Chad left early that night, leaving Troy and Gabriella to themselves for almost an hour. Giving up on making Gabriella a talented basketball star, the two teenagers laid back on the grass and stared up into the night sky together.

"Do you ever look up at the stars and swear you can see your future?" Gabriella wondered out loud.

"Sometimes," Troy admitted. And it was true. Sometimes he looked up into the sky and saw his baby girl. Other times, however, he looked up and swore he saw the shine that used to be in Kaitlin's eyes.

"I like you, Troy," Gabriella said suddenly. Troy looked over at her and smiled slightly.

"I like you, too."

---

Weeks had passed since that night Gabriella and Chad came over to shoot hoops. Troy and Gabriella had been on several more dates and were becoming closer by the minute. They sat together at lunch and Troy was slowly becoming more comfortable with the idea of him with a girl other than Kaitlin. While Troy was quite happy with the slow progression of things, Gabriella felt as though she was getting very mixed signals.

"I mean, we've been dating for over a month," Gabriella sighed as her and Taylor sat down at lunch on afternoon. "Unofficially, of course, but dating."

"You're right," Taylor nodded. She was finding it harder and harder to not spill Troy's secret in his defense.

"He hasn't even kissed me yet. And last week, he canceled on me last minute. No explanation or anything," Gabriella said thoughtfully. "I don't understand this guy." Taylor sighed. She knew why Troy had suddenly canceled his date. Katie had been feeling a bit warm earlier in the evening and he didn't want a repeat of their first date when he had to leave early.

"Why don't you ask him?" Taylor offered. "They're heading over here now." The Gabriella turned around and saw the two boys walking towards them. Chad had his trademark grin on his face, but Troy looked horrible. He had bags under his eyes and his hair was messed up and it looked as though he didn't shave that morning.

"Troy? You okay?" Taylor asked, concerned.

"Yea, I'm fine. Just a little tired. I didn't get much sleep last night," he explained. Taylor nodded knowingly and let the subject go.

"Troy? Can we talk?" Gabriella asked, deciding to take Taylor's advice. "Alone?"

"Sure," he nodded nervously and turned around. She followed and the two walked down the hall to an empty classroom.

"What's going on?" He asked, worried that someone had spilled the beans about his daughter.

"I was just… well I was just wondering… what's… well… what's going on. With us."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, like, are we together? Or are we just hanging out as friends or what?"

"Well, what do you want us to be?" Troy asked, feeling as though while the question seemed a bit out of left field, it was legitimate.

"I mean we've gone out every weekend for over a month. And some school nights too."

"We have," Troy agreed.

"But you… or we really… haven't done anything that would suggest that it was anything more than two friends hanging out. Is that what it is?" She asked nervously. It hit Troy like a ton of bricks. She wanted him to do something like put his arm around her, hold her hand, kiss her even, to show her what they were. He hadn't kissed anyone since Kaitlin and although he liked Gabriella... well… REALLY liked Gabriella… he wasn't sure he was ready for that kind of commitment.

"Gabi…" Troy started apologetically. She sensed his tone but the bell rang before he could finish. "We should get to class," he said instead. She nodded hesitantly and followed him out the empty classroom just as Chad and Taylor were walking by.

"I'll catch up with you, Tay," Chad said, hanging back with Troy while the two girls kept walking. When they were out of earshot Chad spoke again. "You guys were alone in that empty classroom for a while…"

"Nothing happened," Troy immediately told him.

"Only you, Dude," Chad shook his head and the two walked to class. Meanwhile, the girls were having a very similar conversation.

"He didn't kiss me," Gabriella sighed as soon as they were out of earshot from the boys.

"Troy likes to take things slow," Taylor defended.

"Waiting until the third date to kiss a girl is taking it slow. Waiting until the third month is 'I-don't-really-like-you-and-I'm-using-you-to-pass-the-time-until-I-find-something-or-someone-better-to-do'."

"Troy's not like that. In fact, he must really like you because he hasn't taken a girl out on a date since…" Taylor stopped herself from finishing with 'since Kaitlin' and instead finished with the also truthful, "since freshman year." Gabriella stopped in her tracks.

"Troy hasn't dated anyone since he was a freshman?"

"He likes to keep to himself."

"So what, I'm the first girl he's dated?"

"No, I didn't say that," Taylor said, realizing she was quickly putting herself in a position that she didn't want to be in.

"So he had a girlfriend freshman year?"

"Yes."

"And… what? She broke his heart and he vowed never to love again," Gabriella joked.

"Something like that," Taylor said, attempting to smile. You have no idea, she thought. Finding it hard to finish a conversation about a girl who used to be her best friend, Taylor changed the subject. "So, do you want to study for the Physics test together?"

----

"Hey, Taylor. I didn't know you were coming over," Troy smiled as he let the girl in after school that day.

"We need to talk."

"Are you breaking up with me?" He joked, handing her Katie. She smiled took Katie into her arms, laughing when the child cooed at her. Troy smiled at the scene and poured some apple juice into a sippy-cup. He added some water to it before handing it to the little girl in Taylor's arms. She took it willingly and decided to point out exactly what was in her hands.

"Juice! Juice! Juice! Juice!" Katie chanted. Taylor laughed.

"That's right, Honey. It's juice," Taylor smiled, touching Katie's nose.

"So what's going on?" Troy asked, looking up at Taylor. Taylor sat down with Katie in her lap and Troy followed suit.

"Are you planning on taking things further with Gabriella, Troy?" Troy looked at his feet before continuing.

"Taylor…"

"Troy."

"I want to. It's just…"

"Troy, Kaitlin was my best friend. My very best friend for three years before it happened. And I'm sitting here, as her best friend, and your good friend, telling you that Kaitlin wouldn't be mad. Or hurt. She would be happy for you." Taylor's heart broke as she witnessed a few tears fall from Troy's eyes as he continued to stare at his feet. He quickly wiped them away and looked up at her.

"What about Katie? I can't just keep bringing home girls I think I like. What kind of message would that send to her?"

"She's not even two, Troy."

"She's a baby, Taylor, she's not stupid," Troy snapped, taking Katie from Taylor's arms. "She notices things."

"I'm not implying that, Troy. I'm just saying that she's not going to run off and start bringing random boys home just because you start dating one girl that you really like. At least not yet," she joked, trying to lighten the mood. She swore she saw Troy crack a small smile.

"Gabriella doesn't even know about her."

"Then tell her."

"And if she freaks out?"

"Then it doesn't matter anyway, does it?"