Thank you again for all the sweet reviews from: Bluebell140, AlamancexGurl, zan lil, MissIndependentlyPerfect, yogaluva, coolio120, and xMexWithoutxYoux.

A special dedication to pumpkinking5 for helping me out and helping me decide what direction to take this story. You have no idea how much it means to me that you're so encouraging!

Enjoy!

Less than five miles away from Gabriella's crash site, Troy Bolton slept soundly in his bed. Sweet dreams filled his subconscious as his body recharged from the day. For once, he didn't have to take any sleeping aids to lull him to sleep. His body gave in to the day's wear and tear of school and long hours of basketball practice. By no means was Troy a deep sleeper so when his cell phone rang at a quarter past two, he reflexively reached out for it on his nightstand.

"Hello?" he groaned into the receiver, his eyes still shut.

"Troy?"

"Gabriella? What's wrong?" he asked, not believing that this was the petite brunette that he has grown so fond of. When she didn't respond at once, a small knot in the pit of his stomach began to form. It wasn't like Gabriella to call him, especially not at two in the morning. "Gabriella, are you still there?"

"I'm sorry for waking you up."

Troy grew more and more worried with each passing second she didn't speak. He sat up in his bed, fully prepared to drive over to her house to speak to her in person. "Don't be sorry. Just tell me what's up," he pleaded.

"I-I got into a car crash," she stuttered through the phone.

He closed his eyes for the briefest second and was able to imagine how scared she must be. "Shit, Gabs. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. There was a rescue unit here so they checked me out. I walked away without even a scratch. My car, on the other hand, is far from that."

"Where are you? I'll come and get you," he said as he hastily pulled on a pair of jeans and grabbed his keys. He listened as she described where she was and mentally calculated what the best route was. "I'll be there in five minutes," he said, opening the back door into his room and running through his backyard.

The roads were the emptiest he had ever seen them. He had to use all the will power he had so that he wouldn't go over the speed limit and run every red light there was. Just as he turned onto the street Gabriella mentioned, his heart calmed a bit as he easily spotted the flashing sheriff's car.

After he made a U-turn at the median, he pulled off of the road and parked beside the cop car. He turned off his truck's engine and immediately spotted the sheriff that was stepping out of her car.

"Good evening ma'am. I'm Troy Bolton," he said as he stuck his hand out for the sheriff to shake. His blue eyes shifted to the car she exited and easily spotted Gabriella sitting in the passenger's seat.

"Gabriella Montez's boyfriend?"

He thought about correcting her assumption but decided against it. He nodded and asked, "Could you tell me what happened?" He tried to find Gabriella's car but he couldn't remember what it looked like.

"It would appear that your girlfriend was approaching a tree at a high rate of speed." The sheriff pointed north and shone her flashlight at a small vehicle lodged between shrubs.

He scoffed. "You make it sound like she was trying to commit suicide. Besides, I don't even see a tree there."

The sheriff was a middle-aged woman that was a head shorter than him. Much to Troy's delight, she seemed to have a kind face. She turned off her flashlight and looked at him sadly. "That's because the impact snapped the tree in two. I'm not trying to make any assumptions but in my experience, accidents like this don't just happen on their own. But Gabriella looks like she has a good head on her shoulders so I gave her the benefit of doubt and asked her what happened. She claimed that she got into a big argument with her boyfriend and she just wasn't all together."

"Yeah, we fought not too long ago," he lied once more, still trying to comprehend what the sheriff had assumed about the situation. "She was probably just coming to see me and reached over to change the radio station, when she lost control of the car. I think it's been awhile since she's actually driven. I usually drive her everywhere."

"That's what she told me. Normally, I'd insist to speak to a parent or guardian but she said that her mother was out of town."

"Her mother's a flight attendant so I wouldn't be that surprised," he said, remembering the many time Gabriella had brought it up.

"And her father?"

"I don't think he's in the picture anymore."

"I see," the sheriff said, still looking unconvinced. Despite her apprehension, she pulled out her notepad from her back pocket. "Well, in that case, I'll have to hand her over to you. She seems really shaken up at the moment so I didn't ask her for all her information," she said as she pulled out her pen. "Do you mind answering a few questions for me?"

"Honestly ma'am, we've known each other for awhile but she doesn't like to disclose personal information," he said, being the most truthful he'd been all night. But I can sure try."

"That'll have to do," she said with a slight sigh.

Troy could of sworn that he hear the sheriff mutter something about teenagers but disregarded. Besides, who was he to argue against a member of the law? "Before I answer your questions, ma'am, do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Not at all. Go ahead."

"How did you get my number?"

"I found it in her glove compartment when I was looking for her registration papers."

Despite the craziness of the situation, he smiled as he remembered the day he had put it in there. It was back when she used to be more relaxed around everyone. She'd smile more and laugh willingly. In those days, he could still see a spark in her chocolate-colored eyes.

Before:

"I can't believe I sat through two hours of that!" Gabriella exclaims with a slight laugh as she leads her friends out of the movie theatre. They had just seen the latest romantic comedy as they enjoyed their Saturday afternoon. Gabriella has been apart of their little group of friends for two months now but it feels as if they've known each other longer.

"But it was so cute!" Sharpay argues as the ever-quiet Kelsi nods in agreement.

"And the guy was so romantic!" Taylor says enthusiastically. "Did you see the way he made it up to the girl?"

"That was so cheesy!" Gabriella says, shaking her head in disapproval. "If a guy came up to me and did that to me, I would have to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. We should have seen that action movie instead."

"That's my type of girl." Chad says, smirking at the rest of the guys as they watch the girls talking animatedly in front of them.

Troy rolls his eyes and playfully punches Chad in the shoulder. "Lay off man. You've got a girl."

"In other words, Troy's marking his claim," Jason teases as he pops in between Troy and Chad. "I don't blame you man. She's hot as hell."

The blue-eyed boy shrugs off his friend's hand and jogs towards the girl while giving his guy friends the middle finger. He waits till Gabriella's a good enough distance away from the group of girls before he slips his arms around her waist and places his chin on her shoulder. He can't help but laugh as she lets out a shriek.

"What are you doing?" she manages to ask between her laughter.

Troy doesn't answer. He merely forces her to look down and spins them in a circle. It makes him dizzy and he's sure that she's starting to feel it too but he doesn't want to let her go. Her laughter fills the air and he never wanted that to stop. When he finally brings them to a stop, he doesn't let go of her at once.

"I am so dizzy," she says as she tries to walk them forward.

It's only then that he realizes that Gabriella's hand was resting tightly over his around her waist. "But that was a hell of a lot of fun," he says with a grin as he tightens his grip on her. "I think we should do it again."

"Troy, if you-" Her scolding is cut off as he begins to spin them around once more. "We're going to bump into other people," she tries to reason, despite her laughter.

"I think they'll avoid walking into the spinning teenagers."

"This is so embarrassing!"

"But you're still laughing," he says, turning her around in his arms when they finally stop.

"I think I'm going to fall over. I'm so dizzy," she says despite her smile.

"Well, it's a good thing that I'm holding you up."

Gabriella blushes and pulls away to catch up to the friends in front of them. She wobbles a bit and shoots a shy smile at him over her shoulder.

He laughs a bit at himself and chases after them. He casually slips between Sharpay and Gabriella, slipping his arms around each of their shoulders. "So ladies and gents," he begins as he glances at the guys, "where to next?"

"I don't know about you guys but I've got a shit load of homework waiting for me at home," Chad complains.

Taylor looks at her boyfriend oddly. "And you're actually planning on doing it?"

"It depends. Are you willing to help your boyfriend out?" he says, slipping his arm around his girl and kissing her cheek.

She rolls her eyes and snuggles into her boyfriend. "I guess that I'm headed to Chad's house. We'll see you guys Monday!" The couple waves before walking away from the group.

"And then there were five."

"Actually, it's two," Jason says as they come to a halt in the middle of the parking lot. "Kelsi's parents were expecting me to drop Sharpay and Kelsi off half an hour ago. I'm surprised that they haven't called."

Kelsi laughs nervously. "Yeah, I conveniently left my phone on silent after the movie."

"Oh you daredevil," Sharpay teases as she slips out from under Troy's arm.

"Shut up," the brunette mutters as she shyly pushes up her glasses on the bridge of her nose.

"Watch it blondie," Jason says as he shoots Sharpay a glare, "or you'll be walking home."

Troy and Gabriella exchange a look as they suppress their laughter.

"On that note," Troy says as he starts to turn his and Gabriella's body away, "we're going to leave you guys to your bickering. I'd also watch my back if I were you, Jason. Sharpay can get feisty."

"Drive safely," Gabriella says cheekily as they walk towards their cars.

"Where'd you park Montez?"

"Over there," she says pointing to a few cars down. "You?"

"I think I'm a row over."

"You think?" she asks amusedly.

He looks away, slightly embarrassed by his admittance. "I usually remember the general location of my truck but it takes me awhile to actually find it."

"Well, I guess I should let you go find it so you aren't out here all night."

He shakes his head as he keeps walking in step with her and gives her shoulder a squeeze. "I've got time to kill."

She just glances up at him briefly and smiles as they walk the next few feet to his car.

"You know, since we're practically neighbors, we should just carpool next time we all go out together. You know, to save the environment," he adds the later sentence rather hastily and looks away.

"I never knew you were such a tree-huger. First the carpooling for school and now this," she teases with a small smile.

He laughs nervously. "That's me. I love this planet. Don't you?"

She nods as she slips from beneath his arm and turns to face him as they finally reach her car. "Since I do love this planet, I'll keep that in mind before our next group outing."

"Wonderful. Wait. Do you even have my number?"

"I think I do."

"No worries, I'll write it down for you just in case," he says as he grins mischievously at her and reaches for his back pocket.

She looks at him peculiarly as she glances at the blue notebook paper in his hand. "Do you always have a notepad handy?"

"Complete with a red sharpie," he says with a nod and waving the red marker in the air. He scribbles down his number and tears it out. "Now, unlock your jeep."

"Why?" she says, raising an eyebrow in suspicion but unlocking her jeep anyways. "What are you doing?' she asks him as he walks over to open the passenger side of her vehicle.

He comes back a moment later and slips his notepad and marker into his back pocket. "Just making sure that you don't accidently throw out my number or anything like that. It's in your glove compartment for safe keeping," he says with a wide grin.

"You're so weird," she mutters and rolls her eyes playfully.

"I think that's one of my better qualities. You'll learn to love it, hate it, and eventually ignore it as you get to know me longer."

"Oh joy," she says in mock sarcasm. They simply just stand there for a bit, neither of them wanting to walk away. Gabriella realizes the shift in the atmosphere and she feels the heat rise to her cheeks. "I should get going," she says finally.

"Yeah, me too," he says as he reaches a hand to scratch the back of his neck. He sticks his hand out as if to shake her hand but then just laughs. He engulfs her in a hug before she gets a chance to walk away. He can't wipe the smile off of his face and he can only hope that she feels the same way.

Now:

Troy walked over to the passenger's side of the police car. He gently opened the door, as to not startle the brunette starring off into the distance. Her hands were perched in her lap as she kept her head straight. If she noticed the door open, she made no acknowledgment of it.

"Gabriella," he said softly as he ducked his head into the car. "The officer said that I can take you home now. She found the registration in the glove compartment so she'll take care of the car. I told her that I'll drop off your license after school so that they can register it."

He was met with no response as she stayed perfectly still.

"She's letting you off with just a warning."

After being met with silence once more, he crouched down beside her and placed his hand over hers. He squeezed her hands gently and said, "C'mon Gabs, let's get out of here."

Gabriella pulled away from him as if his touch burned but finally turned to face him. A chill ran down Troy's back as he took in her blank expression. She didn't look frighten nor tearful. With her eyes wide open and her body tense, she looked as if she was the living dead.

Ever the gentlemen, Troy offered to help her out of the car but she refused. She took slow and deliberate steps as she trailed behind him to his car. As always, he opened her door and made sure she was in before jogging over to the driver's side. He waved at the sheriff as he got into his truck. He glanced sideways to see that Gabriella was already buckled in with her head straight and her hands folded in her lap.

Not knowing what to say, he simply turned on the radio and drove in silence. He pulled up to her house as he did no more than 12 hours ago and then made his way to her door side. By the time he reached her, she already had the door opened and her body facing the dark house.

"Is everything alright?" he asked as he came to a stop in front of her. He mentally scolded himself for asking such a question when she was the furthest thing from being alright.

Gabriella opened and closed her mouth several times before she could speak. When she did, it was a voice that didn't sound the slightest bit familiar. "I don't want to be here," she said in a voice as hollow as her eyes.

There was something about her tone that frightened Troy. He wasn't quite sure what she was referring to. Did she mean 'here' as in her house? Or did she mean that she didn't want to be here with him, still alive? He couldn't wrap his head around it so he simply nodded and shut her passenger door.

He glanced up at the Montez house before he got back behind the wheel. It looked as empty as he knew it to be. Not a light shined from within, giving it an abandoned feel. He wouldn't blame for not wanting to return to a place like this. He certainly hadn't enjoyed coming home to an empty house day after day.

-TWLOHA-

"Take these."

Gabriella looked up from where her eyes were trained on the floor and up at the blue-eyed boy that stood in front of her. In one hand was a glass of cold water and in the other, were two white pills. Her eyes shifted between him and the unfamiliar substance.

"I promise you, I'm not drugging you or anything like that," he said as he brought closer to her reach. "It's melatonin, this hormone that'll help induce your sleepiness. After tonight, I think you just need to sleep."

She hesitantly takes the two pills from his palm and then reached for the glass. She swallowed the pills one by one and chased them down with gulps of water. She handed him what was left of the glass of water and watched as he crossed the room to set in on his desk.

"Go ahead and take your shoes off and make yourself comfortable," he said as he double-checked the lock on his bedroom door.

She did as she was told and slipped off her sneakers before climbing between his sheets. She watched him as he walked over to his backdoor that entered his house through and shut the blinds. She didn't want to think about what she had just done or rather, what she had failed at doing so she simply closed her eyes as she waited for the effects of the sleeping aids to set in. She heard the shuffling on the other side of Troy's bed and half expected to feel his weight shift her from her spot.

When she didn't feel anything, she rolled over and saw that he had been setting up a sleeping spot on the floor. "You don't have to," she found herself saying before she gave it another thought.

Troy looked up at her startled, as if he forgot that there was another person in the room. "What did you say?"

She took a deep breath and turned down the sheets on the other side of the bed. She was nervous about looking at him as she spoke, so she focused her attention to the bed. "I said that you didn't have to. As in, there's room for you on the bed. I don't want to completely ruin your night."

From the corner of her eyes, she saw him rise from the floor and pick up his pillow.

"Gabriella, you didn't ruin my night," he said as he slipped in beside her.

Her body tensed from their proximity and her eyes drifted shut before they could meet. She turned back around, feeling his eyes on her the whole time. She was sure that he was judging her and he would never be able to look at her the same way again.

Despite how much she fought, she could feel the tears build up. Instinctively, she hugged her knees to her chest and cried silently. The bed shifted, not that she noticed. She didn't fight as he gathered her into his arms. She clung to him and relished in the fact that for once, she wasn't alone. Her crying spell didn't last long and when they subsided, she started to pull away with every intention to apologize.

Troy held her firmly to him. He tucked her head under his chin and rubbed soothing circles on her back. His heart ached as he remembered her exhaustion in the preceding weeks, the hollowness in her laughter and her forced smiles. This had begun to feel all too familiar for him.

He had shifted them so that they could lie comfortably on his bed, his arms still locked around her. She laid her head against his chest with her arm coming to rest over his midsection. He gently stroked her dark hair.

"Gabriella?" he called quietly, unsure if she had drifted to sleep.

"Hmm?" came her weak reply. She was still awake but she didn't have the energy to reply.

"I'm really glad that you're still here tonight."

She gripped the fabric of his T-shirt as she tried and failed to stop the tears from falling once again.

For the first time in a very long time, she felt wanted.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed that. I (unfortunately) have to take the SAT tomorrow morning so I figured that I'd write another chapter to help me relax. I know I said that I was changing the rating to M but then I changed my mind again and decided that it really wasn't necessary. Lol I just confuse myself sometimes. I'd love to hear your thoughts about their possibly developing relationship!

Thank you for reading and please review!
Much Love,

Kae xx