Chapter 13 – Strength

AN: Here's the next chapter. As I said, I am working on getting this story completed as soon as possible, and then I will get ready my newest story. I think that when this story is finally finished I will post the first chapter of the new story. I think you guys will like the plot line, even though I still haven't thought out all of the details.

Anyway, thank you guys so much for your patience, and I really hope to talk to you guys soon.

PS… I have definitely seen HSM3 (went opening night!) and it is AMAZING! It was just so cool. Zac… hot. Vanessa was really good. Zac…hot and did I mention that ZAC WAS HOT!! Oh man… I sweat I couldn't take my eyes off him.

You guys should all go see it. Support Vanessa and Zac as much as you can. Buy the soundtrack; see the movie; etc…

And, here's the next chapter…

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Troy's P.O.V

"Bella, Daniel's Dead." Instantly, Gabriella's face paled. I didn't know what was wrong with her, so I pulled her close to my body.

"He's…he's really d…dead?" She mumbled against my shirt.

"Yeah. He is." She pulled away and looked me straight in the eyes.

"How?" I sighed, and explained to her exactly what happened. Her face was one of processing, transferring all the information I was giving her and trying to understand what she thought about it. I knew Gabriella, and this was just something that she did. When I finished, she sat quietly for a couple of minutes, before weakly raising her hand and lacing it in mine.

"Troy… am I horrible?"

"Bella how could you ask that question?" She sighed.

"I… I feel happy that he died. Am I that cruel of a person."

"Gabriella, you are not cruel at all. You are caring, loving, have a heart of gold and the kindest person I have ever met. What Daniel did to you was wrong, and I think it would be worse if you felt sorry for him. Gabriella, you are not a horrible person, because if that was true, then the feeling I had when he died must have made me Satin himself." She laughed a bit at my analogy.

"Ok." I smiled.

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Jack's P.O.V

A couple of hours after Troy raced into Gabriella's room, the doctor finally said that Gabriella could have more than one visitor, and we were welcome in. Gabriella's mom had been called about Gabriella's condition, and she told us she would be there shortly, but had a little business to take care of. Lucille and I assured her that Gabriella was in great hands until then.

Another plus side, Gabriella's knee surgery was going to be today. They had scheduled the first available time to have it done. This meant that, if her physiotherapy went smoothly, Gabriella would be out of the hospital in two to three weeks. After that, things would finally be able to get back to normal.

Lucille and I were walking to the room, nervous at what we'd find. After seeing Gabriella in such a fragile state, we weren't sure to expect a totally healthy looking Gabriella or a sick, pale looking one. Because of that, we were cautious not to get our hopes up too much.

However, all our worries disappeared once the door finally opened. Gabriella was lying on her bed, the pillows behind her propping her up. Troy was sitting in the seat beside her, holding a bowl of chicken soup. He was feeding Gabriella. Either, she really was in a bad state and couldn't feed herself, or, the giggling told us that Troy was just being his usual overprotective self.

"What's going on in here?" I asked playfully. Troy turned around to face us, and Gabriella just shifted over.

"Hey dad!" Troy said, at the same time as Gabriella greeted us as "Hey Coach, hey Mrs. Bolton." Gabriella weakly waved to us, and I could see that Gabriella was not as strong as we had hoped.

"What are you guys doing?" Gabriella smiled.

"Troy, being the gentleman that he is, had decided that I am too weak to even eat, so he insists on feeding me. Too bad he has horrible coordination skills and is managing to get it everywhere." She giggled. Troy turned and looked at her with a fake pout, and then turned back towards us.

"Not true. Miss Montez here thinks it would be funny to try and knock the soup out of my hands." I smiled. This was the playful banter that I was always used to seeing whenever Gabriella came over, or in the hallways at school.

"Well, don't make a mess. The nurses have to clean it you know."

"Did you hear that? Nurse Troy?" Gabriella added. I smiled, turning to face Lucille. It was this kind of stuff that showed us that Troy really did care about Gabriella, probably more than he even knew.

"Gabriella, your surgery is in three hours, okay?" Lucille told her. At first, Gabriella looked frightened, but once Troy grabbed her hand and began stroking it with his thumb, she nodded.

"Don't worry. We'll be right here when you wake up." Troy reassured her. Just then a nurse walked into the room.

"What do we have here? A party?" She joked.

"What can I say? I am that popular." Gabriella added. We all laughed. The atmosphere in the room was cheerful and soothing, as if things were starting to get back to normal.

"That you are, missy." The nurse teased. "Anyway, it seems that I have to check all your stats and give you your medication Gabriella, and then you have to get ready for your surgery." She sighed, and nodded. Troy leaned forwards and kissed her gently on the forehead.

"Don't worry Bella. I'll be right here when you wake up after the surgery." She smiled.

"I know." The scene in front of me just brought happiness into my body. The way that the two cared about each other so much really taught people that there was such a thing as true love, and that it could conquer anything.

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Troy's P.O.V

Gabriella's surgery lasted two hours, but finally the doctor came in the room saying it was a complete success. He also said that Gabriella would we waking up soon, and that we could see her. Immediately I went to the room, and sat with her until she finally woke up. When she did, we finally continued our playful banter.

Chad, Taylor, Sharpay, Zeke, Ryan, Jason and Kelsi all came by to see Gabriella. She was thrilled to finally see them all, and I left her with the girls for a couple of hours so that I could catch up with the boys. We were sitting in the small 'lounge' outside Gabriella's ward.

"So dude, how does it feel? I mean Gabriella's awake!" Chad said.

"I know. It's insane. I never thought I would be sitting here and know that Gabriella was fine and talking away in the other room. The last two months were just killer." I responded. They nodded.

"Hey, don't worry. Once Gabriella finishes with her rehab we will get her out of here, and she will get a huge party thrown for her." We sat in silence, before Zeke decided to break it.

"What's gonna happen with University?" I sighed, remembering the conversation I had with Gabriella earlier on.

Flashback

We were sitting and talking, when Gabriella finally turned serious.

"Troy, what's gonna happen with University?" She asked. I sighed. It was true that University was starting in two weeks, and Gabriella would most likely not be out of the hospital by then. Also, she still had to remain in her house for a couple of months before she was finally allowed to go back to school.

"Well, I guess we're gonna have to take online classes." She looked at me confused.

"We're?"

"Yeah. You and me. We will take them together until you can finally go back to University, and then we will go back together. And you don't have to worry about not getting a dorm, because we will be staying in an apartment two blocks away."

"You're not going to University right away?"

"No. I told you we were going together, and that's what's gonna happen." She smiled.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?"

"I ask myself that question every single day." She laughed. Then, with a smile still plastered on her face, she asked…

"Apartment, eh? Do your parents know about this?"

"Yup. They are the ones who are going to be paying for it until we can afford it on our own. It's all taken care of, don't worry." I reassured her.

"Thanks Troy."

"You're welcome Bella. You're welcome."

End of Flashback

I explained to the guys what Gabriella and I had come up with, and they smiled.

"Good job mate. You have it all figured out." Jason said. I laughed.

"Yup. And best of all, the rents agree. It's a dream come true!"

"Wow Troy. You are so dedicated to Gabriella. I don't think anyone would do anything close to what you did for her." It was true. But I couldn't help it; I couldn't see any harm coming to Gabriella, especially with what happened with Daniel. Never again would she be left out of my sight for too long. Gabriella was now my life.

And nothing was going to take her away.

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AN: No cliffy this week, eh? (Wow. I sounded really Canadian right there.) I decided to be nice and leave you with a fluffy ending. Actually, most of the endings from now on are going to be fluffy. Probably because I really don't want to add any more drama into the story. It's okay, unless you want more drama. I don't have a story line like that, but I could always edit.

What do you guys think?

Anyway, thank you so much for putting up with me and sticking by me. I will try to update "Love Doesn't Come Smoothly" as soon as possible; I am just really focusing on finishing up this story. I promise you guys thought, that I will try not to be one of those authors who waits 4-5 months before they update, because that can get really annoying (though I know I have been close to that sometimes, and I'm sorry).

Please, review and tell me what you think.

Xoxo,

Vfanforlife