A/N: Happy Monday :) Please can you make the reviews amazing? Make me smile and laugh. I'm feeling kinda rough today... :\

Anyway, enjoy :D

Chapter 14

"...and I never liked him from the start," Jason Cross exclaimed.

Steph rolled her eyes and stared out of the window of the cafe that her father had brought her to. She'd hoped that spending some time with her father might take her mind off of Andy, even for just a little bit. She'd assumed, in her naivety, that Jason would stick to his usual repertoire of conversation topics: food, sports, and fishing. Of course, on the one day that Steph was relying on the topics that usually bored her to death, Jason changed tactics and decided to talk about Andy.

Her luck.

Why was everything so complicated? She loved Andy because of the exact opposite; he was simple. He didn't have any expectations or demands. He was just a happy man and she liked that. So often, the guys at uni wanted her to be a one night stand and nothing else. That's all she ever was. She was the girl next door and nothing else. Andy, though? He actually respected girls and tried to make relationships work. He didn't expect anything from the woman other than she should be herself.

"Steph, are you okay?" Jason asked quietly.

Steph couldn't help but smile genuinely at her father. For the twenty years that she'd been alive, he'd been clueless as to how women worked. How he'd been with her mother so long was a mystery to her. "I'm fine," she whispered. "Just annoyed, I guess."

"Well, like I say: I never did like Andy," Jason protested.

Steph shook her head, staring into her mug of lukewarm coffee. "You're lying. And it's okay. I don't mind. I just don't want to be invisible anymore. I don't want to be the girl he goes to when he just needs a buddy to watch football with. I want him to want to be with me all the time. And he just doesn't."

Jason nodded slowly. "Do you know what you're going to do?"

Steph shrugged. "Where Andy's concerned? I'm going to do nothing. The less complicated things stay, the better, considering graduation is just around the corner. But, after graduation, I'm going to Edinburgh. I know I said I wouldn't leave this place but I can't stay anymore. Besides, Edinburgh has species of starfish that we don't and it'll be amazing for my master's degree." She finished quietly, unsure how her father would take her confession. The words tasted strange on her tongue. Sure, she'd joked with Andy about doing her masters but she'd never actually said it out loud and meant it.

She meant it now.

Jason frowned. "Really? You're really going to do it?"

Steph shrugged. "Why not? You know how much I love the ocean and I really want to do this. Andy isn't even the reason why I'm going. I stayed because Andy did. But now I'm leaving because I want to."

Jason nodded slowly. "What can I say to that? You've obviously made your mind up and your mother and I said we'd support you no matter what."

Steph rubbed her forehead. "Dad, can you promise me something?"

Jason shrugged. "I'll try."

Steph looked out of the window to look at the harbour, at the boat that her father loved so much. He loved it so much that he'd named it after her. It was something he loved so much and one of the few things he loved more than his boat could never go sailing because of how violently she became sea sick. No matter how many times she went on the ocean, nothing could cure her. Her dad's boat was his bid for freedom. It gave him strength because he knew that, should he wish to, he could just sail away. Of course, everyone knew he wouldn't. He needed Kelsi and Steph too much. And now, after almost twenty one years, her father was supporting her on her own bid for freedom.

She looked back at Jason. "Promise me that I'll find someone, someday. Whether it's Andy or someone else. I don't want to be alone."

Jasone broke out into a wide grin. "Oh, honey, you'll never be alone. Not in that way. I promise that you'll find someone. I promise."

Steph sighed. She hoped that he was right.

"You okay, son?" Troy asked as he sat down at the table, a packet of crisps in hand.

Andy shook his head slowly as his eyes fluttered closed. "I didn't sleep much last night," he muttered through a yawn.

Troy opened his packet of crisps and ate one. "I know. I heard you when you pottered around. It kept me awake." Of course, Troy wasn't going to admit to his son that the reason that he was awake had nothing to do with Andy's sleeping pattern. It was, in fact, everything to do with a certain brunette, Spanish-speaking, woman mechanic.

Andy shot Troy a sarcastic smile. "And still you wake up all chirpy and happy-go-lucky. I hate you."

Troy crunched on another crisp. "I'm flattered that you appreciate me bringing you up."

Andy stared in disbelief at his father who was, at that moment, more concerned with guzzling down every damn morsel in the packet of crisps than about his own son's welfare. "Aren't you going to ask me what's wrong?"

Troy looked at Andy and shrugged. "Let me guess: you're still confused about why Steph's not talking to you and you want me to tell you why she's ignoring you."

Andy folded his arms defiantly. "Damn you for knowing me so well."

Troy chuckled. "So have you figured anything out?"

The younger Bolton man scowled. "Nope. I haven't got a clue." He sighed. "Dad, Steph's my best friend. I don't want to live without her."

Andy's words had slowly but surely become a faint hum, like music that wasn't quite loud enough for you to identify the song. Troy had zoned out and, rather selfishly, deemed Andy's concerns unimportant. After all, Andy was a grown man. If Andy couldn't figure out why Steph was avoiding him, Troy was wasting money, paying for his son to get a university education.

Troy didn't mean to deem Andy's worries as unimportant. It was an unconscious thought process, triggered by a distraction. The distraction had caused Troy to forget all about his crisps and for the rest of the world to become a blur. The only thing that Troy could see and think about was the way that Gabriella was bent over the engine of a 4x4 and was swaying her hips to a song on the radio. It was a cheesy pop song that Troy was embarrassed to have play in his workplace. But it didn't seem to bother Gabriella. Her movements were jerky and out of beat. But Troy didn't care. She still looked as sexy as hell.

"Ow," he yelled when something collided with the back of his head. He turned to Andy as he clutched the back of his head. Andy was glaring at his father and holding one of his textbooks in his hand. "That hurt! Why did you do that?"

"Troy, are you okay?" Gabriella asked quietly as she turned to the two men, a spanner in hand.

Troy looked across at her and shrugged. "I'm fine. I just don't know why Andy just hit me over the head."

"You were completely ignoring me and was totally checking Gabriella out," he exclaimed.

Troy watched Gabriella as she self consciously tugged at her shorts. "Brie, I wasn't checking you out." He turned to Andy. "Go."

Andy frowned. "What?"

Troy shrugged as he tossed his half eaten crisps in the bin. "I want you to leave and only come back when you're happy."

Andy looked at his dad in disbelief. "Like the naughty step?"

Troy nodded. "Exactly like the naught step. Leave and don't come back until you're happy."

Andy sighed as he gathered his books. "Well, I'll see you later, then. Thanks for the help, Dad," he muttered as he trudged away.

Troy ran a hand through his hair. "I can't tell him that the reason Steph's ignoring him is because she's madly in love."

Gabriella tossed the spanner aside and shut the bonnet of the 4x4. She turned back to him as she wiped her hands on a rag she produced from her back pocket. "No you can't. He has to figure it out in his own. He might be confused and angry and frustrated. Who wouldn't be? It's hard enough to admit you're in love without adding the complication of being best friends. But, he's a smart kid. He'll be fine."

Troy nodded. "I know. But I worry. I hate seeing him like this."

She shrugged as she tucked the rag back into her pocket and then began tying her hair back up in the bandana she always wore. Troy watched her movements. They were quick and precise from daily practice. "Still, you have to leave him alone."

"I know," he muttered. "Anyway, I just want to clarify that he was lying. I wasn't checking you out."

Gabriella smiled slightly as she leant against the bonnet of the 4x4, crossing one leg over the other. "Don't lie to me. I know you were."

Troy gaped at her. "How could you possibly know that?"

"You were burning holes in the back of my head," she exclaimed. "Oh wait. You weren't looking at my head, were you?" she teased.

Troy chuckled as he stood up and brushed the crumbs from his clothes. "Alright, I see where this is going." He took the few steps towards her until he was less than a foot away. "Is Jamie still out for lunch?"

She shrugged. "I think so. Why?"

Troy closed the gap between them and, before she could protest, had captured her mouth with his. His arms wrapped tightly around her as hers wrapped around his neck. He couldn't help it. There was something about his stubborn, complicated but ever-sweet newest employee that had a heat spreading through his veins that he hadn't ever experienced before. It was want, it was lust, it was something that every human being, including him, experiences. But, beneath that, there was a pure animalistic desire that he'd never felt with a woman before.

Gabriella pulled back breathlessly and looked him in the eyes. "Can't you warn me before you kiss me like that?"

Troy smiled into her hair and let his fingers lightly touch her waist and hips, feeling her curves that he loved so much. "It's more fun this way."

Gabriella leaned back against the car to look up at him. "I should be scared, you know. I've been hurt before and I don't need any more complications. But with you, things aren't complicated. Things that shouldn't make sense do. It's insane. I should be scared," she repeated. She shrugged, looking up at him. "But, I'm not."

Troy sighed and brushed her hair from her face. "Well, I'm scared as hell."

She smiled slightly. "I've never dated my boss before."

He shrugged. "I've never dated an employee before."

"That's not fair," she protested. "Haven't you always employed men?"

"Maybe," he murmured.

She laughed and let a bright smile light up her face. "No special treatment?"

He chuckled. "Please. Like Jamie and Andy would let me give special treatment. They'd get way too jealous."

She nodded slowly. "Yeah. I'm thinking that Chad will fight me for you."

Troy gaped at her. "Brie, seriously, we're not in a bromance."

She laughed quietly. "Dude, he was looking at you more lovingly than he was at Taylor. Are you sure you're not gay?"

Troy chuckled and leaned down to brush his lips against hers. "The way you make me feel, I'm most definitely not gay." He pulled back to look down at her. "Of course, I can only speak for myself. I haven't a clue about Chad."

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Why didn't you want Jamie or Andy here when you kissed me? I've been here all morning, listening to Andy complain."

Troy quirked an eyebrow. "You have met my family, haven't you? Jamie wouldn't stop teasing me and Andy would pretend to throw up every two seconds because I'm his dad and I'm not supposed to kiss anybody."

Gabriella nodded slowly. "I get it," she whispered.

He kissed her temple. "Not for long. Just until we figure this thing out, okay?"

She looked up at him. "What's there to figure out?"

"I don't know," he muttered. "I guess I need to figure out why you affect me so much."

She sighed. "Don't worry, I have things to figure out for me, too."

"Anyway, are you doing anything tonight?"

Troy quirked an eyebrow. "You should by know by now that my social calendar is packed," he said sarcastically. "No, I'm not doing anything. Why?"

"Well," she began, "I woke up this morning to a rather long, specific explanatory text from Sharpay. She wants us to have tea with them this evening. She said smart, casual. In Sharpay terms, that means I'll be wearing a dress and you in jeans and a dress shirt." She paused. "You do have a dress shirt, right?"

He rolled his eyes. "Give me some credit."