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Troy was sitting in his apartment staring down at a picture of the group; he ran his fingertips over Jason and Kelsi's faces. He just couldn't understand how things like this could happen, the last time Troy talked to Jason he told Troy that he was going to propose to Kelsi, this wasn't fair they were supposed to grow old together not die young.
Troy sniffed and wiped the tears that started to fall; he put the picture down and looked at the time. The ceremony was going to start soon; he got up and started to get ready. Everyone had started to come home during the days leading up to the funeral; everyone had yet to see each other. Everyone was busy with something, kids, catching up with parents and Troy was busy helping both families organize the funeral. No one had seen each other in years and it was sad that it took an event like this to bring them back together.
Troy grabbed his eyes and headed out of the apartment.
-
Sharpay had just gotten back home yesterday, despite how much she yelled at the travel agent it was the earliest flight back. She had a hard time explaining to Will why they were going toNew Mexicoand an even harder time trying to get him to understand why she was crying so much, once they got home Sharpay got them a hotel to stay in right away. Sharpay hadn't told anyone that she was coming home, not even Ryan, hell no one even knew she had a child. When Sharpay got pregnant she was so excited to tell everyone and then Peyton left her and she felt ashamed of herself, she decided to keep it a secret and slowly began to cut everyone out of her life; the hardest was Ryan but she did it.
Sharpay put the last of her make up on before she turned to her son, who instead that he dressed up on his own, and smiled when she saw him struggling with his tie; it was just too cute. Sharpay walked up to him and bent down, she fixed his tie with a smile. Sharpay stood back up and looked him over.
"You are one handsome boy Will Evans" Sharpay said as she fixed his hair.
"That's because I'm your son" Sharpay let out a laugh.
"That's right" Sharpay grabbed her purse. "Alright, let's go" Sharpay extended her hand to Will; he took it with a smile.
-
Troy, Jason's parents and Kelsi's parents were the first ones there, whenTroysaw the caskets he felt his heart break at the site. It was going to be a closed casket ceremony and he was glad, seeing their faces would make it all too real.
Troy looked over his shoulder when he heard the church door's open and sawChad,Taylor and their daughter Eve in a baby carrier walking up and made his way over to them, as soon as they were in front of each other Chad pulled Troy into a tight embrace.
"Good to see youTroy, I'm sorry it has to be under these circumstances"Chad said once they pulled away.
"You an me both"Troy said with a sigh.
Troy turned to Taylor and kissed her cheek before pulled her into a hug, he held her tighter when he felt her shake. He pulled back and saw tears make their way down her cheek.
"Are you going to be okay"Taylor shrugged as she wiped the tears.
"I just can't believe it"Troy nodded and Chad wrapped an arm around her.
"And this is Eve?"Troy smiled at the baby.
"Yeah"Chad put the carrier down on a bench and lifted Eve out of it.
"Eve Gabriella Danforth"Taylor said as she caressed Eve's cheek.
"Gabriella?'Taylor nodded.
"She's her Godmother"Troysmiled at that, at least someone of them stuck together.
"She looks just like you Taylor"Taylor chuckled.
"I've been told"Taylor looked over her shoulder and looked at both families. "How are they holding up?"Troy took a deep breath and shook his head.
"Like any parent would if they lost a child"Taylor felt tears build up at the thought.
"Come on, let's go talk to them"Chad began to walk over to the families.
"I got this"Troy said to Taylor as he picked up the carrier.
"Thank you"Troy nodded.
After Chad and Taylor more people began to arrive, everyone said the same thing 'Good to see you again, sorry it's under these circumstances'.Troy walked out of the church and to his car, he was going to grab a blanket for Eve she was cold and Chad had forgotten to bring 't have cold winters, but today was one of those rare days that you actually feel it.
Troy closed his car door and when he turned he saw someone getting out of the cab with a young child. As she got out her purse fell from her hands and the contents spilled out,Troy made his way over to her. He bent down and began to help her, he picked up the last item and it caught his attention, it was a piece of ID and the name said 'Sharpay Evans'.Troy looked up and saw Sharpay looking at him; he didn't recognize her because she had a big pair of sunglass covering her eyes. Sharpay began to remove them slowly, they both stood up.
"Hey Sharpay"Troy said slowly as he extended her ID out.
"Hey, uh thanks for your help" Sharpay took the ID and put it back into her purse.
"We weren't sure if you were going to make it, Ryan didn't know if you got his message"Troy stuffed his hands into his pockets.
"No, I got it; I couldn't believe it"Troy nodded and turned his attention to the little boy, who was slightly hiding behind Sharpay's leg.
"And this is?" Sharpay followed Troy's line of site and smiled at her boy.
"Oh, come here baby it's okay" Sharpay extended her hand and he slowly took it and stepped in front of Sharpay, shyness was something he got from his father. "Troy, this is my…My son William, Will this is Troy an old friend of mine" Sharpay placed her hands over his shoulders.
"Hi Will"Troy extended a hand out to the little boy.
"Hi" Will took Troy's hand and lightly shook it.
An awkward moment fell between them, but Troy was quick to break it.
"We should get inside" Sharpay nodded and the three of them began to walk to the church.
Once they were inside Troy led her to the front, he passed the blanket to Chad before taking a seat and making room for Sharpay and Will. Ryan was shocked to see his sister, but even more shocked to see a child with her there was no doubt that the boy was her child. Ryan raised an eyebrow at Sharpay and she simply ignored it, now just wasn't the time. The ceremony began. Not once during the whole ceremony was there a dry eye in the crowd, it was the hardest when people spoke about the two. Some people got laughs but most ended with something serious that touched the heart.
Once the ceremony was done people stood up to leave, all on their way to the graveyard. When Sharpay stood up she was brought into a hug by Ryan, she made no move to stop him.
"Do you need a ride to the graveyard?" Ryan asked once they pulled away.
"Yes please, your car is here?" Ryan nodded.
"Never took it with me, mom and dad kept it" Ryan started to zip his jacket up.
"Let's go" Sharpay took Will's hand in her own and gave him a small smile.
They quickly made their way to Ryan's car; Sharpay helped Will in before getting in herself.
"Ryan, this is my son Will and Will this is your uncle Ryan" Ryan looked at Will through his rear view mirror with a smile.
"Hi buddy" Will smiled back.
"Hi, you have the same name as my middle name" Ryan smiled at that.
"Really?" Ryan asked Will but was looking at Sharpay.
"Yeah" Will said softly but Sharpay could hear the smile in his voice.
"William Ryan Hunter Evans" Sharpay said and Ryan nodded.
"William you got from grandpa and Ryan from me, so where did Hunter come from?" Ryan glanced at Sharpay before looking back at the road.
"His father's father" Sharpay almost whispered, Ryan had to strain to hear her.
"And where's his father?" Ryan's voice in the same tone.
"Not around, that's all you need to know" William never asked about his father and Sharpay was going to keep it that way as long as possible.
"Sharpay-" She cut him off.
"Today is not the day, we'll talk about it another time" Sharpay looked away from Ryan and out the passenger window.
"We have a lot to talk about, another time" Sharpay rolled her eyes at the mockery.
They finally made it to the graveyard; Sharpay carried Will to the grave and placed him in front of her. When Taylor saw Sharpay and Will she turned to both Gabriella and Chad.
"When did Sharpay get a kid?"Chad and Gabriella followedTaylor's line of vision and shrugged.
Gabriella looked over Sharpay and Will, she had to admit her son was cute he was his mother. She looked over Sharpay's shoulder at Troy and let their eyes connect for a second before breaking it.
Troy walked over to Jason's coffin and placed his old Wildcat jerseys on top of it; Ryan stepped up next to him and placed the last song that Kelsi wrote on top of hers, her mother had given it to Ryan to do knowing that the two were great friends. They both stepped back, on either side of Sharpay.
Once the burial began there was not a dry eye in the crowd once again, at one point Sharpay began to look for a tissue Troy saw her struggling so he pulled the handkerchief from his suite jacket and handed it to her. Sharpay gave him a grateful smile as she took it.
Once the burial was done the Wildcat's, even Sharpay after much convincing from Ryan, made their way to Troy's apartment; the rest of the night was going to be spent remember their two friends.
"What's everyone drinking?" Troy asked from his kitchen.
"I'll have a beer"Chad said as he took his suit jacket off.
"Same here" Ryan raised a hand.
"We'll have wine if you have it" Gabriella pointed to herself, Taylor and Martha.
"Rum and coke" Zeke said as he got comfortable.
"He'll have whatever juice you have" Sharpay pointed to Will.
"What about you?" Sharpay took a second to think about it.
"Water's fine, thanks" Sharpay shifted on the couch to give Will more room.
"Water? Come on have some wine or something" Sharpay shook her head.
"Not while he's awake, I have to have all my attention on this little trouble maker" They all chuckled at that.
"I'm not a troublemaker mom" Sharpay smirked and ran a hand through his hair.
"Hey Will, I have some video games in my room, do you want to play them?"Troy asked as he walked back into the room.
"Can I mom?" His eyes and voice filled with excitement.
"Yeah, go play" Will jumped off the couch and began to followTroy. "Nothing violent Troy"
"Got it"Troysaid just before they walked into his room.
"He's so cute, how old is he?" Sharpay smiled at Gabriella before answering.
"He just turned six last month" Gabriella nodded.
"He looks just like you" Gabriella crossed her legs as she spoke.
"Yeah he's a lucky kid" Gabriella and Ryan laughed.
Troywalked back out to grab Wills drink before grabbing everyone else's; he took a seat beside Gabriella and let out a heavy sigh.
"After everything today, I still can't believe their gone" Gabriella said as she ran a hand through her hair,Troygently squeezed her thigh before moving his hand and Sharpay nodded in agreement.
"I know what you mean" Sharpay took a sip of her water.
"I kept thinking that we should all get together soon and now I wish I had said it out loud" Zeke said before taking large sip from his drink.
"None of us said anything either man, it's been forever since we've been together. Don't blame yourself Zeke" Everyone nodded withChad.
"I just wish we could have seen them just once more, Eve would have loved them" Sharpay smiled knowing that Will would have too.
"You know the last time I talked to Jason he told me that he planning to propose to Kelsi" Everyone looked at Troy in shock. "I never even got the chance to ask him if he did it"
"I don't understand any of it" A sob broke through when Martha finally spoke.
Later that night Troy decided to order some pizza for dinner, it was starting to get late so everyone said that they would eat dinner and go home.
"I'm gonna go check on Will, do you mind?" Sharpay indicated to the door.
"No go ahead, I'll come with you and see what he wants on the pizza" Sharpay nodded and they headed to the bedroom.
Once they walked in Sharpay wished she had a camera for the site she saw even Troy thought it was cute, Will was asleep on the ground with the controller hugged tightly to his chest and the game still on.
"I think we're going to head home" Sharpay said with a small laugh.
"Or you can put him in the bed and stay" Troy suggested.
"Yeah?" Sharpay wasn't sure if she should.
"Yeah, it's been a while since all of us got together" Sharpay nodded.
Sharpay started to bed down to lift Will up but found it difficult with her dress.
"Here, I got him, just roll the cover down"Troy lifted Will and put him into the bed.
"And it's been a while since you've talked to any of us" Sharpay frowned at Troy.
"So, why do you care? We weren't even close"Troy crossed his arms and shrugged.
"That doesn't mean I don't care about you. You want to play the close game, fine. You and Gabriella got really close after grad and you stopped talking to her too. Ryan, the guys your brother and he wasn't even sure if he was calling the right number" Sharpay could feel the anger flaring up, but she controlled it. Who the hell did Troy think he was?
"Drop it Troy, I'm not having this conversation with you"Troy rolled his eyes.
"I'm just trying to understand why" Sharpay let out a sigh, understanding that Troy just cared.
"You don't need to understand, it's not your place to" Sharpay turned and walked out of the room.
Troy shook his head before he grabbed his phone and called for a pizza; he walked out of the room and closed the door softly so that he didn't wake Will up.
When the pizza got there Sharpay was quick to help Troy, everyone else was lost in conversation with each other.
"Plates?" Sharpay asked as she stepped in to the kitchen.
"First cabinet on the top left"Troypointed to it as he put the pizza box down.
"So what are you doing back home? I thought by now you'd be a huge basketball star" Sharpay said as she reached for the plates.
"I would have been, I was doing great in college and then I got sidelined because of a back injury" Sharpay looked at him as she put the plates down and could see the sadness in his eyes, though he was trying to hide it, she felt bad that she even brought it up.
"I'm sorry"Troy shook his head and waved it off.
"Don't be, it's not your fault. So I moved back home because I couldn't play the same anymore or at all for a while and now I'm teaching"Troy walked over to his fridge and pulled out a few of water bottles and placed them on the table.
"You're a teacher?" Surprise laced her voice.
"Gym"Troysaid with a smile.
"Of course" They both let out a small laugh.
"And the coach of the Wildcats basketball team, just cause I can't play it doesn't mean I can't teach it" Sharpay nodded. "Guys, come get the pizza"
Soon everyone was going home; they all said their goodbyes in hopes to see each other again soon. Sharpay opted to stay behind and help Troy clean the house up andTroyreluctantly agreed.
"You really don't have to do this"Troysaid as he picked up the empty beer bottles.
"I had a get together a few weeks ago and I hated having to clean up b myself, so I know you could use the help"Troylet out a small chuckle.
"Where are you living now?"Troy asked from the kitchen.
"New York" Sharpay answered as she stepped in to the kitchen.
"Good for you Sharpay, so your dream came true?"Troy turned the tap on in the skink and began to wash the glasses.
"Parts of it"Troydidn't see the sad look that crossed Sharpay's face and she made sure to keep it out of her voice.
Once all the cleaning was done and dishes were dry, Sharpay got ready to leave. She walked back intoTroy's room and slowly lifted Will into her arms.
"Come on, I'll take you home"Troy grabbed his car keys but Sharpay shook her head,
"No, it's fine, can you call me a cab though?" Sharpay asked as they walked back into the living room.
"Why? Let me take you home"Troy pressed.
"It's fineTroy, just call me a cab please?"Troy let out a sigh and grabbed his phone, putting his car keys down.
"Where are you going?" He asked before he started to dial.
"Holiday inn on Rosedale drive"Troy raised an eyebrow at that.
"You're not staying at your house?" Sharpay let out a humorless laugh.
"My parents still live there right?"Troy nodded. "Then as long as they live there I won't be"Troy laughed.
"Parents, can't live with them wouldn't be here without them" Sharpay let out a laugh this time.
Troy called for a cab and they went downstairs to wait for it, when it arrived,Troy walked Sharpay out.
"Thanks for letting Will sleep and play your games"Troy smiled.
"No worries, he's a great kid"Troy said as he opened the door for her.
"Thanks, hopefully I'll see you again before I leave and hopefully under better circumstances"Troy nodded.
"Hopefully, good night Sharpay" Sharpay smiled at him as she carefully got into the car.
Troy closed the door and waved at her once more before the cab took off.
While in the car Sharpay couldn't help but think that it felt good to be home, no matter the circumstance, maybe it was time that she came back home. This would be a great place to raise Will.
