Pre-warning, this may seem similar to my other story but I promise it's not going to be but I just don't like my own writing when everything is smooth sailing and everyone is happy and gets along all the time. I hope you take this into account, this will be a different kind of story. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think. Thank you!
"Piece of shit," Troy growled from beneath his truck.
While he and Gabriella were out on their relaxing drive, his truck once again decided to break down as it chugged its way onto a safe spot where it sputtered and came to a complete spot. Troy reluctantly had to call his dad who he knew would tell his mom that he had a pretty girl in the car with him. They were heading towards his hometown to show her around and take the focus off her but were not planning to go to his parent's house. Luckily, he had yet to go inside so faced no impending questions.
His family lived in a neighbourhood which was less than an hour away from the city where he went to college, however Troy decided to live with his friends which was just a short walk away from where his lectures were.
"I can just call Chad and get him to pick me up?" Gabriella suggested as she sat on top of a work top passing Troy tools when he asked for them.
"No, its fine. I can take you."
Gabriella sighed, "When? Next week?" She muttered quietly.
"I heard that Montez," He teased.
"Damn, I've been caught," Gabriella grinned with a sarcastic tone.
Troy rolled himself out from under the truck and glanced up at Gabriella with a lop-sided grin, "I'm nearly done," He said, jumping up from the floor and stretched once standing.
"Then get back to it," She said simply with a cheeky smile.
Troy walked over to Gabriella and stood between her legs, laying his hands on her outer thighs, "How about you roll under there and finish it for me?" He asked.
Gabriella put her index and middle finger in the middle of Troy's chest and pushed lightly to back him away, "You've got grease and dirt all over you, stay away."
"Get under the car then for me," Troy grinned, walking back towards her.
Gabriella scoffed, "No way," Pushing him back away.
"Why?" He laughed, reaching her hand up to bat and hold her hand away from himself.
"I'd ruin your truck even more!" She exclaimed, "If that's possible," She mumbled to herself.
Troy's eye brows shot up and he sucked in his cheeks a little, "Whoa! You are hating on me and my truck today aren't you?" He smirked.
Gabriella grinned and let him walk so he was firmly between her legs. She placed her hands on his chest, "Never. Your truck gets you from A to B, what more could you want? Maybe from A to B without stopping to fix it?" She quipped.
Troy pushed her hands off his chest playfully, "You can walk home," He said, pointing at her.
"It's rude to point," She said while softly slapping his hand away.
"It's rude to mock other people's cars- atleast I have a car!" Troy quickly said.
Gabriella laughed, "Why would I need a car when I can get hot guys to take me everywhere," She joked.
"Like Cole?" He smirked, "You could have him wrapped around your little finger, baby."
"Or like you," She said, licking her bottom lip.
"I'm not wrapped around your finger, I never will be."
"Oh really?" She grinned.
"Never, never have been, never will be."
Gabriella smirked, "We'll see about that."
"I'm not one of them guys," He husked.
"What guys?"
"Those who are a complete push over with their girlfriends, any girls actually," Troy corrected, "The ones who watch their girl flirt with other guys and then buy them chocolate the next day."
Gabriella rubbed her lips together, "Well I wasn't talking about you being potentially wrapped around my finger, I was talking about you being hot so I guess it doesn't matter what kind of boyfriend you are."
Troy coughed lightly, his eyes momentarily widening, "You keep surprising me."
"How so?" She questioned.
"You're so chill then suddenly you'll be so blunt and… it's so sexy," He whispered the last part.
Gabriella raised an eyebrow, "You think it's sexy that I called you hot?" She questioned.
"Yeah, inappropriate though but thank you."
"How is it inappropriate?"
"We're at my parent's house."
"You're standing between my legs, that's inappropriate if they see that," Gabriella shot back, shrugging.
Troy looked down and saw his hands holding her at the crease of her hips, "They've walked in on worse," He husked, his thumbs moving under her tee shirt to stroke her flat lower stomach.
Gabriella quickly bit down on her lower lip before letting it go slowly. She placed the palms of her hands behind her for support as pushed her hips up and towards his before lowering her hips and raising them again, holding them a little off the desk with ease, all the while keeping eye contact with Troy. She felt his hands grasp onto her a little tighter.
"What if they walked in on something like that? Is that inappropriate too?" Gabriella asked quietly.
Troy yanked her hips forwards to held her tighter against his, "So fucking inappropriate," He grumbled, leaning forwards and firmly pressed his lips to hers, wrapping his arms around her lower back as she let herself sit up right away and wrap her arms around his neck.
"Troy," Gabriella breathed as she felt Troy's hands slide further up her tee shirt to hold her mid-back.
"Hm?" He hummed as he reconnected their lips.
Gabriella continued to kiss him back, grasping the back of his head gently, "We should stop," She mumbled, pulling away.
"Nah," Troy grinned, leaning forward again to interlink their lips for a few moments, however this time it was a lot gentler and softer rather than rushed and rough but both equally as passionate.
Gabriella giggled into the kiss making it difficult to lock lips, they both smiled at each other and shared one more kiss before Troy licked his lips and moved his hands from under her tee shirt to cup her face and press a couple more soft kisses to her lips.
"That was so appropriate," Gabriella whispered and then watched as a grin spread across Troy face and then she giggled.
Troy nodded and the smile slipping from his face before he softly coughed and moved away from her, "I should finishing fixing my truck."
Gabriella nodded, biting down on her lower lip, "I'm going to go find some coffee."
"Ok," Troy smiled, sliding back beneath his truck.
Only half an hour later Troy was sat onto of the work top where Gabriella was sitting when the two made out, swirling a tool around his fingers. He had finished fixing up his truck, had changed into something less greasy and sweaty and was now waiting for Gabriella to return.
"Hey," Gabriella said, walking towards him and holding out the warm cup.
"Thanks," Troy said, putting down the tool he was playing with.
"All finished?" She questioned.
"Mhm," He nodded while his mouth was full of liquid. He swallowed, "My parents asked me to stay for dinner, you too but my mom is close friends with my ex-girlfriend's mom and they both still think we're perfect for each other so they're coming too," He told her hesitantly.
"I'll just get Shar to come get me. I don't want to be in the way of a reunion," Gabriella said with a shrug.
"Stay," Troy said firmly.
"No. I'm not sitting at a table with your ex while everyone tries to get you two back together when literally hours before we made out," Gabriella said, leaning her weight onto one leg.
"Please," Troy begged.
Gabriella shrugged, "No. Would you ever get back with her?" She questioned.
Troy shrugged, "I dunno."
Gabriella sipped her coffee, "Then we should forget whatever happened down here today and I should call Sharpay to pick me up and you should go have dinner with your ex."
"It's just," Troy groaned, "We only broke up because of me, I don't know if to give it another shot."
Gabriella licked her lips, "That's not my call."
"Troy!" A girl's high pitched voice squeaked.
Troy's head turned to the voice neutrally, a girl dressed in a low cut, light pink dress which hugged her upper half and then flowed out naturally, "Hi," He nodded, turning back to Gabriella.
"So that's her?" Troy nodded, "No wonder you want to give it another shot. She's pretty."
Troy tilted his head as if to say 'you really want to go there?', "Gab, this Danielle," He introduced as Daniella came down to stand next to Troy, "This is Gabriella," He told Danielle.
"Hi," Danielle smiled widely.
Gabriella sent a small smile back as she watched Danielle's hand hold the crease of Troy's arm, "Hey."
"Are you staying for dinner, I heard you were invited?" The petite girl asked, her hair was a similar shade to Gabriella's but shorter and a little more limp however, she was a couple of inches taller than Gabriella in height.
"Erm, no, I think I'm going to call my friend to come pick me up," Gabriella answered, looking over at Troy for a moment who turned his head away from them both and subtly shook his head.
"Oh, can you not drive?" Danielle asked.
Gabriella laughed a little, "I can, I just can't afford a car."
"Oh. Did you spend all of your trust fund on college? Troy said you go to the same college as him."
Gabriella's eyes narrowed at Troy as it seemed as though he was still in contact with his ex-girlfriend even after the blonde he slept with, the making out of him and Gabriella and the constant flirting between the two, "Yeah I do but I didn't have a trust fund, I had some money given to me and I saved up," She said briefly.
"I hear UCLA is still quite pricey," Danielle said to try and make conversation with Troy's new friend.
"Not as expensive as Stanford," Gabriella muttered.
"I go there!" Danielle exclaimed, "It's so good."
Gabriella gave her a half-smile, "That's where I wanted to go my whole life but it just wasn't realistic, it was cheaper for me to go to UCLA even with in-state tuition fees than Stanford."
Danielle nodded, "That's understandable, I'm from Florida but luckily my parents had been saving since I was born and I got a job too. I'm pretty lucky."
Gabriella let out a breath of air, "Yeah you are. How did you and Troy meet?"
"My parents moved here when I went to college, they hadn't liked where we lived for a while so they came here and we met when we both came home for winter break, our freshman year," Danielle explained.
"You're not too far away from each other either during the school year," Gabriella pointed out.
Danielle nodded, "Right. I'm going to go back up to see if I can help," She said cheerily and then bounced up the steps.
"I can't believe you," Gabriella said as the two stood facing each other.
"I didn't do anything wrong," He denied.
"You are still fucking talking with your ex! You have fucked someone else, you've been constantly been flirting with me and made out with me and now you're going to have dinner with a girl who hadn't taken her hands off you since she walked in the room," Gabriella ranted.
"I'm single," He said simply.
"I just don't think its right that you have been going around with these other girls while talking to your ex," Gabriella muttered while pulling out her cell phone and typing away, "I'm going to find my way to Santa Barbara and Jake is picking me up from there."
"Hell no," Troy exclaimed, "You're abusive ex-boyfriend is not taking you home, no way."
Gabriella scoffed, "He isn't abusive. He's never touched me like he did at the party ever before."
"I don't give a fuck. I let him put his hands on you once, he's not doing it again," Troy said firmly.
Gabriella shrugged, rolling her eyes before walking out of the open garage with her black slouchy bag on her shoulder. She continued to walk down the street with her arms crossed.
Troy licked his lips as he walked out of the garage also, watching her walk down the street, "Gabriella!" He shouted.
"Gabriella!" A more feminine voice shouted but this time from the front door.
Gabriella closed her eyes and turned around, "Yeah?" She shouted back, walking a little closer.
The woman with light brown hair and a touch of redness to it walked down the porch steps and towards the younger woman. The two met half way before either spoke again, "Myself and Jack heard pretty much everything you both shouted about. Now I know I'm only Troy's mom to you but I would really prefer it if you would come and have dinner with us and let Troy take you both back later. No man- boy puts his hands on a woman, ever," She stressed.
Gabriella smiled at Lucille Bolton, "Ok," She agreed.
"Great," Lucille grinned, before put her arm around her shoulder blades and leading her back into the house, this time through the front door.
Somehow one thing led to another, dinner was perfectly fine, Gabriella only speaking when somebody wasn't trying to fix up Troy and Danielle. Quite a lot of wine was consumed by them and the four parents: Jack and Lucille Bolton and Danielle's mother and father decided to hit a couple of bar's for a nice drink in a better environment.
Gabriella made herself comfortable on the couch as it was now obvious that herself and Troy were not heading back to college until the morning. Troy and Danielle had headed to his old room a few minutes after the parents had gone, saying they needed to talk. Gabriella absently flicked through the channels on the TV but found nothing interesting. It was only 9 o'clock so Gabriella decided to give Sharpay a call.
"Hello G," Sharpay answered, happily.
"Hey," Gabriella smiled.
"When are you coming home?" The blonde asked.
Gabriella sighed, "Not until the morning."
"What? Why?" She exclaimed.
"Troy's truck broke down, we've ended up at his parent's house, we made out, we argued, we had dinner with his ex-girlfriend and her family and now said ex-girlfriend and fuck boy are in his room," Gabriella relayed.
"Whoa," Sharpay breathed.
"Yeah," Gabriella shrugged, leaning one elbow onto the couch while holding a pillow in her lap.
"You kissed him?" Sharpay asked, subtly hinting for more information.
Gabriella licked her bottom lip, "I don't really know what happened but we made out and he's been talking to his ex since before we met, before he slept with that other girl and before we kissed."
"Troy Bolton," She said, shaking her head, "That's not very smart."
"He doesn't think there's anything wrong with that," Gabriella informed.
"It's not the worst…"
"I know that but it's exactly right."
"Exactly."
"Erm Gabriella?" Danielle's voice said from the door way.
Gabriella's head spun around and her eyes instantly took in her attire which was simply the tee shirt Troy had been wearing all day. She cleared her throat before speaking, "Yeah?"
"You don't happen to have… anything do you?" Danielle cringed.
Gabriella instantly knew that she was talking about protection, "No, sorry."
"Ok, sorry to disturb you," She quickly said before rushing away.
Gabriella brought the phone back up to her ear and before she could speak, Sharpay spoke, "Did she just ask for a condom?"
"Yeah," Gabriella whispered, "I know it's crazy but I was actually starting to believe that I could like this guy. I don't like but I just thought that maybe he could have been good for me."
"I thought the same Gab," Sharpay agreed.
"Maybe I wasn't fair on Jake, maybe I should it give another go?" Gabriella questioned.
"No! You know that's not right!" Sharpay exclaimed.
Gabrielle sighed, "I know."
"Do you want me to come get you?" Sharpay asked.
"No Shar, it's a 3 hour drive one way."
"Ok, I've just got my shoes on now, I'll be on my way in five, love ya," Sharpay said before hanging up.
"Shar! Sharpay Evans!" Gabriella screeched into the phone before realising she hung up and tried a few more times to call her back but Sharpay ignored it.
Gabriella groaned as the two, mostly like naked, bodies upstairs started to make noises of satisfaction. She pressed the volume up button on the remote control several times with annoyance.
Just over 3 hours later, Gabriella received a text message which read 'I'm here xox'. Gabriella was secretly very glad that her best friend was kind enough to come and pick her up at midnight while the guy who she was intrigued by was having sex with his ex-girlfriend.
Gabriella stood up from the couch, turned off the TV, replied to Sharpay to inform her she was going to the bathroom first and then she'd be out. She was thankful that when she turned off the TV, the house was silent. She quickly went to the bathroom, picked up her bag, slung it on her shoulder and headed out the door. She breathed a sigh of relief as the fresh air hit her but as she looked up, her shoulders sagged.
"Why are you leaving half way through the night?" Troy demanded, walking towards her.
Gabriella rolled her eyes and walked to the passenger door, "Because I'm not just going to sit around and wait for you to take me home while you're having sex with Danielle."
Troy brought out his arm quickly to stop her from walking past him, "I'm sorry, ok. We have a past, we had too much wine, neither of us had any closure."
"So you go and fuck her?" Gabriella asked, scoffing.
"I don't know why I have to explain myself to you," Troy said, moving his hands away from her arms.
"Why did you come out here?" Gabriella asked more calmly.
Troy blinked and licked his lips, looking down at his sweatshirt and jogger covered body, "We had sex, she's asleep, I couldn't sleep, Shar text me, I came out and I see you walking to her car."
"I'm not waiting around you," Gabriella repeated.
"I am sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you, it was a mistake," Troy said.
"Thanks," Gabriella said, walking away from him, "I've been called a lot of things but not a mistake."
"I didn't say it like that," Troy huffed, "You are not a mistake, I'm so glad you came into my life."
"It doesn't matter. Go back to your perfect girlfriend and her perfect, fancy, rich lifestyle and enjoy," Gabriella said, almost making it to Sharpays car.
"I really don't care about that!" Troy exclaimed, "I care about people who are genuine and kind and honest and loyal and... you," He trailed off.
"I'm just going to tell you a couple of things that will make you realise that you shouldn't walk away from your ex. I had sex with countless men for money to get into college. Of course, there had to be one who didn't like it when I said I'm not doing it anymore. The amount of guys I said I had been with, those were the ones who I have been with voluntarily. The only family I have is my brother. Now please don't act like you'd rather me than Danielle who didn't have to sell herself to get places because her fucked up parents gave all their money to many but one particularly sexually abusive drug dealer," Gabriella swallowed thickly, before opening the back door and throwing her bag in there.
"Fuck," Troy whispered, "Gab," He mumbled, walking forward as she paused opening the door and let her forehead rest on the cool metal.
"Get off me," She said throatily.
"I'm sorry," He said quietly with a concerned frown on his face.
After Gabriella took a quick, large breath she spun around, "I don't need your sympathy, so now I've confirmed your thinking. You can go back to your perfect little girlfriend and her sweet life."
"You can't just go after you told me that," Troy said, in shock, touching her upper arms.
"I'm helping you make a decision," Gabriella whispered.
"But the funny thing is that you're not pushing me in the way you think you are," Troy told her.
"You can't fix people or change them. I've learnt that after a few ex-boyfriends. You can't change me. I'm not afraid of sex, I like to be in control because there have been so many times that I haven't been. My issues are not with have sex with countless amounts of men for money for college."
Troy's large hands slid down her arms to hold her hands, "I don't want to change you. I don't care what you're issues are. As a friend who is seriously attracted to you, now more than ever, please don't leave."
"Come with me."
Troy let out a puff of air, "But Danielle is upstairs. I can't just leave. My parents…" He said in little parts of sentences.
"If you've meant everything you've said then you'll come back with me," Gabriella said, looking into his eyes.
"I've meant it but I can't just leave Gabs," Troy said, feeling her pull away from him again.
"You did it the other day and you're doing it again. Picking a lay over your friend."
Troy shook his head, "I'm not. I'm trying to be a good guy. I was horrible to her."
"And again, I don't matter," Gabriella shrugged, looking down and shaking off Troy's hands, "For my sanity, don't ever help out in an Allie situation or any situation again," She told him before yanking the door open and getting into the car. She looked at Sharpay and told her to start driving, not once looking at Troy.
"Oh babe," Sharpay sighed, "Are you ok?"
"Why do I get fucked over? Am I an easy target or something?" Gabriella asked.
"He thinks with his dick an awful lot," Sharpay told her.
"I swear that we've been flirting since the day we met but he sees this girl after years and not much flirting happened in front of me and now they're having sex. We kissed with no tongue after days of flirting. And that blonde girl last night! Allie should tell him he's the slag! I'm not! The blonde chick had her boobs in his face and he went all ga-ga," Gabriella groaned, "That man!" He shouted.
Sharpay couldn't help but laugh a little, "I have no idea what to tell you, I don't understand that at all."
"And great, I just ranted my life story at him. Great," She said sarcastically.
Sharpay looked over at her brieftly. "That is one thing you should not be ashamed of. You have overcome so much and you've come out on the brighter side and done well for yourself. Don't let anybody tell you any different. I'm the proudest best friend ever."
Gabriella smiled at Sharpay, "Thanks Shar."
"Now, we are going back to our apartment, ordering a pizza and gossiping about the date a have with Zeke next week," She squealed towards the end of the sentence.
"No way! Ah!" Gabriella exclaimed while grinning, "Shar! I'm so happy for you!"
Sharpay continued to smile widely, "Thanks, I'm so excited but a little nervous too."
It had been a little over two days since Gabriella had begun to ignore Troy's calls and texts which had started happening around the night Troy had returned back to college. He had laid in his double bed the night he returned to Los Angeles, he had gotten in at around 8pm and gotten straight into bed, figuring that he would chat to Chad another time. As he laid there, he started to think about how Danielle had been completely ok with him saying that he just didn't like her in the way he used to after spending the day together, he thought about what Gabriella had told him and the idea of her struggles would not leave his mind.
It was Friday night, the last week day before college started up again and it was Chad's 22nd birthday so of course he wanted to go out and hit the town, smartly dressed for the fancier clubs and various VIP areas he had hired out with the help of his friends.
The whole group was currently sat at a fancy VIP booth which included two complimentary bottles of champagne. Each of them had a glass and were all chatting to start the night off, everyone was relaxed and chilled and having a good time; even Allie had calmed herself down towards Gabriella, even though they hadn't talked all night so far.
Gabriella was smiling at her best friend as she laughed subtly at something Zeke was whispering into her ear while she had her hand on his thigh keeping her upright and Zeke had his arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her into him.
"You're not creeping on them are you Gabs?" A deeper voice said from beside her.
Gabriella faced Chad and grinned, "Hey birthday boy and no I'm not. They're just too cute not to look at."
"Are you jealous?" Chad teased.
Gabriella half smiled and half smirked while shaking her head, "No! Are you?"
"I'm not into the mushy, whispering to each other shit," Chad shrugged, pulling his face.
"It can be cute," Gabriella told him, ruffling his fluffy hair.
"Hey," He barked playfully, "But anyway, I hear you are having some trouble with my boy."
Gabriella tilted her head and raised her eyebrows, "Did he send you over here?"
Chad gave her a look, "He's too busy fighting off this drunk 40 year old mom who although hot… 40," He joked.
Gabriella laughed, tilting her head back before scanning the booth and the outer area trying to find this situation. Her dark eyes stopped search as she saw Troy leaning at the small area of the bar, which was specifically for the VIP guests, with a tall, slim woman who had gone a little over board with the botox. Gabriella laughed as Troy continued to shake his head and softly pushing her away with his right hand as she stood pressed up against his left.
"As if Troy could get her," Gabriella crinkled her nose.
"You have not been on enough nights out with us if you think Troy can't get some types of women," Chad informed her, "I'm secretly jealous."
Gabriella laughed, "You two are completely different, looks wise, so you probably get the girls that aren't into Troy."
"Ah Gab, you're forgetting I had a girlfriend for quite a while before I went away, so no experimenting for me," Chad reminded her with a tap of the shoulder.
Gabriella gave him a strange look before giggling a little, "Ok."
"But seriously, you two ok or not?" Chad asked.
Gabriella shrugged, "I don't know," She mumbled, looking down at her finger nails, "We haven't spoken since I shouted my life story at him. We had been flirting hadn't we? I haven't just made this up in my head?"
Chad nodded, "Yeah, I haven't seen you two together much but when I have you seem into each other."
Gabriella slowly nodded, "I don't get his deal. Fair enough if you flirt with others and you're talking to someone else but that's still not ok but to go as far as making out with someone and still talking to your ex, that's not cool."
"Troy said you two had kissed, he also told me his side and I do think you should just talk to him," Chad advised, "Yeah, he makes mistakes but he's a good guy."
"I'm just not into guys who still talk and sleep with their exes," Gabriella remarked.
"Yeah, he said that he slept with her but I don't know, just talk and if after that you don't want to have anything to do with him then it's cool, you can still come on VIP trips with me," Chad grinned, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and shaking her gently while Gabriella laughed.
"I'm guessing you're having a good birthday then?" Gabriella laughed.
Chad nodded his head enthusiastically, "Yep," He smiled widely.
"Here you go old man," Troy said from behind the booth, leaning on Chad's black shirt clad shoulder as he put a shot and a cocktail in front of him.
"Old man," Chad scoffed, "We're the same age now," He leaned back into the booth and patted Troy's arm as a thank you.
"You're so clever, how did you get into college?" Troy mocked.
Chad glared playfully at Troy, "It's my birthday, be nice."
Gabriella at this point had turned her head to glance around the VIP area, noting its chic appearance while sipping her drink and letting the two male best friends chat. Her eyes landed on a mixed raced man who had short, shaved hair, he was already looking at her when her eyes fell upon him. He gave her a simple nod with an half -smile and she returned by giving him a small wave.
"When you're done Gab, how about you and Troy sort out your differences for your ole pal's birthday," Chad said cheekily.
Gabriella's head snapped back to the two men and her eyes flickered between the two of them, "Fine," She shrugged and both she and Chad moved a little so Troy could manoeuvre himself to sit between them.
"You've been ignoring me," Troy stated.
"Obviously Troy," Gabriella said, sipping her drink through a straw.
"Why? I mean, I get why but can I not tell you my side of everything?" Troy asked.
"Sure," She said, shrugging.
"If after that you understand, I have some questions for you but this isn't the right environment," Troy said, "Do you agree?"
"Yeah. We should meet up and talk through stuff," Gabriella agreed.
"Yeah, I'd like that," He smiled.
Gabriella bit down on her lip to stop a small smile and compose herself, "So, when?"
"Are you free tomorrow?" He asked.
"Yeah, preferably the afternoon though," She said.
Troy nodded, "About four at a coffee shop somewhere?" He offered.
Gabriella agreed with a nod, "Sounds like plan."
"Sweet," Troy grinned before putting down his drink and reaching into his pocket to retrieve his cell phone. He typed in his password and clicked on messages before he clicked on the one which had the word 'Danielle' in bold and handed her his phone, "It's done," He said.
Gabriella started to read the last few paragraphs the two exchanged before she nodded and handed the phone back to him, "You really had no obligation to show that to me, I really did not need to see that."
"I know but I just wanted you to see it in concrete," Troy shrugged.
Gabriella smiled and nodded, "I understand."
Troy looked between her eyes and her lips, remaining silent for a while before opening his mouth, "Are you ok?"
Gabriella's eyes shot to his and she frowned, "What?"
"After you told me all of what you did the other day, I've been worried about you. You're ok? You're healthy mentally and physically now?"
Gabriella placed her hand on his and rubbed over his knuckles softly, "I'm fine."
"Fine is not ok," Troy stated.
Gabriella gave him a half sad smile, "Being fine is my ok. It's ok, I'm fine."
Troy nodded, turning his hand to squeeze hers once before getting back to the party and then the music seemed to become louder and the mood stepped up and everybody became more relaxed and happy.