I think I've come up with a sort of new way of approaching these next few chapters. Please let me know what you think and If you understand what is going on. This chapter wasn't much of a change, but the next few will have lots a flashback type things. And sorry, this one isn't as long as the others. I'll explain more at the bottom. Well, here's chapter 12!! Enjoy

Chapter 12

May 12th 2002 11:22 P.M. Stanford University Parking Lot

"Troy!" I breathed as I felt my whole body give into the intense amount of pleasure that had been pushing my sanity. We had done it. We had given something to each other that could never be given back. I wanted it to be Troy, with all my heart I wanted it to be Troy. Sure I never expected it to happen in his truck, but it happened. He kept his body pressed against mine as we slowly regained our normal breathing patterns and stared into each other's eyes. His damp hair clung to his forehead as he tried to flip it out of his face.

"Are you o.k.?" He breathed as he slipped between me and the back of the seat, wrapping a protective arm around my waist and kissing my cheek.

I couldn't find enough air to speak. Every second of him made me breathless. We have been dating for a year and a half and I still can't believe that someone like him is with someone like me. I must be the luckiest person on the face of this earth. With no luck on finding my voice, I just nodded. I was a little sore but that had been expected. You spend all of middle school with your teachers telling you that it will hurt. I guess being with Troy made it much more tolerable, or, maybe they were just trying to scare us.

"Me too." I could hear the smile as he spoke, letting his hot breath tickle my ear. "I love you Gabriella."

I turned around, our faces only inches apart.

I remember watching my mother and father when I was little. Every night, when he was home at least, we would have a family dinner and afterwards they would, together, wash the dishes. I had been young so when I could be excused from the table, I would just run up to my room and play with my millions of Barbie dolls.

One night, I wanted to ask my mother if she could open up one of my dolls that I had just gotten for Christmas and ran downstairs. I had expected them to be washing dishes, but when I walked in my father was standing behind my mother, his arms wrapped around her stomach and his forehead rested on her shoulder. She had her head rolled back and eyes closed while he hummed a melody un known to me in her ear. Since I had been 8, I knew to just leave them alone, but I was also curious as to what, exactly, they were doing. There was a small closet next to the entrance to the kitchen so I had hidden in there as I watched for their next move. About a few minutes later, my dad raised his head and whispered into her ear. 'I love you.' At that moment I prayed that I could grow up to have something just as strong as what my mother and father had.

I smiled at Troy and rested my head on his chest, breathing in his scent. Gently, I placed a kiss on his chest and sighed. "I love you too Wildcat."

June 22nd 5:24 A.M. Bolton Home

Ever since Belle woke me up at 2:30 I haven't been able to fall back asleep. Just when I think I could finally close my eyes and let the headache I can feel growing at the back of my head disappear, Troy will pop into my head and ruin all chances of that. Why guilt has slipped in to my conscience is beyond me, but I feel it. I know that Troy won't give up his basketball and I know that he won't give us up either. If he has to, he will drop basketball and take care of us. Part of me wants him to just forget about basketball and live with Belle and I, but then the more sensible part of me kicks in and I realize that that is just plain selfish. The whole reason for me leaving Troy in the first place was because I didn't want him to quit basketball.

Quietly, as not to wake the sleeping 4 year old in my arms, I sat up and headed out into the kitchen. Troy's mom was sitting there, holding a cup of coffee staring out the window.

"Good morning Lucille." I forced a fake smile at her as I sat down next to her at the kitchen table.

She smiled up at me but I could still tell that she was stressing about something. "Morning Gabriella. It's a little early isn't it?" She asked.

This time I really did smile. "Well, yes, but with Belle around, 5 A.M. became the new 10 A.M."

She chuckled. "I know how that goes. I've been getting up this early since I had to get Troy up for school. I would walk in here, make some coffee and sit for a good 5 minutes before going and waking him up." She smiled into space. "I would have to visit his room a good 5 times before he would finally get up and take a shower. He could be so stubborn some times, but I never stopped loving him. He's my son, I could never not love him."

She stopped and looked me in the eyes. "Gabriella, I know you and Troy are having problems right now, but, I know that things will work out. If I know Troy, he will make the right decision. I also know you and I know that you will make the right decisions as well."

I sighed and sunk a little in my chair. "What is the right decision? He wants me to move to L.A. I can't just leave. Belle has friends there, I have friends there." I stopped and looked out the same window his mother had. "We have a life there."

I heard her sigh before feeling her hand on mine. "Gabriella, sometimes people have to make a choice that they may not like. You should know that." I looked down at the table. "I'm not saying Troy is right, but I'm not saying you're right either. Together, you have to make a decision that's best for all three of you in the long run." Having placed my elbows on the table, I rubbed my head as I tried to figure out what she was trying to say. There had to be some hidden message in her words that gave me straight answer, there has to be.

"There's no reading between the lines or searching for hidden messages." Did I say that out loud? "You just have to talk with Troy and sort things out. The answer will come in time." With that, she stood up and headed out of the kitchen.

Why do our parents have to make things more complicated than they were to begin with? Also, the guilt I was feeling before is ten times worse now. She really was no help at all. Was I even seeking help or was I just expecting someone to side with me? I groaned and rubbed my temples harder.

"Daddy!?" Bells cries were heard from her bedroom. She probably just woke up, but with her having woke up at 1 A.M., she must be really tired, especially because she didn't fall back asleep for a good 3 hours. The sound of Troy's feet racing from his bedroom could also be heard. This would be the second time since we got here that he was beckoned by his daughter, needing him.

My curiosity got the best of me as I stood up and quietly headed towards her bedroom.

5:36 A.M.

"Daddy!?" Belle cried my new name. I instantly jumped out of bed and ran to her room, though I knew it was a no bigger emergency than a bad dream. Somehow I needed her now more than she needed me.

Her bedroom was only down the hall so it only took me a good 4.8 seconds to get from my bed to her bed. She was sitting up on the floor, tears streaming down her face. I hated seeing her like this. I ran to her and picked her up off the floor, she must have fallen out of the bed.

"Baby girl, what's wrong?" I asked, sitting on her bed holding her close to me as she sobbed into my chest.

"The monster was gonna get me!" She hiccupped between cries. Whatever monster this was had scared the crap out of her. She was practically shaking in my arms.

"Shh, the monsters gone now, it won't get you." I cooed in her ear, rocking her back and forth to try and calm her cries and ease her shaking.

She slightly pushed away and looked me in the eyes. I noticed how red her eyes were from crying and rubbing. "Will daddy save me?"

I wrapped her back in my arms and continued to rock back and forth. "Of course I'll save you. You're my baby girl and because you're my baby girl no one and nothing can hurt you." She didn't say anything more as she continued to cry into my chest.

It only took a good 5 minutes before she finally started to calm down. I tilted my head down to try and get a look at her face when she went a few more seconds without hiccupping. She pulled away a little and smiled up at me. "I love you daddy."

I smiled down at her. "More than ice cream?" I asked, remembering her saying she loved me more than ice cream after she called me daddy for the first time.

"More than ice cream." She giggled.

"I love you too baby girl."

"More than basketball?"

I smiled, having figured it out. I do love her more than basketball. I love her soo much more than basketball that if I lost her to it I would surely die. If Brie won't move in with me, well, I guess basketball will just have to go. The amount of importance basketball is in my life isn't even on the same scale as Belles. "More than Basketball."

5:54 A.M.

He loves her more than basketball. I knew that, I know that. Shit! It's obvious to me what the answer is. I have to move to L.A. with him. Belle and I are going to have to say good-bye to our friends and move to one of the craziest cities in the country to be with the man we both love and who loves us.

June 24th 12:22 P.M. Montez Home

Troy and I had decided to stay a little longer and spend some time with our families. After having listened to Troy and Belle's conversation, I decided I needed some time away from him and chose to stay with my mom the next few days. If I was going to seek any amount of advice, I should search for it from my own mother. It's been a good day and a half since I heard Troy and Belle's conversation. I did speak with Troy afterwards to tell him I was going to stay with my mom for a few days before we left. I told him it was because I missed her. He didn't question it really. Belle was with him the first day and she's with me now. It's easy to switch since our parents only live a block away.

Now, I'm sitting in the hammock in the backyard, staring at the clouds in the afternoon sky. There was a small breeze that whipped through my hair sending shivers down my back. I closed my eyes to take in the peacefulness. Belle was taking a nap in my old bedroom.

"Long day?" My mother asked as she stepped onto the porch from the house.

I lifted my head to look in her direction. By the look on her face, she had already prepared herself for a good talk. I laid my head back down and sighed. "What do I do momma?"

She continued to the walk over to the hammock. "What do you do about what?"

I sighed again knowing that she knew what I knew but wanted me to tell her what she already knew. "I have to go to L.A. It's the right thing to do." I looked up at her as she sat down next to me. "Isn't it?"

She gave a small smile. "Mija, do you know why we always had to keep moving?"

I sat up a little confused. I had always known, didn't I? "Ya, because you were always getting a better job?"

She nodded her and sighed. "That was part of the reason, but the other part was because I didn't want to stay in one place for too long. The only reason I stayed here in Albequerque was because I saw just how much Troy had meant to you and I knew that taking you away from him would be something you would never forgive me for." She smiled at me and I smiled back. Thank god she hadn't made me move away from him. At the time, that would have just killed both me and Troy. "Anyways, I was also scared. Your father , when we got married, gave me two choices. I could stay at home while he traveled, or, I could move to New York with him and we could start a family. Most of his business was in New York so he would have been home more often, but the big city scared me. If we were going to have kids together, well, I wanted to raise my kids in small towns, not a big city like New York."

I closed my eyes and nodded my head, completely understanding what my mother was trying to tell me. I am afraid of raising Belle in a big city like L.A. She and I both like the small town look, just like my mother did with me. "So, you choose to stay put and get a job while he went off to New York."

She nodded. "He didn't like my decision, but he wasn't going to force me to move to a big city of I didn't want to. I sometimes wonder how different life would be if I had just went to New York with him. Maybe…" She trailed off and hung her head. I shifted in the hammock so I could hug her.

"Momma, don't blame yourself for what happened. It was an accident. Nothing can change that."

She sniffed and pulled back away. "NO, I know. I try hard not to think about that, especially because having said no to him led you to meeting Troy and having a beautiful baby girl. I believe that things happen for a reason and you and Troy were meant to be together." She squeezed my hand and looked me deep in the eyes. "Please. Don't make the same mistakes I did."

I gave her one last hug. "I love you momma."

"And I love you mija."

She's right, even if she didn't out right say it. I should move to L.A. with Troy. It's the right thing to do and plus, I really don't want to take Belle away from him. They have such a close relationship that she would hate me if I did that.

We both jumped when someone cleared their throat. I turned and saw Troy standing near the back gate. He looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep and hadn't even taken a shower. Geesh, what have I done to him?

My mom stood up and smiled at me before walking over to Troy, since he was in the direction of the porch. I don't know what she did, but he smiled at her before she turned and went inside. He looked at me and slowly walked over.

"Hey." He said in a low voice standing in front of me.

I didn't get up from the hammock, only looking up into his soft innocent blue eyes. "Hey."

"How are you?" He looked…nervous?

"A little tired. SO do you."

He smiled and looked down. "Yeah, I haven't gotten allot of sleep lately. I've been thinking about what we argued about the other day and I wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have shouted at you. If you want to stay in Wisconsin, well, I'm not going to force you to move to L.A. I want what's best for Belle and you, not what's best for me." He took a deep breath and got down on his knees in front of me. He grabbed my hands and looked me right in the eyes. I have to take care of you and Belle now, and basketball is only going to get in the way of that. I lost you once and I don't think I could survive if I lost you again. I think I sho..."

I cut him off knowing what he was about to say. I need to tell him what I need to say before he makes his decision permanent. "I want to move to L.A. with you!" I almost shouted.

He blinked a couple of times. "You do?" He asked, completely confused.

I swallowed hard. "Yes. Belle loves you soo much. I know that and you know that. I can't take her away from you. I'm gonna run, but this time, I'm gonna run with you. I have to make a reasonable decision this time. It's always been about me, and this time, it has to be all about Belle, and you."

He looked at me for a few more seconds. "Are you sure? I don't want you to feel you have to do this because I had asked. It's your decision."

I looked him right in the eyes and smiled. "I want to do this." And for the first time, I really felt like it was what I wanted to do. I wanted to move to L.A. with Troy. I want to watch Troy and Belle grow up and love each other the way my father and I loved each other only this time, they'll be around each other every day. This is how it's supposed to be, and this is the way it's going to stay.

He smiled big at me and threw his arms around me in a giant hug. "I love you Gabriella."

I smiled big. "I love you too Troy."

Sooooooo, what you think?????? It was supposed to be longer, but what I want the flight back to Wisconsin and some other stuff to happen in the next chapter, together.

The story doesn't end here. Troy Belle and Brie are going to move to L.A. and while they are there, something is going to happen leading to one more drama filled section, then ending the story.

Thanks so much to everyone that has made it through Chapter 12!! I really appreciate you taking interest in my story. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!! It makes me happy. You can write anything, even if you're just going to diss the hell out of it, I don't care. Just review PLEASE!!! Thanks!! SuzzieD