Hi everyone

Ok you might get bored of reading it but I don't get bored of saying it THANK YOU for your kind words and bolstering my confidence with my writing.

I love that you like Troyella fanfic as that was my first TG story. This is another one of my faves aswell as another new one I haven't posted yet.

I am working on a Zac fanfic for Zefron at the moment and I have a new TG idea for after that so please keep reading!

TY

CHAPTER 1

Gabi stood outside the modest house situated in Albuquerque, knocking on the door and taking a nervous breath as she waited patiently for the door to be answered by the inhabitants.

She already knew that Linda and Jack Bolton would be here, but this wasn't their house, it was their son's house and it was him she was ultimately here to see.

She had Troy Bolton's case file under her arm and she juggled it with nervous hands.

Troy had been through three different occupational health visitors already. She knew from his file that he was an excellent basketball player who was at the cusp of becoming a star player of the Albuquerque Aces when a car accident had left him in pretty bad shape.

She knew what the file told her of his injuries and she knew he had been in a wheelchair for sometime and she also knew that apart from his physical scars, his mental ones went much deeper.

He was 20 years old and not reaching his star potential was apparently weighing heavily on him. Or so she had been told by her colleagues.

She had left the health centre this morning with a 'good luck' and sympathetic looks. She had decided to clear her mind of everything she had been told about him so she could go in today and make up her own mind. There was nothing worse than judging someone before she'd even met them. And the fact he had managed to drive away three people only made her think he was going to try the same with her.

Only he hadn't bargained on how stubborn Gabi Montez could be when she wanted to be.

The door opened to reveal an older lady, with long dark brown hair and a warm smile "Hello, you must be Miss Montez"

"Please, call me Gabriella. Gabi" she amended quickly, blushing

"I'm Linda. Come in" she said and Gabi followed her into the house and through to the living room where Mr. Bolton sat.

"Mr. Bolton" she shook his hand as he proffered his formally "Call me Jack" he insisted

"Okay, I'm Gabi" she repeated, sitting down awkwardly. These meetings were always awkward the first time. Once she got to know the patient, and the family, it became a lot easier but at first it always felt uncomfortable.

"Is Troy here?" she checked with a little frown

Linda looked to Jack and Jack pressed his lips together as he steepled his fingers.

"Uh, he's upstairs, in his room. He doesn't much come out" he explained lightly

Gabi nodded "Okay, well, I don't mean to appear rude but it's really best I form my own idea of Troy's situation before you tell me your side of it" she hedged, firm and confident in what she was saying but still a little cautious of their reaction. Some families didn't like how she worked because she was so direct.

"Erm, if you don't mind me saying…" Jack coughed "You are awfully young"

Gabi smiled her best professional smile. If he knew how many times she had been told that.

Her long curly black hair was tidy in a bun at the back of her head and her petite features were void of a lot of make up, but it did give her a youthful look.

"I'm 23" she said "I have all of the qualifications that the other visitors have. I just have different working methods" she explained "I have a great success rate, here is my information" she passed them a sheet

"I can't promise you're going to like me, or that Troy will like me, but I can promise I will not leave here until he is rehabilitated" she vowed.

Jack read her sheet with interest and she sat patiently.

"He's had three people leave already" Linda said "It hasn't helped his…trust of people" she mentioned carefully

"Would you like longer to think about this before I meet him?" she checked

They looked at each other and clasped their hands together.

"No, we're happy for you to start today" Linda said and Jack nodded

"Okay, would you like to take me up, Linda?" she asked and Linda led the way up the stairs, Gabi noticing the changes to the house to help Troy move around. He could get up and down the stairs she noted from the stair lift.

Why did he stay in his room? What was it that he was afraid of? She wondered as she climbed up, waiting behind Linda as she knocked on the door.

"Troy, are you up, honey? We have that meeting we told you about" she said through the closed door

"I don't care" he said back

"Well, Miss Montez is here to meet you" she said gently, taking a breath and Gabi could see she was both fearful and resigned at his expected reaction

The door flew open and a messily half dressed, unkempt young man appeared; his face stiff with anger and contempt. He had messy brown hair that was like a mop on his head and it fell into his face, which was a handsome face if it wasn't also covered in a beard.

His eyes seemed to pop out their blue colour against his darker hair and her eyes involuntarily dropped to his naked chest.

He had on some tracksuit bottoms with bare feet but his chest and stomach were quite defined, which surprised her considering he was meant to be wheelchair bound. That also didn't stop him from opening the door.

It would seem Troy's injuries were not as bad as she had originally presumed.

He looked at his mother, then looked at Gabi and squinted, then slammed the door shut again and Linda closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry, perhaps today is not a good day" she suggested

"Actually today is perfect" Gabi said, undeterred "Let me try alone, I'll be back down shortly" she said and Linda nodded, her brown eyes meeting hers with concern

Gabi thought how odd it was that Troy's eyes had appeared so blue, so startling blue and his mother's eyes were so brown. He must take after his dad.

She took a breath, wondering if he might be dressed when she knocked again, more gently.

She waited a minute and she knew that the door would open again without her needing to knock a second time.

"You're not going away, huh?" he asked knowingly, his eyes challenging hers as they met again when he opened the door

She was glad to note he had put on a tee shirt. Albeit a creased one, which just further accentuated his scruffy appearance.

"Nope" she said and he sighed, resting his arm on the door frame and his head against his arm as he dropped his eyes and afforded Gabi with a view of his long eyelashes.

He really was too young to have to go through this, she thought as he sighed.

"I guess you ought to come in then" he said, walking away and leaving his door open as he trekked across his clothes-ridden floor.

Gabi picked her way across after him, noting the closed curtains, the half-eaten food, the smell of dankness from his obvious aversion to washing his clothes and himself.

Troy had the decency to look sheepish as she ventured in and he regretted opening the door to her again.

When his mom had told him Miss Montez were here, he wasn't expecting this petite bundle of exotic beauty to be standing on the other side of his door.

Her eyes skimmed the room but she didn't look disgusted as he expected her too. God knows his friends did when they came round. And the last time he had a girlfriend, which was a few months ago now, she had taken one look and never come back

He thought about how much that had hurt him and he knew Miss Montez would leave eventually too. They all did. No-one could stand his mood swings, his mess or his rudeness. Why should they? He was a twisted monster that no-one deserved to put up with.

It had taken a while for the last one to go he mused, thinking of Greg, his last health visitor, but he'd gone in the end.

He'd been going round and round in this pattern for six months now. He thought it was kind of ironic that Gabi thought she could break the chain. She looked like a teenager in an adult's world from her young face. She wore smart trousers and a shirt which strained at the buttons on her chest and he caught himself eyeing her there, wondering if she knew he could almost see her bra through the thin white shirt.

Gabi noticed Troy's eyes at her chest and blushed as she realized her shirt was almost gaping at the front. She self-consciously pulled at the gap and Troy's eyes flicked to hers and she had the most extraordinary feeling curl through her stomach at his look from under those lengthy lashes.

She frowned, and then took a breath as she brought herself back to the task at hand.

"Okay, so perhaps you would like to tell me about you?" she suggested, standing awkwardly among his dirty clothes.

"Wanna sit down?" he gruffed and she eyed the bed and then decided on a chair by his computer which was junk-free.

Troy lay on his bed again, face first, star fished "Fire away" he said tiredly

"Tell me about your injuries?" she asked gently

His body stiffened but he didn't move from his splayed position on the bed.

"I'm fucked up" he said shortly, bitterly

"Can you tell me exactly what's injured?" she asked

"You have my file don't you?" he snapped

"I do. But I'd like you to tell me"

"Is this some psychological shit?" he returned

"No." she said, just as shortly as he had before, causing him to lift his head to look at her, then place his head back down against his bed, facing her now.

"My back." He sighed "It's damaged. I can stand and walk a little but not a lot else. If we go out, I normally have the wheelchair."

"When did you last go out?" she queried lightly

His eyes flicked to hers and he leaned up onto to elbows, considering her

"How old are you?" he asked in return

Gabi lifted her eyes from her lap to meet his, surprised at his question.

He wasn't as closed off as she had expected.

"I'm twenty-three" she supplied primly, crossing her legs and Troy didn't miss her shapely thighs as they rested together.

"Isn't that a bit young? You're only three years older than me" he argued

"I believe you are trying to avoid my question" she pursed her lips.

Troy watched her lips pout and had a funny urge to lick his tongue across her lower lip. Of course he was trying to avoid her question, he mused. Who wouldn't in his situation?

There was a beautiful girl sat in his room and if she knew he hadn't been out of the house in a month she might think he was…well he didn't know what she might think he was, but it definitely wasn't good.

"What was the question again?" he asked, even though he knew

She cocked her head and he wondered how annoyed he could make her.

"When was the last time you went out" she repeated

"When was the last time you went out?" he asked back "I mean, out- out. To a party or something?"

She considered him. She had plenty of training to deal with people like this. But she also knew that for him to trust her, she would have to build up a rapport. That often meant giving snippets of information about herself.

"If I tell you will you answer my question?" she smirked at the circle of questions around them

He nodded against his hands as he cupped his chin.

"Okay. The last time I went out to a party type thing was for my best friend's birthday, last Saturday" she divulged "You?"

"See that wasn't so hard was it?" he asked another question and she eyed him, sensing he was trying to wind her up

"Okay, okay, don't get your knickers in a twist" he sighed, resting his head back on the bed where he mumbled "April 5th" against the bed cover, his lips contorted by the bed

Gabi looked him in the eyes, realising that was four weeks ago.

"Okay. And is there anything other than your back that was injured?" she checked

"Well I got all these scars" he said, rolling onto his back and peeling up his tee top to flash his belly at her again, pointing out the scars she had already seen. "And my leg got hurt so I limp a bit on that until it's fixed. I'm a fucking invalid basically" he said and put his arm over his eyes

"I'm going to be around quite a lot this week" she said "To keep up with your progress, see your daily routine" she added

"Fine" he said blankly, then peeped at her with one eye when she was quiet "That's it?" he asked, surprised

She nodded.

"You don't want to know why the others left?" he frowned but she only saw the downturn of his mouth as his arm covered his brows.

She shook her head, her own lips pointing downward "Not particularly"

His eyes stayed on hers for a moment. That was the first thing the others had asked him. What was his problem? What was he struggling with? Why couldn't he accept his fate?

He wondered now why she hadn't asked him any of that, why she didn't care. Why didn't it bother her that he lived in a pit of despair and hadn't been out in over a month?

God knows Greg had tried to coax him out of the house enough times. But he spoke to him like he was five years old. That just wound him up even more.

"Okay I'm just going to say goodbye to your parents, I'll be back tomorrow at 9am, will you be here to let me in?" she checked

He sighed "Where else will I be?"

"I don't know. Maybe you'll have a miraculous recovery and run off to Vegas" she suggested lightly as she got up

"What?" he said, lifting his head quickly at catching her joke

She merely smiled at him "Bye Troy" she said and she closed his door behind her. The others never did that, either. It was like they thought if they left his door open he would have to get up or he would be curious about what lay out in the hall.

All it did was serve to remind him what little respect he commanded now that he couldn't walk properly.

--

"Is everything okay?" Linda asked as Gabi came down to find them both hunched on the sofa.

"Actually yes, Troy was fine." She said

"Oh thank god, I was so worried he would be rude to you" she sighed

"I'm sure its coming" Gabi mused

"What did you think?" Jack asked

Gabi's brown eyes met his "I think your son is very intelligent, Jack and I think we can help him" she said positively

"Okay, well is there anything you need from us?"

"How often do you spend here?" she asked gently

"When we're not working or busy, we're here" he admitted

"I need you to cut down the visits for me. I'll tell you more on Friday when you come to the office" she added, conscious that Troy was probably at the top of the stairs listening, like most of her patients did after she left them.

"Okay, thank you" they said gratefully as she left.

---

Gabi strode purposefully from the house, feeling someone watching her and turning to look up, seeing Troy's curtain twitch and knowing he was curious about her. What she didn't know was how she was going to deal with his probing questions. She'd never quite had anyone so unpredictable to deal with before and she feared, for the first time ever, that he may just get the better of her and expose her inexperience.

The spring air was warm across her skin as she made her way back to the car and she got in, shutting the door and starting the engine, hoping against all hope that this would be a quick project and she could be back on a plane to Houston to see her fiancé before spring was out.

James hadn't exactly been happy about her moving all the way to Albuquerque to take this case and she had felt, even before that, they were on shaky ground. Twice she had gone to meet him at a bar and found him flirting with another woman and both times he had accused her of being possessive and unreasonable when she had mentioned it.

She didn't think it all that unreasonable that her husband-to-be was able to wait for her without flirting with any female within ten feet. And she wasn't going to take any crap. She had said yes to his proposal when they had been whirlwind in love at six months and now she wished she hadn't but she couldn't just take something like that back, so instead she extended their engagement and even now they had only been together for a year this coming June; it was still such a short time to be getting married. It had meant moving away from everything she knew in New York, her friends, her work. And six months of living with James with hardly any time to enjoy herself.

As though thinking about him had conjured his call, her phone started ringing and Gabi saw James on her caller ID. She picked up the call before she pulled away.

"Hi honey" she said tiredly

"Hi sweetie" James purred "How's my favourite girl?" he asked

"Oh, tired, but I'm okay, thanks. How are you? How did the Lexar deal go?" she asked

"It went well. They assigned the project to me and I'll be working with their project manager" he explained

"Oh that's good. What did you do last night?" she checked lightly

"Sat in with a pizza. Missing you" he said

"Aw, I miss you too" she sighed, picturing his bulky frame, his rugged looks.

"How was the rehab case?" he asked then, absently as she could hear him ordering food at the deli.

"I can't talk about it honey, you know that" she reminded him

"I don't know why not, it's not like I'm going to say anything" he said tersely

"It really doesn't matter" she said, tired. Tired of having to go through this every time she had a new case. Tired of having to fight over something that didn't have any bearing on their relationship.

"It matters to me. I wanna know if some psycho is giving you grief" he argued

"James…" she sighed, rubbing her forehead to relieve the pressure of her frown

"Fine. Don't tell me." he said and hung up, much to her surprise

He had never hung up on her before. What was he playing at?

Maybe this time apart would do them good, she mused.

---

Troy lay back on his bed after watching Gabi leave, face down as he closed his eyes and prayed his parents would just decide to leave him alone.

He didn't want people sat in his living room all day waiting for him to come out. He wanted to lie in his bed until he felt like moving and be able to go to his kitchen for a cheese toastie without it being a big deal.

If he even ventured down the stairs he would be pounced upon and talked to like a child and he hated that. He hated that more than being disabled, the fact that everyone spoke to him like he was five years old.

He knew he hadn't exactly helped himself by acting like a teenager most of the time, but he was barely out of his teens and he felt like all his hard work, his determination, was wasted. And so was his will. His will to get up. His will to live.

He sighed, letting his eyes close as he fell into a nap, rolling on the bed until he was comfy, his blanket twisted around him haphazardly.