I'm backk! (:

This chapter was originally going to be the last one, but when I was three quarters done with it, I noticed that it was getting to be too long. d: So I cut it in half. That means, one more chapter after this, and maybe an epilogue.

And regards to the extremely long amount of time I took to get this chapter out;

Thank you for everyone's patience! The next chapter of TMG will be posted tomorrow, or the next day. (I'm already planning to do my math homework in the library tomorrow. I'm not going to do my 10 page essay there too! It only is a 20 minutes lunch. :P)

Dedicated to: zanetkakiss (for being a really great fan of this story), and nikkayyfoshoo (apologies for being a murderer. (; )

Who's That Girl

Chapter 24- Multiple Recognitions

Nobody's POV-

"Trying." He told her quietly, his blue eyes dulling for the third time in his life. He walked out of the room, slamming the door blindly, on the way out.

Gabriella looked up at the door that he had just walked out of. Her eyes were red, as her face was stained with tears.

She clenched her eyelids shut again, trying to prevent more tears from leaking out of her brown eyes.

She was trying hard not to let the pain and hurt overcome her body.

--

It had been two weeks since her talk, or yelling session, with Troy. Much to Gabriella's misfortune, Troy had stayed true to his word.

He had stopped. He stopped visiting her, he stopped coming to the hospital, he stopped talking to her, he didn't reply to any of the phone calls the rest had set up to get him and Gabriella to talk. Nothing.

He had actually stopped everything that had to do with her.

Gabriella knew that it was her fault that is had happened. That she was the one who initiated the slight separation between the two, but she just couldn't help but let the sorrow get to her. Without Troy in her life, it felt weird, and unfulfilling. Sure, she had fought with him before, including the Melanie case, but he was still in her life in one way or another. But right now? Nothing.

None of her friends would talk about him either. And it scared her.

Did something happen to Troy?

She bit her lip tentatively, as she sat on her bed, waiting for Cameron to return, so that the two would be able to go back to her house. Her cousin had assured her that everything would be fine once they got there. The rest had cleaned up all of her blood, and her rearranged everything. Sharpay, who was still guilt ridden, had hired a contractor to redo her room. Giving it a nicer flare, to help her forget about the past. She was actually happy to hear about that.

The brunette was brought back to reality, once she heard footsteps walking down the hallway, and towards her room. Her eyes lit up slightly, thinking it was Troy, as she looked up. She forced a small smile to her lips, when she saw that is was Cameron.

"Are you ready to go, Elle?" He asked, picking up her bag of possessions.

She nodded distractedly, looking outside the window. She just wanted one sign of him coming. Gabriella sighed, seeing that nothing had changed or appeared in the parking lot, she sighed.

Sensing his cousin's obvious distress, he placed her bag back onto the floor. He took a seat beside, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" She shook her head, indicating it was nothing, when he could clearly see that it was.

"Seriously, Elle." He told her sternly.

She pursed her lips tiredly, running her hand through her hair, trying to get it out of her eyes.

"It's nothing, really." She tried, as she closed her eyes, after seeing the look he was giving her. "Okay, okay." She opened her eyes, focusing her attention back onto what was outside of the window.

"It's just, I…" She bit her lower lip again. "He didn't come…" She trailed off quietly. She knew that her cousin would understand.

And he did, seeing how he hugged her.

"He's just a little off, Ellie." He convinced, trying to give her some sort of comfort on the situation. "Give it some time." The brunette shook her head fiercely.

"It's been two weeks though!" She exclaimed in frustration. "What happened?"

Gabriella sighed once again. "Usually, he would try to do something by the third day." She explained, as he nodded, thinking of some way to excuse Troy.

"When was the last time you two fought like this?" He asked, letting go of their hug.

She opened her mouth, before closing it, pausing to figure when their last serious fight had been.

"Summer of eighth grade." The brunette answered after a while of thinking.

"And how long has it been since then?" He asked, raising his eyebrow.

She frowned in confusion, "About three years." Cameron nodded, as he told her the excuse he had cleverly come up with.

"People change, El." He told her, "Sometimes, you might not even recognize it." He finished, making her shaking her head determinedly.

"But not him." She interjected, staring outside the window again. There still wasn't any sign of him. She sighed tearfully; she would've done anything just to see a glimpse of his old beat up truck.

"He's Troy." She breathed, her voice laced with sorrow.

Cameron frowned to himself, not wanting to utter the next sentence that was traveling to his mind. He patted her back, to soothe her slightly.

"He's also the guy you recently rejected." He stated quietly, not wanting to upset her.

She groaned in frustration. "I know, I know." She muttered, tearing her eyes away from the window to face her cousin. "It was my fault… But still, Cameron." She paused, as she sighed once again. "I had faith in his persistence to come through again. I just never expected him to stay true to his word."

He stayed quiet for a couple of minutes after her statement, as he tried to think of how to get her in a happier mood. The rest of the gang, would surely kill him if she brought home was sad. He finally thought of something, as he nodded, poking her cheek playfully.

"Stop thinking about him, Elle." He told her, smirking when he saw her lips curl up from the frown it once wore. "Every time you do, I'm going to poke you."

She rolled her eyes, at his promise. Poking her was always his trick to get her to laugh.

"You are so not going to do that." She accused, gaping when he poked both of her cheeks. "I didn't even say anything about him!"

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Call if a freebie if you want."

"Why-" She began, and was cut off by another poke to the arm.

"Come on-" She huffed, as she was interrupted again, by another poke.

"It's not-" She glared at his continuous laughter, and the light poke to her stomach.

"Cameron!" She exclaimed in aggravation, having moved approximately two feet away from him. Her face wore a shadow of a smile.

He controlled his laughter, as he looked down at her, raising his eyebrow at the change in her demeanor. "Yes?" He questioned, poking her in the stomach once again, chuckling when she answered him with a grin on her face.

"You suck."

--

A distinct blonde followed the man before her. She absolutely hated going into public. Ever since Gabriella and Troy's stupid friends pulled her wig off, and destroyed her reputation, the public had been following her mercilessly. She couldn't even go into a park, much less a friend's house, without being photographed by the annoying paparazzi. It seemed like everyone was waiting for the heir to the massive Green fortune to mess up again. Or at least have another fake thing to add to her list or unreal body parts.

She looked up to the guy before her, and couldn't believe that she hadn't figured out his true identity before. How could she have been so stupid?

Melanie sighed, as she continued to follow Mark's lead. She definitely couldn't believe that she was returning here again.

She stared at the door before her, before she was lightly shoved into its direction. She scoffed, and looked up at Mark, sending him daggers. He shrugged in response, as he motioned to the doorbell, indicating her to ring it.

"Fine." She huffed, before doing so.

The mahogany door opened before the two, revealing two extremely perturbed and shocked teenagers.

"Melanie!?" Chad spat out angrily, with venom in his voice. His once happy expression had turned into a very dangerous one. The situation was the same for the blonde beside him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sharpay hissed, placing her hand on her hip. Her brown eyes were sending Melanie a dark glare. Melanie tried her best to not let Sharpay intimidate her, but she was starting to fail miserably. Mark saw so and decided to step in.

"She's with me." He said daringly, stepping out of his place, so the two teens could see him clearly.

As Sharpay and Chad's line of vision focused on him, they both had changed drastically from angry to surprise.

"Doug?!"

--

Troy Bolton laid in his bed, clenching his eyes shut as tightly as he could. He knew that Gabriella would be discharging from the hospital today –he had heard the news from Chad himself. He so desperately wanted to go and see her, but he wanted to leave her alone. She'd wanted it, and he was going to give it to her. Even if it was hurting him, himself.

He knew that he should've gone and tried once again, but he was tired of it, tired of everything that had to do with Gabriella Montez. Every time he did try, he'd get shot down by her, or something would get in his way. What difference would it make this time? Maybe it was fate, he decided. She wasn't meant to be more than a best friend to him. No matter what else his heart believed. He let out a long breath he had been holding in from before.

Maybe it was a good thing Melanie barged into his life.

Maybe that was meant to happen.

He opened his eyes, once he felt something tickling his foot. He looked down, and saw his little brother grinning innocently at him.

"Hi Troy." He greeted, plopping on the bed, beside his older brother.

Troy smiled at him, before sitting up. "Hey Daniel."

"Are you 'kay?" The young Bolton brother asked, playing with Troy's fingers. Troy raised an eyebrow to his brother's question.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He answered.

Daniel raised his head up, to look at his brother clearly. "You sure? You look sad."

He was about to lie again, but decided against it. What example would that be for Daniel? "I kinda am, I guess." He replied truthfully, making Daniel frown.

"Why?"

"Gabriella." Troy told him simply.

Daniel nodded, understanding fully. He hadn't seen Gabriella in weeks. "Where's she been?" He queried.

"Around." He stated, lifting his brother into his lap. "She's been busy." Daniel sighed at the short answers his older brother was giving him.

"With what?" He questioned, as Troy shrugged in response.

"Just… " He trailed off, trying to find the right words to say. "Some stuff."

Daniel rolled his eyes, before realizing a key element to the change that had taken place. "Where's Melon?" He asked suspiciously.

"She's gone for good." He answered, chuckling when he saw Daniel's giddy expression.

"Yay! She was a meanie butt." Troy nodded in agreement.

"She was, wasn't she?" Daniel clapped his hands together, extremely happy that Troy was over the blonde witch.

"A big one!" He exclaimed, his face reflecting an exuberant expression.

"That's very true, Danny." Troy responded, as the two brother fell into a comfortable silence.

"Troy?" Daniel called, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" He answered.

Daniel got off of Troy's lap, and sat beside him on the bed. "Will you eva get Gabi as a wife?" Troy's eyes widened in shock at his question.

"What?" He asked, in a surprised voice, as Daniel looked at him weirdly.

"You and Gabi." He repeated slowly. "Hubby and Wife."

Troy raised an eyebrow. "Why would you ask that?"

Daniel shrugged himself, not still getting why his brother was so shook up by a simple question.

"You two are cool, so it'd would be awesome!" He exclaimed, in a 'duh' tone.

"Way betta than you and Melon." He added, as an afterthought, after remembering all of the times Melanie had been mean to him when she came over.

Troy smiled at his younger brother's view on the situation between himself and Gabriella. He only wished that is were simple as he portrayed it. But getting together with Gabriella wasn't decided by Daniel. It was decided by Troy and Gabriella, themselves. Troy only wished he could just get past that stupid maze, and marry her someday. Should he try one more time?

Daniel stared at his brother's far away look in confusion. Why wasn't he answering? "Are you?" He pressed again, his face giving off a innocent vibe. Troy bit his lower lip wondering about the situation, himself.

"Maybe, Danny. We'll see." Troy told him. Maybe, possibly, he'd try again. For Daniel's sake.

Daniel smiled contently at his brother's answer, as he laid back on the bed.

"Sounds like a great plan."

Little Daniel returns!

Haha. I was originally going to have one of Troy's parents talk to him, but then I reread, and remembered about Daniel. He fitted better. Plus, I got to insult Melanie! Melon, HAH!

Sorry for any common mistakes I made in the chapter. I'm in a rush to get off the laptop.

And thanks for the continuously awesome reviews! Keep them coming. (;

-Ilyilyx3

Sneak Peak-

"Let's start over?"

"Sure."

--

"Gabriella, if you really want him back, then why don't you chase after him for once?"

-- it was supposed to be in this chapter, but it didn't fit, like I planned it too.

"What the fuck?"

"I'm not here to manipulate you."

--

"So, what happened?"

And now I leave you to ponder. :P