Here it is guys; the next chapter hope you like it!

Thanks for all the reviews last chapter, you all made me so happy :)

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Nancy15: Thanks for reviewing; I'm glad you liked the kiss!

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Anyway, I'm done thanking now, here's chapter seven, enjoy!

Growing Closer

Troy had never been able to work out why people would want to go swimming at six in the morning, especially on a Sunday, but apparently they did, and it was because people liked swimming at such crazy hours, that lifeguards were needed to keep them safe.

Today, Troy was one of those lifeguards, and so at four thirty he'd pulled himself out of bed, showered dressed, eaten breakfast, done some ironing, let a still pyjama clad Jenni in, given a still sleeping Jasmine a kiss goodbye, grabbed his keys and wallet and left to go to work.

It was on early morning shifts like these that only two lifeguards were on because there were rarely more than five people in the pool at one time. Today the other person on shift with Troy was Tim and it was on shifts like these, when it was just the two of them, that Tim would give Troy advice on things that were happening in his life.

Today would have been no different, except for a certain curly haired swimmer who had caught both Troy and Tim's attention.

"You should go and talk to him you know, it's obvious something has happened between the two of you that needs to be sorted out."

"Yeah, I guess you're right Tim, you gonna be okay by yourself for a bit?"

"Troy I wouldn't have told you to talk to him if I wasn't, now go!"

"I'm going; I'm going man, geez." Troy shook his head at Tim, as he got up from his chair and made his way over to the side of the pool where Chad was doing laps.

Chad had gotten to the far end of the pool and was about to push off and start another lap, when he saw Troy approaching him. Taking a deep breath he swam over to the side of the pool. This was what he came here to do, now was as good a time as any.

"Bit early for swimming isn't it?" Troy asked, as he crouched down by the side of the pool.

"Definitely, but I didn't really come here to swim. Shouldn't you be used to being here this early anyway?"

"Yeah I should by now; I've been doing it for long enough, so you wanna talk? We could go and get a coffee or something, my treat."

"Yeah, sounds good, I'll meet you out there in ten?"

Troy nodded. "See you then."

TGTGTGTG

The pair sat quietly in the nearly deserted cafe, as they drank their coffees and ran through their heads what they wanted to say. Neither knew what the other was thinking, or what happened when they left the gym after Friday's argument, but both knew now was the time for it to be sorted.

"Look Troy I'm sorry, I was out of order on Friday, I just blew off at you and I shouldn't have. You being a Dad, it just brought back some really bad memories for me. I shut down for the rest of the evening, hardly said anything to Tay just asked her for a hug, I think I really worried her."

Troy let out a slight laugh. "Yeah, I think did the same with Brie. Chad, my intention was never to upset you, I just wanted you all to know the truth about me and my life, and Jasmine is my life, my whole life, I'm all she's got, all she's ever had and I just...you guys have been so kind to me, I just wanted her to experience that as well, and when you wouldn't accept her the other day it just angered me, I'm sorry."

"Troy you shouldn't be apologising, she's your daughter I'd expect you to fight for her. She...she just reminds me of someone...someone who isn't here anymore...and seeing her it just brought back so much."

"Dude, she reminds me of Jess every day, but as every day passes I let go of Jess more, knowing I've got Jazzy to remind me of her, and now I'm starting to realise that Jess would want me to move on, and I will, when I find the balls to ask Brie out."

Chad laughed. "Well when you find them, you should ask her, she likes you and Jasmine and it's clear that Jasmine likes her as well, you're already onto a winner. Especially with all the crap going on in her life right now, she needs something good to come along."

Troy smiled across the table at Chad as they both took another long sip of coffee.

"Troy I feel like I need to explain this to you, but I've never done this before, not even Taylor knows this, although I am going to tell her, so hear me out?"

Troy looked across the table to see the vulnerability and upset in Chad's eyes and knew he just needed to talk."Tim sent me to talk to you, I think he can cope a bit longer on his own, so what's on your mind?"

"I've got a sister, she's ten years older than me and we've always been close. A little over two years ago her and her husband announced to the family that they were expecting a baby. Everyone was so happy, especially Mum and Dad, they've always loved children and now that I'm growing up the pregnancy couldn't have come at a better time. My niece, Abigail, was born on April sixteenth and she couldn't have been more perfect, everyone absolutely loved her, even me. I remember the first time I held her, it was magical, but I guess you know that even more so with having a daughter."

Troy nodded."Yep, it's a pretty indescribable feeling, even though I couldn't share it with Jess."

"You mean Jess didn't even get to hold Jasmine?"

Troy shock his head. "No, they were going to place Jasmine straight on her chest, but as soon as Jazzy was out, Jess feel back onto the bed and went quiet, she stopped responding and they took Jazzy away and started doing something to her, down there. I wanted to know what was happening, but all they would tell me was that she was bleeding too much for their liking and they needed to stop it now, then they kicked me out. Next thing I know Jess is dead and I'm a single Dad. Anyway, you're supposed to be speaking to me, not the other way round, keep going."

"Abi was a perfect baby, she hardly ever cried, she slept through the night pretty well and was an all round lovely baby. Then one morning it all ended, Tina, my sister, phoned us, from the hospital, she was hysterical. She'd gone in to get Abi, to feed her, change her, all that stuff, but Abi wasn't breathing. She tried to wake her up and at the same time screamed for her husband, Richard. He came running and they both tried to wake Abi, to start her breathing again, but it wouldn't work. They took her to hospital, but it was too late, Abi had already been dead a couple of hours, the doctors told them she'd died of cot death, she was only two weeks old."

It was then, as Chad let his head drop to the table, that Troy realised exactly why seeing Jasmine had affected Chad so much. She was only a month younger than Abi would be right now. Troy was trying to think of something to say to Chad, some way of consoling him, when he looked up, only to see Taylor walking in the leisure centre doors. She caught Troy's eye straight away and made her way over.

She smiled at Troy, as she knelt down next to Chad's chair and placed a comforting hand on his back. "Chad, it's me, please look at me."

Chad didn't want to look at Taylor, but he really wanted to know why she was here, so he turned his head to the side and looked his girlfriend in the eye.

"Why didn't you tell me? Your Mum phoned me because she didn't know where you were, she's really worried about you babe, she didn't realise how much Abi's death had affected you, you need to go home and talk to her."

"I know, but I need to finish talking to Troy, it'll be easier to talk to Mum if I can finish talking to Troy first, please Tay, I need to finish."

Taylor smile sympathetically at her boyfriend. "I can see I'm not gonna win this one, and at this time in the morning I can't be bothered to argue with you, but we need to go straight to yours after and speak to your Mum, okay?"

Chad nodded at Taylor as he sat up properly and wrapped her in a tight hug.

Troy smiled softly at the pair, as he got up to get Taylor a chair.

"Here Taylor, sit on this before you legs start to hurt," Taylor got up from the floor and sat on the chair, smiling at Troy in thanks.

"Did you want anything to drink, tea or coffee maybe?"

"Yeah, a coffee would be great, thanks Troy, I need the caffeine to wake me up, I didn't get the chance before I left home. "

Troy smile. "One coffee coming up." Troy said, as he made his way over to a very tired looking cafe worker behind the counter.

"You don't have to tell him you know? He'd understand." Taylor told Chad, as they linked their hands under the table.

"I know, but he deserves to know, he didn't deserve me kicking off in his face on Friday."

"Okay, but you owe me babe, I did not plan on being woken up at six thirty on a Sunday morning by my boyfriend's worried mother because he left the house and didn't tell her where he was going."

"Okay, enough with the guilt tripping, I get it, I shouldn't have left the house this morning without telling you or Mum, I'm sorry, can we just drop it or now please? Troy's coming back."

Taylor gave Chad's hand a tight squeeze, as Troy arrived back at the table and placed her coffee in front of her.

"Thanks Troy, you're a life guard then?" Taylor asked, as she took in Troy's red shorts and yellow t-shirt, along with his red flip flops.

"Yep, it's a great job really, unless I'm on the early morning Sunday shift, that kinda sucks, but it pays the bills."

Taylor smile as she took a sip from her coffee. "Where does Jasmine go when you're at work, and school for that matter?"

"Weekdays, so when I'm at school she goes to Butterfly nursery just down the road from East High, when I'm here my landlord's daughter, Jenni, comes round, they're my neighbours as well, so it works out quite well, especially on early morning's like today. Jenni came round still in her pyjamas and Jazzy was still asleep, it's alright for some."

"Yeah I bet," Chad said, coming into the conversation. "Listen Troy I wanna tell you why I blew off on Friday. It has nothing to do with you having a daughter; I kinda admire you for that. You didn't back away you stepped up to the plate unlike most people our age would and I really admire you for that. But I blew off because of the way your parents reacted."

"Okay, I'm confused." Troy stated.

Chad smiled. "When my parents found out they were going to be grandparents they were over the moon, I've never seen them so happy. So understandably, when Abi died they were just as devastated as Tina and Richard, maybe even more so, it took them ages to get over it. I just find it so hard that your parents had and still do have the chance to be grandparents towards Jasmine, but they choose not to. I just can't get my head around the fact that there are people out there like my parents, who really want to be grandparents but can't be or lost the chance to be. But then your parents have the chance to be, and aren't, I just think it's kinda selfish, what about Jessica's parents? Are they the same?"

Troy shook his head as he took a sip from his coffee." Kinda, I mean when they first found out they were going on holiday so they let us stay at theirs until we found some place of our own, they only gave us a week, but they did give us Jess's college fund money to help us out, they figured she wouldn't be needing it anymore. After Jess' funeral I made one final visit to both sets of our parents. Although mine did hold Jazzy, they still wanted nothing to do with me. Jess' parents weren't so bad, they cried as they held Jasmine but they simply couldn't cope, Jazzy and I reminded them both too much of Jess and they simply couldn't have that in their lives, they were moving out of Albuquerque, away from all the reminders of Jess, they just wanted to start a fresh."

"That's kinda understandable I guess, they lost their daughter, they're bound to want to move on, I just...I'm sorry Troy it just angers me that they've done that to you and especially Jasmine."

Troy was silent for a minute; he didn't know how to respond to that. Sure, he thought about how his parents had treated him, he knew he'd made a mistake by getting Jessica pregnant, but he'd stayed with her and hadn't walked away, even when things got tough and scary.

But he had to face it, when he'd needed it the most, when he'd lost the person he loved the most and gained a daughter in the same day, they'd left him, all by himself in the world with no one else but his new born daughter.

"Troy? Troy, dude? You okay?" Chad's voice broke Troy from his thoughts.

"Yeah sorry guys, listen I need to get back to work, Tim shouldn't really be by himself, thanks for the chat Chad."

"No thank you, we've both got a lot off our chest this morning, I just need to go and do it again."

"You'll be fine," Troy said, as the pair got up and shared a 'man hug'. "You've got Taylor, not a lot can go wrong with her around."

Chad smiled as he turned around and wrapped an arm round Taylor's waist. "You're right there, what time do you finish work?"

"Twelve, then I'm gonna go home, let Jenni go home and then spend the rest of the day with my beautiful daughter."

"Sounds like a plan, see you later Troy." Troy waved at the pair, as they made their way out of the leisure centre, arms securely wrapped round each other.

Troy took one last sip of his coffee, as he prepared to head back to work. But, as he saw small children with their parents and grandparents he realised there was one place he needed to be right now, and it definitely wasn't at work.

TGTGTGTG

Troy didn't even have to say anything for Tim to know the chat had really shaken him up. He could see the upset, anger and a slight look vulnerability in Troy's eyes and knew he was in no fit state to stay at work.

Any other day Troy would have argued with Tim, saying he was fine to be at work and would've busied himself with cleaning round the pool, but today he just wanted and needed to be with his daughter. So, after making sure Tim was able to find cover for him, Troy thanked him and left work, four hours before his shift finished.

He walked into the flat around half an hour later, fully expecting to find Jenni curled up on his couch and Jasmine still tucked up in bed. Instead he found his daughter asleep on the couch, only she was lying on an also sleeping Gabriella, with the telly on in the background.

Troy took a double take when he realised it was Gabriella rather than Jenni on his couch and really wanted to know when she arrived and Jenni left, but he didn't have the heart to wake them, so he grabbed a blanket from the end of the couch and gently laid it over his sleeping girls.

Troy had turned the telly off and was about to walk away, to jump in the shower in an attempt to wash away all the hurt this morning's chat had caused him, when a tired voice caused him to turn back.

"Troy? What are you doing back already? Jenni said your shift didn't finish until twelve." Sleep was evident in Gabriella's voice, as she tried to sit up, only to remember she still had a sleeping Jasmine laying on her.

Troy quickly stepped back towards them and picked Jasmine up, using his skill he'd gained in becoming a parent and not waking her up.

"My shift does finish at twelve, but that doesn't matter now, what happened to Jenni? Why are you here?"

Gabriella sat up, pulling the blanket over herself, allowing Troy to sit and cuddle with his still sleeping daughter.

"I woke up early this morning, I just couldn't sleep, I was gonna go and climb in with Mum, have a girly chat with her for a bit, but she wasn't there, she'd been called into work for something. I didn't know what else to do and I needed to clear my head, so I slipped on some sweats, grabbed my bag with phone and what not in and went for a walk. I wasn't really going anywhere with a purpose, but after half an hour I realised I was closer to here than I was to home, so I thought I'd come and let Jenni go back home and back to bed. She wasn't about to say no to the offer and knowing Jasmine knew me, I paid her and she left. Jazzy woke up a little after that, she was crying and calling out for Jenni, I went in and asked her what was wrong, she told me she had a tummy ache and needed Jenni to give her a hug and make it better. I told her Jenni had gone home, but I could make it better if she was okay with that. She was, so I picked her up and we settled ourselves in front of the telly. All I remember after that is sitting on the couch with her and rubbing her tummy to make it feel better, I have no idea when we fell asleep."

Troy laughed slightly. "It doesn't matter; sounds like you both needed the extra sleep. Did she complain about her tummy any more after that?"

"A little, she just kept telling me it hurt and that she was hot, I would've given her some medicine, but I didn't know where you kept it and we must've fallen asleep again after that so I kinda forgot about it."

"Doesn't matter, she probably did once she was asleep again anyway. I'm gonna put her back to bed and then jump in the shower really quickly, you can grab some breakfast or coffee or whatever if you want and then could you meet me in my room in ten? I just I...Chad and I spoke this morning and I'd really like a hug, if that's okay?"

"Troy, its fine, don't worry, you've given me enough hugs recently, I'd be honoured to return the favour so, see you in ten?"

Troy smile at Gabriella, as he got up from the couch and cradled Jasmine in his arms as he made his way towards her room, before heading towards his room to shower and spend the rest of the relaxing with his favourite girls.

TGTGTGTG

"What's taking him so long Jazzy? All he needed to do was answer the door and pay the person, can't be that hard can it?"

Jasmine giggled. "Daddy slow."

"You're right there little one, why don't you go and see what you're Daddy's up to? Go see what's taking him so long."

"Okay Gabwi." Jasmine rolled over Gabriella and climbed off of the bed, before running along the corridor and into the main part of the flat to find Troy.

Gabriella smiled to herself as she rolled off the bed and made her way into Troy's en suite to freshen up a bit. She hadn't planned on staying all day, but after talking with Troy and finding out what he and Chad had talked about, she'd realised just how alone Troy felt and didn't feel right leaving him alone, so she'd promised to stay 'til Jasmine woke up at least.

When Jasmine did wake up at around midday she didn't have a tummy ache but was still running a temperature, so Troy gave her some medicine and they'd all climbed back into his bed for a big cuddle.

Now, it was dinner time and after Gabriella had received a call from Maria telling her she wouldn't be home 'til late, Gabriella took Troy and Jasmine up on their offer of staying for dinner, but only if they gave her a lift home after.

They'd agreed to this and so as Gabriella made her way out of the bathroom, she couldn't help but laugh at the squeals of the two year old girl she grown to love over the last couple of weeks.

"Gabwi save me! Gabwi help!" Gabriella looked towards the bedroom door to find Jasmine running towards her with a pizza box in her hands, and Troy not far behind.

Gabriella picked Jasmine up and spun her round. "I told you to go and see what your Daddy was up to, not pinch the pizza from him, little missy."

Jasmine giggled as Gabriella plopped down on the bed making them both bounce up and down. "Jazzy hungry and Daddy slow."

"I am not slow little missy, I was getting some drinks and was having some trouble carrying everything, so at least you helped me with that."

"Daddy we eat now? Me hungry."

"Yes, you can eat now, that pizza is for all of us though, so don't eat it all." Troy warned, as he took a seat on the bed behind Jasmine, who for a small person took up a lot of room.

"Luckily for us Gabriella, I've got the chips, so if trouble over there won't share the pizza, she can't have any chips."

Upon hearing this Jasmine immediately turned round to share the pizza, but only because she wanted some chips and Troy was her only source.

TGTGTGTG

Gabriella loved her Mum, she really did, but when she let work run her life, she couldn't help but be a bit angry at her.

"You okay?" Troy asked, as they pulled up in front of Gabriella's house.

"Yeah, you probably guessed that was Mum, she's gone away on work, she's at the airport now, she's not coming back 'til Wednesday, so I'm by myself for a bit."

"Why don't you stay with us? Grab the school stuff you'll need for the next three days, grab your clothes and other essentials and you're sorted. I'm sure your Mum wouldn't mind you being with us if you don't wanna be alone."

"Yeah, that'd be great, thanks Troy." Gabriella gave Troy a peck on the cheek, before climbing over Jasmine and getting out of the truck, calling over her shoulder that she'd be as quick as she could.

Nearly an hour later, Jasmine was tucked up in bed and Troy and Gabriella were cuddled up in his.

"I have two questions." Troy stated, as he moved some of Gabriella's hair out of her face.

"Okay, ask away." Gabriella replied, as she pulled the covers further up her body.

"Now I have three questions, the first one is; are you cold?"

Gabriella couldn't help but laugh. "A little." She answered honestly, causing Troy to wrap his arms around her more tightly.

"Better?"

"Yep, but you've just asked me two questions and I don't think either of them were what you were supposed to ask me."

Now it was Troy's turn to laugh, "You're right there, okay, questions; would it be okay with you if I put your name down on Jasmine's nursery forms as another contact. They have me, obviously, but if they can't reach me they need someone else, just in case of emergencies and such, you don't..."

"Troy it's fine," Gabriella said, cutting him off. "It's completely okay to put my name down, next question."

"Thank you, next question is; will you go on a date with me on Friday night? You and me, out somewhere, no Jazzy, just the two of us."

"Yeah, that'd be nice, where you thinking?"

"I'm not sure really, maybe go to a nice restaurant and then catch a movie, it's up to you though, me and Jess always used to go out partying, drink when we shouldn't have done and well, look where we are now."

"You'll be pleased to know I'm not a party person, so you're safe on that one. Restaurant and cinema sounds great, and for the record, you may have partied and drunk and got Jessica pregnant, but you wouldn't change it, would you? I mean obviously you'd change the part where Jess died, but you wouldn't change having Jazzy would you?"

"No, of course not and although I miss Jess, if she hadn't of gone I wouldn't have met you, so I have to look at it in a good light, I may have lost one great person, but I've met another because of it."

"You really mean that?" Gabriella asked, as she tilted her head to look Troy in the eye.

"Yeah, I really do." Troy said, as he slowly leant down and met Gabriella's lips in a sweet but passionate kiss. Unlike their last kiss, this one was a proper one, not just a peck and both Troy and Gabriella felt the sparks.

They pulled back, both slightly out of breath and both in a slight daze, but both transfixed by the other.

"Brie, that was amazing."

"Really? I've kinda never done that before."

"Well I wouldn't have guessed, like I said, it was amazing."

Gabriella felt that crimson blush rush to her lips, but this time she didn't shy away from it, she leant up and gave Troy a final peck to the lips, before cuddling back into his side and turning her attention back to the telly.

Troy smiled as he pulled Gabriella and planted a kiss in her hair, one thing was for sure, Troy and Gabriella may have only known each other for two weeks, but in that time they'd grown close, incredibly close.

TGTGTGTG

There it is guys chapter seven, hope you liked it!

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