A/N: So I have decided to write this chapter from Troy's point of view instead of from Gabriella's.
Falling asleep with Gabriella in my arms was a bittersweet moment. On one hand she seemed to just fit there like it was made to be, but on the other if it wasn't for her being so upset then she would have never have even been over in the first place.
I eased myself out of bed trying my best not to wake her up, all she did was groan a bit then roll over and go back to sleeping peacefully. I walk upstairs in need of food and coffee, and then it hits me. Standing in front of me are none other then my parents.
"So we leave you home for less then three days by yourself and you manage to break the one rule that I emphasised the most. NOBODY OVER! And yet when me and your mother came home and she went to check on you she found the two of you in bed."
"It's not like that dad. Nothing happened she just needed someone to talk to. It was late when she came over, I was too tired to drive her back, and I was not going to let her walk home alone. So she stayed." Grabbing a cup of coffee and taking a seat at the kitchen knowing that this conversation was far from ending.
"You've been back for a week Troy," Now moms got to put in her two cents. "We don't need you to get into any trouble already. I thought that when we talked about moving back we made it very clear that your past and childhood would stay where we left it. And so far, you've done a good job. But you having a girl in your bed is not helping yourself. As we said before we will not hesitate to pack up and move if being here is a problem.
"I'm not getting into trouble, Gabriella not like that. We were just talking last night." Finishing my cup of coffee off I poured another for Gabriella and walked back down to my room.
Walking in to my room, I saw Gabriella sitting up in bed. I handed her the cup before sitting down next to her. "What was that all about?"
Sighing and running a hand over my face before looking at her. "It was nothing." immediately she gave me a look of disbelief.
"I don't want to get in between you and your parents. I knew I should have gone home last night." Now it was her turn to run her hands over her face. Looking into her eyes, I could see the fear that she had caused a rift to form between me and my parents.
Standing up and walking over to her side of the bed I knelt in front of her and put my hands on her shoulders to calm her down. "Look you didn't do anything. My parents will get over it. If we had been anywhere but in her and you had more clothes on then it wouldn't have been such a big deal. How about we go get breakfast and let them calm down okay?"
After getting dressed and going through the back door from my room to avoid my parents and the soundtrack of their yelling, we hopped in my truck and started to drive.
"You know it would be a good idea to pick where we're going before we end up in the middle of nowhere and stave to death." I could tell the comment was made to break the silence but she did have a point.
"And where do you recommend?" Looking over at her nervously playing with the hem of her shirt.
"I don't know I've never really been a morning person so I've never really been out for breakfast, at least not here." She said looking up and giving me a small smile that I couldn't help but return.
"Well how about me stop at the first place that sells breakfast and see what we get?"
"Okay? But if I end up with food poisoning tomorrow then I blaming you."
Lunch was a tense moment with Gabriella spending it mostly quiet drawn into her head by her thoughts. The morning hadn't started as well as I would have hoped considering how it ended last night so I did push her to talk and let her work through it on her own. We finished off our food and then it was time to drop her off. So with a kiss to the forehead and a promise that she did nothing wrong I started the short drive home. Believe me I tried my very hardest to make it longer then needed, but even after stopping to fill up the tank and waiting in the extra long line for the car wash; that most people would have avoided at all costs, I was pulling up to the driveway. So very slowly, I trudged up the front steps dragging my feet in a manner that resembling a five year old.
Walking into the house via the front door this time I made my presences known in hopes of locating my parents so I could get to my bedroom before they got to me, but nothing in the house made a sound. I knew they were home due to both of their cars being in the driveway and the fact that they would miss the opportunity to finish off this morning earlier conversation with a little more thought put into what was being said. So I made my way through the house until I got to the den were they quietly sat, dad with the sports section of the newspaper and mom with one of her books. But other then a glance at me when I walked into the room, they did nothing else and went back to their reading. "So are you really just going to sit there and say nothing?" I sat flopping down in the empty armchair opposite of them.
"What else are we supposed to say to you Troy? I thought we had done all the talking that needed to be done before we left but apparently I was mistaken and everything we said went in one ear and out the other."
"Mom I said it's not like that. I never planed for any of the things that have happened this weekend to happen they just did. Believe me I did not want her to stay over because of the reason she did I just didn't really have any other choice. She was upset and needed someone and I wasn't about to turn her away, not in the state that she was in. Plus your home early, you're not meant to be home till tonight."
"I don't really think that us coming home is the point, but I will get to that in a minute. The fact is that you broke several rules that we set, so no we were not just mad at you for this morning. You honestly did not think that we would leave you at home by yourself and not have someone watching over you. I told Mrs. Wilson to call us if anything was wrong or you were up to anything. That would be why we're early." Dad had put down the paper all together during his spiel.
"I'm seventeen and you pretty much got me a babysitter. I thought you trusted me more then that?"
"So did we Troy but I don't think going out and partying on Thursday which is a school night Troy, so from that I don't even think I have to ask if you were at school yesterday do I?" Shaking my head no at her. Knowing she was more disappointed then angry. "And bringing home a girl not only last night but according to Mrs. Wilson she was over Thursday night too." By the way, the conversation was going my guess was it was dads turn to start again. Him letting his anger show.
"And don't get me started on Wednesday." Moms' ears perked up at that one. If I officially get to see Monday, I will be very lucky. "Going out and partying is one thing; at least I can chalk that up to teenagers' antics. But breaking into the school at night. You'd think that you've learned your lesson with that one."
"How come I'm just learning about this now Jack?" Mom said turning to Dad.
"Calm down Lucy, I would have told you sooner but I was a little busy with making sure Troy would end up in the same place he did last time. But that not it is it Troy?"
"What do you mean that's not it. I think you've got everything I've done."
"You weren't alone Troy. You were with Gabriella that night too." How he figured that one out is lost on me. "You may have remembered to shut off the alarm when you went in but you forgot that there are cameras around the school." Crap.
"Gabriella was the girl that was over these past few day right?" Leave it to dad to make everything a little more complicated.
"Yes that would be her but if it wasn't for me she wouldn't have been there. I had to convince her to go with me and I never even told her where we were going till we were in the school."
"Your missing the point again Troy, and I've read her file she not exactly the best at staying out of trouble either."
"Can we just end this entire conversation now so you guys can figure out what you're going to do to me?"
"Fine, but stay in the house and I'll shout you for dinner when it's ready." So with that I got up, pulling out my phone to send a quick text to Gabriella, and down to my room."
The night went by mostly in silence, and the morning hit early. Being an early bird, I didn't mind and got ready to go out for a run. Grabbing a water bottle and I was out the door. Starting a slow pace a familiarized myself with the area again. Eventually I came back to the basketball court were I had found Gabriella that night that we decided to have a little fun in the pool. This time I didn't find a crying girl but I did find something that no one could miss. Apparently, I was the same because he turned toward me when I got close to the court. "Hoops heard a few rumours that you were back in town."
Doing the guy handshake with him brought back many memories. "Yeah I was told not to get to comfortable because the second I screw up then we're gone." Grabbing the basketball that he was holding I made a three pointer. "I've been back all week and I haven't run into you once. It's not as if I could miss you with your hair. It seems that will never change."
"Yeah well last week was hard on me and my parents so we told a few days off and went up to the cottage. When I first got a call saying that you were back I flipped. I was sure I was never going to see you again. After everything that went down I was sure that even if your mother let you live she'd tie you to the basement stair with a chain."
"Yeah so did I especially after how this year started. But somehow, they got it in their heads that coming home was the right thing to do. You know small town, maybe they hoped I'd grown up enough to stay out of trouble here."
"Well for someone that's only been back a week you've seemed to get into trouble quick. First the pool then, the party. As if this week wasn't dramatic enough." He started to laugh when he saw the shock on my face. "Remember it's a small town, there is never very many secrets well at least not where you're concerned."
"Shit that's all I need is people remembering me as the guy from the pool. I honestly want to know how so many people found out. I freaked when my dad told me he knew, but then again he works there." Slapping me on the back, we quickly got back to how things used to be, forgetting about everything around us and playing a game of one-on-one. Just like old times.
Hours later, the sun was out and blazing so we stopped our game to get some water. Both of us saying nothing just trying to catch our breaths when a sound of someone running near us drew our attention. The thing about the basketball court was that you had to know where it was in order to get to it or else you would get lost. I looked out to see if it was someone that I recognized.
"Hey Chad. I figured I'd find you hear since you weren't picking up your cell." She stopped to catch her breath as well.
"Yeah well it's a Saturday morning. Where else would I be? I'd introduce the two of you but it seems that you've already gotten to know each other." Chad smirking at her face as her face turned a light shade of red.
"How did he know about the pool? Even better question, how do the two you know each other?"
"Well Gabi, apparently its news and everyone knows about the pool. As for how I know him we were best friends since kinder garden…" I replied.
"Then the Idiot moved for being stupid." Chad finished. "Well I believe I'm done here so I'll leave the two of you alone. This time try to keep your clothes on." Giving him a playful shove in the direction that Gabriella had come from I turned myself towards her knowing that things needed to be explained.
"So… where do we start?" I started rubbing the back of my neck.
"I don't know? How about how you left out this huge chunk of information about your life. So you lived here your entire life. I should have known when I ran into you here the other day."
"There's a lot about me that you don't know about, just like there's a lot about you that I don't know about. I would have told you had you asked but you didn't, and I'm kind of glad you didn't because it's not a happy tale to tell."
"So why move back to a place that holds your past? I mean you had the chance to start fresh and you come back here. If I could move and have no one know what I used to be and all the drama that surrounds me than without a second guess I would."
"But how long could you pretend to be someone that your not. Eventually someone finds out, you think you trust someone, you fess up and your right back to where you used to be but worse because everyone knows you lied."
"Your logic sucks." Laughing at her statement. "So what's the full story? What could you have possibly done to make your parents move out of state?" Gabriella asked flopping down on the grass and looking up at me.
Joining her on the ground, I thought about where to start. "I was the kid that would do something stupid until I got caught just to see how long I could get away with it. I did that until my lawyers could not convince the judge anymore that I shouldn't spend two months in juvie. So I spent the summer before high school locked up. I was pissed off from the summer that adding moving away just made me go looking for trouble even more."
"It's kind of cliché to fall for the bad boy. In fact it sounds sort of like a bad movie."
"I would agree with you there but then again we're talking about us, and I really don't want to be a flop movie. Can't we be like a James Bond movie? You could be the bond girl."
"So what now you want me half naked?" She said playfully shoving me.
"Well… and fully naked in some scenes, plus you're already half naked all we need is a camera and we're ready to roll."
"Now you're demanding a sex tape! You just cannot be satisfied can you? I give an inch and you take a mile. Now you're not going to get any of it. Not even the bad cheesy movie." She jumped up from the ground, crossed her arms, and looked down at me.
"Oh yeah I bet I can change your mind." I said jumping up as well.
"Don't you think about it! You won't even catch me and then you'll be worse off then you are now." I smirked.
"I'll take my chances on catching you and there's nothing else that you can take from me, I don't even have the bad cheesy movie anymore." With that, we both took off running. Going back along the path that she had taken to get to the basketball court I sprinted hoping on catching up on the short lead she had on me.
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