Today is Christmas Eve and it has been pretty hectic with small minor injuries in the ER. Gabriella just finished giving a little boy seven stitches.

"You have to be careful with those, okay?" she looked at the little boy who nodded his head. "If you promise to be a good boy you can have a lollipop, alright?" The little boy nodded his head with more excitement. Gabriella smiled and gave him the lollipop as he hopped down off the table and left the room. Gabriella sighed and stood up with the chart in her hands. She walked out of the room and to the nurses' station.

"Hi, Nancy, how are you?" Gabriella asked while putting the chart away.

"I'm good," she said while nodding her head to the left.

Gabriella looked at her confused, "What's with the head thing?"

Nancy looked at her, "I said I'm good," making the head movement more obvious.

Gabriella looked even more confused but looked to where Nancy was gesturing towards. She sighed when she saw Troy spinning in the chair unaware that she was there. "How long as he been here?"

"Twenty minutes."

Gabriella sighed, "Oh Troy." She went behind the desk and leaned up against the desk near where spinning. She stood there for a few seconds before speaking, "What are you doing here?"

Troy kept spinning, "I'm bored."

Gabriella sighed before stopping Troy by placing her hands on his shoulders. She looked at his face for a few seconds, he looked lost, "Why are you down here?"

Troy looked up at her, "They asked me bring a patient down here and that when they needed me they would page me."

"How long ago was that?"

"Three hours! Nobody is letting me do anything in this place. I am a surgeon, I should be doing surgeries!"

Gabriella sighed and spun him around pulling him closer and wrapping her arms around his neck, "Troy, your best friend was in a serious car accident and is still in a coma," Troy went to speak but she cut him off, "And I know that you are sick of people reminding you all the time, but it was less than a week ago, babe, and," she looked at the clock on the wall, "he is, as we speak, still undergoing surgeries." She placed a kiss on his cheek, "let's go get some lunch, okay?"

Troy just nodded and stood up. Gabriella told Nancy that she was going to be in the cafeteria with Troy. They walked to the cafeteria and got their food. They were sitting there for a few minutes before Gabriella spoke.

"Have you seen Derek today?"

Troy just shook his head. Gabriella sighed.

"Troy, please."

"What do you want me say? That I'm sad? That I'm mad? That I don't know what to do? Okay!"

Gabriella looked around and saw people staring, "Troy,"

"I don't know what to do! My best friend is fighting for his life! And I don't know what to do!"

"Troy," Gabriella whispered.

"I am a surgeon!" Troy's voice broke, "I'm a surgeon," he whispered. Gabriella got up and grabbed Troy's arm dragging him to the nearest break room. She sat him down on the couch and sat in his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I am a doctor Gabriella, I do this stuff all the time." He wrapped his arms around her and put his face in the curve of her neck.

"You're not use to this side of it, Troy." She kissed the side of his head. "This side is hard. Telling the family and being the family are two totally different things. We might think about the patient for a short time after but then another patient comes a long and our attention is on them. For the families that's not the case."

Troy just continued to cry. Gabriella had no idea how long they had been sitting there but she wasn't going to move until someone came and got them. Troy had hardly cried since the accident, she wasn't going to stop him now. She didn't know when but at some point Troy fell asleep. She sat there and rubbed the back of his head just looking at the wall thinking.

The door opened and Dr. Brady walked in. Gabriella went to move, but Dr. Brady shook his head, telling her it was okay. He walked over and gave her a piece of paper before leaving the room. Gabriella looked at the piece of paper and read what it said.

Derek Johnson is out of surgery. The surgery went extremely well and the doctors don't believe that he will need any more after tomorrow's surgery. He is in room 416 and awake, for now. Dr. Brady

Gabriella's eyes went wide and she looked at Troy. "Troy," she whispered, "baby, wake up." She hated t wake him since he wasn't sleeping well anyways. "Babe, wake up." Troy moaned, "Derek is awake."

Troy moaned again and opened his eyes a little, "five more minutes mom."

Gabriella smiled, "You better not think of me as your mom."

Troy jolted, "wait did you say Derek is awake?"

Gabriella just nodded her head and smiled at him. Troy grabbed her face and gave her a huge kiss and he placed her on the couch next to him. He got up and ran out of the room. Gabriella just sat there and smiled. Troy ran back in the room and before he could speak Gabriella answered his question.

"416."

He ran over and kissed her, "I love you."

And like that he ran out of the room again. Gabriella laughed and got up again. She walked out and returned to the ER. She was standing at the nurses' station for a few minutes before Sara walked up to her.

"Hey girl, I heard Troy was hanging around here earlier because no one would give him anything to do, where is he now?"

"Hey, he is up with Derek. He is awake."

"That's awesome! Why are you down here?" she looked at Gabriella like she was crazy.

"I want to give him and Jessica some time with Derek alone before I go up. It's been a real rough week for the two of them."

"That's sweet of you." Sara said while grabbing a chart and looking it over.

"Yeah well, you know." Gabriella said smiling.

"Ladies."

Gabriella and Sara both closed their eyes and sighed. "Dr. Warner, how are you?" Sara asked without turning around at him.

"I am doing well. How are you two doing today? It's been crazy all day."

"Yeah it's been one of the busiest days since we have been here," Sara said turning around and looking at him.

Dr. Warner looked at Sara and looked at the back of Gabriella's head, "Everything okay Dr. Montez?"

"Yeah I'm fine," she turned and smiled at him, "everything is great." She walked away when he called her name again.

"Dr. Montez, I was wondering if I could speak to you for a second."

Gabriella turned towards him, "Of course sir."

"I was wondering how Dr. Bolton was doing." He said while looking around.

"Why? So that you can use it against him like you did the Jessica situation?"

"Whoa, look that was low of me. And I am the first to admit it, but my brother was in a car accident six years ago and hasn't walked since. So I know what it's like to be in his shoes."

Gabriella looked at him, "He's doing fine." With that she walked away and went up to the fourth floor. "Hey Denise, I was wondering if Troy was still up here?"

"Hey sweat heart, and yes he is. Happiest I have seen him all week."

"Thank you," Gabriella walked over to room 416 and looked through the window to see Troy sitting a chair laughing with Derek and Jessica. She smiled and just watched until Troy looked over at the door and saw her. The smile that appeared on his face made her stomach jump. She decided to enter the room, "hey guys."

"How long have you been standing out there?" Troy asked.

Gabriella smiled at him and sat on the arm of his seat, "I have no idea what you are talking about," she turned towards Derek, "How are you feeling?"

Jessica and Derek laughed at the face Troy made once she stopped talking to him, "I am feeling great with all these drugs in me."

"Ha yes, drugs are a beautiful thing in moments like this," Troy said while pulling Gabriella into his lap.

"So what are you two doing tomorrow?" Jessica asked from her seat.

Gabriella sighed and settled into Troy's lap, "Well tonight we were going to go to mass with Troy's family and then have dinner with mine."

"And tomorrow we are going to mass with her family and opened presents there before heading over and open more presents with my family while having dinner there."

"So you two have it all figured out?" Derek asked in a raspy voice.

Gabriella laughed, "Well it's kind of easy when our families do the important things at different times of the day."

"What do you mean?" Jess asked.

"Well my family goes to mass on Christmas Eve and her family goes Christmas morning."

"And my family does all the important stuff after that and than just hangs out and watches movies all day."

"And because my siblings have their own families and kids, so, we get together as a family later on in the day, eat dinner and open presents from family."

"Wow, it's perfect."

"Well we shall see how it works out," Gabriella said with a smile.

The four of them kept talking until the nurse came in and told them that visiting hours were over.

Gabriella and Troy left and headed home, when they got home Gabriella could tell that Troy was the complete opposite of how he was that morning.

She grabbed her towel and headed into the shower thinking about how she loved seeing Troy so happy. She didn't hear the bathroom door open, nor did she see Troy taking his clothes off. He stood there for a moment waiting for her to close her eyes before he slid the door open and stood behind her.

"You are so beautiful."

Gabriella jumped and turned around covering herself, "Jesus, Troy! You scared me!"

Troy smiled and took the two steps to her, "why are you covering yourself up?" he said pulling her arms away from her body, "I have seen all of you more times than I ever imagined." He pulled her too him and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You scared me, that's my instinct when voice appears behind me." She answered wrapping her arms around his neck. "Why are in here?"

"Because I wanted to shower with my amazingly sexy girlfriend." He said leaning and placing a kiss on her neck. "Is there anything wrong with that?" he whispered in her ear before sucking on her earlobe.

Gabriella moaned, "No nothing wrong with that."

Troy continued to kiss her neck as his hands began to roam. Gabriella's hand gripped his hair on the back of his head letting him do whatever he wanted with her. Troy's kisses moved from her neck, to her jaw, and he stopped right before he kissed her lips.

Gabriella opened her eyes that had closed at some point while his lips were on her neck. "What's wrong?"

Troy smiled at her, "Nothing."

"Then why did you stop?"

"I wouldn't have made through this week without you. I mean it, I don't know what I would have done without you." He kissed her lips softly, "I love you so much." He kissed her again, not giving her the chance to respond to him. He kissed with more passion than she had ever felt. His tongue begged for entrance and who was she to say no.

Before Gabriella knew what was happening, her back was up against the wall of the shower and Troy was entering her. "Oh Troy," she threw her head back and moved her hips as best as she could with his.

"I love you so much Gabriella," Troy said as he continued to thrust into her.

"I love you too."

They reached their peak together and Troy just stood there holding Gabriella in his arms, while kissing her neck softly. They moved away only slightly and smiled at each other. They washed each other before turning off the shower and drying each other off. They got dressed in their church clothes and got in the car.

Troy started driving and grabbed Gabriella's hand, smiling at her, "You look beautiful tonight."

Gabriella smiled back at him, "thank you."

Troy looked at her quickly, "well?"

Gabriella looked confused, "Well, what?"

"How do I look?"

Gabriella just laughed and ran her hand through his hair, "You look very handsome."

Troy smiled at her, "Thank you."

Gabriella couldn't get the smile of her face, "you are the weirdest person. What time are we supposed to meet your family for dinner?"

Troy looked at the clock on the dashboard, "6:45."

And just like that the smile was gone, "Troy that was a half an hour ago! It's 7:15!"

"I know, when you went back into the room to grab your necklace my mom called, and I told her something happened at the hospital and we would be a little late."

"Okay first, a little late is five minutes, not a half an hour. And second, having sex in the shower is not 'something happened at the hospital'."

"I know, but what did you want me to say? 'Oh hey mom me and Gabriella are going to be late because we were making love in our shower and lost a track of time'. Because I can tell you that you would have been madder at me for saying that than for saying something happened at the hospital."

"That doesn't matter, I am still mad at you now. I feel like your family is going to know that we had sex."

"First we made love, not had sex, there is a difference. And second I think we will be fine, my family is not going to think that we made love. My mom believes everything I say."

"Whatever you say Troy."

They continued to Troy's parents house in Nashua, New Hampshire. When they got to the house, they got out and Troy grabbed Gabriella's hand and walked up to the house, he turned towards Gabriella, "you ready?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Please Troy, I have met your family before."

She opened the door and walked in the house leaving a smiling Troy at the door. He just stood there and shook his head before entering the house. He was heading towards the kitchen when heard his Grandma welcome Gabriella.

"Gabby! I am so happy you two made it! Where is my grandson?"

"He is right here Grandma," Troy said entering the kitchen to see his mother hugging Gabriella and his Nan sitting at the island in the kitchen. "My four favorite women." He said with a smile going over and hugging is grandma and then his mom.

"You have always been a sweet talker Troy," his Nan said while hugging Gabriella. "How are you sweat heart?"

Gabriella smiled at his Nan, "I am doing really well."

"That' what great sex can do to a woman." Troy's grandma said.

The smiles that were on both of Troy's and Gabriella's face disappeared real quick, Gabriella whipped around and glared at Troy. "What, why would you say that grandma?" Troy asked while looking ahead.

"Oh please, your grandma as an amazing ability to tell when someone just had sex."

Gabriella's eyes narrowed even more at Troy, "I am going to kill you, Troy Henry Bolton."

Troy looked at her, "I was suppose to know that my grandma had some weird sixth sense."

"'Oh don't worry, there is no way my family will know that we had sex.' Did you not say that?"

"Made love. I said there was no way my family will know that we made love." Troy said looking at Gabriella.

Gabriella threw her hands in the air, "had sex, made love, doesn't matter anymore because you're sleeping on the couch tonight." She walked away into the living room angrily.

"Well I didn't think that was going to happen from me saying anything," his grandma said from her spot.

"Yeah she, uh, was already upset that we were late and that I lied about something happening at the hospital." Troy said while running his hand over his face.

"is this the first time you are going to have to sleep on the couch?" his Nan asked from her seat.

Troy just nodded his head before heading towards the living room. As he left the kitchen he heard his grandmothers and mother talking about how tonight might be awkward. He just shook his head and continued into the living room, where he saw all his siblings, cousins, nieces, and nephews sitting in there watching a movie. He looked for a seat and found the only one was next to Gabriella who looked really mad. He cringed before deciding to stand against the wall.

"Hey Troy! Why are you standing?" Nicky asked from his spot on their sister Sophia's lap.

"Hey Nicky, I was just looking for a seat," he lied.

"There was one right next to Gabby silly."

Troy laughed a little, "yeah man I am just being silly." He sat next Gabriella and felt her stiffen at his presence.

"Aren't you two going to hold hands like you always do?" Nicky asked again.

"Just watch the movie Nicky," Troy said nicely.

"But you two always…"

"Nicholas! Just watch the movie okay." Troy said sternly.

"Don't yell at him," Gabriella said, "He didn't do anything wrong."

Troy just sighed and turned towards the TV. You could cut the tension in the room with a butter knife and everyone older than twelve could tell that they were in a fight. Thankfully, Troy's mother came in and told them that it was time for dinner. The group got up and went into the dining room where everyone sat by their name tag. Of course Troy and Gabriella were sitting next to each other.

The dinner went on without a problem. No words were exchanged between Troy and Gabriella but you could tell that there was tension between the two of them. They had dessert and cleaned up before heading for the cars to make it to church for the midnight mass. Troy had driven with his parents and Gabriella with his Grandma.

"Why are really mad at my grandson?"

Gabriella looked at her and for a second before looking away, "I am mad at him because he knew that if we had sex we would be late,"

"Made love,"

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Made love, we would be late. He knows I hate being late and he did it anyways. And he lied to his mom about it."

"Would you have rather he told his mom why you two were really going to be late."

"Of course not. But it's pretty embarrassing when your boyfriend's family knows that you had sex less than an hour before seeing them."

Troy's grandma just smiled at her, "You're modest."

"I just don't want you guys to think that I am a slut."

She looked at Gabriella, "I have not once thought of you as a slut." She pulled up to the church and turned the car off. "I have never seen Troy this happy, even when he is upset, he is happy that you are here. He loves you sweat heart."

"I know he does, I love him too. But that doesn't mean that I can't be mad at him."

Mary laughed, "No you can still be mad at him. Just no fighting in the church please."

Gabriella smiled at her, "No fighting."

They got out of the car and joined the family in the church. Troy was sitting in the pew behind Gabriella and to her right. She could feel him staring at her during the entire mass, but she refused to turn around. Troy just wanted her to look at him, but he could tell that she wasn't going to. She finally looked at him when it was time to go up and receive communion but it was only a glance. They returned to Troy's parents house after saying goodbye to the rest of the family, to get Troy's car. The said goodbye to his parents and grandparents before getting in the car and driving home.

It was a long, silent ride home and when they arrived, Gabriella got out of the car went in the house and entered the bedroom. Troy just stood in the kitchen as she came back out with a pillow and blanket. He noticed that it wasn't his pillow, just an extra that was often taken off the bed. He took his clothes off and laid down on the couch.

"Hopefully tomorrow goes better than this."