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CHAPTER 8
"Mom, what in the heck are you doing?" Troy asked as he ran up his path toward the house, where he had seen her throwing things out of the bedroom window.
He made it up the stairs two at a time and burst into her room, the whole contents of the wardrobe scattered over the bed.
He'd wanted to come home, ask his mom if he could go to Gabi's, then disappear for the night. This was all he needed on top of everything else.
"Mom!" He called again, dropping his rucksack, heading over to the window.
"Oh, hi, Troy." She greeted calmly, turning to grab something else to throw out.
"Mom, what are you doing?" He asked again, lifting his hands to his hair where he planted them in frustration and confusion.
"Having a clear-out." She announced, almost like she was on drugs or something, her face was so serene.
He let out a sigh, his eyes dashing wildly about him, trying to make sense of this madness.
"But, why?" He asked poignantly, waiting for her response.
"Oh, I just thought it was time…" She smiled wanly, and then threw an ornament out, his dad's prized basketball encased in glass which smashed with a terrifying noise as it met the path.
He covered his ears, staring at her in utter disbelief. "Mom!" He called again and this time she met his gaze and he saw hurt in her deep blue eyes.
"I think you should know, son, that your dad has met someone else." She recounted gently, that same measured tone of voice but her words stuck him deeply.
Oh god, no. How could he do it? He'd only been moved out for a few months! Couldn't he see what it did to them, to have him betraying them like this?
"Mom, no…" He said, seeing her take a stumbling step toward the bed as she tried to hold back a big sob that overtook her.
She crashed on the edge of the bed and he followed quickly, throwing his arms around her shoulders where she began to cry and for the second time that day, he found himself absorbing another person's pain, his own thoughts on hold until his mother had stopped crying.
"I'm so sorry Troy! I never wanted this for you! I never wanted you to see any of this!" She spat out, wiping her tears away as he leaned against his forearms on his knees.
She stroked his hair and he flinched at the contact. "Do you want to live with him?" She asked and he closed his eyes at the question.
She wasn't really asking him the question she had posed. She was asking him to choose. To choose her, to reassure her that she was good mother and that this divorce hadn't totally fucked him up.
"Not really." He replied honestly, not sure which was the two lesser evils between his mom and his dad.
"How was school?" She asked then, turning her focus back to him and he sat up, squinting into her eyes, weighing up telling her the truth.
"Troy, talk to me. I promise, you can tell me anything, anything at all. No matter what happens with your father, I am always here to listen." She reminded him.
He nodded, figuring the words out before he spoke.
"Well, as it turns out, Lauren is actually not Lauren." He began. "She's Gabriella, from the TV show. And today, everybody found out, so I'm kinda worried about her. Her mom took her home before class started and I haven't seen her all day…" He recounted.
"Wow. And I thought my day was full of surprises," she mused.
He smiled, ducking his head from her as she continued to baby him.
"Oh, sorry…" She smiled apologetically. "Well I guess you better go round there and see how she is, seeing as she is your girlfriend now." She smiled.
He lifted his eyes, hopefully. "Really? You don't mind?" He checked.
"No, honey, go and check on your girl." She encouraged.
He stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets as he slowly made his way out.
"Troy?" She called before he left and he turned. "Are you okay with finding out? I know it's your favourite show, but it must have been strange…" She asked belatedly.
He grinned then, scraping his converse toe against the carpet in his shyness. "I was already in love with her, mom. It doesn't make any difference to me who she is." He added.
And as Lucy Bolton watched her son go, she felt her heart swell with pride at his words. Her baby was growing up so fast into the kind of man she could only hope he would be and she felt a tug as she realized she would soon be alone without him.
It was time for her to sort her life out, she realized with great clarity, getting up with renewed focus.
---
"So what does it mean, Detective?" Maria asked nervously, the formal looking man sat on her sofa, looking at her with a serious gaze.
"It means that there could be more letters. There could be…reason to doubt Gabi's safety." He explained honestly and Gabi gasped next to her mom.
"Mrs. Montez, I really think we should discuss this alone…" He said once more.
"I'm sixteen years old." She told the Detective. "I have a right to know if someone wants me dead." She added with her steely attitude.
"Miss, you shouldn't be worrying about this…we have nothing to suggest that anyone will attempt anything…" He said, contradicting his previous statement.
"And yet you want me to have a guard while I'm at school and a car outside while I'm at home." She lifted a brow.
A loud knock sounded at the door, making Gabi jump in fear.
The Detective motioned for Maria to answer the door, following her there.
She opened the door to Troy, who, stood with his hands in his pockets and scuffing his toe on her porch, now looked up with wide blue eyes.
"Is Gabi okay?" He asked instantly.
The detective looked to Maria. "Who is this?" He barked.
Maria frowned at his tone. "This is Troy, Gabi's boyfriend" She explained, then opened the door to let him in. "Gabi's fine, Troy, she's in the lounge." She jerked her head for him to join her.
"You're frightening both of these children." Maria said to the Detective.
The Detective spoke into his phone as he looked to her. "What's his surname?" He asked of Troy and Maria frowned.
"Bolton." She supplied.
"Yeah run me a check on Troy Bolton. Yeah, same school. Ok." He finished the call and looked Maria in the face.
"I don't want anyone to be frightened, but no-one should be discounted as a suspect. No matter how innocent they appear." He added.
"Well let me know what they turn up on him." She said sarcastically, opening her door to let him out.
"We'll be in touch" He nodded, instantly dialing into his cell again and a car appeared from down the street, taking up residence outside her property.
Just how in the hell was she supposed to keep calm when they thought her only child might be in danger? She wanted to wrap her up and never let her leave the house again.
Mindful that she needed time alone with her friends, Maria went back to the kitchen to start dinner.
---
"I'm never letting go." Troy said as he held Gabi to him in her living room, both stood, both hugging the other with equal relief.
"Well you have to or you can't play ball anymore." Gabi reasoned and he loosened his grip, twining their hands.
Gabi smiled at him, leading him to her sofa where she sat and snuggled into him, her natural hair falling down her back.
"You wanna tell me what the heck is going on?" He asked, bewildered.
Gabi sighed, wondering where to start. He'd had quite a lot to take in already.
"Well…I'm not sure how much to tell you because you'll just worry…" She frowned, her dark brows drawing together and her lips twisting.
"Then you better tell me everything or I'll only worry you're not telling me everything." He argued.
"Okay, well, I'll try." She promised and proceeded to give him a brief explanation of the events that led to her being here and to the police being outside her house.
He hugged her tightly as she relaxed against his arm in their familiar pose.
"You do know I'm not letting you out of my sight?" He asked then, stroking her arm.
"Oh, sure, stalker. They'll think it's you." She teased and he smiled.
"I'm your boyfriend; I don't need to stalk you." He said proudly.
"True. God, I'm so nervous about going back there. Everyone is gonna treat me different." She panicked.
"Err, well actually, Sharpay told everyone not to be jerks today. I almost passed out from the shock." He added.
"Sharpay did? Wow, I would never have seen that…" She frowned confusedly.
"Yeah, it was bizarre. Still, hopefully most people took some notice." He shrugged.
"Will you stay over?" She asked then, her brown eyes so wide with vulnerability.
"Well that all depends what your motives are…" He teased, copying her phrase from the last time he had stayed.
It was after she had revealed herself and he had been banished to the spare room when it hit midnight, but for a few hours he had done exactly what he had promised- lay next to her and held her and that was enough for him.
"Just to be with you." She said and hugged him where he tightened his arm around her shoulders.
She knelt up, leaning forward to kiss him, letting their lips connect slowly and in such a way that he felt like he hadn't kissed her for weeks, rather than hours since he had seen her this morning.
Her tongue dipped into his mouth and he grasped her upper arms gently, unconsciously urging her into his lap where she straddled him, taking his shoulders for support.
The kiss to her was like her only reality, the only thing she had left to cling to that meant anything, that made any sense. When Troy kissed her, the rest of the world fell away and all that was left was him and her, just enjoying their passion together.
Twining her fingers into his hair, she shifted as his hands drove down her sides, gently rounding her hips and resting there, their tongues still melding in a pattern that took them to another place.
Her moan was soft and needful and he bunched her hair into his hands at the sound of it, clutching her closer to him, feeling his previous protectiveness melt away and reveal something far more dangerous- a raw desire that made him forget where he was and what he was doing because all that mattered was the feel of her in his hands, against his body, her lips against his in that all-consuming way.
"Eh-hem." Came a cough from the doorway and they both jumped, Gabi quickly climbing from Troy's lap and he grabbed a cushion to cover his groin, blushing as quickly as he dropped his head and dug his fingers into his forehead in embarrassment.
Gabi flushed beetroot from the roots of her hair to her very toes as her mom stood in the doorway.
"Mom." She said softly.
"Can I open my eyes yet?" She asked with a press of her lips.
"Yeah, of course." She said and touched Troy's knee, where he extended a hand to twine with hers, then faced Mrs. Montez gaze.
"I'm sorry to…interrupt…" She hedged and Gabi blushed even more.
"Mom, please…we were just kissing." She lied.
"Mmm…anyway. Your mom called, Troy. She asked if you could stay the night, she has a few things to sort out apparently…" Maria explained, not shocked at seeing her daughter kissing her boyfriend, but certainly surprised at their level of intimacy.
"Uh, sure…If that's ok?" He added unsurely, thinking any minute now she would either kick him out or kick him in the butt. He had never been caught making out before, it just didn't happen. But then he'd never made out like that before…like he could make love with the girl he was kissing. He'd never felt it before, only with Gabi.
She nodded. "I'd like a moment, please, Gabi." She said to her daughter and Gabi closed her eyes, getting up and severing their hand holding as she went, throwing him a kiss from her fingers and he caught it, holding it to his heart.
He just hoped she didn't get in too much trouble.
--
"I was going to offer you to share your room…" Maria began as Gabi sat on the barstool in the kitchen.
"But now you caught us kissing, you're not…?" She guessed; not entirely surprised by this decision.
"Gabi, that was more than kissing…" Maria said. "Look, it's up to you what you do in your relationships. Just promise me, you'll be careful. Do you have condoms?" Maria asked and Gabi hid her face in her hands. She'd been carrying condoms since her 16th birthday.
"Yes, mom." She said in a drone, her face hot and her palms sweaty.
"Fine, then just make sure you're ready before you make that choice, honey." She added.
Gabi looked up. That was it?
"Okay, I will, thank you." She frowned; still not sure she had gotten off that lightly.
"I'm just finishing dinner, why don't you get out some towels for Troy?" She suggested and Gabi swung her legs round, dropping off the stool in a daze.
She was still in shock as she came back through to Troy, who was jigging his knee nervously as he waited for her.
"What happened?" He asked quickly.
"She told me I could have sex with you." She recounted bluntly, realizing that's not quite how she wanted it to sound.
Troy's brows rose right into his fringe, his mouth opening.
"Wow, cool mom." He said eventually, meeting her gaze. Their eyes locked and she held out her hand.
"Apparently you can stay in my room." She said, leading him up the stairs, opening her door and revealing her very girly- and extremely pink- room.
"Wow, nice." He complimented, trailing in and feeling awkward.
His body was still recovering from her straddling his lap, his lips still tingling and throbbing.
"I'm sorry we got interrupted." She apologized softly, pressing her hands into his shoulders, then slowly backing him up until the back of his knees met her bed and she pushed him down, taking residence in his lap once more. "Where were we?" She asked, bracing his neck with her fingers, pressing into his groin and feeling his attraction.
"Uh, about to get caught by your mom…" He reminded her nervously, even though her door was firmly closed.
Gabi's kiss was soft and insistent and it was his turn to vocalize his desire as she ran her hands down his t-shirted chest, pressing into his tummy.
He couldn't help his own hands as they traced her thighs, leading up her body toward her breasts. So gently, like he was afraid of hurting her, he cupped her breasts, leaning back from their kiss to really appreciate her, his eyes flicking to hers as he brushed a thumb over one of her budded nipples, beneath her black t-shirt and bra.
Dinner was forgotten as they both tumbled onto the bed, their foreplay over-ruling anything else as they lost themselves in each other.
Only when Maria called up the stairs, did it bring them from their passionate embrace.
"Oh, sugar!" Gabi panicked, pulling away from Troy, having been pinned to the bed by his weight as they made out.
"Err, I'm not real hungry, mom." Gabi lied, cringing at her own pathetic excuse.
"What about Troy?" Maria asked from the bottom of the stairs.
"Oh, I'm okay Mrs. M!" He called back, his bare chest heaving with his strained breaths, his boxer shorted body tight and needful.
Gabi removed her panties with a little wiggle, peeling them down her legs and flinging them into the room somewhere.
"She has to know what we're doing…" She teased, kissing him in little sips.
"She better not or I'm a dead man…" He husked, leaning back in toward her, unhooking her bra and stripping her before his eyes, drinking her in.
"We're both virgins, this could be messy." Gabi whispered back as he removed his boxers. He kissed down her body, taking the packet she handed him. He rolled back between her thighs, fitting there perfectly.
Gabi reached up to brush his hair from his face, the strands slick with sweat. He leaned down to kiss her, a kiss full of promise and tenderness.
"Here…" He said quickly, taking off his ring, his stark hardness against her thigh, protected with the sheath she had given him.
She frowned as he lifted her hand up, finding it only fit on her index finger.
"To show you my promise." He explained into her confused face.
Running her fingers into his hair, kissing him to show her appreciation, he shifted between her thighs, ready to take this step with her.
"I love you, Troy." She murmured, lifting her hips for his entry.
"I hope I get this right…" He smiled a little as he gently entered her, feeling her muscles tighten around him.
"Oh…" she murmured, a little flash of pain crossing her face that he kissed away, against her brow.
"Does it hurt? I can stop…" He whispered, cradling her in his arms, so precious to him he could barely continue if it hurt her.
"No, don't stop." She begged. "You're my first, Troy. Make me yours." She nodded and he pushed deeper into her, her pain evident, but then replaced by an overwhelming sensation of heat. Rolling over her skin, seeping into her bones, moistening her intimacy, she arched for him and he joined them, again and again, their breathing in union just as their bodies were, just as their souls were.
He took her to places she had never been and he felt things he didn't know he could feel, all in the arms of each other.
Slowly, gradually, reality came back to them as they lay together, naked and intimate.
Troy placed a soft kiss on Gabi's swollen lips, stroking a curly tendril of her hair.
"I love you, Gabi." He said softly, watching her features soften into sleep. He reached down for a cover, pulling it over her, cuddling her into his body.
If anyone, anywhere even tried to take her away from him, they'd have to deal with him first, he thought vehemently as he held her tightly, so afraid of losing the one thing that meant so much to him.
--
"How's your mom?" Gabi asked as they sat cross legged on her bed, scoffing left-over shepherds pie at nearly midnight.
She was dressed haphazardly in his t-shirt and a pair of pajama shorts, her hair messed by their love-making and she looked a little stubble-burned around her lips from his now-evident slight beard growth.
He could have fallen in love with her all over again in that moment.
She batted her eyes down shyly. "Stop looking at me when I have no make-up on." She blushed.
"You look beautiful." He stated, touching her fingertips with his, picking her hand up, kissing her knuckles.
She tilted her face and considered his bare chest and boxers look. "So do you. I mean, you look sexy." She adjusted.
He lifted his brows, then realized she was waiting for him to answer her question.
"My mom threw out my dad's stuff today. She found out he has a new lady in his life." He said quietly, letting go of her hand as he began to pick at the bed covers.
"Wow. That's really tough." Gabi sympathized.
"Yeah, it was kind of a shock. Then she asked me if I wanted to live with him…" He sighed, widening his eyes.
"Ouch."
"Mmm. So I said no, for now, to keep the peace." He added. "Plus I truly don't know what I want…apart from you." He smiled a little at this part.
"You have me." She returned lightly, giving herself to the boy who made her heart beat rapidly on every look from his blue eyes.
"I really hope your mom doesn't work out what happened here tonight." He smiled.
"Why, you afraid she'll hate you?" She teased.
"I can't see my mom letting us sleep together." He pointed out.
"My mom is cool." She shrugged. "Besides, if your mom knew I was the one to turn her innocent little boy into man, she'd never forgive me."
"I wouldn't have wanted it to be anyone else." He husked, framing her cheek with his hand, kissing her again.
"I thought maybe you had…with Sharpay…" She hedged.
"Nope." He shook his head. "I never felt like this about anybody before." He added honestly, wondering if he had revealed too much.
Gabi blinked, touched. "Neither have I." She assured him.
He curled back onto the bed, pulling her into his embrace, their food eaten and the plates tidied away before he got comfy.
"Goodnight, Gabi. Sweet dreams." He murmured against her shoulder, spooning her.
"Goodnight, Troy." She murmured back.