Title: Ever After Happily
Length: 2, 009 words
Pairings: Troy/Ryan & Troy/Sharpay friendship
Rating: R (implied intercourse, but no actual description, and some dirty words for good measure).
Summary: In my over a decade of knowing her, and three years of dating her brother, I, Troy Bolton, have seen Sharpay Evans cry five times.
Disclaimer: Disney's. Not mine.
Note: Title comes from "Ever After Happily" by Jay Brannan
In my over a decade of knowing her, and three years of dating her brother, I, Troy Bolton, have seen Sharpay Evans cry five times (yeah, I know, you didn't know Ice Queen could spare the water).
The first being when her Rainbow Brite doll was ripped to shreds by a couple of boys, in a vain attempt to prove the masculinity (she caught them playing with her doll, and asked if they had one of their own they could bring in, so all three of them could play together). In front of the class of seven year-olds she stood strong, jaw clenched, fists balled, but in the kiddie theater down the hall where I found her, crying, softly into her pink handkerchief, is where she showed her true colors. Ryan sewed frantically, the doll's head was placed carefully on his knee,
"Don't cry, Shar! I can fix her! See?" he lifted the doll to her, and no sooner than he did, both arms fell off towards his sneaker clad feet, purple thread going with it. She let out the hoarsest whine I had ever heard come out of a little girl, and began crying again,
"You have to fix her, Ryan. Abrea is not a doctor, and Mommy and Daddy won't be home until next month! She'll be dead by then!"
"No! Shar! Look!"
Five minutes later, she was in tears again, safe to say, Ryan's Captain Planet impressions, tap dancing, and funny faces had not helped (I felt a surge of pride for the blond boy, this was of course, the moment I fell in love with him). Strangely enough, I felt the need to fix this, to make it better for him, for her, for them. So, I sprang into action, taking uneven steps towards the two, spurting, "Um. Uh, My-my-my momma sews real good. I-I bet s-s-she could fix her t-t-t-tonight. And if she can't…can't you just wait and buy another one?"
Sharpay opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Ryan, "She wantsthis one. She's special, see." He said, shoving the doll under my nose, placing the removed head in my hands roughly, "She has more pink and blue than regular Rainbow Brite, see, I fixed her so she would be Sharpay's favorite colors."
And by God, if he hadn't, her hair had been colored pink, the red stripes looked as if they had been bleached out in a vain attempt to whiten them, the green had swipes of yellow to make it look more blue, and the dress had been highlighted blue all over the rainbow sleeves.
Oh, yeah, I this was the moment I knew, in my seven year-old heart of hearts, no one could ever beat Ryan. Everyone else pales in comparison. And so, it began:
"My momma can fix her, pinky swear."
And she did.
-
In seventh, Sharpay Evans learned a hard lesson: people lie, people like it, and they thrive off how the lies hurt others. Sharpay had always been cunning little thing, a diva, however, she wasn't malicious, at least not back then; she didn't plan to hurt people just for the sake of it. If you got in her way, sure, but not for sport, she was to interesting for that, too driven. So, when Ryan told her that Miss. Summers told him that she heard the other kids say, "she was a bit of a habitual liar," Sharpay was shocked, hurt, dare I say, and she, being Sharpay, confronted everyone the next day only, to have it result in accusations of "telling stories," and "embellishing," like telling Darcy that Mary had a miscarriage, and that Taylor made out with high school boys. This wasn't Sharpay's style, she didn't say those things, and I knew it. I watched the twelve students screech and crowd on Sharpay, as she screamed and stomped, Ryan growled a low, protective growl next to me, and my seventh grade self was forced to shift uncomfortably, and cross my legs. I went to place my hand on his shoulder but was frozen by Sharpay, "YOU ARE ALL SO MEAN."
"Sharpay, you don't need to hear this," Ryan said as he rose from his seat, "Fuck you, all. Shar, let's go." He grabbed their bags and his sister's hand and slammed the wooden door behind them. Little smirks turned to dropped jaws when I stood and followed suit,
"You all, really, really suck." I snarled before taking off after the pair.
I knew where to go; I found them in the theatre once again. Ryan sat on the stage, cradling Sharpay, "Such bitches. Don't listen to them, Shar. I'm your brother, I'm your twin, don't you think I would tell you if you were a 'habitual liar'?
She just nodded silently, and Ryan asked, "Do you want a chocolate milk?"
"Yeah."
"I'll go get one." He kissed the crown of her head, "Be right back."
Mere seconds passed after Ryan was out of sight before Sharpay barked, "You might as well get your ass up here, Bolton."
I stepped out from behind the trashcan (if I only knew the significance of this old thing). I walked swiftly towards her, "I'm sorry about all this. They suck." She looked at me, cheeks wet and red, "Come on, now Sharpay Evans doesn't let people break her down, come on, get up." She took my hands and I pulled her light body up with ease. I enveloped her in a hug, and she cried and choked out,
"It's not even the kids, I could give a shit if they think I am a bad person. I don't care about them. It's Miss. Summers, I always really loved her and to hear that she thinks that about me," she sobbed even harder, and I nodded,
"It sucks."
Summer. Summer. Summer. We were all so excited, and Ryan was ready for a change, so was Sharpay, so was I.
And this time, it was me who made Sharpay cry. At least, everyone thinks it was me, but I know it was Ryan. She would never admit it, but she hated him for leaving her, and hated herself even more for making him make that choice. Her show was ruined, because of what she had done. She replaced Ryan, and what made it worse is that it was with me, looking back now, the both of them being in love/lust with me, I should've have just let it lie.
I guess you could say, Sharpay had become a new person, a person I didn't even recognize any more, on the surface we weren't friends, but I had always felt some sort of bond with the blonde. So, I took the bullet, and told her I would sing with her, because he asked me to do it.
Except I didn't, did I? No, my boy ended up sacrificing himself again, which only made me love him more; and when she handed Ryan that Star Dazzle award, my heart swelled with pride for both of them. Don't ask me to explain, why I want Sharpay to be a good person, I just do. Maybe because she is Ryan's sister, I don't know. Sometimes, you just love people and you cannot explain it. However, I never confused my unwarranted affection for Sharpay with lust. It's the mystery of human chemistry, I guess. I'm not the bright, I almost failed Chem, but I knew from the first day I met them, they were special.
Ryan and I began dating in September of senior year with a whole lot of pushing from Gabriella.
"You like him."
"Shut up."
"Awww! You do like him!"
"Shut up."
" He likes you too, Troy."
"Shu—really?"
"Wow. You are totally blushing. You are totally blushing! How cute are you? You liiiiiiiike him."
"Gabbi. You are such a little annoying tw--"
"Troy, don't be a dumbass, he's loved you since you fixed the damn Rainbow Brite."
"How do you…?"
"Troy, I just know. Talk to him."
And I did.
Well, I jumped him mid-dance routine, but we did eventually talk. And we're not all flowers and puppies all the time, it's not perfect. But, it's really good and I am happy. And we got support and love from everyone. Hugs from Chad, Zeke made us a coming-out Crème Brule, Kelsi wrote us a song, my parents were great, (Ryan's were non-issue being they were never around) and Sharpay was fucking thrilled. It gave her the opportunity to give someone the whole, "break my brother's heart, I break your face" speech.
Soon, we were inseparable, all three of us, because to date Ryan, was too, in some weird, cutesy, brotherly way, date Sharpay. They had a thing, they had a schedule, they took the time to work me into it, and that, my children, is love. Everyday had a well laid out plan, never changing, since they were ten. Everyday included shopping, and dancing in some form, but each day had a designated activity: facials, doctor's appointments, spas, etc. Sometimes I would go along, like to doctor's appointments, and sometimes I would hang back, play some ball with Chad, like when they got manicures (I may be gay, but I am not that gay). But Friday's were Sharpay's date night, which meant Ryan and I had the TV, the couch and the fridge to ourselves.
The night in question we were playing Spyro, which Ryan takes very seriously, and you see, he bites his lip when he concentrates, and he was wearing these pants, and just can't help myself. Anyway, he is playing, and I am mauling his ears and neck, he whimpered and whined, but eventually gave in.
Minutes later, Spyro's quest for freedom long forgotten, he tasted like Sour Patch Kids and iced tea, and it was slow and lazy, and perfect and then suddenly, he jerked,
"Do you hear something?"
"No, Ry," I said into his neck, "And plus, it wouldn't be the first time Sharpay has seen us going at it," blushing at the memory.
"No, Troy, I hear something," he paused, "Oh. My. God. What if it is an animal! What if it is Boi!? What if he is hurt outside?"
"Okay, just to be clear: my hand's around your cock, my tongue's down your throat, my dick is inside of you, and you are worrying about your sister's dog?"
"I'm sorry, I just have a gut feeling something is wrong outside. Can we go check?" He paused, grinning slyly, "I'll make it worth your while."
"Again, penis. Inside. Of you. Right now. What other 'while' can I get?"
So, we check and I don't really remember the exact details of what happened between Ryan opening the door, seeing Jay pushing a very tearful Sharpay's skirt up, and my fist slamming Jay's head into the pavement. But, from what Ryan tells me, he convinced me to stay on the deck, Ryan tried to pull Jay off and Jay made the mistake of pushing and hitting Ryan. His fist clipped Ryan's chin, and even Jay looked surprised at his uncalled for swing, and I don't play that.
"You don't fucking touch them!" I roared between whacks, when I was through, Ryan spat on him for good measure, and with that, Sharpay supplied a high-heeled clad kick to the crotch.
And number five? It's now, right now, as I marry her brother and finally, we officially become family. It's just the three of us, Chad, Gabbi and Darbus. Sharpay holds her tears back until I come over, wrapped my arms around her,
"We're family, now, for real, family."
I think that's what she has always wanted, other person who cared about her, a family. Her parents certainly weren't family, Drama Club wasn't family, and Ryan is one person, and you need more than that.
Well, now they both have me, and whoever else we can drag into this sad excuse for a family.
And I'm happy because he's happy. And he's happy because she's happy.
It's all I ever wanted.