Troy woke to the sound of his cell phone going off, grabbing it quickly as he realized that he was still at Gabriella's house with Gabriella sleeping on his lap, a sweet smile playing on her lips. "Hello?" he answered, his voice groggy.

"TROY BOLTON, where are you?" demanded Jack Bolton, none too happy that his son was out way past curfew.

Troy gulped as he heard the anger in his dad's voice. He searched for something in the dark room that would show the time and swore in his head as the VCR shined 12:30. "Sorry Dad, I'm at a friend's house and fell asleep. I'll be home in thirty minutes top, promise."

"Have you been drinking?" questioned Jack, knowing his son spoke the truth as he recognized the grogginess in Troy's voice as he heard that voice every morning when he woke Troy up for school.

"No Dad, honest, I just fell asleep. I'll go home right now," answered Troy, feeling guilty as Gabriella began stirring.

"All right, see you in the morning Troy," replied Jack before hanging up the phone.

Gabriella rubbed her eyes, realizing that the throbbing in her left wrist had lessened quite a bit. Troy had taken the ice pack off after Love and Basketball was over and they found another movie to watch. "Who was that?"

"My dad, we both must have fallen asleep Brie because I am late for my curfew. Are you going to be okay home alone?" asked Troy.

Gabriella nodded her head. "I should be. I'll make sure to turn on the alarm and lock up behind you. You need to get going," said Gabriella as she sat up, trying to straighten out her hair.

Troy got up off the couch and extended a hand to her to help Gabriella up before the two teenagers walked to the door. "Well, I guess this is it for tonight, well this morning. I'll chat with you online later today?"

"Sure," responded Gabriella. "You better not forget me once you drive away from my house Troy."

"Never," replied Troy with a grin. He leaned down and captured her lips with his for one last kiss before he slipped his shoes back on and dashed outside to his car to drive home, smiling all the way as he thought of the amazing new addition he had to his life.

'If only I knew where that amazing new addition is now,' thought Troy, running a hand over his face as he came back to present time in Geometry class. He looked over and saw Chad giving him a concerned look to which he gave him a nod, signifying he was okay. 'That is a total lie but I can't very well tell him all about my worries over Gabriella being gone for the last three weeks in the middle of class now can I?'

Later that day, the day after he and Gabriella changed their relationship from being just friends to something more exclusively, Troy had chatted with Gabriella on IM but detected that something was a little off. It wasn't until the next few days, when he couldn't reach Gabriella by email, IM, or by phone that Troy started worrying. He had tried several times to call Gabriella and panicked when he heard only voicemail, not even a ring or a ringtone. Troy was so worried that he had ditched his last period class on Friday of that first week to head over to West to check things out, to hopefully find her.

Troy drove up to West High just as the bell rang to dismiss students for the day. He got out of his car with his sunglasses on and went over to a tree with dark shade to observe all the students pouring out of the school. Without a doubt, going in there was out of the question but he would be able to see everyone leaving for the parking lots and the pickup area from the shade provided by the tree while also masking his identity, or so he had thought.

After twenty-five minutes of not spotting her, Troy continued to scan the now thinned out crowd, hoping to see his dark haired beauty among them, not wanting to acknowledge the fact that something really could have happened to his girlfriend of only a few days. A menacing laugh coming from close by on his right caught his attention though, forcing him to stop his search in order to look in the direction of which the laugh came from. 'Oh great, Riley and his crew,' thought Troy, silently kicking himself for being stupid enough to step foot on their turf without someone else for back up. 'Then again, you knew the risk when you decided to come but desperately needed, and still need, to know about her. Maybe Riley knows? Oh God, if he knows, that could only mean…'

"So, what does West High owe the East High's Golden Boy's presence to? Come to scope out the competition or to scam on more of our girls perhaps?" asked an advancing Riley.

"I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by and see how you guys are when not in these 'we're going to try to beat the crap out of you' moments we so often find ourselves sharing," replied Troy, knowing not to admit to his true intention.

"Right, sure," responded Riley. "What me and my boys want to know though is what you did with Gabriella Montez. I saw you leave with her after she disgraced herself at the Spring Fling and we haven't seen her all week. She may have made her way to my shit list but no East High boy is going to harm any West High student without punishment, dork or popular girl. Kind of goes with the unsaid rivalry rules Bolton, you should know that."

This gave Troy pause, hearing that Gabriella hadn't been in school. "I haven't seen her or talked to her. How do I know you Riley didn't do something to her and are trying to hide it by setting me up for taking the fall? We all know that you've wanted her since she set foot at West and had a pretty intense confrontation at the dance. I think you did something to her and I want you to tell me what the hell you did!"

Riley sneered. "I don't know what the hell you are talking about Bolton. She was last seen with you. It's your word against mine. Who do you think all these kids here at West are going to believe? It certainly isn't going to be you. Besides, all I wanted her for was some action, just as she's been giving every other guy here at West. You must have heard about her reputation by now Bolton."

"Shut up Sutton! That's a load of crap and you know it! You're just a sore loser for not winning the girl like you are used to at West. Now tell me what you did to her!" demanded Troy, barely able to hang onto his control of his anger as he saw that arrogant look on Riley's face.

Riley shook his head, letting out a dark chuckle. "So you really did come for her, how touching. Well I'm sorry to say Bolton but your little slut hasn't been around these halls all week. Maybe she moved again or maybe she's been a love slave to some West guy who has her chained in his basement. Whatever or wherever she is, she's in better company than being with you, at least that much is clear. So sad that you can't seem to keep it together with that little tramp, she certainly pleased us all."

"You bastard! Gabriella would never do any of what you are implying and you for one should know when she told you off this past weekend. You're trash Sutton and Gabriella deserves so much better than that," replied Troy, seeing anger flash in Riley's eyes.

"Boys, grab him! Golden boy or not Bolton, no one comes onto our turf and insults me that way or by messing with my girl," stated Riley, pulling back his arm and solidly punching Troy in the stomach after Troy was unable to wrestle free of the grasp of Riley's buddies. Riley proceeded to pummel Troy, altering between his midsection and his face until Troy's strength finally disappeared and he was allowed to fall on the ground. Seeing his opponent was down didn't stop Riley though who then started kicking Troy until he heard two of the assistant vice principals shouting as they ran to break up the fight. Riley got down on the ground in front of Troy's face and growled, "This may be a recess on your beating today but this is far from over. Whether or not I know where she is, I would never tell you and I vow to you that she will be mine, one way or another. Count yourself lucky that you still have your life Bolton and never, and I mean never, set foot on West High soil again."

With that, Riley got up and joined his friends who took off to the parking lot and left in their cars before the administration could reach them after a quick chase.

Troy laid on the ground, clutching his midsection and silently wondering what area of his body hurt the most, deciding it was an even tie as his body felt like it was on fire from the pain. He felt a comforting hand rest on his shoulder and he looked up hoping it was Gabriella but no luck.

"Hey, I'm sorry I couldn't get the fight to be over with faster than that. The A.V.P.s took forever to believe me that there was a fight out front," apologized Tessa, surveying Troy's damage. "We need to get you cleaned up. Why don't you let me take you to my house and I'll care for you there? Or do you want to go to a hospital?"

"No hospital," Troy was able to get out as he coughed again, this time a little blood coming out.

Not knowing if the blood was from his mouth or something far more serious, Tessa shook her head. "No, it is the hospital after that cough. Come on Bolton, we've gotta get you out of here before those jerks come back," said Tessa, standing up and then reaching down an arm that wrapped around his waist to help pull Troy up.

As soon as he was upright, Troy doubled over in pain again, forcing Tessa to wrap her arm more securely around him. Sarah and Beth had also witnessed the fight and rushed over to help their friend out. Tessa got Troy's keys from him and drove him to the hospital while Beth took Tessa's car to drive home as the three girls agreed that the Bolton car was not safe on West High property.

The next day, Troy was released from the hospital since he luckily didn't have anything broken although Riley's kicks and continued punches had caused severe bruising of some of Troy's vital organs. Blood had come from a few cuts he earned in his mouth but luckily, there was no internal bleeding going on. Neither his mom or dad were pleased to hear about the fight and promptly grounded him for a month once they were told Troy would be all right. His only comfort was the fact that Tessa had promised she'd be in touch with him if she ever found out anything about Gabriella's whereabouts, both more worried now that they knew neither of them knew where Gabriella was.

Troy's thoughts were interrupted when the bell rang, signaling the end of the period. He quickly gathered his stuff and headed to his locker as he tried his best to ignore Chad's persistent following of him through the halls.

Chad knew something was going on with his best friend and he was determined to find out what it was. 'First, he gets beat up by West for being on their turf and now, Troy is acting all depressed. Something must have happened with him and Gabriella,' thought Chad as he tried to dodge a clingy popular girl, focused only on cornering Troy and making him open up during lunch, their next period.

When Troy finally arrived at his locker, he was surprised to see Taylor waiting for him there. "Taylor, what's up?" greeted Troy.

Taylor was about to answer when she spotted Chad's big haired head coming down the hall quickly in their direction. Instead of talking to Troy, she slipped him a note and dashed down the hallway, quickly getting lost in the flow of students, not wanting to put Troy in an even worst spot by having him associated with one of the nerd clique. In truth, Taylor and Troy had become somewhat friendly now from hanging out together with Gabriella, but Taylor never went when she knew there would be other East High students there, knowing the trouble that would cause. 'Troy's friends may be understanding about caring for a West High girl but they would never allow him to seriously consider being friends with someone lower on the East High food chain,' thought Taylor as she made her way to her own locker, hoping Troy would understand the note well enough without a verbal explanation.

After seeing Taylor vanish from view, Troy unfolded the note and read it twice to make sure he was reading it right:

Gabriella is back, T texted saying she's at school today. T and I wanted you to know so you can rest easy.

'She's back? From where? What happened all this time? Why did she never call, email, or anything?' wondered Troy as many more questions ran through his mind. Quickly, Troy grabbed his lunch and slammed his locker shut, swiftly merging with the crowd of students and making his way up to his secret spot on the roof, desperately needing the solitude to absorb and think about this new turn of events.

Troy lay in bed that evening, beyond frustrated with how his day had gone from the moment he received that note from Taylor. He had forced himself to go to the rest of his classes after he calmed down at least a little during lunch and tried to push his questions and worries aside to focus on what was going on in his classes.

As soon as the day was over, Troy ran out of East High at top speed and drove to Gabriella's house, just in time to watch her walk into her house with an unfamiliar guy. 'Wait, what?' he wondered, very confused who the guy was and why he was with Troy's girlfriend. 'Gabriella is still my girlfriend, right? Maybe?'

Instead of driving off like a small portion of him wanted him to, Troy parked the car and made his way to the front door and rang the doorbell. An older man answered the door and eyed Troy instantly. "Can I help you?"

Even more confused now, Troy swallowed before he said, "I'm Troy Bolton. Is Gabriella available?"

It was then that he heard her voice. "Whose at the door Daddy?" asked Gabriella, coming into view with that other guy behind her.

'Daddy?' wondered Troy. 'Whoa, something really has happened.'

"Troy! What are you doing here?" asked an excited Gabriella, who immediately pulled Troy inside the house and shut the door, giving him a big hug. She pulled away when her father cleared his throat and blushed when she looked back at her dad. "Sorry Dad. Troy, I'd like you to meet my father, Stephen Montez. Dad, this is Troy, the guy I've talked to you about."

The two shook hands while both curiously looked each other over. Belatedly, it dawned on Troy that Gabriella hadn't introduced him as her boyfriend. 'Does that mean something?' he wondered but lost track of that thought when he saw Gabriella's face pale.

"Troy, where did you get those bruises and cuts on your face?" asked a very concerned Gabriella when she finally got a chance to really look at him. "Did you get into a fight?"

"Something like that," mumbled Troy, looking at the floor. "Anyway, I just wanted to come over to see with my own eyes you were back. I can see you have company and your dad here so I'll just go."

Seeing that Troy was about to leave with a lot of unanswered questions between them, Gabriella instinctively reached out and grabbed Troy's hand, halting his exit. "Stay Troy, I think we need to talk," said Gabriella in a soft voice. She looked to her dad and Paul next. "Paul, I'll see you tomorrow at school, all right? Dad, I really need to talk to Troy alone."

Stephen nodded his head in understanding and showed Paul out while Gabriella brought Troy up to her bedroom so they had some form of privacy. Troy took a seat on her little couch next to her windows while Gabriella sat down next to him, still silently examining his face. "Please Troy, tell me what happened," pleaded Gabriella.

Knowing he would never be able to lie to her, Troy decided to tell her a summary of the truth. "Well, after you were missing for a week and I got a rather uneasy feeling, instead of being smart and calling Tessa to see if she knew what was going on, I went to West High that Friday and got physically punished by Riley with some minor help from his friends. I'm fine now though. Most of the damage is gone except for what you see now."

Gabriella covered her mouth, shocked at what he just told her. "My God Troy! Why would you put yourself in that type of danger? How bad was it?"

"Pretty bad but nothing broken and no internal bleeding. Just some bruising. Luckily, Tessa was there and helped get the administration to halt the beating from progressing and then took me to the hospital," answered Troy.

"Tessa knew!" exclaimed Gabriella, anger appearing in her brown eyes. "I can't believe she didn't tell me!"

Out of nowhere, irritation surged red hot through Troy at Gabriella's words. "You can't believe Tessa didn't tell you? How could you be so upset over that lack of communication when you just up and disappeared on all of us for weeks without word? Talk about communication breakdown Gabriella! Where were you when we were all worried to death about you? You look fine and now you have some guy friend at West in the total of one day you have been back at school? What is going on?"

Gabriella was silent for a few moments after Troy's outburst, nervously biting her lip as she thought what to say. "Look Troy, I don't even know where to begin here. I know, you're right, I did a shitty thing by leaving without a word and no communication but I didn't have a choice. And Paul is a new student at West, I was just being nice."

"So you find it in you to be nice to the new kid but you couldn't let your own boyfriend know you were fine and back in town? Brie, I thought we were better than this!" stated Troy, a certain edge working its way into his voice.

She let out a heavy sigh, not knowing how to respond in a manner that wouldn't send Troy right over the edge. "Troy, things are really complicated right now. I don't know what way is up right now and to be honest, I didn't get the chance to really talk to anyone since I got back late last night. Even Tessa who was there at school hasn't had the opportunity to talk to me."

"Even more reason why I don't understand how you have time for this Paul guy and not your friends and not your boyfriend, unless I'm not considered to be that anymore," said Troy, finally letting his insecurity be known about their status.

"Don't be ridiculous Troy," answered Gabriella. "I just need some time to absorb everything that has happened these past three weeks, okay?"

Troy just shook his head. "Fine, take all the time you want Gabriella. Find me when you want to talk," replied Troy as he stood up and walked out of the room without a further word being spoken.

Troy tossed his stuffed basketball toy up in the air and caught it, groaning as he replayed the events of the second half of his day again in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more Troy regretted leaving things the way they were with Gabriella but he just didn't know what else to think or do. 'I have no idea where she has been, I have no idea how she has been, I don't know what we are to each other anymore, and I have no clue as to who this new guy really is,' thought Troy as he turned on his radio and started thinking again. 'God, maybe I was way better off as a single player at East than getting involved with her. Who am I kidding though? Brie means a lot to me, despite this. I only wish I knew what was going on.'

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