Hi everyone, I'm sorry it took me so long! I know.. this is getting old, but I'm really having trouble with finding the inspiration to finish this story. Hopefully you'll like my new chapter. And of course, as always, I'll be waiting and hoping for your reviews.
Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical or any of the characters of the movies.
A few days later everything was slowly turning back to normal. Miss Darbus had come by to tell them they could pack their bags again. Apparently the damage done to their little village wasn't that big and they could return that afternoon. Gabriella was in the bedroom packing their bags. Rose was already set to go and Troy was with her in the living room so that Gabby could finish packing.
She was standing by the bed folding some clothes when she suddenly felt two hands sneaking around her waist. She smiled and put her arms over his, 'Troy, what are you doing here?'
He chuckled and kissed her neck, 'Just wanted to see you. Am I not allowed to see my favorite girl anymore?'
She leaned against him with her entire body and he immediately felt his own body respond. He started kissing her neck again and as she tilted her head to give him better access he said, 'You know.. I put in a DVD for Rose, so she's all taking care of.. How about I take care of you now?' He continued kissing her neck and she moaned, 'Oh!' She felt his hand sneak up to caress her breast. Her body was slowly giving in, but before things got any further she shook her head, 'We can't…'
Troy ignored her, 'Why not?' He mumbled, while he continued his actions and slipped his hand under her shirt. Gabriella giggled, but stopped his hand, 'Troy, come on. I have to finish packing. We have to leave in an hour.'
He sighed, but stopped. 'Fine, you're right..' Gabriella smiled at that and he let her go as she started packing again. 'Do you need any help?'
She shook her head, but smiled as he took the clothes from her and started helping anyway. While he was putting them away he thought about the conversation a few days earlier and the things Madison had said to him.
'Remember that this is just a project, after the six months are up you lose that little girl you've been looking after and everybody goes back to school.'
He couldn't seem to get it out of his head. Now that Madison had mentioned it, he couldn't help but feel bothered by the fact that he had basically just forgotten that this situation was only temporary. He hadn't dared to bring it up with Gabriella, afraid that she would just laugh at him or tell him things he didn't want to hear. 'Hey hunny?' He asked, hesitating a bit.
Gabriella didn't look up from what she was doing, but responded, 'hmm?'
He hesitated again, was it wise to bring it up now? He still didn't know how she would respond, especially now that she was busy. But the fact that he was walking around with this conversation in his head for a few days and had imagined a few worst scenarios gave him some courage to continue, 'Do you ever think about how things will be after this project?'
She looked up at this with a questioning look on her face, 'What do you mean?'
Well.. at least she wasn't laughing at him right away, so he continued. 'Well, it's just that we only have two months left in this project and after that everything changes again.' He saw that she was still looking at him questioningly, so he elaborated, 'I mean.. we go back to school and we lose Rose.' He refrained from mentioning his fear about losing Gabriella as well.
Gabriella was quiet for a moment and then came over to where he had sat down on the bed, 'What's brought this up?' She asked him, avoiding answering his question for a moment. In truth she hadn't really thought about it.
He shrugged, 'I don't know. I just had a conversation with Madison in the hospital the other day and she told me to remember that this was just a project. That everything that had been going on these past few weeks would end and things would turn back to normal.' He didn't look at her, didn't dare to see the look on her face. He knew this had been bothering him too much. He just wanted to enjoy the last few months and see what happened when it happened.
Gabriella still hadn't responded. She was observing Troy, trying to see how serious this was. She could see in his eyes that this really had been bothering him. 'What did she say exactly?'
'It doesn't matter', he tried to respond, but she shook her head, 'Yes it does Troy! Look, I don't know why you're suddenly worrying about this so much and I know that it was probably what she said, so yes I need to know exactly what she said.'
Troy shook his head, 'I don't know Gabby,' She kneeled before him, took his hands in her own and looked at him, 'Troy, you can trust me. You're not going to lose me just because we're going back to school. When this program ends things will change and yes maybe our relationship will change a bit, seeing as we won't be living together like now, but you won't lose me. We will still be together when this project ends.'
'But we will have lost Rose...' Troy answered, finally looking up. 'At the end of these two months, this little family we've created. That little girl we both care about so much... she'll be gone.'
- PG -
The ride back to the house was quiet. Rose was sleeping softly in the back, while Troy was driving. The last time they had been in the car had been to escape a storm. Gabriella had been sleeping, so it had been quiet as well, but this time it was different. It wasn't a comfortable silence. Gabriella hadn't responded to him after his last remark. She just stood up and continued packing. She behaved normal around Rose and talked animatedly with her during the time they still had to wait, but she completely ignored Troy.
Even Rose had noticed something was wrong, for she had asked Gabriella whether they were fighting or not. Gabby had smiled and denied it, saying everything was fine, but that she was just busy with everything about the trip back home. Rose had accepted this answer and came with them quietly as Miss Drabs came to pick them up. She had fallen asleep 5 minutes after they had driven away and Troy had tried to make some small talk with Gabriella, but every effort was met with silence.
He looked at her for a moment and saw her looking out the window, 'Gabriella, are you sure you okay?' It was the same question he had asked multiple times already and he had expected her not to answer. She surprised him when she turned around suddenly and smiled softly, 'I'm fine Troy. Stop worrying.' She resumed looking out the window, but not after taking out her iPod and putting in her earplugs. The rest of the ride was silent again. She may say that she's fine, but it's obvious there is something wrong he thought. He shouldn't have said anything about that stupid conversation with Madison, he was sure of it.
As soon as they arrived Gabriella steps out of the car. She went around the back and got Rose out. She carried her to the house and left Troy behind to take the baggage. He took a moment to recollect himself, taking a deep breath before he slowly got out of the car and took the bags out of the back. He walked inside to find Gabriella walking down the stairs again. 'I put Rose in bed, she was clearly exhausted. Sharpay just called. She needs me. Will you be alright here?'
He nodded, 'Yeah of course. You should go if she needs you.' She nodded at him before walking to the door. She walked out quickly while saying, 'I don't know how long I'll be so don't wait up for me. I'll let you know where I'll sleep.' And then she was gone.
He walked to the living room, putting the bags on the floor, he looked around. Nothing had changed in their living room. Obviously the storm hadn't made that much damage in their home, because everything was as they had left it before going to the hotel. On the salon table lay all the magazines he had read every night to pass the evenings, which were usually alone because Gabriella hadn't wanted anything to do with him. He went to sit on the couch and saw the blanket that was there for him. There was no evidence in this house of his relationship with Gabriella. No sign of the happy family they had become in the hotel.
Is that why Gabriella had left in such a hurry? Was there really an emergency with Sharpay or had she just said that to get away from here.. away from him. He didn't know. All he knew for sure was that he had completely blown it with Gabriella. He should never have said anything. He turned on the TV and tried to tune out the negative thoughts that were in his mind.
He switched between channels, but couldn't bring himself to actually watch something. After some time he turned off the TV again. He sighed, what was he supposed to do? Should he call her to ask her if everything was alright? He could do that. He could make it seem like he was asking after Sharpay. He had already taken his phone out of his pocket when he realized that it would do him no good. Even if he could make it seem like he was asking after Sharpay he knew that she wouldn't tell him what was bothering her. Not over the phone and not until she was ready. He walked to the closet to see if he could find a good book to read and took out one. He started reading, hoping to pass the time, but he couldn't stop thinking about his conversation with Gabriella.
She obviously didn't know how to respond to his insecurities and he was really starting to think it was a mistake to mention it all. But then again.. it had been bothering him hadn't it? Shouldn't he be able to talk about anything with the woman he loved? It was a concern that he had for his family after all, so why hadn't she responded? Didn't she care enough about them to worry about this kind of stuff? Maybe that was his problem. Maybe Madison had been right and he was making too much of this project. It was a project after all. He shouldn't have got too attached. The whole idea of this was to make them realize how much work a family was so that they wouldn't start a family so young.
He laughed at himself. It obviously hadn't worked with him. All it had done was make him realize that he wanted this for real. He had started to feel as if this was his family. He was happy. He was finally with Gabriella and he knew he could make her happy too. But that wasn't the problem was it? Gabriella wouldn't mind it if he wanted to make her happy and if he thought about it rationally he knew that their relationship wouldn't end after this project. No, that wasn't what had been bothering him. In all these happy moments he had just forgotten that Rose would leave. She wasn't theirs to keep. She would leave. She would go to another family. That was the real problem. He needed to be realistic and he needed to start right now.
After another hour of fidgeting and trying to find some distractions he called Chad. 'Hey man, do you have some time to come over? Gabby's gone and I could use the company.'
'Sure,' Chad answered, 'I'll be right over.' And then he hung up.
Thirty minutes later they were both sitting in front of the television with a drink. They were both watching the screen, but not really noticing much that was one. It was supposed to be some kind of comedy, but they both weren't really laughing.
'So.. any particular reason you invited me to come over?' Chad asked finally. 'Not that I don't appreciate the company or anything mate, but we've been staring at this screen for half an hour and I'm pretty sure you didn't need me to do that.'
Troy looked at him, hesitating a bit. He could talk about this with Chad right? That was the reason he had asked him to come over after all, so after trying to find the right way to start about this, he decided to just be honest; 'Do you worry about what happens after this project?'
Chad looked at him surprised, 'Ehm.. no not really.' He thought about it for a moment, 'It depends on what you mean though,' he continued, 'I worry sometimes if Michael will find a good home after this and everything, but other than that no.'
Troy shook his head and mumbled softly, 'At least you haven't forgotten that this is just a project.
'What do you mean?' He asked, 'Troy, what the hell is going on man?'
Troy remained quiet for a moment, not knowing how to explain it. He didn't know how to word all the thoughts that had been going through his mind for the last hours. Finally he muttered, 'I don't want this project to end.'
'What' Chad asked again, 'What do you mean by that?
'I mean that I got so caught up in this project that I had forgotten that it was going to end at some point. You don't understand Chad,' he said immediately when he saw that Chad wanted to react, 'I've been so happy this last few weeks.'
'I know that, we've all seen it bro, but that'll still go on once we get back. Gabby's not just going to dump you because some project is over. Anybody with eyes can see that she loves you.'
Troy smiled, feeling awfully pleased that it was noticed by others, but then he thought about what Chad had said. He had responded exactly the same way as Gabriella had. Everybody seemed to be happy and okay with the fact that the children that they were taking care of would be leaving. 'Yeah, I know that,' he responded finally, 'but Rose won't be there anymore. She's become a part of this little family we've become and I don't want it to end. As soon as were done, she'll be leaving and then we'll never see her again.'
'Well… yeah, but you knew that.' Chad responded, 'We all knew that when we started this project. I mean.. what are you saying?' Chad was quiet for a moment, but when Troy didn't respond he asked softly and carefully, 'Are you saying you want to try and keep Rose.'
Troy didn't respond, but he looked at Chad and his expression told Chad everything he needed to know. 'Well fuck…' he said eventually.
- PG -
Madison was walking in the hallways of the hospital again, but this time without Melody. She had been here so often these last few weeks and though she had mostly walked there feeling anxious about how David would react to his presence, today was different. She had asked her best friend Anna to take care of Melody for a few hours while she took care of this. She had put up with him for way to long. Every single time he had blamed her for what happened, treated her as shit, but this time he crossed a line. She reached his room and stormed inside.
David looked up and immediately a sour expression came on his face, 'what do you want?'
Madison glared at him, 'To talk to you, obviously.. this behavior of you has gone on too long.'
He looked away, clearly not willing to listen to her, 'I don't know what you're talking about and frankly I don't see why I would have to explain my behavior to you. Not after what you have done to me.'
She sighed exasperated, 'See! This is what I'm talking about. I apologized to you. I've felt horrible for weeks now because you've been blaming me and treating me like shit, but I'm done with it. Do you hear me? You've crossed a line.'
'Oh I've crossed a line?' He responded angrily, 'I don't see how. All I've done is show you what you've caused. I've been normal to anybody else.'
She nodded begrudgingly, 'Yes I suppose that's true and I can't even really blame you for being so horrible to me. But last time you crossed a line and I can't believe that you don't know what I'm talking about. Troy and Gabriella have found some happiness in this project unlike us and they've been so happy together. Why on earth would you try to ruin that?'
'She deserves better!' He snarled. 'He's not nearly good enough for her. He doesn't appreciate her for who she is.. he just wants her for one thing. He's probably trying to force her right now as we speak. He's given her some kind of illusion that he cares about her and Gabriella's being naïve in believing him.'
Madison responded immediately, 'Oh and you do deserve her huh? You think that you know her so well? All you've done is watch her from a far because you've developed some kind of crazy crush on her. You talk about the illusion that you think Troy has created, but what about the illusion that you've created for yourself?' She knew she was pushing his limits, knew the risks she was taking, but in order to have the slimmest chance of getting through to him she needed to be harsh.
'What the fuck are you talking about?' He said softly, but with anger seeping through every word.
'You think that just because you've liked her for some time that you have some sort of ridiculous claim on her. Well I've got news for you… you don't! Gabriella is a free woman. She can choose to be with whomever she wants and she made her choice. She's happy and if you truly care about her the way you say you do then you should be happy for her. Not trying to break them up.'
David started laughing suddenly, 'Oh please, you are not seriously trying that trick on me. I love her and she will love me as well. She just needs a chance and while that asshole is in the picture she won't have that. I know what I have to do to make her happy and I will do everything I can to make that happen.'
She took a step back, 'Don't you hear what you sound like? You sound like some creepy stalker from a horror story!'
He shook his head, not wanting to believe that. 'No I just care about someone and want to make them happy. That's not wrong is it?'
Madison softened for a moment, 'No it's not, but David you have to believe that I'm trying to help you here. You obviously care about Gabriella, but breaking up her relationship with Troy right now isn't going to make her happy. And if you can't see that caring about her in this case would mean letting her be with him then I'll give you another reason not to go forward with this plan: if you keep up this crazy stalker attitude and behavior then you will lose every chance you might ever have with her because she will never forgive you.'
David was quiet for a moment as the torment he was feeling inside showed through his eyes. Then softly he responded, 'What gives you the right to talk to me this way? Why should I listen to you? You have no reason whatsoever to help me.'
'No you're right, but I can't deny that I'm part of the reason that you've been in the hospital for weeks. So I do believe I owe you.'
'I'm not going to give up. I'm not going to accept their relationship and I'll do whatever I can to win her over.'
She smiled, glad that she had gotten through to him. 'I'm not saying that you shouldn't. All I'm saying is… try to act like a normal guy in love who just wants to impress the woman he likes.'
He nodded, 'Yeah, whatever.' But he smiled at her and she sat with him and for the first time in weeks they had a normal conversation. They talked about everything that hadn't been able to come up for the last few weeks.
Madison smiled, 'I'm glad that you're feeling better and that you've listened to me. And for the record.. I truly am sorry about what happened.'
'Thanks. I guess I may have been a bit hard on you for the last few weeks. After all.. I was the one who said I could drive.' He looked at her for a moment and then yawned. 'Listen I'm sorry, but I'm really tired and they should let me go tomorrow so I want to make sure I'm well rested.'
Madison nodded and stood up. 'Of course, I'll come back here tomorrow to pick you up and I'll bring Melody.' She smiled at him again and walked away.
- PG –
Sharpay smiled at Gabriella who was lounging on the bed. 'Oh I'm so glad you're here. I honestly wouldn't know what I would've done otherwise.' Clothes and lingerie lay everywhere on the bed, on the floor and in Sharpay's arms she held a set of blue bra and panties.
Gabby laughed, 'Oh please, you would've chosen out your outfit yourself, bought lingerie on your own and probably would've bothered some poor saleswoman for hours while you tried to decide what color suited you best.'
Sharpay blushed, 'Shut up,' and laughed, 'I'm just glad that you're helping me out. Zeke and I have been together for so long now and seeing as we share a bed the sexual tension is definitely there, but for some reason he stops every time we're ready to take it a step further. I've tried everything to make him see that I'm ready for the next step, but apparently words aren't making it clear enough. So I'm done being subtle! I've got the entire evening planned out with a romantic dinner, candles and in the end I'll surprise him with my special outfit.' She winked at Gabriella and held up the lingerie in her hands in front of the mirror to see if she wanted that one.
'You go girl!' Gabriella giggled, 'just make sure that you don't scare the poor bloke off.'
She giggled as well, 'stop it! He's just so sweet and I know that he truly means well by waiting, but it's honestly starting to become a torture for me.' She grabbed a different set of lingerie, this one red, 'So anyway.. the blue one doesn't really scream "take me" enough.' The girls both giggled, 'but what about this one?'
Gabriella nodded, 'Well red does really look great on you, plus I hear from Troy that most guys love red lingerie.'
Sharpay turned around, 'Troy says huh? Don't think I haven't noticed you trying to look at some lingerie without me knowing. How far have you and Troy taking things the last few weeks?' She winked at her, but when Gabriella turned beet red she squeeled and jumped on the bed, 'Oh my god! Don't tell me you've already taking things all the way!'
Gabriella turned even redder, 'We had sex a few weeks ago.'
'O wow.. why didn't you tell me!' Sharpay said, calming down now that the conversation was turning serious, 'How was it?'
'It was wonderful. I mean.. Troy was so sweet and considerate. He really took his time and kept asking if it hurt and everything. It really was a special moment for us.'
Sharpay suddenly looked away and then asked quietly, 'Does it really hurt that much?'
Gabriella looked at her, 'Well.. I don't know how it'll be for you. It did hurt with me but it helped that Troy had some experience and knew what he was doing. He made sure that it was good for me and I'm sure Zeke'll do the same.'
'Okay, first of all it sounds so weird to hear you say that it's a good thing that Troy had sex before with others,' Sharpay responded giggling, 'and what if Zeke doesn't have that?'
'Then he'll make sure that it's good for you anyway. You just need to tell him honestly when it hurts,' Gabriella responded seriously. Then she started giggling as well, 'Plus I meant that it was nice that Troy knew what he was doing, not that it was good that he had sex with others.'
Sharpay laughed, 'I know, I know. Well.. thanks for coming, but I'm going to have to start preparing all my plans for the evening, starting with dinner.'
Gabby smiled, 'yeah. I should be going anyway. Troy's probably wondering where I am. But if I were you. I'd start by cleaning up all the clothes in here. Otherwise there won't be that much action here tonight. Honestly Sharpay.. you've bought enough clothes and lingerie to do this romantic evening every night for three months!' She laughed.
'Gabby! Oh my god!' Sharpay responded shocked, but laughing. 'what has Troy done to you!' They both laughed, 'No I'm kidding. Thanks a lot for coming over and I'll probably talk to you tomorrow.'
Gabriella smiled and walked out the room. 'No details and think about your neighbors!' She yelled back to the room. She heard sharpay laughing and went back home.
There she found Troy in the kitchen with Rose cooking dinner. She walked by Rose and gave her a kiss on the head, 'Hello darling, has Troy been keeping you entertained?' Rose nodded, 'Yes he lets me help with the cooking.'
Gabby smiled at her, 'Oh does he now.' She walked over to him and gave him a kiss as well, which he gave back somewhat surprised. 'Hi hunny,' she said, ignoring the astonished look on his face. 'What are we having for dinner? It smells delicious.'
Troy stood there for a moment, not really knowing how to respond to the completely different Gabriella that had come back. He shook his head and responded, 'Uh.. just some pasta.' She smiled at him again and he decided that he would just take it as he got and not dwell on it too much. Maybe she had just needed some time apart after their conversation that morning.
She set the table and they ate their dinner while listening to Rose talk about who she wanted to see tomorrow and what she wanted to do at school. Afterwards Troy took Rose to bed, saying that Gabby had done it so often and she installed herself in front of the TV. When he got back downstairs he sat down next to her on the couch and put his arm around her. She leaned against him for a moment and then said the thing that had been on her mind the entire evening. 'I'm sorry for how I behaved to you today. You were obviously worried, but I just needed some time to collect my thoughts and when Sharpay called me it gave me a good excuse to be away from you for a while and think about something else.'
He squeezed her to him for a moment and gave her a kiss on the head. That's okay hunny. I understand. Is the situation with Sharpay sorted.'
She nodded, 'Yes and about our conversation this morning…' she paused for a moment and he remained quiet, wondering what she would say, '.. I have to admit that it hadn't really crossed my mind that our happy bubble with Rose will be over in a two months. But I've thought about it all day and even though it does makes me so sad to think about losing this I don't want it to ruin these last months. So I think we should enjoy what time we have left and then trust that she will go to another family that can give her the love she deserves.'
Troy face fell for a minute, but he quickly regained composure before Gabriella could see. 'Yes I suppose you're right. We should enjoy these last few months and make sure that Rose has a great time. After all it's all about her.'
'Exactly!' Gabriella responded, glad that he understood. She put on a movie and relaxed against Troy. He hugged her close and watched the TV, but in his mind he was thinking about what Gabriella had said and possible ways to still keep Rose after this project.
So there it is. Will Troy accept what Gabriella thinks and will he be satisfied with just their relationship? And how will the romantic evening between Sharpay and Zeke go?
I would like to thank Haylz for your honesty in your last review. I tried to tone down the storyline with David a bit, without completely removing it so I hope you like it better now and of course that you continue to read my story. I also want to thank xxI'MaUNICORNxx, snowwygirl4 for their reviews.
I hope everyone liked this chapter and please let me know what you think in reviews! They really do help me
I'll try to update as soon as possible, but I'll be waiting to hear what you guys think ;)