Haha! I'm updating! Yay! Ok this is for all the people who have been waiting a long time for me to update! These are the peeps who have been gently reminding me to update, lol! You know who you are! Oh and by the way… I just want to let you all know that I am officially changing the title of the story… because I recently found out that there's another HSM fic by the same name and I don't want anyone to get confused between this one and that one… coz that one's Ryella! Ew.. lol! No offence to Ryella fans! Ok.. this fic will now be called, 'Too Little, Too Late?' I'll repost chapter 1 and put a note about this there as well…

Disclaimer: No I do not own HSM or any of the HSM characters that I may mention…

CHAPTER 5: Just Friends?

"So how's it going Troy? Still enjoying the life of a high school teacher?"

Troy sat in the den of Gabriella's house, still feeling slightly overwhelmed by the whole event.

"Um… yeah… I am… it's great you know? Everyday is a new challenge, it's always different," replied Troy, taking the drink that Rob held out for him, "You know teenagers… they're unpredictable."

"Hmmn… yeah, I'd imagine that would be the case… so how's the team going? Is there any chance of taking the championship? ... That would be a great story to run…"

"Uh… yeah… I think so… we have a good team this year… I think there's a good chance that we'll do well…" replied Troy, sipping his drink.

Truth be told, Troy was actually having a hard time concentrating on the conversation… his stomach was churning a little and he knew he was nervous, Why are you nervous? It's just Gabriella! Relax man!

Troy thought back to the conversation he had had with his father only a quarter of an hour ago…

Flashback

"Whoa! Well don't you look snazzy tonight?" commented his father, Jack, as Troy walked into the living room. "What's the occasion? All dressed up to have a drink with your old man?"

"Uh… no… actually… I... uh… I've made plans for tonight… so I… uh… I was wondering if you could do me a favour?" asked Troy, rubbing the back of his neck.

Jack eyed him for a second, scoping out Troy's uncomfortable demeanour, before letting his face split into a large grin…

"Haha… let me guess… you want your mother and I, to baby-sit Abbey while you go out on a hot date?" asked Jack, laughing as Troy shot him an uncomfortable glare.

"It's not a date… well not really… it's just dinner…"

"Hmmn… dinner with a female? Sounds like a date to me!" replied Jack, before adding, "And it's about time too! You haven't gone on a proper date since that good-for-nothing Rachel left! Ok… who is she?"

"It's not a date! It's just dinner with an old friend…"

"An old friend? An old friend by the name of…?" prompted Jack, motioning for Troy to continue.

"Uh… an old friend… by the name of… Gabriella…" mumbled Troy, almost incoherently.

"Gabriella!" cried Jack, eyeing Troy with raised eyebrows, "You mean… Gabriella Montez…!"

"Uh… haha… yeah… that would be the one… I met her in the supermarket… she lives here in Albuquerque now… she's the new doctor at the emergency clinic… and now I'm going to her place to have dinner with her parents."

"Really? Wow…well that's great! Now you're going to date her again?"

"No!" replied Troy, a little too quickly, "No… we're just friends…"

"Friends? … Yeah sure…" said Jack sceptically, "Troy… I highly doubt that you and Gabriella could ever be… 'just friends'…"

Troy couldn't get those words out of his head… he'd been dwelling on them ever since… 'I highly doubt that you and Gabriella could ever be… just friends' … What's that supposed to mean?

Troy slowly snapped out of his daze… only just registering that Rob was still talking to him…

"Huh? Sorry… could you repeat that… I kind of spaced out just then… sorry…" said Troy smiling sheepishly.

"Haha… that's ok… I was just saying that it's pretty amazing… you and Gabriella meeting up in the supermarket like that."

"Yeah it is…" replied Troy vaguely, "It's… amazing…"

"What's amazing?" Troy felt his neck cramp painfully as he whipped his head around at the sound of the voice.

There stood Gabriella, Troy felt his throat constrict… he hadn't expected to see her there and now he felt like he couldn't breathe… though he didn't know why. It wasn't like she was overly dressed up, with only a very simple outfit, just a pair of black pants with a pale pink turtle neck... she had barely any make up on and her hair was down, Troy thought it looked a little damp, but Troy still thought she looked gorgeous…

"You are…" he breathed, without thinking.

Troy winced, blinking slowly as he realised what he'd just said… he felt his face flush, as he felt eyes on him. He looked over to see Rob and Gabriella staring at him dumbfounded. Rob had one eyebrow cocked and Gabriella blinked at him, looking unsure and confused.

"Wha-"

"Uh-uh… I… I mean… you are… you… uh… you scared me! Haha..." said Troy quickly, chuckling nervously… "Yo-you shouldn't creep up on people like that!"

Gabriella stared at him for a second, as if trying to read his mind… That's not what you meant… what did you really mean?

"Uh… okay then… uh… sorry for scaring you…"

"Haha… uh… that's ok…"

An awkward silence prevailed then… no one knowing what to say… each stuck in their own worlds… both Troy and Gabriella's hearts were beating hard and they both stared down at the floor… Rob just stood there, looking from one to the other and trying very hard not to laugh out loud... he found the whole situation highly amusing… Hmmn… how awkward… haha... those two are so hopeless! Shaking his head and smiling softly, Rob took a long swig of his drink before breaking the silence.

"Uh… Gabriella? Do you know how far off your mother is from finishing dinner? She said before that she was almost done… have you any more clue?"

"Oh… um, yeah she said she's about done…"

"Ah ok… well I might just go in and help her then… the table won't set itself after all!" laughed Rob, before walking out of the room… effectively leaving Troy and Gabriella to their awkward silence.

"Haha… uh… this is a little awkward… " mumbled Troy, scratching his head slowly. He looked over at her, making eye contact and flashing her a lopsided grin.

Gabriella looked back at him… chuckling softly and nodding her head in agreement.

"Haha… yes… very awkward…" she looked around, searching for something further to say… something, anything… "So um… I guess you had no trouble finding the place? Even after all this time?"

Troy laughed, grinning at her softly… "No way… I'd never forget the way… I… I couldn't… this was like a second home for me once… I could never forget where my home was… co-could you?"

Troy stared at her intently, and Gabriella stared back, feeling herself blush… her heart was beating and she felt shivers up her spine. She didn't know what to say to this… and she could tell by the look on Troy's face that he was waiting for her to respond… she opened her mouth to speak but…

"Ah… Troy… Gab- " started Maria, stopping as caught the expressions on their faces, "Oh… um… did I interrupt something?"

Gabriella broke her gaze with Troy, looking over at her mother quickly and responding… "N-no… no it's ok… what's the problem?"

"Uh… no problem… I just wanted to tell you that dinner is ready… there's only the four of us, so I thought we'd just eat in the kitchen, save the trouble of setting up the dining room… you don't mind do you Troy?"

"No of course not!" replied Troy, grinning. He looked over at Gabriella before adding, "It'll be just like old times! Right, Gabriella?"

Gabriella looked back at Troy… hesitating for a second before grinning and replying, "Yeah… definitely!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ah there you two are! It's about time! I was just about to collapse from lack of nourishment!" cried Rob as Troy and Gabriella followed Maria into the kitchen.

"Oh Rob! Don't exaggerate! It hardly looks like you're undernourished anyway…" replied Maria, indicating his waistline with her hand.

"Aww… don't you like my six pack, honey?" asked Rob sticking out his chest and rubbing his 'abs'.

"Hah! The only six pack that's likely to be in there is one filled with beer!"

"Would you two please stop it already? Have you forgotten that you have company here?" asked Gabriella, shaking her head and poking a thumb over at Troy.

"Gabriella! It's rude to point like that! Didn't I raise you right?"

Gabriella simply rolled her eyes at her mother, looking over to see Troy, trying hard to stifle his laughter.

"Ok… can we just get past this? Let's just have dinner, okay?" asked Gabriella, sighing and shaking her head.

"I'll second that motion! Let's eat! I've been working hard all day!" cried Rob, rubbing his hands together.

"Oh please yo-"

"Mum! Please don't start up again! Let's just… sit…"

They all seated themselves around a rectangular table, Rob and Maria on one side, and Troy and Gabriella on the other. When they were all seated Rob immediately reached for a bowl of mash potato, while Maria mumbled something about not yet saying grace, which Rob pointedly chose not to hear, looking up across the table to roll his eyes at Troy and Gabriella…

"Hey I saw that! Don't roll your eyes at me!" cried Maria.

"I didn't sweetheart! I was looking up briefly to thank God for granting me a treasure such as yourself…" replied Rob, winking at Troy and Gabriella, before leaning over to peck his wife on the lips.

Troy smiled in amusement at the two before looking over at Gabriella, who was shaking her head slowly… she looked over at him and as they made eye contact they both chuckled softly.

Troy leaned over, whispering in her ear, "I guess they haven't changed much, have they?"

"Nope… not for the better anyway…" replied Gabriella, chuckling slightly.

"Haha… I've missed these times… they were good times…" whispered Troy, smiling at her. Gabriella looked back at him and smiled too, she could feel her stomach tingling and she knew it wasn't hunger induced.

Rob looked up momentarily from his meal and caught the two of them still gazing at each other… turning to Maria and nudging her, he grinned and nodded his head towards the other two. The two of them watched the younger couple for a few seconds before chuckling softly to each other. Their laughter was apparently enough to snap Troy and Gabriella out of their trance, with both turning to look towards the older couple. They blushed as they saw the amused expressions on Rob and Maria's faces.

"Oh! Sorry… did we disturb your silent conversation? We're sorry about that... aren't we hon?" asked Rob turning to his wife and chuckling… drawing more flushed expressions from Troy and Gabriella.

"Oh shut up Rob… leave them alone!" replied Maria, trying not to laugh, "You two better start eating while there's still food left!"

"Haha… uh… yeah… good idea... we wouldn't want Rob to overstuff himself, right? He'd get sick and then there'd be no one to edit the daily paper!" laughed Troy, trying to cover his embarrassment.

"What are you talking about? Editing the paper is easy! I just give it to my assistant to edit and then look over and authorise it! I have a good assistant so there's not usually much to change… that's the beauty of being the boss! It's just all about appearance! Haha!"

"Ha! Rob… that's probably not something you should admit too loud, too often…" laughed Gabriella.

"Oh well… I'm only joking and I doubt you two are about to spread that around! After all I am, first and foremost a reporter! I could just dig up some scandalous info about your respective pasts!"

"Ho-oh! Is that a threat there Rob?" asked Troy grinning.

"Haha! Depends… do you want to try and call my bluff?" replied Rob, challenging Troy with his eyes.

"Hmmn… no thanks… I don't think I'll risk it!" laughed Troy, returning to his food.

They are in silence for a couple of minutes, each just focusing on their food.

"So um… how have you two been lately? Haven't run into youse for awhile…" asked Troy to Rob and Maria.

"Yeah good Troy, thanks for asking! I've been busy at the firm, and Rob's just been, you know, busy with the paper…" replied Maria, "I must say it's nice to have Gabriella living back at home though… I missed her terribly while she was away…"

"Yeah… I think I know how you must have felt…" responded Troy softly, looking over at Gabriella as he spoke.

Gabriella didn't respond… looking down and concentrating on her food instead. The table went silent again for a second… neither Rob nor Maria knowing quite how to respond. Presently Rob cleared his throat, breaking the silence that had prevailed.

"So Gabriella… you never said yet, how was your first day at the clinic?" asked Rob, serious for once.

"Oh um… yeah it was great! I learnt a lot… especially in the emergency ward! I won't go into details, since we're eating but yeah it was fascinating!" replied Gabriella smiling.

"So I guess we should all be calling you, Dr. Montez now?" asked Troy, grinning at her.

"Haha… I suppose you should be… but please don't, it sounds weird!" laughed Gabriella.

"Now, now Dr… no special treatment just because we're friends…" replied Troy, and Gabriella just laughed.

"If you start calling me Dr. then I'll start calling you Sir!" warned Gabriella.

"You wouldn't!"

"Oh I would! Just try me!" cried Gabriella and Troy laughed again.

"Hmmn… and they think we're bad hun…" mumbled Rob quietly so only Maria could hear, causing her to chuckle softly. He then spoke a little louder, addressing Troy, "So Troy… how's that little one going? Uh… um… Arn… Atty… sorry, I can't remember… oh! Um… Abbey! That's it!"

Troy's eyes widened in horror at the question, his mind echoed just one word… Shit! He immediately looked over at Gabriella trying to scope her reaction…

Gabriella looked up at Rob, confused… Who's Abbey? Her heart starting beating rapidly as a thought occurred to her… A girlfriend?

"Who's Abbey? Is that… is that your girlfriend Troy?" asked Gabriella, turning to Troy for an answer.

"Haha! Girlfriend!" laughed Rob, out loud… not registering the fact that Gabriella apparently didn't know… Maria, however… realised immediately and tried to shut him up, but… "She's not Troy's girlfriend! Abbey is Troy's dau-"

"Dog!" cut in Troy, loudly, he's heart beating like an insane jackhammer.

"What?" was the resounding reply from his three dinner companions…

Troy looked at them all, glancing from one to the other in a continuous circle, his mind registering two different sets of confused expressions.

"I thought your dog's name was Abraham?" asked Gabriella, breaking the silence.

"Uh… haha… yeah it-it is…" replied Troy, glancing at the matching, raised eyebrows of Rob and Maria, "Uh… Abbey, is my nickname for him!"

"Really? You gave your male dog, a female nickname?" asked Gabriella, perplexed.

"Uh… yeah… weird right?" responded Troy, chuckling nervously and scratching his head.

"Yeah… very… isn't that weird mum? Rob?" said Gabriella, turning to Rob and Maria.

Maria and Rob were silent for a moment, both glancing from Troy to Gabriella, as if trying to figure out whether or not to play along. Troy looked at them in an almost pleading manner, begging with his eyes.

"Ah… yeah… it's very weird… haha…" replied Rob, laughing half-heartedly and glancing at Maria.

"Um… yeah… it is… such a strange thing to do…"

"Hmmn… that's what I thought… your very strange… Siiirrr…" said Gabriella, playfully drawing out the Sir.

"Haha… yeah… uh… Drrr," replied Troy.

There was a silence then, as each returned back to their food… or at least Gabriella returned to her food… Troy kind of just moved his food around his plate, avoiding the gaze of Rob and Maria, who were pointedly trying to make eye contact. They finished their meal in silence, Gabriella soon excusing herself to attend the ladies room… when she'd left, conversation suddenly exploded.

"What are you doing, Troy!" hissed Rob, trying to keep his voice down in case Gabriella heard.

"What were you thinking!" asked Maria, angrily, "You haven't told her!"

"Uh… no… not yet…" replied Troy, looking at them weakly, "I'm sorry! But I don't know what happened! I just didn't! I couldn't for some reason! I was about to mention Abbey but instead of telling her I blurted out the name Abraham and said it was my dog!"

"Do you have any idea how hurt she'll be if when she finds out!" whispered Maria, "Do you know how hurt she was after you two broke up! Today is the first time she's mentioned your name since you were together!"

"What do you mean, how much she was hurt? She broke up with me! I was hurt too!" cried Troy defensively, "And I know she'll be hurt… but what do you want me to do? Just come right out and say, 'Oh hey Gabriella! Did I forget to mention that I have a four year old daughter and she was conceived the day we broke up?' I don't think so, guys!"

"She was conceived the day you two broke up!" whispered Rob, confused, while Maria's eyes widened.

"Uh… yeah… long story… I'm not about to explain it to you…" replied Troy, running a hand through his hair distractedly.

"Well whatever… you can't keep this sort of thing a secret! You have to tell her!"

"I know… I know! And I will! I just need to find the right time! So could you two please not say anything about Abbey? Please? Not until I have a chance to tell her…"

"I can't lie to her! She's my daughter!"

"I'm not asking you to lie! Just don't bring it up… or be vague… please?" asked Troy, beseechingly.

"Ah! Fine! But you better tell her soon! Like tonight! This isn't a good way to start a relationship with someone, Troy… and it's an especially delicate situation between you and Gabriella, since you already have history…"

"Yeah… I'll be quiet too, but not for too long! If you don't tell her soon, I'll feel that I have no choice! Understand?" asked Maria sternly, "Rob's right… if you want this to work this time, you better be real careful how you go about it!"

"Want this to work? What're you talking about… we-we're just friends!" whispered Troy.

"Oh… come on now Troy! There's no way you and Gabriella could ever be 'just friends'!" cried Rob, causing Troy to feel a strong sense of déjà vu… Why do people keep saying that?

"Okay, okay! I will! I'll do it soon, I promise! I don't want to hurt her either!"

"You don't want to hurt who?" asked Gabriella, walking back into the room and causing all three of them to jump up in alarm. Gabriella looked at them, confused… "What's wrong with you guys? What've I missed here…?"

"Uh… nothing! Um… Rob was just giving me some advice on flea control for my dog…" said Troy quickly.

"Really? I didn't know Rob was such an expert!"

"Er… haha… well what can I say? I'm a man of many tricks and trades!" replied Rob, forcing out a laugh.

"Hmmn… okay… I guess it's true! You do learn something new everyday!" cried Gabriella brightly, receiving only half-grins from the others, "So who's up for desert! I'm pretty sure we have Neapolitan in the freezer… I remember that you especially liked the pink ice-cream Troy!"

"Haha… ah yeah… that's right! You used to tease me all the time, you meanie! But… uhm… I don't think I feel like dessert today… I'm stuffed from dinner and besides I got to get home… I got tests to mark, lessons to plan… the life of a teacher! Work, work, work!" joked Troy.

"Aw… you're going?" asked Gabriella, frowning a little, "Well okay… I guess you probably have a lot of work to do still… actually I do too, they gave me a ton of paper work to do for tomorrow…"

"Hmmn… yeah… I guess we're all busy… well anyway I enjoyed dinner, thank you!"

"Yeah… it was nice having you Troy…" replied Maria.

"Yeah… it was… like old times! And don't forget about that thing I told you! Do it soon before it's too late! You wouldn't want… Abbey… to be hurt too badly…" added Rob, staring at him pointedly.

"Ah… yeah okay… I'll do it, first chance I get…" responded Troy, waving, before turning to walk out of the room.

"Oh Troy! Wait! I'll see you out of the house!" cried Gabriella.

"Oh no… that's not necess-"

"Yes it is Troy!" spoke out Rob, giving him a hard look and Troy just nodded.

Troy and Gabriella moved in silence, neither speaking until they were at the front door… Troy opened it slowly and stepped out, before turning back to look at Gabriella, who was now leaning against the door frame.

"So… I had fun tonight… it was really nice…" said Gabriella softly.

"Yeah it was… just like old times…" agreed Troy, smiling at her… Gabriella smiled back and the two of them just continued to stare in silence.

"I miss the old times Troy…" whispered Gabriella and Troy stepped slowly towards her.

"Me too…" he replied softly… he was fairly close now, and Gabriella had to look up to meet his gaze.

Troy looked down at her… observing the way her loose hair framed her face in the same cute way as he remembered when they were together… she looked so young… as young and innocent as he'd ever known her and suddenly Troy knew that he had to tell her… he couldn't bear to lie to her.

"Gabriella…" whispered Troy, using his hand to move a stray hair from her face…

Gabriella closed her eyes slowly, enjoying the feel of Troy's hand caressing her face… just like she remembered… she opened her eyes and stared up into his eyes… waiting for him to continue…

"Yes… Troy…?" she whispered, leaning in closer to him… so close that he could smell the sweet fragrance of her hair as well as feel slightly, her breath on his neck as she spoke…

Troy could feel his resolve melting away… just standing there, with her so close… his heart was pumping, he couldn't breathe and he was sure he could feel something doing back flips in his stomach… I knew that steak tasted a bit raw… He continued to look down at her… he had to tell her… he had too… but he wasn't sure he could… she just looked so innocent… so young… she looked exactly like the Gabriella he'd fallen in love with all those years ago…

Troy thought back to then… to when they were happy and in love… his mind flashed back through visions of the memories that had haunted him for the last 5 years… images of Gabriella's smiling face, pictures of them together… at parties… with friends… wearing ridiculous Christmas hats… images of her hugging him, kissing him, her hand in his… he smiled at the memory and brought a hand up to cup her cheek, his thumb caressing it softly.

Troy leaned down closer to her, his face inches from hers… his eyes, as well as hers, already half-closed, and lips slightly parted… he was about to close the gap when… Gabriella did it for him… taking him by surprise for just a second, before he deepened the kiss, pushing her up against the door… Gabriella pulled her hands up around his neck, pulling him in closer, while Troy put his hands down around her waist… running his hands up and down her sides… Gabriella ran her hands through his hair, trying to pull him, impossibly closer… Troy could feel his head spinning, as could Gabriella… it felt as if all the frustrations of their time apart had built up into this one, amazing, awe-inspiring kiss.

Reluctantly they eventually pulled apart… lips aching slightly, not that either of them noticed… Troy looked down at her, and Gabriella looked up at him… he put his hands up to cup her face and drew her into a softer kiss than before, smiling into it before pulling away. Neither spoke for several minutes… both overwhelmed by what had just taken place. Troy smiled down at her, still thinking back to before… Why wasn't it always like this? What happened?

Troy blinked as he snapped back to reality… pulling away slightly and asking the one thing that had played on his mind for the last 5 years.

"Why?" Gabriella looked up at him… surprised by his question and unsure of how to respond…

When she didn't respond, Troy continued, eyes stinging slightly, "We were happy… sure we were far apart, but that didn't mean I loved you any less! It hurt me to be so far away as well!"

"I know… I know that Troy… and I'm sorry…" she whispered in response, blinking back painful memories… "It's just… I co-couldn't take it anymore… we were talking less and less… and we were both so busy… I just thought it was the easiest thing to do…"

"Easiest doesn't mean best... Gabriella… we could've worked it out… that's what you do in a relationship… you work through your problems, together…"

"I know! I see that now! It was a stupid mistake! I wish I could take back that day… I wish we could've spent that summer together in Albuquerque… I was stupid to go off to Europe… I was running away… but I just felt so depressed… and I felt guilty because I thought you were missing out…" replied Gabriella, looking down… "I didn't want you to end up hating me… I didn't want you to start thinking that I'd held you back… and… and I didn't want you to end up cheating on me or something…"

Troy blinked, surprised by her answer, he put a hand under her chin and moved her to face him.

"Listen to me… I would never have done that… Gabriella, you were the best thing that ever happened to me… I wasn't missing all the girls I could've had or whatever else you're implying… the only thing I was missing was you…"

Gabriella looked up at Troy, noting the honesty in his eyes… she felt the tears welling up inside… she shut her eyes… cursing her stupidity… she suddenly felt a strong sense of guilt at what she must have put him through…

"I regretted what I did as soon as I left Troy… I wanted to come back to you… I wanted to take it all back… but I couldn't… I knew I'd hurt you badly and I just couldn't come back… I felt too guilty… I… I'm sorry…" whispered Gabriella, wiping the tears from her eyes, before looking back up at him, "Troy… I couldn't come back… you must understand that… but you could've come to me… why didn't you call? Or run after me… or… something!"

Troy didn't answer right away… Why didn't I call?... more memories suddenly flooded into his brain… memories of that 'day', images of him sitting in his dorm room… of him looking down at an object in his hands… a small black box… his hands running his fingers along the edges as he studied it carefully, breathing deeply and feeling nervous… of him looking up and staring at a picture on his bedside table… a picture of Gabriella… then images of finding Gabriella outside… of seeing the serious look in her eyes… of her basically saying the things had never wanted to hear… of seeing her walk out… of him lying crumpled on the floor, clutching the little black box… him chucking it at the wall in anger… then there were images of the party later that night… the one that Chad made him attend… images of him downing drink after drink… of dancing with some girl… of dancing with another girl… of blacking out and then waking up naked, wrapped around a girl who he initial thought was Gabriella, but who he later found out to be Rachel…

Troy shut his eyes, shaking his head as he tried ridding himself of the memories… he brain flashed forward, to the guilt he felt for having a rebound girl… and then suddenly Troy remembered why he didn't call… he suddenly remembered learning of his pending child… of Abbey…

Troy blinked, springing back to the present… and suddenly he wished that the last 5 minutes had never happened… he wished he hadn't kissed Gabriella or she hadn't kissed him or whatever… he wished it hadn't happened because he suddenly remembered that Gabriella still didn't know he had a daughter… nor did she know how Abbey had come about…

Troy pulled away… stepping out of Gabriella's grasp and looking away…

"Maybe this isn't a good idea…" he whispered, shutting his eyes as he cursed inwardly… this was the one thing he'd always wanted and here he was giving it away…

"Wh-what! Wh-why!" asked Gabriella panicking slightly… what had she done? Why was he doing this?

"I'm sorry Gabriella… I'm not sure I'm ready… it's… it's been so long… we hardly know each other anymore…" continued Troy… regretting the words even as he said them, maybe before, "Look… I just don't… I don't want to complicate things too soon…"

Gabriella just looked at him, dumbfounded… 'I don't want to complicate things…'? Wha-…? Did you just share the same kiss I did? You don't think it's complicated already? Gabriella didn't say this however… instead she said…

"Uh… uh… ok…"

"I'm sorry Gabriella… can… can we just be friends? Forget like this ever happened?" Yeah right Troy! Just forget, like it's sooo easy… god! You're such a twat head sometimes… Troy blinked, blocking out his thoughts before continuing, "Uh… I have to go… can I call you tomorrow?"

Gabriella didn't answer… she just nodded softly before looking away… Troy closed his eyes momentarily… he really hated himself at that moment… he felt like saying something… anything… but what? … so instead he settled on nothing… he simply turned and walked away… he walked over to his car and didn't look back until he reached it… but by that time, Gabriella was already gone… the lights were off and the door was closed…

Alright… I think you guys know the drill by now… Chapter is over… what do you think of it? Post a review and tell me what you think of it, please! See? I even asked nicely, now you have to :) Oh! btw... did you notice I left another box mystery? lmao! It seems to be my thing... lol! What do you think was in it?