Coming Home

Chapter Eight

"Have a good day," Gabriella told her daughter as she ran down the hall towards her locker. "I'm just gonna be talking to your teacher."

Gabriella missed the parent meeting since she was out of town for a few days. It had been a week since she saw Troy. She knew she'd have to see him again if she wanted the chance of meeting her son.

She was about to make her way into Alicia's homeroom when she heard sobbing coming from the bathroom. Her curiosity came over and she followed the sounds.

Standing in the corner of the bathroom was eleven year old Dylan Bolton, of course Gabriella didn't know that yet.

"Sweetheart," Gabriella made her appearance known, and immediately the girl started wiping her tears. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She said while looking in the mirror and carefully rubbing her mascara that was running.

"You can talk to me, you know," Gabriella told her as she approached her. "I'm Gabriella."

"I don't know," her voice cracked. "I'm Dylan."

"Dylan," Gabriella now knew she was talking to the daughter of Troy and Sharpay. "What's the matter? I won't tell anyone."

"My mom and dad," the girl began sobbing again. "They're fighting and what if they get a divorce?"

Gabriella felt her heart break. She caused that. She caused a happily married couple and their family to fall apart. How could she be so stupid? She vowed to herself that she wouldn't ever have a failed marriage, and she didn't. She also vowed to never commit adultery as it was wrong. She somewhat did that.

"Shh," Gabriella pulled the young girl into an embrace. "I'm sure they'll be fine. A lot of couples go through rough patches."

"You don't get it," Dylan pulled away and sat on the counter. "My mom and dad don't get these rough patches. Someone caused it. They were happy, they loved each other. Who would ever want to ruin that?"

It was true. Her parents didn't get rough patches. They argued sometimes but never did they get a rough patch. Troy and Sharpay respected each other, and valued their marriage. Nothing out of the blue would have caused it.

"I don't know, sweetie." Gabriella struggled to say. This young girl was in pain, because of her.

Dylan was silent. She pulled her blonde hair into a ponytail, and looked back in the mirror to fix herself.

Gabriella observed her. Dylan looked exactly like her mother, except she had Troy's blue eyes. All his kids had his ocean blue eyes. She also inherited thick eyebrows, that were perfectly plucked. She was a beautiful little girl, and Gabriella wondered why she wore makeup at her age.

"Sweetie?" Gabriella said, earning a glance from Dylan, who was reapplying her lip gloss.

"Yeah?" She puckered her lips, and shoved the little tube back in her bag.

"Why do you wear make up?" Gabriella questioned. She didn't even let Alicia wear makeup. "My daughter is twelve and I don't let her wear any."

"I don't wear a lot," Dylan defended. "My mom said every lady should own a little makeup, and today was the day I decided to wear a little bit. I usually only wear lip gloss."

"Uh huh," Gabriella nodded. "So why do you think your parents are fighting?"

"They're not exactly fighting," it was then that Gabriella acknowledged Dylan's slight English accent. "They're just really distant. My father sleeps in the guest bedroom, and my mother doesn't even acknowledge his presence."

"Has this ever happened before?" Gabriella asked. She knew she was asking too much. But she wanted to know.

"No, never," Dylan told her. "They're usually happy and content. They love each other very much and make sure to say it everyday, but not even once in the past week have they kissed or showed any affection. It worries all of us."

"All of us?" Gabriella raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah," Dylan nodded. "My brothers all notice it. Even little Graham asked my mommy why she didn't kiss daddy."

Gabriella sighed. She caused this. She knew she did. She needed to make this better. Their poor children were suffering because of Gabriella.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Gabriella assured the eleven year old. "So, have your parents said anything to each other in the past week?"

"Yeah. A few words," Dylan thought back to it. She then was wondering why Gabriella asked so many questions. "Not that it's any of your business. I've better get going."

Before Gabriella could say anything, the eleven year old was gone.

Troy placed a sleeping Logan in his crib, and watched him sleep for the next five minutes.

It was crazy how so much changed in such a short amount of time. Sharpay and him went from being a content and happily married pair, to not talking at all. He missed his wife.

He missed everything about her. He missed sleeping beside her, holding her in his arms. He missed waking up to her stroking his arm, and her smile. God, he missed her smile. She was right downstairs but he missed her.

He decided he had to go down to talk to her. He gave Logan one last kiss and made his way down stairs.

Sharpay was folding laundry in the family room while Modern Family reruns played. It was her usual Wednesday afternoon. She was wearing a pair of leggings, and a tank top. Her blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail, and she was wearing her glasses.

"Shar?" Troy entered the room.

He heard Sharpay sigh. "What? I thought I said don't talk to me."

"Babe.." Troy began but was interrupted. Sharpay threw what she was folding on the floor and looked at him.

"No," she said firmly. "Don't call me that."

"Okay," Troy nodded before going on. "That kiss meant nothing to me. I had no idea she would do that. I swear you're the only one for me, and I love you. No one can ever come between us."

Sharpay looked at him, as if she was about to kiss him. It made him hopeful but instead she bit her lip. "I don't know if I want to do this anymore."

"What?" Troy was taken back by her comment.

"I don't know if I want to do this," Tears filled her eyes. "I love you, Troy. I do. But I hate feeling like you'll drop me for Gabriella. I always feel like that. Second best. And I hate it. I love you. But I just don't know."

"Sharpay," Troy's voice cracked. "Please don't. I love you. Gabriella means nothing to me."

Sharpay began to cry. She sat on the couch and buried her face in her hands. It was rare that Sharpay cried. She was a strong woman. She always believed that crying was a form of weakness.

Troy sat down beside her, and pulled her closer to him. She surprisingly didn't pull away. She just held onto him, as he did to her.

The couple cried together in each other's arms. They let it all out. It was the safest they felt. Being in each other's arms was all that mattered to them for the moment.

They were interrupted when Sharpay's cell phone rung.

She pulled away and wiped her tears to answer it.

"Hello?" Sharpay's voice was quiet. It was noticeable she had been crying.

The woman on the other line said something, and Sharpay realized who she was speaking to.

"Gabriella?"

Gabriella pulled her SUV into the Bolton's driveway. She looked around to see if Troy was home. His BMW was gone, and on the phone with Sharpay, she assured Gabriella that Troy was going to work.

She quickly took her keys out of the ignition and took a breath as she got out of her vehicle.

Gabriella rung the doorbell and in fifteen exact seconds, Sharpay answered the door. "Hey."

"Hi, Sharpay," Gabriella smiled nervously. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," Sharpay held the heavy black door wider. Once she was inside, she closed it. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I think you know what I want to talk about."

Sharpay nodded, and lead Gabriella into the living room. There was a half full glass of wine sitting on the dark oak table, and the TV was muted as Grey's Anatomy silently played. "I apologize for the mess. I haven't been in much of a mood to tidy up."

Gabriella awkwardly sat down on the couch, and waited for Sharpay to sit down before speaking. "About Troy..."
"I don't want to hear it," Sharpay said in a voice she didn't recognize as her own. "It's done."

"Done?" Gabriella questioned what the blonde meant by 'done'. Did she mean the kiss was done, or their marriage was over?

"Yeah," Sharpay's voice cracked. "I'm speaking to an attorney."

"Sharpay, you cannot do this," Gabriella looked at her. "You cannot divorce Troy. He loves you. I know he does. He loves you so much."

"He also loves you." Sharpay struggled to say as tears rolled off her cheeks.

Gabriella sighed. She loved Troy. She wanted to be his girl just as much as the next. She could've been his. Could have. Past tense. "Not as much as he loves you. You're his soul mate. You both have a wonderful family together."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Sharpay wiped a few tears. "You're the one that wanted him back."

"I don't anymore. It took a lot of thinking but I finally realized that I'm not meant to be with him. You are," Gabriella smiled at her. "I love him. I'll never stop. But he looks at you so much differently than he looks at me. You're his world. It hurts but you both are married. It was wrong of me to come in, and mess it all up."

Sharpay took a sip of her wine before speaking. "Gabriella, thank you. Thank you. I really needed to hear that."

"I promise you," Gabriella grabbed one of Sharpay's hands. "I won't bother Troy anymore. He's your man. Not mine."
Sharpay smiled and pulled Gabriella into a hug. "Thank you."

She pulled away. "About William-"

"Say no more. I'm willing to let you get to know him," Sharpay said quickly. "It will take a while but you can still be a part of his life."

"I was going to say it's fine if you didn't want me around him but thank you." Gabriella gave a heartfelt smile.

"Before we make any further arrangements, I feel like I should tell you this." Sharpay began.

"Tell me what?"

Sharpay bit her lip before saying anything else. "William is a great son, and I love him to death. I love him as my own. There's something you should know."

Gabriella squeezed her hand, encouraging her to go on.

"He came out to us a few days ago," Sharpay told her. "He's gay."

"Great meeting, guys," Troy dismissed his employees. "We'll cover the rest Saturday morning."

He grabbed his brief case and made his way his office. He just approved the issues for the next two months, and they were now discussing the next few issues.

He closed the door behind him and dropped his brief case on the floor and walked over to his window.

He stood there for a bit, thinking. He did a lot of thinking. It was his main past time.

His thoughts were interrupted when a familiar voice came from behind him.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Sharpay approached her husband. "It was always my favorite thing about this building."

"Sharpay." Troy turned around and took in her appearance. Her hair wasn't in the ponytail it was in this morning. It was instead wavy, and looked great. Her leggings and tank top were replaces with a fitted white dress. Her flats were replaced with a pair of her usual Loubuittons.

"I'm sorry," Sharpay apologized, coming closer to her husband. "I shouldn't have did that."

"You're beautiful." Troy told her. He made sure to tell her that everyday but she had been avoiding him for the past week.

"I know." Sharpay giggled as he pulled her into a tight embrace. Whenever he had his arms around her, it felt like home.

"So you're not filing?" Troy pulled away.

"No," Sharpay shook her head and held his hand, staring deep into his ocean blue eyes. "I love you too much."

"Don't ever scare me like that again." Troy pleaded, picking her up and placing her on his desk, kissing her softly.

Sharpay smiled in between kisses. "I won't."

Second final chapter! Reviews are appreciated. And lmao stop bothering me about my grammatical and spelling errors. I don't edit these. I don't have time for that. I still write better than quite a few authors on me but thx for your review xx