Terribly sorry for the late update! I've been so busy, I've been writing my exams, and now I've entered the second semester of my senior year, so things have been getting a bit chaotic. I've got to say, that unfortunately, there will only be a couple more chapters left and then this story will end. If you haven't checked out my other story yet, it's called 'Forbidden', a period drama; my first actually. Please check it out!

Before Happily Ever After

Chapter 6: Calm before the storm

For the past few days, Troy felt like a burglar, sneaking into his own house. Every time he slipped his key into the keyhole of the door, he would cringe at the slightest squeak that came from the hinges of the door when he opened it. He would have to find some time fix that problem. More so, he felt like stranger with his wife. Why was he sneaking in the first place? As much as he would've loved to convince himself it was because he didn't want to wake Sean, he knew it was a lie. Truthfully, it was because he couldn't bear waking up Gabriella…because once she woke up, there would be no way to stop the awkwardness between them

The past few days had been beyond tense between him and Gabriella. They exchanged polite words, little nods here and there, and worked companionably when they took care of Sean together, and Troy hated it. He hated that they were acting like they barely knew each other, he hated that every time he passed her in their small apartment, her brown eyes would shift down to avoid meeting his. He hated that every time that happened, he found himself without words, and could only offer what he hoped to be a normal smile before moving on to whatever he had to do at the time.

They were better off when they had first met each other in high school; in that embarrassing moment when he had accidentally bumped into her, and blurted out 'Can I have your number' instead of 'sorry'.

The only sign of the thick tension having any chance of fading was the fact that Troy no longer slept outside on the couch-whether or not it was because she knew of the back pains he got from the couch, Troy didn't know. Although, compared to the feeling of not having her in his arms when he woke up, and the fact that they now slept facing away from another, Troy couldn't decide if this was any better than the back pains.

Walking into the dreary apartment building, Troy paused, wondering if he should check their mail box before relieving Sharpay of what was most like an over excited Sean, before heading for their mailbox. Deciding the Sharpay would be able to handle herself, he quickly grabbed whatever mail was there. Troy didn't look at any of the incoming mail until he was home. He was glad Gabriella wasn't home when he opened the door and checked addresses.

"Class dismissed," throngs of students stood from their seats-some closing laptops and some being rudely shaken awake by their friends. Gabriella gathered her utensils, and grabbed her bag, her mind determined to make a straight beeline for the door.

"Ah one moment please, Ms Bolton," her professor interrupted her one woman stampede for the door. Taking a deep breath, Gabriella turned around,

"MRS. Bolton," she thought to herself, "Yes sir?" she asked as politely as possible. In her mind, she began counting down the minutes Sean would not be seeing her because of his unexpected hold up.

"Ms Bolton, is there anything wrong?"

Gabriella blinked. Weren't college professors supposed to just teach the lesson, then let their students leave so they could go back to whatever they found more interesting? Since when was a professor concerned about their students? "No sir,"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes sir," this time she said it a bit more impatiently,

"Ms Bolton, you've been a model student. Yes I teach thousands of students each day, but I am not too old to be unable to recognize students with potential, and you are one of them. The assignment you handed in last week…not your best one," her professor frowned, taking out the essay she had written, "Your introduction is sound, and your thesis is spectacular, your arguments are strong but you don't explore them enough," he gave her the essay. There was a big, fat 60 percent drawn in red on the cover. Gabriella covered her cringe, but it came out as a twitch.

"I…I'm sorry," Gabriella said quietly, "I'll try harder next time,"

"I am only your professor, Ms Bolton, that said, I will not stand for having a student with this much potential to waste it writing essays like this. Might I suggest seeing a counsellor if you do have problems,"

"It was a bad week, I promise I'll do better Professor," Gabriella said with a twinge of annoyance. Who was he to say she was having problems? So what if he was a psychology professor? "I'm sorry sir, but I really have to go,"

"Of course Ms Bolton, next time please," her professor said with finality. He waved her off, and she hurried away. If anything went wrong with Sean during the long five minutes she was in there with him, her psychology Professor would first handily understand what the term 'psycho' meant.

-

-

"You know that's illegal,"

"What is?"

"Reading someone else's mail. It's private property,"

"Well I'm her husband, what's hers is mine, what's mine is hers,"

"I never thought you were someone to take something so literal,"

"Surprise,"

"So…are you going to tell her?"

"Hell no!"

"Why not?"

"Shar, don't you think they've hurt her enough?" Troy asked coldly, the crumpled up letter in his hands. The blonde narrowed her eyes, flicking a strand of blonde hair off her shoulder, and fixing a piece of her bangs that was out of place.

"Troy, you two already aren't in the best situation with each other," Sharpay said sternly, "Do you honestly think hiding something this big from her will make it any better?"

"That's the problem!" Troy said loudly, Sharpay punched him on his arm, sending a sharp glance to Sean who was sleeping soundly in one of the smaller cribs they placed in the living room, "That's the problem," he repeated in a softer voice, "The whole reason Gabby's like this, right now, is because of them. How do you think she'll act when she finds out about this? You think it'll get better?"

"It can't be worse than this," Sharpay took the letter out of Troy's hands; "Troy this is her mother you're talking about, and by some extent, your mother in law. You've got to realize, Gabriella's mother has nothing to do with this problem you're having with her family and yours,"

"She didn't say much when we were at the hospital," Troy mumbled quietly,

"Troy Bolton, when Sean grows up, you try choosing between your own child, and the love of your life, and tell me how easy it was to choose" Sharpay said sharply, standing up. She handed the letter back to him, "Do what you want, but don't say I didn't warn you."

Sharpay began to stand up, collecting her purse and various items, when the door knob twisted and sounds of keys jingling came from outside. The door swung opened to reveal a breathless Gabriella, having just ran her way to the apartment,

"Hey Gabs," Sharpay smiled, showing no sign of having what was a serious conversation with Troy just seconds earlier. Gabriella smiled briefly,

"Hey, thanks for baby sitting," Gabriella said, walking in slower pace now that she was within distance of Sean. Her heart slowed down ever so slightly seeing him sleeping safely in his crib. Troy didn't miss how instantly relaxed and calm she was once she had caught sight of Sean. He hastily shoved the letter into his jean pockets.

"Hey no problem, he is my favourite guy after all, no offence Troy," Sharpay smirked, Troy smirked back,

"None taken,"

"I've got to get going, Ryan's waiting for me to get over to his house so he doesn't have to act as my keys," Sharpay giggled. Sharpay bid a quick farewell to her friends before leaving the apartment. Troy had to make a quick decision; he could feel the blanket of tension starting to come down.

"How was class?" Troy asked in what he hoped was a normal voice. Gabriella smiled softly,

"Good,"

"Good."

Silence.

"So I'm going to get started on dinner," Gabriella said,

"I'll take Sean to his room," Troy replied,

"Alright,"

The sound of shuffling, Troy gently taking Sean into his arms, and they passed one another without a glance. Troy felt like a complete idiot, feeling his heart pound against his chest as if he was about to do the most nerve wracking thing in his entire wife. Gabriella felt like crying, she didn't know who to turn to anymore. Gabriella quickly made to disappear into their room, realizing that the feeling of crying inside was turning into reality, and she ducked her head to hide her tears.

Troy gently laid Sean into his crib in his room, brushing a few strands of deep brown hair out of his closed eyes. The toddler mumbled something, before twisting the blanket in his hand tight in his tiny fist. Troy smiled. He tiptoed out of the baby's room, fully intending to start cleaning up the mess in the living room when he caught the faint sound of sniffing. Sniffing? Sean couldn't have been crying, Troy took a glance at the crib and Sean was right there, content in his little dreams.

That would only leave one person then.

Troy made his way to the room her shared with Gabriella. The sniffing got louder. His heart pounded stronger. Every step he took brought him closer to the sound of anguish that Gabriella was making and something Troy couldn't stop. As quietly as possible, he pushed open the door. Gabriella was sitting at the edge of their bed, her face buried in the pillow Troy usually slept on. Her hair fell down the side of her face like a solemn brown curtain, hiding her face from him. Troy didn't want Gabriella to hide anything from him. He took his place beside her, and she hiccupped feeling his weight on the bed.

"What's gong on with us," she mumbled into her pillow, "What's wrong…why are we like this?"

"Like what?"

"This!" Gabriella looked up, gesturing to the both of them, "We don't talk to each other anymore, we can barely look at one another...this is the most we've said to one another in a week."

"You tell me," Troy said softly, "I feel like I don't know you anymore…like you're not my Gabby anymore," Gabriella winced,

"I am…"

"The Gabriella I knew wouldn't ditch her homework like you did for the last week. The Gabriella I knew talked to me about her problems or just about anything. You knew how to balance our life and school life. But right now… for some reason you thought you had to pick one or the other."

"Sean's our son—"

"But he's not an escape," Troy interrupted. Gabriella stopped, "I know you're trying to prove to your step-father that you can handle this. God knows how many times I've told myself I'd rather die than to have you unhappy, but with you shutting me out like this…I don't know what you're thinking, I can't tell if you're happy, and it's making me miserable because I can't be there fore you. I want to be there for you, mentally and physically."

"I'm trying so hard…" Gabriella looked down, a fresh batch of tears falling, Troy placed two fingers under her chin, and tilted it upwards so her watery brown eyes met his blue ones,

"I know…let me help you. It's our life Gabby, let me help you and we can do this together," Troy whispered. He bent down, and kissed her gently, before pulling apart slightly, nuzzling the side of his nose to hers. Gabriella closed her eyes,

"I left the stove on," she mumbled, Troy chuckled,

"It's ok," he wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her closer so that she was almost on his lap, "This is the closest I've been to you in a week, I refuse to let go,"

"If you want to help me with my problems we're going to need a house that's still standing to do so," Gabriella retorted. He loosened his grip around her waist,

"Thank you for running the moment," he mumbled playfully. She smiled, and leaned her forehead against his,

"Thank you for bringing me back," one quick peck on his nose, and Gabriella flitted out of the room. Troy sat there, grinning like an idiot for a few minutes, before remembering the crumpled letter he had shoved into his pocket earlier.

He will show it to her…at some point…but right now, he was going to enjoy having his wife back.

Life returned to normal for the young couple and their son. Sure, there were moments where Gabriella began to pile things on herself again, but Troy was always there, reminding her that they shared everything, and everything included their problems as a family. Although, shoved with Gabriella's math work, Troy would be a bit more lenient in regards to that particular 'problem'.

Isabella didn't call Gabriella anymore after that one phone call, and Gabriella learned to ignore covers of most business magazines or any magazine that would involve the Santos family. For all she knew, they were the one that cut off communication after that one phone call, and if they weren't pushing it, then Gabriella wouldn't either.

Everything seemed like it would be perfect; Troy and Gabriella weathered through what they thought was the biggest fight they had as a couple They held the strong belief that if they could get pass this level, then they could get pass any level. Sean was also growing up just fine; he added a couple more words to his ever expanding vocabulary. Words like 'please', 'full', 'potty', 'funny', and 'mammy' sent the parents squealing (alright, so Gabriella did the squealing, but Troy grinned the biggest). Of course, those words were followed by shorter words like,'no' and 'boo' and 'mean'. Neither young adult could figure out who was more delighted about those certain words.

It wasn't until nearly a month later, while it was Troy's turn to attempt to bathe a squirming and uncooperative Sean, and battle his way to accomplish his mission with his one and a half year old son, did an unexpected visit stop Troy and Gabriella's routine life. The visit was no where near pleasant, and the news was no where near welcomed.

A/N: Again I apologize profusely for such a late update! Life and school got in the way. This is one of my shortest chapters yet, but I really wanted to get this out. Again, perhaps two more chapters and maybe a short epilogue before the end of this story. Check out my new period drama, Forbidden on my profile page, and review!