I don't know why, but this chapter was harder to write than I thought. I hope you like it. I know I said this would be out like two days ago, but like I said, this was hard, so ya. Enjoy!!

3. Quality Time

She didn't want to say no, but it just sort of slipped out. He looked so hurt by her rejection, but she's just not ready to let him back in to her feelings. A part of her was still screaming at him for leaving here all alone. Weakly, she slipped her key into the hole and made her way into the dark apartment.

The apartment wasn't anything special; a one bedroom with a decent kitchen and nice sized living room. She was pleased with herself, on living conditions, but she didn't have a college degree and that scared her. How could she have passed up the opportunity of a life time? She had been accepted into Stanford, but turned them down. A few months wasn't enough time to get over loosing Chad and Troy within months of each other. She was still kicking herself for that. College was her dream, but she let it slip through her fingers. Now, she had no job, and, rent is due in 3 weeks. How will she make up $500 for rent? She already had $300, but $200 is still a lot of money, plus she'd need groceries and the regular living essentials like soap and laundry detergent.

Thinking was becoming too hard as Gabriella slowly made her way into her bedroom and lay down on her bed. Like she normally did, she curled up against her favorite pillow and thought about Chad. To her surprise, she would dream about Troy.

Yes, Gabriella had rejected him, but part of him was still happy. He believed it to be because he had gotten to see her again; something he had believed would never happen. Troy had always wanted Gabriella, ever since he first saw her in the 7th grade. Yes, he had loved Sharpay, and part of him still does, but the feelings he felt for Sharpay were nothing close to those he felt when he was around Gabriella. Sharpay made him feel good about himself and helped him through everything, but Gabriella made him feel invincible; like he good do anything he wanted.

Worn out from the morning's activities, Troy made his way into the kitchen, only to find a very depressed and crying mother.

"Hey, mom, what's wrong?" It pained him to see his mother this way.

Instantly, she was out of her chair and hugging Troy. "Oh, my baby boy, I thought you had left me again."

'Again'; Troy flinched at the word. He had left his mother, but he could never bring himself to do that again; not after this. Troy just held his mom. He never realized just how much he had hurt her till now. Leaving is definitely the last thing on his mind, and he had to show her that. "No, mom, I never left, I just went out to get some air, that's all. I'm sorry. I should have said something or left a note. I'm sorry."

She pulled away and stared at Troy. Was she overreacting? He is 23 and a grown man playing for the L.A. Lakers. "No, don't be sorry, I'm just overreacting." She whipped her tears and headed towards the refrigerator.

"Mom…" Troy sighed. The last thing he wanted was his mother thinking she was doing something wrong.

"No, Troy, it's fine." She looked in the refrigerator, not quite sure what exactly she was looking for. "What would you like for lunch?"

He had forgotten all about his hunger after having seen his mother cry. An idea came to mind. 'You know, mom, I'm going to take you out for lunch, my treat."

Never taking her eyes off the fridge, she spoke. "Troy, you don't have to…."

He cut her off. This was his mother and he owed her. "No, mom, its o.k."

She gave him a look and he returned the look, causing her to laugh. "You're going to lunch whether you like it or not. Even if I have to carry you over my shoulder and carry you into the restaurant like a baby." They both laughed.

She couldn't remember the last time she really joked around with her own son. She really missed it. From the looks of things, she was going to loose this fight, so she gave in. "O.k. fine, as long as I get to leave the tip."

He smiled. "Whatever you say, mom." There was no way he was going to make her pay for anything, but if this was going to get her there, than whatever makes her happy.

Her son really was too much. She headed upstairs to get ready. When she came down, troy was sitting in the kitchen, patiently waiting for her to come down. "So where are you taking me, oh dearest son of mine."

He gave a cheesy smile and held his arm out for his mother to take. "Now that's a surprise, oh dearest mother of mine."

Both of them were excited to have fun like they used to, though Jack had been there before the accident. In fact, this was the first time the two had hung out since the accident. They were determined to have a great day. What they didn't know, was one event would change both of their lives forever.

Extremely full, Troy fell back in his chair and took in a deep breath. "Well, at least you don't have to worry about dinner!"

"ya, no kidding" They both laughed. Lunch truly was good.

Just as Troy thought this day couldn't get any better, his eyes locked with the most beautiful pair of chocolate brown eyes ever; Gabriella. What was she doing there?

Seeing the look on Troy's eyes, she looked over and saw Troy looking at Gabriella. "Oh, isn't that Gabriella, your friend from high school?"

Troy didn't seem to hear anything she said, he was too focused on how beautiful she looked. She was wearing tight black pants and a cute blue top. Her hair was down and curlier than earlier this morning. She wasn't wearing any make-up, just like Troy liked it. He felt as if make-up hid the true beauty underneath. Plus, he hated kissing a girl who was caked with it; it made their face taste weird. As if reading his thoughts, she turned and locked her eyes with Troy's. He felt his heart skip a beat as she smiled and headed over towards him. She started talking, but he was just too amazed by her to hear anything she said.

"Troy? Troy!? TROY!!" Finally letting her voice sink in, Troy shook his head and looked up at her. "Troy? Earth to Troy!?"

"Huh, what?" He felt like an idiot having been caught staring at her like that.

Both his mother and Gabriella erupted into laughter, causing his cheeks to turn a bright red. This caused his mother to laugh even harder.

"Wow, Troy, are you o.k." Gabriella was still trying to hold in her laughter.

To hide his embarrasement, Troy pulled out hid bottom lip and gave baby eyes. "Why are you laughing at me?" Bad idea. Gabriella basically fell over she was laughing so hard, and his mother had to use her napkin to cover her face. He will never live this down.

"Wow, Troy, your attempt to un embarrass yourself failed misseably!" Troy couldn't help but laugh with them. Plus, Gabriella looked adorable with that huge grin on her face. His two favorite women were laughing, though it was at him. Life couldn't get any better.

After they calmed down a little bit, His mother spoke up. "So, Gabriella, are you busy at all?"

Why did his mother want to know what she was doing? He glanced at Gabriella, expressionless.

Gabriella looked from Troy to his mother, both of them expressionless. "Um, no, why?"

"Well, I was just wondering, well, Troy and I were just going to do some shopping and It would be nice if you joined us!"

Oh no. It's not that Troy didn't want Gabriella around, that was definitely not the issue, but he also just wanted to spend some time with his mother. They havn't had mother son bonding in almost 6 years.

"Um, sure, if that's o.k. with Troy and all."

"Absolutely!" Oh well, he wont be going back to California for a few more weeks so he could have bonding time later.

Joining Troy and his mother was the last thing Gabriella expected. She felt kind of bad, since she had said no to going to lunch with him, than agreed to spend the rest of the day with him, but he seemed o.k. with it. After leaving the restaurant, they headed toward some of the stores.

"Oh, Troy, lets go into that one!" His mom pointed out one of the local candle shops.

"Oh no. No, no, no ,no ,no. YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!!!" He pretended to be terrified as Gabriella and his mom laughed and drug him into the store. "Curse you Females!!"

"Oh, come on Troy! You know you love to smell candles." Gabriella teased him.

"Oh, yes. I just love having different scents shoved up my nose. It makes me feel like a 5 year old on Christmas morning!" Troy was joking, but yet there was a hint of truth that only he knew existed.

"I am your mother, and I say you must smell this one." Troy's mother grabbed a vanilla flavored candle and shoved it at his nose.

"ABUSE, ABUSE!!!" He shouted, quietly, as his mother jammed the candle up his nose.

Gabriella busted out into fits of laughter. She had forgotten just how great it was to spend time with Troy Bolton.

Seeing Gabriella and his mother so happy filled Troy's heart. It had been a long time since he had made someone laugh. He couldn't even make Sharpay laugh. Quickly, he pushed her out of his head and tried to have a good time with them. He would have fun, even if it killed him.

Just as Troy thought this, a swarm of people with cameras stormed into the shop and started yelling in his direction.

"Great." Troy groaned as the Paparazzi forced their entrance to get a picture of Troy Bolton with his family, well his mother and a mystery girl. He could see the headlines already. 'Troy Bolton cheating on long term girlfriend Sharpay with mystery girl!'. Quickly, Troy looked over at one of the workers and they pointed to a back door. He grabbed his mothers and Gabriella's hands in an attempt to run away from them. Troy knew that running from them only made them worse, but he was just not in the mood to deal with them right now.

"Troy, what's going on?" Gabriella gave him a worried look.

"The Paparazzi, they found me."

"Why would they want to find you?" Gabriella was beyond confused.

"Look, just go to your car and drive off. Don't say a word. Just get in your car and drive away."

"But…"

"Just go. I'll call you later, o.k?"

"O.k." She trusted him, so like he told her, she ran out to her car and got in without answering a single question.

"Troy?"

"Hold on!" Quickly, Troy grabbed his mothers hand and led her to the car. The Paparazzi swarmed around them as Troy tried to get his mother in the car safely. Just as he was about to shut her door, one of them pushed him away and started snapping pictures. Anger rose inside of Troy as he shoved back and made his way over towards the driver seat. Without killing anyone, he got in and tried to back out. They were everywhere, so he just prayed he wouldn't run any of them over, though it would please him.

When they were backed out enough, Troy easily put the car in drive and attempted to drive off. A few feet later, he was gunning it down the road in the direction of his house.

"T-Troy, what's going on?" His mother was shaking with fear.

Troy was still furious from being pushed. "These fuckers are getting out of control. They just wont leave me alone."

"Why?"

"Because I'm Troy Bolton, an L.A. Laker. They follow me everywhere. I was hoping that maybe I had lost them in my attempt to come home, but I guess not!"

"TROY!!" In his mothers sudden scream, he looked at her. She was gripping the seat and the door. This caused Troy to look in front of him, only to see another paparazzi guy starting to jump out in front of his car, which was moving way to fast. Without thinking, Troy veered the car off to the left. The excessive speed and quick veering caused Troy to loose control of the car and head right into a light post. The airbags exploded, but Troy, in the commotion, didn't buckle his seatbelt, causing him to slam into the airbag with the same amount of force it was already coming at him. The force of the car against the light post caused it to creak and fall right on top of the car.

SOOOOOO, what do you want to happen???!!!! Let me know. I already know what's going to happen, but I just want to know what you think. Did you like the Chapter? I know it's shorter than intended, but like I was saying, I've been having major writers block, till now. The next chapter should be out sooner than this one came out!! Well let me know what you think, I really appreciate it!!!! SuzzieD