Wow, if the last chapter was massive, this one is behemoth!! Over 5,000 words! Yeeeahyuuuh! My longest yet! A lot happens in this chapter – I had heaps to cover, so I hope you can all follow it alright.

Ok quick Q&A session as well as shout outs:

Daizy – Welcome to my story and I'm glad you are enjoying the roller coaster! Also to anyone else who came on board and read the entire thing in one hit!

Suzanne LongBranch – Thanks so much! Glad I motivated you to study haha! Otherwise I might have had to write a really boring chapter so you had no better option than to study!

Meg – naaaw I loved your review! You sounded so happy and sincere! I hope to hear from you again :)

Conny – I haven't seen PS I Love You but I want to! My sister was reading the book and that's where I pinched the line from lol.

Cara – Wow. Your review gave me goosebumps. I honestly thought that those extremely subtle references I had in there would mean nothing to anyone except myself. For you to pick up on them and decode my secrets in one hit is just...wow. Education and awareness is my goal and I am proud to be able to fulfil that. I really hope you are able to sign again.

Funky-monkey-93 – the first wish is the one that gets granted. The other two are things they can use if the first wish can't be filled for some reason.

Jessie and Em – you know you both rock. 'Nuff said.

Ok, I think that's all. Go to the bathroom NOW before you start reading because otherwise it might be a year before you get to go, grab yourselves some chocolate, pat yourselves on the back for making chapter 31 my MOST REVIEWED CHAPTER EVER (!!!) sit back, relax and enjoy chapter 32!

Dedicated to Mariana - keep fighting the battle!


Chapter 32

"Mom, please...I can't even stomach the smell let alone think about swallowing it. Please, just take it away," Gabriella covered her mouth and nose as her stomach turned and she baulked.

Maria sighed and removed the plate of scrambled eggs and toast from the kitchen table. "Gabi, Gabi, Gabi – what are we going to do with you, huh? My scrambled eggs used to be your favourite – you'd eat them breakfast, lunch and dinner!"

"I know, Momma and I'm sorry," Gabriella whispered, feeling tears prick her eyes. "I can't explain it...everything...everything just tastes different than it used to before chemo. And the thought of eating just makes me feel sick."

Gabriella had returned home from her latest inpatient chemotherapy visit two days earlier. She had had to stay in the hospital for a week and a half this visit, as she had been so sick from the chemo that Dr Zamitt was worried she would become dehydrated. He insisted she remain on bed rest with fluids running from her IV until he was satisfied that she was strong enough to return home.

Despite the fact he had discharged her, Dr Zamitt was still not happy with Gabriella's weight. Eating was a huge issue for her that was becoming increasingly worse as her treatment progressed, Gabriella feeling some days like nausea and vomiting were her constant companions. Maria had started mixing powdered calorie supplements into Gatorade, seeing as that was about all Gabriella was managing to keep down most of the time, but it hadn't changed the fact that she was painfully thin, frail and weak.

Before she had left the hospital, Dr Zamitt had had another chat about her weight and had told her that if she still wasn't managing to eat properly within the next two weeks, she would have to have a nasal gastric tube placed. An 'NG Tube' as it was called for short, was a spaghetti-thin plastic tube with a cap on one end that was fed through the patient's nose, down the back of their throat, and into the stomach. It was taped into place on their cheek, and ran behind their ear, the capped end hanging loose over their shoulder. At night, bags of liquid nutrition were attached to this cap, the sustenance draining into their stomach through the night.

Gabriella desperately wanted to avoid having to have an NG tube placed, but still could not bring herself to eat more than a couple of bites of anything. Most of the small nibbles she did manage to take were thrown up not long after. It was a vicious cycle.

She left the table and sank onto the couch, several tears escaping no matter how hard she tried to them back. She felt so bad for her mother – she was nothing but supportive and caring and was going out of her way 24/7 to cater for Gabriella's needs, and Gabriella felt awful that she couldn't even eat a little of the food she had made especially because it was a meal she loved, once upon a time. But she just couldn't eat – no matter how much she wanted to. It wasn't like she was refusing food on purpose, out of stubbornness – she physically could not keep anything down, most of the things she did put in her mouth tasted like metal because of the chemo and ... it was easier to just not eat it in the first place.

Rubbing her eyes, Gabriella curled up in a ball on the couch, a basin right near her head – just in case. It seemed like she always needed one close by these days.

A few streets away, a certain blue-eyed young man was pacing back and forth across the floor of his lounge room.

"Are you going to pay to have that replaced?" Lucille Bolton smirked, leaning against the door frame.

"Huh?" Troy stopped in his tracks and looked up at his mother.

"The carpet – you're going to wear it out of you don't quit it with the pacing."

"Oh...sorry," Troy said distantly.

Lucille smiled softly, sitting down on the couch and patting the space next to her.

"Come on – something's up. Come talk to your daggy old Mom about it."

Troy sighed and dropped down next to his mother, who wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"Ok, so what's go you so worked up? Let me guess – it's girl related?"

"Yeah," Troy sighed again.

"Gabriella related?"

"Mmm..."

"You're worried about her because she's been so sick lately, and she won't eat?"

Troy looked at his mother in astonishment. Lucille just shrugged.

"Mother's intuition."

"She is just so weak and fragile and just so...well, so sick right now. I can't bear to see her so uncomfortable and down. And this thing with food – even the smell makes her want to throw up – I'm scared that she's going to keep on getting weaker and weaker...I just don't know how to help her through this."

"Oh honey," Lucille replied sympathetically, rubbing his back comfortingly. "It must be unbelievably hard for you to watch someone you care about so much suffering like that."

Troy nodded, feeling tears well up in his eyes. He bit down hard on his tongue as he tried desperately not to cry.

"It just hurts...it hurts so much to see...to see her hurting, and to not be able to make it all better," Troy's voice cracked and his facade crumbled as tears rolled down his cheeks.

Lucille comforted her son as he cried, feeling highly emotional herself. The past months since Gabriella's diagnosis had been an enormous emotional strain on him, and words could not explain the admiration she held for the young man beside her whose support had been nothing short of constant since that fateful word – 'cancer' - had been spoken and changed all of their lives forever.

"She's been through so much and she just can't seem to get a break – she deserves a break, Mom. She deserves to be happy, and enjoy our last year at school. She deserves to worry about school work and exams, not chemo and blood counts and fucking cancer...sorry," he apologised quickly for cursing in front of his mother.

Lucille smiled at this, and patted his hair down lovingly. "What are you apologising for? I didn't hear a thing...except your concerns for your girlfriend."

Troy grinned weakly. "Thanks Mom."

"So," Lucille continued. "Seems to me like we need to figure out some way to get Gabi to start eating a little, without making her sick. Last time ice-cream worked, why don't you try that again?"

Troy shook his head. "Maria already did. Gabi got sick. It's hard, because she wants to eat so badly but she is so scared it will make her feel sick and throw up!"

"Hmm," Lucille pondered. "What if..."

"WHAT IF WHAT?" Troy jumped in, eager to give anything a go – desperate to help Gabriella.

"What if you try and take away the trauma that is currently surrounding mealtimes. Think about it from Gabi's point of view – eating is this huge deal for her right now. Whenever she tries to eat, she feels sick. Think of something that makes you feel really bad, like...I don't know, a math quiz. Now imagine that you have everybody around you trying to force you to take a math quiz – 3, 4, 5 times a day. And you knew you had to take the quizzes to graduate, but the questions were so hard you had no idea where to begin. You'd start to really dread those parts of the day, right? You might even start feeling a little queasy or shaken around the time you thought that math quiz might be coming. Yeah?"

Troy nodded slowly. "So...we need to take the...the fear and dread out of eating, and turn it into...into a positive experience for Gabi?"

Lucille nodded. "Exactly."

"Sooo...how do we do that?"

"Gabriella loves to cook, right?" Lucille began.

Troy nodded again. "Yeah, she used to help her mom cook stuff all the time."

"So what if the two of you spend some time together looking at recipe books and on the internet for some different things she might like to try. Make a day of it – take a trip to the store together and buy the groceries you will need. Then spend the afternoon in the kitchen trying out a few different recipes. Make the rules clear before you start though – Gabriella has to at least have a taste of everything you cook together."

"Mom! You're a genius!" Troy exclaimed, grabbing his mother by the shoulders and kissing her cheek again and again.

Lucille laughed. "Yeah, I'm not just a pretty face you know! Now come here and give me a hug."

Troy hugged her tightly, feeling safe and warm as he felt her arms around him.

"Better?" she asked.

"Uh huh," Troy replied with a grin.

"See," she grinned back. "You're never too old for a hug from your Momma – Mom Hugs make everything better!"

"Yeah...everything except one small detail..."

"What's that?" Lucille asked.

"I can't cook..."

Lucille rolled her eyes, grabbing Troy's hand and pulling him up off the lounge into the kitchen.

"Better give you a few of my top secret pointers then, huh?"

HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM

"So...remind me what exactly it is that we're doing?" Gabriella asked warily, as she sat cross legged on her bed whilst Troy sorted through a pile of books before opening up her laptop.

"We're going to spend the entire day together."

"Doing..."

"Cooking!" Troy replied triumphantly.

"But you can't cook..." Gabriella replied in confusion.

"Yeah thanks for that, I know," Troy laughed. "But you can, and we're going to have fun, ok? Just work with me here."

Gabriella smiled - Troy was trying so hard to make her happy she couldn't help but do so.

"Ok...so...what are we making?"

"That's what we're deciding right now – we're going to find some different things that look like they might be good, then we're gonna go on a little adventure to the grocery store, and then...we're going to spend the afternoon in the kitchen. There's only one rule," Troy concluded, and Gabriella cocked her head.

"What's that?"

"Whatever we make, we both have to at least have a taste of."

Gabriella smiled and nodded her head bravely, before extending her hand towards Troy. "Deal," she grinned.

Troy's face lit up as he took her hand and shook it.

"Deal."

HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM

One hand on the trolley, the other firmly clasped around Gabriella's, Troy paused to look at their shopping list. Gabriella giggled.

"What's so funny?" Troy asked with a slight smile.

"It feels like we're an old married couple!"

"Well, wife – can you please pass me a packet of choc-chips?"

Troy grinned, noticing the sparkle in Gabriella's eyes and removed his hand from hers, wrapping his arm around her shoulder instead, and kissing the side of her head. As he did so, her brown baker boy cap slipped sideways. Gabriella rolled her eyes at him jokingly and went to put it back on her head but as she did so a gasp behind her made both of them turn around.

A small girl was tugging her mother's hand. "Mommy! Mommy, look! That girl has no hair!"

Troy quickly at Gabriella, but was surprised to see her laughing softly. The mother was horrified and apologised profusely before hurrying her daughter from the aisle.

"Kids," Gabriella shook her head with an amused smiled. She suddenly took her hat in her hands and looked at it for a moment. "You know what? I don't know why I bother wearing these things half the time," she tossed the hat into the trolley, atop her handbag. "They only make my head sweaty. So, husband – what's next on the list?

Forty five minutes later, Troy and Gabriella set all their groceries out in the Montez's kitchen and pulled out the two recipes they had chosen – toffee crunch cake and hazelnut choc chip muffins. Troy fished in his back pocket and pulled out a third recipe, setting it down in front of Gabriella.

"What's this?" she asked.

"This one is for lunch – Mom showed me how to make her famous tuna pasta salad, so I thought we could make the sweet stuff and let it cool off while we make lunch?"

Gabriella wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him, her chin resting on his chest.

"Thank you so much, Troy," she said softly as she smiled up at him.

"What for?"

Gabriella gently dug her fingers into his waist, ticking him. "You know what for."

A small smile crept across Troy's face as he gently nudged her nose with his own. "So...do you wanna crack the eggs, or shall I?"

Later on that afternoon, one toffee crunch cake was in the oven along with two trays of hazelnut choc chip muffins, a bowl of tuna pasta salad was on the table, along with two forks, and Troy and Gabriella stood in the middle of a surprisingly tidy kitchen – they had managed to clean up most of their mess as they went, and the only patches flour, sugar and cocoa powder that remained un mopped-up were the ones clearly visible on Gabriella's nose and forehead, and on Troy's cheek and chin.

"Hey, come here..." Troy pulled Gabriella away from the dish she was washing up and gently brushed the flour from her nose with the pad of his thumb. Gabriella smiled and reached up to brush some cocoa from his cheek. When all the chocolate powder was gone, Gabriella allowed her hand to remain against the side of his face, her thumb gently stroking back and forth. Troy closed his eyes and leaned into her hand, sighing softly.

"Thanks," she murmured, before rising up on her tip-toes to kiss him softly on the lips, her hand still cupping his cheek.

Troy's arms snaked around her waist as she pressed her body against his, her kiss lingering for a moment before she pulled back – only slightly – their foreheads touching, eyes still closed, both savouring the others presence.

Troy ran his hands carefully over Gabriella's back as he lowered his head and kissed her, his tongue gently nudging at her bottom lip until she opened her mouth enough for him to slip his tongue inside. Without breaking the kiss, Gabriella felt Troy's hands move to her hips and her feet left the ground suddenly, as he lifted her on to the bench and moved to stand between her legs.

The kisses that had started off as soft and almost shy soon heated up as a passion that had been held back for so many months began to rise. Gabriella's hands had moved to the back of Troy's neck, one moving slowly through his hair. As his tongue delved deeper into her mouth, Troy's hand found its way to the hem of her t-shirt, and slipped beneath, running across her back and around to the front of her stomach. Suddenly his fingers brushed against a scar from her surgery that blemished the skin there, and Gabriella froze, tugging his hand quickly from under her shirt and jumping off the bench.

"I...Troy...I'm..." she stammered, vulnerable all of a sudden.

"Gabi? Are you ok?" Troy asked, and something in the back of Gabriella's head couldn't help but notice how cute he looked with his forehead creased with concern, his hair sticking up at several awkward angles, and his lips raw. The rest of her brain, however, was still frozen.

"Uh...yeah, I just..." the oven timer pinged loudly and Gabriella snapped out of her trance. "I'll get us some juice to have with the pasta. You'd better get the muffins before they burn."

"Oh...ok..." Troy replied softly, knowing better than to push the subject.

Once the cake and muffins were safely lined up on a wire rack, cooling under a tea towel, Troy joined Gabriella at the table. Sensing she was still a little uncomfortable, Troy took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Gabriella looked up at him and sighed.

"I'm sorry I...freaked out a little back there," she apologised. "I just...I don't know..." it wasn't like they hadn't kissed like that before – they had. Before Gabriella's diagnosis, heated make outs were a daily occurrence. But that was the first time she had let him get intimately close to her since her surgery and her treatments started. And she had clammed up.

"Hey hey hey – don't you dare apologise," Troy said firmly. "It's your body and it's been through a damn lot. You dictate the rules here, right?"

Gabriella's eyes filled with tears as she nodded gratefully, squeezing his hand back. They sat in a meaningful silence for a moment before Gabriella blinked a couple of times – clearing her eyes – and then picked up one of the forks.

"This looks really good, Troy," she complimented, forking a piece of pasta before biting into it and chewing carefully. "Tastes good too..."

Troy's face split into a grin as he picked up his own fork and swallowed a mouthful of their seafood concoction. "Yeah - It does! Go us!"

"You look surprised," Gabriella laughed.

"Well, I'm not gonna lie – I had my doubts."

Gabriella swallowed another mouthful. "You know, this is the first thing I've eaten in weeks – months even – that's actually tasted nice."

"Well, maybe coz it was made with luuuurve," Troy gave her a lopsided grin and Gabriella shook her head, flicking a piece of pasta at him.

"Corny, Bolton – but cute."

HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM

Gabriella stepped of the scales as the registrar recorded her weight, feeling like she just might cry. Despite hers, her mother's and Troy's best efforts, Gabriella knew her weight was still not high enough to avoid an NG tube. She shuddered at the thought of it.

Dr Zamitt only confirmed what she already knew, at her appointment a half an hour later.

"I'm sorry, Gabriella," the medic sighed. "But it is really important we get your weight up where it should be, otherwise the chemo you are on will be too strong for you to cope with. And cutting the dosage isn't ideal."

Gabriella nodded. "I know. But I tried – I really, really tried."

"I know you did, and I am very happy about that. I don't want you blaming yourself – the treatment is brutal and I know that. This feeding tube isn't a punishment, it is to help you."

Gabriella nodded again.

"So, should we get this over and done with?"

"Yeah," Gabriella replied bravely.

She was surprised at how quick the actual procedure was. Within 5 minutes of lying down in the procedure room, the clear plastic tube now firmly taped to the side of her face was returning fluid, and Gabriella was free to go once she drank a cup of apple juice. Feeling the tube slide down the back of her throat hadn't been the most comfortable of experiences, but now it was secured she felt ok – just a little raspy from the foreign body scratching her throat as it was inserted.

Maria took her home after Dr Zamitt had explained to them both about night time feeds and how the tube hooked up to the bags of nutrition. She was quiet in the car and Maria questioned her.

"You feeling alright sweetheart?"

"Yeah...just tired," Gabriella replied as they pulled into the driveway. She noticed a familiar truck parked in the street, and a familiar young man sitting on her doorstep.

Maria smirked. "Doesn't that boy have a home to go to?" she joked, but Gabriella was already out the car door.

As soon as Troy saw her and noticed the NG tube, he encased her in a hug. "I'm sorry baby. I know how hard you tried to gain weight and not have to have this done."

"It's ok, Troy," Gabriella replied softly. "Just another hurdle, right?"

Troy nodded. "That's right. Another hurdle you will jump over with no trouble."

Gabriella smiled up at him. "I'll give it my best shot."

HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM

"There you go, honey," Maria said as she finished flushing the NG tube with saline and capped the end, disposing of the empty bag of liquid nutrition before kissing Gabriella on the forehead. "And happy Valentine's Day."

Gabriella grinned. "Happy Valentine's Day, Mom."

No sooner had those words left her mouth, her cell phone rang.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Troy," she answered.

She could practically feel Troy smile over the phone. "Happy Valentine's Day, Bella. So – what's the G-O?"

Gabriella knew he was referring to her schedule for the day. She had been well enough to attend school for this whole week, but today she had appointments to attend. "Bad news – they shuffled all my appointments around so I won't be in school at all. I have home-school this afternoon though. The good news, however, is that I have plans for us tonight."

"Oh reeeally?" Troy grinned to himself.

"Yes," Gabriella replied. "Be on my front doorstep at 7pm sharp, dress is formal. That's all I'm saying."

"Ok then," said Troy. "I'll just have to trust you. Have a great day – I'm counting down the seconds till I can see you."

"Have a good day at school. Make sure you let me know how many kilograms of glitter were slaughtered in the creation of Shar's V-Day outfit of choice this year," she giggled.

"Oh god," Troy groaned. "Ok, Mom's gonna start trying to dress me for school herself if I don't get off the phone so I'd better go. I love you, Gabriella."

Gabriella felt a shiver down her spine at his use of her full name. "I love you too, Troy. See you tonight."

Gabriella had barely hung the phone up when it rang again. "Hey Taylor, Happy Valentine's!"

"Happy V-Day, girl. So – is The Plan ready to be put into action?"

"Yes Tay – The Plan is in full swing," Gabriella replied with a grin.

"Glad to hear it. Good luck with it all, and I expect a phone call tonight – I don't care what time – with a full report on the entire evening."

"Ok Taylor. Have a good day – say hi to Chad and the gang."

"Will do sweetie. See ya."

Gabriella yawned and stretched as she tossed her cell phone down on her bed. With her mind running over her Valentine's Day surprise for Troy, she quickly dressed in her comfiest pair of jeans and an orange cardigan, slipped on her favourite ballet flats, and hurried downstairs.

The day passed in a blur of appointments and school work, and before Gabriella knew it, it was 7pm and the doorbell was ringing. After ensuring Gabriella was ok and had taken her evening dose of medication, Maria had left for the Bolton's house at around 6.55pm, ensuring Troy would have left by the time she arrived to spend the evening with his parents.

With one last nervous fix of her dress and her bead-trimmed bandana, Gabriella opened the door. The line Troy had prepared in his head was lost as his breath hitched in his chest before he slowly exhaled.

"Wow," he said simply. "You look...wow..."

Gabriella smiled shyly. "Thank you," she said, twirling around once to allow Troy a view of her knee-length aquamarine coloured cocktail dress, the shimmering satin floating lazily outwards before settling back around her legs. Tiny sparkling crystal earrings dangled from her ears, complimenting her flawless make-up. "You scrub up pretty well yourself," she teased, her eyes taking in his black dress pants, good shoes, and baby blue button down shirt.

"Why thank you," Troy joked. "Oh...this is for you," he smiled, producing a single rose, surrounded by clear cellophane tied with a red ribbon, from behind his back.

"It's gorgeous, Troy – thank you."

"You're more gorgeous," Troy winked at her as she rolled her eyes with a laugh. "Sooo...you gonna invite me in?" he teased.

"Not until you put this on," Gabriella replied mysteriously, carefully pulling a sleep-mask over his eyes to act as a blind fold.

"O...k," Troy felt her hands grasp his as she gently guided him through her front door and into the house. Suddenly he felt himself come to an abrupt halt, Gabriella's hands still gripping his as she began to talk.

"Now, I'm going to take the blindfold off in a second, but before I do, I want to explain. I don't need to remind you how crazy the past months have been for us. Everything has been put on hold and my health has been everyone's priority. Having said that, I do feel like you and I have grown even closer because of what we've been through together. To me, our relationship is completely solid and I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone. Anyway, back to tonight...tonight my gift to you is a thank you for being there for me through thick and thin. It's an attempt to make up for all the time's we've had to hang out in my hospital room instead of doing normal teenager-y things. Tonight is all about us..." she slowly pulled the mask from his eyes. "It's a proper date-night."

Troy's eyes widened as he cast a gaze across the room. Gabriella's lounge room had been transformed into the most romantic setting for a dinner for two – a small table set perfectly with candles and her mother's best silverware stood in the middle of the room, small glimmering tea-lights dotted the mantle and soft music wafted from the sound system in the corner of the room.

"Gabi, you...and...Gab...it's perfect..."

Gabriella smiled at Troy's speechlessness, the soft glow of the candlelight dancing in his crystal-blue eyes. She rose onto her tip-toes and kissed him softly.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Troy. Now, you sit right there and relax, while I check on dinner. Would you like a drink while you're waiting? We've got lemonade, juice, coke or water."

"I'll have a coke, thanks – but I'll get it," he went to stand, only to be sat back down by Gabriella.

"Uh uh – tonight it's my turn to spoil you."

And spoil him she did, serving up a dinner of chicken and prawn paella that she had cooked herself...with a few hints and tips from her mother. Not only had she cooked the meal but she ate it too – the first meal she had managed to eat more than a couple of mouthfuls of in months. For dessert she had made her specialty – strawberry-watermelon sorbet with passionfruit sauce.

"My god, Gabi," Troy groaned as he pushed his empty bowl away from himself. "That was amazing."

Gabriella's smiled at his compliment. "Well the night's not over yet," she commented.

"Maybe not," Troy remarked, "but before it continues, I have something for you," he passed her a red envelope with her name scrawled across the front in his distinctive script

Gabriella opened the card and a small piece of paper that looked almost like a voucher fell out of the middle. As Gabriella read it and realised what it meant, her face lit up. "Really?" she gasped, gesturing to the 'IOU 1 PUPPY' voucher he had made.

Troy nodded. "Really. I know that it isn't ideal for you to have a pet like that around while you have no immune system, so the second you are done with treatment and your immunity is on the rise, I'm taking you puppy shopping – any dog you want...it's yours."

"Oh my goodness! Thank you Troy!" Gabriella exclaimed in delight.

"But in the meantime..." he picked up a gift bag and handed it to her. "Something to fill in."

Gabriella let out an 'aww' as she pulled an adorable fluffy, white stuffed dog toy from the gift bag. "Troy, this means so much! I haven't owned a pet since I was about 4 years old – my dad wasn't a huge fan, and then after he died we just moved around too much to look after anything. This just shows my home really is here in Albuquerque," she leaned across the table to kiss him. "Thank you so, so much."

"You're more than welcome."

Gabriella brought his hand to her mouth and kissed it. "Ok so are you ready for the next part of our night..."

"Hmm, and what would that be?" Troy asked.

Gabriella just smiled as she stood up from her chair and took his hand, pulling him up with her. A flick of a button changed the track that was currently playing and the first few bars of one of their favourite Aerosmith songs filled the room as Troy pulled Gabriella close to him, their bodies melting together as the swayed to the music.

I could stay awake just to hear you breathing

Watch you smile while you are sleeping

While you're far away dreaming

I could spend my life in this sweet surrender

I could stay lost in this moment forever

Every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure

"Mmm," Gabriella sighed, nuzzling her cheek against his. "This is nice..."

"This is perfect," Troy corrected, holding her even closer to him.

Don't want to close my eyes

I don't want to fall asleep

Cause I'd miss you baby

And I don't want to miss a thing

Cause even when I dream of you

The sweetest dream will never do

I'd still miss you baby

And I don't want to miss a thing

Gabriella lifted her head from its current position on his shoulder and looked up at him, tilting her head as their lips met softly and lovingly. They continued to kiss, slowly but deeply, their tongues exploring as their bodies moved in sync with the music. As the kiss broke off, Troy began to hum softly, in tune with the words of the song.

"You know," he whispered, his breath warm on her cheek. "I've always wanted this song played at my wedding. But now I want it played at our wedding."

Gabriella smiled and gently pulled his head back down to her lips. He was thinking about the future.

The future.

For so long she hadn't allowed herself to think any further ahead than a day – sometimes an hour – in the fear that there wouldn't be a tomorrow.

But now she was beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

A very bright light.

It felt fantastic.

And I don't want to miss a thing..

AAAAAAAAAND end of marathon, LOL! What did you all think? Hope you liked it! Please leave a review and let me know!

UP NEXT: A treatment milestone and an anxious wait.

Until next time,

Charli xox