(A/N: So, so sorry for the delay. I've been very busy with school lately, so please excuse my absence.)
As Troy woke from his slumber, he could hear his phone beeping in the window. He got up, stretched, and yawned as he walked towards it.
He unplugged it from his charger.
Opening it, he saw Gabriella's name flash across the screen.
"Hello?" He held the phone tiredly to his ear.
"Troy?"
"Hey. Why are you calling so late?"
"I don't know... " She looked around. "How late is it?"
"About two thirty." He looked outside the window.
"Oh. I wouldn't know. I don't have a clock... "
"Yeah you do. On your headboard."
"I'm not in my room."
"Where are you?"
"Outside."
His eyes got wide. "Outside? At four in the morning? Gabriella, you're pregnant and- "
"I ran away, okay?" She sobbed. "I don't know where to go or what to do... I have my dogs and cats with me and my suitcase. Do you think you could take me to my friend Marie's?"
He was already putting his shoes on. "You're coming here. It's ten degrees outside, and I'm not driving all the way out to Danville to take you to your friend's house."
"But my pets- "
"They can come here." He grabbed his truck keys and started down the stairs. "And its a school night!"
"I'm sorry, okay?" She looked around and sat on the sidewalk. "I'm tired of my mom and dad with the drugs and everything. I'm tired of babysitting them!"
"That's not a reason to run away- "
"Just come get me, okay?" She sighed.
...
Gabriella could hear Troy's truck approaching her. She straightened her jacket and stood up, looking as Troy pulled up to her.
He got out, walked towards her, and grabbed her suitcase, throwing it in the back. He put the cats in the backseat of the truck, along with the dogs.
He grabbed her hand, opened the door, and helped her up to the seat.
Without another word, he pulled on to the road.
He sighed.
"What happened?"
She played with her fingers a little.
"Hello?"
"I blew a fuse... " She shook her head. "I couldn't take it anymore... "
He looked over at her. "What couldn't you take?"
"The drugs, them being high all the time, me having to take care of them... " She wiped a tear falling off her eye. "It's too hard for me to understand how they can choose drugs over me... "
He sighed. "I know what you mean... " He scratched Hannah's head as she poked her head around the seat to sniff his face. "Is that why you brought your dogs and cats?"
"I know they won't take care of them. They aren't worried about them."
Troy entwined his fingers with hers and kissed her hand. "Well, you don't have to worry about anything. I'll take care of them for you. And I'll take care of you."
There was a distant emotion hanging between them. It was like Troy thought of her only as his little slut that he gave love in return for sex.
And now that there was a baby involved, he snubbed her a little.
...
As morning came, Gabriella woke to the sound of an alarm clock buzzing in her ear.
She sat up quickly, whined, and rubbed her eyes.
Troy opened the bedroom door, rushed over, and turned it off. "Baby, you don't have to wake up. Just go back to bed."
"But there's school- "
"I'm letting you take a day off. Go back to sleep, okay?" He kissed her forehead.
Gabriella slowly layed back down on the bed. "Hannah, Marley... "
"I'll get them." Troy opened his bedroom door, yelling downstairs. "HANNAH! MARLEY!"
She could hear the distant thumping of both of her dogs running up the stairs.
"Hi girls!" He said, coaxing them into the room. "Get up on the bed, guys!"
Hannah automatically jumped up, circling around the bottom of the bed to find a comfy spot. Then, Marley jumped up and trampled Gabriella, plopping down with her rear on Gabriella's leg, and her head on Gabriella's stomach.
"Better?"
She nodded.
"Alright, I'll see you when I get home from school." He whispered, then gently kissed her cheek. "I love you."
Such a jump, from being friends to lovers.
"I love you too." She mumbled.
"My mom and dad know about you staying here with the dogs and cats, so if you need anything, they'll be right up here. I have a pager right beside you, so page them if you need something."
"Do they know I'm pregnant?" She glanced at him, and read the expression on his face.
"Yeah." He ran his finger along her arm. "They know."
"Are they mad at me?"
"No, but they're raging mad at me, because they just figured out that I haven't been a virgin since I was fourteen." He chuckled a little. "They'll get over it."
She rolled over with a sigh. "I'll see you later."
"Okay, bye." He whispered, shutting the door behind him.
She rolled a little, stroking Marley's head a little.
"Are you alright here, Marley? Are you loving the big house?"
Marley opened her eyes a little, staring at Gabriella with her amber eye and her blue and brown halved eye.
Her beautiful Aussie, the best thing that had ever happened to her.
And her Golden Retriever Hannah, her protector.
She didn't know what she would do without them.
And thus, she fell back asleep...