Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Chapter 10 - Scared

Troy had left not long after that to go home so Gabriella could rest, but promised he would be back the next day as soon as he got done at work. Around 4:30 he showed up at her door looking nervous about being there.

"Troy, are you ok?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." He gave her a kiss on the cheek as he came in the door.

"Are you sure?" Gabriella looked at him and was worried about the way he was acting. He isn't having second thoughts about this is he? She didn't think she could handle that. Not after she told him how she really felt about him.

Troy looked at her and gave her a true smile. "Yeah, I'm a lot better now that I'm here with you."

Gabriella smiled at this and felt much better about the situation.

"How was Annabelle today? Did you get any rest?"

"Annabelle was fine today. All she does is sleep. I actually did get caught up on some sleep today so I'm feeling much better tonight."

"Good. I thought about you all day. I wanted to be here to help you with her so you could get better quicker. But it's the weekend now so I will be here to help until you kick me out."

"I would never kick you out. And thank you for caring about not only me but Annabelle as well. That means a lot to me. A lot of guys would just see her as a child who came into the world in a disgusting way."

"Hey, I'm not most guys. I don't care how she came to be in this world. She is your child and that is all that matters. I love you and I'm sure the more time I spend with Annabelle the more I will come to love her like my own."

At this, Gabriella smiled wide. She couldn't be happier right now.

Troy and Gabriella just sat on the couch and cuddled until Annabelle began crying a little while later. Gabriella got up to go check on her. When she didn't come back after a few minutes, Troy went to check on them. He walked into the nursery but got embarrassed at seeing Gabriella breast feeding Annabelle and turned to walk out.

A few minutes later, Gabriella came back out to the living room and looked at Troy who seemed to be in deep thought; he hadn't even heard her walk in. Gabriella cleared her throat to get his attention.

He looked up at her and blushed. "What are you thinking about?" Gabriella asked him.

"Hey, sorry for walking in on you. I didn't realize…"

"It's ok. Is that what you were thinking about when I walked in just now?"

"No, I was just thinking about a couple of things that have been on my mind for a few days."

"Want to talk about them?"

"I don't know yet."

"Oh…ok." Troy suddenly looked distant, like he was in deep thought again. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"Brie, will you marry me?"

Gabriella was shocked by this. They had just gotten together. Yeah, they had known each other for forever, but was she ready to marry him? "I can't, Troy. I'm sorry. I have Annabelle to think about now too. Plus I'm not even comfortable as a mother yet. I need to get used to being a mother before I make any major decisions like that."

Troy nodded at her and got up to leave. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going home. I'll see you later." Troy left, leaving Gabriella dumbfounded as to what exactly just happened. She loved Troy so much, but she had to think of Annabelle now too. She needed to focus on just her and get used to having a baby around before she could think about allowing another person into her life permanently.

Troy drove home, tears in his eyes. He just wanted to marry her. He wanted to make her his. He wanted her to know that she wasn't alone in this...that he would be there to help her raise Annabelle as if she was his own. Didn't she get that? As soon as he got home he laid down, thinking of how stupid he was to think she would ever want to marry him. I probably just ruined the friendship we had.

The next morning when Troy awoke, everything that had happened last night came rushing back to him. He groaned and rolled back over, looking at the time. 8:43. What was he going to do with a whole day? He couldn't go over to Gabriella's. He couldn't face her. Not yet. Just then his phone rang. He picked it up and looked at the screen. Brie. He hit the ignore button and put his phone back down. He couldn't even talk to her. He was so humiliated for popping the question out of thin air.

Throughout the day, Gabriella called 7 more times. Each time, Troy hit the ignore button, and each time Gabriella left a voice mail, begging Troy to call her or come see her. He couldn't do it, though. He needed time away from her so he could get over her and go back to seeing her just as a friend.