Short chapter but please read till the end.
"I…I have been thinking that after my father gets admitted out of the hospital, I've been thinking of staying with him for the time being before he…you know," Gabriella said, softly.
Troy's face completely dropped to the floor. He wasn't expecting her to say that. What happened to saying she loved him? Forget that, what about the fact that she wants to leave Troy in the apartment all by himself? "Oh," he replied.
"It's not like I'm abandoning you. No, I just…I want to be close to him before he leaves. I haven't been doing much of that for the past couple of years. I just needed to know that it is ok with you. Is ok right?" Gabriella asked.
A selfish part of Troy wanted to tell Gabriella not to go because he would miss her too much but a caring part of Troy didn't want to hold Gabriella back from trying to take care of her own father but he didn't want Gabriella to go just yet. It feels like he's letting her go. But he has to be supportive of her. "I guess it is ok," Troy answered.
"Are you sure? Because if you're against it then I won't do it," Gabriella asked.
"No. Why would be against it? He's your father and you're his daughter. You deserve to spend some father-daughter bonding time with one another," Troy confirmed.
Gabriella smiled and hugged Troy tightly, "Oh, thank you for being so understanding," Gabriella said.
As Gabriella was hugging Troy, Troy didn't want to let go. He wanted to hug Gabriella forever. But of course, things never go his way when Gabriella pulled back from the hug. "It's no problem. It's not like I'm never going to see you again," Troy said.
"Exactly, you're invited to come to my dad's house whenever you want. We'll have dinner and you can spend time with my dad since you two are close now," Gabriella said.
"Cool. I'm looking forward to it," Troy smiled.
"You know, to be honest, my dad has never been close to any of my guy friends or any guy that talks to me. He won't even let me have a date to my senior prom. I had to go with him instead," Gabriella said.
"No way," Troy said.
"Really. My school even made this headline in the school newspaper that says 'Montez girl takes Montez dad to Dance' and it even had a picture of us posing. It was so embarrassing. I actually wanted to go with this one guy I have been flirting with for a while," Gabriella said.
Jealousy started tingle in Troy's body. He didn't understand why he was being jealous. It's not like Gabriella still likes the guy. "Really? Who is he?" he asked, trying to hide the insecurity in his voice.
"Oh, his name is Derek Hotz and he's just this guy in my literature class. He plays soccer and totally hot. He has this blonde hair and sun-kissed skin. What's cool about him is that his eyes are different colour. One is blue and the other is green. What's more awesome about him is that he's not shallow, he's nice and he's so romantic!" Gabriella told as she remembered.
That was not helping Troy dealing with the jealousy. This Derek guy seemed to capture Gabriella's heart than Troy is. "How do you know he's romantic?" he asked.
"We use to secretly date each other," Gabriella answered, dreamily.
Troy noticed the dreamy look in Gabriella's face. She still remembers this Derek guy. What did that guy got that Troy doesn't? So Derek has blonde hair, Troy has light brown hair. Light brown haired guys are more attractive than blonde haired guys' right? So he has one blue and one green eye, Troy has two sparkling blue eyes that attracted many girls in his high school. "What kind of romantic thing did he ever done for you?" he asked.
"Oh, you know the basic romantic stuff. He brought me to the roller rink and gave me a fake flower because he says that it'll lasts more than real ones. It was also the place where we got our first kiss. After that, we went to the arcade and help me win a big teddy bear. My favourite date personally was the time we spend time somewhere in the park where there isn't anyone and we had a romantic picnic by the sunset," Gabriella told him.
First kiss at a roller rink? Went to the arcade? That sounds more like a play-date to Troy. Then again, Gabriella isn't a romantic type of person herself. He could bring Gabriella to all those places by himself, you know, if he knew Gabriella back then. Ok, so winning the big teddy bear part and the picnic by the sunset part was romantic but Troy could do better. At least he thinks he can. "Why didn't you two go out anymore?" he asked.
"We parted ways during college. I went to NYU and he went somewhere. Never heard from him since. Now that I think of it, some of that romantic stuff is cheesy. I mean, picnic by the sunset? I rather have a picnic in my backyard," Gabriella said.
"So you're saying that what he did, is just, stupid?" Troy asked, hopefully.
"Not really. It was sweet too. I felt so happy when I'm out with him. He's my first real crush but I never referred to him as my boyfriend," Gabriella answered.
"Why not?" he asked again.
"He never asked. I know he likes me but he never admit it. He went to dates but we never really talked about being boyfriend and girlfriend. I was sad about it but I didn't let it get to me. There are much more important things in life. Back in high school, 'much important things in life', is getting into trouble without getting caught," Gabriella joked.
Troy and Gabriella both laughed. Troy realised that this was the longest conversation they had without them arguing. He liked it. He hoped their future conversations will be end up like this. Suddenly, Gabriella starts to hold her stomach.
"What's the matter?" Troy asked.
Gabriella smiled, "Nothing. I guess I'm not use to the baby kicking and moving inside me yet," she said.
"Well I guess you have to get use to it right? Plus, a kicking and moving baby is a healthy baby," Troy pointed out.
"Totally," Gabriella agreed. "You want to feel the baby?"
Troy nodded and put his hand on Gabriella's stomach. He could feel his little girl moving inside Gabriella. "Are you sure you don't want to know the sex of the baby?" he asked.
"I don't know. I'm still regretting for not finding out but at the same time I want it to be a surprise," Gabriella said.
"Well I know the gender of the baby," Troy boasted.
"Shut up," Gabriella said in disbelief. "How do you know?"
"While you were getting ready to leave, I asked the doctor," Troy answered.
"That's not fair! I wanted us to both find out together. It's more fun that way," Gabriella said.
Troy chuckled, "No it isn't."
"Yes it is," Gabriella debated.
"Well you might be the person who is patient but I am not like you. I don't like surprises. Although if you are like me, I don't mind telling you the sex of the baby," Troy offered.
"No! Don't tell me now. Tell me when I ask you to tell me. Do you promise?" Gabriella asked.
"Promise," Troy said. "So I guess this means you'll be packing a few of your things so you can stay with your dad right?"
Gabriella shrugged, "I guess so. Unless you don't think it's a great idea."
Troy shook his head furiously, "No! No. I was just thinking that you should be careful. You're pregnant and your dad is sick. You're both very vulnerable and I don't want anything happen to you two," Troy said.
"Don't worry. We'll be fine," Gabriella assured him by touching his hand.
"I know you'll be," Troy said.
"Troy? Is there anything at all do you want to tell me?" Gabriella asked randomly.
Yes! I want to tell you that I love you! Troy wanted to say but instead he played it cool. "No. Why? Is there anything you want to tell me?"
"Actually yes," Gabriella said. "About last night…I wanted to apologize again. I didn't know what came over me. I guess it's because I hit ending of my first trimester and my hormones are going haywire."
"That's cool. I mean, I was the one who kissed you first anyways," Troy said.
"About that," Gabriella continued, "Are you like half European or something?"
"What? Why did you ask that?" he wanted to know.
"You seemed to be a kisser. Sometimes when we're quiet or whatever, you always tried to kiss me," Gabriella pointed out.
Oh crap! What am I going to answer now? Troy thought panicky in his head. "Well…it's very complicated actually…" Troy then glanced at his watch and changed the subject. "Oh! Look at the time. Lunch is over. I should get back to work and you should get back taking care of your dad. I'll see you at home. Bye!"
With that, Troy ran out of the food court leaving a confused Gabriella behind. While getting into his car, Troy literally felt like punching himself. He can't believe he chickened out about telling Gabriella that he has strong feelings for her. What the hell is wrong with him?
Alright, short chapter. I know. I just needed to get this chapter out because I am so grateful with the amount of reviews I had for the last chapter! You guys are the best.
I apologise for making this a short one but think of it as a bonus chapter because I appreciate you guys so much!
I enjoyed reading all your reviews. Thanks for encouraging me.
PLEASE REVIEW and I will post the next chapter as soon as I get 10+ reviews!
