Disclaimer: Maybe if I wished upon a star, one day HSM would be mine…

Author's Note: I've got to say it.. Holy crap! Okay, that last chapter got me more reviews than I have ever gotten in any of the previous chapters, or even any of my one shots! You. Guys. Are. Amazing! And it's not just the amount of reviews, but what you said in them too! I love you guys. LOL.

Also, thank you to those people that hadn't reviewed until the last chapter. It was great to hear what you thought of the story so far. :D

Now on with it!

The sun shone brightly against Gabriella's face, illuminating the smile that was currently plastered over it as she slept soundly in Troy's bed. A particularly loud bird chirped outside the window causing the brunette to stir slightly. Outside the bird continued to chirp, which effectively woke Gabriella up, tearing her away from her extremely happy dream. She couldn't remember exactly what it was about, but she knew that it had been a good one; one of those dreams that left you feeling warm and happy for the day.

Fluttering her eyes open she groaned at the brightness of the sun and buried her head into one of the pillows on Troy's bed, breathing in his scent. When she had gotten used to the sun she rolled back over and threw the sheets back slightly.

Staring out the window with the smile still playing on her face, the events of the night before slowly came tumbling back into her conscious mind. Troy, the club, Taylor's phone call, Noah and Theresa together, feelings of sadness, hurt, anger… kissing Troy… it all flashed in her mind and her smile quickly faded as she came back to reality.

She sighed wondering how things could become so royally messed up in one night. She didn't even know where to begin, Noah, Troy… either way last night had to be one of the worst and most emotionally draining nights of her entire life.

Bringing her hands up to her face she covered her face and rubbed her eyes taking in a few deep breaths. She didn't want to deal with this. She didn't want to have to deal with this. But it had happened, and she knew that running from her problems wasn't the answer right now. She took a quick glance over at the alarm clock; 5.45, far too early to be dealing with life changing problems. Turning around and burying her head back into the pillow she tried to fall back to sleep, deciding that life altering decisions could wait a few hours.

From the couch, Troy stretched out his arms and legs and let out a yawn as he woke up. Looking around the room for a moment, he tried to figure out why he had slept on the cold couch, without a blanket, when he could have been in a nice, warm, comfy bed instead. Upon seeing Gabriella's jacket and handbag by the door, and the half empty beer bottles that littered the table, the night before came flooding back into his mind, giving him his answer.

Yawning once again he glanced at his watch; 7.25, definitely time to get up for work. Expecting Gabriella to be still sleeping, he quietly tip-toed into his room to turn off his alarm clock before it woke her, thinking that she'd need the extra rest. Leaning over the bed and Gabriella's sleeping form he effectively switched it off, before standing straight and taking a good look at the brunette beauty.

Her eyes were scrunched up slightly and she kept moving about every few moments, as if she was struggling with something. A sympathetic smile came over his face as he continued to watch her, his heart going out to her. She didn't deserve this. Someone as amazing, and loving, and as beautiful as Gabriella didn't deserve everything that had happened to her in the past few months. He sighed and pulled the sheets that had been thrown back, up to her chin.

Gently sitting down on the edge of the bed he gave a small smile as he watched her nestle deeper into the bed, looking much more at ease than she had moments ago. Carefully leaning over her, he lightly brushed his palm over the side of her face. Unknowingly she leaned into his touch, and he smiled once again. His mind was telling him to stop, that it was wrong, but his hand wouldn't move. He sat there quietly, just tenderly stroking her face and watching her as she slept. She looked so peaceful now, as compared to how she had looked when he walked in, and a small part of him wanted to believe that it was because he was here now.

"Gabs," he murmured as to not wake her up, "I'm so sorry this had to happen to you. You didn't deserve any of this." She moved slightly and he froze. He waited a few minutes as she eased back to sleep before he let out a deep breath of relief and continued again. He needed to get this out. To somehow tell her how he felt, before the day officially started and he went back to pretending that he was nothing but her friend. "If… if there was some way to take away all your pain, I would do it." He paused and gazed down at her lovingly. "If you let me, I could be the one to fix you. I want to be the one who fixes you."

He waited to see if she would somehow react to this news, half hoping she had, half that she hadn't. Sighing, he carefully got off the bed and began to quietly move about the room gathering various articles of clothing before retreating to his bathroom to shower.

Hearing the water running Gabriella slowly opened one of her eyes and checked to see if the coast was clear before she sat up in bed. With her hand she carefully rubbed her cheek, trying to gain back feeling in her cheek that she had been biting for the last, god knows how long.

The first thing that came to her mind was, shit. Her mind began to work in overdrive as she tried to figure out what the hell to do. Things had definitely gotten much more complicated now that she knew exactly how Troy felt. And she had kissed him last night too. Groaning she knew she had to get out of here. She needed to think, and she couldn't do that when one of the very people she needed to think about was only a few meters away showering. Jumping out of the bed she scrambled about the room taking off, and putting on her clothing, before she made a mad dash out of Troy's apartment.

Getting her bag out of the backseat of her car, Taylor sighed. She had spent half the day trying to stay away from Noah, knowing that if she saw him, that she wouldn't be able to control herself. And the other half of the day she had spent looking for Gabriella. She hadn't heard from her since she had called her last night to tell her of what she had seen, and after calling her numerous times only to get her voicemail, Taylor was definitely getting worried. She had even dropped in at the hospital, hoping to find Gabriella there, but to her dismay neither Gabriella nor Troy could be found. She hoped that was a sign that Troy was with her, making sure she was okay.

Walking towards her apartment she noticed a figure hunched over by her door. Cautiously she continued to walk towards her door until she realized that the figure was the very girl she had been looking for. A sigh of relief came over her before she rushed towards Gabriella and knelt down in front of her. "Gabriella! I was so worried about you!" she said hurriedly. Slowly Gabriella lifted her head from her knees, where they had been resting, and brushed back her brown locks, immediately letting Taylor see the distress written all over her face and her slightly watery eyes. "I'm so sorry Gabi," she said regretfully before enveloping her friend in a tight hug.

Gabriella closed her eyes and hugged Taylor back, thankful for the comfort. "Tay, I- I think," she began quietly before Taylor cut her off.

"Sweetie, how long have you been out here?" she said worriedly, as she pulled back from the embrace.

Gabriella sighed and shrugged glancing down at her watch quickly. "Since lunch maybe? So four-five hours."

Taylor eyes widened, "Why didn't you call me? I would have come straight away! I was out looking for you for half the day."

Gabriella gave a small smile, appreciative to have such a great friend. "I needed time to clear my head." Taylor simply gave her a sympathetic smile and pulled Gabriella in for another hug. The two sat in a quiet embrace for a while before Gabriella untangled herself from Taylor grasp. "Tay," she said quietly, as she bit the side of her lip to stop it from quivering. "Everything is messed up."

"I know it is sweetie, but you'll get through this okay?" she responded tentatively. "Noah-"

Gabriella scrunched up her face slightly and interrupted Taylor before she could say any more, "No. It's, it's not just Noah."

Taylor gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

Gabriella bit down on her lip harder, "I might have done something last night to screw thing up between Troy and I too." Taylor gave her a curious look, wordlessly prompting her to continue. She sighed. "I kissed Troy," she said quietly as she fixated her gaze on a small stone by Taylor's shoe, not wanting to see the look of shock written across Taylor's face.

Neither of the two said anything, Taylor still reeling over this new piece of information, whilst Gabriella continued to admire the stone. Coughing to break the silence Taylor stood up and dusted herself off. "Come on sweetie, let's get you inside and then you can tell me what happened," she said simply helping Gabriella up and taking her keys out of her pocket.

...

...

...

Bringing her hands up to his face, she cupped it and brought it down to her face, kissing him full on the lips.

Caught off guard, Troy hesitated, but only for a moment before he gave into the kiss, kissing her back just as intensely.

Blocking off her mind, she let herself get lost in the incredible feeling of his lips against hers, and the familiar tingles that they caused to vibrate through her body. Quickly she deepened the kiss, threading her fingers into his hair, and pulling his body closer to hers.

Eagerly Troy responded; putting his hands around her waist, holding her tightly against his body. Too caught up in the moment to fully realize the implications of his actions.

They continued to kiss and touch each other; each trying to re-familiarize themselves with the others body, sparking memories of all those years they had spent together back into their conscious mind. When the need for air became too much, Gabriella slowed down the kiss, lingering her lips over his slightly before pulling back completely and opening her eyes. She kept her eyes on his closed ones, watching the expression on his face. As he opened his eyes she saw what she thought was happiness, only for it to be quickly replaced by a look of panic.

Troy's eyes grew wide at the realization of exactly what he had done. Quickly he pulled out of her reach and began to nervously pace around the room. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," he muttered softly to himself continually. This was not supposed to happen. The plan was to make sure she was okay, hold her, comfort her, make her feel better. No where in that plan did it mention going anywhere near her lips. Mentally he slapped himself. How could he have been so stupid! He should have been in control. He'd been able to hold back for three months, but the moment she tells him Noah screws up beyond repair, he dives in for the kill? What in the world was wrong with him!

He stopped pacing backwards and forwards and instead began to slowly bang his head against the wall. "Troy, you're an idiot," he said to himself, completely forgetting Gabriella was still in the room.

Gabriella watched him as he did so, already missing the feeling of his touch against her skin. "Troy?" she said tentatively; confused by his actions, as she slowly walked towards him.

Her voice brought him back to reality. "Gabriella, I'm so sorry! That wasn't meant to happen," he said quickly as he whirled around to face her.

She felt as if she was in a daze, as if she had just woken up, and she didn't know quite what to say. Her mind was being flooded by so many thoughts, it was getting confusing. All she knew is that kissing Troy felt good, and that when she kissed him all her thoughts seemed to disappear. "So.. you're taking back the kiss?" she questioned slowly.

"Yes!" A look of hurt quickly appeared on her face. "I mean, no!" Now a look of confusion appeared. He sighed, "I mean, it wasn't meant to happen, at least not like that, not right now. You just found out Noah was with Theresa, and your emotions are all over the place, and I was just meant to comfort you. I didn't mean to kiss you too."

She considered this for a moment. "Troy I kissed you first; I'm pretty sure I knew what I was doing."

"That's the thing Gabi, and I'm sorry to say this, but I don't think you did. Sure you say that now, but tomorrow morning you'll wake up and realize it was a mistake."

"Troy," she said simply.

"No, Gabi, seriously, I shouldn't have let it happen. I didn't mean to take advantage of you like that, I mean, I would never! I should have been in control. Your emotions are running wild right now, and you needed some comfort, and that's why you kissed me. And I get it, I do. But it I still shouldn't have let it happen. I'm so sorry Gabi!"

Looking him straight in the eye as he said it, the sensible part of her brain was thankful to Troy for being so logical, but another part of her just wanted to kiss him for being so understanding. "Troy.." she began again, but stopped letting his name linger in the air around them when she realized she didn't know what to say to that.

"Gabi, listen to me, tomorrow we'll just pretend it didn't happen okay? No sweat. You have enough to deal with as it is without having to worry about us on top of it too," he said reassuringly as he patted her softly on the shoulder. Still a bit unsure of what to say, she simply nodded. "Okay, good," Troy said in an upbeat voice as he clapped his hands. "Now I think you should go to bed now, you must be drained."

Even in her current state she rolled her eyes at him. "Fine, dad, I'm going."

He grinned back at her, "Good."

Retreating back to his bedroom Gabriella paused before she walked through the door. "Troy?" she questioned. He turned back around to face her. "Thanks," she said simply as a small smile played on her face.

He smiled back. "Anytime Montez." He watched on as she closed the door slightly and disappeared before flopping down on the couch. He ran his hand through his hair, stopping at his neck to scratch it. Thinking back on the past few hours, he sighed. He knew the kiss shouldn't have happened. He hadn't planned it, or purposely wanted it to happen; he just got caught up in it.

He sighed once again as he thought about how much more complicated this kiss was going to make it for him. Leaning his head against the back of the couch, he couldn't help but chuckle slightly; a small smile appeared on his face, as he remembered the feeling of her lips against his. As much as he knew it was wrong, he couldn't help but smile at the fact that their kisses still had as much spark and intensity to them, as they did all those years ago.

But as much as part of him did want the kiss, he still knew it was wrong, and tomorrow he was going to try his hardest to forget that it had happened, for Gabriella's sake.

...

...

...

"…And that's what happened," Gabriella finished off as she stopped walking around Taylor's apartment and looked at her expectantly.

Taylor sat crossed legged on one of her couches, coffee cup in hand, speechless. "Wow." Inside Taylor wanted to scream with joy, glad that it had finally happened, she knew something was going on between those two. It had taken three months, but it had finally happened.

Gabriella threw her head back and groaned. "Yes, wow. Now help me Tay, I don't know what to do!" Gabriella said pleading with her, almost whimpering, as she sat down next to her on the couch.

Taylor shook her head, trying to shake the happy thoughts out of her mind since Gabriella obviously didn't look that pleased it had happened at all. She had to be supportive; her best friend had just found out her husband was a lying son of a bitch, and she just kissed her ex-boyfriend, who was obviously still in love with her; she needed her help. "And what did Troy say again this morning, when he thought you were sleeping?" she asked, trying to get a grasp on the whole situation, as she placed her coffee cup on the table.

Gabriella bit her lip. "That he wanted to be the one to fix me, if I'd let him," she said, as worry came over her face once again. She covered her face with her hands and leaned into Taylor's shoulder.

"Okay. Now, tell me exactly what is running through that head of yours?"

Lifting her head up, she answered. "That's the thing! There's so much going on in there, that I can't separate any of my thoughts long enough to think clearly." She felt like she could cry. "It's just, there's still Noah to deal with, and Troy. Oh God, I shouldn't have kissed him! What was I thinking? Oh that's right, I wasn't!" she said huffing, as she berated herself. "It's all such a mess Taylor!" Her eyes began to water all over again, but once again she wouldn't let them fall, not yet.

Taylor put a hand on her shoulder, "Gabi, breathe okay. In… and out," she said comfortingly.

She mimicked what Taylor said, taking in a deep breath, breathing out and then repeating it. She could feel herself calming down ever so slightly.

"So we're going to go one thing at a time, okay?" Gabriella nodded. "We'll start with Noah," Taylor said simply. "Are you… how are you feeling about that?"

Gabriella took in another deep breath and looked Taylor in the eye. "Honestly? I," she paused, "I'm angry, and hurt, and sad. I don't want to believe that he did it again, you know? It feels like it did the first time, only now I'm angrier that I let him do it to me again." Taylor rubbed a comforting hand along her arm, urging her to continue. "I hate myself for giving him the chance to hurt me again," she said quietly. "But, I think, I know now that it was something I had to do… like I had to know for sure that it was over between us. But, knowing that doesn't make it hurt any less." She gulped and bit her lip to stop it from trembling any more than it already was.

"Gabi…"

"No, it's okay Tay. You know when I realised it was over? Last night, before you even told me the whole story, I was already jumping to conclusions. What kind of a wife does that?!"

Taylor was getting very confused. She knew Gabriella was upset, but the jumping around from being distraught one second, to angry the next, was beginning to make her a tad dizzy. "Gabriella, don't beat yourself up over this! Any woman would have done that in your circumstances!"

"That still doesn't make it right, Tay," she said simply, as she now wore a sad expression on her face. "It was like I finally let myself realize that it was over, you know? And as much pain as he's caused me, part of me still loves him." Taylor wrapped her in another tight hug as her eyes began to water again, and she had to close her eyes and sniff back the tears to prevent them from falling.

"Tay?" Gabriella mumbled against Taylor's shoulder. "That kiss with Troy, what if it stuffs up our whole relationship?" she questioned worriedly, biting her lip once again.

Taylor pulled back and looked at her, positioning her hands on Gabriella's shoulders. "It won't. This is you and Troy we're talking about. The bond you two have is impossible to break. You're like peanut butter and jelly," she said firmly, not leaving any room for doubt in her response.

"But what if this is the thing to finally break us? What if we've had too many chances?"

"Gabs, listen to me, Troy loves you okay." She saw Gabriella begin to protest and shake her head. "No, you heard him yourself, he loves you, and even though he does, he's willing to put his feelings aside to be there for you. He's not going to let you disappear from his life again, not that easily."

Gabriella took in a deep breath and let it all soak in. "I-I just don't know what to do," she said slowly, as her voice quivered. "My brain is so scattered. It's like I'm in the middle of this huge maze, and I can't find the right way out. I don't want to hurt him Tay; it's Troy. But at the same time, I'm so confused, and I still can't believe I kissed him, and I feel so guilty for it."

A look of confusion appeared across Taylor's face. "Why guilty?"

"Because this is exactly what Noah did to me. And I'm still married to him Tay. It doesn't matter that I knew that he had cheated on me, when I kissed Troy, I was still married. And I feel horrible for it! Just because he cheated, it doesn't mean I have to do the same. It's just not right," she said solemnly.

Unable to look Taylor in the eye, she looked away before she continued. "Worst bit is, it's not just that I kissed Troy, that's making me feel guilty. It's the fact that I enjoyed the kiss, a lot." Taylor had to hide her excitement. "It felt like," she paused, trying to find words to accurately describe it. "I can't even find the right word to describe it. It felt so much better than I ever remember it feeling. Everything just disappeared when I kissed him." She closed her eyes after she'd said it, and buried her face in her hands. As much as the kiss was so amazing, and how much it felt so right, at the same time it was wrong, so very wrong.

Taylor was unable to contain her smile, "That wasn't just any kiss that you can forget about, is it?"

Taking her hands away from her face, she sighed. "I don't think so, and it's only making me feel so much worse. Thank God Troy was being logical, I cannot imagine how much I'd be beating myself up over this if we'd done anything more." She leaned her head against Taylor's shoulder, and Taylor rested her head on top of hers.

"See, what did I tell you? Even though he loves you, he's still willing to do what he knows is right by you, even though it goes directly against what he's feeling. That's love Gabi."

She didn't want to hear that, but she knew Taylor was right. "Yeah…" she said softly.

"So what are you going to do now?"

She took a deep breath. "My life has just been turned upside down. Everything is such a mess, and I feel like I'm spinning out of control. I think I just need to get away from everything for a while, to clear my head and figure out what I really want. It's over with Noah now... but if I'm not careful I could really screw up everything I have with Troy too, and I don't think I can handle doing that too, right now. Which is why, as soon as I deal with Noah, I think I'm going to call Maddie."

Taylor lifted her head and looked down at Gabriella questioningly. "Are you…?"

Against her shoulder Taylor could feel her nod. "Do you think it's the right thing to do, Tay?" she questioned softly.

She considered this for a moment. "I think you need to do, whatever it is you think you need to do. You're used to being in control, having everything balanced and in order. And if you think doing this is going to help you get that back, then I think you should do it."

For the first time since that morning she smiled, "Thanks Tay. I needed to hear that," she said quietly.

Author's Note: I'm guessing most of you guys want to yell at me now for what I did with the kiss. LOL. It's okay, go yell, part of me wants to yell at myself too. LOL. But I did give you that sweet Troy bit at the start to tide you over. Not so much because I felt that you guys needed it, but because I needed it too. LOL. And I know Gabriella is so confused about everything, but it's a good thing the way I see it… I do love the angsty!Gabriella. LOL.

Why is Troy so sweet in my fic? He's way too perfect. LOL. Maybe a little too perfect.

And Maddie? Remember her from Chapter 1 and 2?

Anyway, go ahead, click that little button and tell me what you think! Come on… I just know half of you are just dying to yell at me… Do it!