Hello, my dear readers! Good news and bad news. Which do you want first? The bad? Okay, well, this story is almost over... but the good news is that it's not almost over for you guys! For me, the writer. I only have about one, maybe two more chapters to write and then it's done. Once I get to that point, I can upload a new chapter more often than I am now. I do apologize that it's taking me so long, but I thank you for your patience. To those who are still out there reading and reviewing, please don't give up on me! The reviews are still great to receive and believe it or not, they really keep me going! Anyway, without further adieu (please forgive me if I misspelled that. It's been a looooong time since I spoke- much less wrote- French!), here's chapter 16!

Chapter 16

Troy watched as the woman he loved walked out the door with another man- if you could even call him that; he was more a weakling in Troy's opinion- and when the door closed, he took a long sip from the bottle he held in his hands. He turned and walked down the hall into his room and looked around. When his eyes landed on the closed closet door, he took another sip from his Sam Adams- as if seeking strength from the amber liquid inside. He took a few slow steps toward the door and turned the handle to open it, stepped inside, and lowered himself to sit on the floor.

Troy set the bottle on the top of the shoebox that was to his right and leaned over, reaching for the red duffel bag that sat in the back corner, hidden behind his three feet tall, sectional laundry basket. He hid his one physical treasure in this bag knowing it was the one place that Gabriella wouldn't look. The only time she touched any of his basketball gear was when he gave her his dirty practice clothes or his game uniform to be washed. Troy knew that she never went through his high school basketball bag, which is why he knew it would be safe in there.

He unzipped the bag and reached in, feeling around blindly until he found the left shoe that was last worn during the season of his senior year at East High School. He held the shoe upside down in the air and let the item that was tucked in the toe fall out into his open palm.

As Troy opened the small velvet box and pulled out the modest ring, he sighed as he let his mind travel back to the day he got it six months prior:

It was Fall Break for the two schools. Gabriella had traveled to Washington, D.C. with the Student Government to visit the office of the California Senator, leaving Troy to work a few shifts at the restaurant and focus on conditioning for the upcoming season which was due to start after the break. The mother of his girlfriend had called him, inviting him to dinner at her house one evening over the break. He was going to decline at first, but was soon persuaded by the offer of brownies.

After dinner, Maria fixed two plates of brownies that she warmed in the microwave with a scoop each of vanilla bean ice cream and two glasses of milk. She set hers down and excused herself once again and gave Troy a hug from behind as she passed by and told Troy that she would be right back, followed by a kiss to his cheek. When she returned to the table, she sat down in her seat and took a bite of her brownie before speaking.

"Troy, I know I'm the one that asked you here this evening to get you out of the apartment for some actual cooking while Brie was gone, but I can't help but feel like there's something on your mind."

Troy's eyes grew wide. "Uh, w- well, Maria, th- there um-" he stammered, and paused to take a bite of his brownie, washed it down with a sip of milk, and cleared his throat. "There kind of is. I um, I really don't know how to start this as I've never had to say it before, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about tonight."

Maria watched and listened as the boy that she met almost five years ago turned to a man before her eyes. He started speaking his heart to the woman who had never made him nervous before in the past, but was currently making him so incredibly scared that he was glad that it was just Maria and not Maria sitting next to Gabriella's late father. He could only imagine how he would feel if he had to face him, too!

"Maria, it's no secret that Gabriella has the next five years all mapped out. To be honest with you, I do, too. But the difference in our plans is that mine is transferable. I can go anywhere for my next five years to work the way I want them to. I want Gabriella's to work for her wherever she needs to be for them to work. I want to do everything in my power to make her dreams come true. I want to be beside her to watch everything fall into place for her, whether it be her five year plan or her fifty year plan."

"I admire that about you, Troy. But if you're taking this conversation where I think you are, you're going to have to be more specific in your speech," she said with a raised eyebrow. It was only because of the gleam in her eyes that Troy's nerves were calmed. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before speaking again.

"Maria, I want to ask for your blessing in asking Gabriella to marry me." Troy paused, watching Maria's face carefully, and then continued in a rush. "I want to wait until after we graduate, of course. I mean, I know that being engaged while in school is-"

"Troy? Troy, Sweetie, calm down and let me talk, okay?" Maria smiled when Troy blushed and lowered his eyes to look at his plate, taking a bite of his brownie. "I'm so glad that you came into Briella's life when you did- at a time when she truly needed a friend and needed someone other than me in her life. I've really enjoyed watching the two you grow into adults and grow closer together in the process. She's a better person when she's with you."

"As am I," Troy said as he brought his face up from his plate and looked deep in Maria's eyes. "I love her, Maria."

"I know you do, Troy." Maria paused, and brought her fist up from her lap to rest on top of the table. "This-" she paused as her voice caught in her throat. "I'm sorry," she told him as she wiped at a few unexpected tears as they escaped from the corners of her eyes and cleared her throat. She opened her palm, revealing the most beautiful diamond ring that Troy had ever seen. "This is the ring that Gabriel gave me when he proposed almost twenty-five years ago. Gabriella found it when she was eleven and asked me if she could have it one day. I swore to myself then that- if it was wanted by him- it would be the ring that her future husband should give to her. So Troy, will Gabriel be a part of your life with Gabriella symbolically, as well as in your hearts like I know he already is?" Maria held the ring out for Troy to take so he could get a closer look.

"Wow," Troy breathed as he examined the ring. "Maria, that's... wow. I'm- I'm sorry, I don't know what to say. This ring is absolutely beautiful. I- I can... I can almost see it on Gabriella's finger." Troy shook himself from his reverie and looked at Maria. "I want to pay you for it. Can we go tomorrow to get it appraised?"

"Troy, you don't have to-"

"Maria, I know I don't have to, but it only makes sense. I've been saving up since this past summer to buy her a ring anyway, so why not buy this one from you? It certainly will take all the stress out of my life that shopping for one would bring!"

Maria grinned at his joke. "Honey, take it as my way of letting you know that I love you both, and I trust that you'll take care of my daughter. I appreciate what you've done for her already and I know that you both love each other. Don't ever forget that."

Troy shook himself back to the present and tucked the ring back into its hiding place. He swallowed the last half of his beer in three gulps and forced the lump back down his throat. After making sure the shoe and bag were put back in their proper hiding places, he forced himself to leave the closet and walked back into the kitchen to get another beer. He then settled himself back on the couch and picked up his laptop with the sole intent of loosing himself in the world of psychology on working on his research paper. If he couldn't solve his own problems, maybe he could solve the problems of his case study.

TGFTGFTGFTGFTGFTGFTGFTGF

"Thank you, Isaac. I had a good time tonight," Gabriella said as she climbed out of the car and shut the door behind her.

Don't get out. Don't get out. Don't get out, she chanted to herself, only to sigh in defeat when the engine of the car was turned off behind her and Isaac got out and rushed to her side, gently placing his hand on the small of her back as he walked beside her to the door of the apartment. She fought hard to not cringe at his touch.

It wasn't that Gabriella didn't have a good time on this date. It was just that Isaac was too... well, he just wasn't her type and she couldn't wait for the date to be over. All she wanted to do was put on her comfy pajamas and climb into bed and pull the covers way up over her head. Just five more minutes and she'll be in the comfort of the apartment...

She stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she turned to face Isaac.

"I really did have a good time tonight. That restaurant was amazing. I'll have to go there again with a friend of mine," she told him, referring to the Greek restaurant that Isaac took her to.

"I thought you might like it, with your heritage and all."

I'm not Greek, you moron! she mentally screamed.

"Well, I'm... glad you thought of that," she told him, trying hard to cover her annoyance and not roll her eyes. She managed to recover and placed a hand on his bicep, only to be taken by how puny it felt.

Man, Troy's biceps are rocks compared to his! Geez, dude, gym much? Gabriella couldn't help but think back to all the many times that she's grasped onto Troy's biceps in the past: posing for pictures, holding on to them as he picked her up and spun her around in the air, when she would touch his arm trying to get his attention, and- her personal favorite- the way he held his weight on his forearms as he hovered above her when they were making love and his muscles would flex on their own... Her mental list went on and on.

"Thank you again for tonight," she continued, as she gave a very slight shake of her head, trying to clear it of any thoughts of Troy's body being held precariously above her as they had nothing but a thin sheet wrapped around their naked bodies, "I'll see you next week at church." Gabriella leaned in to give Isaac a hug- only out of obligation- and turned to unlock the door. Once she was safely inside and the wooden barrier was between them, she pressed her ear up against it and listened for the sound of his footsteps going down the stairs. When she was pleased that he was no longer in earshot, she threw her purse in the chair behind her and covered her face, letting out a frustrated groan in the process.

As she slowly brought her hands down from in front of her eyes, she slowly let her eyes scan the living room, taking in the laptop on the floor, the numerous empty beer bottles scattered around, and several balls of crumpled up pieces of paper, and finally the slumped body on the couch. Troy was laying there with his right arm splayed across his eyes and his left arm flung over the side of the couch. His mouth was somewhat open and the slight snoring coming from his mouth told Gabriella that he had been asleep for some time. She snorted softly and shook her head at the sight before pushing herself off the door and walking further into the room.

As she bent to pick up the laptop from the floor, it came to life, bringing up the paper that Troy had been working on. She took a moment to save the document and noticed that there were eight and a half more pages written than what he had earlier in the evening.

"Well, I don't guess I can fuss at you too much about falling asleep while working on your paper. It looks like you've been working hard on it tonight," she told him, even though he couldn't hear her. She powered the laptop down and put it back on the floor and then leaned down to pick up the empty Sam Adams bottles- four, she counted as she rolled her eyes- and walked into the kitchen to throw them away as she heard moaning behind her. She dumped the bottles in the recycle bin and turned around in time to see Troy shifting his position on the couch and had to stifle her laughter when he let out another snore, this one louder than the others. Gabriella rolled her eyes and walked into her bedroom, only to return with her red Stanford blanket which she kept on her bed, and used it to softly cover Troy's body.

She stood and crossed her arms, watching him for a moment before she shook her head.

"We are really messed up, aren't we?" she asked him, knowing that in his slightly-yet-not-quite inebriated sleep state, he wouldn't hear her. She let the moment pass and started to walk off in the direction of her bedroom, only to pause halfway down the hall when she heard his voice call out to her.

"I love you." Gabriella looked over her shoulder in Troy's direction.

"I know," she said softly. "And I love you, too."

"Then why are you going out with other guys?" he asked.

Gabriella turned and slowly started walking back in the direction of the living room. "Troy, you know why," she said with a shake of her head. "We can't keep going over this."

She watched as he started rubbing his eyes and sat up. He turned his head to spot her leaning against the wall next to the couch and moved his feet to give her room to sit down.

"When did you get home?" he asked.

"About five or ten minutes ago," she told him as she sat down next to him. She turned so she was leaning against the arm of the couch and Troy mimicked her actions, making the two of them to face each other. "You've been working hard," she commented, nodding her head in the direction of the computer that sat on the floor.

"It got to the point where everything in my head was turning to mush. I'm not sure how much sense I was making there at the end. It was either I stop, or fall asleep with my head on the keyboard and have about a hundred lines of random letters. I hope to wrap it up tomorrow when I can concentrate more. Which reminds me... will you take a look at it when I'm done?"

"Of course," Gabriella said with a nod. The two sat in silence for a moment with Troy watching Gabriella closely while she tried to avoid his gaze, becoming uncomfortable- when did their silence become an uncomfortable one?- before he spoke again.

"How was your date?" he asked with a yawn.

Gabriella looked at Troy, shocked at his sudden interest, before lowering her gaze to her lap and playing with an imaginary string on her jeans. "It was, um..." She allowed her voice to trail off as she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, searching for the right word. "...interesting."

"Interesting?"

"Yeah," she confirmed.

After another moment of silence, Troy spoke again. He knew his next question would probably upset Gabriella, but the part of him that was still in love with her just had to know. "Did this guy treat you right? He seemed like some stiff, stuck-up, holier than thou, kinda guy when he came to pick you up."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, he barely shook my hand and he looked at me like I was practically naked. And when he saw the picture of us kissing-" he pointed across the room at the picture that Isaac was looking at earlier in the evening "-I thought he was gonna blow a gasket."

"Well, he means well, but you've got him pegged, I'm afraid."

"Did he hurt you, Brie? Cause if he did I'll go kick his ass," Troy told her. Despite their current situation, Gabriella was pleased to hear the protectiveness in his voice. She lowered her head to look at her hands that rested in her lap to hide her slight, almost invisible smile.

"Troy don't be silly," she told him while rolling her eyes.

"I'm not," he insisted. "I'm dead serious. Did he hurt you?" he asked, with a little more force.

"Troy... No, not physically," she told him with a slight shake of her head, bringing her head up so their eyes met. "He may have hurt my feelings a little bit..." she said, allowing her voice to trail off. "Hey, where are you going?"

Gabriella asked, watching as Troy pushed the blanket off his legs and started to sit up.

"I told you, no one hurts my Brie and gets away with it."

"Would you stop it?" she said, as she put her hands on his bicep- ignoring the feelings she felt in her core- and pulled him back down on the couch. "He's just... I don't know ... a little more religious and subtly condescending than I would normally prefer."

Troy looked in her eyes and saw no signs of physical pain, so he settled himself back down on the couch and she continued talking.

"What kind of stuff did he say to you?" he asked, his tone softening to show his care and concern.

"We saw another woman walk in the restaurant and she was wearing a strapless top, but didn't have a jacket on like I did and he just kept talking about how women shouldn't dress that way and how it's 'too revealing' and kept giving me this look while he was saying it. Then when I started to eat when the food came, he just stared at me and asked me if I wasn't going to wait for us to pray first. When I ordered wine, he just looked at me with wide eyes and made me feel... like I was sinning or something. I don't know, Troy. It was just the little things that he said or did."

Gabriella saw the look in Troy's eyes. She knew the look in Troy's eyes. It was the same look he got when he was fighting hard to keep his temper hidden.

"Troy I'm fine," she rushed on, trying to keep him calm. "It's just words. I don't have to go out with him again. Don't worry about it. Besides, how many beers have you had? The last thing either of us needs is for you to leave here half drunk and wind up getting hurt."

"I only had four so I'm perfectly fi- Hey, wait... you think that Isaac guy can hurt me?" Troy asked in total disbelief.

Gabriella laughed a little as she remembered how scrawny Isaac's biceps felt after so many years of feeling Troy's in various circumstances. "Oh, no, believe me, Wildcat. I'm quite sure you can take him. But there's no need to. I'm fine. I'm right here and fine."

"Damn right you are," he told her. Troy gave a little yawn as he snuggled back down into the couch cushions, propped his feet up in Gabriella's lap, and pulled the blanket back up under his chin. "Right here, at home, with me. Where you belong."

"Hey, why don't you go on and get in the bed? You're back will hurt tomorrow if you sleep out here on the couch and you know it," she told him as she reached forward and poked him in the stomach.

"I'll be fine. Besides, I'm already comfy," he said. His voice started trailing off as his body was already being overtaken by sleep once again.

Gabriella reached up and brushed his hair off his forehead. "Good night, Troy," she whispered. With one last look at him, she lifted his feet off her lap, gently set them back down on the couch as she stood up, and watched as he repositioned himself- gently pulling the blanket further up under his chin- before she turned and walked back down the hall to her own bedroom and shut the door behind her.