A/N: Not much to say about this chapter besides that I hope you like it. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. Thanks for the incredible reviews!

She was finished. She wanted this done forever.

"Will you try to make me…" The weak voice trailed off as though her windpipes had the circulation cut off from them. Gabriella's hazy eyes stared distantly out the front window that led to a tiny room with her boyfriend stationed behind it. She could feel her throat tighten as her glossy eyes glanced to the floor helplessly. She was so sick of this. To the point that she was certain her stomach was going to erupt and let the entire contents spill out. Her head pounded to the point of no return. When was this ever going to end?

"You wanna call it quits for today?" Troy's airy voice filled the empty space in the recording booth. Gabriella let her colorless eyes close before nodding her heavy head and leaning her forehead pitilessly against the microphone in front of her.

Her thoughts traveled back to Monday, remembering when they went to the gym to work out together. She didn't even know what happened. Once second she was sprinting, attempting to run away from all of her problems, literally. And the next second her chest wouldn't fill up with oxygen. It was frightening, for a moment Gabriella thought she was going to suffocate. She had heard of other runners getting stressed out and was unable to grasp oxygen. But that usually happened if they weren't eating or something physical as that. Not the mental part Gabriella was suffering through.

It perplexed her at first on how Troy discovered her in the dark hallway that night, but she seemed to put the pieces together well. She could remember letting out a desperate scream of air just as she stopped running. That must have been louder than she had expected, for Troy must have heard her through the open part of the gym that the track circled. There were no barriers between the track and the basketball court, so it would have been quite simple for Troy to hear her if there was no one else around. And when she stumbled into the hallway, he must have known that she wouldn't have made it far and rushed to get her. It all made sense now.

"How's your head?" Have you snapped yet? Troy's blank eyes translated as he strode into the room with a depressing grace. Gabriella turned it sideways, feeling the throb rush through her body. The stress was taking more of a toll that she had ever anticipated.

"It hurts." I'm getting there. She moaned before staring into the eyes that were the same color as the light shining down on the two. It was getting more and more difficult for Gabriella to remember what the to-die for cerulean blue looked like. Her favorite color was getting further from her grasp every moment that ticked by. Would she ever see that color again?

"We'll stop." Troy suggested tiredly before leaning his head up against the smooth glass surface, closing his eyes to absorb the rare moment of calmness.

Gabriella bit her bottom lip nervously before slowly maneuvering her way towards him. His pain matched hers, and she knew that he was like her. Slowly, painfully dying inside. Gabriella's mood hadn't lightened in the past couple days, and didn't expect it to. Not when her nightmares were haunted by images of her father, and daylight was looming of her mother's frequent absences. Plus the constant worry that Troy was going to explode wasn't helping either.

"Whatever you want." Gabriella whispered gently before stopping in front of him.

Something was seriously wrong when Gabriella couldn't remember the last time the kissed. Actually kissed and not just a smack on the forehead or cheek. How ironic it was that the reason they started this in the first place was to kill pain, yet when they needed to be numbed the most, they wouldn't let their lips brush.

It was beginning to eat Gabriella alive. She was sick of this, sick of everything. She just wanted it all to go away. Disappear. There seemed to be only solution to that problem, a solution that bottled in her throat ever since Monday. She wanted to know everything. And she wanted HIM to know everything. It was time. Deep in her rapidly beating heart, she knew it was time. Time for them to let go of the barriers. Time to crush the walls. She wanted to know every part of him, inside and out. "Troy…" Her voice sounded as though a mouse was speaking for her.

"What?" Troy's volume matched hers as his course hand reached up and gently gripped the side of her soft face. Gabriella finally felt the sparks she had been craving, turning her head into his skin to inhale the musky scent that was oh so familiar.

Her puffy lips grazed his palm, just enough to get a taste of his salty hand. "I…" She couldn't form the words that she wanted. Just ask. It would be easy, wouldn't it?

"You…" Troy tried to finish for her in a pathetic tone that made her believe his mind was somewhere far from her.

A sigh gurgled in the back of her throat before she attempted to search for any hints of blue in his orbs. It was like staring into a whole new person, and even though she still loved him with all her heart, she loved his other side more. The side that smiled at her for no reason. The side that kissed her passionately because he wanted to, not because he had to. The side that lived.

"I…" she couldn't find her voice. How could this be hard? They talked about everything, didn't they? Well, everything but their pasts right? Surely it was time. Gabriella felt it, and she was determined to make Troy see that they should. It would happen, Gabriella was going to make it. "You love me right?"

Troy's eyes narrowed confusedly. Then a flash of anger coursed across them, causing Gabriella almost to jump back. "Why would you ever doubt that?"

Gabriella shook her head violently in attempts to make him understand. "No, no no. I didn't mean…" Troy's eyes softened immediately at the view of her distress. "I mean, you trust me right?"

A dark eyebrow rose on his porcelain face. "Yeah?"

The oxygen seemed to be sucked out of the room once again before she opened her dry mouth. A sudden flash of the sticky crimson liquid beneath her sweatshirt blinded her from Troy's face. Her heart skipped a beat before rushing back to the present again. "Um…"

The worst timing of the end of the first hour occurred when a flood of the bell interrupted her. Gabriella's heart sank cruelly to the floor before Troy's body tensed again and let out a trembling sigh. "We'll talk later ok?" He promised before sweeping down in one mechanical movement and pressing his lips against her rosy cheek. Gabriella slowly picked up the petite bag stationed next to the thin microphone, before following Troy out of the room.

She WOULD talk to him, let everything out. It was time, and she knew it.

And he sure as hell better be ready too.

Everything he ever wanted was in his arms…

Why the hell couldn't he enjoy it?

Troy's stone body remained motionless as his eyes were gazed over in thought. Curiosity swam through his head like an angry shark looking for prey. She seemed even more distant during first hour than normal. The strength in Gabriella's voice wasn't there. The sound of angels when she sang just sounded… normal. He couldn't wrap his mind around anything else, even as she lay with her head on his chest and her leg entwined with his. Neither were watching the pictures on his TV. Both two deep in their own minds.

He couldn't shake the feeling of the burn within the pit of his stomach. Something was different. The pain in Gabriella's eyes was greater than all four days combined, yet she seemed so determined to do something. What was it? Troy's insides were ripping apart at the thought. If he could only ask her what was bothering her. But that wasn't an option. She didn't ask about his past, he wouldn't ask about hers. She wouldn't want to give information that wouldn't be returned, so his mouth remained shut.

Tenderly, Gabriella's magical fingers were running lines up and down the crevices of his six pack abs beneath the light black long sleeve and white undershirt he was wearing. The tension in the air seemed unbearable, to the point that Troy could barely fill his lungs. He was too afraid to say something. Why? He had no idea. But there was something heavy, different that night. Something that frightened him even more than normal.

"You're body is so tense." Gabriella's honey-sweet voice whispered almost seductively. Shivers rolled down his stiff spine when Gabriella subtly dropped her stroking hand an inch lower towards the top of his jeans. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to be turned on.

"So is yours." He pointed out before sucking in the thin black air. The lights were all turned off and the blue glow of the TV caused mysterious shadows over Gabriella's visage. It both hindered and helped. With the sensuality of it, he could attempt to focus on his girlfriend, yet in the same light, it caused his mind to wander to different scenarios of getting the call to say that they lost against Charlie.

"You feel like stone." Gabriella murmured, adjusting her leg ever so slightly so it was almost that she was straddling his left limb. Her own thigh tenderly grazed the organ sitting between his legs, causing his eyes to widen at the sensation.

"Gabi…" Troy breathed when he felt her tempting lips tickled the base of his neck where his shirt and skin connected.

"Just relax okay?" Her voice vibrated over the muscles in his neck, causing his head to arch backwards to give her more access to the available skin.

He couldn't deny that everything about this situation was making him crave her desperately, but the other half of him, the half still located with his mother, was on edge. She was not moving in the goddess way he remembered before Sunday. This was stiff, mechanical. Almost as if she had a purpose for trying to turn him on. A purpose for her kisses. A reason to try and soften him.

Troy stifled a groan as Gabriella's kisses evolved into nips that caused his heart to increase to a marathon pace. With each touch he could feel the desperation to have her course through his body. This was what it was like to kill pain. He had completely forgotten how her kisses were intoxicating to him. Drug like, really. But then Troy shuttered at the thought of drugs. "Fuck…more…" His voice trailed.

Before he could comprehend what was happening, Gabriella's legs straddled his torso and her lips were inches away from his. His self control was lost as he tried to reach up to meet her, but her teases were excruciating. She would not touch his lips, but her hand that was on his smooth side dropped until it grazed the front of the bulge that protruded from his knees. Troy's white eyes rolled into the back of his head blissfully. How could he forget this?

"How good does this feel?" Gabriella's soft lips brushed his earlobe as Troy grunted in response.

"Fuck Gabriella." He let out the thin air again before another round of shivers occurred. She gently unbuttoned the hold that kept the denim together before unzipping his pants and pulled down. Her trembling hand stroked the side of the tent through his midnight boxers. She was nervous about something, but thoughts of that were fighting to stay in his mind while the other half was just trying to let go and let her do what she wanted with him.

"Remember what it felt like when this was my mouth?" God, what was she trying to do, kill him? Obviously. Troy panted heavily as her fingers slipped beneath the elastic of his boxers, causing a cosmic surge of bliss when they touched his shaft.

"Oh shit… shit Gabi…" His hungry hands squeezed at her waist, trying to get her lips down to connect with his, but she still refused.

"It can be… if you do something for me." The temptress' voice was barely audible in his ear, but the graze of her luscious lips were enough that he knew exactly what she was saying.

"Anything…" Troy panted before reaching his shaking hand around to reach up for her left breast.

"Not like that." he whimpered when her hand left its post to grip his and replace it back on her hip. "Sorry."

Gabriella's fingers danced along the side of his full manhood now. Troy couldn't keep himself composed. Everything was numbing just at the single touch of her. Pleasure ripped through him and all he could do was drink it up. To say he was thirsty would be an understatement. She was pouring life back into him. "What do you want?"

Troy noticed her body stiffen for a moment as her hand skipped a beat. That was it. Something was up. He should have known when Gabriella had suddenly switched moods from depressed to handing sex out like it was free candy. Tenderly, as though she didn't want to disrupt a sleeping monster, her gorgeous head fell before him, and lips millimeters from his so he could feel her hot breath against his skin. "I want to know everything."

Troy's skin became ice.

A frozen fire began to burn within the depths of his stomach. The eyes that were so blissful moments ago changed drastically to anger. This was what it was all about? Gabriella was throwing herself at him so she could get information? Know about his past? His eyelid twitched as he watched the smooth surface of her face suddenly crunch back in fear. She knew he was angry, anyone with eyes could see that. Gabriella didn't even have time to react as Troy rolled sideways, causing her to tumble of him and her hand to retrieve back from his erect member.

"No…" Troy hissed furiously. How dare she even ask him to hurt her more? He wouldn't do it, she should know that by now.

Gabriella's black eyes searched his desperately, but he could see her own hot fire beginning to form. This was not going to turn out well, and he knew it. His reflexive barrier was shooting up, and his emotions would be doing the talking, not his conscious brain. "What?"

"No." Troy repeated with more defiance as his vibrating hands zipped up his tent and re-buttoned his jeans.

The opposites between them were showing once again. His blinding white eyes were protruding ice from them as her raging black eyes shot fire. The pressure in the room closed around them so that Troy could feel something pushing against his skin. He would not hurt her. "Why not?" The fury was laced into Gabriella's voice.

"Because that's my fucking business." He shot back as though he was holding a hand gun.

"If it's your business it's my business!" Gabriella's voice started to escalate. Troy practically jumped to his feet in attempts to make himself bigger and more set than he really was. "It kinda comes with the whole 'girlfriend' thing."

"We said we didn't have to know everything." Troy's voice was low and dangerous.

Gabriella's midnight eyebrows glared in the blue light. "That was before I've been fucking afraid that you're going to put a bullet to your head."

It was the first time either of them had come out and said that the other was depressed. Troy almost felt his body shake from anger. "You're afraid? I've been fucking checking your wrists ever since Sunday." He admitted honestly.

"Then let's end this," Passion bubbled through her tone as her black eyes danced with desperation. "Right here, right now. Tell me everything."

"Don't ask me again." Troy growled, almost crouching in a position to strike.

Gabriella's face twitched furiously. "DO YOU LIKE THIS TROY? I CAN'T STAND TO WATCH YOU ANYMORE!"

Her twisted screams almost knocked him down. Anger, pain, passion, everything that had built up for years suddenly flashed out of him like a frozen lightning strike. Images of his mother using, Charlie lurking, his father leaving, Gabriella slowly dying inside rushed through his brain. He couldn't control the blood that was frozen in his veins. Fury rushed through his body and poisoned his heart. "IF YOU CAN'T STAND IT, THEN FUCKING LEAVE!"

Deep down, it was the last thing he wanted her to do, but his emotions were raging. Every inch of fear and torture crashed down onto him like an icy title wave. "JUST FUCKING TELL ME!" She screeched twisted in pain. He was unaffected by the hot tears raining down her face.

"No!" The power in his voice shook the house. His head began to throb at with so much emotion that came down upon him in a blizzard of torment.

"DO YOU NOT TRUST ME ENOUGH? DO YOU NOT LOVE ME ENOUGH?!"

That was it. Troy Bolton finally snapped.

His blood stream was poisoned with rage. His mind was clouded in a painful blast of fury. The snow resting outside wasn't even close to the color of his blinding eyes. Two silver moons of violent horror lit up the room. Gabriella's strong body cringed back at the change of his demeanor. Troy felt the side of his mouth twitching mercilessly as his large steps almost knocked down the house. The ice blizzard behind him sent away over Gabriella's burning skin as he stopped inches before her, his cold breath causing terrified trembles down her spine.

"Get your fucking coat." He hissed poisonously before knocking his stone shoulder with hers and turning to the kitchen.

She questioned his love for her. Hate at himself for giving her doubt stretched through his body like elastic. "Troy? What?" Her voice trembled with fear now.

Troy didn't answer as he snatched his black jacket from the table and then threw her own cozy white one towards her. His piercing eyes didn't look as he ripped his keys from the blank counter. Everything he was about to do was completely switched from what he wanted. A complete one-eighty of what he thought moments ago. His course hands yanked the door open before a rush of frozen air circled his head, only giving him more anger.

"Troy… Troy I didn't…"

Apologies weren't in his agenda. "Get in the fucking car." Troy's venom carried as his head turned to see Gabriella had stepped out of the house as well. Her small frame jumped back in panic as his eyes shot ice storms towards her.

He turned and sat in the dangerous driver's seat before Gabriella timidly rushed to the passenger's side. Barely waiting for her to shut the door, Troy's foot slammed on the accelerator, the car reversing at frightening speeds. Once they were on the road, their silence fell like a blanket of snow as Troy smashed his foot to the gas, speeding off into the night.

She wanted his past? Fine, she was going to get it.