Hey everyone! I'm so sorry I didn't update this morning like I planned on, but my computer was acting funky and I had to wait until my mother got home to check it out. Thank you so much for the reviews, they make me so happy everyday! I have a good feeling that you're going to be happy about this chapter! Enjoy!

Loving Love

Chapter eight

Not meant to be Friends

Gabriella's day had so far been crappy, for lack of a better word. She had surprisingly failed her honors geometry test that morning and when she got to the diner later that day she had accidentally spilled a steaming hot coffee on a grumpy customer. That grumpy customer directed profane comments at her, which had to be intercepted by Stephanie, who told him to buzz off, although the word that Stephanie used in replace of the word buzz wasn't as polite.

As she wiped the cool sweat from her forehead, trying not to let any tears fall from her eyes as customers stared at her worriedly, Gabriella heard the bells on the door chime softly, causing her to look up into the baby blue eyes of Troy Bolton. On any other day she would have sighed heavily and walked in the opposite direction, keeping a nasty comment to herself, but as he sat down she had a sudden homesick feeling bubble in her stomach and she was comforted to see him and his subtle smile on his lips.

"It's crowded in here." Troy pointed out, having nothing better to say to her than to point out the obvious.

"Which is surprising considering I've already spilled coffee on half of the customers." Gabriella said with a shake of her head, whipping her wet hands off with a dry rag.

"Bad day?" Troy asked with a grin, seeing the faded bags under her eyes.

"You could say that." Gabriella replied, ignoring the customer that was straining his neck to get her attention. "You're obviously amused though."

"I am not." Troy said with a small laugh, putting a hand over his mouth so the smile that was still there wasn't noticeable.

"You're smiling." She said pointed out, putting a hand on her hip as she looked at a chuckling Troy.

"How do you know I'm not smiling because I'm happy to see you?" He asked with a smirk, pulling out a menu to distract the two of them from the smile on his face.

"Because I know, and why are you looking at a menu? You get the same thing every time you come here." She replied, looking over at Samantha, giving her a nod that indicated that Troy was getting his usual.

"Am I that predictable?" Troy asked with a laugh, setting the menu down behind the salt and pepper shakers next to him.

"Well…."

"Hey, lady! I've been waiting for you to come over to my table for ages! Do I need to talk to the manager about the terrible job you are doing today?" The man that Gabriella had spilt coffee on earlier was leaning across the counter, brushing elbows with Troy as he looked at Gabriella directly in the eyes, sending his intimidating glare at her.

"Sir, I'm just…"

"Her name's Gabriella, dude, and lay off, she's having a bad day." Troy said quickly as he saw Gabriella stepping back while the man's angry expression increased.

"And who are you?" The man snapped, looking at Troy.

"I'm Troy Bolton." Troy said, glancing at Gabriella as the man stood up from his bent over position against the counter, his facial expression changing as if he recognized the name.

"My son's on the basketball team for West High. I've heard about you." He said in a calmer tone, his lips forming in a tight frown as he finished his reply.

"I'm sure most people have." Troy replied with a nod, watching as the man walked away slowly. "When you spilt coffee on that guy was it hot?" Troy asked, noticing the coffee stain that was on his shirt.

"Steaming." Gabriella replied quietly with a nod, shocked that Troy Bolton had stuck up for her.

"Good." He replied, smiling as Samantha told Gabriella that his order was ready.

Gabriella slid Troy's order in front of him after reaching over to grab the basket of food from Samantha without moving from her spot. She smiled softly when Troy ripped his burger in half, taking a bit of the hot food was a satisfied look.

A few minutes later, when Troy looked up from his food he noticed that Gabriella wasn't there—he didn't mean to be rude by forgetting about Gabriella, but his hunger took over… what was he saying? He didn't need to worry about being rude to Gabriella!

"Hey, George." Troy heard from behind him, glancing over his shoulder as he saw a smiling Gabriella greeting the old man that came by constantly. George nodded to her with a smile, going over to his usual table that was still dirty from the previous customer.

Gabriella walked over to the table, removing the plates and cups quickly before starting to wipe the sticky table top off.

"So that boy seems to come around a lot." George's voice suddenly said, catching Gabriella off guard as she pushed the salt and pepper shakers to their designated spots.

"Oh…" Gabriella said quietly, looking over at Troy who was plopping a fry into his mouth. "Yeah, well."

"Looks like he has a crush on you." George told her, a small smirk forming on his face as he saw Gabriella's surprised expression.

"No, not me." She replied with a laugh. "I'd be the last person he would have a crush on. We don't exactly get along."

"Well, my wife hated me ninety-nine percent of the time, but I was the only one who hated her equally, so her last resort was me." He said seriously, his eyes sparkling while a memory seemed to play in his mind.

"What?" Gabriella asked with a laugh.

"You don't have to get along." George started with a laugh. "You just have to tolerate each other long enough to fall in love."

"Me? Fall in love. That won't be happening… I—"

"Hate love? So I've heard." George said with a smile. "I'll just have my usual." He added, winking at her as if he was telling her that he knew what she was up to.

Gabriella scribbled down on her notepad, crossing over the diner with a confused look on her face as she tossed the order to Samantha. Since when did George know she hated love? She would definitely have to ask Stephanie if she was gossiping about her to the customers. After a few more seconds of staring into space she felt a soft tug on her apron and when she snapped out of her thoughts she saw Troy leaning over the counter, snatching a straw from her pocket.

"I didn't want to interrupt your daydream." Troy said with a smirk, seeing the wondering look on Gabriella's face.

"I wasn't day dreaming." She replied with an eye roll.

Troy shrugged, pulling off the straw wrapper as Gabriella left to tend to more customers, leaving him to watch her walk around the diner, collecting plates from the now-empty tables.

As Troy was handing Stephanie a five dollar bill to pay for his meal he heard the loudest crashing noise come from behind him, causing him to jump to the side, wondering what had caused the traumatic disturbance. There was a gasp as Samantha ran from the kitchen to see Gabriella sprawled out on the floor of the diner, red as a tomato as embarrassment took over her features. The few customers that were left looked at her worriedly as she sat up slowly, trying her best to keep her distance from the glass that was surrounding her.

"Don't move!" Stephanie said quickly, running for a broom and Samantha gasped in a motherly way, telling Troy to get away from the glass: you'll-cut-yourself!

"Are you okay?" Troy asked Gabriella, stepping on the chunks of glass, knowing that his shoes were tough enough to stand up to the sharp objects, as he reached for Gabriella, helping her stand up slowly while pieces of glass rolled off of her.

"I'm fine. I probably shouldn't be hauling all of those plates around anyways." Gabriella replied breathlessly, running a hand through her hair that was now cascading down her shoulders, the ponytail that had been holding her hair together was now buried under the glass.

"Are you sure you're not hurt?" Troy asked her.

Gabriella swallowed roughly, feeling Troy's arm around her waist as she pressed up against his toned body. She nodded slowly, seeing George out of the corner of her eye observing them.

"Yeah, thanks." Gabriella replied, nodding slowly as Troy cautiously let go of her, a look of embarrassment washed over his face as he realized that they were in a position that they were never in.

"I told you not to move!" Stephanie huffed as she hurried over, gently brushing the glass on the floor into a pile.

"Gabriella, honey, you're bleeding." Samantha said quietly as if saying it loudly would have scared Gabriella half to death, causing her to become hysterical.

Gabriella looked quickly behind her, hoping that her tampon hadn't leaked and Samantha shook her head in annoyance, a worried expression still on her face as Gabriella finally say her bloody arm. The soft part of her arm was penetrated with a piece of glass and as she looked down at it she became dizzy, realizing that the pain was obviously coming from that wound.

"Whoa." Troy said quietly, not even realizing her injury until Samantha had pointed it out.

"You need to get to the hospital, Gabriella! I think there might be glass in there." Stephanie panicked, looking at a paling Gabriella.

"No, I'm fine, besides I walked here, so my car's not around."

"I think she's right. You need to get that looked at." Samantha said with a nod. "I can close the diner while I take you…"

"No, you can't close just because I have a little scratch." Gabriella said with a shake of her head.

"That's no scratch." Stephanie mumbled behind her, going back to the glass on the floor.

"I could take her, I mean, if she doesn't mind." Troy said with a shrug, looking away from the worsening cut.

"That would be great. I'll get you a towel to wrap that up in." Samantha said with a nod, exchanging a look with Gabriella as an even more worried look appeared on her face.

***

Troy's truck had definitely surprised Gabriella when she first saw it sitting in the diner's parking lot. When she visualized Troy Bolton (although she'd deny picturing him at all) in a car it was a dark blue sports car not the beat up truck that she was currently sitting in. While holding the bloody towel around her arm she tried not to be bugged by the silence—the radio was broken.

"You okay?" It was the fourth time Troy had asked that question since the incident happened and Gabriella's heart beat still speed up when she heard it again. She nodded, telling him she would be fine as she shifted in the seat, glancing out the window as the hospital came into view.

Gabriella squeezed her fingers into a fist when she saw that she was shaking and she tried to hide the fact that she was terrified of being by herself with Troy Bolton at such a scary place. The hospital doors slid open as they neared them, inviting them in as they walked side by side. Gabriella swallowed harshly, squinting at the bright lights as she ignored the disgusted look a visitor gave her when she passed the waiting people.

"You can wait here if you want." Gabriella told Troy who was still faithfully with her as she neared the counter.

"Okay." Troy said, going over to one of the mint green chairs, sitting down while keeping his eyes on Gabriella who was explaining to the nurse at the counter what had happened to her.

Within a minute and a half Troy watched as a concerned looking nurse walked over to her, smiling softly before telling Gabriella to follow her. Gabriella glanced back at Troy, surprised again when she saw the supportive smile he gave her as he sat with his hands tapping anxiously on the uncomfortable chair he had claimed. Gabriella's hair was picked up with the wind that the swinging door of the emergency room had created when it closed behind her and the speed-walking nurses and doctors around her made her nervous.

"I'm sorry." Gabriella said quickly, stopping mid-step as she shook her head nervously at the nurse who had stopped with her too. "I need to go get my…uh…"

"Boyfriend?" The nurse questioned with a smirk.

"Sure." Gabriella said quietly, walking quickly in the opposite direction as the nurse followed her slowly, giving her space as she neared the worried boy sitting in the waiting room.

"What's up? Are you okay?" Troy asked as he stood up from his chair, wondering why Gabriella was back so quickly. "Do we need to go to another hospital?" He asked, putting his hands in his jean pockets.

"No, um… I need you to come in there with me." Gabriella said quietly, blushing as Troy gave her a confused look.

"Why?" Troy whispered to her, noticing the people staring at them as Gabriella stood bloody and he in confusion.

"I just can't go in there alone." She mumbled to him, sighing as he still looked confused.

"Okay. Let's go." Troy said with a nod, absentmindedly placing his hand on the small of her back, leading her back down the long hallway of the emergency room to the room where the nurse was directing them to.

The clock that hung on the wall that shared the hospital door ticked loudly as Gabriella sat impatiently on the exam table, tapping her foot softly mid-air as Troy paced in front of the window. They'd been like this for about ten minutes and after an impatient comment from Gabriella about the crappy customer service a doctor walked in, smiling at the both of them brightly.

"I heard you had an accident." The young women said, sitting in a rolling chair, sliding over to Gabriella to get a better look at her arm.

"Story of my life." Gabriella laughed, causing Troy to look over at her, hearing how fake it sounded.

"Do you come here often?" The doctor asked simply.

"No."

"That explains the look of pure terror on your face." She said to her, wiping the drying blood off of Gabriella's arm before pulling a shot from her coat pocket.

"Is it really that obvious?" Gabriella asked the doctor with a sigh.

"Yes." Troy answered for her, making the doctor laugh softly as she gave Gabriella a quick shot in her arm.

"Thanks for the support." Gabriella retorted sarcastically.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." The doctor told her with a smile. "The shot I gave you will numb your arm."

Gabriella nodded subtly, watching as the door closed behind the doctor before she let out a painful groan, looking down at her arm in agony. As she was examining her arm she felt a quick pinch of her skin and looked quickly to see Troy standing next to her.

"What was that for? That hurt." Gabriella said angrily, shaking her head as Troy sat down next to her.

"I was seeing if your arm was numb yet. It's not." He said with a chuckle, somewhat entertained by her squirming. "Why are you so nervous?" He asked after a minute of silence.

"Because I'm in pain and I'm in a place that freaks me out, and to top it off I'm here with you… of all people." Gabriella answered honestly.

"Wow, I think we just took a step back." Troy said with a chuckle.

"Huh?"

"We were supposed to be taking baby steps to becoming… friends… but that wasn't a very friendly comment." Troy observed, sifting in his spot, laughing at himself as the sound of the disposable paper underneath him crinkled loudly.

"Trust me; I think we've hit the friend mark." Gabriella said with a sigh, noticing that the feeling in her arm was slowly disappearing. She looked at her arm as it hung loosely at her side, wondering how much longer she'd have to be there.

"Really?" Troy asked her. "That's pretty exciting." He said with a smirk, looking at her arm as well, since it was currently occupying her attention.

"Yeah, I'm thrilled." Gabriella replied, looking away from her arm to look over at him.

Their eyes met as Troy also looked away from her arm and the silence that filled the room as neither of them moved was interrupted as the doctor walked back in.

"Am I interrupting something?" She asked with a smile, walking over to the table where they were sitting, and setting down some kind of stitching equipment.

"No!" They said at the same time, turning away from each other immediately as the doctor raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"Okay, well, there's a piece of glass in your arm that definitely needs to be removed as soon as possible and then you'll need a few stitches. I wouldn't be too worried though, I've done this plenty of times."

Gabriella nodded, looking away from her arm as her stomach churned violently inside of her. Troy looked up at the ceiling; he too not thrilled about the sight next to him. The doctor noticed the tension immediately and spoke just as she was getting a grip on the thick piece of glass in the nervous girl's arm.

"I'm sure having your boyfriend here makes you a lot less nervous." The doctor said as she pulled the piece of glass out slowly.

"He is not my boyfriend." Gabriella replied quickly.

"That was a quick reply, Montez. You'd be lucky to have me as a boyfriend." Troy said with an eyebrow raise.

"Montez? Are we skipping backwards now?" Gabriella asked him. "He's just jealous." She told the doctor, nodding confidently.

"I'm not jealous." Troy replied. "I'm just a good friend who took her to get sewed back together."

"Why'd you have to say it like that? You make me sound like I'm some kind of stuffed animal." Gabriella pouted, rolling her eyes.

"Well, since we're friends now, I must refrain from the comment I could say in response to that." He said, causing Gabriella to slap him across the chest with the hand that wasn't numb. Troy grabbed her hand right before it hit him and squeezed it tightly, holding it against his knee as she subtly tried to get free.

"I'm sorry that I asked, but it was a good distraction." The doctor smiled as if it were her plan all along as she slowly finished her careful stitching. "You're all set, Gabriella."

"That's it?" Gabriella asked as her hand stay in Troy's grasp.

"That's it." She replied. "You can follow me out and they'll check you out."

Gabriella hoped off of the exam table and Troy followed after her, their hands still entwined as they squeezed out of the hospital door side by side. Gabriella pulled her arm that was being tugged around by Troy and he smirked as he held onto her tighter, not letting her let go of him.

"What are you doing?" She hissed, whispering so that the doctor wouldn't hear them as they followed close behind her.

"Holding your hand so that you won't die or anything." Troy replied with a smile.

"You're impossible." Gabriella said with an eye roll as she and Troy walked down the busy hallway of the emergency room, ready to be out of a place that was scary for both of them.

***

The stars could be clearly seen as Troy pulled into the diner's parking lot so that he and Gabriella could grab something to eat before he took her home. There wasn't anyone there as they walked in, only a worried looking Samantha and Stephanie. Gabriella smiled as they rushed over to the counter, asking her a million questions at once, wondering if it hurt or not, or if she was scared. She replied with a no for both of them and Troy gave her a look that clearly meant he knew she was lying.

"We'll leave you two be while we make those burgers for you." Samantha said after a few more questions, pulling Stephanie with her to let them have some alone time.

Gabriella could feel her arm start to throb as the numbness wore off and she peered down at it where it was resting on the counter. Troy sighed, running a hand through his hair as he leaned forward against the counter.

"This probably wasn't what you had in mind when you came here. I'm sorry for ruining your evening." Gabriella said after a moment of silence.

Troy smiled softly, looking over at her as he shrugged. She glanced over at him, not wanting another moment of eye contact to happen again like it had in the hospital.

"I didn't mind." Troy answered. "It was nice to see you all nervous."

"Well, thanks for that." Gabriella replied sarcastically.

"Does it hurt?" Troy asked, looking at her arm as she sighed, having nothing else to say.

"Yeah, it does." She answered honestly, poking at the bandage that was wrapped around her arm tightly in order to prevent the stitches from being snagged on anything.

"How come you can tell me that, but you denied it when Stephanie asked?" Troy asked curiously.

"Because you're the only one who's seen me weak today. I don't need a group of people figuring out that I'm a cry-baby when it comes to pain." Gabriella said with a small laugh, shaking her head as she admitted this to Troy.

Troy opened his mouth to reply, but Samantha was already coming back with their burgers, setting a basket in front of each of them with a smile, asking if they needed anything else before she went back to the kitchen. Troy felt Gabriella's arm brush up against his as he chewed on his burger and he glanced at her, watching as she plopped a fry in her mouth.

"If it counts for anything, I think you handled the situation perfectly, considering you were with me… of all people." He said after he swallowed, quoting her from their pervious conversation.

"I think it was for the best." Gabriella shrugged. "Anyone else would have been freaking out."

"Yes, well, I'm not much of the freaking out type." Troy replied, taking another bite of his burger.

"That's because you don't care." Gabriella told him, unaware of how that somewhat offended Troy. She looked over at him when he didn't respond and quickly took it back. "No offense." She said.

"How do you know that I don't care about you?" Troy asked her, chewing slowly as he let the steam of his hot fries hit his face.

"I guess because you never have." Gabriella answered. "I don't expect you to suddenly start now… that would be like…"

"Crossing a bridge?" He finished for her, remembering that Gabriella only wanted to take baby steps into this new territory, not "leap over a freaking bridge."

"Yeah. I don't think we're actually going to end up being friends." She said, causing a rush of disappointment to run through Troy's body. He shifted in his seat as he swallowed, wondering why that didn't sit well with him and he looked over at her as she continued to eat, staying quite as he thought. "Once you've hated someone… it's hard to forget that." She added after a minute.

"You could try." Troy said softly, plopping a fry in his mouth, chewing it, and looking over at her where she was staring at her food now, her arm resting against his.

"To forget that you've been the one making my life hell?" She asked quietly.

"Why are you suddenly bringing all of this up? I thought we were going to have a nice conversation." Troy said as he pushed his meal away, looking at her as she too lost her appetite.

"Because today we've crossed way too many bridges and it scares me." She replied simply, her voice quiet, making his heart beat faster.

"Why is that a bad thing?" He asked. "Maybe we're meant to be friends."

"No we're not, Troy." She told him. "We're not meant to be friends."

Troy blinked, watching as she shook her head while emotion became obvious on her face. The way that she was almost convinced that they were always going to be enemies made him want to prove her wrong; made him want to show her that they could be friends, that they could be more than friends if they weren't meant to be friends.

Without even thinking twice, Troy leaned over to her and pressed his lips against hers, feeling her tense under his touch. As Gabriella realized what was happening, she kissed him back, wanting to see if enemies was the only thing they could be and finally, after what felt like hours, but in reality was only mere seconds, they pulled away, staring into each other's eyes as if seeing new people now that they'd took this next step.

Gabriella swallowed quickly, feeling her body become hot as she tried to say something. She could feel her arm throbbing, but the pounding of her heart was much stronger and distracting as she spoke.

"Do you remember when you asked me if you were predictable?" She asked in almost a whisper, seeing him nod slowly. "You're not." She said with a shake of her head. "At all."

Is it just me or is this spacing really messed up? Anyways, Like it? Review!

Much love,

unknownbyhim22