Living Without You

Pt 2

Well I'm glad that ya'll enjoyed the first chapter so here is the exciting new one.

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Kelsi was walking to the coffee shop, lost in thought. She was wondering what their life would be like, now that the two of them would be starting Julliard. She frowned a little, unsure whether Ryan would still want a relationship, or if he would break up with her. It would hurt if he found someone else, especially if the hypothetical woman was like Sharpay. She shuddered at the thought, imagining Ryan and another woman misusing her songs.

She realized that she was just about to walk past the coffee shop, and shook off her thoughts hurriedly, looking up to see Ryan waiting for her inside. He smiled at her and held up two cups up. She didn't know how he did it to her but every time she saw him all her troubles and cares just melted away, She made her way over to him hastily, and Ryan put the cups down and surrounded her in a big hug, resting his chin on the top of her head for a brief moment.

"Hi, Ry." She said softly, loving the feel of his warm arms around her. Ryan let go of her reluctantly, and pulled out her chair.

"Hey, Kel" he responded, and she smiled at his chivalry as she sat down.

"One hot green tea for you with a little bit of sweetener" he said handing her the hot cup

"Thanks, Ry" she smiled while taking the lid off and inhaling the aroma of the drink "This is just what I needed, all this packing and getting stuff ready for college is exhausting" she said, taking a small sip

"I know, it will be here before we know it" he answered, looking into her eyes. Kelsi noticed something was a little off and she hoped he was just nervous about college, like she was.

"Is everything okay, Ryan?" she asked, a little worried

"Hmm?" He looked up from his cup

"You seem a little preoccupied, is something on your mind?" she asked

"No, it's just sitting here with you… it's nice" he answered. Kelsi swallowed hard, she knew it was coming, he was going to break up with her, he must have just wanted to spare her the heartache of doing it while they were in college

"Listen...Kels" he said, dreading the words he knew were about to come out of his mouth

"Yes?" she asked fear coursing through every vein in her body

"Would you like some more tea?" He said, mentally kicking himself for not coming out and telling her. He was oh so confident when it came to dance but it seemed in life he was just a big chicken.

"No I'm good" she replied, and she smiled weakly, wondering what was going on with Ryan, he seemed so inattentive as if something huge was on his mind. They talked for hours about little things, like where in the college they'd be living and when they would be leaving.

Ryan had just noticed it was almost 9 o'clock, and he wondered where the time had gone. It seemed that time always flew by when he was with Kelsi.

"Wow, it's already getting late" she said, looking at her watch

"I know," he smiled "Lets go for a walk or something, I think the manager wants to close up now" he said, seeing the barista constantly looking at his watch and then looking at the two of them. He picked up their cups and threw them in the garbage can, and then locked up his Vespa.

"Aww," she pouted "No ride?"

"No I thought we could enjoy the cool night air" he smiled, taking her hand and heading away from the coffee shop. It seemed like hours later when they finally came to a stop at a small park a few blocks away from Kelsi's house, and Ryan sat down on a bench, taking Kelsi's hand and tugging her down beside him. He looked deep into her eyes, pushing aside a stray brown curl. He would always remember her this way no matter what came next in their life, Kelsi meant the world to him and he would never forget her… which made what he was about to say even more difficult.

"Penny for your thoughts" she asked loving the attention he was giving her, even as she wondered whether he was going to break up with her.

"Nothing" he smiled "I'm just memorizing your face, so I'll see you this way for as long as I can" he admitted softly.

Kelsi was nervous, if he was going to break up with her then he might as well tell her, because she couldn't take the suspense anymore

"Ryan, is there something you want to tell me?" she asked, her voice wavering slightly. Ryan took her hand and looked deep into her eyes, almost wanting to cry.

"I did something you need to know about" he sighed, swallowing a lump in his throat

"If you're going to break up with me, Ryan Evans, just tell me, cause I can't handle all this pussyfooting around" she said, looking into his deep blue eyes

"No" he laughed weakly "I'm not going to break up with you, I've done something that might make you a little more angry then me breaking up with you" he said unhappily, and took a deep breath in.

"I joined the army" he continued, holding on tightly to her small hands

"Very cute Ryan" she laughed "An Evans would never be caught dead in camouflage, according to Sharpay" she said, still chuckling over her silly boyfriend.

"It's true, I report for basic training next week" he said, and Kelsi heard the utter seriousness in his tone.

"Ryan? Please tell me that you're joking" Kelsi said, dropping his hands, as tears formed in her eyes.

"I'm not, I wanted to do it to prove to my family that I'm not a loser" he said standing up and putting a hand through his hair

"But you're not a loser, why would you even say that?" Kelsi asked, still seated on the bench

"You saw the look on my dad's face when he found out I was going to Julliard, it was of pure disappointment" he replied

"Who cares, Ryan, your dad should be proud of you no matter what" she said

"Well doing this will prove to him that I'm better then what he thinks of me" he said angry at his dad

"Ryan please, don't do this" Kelsi begged, feeling sick to her stomach "I beg of you, there's a war going on, and they'll send you away."

"I'm sorry Kelsi, it's just something I have to do" he stated sadly.

"You're not even going to consider my feelings, are you." she said, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look at her.

"But Kels" he said, and Kelsi glared at him in disbelief.

"Don't 'But Kels' me, Ryan Evans." She said, angrily. "I can't believe you'd do this to me, to us"

Seeing that Ryan wasn't going to change his mind, she released his chin and turned away,

"Kelsi don't walk away" he said, starting after her

"Leave me alone" she snapped, picking up her pace and starting to run. She ran all the way to her house, hoping that Ryan wasn't following her. How could he do this to her? Just leave her like that, they were supposed to go to Julliard together, they were supposed to be the newest things on Broadway. This wasn't the way things were supposed to happen.

She reached her house and ran straight up to her room, she was never so happier that her mother wasn't home. She couldn't deal with talking to anyone at the moment, she just wanted to cry in her room. She reached her room and flopped down on her bed, she didn't really cry, all she did was stare up at the ceiling, wondering why he couldn't of just broken up with her. That would have been easier to handle, but no, he broke her heart in a completely different way, he was going to leave her and possibly never come back.


She must have dozed off, because it was daytime when she heard her phone ring.

"It better not be you, Evans" she said, putting her glasses on and glaring at the phone. It was an Evans all right, but it wasn't Ryan, it was Sharpay.

"Hello?" she asked, wondering what Sharpay wanted now.

"Hey Kelsi" Sharpay said in a sweet voice that Kelsi wasn't exactly used to

"Umm… hi, Sharpay" Kelsi said mentally checking to make sure that it was actually Sharpay Evans and not a bad imposter

"Look I know what's going on with you and Ryan right now" she said sadly

"You do?" Kelsi answered, scared that Sharpay had taken Ryan's side and was calling Kelsi to tell her off for not supporting him

"Yeah I was just wondering if you wanted someone to talk to" Sharpay answered

"Um sure" Kelsi answered

"All right I'll be over in an hour, okay?" Sharpay asked

"Umm… Sure, I'll see you then" Kelsi said as she hung up the phone. She wondered briefly if she was still dreaming, because it seemed so strange that Sharpay would be this nice to her without wanting something in return. She was about to head to the shower when she heard her phone ring again

"Now who" she mumbled to herself picking up her phone, it was Gabriella she smiled at her name and pressed the green button to answer the phone

"Hey Gab" she said answering the phone

"Hey Kels, Sharpay just called and told me what happened, are you okay?" Gabriella asked, it sounded like she was crying

"I'm not sure yet, I mean, I just ran away from him Gabriella" Kelsi said

"I know honey, but he has his reasons I guess, listen I'm coming over with Sharpay, and so is Martha and Taylor. Maybe we can all talk about it together, is that all right?" Gabriella asked gently.

"Sure I just have to get in the shower and clean up first" Kelsi said staring at the towel she had in her hands

"All right, I'll see you in a little bit then" Gabriella said, before hanging up the phone

"This was going to be a long day" Kelsi said hanging up the phone turning on her Rent CD and heading towards the shower