Author's Note: Part Two of Police Tape.

Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical. But one day, that giant poster of Zac Efron will be mine!

Police Tape

A policeman with dark hair and piercing green eyes stood over the body, observing the bullet hole in the skull. He shook his head; so young. He watched as his comrades covered the blood-soaked body with a pristine white sheet. He sighed, looking around the room. He saw a dent in the whiteboard where the girl had accidentally fired the gun. He saw blood spatters on the desk behind the body.

He'd seen crime scenes far more gruesome than this one, but none had yanked on his heart stings quite as much. He had a young daughter and he had a young son. This hit home.

Logan Marshall. The reason for all this. Or was he? Was he the reason for this? Or were the people around him, the ones responsible for his 'torture,' the ones responsible?

As he turned around, his eyes fell on the white board.

GM ♥ TB

He sighed to himself.

"It's not fair," he muttered, watching his friend escort a sobbing teen from the room. "Sometimes you wonder what would happen if kids weren't so cruel."

----------------------------------------------------

"Tell me she's not dead," he demanded, glaring at the man. Chad bit his lip as he rubbed Taylor's back. He wished Troy would stop yelling at the cops. Then, maybe he would get some answers.

"Tell me something!" Troy shouted, his arms flailing around. "Tell me anything!" he tried, sinking to the ground. He sat with his legs bent in front of him, head in his hands. He let out a sound halfway between a moan and a groan and ran his hands through his hair furiously. "She could be dead…" he moaned. Taylor rushed towards him.

"Don't you say that," she scolded angrily. "Once you give up hope, we all give up hope." Troy looked her in the eye.

"Taylor…I never told her…I never told her how much…how much she means to me," he confessed softly. "She still doesn't know. And for all I know, she never will." Taylor wrapped her arms around the distraught boy, rocking him slowly.

"She'll know, don't worry." Suddenly, there was a loud bang and the police came out of the main entrance surrounding someone who appeared to be struggling against them. And that's when Troy knew. Gabriella Montez was dead and he was never going to get the chance to tell her how much she truly meant to him.

One of the men separated from the group, approaching the chief. The chief asked him a question and the cop shook his head sadly. Troy was able to read his lips.

"Fatal gun wound to the head; suicide." Troy inhaled shakily and faced his friends. They asked what happened.

"She's dead," he croaked, the tears beginning to fall down his face. "He shot her," he took a shaky breath, "in the head." Taylor fell to the ground, her head in her hands, shaking.

"No," she moaned. "No, no, no. That can't be right; she can't be dead." Chad sank down next to her and gathered her in his arms.

"Why?" he asked aloud, the tears glistening in his eyes. "Why her? What'd she ever do to anyone?" Troy frowned, blinking away traces of tears, and turned around, realizing something, searching for the chief and the cop. He spotted them, and ran to the pair, quickly wiping the tears from his eyes again.

"Wait," he said, interrupting, not really caring who he bothered anymore. "Did you say suicide?" The officer frowned.

"Yes, I said suicide." Troy shook his head, unbelieving. What was so bad that Gabriella killed herself?

"Why would she kill herself?" he asked, more to himself that to anyone, the tears welling in his eyes again. The cop shook his head.

"Logan Marshall killed himself because he didn't want to spend time in jail. He took the easy way out, the lowly son of a…" He was cut off by the chief, who grabbed his arm and pulled him away. Troy stood, frozen on the spot, staring at the high school.

Logan Marshall? The kid who played trombone in the marching band? The genius who programmed all the school's computers with the new attendance program? The guy in his AP English class? The kid who Troy imagined coming back to the ten-year reunion as a billionaire? He kidnapped Gabriella, held her hostage, and then killedhimself? Why would he do that? No one made fun of him. Not really, anyway. Once in a while they would slip in a witty comment, but other than that, people pretty much left him alone.

"Wait," he murmured, his mind whirling, "if Logan shot himself, then…" Someone called his name.

Troy spun around and saw her running towards him at full speed. She jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist. He squeezed her close, his hand already entangled in her hair.

"Gabriella," he breathed, resting his head in the crook of her neck. She was gripping his shirt and tears were streaming from her eyes.

"Troy…oh, God, Troy…" She let go of his shirt and pulled back, looking into his eyes and holding his.

"I thought I would never see you again," she whispered. Suddenly, their lips were pressed together forcefully. They kissed until it was necessary to breathe and then broke apart. Her feet found the ground and she pulled him down to her lips again. She pulled back, breathing heavily as he pressed kisses to her cheeks and along her jawbone. Kissing her lips again, he felt tears springing to his eyes. He wrapped his arms around her body tightly and heaved, trying to hold them in.

Nothing mattered anymore. It didn't matter that he'd never told her how he felt. It didn't matter that people didn't like the idea of them being together. It didn't matter that their chances of making it were slim, because they would be the ones to beat the odds.

And yet suddenly everything mattered. Being able to smile at her was suddenly important. Being able to look forward to seeing her the next day was important. Being able to touch her arm was significant. Things that had previously been overlooked and taken for granted now seemed incredibly valuable.

For several minutes, they just stood together, wrapped in each other's arms, exchanging a kiss every so often. No one approached them, letting them reunite. He moved his head back and his hands found her face again. His thumbs brushed over her lips, her cheeks, her nose, her forehead, her eyes, everything. They ran down her neck and over her shoulders, down her arms and to her waist. His eyes scanned her body, trying to commit every part of her to memory. Their foreheads touched and he sighed.

"I was so afraid," he murmured. "I thought you left me. We thought you died." Gabriella sighed, twisting his hair around her fingers.

"I would never leave you." He kissed her again. "Oh, God," she murmured against his lips. "Troy, I was so scared. He kept pointing the gun at me and I kept thinking, over and over, 'This is it. I'm never going to see Troy again.' And that was all I was thinking about; you. And I feel horrible. I didn't think about anyone else. I didn't even think about my mom, Troy. Not once. I just couldn't get you out of my head." Tears were cascading down her cheeks and she was shaking. He pulled her close to him.

"I'm never letting you go again," he said softly, rubbing circles on her back. He pulled back slightly. "Are you alright?" She nodded, trying to wipe away some of her tears.

"He didn't hurt me." Her hands were shaking. "But," she sniffed, "he's dead, Troy. He shot himself. I kept thinking I might be able to talk him down or change his mind or something. But he's dead." Troy pressed his lips to her forehead. "I kept thinking I could help him somehow. And then the police came to the door and started trying to come in. And he lifted up the gun and I thought he was going to shoot me, but…he shot himself. And I just collapsed." Troy kissed her cheek.

"Brie…"

"And when they woke me up, I saw his body laying there, covered with blood. And I tried running away but they held me back and kept asking me all these stupid questions. I kept trying to run because all I could think about was finding you." She buried her head in his chest. "They wouldn't let me go," her muffled voice said. "They kept asking stupid questions. They wanted to know what he said and all this other absolute crap." Troy hand squeezed the back of Gabriella's head gently and he kissed along her jaw line.

"Brie," he said between kisses. "It's alright. Please…" She pulled away from him and nuzzled into the crook of his neck.

"Get me out of here," she begged. "Bring me home, please…" Troy smiled slightly.

"I think there's someone you should say hello to, first." Taylor and Chad were helping Ms. Montez over to her daughter. Gabriella shook her head.

"I'll say something to them later. Just please take me home." Troy sighed, gently taking her shoulders and turning her around.

"But I think she wants to say something to you," he said. She turned.

"Gabriella," Christina breathed, wrapping her daughter in a hug. Gabriella's arms were pinned to her side. She released her, gently touching her daughter's hair.

"Mom," she whispered, pulling her mother into a hug. Looking up at her mother, she whispered, "I love you."

"Excuse me," a man said to Troy, "But we need to ask Miss Montez a few questions." Troy nodded and watched as Gabriella was escorted away. She reached back quickly, grabbing for him. He followed closely, gently kissing her forehead and she clung to his waist.

----------------------------------------------------

Two hours later, the police said that Gabriella could finally go home. Christina reluctantly agreed to let Troy walk her daughter home before parting in her own vehicle. Gabriella and Troy walked towards the corner hand in hand, silent. When they reached the crosswalk, Troy stopped her.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, looking down at his feet. She frowned slightly.

"What are you sorry for?" He sighed, shaking his head.

"Today was all my fault. That kid hated me. If I would have just…I don't know…said hello to him once in a while, maybe he wouldn't have…" Gabriella shook her head.

"No," she breathed. "This isn't your fault at all." He shrugged his shoulders, not looking at her. "Troy," she murmured. "I swear that this isn't your fault." He leaned back against the lamppost.

"But I just feel like…like…" She sighed softly, placing a hand on his chest.

"Troy," she murmured, "this isn't your fault." He looked down at her sadly.

"I still feel bad," he muttered. She smiled softly, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck.

"Don't," she pleaded. He sighed. Her smile faded and she pouted. She leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. He didn't return it. "Troy," she groaned.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Troy, this wasn't your fault." He finally put his arms around her waist. She smiled again. "Now will you finish walking me home?" He nodded, still frowning. "But you have to kiss me first." He leaned down and gently kissed her cheek.

"Troy!"

"Gabriella…I just…"

"God, Troy! It's not your fault!"

"Gabriella, you could have died today!" he yelled. She bit her lip. "I almost lost you today; all because some kid thought nobody knew he was alive!" Her eyes began to water when she saw how upset he was.

"Just stop thinking about that for one second," she urged. "Just think about now," she begged. "I'm here with you right now. I'm fine." He sighed.

"Gabriella, I know. But I keep thinking about what almost happened."

"But it didn't."

"Gabriella, losing you scared the hell out of me." A single tear slipped down his cheek. "I'm still scared," he whispered. She wrapped her arms around him as his head fell on her shoulder. She felt his tears on her skin.

"Troy, it's okay," she cooed.

"You mean so much to me," he whimpered. "And I just…I thought I was never going to be able to tell you." She tangled her fingers in his hair. Pulling back slightly, he looked into her eyes.

"God, you have no idea how much you mean to me." She smiled slightly, resting her forehead on his.

"I have a pretty good idea," she murmured against his lips. He returned this one, gently massaging her lips with his.

"I don't know what it is; I don't know if it's love or what but… Brie, I just…" He stopped talking and pressed a kiss to her lips. His hands found the base of her neck as he struggled to pull her closer.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he breathed. She smiled.

"How about you take me out on Saturday so I can prove to you just how okay I am?" He smiled slightly, kissing her again.

"That sounds like a good idea," he murmured against her lips. She grinned.

"Now take me home so that I can lie down." He wrapped his arms around her and led her across the street, pausing every few steps to press a kiss to her temple. When they reached her house, he followed her upstairs. He tucked her into bed, kissing her forehead. She asked him to stay, saying she would make room for him. He beamed, lying down beside her. He placed her arm around her abdomen, snuggling up beside her.

Two hours later, when Christina Montez came up to check on her daughter, she found her sleeping in the arms of Troy Bolton. Troy had a small smile on his face and his arms were encircling Gabriella's waist. Smiling at them, she sighed happily. Her daughter was going to be safe from now on. That boy wouldn't let anything happen to her. Ever.

Author's Note: Be honest, how many of you thought Gabriella died? Because when my friend read this, she started screaming at me. "HOW CAN YOU KILL OFF GABRIELLA!!??" I had to restrain myself; I almost burst out laughing. I then had to get her to finish reading (which wasn't easy).

I understand that this subject is a little…touchy. But I just had to write this.