Don't let go

"Don't Let Go" © minixoxmya; July 29th 2008

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DISLAIMER: I DONT OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT THE PLOT FOR THIS STORY

So this is a new story that I thought I would do because were in need of some really good dark but romantic stories. Hopefully I'll still be able to update when I start college but it wont be as often especially as I have two chapter stories on the go now. Anyway here is chapter one I hope you like it.

Gabriella Montez laid on her bed staring lifelessly up at the ceiling in complete silence, twisting one of her dark chocolate curls around her fingers. She thought that breakdowns had been something of the past that had suddenly vanished after she finally sought out help to keep her feelings under control.

But clearly the ugly dark clouds were just lying in wait for the next low point in her life.

It had been five years since her beloved grandfather died. He was her best friend; her rock; the one person who she knew no matter what she did he would always be proud of her. The simple feeling of not being able to speak to him or see him ever again broke her entire self into shattered pieces.

The ones that knew and loved her quickly learnt that when Gabriella was feeling this way the best thing to do was to just leave her to get it out of her system, knowing that trying to stop it would only keep it painfully bottled inside for much longer.

There was however one person who changed all of that.

Three years after her grandfather's death, a fourteen-year-old Gabriella moved with her mother to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she had stumbled upon a magical blue-eyed boy.

"Sweetheart, can I get you anything?" Marissa Montez asked from her daughter's bedroom door. She noticed her puffy eyes, bright red nose and tear stained cheeks and quickly recognised that now was probably one of those times where Gabriella just wanted to be alone. As she lent against the doorframe, her heart bleeding at the sight of her broken down daughter, she sighed wishing desperately there was something she could do.

"No…thank you though" Gabriella smiled over at her mother, she didn't want her to worry too much about what was going on in her mind but was thankful that she cared enough to ask.

"Ok. Just let me know if you change your mind. I'm heading out for a while but I'll be on my cell if you need me" Marissa shot Gabriella a heart warming smile before closing the door softly behind her leaving her comfortably alone.

Alone was something she had gotten very used to over the last five years. She knew if she didn't let anyone in there would be no one there to hurt her or leave her like many of her closest and treasured family members seemed to have done.

Gabriella's perfect cocoon silence abruptly was broken by a small tap on her balcony door before it opened slowly.

"Hey there, beautiful," Troy Bolton spoke casually as he shut the door behind him completely unaware of the silent and almost invisible tears streaming down Gabriella's cheeks. When she didn't reply, he stopped and looked at her for a second. Suddenly realising what was happening he quickly made his way over to her side.

"Come on, take a few deep breaths and everything will be fine. Just let it all out." Troy wasn't going to ask what was wrong, he already knew. The only way he could possibly comfort her was to just let her cry until there were no tears left.

"I miss him so much," Gabriella whispered softly as she snuggled herself into her boyfriend's protective arms. This was something completely new to Troy; whenever Gabriella was having one of these moments she would never speak, this was a great leap forwards.

"I know you do baby, I know you do." Those were the only words that Troy could force from his mouth as he watched Gabriella take deep breaths in attempt to calm her down.

The darkened room remained silent for another twenty minutes, neither moved from the comforting position they had found themselves in. Troy held Gabriella tightly in his arms and smoothed her hair lovingly placing gentle kisses on her temple every now and again.

"OK, I think I'm good" Gabriella's breakdowns always finished as quickly as they started. She sat up and wiped her cheeks of any remaining tears and took one final deep breath.

"Are you sure? Because you don't have to hold back because I'm here" Troy took hold of Gabriella's hand and squeezed it gently. She smiled at him adoringly and shook her head.

"No I'm good. Thank you so much for holding me. I really thought it had gone away but obviously not" Troy sighed and smiled sadly at his girlfriend, he hated seeing her so down and broken but he knew there was nothing he could do to make it better.

"Give it time, you've been doing so well. I remember a time where it was a daily thing, just keep positive and everything will be just fine" Gabriella smiled at Troy and nodded, before laying back down and snuggling herself back into his warm side.

"I love you" Gabriella kissed Troy's chest through his soft shirt; always felling happier once she was around him.

"I love you to precious, so much." Precious had been a name that Troy had developed for Gabriella soon after they begun dating, and it was definitely one of her favourites. It made her feel cherished, special and above all adored.

"You are coming to the big game tonight right?" Troy asked gently; suddenly remembering the schools state championship game he would be playing against West High in three hours time.

"Of course I'll be there, I wouldn't miss it for the world" Troy smiled and kissed Gabriella gently on the lips. Taking off his jacket, he gently laid it over his aching girl and pulled her in for another heartfelt kiss.

"What's with the jacket?" Gabriella asked as they pulled away from their kiss to look into one another's eyes.

"I want you to wear it tonight, I love you and I want the whole of New Mexico to know" Gabriella blushed a deep shade of crimson and smiled as Troy placed gently kisses from her forehead all the way to her lips and back again.

"I'd love to wear it" Gabriella securely placed herself back into Troy's warm arms. She was so thankful for having such an amazing boyfriend who not only care for her and cherished her, but who loved her unconditionally despite the flaws she had grown to despise over the last five years.

As Gabriella entered the loud and over-decorated stadium the first thing she noticed was just how many people had come to watch the two schools play. She shyly made her way to the entrance of the East High locker room fully aware of the many pairs of eyes that watched her as she lent against the wall opposite the door; waiting for the team to come out.

She heard the whoops and hollers of the East High Wildcats basketball team as the door was thrown open; her boyfriend doing his duty as captain and leading them out to the court. She merely smiled as her gaze caught Troy's; his smile evident that he was both surprised and happy that she had come to see him before the game.

"Hey, beautiful," Troy walked up to his waiting girlfriend and placed his arms securely around her waist.

"I just wanted to say good luck and I love you." Smiling down at Gabriella, Troy knew that no matter how many times he heard her say she loved him it would always make his heart melt when she did.

"I love you too babe" Troy kissed Gabriella's lips gently but passionately earning whistles from the rest of the team who had annoyingly decided they'd rather watch the obvious public displays of affections than make their way to the court.

"You better go." Gabriella giggled as she looked up at her boyfriend; not believing how far he and the team had come this season.

"Ok, I'll see you after the game" Troy called back to Gabriella as he ran down the corridor to catch up with the rest of the team.

Shaking her head and laughing to herself Gabriella found her way to the rest of the girls and her seat.

"What took you so long to get here? And is that Troy's jacket?" Taylor McKessie asked with wide eyes as Gabriella sat herself down comfortably in her seat.

"I was wishing Troy good luck before the game and yes it is his jacket. Now shh…! The game is starting" Gabriella emphasised her point by waving her hand distractedly in front of her friend; her full attention directed solely on the game going on in front of her.

As the end of the third quarter arrived, East High was up 10 points and Wildcat spirits were running high. As soon as the buzzer sounded Troy looked over at the stands in search of Gabriella, when he found her he smiled and winked at her as she blew him and kiss and mouthed, I love you.

"Hey Bolton, that girl of yours it hot. Is she good?" West High's captain, Derek Souza, was well known for his mean-streaked reputation and constant need to spice up the feud he and Troy had shared over the past year. Troy clenched his fist as he turned to the one person he truly hated and found him eyeing up his girlfriend.

"Touch her and I swear to god I'll kill you" Troy growled as he turned to face Derek with a burning look of anger in his eyes.

"You wouldn't hurt a fly, Bolton" Derek scoffed stepped closer to Troy. Gabriella watched on as the confrontation between the boys grew ever more heated. She bit her lip anxiously not understanding what was going on.

"Don't push me Derek. Everyone knows what happened last time you dared to do push me too far" Derek chuckled and moved around on his feet slightly before moving swiftly and throwing a punch at Troy. He stumbled backwards with the force of the blow; anger seeping into his veins as Derek stood there smugly and menacingly. Fire burning up inside of him, Troy finally ignored that constant pain that had situated itself in his lower back; the dull ache piercing his insides with every movement.

"What the hell is going on?" Jack Bolton walked onto court furiously after watching the whole confrontation between his son and team captain unfold with what he considered the scum of West High. Being the coach of the East High Wildcats, Jack was no stranger to confrontation between them and their rival school.

"I was just protecting Gabriella, dad", Troy threw his hands up in defence; frustrated and annoyed as Jack stood himself between the two boys.

"I saw that but you two really need to control yourselves. Derek I suggest you go over to your team before I suggest you spend the rest of the season benched and Troy, go find Gabriella and get her to say whatever it is that makes you calm down" Derek ran back to his team as quickly as his legs would take him, the thought of being benched when there was college scouts around put the fear of god into his veins.

Troy walked across court and made his way up the bleachers towards where Gabriella was sitting anxiously waiting for him to get to her. As soon as he was in arms length, she reached out and took him tightly into her arms.

"Are you ok? I saw him hit you. Baby, you have to be more careful; you don't want to get benched do you?" She asked stroking her fingers over the reddened area around Troy's eye.

"No, but he was saying things about you and I couldn't help myself. I feel like I should be protecting you from assholes like him." Gabriella sighed before placing a gentle kiss on Troy's lips.

"You don't need to do that. Go on, go and win that game for me." With one last kiss Troy ran down the steps and back onto the court.

As the final buzzer sounded the east High Wildcats celebrated a perfect victory against sworn enemies West High Knights.

"Good game, Bolton; See you around" Derek spoke snidely bumping Troy with his shoulder as he walked by.

"Whatever Souza, just stay away from my girl" Troy knew that him comment would cause the anger in Derek's body to rise but he didn't care. Being benched was no threat to him if he thought anyone was going to try and get to Gabriella.

"Leave it Troy, he's not worth it" Gabriella said firmly from behind placing a hand gently on his shoulder. He immediately relaxed and turned away from the smirking Knight.

"I couldn't help it, he just makes me so mad." Gabriella removed her hand from Troy's shoulder and placed a kiss where it had been, letting Troy know that she was there for him.

"Come on Wildcat, let's go home" The Brunette took hold of Troy's hand knowing that keeping hold of the previous subject would just being back all of the anger that had been brewing inside of him.

Later that night Troy lay in bed watching Gabriella sleep snuggled safely into his arms. This was something that he loved to do, being able to hold the girl he loved close was the best feeling he could ever imagine. Troy was so glad when his parents announced that they trusted him enough to allow his girlfriend to sleep over. He cherished knowing that he could hold her in his arms and not have to let go until the morning.

"Go to sleep, Troy," Gabriella mumbled wriggling slightly so that she could bury her head into the crook of his neck. Troy laughed; she always knew when he was spending all of his time just watching her sleeping.

"I'm sorry baby, I'll sleep now," he smiled and placed his lips gently onto hers letting them linger there for a few seconds before falling into a blissful sleep.

Troy's eyes opened and squinted slightly as his eyes adjusted to the light that was pouring through the open window. He loved down at Gabriella who was still sleeping peacefully and smiled contentedly, he loved waking up next to her.

It didn't take him long to realise that he still wasn't feeling all that great. He felt sick and the dull ache is his lower back had not faded, but had become slightly stronger. Frustratedly, he began wiggling his back around on the soft mattress, trying to soothe the pain with a more comfortable position.

"Stop moving so much" Gabriella moaned rolling herself from her position on Troy and onto her side of his large king sized bed.

"Sorry babe, but I have this sore back. I was trying to get comfortable" Gabriella snuggled herself back into Troy and placed a lingering kiss on his bare chest.

"You seem kind of warm and feverish. You sound like your getting sick" Troy shook his head. Never ever was Troy Bolton sick, he couldn't even remember the last time he had had even the slightest sniffle. He had to smile at the cute but worried look on her face as she gazed down at him, as if trying to find some sort of injury or more obvious clue as to what was wrong with him on his features.

"Not me, I'm sure I just slept on it funny. It's kind of cold in here I'm going to shut the window"

Gabriella frowned; Troy skin felt hot against hers wherever she touched him, how on earth could he be cold. She decided the best thing to do was to just brush it off, knowing that if there was something really wrong he would seek help in fear of missing any basketball.

A few hours later, Troy lay face down on his bed still wriggling to make himself comfortable. The sickly feeling that sat in the base of his stomach was becoming more intense and sitting up just made everything worse.

"Are you sure your not sick babe? You look terrible" Gabriella asked concernedly as she sat down on the edge of the bed and brushed a piece of Troy's hair out of his eyes.

"My back is just really sore" Troy whispered, figuring he couldn't admit the sickness to Gabriella but he could at least tell her about the back ache guessing she would probably think it was a sports injury.

"Let me rub it for you babe, if that will help" Troy nodded his head appreciatively. Gabriella sat herself down comfortably on Troy's toned butt and began rubbing soothing circles over the bottom of his back.

"Can you move to the sides a little? That's where it's most sore" Gabriella followed instructions and began working the skin to each side of Troy's spine.

"Is that better? I hope its not making it more sore" Troy moaned as Gabriella eased off the pressure slightly.

"No it's perfect. Keep going like before it was really helping" Gabriella replied by moving her hands back to the sides of Troy's back and rubbing gentle shapes across the skin.

It didn't take long for Troy to become so relaxed that his eyes began to droop closed. It was a strange thing for him to be so tired in the daytime, usually he outside playing sports and running around.

Gabriella noticed this and smiled to herself, she wasn't going to stop Troy from falling asleep because no matter what he said she knew that he wasn't feeling himself.

"Sleep tight" Gabriella whispered placing a loving kiss against Troy's forehead, covering him up with the blanket in case he got cold again. She knew that Troy would be unsettled if she left without saying goodbye so she picked up for paper and a pen writing him a note saying that she would be back in a few hours and that she loved him.

Once she leant the note somewhere it would be seen, she walked back over to Troy's bed and left another goodbye kiss on his forehead.

"I love you. Feel better soon"

There's the first chapter! I worked so hard on this so I hope you all like it. Thank you so much to Holly for all the help and support so far, you're the best! Don't forget to R&R! Hopefully the next one will be soon, I want this story to be really good so the chapters might take a little longer than usual to get out. I hope that ok!