Wow, guys! I can't believe it's the LAST chapter of the story! At least I think so..without any changes. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing guys!!
Disclaimer: Again, I don't own anything you recognize!!
Enjoy everyone!
Good Comes Last
by Laugh, in laughnsmile96
Chapter Nineteen: Truly, Madly, Deeply
I'll be your dream
I'll be your wish
I'll be your fantasy
I'll be your hope
I'll be your love
Be everything that you need
I love you more with every breath
Truly, madly, deeply, do..
I wanna stand with you on a mountain
I wanna bathe with you in the sea
I wanna lay like this forever
Until the sky falls down on me
Cascada, Truly, Madly, Deeply
Gabriella's heart pounded in her chest. She knew that somehow she would end up telling Jesse that she had a son. But no way in the universe had she thought that everything would collapse into one enormous mass of secrets. She piled all the secrets on top of each other and started filing through them in summary.
Eight years ago Troy and Gabriella had an amazing one night together at a party on the last day of school. That was the base fact. The thing that was kept completely hidden from the face of Earth. On top of that, Gabriella was going through a horrible relationship with Dylan, who was out on vacation with his family when Troy and Gabriella slept with each other. Then, almost a month later, the day Dylan made his dreadful arrival back in Albuquerque, Gabriella found out she was pregnant. With Troy's son. That day, Gabriella's pregnancy was let out and of course, Dylan broke up with her. But apparently, 'breaking up' didn't mean completely leaving. Gabriella was constantly ranted by Dylan and his wrath. It was entirely oppressive. That summer, when Gabriella had gotten her acceptance to Stanford university, she left Albuquerque and her insufferable ex-boyfriend behind. Gabriella's brother, one of her best friends, Jesse had a relationship with Teagan Crow that ended abruptly and shattered his heart. Immediately,he left to London to get away from the surroundings. So, Gabriella's baby had been born without his presence. Which is the reason why Jesse doesn't know anything that happened in those three years. When he came back, Gabriella had managed to keep her son a secret. Suddenly, a very day came when Gabriella found out little Jayden, her son, had Leukemia. After conditions had gotten a bit much, Jayden was moved to the hospital and since Gabriella was working there the secret was kept carefully. So far, only Taylor and Sharpay know about Jayden but they didn't dare ask about how he came about. Jesse and Gabriella's relationship bloomed further and ripened to them being inseparable siblings. Until December 25. Fate had rampaged through everyone's life with a shocking crash. Troy was back in his forlorn state, drunk and lonesome after a failed relationship with -who do you know- Teagan Crow. After that, things just took place. Now for the cherry on the top, the little detail that makes drama really drama, the last touch that makes a unique recipe: Troy and Gabriella were indefinably, unconditionally, infinitely in the love with each other.
Gabriella took a deep breath and out. Eight years had flashed through her mind and left her atrociously tired. But there was no time for breathing. Gabriella stared blankly at the space between Chad and Jesse. There were questions that needed to be answered.
"I don't get it, Brie? Why didn't you tell me?" Jesse croaked."After all these years,"
Gabriella grimaced. She never wanted to hurt Jesse. "I'm sorry, Jess," she croaked, on the verge of tears. "I really tried to come around to it but every time I was brave enough to tell you, I just couldn't," She turned around. There was a long pause of silence each of them waiting for the other to ask the final question. What now seemed to be the ultimate.
Jesse was first. "I wouldn't have been hurt, Bella. If you didn't wait until the last minute. Now the nephew I never knew is searching for life," he took a quick breath before he was the elder brother again. "Enough secrets," Gabriella knew what he wanted, but she dreaded to speak. It was a long wait.
Gabriella faced her brother again, with just enough courage to get this over with. She inhaled. "Troy," her voice was almost inaudible, but when Jesse's eyes widened at the last syllable, Gabriella knew that was no need for repeats. Dead silence sustained through out the whole floor. Chad winced.
Instantly, he remembered Troy. Gabriella had reminded him that he was Troy's best friend months ago and he wasn't willing to forget that when Troy needed the utmost help. Chad slowly left Taylor's side and sprinted down the hallway to where Troy was supposed to be seated.
"He doesn't know yet does he?" Jesse said, afraid of a stupid answer. Before Gabriella could answer, Chad breathlessly approached them.
"He's gone!" he yelled.
Taylor burst out an apology."I'm so sorry, Gabriella. We were trying to be discrete, but we didn't know he was on the other side of the wall!".
Gabriella's face was horror struck. Her luscious brown eyes now a fearful black. Her throat was dry and all that came out was a mere whisper."He left?"
It has been a month since that dreadful night at the hospital. Time goes by increasingly slower every day and Troy was surprised he was still alive. He didn't eat, barely slept and the worst part was that all showed in his perfect cobalt eyes. He just sulked in his bedroom, staring out through his glass wall at the Pacific Ocean. There was a wave of depression sent through his system and it weakened his body and mind. Even his soul was scarred by the event. Graveyard silence swept through the whole mansion without Gabriella.
He didn't deserve Gabriella. To him, it was utterly disgusting at how he dreamed of living his life with such perfection. Troy spilled tear drops as each second went by. A dark whole in his chest chiseled at his heart causing him to writhe in pain. It was best for Gabriella if they stayed away from each other. He couldn't just keep ruining her life like this. Troy kept repeating the same line every time the whole hit him strongly. He thought soon enough, Troy would become numb and he could spend the rest of his days waiting for a final breath. But as long as he was hopeful that there was an end to torture, it never came.
Troy wasn't waiting for anything, but somewhere in the back of his mind he expected Gabriella to barge in through his front door and demand a reason why he left the hospital that day. This part was the one that killed him the most. The unfulfilled expectation. Troy knew that it wasn't new, though. Every single time that he had become saddened after a tragic break up, he had always wanted her back and imagined a dramatic reunion that resulted in a marriage and happily ever after.
Troy exhaled as he wandered on the was a knock at his door. It opened and revealed a bushy haired man. Troy gave him a light smile. Chad's presence was very helpful to him and it is what kept him alive each day. If only he knew that a certain someone had taught him how to be a best friend all those months ago. Without Chad, Troy would have become just as bad as he had when Teagan left him. And he was glad that didn't happen. Teagan deserved a drunkard, but not Gabriella.
"Troy," Chad said. "Come on, I have the thing that will make you bright and shiny again! The final prescription to Chad's getting better medication. Although it is not strippers and a bunch of beer-" Troy chuckled and shook his head at his friend's sarcasm. Strippers and beer were not even on his mind. "I do have your uniform for today's game against the New York Knicks today!" he was care- free and cheerful with a slight twinge of hope in his voice. Troy laughed weakly.
"I don't know, man," Troy was reluctant, he didn't want anything to remind himself of Gabriella.
Chad interrupted with a loud cough. "Come on. I saw you're face a month ago when you started basketball again, dude. You know you love it," He passed the ball to his best friend.
"Chad, seriously!" Troy yelled, slapping the ball away and watched as it awkwardly bounced in the opposite direction. Chad sighed. He walked over by Troy and sat down next to him.
"Troy, I know what you feel man. I really do. I may not have been through it, man, but I can see what you are trying to put aside,"
Before Chad started to lecture him again, Troy came in. "It's not like that, Chad,"
"Hoops, are you really going to disagree?" Chad gave Troy a questionable look and after a second he shook his head. Chad continued. "Even if you are not going to go back to Gabriella had beg for forgiveness, you can't become miserable again. Gabs has worked hard to bring you back up and staying away from things you love is not a way you should thank her. She doesn't deserve that, man. And you know it,"
Troy contemplated sincerely. Chad was right. He gave a long sigh and got up to go change in the bathroom. Chad watched him close the door behind himself and smiled. He raised his eyebrows. Wow, didn't know I could do that, He thought as he got up and wiped his behind from any dust.
Troy dribbled the ball across the court. Sweat moisturized his whole body making the grip on the ball extremely difficult. He had was over working himself to the edge. Troy's body ached and plenty of bruises lined his knees and elbows from the continues slips and trips he had making. The game was going despicably.
Suddenly, the ball bounced out of turn and hit his leg causing him to slam to the waxed hard wood floor with a loud sound. Troy cringed in pain once again. He had lost count. The crowd gasped and yelled words of encouragement. Troy's breath tangled in his lungs. Instantly, the half time buzzer rang out. Troy closed his eyes, relieved that such a miracle had come. He lay there sprawled across the floor as many viewers left the stadium to grab their replenish their favorite snacks. He kept his eyes closed, visualizing what had just happened. After a few minutes, Troy had reached the locker rooms to bandage himself from another sprain. He leaned against the cool lockers and searched for an answer. So, he flew back a month at his returning game.
The crowd picked him and threw him in the air. When they set him down, Troy spotted Gabriella running towards him. His heart skipped a beat and flourished. Troy wrapped his arms around his beloved and spun her around in the air. "Troy, you did it!" she praised, giggling like a baby. They were quiet for a second until Troy grabbed her hand and led her to the Lakers den. As soon as he had her in her arms again he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her.
"I love you"
He gasped as the memory faded. It was so clear and distinct but before Troy could ponder on it more, it was time to get back. His feet took him back to the court, still in a daze as he reached the lights. Echos resounded in his head from the past.
You know how to play?" Troy asked, surprised when he saw Gabriella dribbling the ball extremely well. She shook her head and passed the ball to Troy.
"Teach me," The clouds above cracked and echoed a loud boom. Almost immediately, the rain started pouring.
Troy shook his head from the past and ran towards the game court. Before he knew it, he was playing once again like the past was wiped out, but all he could think about was Gabriella. His mind had no attachment to his actions.
"All I can understand right now, is that my past was extremely complicating. So instead of figuring it out, I'd like to live my life right now...with you,"
Without his known choice, those few tidbits of precious moments blinded Troy's vision replacing reality with themselves. Troy began to think he was going to be sick, yet he continued to play the game rather well. All of a sudden, the crowd hollered in delight. For an instant, Troy came back to reality and pumped his fist to shout in victory at his shot. But soon again, he was lost.
"Do you want to get off of me now?" Gabriella asked plainly.
"No actually, I feel comfortable right where I am," Troy was just as sarcastic. But he did, anyway.
Troy shook of his strange hallucinations as he focused on what was in front of him. The ball was being put to play again. He snatched the ball from an offensive player and switched the conditions. Suddenly, something caught his eye. A billboard. He took a few glances before scoring another few points for the Lakers. The audience went berserk at the win. Troy looked around confused. He abruptly realized that the game had finished and he had just scored the win against the Knicks. The crowd threw him up. He looked back at the huge sign on the wall of the stadium. It read in bold, black letters on a pure white background: What do you really want?
"Oh, Troy, I love you, too,"
Then it hit him. Right in the gut. What was it that he wanted the most? The thing that made him still want to live. In this case, the person that made him still live. It was Gabriella.
"Chad!" Troy yelled across the court to his best friend who was celebrating the win with his girlfriend. Somehow, Chad turned around and pulled Taylor along with him to approach Troy. "I have to go!" he nearly screamed over the crazy spectators who shared the day's joy.
"Where are you going, man?" But before he could get an answer, Troy was out of sight.
Troy jumped into his car still sweaty from the intense game he had just won. He was going to make it tonight. To finally get out of the external world's depression and listen to his heart. He prayed that Gabriella would accept him back.
Troy parked in the garage parking area under the hospital and ran to the nearest elevator. He pressed the up button many times before ditching the elevator and swinging open the door to the stairs. So, he climbed up five flights of stairs before finally reaching the four floor. As he barged out of the emergency staircase door, Troy continued running towards Room 414. His foot steps weres followed by two or three nurses who had failed to get him to talk with them. He ran through the hospital hallways and still began to catch many nurses and doctors behind like he was some fishing net. By the time he finally came a few feet from Room 414, he had the employees of the whole floor running behind him like Troy was a criminal.
At last, he found her. She was beautiful. Like always. Even with old worn out blue jeans and tight fitting tank top, her eyes shadowed by purple spots of sleepless nights, her lips chapped and dry, her hair pulled up in a messy bun with hunks of hair falling out and even with tear stains on her cheeks. To Troy, Gabriella was the most beautiful woman on the universe.
"Troy?" Gabriella looked at only him, stunned at the shocking surprise. She looked strait into his eyes, hesitating to look at any of the hospital's doctors and nurses in shyness. "What are you doing here?"
Troy was breathless. "I know,"he panted, "that you probably hate me right now, Gabriella," he paused for a breath again, inhaling and exhaling rapidly. Fresh sweat beaded his forehead as he stood there clad in only his basketball uniform, trying to spit out a hasty apology to the love of his life and hoping with all his might that she would take him back again.
"I don't expect you to forget everything that had happened in the past and live another life with me," he stopped again and pondered. "In fact, I think that's the last thing you would do. Gabi, I'm sorry. Now, I don't know whose fault any of this was. But I know that if I would have remembered that stupid condom eight years ago, we wouldn't be here and Jayden wouldn't be in that room crying for his life. But I have absolutely no regrets,"
Troy didn't notice the wide grin Gabriella put on her face and how she was stepping closer to him as he spoke. He continued reason."I didn't come all this way to tell you that I can't live without you, Bella. I can live with out you," he paused and gestured to himself. "As you can see,".
"Gabriella, I love you. And even if I could grow numb to wild emotions like these and just spend the rest of my life waiting for death to come upon me, I just don't want to live without you. Gabi, I wouldn't dare want to live without you,"
He stopped. Silence spread through the whole floor of the hospital, waiting for some kind of reaction. Until ultimately, Gabriella jumped onto Troy, wrapping her legs around his waist and arms around his neck, and gave him what every lover in the world waited for in the end. A true love's kiss.
Gabriella and Troy shared an everlasting moment embracing each other with millions of repeating kisses. They shared their moment even though so many sorrows still existed in their lives. The two passionately clung to the other in ecstasy even now. Because Troy and Gabriella loved each other. And they knew that they would be together through it all.
