Mistakes
Hey guys, thanks for your reviews on the last chapter, sorry about being late on posting this one, life's been crazy, anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and please review!
Chapter 15
Glancing around the room and laughing as Lilly-Ella's go-kart zoomed past Chad and Ryan's, his daughter screaming as it did so, while Chad and Ryan yelled in horror, all three of them leaping to their feet, everyone else in the room staring at them as though they'd gone mad, Matt trying to pull Lilly-Ella back onto his lap, Troy noticed that there was someone missing, someone he still had to talk to seriously.
Sighing, he looked up and out of the window, a grin forming over his face. His eyes drinking in the sight of the dark haired beauty, the moonlight bouncing off of her hair as she sat on the edge of his pool, gently swaying her feet back and forth in the shimmering water.
Glancing around the room once more to find everyone still immersed in the game, Matt, Lilly-Ella and Taylor starting up another round as Chad and Ryan sulked at having just been beaten by a teenage girl, Troy slowly rose to his feet and headed out of the door, completely oblivious to the blonde haired woman and teenager watching him, before grinning at each other, their eyes slowly sliding over to the back window as Troy approached Gabriella.
"Can I take a seat?" Troy asked softly, smiling gently at Gabriella as she jumped and turned slightly to look at him, "Sorry."
The black haired beauty shook her head softly, smiling back at him, "No, don't be, I was just deep in thought," She smiled faintly at him once more, looking back over the swimming pool, "and besides, why are you the one asking to sit here? I mean I'm the one who took over your pool."
Chuckling lightly, Troy rolled his jeans up to his knees and sat down beside Gabriella, both of them stiffening, their eyes widening, breath catching in their throats as their hands brushed softly, realising how close they were to one another as they both felt the spark shoot through their bodies, "It's still there," the two of them whispered at the same time, before smiling at each other sheepishly, Gabriella blushing and turning away, while Troy raised a hand to the back of his neck.
"You did good Troy," She beamed at him, "No actually, you did amazing, she's a beautiful, talented girl," Gabriella smiled softly; glancing through the window, where Lilly-Ella was doing yet another victory dance, and everyone else was laughing.
"Yeah, I just can't help but wonder what would have happened if we had raised her like the great team we once were," Troy muttered quietly, watching as Lilly-Ella was dog piled by a laughing Matt, Joe and David, with a screaming Sassy being pulled onto the pile too.
Biting her lip, Gabriella slid her eyes across to watch him as he shredded a piece of paper between his fingers, a hard look set onto his face. Sighing slightly, her eyes once more found the rippling water, "Troy…" She breathed out softly, but was abruptly cut off by her ex-boyfriend.
"It hurt Gabriella," Troy whispered, his voice cracking as his eyes were frozen to the pool, "I loved you so damn much that I wanted to be with you forever and when you told me to get out, and to take our baby with me, G-d, I felt like I was breaking into millions of different pieces."
Feeling a small hand on his arm, Troy glanced to his right to see a pair of chocolate coloured eyes staring straight into his sapphire ones, tears shimmering in them, as his own streamed down his face, the barriers that he had put up for so many years no longer holding them back.
Troy felt himself be pulled to the side as his head automatically fell into the crook of Gabriella's neck, inhaling her coconut scent once more, his body shaking slightly with sobs as he felt cold water splashing onto the side of his face from above him as well, her tears mingling with his own as they fell down his face, her warm hands cradling his body to her, one placed on the side of his face, the other wrapped tightly around his torso.
Pulling away from the brunette, he swiped at his now crimson eyes, desperately trying to wipe away the tears, and watched as Gabriella herself crumbled, her hands covering her face as she bent at the waist, resting her covered face on her lap, her feet still in the water as she wracked with sobs. Gently, Troy placed a hand on the small of her back and started to run it up to her shoulder blades and back, calming the both of them as she shivered at his touch, and her tears slowly stopped.
Sitting up slowly, Gabriella sniffed once more as she and Troy stared at each other. Tenderly, Troy reached out and wiped away the remaining tear on her face, cradling her face as he did so, smiling softly and rubbing her cheek soothingly when she leant into his hand, her eyes fluttering softly closed.
"It wasn't my choice Troy," Gabriella murmured, her eyes flickering open once more, "It was the disease," pulling away from him, she glanced back to where everyone else was still laughing and generally having a good time, "None of them noticed, hell, I would have never noticed if I hadn't still had to go to the doctors for check-ups, and I still didn't believe him even when it became obvious."
Troy looked at her confused, "Ella, what are you… what disease?" He questioned, gripping her chin and forcing her to look at him once more, their eyes immediately locking as they stared at each other intently.
"I had severe post natal depression Troy," Gabriella muttered softly, tearing away from his gaze once more, "It got so bad over the first six and a half months after Lilly-Ella was born that I considered suicide more times than I thought would be possible," Troy inhaled sharply, as Gabriella closed her eyes painfully, "I overdosed at one point when she would have been five months old, Sharpay found me and rushed me to the hospital, I would be dead now if it weren't for her," Gabriella whispered softly, "She just thought I was depressed," A ghost of a smile flickered over Gabriella's face as Troy still watched on, horrified, "She also thought that I got over it during that short stint in hospital, and therefore didn't tell anybody," Gabriella sighed, raking her hand through her long curls, "I didn't though, not by a long shot, my Mom obviously knew exactly what it was, she told me that I was a stupid bitch for getting myself knocked up in the first place, and that if I was going to bring shame upon the Montez name for trying to kill myself, she wanted nothing more to do with it. Last I heard, she had run off to somewhere in Europe with a guy half her own age," Shivering slightly, Gabriella wrapped her arms tightly around herself, "From there though, it only got worse. For the first six and a half months after Lilly-Ella was born, all I did was curse the two of you, I felt so detached from her that I told myself that she wasn't even my kid somehow," Gabriella looked disgusted in herself as she shivered once more, smiling gratefully at Troy as he slipped his jacket around her shoulders, his eyes raking over her in concern, before he took hold of her hand and squeezed it, reassuring her that she could go on and he would listen to what she was saying, "I was always crying over those months, and I had raging mood swings, worse than I've experienced before or since then, it took me at least eighteen months to get over my depression, although I'd say that it was at least two years before I was completely back to normal. I'm so sorry Troy, I really am, but I am eternally grateful to you for taking her and going, I would have only hurt the three of us more in the long run if you had stayed, and I'm so sorry, G-d you wouldn't believe how sorry I am."
Troy shook his head in awe, "Gabriella, don't, please don't be sorry, I should have known something was wrong, I should have stayed around to make sure that you got all of the help that you needed, I am so sorry that you had to go through all of that alone, G-d, I think that we were both so naïve and stupid at that point, I just don't think that we realised it, but thinking about it now, when we had Lilly-Ella, it would be like her getting pregnant next year."
"Oh, please don't say something like that," Gabriella muttered, squeezing her eyes tightly shut and turning slightly green, "I don't want her going through the hell that we've been through, I mean G-d I love her now, and I have done for the past fourteen years, and to be honest, deep down, I know that I loved her for the first two years of her life to, I was just too sick to realise it, but please don't bring up her getting pregnant now, it's a truly terrifying thought."
"Yeah, I agree," Troy murmured, "I mean she's still my baby girl, our baby girl," He corrected with a quirky grin as Gabriella blushed slightly, "I guess now I'm starting to see what my parents and your Mom went through, but no offence, your Mom was still a complete bitch, especially treating you like that when you were ill Ella."
Gabriella laughed humourlessly, "Believe me, none taken, she was awful."
"Yeah, well she never liked me anyway," Troy huffed, folding his arms across his chest and pouting as Gabriella started to giggle, "Oh is that funny Miss Montez?" He grinned, unfolding his arms slightly.
"Uh-huh," Gabriella giggled, "What did you expect? You corrupted her precious baby girl, who was destined for Stanford, I actually found something that mattered to me more than my grades did, and then you knocked me up, bringing horror and disgrace to us, G-d I swear it was like she lived in the flipping thirties."
"Aah, what can I say?" Troy beamed his pearly whites at her, "Daddy's little girl needed corrupting and your innocence was always a turn on for me, actually thinking about it, it was no wonder that you wound up knocked up," Troy frowned jokingly, grinning at the blush that passed over Gabriella's features.
"Troy Bolton!" She squealed, her cheeks stained red from embarrassment as he just laughed, reaching down and splashing the water from the pool at her, as she shrieked once more and splashed him back, the two starting an all out war, laughing like they hadn't in years, unknowingly edging closer together.
Suddenly, everything was going in slow motion. Troy cautiously reached out and tucked one of Gabriella's now wet curls behind her ear, sipping his hand round and cupping the back of her neck as she blinked owlishly up at him. Slowly, they both started to lean towards each other, their lips connecting tenderly, and moving instantaneously against each other in an all too familiar pattern, Troy gently dragging his tongue along her bottom lip as she gradually opened her mouth, allowing his tongue to start caressing hers, her sweet strawberry taste flooding his senses as his memorable mint chocolate taste flooded hers. Troy placed his other hand on her waist, pulling her closer to him as her arms slipped up around his neck, her fingers playing with the soft ends of his shaggy hair, curling it gently.
Hearing a gasp behind them, the pair instantly sprang apart, turning scarlet as they saw Lilly-Ella pull Sassy behind one of the large bushes in the garden, one hand clamped firmly around the blondes mouth.
Turning back to one another, they slowly moved apart, Gabriella chewing on her bottom lip, whereas Troy was scratching the back of his neck, both of them smiling as they recognised each others nervous habits.
"Ummm, we should probably head back inside," Troy muttered, and Gabriella nodded, grabbing his hand as he offered it and pulled her up, releasing her hand straight away as they each turned red once more, "Look Ella, we need to talk about what happened just there, and we still have sixteen years of baggage which can't just disappear."
"I know that Troy," Gabriella whispered, "Believe me I know that," She nodded slightly, her eyes wide and staring at the ground as she glanced upwards, tucking her hair behind her ears once more, "But I think it's too late to go into all that now, we should wait until tomorrow."
"I agree," Troy murmured, watching the brunette as she shuffled uncomfortably under his gaze, "But I think that you should stay here tonight Ella," Gabriella's head snapped up to look at him, and instantly, she could tell he was serious, and opened her mouth to say something, "Everyone else will be staying here, and I'm sure that Sassy won't mind sharing Lilly-Ella's room tonight, or vice versa," His eyes automatically slid over to the bush that the two young girls had disappeared behind, a slight shuffling and hushed whispering coming from it, before sliding his eyes back over to Gabriella's once more, "And I don't particularly want you driving home alone at this time, like you said, it's late, and umm, I don't want anything to happen to you," Troy blushed lightly, watching Gabriella's facial features soften as he admitted his last point for making her stay.
"Okay Bolton, you've got your wish," She sighed softly, and he turned, walking back towards the house, a triumphant smile on his face. Sighing softly once more, she turned to follow him, looking quickly at the bush as she did so, laughing quietly as she saw Sassy stood there, a massive grin on her face, one hand giving her a thumbs up, before the blonde girl was pulled backwards with a shriek once more, and Lilly-Ella's face appeared momentarily, smiling and waving sheepishly at her Mom, turning back once more to Sassy, as Gabriella chuckled softly and followed her old flame back into his house…
Well, that was Chapter 15, I hope you guys liked it, and I know that it's my personal favourite of this story so far as it has the most Troyella in it, anyway, please review and tell me what you thought of it!