Until Death Do Us Part

A Third Wedding Fiction by Samantha

There I was, standing at the front of the church. And there she was. That girl who stole my man. Sure, I broke up with him, but that doesn't mean I stopped loving him. And here they were. At the rehearsal. It was the night before the wedding. So, technically, they were rehearsing how the next morning would go, and then we would head over to the rehearsal dinner, to rehearse a meal. Whoever though of rehearsing a meal? Anyways, whatever. The priest or whoever he was, was standing up at the altar, and the bride to be was ordering him around. I was quite bored. The bride to be evidently got bored, and the priest started talking through what he would say the next day. I really couldn't see why I was even there. I knew what was going on, all weddings are the same.

"And then I'll say, 'If anyone has any reason that these two should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace'," the priest was saying. There was a sniffle from the other side of the altar.

"That's a bit wordy," Gabriella, the bride to be, said. "And then what?" The sniffles were getting louder, and she just ignored them. The priest, however, could not.

"Is everything all right?" the priest asked the sniffler, who just nodded. "Are you sure?"

"Ryan, could you please hold it together?" Gabriella asked him. Ryan shook his head and went back to sniffling. Gabriella went back to the priest. "What comes after 'Speak now or forever holds your peace'?" Ryan's sniffles turned into sobs. "Excuse me for a second." Gabriella walked over to Ryan and took him by the shoulders. "Ryan." He didn't look at her. She hugged him, and he hugged her back, almost too enthusiastically. She went to pull away, but he wouldn't let go. "Ryan, I have to finish this."

"But you can't marry him," Ryan said. "I love you." Almost everyone present in the church (including a harpist and a flutist) gasped. Oh, come on, you had to see that one coming.

"Um, could we deal with this later?" Gabriella asked. Ryan shook his head, but let go of her.

"Just go," he said. She didn't move. "Go."

"Ryan, I–" Gabriella began.

"Go!" Ryan said. She walked back over to the groom.

"We don't have to do this right now," the groom said.

"No, I want to," Gabriella replied.

"But Ryan–" he began.

"I already knew," Gabriella said. Everyone gasped again. "I already knew, Troy. I've known since high school." Ryan was sniffling again, although somewhat more silently. I couldn't, personally, believe that she could be so heartless. She had known? Ryan hadn't told me that she had known. The priest had decided to proceed to the "I dos".

"So, then, I'll say 'Do you, Troy Bolton, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, etcetera, etcetera, until death do you part' and then you'll say 'I do'," the priest said to Troy, who nodded. "And then I'll say 'Do you, Gabriella Montez, take this man to by your lawfully wedded husband, etcetera, etcetera, until death do you part' and then you'll say 'I do'." Gabriella started to nod, but she latched eyes with Ryan, and stopped. She looked back at Troy, who hadn't noticed. "And then I'll say something to the general effect of 'By the powers vested in me by the state of New Mexico and the church, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride' and then you will." Troy nodded again. Gabriella looked like she was going to say something, but she didn't, and the priest went on. "And then I'll present the married couple to the church, and then you'll go to the reception. Any questions?" No one did, and we practiced walking back down the aisle to the music. I joined Ryan who was sniffling again.

"Shh, Ryan, it'll all be okay," I said.

"No, it will not be okay," Ryan said. "I can't believe she can do that. She's the only one, Shar." The rehearsal wedding was over, and we walked next door to the reception hall, where the dinner guests were waiting. Ryan made to go to the bar, but I stopped him. Kelsi, who had been right behind us, came over to us.

"It'll be okay, Ry," she said.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Ryan asked. "No, it will not. Why couldn't it have been me? I love her so freaking much, and she just…" The rest of the guests were beginning to stare. I shot a glare around the room, and most of them stopped. No one stares at my brother for getting his heart ripped out and torn into pieces. I looked around for Troy and / or Gabriella, but neither were in sight. I figured they were working out some logistics with the priest. "Guys, let me go."

"No," I said. "I'm not letting you go anywhere until this is over, and then we'll spend some quality time with Ben and Jerry."

"It's all going to be okay," Kelsi offered.

"Stop. Saying. That," Ryan said. "You guys wouldn't understand. You're married."

"I am not," I said.

"Well, you've got Zeke, anyways," he said, "and Kelsi's got Jason. I'm all alone."

"Ryan–" I began.

"I'm not finished," Ryan said. "Gabriella was the only girl I've ever loved. The only person I've ever loved. The only one I'll ever love. She's the only one. Ever." Troy and Gabriella walked through the doors at that second and came over to join us. Gabriella looked like she had been crying, Troy looked very happy about something. Apparently, I missed something, because one second I was standing with Ryan, Kelsi, Jason, Taylor and Chad at the front table, and the next second, I was standing with Ryan, Troy, and Gabriella up on the stage, where the band would be the next day. Everyone in the reception hall was staring at us, as Gabriella went for the microphone.

"Okay, everyone. I know we're gathered here for a rehearsal dinner, to rehearse the dinner that we're going to have tomorrow," she started. "And, how often do you get to rehearse your meals before you eat them?" The audience laughed a little, but most were confused. Like me. "Okay, so, ladies, gentlemen, Mom," Gabriella began again, "we have an announcement to give." She looked at Troy, who took the microphone from her.

"Gabriella and I aren't getting married after all," he said. "We talked about it just now, and we both decided that we just can't. If we did, we'd just get a divorce, and what with the divorce rate around 50 percent now, we decided that wasn't a good idea." There were gasps from the crowd, and myself as well. The guests began to talk amongst themselves. Gabriella grabbed the mike back.

"Excuse me?" she said. "We weren't finished." The crowd requieted. "Okay, so we're not getting married. Wahoo. Anyways, so why? Well, just one little thing." She put the microphone back on its stand and took Ryan and kissed him. When she broke away, he had the funniest smile on his face he had ever had. She took the mike again and said, "So, that's pretty much it. Help yourself to the food, and stuff. And thanks for coming!" She took Ryan off the stage. I was confused.

"Troy, what am I doing up here?" I asked.

"Well, that's the other part," Troy said.

"Troy, no. I'm over this. We both decided–" I began.

"Sharpay, you need to know this. There was another reason," Troy said.

"No. We were over this. That's why you were getting married."

"Shar, I–"

"Troy, there are people here," I warned.

"I know. That's why you need to listen to me."

"No," I said.

"Sharpay! Just listen to me. I'm still in love with you," Troy said.

"I know. I still love you too, but you can't just–"

"Please," he said. I didn't say anything. "Please just don't say we can't."

"But Zeke–" I began.

"What you and Zeke have is based on chocolate chip cookies, and a childhood infatuation," Troy said. "What we have is love." He leaned in to kiss me, but I pulled back.

"Don't think you can just kiss me and this will all go away," I said. "I'm still mad at you."

"I deserve it," Troy said, leaning in again, and this time I didn't stop him. The guests, who had gone unusually quiet during our conversation, cheered. Ryan and Gabriella were beaming at us. I smiled in defeat. I looked over the crown to see Zeke. He was smiling as well.

"God, I love you, Troy," I said. Troy was positively grinning from ear to ear.

"I love you too, Sharpay," he said.

EPILOGUE

One year later, there we were. Me and Troy. Getting married. For real. Everyone was happy, especially Ryan and Gabriella. When we emerged from the church, we were married. And married we'll stay. Until death do us part.

A/N: So, basically, I am soooooooo sorry about the wait on the third one of these, especially because I technically wrote it at the same time I wrote the other two, but I really hated it, so I rewrote it today, and this is what came out. Originally, it was the actual wedding, but it just didn't sit right with me, so I rewrote it. So, thanks for reading, and please review, and I don't own HSM, or Friends. (I used at least one quote from Friends. I think maybe two.)

PS, it was Sharpay's point of view, and Troy and Sharpay ended up getting married at the end. It can safely be assumed that Gabriella and Ryan do as well, although it isn't actually said.