Troy looked at the clock and then back at the television. "Hey grandma, I'm going to throw out your trash and then get going," he said getting up from the couch.

His grandmother frown as she looked over at the uneaten cookies still left at the table. "What's eating you up inside short man?"

"It's nothing grandma," Troy leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Is there anything else you want me to do?"

"You can stop pussy footing around your problem, seriously what did you do? Knock up some random girl?" His grandmother exclaimed looking up at him. "We can take a little drive to the clinic, problem will be gone in the morning."

Troy smiled and let out a sigh, "No one is pregnant, I just have a lot on my mind with the game this weekend and Gabriella isn't talking to me, at least I don't think she is?"

"Oh boy, it's the other kind of lady trouble then," his grandmother let out a laugh. "Your father came home one time with lady trouble."

Troy sat down and listened. "What happened?"

"Well he accidently ended up with two prom dates," she said with a chuckle. "He asked this one girl he was really crazy about and then a little later that week he was walking through the halls and he saw this girl on the steps crying."

"He use to hate when mom cried," Troy said with a shrug. "He always said a woman will do a lot to get under your skin but when she's cries, you're a goner."

"And he was right, he ended up offering to take her to prom too, after spending the afternoon cheering her up." Grandma shook her head, "Your father ended up calling the other girl to cancel, she was not happy about that, I remember the random calls of her leaving him nasty messages but in the end it worked out, he married your mom."

Troy smiled it was a story he heard a bunch of times and he'd never get sick of. "I miss him."

"We all do," Grandma said with smile. "But you remind me so much of him that it helps ease the pain," she said placing a hand on her heart.

Troy smiled and got up from the couch to give his grandmother a hug.

"Don't worry about the trash, I just need you to water the flowers before you go, stupid reporters trampled over my petunias," she said in flush.

"No problem Grandma," Troy smiled as he headed out to the front yard. Going around the side of the house he got the hose, it wasn't as completely dark however the sun was disappearing from the sky. Troy walked back to the front and twisted the top nozzle providing the flowers with fresh water.

Troy watched the water sprinkling from the hose his mind lost in the ideas of life. He was going to go to Columbia, he was going to play ball while he finished off his time here. And in the spite of Aaron and Stacy the kid gloves were off. Troy did not like being made a fool of. At that second there was a sound of a twig snapping from behind him and Troy turned around to find Gabriella standing on the sidewalk.

"Good evening," Troy said nodding slightly when she didn't say anything. Turning back around to the plants he continued the task at hand. What else was there to say, she made it clear he was the last person she wanted to associate with and that was fine, he was ready to just let the whole thing go. He should have stayed away from her in the first place.

"Troy can we talk?" Gabriella asked.

"Do you have any sharp objects on you?" Troy asked with a raised brow.

Gabriella paused not sure if he was joking or not. "No I don't," Troy turned around and sprayed the cement in front of her causing Gabriella to jerked back. "What the hell?"

"You can talk as long as you don't cross that line. I'm not in the mood to be pushed, poked, or hit at the moment," he said folding the hose to momentarily stop the water. "Cross it and I will spray you with all the water pressure this can shoot with are we clear?"

"Crystal," Gabriella said adjusting her backpack.

Troy nodded and then went back to watering the plants, "So what is it?" he said turning away from her.

"I rejected Julliard, I'm not leaving."

"Well, that's unfortunate," he said with a deep breath.

"It's alright, I'm okay with it."

"That's great then."

Gabriella was quiet and he turned around to see if she was still there, she was twiddling her thumbs. "I would really like to give this a try, see if we can get it right?"

"Why?" Troy looked away back at the plants his body slowed he could feel his heart coming to a slow stop as he waited on her to answer.

"Because I know that you love me and I feel the same way about you."

Beyond his control Troy's lips pulled up into a smirk. When he turned to face her she was smiling, and looking at him with hope. Troy let out a sigh, "What I feel is beyond the point," he said raising a brow, "Let's face it the situation we're in is like a broken mirror. It's better to leave it broken than hurt yourself to fix It." he added looking back at the plants.

"I shouldn't have gotten so upset, you were trying to help and I was just being insecure," Gabriella said leaning to left.

"You had every right too," Troy moved to a different section of the yard. "It was a big deal I should have told you sooner about Stacy and Aaron."

"And I should never have gotten angry at you when you wanted to slow down, you we were clearly making the better decision," Gabriella said placing her thumbs in her pockets.

Troy shrugged and continued to water the plants, "In the past sex has always been meaningless, it's not enough for me. I'm just tired of the whole social status and girls trying to make it mean something it doesn't."

Gabriella was quiet for a moment and then she snapped her fingers. "In beauty and the beast, she came back to the castle after leaving and having to figure things out for herself. Doesn't that get me a little leeway here?"

"No, because she also sent a village after him, they rummaged his castle and he was stabbed to death," Troy said with a grim face. "You really want to run with that one?"

Gabriella shifted her weight from one leg to the other. "What do you want me to say Troy. Fairy tales aren't real they don't apply to life. I'm not Cinderella or Bell," Gabriella said tossing her hands up. "You have this way thinking about me and it's not true, I don't wear a halo and I'm not the kind of girl you put on a pedestal."

Troy turned again to face her. "Your wrong about that," Troy said turning off the hose, "Before I even got to know you I would have said right off the bat that you were a regular Snow White living surrounded by men and still the only one right for you was the strongest and truest prince charming Aaron. Yeah, you might have been kind at heart or morally sound but in the end vanity and wealth won you over because there was no base to that relationship to fall in love with at the beginning."

Gabriella flinched, "Well what about this? It's like..." Gabriella waved her hand as she tried to come up with something to say. "It's like Ariel and Prince Eric they didn't have one either and the only reason they were married was because of her voice and his slight memory of her saving his life. That's not love." Gabriella said extending her arms.

"Then you don't love me," Troy shrugged his shoulders, "Why are we having this conversation?"

"Troy," Gabriella whispered. "When I was a little girl I used to read fairy tales all the time. In fairy tales you meet Prince Charming and he's everything you ever wanted. In fairy tales the bad guy is very easy to spot. The bad guy is always wearing a black cape so you always know who he is. Then you grow up and you realize that Prince Charming is not as easy to find as you thought. You realize the bad guy is not wearing a black cape and he's not easy to spot at all; in fact he's really funny, and he makes you laugh, and he has perfect hair." Gabriella's voice trailed off at the end.

Troy didn't respond.

"So yes I got it wrong, I'm not some fairy tale expert so can we just drop the fairy tale bullshit for five minutes?"

"You brought up the fairy tales not me," Troy said looking away from her. "And Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."

Gabriella wiped a tear from her cheek and Troy stood quiet. "I never promised you anything," he said in low voice, "I never said we were going to make this work. In fact I've been telling you that the only way for both of us to stay sane was to stay apart."

"I don't want to stay away from you," Gabriella said crossing her arms over her chest. "I can't." Gabriella wiped a tear from her cheek as she looked down at her hands then back up at him.

"I can't stay away from you either," Troy said letting the hose fall to the ground. Great she was crying, she was crying and he wanted to make it stop, he wanted to hold her to kiss her anything to end this stupid conversation they were stuck in.

"Then can we just stop arguing," she said wiping away her tears. No more crying she wasn't going to cry anymore.

"Come here," Troy said quietly holding out one of his arms to her.

Letting out a sigh of relief she ran into his arms the impact between them taking her breath away but she didn't care. She only wanted to be right here, in his arms, smelling the musk smell of his scent and feeling his hands wrap around her.

"I'll never hide anything from you again," he said softly into her ear as he hugged her tightly. "I love you Gabriella."

"I love you too."

They stood wrapped in each other arms for a moment before Gabriella pulled back and looked up at him. "I need you to do something for me?"

"Oh boy," Troy chuckled, "Here we go,"

Gabriella smiled a little, "I need you to beat the West High Knights. For me."

Troy blew out a low breath as he narrowed his eyes towards her, "That's a tall order."

"Then it's a good thing I asked the right guy," she said quietly pulling on his shirt a little.

"What about Stacy and Aaron?"

"Don't worry about them," Gabriella said with a small frown, "I can handle them."

"I don't like that," Troy said a little more seriously as he tucked her hair behind her ears.

"You don't have a choice. It's already done."

Troy smile thinned a bit.

"Troy."

"Gabriella."

"Trust me," she pleaded.

"Fine," Troy bent down and placed a soft kiss on her lips taking his time to enjoy the feel of her warm lips against hers. Just as he was about to pull away Gabriella's arms wrapped around his neck and she pushed up on tip toe to deepen the kiss.

Troy's hands opened and spread out across her back pulling her to him. He couldn't get enough of her, couldn't get his fill. Something about her made him want more, made him need it. It was like being with her made everything else fade away. The pressure, the fear, the self-doubt. Being with her made him stronger.

Gabriella pulled away and Troy had to clench his jaw not to follow. He held onto her hand as she put some distance between them.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Gabriella murmured.

"Tomorrow," he said pulling her back to him and placing another kiss on her lips.

Gabriella smiled into the kiss as they she pulled away and he walked with her. Together they smiled and held hands all the way to her front door where he left her. But not before kissing her senseless at least two more times.

When Gabriella finally pushed the door open and came inside she let out the deepest swoon she ever had. Lost in the memory of Troy's touch, his lips, his voice, and the way he just knew what she wanted. Her face almost hurt from the ear to ear smile she was sporting.

Suddenly her father immerged from the living room. "Where have you been? Your brother got home four hours ago."

Gabriella jerked, and her smile fell into a free fall as she frowned at her father. "I don't have a car remember," she said putting her house keys in the bowl on the hall table.

"Why didn't you call?"

"No cell phone." Gabriella looked at him. "Are we done?"

"No, we are not done family meeting now!" He said in loud voice.

Eddie walked in from the kitchen arms crossed, Maria followed. Gabriella rolled her eyes as she walked into the living room behind everyone she wasn't in the mood for her father late parenting skills. Once every one was seated they all quietly looked up at him.

"You've all made it pretty clear that I'm not welcome here," he said looking around the room. "I get it. I messed up, you trusted me and I let you down."

There was no response.

"I'm sorry about the cameras, about Catherine, and about Julliard," he said looking at Gabriella. "I just wanted to get close to you guys. Since the breakup I feel like you both hate me," he said looking at Eddie and then Gabriella.

"We actually missed you," Gabriella said looking down at the floor. "I was going to Julliard to be closer to you. We wanted you to come back home where you belong."

The room was quiet and Gabriella throat got tighter and she couldn't speak.

Eddie let out a breath and he continued for her. "We all missed you, no one hated you. You left us broken and when you came back it was like you never even felt it. You had a new life and you wanted to replace us with it. In fact you wanted to rip us from the normalcy we've been living through for the past year and put us into your circus."

"I didn't know,"

"How could you," Maria said sniffling. "You don't call, you don't keep in contact, there a check in the mail once a month and that's all you contribute."

"I work hard so that I can send that check, because I know I screwed things up. I can't just come back and things can't go back to the way they were. Things changed you guys have grown up, you're nothing like I remembered." A tear rolled down his face and he took a breath. "You don't know how proud I am of you. How you have taken care of things, how you guys look out for each other," he sat down on the coffee table. "I want to be in your life. I just don't know how."

"I got a job," Maria said in a low voice. "I start next week, hopefully this means you don't have to send all that money, I can take care of the house."

"You could come to my game Saturday," Eddie said.

Gabriella looked up at her father and she bit her lip. "I meant what I said this morning. I'm not sorry, nor will I be apologizing for anything. You're an adult, a father, you're not supposed to hurt me and make me not trust you and you did, you have single handedly ensured that I will never trust anyone because you've proved that I can't." Gabriella looked away, "You want to get to know me?" Gabriella paused as she looked at him. "I'll think about it." Gabriella stood up. "I'll be in room."

Gabriella walked out.

"Gabriella?" Luis stood up and Maria held out a hand.

"She's right, you have no right to demand she forgive you and willingly welcome you into her heart especially after you smashed it." Maria crossed her arms. "Give her time. Eventually she might come around to you." Looking back at Eddie she nodded. "I'm going to bed, it's been a long day." Looking back at Luis she let out a sigh. "I trust you know the way out. We'll talk more in the morning; my lawyer will be here at seven to read the divorce papers."

"I'll be here."

"Night then." She said walking past him as she made her way up the stairs.

Luis looked back at Eddie.

"I'm going to go check on Gabs," he said getting up and walking towards the stairs after his mother. Before he was out of the room he turned and paused as he looked at his father. "Night dad."

Luis looked up at him and nodded. "Night son."