Alright, I'm gonna practically zoom through the summer, but I wanted to establish a few relationships first. The Sharpay-Ryan one, and the Sharpay-Kelsi one are in this short chapter. We'll see a lot more of these two dynamics as this fic progresses, but it intrigues me so here it is.

Oh, and welcome to the sequel to Pulling Together.

"This isn't exactly how I envisioned my first week of vacation," Ryan slumped back into his pillows as Sharpay set hot soup by his bed. Sitting beside him, she brushed his sweat-dampened hair away from his face and checked for a fever.

"Leave it to you to avoid catching every bug in school until the very last day," she joked. He chuckled a little, but it evolved into hacking coughs and she patted his back as he shook violently with the force of them.

"I hate being sick," he grumbled as he settled back again.

"I don't think anyone enjoys it, Ry. Now do you want to watch The Music Man, Bye Bye Birdie, or Singing in the Rain?" She held up each DVD in question.

"None of the above," he shook his head. "I'm not in the mood." Sharpay's jaw dropped in shock.

"Not in the mood? Who are you and what have you done with my brother?" She paused as her joke fell flat, then her eyes lit up. "Do you want me to call Kelsi?" Ryan shook his head again.

"I don't want her getting sick," he replied.

"But you don't care if I do?" Sharpay retorted with a smirk.

"No, that's not what I meant. I'm sorry, Shar."

"Wow, illness absolutely kills your sense of humor. I was kidding Ry," she ruffled his hair, then kissed his forehead. "I'll put in Music Man, you at least like the songs." She put the DVD in his player and let it run as he fell into a state of semi-consciousness. Pulling his door to, she pulled her out cell and dialed a number. Three rings later, the other person picked up.

"Hello?" Kelsi sounded confused.

"Hey Kelsi, it's Shar," she said quickly. "It seems our favorite dancer has come down with a nasty flu. He absolutely demanded that I call you and ask if you wouldn't mind stopping by to cheer him up."

"Of course," Kelsi replied. "I'll call a cab, and I can be there in an hour. Is that okay?"

"Oh no need," Sharpay waved her hand as if the other girl could see. "I'll send a driver for you."

"Oh, that's really not necessary," Kelsi protested.

"Of course it is," Sharpay replied somewhat haughtily. "You are dating an Evans after all. Perks come with the territory. Ralph should be there in fifteen minutes." And she hung up before Kelsi could argue any further.

Ryan woke up to someone gently running nimble fingers through his hair. At first he thought it was his sister; she could be absolutely maternal when it came to him being sick. But upon the realization that the fingers did not have perfectly manicured nails, he cracked one eye open in curiosity.

"Morning," Kelsi whispered, removing her hands from Ryan's head. "How are you feeling?"

"How did you get here?" he rasped, suddenly aware that he'd been sleeping with his mouth open. Kelsi handed him a glass of water and he accepted it gratefully even as she chuckled.

"Sharpay sent a car," she shrugged. "She said you wanted to see me."

"I didn't want you to get sick," Ryan told her after he'd taken a few sips.

"Well, I'm here now so that's a moot point. What are we watching?" she looked at the screen and smiled. "The Music Man huh? I figured you for a Singing in the Rain kind of guy." She tapped his shoulder, indicating he should scoot over and when he did she slid in next to him, leaning against his headboard. She grabbed the remote and started skipping back to the beginning of the movie.

"Everything alright in here?" Sharpay stuck her head in and smiled mischievously at her brother.

"Fine Shar," he told her, forgiving her with a smile for going behind his back. "Kelsi's gonna start the movie over. Watch it with us?" Kelsi thought the blonde would refuse. She probably had three malls to hit before dinner. But she was surprised when Sharpay stepped in and shut the door behind her. She very nearly skipped to the other side of the bed and climbed in, effectively sandwiching Ryan between her and Kelsi.

They lay there in Ryan's bed watching musical after musical, even if Ryan dozed off occasionally. Around six in the evening there was a knock on the door and Derby Evans stepped inside.

"How is he?" she looked at her sleeping boy, then at her daughter.

"Better than this morning," Sharpay said. "He doesn't have a fever anymore, and he's eaten two helpings of soup."

"That's good, he should be up and about by tomorrow. What have you two been up to?" she included Kelsi in her question, and the girl looked from the television to her boyfriend's mother.

"Just watching movies," she replied. "But I should probably be getting back home."

"You must stay for dinner," Mrs. Evans insisted. "Our chef's preparing chicken parmesan. That'll get Ryan out of bed."

"I'm sick, not deaf," the boy mumbled as he rubbed his eyes sleepily. Mrs. Evans walked over to the bed and reached over Kelsi to feel his forehead.

"Well your fever is gone," she nodded at Sharpay, "So that's good. Take a shower and join us for dinner, Ducky." She kissed his hair and glided out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Sharpay stood up and stretched before walking around and pulling Kelsi up.

"We'll let you freshen up. Come on Kelsi." Ryan chuckled at his girlfriend as she rolled her eyes behind Sharpay's back amusedly.

"I'm glad you're feeling better," Kelsi said, offering him a small smile before Sharpay turned and grabbed her arm, effectively pulling her out of the room. Ryan watched them go and took a deep, cleansing breath. He definitely felt much better.

And I've finally done it. I've officially used all three of them in every possible sandwich combination. To be fair, there were really only three and the other two were in PT, but still. And this time Ryan was the one falling asleep on (near) Kelsi! Take that irony!