Need You More Than Ever
Hiya guys, well this is the last chapter of Need You More Than Ever, thanks so much for reading it and thanks a lot to anyone who reviewed. The song is I've got you by McFly. So anyway, here's the last one, please read it and tell me what you thought for a final time. Also as this is the last chapter, I want to dedicate it to AniimeChiick and Samanta1024, your reviews always make me smile and I want to say thanks for taking the time to review each chapter.
Chapter 16
One year later and thankfully, things had returned pretty much back to normal for the gang, Chad and Gabriella had started to bicker a little bit more than what they used to, but that could only be expected as they now had to live with each other, as well as hang out, but the brother sister love connection was still there, even if they now had enough blackmail on each other to control the other for the rest of their lives, such as when Chad walked in on Gabriella in the shower, which Troy nearly killed him for, or when Gabriella listened in on Chad's phone call to Taylor, which Taylor nearly killed her for.
Other than that, the gang had tried to forget the incidents that had happened the year previous and were now desperately looking forward to graduating East High in the next few months, before all starting UCLA together in the fall.
The world would be a lonely place
Without the one that puts a smile on your face
So hold me 'til the sun burns out
I won't be lonely when I'm down
On that fateful day when Gabriella had lost the rest of her biological family, and had nearly died after the operation, the gang all learned a very valuable lesson.
They needed Gabriella. Plain and simple. As Kelsi put it, she was the glue that held them all together; she was all of their best friend, and their little sister, to troy, the love of his life, who they needed to look out for no matter what.
But most importantly of all, she was the one that made them all laugh, or smile, when they needed it the most.
After Ryan and Sharpay's grandmother had died, who they were both very close to, Gabriella was the first of everyone they knew to get them to crack a smile, simply by finding a video of them when they were younger, putting on a performance for their grandmother, and then commenting on how Sharpay had been bossy even back then, as she watched three year old Sharpay throw a plastic crown at Ryan's head for not acting like her servant, as she told him to.
Two and a half months ago, when Jason broke up with Kelsi because he was terrified of what he was feeling for her, Gabriella was the first one that Kelsi had called, and they had sat together all night, devouring tub after tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, Gabriella never once complaining as she held Kelsi when she cried, whispering soothing words to her and listening to everything that she had to say, whether it was complete nonsense, or complete sense.
She had been the one later the next day to go round to Jason's house and yell at him for being such an idiot, but then to listen to what he had to say and comfort him for the feelings that he was petrified of.
She was the one who helped plan Jason's midnight cruise with Kelsi, simply to win her back. And it had worked.
'Cause I've got you to make me feel stronger
When the days are rough and an hour feels much longer
She was the one who was always there for the rest of the gang, no matter what they were going through, she was always there to help.
When the whole group had had a the biggest fall out in the history of the group, bigger than World War Two, according to Chad, simply because they had all thought that the others had stood them up, because times to meet up were passed around the group wrong, courtesy of Chad and Jason, by mistake, Gabriella was the only one who was willing to admit that she was wrong, and to say sorry to all of the others, eventually managing to get the whole gang back together.
I never doubted you at all
The stars collide, will you stand by and watch them fall? (by and watch them fall)
So hold me 'til the sky is clear
And whisper words of love right into my ear
She had been there for Troy, when his Dad was completely going haywire about the whole basketball thing, making Troy practice practically twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, to the point where he never saw his friends, and nearly collapsed from exhaustion.
Even though everyone could see it, Gabriella had been the one to tell Coach Bolton that enough was enough and he needed to let Troy be a kid as well as training, she had gained his respect for that and thankfully he had listened to her.
She had been the one to sneak over to Troy's house in the dead of the night, and hold him as he sobbed out all of his pain, disappointed in himself, for feeling like he had let down his Dad when they lost a game. She had sat up with him the whole night, whispering to him over and over again that she loved him and that she, and everyone else, including his Dad, would always be proud of him, as long as he always tried his best. He had promised her that same night.
'Cause I've got you to make me feel stronger
When the days are rough and an hour feels much longer
Yeah when I got you
Oh to make me feel better
When the nights are long they'll be easier together
They'd all been there together when the dreadful news had come through that one of the coaches coming back from a trip to New York had crashed and ten East High seniors had been killed in the collision.
Each of the gang had known at least one of those killed, and they had all crawled up together on Gabriella's bed, clinging to each other for dear life at the thought of the injustice which had happened that day, ten young lives, barely beginning ended so suddenly. But as horrible as it may be, the thought on all of the gang's minds had been, what if that was one of us?
It was true that if the gang had managed to get their slips in on time, that it may have been any one of them who could of died, and the others all knew that they needed everyone in the gang in order to survive, without each other, they were nothing.
It was also true that they had come the closest to losing Gabriella again that day as well.
Being the studious one that she was, Gabriella had managed to get her slip in on time, and the gang had urged her still to go without them, and have fun with her friend Isabella, brining them back souvenirs instead. They all clung onto Gabriella, desperately thankful that at the last minute, she had withdrawn her slip, without telling the gang as they would have told her not to, as she believed that she couldn't survive even two and a half weeks without the gang by her side. The most terrifying thought to the gang though, was the fact that Isabella and her partner Janine had been two of those killed. Gabriella had been originally Isabella's partner and Janine had taken her place on the trip, they had come inches within losing Gabriella that day.
Looking in your eyes
Hoping they won't cry
And even if they do
I'll be in bed so close to you
Hold you through the night
And you'll be unaware
But if you need me I'll be there
However, there were times when all Gabriella needed were her friends around her. Most of those times being in the dead of the night, when she would wake up screaming and crying in a cold sweat, reliving the most horrendous six weeks of her life.
Those were the times when Chad would hold his little sister close to him, his heart breaking as he felt her tremble and shake with sobs into his chest.
The times when Chad would phone up the rest of the gang, and the only two words he would have to say were 'code yellow', her favourite colour, before hanging up, and the rest of the gang would all stumble out of bed at an increasingly fast speed, and run the distance to the Danforth household, each quickly scaling the tree and entering Gabriella's room through her balcony.
The second one there was always Zeke, as he lived just out the back of the Danforth's, and he would wait for everyone else, helping any of the girls that got stuck climbing the tree, and making sure that everyone had gotten there safely, calling them if they didn't show up within twenty minutes, to check that they were alright, often finding that Jason had fallen asleep against some lamppost on the way over to the house.
The first there, however, was always Troy, he'd be there in an instant. He'd gently pry Gabriella out of Chad's arms, shushing her as he lay back on the bed with her and tried to get her to sleep again.
Once she was safely asleep in his arms, always fitfully though, never calm after a night of her dreams, the rest of the gang would take it in turns to stay up and keep watch over her.
Troy, always being the first on guard, would watch as Gabriella's chest gently rose and fell with her breath, and he would pray every time that he would never have to see her go through that much pain again, and that she would eventually stop having the dreams.
If she ever did have reoccurring dreams in the same night, the rest of the gang were always there for her to comfort her and keep her safe, gently talking or singing to her, so that she would not wake up and would go back to sleep.
The Danforths' always knew that all of the teenagers were sneaking into their house, and they were just glad that Gabriella and Chad both had friends that they could easily rely on and trust. They'd often walk into Gabriella's room in the morning and laugh, as they would see Gabriella securely tucked up in Troy's arms on the bed, his head resting on top of hers, and hers in the crook of his neck. They would find Chad and Taylor lying full length on the couch, Taylor on top of Chad, as he softly snored. Ryan would always be propped up against the balcony doors, his head drooped and his hat pulled low over his eyes. Sharpay and Zeke had taken to making a bed out of Gabriella's many pillows and comforters, and would lie like that on the floor, Sharpay always on Gabriella's side, so that she could be there for her friend, if Gabriella needed her. And lastly, Kelsi and Jason would always be snuggled up together on Gabriella's chair, a comforter pulled up around Kelsi's neck as she pressed herself tightly into Jason's side, his arm wrapped firmly around her.
But the Danforths' never once yelled at the kids for this arrangement, and nor did the other parents; they knew that they needed to be with each other, for comfort reasons. So they would just shut the door again and start to ring around everyone's households.
Yeah I got you
Oh to make me feel stronger
When the days are rough and an hour feels much longer
Yeah when I got you to make me feel better
When the nights are long they'll be easier together
Gabriella laughed as she watched her friends get tangled up in a game of twister. She may have lost her biological family, but she knew that she was right where she belonged. She was with her true family, the gang. She laughed again as Taylor manoeuvred herself so that she was hovering over Chad and Chad made some sly comment that made Taylor go to hit him. She knew that whether she wanted them there for her or not, no matter how much she tried to push them away, they were always going to be there, to catch her when she fell. Her laughter reached hysteria as the gang all toppled over on top of each other, courtesy of Sharpay trying to move her left foot.
The gang all looked at each other before racing over to Gabriella and piling on top of her, each one laughing as she squealed at them to get off of her. Gabriella knew that they were there for her, now and for forever.
Oh and I got you
Finally it's finished! And it's a happy ending, which I knew that I was gonna have it be all the way through, do you really think I could have killed Gabriella, or any of the gang? Anyway I just want to say thank you to all of you that reviewed the chapters. This is probably one of the only stories that I have ever managed to finish, usually I would get bored half way through and give up, but your reviews really kept me going, so thanks so much and for the last time, please review and tell me what you thought. Also I'm sorry for the marathon author notes on each chapter, I'm sure that they probably irritated you all.
If you review, can you please tell me whether or not you think that I should consider writing a sequel to this story!
The summary for a sequel: The gang are all in their junior year at UCLA, and are having a ball. The guys have one apartment off the campus and the girls all share another, Troy and Gabriella are even engaged to be married straight after graduation. The gang are all the happiest that they have ever been. However when the girls get an unexpected visitor, who brings them unwanted drama, will that all change? In an instant.