Disclaimer: You know I keep hoping every night that I'll wake up and have mysteriously inherited all that is High School Musical... but no, it still hasn't happened.

Author's Note: First off, I'm so, so, so sorry for not updating! Hell, it's been so long I don't blame you if you don't remember what was happening, and have to go back and reread it all.

Secondly, over 100 reviews? Wow. Never did I think that I would get that many reviews! So thank you all for taking the time to review; it means a lot and they really do help me in the writing process.

"So I've talked to Noah, and he's fine with giving you anything you want; the house, the money, whatever you want," Taylor voice came through the phone. "Now, after what he did to you, I think you should take him for everything he's worth," she said simply as the two went over the specifics of Noah and Gabriella's divorce.

"Taylor!" Gabriella exclaimed as she proceeded to pack away all her belongings into cardboard boxes that where set up around her office.

"What? It's reasonable! Given the circumstances, if this case went to court you'd be getting the bulk of his earnings anyway!"

"Tay, sorry, it's not happening. I'm not doing that to him, even if he says its fine," she responded calmly.

"You know, you're seriously taking all my fun away," she said grumpily, and Gabriella could almost hear the pout in her voice. "First you say I can't slap him, which in all seriousness took so much effort not to do. And then you won't even let me get the best out of this settlement for you? As your lawyer, I've got to tell you it's not a very smart move."

"But as my friend, you're going to respect my wishes," she countered back quickly. "Please, Tay?"

Taylor sighed. "Fine," she muttered, clearly not happy with it. "What do you propose then?"

Gabriella shuffled around her office for a moment before she responded. "Um… everything we brought into it we get back, and I don't know, fifty-fifty for everything else? He can have the house, I'm leaving anyway, I won't need it," she suggested.

"Jesus Gabriella, anyone might believe that you were the guilty party in all of this!" she exclaimed in disbelief.

"Well I'm sorry Tay, but it's not like I ever planned to get divorced, how am I supposed to know what's appropriate!" Gabriella snapped, almost yelling. Realizing she shouldn't have done that she sighed. "I'm sorry, I just want this whole thing over and done with. I don't want to fight about anything with him anymore, and I don't want to have to think about it. So the simpler this whole thing is, the sooner I can try to move past this," she said desperately, pleading.

Taylor gave an audible sigh. "Okay, but Noah doesn't want the house. He taking a job on the other side of town and wants to move closer to the new building," she said simply.

Gabriella shook her head distractedly, as she moved onto another section of her office. She was slightly curious about his job offer, he had never mentioned it, but she didn't want to ask Taylor about it either. "Whatever, sell it then."

"I'll get it all organized then. Seventy-thirty split?" she answered sneakily, knowing Gabriella wasn't concentrating solely on the conversation.

She perked up. "What? Tay, no!"

"Gabi, listen to me, if you were any other client I would be suggesting the exact same thing! Hell, I'd be fighting for them to take more than just fifty-fifty! It's insane Gabi! Let me get you seventy percent of the value of the house, and then you can have fifty-fifty of whatever you and Noah both made over the last few years, and that'll be it, I promise," she proposed.

Just wanting it all over, Gabriella relented. "Fine, but that is all, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I promise," she replied dismissively. "I'm sure Noah will be fine with everything, and if not I'll just remind him of a few things, but it should be okay. Now, just a few other things we need to discuss," she went on, but Gabriella was no longer listening.

Throughout the phone call she'd be quickly packing away her office into large cardboard boxes, not entirely registering what she was doing, that was until she realized she'd have to pack away the numerous photographs of Noah and herself away. Slowing down her movements she gently removed the closest picture off the wall, sadly fingering the picture through the glass protection. She sighed, before carefully placing it down in the box, and slowly moving around her office looking at each picture that adorned it intently.

She tried to remember back to the moment that each picture was taken, and to feel the emotions that she had been feeling at the time. Each picture depicted an almost glowing replica of herself; so happy and carefree. And yet, looking at the pictures now she could no longer feel the happiness she once felt when she saw them. All she could feel was an overwhelming sadness. It were as if her heart refused to acknowledge how happy they once were, because it knew of the heartache that had come from that happiness. In her mind she knew that she had been happy. That they had been really happy, but she could no longer feel it. It were as if the pictures had been tainted now, somehow.

Closing her eyes she breathed in deeply. She wanted to feel that happiness. She didn't want to feel like she had just wasted the last four years of her life; she wanted to be able to look back on that time and be able to feel at ease with everything that had happened, and to be able to appreciate what they once had, but not to dwell on it. Her mind wondered if that time would ever come, and how long it would take to occur.

She sighed once again before Taylor's voice jolted her back to reality. "Gabi? Gabriella!"

"Sorry, I'm here. Just spaced out a little," she said shaking her to rid her mind of its previous thoughts. It had been the first time since she last saw Noah, a week or so ago, that she had let herself think about it, at least on some emotional level. Since then she had opted to keep things nice and easy. It was too hard to think about it all; too soon. She could think about it all she wanted once she was in Albuquerque.

"You sure you're okay?" Taylor asked worriedly.

Gabriella smiled softly at her concern. "Yeah, I'm good," she responded as she moved onto packing up some of her other things. She could always pack the photos later. "I'm just packing my stuff up, and I came across the pictures, but its okay," she said dismissively.

"Gabi," Taylor said sympathetically, "you haven't talked about it since that day, and I'm worried about you. It's okay to be upset and to cry over it you know?"

"I know Tay," she said softly. "And when I'm ready to do the all the crying, I know you're there, but I can't right now."

Knowing not to push the matter any further Taylor relented. "Okay," she paused, "but you know what topic comes after that one, right?"

Despite herself, Gabriella could help but give a light laugh. "I think I've worked it out by now."

"Have you talked to him yet?" Taylor went on.

"No, I haven't had a chance to yet," she replied. "The last couple of days have been insane; I've been running around from meeting to meeting that I haven't even had a chance to think, let alone meet him for lunch to actually tell him."

Taylor let out a huff. "Gabi! Do you want him to be the last one to know? You can't leave it 'til the last minute," she berated.

"I know, I know," she said tiredly. "I just don't know what to say to him. It's going to be so awkward; I haven't seen him since I ran out on him," she explained.

"It won't be that awkward. Things with you and Troy are never awkward. Anyway, he'll understand."

She sighed. "God I hope so. I hope that kiss didn't majorly screw things up otherwise-" she said cutting herself off, as she looked up and saw Troy coming towards her office. "Crap! Taylor he's coming! What do I do?!"

"First, calm down. Breathe in… and out." Gabriella complied. "Okay now, you just act naturally. It'll only be more awkward if you make a big deal out of it."

Gabriella nodded into the phone as Troy walked into her office, heading straight for the candy jar, just like usual. She let out a breath of relief. "Right, okay, got it."

"He's in there now, isn't he?"

"Yep."

"I'll let you go then. Just remember to act naturally, and everything will go fine," she sighed longingly. "I'm going to miss Troy interrupting our phone calls all the time." Gabriella simply gave a small laugh. "Oh and don't forget to tell him!" she yelled into the phone urgently.

"Okay, bye Taylor!" she said quickly as she hung up the phone. Turning towards Troy, she took in a deep breath, and smiled as she watched him leaning against the wall next to the candy jar.

"So the rumors are true, then?" he said simply, taking a bite out of a green gummi bear.

"And what rumors would that be?" she questioned, as she turned her back to him and continued to pack, trying her hardest not to make the situation awkward.

"That Dr Montez is fleeing the state in a hurry," he responded simply, watching her. "There are literally nurses all over the building crying over your departure in the hallways! I think I even overheard one girl sobbing about how it was so unexpected. You'd think someone would have died," he exclaimed. "I never knew you were so popular," he teased.

She smirked, silently grateful to Troy for trying to lighten up the situation. "Ha. Hardly. I'm pretty sure they were jumping at the chance to get rid of me. Stevens didn't at all seem bothered that I hadn't given him two weeks notice."

"Well, I'm guessing that that's because you mentioned Maddie," he said as he moved a few boxes out of the way so he could take a seat on the couch. "Didn't you tell me Stevens had a thing for his beloved Dr Madeline Richards?" She nodded. "It's simple then. He keeps you happy, and you mention this to Maddie, and he has an in. It's in the Guy Rule Book, rule #103," he said with a straight face.

She laughed. "It's not happening. She always hated him when she worked here. But hey, if it's working in my favor, I will not complain." He simply laughed along with her. No longer able to pretend nothing had happened she stopped laughing. "Troy, listen, I'm sorry-" she began, before she even knew what she was going to say, but he cut her off.

"No need Montez. You've had a lot of stuff going on lately, I understand. It's cool," he said easily, waving her off.

She looked at him skeptically, she wasn't even sure what she was apologizing over, so it confused her slightly what he was referring to. Was it the kiss, or her running out on him, or was it that she hadn't been the one to tell him that she was leaving. "Are you sure?"

He chuckled. "Gabs, quit worrying about me! It's okay. I should be the one worried about you."

She smiled appreciatively, wondering how he could so easily hide his feelings for her, before turning back to her packing. "Yeah, I'm okay," she muttered dismissively, not wanting to get into it as she noticed a few books on the top shelf. Standing on her toes she tried in vain to reach them, but soon gave up and moved her chair closer to the shelf so she could retrieve them.

Sensing her reluctance, he let the question slide. "Whoa, whoa. Hold up there Montez. I don't want to have to be treating you next for back injury. Let me get those for you."

She rolled her eyes, but said thanks, anyway. She watched him as he effortlessly reached for her books, and packed them away for her, until a nurse rushed in.

"I'm so sorry for interrupting Gabi," she said, out of breath, apologizing profusely. "But Reynolds was wondering if he could move your four o'clock to lunch."

Gabriella groaned. "This is what I get for leaving with only five days warning. Yeah, tell him I'll be there in fifteen." She sighed, as the nurse ran out quickly.

"There goes lunch, I guess," Troy said behind her, with a tint of disappointment in his voice.

She turned to him apologetically. "I'm really sorry. I know we haven't had a chance to talk much lately and all."

He smiled, masking his disappointment, "Gabi, it's fine, really. Dinner, maybe?"

She scrunched up her nose. "Sorry, can't. I've got meetings all afternoon, I still have to pack up this place, and then do a million and one other things to do before I leave."

He nodded understandingly. "When do you leave, anyway?"

"Tomorrow morning, actually," she said as she moved around her desk to gather some files.

"I'll drive you to the airport, and we can talk then," he suggested hopefully.

She sighed. "Troy, you and I both know you always have heaps of patients on Saturday mornings. I don't want you to have to reschedule all of those now." As she spoke the words, she tried to convince herself that she wasn't just trying to avoid spending time with him, but both of them knew very well what she was doing.

She stood in the middle of her office and looked up at him. "I guess this is it then."

He laughed, trying to wave off some of the awkwardness that had been lingering in the room. "Jeez, Gabi, you make it sound like I'm never going to see or call you again. You will be living in Albuquerque, and I'll have to come home and see my parents every now and then."

She smiled, and then leaned forward to hug him, gripping him tightly. She was going to miss him. Sure there was still the phone and email, but it would be different. There would be no more daily lunches, and squabbling over failed dates. No more complaints over near empty candy jars, or trading patient stories. She sighed, yeah, she was definitely going to miss this, but she knew that this was for the better.

She couldn't stay here any longer; not when things were so hazy between Troy and herself, and she was still recovering from everything with Noah. She couldn't risk it. She'd hate herself if she unknowingly fell on the rebound with Troy; he deserved much more than that. And knowing that that could very well happen, she didn't want to risk it. She couldn't do that to Troy. Or to Noah either. As much pain as Noah had caused her, she would by lying if she denied still loving him. The pair had been together for years, and the feelings that came along with that just didn't disappear overnight. True he had hurt her, but she couldn't simply move from Noah onto Troy straight away, as if Noah meant nothing to her. Even if looking at the pictures only stirred feelings of sadness within her, she knew she wouldn't be able to do that.

Part of her knew that in leaving she might also be hurting Troy, but if the other option was staying, and still accidentally hurting Troy by falling on the rebound, then she felt that leaving him now was the better of the two options. She couldn't trust herself completely around him, not right now when she was such a mess and he had the habit of saying and doing all the right things. He loved her and she couldn't abuse that love just to feel comforted. Kissing him had already proved to be such a disastrous act, and she didn't want to stick around any longer to make their relationship any worse.

"Gabi?" Troy questioned, softly, but his voice laced with seriousness. Inwardly she froze, hoping he wouldn't mention what she was hoping to forget.

"Mm?"

"I was wondering," he tapered off. This was it, he was going to bring up the kiss, she was sure of it. Sure he had dismissed it earlier, but maybe he wanted to bring it up now, seeing as she was leaving. "I was wondering if maybe, I could have you candy jar?" he finished cheekily.

She let out a small breath of relief as a small laugh emitted from her mouth. "God, Bolton, you made it sound so serious," she joked, hitting him on the shoulder as she pulled out of the hug. "But yeah, sure, knock yourself out."

Troy let out a cheer of triumph. "Awesome, thanks!" he grinned. "I'll even pack up the rest of your stuff for you, in return," he said, as he begun to move around the room, packing more books into boxes.

She smirked. "You don't have to, but since you offered, thanks!"

Picking up the last of her things she walked out the door, only to come back moments later. "Hey Troy?" He looked up. "Thanks," she said softly. "Not just for packing for me, but for everything else," she smiled fondly. "It… you, you were just a great help."

He grinned back at her, one of his classic grins. "Like I said, anytime, Montez," he winked, playfully. "Now, go!" he said shooing her out of her office.

...

--

...

They were lying on her bed, her head resting on his chest, his arms wrapped around her waist, and their legs tangled up together, just talking, as they had been for the last three hours. Feeling his laughter vibrate through his body, she couldn't help but smile.

Suddenly his laughter died down. "I love you," he said simply. Gone was the lightness that his voice had held moments ago, instead now sounding soft and gentle, yet laced with seriousness. It were as if he needed her to know that he meant it.

She looked up from his chest and to his face, scanning his eyes; they lacked the shine and the life that they usually held, somehow not looking as blue as they had before. They looked sad. Her smile faltered, and instantly she knew. It was too hard, the distance was becoming too much, and they were both suffering under the strain of not being able to see, touch, and kiss each other everyday.

They both knew what was about to happen.

They'd promised each other that they wouldn't just choose their colleges based on where the other wanted to go, and that if they needed to, they would have a long distance relationship. Every few weeks they would alternate between who would travel to spend the weekend with the other. They would spend the entire weekend caught up in each other, and only the other, completely blocking out the rest of the world. But between visits there would be constant phone calls. She'd call him every morning just to make sure she was the first to greet him 'good morning' and to ensure that he went to class, he'd call her in between classes and talk to her about nothing in particular, just so that he could hear her voice, and they would talk for hours into the night.

But her assignments had been pilling up, and his training sessions seemed to drag on for hours, so the phone calls had began to dwindle, and the visits became more sparse. It wasn't that they had been drifting apart, but time pressures had been forcing them apart. So when Troy found out his basketball game had been cancelled, he called her and took the first flight over to spend a much needed and wanted weekend with her.

In the back of their minds they both knew that this would most likely be their last weekend together, so they made the most of it, but with Troy's flight only a couple of hours away, they knew they couldn't put it off any longer.

Still gazing into his eyes, she wordlessly reached her hand up to stroke the side of his face, her eyes already beginning to water. Slowly she brought her lips to his, and in one lingering kiss she tried to show him how much she loved him and how much she didn't want to do this, even though both knew they didn't really have a choice.

The tears had already begun to fall by the time the kiss ended, but she didn't make a move to wipe them away. "I love you too," she whispered back softly before breaking their gaze and tightening her grip around him.

Gently, he guided her face back to his, brushing away the tears in the process, and forced her to look back up at him; the sadness that was etched on her face, reflecting his own. "Gabi…," he trailed off in a pained voice, not being able to voice the exact words to end it all; not wanting to say the words to end it.

She breathed deeply, trying to prevent another wave of tears. "I know, it's just…"

"Knowing doesn't make it any easier, does it?" he finished for her softly. Even though he was the one who had initiated the conversation, it didn't by no means meant that he wanted it anymore than she did.

She shook her head slightly, still unsuccessfully trying to control her tears.

He wiped away a stray tear as it begun to fall. "I don't want us to wake up one day only to realize we have nothing left, or worse, for us to end up hating each other," he said tentatively, pausing for a moment. "I don't want to hurt you Gabi. You mean too much to me," he added softly.

Closing her eyes she remained quiet for a moment before she begun. "I know, I don't want that either. I'd much rather have some part of you, than none at all. But it's just so hard."

"Hey, hey," he said as he grasped her hands together, kissing the backs of them both lightly. "You'll always have some part of me, okay? This doesn't mean we're done forever. I'm still going to be there for you anytime you want. Don't ever think for a moment that I won't be."

She smiled at him weakly as more tears fell. "God I love you, and you aren't making this any easier by saying things like that." She took in a deep breath, "but I know we have to do this."

"Come here," he said simply, pulling her into a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around him and leaned into his shoulder, breathing in his scent as she let her tears fall freely.

They remained in that position until Troy's phone beeped alerting him that his cab would be here soon. Untangling themselves, they wordlessly moved to the door where his bags were. They stood hesitantly for a moment before Troy engulfed her in another hug; breathing in her scent. He was going to miss this; holding her in his arms, sure he'd still be here friend, but it wouldn't feel the same. He tightened his grip on her, not wanting to let go just yet.

"Can you just do me one favor?" he questioned. Feeling her nod against his shoulder he continued, "After you get back from your first date, and I call to ask you how it went. Tell me it sucked, okay?"

She laughed despite her tears and pulled back from the hug slightly. She looked him in the eye, smiling genuinely at him, her eyes still wet from the tears. "Only if you do the same," she replied.

"It's a done deal Montez," he responded, grinning back down at her.

His phone beeped again and he checked it, sighing. "I guess this is it," she said sadly.

"Guess so," he said sadly before looking back towards her, he held the side of her face in his palm. "Now you dry those tears, call Maddie and Taylor, rent some sappy chick flicks and eat two tubs of ice cream for me," he said with a light tone, and grinned when she hit him across the arm with a smile. "What? I'm not worth two tubs?" he teased.

She didn't miss a beat. "No, you're worth three, but one will have to do," she said grinning back at him.

They shared another smile before he leaned down to her forehead placing a soft kiss against it. Pulling out of her grasp completely, he picked up his bags and opened the door. He turned back to her as he walked out. "I'll call you when I get back," he said, answering her unasked question, then turned down the hallway.

...

...

...

Looking around her office that was now empty besides a few boxes that had been stacked neatly in the corner, Troy sighed.This was it. She was leaving. He was sad that she was leaving, but he knew that it was something she had to do, so he wouldn't let himself feel too sad that it was happening. It was what was best for her. At the end of the day, for him, it had always been what was best for her.

Yet, despite knowing that, and knowing that she wasn't ready for anything. He didn't want to let go. He didn't want their friendship to dwindle down to nothing like it had before; she meant too much to him now to let go of her again, and he knew that one day his chances would be up, and there wouldn't be a possibility of a Troy and Gabriella, ever again.

So with that in mind, he picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number. "Taylor! It's Troy," he said quickly.

"Hey! What's up?" she questioned.

Not having time for any small talk, he jumped straight into it. "What time does her flight leave tomorrow?"

On the other end of the line, Taylor grinned. There was still hope for them after all.

Author's Note: After months of waiting, I know this chapter probably seems like a disappointment. But the way I see it, Gabriella seems to me like the type to take action, then to think and get all emotional later. And given that so much as happened to her lately, I can see why she'd want to lock away all her emotions for the time being. But not to worry, it'll come later.

I've got to say again how sorry I am for the long wait! After the last chapter life just caught up with me, and it was one thing after the other, and then once that was done I couldn't get back into the rhythm of writing, and I everything I wrote didn't seem right, so hopefully this chapter doesn't totally suck, even though I think it might. I really hope the next chapter doesn't take another few months to get up too. LOL.

Also, I'm not sure of how many of you actually remember this, but I said in the first chapter that this wouldn't be a very long story, five chapters tops, but somehow I went over that. So I'm just going to remind you that the story will be drawing to its end soon, unfortunately, in a few chapters or so.

As always, your thoughts on the chapter are loved! Constructive criticism will be accepted with many thanks, as long as it's written somewhat nicely. LOL. I'll even let you yell at me for making you all wait months for an update. So click that little button!