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Troy opens his eyes, blinking at the growing light around him and sees Gabriella sitting up in the sleeping bag they had shared the previous night, staring at the growing sunrise. She turns her head and smiles, leaning over to kiss him gently. "Good morning sweetie. Today was my turn to watch you sleep," Gabriella informs him with a smile.
He lets out a laugh and sits up to join her, adjusting the chaise with his right arm so the two are sitting up straight, supported by the chair. Troy wraps his left arm around Gabriella, feeling at once with her as she leans her head onto his left shoulder. They watch together as the sun fully rises, warming them a little with its natural light.
Troy uses his right hand to turn Gabriella's face towards him and smiles as he gazes down at her smiling face. The sun's rays play in her hair, extracting the brown and some red strands out more while also giving Gabriella a more angelic look. 'God, I really do love her,' Troy thinks to himself. 'This is my fourth chance with her, how sad is that to admit, and I know there may not be another. I vow to make the best of this and not need another.' Troy leans down and kisses her gently at first and then more passionately as she responds.
"It feels so good, being free to be with you, spending the night with you in your arms, feeling secure and loved. I definitely enjoyed waking up in those same arms and seeing you sleeping peacefully next to me," Gabriella confesses. "I don't know how I'll sleep without you now. It'll feel so empty."
"I could always sneak in and out of your room every night," Troy jokes.
"Right…" Gabriella responds. "Best not put temptation in your path!"
Troy laughs. "Speaking of, we better get you into your own sleeping bag in the girls' room before they all wake up. I bet they can understand a late night alone, but Sharpay will have a fit over an all nighter at her party!"
"Good point, let's go," Gabriella reluctantly says.
Troy slides out of the sleeping bag, shivering at the chill that meets his uncovered legs and arms since is wearing only a t-shirt and boxer shorts. Knowing Gabriella would be cold, he slides his arms under the sleeping bag with her in it and carries her into the house, placing her inside and going back out to get his pillow and the candles, which have long since burned out. When Troy comes back inside, he closes the sliding door and grins as he sees Gabriella still standing where he placed her, clutching his sleeping bag to her body. "You are utterly adorable," Troy declares, placing the candles and pillow down, walking over to where she is standing. He wraps her into a huge hug and kisses her, feeling her smile against his lips. "Better let you go to your own 'designated girls' room. I'll see you in a few hours."
Gabriella smiles and nods, kissing him one last time before stepping out of his sleeping bag, handing it over to him, and entering the girls' room, quietly shutting the door behind her.
Around 11 AM, the entire gang is up and dressed, all hanging out in the living room of the guesthouse. As Gabriella had learned earlier in the girls' room, Sharpay and Taylor both had their own late night dates. The girls had just smiled at each other, none of them needing to say more to the others on the matter.
"Well, as much fun as this has been, I have to get home," Kelsi announces, being the first one to start the gang's departure from the Evans house. "I have to start composing some songs for Ms. Darbus for the winter musicale. She's obsessing about it being better than the fall."
"We better go too," Gabriella says. "Are you sure you don't need help cleaning up or anything?"
Sharpay scoffs. "Gabriella, we have servants for that," she informs her friend.
"Just offering!" Gabriella defends, laughing a little at Sharpay's attitude. "I have to get home and finish that Physics project due Wednesday."
"What, what day is this Wednesday?" Sharpay asks, surprising Gabriella.
"Umm, the seventh?" Gabriella guesses.
"OH MY GOD! MY FIRST SHOW! Ryan, you have to help me, I don't have a show concept yet!" Sharpay exclaims.
"Whoa, slow down Shar," Ryan says, trying to calm down his sister. "We'll figure something out. The weekly show will be a hit, but I don't think anyone expect a killer show the first week."
"But I do!" Sharpay whines, looking between Zeke and Ryan for help. "You both better stay to help me!"
Zeke moves to stand next to Ryan. "We'll be here, don't worry Sharpay. I'll bake some cookies and we'll get through this and think of something," Zeke reassures her.
"Better get going," Chad says, not wanting to be caught in this new drama. "Troy, you taking me home?"
"I'll take you," Taylor volunteers. "Gabriella can go home with Troy. You don't mind Chad if I drop Martha and Kelsi off first though, do you?"
"Hey, can I get a ride with you too?" Jason asks. "I drove here with Zeke and well…"
"No worries," Taylor assures him. "Guess we'll see you later everyone!"
The gang leaves with everyone but Troy and Gabriella piling into Taylor's car, leaving the couple to drive home alone. Gabriella stares out the truck window dreamily, a smile playing on her lips the entire way home. Troy pulls into the Montez driveway and kills the car, looking over lovingly at his girlfriend, who finally turns her attention and smile, back towards him.
"I could get used to these blissful moments," she murmurs as she watches him lean closer for a kiss, which she happily returns.
"I second that," he adds, pulling away and unbuckling himself. "I better get your stuff so we can get you inside to work on that project."
Gabriella groans. "Did you have to remind me of that? I'm almost done but seriously, it's so boring compared to spending time with you," she complains.
"As much as I love to hear I am more interesting than Physics, I have to get you back on your true scholastic path or your mom and Taylor will both kill me. We both know you are on a great pace to earn a scholarship with your stellar GPA. I can't be the one to mess that up," Troy says, getting out of the car and opening her door for her as she gets out with his help. He turns to the bed of the truck and pulls out her bag and the sleeping bag she hardly used and carries it to the porch for her as she follows.
"Guess you're right," Gabriella reluctantly agrees. "Want to keep me company?"
Troy shakes his head. "I'm sorry Gabriella, I can't. I have to go meet…"
"The boys for practice, I know," Gabriella finishes for him, feeling sad that basketball was now an interfering factor for them again. "No worries, you'd have fallen asleep anyway."
"I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult," Troy responds, putting a smile on his face. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, all right?"
"Sure," she agrees, tilting her head up for one last kiss before Troy heads back to his truck and drives off. 'Sigh, if only I didn't have this project, I could have watched them practice. Oh well,' she thinks to herself as she enters the house and closes the door behind her.
Seven hours later, Gabriella sits back excitedly, seeing her project complete. 'This should definitely get at least a B,' she thinks. It had been one of the most intense projects she had to work on in her entire academic career and she was nervous about how it would be received by her teacher but felt she did the best she could. 'I'll review it tomorrow or Tuesday night to make sure everything is perfect.'
With free time on her hands, Gabriella naturally migrates over to her stories file on her computer, clicking on her latest story. 'Now, where was I?' she wonders, rereading the last chapter she wrote. Just then, the doorbell rings.
Mrs. Montez wasn't home so Gabriella lets out a groan at being interrupted but goes down the stairs to open the door. To her puzzlement, no one is on the steps but there is a manila envelope, the size of regular paper, with her name waiting for her. She picks it up and returns to her room, sitting on her bed and opening it.
Nothing in the world could have prepared Gabriella for what she saw in that envelope. She feels tears cloud her vision as she looks down at pictures meant to hurt her, ones that were taken from last night. Gabriella does the first thing that comes to her head and texts Troy.
Meet me at the park, we need to talk.
Five minutes later, she gets a text back from Troy agreeing to meet her. Gabriella slides the pictures back in the envelope and puts them into her bag as she goes down the stairs and leaves the safety of her house to walk to the park nearby.
She takes a seat on a bench near the pond, smiling as she watches the kids playing for their last few minutes before being scooped up by parents as the area grows dark with the setting sun. 'How appropriate,' she thinks, now turning her attention to the sun and its path. 'Troy and I started today in love and as happy as can be, only to have it end like this.'
"Gabriella, what's going on?" Troy worriedly asks as he approaches the bench and sits down next to her. "I tried calling your house right after the text, but you were gone I guess."
"Troy," she starts but finds her voice cracking, so she stops. Instead, she pulls out the envelope she had found waiting for her on her porch and hands it over to him. "Take a look."
Troy takes the package from her hands and opens it, looking down at pictures that would explain Gabriella's state. "Gabriella…" he starts, seeing tears well up in her eyes.
"Just don't. I, well I can't believe that…" she starts, surprising Troy with what she has to say next.