A/N- Alright, it's been a while since I've updated so let's do a quick catch up. If you remember, there was this sort of meltdown when the gang discovered that Troy was the "Date Doctor." Gabriella sees Troy and Kelsi together and thinks they're together and gets closer to Ryan as revenge. 3 months later he proposes, she accepts and tells Taylor who freaks. She doesn't think Gabriella has had closure and needs to talk to Troy to get over their past before moving on. Gabriella refuses and leaves after revealing her true feelings for Troy which Taylor records. Now on the same day.....

Motives and Actions

Taylor smiled victoriously as she strutted out of the restaurant. She felt a little guilty about what she was doing, but her friends were too stubborn for their own good. They needed her help to work things, otherwise neither of them were going to have a chance at happiness. They'd been dwelling on the past for too long. Something had to be done and Taylor was the someone who had to do it.

As she drove home, her text tone went off. Chad, wanting to know how things went. She sent him a quick reply. Five seconds later the cell bleeped again. -Love you, the message read. Taylor smiled and closed the phone. It was true what Gabriella had said, they had been having trouble lately. After the "catastrophe," they'd had to work through some trust issues, but the workshops their counselor had suggested were really helping them out. In the end, Taylor was sure, their relationship would recover and be stronger than ever.

It amazed her how much "just talking" had helped. They'd even solved issues they hadn't even known they'd had! And Taylor desperately wanted to help Troy and Gabriella find the same kind of peace she and Chad had found. ASAP. Especially if Gabriella and Ryan were going to get married! She didn't want her friend to make that big of a commitment based on revenge, bitterness, and avoidance. It wasn't healthy. She knew that eventually Gabriella would snap out of this...... funk. And when she did, Taylor didn't want her to find that her entire life was centered around her biggest regret and mistake. That was the kind of thing that led to sad lifetime movie plotlines and nobody wants that for their friend.

But she wasn't just doing this for Gabriella, there was another person involved. Troy. At this point, Taylor couldn't tell who was worse off. The adamantly, blind future bride or the man who'd turned into a shell of his former self. He'd been slowly falling apart since that faithful day three months ago. He'd started taking less and less cases. In the last few, he'd only succeeded because fate had taken pity and let the couples be together, against it's better judgment, for Troy's case. He really was a sorry excuse of a man these days. If not for Chad's intense vehemence on the subject, Taylor would have had him committed. But after an eye-opening argument about his past, Taylor understood why he couldn't allow that to happen to his friend. So he was living in their guest room where Chad and friend of Troy's - Kelsi was it?- took care of him.

It'd all started when Chad got an invitation to an old friends' wedding. The groom had played basketball with Chad and Troy and was marrying his high school sweetheart. Taylor had had a work thing the day of the occasion and couldn't attend. So, in an attempt to bring him out of his mysterious despondency, Chad had dragged Troy along instead. He'd assumed that it was just a mid-life, my life's in a rut, I'm bored with my life, thing. But it soon became very obvious that that was not the case at all, and that the cause was more closely related to the heart. All through the ceremony, Troy could be seen clenching and unclenching his fists and jaws. Afterwards he'd lapsed into pacing back and forth in the church's lobby, obviously agitated. By the reception people began to whisper about his disturbing behavior and alcohol intake. Then, when the best man began to toast the couple, he snapped.

Chad had been vague about the details of the breakdown of his friend but Taylor could tell by the haunted look in his eyes that the incident had been uglier than he let on. Taylor had gotten Chad to reveal that the couple had started dating the same time as Troy and Gabriella. Everyone had thought that they would break up and Troy and Gabriella would be the ones to get married. He figured that irony had probably gotten to him; it was all just bad timing.

After that, Troy had taken to locking himself in any room with a lock and staying there until bothered to move. Then he'd started to hide and stopped answering when called for. Finally he'd ceased moving and responding at all. Only by mistake had they come across a solution for the problem. While messing with the TV trying to play an old VHS tape (the only VHS player being in the guest room), they came across an old recording of Troy and Chad as teens. They were listening to a rap song and making up their own lyrics. Then out of nowhere a younger Gabriella jumped into the frame and joined in. The video seemed to temporarily bring back some of Troy and in his few moments of consciousness, Chad got him to talk enough to determine that the whole "collapse" was just his friend's way of dealing with all the past pain he'd been bottling up. He could tell that until he let it out or worked through it, there was no hope of Troy getting better.

So Taylor and Chad came up with a plan to get Troy and Gabriella to talk. The easiest way would be to tell Gabriella about Troy's condition. They both knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't hesitate to mend things up if she knew. The only problem was that, presently, there were no guarantees that Gabriella would be able to get through to Troy. The videos were the only way they knew how to bring him out and they didn't always work. Sometimes he could only see, sometimes hear. Only very rarely could he talk and in those cases, the chances of him actually saying something relevant, or that made sense, were even slimmer. They couldn't expect Gabriella to sit around the house for weeks, waiting for him to be coherent for a few seconds before relapsing. No, they had another idea.

Chad had said that Troy had always had this "hero complex;" that was how he'd met Gabriella. According to Chad, he and Troy had been sitting in the park when a girl had run past them, almost knocking them over. She'd been out of breath and Troy had kept asking Chad if he thought she looked upset. It had really bothered him that something might be wrong with her. Chad had said that she looked fine and had gone back to trying to convince Troy to go to a party with him that night. But Troy had ignored him and continued to watch the girl. As she was walking away, he'd stood and muttered something about her being in trouble and taken off running across the park. Chad had watched as she'd fallen into the pond without resurfacing. Chad proudly recounted how his friend had plunged in, pulled her out, given her CPR, and, ultimately, saved her life. And now, they were going to try to resurrect the heroic Troy. They hypothesized that if they could convince him that Gabriella was in trouble, he'd return to them enough for them to better help him heal. They didn't expect a full recovery, but consciousness for any amount of time would be nice.

So they hooked up the recorder, set the track on replay, and pressed play. "Just stop. Alright? You're right. I admit it," said a sniffly voice, Gabriella. "I still have feelings for Troy, and this was all a ploy to get him back. It was stupid... oh was it stupid... but it's done now. Troy's gone now and there's nothing I can do about it. I'll never get him back. So you know what? I'm going to be with RYAN. RYAN and I are very happy together."

"Do you hear that Troy?" Taylor whispered. "She's giving up. She's settling. She's going to marry someone she doesn't love because your too wrapped up in yourself to do anything about it," she said, now at almost shouting level. "Come on Troy!" she cried.

"Let's go Tay," Chad said warmly. "We'll give it some time to sink in alright." Taylor nodded and allowed herself to be led out of the room.

As the door closed, a pair of eyes flickered open. "Gabriella?"

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"The show is going to be amazing Ry, really!" Gabriella gushed as they walked out of the theatre.

"Thanks," Ryan said halfheartedly.

"Oh sweetie," she cooed, "are you still upset about the Brazilian influence on the costumes? I thought they looked great!"

"It's not the outfits!" he snapped. He sighed as he took in her hurt expression and softened his tone. "I'm sorry," he whispered as he ran his fingers through her hair. "It's just...." he looked down, searching for words.

"What?" she asked.

He shook his head and turned away. "Don't worry about it. I'll walk you to your car."

"Ryan!" she exclaimed pulling back on his hand. "No! Look at me!" She cupped his face in her hands and looked at him. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Gabi..."

"Please," she begged, "trust me."

Ryan took a deep breath and sighed. "Are we okay?"

Gabriella stepped back in shock. "Of course we are. Why wouldn't we be?" she squeaked. The conversation she'd had with Taylor earlier that day floated into her mind. Was it really that obvious?

"It's just that... it seems like your heart is elsewhere."

Gabriella's eyes teared up. Taylor was right! The only reason she was with Ryan was to keep a piece of Troy around. there was no chance she'd ever get him back, she couldn't lose Ryan too! She looked up at him with a fierce intensity in her eyes and poured her heart into the next few words. "I'm with you! I'm all about you! It's me and you," she said, emphasizing each you. "I love you."

It wasn't until she looked into Ryan's wide eyes that she realized what she'd just said. She'd never told him that before. Actually she could never recall using the words love and Ryan in the same sentence. Why had she just said it now? But she didn't worry too much because of the way Ryan's eyes were sparkling. He kissed as she got into the car and waved her off with a smile. So what if she'd lied? So what if she's never lied before in her life. Really lied! He was content and would stay with her. That was all that mattered.

She purred as she thought about a certain pair of blue eyes. The memory of them still brought a wash of pain, but in felt good and familiar now. She was suddenly pulled out of the reverie by a figure hunched over the side of the bridge. Gabriella swerved to the lane closet to the figure and ran to the person's side.

"Are you alright?" she shouted. The figure tried to turn and fell to the ground. Without a thought she ran over to help. Leaning down she rested a hand the a man's, up close it was obviously a man, shoulder. "It's going to be okay. Are you hurt? How can I help you?" He was sopping wet even though it hadn't rained in a month. He was dirty, cold, and shaking. He looked so lost, it broke her heart. "Poor dear, hear let me help you," she said wiping hair out of his face. Suddenly, all the air rushed out of her lungs as brown met blue: sweet, sparkling, sapphire blue. "Troy?"

The eyes danced at the recognition and a smile lit up his pale face. "Gabriella."

A/N- I had to end with a little fluff.... this chappy seemed kind of heavy. Funny how this story started as a comedy. Now its a drama. Not sure how that happened but.... hope you like it... I've got the rest planned out so, and I know you've heard it before, but I should be finishing this story soon. Sorry it's been a while but I hit a dead end and lost all interest in the creative world. Anyway, tell me what you think. Love to hear from you. Thanks for reading!!!!!