A/N I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING! I ONLY OWN THIS PLOT! Thanks for all your reviews. I know you all hate Peter but I promise he will get what he deserves. Thanks to my beta Elena Rain! On with the chapter::

Honestly, he didn't know if Gabriella would mentally survive till the end of the week and he was scared to death that Peter had just pushed her over the edge and now….he had lost her for good…

He lifted her up into his arms. She buried her face into his shoulder. He kissed her head softly. "Is it ok if we go out into the living room?" he whispered to her.

He was afraid if he spoke too loud it would scare her.

She nodded softly against his shoulder.

He walked out of the room and into the living room where his mom and Carlos were talking. They both stopped with they saw Troy.

"How is she?" Carlos asked.

"Shaken, but I think physically she's ok." Troy answered.

"Daddy." Gabriella whimpered.

Carlos went over to her. "I'm right here, Angel. I'm right here."

Gabriella looked up from Troy's shoulder. "Daddy, I love you."

"I love you too, Brie Bear please don't be sad."

"I'm sorry, please don't be angry with me."

"Baby, I'm anything but angry with you. I'm angry with Peter and with your teacher but I'm not angry at you. I know you got scared by my yelling but I promise, I'd never hurt you and I promise I'm not angry with you."

Gabriella nodded. Carlos kissed her head. "Are you ok with talking about it? Lucille has a few questions, she's going to help us punish him."

"NO!" Gabriella cried. "NO! SHE CAN'T! NO! NO! NO!"

"Why not? Peter took this too far and he hurt you, he needs to pay."

"NO! DADDY! NO!" she screamed.

"But…"

"Carlos, don't, hang on. Troy come sit over here with her." Lucille said.

Troy sat down on the couch next to Lucille.

"Gabriella, I need you to answer me honestly, did Peter threaten you? Is that why you're so against reporting him?"

Gabriella whimpered and buried her face back into his shoulder.

Lucille sighed. "I know it's scary for you, Brie, but you've got to be honest with me. It's the only way I can help you."

"He didn't threaten me, he only hit me." She whimpered.

"But he threatened someone else? Troy maybe or your dad even?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yes, he threatened to kill him. He said I'd be all alone."

"Who? You're father or Troy."

"Yes."

Lucille chuckled.

"She's still in shock; she doesn't want to talk much." Troy said.

"It's all right. Let's do this. Gabriella, did Peter threatened Troy's life?"

Gabriella shook her head.

"Did he threaten your father's life?"

"Yes, he told me daddy would die, if I said anything."

Lucille sighed. "Gabriella, how long has this been going on?"

"What? This only just happen." Carlos said.

"No, my mom is right; Gabriella has been acting weird, lately. This couldn't have just happen." Troy said.

Gabriella whimpered and didn't answer.

"Honey, please, you've got to tell us." Lucille said.

She shook her head.

Troy gently removed her head from his shoulder. She whimpered. "Hey, just look right at me. You can tell me anything, Angel. Please, will you tell me how long Peter has been hurting you?" He wiped the never ending tears from her cheeks.

"Um…I don't know for sure." She said softly playing with the strings on Troy's sweat pants.

"But if you had to guess?"

She shrugged. "I'm sorry, I just honestly don't know. It feels like forever to me." A few more tears slipped down her cheeks.

"It's ok," he cooed and caught the tears on his finger. "Maybe this will make it easier, at what point during our project did it start?"

"Um…the night before we got the baby, I came home from school and he was here. He said I had to make him dinner every night when he came over. I refused and he hit me, then he said if I told anyone or even tried to switch partners he was going to make something bad happen to my dad. He said that I'd be all alone because Mommy doesn't want me."

Troy gently rubbed his thumb over her cheek bone. "What else can you tell me? Any information you give me will help."

He looked to his mother and she nodded softly with a smile. She continued to make little notes in her pad as Gabriella continued to speak.

"I don't know, he didn't help take care of the baby at all. He always said mean thing to me."

"What kind of things?"

"He said I was useless, he said I was stupid, he said I was ugly and fat, he said that um….he said things about…um….you know….down there and my chest."

"Sexual things?" Troy asked.

Gabriella shook her head. "Mean things, he said I had tiny breast and an ugly….you know….he said no guy was ever going to want to touch me because I was so ugly in those areas. He told me that I was too ugly to be alive…" tears filled her eyes as she continued. "He said that I'm such an ugly person I should be shot dead and that not even vulchers wouldn't want me….." she trailed off as the tears fell harder and she started to cry. "Can I stop? Please?"

"Of course, you told us a lot today. Good girl, you did good. It's ok, shhh you're ok shhh." Troy soothed. He pulled her into his arms again and allowed her to crying to shoulder. He rubbed her back and comfort her the best he could.

"So what? Peter come over here tonight was just…normal?" Carlos asked. "He came over here because he felt he could?"

Gabriella started to cry harder. She clung tighter to Troy.

Lucille got up and went over to Carlos. "Listen to me, I understand you're angry. I know you want answers, I want answers too, but we cannot push her. Pushing her will do more harm than good. The harder we push the more she'll pull away. When she is ready she'll tell us more. She gave us a lot of information, she had to recall and remember a lot of un pleasant memoires. Give her a few minutes to recover from that before you push for more."

"We shouldn't be here pushing Gabriella to talk, we should be at her school and threatening to blow the teachers brains out."

Lucille chuckled. "That we can do tomorrow. I promise. But for now your daughter needs you."

Gabriella started choking on her own tears. Troy was instantly patting her back. "Take some deep breaths, Angel, it will help you breathe."

She tried to inhale but ended up choking worse. Lucille went over and rubbed her back. "You're ok, you're safe now. Try and take some deep breaths ok, you're safe. Nobody is going to hurt you."

Still Gabriella choked on her tears.

"Gabriella, look at me, right at me." Troy encouraged. "Look into my eyes…"

Gabriella's eyes met him.

"Good girl, now just follow what I do…." Troy took a deep breath in. Gabriella inhaled after him. When Troy let his out, Gabriella did the same. "Good Girl, good girl." Troy soothed. "Do it with me again ok, inhale…." Gabriella inhaled and exhaled with Troy. The process repeated until Gabriella had finally calmed back down.

Troy kissed her head and rubbed her back. "Do you think you can tell us more about what happen tonight?" he cooed. "If you don't want to, you don't have to."

Gabriella shrugged softly. "He came into my room just as I finished changing my clothes; he poked me in the sides and scared me. At first I thought it was you, because you know it's one of my ticklish spots."

Troy chuckled softly and kissed her head. "Continue its ok."

"When I turned around it wasn't you. It was Peter, he was really angry at him."

"Why?" Lucille asked.

"He was at Troy's house earlier when Troy and I were…" she stopped not feeling comfortable enough to tell her father and Lucille about her and Troy making out. She turned red and buried her face in Troy's chest.

"I was trying to cheer her up so I started to tickle her; I ended up on top of her. Then we started to make out a little bit." Troy said rubbing her back.

"So, Peter got mad at you for making out with your boyfriend?" Carlos asked.

Gabriella nodded and looked up at her father. "He really believed we were married. I don't know why, but he believed that we went and eloped and I was really his wife. So because of this he got angry at me for kissing Troy. He said the only way he'd forgive me was if I gave myself to him but when I said no he….he just…." Gabriella shrugged. "He took it."

"All right, thank you Gabriella. You've told us more than enough. Thank you." Lucille said.

"Daddy, did he hurt you? Is that why it took you so long to get to me?" she asked softy.

"No, but he locked me inside the bedroom so I had to climb out the window and go around the front. The spare key was already gone so I had to use the back of my gun to break the door in."

"Oh, but you're hurt?"

"No, I promise, Peter didn't touch me."

He went over and knelt in front of Gabriella. "I'm ok, I'm not hurt or in any physical pain. You don't need to worry. What about you? Are you hurt or in any pain?" Carlos asked.

"Kind of...on my breast."

"Do you mind us asking what he did to you?" Lucille asked.

"Honestly, he didn't touch me a lot down below. He had just gotten his hands down my pants when my dad came in. He had enough time to feel around but nothing else. He was worse to my upper body."

"What did he do?"

"He squeezed me….really hard, he'd pinch my skin between his nails, he'd scratch me, he'd…..he would…." Gabriella shook her head.

"It's ok, you can tell us." Lucille said.

"Did he touch you there with his mouth?" Carlos asked.

Gabriella nodded as tears filled her eyes. "He'd kiss and lick."

"Did he bite?"

"No, all he did was what I've just mentioned…" she shook her head. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. Please?"

"Ok, Angel, you're done. It's ok. You did really well, I'm so proud of you." Troy cooed and kissed her head.

She sighed in relief and cuddled into his chest. A small yawn escaped her lips. Troy chuckled. "Looks like we've got a tired little Angel on our hands." He teased gently.

She nodded softly.

"Let's crash for the night, we can figure the rest of this out tomorrow." Carlos said. "That couch pulls out to a bed and Troy you're welcome to stay with Gabriella in her bedroom."

"UH, actually, Gabriella would feel more comfortable out here. I don't know if she wants to go back to her bedroom tonight." Troy said.

"Of course, Lucille can take Gabriella's bedroom." Carlo said.

Lucille nodded. "That's fine."

"Thanks for coming both of you." Carlos said.

"You're family; we'd do anything for you." Lucille said.

Carlos smiled. He and Lucille left the room to help her get settled in Gabriella's room. Troy kissed Gabriella on the head. "Come on, Angel. Let's get this coach turned into a bed."

She groaned. "No, you're comfortable enough."

Troy chuckled. "Yeah, but the coach will make my back hurt."

"Too sleepy."

"Do I need to get the tickle monster to wake you up?"

She looked up at him and glared. He laughed. "Ok, ok, how about this." He stood up and put her on the chair. Then he turned and started to fix the coach himself. When he turned back around he laughed. Gabriella had curled up and fallen asleep on the chair. Once the bed was ready he lifted her back up and laid her down on the bed. They instantly cuddled into each other's arms. Troy was out before his head hit the pillow. He just hoped Gabriella didn't have any nightmares.

The next morning Carlos was out bright and early, and he was fuming with anger. He didn't care what it took he would make sure this teacher changed Gabriella's project partner or he would take his shot gun and blow her head off. A small part of him knew that he wouldn't be able to bring his gun into the school, there would be cops swarming within seconds. Maybe that was good then? No. He was the one with the gun; he would look like the bad guy. He sighed as he entered the building and walked over to the classroom.

"Can I help you?" she asked sweetly.

"Listen up you piece of trash. I want my daughter taken out of this absurd assignment right this second."

She stood up. "Sir. I don't even know who your daughter is, nonetheless who you are."

"Gabriella is my daughter and you paired her with the devil child."

"Ah yes. She was begging me to change her partner back to Troy but I think it would be good for her to learn about real life."

Carlos growled and stepped way beyond the personal space boundaries. "Real life doesn't involve rape now does it?" He snapped in her face threatingly. "Real life doesn't involve innocent girls being tied up and smacked around like some toy." With every step of his words he moved closer and closer to the teacher until her back was against the wall. "If you won't change what happens then I will have no choice but to report you. I will have the police in here within seconds and you will be fired. No school in the country would hire a teacher who encourages sexual assault because its 'real life' what kind of sick twisted freak are you?" He slammed his fist into the wall behind her to show his anger. "You will take her off the assignment right now of you will face the consequences." He turned to walk away when the teacher stopped him.

"I can't change partner right now, the assignment is almost over. It's too late." She saw his angry gaze and quickly came up with something. "I can pull her out of the assignment all together."

Carlos turned to face her. "She better get an A for all her hard work."

"She'll have to write an essay on marriage and what kind of marriage she wants in the future. 20 pages by Friday."

"No, that is not acceptable. Forget it, I'm going to report you and I'm pulling Gabriella from your class and I'm going to advise any other parents with a child in this class to do the same. You're a terrible, horrible teacher and you deserve to be fired!" he yelled and walked out of the room slamming the door behind him.

Back at the house Gabriella started to stir. She opened her eyes and looked around. Troy wasn't in bed next to her. She was alone, she whimpered. "Troy?"

"In the kitchen!" a voice called.

She climbed out of bed and went into the kitchen. Troy was making some eggs.

"Morning, how you feeling?" he asked.

"Sore, but better. Where is everyone?"

"Your dad went to the school and my mom went to the office. She's building a case against Peter."

Gabriella nodded softly. Troy smiled and took her arm gently pulling her closer to him. He kissed her forehead and held her close to his side with one arm wrapped around her waist as he used to the other to mix the eggs. She laid her head on his shoulder and wrapped one arm around his back and clung to his shirt.

Troy could feel the tightness of her grip and gently kissed her cheek. "Are you sure you're ok?" he asked.

"I feel clingy." She admitted softly and shyly. "I don't want to be alone."

"That's understandable after what you've been through." Troy soothed. "I promise you, it's never going to happen again."

"I don't want to go back to school Troy."

"You're dad is going to make it so you and Peter break up. I promise."

"It's not going to stop him. He really believes we're married Troy. He's going to come after me again."

"Gabriella, my mother is the best lawyer; she's going to make sure he pays for hurting you. That's a promise."

Gabriella just sighed. "I don't feel safe at that school anymore. I don't even feel safe being here."

"What about my house? We can go there?"

Gabriella shook her head. "Peter has been there too."

Troy sighed. "Where do you feel safe?"

"Right here, wrapped tightly in your arms."

Troy couldn't help but smile at that. "Then I'll hold you forever." He kissed her forehead and wrapped his arm tighter around her. He continued to the make the eggs. If Gabriella felt safe in his arms, then he'd carry her around for the rest of his life.

A/N so Gabriella is out of the class, that's good news, but will that stop Peter? Leave me your thoughts in a review.

For updates, sneak peeks, and sometimes cool pictures FIND and LIKE me on facebook at "hopelessromanticgurl"