"Shit, Gabriella, I'm sorry," Severell continued to rub his jaw as he apologised again. "He'll come around, just tell him the truth."

I shook my head. "I can't betray you and Abby's secrets just to appease Troy." Of this, I was sure. Nothing would be worse than trying to gain Troy's trust back by betraying Abby and Severell's. They deserved their privacy. "He should trust me after all this time. And if he can't, well… then I don't know." I finished in a whisper, wincing at the thought of having to go back to a life without Troy in it. "Don't worry about it. It's not your problem," I faked a smile and waved goodbye, hoping to rush out of there before Severell could say anything more, and before I could feel the urge to cry.

Troy was 15 minutes late to English. Mr Canella yelled at him so loudly that you'd think Troy committed a felony. All he did in response was slink back to his regular seat next to me, studiously avoiding eye contact with me, a murderous glare stuck on his face. Taylor looked quizzically at the both of us, but I avoided her gaze as surely as Troy avoided mine. But as we sat down and the shock of what had happened during lunch receded, I realised how angry I was. Angry that Troy jumped to conclusions. Angry that his first thought was to use his fists and not his head. And worst of all, angry that he didn't trust me. So when the bell rang, I packed my things quietly, rage simmering under the surface, and this time, I actively ignored him. He might think that I was going to be the one to apologise, but I haven't done anything wrong, and if he wanted to believe I was, well then, he wasn't as good a person as I hoped he would be.

"What's going on?" Taylor hissed as I marched towards the door, fully aware that Troy was burning holes into my back with his eyes.

"Nothing," I said sweetly, "Troy has just decided that he doesn't trust me, and so doesn't wait for me to explain like a normal human. Instead, he turns into the Hulk and punches people for no good reason at all." I made sure my voice was pitched loud enough that Troy could hear, and I knew instinctively that he was scowling at me. I didn't even have to turn around.

"I don't get it." Taylor said. "What happened?"

"Nothing, Troy saw me with Severell, you know the guy on the hockey team?" She nodded, "Well, he saw us coming out from the place that Troy and I usually go to be alone, and he just assumed things. Which, on one hand is completely reasonable. But then he didn't even wait for an explanation, he just punched Severell and walked off!" I was almost yelling at the end, my anger still so very present.

"Gabby, I hate to be on his side… but don't you think he has a point?" Taylor said gently, her tone kind and devoid of judgment. "I mean," she hurriedly continued, "you were in a private place that you and Troy go to be alone. It's not a giant leap to think that being there with another guy might mean something."

"Honestly Taylor, I have never given Troy any reason not to trust me. I don't flirt, I don't even really speak to many guys. I had a good reason to be taking Severell somewhere in private, and unfortunately for Troy, I can't just betray other peoples' trust because he doesn't trust me."

"But he only doesn't trust you because it's a suspicious situation. Are you honestly telling me that you wouldn't think along the same lines if you saw Troy and some girl in the same situation?" Taylor challenged as we walked towards the library.

"Well… you're right about that I guess." I admitted. "But, at the same time, I'd wait for an explanation! I've always known he has a temper, and it's fine. It's not abusive, it's not out of control. He's just protective and gets easily jealous. Honestly, I sometimes like that he's like that, it makes me feel protected. But this is too much. Tay, he didn't wait for an explanation at all. I'm not kidding when I tell you he made up his mind about what happened in literally the space of 30 seconds." I shook my head, not knowing what to do about this whole mess.

"I guess you're right. Chad is surprisingly mild-mannered, so I don't really have that problem." Tay shrugged, unable to offer me more advice. The conversation slowly dwindled as we got stuck into our work. There wasn't much else to say. I was going to stand my ground on this; Troy needed to learn how to deal with his temper, because it was clouding his judgment and his trust in me, and I didn't want to be with someone like that.

"Gabriella," Severell saw me as I was packing up my library books, ready for my final class of the day. He had a large bruise blooming on his cheekbone and a smaller one on his jawline. I gasped.

"Oh my god, Severell, I'm so, so sorry!" I exclaimed, moving forward to look at his jaw.

"It's ok Gabriella, it's just a bruise. I'm a hockey player, I've had worse," he grinned, then winced slightly. Seeing Severell only made me more resolute in how determined I was to take a stand against Troy right now. He didn't deserve this; the guy was more or less grieving the loss of the girl he loved, who—for all that she was still technically alive—couldn't bear to be with him. And this is what he gets for wanting to hear about her? "Anyway, I just wanted to say that you can tell Troy the truth about what happened up there."

"I'm not going to," I said immediately.

"Look," Severell began, then stopped as he saw people around us eavesdropping. Dragging me by the arm to a corner of the library, he continued. "I know what it's like not to get to be with the person you love. I've been wishing for Abby to come back to me for almost a year now, and it sucks, Gabriella. If you feel like that towards Troy, then don't let him slip by out of some loyalty towards us. I won't be mad, and I know Abby wouldn't either. In fact, she'd be angry if you didn't tell him." He stressed the last part. "Don't waste a chance on being happy."

I softened. "If it comes to it, I'll tell him. But I just want him to trust me."

Severell laughed. "Gabriella, no offence, but the situation warranted mistrust. I mean, you're hot, and I'm a good-looking guy. We both were coming out from the same door that led to a private place. It's not difficult to connect those dots."

"But I've never given him reason before not to trust me."

"Doesn't matter." Severell's answer was immediate. "You could be the perfect girlfriend, but that situation will always make a guy crazy. Hell, it's why I didn't fight Bolton back when he punched me. I'd have done the same if it was Abby." He shrugged, as if this behaviour was totally normal. Men. Total Neanderthals.

"I'll talk to him. Thanks Severell," He smiled and turned around to leave, but abruptly turned back around when I called after him.

"What?" he asked.

"You deserve to be happy too. Abby is back, and you have the chance to be happy, like before. I won't waste my chance, so long as you don't waste yours." I said, smiling gently at him. His eyes grew suspiciously moist at my words, but he blinked back the tears and gave me a watery smile, gruffly thanking me before hurriedly leaving the library.

"Everything ok?" Taylor asked from behind me. I nodded, quiet and lost in thought. "Well," she said, "if it makes you feel better, watching you guys talk for literally 2 minutes, you can tell there's nothing going on. Not a single ounce of chemistry between you guys. More like brother and sister."

"You don't say," I said dryly, and she nodded vigorously.

"Uh huh, I know chemistry. I love chemistry. And honey? You don't have it with him, no matter how hot that guy is." I laughed. That was one thing about Taylor; I could always count on her to deliver the truth with her usual blunt manner. Feeling better, I headed to my final class without a cloud of anxiety hanging over me. This would resolve itself, I knew. That feeling of comfort dissolved the second I walked in, as I saw Troy hanging at Nikki's desk, twirling her hair and blatantly flirting with her for all to see. I sucked in a sharp breath, keeping my head down as I headed to my seat at the back of the class, tears on the verge of spilling over. How could he do this to me?

"Not so fun when the tables are turned, huh?" Troy said, his blue eyes ice cold as he looked at me.

I sniffled quietly, catching a stray tear from under my eye. "Fuck you," I said to him. "You couldn't trust me or wait long enough to hear why I was really upstairs with Severell, and you think this is the best way to get back at me? You've only succeeded in making more of an ass of yourself." Don't back down, Gabriella, I coached myself. I could do this.

"What, other than the obvious, could you possibly have been doing up on the rooftop?" Troy said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"How about the fact that I saw Abby Wheeler yesterday at Dr Marin's?" I snapped, and I saw Troy still from the corner of my eye. "And that she asked me to give Severell a message, a private one that I didn't want to do with everyone looking at us? How about the fact that I have never given you any reason not to trust me, and I am so unbelievably insulted that you thought I would cheat on you. How about that?" I said, flipping open my notebook angrily.

"Brie," I looked up, seeing Troy swallow and work up the nerve to say something. The pained look in his eyes told me that he knew he was wrong, but that wasn't enough for me. I turned back around and focused on the class, taking copious amounts of notes and listening to the teacher drone on and on. I could feel Troy's eyes on me the whole time, but I refused to look at him. I was still angry, and I didn't want to risk the chance that I'd soften and eventually cave in easily to Troy and his ridiculous temper.

Eventually, though, I knew I couldn't avoid him. Class would end, and he'd make sure to stop me to talk to him. Not to mention that Coach Bolton was out sick today and tomorrow, so there was no basketball practice that Troy had to get to after this class. And, just like I predicted, the second the final bell rang, Troy was scrambling to make sure he was ready to leave when I was.

"Brie, I need to talk to you. Please," he pleaded, and I continued to quietly pack away my things, quickly slinging my bag over my shoulder and holding my head up high as I passed him.

"Troysie," Nikki sang as we walked past her, quickly attaching herself to Troy and stroking his arm. I felt myself ready to slap her hand away from him and tell her that Troy is mine, but right now, standing my ground was more important. Troy was a big boy. If he wanted to fight Nikki off, he could damn well do it himself.

I felt a small (ok, a big) surge of satisfaction when Troy moved off her and told her to fuck off. At least he knew that much. Still, all these distractions meant that by the time I reached my locker, the hallways of East high were pretty empty, and Troy and I were left more or less alone as I gathered the books I would need for the afternoon. Troy stood quietly by, waiting for me. He stayed quiet as I made my way to my car, only moving so that he could sit in the passenger seat, despite me never telling him he could come into the car. Clearly, he wasn't budging on the

"I don't know that there's anything you can say that could possibly make me less mad, Troy. Severell says I should forgive you, but doing that means that I am condoning your shitty behaviour and even shittier temper." I said, "and don't even argue with me that you have a temper," I snapped, watching his nostrils flare. "I didn't deserve your ire today, and neither did Severell. You should have trusted me, given me the benefit of the doubt. But you didn't. Have I ever shown any indication that I would ever even think to cheat on you? Because I don't think I have." I sighed, realising how much I was speaking. Troy's eyes were tight, the crinkles around the corners betraying his obvious pain. "Apparently, the situation warranted mistrust, according to both Taylor and Severell. And fine, I'll give you that. Maybe that's true. But if that's the case, then what you at least owed me was the chance to explain myself and what really happened."

"Brie, you have to understand, the rooftop is our place." He protested, raking his hand through his hair. "Taking someone else there feels like you don't care about our place, that it's just a convenient area for you to hang out in when you don't want to be seen."

"Maybe so, but I used that place because it is ours, and because Severell could understand that. Him and Abby have a place. He gets it. And on top of that, taking him there meant that he could trust us. If you'd walked in at any point, there would be nothing suspicious going on."

"Do you know how humiliated and upset I was to see you guys coming down those stairs?" Troy questioned rhetorically, his eyes blazing.

"About as humiliated as I was walking into class and seeing you blatantly flirting with Nikki," I snapped, crossing my arms indignantly and trying not to show how hurt I really was by that incident.

"I know," he sighed, his eyes softening to molten blue as he reached over to grasp my hand. I let him. "Brie, I was angry. I know that's not an excuse, I know, I just… reacted. I went into self-preservation mode, you know?" I stared straight ahead.

"You keep saying that, you know, ever since I met you?" I said softly, not trying to provoke him even more. "You keep admitting to having a temper, but I feel like you don't make any effort to overcome it. And then you react this way with me, or you snap at someone, or even worse, punch them in the face like you did this morning. It's not right."

We were both quiet for a long time. "I know I lose it, I know that," Troy confesses, "But I can't help it. When it comes to you, I just lose any thread of control I have."
"I don't claim to be perfect," I start quietly, not really knowing where I was going with this. "I eat too much, I have so many problems it's a wonder you or anyone else thinks of me as anything but broken, and I don't always go about things the right way." Troy's hand tightens on my hand, holding on for dear life. "But I have never used those things as an excuse to intentionally hurt you or question your loyalty the way you did with me today."

Troy makes an anguished sound at the back of his throat, his thumb stroking my palm. "I'm sorry, baby, I'm so fucking sorry. If I could take back all of today, I would. I swear." He's vehement in his response, and I know his apology is completely sincere. My heart thaws a little at this, and I squeeze his hand. "I can't promise to be perfect, but I promise not to let my temper get the best of me like I did today. I'll apologise to Severell right now; not because you would want me to, but because you're right. He's good people, and he doesn't deserve it."

"That's good," I nodded, leaning back in my seat, feeling some of the tension I'd been carrying around me leave my body. "I believe that you're sorry. Now. But who's to say that in a couple of months, a similar situation happens, and you won't react the exact same way. How do I know you won't hurt me like you did today?" I challenge him, pulling myself together behind a passive face so as not to show my vulnerability.

He was quiet, going over my question in his head. "I can't tell you that my temper will never rear its ugly head ever again. I'm not a fortune teller, I can't predict the future." Troy said truthfully. "I can promise this though." He turned his full body to face me. "You mean the world to me. I love you, there is no doubt about that. And next time, I will take into consideration the fact that you love me too before I do anything rash. I'll give you a chance to explain before I just walk out like today. I promise." He said it solemnly, the way a groom would promise to cherish his bride for the rest of his life. Tears sprung in my eyes, and I sniffled loudly.

"I hate fighting," I said, wiping under my eyes. Troy chuckled.

"Me too, baby. But honestly, I'm too hard-headed and stubborn for us to never fight." He grinned, and I felt the world right itself a little as I laughed with him.

"And I'm oversensitive and just as stubborn," I agreed, before turning the keys in the ignition to start the car.

"I plead the fifth," Troy grinned, not denying my comments. "So, are we headed back to yours for some hot makeup sex?" He asked, settling himself into his seat.

"Don't you have your own car?"

"I'll swing by afterwards to pick it up," he waved off my concern, wholly focused on the promise of my empty house and the makeup sex that I was admittedly looking forward to.

"Ok, ok," I said, turning out of the school's car park.

"So, how's Abby?" Troy asked me cautiously as I looked for an opening on the road.

"She's fine." I said, not wanting to divulge more than that. As much as I loved Troy, I wasn't going to talk about Abby as if she was gossip, and I told him as much.

"I don't think it's gossip, I just wanted to know how she was doing!" Troy said, his arms going up as if to say he's innocent.

"She's fine, Troy, but I don't want to say more. It's not my place or yours to discuss her wellbeing, and I know if someone was talking about me being at Dr Marin's, I'd feel more than a little comfortable. So let's just leave it at that." I said, continuing to focus on the road.

As we reached a traffic light, Troy leaned over and kissed my temple. "And that loyalty right there," he said, "is one of the reasons why I love you so damn much."

I smiled over at him, my cheeks warming at the affection and thanking my lucky stars that I had a relationship that would withstand a lot more than I thought it could.