-1Title: Forever in a Chance
Rating: Teen
Summary: Troy finally gets a clue, and then tells his parents about said clue.
Notes: Recently caught HSM2. I just threw up a little in my mouth. I don't blame Ashley Tisdal or Zac Efron, of course. That blame is reserved for Vanessa Hudgens--and the poor writing.
Warnings: mature content
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own any of the HSM characters, plots or themes, and if I do accidentally steal them, I have no money in which to be sued for.
Chapter Seven:
Troy sat at the kitchen table with a steaming mug of hot chocolate in his hands, refusing to meet the demanding eyes of his father.
"Who is she?" his father asked, arms crossed.
Troy stared down into the murky liquid in his mug. His mother had made them all hot chocolate in an attempt to calm the whole family down, but Troy was sure none of them had touched the drink yet, far too preoccupied.
"She's that girl," Troy said slowly. "She's the girl I told you about."
"Alright. Then what's she doing in your bed?"
Troy gave an almost subconscious reaction and looked towards the hallway his room was located down. His mother was in there a the moment, checking over Sharpay and putting the water Troy had boiled earlier to good use in the hot water bottle. Troy supposed he ought to be thankful his mother was taking care of Sharpay rather than insisting she leave right away, but small favors weren't going to do much considering how deep Troy felt he was in.
With shaking hands and terrible nerves he told his father everything he dared. He explained how he'd been having dinner with Gabriella and Sharpay had shown up unexpected. He stressed he hadn't asked her over or expected to see her anymore, and he certainly had taken advantage of her in her current state.
"I know you wouldn't, son," his father said with a knowing chuckle.
"I think she ran all the way across town in the rain," Troy said. "I had to let her come in and dry off. And she was sobbing and I couldn't understand her. She was a wreck, dad, and I did the best I could."
"I assume Gabriella changed her clothes?"
Troy nodded emphatically.
"Alright, now who is she?"
Troy blinked at his father. "I just told you--"
"No," his father corrected, "you told me how she got here and what you did, but not who she is. Her name is Sharpay what? Does she go to your school? Who are her parents?"
Troy managed a small sip of the hot chocolate. "I can't tell you much," he said. "I swore I would keep her secrets dad, and I can't go back on my word."
The rain continued to pelt the house outside, only adding to Troy's glum mood. He wondered how much he could tell his father who would surely demand to know absolutely everything about Sharpay. Suddenly Troy knew what Ryan had been talking about when he'd voiced his concern over Troy discussing their family to other people. As much as Troy tried to avoid it, he'd mentioned Sharpay to Chad, shown her to Gabriella, and now he was explaining as much as he could about her to his parents. He trusted each person explicitly, but it was all too easy to let his tongue loose and potentially say too much to the wrong person.
Troy thought it was best to start with, "Dad, she's in danger." It caught his dad's attention and almost solidified what they would talk about would be in strict confidentiality. "She's in danger and that's why I can't tell you a lot. But what I do know is that she's an amazing person who doesn't deserve half the crap she has to go through. She shouldn't have to look over her shoulder every three seconds and be afraid to make friends with anyone and not be allowed to have a normal life."
"What kind of danger?" his father asked darkly.
Troy shrugged. "I don't really know. She and her brother are pretty tight lipped. All I know is there are some bad people out there that would jump at the chance to use her for leverage, and I don't think they'd give her back in one piece after they got what they wanted."
His father grew several shades paler than before and asked in a shaky voice, "What does that have to do with you?"
"When we first met it was a misunderstanding, really. I thought she was being kidnapped, but she really wasn't, and then I met her father and her brother and things have been pretty chaotic since then. I thought Sharpay and I could be friends, and I even thought for one stupid moment that we could be something more, but I agreed a couple days ago not to see her anymore, for everyone's sake."
"I agree," the older man confirmed, his mind on his family and any potential dangers posed to it. "Then how'd she end up here."
Troy rubbed a hand behind his head. "See, we all kind of made the decision for me not to see her anymore without Sharpay knowing about it. I guess she got into a fight with her family and came here."
"She needs to go back," Troy's father said sternly. "You need to get in touch with her family and get her out of here as soon as possible."
Troy looked startled. "She's sick, dad. And I'd bet my lucky basketball she doesn't want to go back to them. Now she's my friend above everything else, and I won't just stand by and let you kick her out of this house. Dad, she needs me right now."
Flushed, the basketball coach said, "You just got done telling me she's a danger to this family. Just having her here endangers us. She's a kid, I haven't forgotten Troy, and we're not just throwing her out on the streets, but my first priority is your, your mother and Teddy. Have you even thought about them?"
Fear did wash over Troy suddenly. Ryan and Sharpay didn't have a mother, and Troy couldn't imagine himself without one. She was the one constant in his life who never yelled at him, or hurt him in any way, or disappointed him. She was his backbone, his confidant and even into his teenage years a true friend. He couldn't imagine his life without her smile or her chocolate chip pancakes.
Then there was Teddy. His little brother was a royal pain in the rear end, and Troy had wished several times in his life that he was an only child, but when it came down to it, he loved his brother. He even thought he needed the terror running around and antagonizing him to keep him on his feet. If he lost Teddy due to his own actions he wasn't sure if he could go on, and he could never forgive himself.
"I told mom," Troy said evenly, "that she's the one."
"How can you know?" his father asked. "You're so young, Troy. You aren't even sixteen yet, and something like that is so precious."
Clear eyes shown from Troy when he said seriously, "I'd know her if I was fifteen or fifty. She's the one. I just know it. She's the one I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with. I'm supposed to love and honor and protect her; cherish her and value her above all others."
The elder man groaned. "Love, Troy, is a step you maybe think you're ready to take at any age, but you're just too young to know. You've known this girl for all of a couple days. You may think it's love but I guarantee you it isn't."
"That's where you're wrong," Troy argued back. "She's on my mind all the time. All I can think about is where she is, what she's doing and how she's feeling. I get this ache in my chest when we're apart and a creeping under my skin every time I even think about not being able to touch her. Dad, I'd do anything for her if she only asked. I don't know why, but I know I would, and I'd do it willingly. I'd put myself in harms way to take her out of it, and if that isn't love I don't know what is. When you look at mom don't you think you'd kill for her?"
Troy's father said nothing else.
"I'm going to be there for her," Troy continued. "I couldn't stand it if I wasn't, and I'm not going to let anyone keep us apart. I swear to you, I'll find some way to keep this family safe, but I won't give her up. Don't ask me to."
"Just a few days?" Troy's father asked him quietly. "You knew in just a few days?" The passion in his son's words shone with honestly, and he was resolved to the fact that his son believed what he was saying, whether it was the truth or not.
"Crazy, huh?" Troy laughed. "I tried to talk myself out of it a million times. I mean I'm in a relationship with Gabriella. I care about Gabriella. Falling in love with a girl in trouble is going to bring me nothing but trouble. But you can't stop love, dad. I can't stop the feeling and I really don't want to."
"You've put your mother and I in a decidedly hard place, young man."
Troy hung his head. "I am sorry."
"You boys done talking?"
Troy looked up at his mother's voice, seeing her lean against a nearby wall with her arms crossed and a concerned look on her face.
"Yeah, mom, how's Shar?"
His mother sighed deeply and joined them at the table, folding her hands. "I expect she'll be fine. No need to worry, Troy. Her fever is already going down and there doesn't seem to be any sign of congestion. A full night's sleep will do her fine."
Troy breathed a sigh of relief.
"The boy's in love," his father told his mother sternly.
"Love?" she asked seriously.
"Love," Troy confirmed.
His mother said knowingly, "I thought so."
"Hmm?" Troy peered at his mother.
"Troy, had it only been lust it wouldn't have weighed on your mind so heavily. I had a feeling it was love. You've been more than just a little anxious and nervous these past few days, and when you told me she was the one it couldn't have been anything other than love."
"Infatuation," his father argued weakly, his heart not completely in it.
"Maybe at first," his mother eased out, "but certainly not now, right?"
"What am I going to do?" Troy asked. "I'm in love with a nearly untouchable girl."
"You can start with going to see her," his mother informed him gently. "She's awake, though I don't know for how much longer, and asking for you. Her fever is dropping but she's still a little out of it so don't be surprised if she says odd things."
Troy climbed to his feet. "What do I say to her?"
His mother said, "Whatever is in your heart. If she's truly the one for you, then you'll be the one for her."
"How much danger?" Troy's father asked his son finally. "How much trouble have you just brought into this house?"
"Ryan, her brother, told me that they used to have a mother. It's really best if she stays hidden, and I'm going to help her hide, I hope you will too. I trust myself to keep her safe, and I trust her family to try, but I don't know. Please, keep her secret for right now. Don't let anyone know she's here until she tells me what she wants to do."
"She's going to fall asleep again soon," his mother reminded.
Troy scurried from the room with one last pleading look to his parents.
As the approached his room he could hear voices. Peering into the room through the cracked door he could make out his little brother leaning over the bed Sharpay was occupying.
"Teddy," Troy said sharply. "Get out of here."
"I was just talking," he huffed, sticking his tongue out at Troy. He gave a shy wave to Sharpay and scampered off to his room.
"How you feeling?" Troy asked, seeing a few minutes with his mother had done Sharpay wonders.
"Tired," she said with a yawn. "Was that your little brother? I bet he'll grow up to be just as handsome as you."
Troy blushed a bit.
"What happened?" he asked. "You had a fight with your father and Ryan, right? And then you came here?"
She nodded, eyes drooping. "I snuck out the back. Daddy probably thinks I'm in my room."
Troy took her hand in his own. "Why'd you come here in person? Is there a reason you came to me?" There was hint of desperation in his voice, begging her not to say it was because he was her only friend. He wanted it to be for different reasons.
"Shar?" He hoped she hadn't fallen asleep.
"It's crazy. I'm crazy."
His forehead wrinkled. His mother had said she was a little out of it.
"That's okay, Shar, I'm a little crazy, too."
"No," she said, clutching his hand. "I'm crazy for you." She scowled suddenly. "And not because you're my first friend in a long time. Because you're nice and you don't have to be, especially to me. You care what I think about, what I want to do now and what I want to do later on with my life. You look at me like I'm important and you make me feel that way. So it's crazy."
Troy smiled awkwardly. "And here I was thinking I was the only crazy one. I mean who falls in love with a girl after meeting her a few days ago."
"Love?" Sharpay asked, eyebrows high. "Wow. Love."
Troy gulped hard. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you."
"Oh, that's pretty serious." She opened her eyes a bit more and shifted towards him. "Not like a sister?"
Troy laughed hard. "No, not like a sister." Troy didn't have a sister, but he was pretty sure boys didn't want to kiss their sisters like he wanted to kiss Sharpay."
She said, "That's good. I already got a brother. Don't need another one."
Troy leaned down close. "I don't care what Ryan or our parents say. I like you, Sharpay, probably even love you. I want to spend my time with you, and talk with you and kiss you. I want you and all that, and I hope you do too."
"You like musicals, right?" she asked, eyes completely shut.
"Uh, yeah," he said, positive she knew. They'd talked for a bit over ice cream about their mutual enjoyment of musicals.
"Good. No boyfriend of mine is going to not like them."
Troy rocked back a bit, disbelief ringing through his body. "Shar?"
She snored a bit, adorably so, and Troy felt his mind whirl.
When his thoughts came back to him a bit later he realized horrifically that he was now dating two girls. It had been bad enough when he was dating one and crushing on another. He had really thought the hole couldn't go any deeper.
"Troy?" His mother knocked softly on his door to alert him to her presence.
"Mom?"
"It's time for bed. All this excitement has kept both and Teddy up way too late." She threw a high eyebrow at him. "I changed the sheets in the guest bedroom. I expect you to sleep there tonight--the entire night."
"Mom!" Troy stood and made his way over to her.
"Hey," she said with a small smile, "you may be my very responsible teenage boy, but you're still a teenage boy."
Troy gave one last look to the sleeping Sharpay and left the room. In the morning they'd talk more, and figure out what they were going to do, and most importantly how to avoid the coming hurricane of Sharpay's family. But for the moment everyone was safe and in real need of sleep.
"You're in for a hard time, Troy," his mother told him cautiously. "I hope you're ready, and I hope she's worth it."
Troy nodded. "She's the one."
