Chapter 20: Reassurances
"Come on in, Brendi. I think we have some Seagram's in the refrigerator if you want something to drink," Troy told his date as he unlocked the door. He swung it open, only to be met with some resistance. He pushed a little bit harder and looked down to try and find the reason for the door not opening all the way and there, on the floor right in front of the door, was Gabriella's pewter colored purse.
He knew that Coach bag; he'd recognize it anywhere. After all, he did give it to her for Christmas their junior year. The two of them had been out shopping for his mom's birthday that September and she saw it in the Coach store window. He knew by the look in her eyes that she had fallen in love with it and decided right then that he would get it for her. He had to save his money for months in order to afford to buy it and surprise her with it, but the look on her face made all the scrimping and starving the rest of the semester worth it.
"That's odd," he said as he leaned down to pick it up.
"I like your purse," Brendi told him as she fingered the strap. "No, actually, I love your purse!"
Troy fought hard to hide his look of disbelief. Are you serious? You really think I carry a purse?
"Um... it's not my purse. It's my ex-girl-... my roommate's." He walked to the high top, four seat dining room table the two of them had and set the purse on top. "Help yourself to whatever's in the refrigerator." He spotted Gabriella's sweater on the back of the recliner and crossed the few feet over to stand at the back of the chair. "Like I said, I think my roommate has some Seagram's in there, but I'm not positive," he said over his shoulder as he fingered Gabriella's sweater.
This is really odd, he thought to himself. She's usually all over me about picking up behind myself.
"I found one," he heard Brendi's voice call out to him. "Do you want anything?"
"Um, yeah. Bring me a water, please."
Troy put the sweater back where it was and turned around to face Brendi, just in time to see her stumble slightly on her way into the living room.
"Are you okay?" he asked as he took a few steps in her direction to help her gain her balance. When he glanced up, he noticed something over her shoulder on the counter in the kitchen.
"Yeah. What did I trip on?" she asked, looking down at the floor. She leaned down and picked up one of the offending items that were at her feet. "Are these your Gladiator sandals?"
Troy just looked at her in frustration. "Really?" he asked. Can one person really be that dumb?
"I'm just checking."
"Actually..." he started. Troy held up a finger, silently telling Brendi to 'hang on' and walked into the kitchen, taking a closer look at the counter. He saw the note and a few crumpled up tissues next to it. "Oh, great," he mumbled to himself. "Hang on a second, Brendi, I'll be right back."
"Wait!" She put her hand on his arm, stopping him before he could walk off. He stood in front of her- Troy facing down the hall and Brendi facing the kitchen- and allowed her to wrap her arms around his neck. She stood on her tiptoes and started to give him a kiss on his lips, but Troy turned his face and left her lips to land on his cheek. "You just seem so tense," she told him with a pout. "I can help you work out all of those knots you have in your shoulders," she said, giving him a seductive smile as she attempted to massage the tightness in his neck.
She leaned in and initiated another kiss and just as he was about to close his eyes and give into the feeling, something caught his eye- Gabriella's bedroom door that was left ajar.
She usually keeps it closed, he thought to himself. Something's not right.
Troy gently pushed Brendi a few feet away from him. "I'll be right back, Brendi," he told her again, this time successfully walking away.
He walked in the direction of Gabriella's bedroom and pushed the door slightly open a little more. As he stuck his head in the door, he found her- tucked far under her covers, her dark curls creating a curtain for her to hide her face behind, and-
Are those tears? he thought, when he spotted the wetness streaming down her cheek.
Damnit! he silently cursed his conscience as he released a sigh. Why tonight, when he had a date sitting just in the other room, expecting tonight to be fun. Brendi's going to have to get over it, he decided.
"Brendi?" he called as he walked into the other room. "I'm sorry, but tonight isn't a good night. I've got something here I need to deal with."
"But Troy..." she started with a pout. Troy took a deep breath and placed his hands on her shoulders, giving her a brief kiss to her red lips, hiding his cringe as he pulled away. It's still not the same, he thought himself as he twisted his mouth to hide his disapproval of her kiss.
"I'll call you soon, okay? I need to check on my roommate," he fibbed. "I don't think she's doing too well."
"What do you consider soon?" she asked, allowing Troy to use his hands on her shoulders to turn her and lead her to the door.
"I'm not sure. My parents are getting in from New Mexico in the next few days for graduation and I need to pick them up from the airport. But I will call you at some point."
The two said their good-byes and Troy shut the door. When he turned back around, his eyes traveled down the hallway while his feet followed instinctively. Before he realized what had happened he was standing outside Gabriella's partly-opened door.
"I really wish I could read your mind like I used to be able to. I used to know what you're thinking just by looking at you." He pushed himself off the door frame and walked to his own bedroom, closing the door behind him.
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After Davis left, Gabriella allowed herself to sink into the depths of her covers, surrounded by the silence of the apartment. She was used to being alone- Troy did travel with the basketball team, leaving her to fend for herself on more than one occasion- but that didn't make it any easier to suffer through- especially not when she was depressed and confused.
After her talk with Taylor that afternoon, she found herself really questioning her decisions as of late and second guessing some of the things she had said and done. Did she really want to permanently end things with Troy? Was she really ready to start dating other people? If she did break up with him for good, Gabriella didn't know what she would do. The two of them had been together for so long; her whole world practically revolved around him. She thought about what Sharpay had told her when the two of them talked about three weeks previously:
Do you even know who you are as an individual?
It was time for Gabriella to be honest with herself. At the time that Sharpay posed that question, Gabriella had to say no. But after the last three weeks, she did know who she was. She was Gabriella Montez- fabulous budding attorney extraordinaire; honors student at one of the most prestigious universities in America; daughter of one of the hardest working women she knew and her hero Gabriel, who had put up the greatest fight of his life, a fight that he eventually lost.
At this point in time- and most importantly right now- she was supposed to be a girlfriend to Troy Bolton. Yes, he was a boy when she met him, but she had had the privilege of watching him grow into one of the greatest gentlemen she knew. That was one of the many reasons why she was extremely proud of him. The gentleman he'd become, the ethics he had come to value, and the drive that he'd always had, but really honed in on in the past few months since he hurt his knee at the beginning of the season. She was ready to admit that she was wrong in asking for this break. She just hoped that she wasn't too late and hadn't pushed him too far away. Because at this point in time and after the few weeks break that they had, she realized that she did indeed love him.
Gabriella was so lost in her thoughts that she bolted upright in her bed, startled, when she heard the front door open. In the quietness of the apartment, she was able to not only make out what was being said, but also who the voices belonged to. She sat there listening for a minute- rolling her eyes at Brendi's airhead qualities- until she heard something that made her heart sink much lower than her stomach and all hope that she had for reconciling with Troy deflated like a balloon that had been poked with a straight pin.
"Wait!" Gabriella heard her competition shriek in the other room. She obviously couldn't see what was going on, but based on the tone of the words Gabriella heard next, she just knew it was a good thing that she was unable to.
"You just seem so tense. I can help you work out all of those knots you have in your shoulders." Those words were followed by the sound of a kiss, causing the tears to spring to Gabriella's eyes.
Geez... this girl puts high school Sharpay to shame! she thought, swiping furiously at her tears, before lowering herself back down under the covers and snuggling in deep, hoping to cry herself to sleep, knowing that when that happened, she slept the best.
She was so busy getting comfortable, that she didn't hear Troy and Brendi say their good-byes. She did, however, hear the door close and Troy's footsteps. She heard every word he said to her as he stood in her doorway. He thought she was asleep, but she heard every word.
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Later that night after Brendi left, Troy got himself ready for bed. He crawled under the sheets, got comfortable and turned to face out the window and away from the door, pulling the extra pillow close to his body and inhaling deeply. Yep, just as he thought... her scent was still there. He knew he probably would have gotten ragged big time if Chad saw him cuddling a pillow as he fell asleep, but at this point in time, he just didn't care. This was the closest he had gotten to holding her in almost a month. If this was all he got from now on, he'd take it.
Just as he was on the verge of drifting off to sleep, he heard the tell-tale creaking of his door and before his brain could register what was going on, he felt the weight shift on the mattress next to him and two very familiar arms tentatively wrap around his waist line. He swallowed hard, trying to keep the blood flow north.
"What are you doing?" Troy said into the darkness without turning around.
Hearing his greeting, Gabriella knew she had made a mistake. She didn't know what she had expected to be the end result from her moment of courage, but this certainly wasn't it. Instantly, her throat tightened and the tears sprang to her eyes.
"I don't know." Her voice was soft in the night, a near whisper as she fought the war of emotions that was raging inside her. The courage left her immediately, reacting to his nearly cold tone and rigid muscles.
Even though he had his back to her, Troy could still hear the hurt and tears in her voice. To a well-trained ear such as his, she was nasally from where she'd been crying.
How long has she been crying? he wondered, and then immediately shook the thought from his mind. That's not important, Troy. It's not your job to worry about her anymore.
"This is not a good idea, Gabriella." He closed his eyes as he fought the hormones raging inside him.
"I just need to know you still love me." Her words broke his heart- again- but he knew he had to be the strong one.
"This isn't like other disagreements we've had in the past. We're separated, Gabriella. You're seeing other guys. You made this decision." Stay strong, man. Don't let her know how she's affecting you.
He heard Gabriella sniffle and swallow before she spoke again. "I..." She paused to clear her throat. "You're right. I'm sorry. I- I just couldn't go to sleep."
Gabriella felt more tears forming in her brown eyes. Again?! Damn you, Gabriella! You can't even keep it together for five minutes tonight, can you? You know good and well that guilting him into holding you is not the way to make this work.
Slowly, Gabriella unwrapped her arms from around him. As she slid them across his stomach, she felt his muscles contract. She always loved the feel of his bare skin but at that moment, was hurting too much to enjoy it.
She had woken up when Troy and Brendi came home- the bimbo's shrill voice could be heard fifty miles away and had the ability to wake the dead. When she heard their conversation, it became clear to her what her heart had been trying to tell her over the past few days- she wanted to turn the clock back and try to fix things between them, but she had no clue how. She pulled herself up and sat on the side of the bed for a minute, testing the waters to see if Troy would react to her leaving his bed.
When he stayed there motionless, with his back to her and the room basked in silence, Gabriella placed her hands on the mattress on either side of her body and pushed herself to stand, slowly walking to the door. She brought her hand up and rested it on the doorknob but just as she was about to turn the knob to leave, his voice broke through the tense, emotional silence.
"I do still love you, Gabriella. You know that; I can't stop. But that's not the question that needs answering. The question you need to answer is whether or not you still love me."
Instead of running back to his bed and proving to him right then and there just how much she did still love him- and hopefully put an end to the fight between her heart and her mind- Gabriella slowly walked out the door- closing it behind her- and made her way back to her room to try and cry herself to sleep again.
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The next few days were spent with the two of them attempting to avoid each other, with the exception of only passing each other in the mornings as they were getting ready for the day and on their way out the door. In the evenings, one would be in the living room watching tv or on their computer and the other would stay locked up in their bedroom, on their computer. The tension only grew.
Finally Friday came, and Troy made the trek to the airport to pick up his parents and Chad. He spotted Lucille first- she was so excited to see her son for the first time since Christmas break that she was practically running through the terminals to baggage claim- and Chad and Jack about twenty yards behind her. Lucille was looking straight ahead, so intent on finding Troy, and not paying attention that she came close to running right past him. Had he not called out her name to stop her, she would have.
"Mom!"
"What?" she asked, jerking her head up and looking around. Finally she spotted Troy, standing ten feet in front of her, holding his hands up with the palms facing her, trying to keep her from going any further.
"Stop!" he said, chuckling. "You just about ran right into the baggage carousel."
Lucille glanced around and noticed that in her rush and excitement to find Troy, she hadn't been watching where she was going and was now two feet from falling onto the carousel. She looked into the blue eyes that reminded her so much of her husband and smiled sheepishly. "Oh, honey," she said. "I'm so sorry! I was just so excited to see you!"
Troy held his arms open and allowed his mom to walk into them. "I would have still been here in two minutes, you know. You could have at least paid attention to where you're going!"
"Yeah, like that's going to happen," Troy heard a voice that matched his. He looked up and saw his dad and Chad joining them. "That's all we heard from the thirty minute warning on the plane. 'You guys better hurry up and get off this plane! We've got to hurry and find my baby! Don't make me drag you!'" Jack told him, doing his best to imitate his wife. He received laughter from Troy and Chad, but a smack on the arm from Lucille.
"Jack Bolton! I do not sound like that!"
"But you did call him your baby," Chad told her while playing with one of his fingernails.
"Well, of course I did, because that's what he is." Lucille announced to Troy's chagrin while she playfully smacked Chad on his chest before she brought her arm around Troy's neck in order to bring him into a hug easier. When she pulled away, she spotted a crumb from the doughnut that Troy snacked on at the airport coffee shop while he was waiting. She licked her thumb and reached up to wipe the corner of his mouth. "Come here, honey. You've got a crumb by your mouth."
"Mom! Seriously?!" Troy blocked Lucille's hand before she could reach said crumb and blushed furiously. "I think I'm old enough to get rid of crumbs. You don't have to spit clean me anymore!"
"Wow, honey. It's a good thing that Chad's the only one here to have witnessed that right now and not Gabriella," Jack told her, shaking his head at Lucille's antics and missing the look that passed between Troy and Chad. They boys sputtered, trying to come up with a good cover.
"Yeah, you know lately I've been on the receiving end of those spit cleans, Hoops. I won't say anything," Chad commented, recovering before Troy.
"Let's get the bags, please?" Troy begged, hoping to deflect his mother's need to baby him in public.
Jack and Lucille started to walk towards the baggage claim that corresponded with their flight while Troy pulled Chad back a few feet.
"Hey? You didn't say anything to my parents about Gabriella and all that's been going on, have you?" Troy asked him in a hushed tone as he rested his hand on Chad's shoulder.
"No, Man," Chad reassured him, shaking his head. "I didn't say anything. I didn't know what you had told them, if anything, so I just kept my mouth shut on that."
"Thanks."
"So...?" Chad prompted.
"'So' what?"
"So how are things going back at the apartment? Am I going to have to play interference or anything?"
"I don't know, Chad. Things have been... weird."
"Weird how?" Chad asked.
"I can't really explain it," Troy told him with a shrug. "It's just one of those things that you're just going to have to see for yourself."
"Are you going to tell them? I mean, don't you think they should be forewarned or something?"
Troy shook his head. "No. Gabriella knows they're coming. She knows I haven't told them yet. She and I haven't been talking much, but we did talk about that last night. I think we're both trying to be on our best behavior this week while they're out here. Not ruin their vacation and all that, you know?"
"But Maria knows?" Chad confirmed, to which Troy nodded. "Wow."
"Alright, boys! We've got them; let's go!" The sound of Lucille's voice pulled them both back to reality.
"Mama B? We're men. Not boys," Chad called after her as he and the other three made their way to the airport exit and out to Troy's truck.
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"Mom, Dad? Do you guys want to go straight to the hotel and get checked in, or come to the apartment?" Troy asked.
"Actually, Son, if you don't mind, why don't you take us by the hotel and give us about an hour or so? You know how plane rides affect your mom," Jack told him.
"Jack Bolton! Would you please stop placing blame on me? You know good and well that you're the one that gets exhausted whenever you fly and has to take a nap. I could keep going for the rest of the day," Lucille scolded him.
"So you're saying that you want to go to the apartment with the boys and not take a nap?" Jack asked knowingly.
Lucille- knowing she was caught- folded her arms across her chest like a five year old and turned her head to look out the car window. "I didn't say that."
"That's what I thought."
Troy and Chad laughed at the elder Boltons antics. "Oh, geez," Troy said while shaking his head. "You two never quit, do you?" He directed the truck towards the hotel located in downtown San Francisco where he knew his parents had made their reservations.
After he and Chad made sure Jack and Lucille were properly checked in, had their key cards, and were settled into their room, the two left and made their way to the apartment Troy shared with Gabriella. Chad wasn't staying at the hotel with Jack and Lucille; due to the fact that he had to cut his visit short because his internship was starting the following week and he had to catch his flight to the East Coast on Sunday, Chad had planned on staying at the apartment with hopes to maximize the time he spent with Troy and Gabriella while he was in California. The original plan- when it was made three months ago- was that Chad would sleep in Gabriella's bed. However, with recent events, he was forced to settle for the couch.
When the two life-long friends arrived and the truck was parked in its proper space, Chad took advantage of his excitement in seeing Gabriella and threw the door open and was out of the vehicle before Troy even had the key out of the ignition.
"Don't worry, Dude. I'll get your bag," Troy called out as Chad ran up the sidewalk.
"Thanks, Hoops!" Chad yelled over his shoulder. When Chad reached the door, he knocked furiously and without waiting for the person on the other side to open it, he turned the knob and opened it himself.
"Gabster!" he yelled into the apartment before he was even fully in.
"Chadster!" he heard in return and within seconds, his vision was blocked by a mass of black curls as a petite body flew into his arms.
"Girl, it's been way too long!" Chad announced.
"I've missed you so much! I'm so glad you came, even if it is just for a few hours! Do you really have to go back tomorrow evening?" she asked.
"If I'm going to be back to catch my flight on Sunday afternoon to Charlotte, then yes, I probably should," Chad said as he held Gabriella back at arms' length so he could fully look at her.
"What?" Gabriella asked him with raised eyebrows when he shook his head.
"You've lost weight," he accused. "And you didn't have that much to lose to begin with."
"Yeah, would you please tell her to eat?" the third voice asked as the owner entered the room behind them. "I don't exactly have that right anymore," Troy said without actually looking at either Chad or Gabriella. In fact he turned his back on them to hide his concerned face.
"If you still care, all you have to do is speak up and say something instead of avoiding-" Gabriella started, but was cut off by Chad.
"Alright, you two. None of that right now. You-" he said, pointing to Gabriella "-are taking me out to get some food. This may be the only chance I get to be alone with you. You-" he turned his attention to Troy "-are going to take my stuff to the other room and set up the couch while we're gone."
The trio went their separate ways, with Chad and Gabriella leaving the apartment in search of a late lunch and Troy staying behind with the job of getting Chad settled in.
Chad and Gabriella arrived at the restaurant that they had decided upon and got a settled in a booth in the back corner.
"Two Shock Tops, please!" Chad called out to the bartender and waited until their drinks had been delivered before the firing squad took its shots at Gabriella.
"Talk to me," he started, bringing his beer to his lips, taking a sip.
"What do you mean?"
"Gabs, you know what I mean. What's going on in your head?" Chad asked her as he watched her play with the label on her bottle.
"You mean what was going on three weeks ago, or what's going on now?"
"I know what was going on three weeks ago. You had a stupid moment and decided to listen to someone else instead of yourself. Things were going great, Gabs." Gabriella had no words to contradict what Chad was telling her. Instead, she rolled her eyes, sat back in her seat, and folded her arms across her chest. "So what's going on now?"
Gabriella looked her friend- the guy who had been like a brother to her- in the eyes and licked her lips. She took a deep breath and slowly told him a one sentence synopsis of the thoughts that had been running through her mind for the past few days. "I think I made a mistake, Chad."
"I'm going to say four words that I hardly ever say, but they're just screaming to be said in this situation. But once I say them, we're moving on. Agreed?" He watched as Gabriella nodded before he continued. "I told you so." He ducked when he saw Gabriella's napkin fly through the air, aimed perfectly for his head. "Hey!" he yelped with a chuckle. "That was mean!"
"You're supposed to be on my side!" she told him with a pout.
"Gabs, I'm on both of your sides. Troy is my oldest friend. My brother, pretty much. I've seen him go through some pretty crappy stuff in our lifetime. But I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that absolutely nothing has ever affected him the way this has. He's been a complete mess. But on the other hand, all I had to do was talk to you on the phone a few weeks ago and I could tell how torn you were over this stupid decision you made. And now, sitting here across from you, I can see in your eyes how torn up you still are over this."
"He's started dating again," she told him softly.
"She's nothing," Chad told her quickly.
"Has he told you about her?" she quietly asked. As much as she tried to deny it, she was curious about what exactly Brendi meant to Troy.
"Please!" Chad scoffed. "You are the only girl he's ever talked about. Hell, you're the only girl he still talks about."
"Really?" she asked, bringing her slightly hopeful eyes up to meet Chad's.
"Yeah," Chad confirmed.
"So what do I do, Chad?"
"Talk to him."
"You make it sound so simple," she told him with a roll of her eyes before taking a sip from her beer.
"Gabriella, this is Troy we're talking about. It is simple."
"What if he won't listen to me?" she asked, watching as Chad shook his head in response. She sat up in the seat on her side of the booth and placed her forearms on the table in front of her, leaning forward so as to get herself as close to Chad as she could with the table in between them. "I've had my chance with him, Chad. What if he's moved on with this other girl and it's too late and I've missed my chance to make things right?"
"Gabriella, look at me," Chad started, pausing to make sure he had her attention. He thought back to a conversation between her and Troy that he had told him about several years before and hoped his next words would hit home with her; he wanted to make sure she was really paying attention to him.
"What happened to kindergarten?"