Ok guys. Here is how this story is gonna go. I'm gonna write till the end of their summer and start a sequel following their journey through their last year in school and beyond depending on what I feel like. Please let me know what you think of the idea.

I don't own High School Musical or its characters. Only my own ideas and characters :P

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Dear Diary

Daddy left. Why!? What had I ever done to make him leave mummy? I thought he loved me. I thought he loved mummy. I thought he loved Alex. He called me his lil' half pint. His little Gabsy. His star. Was I not enough for daddy? Didn't I love him enough? Why wasn't my morning kisses enough? I miss him so much. Daddy! Come back please! I love you! I want you back! Please Daddy!

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Recap: "What the hell were you thinking Gabriella?" Troy stared at her.

Softly her shoulders began to shake as she cried into her hands, hiding her face from the boy who had rescued her, "I want out…" she sobbed, "I can't do this anymore."

With a sigh Troy left the bathroom and quickly grabbed a clean pair of boxers from his drawer and a clean t-shirt and his night robe which he never used.

"Here," he put the clothes down on the toilet lid, "Get out of the bath and change into some dry clothes. When you are ready, get into bed. I'll bring you up some soup." His kind words seemed to make it worse as she started to cry harder, "C'mon, Brie," he pleaded, "Don't do this to me…"

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, "I'm so very sorry…"

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I quietly sipped the soup from the mug that Troy had handed me. I glanced sideways at the extremely handsome boy sitting patiently on the bed, waiting for an answer as to why I had tried to kill myself. With a sigh I dropped her mug from my lips and hesitantly turned to Troy.

Troy silently held out his hand for my cup and he turned to put it on the bedside table when I handed it to him. He turned back to me, a perplexed frown on his forehead. I turned away from him. I couldn't bear to look at him while I talked. I couldn't bear to see the pity that was going to fill his face. Couldn't bear to see the revulsion that would fill his eyes when he heard my whole story.

Softly I started to speak, tucking a stray strand of black silken hair around my ear, "My problems started the year that my brother was born…

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"Hey, half pint!" her father laughed catching his six year old daughter who had thrown herself at her beloved father.

"Daddy!" the delighted squeal of a kid welcoming her daddy home reverberated through the quiet streets. People walking their dogs and weeding in their gardens smiled find smiles as they saw the small, beautiful little girl embracing her father, "Why were you gone for so long, daddy?" she asked pitifully, playfully touching her father's lips with her small fingers. He kissed her on her forehead tenderly, "And where is mommy?"

"Well," he smiled broadly at his daughter, "Mommy is at the hospital right now."

"Mummy hurt?" Gabriella asked horrified.

Her father threw his head back and laughed heartily, "No, Gabs, she is bringing a little friend home for you. You have a baby brother dear." Gabriella squealed happily, as her father carried her into the house .Suddenly he froze and put her down on the ground, "Gabsy, go play outside…"

"Ok, daddy," she said happily running into their fenced backward to where her babysitter was waiting for her.

Her father disappeared into his office and Gabriella played happily with her nanny until she heard raised voices, "Nana," she said, "I'm thirsty…"

"Go get yourself some water," her nanny smiled indulgently.

Gabriella ran into the house on soft bare feet that made no sound.

"No!" she heard her father yell, "I won't leave them. I just got a son, Megan."

"Please," a soft woman's voice came from the office, "David… it's time to leave. I can't go on this way. You knew what would happen, when we started."

"Daddy?" Gabriella asked softly from the door in the study. Her father turned to her with pain filled eyes.

"Didn't I tell you to go play outside?" he asked frustrated, trying to shield the woman who stood behind him from her prying eyes, "Go outside Gabs. And forget about the lady who visited me, you hear me? Otherwise you will be in big trouble."

Her little lips wobbled and tears filled her eyes as she ran from her father, for the first time in her young life.

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"Happy birthday, Alex!" a thrilled nine year old Gabriella sang out to her baby brother, opening the door to his room, her father and mother on her heels.

And adorable three year old boy with wide brown eyes and fuzzy black hair peered at her from his blue cot, "Gabby!" he called holding out his chubby arms for his sister. A light flashed and she knew her father had taken a picture of them.

"Perfect," he laughed showing her the photo.

And Gabriella had to admit it looked perfect. Sleep mussed though they were, a bright light was shining in their eyes, complete joy at seeing one another. Alex and her face lit up with happiness.

Her father sighed and kissed his daughter on her forehead and then Alex on his forehead, "You guys are getting so big."

"We're not that big yet, daddy," Gabriella smiled cheekily at her beloved father, kissing him softly on his weathered cheek, heading into the kitchen, her baby brother in her arms.

"You are bigger than you think, Gabs," her father said with regret in his eyes. He let his eyes roam around his son's room one last time, committing every precious memory he had ever had of this family to his mind, before slipping quietly out of the patio door, and out of the lives of his family.

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"He left us," I said, tears streaming down my face, "He never even explained why. He broke my mother, Troy. She was never the same afterwards. And neither was I…" my voice broke and I couldn't hold it any more. I cried, years of pain flowing from my broken heart…

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Troy didn't know what to do for the broken girl in front of him. He did the only thing he could do. Gently he moved over her bed and drew her into his arms. She buried her face into his warm chest and he let her cry her heart out. Inside this teenager who was almost a woman, was still the little girl that missed her father desperately, that was searching for answers.

"Wasn't I enough for him?" she sobbed, clenching her hands in his shirt, "Why didn't he love me, Troy? Why didn't he love me enough?"

"Shhh," Troy murmured drawing, her tighter into his arms, enveloping her with care, "Your dad was blind not to see that the best thing he ever had was right in front of him, Brie," Gabriella shook her head and started to pull away, "hey, hey, hey…" Troy captured her wet face in his large hands, "look at me."

She turned her head away, but Troy gently turned it back to him until her large chocolate coloured eyes was staring straight into his electric blue eyes, "You are beautiful. You are amazing. And if your father wasn't able to see that, to see how much his little girl loved him, then he was a monster of a father who never deserved you as a daughter…."

"I'm scared," she whispered, lowering her eyes, "What if someday I met a guy who means the world to me, but he leaves me? If my dad left me, the one who was supposed to love me despite anything I did, why would someone else ever be able to love me enough to never leave me?"

Troy hugged her back against him ignoring her stiff back, and stroked up and down her back with his large fingers, "That won't happen, Gabriella. I'll make sure that whoever comes knocking on our door for you is the man that you deserve. Who will worship at your feet and love everything about you. All your perfect imperfections," slowly she relaxed, her eyes closing as she snuggled with Troy. And for one short perfect moment, her heart was whole. For one short perfect moment, she dared to hope that everything would be alright.

READ AND REVIEW PRETTY PLEASE! I so appreciate your guys comments. Let me know what you think of my idea for how the story should go. :) Sorry I know it's just a filler chapter.