I tried to get this published exactly seven minutes ago- at midnight, EST- but that didn't work out too well. As it stands, though, a few minutes past midnight on November 11, 2012, isn't too bad. Why was I shooting for midnight? Well, it's a (low budget) birthday present for a dear friend! :-D (Ps... your card is in the mail!) Happy birthday, Anna! I less than 3 you! And for all of you in the USA, today is what my 6 year old calls "Veterinarian's" Day, so make sure you honor your pet's doctor today! Lol!

I hope everyone enjoys! (Oh, and by the way, I've speculated in the past that this story will be between 20-25 chapters? Well, I just recently started work on chapter 21 and it's looking like it may perhaps be more than 25... just so you know.) Blessings to all!

Chapter 10

When he awoke that Thursday morning, Troy stretched out across the bed in the hotel room he had been staying in. He would never admit to this but, like Gabriella, he too had a hard time sleeping when he traveled and she wasn't next to him. He had an uneasy night's sleep under normal circumstances, but last night had been particularly bad.

After the tense conversation with Gabriella outside the sports bar that he and Chad went to, he worked hard to bring his attitude back down to a normal level. Chad did what he could to cheer his friend up, but found that he himself wasn't able to do the trick. He watched as Troy downed a total of five beers- three more than he would allow himself normally- and decided to just let him go and calm down in his own way. He made the decision, however, to stop Troy after five if he didn't stop himself, but his input wasn't needed. Troy was always careful when it came to alcohol- he knew his limits and knew when to stop.

However, with having partaken of more than his usual two, he found himself waking up this morning not only lonely, but also with a slight headache. He grimaced at the sunlight that hit his face before getting up and stumbling into the bathroom to find the bottle of Advil that he kept in his toiletry bag. It mainly was kept there should he need it for his knee injury, but this morning, it was needed for a different reason. He glanced at the clock on the table beside the bed and did his mental math trying to figure out exactly how much sleep he did end up getting last night. The last time he remembered glancing at the clock, it read 2:23 a.m. He finally drifted off to a restless sleep and woke again a little bit after 4:00 a.m. when he found himself in the midst of a dream. A dream that he would probably classify as more of a nightmare than anything else.

He was back home in San Francisco, standing in the parking lot of the apartment complex that he and Gabriella had made their 'home' for the past seven months. As he worked to get his bags from the bed of his truck, a car pulled up. The giggle from the passenger side of the car was all too familiar. As he turned his attention in the direction of the unfamiliar car, he spotted his current nemesis getting out on the driver's side and walking around to the passenger's side. Troy watched as Davis opened the door and held a hand out, offering his assistance to the person on the other side of the car and to his horror, his own girlfriend stepped out. Neither noticed Troy as he watched the scene play out in front of him; they just walked up the sidewalk in the direction of the apartment, their laughter sounding out into the air behind them.

Troy shook his head to clear the memory of the dream that caused him to bolt upright in bed in the early hours of the morning. He quickly jumped in the shower, hoping the water would do its part to wake him up completely. While he let the water run down his body, he leaned his arm against the wall and rested his head against it, letting his mind take in the events of the past couple of days. One thing was clear to him- he loved Gabriella. He thought about the one golden nugget that he had on his side that Gabriella didn't know about. It was the one thing that he held tight to, waiting for the opportunity to present itself. Knowing that, a decision was made. This decision was probably the hardest he'd ever had to make, but Troy knew it was the best at this point in his relationship with Gabriella.

When he got out of the shower, he grabbed his phone and texted Chad before getting dressed.

Dude, I don't have a good feeling about today.

He quickly put on his jeans and Polo shirt, stepping into his Sperry's, as he waited on a response from his friend. Finally, the text message tone on his phone sounded and he picked it up, seeing a response from Chad.

why? what's up?

Troy quickly typed out his response. I just wish I was already back in Cali. there's too much at stake.

give me about 10 min. i'll call you. getting in shower.

Troy continued getting ready. He knew the Berkeley boys had to check out in an hour and a half and he still had to get his stuff together and was hoping to catch a quick breakfast with Chad before the two had to say their goodbyes until Troy's graduation in a few weeks. It was only about twelve minutes later when his phone rang. The sounds of "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy filled the air, letting him know that it was Chad calling.

"S'up, Dude?" he answered his phone.

"Meet me downstairs. Let's grab something to eat before we take off. Do you have time?"

"Yeah, I've got time. I'll meet you down there in a few." Troy was already grabbing his key card and pushing his phone in his pocket. His roommate Nicholas sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Dude, where are you going?"

Troy grabbed a pair of boxers from Nicholas' duffel bag as he passed by and tossed them in his direction.

"Get in the shower, Man. I'm going to grab something to eat. We check out in an hour and fifteen minutes."

"Don't you need to shower?" Nicholas asked, the tiredness evident in his voice.

"Nick, get up, Man. You're almost as bad as Brie when she first wakes up."

"Hey! I've heard some of your stories about her in the mornings. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that's in insult and I'd be offended," Nicholas told him as he started moving a little bit more in his efforts to wake up.

Troy laughed at his team mate's joke. "I'll be back," he said as he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

When Troy got downstairs to the lobby of the hotel, it didn't take him long to find Chad, already sitting at a table. Chad stood and greeted his friend with their sixteen year old handshake. The two made their way to the breakfast buffet the hotel had set up and fixed their plates. It wasn't until they sat back down at their table that the conversation started.

"So what's up?" Chad asked.

"You don't waste any time, do you?" Troy teased, trying to hide the dullness of his usually brilliant blue eyes.

"When we've only got a few minutes anyway, no. Now are you going to tell me why you don't have a good feeling about today?" he asked, throwing Troy's words from his earlier text back in his face.

"I had a dream last night," Troy started. He proceeded to tell Chad about the unpleasant dream he had. When he was finished, Chad let out a low whistle.

"So you think she may go through with this lunch after all?" he questioned.

"Well, after last night's conversation, I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, you pointed out that I basically pushed her into this guy's arms."

The two sat there in silence for a moment more, eating on their eggs, sausage, hash browns, and pancakes, Chad eyeballing his friend. He finally couldn't take it anymore and voiced his thoughts.

"What else?"

"What do you mean?" Troy said.

"You've got something else on your mind," Chad pointed out. "What is it?"

Troy took a deep breath in an effort to gather his thoughts before he spoke again. "I'm thinking that... Do you think maybe I should..." Troy released a deep sigh and decided to just let the words flow from his mouth. "What if I gave her time? Like a break from me... from us?"

Chad quirked one eyebrow, trying to decided if he heard Troy correctly or not. This was not the same Troy Bolton that he had grown up with!

"Time for what?" he asked, practically spitting his mouthful of eggs all over the table in his shock over Troy's statement.

"Time to figure out what it is she wants. I mean, if she's-"

"Stop right there!" Chad interrupted him, slamming his fist on the table a little harder than he meant to, causing some of his orange juice to spill over the lip of his glass. "I can't believe I'm hearing this! You're giving up!" Chad threw his hands in the air in disbelief.

"What do you mean? I'm not giving up. I'm just giving her time and space to-"

"To run straight to someone else's arms! I can tell you, Hoops, Gabster doesn't need to know that you're willing to give her time. If you do that, you're telling her that you give up and you're willing to let her go. No woman wants a man who lets her go. They want a man who's going to stand up and fight for her. What you need to do now is whatever it takes to let her know that you're not giving up on her and that you're going to fight for her!"

Troy chewed his food in silence, contemplating Chad's words. He had a point. In all the years that the boys had been friends, Troy was always the one who never gave up. Whenever a challenge was in front of him, he faced it head on. That was one of the things that made him such a great ball player- his 'never give up' attitude. He gave a slow nod before speaking once more.

"See, this is why I wish I was already back in California. At least then I'd be able to look at her- look her in the eyes- and know what she's thinking. If she wants me to fight, I'll know it just be seeing her. Or I can tell if she really did want to go out with Davis."

"Dude, I can tell you what she's thinking: she's not. That's her problem. As smart as she is, she's all mixed up mentally right now. This is something the two of you need to work out together. And you know that regardless of what you two decide, I'm here for you, Bro. Always."

"I know. Hey, thanks for listening to me be all girly on you these past few days."

"Hey, we're brothers, Man. I know how much you love her and I know why you're waiting to propose. I think you're very smart for that, by the way. I also think that Gabriella's got a lot of people from the outside influencing her and the only thing that will help her right now is you."

Their conversation came to a halt when the alarm on Troy's phone went off.

"Crap. I've gotta go. The team's leaving in about twenty minutes and I still need to get my stuff. Thanks again for being there."

"You're welcome," Chad told him. The two stood from the table and shared their good-byes.

"Keep me updated on things, okay?" Chad asked.

"You know I will," Troy assured him before turning and walking off towards the elevator. As he walked away, Chad noticed the evident slump in his shoulders- a sure sign he was holding the weight of the world and was about to collapse underneath it.

TGFTGFTGFTGFTGFTGFTGFTGF

Gabriella woke that morning with two thoughts running through her mind. The thought that Troy was coming home today was very slightly overshadowed by the phone call she made the previous night right before climbing into bed. She almost felt bad for her plans for that afternoon. Did this mean she was cheating on Troy? Was she just merely finding out who else was out there? Gabriella was happy where she was; she knew she was in this position with the man she loved for a reason. But Sharpay's voice kept running through her mind over and over again.

"You've been TroyandGabriella since you were sixteen..."

"You've been known as 'Gabriella Montez, Troy Bolton's girlfriend' for years now! It's your turn to figure out who 'Gabriella Montez, fabulous budding attorney' is..."

Like her drama queen friend advised her, she'd never know if she didn't at least try. So that's what she was going to do.

Releasing a huge sigh, Gabriella got out of bed and made her way into the bathroom and began her routine of getting ready for her day. She got her coffee together and left the apartment without so much as a glance in the direction of the spare room where she knew Taylor was. Her friend had confused her enough this week already; she didn't need her house guest to know her plans for today and risk making her emotions even more on edge than they already were.

A few hours later, when her last class of the day was over, she exited the lecture room and found Davis waiting for her across the hall leaning against the wall. The two greeted each other, exited the building, and walked towards the parking lot where the cars were parked. No matter how hard she tried, Gabriella found it very difficult to relax and enjoy herself without worrying about what this meant for her current relationship.

TGFTGFTGFTGFTGFTGFTGFTGF

On the flight back to San Francisco, Troy tried hard to fall asleep and make the time go faster.

Why is it so hard for me to be excited about going home? I just want to take her in my arms and put all this behind us. Why can she not love me like I love her? Am I not enough for her? Why did Taylor do this to Gabriella... to us? Her and her crazy ideas about relationships...

He knew that regardless of what happened between him and Gabriella when he got back, Taylor would still be there. Those were the two best reasons he could think of to answer his first question. As much as he wanted to see and hold his girlfriend again, he knew their relationship had been a tense one these past few days and didn't know what he would be walking into. He also knew that Taylor was the only other person- other than Gabriella's mom- who knew his girlfriend the best. If he couldn't get some answers from his girlfriend, he certainly hoped Taylor would help, regardless of how upset he was with her right now at this moment in time.

The plane landed and the team rode the team bus back to Berkeley, where Troy took his bags and threw them in the bed of his truck. The ride back to the apartment in Hayward was the longest ride he had ever taken. As he pulled into the parking lot of the complex and parked in front of the building where he shared an apartment with Gabriella, he let out a sigh of relief when he spotted her car parked in its spot, right where it should be.

"Okay," he said out loud to no one in particular. "That's a good sign, right? Her car's here. That means she's home."

He cut the engine and climbed out. As he reached into the bed and grabbed the handle of his duffel bag, the sound of another car pulling up in the parking space a few spots down caught his attention. He looked in the direction of the red Toyota Camry and noticed two people sitting in the front seats. The girl in the passenger seat was laughing at an apparent joke that the driver just told. Troy just shook his head, remembering a time when he and Gabriella looked like that, and continued walking up the sidewalk.

He stopped in his tracks however when the sounds of the female's laughter rang through the air and met his ears. It was that sound that brought him back to his nightmare from the night before. It was a laughter that was all too familiar to him. A laughter that he's known for five years and could recognize from miles away. He dropped his duffel bag there on the sidewalk and closed his eyes, slowly turning around. When he opened his eyes, he found himself face to face with his girlfriend- with Davis standing right next to her with his hand resting on the small of her back. Dull, sorrowful blue eyes met shocked, horrified brown ones.

"Troy!" Gabriella gasped. "I wasn't expecting you for another twenty minutes or so!"

"Yeah, I can see that," Troy snapped, throwing a look in Davis' direction. He bent down and picked up his duffel bag, turned on his heels, and walked toward the steps that would lead him to the door of the apartment, leaving Gabriella and Davis standing in the breezeway staring after him.

Seeing her standing there with Davis, watching the apparent joy at being with him show on her face, the fact that she had gone out with him after she promised Troy that she would wait until he got home and they would talk about it... it all made what Chad said that morning null and void. Troy wanted to fight for her, but seeing her with this other guy- with any other guy for that matter- made his heart break and sucked the fight right out of him.

"Troy, wait!" Gabriella called out after him. "Um, Davis, thanks for lunch. I'll talk to you later. I better..." She pointed in the direction of the steps, silently begging for Davis to understand.

"I get it. Go on. I had fun this afternoon. I'll call you later."

"I... No," Gabriella told him, shaking her head furiously to reiterate her point. "I don't think that's a good idea. I'll just- I'll see you in class." Gabriella turned and ran up the stairs, catching Troy just as he had his hand on the door knob. She reached her hand out and covered his, keeping him from opening the door. "Troy, talk to me. Please?" she begged.

He didn't turn to face her. He merely kept his gaze focused on the black door in front of him.

"You promised."

His words were simple. They weren't angry or hurt. In fact, he sounded almost emotionless. That was not lost on Gabriella as she stood there in silence. There was nothing she could say. He was right- she did promise.

"I-" she started, swallowing before continuing. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Troy noticed the emotion in her voice and took a deep breath. "Yeah." He opened the door and walked in, Gabriella right behind him.

"Troy?" She followed him into the bedroom and watched as he placed his duffel bag on the bed... the bed that the two of them had shared for six months now. Almost as if he felt the bed was now tainted, he picked his bag up and dropped it on the floor. Gabriella couldn't help but notice his actions and rolled her eyes. "What was that about?"

"What?"

"Was there something wrong with the bed?"

Troy shrugged and shook his head. "No. Nothing's wrong with the bed. It didn't lie to me."

"I didn't lie to you!" she cried out in frustration, begging him to listen to her.

"No. No, you're right. You didn't lie to me. You just broke a promise. How could I have been so stupid to confuse the two?" he asked with a sarcastic laugh.

Gabriella gave a soft sigh before giving in. "Okay. Point made. But Troy, it was was just lunch! Can we please talk about this later when Taylor's not here? I don't feel like getting into this in front of her."

Hearing her request, Troy gave her a pointed look and walked past her, brushing her shoulder with his as he past. Gabriella turned and left the room as well, following him into the kitchen. She watched as he opened the refrigerator and pulled out a beer and flinched when he slammed the refrigerator closed. Both were so involved in their silence- Troy sipping from his newly opened bottle and Gabriella standing with her arms wrapped around her middle as she watched- that neither noticed when Taylor emerged from the spare bedroom.

"Troy, hey. I didn't hear you come in," their apartment-guest said, breaking the tense silence.

"Yeah, well, I'm here," he told her as he walked past both girls and back into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Taylor cringed and Gabriella nearly cried when they both heard the turning of the lock from the other side of the door.

"Um, what was that all about?" Taylor asked. "Is he still upset at me?"

"No," Gabriella said softly. "It's me this time."

"What do you mean? Troy could never be upset at you. He treasures the ground you walk on."

"I went to lunch with Davis," Gabriella said softly, afraid that just saying it out loud- regardless of the volume of her voice- would perhaps set Troy even further off the deep end.

Taylor smiled widely at her friend's admission. It made the dark-skinned girl perk up, even despite the tension that was ever present between the two during the past few days. Regardless of all that, the two were still best friends; sisters even. "See, that wasn't so hard now, was it?"

"It was just lunch, Taylor."

"But it's a start." Taylor paused as she noticed the look on Gabriella's face and the sadness in her eyes. Her face softened as she spoke her next words. "Look, Gabriella, I know you love Troy and he loves you. But you just need to know that other guys are interested. It'll make him appreciate you more."

"Maybe not so much anymore..." Gabriella said sadly as she looked at the closed bedroom door. Her breathing hitched as the realization that her relationship- her comfort, her whole world- was about to be completely turned upside down occurred to her for the umpteenth time. It was the one bit of her conscience that had been screaming at her since this whole fiasco began. And for some reason unknown to her, she was choosing to ignore it.

"Oh, Sweetie," Taylor started as she closed the distance between her and Gabriella and wrapped her arms around her friend in comfort. "I'm so sorry."

"You should be."

The two girls pulled apart at the sound of the third voice joining in the conversation and turned around to see that Troy had emerged from his room and was standing nearby.