Hey, everyone! Now that we have our own section for High School Musical, I decided to post this story. I've been working on this since last week and it's going pretty far. I love Ryan so I just had to post it! D

Disclaimer: If I owned High School Musical, Ryan would have had a bigger part.

Falling Off The Ladder

Chapter 1

Twin Protectors

Evans House

Slowly creeping down the hall, Sharpay gentle edged the door to her older brother's room open. Quietly stepping in, she shut the door with a soft click. Walking to the crumpled figure that was slumped against the wall, Sharpay softly said, "Ryan? Ryan, wake up."

Below her the figure stirred. Lifting his head, Ryan looked at Sharpay through glazed eyes. "Shar?"

Smiling down at the brother sadly, she nodded. "Yeah, it's me." She sighed when she saw the bruises blossoming on his stomach and the small trails of blood that fell down his face. "He's at it again."

"I'll be fine," Ryan said, struggling to move into a sitting position against the wall of his bedroom.

Shaking her head frantically, Sharpay felt tears for behind her eyes. "No, Ryan. No." Beginning to cry softly, she rested her head against Ryan's chest and felt him wrap his arms around her gently. She knew he didn't have much strength left from when their father had been in there.

It had started when they were six. Ryan had suddenly collapsed while the two were playing and was rushed to the hospital. At the start, the doctors had thought it was from exhaustion or malnutrition, but they had found the error quickly. Ryan had a small hole in his lung. It was too difficult to operate on and there was a good chance that if he did get the operation he could die beneath the knife.

There wasn't much that they could do for Ryan. They had admitted him into the hospital for a few days. That didn't do much except make medical bills soar. That's when the family problems had started. Their father, Michael, had remembered the play the two had starred in when they were in kindergarten and began to push the two to continue. In his mind, he was convinced that they would make it big and that any other medical emergencies Ryan may have would be paid for by the talent the two had.

Then, when they were ten, Ryan was rushed to the hospital again. Their father had pushed him too hard to improve in his dancing and his body couldn't handle it. It only got worse. In the waiting room Michael had begun ranting about how he had to get Ryan back to the house so he could get back to practicing. A nurse had seen how distraught Sharpay was and how her father only yelled at her to quit crying. Child Protective Services was called minutes later.

They hadn't bought Michael's story that Ryan had pushed himself too far. Sharpay was allowed to stay in Ryan's hospital room until he was released, but after that they were to be sent to a foster home until the officials could make sure that Michael wouldn't endanger either of his children. They had spent two months in a home with a kind couple and their young daughter. The three had quickly become friends, but when their foster mother got transferred, Sharpay and Ryan were told they would be returning home. Apparently, the officials had decided the twins were safe back at their home. After they left, the two never heard from the kind family again.

The officials had been wrong when they said Michael was safe. Once they got home, Michael had begun to fight with their mother, Alison, more. At first it had only been small arguments where they would give each other the silent treatment for a day, but as time went on things intensified. Michael would walk out and return hours later drunk. Not too long after, Michael began to hit Ryan. At first it was only a slap or two. Then slaps turned into punches and punches were assisted by kicks. He thought that was bad enough. But then Michael bought the leather whip.

Eventually it became routine. Michael would leave and return drunken hours later and as soon as he walked in the door he would go straight to Ryan's room and would use any excuse he could find to beat his only son. After Ryan's yells had ended and Michael had gone to the master bedroom, Sharpay would sneak into her brother's room and help with what she could. Today was the same as every other day.

"Ryan, we have to tell someone. Please," Sharpay begged.

"I can handle it, Shar. I can," Ryan insisted.

"Ryan, you don't even fight back against him anymore! How is that handling it?"

"It's giving him a reason to stop sooner. If I fight back he'll just keep going."

Letting a tear slip past her eye, Sharpay helped her brother out of his blue and white, button down shirt. "Thank God you have a ton of these."

"They're all I really buy, Shar. It's too hard to get out of T-Shirts without hitting a bruise or stretching them," Ryan said. Gently shrugging off the shirt, Ryan leaned against the wall as Sharpay began to clean the small cuts that littered his chest and trails of blood that were coming from the corner of his mouth.

"Bit your tongue?" Sharpay asked.

Ryan nodded.

"All right," Sharpay said. "Lie down on your bed. We need to get at the gashes on your back."

Obeying his sister, Ryan struggled to stand and drag himself to the bed. Feeling searing pain shooting through his back, Ryan clenched his teeth in an attempt to keep from crying out. He knew how much it hurt his sister to pour the rubbing alcohol on his back and he didn't want to make it worse by crying out. He had to protect her in any way he could. Sighing in relief as the pain subsided, Ryan felt himself slowly slipping into darkness. "Thanks, Shar," he whispered.

"Sleep tight, big bro," Sharpay said, watching as Ryan's eyes close and his breathing even out. Drawing the dark blue comforter over her brother, Sharpay lay above the covers so she was beside Ryan and drifted off to sleep.

TBC

Anime Girl23: Hope you liked it!

Ryan: This isn't going to turn out good, is it?

Anime Girl23: Ryan, you're idea of good and my idea of good are totally different. P Just be ready.

Until next time!