Back to the Dream Page
Gabriella let out a soft, wistful sigh as she put in her combination to her locker that Monday morning following the movie date she had with Troy. Actually, what had her in such a wonderful mood were the memories from this weekend spent with a certain brown haired boy who caused her to lose her concentration with a mere smile, her heart to skip a beat by just being there, and to almost faint before she got a grip on her herself when he winked at her. 'Could it be? Am I really, truly falling for Troy Bolton, Wildcat Superstar?' wondered Gabriella as she finally managed to get her locker open and began to take stuff for her first few periods of the day.
When she closed the locker door, she noticed Paul coming towards her, giving her a worried look when he was half way to her. Gabriella gave him a confused look in return, wondering what caused the sudden change in facial expressions until she smelled and felt a certain presence before she seeing him. "Riley," got out Gabriella, breaking eye contact with Paul and looking at Riley, who was now standing right in front of her.
"Gabriella," returned Riley, a sneer on his face. "So after all our time together, you're still chasing after Bolton huh? I honestly thought better of you. Do you really want to be the real true slut and trash of West High? It seems to me that you do."
Gabriella couldn't help but pale at these words, also feeling a loss of breath as she stared back into those serious yet somehow evil looking brown eyes of his. "I don't know what you're talking about," murmured Gabriella, angry at herself that she couldn't find the courage to really stand up to him. 'To be honest, I'm too freaking scared right now.'
"A little birdy told me that there's a rumor you and Golden Dork over at East have been dating, trying to sneak around. I really don't want to believe that Gabriella, you're too smart for that," stated Riley. "Besides, why would you have to outsource to another school when you've got a great catch here in me? I'm all you need, more than you will ever want."
As Riley started to advance on her, Gabriella backed up until she felt the cold metal of her locker right behind her, her locker's combination lock digging into her back. "Riley, please… Leave me alone," got out Gabriella, desperation evident in her voice even to her own ears. 'I've never had any trouble putting him in his place before but then again, I've never seen that look on his face before.'
"No, I don't think that I can now. See? Riley Sutton always gets what he wants, including girls, and you will not be an exception to that. Now, tell me honestly, are you seeing that trash from East High? I want the truth for the last time Gabriella, now!" demanded Riley, his voice edged with a tone that spoke volumes of danger.
When Gabriella just stayed quiet, averting her eyes from him, Riley got frustrated and slammed both hands against the lockers, one hand on each side of her head. The sudden movement and loud noise made Gabriella jump, causing her to look up into those brown eyes that were filled with so many dark emotions that she could read too well. Somewhere in Gabriella's mind though, an image of Troy and his faint bruises from a beating he received from Riley while she was gone came to her mind, accompanied with another of Troy at the diner the morning after the Masquerade Ball. 'I can't let Riley get the better of me, even as dangerous as he seems right now. If I keep letting him scare me, we'll never be free,' thought Gabriella.
While Gabriella was thinking, Riley was getting more furious by the second at Gabriella's behavior. 'She's mine, everyone here at West knows it and every guy from every other school should know this too! If I can't have her, no one is going to have Gabriella,' promised Riley in his head, oblivious to the change of emotions in Gabriella's own brown eyes that went from fear to determination.
"So, what's the final word on this Gabriella? Do you want to be part of West High's elite or are you going to be a member of the trash?" demanded Riley, his voice sharper than before.
Gabriella paused for a moment and drew in a deep breath before she gathered all her courage and looked Riley back in the eyes. "If being a member of the Knight's elite involves you, count me as a member of the trash then," stated Gabriella, slowly and clearly, stunning Riley, who was only able to stare, his mouth slightly ajar in shock at her words. She took this opportunity and ducked from under his right and started walking away quickly, realizing in this process that there was a large group of students gathered around, watching this drama. 'Stupid rumor mill…'
She was making her way through the crowd, which was slowly dispersing to their appropriate classes, when she felt a painful grip on her right arm that caused her to wince in pain. Gabriella was able to connect gazes with Paul, who was now fighting his way to get through the crowd as soon as he saw the panicked look on her face before Gabriella was spun around to face a very angry Riley. "DON'T YOU DARE WALK AWAY FROM ME, SLUT!" yelled Riley, making many of the students, including Gabriella, jump at his voice. "YOU NEVER WALK AWAY FROM ME, HEAR ME?"
Before anyone could blink, there was a loud sound that echoed through the hall as Riley's right palm met Gabriella's cheek in such a hard slap that Gabriella immediately felt her face sting with pain while her head snapped from the force, immediately tasting something coppery in her mouth, blood. Riley's assault didn't stop there though as he grabbed Gabriella's upper arms and dragged her towards him with such a force that she stumbled into his body before Riley smashed his lips down on hers, pushing so hard and slamming her into a set of lockers.
Gabriella tried fighting back, finding any source of courage and energy she could find to fend him off of her until she was finally able to push him back a little and stepped on the inside of his right foot, hard, right before Riley's weight was pulled completely off of her. She watched as Riley was actually tackled to the ground by Paul, the only one brave enough out of the entire crowd gathered around to step in and help her. Gabriella helplessly watched as Paul and Riley began to roll around, exchanging blows with one another. Her own pain was pushed aside with sudden worry over Paul's safety as he ended up being pinned under the basketball captain. Unable to figure something else to help him, Gabriella launched herself onto Riley's back, trying to get the larger guy off of Paul.
Sensing only a distraction from his main focus, beating the crap out of the guy who dared to interfere with Riley's intentions, Riley swung out and threw whoever was on his back off of him, only realizing in the back of his head there was a loud crack as the "helper" ended up being thrown against the lockers. Riley continued swinging at Paul while Paul himself managed to get a few solid blows in before the two guys were forcefully separated by campus security and Principal Martin, who looked none too pleased to see the crowd of onlookers who had skipped the start of first period to watch this fight.
He surveyed the group of students around and dismissed them with a look, which caused all of them to scurry away. It was only when the crowd cleared that Principal Martin realized that Gabriella was on the ground and being held by a brunette girl, who he recognized as Tessa Grainger. Seeing that Gabriella was being comforted by who he supposed was her friend, Principal Martin turned his attention back on the two boys that were glaring at each other. "Both of you, in my office, now!" demanded the principal as the campus security team escorted both boys down the hall to the administration office.
Gabriella watched through her tears from the pain as Riley and Paul were escorted to the office, both having thrown her one last look. Paul's was of deep concern while Riley's seemed to promise something dark, something that gave Gabriella the creeps.
"Are you all right Miss Montez?" asked Principal Martin who crouched down next to the two girls. He grimaced as she fully turned her face towards his and he was able to see the bruises already forming on her cheek and some blood. He clucked his tongue and let out a sigh. "Miss Grainger, can you please escort Miss Montez to the nurse?"
"I'm sorry Principal Martin about the fight but please don't punish Paul for sticking up for me," begged Gabriella as Tessa helped her stand up. "No one else in this school would have done what he did for me, which means that I would have most likely been in a sorrier state if not for him."
Principal Martin nodded his head in understanding. "I'll keep that in mind Miss Montez. Now, please, go see the nurse."
Gabriella nodded her head and leaned a little into Tessa's hold on her, more than she would have liked but couldn't help from doing, as the two best friends started to walk down the hall in the opposite direction of the principal's office. Tessa stayed with Gabriella as the nurse looked over Gabriella, deciding that her injuries weren't severe enough to send her to the hospital but enough to stay out for the rest of the day to rest with ice and pain medication. After some begging, Tessa was also excused by the nurse for the rest of the day to go home and take care of Gabriella, especially after the nurse called Mrs. Montez and was informed that Gabriella's mother was in the middle of a very long and important client meeting but the message would be delivered to Annette about her daughter being sent home with some injuries. The two stopped by the principal's office to make sure they didn't need to be talked to before they left West High's grounds, both thankful that Principal Martin seemed to believe the truth in what they had each told them quickly before he dismissed them both to go home.
Since Tessa caught a ride with Sarah that morning, she offered to drive Gabriella's car back home with Gabriella in the passenger's seat, able to hold the two ice packs to her cheek and the back of her head where she had made contact with the locker after she had tried to break up the fight. After arriving at the Montez household, Tessa parked the car and then helped Gabriella out of the car, into the house, and up to her bedroom where she immediately lay down on, wincing as her head rested on her pillow. Gabriella put the ice pack on the pillow before laying down on it, closing her eyes to try to get control of the pain throbbing through her head.
Tessa watched from her seat on the edge of the bed and just shook her head at the sorry state Gabriella was in, the state that Riley had put her in. Before she could censor herself, Tessa burst out and screamed, "RILEY SUTTON IS SUCH A CREEP! I SWEAR NEXT TIME I SEE HIM, HE'S A DEAD JOCK!"
Gabriella's eyes snapped open at this as she quickly sat up to look at her friend, who just had the biggest outburst Gabriella had ever seen, wincing from her efforts as her head started to feel both painful and woozy, forcing her back down. "Tessa, please, calm down," begged Gabriella, looking at the brunette the best she could from her position on the bed. "I fully agree that Riley is scum but we can't do anything now and further violence isn't going to get us anywhere."
"How can you say that?" demanded Tessa as she stood up and started pacing the room. "He's a monster Gaby, pure and simple. Riley needs to leave you alone, period."
"To which I also agree but again, not through violence," replied Gabriella, closing her eyes again and fighting the urge to vomit from the dizziness. Unable to take it anymore, Gabriella forced herself to stand and move as fast as she could over to the bathroom where she promptly threw up in the toilet, flushing when she was done, and leaning her head carefully back onto the glass of the shower door.
Tessa ran in and instantly forgot about her tirade on Riley when she saw how pale her best friend was. "Oh Gaby, I'm so sorry. I was so angry at Riley that I didn't see how bad you really are. Are you sure you don't want to go to the doctor's? What do you need?"
Gabriella shook her head, which brought back the dizzy feeling again. "Can you get me some extra strength Tylenol from the medicine cabinet? That may help and no, no doctors."
Tessa did as was requested and sat down next to Gabriella on the bathroom floor as Gabriella drank some water from the bathroom cup Tessa had filled before swallowing the pills and laying her head back against the shower door. When Tessa wrapped her arm comfortingly around her best friend, Gabriella thankfully leaned onto her shoulder, resting her head there as she tried to control the emotions and physical symptoms of soreness and sickness she was feeling at the moment. She watched absently as Tessa pulled out her cell phone from her front pocket and flipped it open, texting someone with her right hand.
"Who are you texting Tess?" asked Gabriella before she closed her eyes.
"Sarah and Beth to see if they know what happened to Riley and Paul," answered Tessa. 'Troy and Tay too, but I'm not going to tell you because you'll freak,' finished the brunette in her head.
"Oh God, Paul," murmured Gabriella, trying to get up but giving up as a wave of nausea came over her again.
Tessa looked over, concerned about Gabriella's state as she did this, very uncomfortable with not taking Gabriella to the doctor's office but it was Gabriella's call. "Don't worry. Paul is fine. He'll have some nice shiners and some bruises after this morning but I'm sure he won't get into serious trouble. He was only protecting you after all. I guess it kind of shows how very real this rivalry and the rules of the schools at West are when no one else stops Riley's behavior towards you besides Paul. I only wish I had been there earlier to have helped. I so would have nailed Riley's behind!"
Gabriella let out a little giggle before she winced from the pain that caused again in her head. "I am sure you would have. Maybe I should try to lie down and rest," said Gabriella as she sat up on her own, bracing herself to try to get up.
Seeing what Gabriella was trying to do, Tessa quickly got up and helped Gabriella stand up and walk back to her bed where she lay down again. Still concerned over Gabriella's state, Tessa jumped onto Gabriella's computer and looked up head injuries to see what possible complications could be before deciding it was best to call her own mother, who was a doctor.
Tessa grabbed her cell phone that was on the bed and hit the speed dial that went straight to her mom's office. 'Please Mom, be there,' begged Tessa.
"Good morning, Dr. Janice Grainger speaking," greeted Tessa's mother.
"Thank God Mom, you are there," said Tessa, standing up and walking out onto the balcony where she could talk freely to her mom while keeping an eye on her best friend.
"Tess, what's wrong?" asked Janice, worry evident in her voice. "Are you okay?"
Just hearing her mother's voice was all it took to unravel Tessa's emotions as she found herself letting a few tears go and then sniffling before she was able to answer her mother. "I'm fine, it's Gabriella. This jerk at school who has been harassing her hurt her and now I'm worried something is wrong but the school nurse said it wasn't severe enough for the emergency room so we are now here at her house."
"How did he hurt Gabriella?" questioned Janice. "Did he rape her?"
"No, not anything like that, thank God. Riley slapped her pretty hard from what I heard from some kid who witnessed it and then grabbed her roughly before she was flung into a set of lockers when she tried to get Riley off our friend Paul. I was only witness to that last part though, everything else I heard from stupid idiots at West who did nothing to help her," explained Tessa, her sadness over her friend's pain being replaced again by her anger.
"Tessa, you need to calm down for me. I want to help you here but I also know how defensive you get about your friends. Focus and tell me about Gabriella. What are her symptoms?" asked Janice.
Tessa took a moment to think about what she had witnessed over the past two hours since Riley's assault. "She's been dizzy, headache, and vomiting. Her bleeding has stopped from her lip but she still has a goose egg on the back of her head and a bruise on her cheek."
There was a pause before Janice spoke again. "Principal Martin knows about this, right? Hopefully he involved the police. I know I would want this boy hauled to jail if he hurt you. That list of injuries and symptoms she is experiencing is not your average verbal harassment high school kids exchange in the halls."
"Yes, he came with the campus security a few moments after I got there but before we left, Gabriella told him that she didn’t want police involved, that she didn’t want charges pressed," answered Tessa. "I tried to convince her otherwise but she wouldn’t listen to me. Anyway, back to the matter at hand, what should I do about Gaby Mom?"
Janice smiled a little at the deep concern she could hear in her daughter's voice. 'She really is close to Gabriella. I'm glad she's finally found that one person she really connects with,' thought Janice before she answered Tessa. "Make sure she has taken some Tylenol for the pain and let her rest. Don't let her sleep for another hour to make sure nothing funny is going on and then let her sleep, waking her up every hour or so to make sure she doesn't lose complete consciousness and to make sure she still remembers everything, date, time, place, etc. I'll swing by the Montez home after work to pick you up, I'm assuming you don't have your car, and I'll bring some stronger pain medicine for her. Make sure to keep an ice pack on and off for the next few hours too. You know the drill, I've gone through it several times with you and your own cuts and bruises."
"Haha, not funny Mom," responded Tessa with a small smile. "Gaby is going to be okay though, right?"
"If all that is wrong is what you said then yes. I'd be concerned if she was unresponsive or didn't remember things but it sounds like she is still lucid, which is a really positive thing. I'm guessing the principal let you skip school to be with Gabriella then?" questioned Janice.
"The nurse actually," replied Tessa. "You aren't mad are you?"
Janice chuckled. "That you went home with your injured best friend to care for her? Of course not. I'd be a bit peeved if you outright ditched but I understand what you must be feeling. Just keep an eye on her, I know she's in good hands. Listen, I have to go because I'm actually now late for a patient. See you in the afternoon, okay?"
"Sure, thank you Mom," replied Tessa before they exchanged good-byes and Tessa hung up the phone. She walked back into Gabriella's room and saw that her best friend was sleeping, noting the time so she would wake her again in forty minutes. Tessa turned on the television in Gabriella's room and lowered the volume and began watching the show of most interest to her from the little couch. Her phone beeped, which indicated a message, so Tessa flipped it open and saw that it was a reply from Taylor.
Is G okay? Troy is freaking out she's hurt. What happened?
'Figures he'd freak,' thought Tessa with a smile over the concern she knew Troy had for her best friend. 'Troy really does care deeply for Gaby, despite everything.'
G is fine for now, not anything to skip school for, I'm here. I'll fill you in on details later.
Tessa pushed the send button and closed her phone, turning her attention back to the television. It wasn't until after she woke Gabriella up for the second time in two plus hours that she got a text back from Beth.
Riley got suspension for a few weeks for the fight, Paul got detention for a week after school. Gab okay?
'At least Riley got actual punishment. I was worried as star basketball god he wouldn't be.' Tessa texted Beth back to let her know that Gabriella was fine and asked if she and Sarah could pick up work for both girls. With that done, Tessa allowed herself to lay back on the couch while munching on the lunch that she had brought to school that morning, keeping an eye on Gabriella while watching television.
As 4 PM rolled around, Gabriella was still sleeping off and on with Tessa dutifully waking her up only for the first part of the afternoon and letting her sleep as Gabriella wanted to after establishing that Gabriella was okay, hurt and in pain but not in danger of anything more serious. Sarah and Beth had come over earlier to drop off the work Tessa had requested and stayed a little while to visit but not too long so they wouldn't bother Gabriella, who still wasn't feeling that great. Paul had also come by and sat with Gabriella, talking to her softly to let her know that he was okay and that he was more worried about her. He too left after some time to give Gabriella rest, thanking Tessa for staying with Gabriella before he left.
Taylor was now sitting with Tessa on the couch in Gabriella's room as the two were just starting to talk about what happened at West that morning. Before Tessa could get into great detail, the doorbell rang again so Tessa put the story on hold and went downstairs to answer the door, not really that surprised that Troy was standing on the doormat with a small arrangement of Gerbera daisies of various colors in a colorful square vase. "Hi Troy, come in," greeted Tessa, making room for him to come in before closing the door behind him. "Here to see Gaby I'm guessing."
Troy nodded his head. "Is she truly okay?"
"She's doing better from what I can tell. Gaby is actually sleeping right now but I'm sure she'd be happy to see you," said Tessa, leading Troy up the stairs to Gabriella's room.
Troy paused on the threshold of his girlfriend's bedroom as he saw her sleeping but noted the dark markings on her face and some if the dried blood from a cut on her lip. 'This has the markings of Sutton all over it,' thought Troy, anger boiling inside him.
Tessa saw the look of hatred for the other guy pass over Troy's face so she went over and grabbed Troy's hand to bring him into the room, closer to Gabriella's bed. She took the vase from him and placed it on Gabriella's bedside table before taking a seat on the small couch next to Taylor again. Both girls watched as Troy sat on the edge of the bed and gently brushed some of Gabriella's hair back from her face before he leaned down and kissed her forehead. Seeing that Gabriella hadn't stirred, Troy tucked the blanket over her in more before he got up and grabbed the desk chair to sit in front of the two girls to find out what happened.
Without another word, Tessa retold the events that led to their departure of West High in the morning, looking at both Taylor's curious face and Troy's darkening expression. When she was done, Tessa and Taylor both saw that Troy was clenching his fists hard, giving them both images of what he was thinking of doing at that very moment to a certain other basketball captain.
Gabriella opened her eyes and woke up a little at that exact moment and turned her head, which thankfully didn't hurt as much as it did the last time she was up, and blinked a few times to focus on the three people in her room. "Troy?" she got out, a little hoarse from all the sleep she just had.
Troy whipped his head around towards the bed at the small voice and immediately got up to sit next to Gabriella again, taking her right hand in his. "Hey sleepyhead, how are you?" greeted Troy, pushing away the immense anger and frustration he harbored over the morning's events. "You gave me a bit of a scare when I heard about this morning. Are you feeling better?"
"I think so," responded Gabriella. "You didn't have to. Won't you get in trouble for skipping golf practice?"
Troy waved his hand at this. "I talked to Coach before I came over. You are so much more important to me. Can I get you something? Water or some more Tylenol?"
"Water sounds good," replied Gabriella, closing her eyes a little again before refocusing on Troy.
"I'll be right back then," responded Troy before he got up and went downstairs to get the glass of water.
Taylor chose this time to make her presence known as she and Tessa both walked over to stand by the side of Gabriella's bed. "Hey girl, I'm glad to see you finally awake," greeted Taylor.
"Hi," replied Gabriella. "I'm glad to see you Taylor but you really didn't need to come out of your way to see me."
"Don't be silly. I wanted to check on you and also find out what happened. I'm so sorry that jock is such a major jerk," said Taylor.
Tessa nodded her head in agreement. "I only wish that I was there earlier to have maybe stopped this."
Gabriella slightly shook her head. "No, I don't think anything really would have changed this. If it wasn't today, it probably would have been later. That look in Riley's eyes, I knew there was trouble and it was my own fault for really taunting him."
"What do you mean Brie?" asked Troy as he made his way back to her side and helped her sit up in the bed so she could drink some of the water he brought up. "What could you have possibly done to provoke him?"
She closed her eyes and thought back to the events of the morning, reliving the conversation before the violence. "Riley was trying to get me to admit to the rumor he heard from some other student about us dating and I tried to avoid the question, knowing I'd never be able to lie about that without chancing him seeing the truth. He actually scared me this morning with just the look and feel he had about him before he lifted a hand to me. I cowered for a bit but then I remembered how you Troy had gotten so hurt by him in the past and I decided then and there that I wasn't going to let him scare me anymore. I told him I'd rather be West trash than elite with him and thought I had escaped before he pulled back and slapped me, kissed me, and then a little later threw me up against some lockers while he was fighting Paul," explained Gabriella, wincing at the red shade Troy's face turned at this. "I'm sorry I let him get that close to me Troy and honestly I didn't want to kiss him. I tried to fight him off but I couldn't."
"Oh Gabriella, no, I'm not upset at you at all, please believe me Brie," said Troy immediately, stepping forward and sitting on the edge of the bed again so he could pull Gabriella's upper body close to his. He allowed her to cry a little into his neck as all her emotions came tumbling out while Troy stroked her back and her hair.
After some time, Gabriella pulled back and gave Troy a small smile as he wiped away the tears that were still hanging onto her cheeks, using soft pressure especially on her bruised cheek. She noticed the arrangement on her bedside table and then looked at Troy. "Are those from you?"
Troy got a shy look on his face, which confirmed her suspicions. "Yes. It's just a little something I thought maybe you could use to cheer yourself up with today. I think I have to say I'm sorry here though," said Troy. "Some time ago, you said that I always made you feel so safe and here I am this afternoon not having kept you safe. What type of boyfriend does that make me?"
"Troy, you couldn't have helped this. It happened at school and everything happened so fast that it took Paul some time to manage to jump into the fray. I don't blame you at all, not at all," replied Gabriella. "Seriously, just as much as you don't want me to feel guilty at having kissed Riley today, I don't want you worrying about this and how you weren't there. You can't protect me from everything and I realize that."
"Still, it doesn't make what he did any better," answered Troy. "How are you going to go back to school with him there?"
"Actually, she won't have to worry about that for a few weeks," interrupted Tessa. "Riley got suspended for a few weeks while Paul got some detentions. Riley's minions will still be around but I doubt they'll strike while this is so fresh. They aren't complete morons, at least I don't think so, well sometimes."
Gabriella and Taylor smiled a little at this. "Thanks Tessa," said Gabriella. "Look, I really appreciate that the three of you are here but I know you all have something better to do than look at me sleep or whatever I feel like doing. You don't have to stay here, I'll be fine."
"No way, I'd rather be here with you than doing homework or golfing, honest," responded Troy with a grin. "Should I be worried though that you want me gone?"
Gabriella rolled her eyes. "No, I certainly would love if you could be around all the time but I just don't want to make you stay up late doing homework or something because you are here now."
Taylor suppressed a laugh at this, which caused Troy to look back at her. "And that means what McKessie?" asked Troy, his right eyebrow quirked.
"Sorry, just the image of East's leading athlete doing homework kind of struck me as funny. I'm not saying you are dumb Troy, but I know Chad doesn't do any unless his father ties him down to his desk," replied Taylor.
Troy chuckled at this. "That's true about Chad but unlike him, I actually get a decent GPA, thank you very much."
Taylor held her hands in surrender. "I stand corrected then!"
The four teens continued to talk between them, just hanging out until the doorbell rang again, which revealed Janice with some medicine for Gabriella. While she was there, Tessa's mother insisted on checking over Gabriella and was satisfied that the young girl seemed to be on the mend. Gabriella took the pills that were handed to her by Janice and gave her a grateful hug for her help before hugging Tessa even more, thanking her sticking with her through the whole ordeal from the morning until now.
"I wouldn't have it any other way. I trust boyfriend here can watch you until your mom gets home though. She called the house phone about two and a half hours ago and promised she was driving back from her onsite client meeting a few hours out of Albuquerque. I guess the nurse or the secretary didn't relay the severity of what happened otherwise your mom would have skipped out, at least that’s what she said," replied Tessa before hugging Gabriella again and leaving with her own mom.
Taylor left soon after, not wanting to be a third wheel in the room any longer than necessary. Once Taylor had hugged Gabriella good-bye and left the room, Troy followed Taylor down to let her out and to lock the door. "Thanks Tay for being Brie's friend and supporting us," said Troy before Taylor left the porch.
Taylor turned back and gave him a smile. "I support you two because you both seem to genuinely care for each other and you make her happy Troy. You aren't such a bad guy after all," replied Taylor. "I'm your friend too by the way, should you need me."
"Thank you for that, same goes for me. If you ever need anything like hooking you up with Chad or something, let me know," teased Troy, winking in the process.
She rolled her eyes at this. "Whatever Bolton. I'll see you at school tomorrow. Go take care of our girl!"
Troy chuckled before he closed and locked the door. He made his way back to Gabriella's room and saw that she was laying down again, her eyes closed. Troy was about to leave when he heard her soft voice say, "Troy, please stay. Will you hold me while I rest some more?"
Unable to resist, Troy walked over to the bed and kicked off his shoes before getting on the bed next to her. He molded his body around hers while he wrapped her in his arms, allowing her to snuggle into his body. A few moments later, Gabriella drifted off to sleep with a soft smile playing on her lips as she knew that nothing would happen to her now that she had the most caring guy in the world holding her securely, his mere presence giving her the peace of mind she needed to get some solid sleep that her body craved.