A/N: I'm uploading this before I go to school so not much of an author's note lol. enjoy x Don't own HSM

Chapter 3 – The update

"Troy?" Devon asked as Troy washed their glasses out.

"What's up, Big D?" Troy asked, placing both glasses on the draining board and dried his hands on a tea towel. He leaned against the counter as he looked down on the little boy.

"Why do you have a line on your hand?" He asked sweetly.

Troy looked at his left hand and sighed. He dropped the tea towel onto the counter and slid down until he was sitting on the floor, his back against the cupboards. He ran his finger over the line and swallowed. He looked up at Devon and smiled slightly. "That's why I'm here. I've got another scar here." He ran his hand up his forehead, pushing his bangs aside to reveal a large scar by his hairline.

"What happened?" Devon asked quietly.

Troy breathed out deeply. "My house was broken into. Three robbers came in and killed my parents. I came in just as they were leaving. They attacked me with a knife. The police caught them a half mile up the rode after their truck got stuck in traffic." He chuckled slightly and tilted his head back so it was touching the cupboards. "I never thought I could live without them."

"My big brother is with your parents." Devon whispered, looking at the ground.

Troy lifted his head and frowned. "What?"

"I had an older brother. He died when I was," He paused to count on his fingers, his tongue poking out of his lips in concentration, "four."

"How? Gabriella or Aidan never mentioned him. I haven't spoken enough to your mom yet." Troy said as he brought Devon into his lap.

Devon shrugged. "I don't remember much. He was five years older than me. I don't remember how he died and Mommy and Gavvy don't like to talk about him."

"What about your dad?" Troy asked softly.

Devon shrugged. "I'm always with Gavvy because Daddy works a lot. When he is here, he doesn't mention him either."

Troy nodded slightly. "Well, I guess this is my home now. I always thought of L.A. as my home. But, I don't know anymore. Now I realise that my home was with my family. And they're gone. But, don't worry. We've got each other." He hugged Devon tightly.

Devon stood up and Troy got to his feet. "Can we go to the park later?"

Troy chuckled and nodded. "Sure we can. Let me put these away and you can go and get ready." He grasped the tea towels and started drying the glasses.

Devon hugged his leg tightly. "Thank you." He squealed, running towards the stairs.

"Devon Aidan Montez! No running in the house!" A voice yelled.

Troy placed the glasses into the cupboards and closed the doors before walking into the hall to see Maria carrying four bags of groceries. "Oh, hey, let me help." He rushed forward and took three off of her before turning around and going back into the kitchen. He set them onto the counter and smiled at Maria as she set hers on the counter too.

"Thank you, Troy. I don't think we've formally met. I was at work yesterday so I apologise." She held her hand out. "I'm Maria."

"Troy." He shook her hand politely.

"I am so sorry about your parents." She said softly, resting her purse on the counter.

"Me too." He whispered. "If it's alright by you, I'm going to take Devon to the park."

Maria nodded. "That's fine. Dinner's at half five, though."

Troy smiled. "We'll be home before then."

"He seems to get on well with you, huh?" She questioned, running a hand through her long, dark hair.

Troy smiled softly. "Yeah. He kind of reminds me of myself when I was his age. I was constantly wanting everyone else to be happy."

"You're talking about Chris, right?" Maria asked, leaning against the island in the middle of the kitchen.

Troy nodded. "Do you know why Devon doesn't like him?" He asked carefully.

Maria shook her head. "Not really. He never really explained. Aidan and I guessed it was because he wasn't used to sharing Gabby with other people. Do you know something?"

He shook his head after a moment. "No. I mean…" His voice trailed off before he slammed a fist onto the island. "I hate seeing him upset!"

Maria nodded. "Us too. And Gabby's friends."

"You know they don't like him?" He asked quietly.

She nodded. "But, we're all the same. We're all like Devon. We want her to be happy." She said softly. "We should tell her what we think but we can never do it. You know?"

Troy slowly sank onto one of the stools and nodded slowly. "I do. I always had this rule that if I brought a girl home, my parents had to be honest with me. They had to like her, and she had to like them. If not, I wouldn't date her. Simple as."

"Good rule to go by." Maria whispered as she started putting the shopping away.

"I just couldn't picture my life without them. I couldn't risk my relationship with my parents over a girl who I was almost certain would dump me in a month." Troy muttered.

"Why a month?" Maria asked quizzically.

"I was the basketball captain. They only wanted the popularity. I mean, it's Hollywood. Everyone's fake. Even me." He added jokingly.

"I wouldn't say that. People here are fake too."

"Yeah?" He asked unsurely.

"Well, I've never left the borders of Albuquerque for more than a few weeks to go on vacation. But, people can be quite shallow. When Gabby started high school, loads of people became her friend because they realised she was rich. Not to mention Aidan. You know he doesn't like Sharpay, right?" She asked, placing some frozen vegetables into the freezer.

"Yeah."

"That's because Aidan doesn't like people to have more money than us. I don't care. I feel privileged that I can grant my children with things that many people won't get in a lifetime. But, Aidan isn't like that." She explained.

Suddenly, a bounding noise came down the stairs and Devon ran in, immediately hugging Maria. "Mommy!"

Maria laughed and picked her son up. She frowned slightly, lifting Troy's cap up slightly so she could see his eyes. "Where did you get this?"

"Troy gave it to me!" He said proudly.

Maria looked over to Troy who shrugged. "Hey, us brothers have got to stick together. Isn't that right, Big D?"

Devon nodded. "We're brothers now."

Maria raised her eyebrows. "Brothers?"

"Hey, I was an only child and Devon needs a guy to go to. Isn't that right?" He asked, slipping off the stool and holding his arms open to Devon.

Devon wiggled and ran to Troy after being let down by Maria. "Yeah."

Troy picked him up, resting him on his hip. "So, is it okay if we go to the park?"

Maria nodded. "Have some lunch while you're out, though." She said sternly.

"We will. Don't worry. Come on, let's say good bye to Gabby before we leave." Troy carried him into the lounge but saw Chris and Gabriella kissing heatedly, making Troy step right back into the hallway. "Or we can hope that your mom tells them."

Devon nodded. "Yeah. Mommy doesn't like it when they do that. She says that I'm too little."

Troy nodded. "I agree. I don't want my little brother seeing that."

Gabriella pulled back when she heard the door click shut. "Mom, is that you?"

Maria walked into the lounge. "I came in ten minutes ago." She said slowly. "Hi, Chris."

"Hi Ms Montez." He said brightly.

Maria had to refrain from rolling her eyes at Chris' act. Gabriella must really love this boy… "Troy just took Devon to the park is all."

"What?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah. I came in with some shopping, Troy help me carry it and then Devon came down." Maria explained.

"Why didn't Don say good bye to me?" She asked quietly, her face falling.

Maria shrugged. "Well, Troy came in with him. Were you two doing anything?" She asked sternly.

Gabriella and Chris glanced at each other, blushed and then looked away. "No." She muttered.

"Gabriella." Maria warned.

"We weren't!" She exclaimed. "Gabriella Anne Montez," Maria noticed how Gabriella flinched at her full name, "this is your last chance to tell me the truth. What happened?"

"Well…" Gabriella started as she slowly got to her feet and smoothed her jeans out. "We were watching TV and we started sharing a few kisses every now and then. And it may have got more frequent."

"Gabby!" Maria scolded. "If we've told you once, we've told you a million times, not when Devon's around."

"Oh, come on, Mom! He's so busy with Troy, he hardly notices me anymore." She exclaimed, folding her arms.

"So, that's it? You're jealous?" Maria asked softly.

"No, I didn't mean that. I just meant that I didn't think he would come in." She said in exasperation.

Maria pointed to the door. "Chris, go. Gabby has some laundry to do."

Chris sighed and stood up. He kissed Gabriella quickly and smiled sadly. "I'll see you at school, Babe." He walked out of the lounge and the click of the front door shutting rang throughout the house.

"Gabby, I know that Troy coming here is a big change but, he's had an even bigger change in his life." Maria said softly.

Gabriella avoided eye contact and shuffled her feet. "But, why does he have to ruin mine? My life was perfect. To me, anyway."

"Perfect?" Maria raised an eyebrow.

Gabriella nodded. "I thought it was. I had Chris, friends, a family. What more did I want? But, now Devon spends all his time with Troy, even though he's only been here one day. Chris hates Troy, and quite frankly so do I. He takes Devon away from me, he walks unexpectedly into my life and he doesn't understand that he's not going to fit in at school tomorrow." She screamed.

Maria stared at something behind Gabriella and raised her eyebrows. "Say it a bit louder. I don't think he heard you."

Gabriella turned around and saw Troy. "Troy." She gasped.

He nodded. "That's me. I know I'm not going to fit in. But, this is what I'm comfortable in. I only came back for my wallet." He walked into the lounge and grabbed his wallet from the coffee table. "But, thanks for the update."