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Troy walked up the stairs to his apartment, his feet dragging with each step out of exhaustion that was finally setting in from being up most of the night, spending some of that time at a bar with most of it spent just sitting in his parked car out on the coast. He had hidden last night in the hall from Gabriella and had watched the emotions cross her face, aching to just hold her again, blocked by the jealousy and pain that had flared at seeing Gabriella being kissed, albeit on the cheek, by two different men.
'Of course that was an illogical response but it was a true reaction,' thought Troy as he finally reached his door, sliding the keys in to unlock it before swinging it open. Instantly, Troy felt that something was different in his apartment, picking up on the fresh scent that was unique to Gabriella, knowing then that she had either been there recently or was still there. 'Hopefully the latter…'
He went into the kitchen and living room first before padding down the hallway to his bedroom, having kicked off his dress shoes moments before at the front door. After glancing at the bathroom to see it unoccupied, Troy walked into his bedroom, his heart skipping several beats as he saw Gabriella curled up on her side, on the right side of the bed, dressed in a pair of black sweats with what looked like his old East High sweatshirt, the same one she had worn a over a week ago. A small smile appeared on his lips as he saw the teddy bear that Troy had given her for Valentine's Day back in high school tightly wrapped in her arms as she continued to sleep peacefully.
'When did she get here?' Troy wondered as he stepped further into the room, careful not to make too much noise. He grabbed an old University of Albuquerque fleece blanket from his closet and gently laid it over Gabriella's sleeping form, kneeling down next to the bed afterwards, his cobalt eyes taking in everything about the moment. Seeing Gabriella like this, sleeping so soundly, so innocently clutching pieces of their history together, made Troy question how he could have ever thought about leaving Gabriella so voluntarily, despite his insecurities and jealousies.
Unable to help himself, Troy leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Gabriella's forehead, instantly causing Gabriella to stir, opening her eyes moments later. "Troy?" she asked sleepily, unsure of whether Troy was real or imagined, seeing him there in the same clothes he had on last night, a tender look in his eyes.
"Hi," he replied, his own voice husky with emotion, brushing back some of her dark locks. "When did you get here? It's only 5 AM."
"Chris dropped me off after I got some things at the palace after the after party, probably around midnight. I tried to wait up for you but somehow all the lack of sleep from this week finally caught up to me," explained Gabriella, rubbing her eyes some before sitting up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed with the teddy bear still firmly within her grasp, smiling slightly as she saw the blanket Troy had put on her. "Thank you."
Troy shrugged his shoulders as he sat down next to her, suddenly unsure of what to do or say. The previous moment where Troy felt like nothing was wrong disappeared as all the problems that now surrounded him and Gabriella came flooding back. He cleared his throat knowing that despite the issues, this moment was his chance to do what he had wanted to do last night but had lost the opportunity to do due to his uncontrollable emotions. "I'm sorry for being such a jerk to you Gabriella."
When Troy brought himself to look at Gabriella finally after moments of silence passed between them, he was surprised to see the shocked expression on her face as she looked back at him. Gabriella, seeing Troy now gazing back at her, quickly gathered her thoughts but managed only to reply with, "What?"
If it had been any other moment, Troy would have laughed but he knew there was too much on the line now and had to get what he had to say out before he lost his nerve. "I'm sorry Gabriella, for not believing in you when you were clearly telling me the truth and for ignoring you while I was trying to figure it all out this past week."
"Troy, stop," responded Gabriella, still floored that he was the one apologizing. "You have nothing to be sorry for, I do though."
This time it was Troy's turn to look clueless as he absorbed Gabriella's words. "Okay, now what do you mean? You aren't engaged to Patrick now after my stupidity last week are you?"
Gabriella shook her head, getting an idea as to why Troy ran away the night before. "No, of course not. That's why you left last night isn't it? Seeing me with Patrick, with Sergio?"
"Perhaps," answered Troy, looking at his clasped hands that were resting on his lap, shame on his face. He jerked a little as he saw her petite hand lay on top of both of his, raising his face again to bravely look at Gabriella again, hope evident in his eyes.
"You don't have to worry about them Troy, not if I can help it. That's why I'm here, to let you know once and for all that if we can still work through this, I'd choose you any day of the year, hands down. I thought a lot about our history together today, from being forced to sing together at the ski lodge to how you were my strength when I had none after Riley's rape, to moving here, thousands of miles away from people you know and love just to be with me, accepting me and my situation without question," said Gabriella, squeezing Troy's right hand with her left, letting their fingers lace together. "There was even this song that came on yesterday that reminded me of how much history we have together but also how much our love means to me, even if it is difficult."
This made Troy pause, recalling the song he heard for the first time getting onto the freeway yesterday, recalling the name of it that the DJ had announced upon completion. "You aren't talking about "Love Story" are you?"
Gabriella stared back at Troy, shocked at the song he named, knowing that it sounded like it would be the right title for the song she had heard. "I am."
Troy chuckled, shaking his head as he looked away from Gabriella to look out his bedroom window, seeing the dark sky still outside. "I heard it on the radio yesterday too and thought about us. Probably had a lot of the same memories running through my head too Brie."
Hearing the nickname he had for her cross Troy's lips once again made Gabriella's heart melt, knowing somewhere in her being that things were going to work out, that tonight was so crucial to that. "Guess there was a reason for that, to remind us of what we have, what we share. Troy, I came over to tell you how very sorry I am, for letting you dangle without explanation for so long, for letting you believe that I was engaged to another man just because I was frustrated that you weren't listening to me and hurt that you'd believe me capable of doing that to you."
"Well it would seem that we both have a lot to apologize for but the important part is that we were both smart enough to listen to the signs we were given yesterday but more importantly to our own hearts that seem to be destined to be intertwined, just like our hands are now, for several lifetimes," replied Troy, lifting his free left hand up to cup Gabriella's cheek with his hand, leaning in and capturing her lips with his, both sighing in contentment, knowing that this was where they belonged, what they were both fated for.
Gabriella broke the passionate kiss as she felt the teddy bear falling to the floor, giving Troy a sheepish smile as she leaned over the bed to grab it, holding it safely under her right arm again. "Can't let the little guy get hurt or dirty."
"I can safely say he wasn't hurt in that little tumble thanks to the stuffing in him. Wait a second, are you telling me that you think my room is dirty Brie?" questioned Troy, arching his scarred eyebrow at her.
Deciding that actions meant more than words in this instance, Gabriella got up and detangled her hand with his so she could run her left index finger along a length of Troy's dresser, coming back to the bed to show Troy the dust she had just picked up. "Evidence enough to prove my point?"
Troy chuckled, grabbing a tissue from his nightstand and gently wiping Gabriella's finger clean so there was no longer dust clinging to her skin. "Point taken. What can I say, I haven't exactly been Mr. With It this past week."
Gabriella gave him a small smile as she sat back down next to him. "I haven't had the best of weeks either. Today was the best sleep I have had all week and I think it was because I was here, with you, even when I thought you hated me and weren't here. Just smelling your scent brought me comfort. All right, that just sounded weird."
"No, not at all. I totally understand," murmured Troy, sincerity in his eyes as he drew Gabriella towards him, happy to have her back in his arms and feeling her own arms snake around his shoulders to embrace him back.
As much as Gabriella was enjoying the feel of everything falling back into place with her and Troy, something told Gabriella that it wasn't so easy, not completely. It was then that Gabriella realized that Troy needed to not only hear her apology tonight but the whole truth of what was going on in Copanvy and her future, consequences be damned.
Troy felt Gabriella suddenly pull away, confusion written on his face as he looked at her, seeing Gabriella nibble on her bottom lip, a tell tale sign that something was bothering her. "Brie, what is it?"
Not being able to stand sitting still now, Gabriella sprung up from the bed, pacing back and forth at the foot of the bed as she tried to figure out how to tell Troy everything without leaving out anything crucial while not upsetting him too badly. 'Of course he's going to be upset, that's a lot of history and other things you haven't told Troy in how long Gabriella…'
As Gabriella continued to pace back and forth, Troy's stomach tightened as worry and nervousness radiated from her very skin. "Brie, what is it?" Seeing that Gabriella didn't seem to hear him, Troy stood up and put himself right in her path, putting his hands on her upper arms, stopping her movement. "Brie, please, just talk to me."
Gabriella almost lost her newfound courage as she gazed back into Troy's eyes that were filled with worry but more so vulnerable love. She swallowed, clearing hear throat of the nerves that had crept up there, hugging the teddy bear closer to her body, before she managed to speak again. "Troy, you don't know the full deal with Patrick, Sergio, and all these other men I've had thrown at me when all I've ever wanted was to be exclusive with you, where I belong."
"Then tell me now," replied Troy, seeing a troubled expression settle on Gabriella's face. "Whatever it is, it'll be okay Brie."
'Famous last words,' thought Gabriella before looking back at Troy. "Remember in high school when I told you I was a real princess and you told me it was what I was, not who? In the last year, something else has happened in my life that has made being a princess not what I am but more so who I am, how I live my life."
Troy stared at Gabriella for a few moments, his heart speeding up the longer Gabriella didn't say anything, her eyes locked on the head of the teddy bear in her arms. "Gabriella, please, just tell me. You're driving me nuts!"
With a sigh, Gabriella forced herself to look up at Troy as she said, "I'm expected to be engaged to an approved suitor by my 25th birthday, to be married at the very latest by my 26th. It's an ancient tradition that used to be a true arranged marriage at quite a younger age for the princess or prince who was in line to be rule Copanvy. If I don't marry someone the King and Queen, my grandparents, and the advisory council approve, I will cost my family the crown and let down the people of Copanvy. That's why Patrick proposed, why I couldn't be your girlfriend, what I've been hiding."
All the words that tumbled out of Gabriella's mouth at the high speed of an express train hit Troy's mind all at once, kicking his brain into overdrive. Unconsciously, his hands tightened around her upper arms as Gabriella nervously stared at him, seeing the struggle he was experiencing, knowing it was all her fault.
"So we have no future," whispered Troy, his hands on her arms falling away completely as the pain filled blue orbs met her worried brown ones. "We have no future together."
"No," started Gabriella, stopping as soon as she saw something in Troy's eyes shift from being soft with so much vulnerability to them to something much darker as his eyes became a dark blue.
"Then why the hell did you continue on with me Gabriella? Why didn't you tell me when I first showed up here? I bet you knew when we saw each other in Albuquerque too and didn't see fit to tell me. Why this game Gabriella? Did you get some sick amusement form this?" demanded Troy, feeling his heartache give way to an uncontrollable anger at her, at the situation.
"Troy, it wasn't like that!" exclaimed Gabriella, feeling her own defenses coming up at his attack. "I would never play with you like some cheap toy! Don't you know? I love you too much to do that to you."
A bitter laugh tumbled out of Troy's mouth as he shook his head. "Now that's just what I feel like right now Gabriella! A cheap toy that you played with until you ruined my life! Why couldn't you have told me, before I broke up with Celeste, before I dropped everything to be here with you, to try to make us work? Why couldn't you have told me that you had no intentions of us ever being together, of having the real chance I wanted so badly for us?"
"Because I couldn't! I couldn't because I don't ever want to hurt you like I am hurting you now. Regardless of what you think Troy, I'm in love with you, more so than I ever thought I would be back in high school, God, even more than when you put that garter on my leg at Taylor and Chad's wedding. You've sacrificed so much for me, for us, I couldn't do that to you! I was selfish, I admit it, but I couldn't stand losing you, not when we had just found each other again. You're my entire world Troy!" replied Gabriella, desperately trying to keep her voice from rising, not wanting to get into a fully fledged fight with him. "I know it was a mistake to wait this long, I know that now but I didn't then. All I saw then was a chance to try to work this out while I tried to make us fit into my future that I have no control over!"
"No control? You're a fucking princess Gabriella!" yelled Troy, hating the way his heart softened as he saw the tears gather in her eyes. "You of all people should get to say what you want to say, do what you want to do. If not keeping me around to play with me, why did you?"
"Weren't you just listening? I am in love with you Troy! What we've shared, it's been so amazing, despite the time, despite the distance. You were there for me when Alicia was at her worst, when Riley did his damage, when the paparazzi started hounding me, when I just needed someone who accepted me for me, not for the blood in my veins. I want us to work Troy, I do, but if you can't accept the fact that I made a mistake in not telling you, out of fear of losing you, if you would rather be back with Celeste, engaged to a woman with none of these complications, then I think we both have our answer," returned Gabriella, her frustration evident in her voice, on her face, but to a much lesser degree than her sadness, that it all came down to this. She stood there in front of Troy, both breathing heavily as they stared at each other, a myriad of emotions coursing through them both before she couldn't take it anymore.
Without another word, Gabriella took one last look at Troy, the image of him looking so upset, angry, and yet heartbroken etched in her mind, before she left the room, determined to leave Troy and his apartment before her heart was completely shattered, not that it wasn't already but into more finite pieces. When she reached the front door, Gabriella had no qualms about tearing it open without a second glance back behind her, about to walk over the threshold where there would be no turning back from when the doorknob was ripped out of her hand as the door slammed shut in front of her.
Before Gabriella could say anything, Troy roughly turned Gabriella around, slamming her back against the door as his lips roughly sought hers out, placing his palms against the door while Gabriella let her hands hang by her side for the first few moments until she snapped out of her shock and began to run her hands through his hair, encouraging his deepening of the kiss. They both moaned in deep satisfaction as their tongues finally brushed against each other, moving with the passion they both were feeling at that moment, breaking away moments later when air became an issue. Instead of pulling away like Gabriella half expected him too, Troy wrapped his muscular arms around her waist, pulling her close enough to him for their foreheads to rest together, each of them looking at each other, searching for all the answers to the hundreds of questions both of them had.
"I'm in love with you too Brie and I would never change that for the world," confessed Troy, feeling his heart piecing back together as the words left his mouth, knowing how very right it was to say. "Celeste is in the history, a past love. You are my now, perhaps not my future with what you told me back there, but you are at present my everything and that's all that matters to me. Forget everyone else, this is just about you and me. Can't we fight this? Fight this like we did all that adversity between East and West way back when?"
Gabriella laughed a little, giving him a small smile. "I wish it was that easy Troy, I really do. This advisory council is so strongly opinionated that they know what's best for this country, for me and it sadly doesn't include you. I tried Troy, I have."
"Wait, you brought me up in your list of suitors?" asked Troy, somehow shocked by this revelation.
She pulled back to see the astonished look on Troy's face before rolling her eyes. "Of course I did Troy. I meant it when I said I wanted this, us, to work, that I wasn't ready to let go yet. My grandparents know this, that you are what I want more than anything, that I'm willing to say what I came here to say to you to make us a reality. They know all too well actually and they are the other reason I didn't say anything sooner."
Troy stared back at Gabriella, wondering what else she could be hiding. "What is it? You aren't having Patrick's baby or anything are you?"
"Ugh, no!" exclaimed Gabriella, swatting Troy on the arm. "And this is serious Troy, please listen to me."
He saw her eyes beg and knew that whatever it was was definitely not a good thing. "I am, completely and totally."
"My grandparents told me that if I ever told you about this tradition and law, that if I ever thought to hint to you about this let alone tell you straight out, they would see to it that you were exiled to never return to Copanvy and I, again being selfish, I couldn't risk it," stated Gabriella, now asking for his forgiveness with her eyes, disarming Troy in more ways than he thought possible.
"Oh Brie, what in the world are we going to do?" he asked, bringing her body flush against his again, kissing the top of her head. "I'm not mad at you, I can't really be now. You've been dealing with so much on your shoulders alone. I can't believe people like the teens and volunteers at the teen center, at the homeless shelter, everywhere here in Copanvy would stand for such an old tradition to take away your happiness."
"They don't know," said Gabriella, closing her eyes to soak in the moment of being back in Troy's arms, relishing the feel of the moment knowing how close it had come to losing everything just moments before. "It's a royal, upper class thing. I have to tell you something else though Troy, before I lose my nerve."
Troy groaned as he heard this, not liking all these things coming out of the blue at him all at once but knowing he needed to hear her out. "Should I be terrified?"
Gabriella shook her head, pulling back so she could look him in the face. "I'm not choosing one of the suitors they picked out for me. I've made my choice, the same choice I made years ago, you. I'm not asking to get married, I'm not asking you for anything in return but to just grant me forgiveness and the gift of your love again."
"You never lost it Gabriella," he murmured, leaning his head down again to place a lingering kiss on her lips. "You really never did lose my love or me, regardless of what has happened. I love that you chose me but I thought you said earlier that we can't be."
"We can't be if I remain a princess, if I stay here in Copanvy. Part of the song yesterday inspired me to fight for us, to find that strength I used to have in abundance when I was younger, and go after what I want and I want you Wildcat, I want our love. Everyone has been trying to tell me how to feel, what to do, and I think it's time that I take my own future into my own hands. Let's run away Troy, together," said Gabriella, surprising both of them with her words. "If I can't be with you here, then we'll go somewhere else we can be together, back to New Mexico or even New York. We can make this work, however, wherever, we have to do this."
He studied Gabriella for some time, trying to gauge how serious Gabriella was, a tad taken aback when he realized that she was completely serious. "But Brie, you can't just drop being a princess like that. I've seen how you interact with the people of this country, how much they love you. I can't ask you to choose me over them like this, it isn't fair to them, to you. I can't be that selfish."
"But I was selfish in not telling you about this whole mess," argued Gabriella, uncertain as to where Troy was going with this.
"Maybe but you did it to keep us together, for the betterment of us. Tearing you apart from your destiny, from doing so many wonderful things for an entire country, that would be the ultimate act of selfishness on my part and it would hurt us in the long run. I know you Gabriella and I know you take your responsibilities seriously and with great care. I have seen how much you love this place, the people who reside here. No, we aren't running away Gabriella. We just have to find out some other way around this, one that doesn't involve anyone knowing I know and won't separate us. If you are willing to give up so much for me, I am willing to stand here by your side to figure this all out, to fight for us. Just please, no more secrets, no matter what they are, for whatever reason, okay?" returned Troy, his right hand now cupping her left cheek, smiling in response to the small smile on her lips now. He saw the way she looked at him in that moment, with adoration, respect, and love all there at once, as he was sure they were in his own, and knew that true to the song they both had listened to, their love was difficult but it was worth working for.
Troy chuckled as Gabriella tried to stifle a yawn that suddenly overcame Gabriella, kissing her forehead as she murmured her apologies. "I'm so sorry Troy."
"Come on, let's go to bed. You and I both have gone through enough in the past week plus and neither of us have been sleeping well, I can tell," replied Troy, bending over to pick up the teddy bear that was dropped when he had spun Gabriella around earlier, dusting him off before handing him back to her.
After slipping into a fresh pair of boxers and a t-shirt in the bathroom, Troy entered his bedroom, pausing for a moment to smile at the sight of Gabriella snuggled under the covers, the bear still in her arms. He slipped under the cotton sheets and comforter, instantly wrapping his arms around Gabriella's body, bringing their bodies closer together while they still gazed at each other's faces. "We'll make it through this Brie, I know we will."
"I can only hope you're right Wildcat. I love you Troy," she whispered, leaning in to lay a sweet kiss on his lips, which he happily returned.
"I love you too Gabriella," he murmured, closing his eyes finally shortly after he saw hers close first, both settling into a sleep that came easily this early morning, hope blooming in both of their hearts for their future, together.