WARNING: This story contains themes of depression, SI (self-injury) and suicide.

I dedicate this chapter to one of the most amazing people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing: Luc (or Luc91 on here). We met through FanFic and through the years, she has helped me more than I could ever imagine. I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her, that's how much she has impacted my life. And all I can hope for someone struggling with depression or self-injury has someone like her. Thank you for everything.

This is dedicated to the sweet reviewers of the last chapter: Bluebell140, Jenny, LA AngelxZV, silvermist92, Ceciliaa93, LivexxLaughxxLovexx and pumpkinking5. Again, thank you so much for helping me hit that 100 mark with this story. Reviews aren't everything but that's 100+ notes of knowing that what I wrote was enjoyed. So again, thank you.

Shout out to the following people for adding this story to your favorites list and/or me: csinylover90, and Bakerjr.

True to Dr. Gibson's word, she was only on a 24-hour hold. As soon as her nurse walked in to her room that late afternoon and announced her release, her mother came rushing into the room with a huge smile. Her nurse smiled at the sight and politely excused herself from the room.

"Hi sweetheart," her mother greeted finally, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Hey mom," she replied as she couldn't help, but smile.

"How'd you sleep last night?"

"Terribly. I just watched the clock for most of the night."

"I'm sorry, honey," she said as she reached a hand to smooth out her daughter's hair. "Hopefully, you'll get a better sleep tonight since you;ll be in your own bed."

"I hope so too," she said, rolling out her wrist that had been restrained for 24 hours. "Do I get to leave yet?"

"Well, I signed your discharge papers, but the doctor has to sign off on it before you can officially go."

She nodded as she subconsciously raised a hand to comb out the the knots in her hair.

Seeing this, Ms. Montez raised a hand to her own hair to release it from her hair tie. "Turn around sweetheart, let me braid you hair."

She obediently followed, turning her back to her mother and crossing her legs in the process. She suddenly felt like a little kid again as she couldn't remember the last time her mom had done this.

"Your hair is getting so long," she commented as she gathered the at the crown to begin her french braid. "It may be time for a hair cut. I'll call the hair stylist and we'll set something for this weekend. We can even make a day out of it."

"That would be nice," she said, somewhat taken back by the warmth radiating from her mother.

"Sweetheart, things are going to be different now," she began, her hands still at work at taming her daughter's hair.

"I'm going to be home a lot more."

"But what about your job?"

"I already spoke to my boss and I'll be doing a lot more local flights. It'll also mean more flights during the day for shorter times, but it'll also mean that I'll be home for dinner every night."

"But you love traveling!"

"I do, but I love my daughter more."

"I'm sorry that you have to sacrifice your career for me."

"Don't apologize, sweetheart," she scolded as she tied off the end of the braid and draped it over her daughter's shoulder.

She felt the bed shift behind her, followed by her mother's arm wrapped around her.

"I may be a flight attendant, but I'm also a mother. And that job is more important to me than dictating flight instructions to strangers. I'm sorry that i ever forgot that."

"I missed you."

"I missed you too, baby. I love you."

"Love you too," she muttered as she relaxed in her mother's remained like that for a few minutes, before she felt her mother pull away with a final kiss to her head. She watched as her mother pulled out her phone and frown. "Is everything okay?"

"Just a few missed calls and texts," she said with a forced smile. "I'll be right back, sweetheart. I'm just going to give Dr. Gibson a ring to see when she's coming by."

Gabriella nodded and watched as her mother scurried out of the room. She took the moment to swing her legs over the edge of the bed and allowed her bare feet to touch the cold linoleum. Her body ached as she was able to walk around the room, almost tripping over her somewhat long yoga pants. For the first half of her time in the hospital, she had been physically restrained to her bed. After much convincing, they removed her restraints, but she didn't get up much from her bed.

"Knock, knock."

She whipped around and instantly smiled at the sight of a certain blue-eyed boy. "What are you doing here?" she asked in amazement as she watched him extend the bouquet towards her.

"I heard you were coming home today," he said with a grin as he came to a stop in front of her.

"They're beautiful," she mused as she stared down at the arrangement of purple lilies.

"Only the best for you," he said as he took the bouquet out of her hands and laid it on the nearby bed. "Come here," he muttered as he pulled her into a hug.

She melted into him and smiled as she felt him kiss the top of her head. "Don't you have basketball practice?"

"Not today," he sung as he pulled away. He pinched the shirt that drowned her small framed and smirked. "Nice shirt."

She blushed as she fingered the grey wildcat t-shirt that didn't belong to her. "You left it that one day you were helping me with the kitchen sink," she muttered, avoiding his gaze. "I just wanted something comfy for when I was here."

"Yeah," he said as he stooped to her level to catch her line of sigh, "well, you can keep it. It looks good on you." Linking their hands together, he gave her quick peck on the lips."You ready to go home?"

"I was ready 24 hours ago," she joked as she sat down on the bed, pulling him to sit beside her.

"So what did you do in your time? Soul searching?" he joked, earning a small laugh.

"Something like that," she said as she played with his fingers in her lap. "It was all just really exhausting."

"Besides the exhaustion, did you get anything out of it?"

"I guess," she said with a small shrug and leaned into his side. "Being in here made me sort of realize that I never want to be here again."

"Here? As is the psych ward?"

"Yes, but also, at this low point in my life. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be in here and I'm going to do everything I can to prevent that from happening again."

"I'm so proud of you," he muttered into her hair before he placed a kissed there, tightening his arms around her shoulders.

"Hey, you two."

The pair turned as best they could without breaking contact. Upon seeing that Ms. Montez was not alone, they stood up and made their way to meet them.

"Sweetheart," Ms. Montez began with an apologetic smile, "I have to take care of something before you go home, would you be okay with me leaving for a bit? I already spoke to Dr. Gibson about your discharge plans."

"Is everything alright?"

"Nothing to worry about, sweetheart," her mother stated as she walked into arm's length. She gave her daughter's shoulder a comforting squeeze and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. "I'll be back to pick you up."

"I can take her home, Ms. Montez," Troy said with a shy smile. "If that's okay?"

"Of course, it is. If it's not too much trouble."

"More than happy to help, Do you mind if I take her out to get an early dinner?"

"That's fine, I'll see you at home then sweetheart." She smiled at the teens and turned to shake the hand of Dr. Gibson, who still stood at the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, doctor. Thank you." She flashed her daughter another smile before finally making her exit.

"Tomorrow?" Gabriella echoed, a look of worry washing over her features.

"Relax a bit, Gabriella," Dr. Gibson said with a small smile as she approached them and gestured towards the two chairs by her bedside. "Let's get more comfortable and I'll explain." She took a seat and Gabriella followed suit.

"I'll wait outside," Troy offered, jerking his head towards the door.

Before he even takes a step away, she pulls his hand towards her. "Is it okay if he stays?"

"Whatever makes you more comfortable."

One look from her pleading eyes and he knew he couldn't walk away. He left the brunette's side long enough to gather the extra from the other side of the room so that they formed a small triangle.

"Tell me, since I saw you this morning, how are you feeling?" Dr. Gibson asked as she crossed her legs and flipped through the papers attached to her clipboard.

"I'm feeling okay and I think going home will make me feel even better."

"I know you're eager to get home, but I need a real answer from you."

The brunette was taken a back by firmness in the doctor's voice and the tense facial expression to glanced over at Troy for a second, only to see the same look. Letting out a sigh, she looked back up at her doctor. "I don't know if I'm okay or not," she said, her voice wavering slightly. "But I do know that I am sorry for what I did and for the pain I caused my mother and Troy."

"So you're experiencing guilt?"

"Yes," she said, only to mutter a curse word as it left her lips. "But not enough for me to want to hurt myself again."

"Would that include cutting?"

Gabriella remained quiet, knowing that she had fought the urge the cut all day. She knew it was wrong, but in the darkness of her hotel room, that was all she could think about.'

"It's okay if it doesn't," Dr. Gibson said softly, causing her to look up. She offered a small smile as she lowered her clipboard on her lap and picked up a paper bag that had been placed on the floor. "Getting you to stop cutting is something we can work on at our sessions."

"Our sessions?"

"Yes, ma'am. Don't think that just because I'm discharging you from here, that you won't be seeing me anymore. Starting tomorrow, you'll see me twice a week for two weeks to see how you're adjusting to your medication. After that, you'll only need me once a month."

"What medication?"

"Considering where you are with your depression, counseling alone may not be enough. Starting an anti-depressant doesn't mean you'll be on it forever. It's not permanent and you may be on it for only a year. It all depends on you."

Gabriella gave a small nod as she accepted the paper bag the doctor had extended towards her. She took a peak inside and noted two small boxes.

"The medication is called Effexor and it basically works by help balancing the serotonin in your brain, which is what is responsible for your mood. I gave you a 7-day bottle of 37.5 milligram and 75 milligram. Take the 37.5 milligram capsules once a day for one week before beginning the 75 milligram capsules. That should help reduce side-effects."

"What sort of side-effects should I expect?"

"Some of the common ones are loss of appetite, nausea, fatigue,and headaches. It should subside after these first two weeks."

She nodded again, not able to take gaze off the bag in her hands.

"If you feel your mood worsening in an way, including returning thoughts of suicide, you have to call my office immediately or go to the ER, Gabriella, I need you to look at me and tell me that you understand."

Dropping the bag in her lap, she looked up to meet the doctor's gaze. "I understand," she said with a shaky breath.

"One last thing before I let you go," Dr. Gibson said as she pulled a notebook from her purse. She handed the softbound notebook with a marbled cover to the brunette. "I want you to write down your thoughts everyday. You don't have to write about your whole day, just things that stood out to you You can pretend it's a letter to an old friend or go with the whole "Dear Diary" thing."

"Will you read it?"

"Not unless you want me to," she said with a small smile, seeing the apprehension on the young girls face. "But I do ask that you date it and I'll just glance to make sure you're doing it everyday. If there's anything I've learned in the past 24-hours, it's that you like to hold things in. That's something we're also going to work on."

Gabriella clutched the notebook to her chest as she thought how different her life would be, not only with the medication and the doctor visits, but also with her mother. She felt the exhausting hit her body as she realized that it would be anything but easy. But somehow, she managed to feel excited for the unspoken promises of happiness.

"Do you have any questions, Gabriella?"

She shook her head as she followed the doctor's lead and stood up.

"Okay, then I'll let your nurse know that you're free to go. I'll also have her bring you a bottle of water so you can take your first dose tonight. Try to take the medication at the same time every day so if you want to wait till bedtime or even tomorrow, it's whatever is easier for you."

"Thank you, Dr. Gibson."

"My pleasure," she said with a small smile as they walked her to the door. "Enjoy the rest of you evening."

"Thank you, we'll see you tomorrow." Troy said as he wrapped his arms behind the brunette from behind.

"We?" she asked, turning her head slightly to see him.

"Only if you want me there."

"I wouldn't want it any other way," she said as she turned around in his arms and locked her hands behind his neck. "Thank you, again."

"Anything for you," he muttered, hesitating for only a second before swooping down to capture her lips in a chaste kiss.

It was a simple kiss, but in those few seconds of bliss, she felt the anxieties of her changing present disappear.

-TWLOHA-

"So, do you want to tell me what that was all about?" she asked as she popped a fry into her mouth.

"You don't put fries in your burgers?" he shot back with an innocent grin.

Gabriella rolled her eyes at him and took a sip of her milkshake, not at all amused with his answer. They were enjoying the spring breeze as they sat in the bed of his over her shoulder, she glanced back at her house, looking for any signs of her mother through the kitchen window. Seeing no movement, she turned to the blu-eyed boy sitting opposite of her.

"You're really not going to tell me?" she pressed as she leaned back against the walls of the truck.

"Well, we were going to eat at the dinner but as soon as you saw Sharpay, you ran in the opposite direction."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did. You grabbed our food and when you were looking for an empty table, I pointed out Sharpay. You totally freaked out on me."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said just before taking a large bite of his burger.

She threw a french fry at him, earning a mumbled response. "Don't talk with your mouth full, Troy Alexander."

He made a big show of swallowing his food before leaning forward to try and steal her milkshake. Seeing this, she picked it up first and brought the straw to her lips.

"I'll only give it to you if you tell me what happened," she said sternly before taking a long sip. "I'd hurry if I were you because I probably could finish this in the next 10 minutes."

"Fine," he said as he slumped back to his side of the truck and picked up his burger. "Sharpay and I got into a fight yesterday."

'About what?"

"A few different things."

"Such as?"

"About you and me and her," he muttered the last bit to himself as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked away.

A look of confusion washed over her face before she finally formed an 'o' with her mouth. She knew exactly what he was talking about. "I'm a terrible friend, aren't I?" she finally asked as she remembered the day Sharpay had told her about the feelings she secretly harbored.

"What?" he said, his head snapping up. "No!"

"Not only did I lie to her about not liking you, but I went after you with the knowledge that she liked you."

"First of all," he began as he crawled the small distance to sit beside her, "I was the was chasing you."

"True, but-"

"No but's!" he said firmly as he entwined their hands. "Besides, even if I never met you, I wouldn't be with Sharpay. I never saw her in that light."

"Wasn't she your first kiss?"

"Yes, but that was we were 13! Honestly, it was awkward and I wish that I could take it back."

"So no feelings at all for her?" she pressed as she looked down. "Because she is pretty and smart and popular and thin and-"

"And she's nothing compared to you," he said as he kissed the back of her hand."You are most definitely the girl of my dreams."

"The girl of your dreams is utterly depressed with a dysfunctional family?"

"That's just a minor roadblock, Gabriella. You are way more than that. There's just something about you that I can't get enough of."

"The drama?"

"I'm being serious."

"So am I," she said as she swallowed what was left of her pride and finally looked up at him. "You could have Miss Perfect and here you are with me."

"And who said I want perfection?" he shot back as he stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. "One thing I had to accept when I was going through treatment was that perfection didn't exist and not to beat myself up over something that couldn't be obtained."

"I don't know, you seem pretty perfect to me."

"That's because you haven't seen me at my worst yet."

"I want be there for you if that happens. Just like you were and still are here for me."

"I'll hold you to that," he said with small smile before bending down to press a kiss to her lips. "C'mon, I better get you inside before your mother comes looking for us."

She nodded as began to collect their trash into one of the empty paper bags. Allowing him to help her up, they stood up on the bed of the truck and jumped the short distance to the ground. Ever the gentleman, she watched as he went to the passenger side of his truck to pull out her duffle bag from the hospital. She had tried to take the bag from him, but he simply refused to let her carry it. Giving him a quick kiss, she thanked him as she slipped the her house keys from the front pocket of her bag.

"I'll go ahead and drop this off in your room."

Before she could even stop him, he was already halfway up the stairs. Shaking her head at him, she followed the sounds of pots clashing in the kitchen. "Mom, I'm home," she called out, knowing that her mom mostly likely didn't hear the door open.

"No, not mom."

She froze mid step in the walkway of the kitchen as that voice registered in her head. Leaning agains the counter by stove was a middle-aged man with curly brown hair and matching dark eyes.

"Hi princess."

There was a tightening in her chest and she could feel a lump forming in her throat as she watched him step closer to her. "Dad?" she finally managed to get out.

"I came as soon as I could," he said as he wrapped his arms around her stiff frame. "Your mother called me just last night."

There were so many thoughts running through her head, but she couldn't find her voice.

"You look like skin and bones," he commented as he pulled away, but not before dropping a kiss to the top of her head. "I'll make you my special lo-mein. You loved that when you were a kid."

The pain in her chest worsened and she could feel the warmth flood to her eyes. She tried to focus on anything other than that feeling, but couldn't. Faintly, she heard her name being called.

"I hope you don't mind, but I grabbed your medicine from your duffel," Troy said as he walked into the kitchen, his attention mostly on opening the box of medicine in his hands. "I thought I'd bring it down since you didn't take it at the hospital."

"This must be Troy," her father said, startling her and the blue-eyed boy.

His head snapped us as he heard his name. It took him only a second to take in the man's dark deatures and business suite before deciding that there was something familiar about him. "Yes, sir. I'm sorry, have we me-"

"We haven't but I've heard a lot about you," he said as he stuck out his right hand towards the teenager. "I'm Gabriella's father."

"Mr. Montez, it's a pleasure to meet you," Troy said as he bit back his shock and shook the man's hand.

"It's Rodriguez, actually," he corrected with a small smile. "Gabriella has her mother's maiden name. But please call me Tony."

"Sir, I could-"

Gabriella watched for a minute as her gaze switched between her father and Troy. Placing a hand on her still aching chest, she took a deep breath and took a step back. "I can't do this!"

Seeing the tears forming in the young girl's eyes, Troy took a step forward and began to rub circles on her back. "Calm down, Gabs. Tell me what's wrong."

"Princess," her father began in a gentle voice. "I didn't mean to upset you by coming here."

"I'm sorry, but what did you expect," she said through her tears. "I can't handle you just showing up here after not seeing you for four years."

"I'm the one that should be sorry, Gabriella," he said as he pulled her into another hug. "I haven't been the best father to you and look where we all ended up."

She tried to get her body to relax in her father's embrace, but she couldn't so she stayed quiet as she felt him rub her back.

"Why don't you go upstairs and lie down? Your mother mentioned you were exhausted from last night."

She nodded and pulled away from him, not seeing the hurt that flashed in his brown eyes. Turning to Troy, she latched on to his arm and forced him to walk out with her. She felt him pull his arm out of her grip, only to wrap it around her shoulders, allowing her to fully sink into his side.

"I'll be here when you wake up," her father called from behind their retreating forms. "And the day after that. I'm not leaving until I know you're okay."

She felt the hot tears run down her cheeks once more and she isn't sure that they ever stopped in the first place. Allowing Troy to open her bedroom door, she guided them to sit on her bed. She turned to face him and wiped furiously at her tears.

"The last time I saw him," she said finally, " was Christmas four years ago. Their divorce was being finalized and I had to spend Christmas Eve with him and his pregnant fiancee."

"Four years ago? Wasn't that around the time you started cutting?"

"Yup," she said, accentuating the 'p' sound. "He moved to a different city and is married with kids that carry his last name. I get a Christmas card and birthday card every year, but from the handwriting, I know that he's never the one that writes the messages."

"What an ass," he said, earning a small smile. "It took almost loosing you to make him realize what an amazing daughter he is missing out on. But remember, that guilt is something he's going to have live with for the rest of his life."

"I guess."

"Him being here right now means that he wants to make it up to you. At least let him try, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good," he said as he leaned forward to kiss her forehead and then her lips. "I got to get going before it gets any later. Are you going to be alright if I leave?

She made a sound of agreement as she followed his lead to stand. Almost instantly, she wrapped her arms around his midsection and felt his arms encase her.

"I'll call you when I get home," he said as he kissed the top of her head. Reluctantly, he pulled away and placed her medication in her hands. "Don't forget to take this before you sleep. Do you want me to run downstairs to get you some water."

"No thank you, I threw the bottle of water from the hospital in to my duffle bag."

"Okay, bye beautiful." he said as he gently took her face in his hands and kissed her. His lips lingered longer that they should have and when he pulled away, he saw that her eyes were still closed and her lips still slightly puckered.

When Gabriella opened her eyes, she smiled before leaning up to give him a quick peck before walking him to her bedroom door. She watched him walk down the hall, glancing back at her only once give her one last smile. She closed her bedroom door as she saw him disappear down the flight of stairs. Leaning against her door, she finally took the chance to notice that her room seemed cleaner than when she had left the previously. She knew she had her mother to thank for that. Walking to her duffel bag at the foot of her bed, she shook the medication in her hand and made quick wok of taking out the small bottle from its carton. She read the label of the medication before placing it beside her duffel bag so that her hands were free to search for the water.

Not a minute later, her hands wrapped around the plastic bottle and so she plopped down on her bed. Picking up the medication bottle once more, she untwisted the cap and broke the foil seal. She tipped the bottle into her cupped hand, tapping it just enough for a single capsule to fall out. Without a second thought, she popped it into her mouth and swapped out the medication bottle for her water. She took a big gulp of water, feeling the pill slide down her throat. Taking another sip of water, she re-capped both bottles and reached over to place them on her nightstand. While she was there, she blindly searched for a pen in the drawer. Having found one, she crawled back to her place by the duffle bag.

Rummaging through the bag once more, she pulled out the notebook Dr. Gibson had given her earlier. She flipped through it, double-checking that it was indeed empty. Opening it back to the first page, she wrote the date in the top corner.

Dear Diary. She began, but crossed it out a second later. She began to chew on the end of her pen as she thought of what and how she was going to write in the journal. A small laugh slipped her lips as she realized that she nearly chewed the butt of the pen off completely. That's when it hit her.

Dear Luc. She wrote and the words flowed from there.

Luc, or Lucia, was her best friend from middle school. She was a little on the quiet, a lot more like how Gabriella was now. But somehow, their friendship worked and they told each other everything. Gabriela smiled sadly to herself as she remembered the long talk they had when she confessed that she had started cutting. But Luc hadn't scolded her and she was there for her every day until they separated for high school and lost touch. Luc was also the only other person Gabriella knew that chewed the ends of her pens.

As she wrote the letter to her lost friend, she found the words to express everything that had been running through her mind in the last few days. Every unspoken thought was now on the paper before her and that weight in her chest seemed to have been lifted.

Two pages in, she paused for a minute and read her words from the start. The words were purely her thoughts and although Luc or her therapist or even Troy would never read them, she felt better knowing that they were at least out of her head.

These thoughts and emotions were all hers and they were real. She realized emotions couldn't and shouldn't be turned off and that she would have to deal with the happiness, anger, guilt and any combination in between.

She looked down at her wrist, remembering the pain that caused each scar. Tracing over the L-word carved into her skin, she also remembers the other L-word that had been written on her skin.

Love. She thought to herself as she wrote it on another part of her marred forearm. Despite everything, she smiled to herself as realized that's the only thing that amongst the scars on her skin, that was the only that truly belonged.

Love, she now knew, was why she was still around.

Love from a family member, a friend, and most importantly, one's self.

Hey guys, I'm sorry for the wait. The past few months, I had been fighting my depression and anxiety and after 4 weeks of some sort-of intense treatment, I'm starting to feel like myself again. This chapter concludes the end of this extremely emotional and personal story for me. I do want to write a 1 year epilogue to tie off loose ends, but only if 1) you guys would want to read that and 2) don't mind waiting a month. My cousins from the Philippines arrived yesterday and will only be here a month. Between them and wrapping up my school semester, I won't have much time to write.

I hope you guys enjoyed this, I am actually quite satisfied with it. And now I have about 5 hours before I have to get up for work. Take care and till next time!

Thank you so much for going on this journey with me.

Much Love,

Kae xx

To Jenny: First of all, congratulation on graduating! That's so exciting that you'll be starting high school soon! Best of luck and thank you for all your support with this story. TWLOHA is an acronym for this story, and it's also a non-profit organization that offers hope to people stuggling with depression, self-injury, addiction and much more. Take care and again, thank you.