Author's Note: Well, the results are in and people want the sequel first. I will do that as soon as I'm done. So, on to the chapter! By the way, Denny will play a bigger part in the sequel.
Chapter Sixteen: Make Him Proud
There was a Christmas party for what seemed to be the whole student body of East High held at the football captain's large estate. The music blared through the speakers, pounding in everyone's chests. People danced crazily, their arms and legs flailing. Chattering was screamed across the room and was just coherent over the pounding music. Drinks clinked, food was munched, and people had a generally good time. Everyone except one Troy Bolton that was. He felt bad about lying to his friends. He really did.
Chad had told Gabriella what he knew and Gabriella was not happy. Not that Troy had lied, but that Troy was still getting hurt. She stormed up to Troy during the party, dragged him outside behind the house, and gave him a look, hands on hips.
"What?" Troy asked with a laugh.
"You know well what," Gabriella snapped. She threw her arms in the air, frustrated. "What are you thinking, Troy?"
"That I have no idea what you're talking about," Troy said, rubbing his neck in confusion. His shirt lifted, revealing a sliver of tanned, bruised skin. He pulled it roughly back down and looked at Gabriella, worry lining his face. "Okay, I do. But, Gabi, I can't help it."
"Why not?" Gabriella asked, feeling tears well in her eyes. It was all too much for her to watch Troy get hurt. "What has he done to you, Troy?"
"What do you mean?" Troy asked, hoping it wasn't what he thought she meant. Explaining the beatings? Living it once was enough but re-living every moment was more than he could bear.
"What has he said that makes you not want to tell?" She asked, stepping closer to him, her expression and character softening. Troy let out a shaking sigh and sat on the small brick fencing that surrounded the yard behind him.
"Enough," Troy said. Gabriella sat next to him and took his hand, feeling her heart rip in two when he flinched. She tried to look him in the eyes but he just stared at his feet.
"Troy, I'm not going to hurt you," Gabriella said softly.
"I know," Troy said. "But I hurt you."
"What?" Gabriella asked. This was getting ridiculous. He was hiding things, saying weird things- what next? Secret codes?
"I broke up with you!" Troy said. "I felt so bad, Gabi. You don't even know how much."
"Troy, I bet you felt bad, but-" Gabriella began.
"No, Gabi, you don't understand," Troy said. "I couldn't live with myself. I couldn't get your face out of my mind- the way your eyes filled with tears, the sheer horror."
"I couldn't get your face out of my head either, Troy," Gabriella said. "I slapped you for Christ's sake. It was wrong! I deserved you breaking up with me!"
"No! I deserved the beating I got!" Troy shouted and then wished he had never spoken. Gabriella paused in shock and blinked at Troy, who closed his eyes and sighed. He hadn't told anybody about what happened that night.
"What?" She asked incredulously.
"I- kind of, sort of, did something stupid that night," Troy said. He sighed, his resolve to keep his secret gone. "To get in trouble."
"You purposely got in trouble?" Gabriella asked. "Why?"
"Because I deserved it," Troy said. "Because I hurt you so badly."
"Y-you," Gabriella stuttered, her mind filling with dread, her stomach turning to a block of lead in her body. "Got yourself b-beaten because of me?"
Troy shrugged and looked away. Gabriella grabbed his arm and pulled him until he turned to face her. She pulled away upon looking him in the eyes. They were so different now. Once sky blue, now a deep navy- it seemed- as they watched horrors, went through horrors that no one would understand.
"Troy, please tell me I'm wrong," Gabriella begged. "Please tell me you didn't do that."
"You're the one who wanted me to be honest," Troy said bitterly. Gabriella shook her head and let go of Troy's arm. She didn't stop shaking her head as she spoke in complete horror.
"You didn't," Gabriella said. "Troy, that's not normal!"
"It is for me," Troy shrugged.
"Then you need to tell someone!" Gabriella said. "I'm begging you, Troy. Tell someone! I hate watching you get hurt. I hate watching you flinch and cower and try to hide secrets. Just please, do this for me. Please tell."
"But I can't tell!" Troy shouted, standing up abruptly.
"And why not, Troy?" Gabriella shouted back. She was angry now at Troy's stupidity. This had gone on far too long. It was time for him to be free. "I mean, why do you do this to yourself?"
Troy looked hurt and then angry. "I do it for you," He said. Gabriella stood silently, her face now aghast. For her? He got himself beaten constantly for her? "Gabriella, say I tell, okay? Custody goes to my mom. I go to California and never see you again. And my mom… she's such an incompetent parent, Gabi."
"No one is more incompetent than your dad," Gabriella huffed.
"How would you know?" Troy spat. He began to cry, gut wrenching, from the heart, hard, wet sobs. "How would you know anything that is going on right now? How would you know what it's like to be me? To have to put on a mask everyday, to make myself seem better than I am for the sake of saving a man who doesn't even love me?" Troy turned away from Gabriella. "You guys act like you know what happens and you guys act like this is so easy. It's not easy- coming home everyday and getting beaten. Having someone you trusted your whole life, your own father beat you mercilessly for leaving coffee in the pot, or not making your bed. Being told you're worthless and a mistake. You have no idea."
"And you act like it's so easy to be your friends and watch you get hurt everyday," Gabriella said. "See you limp down the halls and cower in fear when we so much as grab your hand. It's not easy either, Troy. We just want what's best for you."
"How do you know what's best for me, Gabi?" Troy asked. "How do you know that, by sending my own father to jail, I'll be better? That, by having to move to my mom's, I'll have a better life? That, living with the grief of being the worst son in the world, I'll feel perfectly fine?" Gabriella opened her mouth but Troy cut her off. "You don't know, Gabriella! And that's why this is so hard for you! Because you always know what to do; you always have the right thing to say! But now that you have nothing to say, you jump to conclusions that may or may not be correct!"
"Troy, why are you so mad at me?" Gabriella asked defensively. "I'm trying to help!" The thing that scared Gabriella was that he was right- that she was so bothered because she didn't know what to do so she said what she knew was the simplest conclusion, even if it wasn't the better one.
"Because, I'm tired of being told what I should do," Troy said. "The easier idea isn't always the right one. I mean, have you ever thought of the consequences of telling would be? I would be left homeless, fatherless, and heartless. I wouldn't be able to live with myself."
"But you can't live with him anymore, Troy!" Gabriella said. "I want you to look me in the eyes and say you're okay with what he's doing."
Troy stepped to her, their faces inches apart. He looked her in the eyes and said, "I can't."
Gabriella pulled back from him and shot him a scowl. She put her hands in his and they stood there silently. The freezing air whipped their faces and clouded the air in front of their mouths. Gabriella's hair flew into her face but she didn't dare let go of Troy's hands. Gabriella shifted slightly before Troy's rigid speaking filled the cold air.
"I can't say I like what he's doing, and I can't say I'm okay with it," Troy said earnestly, looking through glassy eyes. "But I can say that what he's doing- whether I agree with it or not- is a necessary act. That sometimes, what I do is bad enough to get in trouble. But I can look you in the eyes and say that no matter what happens, he's my dad. He is my father who has loved and cared for me since I was born. Just because he's chosen an… odd way of punishment, doesn't mean that you guys have the right to judge him."
Gabriella nodded, although she didn't even closely agree. She took his hand tighter and said, "Come on. People are waiting inside." He nodded and they both walked inside. The music met them in a loud burst and they both clamped their hands to their ears. Suddenly, the sound of feedback sent everyone's hands to their ears. Then, Jason's slurred voice filled the loudspeakers as he made his way through the crowd, tripping over the microphone cord along the way.
"Everyone! This… is my best friend… Troy," Jason said drunkenly, wrapping an arm around Troy's shoulders roughly and breathing beer-stained breath in his face. Troy flinched and tried to pull away but Jason clung tight, like a parasite. "And he… is my best friend. And Troy… he's got… a secret. Yeah. But he's not telling anyone 'cause… he's… secretive. But! I think that everyone in East High… deserves to know what… the highly-esteemed captain of ours… is… being secretive about."
"Jason! Shut up!" Troy shouted, trying to clamp Jason's mouth shut, but stopped, thinking he could hurt Jason. He looked desperately at Gabriella who shrugged, knowing full well that she couldn't do anything about it. Zeke, Chad, and Ryan were slowly pushing through the crowd, trying to get to Jason and Troy but failed miserably as everyone gathered in a tight pack around the emcee for the night.
"See, Troy…" Troy was growing desperate and was searching the room for something to get Jason to be quiet. "Troy isn't perfect! I know you think he is… and that I'm so lowly little loser… on the basketball… team. But I'm not. And he's not. But Troy! He has a secret! And that secret is that his… dad…"
BAM!
Jason passed out and brought Troy to the ground with him. They laid in a heap for a moment and Troy scrambled to his feet, letting out a thankful sigh. Everyone stared silently, looking like a deer in headlights at Troy. Troy smoothed the front of his shirt nervously and asked, "What?"
"What's the secret?" Someone in the crowd shouted. Troy scratched his neck nervously. He looked out at the crowd as everyone agreed to the outburst. He shook his head.
"I don't know what he was talking about!" Troy said. "He's drunk, guys. What could he possibly say that makes sense?"
Everyone shrugged and went back to their business of chatting each other up. The music blared again and the feedback droned. The rest of the gang walked over to Troy and stood beside him, shocked into silence. They looked at Jason's sleeping face with dread. Zeke and Chad picked him up and set him (rather carelessly) on the only unoccupied couch.
Ryan and Sharpay, Troy noticed remained missing from the crowd. What he didn't know was that they were outside the house, where Gabriella and Troy stood just minutes before, doing exactly what Troy and Gabriella were doing just minutes before- fighting.
...Ryan...
"Sharpay, you have to tell me what's wrong!" Ryan shouted at his twin. She shook her blonde head and looked away, letting tears drip onto her outfit that she spent so long planning.
"I can't," She whispered, sitting down on the brick wall. Ryan sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. He pulled her closer and they sat that way until Ryan could find words in his mouth.
"You can," Ryan said. "I'm your twin brother and I just want to know what happened to you. I want to know how you got that bruise on your cheek. And who I have to beat up."
"Jack Bolton," Sharpay whispered, mortified. She threw her head into her hands and sobbed. Ryan patted her back, his face stricken with horror. Jack Bolton? He had hurt Sharpay?
"What did he do to you?" Ryan asked protectively, tightening his hold on her back reassuringly. Sharpay shook her head and wouldn't look Ryan in the eyes.
"The other night," She began, sniffling. "Troy wasn't okay! Jack hasn't stopped! And I walked in on it! I walked in on Troy getting beaten!" She sobbed again and Ryan, yet again, tightened his hold. "It was awful, Ryan. I had to stop it! So I tried and then Jack got angry and… he tried to hit me. And then Troy- he… Troy saved me. But he couldn't take it. He can't take it. He can't take it anymore, Ryan. We need to tell. We have to."
"Okay," Ryan said soothingly. "We will. Mark my words, we will."
And Ryan was going to stick to what he said, because Jack Bolton was going to pay for what he did. To Sharpay, to Troy… to Ryan's life. Some way, some how, Jack Bolton was going to pay for ruining the only thing that Ryan had left- his friends.
…Troy...
Troy sat down on the couch, shaking. He brought his head into his hands and let out a large sigh. Gabriella and Chad seated themselves on either side of Troy. Chad pat Troy in the back and said, "It's fine, Troy."
With each pat, Troy's face twisted into a grimace and Chad stopped, mid-pat to look at his friend. Troy smiled a grim grin. It wasn't Troy's smile. It was someone who had seen too much, who had been through too much, who was tortured beyond imaginable belief.
Maybe it was Troy's smile.
Troy felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and answered it tiredly. He opened the top and brought it slowly to his ear. "'Lo?" He waited for a second, his eyes widening by the second. Gabriella could hear his dad screaming from the other line and she took Troy's free hand, giving him support for something that wasn't actually happening. Troy shut his phone, slowly, looking into the distance.
"That was my dad," Troy said slowly. Chad snorted.
"We guessed."
"Cassidy's having her baby," Troy said. Kelsi, who was approaching with drinks for everyone dropped two of the sodas that fizzed and squirted all over the flooring. She looked at Troy.
"Now?"
"Yeah," Troy said. "Now. So, um. I'm going to go… to the hospital."
He got up and numbly moved to his car. Gabriella and Chad followed whilst everyone else sat in shock on the couch. Troy dug his car keys out of his pocket and swore as he fumbled to find the key.
"Troy, you want me to help?" Gabriella asked softly, watching as Troy's shaking hands failed to get the keys in the lock. Troy shook his head and finally hit target, opening the car door. Chad looked at Gabriella who shared the same look as he.
"You want some company?" Chad asked quizzically. Troy shook his head and stared at the open car door, his eyes glazed over in fear. Gabriella stepped forward but Chad grabbed her upper arm, making sure she didn't step too close.
"My dad wants me to come alone," He gulped. Gabriella's tears hit their mark and flowed freely from her eyes. She sobbed loudly and broke from Chad's grip. Troy wrapped his arms around her and she sobbed hard into his chest.
"Don't go," She sobbed. "Please don't go."
Troy rocked slightly, holding Gabriella in his arms. Her sobs were muffled against his chest. He rested his chin on her head, shushing her into a quieter submission. She was still crying when he kissed the top of her head and whispered, "I have to, Gabi. I'm sorry."
"Troy, please!" Gabriella screamed through her tears. "Please don't go! I don't want you to get hurt."
Troy lifted Gabriella's chin with his finger and brought her to look into his eyes. She let a few tears fall from her eyes and slid down her cheeks. "I'll be fine," Troy whispered.
"You promise?" Gabriella asked, whispering with a hoarse voice that was raked with tears. Troy nodded solemnly.
"I promise."
He kissed Gabriella's forehead and turned towards Chad who had silent tears running down his face. Troy stepped over to him. Chad gave a watery smiled and said, "Take care of yourself, man."
Troy nodded and they shared a hug, not wanting to let go. Their friendship was strong. It only took one incident to make it stronger. It took this to make it indestructible. Holding his best friend, Chad let himself sob. His shaking body mixed with Troy's until it felt as if they were one person. Troy clutched his friend tighter. Chad had never really cried. He never really found it easy; just a waste of time. But now, watching his best friend of seventeen years, go get a stepbrother, it as almost too much for him to bear.
"Don't let him hurt you, Troy," Chad sobbed. "Don't."
"I won't," Troy whispered, feeling his body shake with the aftershock of his crying. Gabriella had disappeared, he didn't know when. These tears, they weren't shed because of the new baby, as you can probably tell; that'd be ridiculous. Chad was crying for his best friend. For the boy who went home to the monster he called a father, for the one who was getting hurt. The one who masked his pain for the sake of his friends and never uttered a word to keep them safe. The one who was nothing but kind, did nothing but give, but got nothing but a beating for who he was.
But Troy put a hand on Chad's shoulder, gave him a grave look, got in his car, and sped away. Leaving behind the best friend he ever had.
…Troy...
Troy turned into the hospital parking lot, wheels squealing against the asphalt. After parking crookedly in a parking spot, Troy jumped out of his car and slammed the door shut. The sound echoed through the semi-empty lot and traveled around, swirling in Troy's ears. He ran through the doors and up the stairway, not stopping until he reached the correct floor of the maternity ward.
He got directions from a tired nurse and headed into his stepmother's room. She was looking at him with a scowl on her pink face, holding her baby boy protectively. She looked at Jack and said, "He's here, Jackie."
Jack nodded, knowing full well what it was but was being patient considering the hell his new wife had been through. Jack smiled at Troy, putting on a big show. "You want to see your new baby brother?" Troy shot him a look but peered down at the tiny, pink infant. He was sound asleep, his tiny chest moving up and down to a slow, steady beat. Troy smiled.
"Yeah, I'll hold him," Troy said, gently taking his tiny baby brother in his arms. He placed the boy in the crook of his elbow and slightly rocked him. He looked at his dad and Cassidy. "Have you guys chosen a name yet?"
Cassidy smiled and took Jack's hand. "We're naming him Rainbow Sunshine after all."
"Oh," Troy said, feigning happiness. "Wonderful."
He handed Rainbow Sunshine back to his dad and gave a tiny smile. Jack held the baby proudly for a moment and passed him on to Cassidy, who beamed upon recieving her son. She looked at Jack, who placed a hand on her shoulder. Troy shoved his hands into his pockets and turned towards the door.
"Well, I'm going to go get some food," Troy said suddenly. "You want something?"
Both proud parents shook their heads and Troy headed out the door. He sighed, wishing that his dad was as proud of him as he was of tiny Rainbow Sunshine. It wasn't going to happen, he realized, until he was strong. So Troy decided that some way, some how, he was going to become the strong boy his dad wanted him to be. Even if it killed him. Troy wanted to make him proud.
Troy fished his wallet out of his back pocket and grabbed a crumpled dollar out of the leather pouch. He was just about to slid the dollar into the vending machine when he saw two doctors approaching him. He stopped, mid-action, and walked over to them. He interrupted them politely.
"Excuse me," He said. "Are one of you the doctor for Cassidy Bolton?"
The taller of the two nodded his head. His nametag was visible just under his swinging stethoscope" Dr. Bradley. He had black hair, flecked with gray, brown, cheery eyes, and a tight, warm smile. Troy shifted nervously and the doctor gave him a look. "Something wrong, son?"
"Um," Troy said, not looking him in the eyes. At this point, most adult men had always scared him into submission. "No. Nothing. Hey, has Cassidy filled out the birth certificate yet?"
"Not yet," Dr. Bradley said with a smile. "Why do you ask?"
"Um, this is going to sound weird, but can I fill it out?" Troy asked, his hands stuffed into his pockets. Dr. Bradley shot him a quizzical look and lifted his clipboard a bit higher to show that he was of higher authority. Troy assumed that's why he did anyway.
"You?" Dr. Bradley asked. "Has either Cassidy or Jack said you could?"
"Well, no," Troy said. Dr. Bradley shook his head but Troy quickly and desperately added, "They want to name him Rainbow Sunshine, Dr. Bradley." The doctor gave Troy a look and cleared his throat. The doctor next to him tried vainly to stifle a laugh.
"Come with me, son," Dr. Bradley said.
...Troy...
Troy finished signing the paper with a smile. He turned to the doctor and handed him the pen. The doctor took it and put it in his front pocket happily. Troy smiled wider and stuffed his hands in pockets, getting ready to go back into his dad and his stepmom's room.
"You won't regret it, Dr. Bradley," Troy said. "Logan Christopher will thank you for it some day."
...Troy...
That night, Troy fell asleep on a chair in the waiting room while his dad and stepmother slept soundly in their private room. He rolled over in his sleep and jolted wide awake at the sound of his ring tone blasting- or so it seemed in the surprisingly empty waiting room- in his ear. He flipped open the cell, not bothering to check who it was and answered.
"'Lo?" He asked groggily. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his free hand and flipped over again so he sat comfortably in the chair. His body went slack and he slipped down, his head now resting on the top of the chair, his neck bent back uncomfortably.
"Troy, it's me, Gabi," Gabriella said through the phone. She didn't sound tired at all, just extremely worried. "You didn't call and I got worried. Where are you?"
"The hospital," Troy yawned, running a tired hand through his hair. He pulled his phone away from his ear as a squeal erupted from the speaker of his phone.
"What?" Troy pushed the phone back to his ear slowly and yawned again. Gabriella blathered on and Troy gave a tiny, exhausted smile. Gabriella was just the kind of girl to call him at three a.m. and rant on what was going on. "What happened? Are you okay? What did he do to you?"
Troy could hear her moving around her room, flipping things over and knocking things to the ground. He heard her door creak open and her floorboards groan under her feet as she ran through the hallway in what sounding to be barefeet, the soles of her feet slapping against the polished wood. "I'm just staying over night for Cassidy, Gabi. Don't worry," Troy said.
"Oh." The moving stopped and Gabriella remained momentarily silent. "Oh okay. I just thought-."
Troy cut her off, "Gabi, go back to bed." He hung up, rolled over, and waited for an hour for his sleep to settle in while he awkwardly perched in the uncomfortable chair in the bright waiting room, in a hospital, where he didn't want to be.
He awoke again at ten o' clock, an extremely late morning for him. He was now completely exhausted after falling asleep at one o' clock in the morning and waking up at three in the morning. He found out that Jack was in Cassidy's room, so Troy avoiding going near it at all costs; Cassidy had not yet been released but was coming home the next day with little Logan Christopher. The day was completely uneventful except for Troy reliving the story of changing the name on the birth certificate to anyone who cared enough to listen. It was eight at night when Troy finally plucked up the courage to face his dad.
"Hey, Dad," Troy said cheerily as he walked in the room. "Cassidy. How was your night?"
"How could you?" Cassidy whispered, obviously mortified.
"How could I what?" Troy asked, pausing.
"You stole the birth certificate!" Jack shouted. "You changed our baby's name!"
"I'm sorry," Troy said desperately. "I just couldn't live with the fact that you were going to name him Rainbow Sunshine!"
"Troy," Jack said as calmly as his aggravated voice would allow. "Get to my car. I'll be down in a minute."
Troy didn't need to be told twice. He took off down the hall and headed towards the parking lot only to remember that he had no idea where his father's car was. He stopped on the first level of the parking lot and looked around, confused. With a stroke of pure luck, he came upon his father's car within the first minute of searching and leaned against its side with a sigh.
Minutes after he relaxed against the car and felt himself nodding off to sleep, he was jolted back into awareness by the grating sound of his father's barking voice. "Get in the car, Troy."
"I'm sorry," Troy said, miming innocence. "My dad said not to get into cars with people who might hurt me."
"Troy, get in the car!" Jack barked. Troy sighed, done with his sarcasm for a while and hopped into the front seat, slamming the door behind him. Jack got in the car after and started it up. The car purred into life and they started out of the parking lot silently, Troy wishing dearly that he hadn't made that sarcastic comment.
They drove towards home, not a word spoken between the two. When Jack took an odd turn, Troy cleared his throat awkwardly and said, "Um, Dad, the house is that way."
"I know," Jack said, not taking his eyes off of the road ahead of him. The road ahead was dark, the night only pierced by a few dimmed streetlamps. The car jolted to a stop next to a deserted playground. Jack twisted the keys in the ignition and the car stopped short. Troy looked at his dad quizzically.
"Dad, where are we?" He asked, looking out the car window. He looked his dad in the face, his face twisted into a look mixed with fear and confusion. "What are we doing here?"
"Troy," Jack's voice was calm, but shaking as he strained to keep his cool. Troy discreetly brought his hand to the seat belt buckle, slightly pushing the button down. He wasn't a dumb kid; something was wrong. "Why did you fill the name in on the birth certificate? Why would you do something that stupid?"
Troy shrugged, pressing his thumb a bit harder into the buckle. Jack still had his hands poised on the steering wheel, knuckles white with the strength he was holding it. Troy wiggled slightly towards the door.
"You knew when you did it, I was going to have to do something, right?" Jack asked, his voice still calm and shaking. He stamped his hand on the steering wheel. "Why are you so stupid?"
It was as if everything happened in a spilt second; Jack lunged forward and Troy pressed down on his buckle. Troy's hand flew to the door handle and Jack's body hit Troy with a force. Troy's body flew back and his head slammed into the window with a bang. Jack's fist pommeled into his face, each strike causing Troy to cry with pain. With every cry Troy made, Jack hit harder. Troy's fumbling hand grabbed onto the door handle and with quite a bit of difficulty managed to pull the lever towards himself. With the weight of Troy and Jack ontop of it, the door swung outwards both men spilling out of the car and onto the street.
Jack, not used to the shock of getting hurt during these fights, remained shocked on the ground while Troy immediately pushed himself off the ground and tried to bring himself up. Just before he tried to make his break, Jack's hand clamped around his ankle. Troy felt the warm, strong hand twist his ankle hard and Troy let out a scream before falling to the ground once more.
Troy rolled onto his back, clutching his ankle tightly, his face twisted into a grimace. Jack staggered back onto his feet and walked over Troy who was still holding onto his ankle. "I told you that was stupid, Troy."
But suddenly Jack's words were cut short as Troy lashed out his better leg and nailed Jack in the shins. Jack swore and fell to the ground heavily, smacking his head on the street. Troy jumped up as quickly as he could and headed across the street and into the empty park. Ignoring the pain in his right ankle and the shouts of his father, Troy ran through the grass and towards the opposite street.
His feet carried him for minutes, as far away from his dad as possible. Troy's wandering feet led him right to the doorstep of Gabriella Montez. He knocked on the door rather hesitantly and seconds later, it swung open revealing Gabriella, clad in a pair of green pajamas pants and a yellow tank top. Her hair sat on her head in a flyaway bun and her face looked extremely surprised. Troy's face was dotted with scrapes and scars and a small trickle of blood ran down his cheek.
"I promised you I wouldn't get hurt," Troy said, shifting awkwardly on the spot. He lifted his arms as if to say 'What?' and looked at her. "I tried."
Author's Note: Well??? Very long chappie. Please review!