Gabriella could feel the hot acid running down from her eyes. She was staring at her purple comforter that now had water droplets collected on it. Throughout the house were two voices. Two voices those were so close to her heart, screaming at each other. Her stomach was in knots as she couldn't help but feel this would have never happened if it wasn't for her. "YOU COULDN'T EVEN COME TO ONE DAMN RECITAL!" Her mother's voice echoes through her room.

Gabriella could feel the tearstains burn into her skin as she could hear something slam from downstairs. The cold plastic was sitting in her hands seemed to be freezing her skin. Three hours ago, it seemed to glow from inside, her first place trophy from that evening's competition. But now, it felt disgusting, worthless, the cause of pain.

"I TOLD YOU LAST NIGHT I HAD TO WORK! THIS WAS A HUGE DEAL!" Her father's deep voice shakes the house as Gabriella could feel her fingers beginning to go numb. "I GOT A PROMOTION BECAUSE OF IT! YOU SHOULD BE FUCKING HAPPY!"

"OH A PROMOTION! THAT JUST CHANGES EVERYTHING DOESN'T IT? MORE REASONS TO BE OUT OF YOUR DAUGHTER'S LIFE!" Gabriella pushes the trophy off her bed and hears it fall to the floor with a crash. She didn't want to look at it anymore. It would only make her be sick.

"I'M NOT OUT OF HER LIFE!" Her father's voice bellows.

"WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CAME TO ONE OF HER DANCE COMPETITIONS? TWO YEARS AGO? THREE YEARS?" Her mother's equally loud scream almost breaks the windows in her room that already had tears of their own streaming down them. Thunder rumbles outside the walls of the house.

"I DO THIS FOR BOTH OF YOU! SO SHE CAN PERFORM IN THESE FUCKING RECITALS!" Her father's voice bellows again.

"SHE DOESN'T CARE! SHE JUST WANTS HER FATHER BACK!" Gabriella swears she sees a crack form on the window in the corner as a flash of lightning lights up the room, showing Gabriella's bloodshot eyes and short almost black hair that fell in front of her face.

It was too much for a ten year-old to handle. Way too much. She fell asleep to the sounds of her parents fighting every night. It was almost as if it was a cruel lullaby, like nails on a chalkboard. Her ears were almost bleeding from the sounds of it. "REALLY? WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME SHE CAME UP AND HUGGED ME? WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME SHE CALLED ME DADDY? IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE SHE WANTS ME THERE!"

"THAT'S BECAUSE IF SHE FUCKING GOT HER HOPES UP THEY WOULD JUST BE SMASHED BECAUSE YOU CAN'T EVEN BE IN HER LIFE!" Her mother's voice pierces the loudest of all of them. "YOU CAN'T HAVE BOTH JOSE!"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" He bellows back and Gabriella feels her body turn numb. The silent tears that were on her face turns to sobs. There was no way out. Where ever she went, she would hear it. Her small fingers grab the pillow that was resting against her headboard and she closes it over her ears, but finds it unsuccessful.

"WHAT'S MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU, JOSE? YOU'RE JOB OR US? MAKE UP YOUR DAMN MIND!" Her mother's voice screams.

"YOU WANT ME TO CHOOSE MARIA? FINE!" A bellow let out and Gabriella gasps for air. Her sobs were loud but they seemed to be silent. She prayed. It was all she could do. She prayed to God to make it stop. Make it all go away.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?!" The female voice screams.

"OUT! I'M DONE WITH THIS SHIT!" Another slam of something. She hears stomps up the stairs and then a door crashes into something. Gabriella shuts her eyes, praying this was a dream. Trying to force time to go back to three hours ago when she was on top of the world. How could she even be so happy three hours ago?

Another bang and then stomps down the steps. "IS THAT HOW IT IS JOSE?! YOU JUST GOING TO UP AND LEAVE?"

"YOU TOLD ME TO MAKE A CHOICE! AND IF I'M NOT WANTED HERE…"

Gabriella's body starts to shake. Of course he was wanted here. He was her father. Even if he wasn't there for her like a father should be, she didn't want her parents to split up. "YOU ARE WANTED HERE DAMN IT! BUT YOU'RE JOB'S JUST TOO FUCKING IMPORTANT! MORE IMPORTANT THAN US!"

"GOODBYE MARIA!" A final slam of the door and suddenly the house was eerily quiet. Gabriella lifts her head away from the pillow and another crash of thunder hits the air. She hears a slam of what sounded like a car door and suddenly her body finds it's feeling again. Her long legs sprint to the window to see the head light lit up the rain.

Her small fingers connect with the cold glass as they trace down. He would come back. He had to come back. It was just one of their stupid fights that they always had. But something sitting in the pit of the ten year-old's stomach was telling her otherwise. The tears in her eyes kept up with the same pace of the rain running down the window as she watches the car pull out of their long driveway. Her eyes follow as the bright red car speeds to the left, away from the house. He would come back, he always did. She trusted him to come back.

He never came back.

"Come on! You have got to make those!" Troy yells angrily as he watches the guy clearly miss the shot. He leans forward towards the screen more while running a hand through his hair. "Fuck!" He exclaims as he leans back into the headboard and feels two soft arms wrap themselves around his waist, instantly making him feel a little better about the guy's stupidity.

"They're only down by four Troy." A sweet angelic voice says while leaning her head against his chest. Troy sighs angrily and drapes an arm around Gabriella's shoulder. It wasn't basketball season; anyone with a TV knew that. But for some reason, you could always find some game on TV. "You're a typical guy."

"It's a sport. It's in my blood." He says while sighing. He looks down at Gabriella would was just wearing an orange lace tank top and gray shorts, while he was in white basketball shorts and a bright blue shirt that brought out his eyes. "Sorry, I know I'm probably boring as hell right now."

Gabriella shrugs. Gabriella and Troy had been together for three amazing weeks now. Both were falling for each other harder and faster then anyone else had fallen before. Even though they had only known each other for six weeks, it seemed more like they had known each other all their lives. "A little. But I talk about dance all the time, so it's payback."

He shrugs and looks at her. "You can talk about it all you want. Just as long as I get to see you in your tights, I'm happy."

"You're a piece of work Bolton." She says while hitting his chest playfully with a smile on her face.

Troy smiles and grabs the black remote that was sitting on the bed next to them and turns it off. It was Friday night and they were in Troy's hotel room. Chad and Taylor were out somewhere at that moment but the two decided to stay in. That was one thing of the many things Troy loved about Gabriella. He didn't have to take her places for her to be happy. They had just as much fun staying in the hotel rooms as they did going out. Maybe even more. "Well… we could do something we both like…" Troy says while leaning down and gently pressing his lips to her neck.

He slowly leans his arm over her while he could feel her small body slip lower so she was completely horizontal. Troy leans his body over so he was lying on top of her while she wraps her arms around his neck. "I like the way you think." She says seductively as he smiles against her skin. His lips dance across her neck until he finds the spot he was looking for and slowly begins to suck and nip. "Troy…" He could hear her say while her hands were now dropping down and find their way back up his stomach. Her nails run up his formed abs, sending shivers across his body.

His lips leave the now purple and red spot on her neck and trail up across her jaw line until he connects them with her own. People may think that they were going way to fast for only dating for three weeks, but to them it seemed like they were making up the time they hadn't had together. Troy's tongue licks her bottom lip, and she grants him access by opening up her mouth. Their tongues dance with each other as one of Troy's hand slips underneath the orange lace tank top and draws circles onto her stomach with his thumbs. "Gab." He says while they both open their mouths for a breath of air.

He could feel himself begin to harden up as a slight throb started to form. His hand responds by traveling further north and connects with the spot it was looking for under her bra. Gabriella moans into his mouth as he starts to massage her left breast slowly while still exploring her mouth with his tongue. His body was starting to warm up as Gabriella's fingers trace down the skin on his chest as he shutters a little. "Better… then… the game?" Gabriella asks in between kisses as Troy's hand switches over to the other breast and begins to give that the attention it was looking for.

"Oh yea." He responds huskily as his lips connect with hers again, feeling the throb pulsing even more now.

He doesn't notice the click of the door or the fact that laughing was now going on. "Hey gu… whoa!"

Troy's body suddenly freezes as he feels Gabriella flip him over. His hand falls out from her shirt as he rolls over and suddenly feels the soft comfort of the bed leave him. His side suddenly connects with the hardwood as he hits the ground with a thud. "Fuck!" He yells in pain while clutching his arm that hit first.

"I thought you guys weren't coming back til later!" He hears Gabriella say in a voice that was way too high for her own as he lifts his head up and looks over the bed to see Chad, Taylor, Zeke, and Sharpay all standing in the room staring at them. He rubs his arm that was aching, but was almost thankful that the bed was blocking him, because his bulge was still sticking straight up through his white shorts. Thought were circling around his head to try and get rid of his excitement. Think of your mom's ugly painting in her room.

"We got bored." Chad says with an amused smile playing on his lips. He was obviously loving every seconds of this while staring at the two. The sweater Aunt Jean got for you for Christmas. Troy could feel his face was probably the color of Chad's tomato colored shirt as Gabriella seemed to blend in with it perfectly. "Then we met up with Shar and Zeke and decided to come back here since Shar needed Taylor's shoes or something?"

"They're my shoes." Sharpay says and looks at Taylor. At least this was stalling time. Come on, why was nothing working? "Taylor just stole them."

"They're somewhere in Chad's stuff." Taylor says while glancing over everything but then looking back at Gabriella.

Come on Bolton think of something! Troy looks over to see that Gabriella was fixing her top a little and trying to bring her hair forward so his mark wasn't as noticeable. He was started to become softer, but you could still see it. Taylor and Sharpay were giggling as Zeke and Chad both had amused smiles on their faces. "You guys look like you were having fun." Sharpay says in between giggles and Troy watches as Gabriella's face goes even redder if that was possible.

"We were just…" Gabriella says while still playing with her hair. "Troy?"

The time Aaron coated your head with peanut butter and you had to sit in the cold shower for fifteen minutes getting it out. "Yes." Troy mumbles as he becomes completely soft. He springs up from the floor. Gabriella's head whips around and her eyes grow wide when she sees that he was completely normal again. "What? It's not like I haven't walked in on you two four times in the two weeks." Troy says while pointing to Chad and Taylor, who both immediately turn red.

Gabriella shuts her eyes as Troy scratches the back of his neck nervously. Ok, so probably not the best thing to say right now, especially since he was supposed to be covering for them, and not making it worse.

"Bolton, you've gotta work on excuses." Sharpay says as she shakes her head. "Cuz you suck."

Gabriella smiles and looks up at him. "She's right you know."

Troy rolls his eyes and looks down at her. "Shut up."

Sharpay rolls her eyes at their flirting and then turns to Taylor. "Even though this was great and everything… I just need my shoes back." She says while looking through a pile that were Chad's and Taylor's clothes, since Taylor had some of hers in Chad's room, along with Troy hearing about Gabriella finding a pair of Chad's boxers in their room. Troy found it a little funny that he and Gabriella started going out a week after Taylor and Chad, and he knew the other two had had sex already, while Troy had just started feeling Gabriella up last week.

"Found 'em!" Taylor exclaims and holds up a pair of bright pink heels that had to be four inches tall. "Don't let Zoey see you in them on Sunday."

"Shit that's right!" Sharpay says while looking at both Gabriella and Taylor at the same time. Troy feels realization dawn on his face. "I'm the fucking captain and I forgot! The bitch probably didn't tell me, thinking I'd forget or something."

Gabriella was the only one who had a slightly confused face on. "Zoey… as in our coach Zoey?"

Sharpay nods. "She's coming on Sunday. Fuck I completely forgot! I'll kill Amber for letting me forget!" She says and smacks her hand against her head. "Come on Zeke, I have to go kill her. See you guys later."

Troy gives a wave as the two walk out the door and it shuts. Gabriella stands up also and Troy glances at the clock to see it was 11:14 PM. He watches as Taylor glances at the clock and looks at Gabriella. "We should head out too."

Troy groans and grabs Gabriella's waist, pulling her to him. She turns around in his arms so she walks looking up into his eyes as he stares down at her. "Don't go."

She sighs and bites her bottom lip. "I have to."

Troy shakes his head. "No you don't."

"Uh… guys! We're right here!" Chad says and Troy looks over Gabriella's head to give Chad a nasty glare. His eyes then look back down to see that Gabriella was giggling a little.

She leans up and gives him a light kiss on the lips, then gives him an innocent smile that makes his heart melt. "You still wanna do something tomorrow right?"

Troy nods. "You guys aren't going to the party tomorrow?" Taylor asks while both of them look over at her with raised eyebrows.

"What party?" Troy asks while Gabriella shrugs.

"I forgot about that." She says while looking back at Troy. "Central Augusta is throwing a party three hotels down. You wanna go?"

Troy shrugs. "I guess." He says as a smile plays on Gabriella's lips as she kisses him lightly again.

"Good. I'll just call you after camp." She says as Troy smiles and nods as she turns to Taylor who was now standing impatiently in the doorway. "You ready?"

Taylor nods. "See you Troy." She says while she leans up and kisses Chad. "Bye Chad."

Troy watches as his girlfriend gives him one more wave before walking out the door and shutting it behind her. He sighs and sits down on the bed with Chad smirking at him with his arms crossed. "What?"

Chad shakes his head while stripping off his red shirt and throwing it in a corner. "You two looked like you were enjoying each other."

Troy rolls his eyes as he throws off his own t-shirt and puts it into a plastic bag that was his dirty laundry. "Whatever." He says but feels a small smirk playing on his face.

Chad grins at him. "It's good to see this again." He says as Troy raises his eyebrows at his best friend.

"See what?" Troy asks as Chad pulls down his pants to reveal green and white pinstriped boxers.

"You happy." He says while Troy shakes his head.

"You calling me depressed?" Troy asks but Chad shakes his head and grabs the covers while pulling them out and going underneath them.

"No… but I haven't seen you like this since sixth grade." He says and Troy closes his eyes, trying not to think about that memory.

Troy runs a hand through his hair. "Dude… Chad not now."

Chad sighs and turns out the light on his side of the room. "I'm just saying…" He says and Troy glances at him. "And she's hot too."

Troy rolls his eyes and turns out his own light while crawling into his bed and shutting his eyes. "I'll tell Tay you said that."

Chad shrugs. "She'll just be happy I have good taste." He says and Troy hears him sigh in the dark. There was about five minutes of silence and sleep seemed to spread over Troy's body, but he jerks back awake when he hears. "Dude?"

"Yea?" Troy answers while still closing his eyes and turning over to the side that was closest to Chad's bed.

"Have you told Brie yet?" He asks and sighs again. Troy opens one of his eyes and could see the outline of Chad's bed in the dark. A slight glow shone from the moon outside and Troy could hear the faint sound of tourists partying outside the window.

Troy turns over to the other side so Chad couldn't see the tear that had formed on his eyelid. "No… and I'm not planning on it."

Troy could imagine Chad shaking his head. "Dude, you can't not tell her."

"Yes I can." Troy responds.

"You can't pretend that it never happened man." Chad says while Troy sighs angrily. He didn't want to talk about this. Not now, not ever.

"It's in the past. It's gonna stay in the past." He says.

"That's dumb Bolton." Chad responds.

Troy could feel his voice start to crack a little as noise comes out of his mouth. "If she finds out, she finds out. But there's no point in bringing it back alright?" He says while wiping the stray tear that was on his cheek. "Just drop it."

He hears Chad sigh on the bed next to his. "I don't know how you do it man."

Troy finally turns over and looks at the outline of his best friend again. "Do what?" He asks as Chad's head pops up out of the darkness.

"Stay sane." He responds and turns over. "Cuz everyone else would crack."

Troy turns over and faces the window one more time. He closes his eyes and feels sleep tug at his body once again. The only thing that Chad didn't know though, was that inside, Troy did crack. He cracked every single day of his life since he was in sixth grade. But the only difference was that Troy was the best at keeping secrets, so he never had to show it.

A/N: Thanks so much for reviewing! They really keep the story going, so thanks! And Happy Easter everyone!