TITLE: Counting the Days

AUTHOR: CJ.xox.Dancerella

RATING: T

FEEDBACK: Me likey. Alot. :D

DISCLAIMER: If I owned them, ya think I'd be writing fan fiction?

PAIRING/CHARACTERS: Troyella.

SUMMARY: "Because we're not going to be upset or focus on the time we are going to be spending apart. We're going to look forward to the times we will be able to spend together."

This is my entry for the ZA Angels Write Off in Dee's category. The challenge was:

It's August 25th. The day Troy and Gabriella have been dreading all year. It's the day Gabriella is leaving for college on the east coast. My assignment for you is:

"To write a fanfiction from Troy's point of view about that last day particulary focusing on their conversation at the airport." I'm not trying to open the flood gates here, but who's kidding who yeah I am. Happy writing!

Just a really random bit of fluffy waffle to enter in the Write Off. Hope you all enjoy! Thanks to my partner in crime Jessa for her encouragement with this, and to Holly for pushing me to finish!

(PS. Go join the ZA Angels Fan Forum. Coz I said so :p Link can be found on the ZA Angels Blog page!)

xox

August 23rd

4pm

"Argh!" I groaned in frustration as I exited yet another store at the mall. I had been walking around in circles the entire afternoon, and it was beginning to get me down. I was still no closer to finding the perfect gift than I had been three hours ago. I wasn't even entirely sure there was such thing as the perfect gift for what I needed. The perfect gift to say...to say goodbye...

It was August 23rd. Two days before THE day.

The day that the girl who had become my world would be abandoning me to go off and share her brilliance with the other side of the continent. The day the sunshine in my world would be a little less 

bright. The day that I knew I would spend wishing I could freeze time or have giant gorillas suddenly appear in New York and take over the city so that my girl would not be able to...

Oh, God...I was turning into Sharpay.

In two days time, Gabriella Montez – my other half, the light of my life, the...girl who reduces me to this sappy pile of sensitive-new-age-guy whose friends laugh at him daily – sometimes more often – reminding him he is 'whipped'.

I am not whipped.

WHAT? I'm NOT!!

I just love my girlfriend.

A lot.

Got a problem with that?

Didn't think so.

Ok. Moving right along.

The main reason why my fruitless shopping trip was frustrating me – besides the fact that is was fruitless – was that all these hours wandering aimlessly through store after store at the mall were eating into precious hours I could have been spending with Gabriella.

I was just about to give up – pulling my car keys out of my pocket with a sigh and heading towards the car park – when a display in the window of the very first store I had visited that day caught my eye.

A grin quickly spread across my face.

Perfect.

August 25th

5am

"Shit!" I swore softly as I woke with a start, wondering why I was so warm and comfortable until I realised that Gabriella was sound asleep in my arms.

We had been watching a movie on her bed when her mom had gone to bed. We promised her that I would go home as soon as the movie was finished, but we must have fallen asleep.

It just about broke my heart to wake her when she looked so peaceful, but I knew it had to be done – a firm knot of dread had already settled in my stomach with the knowledge that she was leaving today. Her flight was at 3pm that afternoon.

"Ella..." I whispered gently, brushing back a few curls that had fallen over her eyes and kissing her forehead. "Ella, babe - wake up."

"Hmm?" Gabriella murmured, her eyelids fluttering as she struggled to wake. "Troy?"

"Yeah, it's me El. We must have fallen asleep before the movie finished," I explained. "It's five in the morning. I've got to go, your mom will kill us if she finds me here when she wakes up...not to mention my mom and dad," I gulped as I checked my cell and found there were 27 missed calls registered.

I almost had to laugh at the situation – here we were: 18 years old, about to leave for college, and still tip-toeing around our parents.

Gabriella nodded sleepily before wrapping her arms tightly around me, burying her head in my chest and placing three soft kisses right over my heart.

"I love you," she whispered, looking up at me.

"I love you too Gabi. I'll be back in a few hours to pick you and your mom up, ok?"

She nodded again and I leaned down and kissed her soundly on the lips before tucking her up in her bed and letting myself quietly out of the house.

2pm

"Naaw, look at them," I hear my mom - Lucille Bolton – gush from behind me, placing a hand over her heart as she walked alongside my dad Jack, and Gabi's mom Maria. Several paces ahead of them, Ella and I were walking hand in hand, her carry-on luggage over my shoulder.

My mom and dad had met Gabi, Maria and I at Albuquerque International Airport earlier and eaten lunch together, before checking Gabriella's luggage in and heading towards the security checkpoint. From there, she would be on her own.

"We can hear you, Mom," I said with a roll of my eyes. I looked down at Ella as she giggled. Unable to help myself, I dropped a kiss on her forehead as I tightened my grip on her hand. Boy was I going to miss that sweet laugh. I was going to miss everything about her.

We reached the security gates and our parents caught up with us. I turned to Gabriella, cupping her face in my hands and tilting her head before closing my eyes and allowing my lips to brush gently against her forehead, lingering there. I heard her exhale softly as I breathed in deeply, committing the scent of her to my memory.

"I left a bottle of my perfume under your pillow," she whispered. Even with my eyes closed, I could hear the smile on her lips.

With one more kiss, I reluctantly pulled back and let go of Gabriella, allowing her mother and my parents to have their time with her. My dad hugged her, giving her an encouraging pat on the back and a grin - telling her that he knew she would do great - before moving to stand beside me, crossing his arms and rocking back and forth on his heels whilst looking up towards the roof.

Either he was trying to hold back how emotional he was really feeling about the girl I knew he thought of – deep down – as a daughter leaving, or he was trying to pretend he wasn't associated with the two women in front of us who were now clinging to Ella, whilst openly sobbing.

Actually, I have a feeling it was a bit of both.

Anyway, about ten minutes later we finally managed to drag Mom and Maria off of Gabriella. I left Dad in charge of consoling them, while I said my...said my...while I talked to Ella.

"Hey," I murmured, rubbing my hand up and down her arm and wiping away a couple of tears that were on her face. As she looked up at me, more tears started to spill over, and I placed the gift bag I was holding down on the ground beside me, using both my hands to wipe her tears before wrapping her in a tight hug. "Hey, hey, hey – none of that, ok?" I swallowed hard as she sobbed into my chest. "Heeeey, shh, shh, shh."

She pulled back and looked up at me with her big, brown, tear-filled eyes. "I'm really, really gonna miss you, Troy," she said softly, her lip quivering.

My heart just about shattered in two. But I knew I had to be strong. I had to be strong – for her.

I leaned down and brushed my lips against hers briefly, pulling away before either of us could deepen it. "I'm going to miss you too Ella. But you're going off to do great things, ok? You are the smartest person I know, El. You're going to change the world one day, I know it."

"Not unless I have you by my side," she sniffled. "I...I can't do this, Troy. NYU seemed like a big adventure at first, but now it's here I...I don't think I want to go anymore..." her watery eyes were locked on mine as she clung to the front of my t-shirt, her small hands clutching fistfuls of the blue fabric.

I looked her square in the eye. As much as I wanted to grab her and kiss her and tell her YES leaving was a BAD idea and she should DEFINATELY just stay here with me forever and ever and ever...NYC had been her dream since she was a little girl and I knew that I couldn't be the one to hold her back. I gave her a wry smile. "The Gabriella Montez I know and love is NOT a quitter," I reminded her. "I'm going to miss you like crazy Ella, but you're going to go and kick some serious NYU butt, ok? And I will be right by your side – maybe not in person, but there's the phone and email and texts and IM...I don't care if I end up accumulating the third world debt in phone bills, I promise we will talk at least twice a day."

A hint of a smile played on Gabriella's lips. "Promise?"

I nodded. "I promise. And besides – if you don't go, then I can't give you your present. And it took me many hours I could have been spending with you to make," I teased. Gabriella giggled and I couldn't help but kiss her lips. "That's my girl," I smiled, reaching out and running my hand through her long, dark curls, sloppily tucking them behind her ear and kissing her cheek before bending down and retrieving the gift bag.

My stomach clenched with a flutter of nerves as I handed Gabriella the gift bag.

"Troy, you didn't have to...but thank you," she smiled gratefully, reaching up one her tip toes and kissing my jaw.

I studied her expressions as she pulled my homemade handicraft from the bag.

"Oh my...Troy, I love it...I don't know what to say..." she trailed off as she flipped through the pages of the calendar I had made for her. Each month featured a different themed collage containing pictures of the two of us together. Prom photos, summer holidays, pictures from lunchtimes spent goofing off at school, winter vacation, memories from various birthday parties, pictures from a road trip we had taken up the coast together just a few short weeks ago, and even pictures of the two of us just chilling out together at home adorned the various months of the year. Gabriella's fingers traced over the days, weeks and months, noticing suddenly that there were stars drawn in black pen on different dates here and there throughout the year. "What are these?" she asked.

I smiled knowingly. "Aaaah! I'm glad you asked," I replied. "Wherever you see black stars – those are the dates during the year that we will be able to see each other."

"Oh, Troy..." Gabi's eyes began to well up once more. I knew if she started to cry again I wouldn't be able to hold my own emotions in check for too long, so I dipped my head and gently kissed her eyelids and lashes, brushing the tears away with my lips.

"I've marked in every holiday, long weekends, semester breaks, winter vacation...I worked it all out. Because we're not going to be upset or focus on the time we are going to be spending apart. We're going to look forward to the times we will be able to spend together."

She blinked several times to try and keep back the threatening tears as she pointed to a tiny pink cross. There were identical pink crosses on every single day of the year.

"What about the pink crosses? What are they for?"

"Those are all they days that I'll be thinking of you."

Gabriella couldn't hold back the tears any longer, and buried her face in my chest. I held her close and rocked her gently.

"I love you so, so much," her soft voice told me.

"I love you so, so much too Ella," I returned, resting my chin on her head as I held her.

After a few moments just standing like that – the sound of my heart beat soothing her, the feel of her curls as I ran my fingers through her hair distracting me - I heard and felt her giggle quietly against my chest.

"Troy?"

"Mmm?"

"Who's going to flat iron your hair for you when I'm gone?" she pulled back and looked up at me with a cheeky grin, her eyes only slightly red still.

"Heeeey..." How could she choose THAT MOMENT to pull out one of my deepest, darkest secrets to use against me?!

"And who is going to read and explain all your required English texts to you so you don't completely flunk the test you will have the next day?"

"That was one time!" Ok, don't give me the look, Gab. Anything but the... "Ok, maybe more like three. But still..."

I poked her in the side and she wriggled in my grasp before snuggling back into my chest. She was quiet for a moment, and I dropped a quick kiss on her head.

"Troy?" Here we go again.

"Uh huh?"

"Who is going to record every episode of Dancing with the Stars for you, because you're too embarrassed to watch it any time other than 3am in the privacy of your own bedroom?"

I dug my fingers into her sides and tickled as she squirmed and shrieked with laughter. "I'll tell you what," I laughed, grabbing the calendar from her and flipping to the first black star after today's date. "In the theme of concentrating on the times we can spend together – the second weekend in October. I'm flying up to see you for a couple days. You can flat iron my hair to your heart's content, I'll bring up all my text books for you to explain to me, and we can stay up late watching back-to-back Dancing with the Stars episodes. Deal?"

She nodded with a grin and replied "Deal," before taking the calendar back and tucking it safely away. She turned back to me, her smile fading a little. "I'll call you as soon as I land, ok?"

I felt my chest tighten slightly as I realised this was it – she really was going. No matter how hard I tried to remind myself of what I'd just told her – that it wasn't about the time apart, it was about the times we would be together – it was the time apart that was staring me in the face right now.

"I'll be waiting," I promised. I cupped her face in my hands once more, stroking her cheeks with my thumbs and locking my eyes on hers. "I'm so proud of you," I said earnestly. "You're going off and chasing your dreams."

She leaned up and nudged my nose with hers. "I'm proud of you too," she said. "Who'd have thought the freaky math girl would be dating the next Kobe Bryant?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Let's not go getting ahead of ourselves, huh?" I chuckled.

"Hey, don't be so modest – you're gonna be huge, Troy. And I'll be the one cheering the loudest from the crowd," she said with a grin.

I smiled fondly at her. God I'm crazy about that girl. She's the most incredible human being I have ever met.

I leaned my head down so that our foreheads were touching. "I just adore you, Ella," I told her, my voice very near to breaking point.

She reached up with a slightly trembling hand and traced over my face – outlining my cheeks, my eyes, my nose, my chin. Her fingers came to rest on my mouth and I kissed them gently. She moved her hand to the back of my head - pulling me towards her - and suddenly her lips were crashing against mine, her kisses urgent but passionate – like she was trying to pour every ounce of love she so desperately wanted to convey to me into them.

I kissed her back just as hard, the world around us fading as we lost ourselves in one another. I gently nudged her lips with my tongue, silently pleading with her to allow me to deepen the kiss. She parted her lips instantly and I felt her tongue slide against mine. My cheeks felt damp as we kissed and I vaguely noted that we were both crying, but I continued to focus solely on the beautiful girl whose lips were frantically pressing against my own.

All too soon there was a gentle hand on my arm, and I heard my mother's voice – filled with regret.

"Troy, honey...it's time for Gabriella to go now."

I opened my eyes as our surroundings came rushing back. Maria was whispering her final goodbyes and best wishes to her daughter and I felt Mom squeeze my hand. I looked at her and she gave me a smile that seemed to be filled with sympathy.

"I love you baby girl – go show them what you're made of," I hear Maria tell Gabriella as she gave her another hug.

Gabi quickly hugged my mom and dad again, before returning to me. Placing her hands either side of my face she placed a lingering kiss on my lips, before wrapping her arms around my middle. I hugged her so tight I was actually afraid I was going to crush her, but I couldn't stop, I had to show her how much I cared.

"I love you, Ella," I whispered. "I'll see you soon, right?"

Gabriella nodded. Her lip quivered a little, but she managed to hold back the tears bravely. "I'm counting the days. I love you, Wildcat."

One last kiss and she was off. She slung her bag over her shoulder, clutching the gift bag containing our calendar to her chest. She turned back when she reached the entrance to the security checkpoint, blowing a kiss in our direction. We all blew her a kiss back and waved as she turned back towards the gate.

Dad started to say something and I turned my attention toward him, but a shout from the opposite direction made me snap my head back around.

"TROY – WAIT!"

Gabriella was running full pelt towards me, and I barely had time to open my arms for her before she jumped into my embrace, wrapping her legs around my waist and burying her head in my shoulder. I rubbed her back up and down, peppering the side of her face with tiny kisses.

It was her mother's turn to break us apart this time.

"Gabi, you're going to miss your flight sweetheart."

I felt Gabriella's lips against my neck before her feet slowly found the ground again.

Her departure this time was wordless.

She kissed her finger tips before pressing them against my lips. One final brush of her hand against my cheek, and she left for the second time.

I watched her until she disappeared beyond the security gates and was swallowed up by the crowds. My heart felt heavy as her dark curls vanished amongst the sea of frantic passengers bustling this way and that.

However, as I turned and began to follow Mom, Dad and Maria back towards the car park, my spirits lifted somewhat. Like I could just feel that everything was going to be ok.

Sure, I was going to miss Ella more than I could possibly ever describe. And no – I couldn't predict what the future would hold for us.

Oh, except for one thing – that we'd be seeing each other again much sooner than I'd let on.

You see, there was one little black star I'd left off her calendar. September 19th – her birthday.

I couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she opened her door to find her birthday present.

Me.

That's all from me! Hope you liked it. Please leave me a review and let me know your thoughts! And keep looking out for Jess and my co-write – it's coming, I promise!

Make my day – hit that button!

xox