asked with a sly smirk, pulling two leather gloves onto his hands before buttoning his coat up.
She sighed, stuffing her hands into her pockets. "Not exactly."
He raised his eyebrows. "Embarrassed?"
"No. I just want to make sure you can prove yourself to my brother." She said confidently.
He moved over to her and kissed her cheek. "Don't worry. I'm his boss. He can't do much without me firing him."
"Troy, he's my brother. You hurt me, he hurts you, you hurt him, and I hurt you." She explained without a hint of a smile.
"So, basically, I'm stuck with you forever." He said quietly, wrapping his arms around her.
She shook her head. "They wouldn't mind if I broke up with you."
Troy looked at her in disbelief. "Gabby, you can't break up with me."
"Why not?"
"I have an awesome puppy dog face." He stuck his bottom lip out in a pout and tightened his hold on her waist.
"Troy, you're forgetting one thing." She held up her pointer finger to emphasise her point, all the while never tearing her eyes away from his.
"What?" He murmured, keeping his pout plastered on his face.
"I'm a mom. Do you really think that works on me?" She exclaimed.
Troy stopped pouting in realisation and shrugged. "Worth a shot."
She rolled her eyes and kissed his cheek. "Come on. We really need to talk."
Troy nodded and released his arms from her before walking around his desk to find his keys. "Your place or mine?"
"My friends will find me at mine and I don't want any interruptions. But, remember your promise, okay?" She asked innocently, folding her arms.
Troy shut his desk drawer, keys in hand, and walked over to her. He touched her arm and kissed her cheek. "I know. And tell me if I do anything to hurt or offend you or anything you don't like, okay?"
Gabriella nodded and swallowed slightly. "Okay." She whispered.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked worriedly, tilting her chin up so she met his eyes.
A few tears leaked from the corners of her eyes and she giggled when Troy quickly moved to wipe them away with his thumbs. "It's nothing."
"Gabby…" He warned, raising his eyebrows.
She sighed. "You'll find out at your place." She promised, kissing his cheek.
* * *
"Allie, slow down!" Sharpay yelled, running after the little girl.
Allie giggled and jumped into Chad's arms. "Uncle Chad!"
Chad chuckled and held a hand out in fear of Sharpay colliding with him and a fragile little girl. "Sharpay!"
Sharpay skidded to a halt in front of them and waved her arms to catch her balance. She caught her breath and glared at Chad. "Stop laughing. Allie, Sweetie, I know you know this club as much as I do – probably better than I do – but don't wander around by yourself."
Allie lifted a finger to her mouth and looked pitifully at her Aunt. "I'm sorry." She whimpered, a few tears rolling down her cheeks.
Chad hugged his god daughter tightly and glared at Sharpay. "Don't yell at her!"
"Well, I don't want to get killed by my husband or his sister because she got hurt!" Sharpay exclaimed.
Taylor waddled over and placed a hand on Sharpay's shoulder to steady herself. "Where's Brie?"
Sharpay shrugged. "She told Zeke and I that she had to go somewhere. She didn't need a ride and Allie's staying at our place tonight."
Chad furrowed his brow as the three of them made their way to a table in the corner of the large room which was, primarily, a crèche but had, with time, evolved into a room for parents to relax while their children climbed on the play area which took up most of the room. However, the only child there at that moment was Justin. "Where would she go?"
"Well, we're her only friends." Sharpay muttered as she watched Allie run over to join Justin in the sand pit.
"Why wouldn't she tell us?" Taylor asked.
Zeke walked in and pulled up a chair next to Sharpay. "I finally have a break. I swear, if I see one egg in the next fifteen minutes, I'm going to start yelling."
Sharpay rubbed his back soothingly and planted a kiss on the top of his head which was finally free of the chef's hat. "It's okay, Honey."
Zeke rested his head on her shoulder as she continued her gentle touch. "What are we talking about?"
"Your sister." Chad said, raising his eyebrows.
"I want to know where she went." Zeke whined.
Taylor nodded, rubbing her stomach. "Us too."
"What would she keep from us?" Sharpay wondered out loud.
Zeke sighed. "I don't know."
"Well," Taylor said with a smirk, "there are some things she doesn't tell you."
"Like what?" Zeke exclaimed, bolting upright.
"You don't want to know." Sharpay shook her head. "We didn't really want to know."
"Tell me. What don't I know?" Zeke cried.
"Do you really want to know about her menstrual cycle?" Sharpay asked quietly.
"Eew!" Zeke exclaimed, wrinkling his nose. "End of conversation!"
"Too bad, we're talking about Brie." Taylor declared.
"Not about that, though!" Zeke exclaimed, folding his arms in a huff.
Sharpay giggled and rubbed his knee gently. "Honey, we just want to figure out why she would hide something from us." She gestured between herself and Taylor.
Zeke frowned but eventually relaxed and slid his arm around her shoulders. "I don't know. She usually gives a very good explanation as to why Allie needs to stay with us."
"Like her Uncle was missing her." Chad teased.
"One time and I hadn't seen her in two weeks!" Zeke defended.
Sharpay giggled and bit her lip. "Well, I can honestly say, you'll make a great father." She whispered in his ear, kissing his cheek.
"Did I hear what I think I did?" Taylor exclaimed excitedly.
Sharpay faced her best friends and glanced at Zeke before blushing slightly. "Yeah… We're going to start trying for a baby." She whispered in embarrassment.
Taylor squealed and rushed – as fast as she could – and embraced Sharpay. "Congratulations!"
Sharpay giggled and pulled back. "Tay, I only said we were trying. I never said I was pregnant."
Taylor shrugged and took her seat again. "Close enough. I never thought you were the motherly type."
"Me neither." Sharpay admitted. "But, I saw Zeke with Allie and I liked the thought of it. And I've helped with Justin and Allie. I really think I'll be a good mom."
Chad scoffed. "Right." He muttered.
"Oh, shut it, Danforth!" Sharpay grumbled. Although the man was like her older brother, that only encouraged the pair to take advantage of it and tormented each other whenever the opportunity arose. She knew he would protect her from anything – including his best friend.
* * *
Troy shook his head, getting rid of the snow in his hair and smiled at Gabriella. He brought her into his arms and he rested his forehead against hers. "You are so beautiful like that."
"Like what?" She asked, frowning.
He smiled and kissed her nose, making her giggle. "Your cheeks are pink, your eyes are shining, snow on your shoulders and your hair is slightly damp. Beautiful." He leaned down and captured her lips in a gentle kiss.
Gabriella melted into the kiss and gripped onto his coat to steady herself. She smiled against his lips and stepped forward so their torsos were pressed against the other's. She felt him wrap his arms around her waist and his hands supported her by the small of her back. She felt his tongue run across her bottom lip and she whimpered, pulling away. "Sorry." She muttered, staring at the floor.
"Hey, it's okay. Don't be. Slower than that?" He asked quietly.
She looked up at him with watery eyes and nodded. "Yeah. I'm sorry."
"What did I just say?" He asked softly, though she heard the sternness in his voice.
She sighed and nodded. She giggled and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Do you mind if I just use your bathroom for a second?"
Troy helped her slip her coat off and hung it on the hook before shrugging his own off. He slipped his shoes off and chuckled as Gabriella followed suit. "Sure. Up the stairs and seventh door on the right."
"Second?" She queried.
He shook his head as they both removed their gloves and scarves. "Seventh." He replied.
"Troy! How big is this house?" She exclaimed.
"Big enough for my parents, brother, sister, best friends and you to stay over if everyone wanted to." He shrugged slightly, placing his gloves and scarf on the table under the hooks and Gabriella placed hers beside his.
"Are you trying to seduce me?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
He shrugged. "Maybe. Are you seducible?"
She slowly shook her head. "Not really. The last time I was, Allie came along."
He smiled slightly and nodded. "Which is why I am not taking you upstairs without your permission. Anyway, seventh door on the right."
She nodded and turned around and started up the stairs. "I'll be back."
"Oh, Gabby, wait!" He grabbed two walkie-talkies from the table under the coat hooks and ran up the few steps she'd climbed to hand one to her.
"What's this?" She asked quietly.
"A walkie-talkie. I've only just found everything in here. I don't want you lost." He laughed slightly. "My sister still gets lost and forces me to go everywhere with her. I have to wait outside the bathroom for her so she won't get lost."
She giggled and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."
"Do you want anything to drink?" He enquired.
"Coffee?" She asked before she continued with a blush gracing her cheeks. "I sort of didn't get much sleep this past week."
He kissed her lips gently and smirked. "Thinking of me?"
"That's for me to know and you to find out." She smiled innocently – and Troy knew it was her real innocence showing – and turned to run up the stairs.
He smiled at her back before jumping down from the third step he was standing on and jogged into the kitchen. He started moving around his large kitchen in a way that made him feeling like he was dancing – he couldn't have been for his lack of dancing talent, though. The phone rang and he picked it up, holding it between his ear and shoulder as he spooned coffee into two mugs. "Talk to me."
"Hey, Troy." A bright voice said into the phone. "When is the next time you want to see your favourite little sister?"
"Jenna, for the last time, you're my only sister!" He chuckled.
"Less competition." She laughed. "So, when can I see you?"
"You need me to drive you to the mall to look for presents for Mom, Dad and Cody, don't you?" He asked knowingly, pouring the boiled water into the mugs.
"Maybe." She muttered. "Okay, fine, I do."
He smiled in amusement. "Okay, well, not today. Probably not tomorrow so what about the day after?"
"Day after tomorrow… Sure. Sounds good. Why can't we go tomorrow?" She asked.
"You'll find out soon enough if you're Jenna Bolton." He smirked.
"Good point." She laughed but it slowly died down. "You've got a girl!"
Troy rolled his eyes as he added milk. "I don't know how you do that."
"Troy, I have known you for the full fifteen years of my life." She said as if she was accepting an Oscar.
"That's because I'm your older brother." He said dryly, placing the spoon in the dishwasher and leaning against the island with one leg crossed over the other. "Anyway, I've got to go."
"Why? You weren't doing anything with her, were you? Gross!" She pretended to wretch into the phone and Troy chuckled.
"No, I am not. Besides, you're only fifteen! I am not allowing you to think like that." He said sternly. "We've got a lot of things to talk about."
"Yeah, you keep thinking that. Let me know when you want to tell Mom and Dad that they're going to be Grandparents." She joked.
"Bye Jenna." Troy sighed, hanging the phone up and placing it on the counter. He glanced at the clock on the microwave and realised that Gabriella had been gone for fifteen minutes. He picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed the button, lifting it to his lips. "Gabby, where are you? You okay?"
"Yeah…" Came her reply, her voice sounding distant and far away as if she were daydreaming.
"Where are you?" He pressed, worry coursing through his body.
"The room across from the bathroom." She whispered.
Troy sighed in realisation as to where she was and carefully picked up a coffee cup in each hand. He started climbing the steps and walked down the long landing and walked into the familiar room, seeing Gabriela staring up at the wall. He set the cups down on a small table and walked up behind her, wrapping his arms softly around her petite frame. "You okay?"
"You are exactly like my dad. My real dad, not Zeke's dad." She mumbled in amazement.
"I am?"
She nodded. "Look." She raised her hand to point at one of the many photographs hung on the wall. "You were on the basketball team since practically kindergarten, weren't you?"
He nodded. "Pretty much."
"You have good friends." She pointed to another picture of him standing between Jason and Kelsi in light blue graduation gowns. She twisted her head to look at him with watery eyes. "And he didn't judge anybody he didn't know."
"What are you talking about?" Troy asked softly, watching her break from his arms and slowly sit down on the small couch in the room. He took a seat next to hear and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, smiling when she buried her nose into his neck. "Now, what's wrong?"
She lifted her head and sighed. "When people hear that I'm a single mom and I have a three year old daughter, people assume that I was some sort of slut or something."
Troy frowned. "I don't think that. I never did. I know that sometimes things happen and there's literally nothing you can do about it. Take my car accident, for instance. I knew when I woke up in the hospital that I wouldn't be able to play basketball and I knew I'd have to find a plan B for my life."
She giggled slightly and shook her head. "I planned to stay in New York. I wanted to work in the private hospital there. But, I knew I couldn't because I knew from experience how much better it was growing up in a small town compared to a city. People just don't get it."
Troy rubbed her arm and leaned down to kiss the tanned skin of her neck. "It's okay. I'm trying to understand." He whispered, kissing her cheek.
She nodded. "I know. But, I feel so alone sometimes. I love Allie immensely and she's the best thing that ever happened to me. Not how she happened but she is. And I know I have Zeke, my parents and friends and now you. But, when Chad and Tay had Justin, they had each other. They had someone that could kiss them and cuddle them and reassure them that everything's going to be okay. I didn't have that. I just had to hold my chin up and smile for Allie's sake."
Troy listened intently and when she finished with tears rolling down her cheeks, he leaned across and kissed them all away. "Hey, I'm here now. Allie is an amazing girl and I'm going to help. You can't say no to me."
She giggled and nodded. "I just feel so helpless sometimes. Like I don't know why my dad died, I don't know why I had to fall for the biggest bastard on the planet and I don't know why I got pregnant!" Troy opened his mouth to say something and she pointed a finger at him. "I know how I got pregnant. I'm a doctor and I'm twenty three."
He smiled gently and kissed her temple. "Do you want ice cream?"
"A super special scrumptious strawberry sundae?" She whispered.
He nodded. "But of course." He kissed her cheek and held her tightly. "I love you."
Gabriella smiled into Troy's skin and lifted her head to kiss him. "It's been a long while since someone has said that in the way I hope you mean it."
"You mean the way that I can do this:" He leaned over and kissed her chastely before pulling back.
She giggled and nodded. "Yeah. That. And it feels nice. I forgot how it feels to know someone cares about me like that. But, my standards are high, you know. I have a list."
"A list?" He asked unsurely, his smile faltering slightly.
She nodded. "Like, number four is that the guy needs to be able to cope with my friends. Which you do."
"What's number one?" Troy enquired.
"If I told you, I'd have to kill you." She giggled. "Just promise me this isn't some dream. That I'm not going to wake up and be lonely like I felt before you."
He leaned over and let his lips brush against hers. "It's not a dream." He whispered. "I love you." He pressed his lips against hers and heard her moan softly into his mouth. He pulled back and smirked. "Miss Montez, I appear to be too much to handle."
She bit her lips and shook her head. "No."
He frowned. "Are you attempting to insult me?"
"I meant that you don't appear too much to handle. You are…to other people. You seem to keep forgetting that I have a three year old daughter. When you have kids, you'll learn how control any situation."
"Are you suggesting you want kids with me?" He wiggled his eyebrows.
"No." She said shortly, her lips staying in a straight line.
He sighed. "Gabby, I'm sorry. I was joking."
She nodded. "Can I have my ice cream now?"
A/N: This is a preview of a story I might start in a few chapters of 'Love takes hard work'. Or maybe tomorrow. Whenever you want me to. So, tell me when or if you want me to continue it. It's called 'Stand by me'
Full summary: When Gabriella Montez moves to Albuquerque, she finds a face from a very memorable summer vacation at her school. She starts to tutor him in English and he helps her to settle in to his hometown. But, when she reveals a secret that hurts, not just him but, her too, he must face a concept most teenagers won't face until they're older.
Prologue
Gabriella walked along the Spanish street and smiled slightly. She had grown up in a town much like the one she was currently on vacation in during the first four years of her life and she felt her body sigh with happiness. Her thumbs were hooked into the belt loops of her denim skirt and she suddenly turned right into an ice cream parlour. As she joined the queue, she unzipped her purse and brought out her wallet. She stepped forward so she was second in line and giggled at the lack of Spanish knowledge the guy in front of her had.
"Uno hermano, por favor." (A/N: One brother, please) He said, stuttering slightly as he struggled to find the word.
She stepped beside him and smiled at the waiter behind the counter. "Perdóneme." (A/N: Excuse me) She turned to the guy and smiled. "What flavour?"
"Uh…Chocolate." He replied after a moment with his brow furrowed.
She turned back to the waiter and pointed at the tubs underneath the glass counter. "Dos coco, por favor." (A/N: Two chocolate, please.)
The waiter smiled and nodded. "Por supuesto. Cinco euros, por favor." He turned around and grabbed two bowls, starting to prepare the ice creams. (A/N: Of course. Five euros please)
Gabriella turned back to the guy and laughed as his shocked expression. "Close your mouth. You're not catching flies."
"Okay, you're obviously American but, how did you know that?" He asked in amazement.
"I grew up here when I was a little girl. I'm not directly Spanish but… Anyway, it's two fifty for yours and two fifty for mine." She started rummaging for the right change but felt a hand on hers, causing her to lift her head. "What?"
The boy smiled down on her and he dug his hand into the back pocket of his jeans, retrieving his wallet. "It's on me. You helped me. It's the least I can do."
She chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully before finally nodding. "Okay. But, next time it's on me."
He nodded and winked. "It's a deal."
The waiter placed two bowls of chocolate ice cream and two spoons onto a tray and took the money. "Gracias. Adiós."
"Muchas gracias." Gabriella said appreciatively.
The waiter nodded, placing the money into the till. "De nada."
The boy lifted the tray and turned to Gabriella. "Do you want to sit with me?"
Gabriella nodded. "I'd like that."
The boy smiled and started to lead her into a booth by the window. He placed the tray down and slid into one of the seats as Gabriella sat down opposite, setting her purse on the table. "I'm Troy, by the way." He held his hand out.
"Gabriella." She shook his hand but pulled away when she felt a spark. "Sorry, must've been static electricity."