Watching Her Walk, Again.

Troy couldn't concentrate all day. The exit he'd made on Gabriella and Sharpay, her roommate he'd found out, hadn't been the one he'd wanted to give. He'd been too formal, too doctor-ly. He hadn't been him. What he'd wanted to do was to ask if they could talk later, and wish her well with the baby. What had happened was… he'd ran out. Not ran, just rushed. And then he'd not been able to get his mind on anything else all day.

Currently, he was changing in the lockers, out of his doctor clothes. He tugged roughly at the white jacket, and threw it onto the floor in annoyance. Sighing, and running one hand through his sweaty locks, he dropped down, collecting the jacket from the heap it had made, and put it gently in his locker. This wasn't the time for a tantrum. He'd simply go and apologize. Yes, that's what he'd do.

So with a new found confidence and strategy, he changed quickly into the clothes he'd worn this morning, shoving his work clothes into the locker and his bag, and walked out of the locker room with a skip in his step.

But once he saw her room, he started to get nervous. His palms sweated, and he wondered for a small second, whether this was the best idea. Was this what he wanted? Yes. Did he need Gabriella back in his life? Yes. Then what was he waiting for?… Nothing. Exactly. He gulped in the air, straightening out his shoulders, and pressed his hand onto the door handle.

When he opened it, he was about to say 'hello', but was quickly shushed by Sharpay. He looked around the room, then noticed Gabriella's sleeping form and nodded to Sharpay in understanding. He wandered to the other side of Gabriella's bed, dropping his bag quietly, and sitting down on the chair. He looked to Gabriella's pale and tired face, her arms connected to various monitors, and the covers lying over her. If she hadn't been so tired and exhausted looking, he'd have said she looked just as beautiful as the day he had met her. He'd yet to have met someone who could compare in the slightest. But that wasn't hard, because once he'd met Gabriella, no other woman in the world mattered that way to him. She was the only one.

Her finger twitched, and Troy wondered if she was about to wake up. Many questions and random thoughts started running through his brain, but Gabriella's eyes stayed closed. She was still sleeping. Troy sighed in relief, he wasn't sure if he could have talked to her yet. He still had to work up to that. He heard a scowl coming from the other side of the room, and when he looked up, Sharpay was glaring at him. He gulped. This didn't look good.

"Why the hell are you here?" Sharpay snarled rudely. He didn't point out that he actually was a doctor, so could be here. And he didn't mind that she was so obnoxious toward him; he deserved it. So he let his head drop, and then replied.

"I wanted to see her."

"Well, maybe she doesn't want to see you." Sharpay was leaning out of her chair, gently across Gabriella's still sleeping body, making sure she got her point across to Troy.

He managed a small smile. "She's sleeping. She doesn't know I'm here. Therefore she has no opinion. But if in the event of her waking up, and she doesn't want me, I'll leave. Whatever she wants, she gets."

Sharpay laughed ironically. "Sure she does."

The smile that once graced Troy's lips was immediately wiped off, replaced with a sorry expression. He sighed. "I know."

She leant back into her chair now, fully certain she'd made him hurt, which is what she'd wanted to do. He'd hurt Gabs, so she hurts him. "I mean, she wanted you. But you just left, so whatever you just said has some serious errors." Her lips made a straight line, and her eyes challenged him to disagree.

He played with his fingers, not looking to Sharpay's sharp gaze. "I know. I know what I did is wrong. But believe me, I never meant t hurt her. It wasn't like that."

Sharpay felt anger boil inside her. "Do you care to explain, then? Because it sure looks like you ran. You saw how much she wanted you, needed you, even. And you got scared. So you did the only thing you could think of, didn't you Troy!"

His fists clenched. "You've got it wrong." His teeth gritted. It was okay for Sharpay to stand up for Gabriella, but not when she didn't have the correct facts.

"Well, then. Tell me the truth. I want to understand." She added quietly.

Troy let his gaze flicker to the very caring and consider roommate who Gabriella had. It was clear this woman would do anything for the woman he loved. And that was why he felt grateful for her being there with Gabriella for the last nine months. He knew she'd become Gabriella's rock, her back bone. He should have been there. He knew he should have. But he couldn't think of a stronger, more appropriate person to take his role, than the woman sitting in front of him.

She looked at the man in front of her, her eyes flickering over his body and stance. He looked so sorry. He looked pitiful. Terrible, even. He had the worse blackness under his eyes that she'd ever seen. It looked like he hadn't slept or eaten for days. And when she finally stopped and really looked into his eyes, she saw the love that he felt for Gabriella. And then she knew that even though he left her, his heart still called for the woman who had, unknown to him, carried his child.

He shifted around in his seat, slightly uncomfortable. This was it, the time when he told the story. He kept his eyes faithfully on Gabriella as his mouth retold the truth. "Gabriella, is an amazing person. I've never met anyone like her. She nudged her way into my life, and into my heart back in high school, and has stayed there since. I've never forgotten her. And when I met her again, I was so full of joy. I couldn't believe it was actually happening, it was like I was walking in on a dream. But I knew it was real.

"We decided to leave half way through the reunion at the restaurant/club. The tug on each other we felt was too hard to bare, we needed release. We needed each other, so much. I felt it; she felt it; half the people in the club felt it,' He allowed himself a small chuckle, 'and so we left quickly, heading back to her, and your, apartment. One thing led to another, and yeah. We bonded. It was… special. Different to all the other times. Probably the fact that we hadn't been near each other for so long. It was… unbelievable. Truly beautiful."

Sharpay watched quietly as he spoke. The only sound heard was the rhythmic beating of the monitor beside Gabriella, and her breathing. She noticed how every word was said towards Gabriella's direction, and if she was invisible, it would have looked like he was talking to Gabriella. But he wasn't, he was talking to her, Sharpay Evans, the woman who had helped the woman he loved all through the pregnancy she had just endured. She saw the love and pain at losing her in his eyes. And at that moment, she knew how much Sleeping Beauty really meant to him.

He continued. "The next morning, I woke up first. I could have laid with her forever. I remember clearly the feel of her skin next to mine, and the thoughts and visions of our future flowing through my brain. It was stupid, but it felt right to be thinking those things, things about us in the next few years. I'd even thought about children. I guess that's one off the checklist.' He raised his eyes to Sharpay, who was smiling down at him, urging him to go on. He did. 'And then I kept hearing this beeping noise. So, I went to investigate. There wasn't a moment in the last nine months when I wished, desperately, that I didn't. Then I wouldn't have had to find an urgent message from this hospital, saying one of my patients was dying, and I had to come operate immediately." He heard Sharpay's large intake of breath, a gasp she allowed to escape from the confines of her mouth.

"So I dressed, obviously needed here. I left her a note. I had no idea what to say. I should have left my number, address, email, anything that she would have been able to contact me by. But, in such a rush, and a moment of stupidity, I just told her what she already knew - that I loved her. It wasn't a lie, she might have thought that, but it wasn't. It was probably the truest sentence I've ever written in my life. I still feel the pain of losing and leaving her. But I still love her every ounce I did that day, and the first day I met her. I've spent the last nine months chewing my best friends' ear off, trying to figure out how to contact her. I even tried calling that artist website she has. But nothing worked, and I tried. I really did. I'd given up hope. And then I found you here."

He got up from his seat, stretching his legs and walking over to the little incubator which held his child. He glanced over at Sharpay. She nodded; permission to hold his own baby. He would have rolled his eyes if he was an onlooker, but he couldn't. In reality, Sharpay had taken on the father figure.

He sighed. "I'm a father. This child, this tiny little, gorgeous baby, is half mines. And I wish, beyond belief that I had been there. For every doctor's appointment; every pregnancy test; every ultrasound; every single stupid class they make you take. Because I would have been there for them. I should have been…you."

He looked up at Sharpay, her legs curled into her knees on the chair. She looked and saw the tears shining in Troy's eyes, and clear note that he was pained by everything he did - had just said. She knew everything he'd just wished Gabriella had too. She wanted him there; she'd just been a replacement. But now she knew the truth, every little bit of it, and felt very sorry for ever doubting this love struck man in front of her. It must have taken a lot of courage to just open up like that. She got out of her seat, and walked around the incubator, into a half hug with Troy. He was surprised by her sudden burst of contact, but soon settled into the embrace.

They pulled away. "Do you think she'll ever forgive me?" He asked.

"If you tell her exactly what you told me, then yes."

He looked over at sleeping Gabriella, who currently had a contented smile on her face. He seemed to smile with her. "I don't think, after seeing her again, and with my child, that I could ever, ever let her go. Not without a fight."

Sharpay smiled. "Well, if you have to, I'm on your team. I'll fight your side. I can see how much she really means to you. And I know she loves you too."

He smiled wider. "Good."

A FEW DAYS LATER - TIME FOR GABRIELLA & BABY TO GO HOME.

Gabriella stuffed the last of her maternity clothing into her large back. She swelled with satisfaction at not having to wear anything like that again. Smiling, she drew up the zip with pleasure. She glanced at the clock. Only ten minutes left here. She was glad; she wanted to get home.

A little gurgling sound was heard from the other side of the room, and it made Gabriella smile. After nine months, she finally had her child. Scooping her son into her arms, she held him close to her chest, just happy to be holding him. She knew that she would be a tired new mother once she got home, but in a way she was still excited. She couldn't wait to really become a mum.

"You look beautiful together." A voice called from the doorway.

Gabriella's head whipped around. Troy was standing, supporting himself with one hand resting on the doorway. His caramel hair drifted down into his eyes, but with one flick of his head, it was back in place. Those ultramarine eyes that she'd longed so badly for she'd actually painted, stared right at her. The pictures didn't do justice to the real thing.

"Hey." She replied, her voice hardly there.

He smiled. Then he looked at her back, and she saw panic flash through his eyes. "You're… leaving. Now?"

She shrugged, still holding Matthew close. "Well, I've done my days. I'm ready to go home, it's better than this place. Not that the hospital hasn't been very helpful, I just… want the comfort of my home, you know."

He nodded, moving into the room further. "I know. Listen, I think we should… talk."

She felt her body tense, the anger that she'd felt towards him just before she went into labour resurfacing. She turned her body away from him in a fierce gesture, and Troy felt his insides clench. They'd hadn't even spoken and it was already going badly.

"There's nothing to talk about." She answered, her tone dead.

He moved closer; she shuffled away to the window, looking closely outside. "Of course there is, Brie. We need to discuss--"

"--there's nothing to 'discuss'. Now, if you excuse me, I'm leaving."

She collected her bag quickly, settling her child safely onto her hip, doing one of the many balancing acts she'd learn during the course of motherhood. She swung her way out of the door, with Troy hot on her heels.

"At least don't leave until we've talked properly Gabriella." He pleaded.

The doors were coming closer now.

"No."

"Gabriella."

"No."

"Dr Bolton, you're needed on ward five."

He turned to glare at the receptionist, for telling him something unimportant compared to the situation right now. Gabriella was walking through the doors.

He ran to the doors, and her restreating firgure. "Don't leave."

She turned, one tear splashed across her cheek. She shrugged, trying to be nonchalant, but losing that battle. She broke. "You left me, remember?"

And then she turned, leaving for the car park.

"Dr Bolton, ward five?"

His eyes watched as the sound of her footsteps got gradually lighter, and she blended into the sea of people coming into the hospital.

And then he felt his heart break.

Once again.

A/N; I wasn't going to let them get together that easily! Tehe.

Thanks for reading, only a few chapters left now. But for this one, please review!