Disclaimer I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.
A/N: Hey everyone! Today I felt so Christmasy! We decorated our tree, got our traditional new ornament each and we decorated the outside of our house!!! It looks so pretty – hehe. But anyway - Enjoy…
Last Time…
Troy's hand moved down her upper arm, then down her forearm, until it laced itself with Gabriella's hand,
"Be my girlfriend" he murmured as more of a hopefully statement than anything.
Most of Gabriella was screaming yes. But there was a tiny part of her that wondered if this was a good idea. Truthfully she was afraid. She was afraid of what might happen, she was afraid of opening her heart and she was terrified of her heart breaking. But as she gazed back at Troy's cerulean eyes she saw a trust in his eyes which she couldn't help but falter at.
"Yes" Gabriella whispered.
Chapter Twelve- Open Your Heart
"Thanks again for doing this tonight" Gabriella said.
"Don't worry about it Gabs. Now sit still so I can finish your makeup." Taylor insisted, as she brought the mascara brush up to Gabriella's eye lashes.
"What time is he coming at again?" Taylor asked as carefully brushed on the black mascara.
"Um, he said 5:30. Why? What time is it?" Gabriella asked nervously. Taylor quickly glanced at the clock, cringing slightly as she watched the clock change to exactly 5:30. Troy was usually late right?
Wrong. At that exact moment she heard the doorbell ring.
"Is that? Oh my god! I'm not even dressed!" Gabriella panicked.
"Gabriella, chill. Your makeup is done now so all you have to do is get dressed. I'll get the door. Just come out when you're ready" Taylor spoke calmly. Gabriella nodded quickly as she watched Taylor disappear from the room.
By the time Taylor made it to the door Lucas and Lily were not far behind her. She opened the door to reveal Troy standing in the hall with dark jeans and a blue button-up shirt on.
"Hey Troy, come on in. Gabriella should be ready in a few minutes" Taylor said. "I'm just going to make sure she's all set"
With that Taylor went back into Gabriella's room, to find Gabriella smoothing out the deep purple silk blouse she had on.
"Are you sure I look ok?" Gabriella asked turning to Taylor. "It's not too much?"
Gabriella was dressed in a plum colored blouse paired with dark jeans and simple black heels. Her hair was down, in its natural curly fashion and her makeup was simple and natural, with a little bit of shimmer on her eyelids.
"Gabs you look amazing." Taylor assured her. "Now come on, let's go!" Taylor said excitedly, tossing Gabriella her purse.
The two girls walked out into the living room and Troy grinned upon seeing Gabriella. She walked over to him and he kissed her lightly on the cheek,
"You look beautiful" he whispered. Gabriella smiled bashfully,
"Thank you"
"So you ready to go?" Troy asked. Gabriella nodded,
"Yeah. Now Lucas and Lily you guys better be good for Taylor."
"We will" the twins chimed
"And Taylor, the apartment is yours, use whatever you need" Gabriella said. Taylor nodded appreciatively. "I think that's everything" Gabriella finished, glancing up at Troy as if he knew if she was missing something.
"And Lucas I promise to take good care of her" Troy promised. Gabriella looked between Lucas and Troy, confused.
"I'll explain later, you're going to laugh" Troy whispered in Gabriella's ear.
"Bye guys" Gabriella said as Troy began to usher her towards the door. Taylor shut the door behind them and locked it.
Troy's hand found Gabriella's and the pair walked hand in hand down to Troy's car. Being the gentleman he was, Troy opened the passenger's side door for Gabriella and shut it for her after she was inside the car.
Once Troy had the engine started and was backing out of the parking spot, Gabriella asked curiously,
"So what did Lucas say to you?"
Troy chuckled as he thought back to the short conversation he had had with Lucas.
"He very sternly told me I was to take very good care of you tonight and that if I ever hurt you I would face untold consequences." Troy couldn't help but mock the serious tone Lucas had spoken in. Gabriella laughed and covered her face in slight embarrassment.
"I actually felt as if I was being grilled, kind of like something a dad would do." Troy explained, shuddering slightly in fear of meeting Gabriella's father, "At least I didn't have to meet your dad tonight."
Gabriella managed to smile meekly at Troy's last comment. Troy would hopefully never meet her father. Maybe one day she would tell him about the days when she considered her father to be the best in the world. Those memories were the only ones she cherished as memories of her father. The torturous man she had known for the past 7 years was not her father, or at least someone she didn't want to consider her father.
"When's he getting back anyway?" Troy asked.
"Um…I'm not sure exactly" Gabriella said quietly, "Sometime this week, I think"
Lying to Troy was becoming increasingly hard. Gabriella had never been a big liar, but she never hated it. Now, when she lied to Troy she felt as if she was betraying him. She felt like she was a terrible person. Shaking her head gently, Gabriella changed the subject,
"So what about your parents? I'm not meeting them tonight am I?" She asked. Troy smiled, amused with Gabriella's new tone.
"Well you've already met my dad, haven't you? Gym class?" Troy reminded her.
"I know, but I haven't had to do the awkward meeting thing with you introducing us formally." Gabriella pointed out.
"Fair enough. But I'm warning you, you'll have to meet them sometime time soon. My mom is beginning to bug me about it. She's very excited to meet you." Troy explained rolling his eyes.
Gabriella laughed, "I'm sure she's not that bad"
"You don't know my mother" he said. Gabriella laughed.
"Well at least you don't have younger siblings who threaten your boyfriend" she reminded him.
"Oh but I have older siblings who I can already see embarrassing me." Troy laughed. "But what are you going to do? All families have their quirks, don't they?"
"You can stay that again" Gabriella murmured.
--
It took about 20 more minutes for Troy and Gabriella to reach their destination. Troy pulled into the very small parking lot that contained three other cars.
'Meade Memorial Park' read the sign that arched over a black metal gate. Troy turned to Gabriella and smiled,
"We're here"
Gabriella grinned back and unlocked the door, so she could get out of the car, Troy did the same. Making his way around to the back of the car, Troy opened the boot of the car to pull out an insulated black bag. As he shut the boot, Gabriella looked at him quizzically.
"What? You didn't think I was going to let you go hungry? And I couldn't let the food get cold." Troy explained.
Gabriella smiled, "That was very thoughtful of you. Can I carry anything?"
Troy shook his head, "No, I have everything right here in this nifty bag. Now let's go we've got a little bit of a walk" Troy slung the bag over his shoulder as beckoned Gabriella towards the black gate. With his free hand he pulled the gate open and allowed Gabriella to walk through first.
"So how did you find this place?" Gabriella asked as the two walked along a path surrounded by trees.
"My grandparents used to take me here all the time when I was younger. My favorite spot is by the pond. My brother and I used to push each other in all the time, then my grandparents would make us lay in the sun until we dried off so we didn't go home soaking wet." Troy explained, laughing slightly at the memory.
"Well if you're taking me there, you better not push me" Gabriella warned.
"I wasn't planning on it, but now that you mention it…." Troy gave Gabriella a cheeky smile. Gabriella rolled her eyes.
When the two came to a fork in the path, they veered to the left and came to a pond surrounded by grass with large willow trees on one side. There were small wildflowers scattered throughout the grassy area. Gabriella looked over at Troy, smiling at the serenity of the area.
"You like it?" Troy asked hopefully.
"I love it"
"I hoped you would" Troy smiled. "Come on let's go over there" Troy motioned to the trees.
Troy set the bag down and unzipped it. He pulled out a plaid blanket and laid it out beside him. Then he pulled out four battery operated lanterns –for when it got dark. Finally he pulled out 4 white containers.
"You like Chinese right?"
"Are you kidding? I love Chinese." Gabriella grinned. "What kind did you get?" she asked, beginning to open the boxes and peer inside.
"Thank you! Lo Mein, ooo and Sweet and Sour Chicken." She said excitedly, "Fried rice and dumplings!"
Troy couldn't help but grin at Gabriella's excitement. He pulled out two pairs of chop sticks and handed one to Gabriella.
Gabriella let out a sigh of relief,
"Thank god, you eat Chinese food with chop sticks! It bothers me when people don't" She looked slightly embarrassed at her last statement and immediately back tracked, "I'm sorry, I'm just…weird like that."
"No, no, definitely not weird" Troy assured her. "Now dig in, I'm assuming you're cool with eating out of the containers right?"
Gabriella grinned, "Totally"
By the time all the food had been devoured, it was getting dark. So, Troy turned on the lanterns and reached into the black bag to pull out two fortune cookies. Gabriella quickly tore through the plastic wrapping. Splitting the cookie in half, she pulled out the white slip of paper, her eyes scanning it quickly.
"What does the future hold for you?" she asked Troy. Troy swallowed the part of the cookie he had in his mouth and lifted up the paper to read,
"Next time you have the opportunity, go on a rollercoaster." Troy smiled, laughing silently, "Ok, random much. What about yours?"
"Mine says, Open your heart." Gabriella smiled weakly; this had to be some sort of sign.
"Now, what does "yúncăi" mean?" Troy asked putting on a funny Chinese accent.
"I have no idea" Gabriella laughed at Troy's strange pronunciation.
"It means clouds" Troy said.
"Well then, what does "tiāné" mean?" Gabriella asked.
"Swan" Troy said quickly. Gabriella's jaw dropped,
"How'd you know that?"
"Oh, I might have forgotten to mention I speak Chinese" Troy explained causally. Gabriella raised an eyebrow,
"Are you serious?"
Troy nodded, popping the last of his fortune cookie into his mouth. Gabriella looked completely dumbstruck.
"How did you learn Chinese?" she asked in disbelief.
Troy couldn't contain his laughter at the fact that she had actually believed him. He shook his head,
"Are you kidding, I don't speak Chinese. I just saw the back of your piece of paper while you were reading your fortune"
Once again Gabriella's mouth dropped open,
"Troy!" she exclaimed, swatting him, "That's no fair"
Troy smiled cheekily.
"Next time you can trick someone into thinking you speak Chinese" he reminded her.
"Oh yeah, like someone will fall for that" Gabriella said sarcastically.
"Hey, you're the one believed that I spoke Chinese" Troy defended holding his hands up.
Gabriella shook her head, "No I didn't"
"Oh" Troy chuckled "You totally believed I spoke Chinese"
"I did not" Gabriella insisted.
"Whatever you say Brie…" Troy trailed off, smirking at her.
--
After an hour of talking and laughing the pair fell into a comfortable silence as they lay side by side, gazing up at the night sky.
After a few minutes of being consumed in their own thoughts Troy spoke softly,
"For the record, you're not a mess. You cope with everything very well. In fact, sometimes I don't know how you do it. You take care of Lucas and Lily, work two jobs and still managed to keep your grades up. I just hope your dad gets home soon to help you out with everything" Troy confessed.
Gabriella averted her gaze from Troy's and looked up to the bright stars, searching for guidance.
She knew Troy trusted her, he had told her so and she knew she should trust him. It had been her original intention not to let anyone in, not to tell anyone about her secret, her fears, but now she couldn't help but question her previous logic. Would her life really be better if Troy didn't know? Was it fair to keep lying to him?
However, she couldn't help but feel concerned about the safety of her siblings. Her greatest fear was not having to face her father again, but having to watch her siblings cry out as their father beat them. She couldn't go through the pain again.
But all the lying would catch up with her eventually. She couldn't possibly keep telling her friends her father was away on a business trip. They were smart people; they were going to start asking questions sooner or later. She cared about them, a lot, especially Troy. It was unfair to keep something like this from them.
The more time she spent with Troy the harder she fell for him, the deeper she felt their connection grow. She'd only know him for a few months yet he knew more about her than any of her other friends. He'd been so good to her, she owed him this. She trusted him. For the first time in her life Gabriella trusted someone other than family. She trusted Troy Bolton
Taking a deep breath she turned her head back to face Troy.
"Can I tell you something?" she asked quietly. Troy's head turned and his eyes focused on hers,
"Of course"
"And you promise not to be mad?" Gabriella asked pushing herself up, so she was sitting.
"You know you can tell me anything" He assured her as he sat up as well.
"There are some things you don't know about me, that make my life a mess" Gabriella began shakily. Troy looked very concerned by the tone of her voice,
"Brie, what is it?" he coaxed gently.
"Do you remember the story I told you about the night my mom left?" she asked. Troy nodded
"I left out a part of the story. After my dad stayed downstairs cursing and angry he…he came upstairs into my room" Gabriella took a deep trembling breath before she continued, "And then he started to yell at me" Gabriella felt a tear trickle down her cheek, she knew what was coming next and wasn't sure if she could say it. Troy moved closer to Gabriella and took her hand in his, gently stroking his thumb over her hand.
"He told it me it was my fault and no one else's she had left. He told me it was my fault Lucas and Lily would never really know their mother. He told me she hated me, he hated me, Lucas and Lily would hate me and everyone I met would hate me. And at 10 years old I believed him" Gabriella let out a painful sob.
Troy wasn't sure what to say, he had known Gabriella blamed herself for her mother's departure, but he had no idea it had been her father who had convinced her.
"Oh Brie" he whispered gently. Gabriella shook her head,
"Let me finish" she whispered. "He said I would pay for what I had done and then he lunged forward and…punched me. I…I screamed and he…he…"Gabriella closed her eyes, "He told me if I made another sound he would…he would kill me. That was the first night he beat me" She opened her tear filled eyes to look at Troy, whose expression was unreadable.
"It stopped after that right?" Troy asked slowly, hopefully. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer. A father beating his own children was unthinkable, but to do it repeatedly was despicable. Again, Gabriella closed her eyes as tears leaked out. She very slowly shook her head side to side,
"No" she sobbed. Troy inhaled sharply, immediately pulling Gabriella's shaking body towards his, engulfing it in a strong comforting hug. He rubbed her back gently as he tried to think of what to say. She looked so vulnerable in his arms that he didn't want to upset her more.
"Brie" he whispered "You have to tell the police. They'll make it stop"
Gabriella pulled sharply away from the embrace,
"No" she cried "No you can tell anyone Troy. There's more"
Troy couldn't quite believe there was any more to this terrible story.
"I couldn't take it anymore, after all those years it was too much. I couldn't stand the pain of having to watch my little brother and sister come crying to me, bleeding and bruised." More tears ran from her eyes as the harsh memories returned.
"I started to devise a plan to get out. I didn't want to tell the police because they would separate Lucas and Lily from me – they're the only family I have I couldn't lose them. So I decided that we would run away. I threw a push pin at a map of the United States and it landed on Albuquerque. One night in August he went out to a bar after hurting me and we just left." Gabriella explained quietly tears still running down her face.
"If we tell the police they'll send us back. I can't go back. I can't let him hurt us again" she cried softly. "Please promise me you won't tell anyone but our friends. Please Troy"
The vulnerability in Gabriella's eyes was so severe that Troy was afraid she would break down again.
"I promise Brie. I promise I won't tell anyone but the gang. And I promise I won't let him hurt you again" Troy pledged firmly.
Gabriella collapsed into Troy's arms, sobbing. She tried never to think about her past life, never to remember the pain and suffering she had experienced and now that she had let it all out, her heart ached. Saying it all aloud made it seem so real. But for the first time since she was ten years old she felt free, she felt as if everything was going to be alright. For the first time since she was ten Gabriella Montez murmured three specific words,
"I trust you"
Troy kissed Gabriella's soft, sweet smelling hair as he held her in his arms. He was so glad she'd told him. But now he couldn't help but feel afraid for her, worried for her. He couldn't stand the thought of knowing her ass of a father was out there. He'd meant what he'd said to Gabriella shortly before, he would protect her. Her father was not getting anywhere near Gabriella or Lucas or Lily. Troy felt pain knowing that underneath Gabriella's clothes there were probably years worth of scars and bruises. He closed his eyes in an attempt to get rid of terrible images of a Gabriella being beaten by her father.
Despite the fact that the girl in his arms was sobbing Troy couldn't help but admire her strength. She's been mentally and physically abused for years and yet she managed to start a new life for herself. Granted her living situations could change drastically at any time, but for now she was set. On top of that he knew she would do anything for her siblings. The way she'd spoken about the pain she made it seem as if she would rather be beaten herself than watch her siblings cry out in pain. A trait he couldn't help but wonder if possessed.
As he thought about the logistics of the entire operation it was pretty extraordinary what she was doing. Somehow she had managed to lie to the Albuquerque School board; somehow she must have lied to her old school district and now she was single handedly raising her brother and sister. This new found information explained so many incidents. It explained why she pushed herself so hard to work two jobs, why she was always worried about leaving the twins too long at their school, she did it because she loved them so much and was trying to give them everything she had.
As Gabriella's tears subsided and her breathing became more regular she slowly lifted up her head, furiously wiping the tears which still remained on her face. She knew her make-up was probably ruined and she probably looked like a wreck.
"I'm sorry about all these tears" she apologized "You've only known me for a month and this is the second time I've broken down like this"
Troy let his hands rub her forearms, "You have nothing to be sorry for or ashamed about. I want to be the person you can talk to about anything"
Gabriella nodded, "I know that now. But can you tell the gang about this? I don't know if I'm strong enough to explain my mess of life to them"
"Of course I will. But I don't want to hear you say you're not strong enough, because from what you've just told me, Brie you are so, so strong, so fearless. Look at you, you travel across the country into the unknown as a sixteen year old with two 10 year old siblings. Some adults wouldn't have the strength to do what you do. You're amazing." Troy spoke sternly, but softly.
Gabriella wasn't really sure what came over her in the coming moments but the combination of the little speech Troy had just given her, the sincerity in his voice and way he had listened and comforted her had triggered an extreme gratitude which she decided to express by pressing her lips against his in a simple kiss.
But as soon as Gabriella felt Troy's surprise she pulled away babbling nervously,
"I don't know what came over me, I just…I don't know. It just happened and-"
She was cut off by Troy's lips on hers. At first she was shocked, but she allowed herself to melt into the soft, simple kiss letting her arms wrap around his neck. She felt his hands move gently down her back. Gabriella smiled against the sweet kiss before she slowly pulled away, keeping her forehead pressed against his.
"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that" Troy whispered. Gabriella smiled,
"I think I might"
A/N: Wow, ok long chapter. I hope you all liked it! Obviously Gabriella's confession was the most important part (well maybe the second, if you like fluff!) so I tried to make sure it worked well. I'd really like to hear your opinion – so be honest!!! Thanks so much for reading!
OH! The Chinese stuff…Those are real fortunes by the way…yes even the rollercoaster one, I got that and I was like WTF so yeah. As for the Chinese, well I don't speak Chinese – I lie I can say hello in Chinese but that's it, so if the translations are wrong…..my bad.