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Before Gabriella knew it, the first weekend of April had arrived after a flurry of events in preparation. Of course, not everything was as it seemed and for good reason. The press and most everyone who had any interest in her wedding this weekend were told it was happening in Italy at a beautiful old castle that she and Patrick had actually seen when they were trying to pick out a place when in fact her wedding vows would take place in the United States. Of course, this was only told to them after Patrick and Gabriella forcefully moved the wedding date out a month, citing not enough time to create the perfect wedding Gabriella wanted.
Gabriella recalled that old castle especially because the mere sight of it had taken her breath away and made her smile on the day she had yearned to hear from Troy, yet again, only to have seen a picture of "newly returned basketball player" Troy with his ex-fiancé in a pretty comfortable embrace, Celeste's lips on his cheek. Ever since the day Gabriella was escorted from Troy's apartment, Gabriella hadn't seen Troy in person and knew for a fact that his apartment was already rented out to someone else.
The online petition actually managed to pick up a lot of traction in the past two months, more sites popping up supporting Gabriella's right to choose and favoring her being with Troy. In fact, Gabriella had had some private discussions with Benjamin and George both about everything and felt better knowing that they were, for the most part, very understanding of her feelings and offered whatever support they could while being in a tight spot themselves as they were the minority.
As Gabriella stared at herself in the mirror while Pip finished pinning up her half-do, a small part of her mind wondered how the meeting went between Selena, Luka, Mikey, and the other teens who put together the site and petition and the Copanvy Royal Advisory Council. Gabriella had left for the secret wedding location with Patrick a day before everyone else left, which meant that the meeting occurred the day they left in a last ditch effort as Selena had explained to Gabriella. In truth, Gabriella was more than touched that all the teens at the center had put so much thought into how to help her and Troy and was so appreciative of them and everyone who had signed the petition. 'I just don't know if that's enough for the council on its own.'
When Gabriella came back to, she blinked several times as she no longer saw Pip behind her, having completed her hair already, but Lauren, Annette, Edward, Stephen, and Patrick, all with smiles on their faces. Quickly, Gabriella turned on her stool and looked at them. "Did it work?"
Patrick grinned. "You are free and clear to become Mrs. Gabriella Felicia Anna Lauren Bolton Montez. Everything worked out exactly as we planned it, or should I say how you and your family planned it."
Stephen affectionately clapped Patrick on the shoulder. "Now, now, don't be shy Patrick. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have even known a lot of what you revealed. Thank you Patrick. What you have done, sacrificed, will never be forgotten by this family for many generations."
Gabriella giggled as a light blush appeared on Patrick's cheeks. "Pink looks good on you Patrick. Seriously though, thank you so much, for everything and for being a true friend during this first real test of this friendship card as you called it months ago."
"Just glad it worked out," answered Patrick, happily hugging Gabriella after she had approached him in her robe and threw her arms around him. "I have to say though I'm not looking forward to seeing my father again anytime soon, especially when he finds out I was the one who turned him in indirectly."
"For everything he has done, I am sorry Patrick but I am personally going to see that Raul does not see the light of day for quite some time, influential gentleman of Copanvy or not," stated Edward. "No one threatens me or my family without dire consequences."
"And I don't blame you at all. I'd feel the same way if someone threatened my granddaughter and her chosen partner for life as my father has. I still can't get over the fact that he made all those cryptic, written threats against Troy, turning it towards Gabriella when the first site came up. If that wasn't bad enough, having actually hired Curtis to spy for him, plant pictures, and tip off the paparazzi makes it worse, almost as bad as actually meeting with a hitman to plan it out," Patrick said, shuddering at the thought of what could have happened if Patrick's plan of snooping around Raul's personal study and playing really nice with him hadn't yielded all that information.
"Luckily, we already had Curtis pegged before you figured it all out in mid-March. Paul was right on with his instincts, that's for sure," commented Annette, smiling at her daughter, who looked absolutely relieved.
Lauren thought back to the private meeting she and Edward had with Paul in early January when Paul had started getting very suspicious of what Curtis was up to with his frequent secretive calls but also some of the strong opinions he had about Gabriella marrying Patrick and getting paid a lot for it, which Paul knew was a lie. The money was good but it wasn't enough for Curtis, who had complained about it before to suddenly be elated about. They had become even more certain about Curtis being the mole when there was a news story printed the next day after Troy being "exiled" with details of an explosive argument at the palace, which the family had staged when they were sure only Paul and Curtis were around, with no other people around to hear them, fishing to see what Curtis would do with the information.
"Edward dearest, I believe we owe Paul our lives but also a nice raise and promotion," remarked Lauren, a smile on her lips. "He has proven to be quite an asset to the security team and really knows what he is doing."
Gabriella beamed. "He would love that Grandmother, especially with their baby on the way!"
Edward let out a hearty laugh. "Only you dear granddaughter would even think of someone else and get that excited on your own wedding day, but I do know how very close you are to both him and Emma. I think all that will be arranged soon enough when we return to Copanvy. Now, the question this morning is if you are ready to become a wife after all this turmoil and drama."
"It's a bit late for that, don't you think Father? I just saw Troy and he's nicely dressed but is a bit of a wreck, somehow convinced that this is all a dream and that something is bound to go wrong," explained Stephen, chuckling a little as he thought back to how flustered Troy really did look the last time he checked in on him in the groom's room where Chad and Chucky were trying to help him keep his sanity.
"Maybe someone should go tell him that we have Raul now in the high security prison in Louvis along with the assassin he hired as a backup if Gabriella didn't marry Patrick today. He already knows that Curtis was taken care of and discharged and sent to my old country, Tafur, to serve out his sentence doing community service and residing in the prison facility there. We thought best to keep him far away from the reaches of Raul as Curtis did end up helping us in the end with the details he knew after his prompted confession," Edward stated, grinning as he imagined what Raul's face must have looked like when the private jet that he was on with his other sons turned around after takeoff and landed back in Copanvy only to be arrested immediately.
Gabriella saw the smiles and heard the laughter in the room but noticed Patrick's dimming the more the conversation went on. "Patrick, I'm so sorry you had to go through this and hurt your family so."
He shrugged his shoulders but Gabriella knew it was really troubling him. "It's for the better this way and heaven knows I'm just as mad at him as the rest of you for plotting against you and using me but he's still my father. I guess I'm also a bit worried about how my brothers are going to take it when they realize I had such a large hand in this."
Stephen nodded his understanding but volunteered something he and Edward had just discussed on the plane ride over a few days ago. "That's just it, they won't ever know unless you choose to tell them Patrick. There's no reason for your involvement to be known unless you want it to. We think of you as a hero but also know that it's harder for you as, like you said, he is your father and your flesh and blood. It will be your choice if and when you tell your family and friends but know that it is just that, your choice. We won't be outing you. It's the least we can do to protect you for all you have done, especially moving aside so that our daughter could marry Troy after she was engaged to you. Even with the majority vote to abolish the arranged marriage tradition and law that occurred this week at the last meeting of the Copanvy Royal Advisory Council, you stepping away from it long before then speaks volumes of your character and your heart."
Patrick gave Stephen a crooked smile, letting the older man know how grateful he was for all that he said. "Well, I think I've taken up as much time as I can today on Ella's wedding day or should I say morning. Why again did you choose the morning?"
Gabriella smiled. "Because we're all on the Copanvy time zone anyway and it also eliminates the chances of being caught by unwanted photographers. More importantly though, Troy and I discussed in Colorado our dream wedding and it involved being at sunrise, a new, fresh beginning to the day and to our lives, which would become one life together."
Annette and Lauren both found their eyes tearing at this, hearing yet another tidbit that continued to prove how very made for each other Gabriella and Troy were. "Speaking of photographers, did anyone finally tell Henry and Martin why they were secretly abducted the other day to be here?" asked Lauren.
Stephen laughed as he thought back to hearing about the secret mission Paul and some of the senior and trusted team members pulled off. "I'm pretty sure Paul briefed them a little while ago but I bet they put one and one together. After all, they had the photo evidence of those meetings between Raul and the hired assassin but also of the suspicious behavior going on with Curtis and of the paparazzi that started showing up everywhere. A part of me still can't believe that after all these years Curtis sold out like that."
"It does explain why we all felt watched all the time at some point in the past year and it was because we were, by him, but his motives changed which I guess changed the way it felt?" offered Gabriella.
There was a knock on the door before Tessa, Sharpay, and Taylor all popped their heads into the room. Tessa shrieked as she realized that Gabriella wasn't dressed yet with only half an hour left until the sunrise and the ceremony. "Gaby! You need to get dressed!"
The room exploded into chaos from that moment on, Gabriella getting overly fussed over and vaguely recalling when Patrick, Edward, and Stephen all left, allowing Kelsi, Martha, and Lucille in to chat with Lauren and Annette while Tessa, Taylor, and Sharpay put the finishing touches on the glowing bride, who was still nervous despite the good news that was delivered about Raul, the assassin, and Curtis all being taken care of.
Tessa noticed Gabriella's perfectly made up face pale as Gabriella began biting her lower lip. "Uh uh! No biting the lip, no worries! Everything is going to work out today Gabriella, even if you made all of us get up way earlier than any of us thought possible for some of us."
"What if it doesn't?" Gabriella returned, realizing how very worried she was about this possibility. "We pulled a last minute thing on Raul. What if he has something up his sleeve besides the one assassin?"
Lauren shook her head, somewhat amused by her worried granddaughter. "Gabriella, have some faith in Paul, his team, and us as your family. Ever since the threats started coming in during the fall months, everyone has been focused on finding out who it was behind the notes and trying to validate if the threats were real. Sadly they were real but we are confident we have the correct people restrained who would cause you harm and ruin today for you. Besides, you have so much support for this marriage back in Copanvy but most importantly the support of your friends and your family, including your grandfather and me."
Annette smiled, so glad that Lauren seemed to have softened quite a bit around both herself and Gabriella, actually feeling the start of a true bond with the older woman now. "Your grandmother is right Gabriella. That petition that Selena and the others started online and also had signed in person was filled with names of people who supported abolishing the arranged marriage tradition and law, wanting you to marry who you chose, most believing it would be Troy. Names on that petition were from all parts of Copanvy, people outside of Copanvy, people who were too young to vote and people who were legal voters. There was no way the council could ignore that, especially as Benjamin and George were already in your corner. Miles shifted his vote that day while the rest of the council mostly expressed their support too."
Remembering something that hadn't been communicated, Lauren jumped back into the conversation. "As a wedding present, George wanted me to tell you that he would like to have a meeting with you and Troy both before the official but intimate wedding at the palace when you return from a short honeymoon here in Hawaii. I think it has to do with Peter and Luis being replaced if the news traveling in the wind is correct."
Gabriella's eyes moved to meet her grandmother's gaze. "Peter and Luis left the council over this?"
Lauren scoffed. "More like they were removed by the rest of the council with the support of the other three on the representative panel. Politics can be dirty and no one likes being associated with someone who is known as corrupt themselves as they help someone with as dark of an ulterior motive as Raul had. To think he knew all this time about Lucinda and Jose."
"But it's all behind us, at least for now," interrupted Annette, realizing the time of the sunrise was quickly approaching. "Gabriella, how are you feeling?"
"Like this is a dream," Gabriella honestly replied.
"Then my son is in good company as that's exactly how he feels now too," assured Lucille. "You look simply stunning."
Collective sounds of agreement echoed throughout the room as everyone surveyed Gabriella's half up-do and the way her dark curls that that were left down covered her bare back and parts of her shoulders in the front. The ivory strapless dress with the full a-line clung to every curve of Gabriella's upper body with the lace bodice while the full skirt with lace covering parts in a diagonal manner hid Gabriella's slightly shaking legs as Gabriella's excitement and nerves left her feeling almost ready to burst from her skin. The ivory veil decorated with pearls that covered Gabriella's dark locks only added to the vision that all the women in the room was sure to knock Troy right off his feet.
Gabriella blushed under everyone's gaze. She looked around the room and noticed everyone was also dressed so nicely, especially Tessa, who was dressed in the maid of honor dress Gabriella had picked out for her, a light yellow halter dress that fell to the top of Tessa's knees, along with Taylor and Sharpay who were her bridesmaids, dressed in a light yellow knee length dress with a v-neckline and a layered skirt. Even though Gabriella hadn't known for sure if today would really happen, marrying Troy instead of trying to delay with Patrick again if it hadn't worked out, Gabriella knew she had to have these three girls by her side and was happy that Kelsi and Martha had made it too. 'I'm sure Amy and Emma are busy running around out on the beach making sure everything is ready.'
"Thank you everyone for being here and for all of your love and support for me and for my relationship with Troy. It means the world to have you all here," Gabriella said, genuine felt emotion in each syllable. "Today may not have been certain as far as being the real day Troy and I could actually get married but even knowing that you all showed, keeping our secret, for that I will always cherish each of you even more than I have before."
"Well I'm just glad we finally get to have you as our official daughter-in-law!" exclaimed Lucille, pulling Gabriella into a hug, careful not to disturb Gabriella's appearance.
"And I'm just glad that after everything I've seen you go through since you were a baby but especially during the last eight or nine years that you are finally getting the happy ending you deserve with Troy. Getting married though isn't an ending but a true beginning as you and Troy decided for yourselves months ago," Annette declared, kissing her daughter on the cheek after a careful hug.
Lauren huffed, somewhat still not fond of the too sentimental moments. "Let's save all the rest of this lovely talk for after the two lovebirds are actually married. The sun should be rising shortly."
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door before Stephen popped his head in, grinning at all the women in the room. "Gabriella, it's time."
The shaking her knees had experienced traveled through Gabriella's body as the reality of actually being there, in a bride's dressing room in a church on the hotel property they were all staying in on Maui, where they had vacationed during high school, set in. "This is really happening isn't it?"
Kelsi giggled a little, nodding her head. "It really is Gabriella. Be happy dear friend and treasure this."
"We'll be cheering you on in the audience," added Martha, hugging Gabriella after Kelsi, both young women leaving the room, followed by Lauren and Lucille.
Taylor, Tessa, and Sharpay all discreetly left the room too, allowing Gabriella one last private moment with her parents as an unwed woman.
"You sure this is what you want? Not too late to run. I think the private plane is still ready for a quick getaway," offered Stephen, his brown eyes twinkling as Gabriella cracked a smile despite her anxiety at his joke. "You and Troy both have gone through so much Gabriella and have proven to each other each step of the way how committed you are to each other. You've grown together and apart but today is the ultimate testament to how strong you have become together, how much you complete each other. I'm just happy I could pull strings here in Hawaii with the officials to get a classified but official wedding license to allow this to happen legally, even if it won't be recognized in Copanvy until the ceremony at the start of next week."
Gabriella thought of how everything had played out to get her to where she was standing in that moment and really recognized how essential each person in her life was to this destination, her wedding to Troy.
Her closest friends were there for her even when they didn't fully know what was going on all the time.
Tessa, Taylor, and Sharpay had worked with Gabriella under the guise of preparing Gabriella's wedding to Patrick, voicing occasionally how much they wished Gabriella would fight for Troy but accepting that Gabriella had her reasons. All three helped create Gabriella's dream wedding, teasing Gabriella as she had a slip one night and had written Troy's full name on an invitation rough draft, Tessa chalking it up to her subconscious wanting what her heart wanted despite her logical mind.
Chris had remained by her side through each day, for once accepting that he couldn't know everything, being a true friend by just listening to Gabriella rant and also cry when things got too tough in the past few months, especially the first two weeks after Troy left Copanvy and began making very public moves in the US like going to New York to see Celeste and former teammates at games as well as his move back to Albuquerque to live with Jack and Lucille for a while. Despite everything being planned, Gabriella still remained not only scared for Troy's life should something go wrong but also pained in not seeing him every day like she had wanted to.
Emma and Paul both had done everything they could to make the last few months easier on Gabriella, having her over more frequently to their home for dinners while Emma got Gabriella more involved in shopping for the baby and designing the nursery, both women enjoying ordering Paul around when it came to the actual decoration, starting with the paint.
Patrick himself had become a genuine source of comfort and surprisingly strength for Gabriella. It may have been strained at the start but their friendship had truly blossomed into a close friendship, both wanting the best for the other as they continued on with the farce that was their engagement. Gabriella still worried that she had selfishly used him despite Patrick's reassurance that he did what he did out of true want to see her happy and also for his own need to have a clear conscience. Of course, Gabriella hadn't been clued into everything Patrick was doing in regards to bringing his father down until just a few days ago, when things looked more likely to happen according to plan.
Despite all of her friends though, Gabriella's mother and father, along with grandmother and grandfather, were her real allies in this, the latter pair being a delightful addition after a history of tension. Once Lauren was convinced that all safety precautions were being taken and that they had a real lead, she found it easier to be in the spirit of planning Gabriella's wedding to a man who most likely would be Troy Bolton. Edward made sure everything was running smoothly with everyone being on a need to know basis based on his decision. Both Annette and Stephen were doing everything they could too to secure Gabriella's safety but also her heart in the matter. Stephen had facilitated a few calls between Troy and Gabriella but they were very far in between, a total of four in the past several weeks. Every time Gabriella would doubt that this day would come, her family was always there to remind her why she had to keep faith, had to continue to fight, and fight she did, with everyone behind her, on the verge of becoming Troy's wife.
"So Dad, did you get the fun pleasure of telling the small group here today exactly who was getting married?" questioned Gabriella, now wondering who did the honor considering Gabriella herself hadn't known about the certainty of the wedding happening today, thus her reason for being mostly undressed when Tessa and the others arrived a short while ago. 'It stopped being a question of who would be a groom a while ago.'
Grinning, Stephen nodded. "Let's just say there were some definite shocked faces out there before excitement bubbled forth. I'm sure you'll have to fill them all in later but there will be plenty of time for that. Troy's though was classic, let me tell you. The way he beamed… I knew then that this was completely and utterly right."
"I could have told you that back when they were dating in high school," remarked Annette, smiling fondly at her husband. "You just didn't want to see it."
"And I still don't," agreed Stephen, giving Annette his best pout face and making her laugh. "Well, I think we are ready to make this official. Gabriella, are you ready?"
This time, without a pause, Gabriella smiled at her father and mother both. "More ready than I have been for anything in my life before. Thank you both so much for everything and for your unconditional love. I love you both."
"We love you too," Annette returned, sharing in the quick family hug before there was another knock signaling the time had come for Annette and Stephen to escort Gabriella down to the beach for the bride's entrance.
Once outside the church with tiki torches lighting the way along the pavement, Taylor and Sharpay led the small bridal party towards the beach where there was a small platform with an arch decorated in white and yellow flowers mostly native to Hawaii. Tessa remained behind Annette, Gabriella, and Stephen, holding Gabriella's train, as they began their slow procession now on the white carpet laid out on the sand, lined with rose petals that led to the platform where Gabriella's other half waited for her.
Troy took in a deep breath and let it out, calming his nerves as Gabriella, flowers in her right hand that was looped through her father's arm and her left holding Annette's hand, finally appeared out of the darkness, approaching where he stood next to Chad, his best man, with slow but deliberate steps. His heart sped up and got louder with each step she took, knowing a stupid grin was forming on his lips the closer she got because that was just how deliriously happy Troy was in that moment. Slowly, Troy's focus on what he and Gabriella were about to do diminished as his mind instead tried to wrap itself around the fact that this angelic dark haired beauty who was literally yards away from him now was actually going to be his for the rest of his life, seeing the glow she possessed more clearly as the sky began to lighten with the rising sun, chasing away the shadows that had mostly hidden her before from his blue orbs.
Gabriella gasped as Troy stepped down from the platform to meet her and her parents at the bottom of the steps, realizing she had never seen him any happier nor handsomer than he was at that moment. Both barely heard Annette and Stephen give their blessings on the marriage by giving Gabriella's hand to Troy metaphorically and physically, too busy staring in awe at each other. Annette and Stephen each kissed Gabriella's cheeks before they took their seats, causing Troy to snap back to the moment, kissing the back of Gabriella's right hand that was in his left before helping her up the steps to the small platform where she gave Tessa her bouquet before joining both her hands with Troy as they faced each other.
Tears filled both of their eyes throughout the ceremony, both never taking their eyes off of each other, even when spoken to by the priest. When a few teardrops rolled down Gabriella's cheeks during Troy's vows to her, his fingers were there to catch them, never breaking his flowing recital of the vows or his gaze with her as he slipped her engagement and wedding ring onto her left hand. Gabriella had a tougher time as she slipped on the wedding band she had picked a few weeks ago for Troy and had Paul get for her, the watery happiness that filled her eyes again choking her throat a bit but she got through it, drawing strength from Troy's never faltering smile and his twinkling light blue orbs that she saw even better as the sky continued to get lighter, the black and dark blue combo giving way to a beautiful light blue, violet, and red color scheme as the sun continued to get closer to rising above the horizon.
Just as the sun began showing itself, adding a light pink, orange, and yellow color combination to the sky, pushing away the darkness completely, the priest concluded the ceremony, allowing Gabriella and Troy to share in their first kiss as husband and wife in that exact moment. Troy and Gabriella kissed each other tenderly, surrounded by family and their closest friends, as they started their new life together, married, and more in love with each other than ever before.