Troy Bolton, Gabriella Montez, Taylor McKessie, Chad Danforth, Sharpay and Ryan Evans, Kelsi Neilson and Zeke Baylor were really close friends. They did everything together and they knew almost everything about each other. I say almost because none of them knew about the feelings Troy had for Gabriella and the ones she had for Troy. They both hid it really well. Although they were close friends, Troy and Gabriella did not talk to each other all that much. There were awkward silences if they were the only ones in the room, but, even though they were not so close, they always looked out for each other.

Troy watched Gabriella closely as she entered the school. She had dark circles under her eyes and her eyes were red and swollen as if she had been crying. Troy, who was standing with Chad and his girlfriend, Taylor, frowned.

"What's wrong with Gabriella?" he asked.

Taylor turned to look at her and frowned, too.

"I don't know," she replied. "I'm going to talk to her."

"Let us know what's wrong with her, okay?" Chad said pecking her lips.

"Okay, bye," Taylor said and hurried towards Gabriella.

"Looks like things are going well for you two," Troy commented.

"Yup," Chad grinned. "When are you going to get yourself a girl, man?"

"When the right one comes along, dude," Troy grinned.

"Gabi, what's wrong?" Taylor asked hurrying over to Gabriella just as Sharpay and Kelsi joined her.

"Nothing," Gabriella said and forced a smile. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Kelsi asked. "You don't look fine."

"I'm fine," Gabriella repeated.

"You know what will cure you?" Sharpay said suddenly. "My sleepover! All the guys will be there, too. We can play truth or dare, raid the fridge and make the guys watch The Notebook.It'll be fun."

"What do you say, Gabs?" Kelsi asked. "Are you going?"

"I don't know," Gabriella sighed.

"You have to come," Sharpay said. "I don't care if I have to drag you out of the house myself."

"Fine," Gabriella said. "I'll be there."

"Good," Sharpay said, just as the bell rang.

Troy had a free period. He was about to go the gym to shoot some hoops when he heard someone crying. It was coming from an empty classroom. He opened the door softly and saw Gabriella crying. She was alone.

"Gabriella," he said softly as he entered the classroom and shut the door behind him. "Are you okay?"

Gabriella looked up, startled when she heard someone say her name. She quickly wiped away her tears and started to gather her books.

"I'm fine," she whispered but both of them knew that she was lying.

"Brie, you're far from being fine," Troy said, softly.

Gabriella looked up at him when he called her 'Brie'. No one called her that and she liked it.

"I–I'm fine," she repeated, softly.

"Come on, Brie," Troy said touching her arm. "Talk to me."

"It…it's nothing, Troy," Gabriella said looking down at his hand which was still on her arm.

"I'll let it go this time," Troy told her. "But, if I see you crying again, you'll have to tell me what's going on. Or you can tell someone else. It doesn't matter, but, you have to tell someone, okay?"

"Okay," Gabriella said looking up at the blue eyes she loved so much.

"Will I see you tonight at Sharpay's sleepover?" he asked.

"Yes," Gabriella said.

"Good," Troy said letting go of her arm.

"I'll see you tonight," Gabriella whispered and she rushed out of the classroom with her books.

Troy stared after her wishing that he was the one she confided in.

That evening, the eight friends gathered at the Evans' mansion. Gabriella still looked upset, but, she was not crying. Troy watched her closely throughout the night.

That evening, when they were all eating pizza in the kitchen, Sharpay decided that it was time for a game of truth or dare.

"Gabi, you're first," Sharpay said. "Truth or dare."

"Truth," Gabriella said, softly after a moment.

"What's bothering you?" Sharpay asked immediately.

Troy's eyes flickered over to Gabriella. She glanced at him and looked away. Everyone was staring at her.

"Nothing," she said, finally.

"We know that you're lying, Gabs," Chad said.

"Come on, you can tell us," Ryan said, comfortingly.

"I…uh…" Gabriella's voice trailed away.

She looked at each face in the room and saw that they were curious. Her gaze stopped at Troy. She saw that only his eyes were filled with concern. Her eyes filled in tears.

"My dad got into a hit-and-run accident last night and he didn't make it!" she blurted out.

Everyone except Troy gasped. They all stared at Gabriella. Troy looked away knowing that she did not want anyone staring at her, but, he could feel her eyes on him.

"Excuse me," she whispered before jumping up and running upstairs to Sharpay's room

No one moved to go after her. They were too shocked. Troy waited to see whether any of the girls would go after her, but, when neither one of them moved, he got up and headed upstairs.

He opened the door to Sharpay's room and saw her sitting on the floor by the bed as she tried to wipe away the tears that would not stop coming.

"Brie," Troy said softly sitting down next to her.

Gabriella jumped when she heard her voice. She turned to look at him.

"I'm fine," she said getting to her feet. "Really, I'm fine. I just need a minute."

"Brie, you aren't fine," Troy said.

"No, Troy," Gabriella began.

"Brie, just let it all out," he said, gently as he got up too.

"There's nothing to let out, Troy," Gabriella said wiping away her tears.

"Oh, yeah?" Troy raised his eyebrows. "Okay, then. Keep everything bottled up inside. I have a few questions, though. How could your father leave your mother like this? How could he leave you like this?"

"He–he –" Gabriella began but her voice broke off as she started crying.

Troy made no move to comfort her. He knew exactly what he was doing. She needed to let her emotions out.

Meanwhile, the rest of the gang had come upstairs and was standing by the doorway. The guys had stopped the girls from entering the room as they all knew Troy better than the girls did and they knew that he knew what he was doing.

"He's making it worse," Sharpay said.

"No, wait," Chad said. "Troy knows what he's doing."

"He shouldn't have left your family," Troy continued. He did not mean anything he was saying. He just wanted her to let out her emotions. "He must hate you to leave you like that. You must hate him because –"

"Shut up!" Gabriella screamed interrupting Troy and Troy stopped talking. "You don't know my father."

She stepped closer to him as fresh tears streamed down her face. She hit his chest hard with her fists and he did not even flinch, although he knew that his chest would be slightly bruised the next day – Gabriella was quite strong. He just watched her let out the emotions she had been trying to hold in.

"You can't talk about him like that!" she screamed hitting his chest over and over again with her fists. "He wouldn't have left me like that. He wouldn't have left my mom like that. He didn't leave us. He's still with us…maybe not physically, but, he's still there. He's watching us, right now. He doesn't hate me! He loves me! He loves me, Troy! I hate the stupid driver who took him from us! I hate him! He shouldn't have done it! He should be the one who's dead. Not my father! He should be dead. I hate him!"

All this time, she was hitting Troy's chest with her fists. By now, she was crying so hard that she could not talk. She was shaking as she hit his chest weakly again.

Troy wrapped his arms around her tightly and hugged her as she cried into his shirt.

"It's okay, Brie," he said, softly as he kissed her head, comfortingly. "It's okay."

Troy did not know how long he stood there with his arms wrapped around Gabriella as she cried. Finally, Gabriella looked up at him. There was a damp spot on his shirt.

"Why are you doing this?' she asked as Troy wiped away her tears with his thumb.

"Because, I care about you," he said simply.

"Well, why do you care about me?" she asked. "You don't even know me."

"I know you a lot more than you think I do, Gabriella Montez," he said, softly. "And, I love you."

"What?" Gabriella gasped.

"I love you, Brie," Troy said. "And, not in just as a friends way. I love you. I'm in love with you and I care about you more than you'll ever know."

"I love you, too," Gabriella said, softly.

Troy looked down at her and gave her a small smile which she returned.

"He will always be here with you," he said kissing her forehead. "Don't forget that. He loves you too much to leave you forever."

Gabriella nodded as he rubbed his thumb against her cheek and then kissed her forehead again.

"Damn it, Troy!" Chad exclaimed. The six watching friends had heard the entire conversation. "You're supposed to kiss her lips."

Troy chuckled softly and even Gabriella let out a giggle as everyone else groaned and hit Chad's head.

"You know, he's right," Gabriella said giving him a small smile. "You're supposed to kiss the lips of the one you love."

"You wouldn't mind?" Troy asked raising his eyebrow. "You wouldn't think it's too fast?"

"No," Gabriella shook her head. "I love you, remember?"

"I love you, too," Troy smiled.

Then, he bent down and kissed her lips gently. He brushed his tongue against her lower lip. Gabriella responded by granting him entrance to her mouth.

The watching friends closed the bedroom door leaving the new couple alone.

"They're perfect for each other," Kelsi said and everyone else agreed.

The next morning, Gabriella woke up to find herself wrapped up in Troy's arms. Troy was sitting on the armchair in the living room and Gabriella had curled up in Troy's arms while they were watching a movie and she had fallen asleep. There was no one else in the room. Gabriella turned her head to look at Troy. He had been sitting up all night and he did not look very comfortable, but, still, there was a small smile on his lips as he slept. Gabriella smiled slightly and kissed him. Troy woke up, but, he did not open his eyes. Instead, he kissed back. Finally, when the need for air was essential, they pulled away and Troy opened his eyes.

"I could get used to waking up like this," he murmured against her lips and she giggled.

"Did we stay here all night?" she asked.

"Yeah," Troy replied. "When the movie ended, you were asleep and you looked so peaceful, I couldn't bear to wake you up. I didn't even dare move, because you might wake up. Or else, I would have carried you upstairs to a bed."

"Your lap is way more comfortable than any bed Sharpay has got," Gabriella declared.

Troy chuckled.

"Hey, guys," Sharpay said, walking into the room. "Good, you're up."

"What's up, Shar?" Gabriella asked.

"We're going to have breakfast in the park," she replied. "A picnic. So, get dressed and we're taking your truck, Troy. Everyone can get into the back."

"You're going to get into my truck?" Troy asked raising an eyebrow. "Wouldn't that be like, against your law or something? I mean, my truck's not pink."

"Very funny, Bolton," Sharpay snapped. "You guys have five minutes."

Troy stuck his tongue out at Sharpay as she walked out of the room.

Troy and Gabriella got into the front of the truck and all the others piled onto the back.

"Can we stop by my house first?" Gabriella asked.

"Sure," Troy shrugged.

Troy drove to Gabriella's house.

"Come on," Chad said. "We'll all go and see Maria."

"Yeah," Sharpay said. "I've always like your mom, Gabi."

"Thanks," Gabriella smiled.

"Why is the door open?" Kelsi asked pointing to the front door which was wide open.

"Maybe someone came to visit," Gabriella said, uncertainly as everyone got out of the truck.

Chad went first with Troy behind him. Gabriella was behind Troy and the rest followed.

Chad froze at the doorway.

"What's up, man?" Troy asked and looked over Chad's shoulder. His eyes widened at the sight. "Holy fucking shit!"

"What's wrong?" Gabriella asked worriedly.

Troy and Chad stood shoulder to shoulder staring at the house. It had been turned upside down.

"Let me in!" Gabriella demanded.

Neither one of the boys moved.

Gabriella pushed herself into the house. She screamed. Her whole house was a mess. The tables and chairs were upside down. There was broken glass everywhere. The curtain had been torn up. And in the middle of the living room…her mother was lying dead on the floor with a knife stabbed right into her heart.

Gabriella felt tears come to her eyes. She could not be losing her mother. She just lost her father. She could not lose both her parents at once. She felt her knees give away and she fell onto the floor shaking. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks and she felt strong arms wrap around her. She could not see who it was because her eyes were blurry from crying, but, she knew that it was Troy.

Troy did not know what to say. Gabriella did not deserve this. As he sat on the floor hugging Gabriella, he could not stop the tear that rolled down his cheek. He had always thought of Maria as his mother since his own mother had died when he was in preschool. Quickly, he wiped away the tear and looked at Chad and everyone else. Everyone was staring at Maria, but, only Chad was looking at Troy and Gabriella.

"Call 911," Troy said softly and Chad nodded. He stepped outside to make the call.

Troy got up, pulling Gabriella up with him. She did not have to stay in the house in front of Maria. Gabriella clutched his shoulders and he held her tight as he lead her outside to a garden bench.

"Troy," Taylor said hurrying over to them a few minutes later. "We found this on the carpet."

Troy took the piece of paper Taylor held in his hand. Gabriella pulled away from him to look at it. she gasped when she saw what was written.

Gabriella Montez. I came for revenge on what your mother did to me when we were in high school. I was in love with her, but, she went with your father. They caught me trading drugs and I was sent to jail, because of them. I killed your father in the hit and run accident last night and today I am going to kill your mother. By the time you find this, she will already be dead. I have nothing against you and I'm not going to hunt you down. I'm sorry I had to take away the parents of an innocent girl, but, I had no choice. I spent all the good years of my life in jail, and I needed revenge.

There the note ended. Fresh tears rolled down Gabriella's cheeks and Troy hugged her again.

"Brie, it's okay," he whispered rubbing her back. He pulled her onto his lap.

He did not know what else to say. He just let her sit on his lap and cry into his shirt as he hugged her.

"Troy, what will I do?" she sobbed.

"You're coming with me," Troy declared. "I love you, Brie. And, I'm here for you."

"This is so…" Sharpay broke off because she did not know the right word. "Gabi doesn't deserve this."

"At least, she still has, Troy," Chad said as he hugged Taylor who was also quite upset.

"Yeah," Kelsi agreed. "Under whatever circumstances, they really are perfect for each other."

A/N Hate me for killing Gabriella's parents? I just wanted to write one where Gabriella would break down and Troy would be there to comfort her…leave a review=)