Back to the Dream Page
After about a week of close monitoring and the start of his therapy in the hospital, Troy was released and was allowed to go home with a few pain prescriptions and an order of continued physical therapy for his back, which had started to hurt, as well as his head. Troy still had a ways to go in order to be deemed totally back to normal mentally and physically, but he was up for the challenge. Every day he was in the hospital, he was able to stay awake longer and was happy to spend time with his parents as well as Gabriella, who kept a constant presence by his bedside during the day. Ms. Montez allowed Gabriella to stay out of school for the last week and a half, but Gabriella had told Troy yesterday that she had to go back, especially now that she was caught up with all her schoolwork again.
Jack pulled the car up into the driveway of their house and ran around to help his son get out of the car. "Dad, I can walk, really," said Troy as he stood up and closed the door behind him.
"Well yeah, but in the off chance you drain yourself of your energy like you have been this past week, I want to be here in case you fall," explained Jack.
Troy just smiled gratefully at his dad as the father and son pair walked up to the front door. As they reached the door, Troy found himself leaning on his dad a little for support as Jack unlocked the front door and helped his son in.
"SURPISE!" screamed out the entire gang plus his mother as Troy and Jack entered the living room.
Troy looked around the room, at the decorations and the huge banner that said "WELCOME HOME TROY!" in big red lettering with what looked like good wishes on the banner from different people, as well as all his friends that were there for him. He grinned as Troy saw every single one of his closest and dearest friends were there to celebrate him coming home, especially Gabriella who was standing off to the side with a smile on her face.
"Thanks everyone," said Troy before all his friends rushed to him to give him high fives or hugs. The last one was Gabriella as she came over and gave him a huge hug with her good arm and then kissed him softly on the lips.
"Welcome home, Troy," murmured Gabriella before she pulled away. "I hope this isn't too much, but your mom and I thought you could use some familiar faces."
"I love it," replied Troy with a smile. He took Gabriella's hand in his and sat down on a couch in the living room as everyone settled down around him.
"How do you really feel now?" asked Zeke as he took in an exhausted looking Troy.
"Tired man, but happy to see everyone. I know you came to visit at the hospital, which I really appreciate, but seeing everyone together, that's the best medicine, I think," returned Troy.
"Aww, he's still the same old sappy Troy," remarked Jason with a grin. "Guess the jar to the head didn't change that."
"Are you kidding? It would take the jaws of life to take that trait away from him, man," returned Zeke. "But then again, that's who he is, right?"
"Hey, you two forgot die hard romantic in that description too. Troy is still a big softie for his girl. You can still see it in his eyes and the way he looks at Gabriella," threw in Chad for the fun of it as he saw that their words were getting Troy riled up a bit.
"So he's a romantic sap," summarized Ryan. "Anything else?"
"Heart on his sleeve?" suggested Jason.
"That's good, man!" exclaimed Zeke.
"Okay, so revised, Troy is a romantic sap who always wears his heart on his sleeve," said Ryan.
Chad thought for a bit. "Actually, there's more…"
"Chad, brother or not, if you continue with this little banter between you four, I will get off this couch and try my hardest to kick your behind," threatened Troy before he broke out into a grin. "Man, it's good to be back."
Martha, Kelsi, Audrina, Taylor, and Gabriella all shook their heads at this so-called funny banter between the guys. "I will never understand their world," commented Audrina.
"Or their mindset," added Martha.
"Or the way they talk to each other," stated Kelsi.
Gabriella and Taylor just nodded their heads in agreement as the guys laughed together.
Troy looked over and saw Gabriella's puzzled look and smiled at her. "Still don't get this bantering and how it makes us feel better, huh?"
"Nope," answered Gabriella simply. "But if it brings that smile to your face and laughter back into your life, I'm willing to accept its strangeness."
Troy chuckled as he brought her closer to his side. "Thank you for sticking by me through everything this past two weeks. It has meant the world to me."
Gabriella smiled back at him. "I did it for us, for you, and well for me too. I wanted to be there for you, to make sure you were all right. And when the time is right, we'll sit down and talk about the weekend before the accident, but right now, I just want you to enjoy the moment here with our friends."
"Does that mean I get to do this then?" asked Troy before he started tickling Gabriella, earning a squeal in return. "You said you wanted me to enjoy the moment!"
"But not…by…ticking me!" exclaimed Gabriella as she managed to get up off the couch and hid behind Ryan.
"Oh hey now, no putting me in the middle here," protested Ryan as Troy went after Gabriella, who was constantly moving to keep Ryan in the middle.
After Troy managed to dodge around Ryan, Gabriella quickly scooted across the room and got behind Chad. "Chad, please, save me!"
Chad chuckled as Troy advanced on the girl behind him. "Tell me what you'll do for me in return."
"I'll, I'll, I know, I'll hold Taylor back from nagging at you about your homework for a week," responded Gabriella.
"Hey!" protested Taylor from across the room with a smile.
"Deal," said Chad before anything further could be said. "You heard her, man. Gabriella doesn't want to be tickled anymore."
Troy cocked an eyebrow at his best friend. "Are you sure you want to stand by her, Chad? I could get Taylor to back off for two weeks," tempted Troy while he attempted to get around Chad but couldn't get by.
"No you couldn't!" argued Taylor, who was just shaking her head at the scene.
Gabriella peeked around Chad and saw a grinning Troy looking down at her. "Are you going to stop hiding from me?"
"Are you going to stop tickling me?" questioned Gabriella.
"Maybe," returned Troy. "If you do something for me."
"What would that be?" asked Gabriella.
"Kiss me," stated Troy.
"All right, whether you are going to or not Gab, I am so getting out from between you two," said Chad before he ducked away and joined Taylor on the couch.
Gabriella slowly backed up until she hit the wall behind her. "Kiss you or get tickled to death? I don't know, Troy, that's a hard one."
Troy chuckled as he advanced on her. "You have five seconds to decide before I just tickle you… 5… 4… 3… 2…" He smiled as Gabriella smashed his lips against his and kissed him fully on the lips before she pulled away.
"Happy now?" questioned Gabriella with a blush on her cheeks as she heard their friends cat calling in the background.
"Very," responded Troy with a grin.
"And that, ladies and gentleman, is a preview of what the lives of Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez will be like most likely for the rest of their lives, coming to a high school near you," joked Ryan with a wink at the couple as everyone laughed.
Troy, feeling tired again, sat down on the couch and rested his head on the back of the cushion. Gabriella noticed and gave him a concerned look. "Do you want your pain meds?"
After seeing Troy's nod, Gabriella got off the couch and went to the kitchen. Taylor followed her to help seeing Gabriella only had one good arm and hand. "Here, let me help you," offered Taylor as Gabriella was trying to open the bottle. "Did you take yours too?"
"Before I came over," answered Gabriella as she got a glass out and filled it with some water. "Thank you, Taylor."
"Of course," replied Taylor. "It's the least I can do to help out my best friend."
The two hugged quickly and returned back to the room, Taylor handing Troy the pills while Gabriella gave him the glass of water. "Thanks," he got out after he swallowed gulps of water down.
"So when are you going to grace East High with your presence again?" asked Zeke.
"From the sounds of it, I'm going to be going to outpatient therapy for the next two weeks solid and then after that, I think I can go back to school," replied Troy. "Is it gross when I say going back to school will be a relief?"
"Umm, yeah!" exclaimed Chad with a laugh. "But since you miss it so much, I'll make sure to round up your schoolwork for you from your teachers tomorrow."
"Thanks man," stated Troy.
"Looks like you're pretty tired. Maybe we should call this fiesta to an end," noted Charles. "It's not good for you to overdo it so soon."
"Nah, I'm fine," claimed Troy before he yawned. "Okay, maybe I am a little tired. I'm used to just laying in bed and sleeping. You would think I'd have more energy by now."
"It'll take same time, bud. Just relax," reassured Jason. "Maybe, if you want us around, we could watch a movie or something."
"Yeah, great idea, J!" said Zeke.
Chad nodded his head. "And if you so decide you are tired, you can sleep right there on the couch. I'm sure Gab wouldn't mind your head in her lap," teased Chad with a wink at Gabriella.
"Gee, thanks, Chad," replied Gabriella with a stern look before she broke into a smile. "What do you think, Troy?"
"Sounds great to me, especially having you as my personal pillow," returned Troy with a smile.
"Aww, you two really are too cute together," commented Audrina with a small smile. "Troy, do you think your parents would mind if we broke out some bags of microwave popcorn? We have the soda already out here."
"Naw, go for it," said Troy.
Gabriella got up and went into the kitchen with Audrina, Taylor, Kelsi, and Martha. She showed them where the popcorn was and leaned against the counter as Audrina and Martha mainly got to work on the bags.
"What's that grin on your face for, missy?" asked Taylor as she caught Gabriella looking at the four girls with a happy look.
"I'm just glad that everything is better, the way that things always should be. And I am just feeling like the most blessed female in the world, to have such great friends and a chance to make things right with Troy," confessed Gabriella. "Going through the accident and the aftermath just made me realize even more how precious you all are to me and how fragile life is."
All four girls grinned at her before Kelsi and Taylor both rushed over and gave Gabriella huge hugs. "We've missed you like crazy at school and after school and on the weekend," said Kelsi. "And I miss hearing you sing!"
Gabriella laughed. "Yeah, I hear that Sharpay is being the constant diva. Sorry I left you with her."
"Oh her? I can ignore her, especially everything that has happened. I would just rather hear you and your lovely voice over her anytime," stated Kelsi with a smile. "I know that you must have gone through a lot in the past few days, but you seem so together."
"Have to be, if not just for my own sanity, but to show Troy that things do go on and that he'll be all right for it in the end," replied Gabriella.
Taylor smiled at her best friend. "That's the spirit. Nothing like strength to get you through the tough times."
Audrina pulled out the first bag of popcorn and dumped it into a bowl, with Martha promptly pouring some melted butter on and then adding salt. "Besides Gabriella, you are too important to us for us to lose, don't you forget that. It goes both ways, this friendship thing."
Gabriella laughed at that. "I know. I think we truly are so blessed to have each other."
"I agree," threw in Martha. "I bet the guys aren't having nearly as good of a conversation as we are right now. They are such macho males sometimes, I swear. I sometimes feel bad for how badly they pick on Ryan and Troy sometimes for being more sensitive."
"Yeah, but as they have said plenty of times before, us girls just don't understand them boys," replied Kelsi in a mocked Jason voice.
Taylor laughed and then said in her best Chad voice, "Yeah, guys love to tear each other down because it only builds us up and there is no way we would ever claim to understand you girls, you're too complicated!"
The five girls burst into laughter and continued to joke around until all the popcorn was done.
Back in the living room, the guys' ears perked at the constant laughter from the kitchen. "What do you think they are talking about?" asked Charles.
"Probably us," mumbled Chad. "I know I'm always the subject of their jokes."
"Well you do make an easy target," teased Troy. "Sorry, you walked right into that one."
"Haha," got out Chad. "So now that the girlfriend is out of earshot, dude, you really all right?"
Troy gave the question a serious thought and then smiled before he sobered a little. "I'd say so. I'm just feeling good to be alive, to know that she's alive. Did I ever tell you while I was in the coma, I went through it thinking she was the one that died? God, I still have those feelings every now and then that I felt, the void and the emptiness. But something did tell me that she was alive somewhere and yet I was confused because all I saw was her lifeless body and her funeral, and everything."
"Did you really?" ask Zeke. "That's pretty powerful."
"Tell me about it," replied Troy. "I think that's why, if I'm gushy with her now, more than before, that's why, and if it makes you sick, look the other way."
The guys chuckled at this and were all glad to see the humor back in their friend accompanied by that grin. "Hey, I wouldn't blame you one bit for being joined at the hip with Gabriella after that," said Ryan. "That's a scary experience. I'm just glad that both of you are all right."
"I am too," added Jason. "We were all so worried, but it's great to see you both together, smiling and even being all lovey dovey."
"Then again, that's who you have always been, lovey dovey," kidded Zeke.
Troy rolled his eyes. "What can I say? The girl makes me do and say some mushy things, but I find that I do mean them, every single word."
"Eww, someone turn off the poetry boy before he gets all sappy on us again," kidded Chad. "He might just infect us all!"
"And that would be a bad thing how?" asked Taylor as she and the rest of the girls returned with the popcorn.
Chad took one look at Taylor's expectant face and zipped his lips.
Ryan patted Chad's shoulder and chuckled. "Wise move, my friend, wise move."
The rest of the gang laughed as they took seats around the Bolton's living room and spread out the bowls of popcorn, Gabriella and Troy getting their own to share between the two of them. After a short struggle, which was customary among this group of friends, they decided on a comedy and settled down to watch it. Sometime during the first half of the movie, Gabriella looked down on her lap and smiled as she saw a peaceful looking Troy snoozing away quietly. Taylor saw this and passed her a blanket. Gabriella mouthed thank you as she spread the blanket over Troy with Taylor's help before the girls settled down again to watch the rest of the movie.
As the credits rolled and the laughter died down from the end, the gang looked around at each other and then at a sleeping Troy.
"Guess we better head out and leave him to his rest," commented Ryan. "You going to be okay on your own with him, Gabriella?"
"Sure," replied Gabriella. "Actually, Ryan can you hold Troy's head up for me so I can stand up?"
Ryan nodded and came over to gently lift Troy's head while Gabriella grabbed a pillow and put it under Troy's head before Ryan put it back down. "Thanks."
Gabriella saw most of the gang out except for Taylor and Chad, who stayed behind to help her clean up before they themselves left. With nothing else to do, Gabriella sat back down on the edge of the couch where Troy was sleeping and just watched him breathe in and out while he dreamed. 'Hopefully good dreams.'
After a while, Gabriella got a little tired herself. She checked her watch and saw it was 4 PM and her mother wasn't expecting her for dinner. 'I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a little nap with him,' she thought as she set her alarm to go off at 6 PM. Gabriella climbed ever so carefully to Troy's left side and laid down in the small space between him and the back of the couch. Troy moved in his sleep, almost sensing she was trying to cuddle next to him and gave her more room. Gabriella laid down on her right side, mindful not to jar her sling, and rested her head on Troy's chest as she just laid there listening to his heartbeat before she herself fell asleep.
Jack came downstairs after a while of hearing nothing and found himself grinning as he found Gabriella and Troy cuddled up together while they napped.
"They look so innocent and happy now, don't they?" asked a voice from behind him.
Jack turned and smiled at his wife. "That they do. If only it they could remain in this state forever."
"I think they have a good chance. They just need to hold onto this realization they have right now, of how important they are to each other. I know you had a problem with Gabriella interfering in Troy's life before last year, but I don't think that's her intention. She's just head over heels in love with our son, just as he is with her. I hope you know that."
"If I didn't before, I know that now. Gabriella has done a lot for Troy, more than you or I alone could, and if she makes him happy, then I'm happy. Honestly, you and Troy seem to think I was gunning for the girl or something."
"Well, you were a bit hard on her when they got detention that one time and then started auditioning for the musicale, but I know my husband has a very sweet and romantic side, one that he seems to have passed down to his son, which I am happy to see. I just hope they stay happy."
"So do I," murmured Jack as he held his wife before he kissed her. "Troy would be so lucky to find himself someone as special as his mother is to me."
"Aww, after all this time, you still are a romantic sap," she teased before they walked back upstairs to give the two teenagers their privacy as they slept.