This is the clock upon the wall.
This is the story of us all.
This is the first sound of a newborn child,
Before he starts to crawl.
--Pictures of You--
A lot could happen in five days.
Two basketball games were played without the head coach. The basketball captain was almost silently mute. The cheerleaders had less pep, however, all twelve spots were filled. The two games had been won, but not by many points like they should've been.
Troy found that it was him, Chad, and Zeke leading the team as Jason was being substituted left and right. Anyone with eyes could easily tell that the assistant coach wanted to keep Jason in due to the one or two scouts that might've been in the crowd, but it was also easy to tell that Jason was no where near his playing game.
The vacation Zeke's parents had generously offered to them would come in handy as Troy just knew that this is what Jason and Gabriella would need to get away from everyone in town who were all sympathetic.
"Are we all here?" Sharpay asked with giddiness. Everyone was standing outside Gabriella's house as she was still inside saying goodbye to her father.
Zeke closed the trunk to the Ford Escalade that they were taking. Zeke and Chad took it upon themselves to decide that taking two cars would be easier.
"Both cars are packed." Jake announced with his arm around Sadie. "Lyle, did you really have to bring a sleeping bag?"
Lyle chuckled making his throat vibrate deeply as he finished shutting Jason's car trunk with everyone else's stuff in it. Even though Chad and Zeke arranged the car situations, Chad didn't want to bring his car so Jason volunteered weeks beforehand.
Taylor had been busy counting everyone to make sure that they had all nine people; ten counting Gabriella who was still inside. "Shar, everyone's here except Gabs who is inside."
"Okay, so car arrangements? Who's going with who?" Sharpay took on the dominating role as she didn't technically help with loading up the cars, but she did direct people on where to put things.
Troy was busy looking at Jason's car as he dispersed himself from his groups of friends. He was looking forward to this little trip as they were sleeping at the cabin Friday night, Saturday night, and possible Sunday night depending on how bad the weather might be since Zeke heard that a storm was coming for all of Sunday.
"You like?"
Troy looked up at Jason and nodded his head with a shrug of the shoulders. "It's nice. I bet it goes fast."
Jason shrugged his shoulders as his pocketed his hands deep within his jeans. "It's okay. Not the safest car in bad weather. Plus don't you also have a nice ride?"
"A truck you mean?" Troy asked with an amused smirk on his face.
Jason looked behind himself and saw Troy's shiny truck sitting in his driveway. "I like it. It's normal so you don't stand out at school in the parking lot with all the other students."
"I don't have to go, you know." Gabriella offered as she followed her dad around in their kitchen. The kitchen was spotless and Gabriella knew that it was only because her dad hadn't been cooking like he used to. They were living off of fast food, but sadly Gabriella was okay with that for now. She knew it would just take time for them to get into the swing of things again.
"Ella, yes you do." Her dad insisted as he put his coffee cup down. All of their family had gone now, and now Carlos was left with dealing with Gabriella by himself. Not that that was a bad thing, but it would be so much easier if he knew what to say. "Your friends are all waiting for you."
Gabriella sighed as she could see the sadness in her dad's eyes. It would be a lie if she said that she wanted to leave him. Gabriella wrapped her arms around her dad as she knew that she would wind up going sooner or later. "I love you, and remember if you need anything, or something happens then just call. Okay?" Gabriella asked as her dad squeezed her tightly to himself.
"I will." He kissed the top of her head. "Ella, everything is going to be fine. I think I'm going to just be meeting with the assistant coach this weekend anyways."
Gabriella nodded her head a little as she then at least knew her dad would be doing something other than sitting in his room the whole weekend.
"There's the girl everyone was missing!" Lyle announced with his arms wide open. Gabriella felt everyone's eyes on her as she made her way down the porch steps with her one medium size suitcase and purse.
She smiled hesitantly at Lyle before she let him wrap his arms around her in a friendly hug.
"Hey Lyle. Long time no see?" She asked.
Before Lyle could say anything she released herself from him once she felt someone take her things from her. She saw Troy as he flashed her his pearly white teeth. "Hey Brie."
"Hey."
He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek before taking her bags to Jason's car.
"So are we ready to go?" Sharpay asked impatiently.
"Actually," Gabriella started as everyone was looking at her again. Troy came to stand next to her now as their hands slowly, but surely found each other. "I invited someone else to come along with us." She revealed as Gabriella could clearly remember Zeke telling her that she could bring anyone she wanted.
"What?!" Taylor and Sharpay's jaws dropped open at the same time.
"Gabi is getting kinky now." Lyle announced as almost everyone rolled their eyes.
Gabriella narrowed her eyes as for a moment with just talking with her friends and Lyle, she felt normal. It might have even helped with Lyle making obnoxious comments. "This someone is a girl, and we have to pick her up."
"Who is she?" Sadie asked as only she, Jake, and Lyle didn't sit with everyone at lunch, so they wouldn't know that Gabriella had invited Kelsi to join them at the lunch table a couple of times that week.
"Her name's Kelsi, and she's very nice. She lives just on the outskirts of town, so it's on our way to the cabin anyways." Gabriella announced as she shuffled her feet and decided she couldn't stand everyone looking at her as if she'd grown two heads. She backed up a little and wrapped Troy's warm arm around. "So who's riding in what?"
Various teenagers dispersed into the cars that they were riding in thanks to Zeke and Chad. "It was just gonna be you, Cross, and Bolton." Zeke explained softly.
"That's a weird threesome." Sharpay commented dryly from standing next to Zeke with her hip popped up and her hand resting on the pointy bone.
"Since Cross's car can only seat four people, so now you guys can make the pit stop at Kelsi's house and everyone else will be with me. Sound good?" He asked with a light smile.
"It sounds perfect." Gabriella smiled up at Troy when Sharpay and Zeke both turned around to make their way towards the escalade. "It's not gonna be a problem for you that we're gonna be in Jason's car for like five hours, is it? Because I'm sure that we can switch--"
Troy silenced her with a kiss as he gently put one of her curls behind her ear. The original plans had been Chad and Lyle riding with Jason, but with the death of Gabriella's mother, everyone knew that Gabriella and Jason should probably ride with each other.
"I'm good. Strangely, we've been getting along."
Gabriella smiled up at him as she hadn't been oblivious by them. Even though she was dealing with issues of her own, that didn't mean that she didn't notice that for the first time on Monday Jason came and sat down by them. And that to Gabriella meant almost everything to her: Troy and Jason were getting along.
"I told you two that everything would work out in the end."
Troy rolled his eyes before pecking her once more on the lips. "Slow down there cupid. It's not like I'm asking him to the winter ball." Troy teased.
Gabriella snuggled into Troy's side even more; loving the feeling of warmth he always spread throughout her body. If it was one thing she missed most about her mother leaving her, it would probably be the safe feeling Gabriella would get whenever Anna was around, but with Troy near by, it was like Anna never left as Troy made her feel safe too.
A car honking was what brought the couple out of their own mini world. Jason rolled down the window to his car as he drove forward, Zeke's car already a block ahead of them.
"Are you two coming or what?" Gabriella rolled her eyes as they both got into Jason's car. "And no making out in the back, I just got the seats redone."
After the funeral and Gabriella's little talk with Kelsi, she found that there was just something different about Kelsi. It wasn't some weird phase that she was going through where she had a little crush on Kelsi, because Gabriella was one hundred percent certain she was straight, but there was just something about Kelsi that made her friend material right away. So Gabriella sought her out at school, and by Tuesday Gabriella had found her in the cafeteria and invited her to sit at her lunch table. Kelsi had politely declined since she was already sitting next to some of her other friends, but on Wednesday Kelsi has come to find Gabriella to see if the offer still stood for lunch.
Also, on the one day that week that there was no practice for cheerleaders, Gabriella was walking in the hallways absentmindedly since she was waiting for Troy to finish practice, and as she was passing the music rooms she heard a piano playing. Curiosity got the better of her as she soon found Kelsi practicing songs for the up and coming musical. That was when Gabriella invited her to come along for the trip on Friday.
Kelsi came out of her medium size house. It wasn't too large, but it wasn't small at all as it was perfect size for a family of four. She had a medium suitcase; much like Gabriella's, and a smaller one that held her morning stuff in it.
"Hey Kels." Gabriella greeted as her and Troy got out of the car with Jason waiting to take off again.
"Hey. Where should I put these?" She motioned down to her bags.
Troy took them silently as he flashed her a smile. "Right to my hands." He winked at Gabriella as he passed her, their shoulders briefly rubbing up against one another before going to the trunk of the car.
Gabriella saw that Kelsi was about to protest when she shook her head to reassure the small girl. "Don't worry about it. He doesn't mind, really." Kelsi was about to open her mouth to oblige when Gabriella interrupted again. "See? He already has them in the car. Shall we go?"
"I guess. Uh…thanks for inviting me. I don't know if it's because you feel like you have too for whatever reason, or if--"
"I think you're an awesome person and I want to be friends?" Gabriella supplied. "I'd go with the later of the two. Come on, get in. You can have front."
The two girls got into the car as the music was blaring with rap music coming loud from the speakers. "Five hours of this?" Gabriella complained as Troy stretched his arm out and put it around her shoulders.
He kissed the top of her head as Jason uncomfortably looked away from the rear view mirror.
"They do that a lot." He commented to Kelsi without taking his eyes off of the road. Fortunately for him, Gabriella and Troy didn't hear him so he couldn't be yelled at to keep his comments to himself.
Kelsi turned in her seat a little and quickly turned back around as she knew that Troy and Gabriella were dating. It was just that she had never been in a car with them sharing the backseat; snuggling so close together. But then again, she had never really been in a car before with a couple much less to see this happening.
"I'm hungry." Chad complained as after five long hours of driving they had finally arrived by 8 o'clock. It was just early enough for a late dinner if everyone helped.
"Stop complaining. You ate like three bags of chips in the car." Taylor pointed out as she was the last one to hop out from the car.
"So there are four bedrooms with king size beds in them. Shar and I get the master bedroom with our own personal hot tub." Zeke added slyly as he smirked at Sharpay until Jason cleared his throat to continue. "And then there are two bedrooms with bunk beds in them. More so for when my parents' clients come and they have kids, but they'll do for the rest of you."
Gabriella took in the large cabin like mansion in front of her. There was no way that they were roughing it as she had been here once before, and if anything, this cabin/mansion was more like a step up from civilization.
"There's a hot tub on the back deck, ATVs in the garage, flat screen TV in the basement, along with a pool table, air hockey, sing star, and some Xbox games. So go find a room." Zeke announced as Gabriella had her purse in one hand, and went to grab her big bag, but Troy was one step ahead of her.
He flashed her a smile as he grabbed his one bag in the other hand. "I got it Brie."
Gabriella and Troy stared at each other as it seemed to them that only Zeke and Sharpay made a move to enter the cabin.
"What are you thinking Brie?" Troy asked.
She mustered a smile on her face as she leaned against Jason's car a little. "Nothing big. Just about what we can do here to pass the time away."
A slight breeze picked up and before Gabriella could reach up to put her hair behind her ear, Troy had already dropped his bag and did it for her. He took advantage of the situation and caressed her side of the face gently. It was like they were in their own mini world...until Chad came up behind him and tweaked Troy in the ear.
"Let's move it Love Birds." He announced. Troy narrowed his eyes at his best friend before picking up his bag again.
"Are you sure you don't need help with a bag?"
Troy smiled at her. "I'm one hundred percent positive Brie."
The two started walking as Gabriella smiled thankfully at him. She felt a little bit guilty for letting him carry her bags without a little reluctance from herself, but watching how his muscles bulged in the arms was enough to make her shut up.
Gabriella lead him up the stairs and went around the hallway that was set up in a big circle. The railing to the stairs wrapped around the upper floor as there was no wall separating them from the downstairs. Troy and Gabriella were walking on the second floor of the house when they saw below that Chad had just entered the living room which was right below them.
"Holy Crap! Why don't you just live here Baylor?!" He yelled.
Troy rolled his eyes as he leaned over the edge a little and smirked down to Chad. "Way to act cool Chad!"
"Fuck it Bolton!" Chad flashed him the middle finger as the two just laughed it off good heartedly.
Troy turned back to Gabriella and motioned for her to go ahead. The truth was, he needed Gabriella to lead him to a room. For one, he didn't know where he was going. And second, he didn't know if Gabriella wanted to share a bed since they had only been dating a short time compared to every other couple on this trip, or if she wanted to have the bunk beds that he really wasn't looking forward to sleeping in.
"Lead the way Brie."
Gabriella walked some more before turning at the curve of the hallway. She pushed open a dark cherry door. Troy was relieved to see that there was only one bed in the room, but now the fact was finally hitting him. He had been so busy thinking about what room she was going to choose, that now that she did choose one, his mind went into overdrive about what this meant.
There was one king size bed.
There were various other rooms.
What if he was so busy thinking about what bed he was sleeping in with Gabriella, that he didn't even think about the possibility that what if she didn't want to sleep in the same room as him?
"I stayed in this room last time. What do you think?" Gabriella asked softly as she sat down on the corner of the bed.
The room had dark hardware floor. The windows were very open as you could see into the back of the yard. Their was a cream colored rug near the end of the bed to keep some of the cold wood warm. The sheets on the welcoming bed matched as the room seemed to be greeting them with a warming feeling.
"I think it's great." Troy answered hoarsely.
"Don't look so stiff. You don't just have to stand there." Gabriella teased a little as she fell back on the bed and closed her eyes with a smile on her face. She felt moments later weight shift on the bed and she knew that Troy was laying down next to her. "I'm so tired. This feels so good."
Troy turned on his side so that he was looking at her; his elbow bent with his head resting on his hand. He knew that Gabriella didn't mean that she was literally tired, but that she was just tired with everyone and everything that's been going on in the past couple of days.
"You still look beautiful though." Troy couldn't resist but to let his lips linger near hers. Gabriella opened her eyes slowly as her lips curved upwards. Troy readjusted his body making one of his knees go between Gabriella's legs, and his hands spread themselves on either side of her. He looked down at her so that their eyes could connect. "Would it be inappropriate if I kissed you now?"
She answered by wrapping her cold hands around his neck and pulling him down closer to her. Their lips engulfed each other as they kissed with a smooth, slow pace. There was no need to rush as it felt in that moment that they had all the time in the world.
Gabriella had cuddled with Troy in Zeke's basement. She had cuddled with him when they sat in the back of Jason's car. She had felt his warm skin upon her own whenever he would brush a curl back from one of her cheeks. She could still feel where his lips had touched her on her face. But right then when she could feel his chest upon her own--their shirts separating the two different skins--she felt a need to touch him. The need had always been there, even when she was tutoring him before their relationship started. It had slowly, but gradually been building up with the littlest of touches.
Their eyes were glazed over when they pulled back for air. Gabriella moved her right hand so that it was grasping the hem of Troy's cotton t-shirt. "Would it be inappropriate if I touched you now?"
Troy's breathing pattern was ragged as it mixed with Gabriella's. His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, but not because of the fact Gabriella's hands had already started moving under his shirt, but because there was just something so erotic with how she asked.
Troy's lips connected with Gabriella's skin again as he lightly peppered kisses down her jaw and to her neck. He could feel her tantalizing hands and fingers gliding over his chiseled abs. Her hands were making their way up his chest and her thumb rubbed over his right nipple. He couldn't help but to bite down into her soft skin stretching across her neck.
Gabriella let a moan escape her mouth. Her eyes were shut tight as she slipped into a whole other planet that consisted of her and Troy. Her other hand that wasn't toying with Troy's skin wrapped around his back and pulled him closer.
Suddenly just running her one hand underneath his t-shirt wasn't enough.
"Troy…" Gabriella moaned softly as he stopped his sucking--a mark was definitely going to appear in the next couple of minutes--and looked down at her. She gingerly moved her hands to the hem of his t-shirt. Troy knew what she was doing once he felt her hand that was touching him move down, and he allowed the thin material glide over his head.
Kelsi and Taylor had wandered around the house looking for a room to share. Taylor had taken a liking to Kelsi instantly when Gabriella introduced them. Taylor wasn't a superficial cheerleader. She did have friends outside of the cheer squad that Sharpay probably didn't even know about. After all, Taylor was on the decathlon team, and usually if there was a team, then there was more than just one person and Taylor was on good terms with those people.
So when Gabriella and her talked earlier in the week and Taylor asked Gabriella about Kelsi, Gabriella described her. She knew that Gabriella was right when she met Kelsi, and she knew instantly that Kelsi just had this aura around her that made people like her.
"What about this one?" Kelsi asked shyly as she wasn't used to hanging out with so many people at the same time. Not to mention, people she hardly knew as she was friendly with Gabriella, and Taylor and her were starting to bond more now as they had shared their music on their ipods during some lunch periods over the last couple of days.
Taylor knocked lightly on the door before pushing it open. Neither girl heard the slight moans coming from the TV, and the disheveled looking Lyle frantically scrambling underneath the comforter on the bed.
Both girls froze in their spots as Lyle paused the movie he brought with him on the TV. Kelsi and Taylor at the same time looked down to see that his blue and green plaid boxers and dark blue jeans had been crumpled on the floor.
Kelsi's face was wide with shock. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head as her hand flew up to her gaping mouth. She looked at Taylor who had a face of disgust. It was fairly obvious with the tube of lubricant on the night side table next to the king size bed, and the clear picture on the TV what Lyle was doing.
He was masturbating.
"Oh my God!" Taylor shrieked. "We haven't even been here for twenty minutes and you're already doing THIS!"
Lyle had gotten over the disruption of what he was doing and situated himself better in the bed. A calm look overtaking his features. His lips quivered up into a slight smirk.
"Someone has to break in the bed."
"Disgusting." Taylor hissed as she grabbed onto Kelsi's hand and pulled her out of the room. Slamming the door in response to Lyle's call for them to join him. "That guy is a pig!" Taylor ranted.
Kelsi had gotten over the shock of seeing Lyle so at ease with himself as she could've swore she could hear the moaning picking up from the room again. She looked at Taylor, and the look on Taylor's face was enough to confirm to her that she was right: Lyle wasn't even bothered with them standing outside the door and continued to toy with himself while watching the porn he brought.
"Come on," Kelsi whispered as if she were to disturb Lyle when in reality, he wouldn't have cared if he could hear them talking, "Let's try the next room."
Everyone who wasn't in a relationship knew that the couples probably wanted the king sized beds. Zeke and Sharpay took the master bedroom, the only difference about their room and adjoining bathroom was that they had their own hot tub. Jake and Sadie were the next brave couple to take the lead and pick out a room; the furthest king sized bedroom from the master suite. Back at the car, Gabriella and Troy were waiting patiently by Jason's car. They were turned towards each other and completely oblivious to everyone around them as everyone saw just how they interacted around each other.
Troy would softly whisper things into Gabriella's ear while her small hands ran delicately over his jacket clad arm. The girls all thought it was romantic at how cute they looked together, but to the guys it was as if they were obviously unimpressed when Chad came up behind Troy and tweaked him on the ear as if he was a little boy who was in trouble with his mother.
But nonetheless that had gotten Troy and Gabriella moving towards their room of their desire. That left Taylor, Kelsi, Lyle, Chad, and Jason to gravitate towards the house with all of their things. Chad and Jason had both generously offered to take their bags, but both girls refused as they were capable women who could carry light bags for the weekend.
It was now fairly obvious to the girls that Lyle took the last king sized bed which left them with two options for rooms--the ones with the bunk beds. The next room was right by Lyles, and was separating his bedroom to Gabriella's and Troy's. Taylor knocked this time and they clearly heard Chad call out to them to enter.
Both girls walked in as they decided to just leave their bags out in the hall. They found that Chad had already put his suit case on the bottom bunk, and was taking out his clothes to put in the drawers.
"What can I do for you ladies?" He asked as he stopped what he was doing. Taylor narrowed her eyes as she was thinking heavily about something. "What's up McKessie?"
Her face relaxed and a small smile coated her face. "Nothing. You just don't seem like a person who would unpack their things."
"We all have surprises." He glanced over at Kelsi and nodded slightly to her. "So what's up? I heard you guys yelling before. The walls aren't that thin here. Jason has my sympathy for picking the only room by the master bedroom."
"We need a room." Taylor spoke as if Chad would understand right away.
"I know my math is bad, but explain to me…there's two beds, and three people here. What's the difference?" Chad asked with an amused smile on his face as Taylor rolled her eyes.
Kelsi stepped in and spoke softly, "We were hoping that maybe you'd like to bunk with Jason in the other room?"
Chad snorted ungracefully. "Yeah right. Why don't you just ask him to bunk in this room?"
Taylor and Kelsi spluttered for an answer as Chad kinked an eye brow. Taylor sighed darkly before narrowing her eyes at Chad's uncooperative attitude. "Because we don't want to sleep next to Zeke and Sharpay's room. Okay?! We admit it!"
"And you think I WANT too!?" Chad exclaimed with a good laugh. "I don't know where you got that from, but whatever floats your boat. Have fun trying to find a room." Chad went back to unfolding his clothes as Taylor and Kelsi both winced in defeat.
Chad sighed as a little guilt formed in his gut, but there was no way that he would take the room with Jason. "Why don't you girls just go ask Jason to switch into this room? I really don't mind sharing."
Kelsi and Taylor had talked about that. But they had completely ruled that option out as they wouldn't admit it out loud, but anyone with eyes could see that Jason was beyond hurting, right alongside Gabriella, and they didn't want to ask him to give up anything else. Even if that something was as simple as a room when it really wasn't that big of a deal.
"Because he's already unpacked too." Taylor mumbled.
Kelsi had seen how Chad and Taylor interacted in the car. How they would counteract each other even if everyone else knew that if Chad and Taylor were separated and wouldn't know what the other one was saying about random topics discussed, then they probably would have agreed on certain things. But there was just something about the other one that made them want to disagree to keep the conversation lighter and carefree.
There was something there between the two.
"Actually you guys, I think I'm gonna go find someplace else to crash. Taylor, you take the top bunk here." Kelsi stated as it wasn't a suggestion, but a final statement.
Gabriella had been moved back so that she was laying with her head on the various pillows near the head of the bed. Troy was leaning over her as their legs were tangled. Various kisses had happened between them since Gabriella shed Troy of his shirt. Soft tantalizing kisses that they would tease each other with ranging to hard kisses that showed just how much they missed each other.
Everything felt right to Gabriella when she could feel Troy's hands move from her waist to her small stomach. His hands barely had to stretch as he scorned her body with his heat. Their lips were connected still as tongues had started to become present. Gabriella didn't just need Troy, she craved him too.
She nearly did the worm on her back to help Troy take her shirt off. Her lower back arched so he could move her shirt up, and then he gingerly lifted her up a little so that she could wriggle out of her long sleeved shirt.
For a moment Troy did nothing but stare. He let his eyes travel over the mark he left on her neck to the heaving of her breasts that were contained by a black lace bra. His fingers on his right hand slowly trailed down her side, starting at her collarbone and making their way to the top of her low cut jeans.
Gabriella shivered as no matter how warm Troy's skin was, his feather light touches put goose bumps on her skin. She briefly shut her eyes in pleasure before opening them and seeing Troy staring down at her. He was propped up on one elbow now as his other hand was laying over her shoulder and his fingers gingerly played with her hair that was splayed out behind her.
"What are you doing?" Gabriella whispered as she needed to feel Troy kissing her…touching her…caressing her. She hadn't felt this good since her mother's death, and she craved for it. She wanted to be done putting up a charade in front of her friends, but it was obvious to her that she would have to continue to do just that in order for them to believe her. But being with Troy, there was no charade as she felt good with him.
Troy didn't lie to her as a small quirked smile came over his face. "Studying you."
Gabriella felt a blush overtake her face. She had never been that shy before, the exception of her first time having sex, but other than that she didn't care about what others thought of her. That was until now and she could feel Troy's eyes traveling over her body.
""Stop it. You're embarrassing me." Gabriella pleaded with a slight giggle to lighten how she was feeling.
"I'm not looking at you any differently than how you look at me during practice." Troy pointed out before pecking her on the lips once more. Troy was trying to stay serious, however, because in all truth, he had no idea where this was going to end up. He knew that she was still grieving over her mother's death, so he was one hundred percent certain he wasn't going to take advantage of her. But it wasn't taking advantage of her if she was the one to initiate things, right?
Their eyes were connected; both glossed over in lust. "Brie…" Troy whispered hoarsely. "What are we doing?"
Gabriella's small hand lifted up and slowly pushed Troy's bangs aside. She felt safe. She felt wanted. She felt like a different person when Troy was around…and that was a good thing. Her hand grazed down the side of his face to cup his cheek.
"I don't know. But I do know that right now I feel safe. I feel like for the first time in days that I'm needed, and it feels good." Gabriella looked up at him and made a quick decision in her mind. "I want to make love with you." It was nice feeling being needed and wanted, but it was also nice to feel the complete feeling that she got on the very few occasions she did sleep with a guy. She craved that feeling of self reassurance and pure bliss.
Troy leaned down silently and connected their lips in a passionate kiss. He kept his eyes closed as his lips slid down her jaw and onto her collarbone once again. His lips moved over her skin like she was a delicate glass vase and she could break at any time. He kept his mouth in place as he let Gabriella's words repeat in his mind. He slowly stopped his insistent kisses on her soft skin; his head stationed in her neck.
"I can't." Troy mumbled as it took all his will power to resist her.
But the good guy inside of him won out as he knew deep down that Gabriella was still grieving. Her mind wasn't in a place to make proper decisions like this one. As much as he too wanted to show her how much she meant to him in the short period of time they had been together, he just couldn't as he didn't know whether Gabriella would still be saying this if her mother hadn't passed away.
Troy found that if he listened very carefully to Gabriella's tone of voice that she used, he could decipher the sadness in it. He wanted to help comfort her, he needed to help comfort her, but he couldn't do that by sleeping with her. Even if that's what she said she wants, he just couldn't trust himself enough to do it with Gabriella in this state of mind.
"What?" Gabriella's voice quivered. She wriggled a little to sit up a bit more on the hunches of her elbows. Troy looked at her with sorrow in his eyes.
"Brie I'm sor--"
"Don't say it." Gabriella hissed as rejection from Troy settled in. She pushed his arm that was caging her in and swung her legs out from underneath him. She quickly located her shirt on the floor, but before she could put it on she felt his warm hand grab onto her forearm. She looked at him with tears in her eyes.
"Don't be mad. Please?" Troy asked in a raspy voice. "It's not that I don't want you." Troy started to explain as his grip on her arm tightened a little once he felt her trying to pull away. "We're both exhausted from the drive down here. We're both hungry as it's going on nine o'clock here. And…" Troy looked up to see Gabriella looking away from him. Her perfect white teeth biting into her lower lip anxiously.
"Brie?" Troy tried again as she was still tense within his hold. "If things were different and we were right here on this bed…then I would…and we would…and it would be okay to have sex." Troy stammered. "But--"
"But because of my mother's death we're not allowed to have sex?" Gabriella filled in with bitterness coating every word. She took a calming breath as Troy's fingers were lightly moving back and forth on her small forearm. She finally looked at him through her long lashes. His eyes were ice blue, but yet, she could still point out the safeness in them. The safeness that appeared in his eyes whenever he would look at her, and would reassure her that everything would be okay in the future.
She swooped down and kneeled in front of him as he during his explanation had sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. She gripped both of his hands in hers as their faces were inches apart.
"Troy." Gabriella whispered with desperation. "I…FEEL…safe with you!"
Troy could feel her hands shaking as she held onto him as if he were to disappear soon.
"I look at you and I KNOW! I know that I want to be with you. I don't care if we haven't been dating that long, or if things are bad right now…because you make things better for me. I trust you with my life right now, and I…" Gabriella struggled for words as she wanted to phrase things right, but she wasn't sure how to, "I…FEEL… things for you that I have never felt before! Don't you believe me?"
"I do believe you Brie, but--"
"No buts." Gabriella shook her head adamantly. "What more is there? You obviously want this to happen too, or else you wouldn't be sharing a room with me. Right?" She was grasping onto her last desperate thought as she needed to feel that spark with Troy again. "Right?" Her fingers tightened around his hands again.
"I do want this to happen. I'm not going to lie, but Brie, this isn't right." Troy looked at her still as more tears glossed over in her eyes. "You have to know deep down this isn't the right time. I'm not going to take advantage of your feelings like this."
Gabriella saw that Troy was done debating this issue. She ripped her hands off of his and stood up with fire coming out of her eyes.
"Fine." She hissed. "But it's not taking advantage if I'm the one who started this whole thing."
Before Troy could say anything a knock was heard. Gabriella quickly put her shirt over her head right before Troy mumbled for whoever was on the other side of the door to come in.
Chad's curls came into view first before half of his body did. He looked at Troy who was still shirtless sitting on the edge of the bed with horror stricken eyes and a Gabriella who was furiously wiping at her eyes while avoiding his gaze.
"Guys?" Chad asked in a concerned voice. "Dinner's ready."
Gabriella looked at Troy to see if he was going to say anything, but noticed instead how set his jaw looked. His hair was slightly ruffled from their steamy make-out before, his arms tense as she could see some of the veins in his arms, and his eyes were clouded over with anger, sadness, and shock.
"We'll be down there soon."
Gabriella didn't mean for her voice forming in her throat to get caught on the tears she was trying so desperately to keep hidden. But her tone came out raspy as if she had just got done crying.
Chad hesitated in the doorway as he recognized the look on Troy's face. He knew that they were seriously going to have to have a talk later on that night.
"…Okay. I'll tell the others."
Chad took one last look at Gabriella who wiped at her eyes one last time before going over to her suit case to pull out a sweatshirt. It was as if she didn't even know that he was still in the doorway, or that Troy was like a statue sitting on the bed. Chad didn't know Gabriella that well compared to Troy, but he knew from just looking at her that she wasn't okay. But he did have things narrowed down a bit as he knew three things for sure.
1: Gabriella did not look mad.
2: Gabriella did not look happy.
3: Out of everything about the brunette, she was almost an open book through her eyes.
The room felt cold to Chad as Troy finally moved and collected his shirt from the ground. Chad silently walked down the hall as he decided to just leave the bedroom door open a crack just in case something--for whatever reason--happened. When Chad reached his spot at the dining room table, Troy and Gabriella were finally walking down the stairs. Gabriella was in front of Troy as no one said anything at the table.
The two teens who had just arrived didn't say anything as they both collected a plate from a waiting Zeke. Chad kept his eyes on Gabriella who took the spot opposite from him; leaving no room next to her as Lyle was on one side and Sharpay on the other.
Troy sat down next to Chad though, but he still didn't say anything either. The afro clad boy was too busy studying Gabriella's face to notice the sadness in Troy's eyes however. But Chad did notice Gabriella's glistening orbs. Her distant eyes were the things that gave her away. He had seen those eyes someplace before, and then it finally clicked in his mind once everyone started digging into the food.
Gabriella had the same face on she had at the funeral.
Chad now knew four absolute facts about Gabriella.
1: Gabriella did not look mad.
2: Gabriella did not look happy.
3: Out of everything about the brunette, she was almost an open book through her eyes.
4: Gabriella looked scared.
Author's note--If I don't post sometime before Christmas...Merry Chirstmas, and for others who might not celebrate Chrismas, then Happy Holidays. Thanks all to whoever reviewed. I'll try to update sooner rather than later now. Thanks.
