I'm sorry I haven't been updating. I've been very busy because I'm leaving for vacation tonight. So, this is gonna be the last update for a while. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

Gabriella clutched the new tote bag that Troy had bought for her as they exited a boutique. She reached over and stole a sweet kiss from his lips. "Thanks Troy," she said, placing her head on his shoulders as they walked down the street.

"It was no problem, Gabi. Anything for my girl," Troy answered, wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

The sun shone brightly in the sky as the two lovers (plus their puppy, who wasn't supposed to be there with them) headed down the street to their car. Troy opened the door for Gabriella, allowing for her to slide in. He picked up AJ and placed him on her lap, closing the door behind him. He stepped onto the street, checked to make sure that it was safe to make the trip around to the driver side of the car, and got in the car, starting it and pulling out into the empty street.

Driving along the road, they passed a pet care vicinity, the same vicinity that they passed everyone morning before they went to eat breakfast, the same vicinity that would launch them into the same debate that they had everyday.

"Gabi, it's our last day here. For one day, just one day, can't we leave him there for one day?" Troy begged, pointing out the place to her.

"Troy, we've been over this. There is no way that I'm going to leave AJ with people I don't know," Gabriella retorted.

Troy opened his mouth to say something, but closed it because he knew that he wouldn't be able to change her mind. He leaned back, blocking the sun from going into his eyes. The rest of the ride was ridden in silence, the only sound being the wind as it blew over the cracks of the open windows. Gabriella looked over and saw the dismal look in his eyes, feeling the regret that she had been feeling all week. She sat back, holding the puppy that they were arguing about in her hands, feeling maybe that for one night, she could bear to part with him.

"Troy," she quietly said, her voice breaking the silence that they fell into.

"Yeah Gabriella?" Troy parked next to the restaurant, taking the keys out of the ignition.

"Nothing. Just thank you for putting up with me all week. It's just that I can't..."

"It's alright Gabi," Troy simply said, pushing away the fact that it wasn't really alright in his mind.

"You serious?" Gabriella asked, studying the lines of his face, searching for any signs that he was lying to her.

"Yeah. I mean, you're my wife and I love you. If I was any good of a husband, I'd let you go do what you wanna do and support you," Troy answered, reaching over and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. "So don't worry about it."

Gabriella looked up at him. She could tell he was lying. Nothing physical told her, but she could tell that he was lying. He wanted her to leave AJ at the pet care place, he wanted her to change her mind...and to be honest, she wanted to too. But there was something inside her that wouldn't let her let go of her puppy, her baby.

She was too lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Troy walk out of the car, head over to her side, and open her door. It wasn't until he walked over, opened her door, and scooped her up in his strong arms that she noticed that her environment changed. She blinked and smiled, wrapping her arms around Troy's neck, feeling like the luckiest person in the world because she had a husband that would lie just to make her happy.

Now tonight was going to be her turn to make Troy happy while also satisfying a need that she's had for the longest time.

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"Gabi, I'm gonna go head out along the shoreline," Troy shouted, opening the front door of the home.

"Okay!" she shouted back, looking down the stairs.

"Aren't you coming this time?" he called back, holding the door open and waiting for her.

"Not this time," Gabriella answered, walking to the closet and pulling something out. "I'm gonna go do something."

Troy closed the door, walking up the stairs. "Are you sure? I mean, this is really the only time we have to ourselves." He spied a wrapped box in Gabriella's hands, which was quickly hidden behind her back.

"I know, but I've got to really do this," she replied, backing herself toward the wall to further conceal the package in her hands. "Just go ahead without me today. Go take a swim."

"If you're not comin', there's really no point in me going," Troy took a step closer to her, only causing her to move to her right, almost falling on top of the bed. "Besides, I can just stay here and help you with...whatever you're doing."

"No, don't. You don't need to stay," Gabriella responded quickly. She needed to get him out of the house or else it really wouldn't be a surprise for him.

"Why? What if I just wanted to spend some time with my wife?" Troy took another step forward, causing Gabriella to take another step back, this time she toppled onto the bed. The package slipped from her grasp and landed on the pillow. Before Troy could get a good look at it, Gabriella took the pillow and covered it again.

"Because this is something I have to do alone," Gabriella finally said, revealing just a tiny bit of the plan that was still brewing in her mind.

"Really? What is it?" Troy asked curiously, leaning against the wall.

"Ummm..." Gabriella slowly said, trying to think of a cover-up for the real reason, but her mind came to a point blank.

Seeing how nervous he was making her, Troy pushed himself off the wall and when over to Gabriella, sitting beside her. "Okay, I'll go. Come out whenever you're finished, alright?" he stated, bending down and giving her a pleasant kiss, "You'll know where to find me."

Sitting up, Gabriella pulled Troy into another passionate kiss. As she pulled away, she licked her lips. "Of course I know where to find you. Now, can you just go?" she asked, pushing him toward the door after helping him up.

"Okay, okay," Troy said, walking down the stairs. Once he arrived at the door, he took Gabriella's hand, peeling them off his shoulders. "Just make sure that you keep an eye on AJ. Make sure that he doesn't get out of this house, or else we'd never find him again."

Gabriella glanced over at AJ, smiling mischievously, knowing exactly what she was going to do with him. "Don't worry. I won't lose him."

"Alright Gabi. I'll see you later tonight. We'll go eat somewhere nice tonight."

"That is if we aren't busy," Gabriella thought, bouncing on her toes, waiting for Troy to leave. "Okay, okay. You should really get going! Don't be late!" She pushed him out the door, slamming it behind her. AJ strode up to her, standing up on his hind legs and scratched her knees. Gabriella picked him up, taking him up the stairs with her. She laid him down on the floor in the bedroom, locking the door behind her. After opening the gift that Taylor had given her and laying it out on the bed, she walked over to the window and climbed on the edge of the window frame, sitting on it.

"I'm so sorry AJ, but this is something that I have to do," Gabriella told AJ, who was standing beside the window where she was, "But this is in the best interest for me and Troy. Who knows, you might even get a friend to play with and we might even have a real baby."

Gabriella sat at the window, letting a smile crawl on her lips. She watched as Troy walked away from the house, stopping along the shoreline. He stood at the edge of the water and bent to his knees, searching for something.

"What's he doing?" Gabriella said quietly to herself, straining to get a better look.

Troy bent down on his knees, dipping his hands into the water. It seemed to Gabriella that Troy was digging in the wet sand for something, which he was. With a triumphant face, Troy pulled his hands out of the sand, holding a seashell in his hands. He dried up his hands and the shell on his shirt and got up, walking away from the water.

"What's he doing now?" she asked again.

Brushing the sand off his hands, Troy sat down at a dry patch of sand and began to draw something. Gabriella leaned forward (without falling out the second story window) and read aloud what Troy wrote as he wrote them.

"T...R...O...Y... Okay, Troy... A...N...D... Troy and... G...A...B...R..."

She didn't need Troy to finish to know that he was writing out their names, but he didn't stop there.

"A...R...E... Are... I...N... Are in... L...O...V...E..."

Gabriella sat back against the frame, holding her hand to her heart, moved by the extremely sweet gesture.

"Troy and Gabriella are in LOVE. Awww, that's so sweet!"

Troy wasn't finished yet. He stood up and walked over his name, embedding the shell firmly in the sand and dragging it along as he made his way around. Gabriella leaned forward again and saw that Troy was drawing a heart, completed with the point and feathers of the arrow.

"He is so sweet and loving!" Gabriella wanted to shout that she loved him for doing that, but she couldn't. Troy thought that she was working and not watching him.

Troy got up, brushing the dry sand off his hands, and stood back, admiring his work. Then he started for the shoreline, taking off his shirt and dropping it on the sand. He dove into the ocean's water and stood up, shaking the water from his hair.

Gabriella wanted to sit there and watch him the rest of the afternoon, but she had to get to work. Forcing herself back into the room, Gabriella grabbed the car keys and her purse. She picked up AJ's leash and collar and put them on the dog.

Making sure that the door was locked, Gabriella picked up AJ in her hands. "Guess what? You're gonna stay somewhere else tonight. I'm sorry AJ, but this is just...business."

AJ looked up at her, his head bent at an angle. He let out a little whimper, but didn't struggle as Gabriella put him in her bag.

"Now please be quiet. We don't want Troy to hear us," Gabriella whispered, looking out the window. Troy was still in the water, swimming away. She climbed on the window frame and grabbed on the closet tree branch, climbing onto it and making her way down the tree.

Landing softly on the sand, Gabriella looked out into the water. Troy wasn't anyway to be seen right now, so Gabriella suspected that he dove further out in the water. She when over to the sand drawing and wrote a little note using the seashell that Troy had used.

AJ poked his head out of the bag as Gabriella made her way to the car. Gabriella pushed his little head back in the bag and opened the car door, sliding in and putting the key in the ignition. She pulled onto the rode and drove in the direction of the city.

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The sun was close to setting as Troy walked out of the water. He grabbed his shirt and slipped it over his head, walking over to his sand drawing. He noticed a little extra writing beside the seashell.

"Love the drawing that you made. I wish that I could've made one, but I'm not as artistically talented as you. I hope you have fun tonight! I know I will!" Troy read aloud, feeling the sun on his back. He knew that Gabriella had to have done it, but when did she find the time to and how could he have not seen her? And what does she mean by 'I know I will!'?" She doesn't know where he was taking her.

Troy shrugged the question off and headed toward his home. He opened the door, expecting to be greeted warmly by AJ, but AJ was nowhere to be seen.

"That's odd. Where's AJ?" Troy heard humming from upstairs. "He's probably upstairs with Gabriella."

Walking up the stairs, Troy tried to open the door, only to find that it was locked. "Gabi? What are you doing? And why is the door locked?"

"I'm changing! Just go downstairs and wait for me!"

"Okay," Troy answered in a questioning tone, "but you don't even know where we're going."

"That won't matter. Just go downstairs and wait for me."

"Alright, but where is AJ?"

"Don't worry about him. Just wait for me!"

Troy, extremely confused, walked back downstairs and sat down on the couch. He looked around for AJ, who was nowhere to be seen in the house. "Ummm...where did that dog disappear off to?" he wondered, scratching the top of his head. He heard the door open upstairs and walked over to the steps, his eyes still scanning the ground for any sign of the puppy.

"Ohh Troy..." Gabriella sang, standing at the top of the stairs.

"Gabi, did AJ get out of the...?" Troy's jaw dropped as he saw what Gabriella was wearing.

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I hope you liked this chapter. Now, what is Gabriella up to? Well, you'll have to wait for the next chapter, won't you?

I might not be about to update anytime soon. So, please be patient.

Lotta love,
Kat