Home is Where the Heart Lives
Chapter X
The heat of the afternoon was slowly wearing off, in its place came the cold desert air and it engulfed everything with a chilly breeze. A couple walked in the middle of a different route not shown in the map the employees at Albuquerque Nature Trails gave. The blonde was slouched and she walked as if a pair of anvils was strapped on her dainty feet even if her backpack was being carried by the brunette whom she was once married to.
The two walked for another hour when they chanced upon a small clearing and the blonde immediately slumped down wiping her perspiration and very irritated. She hated being all hot and sweaty, not to mention feeling all dirty and smelly. The brunette put down their backpacks and fished for a water bottle from his own. He got hers and handed it to her.
"Sharpay, don't drink up all your water." Troy scolded her and attempted to grab her water bottle before she drank it all.
"What the fuck, Bolton?!" snapped an irritable Sharpay, the heat has gotten into her. She gave him a death glare and he frowned in response.
"Look, we have to ration everything we have, ok? You can't just have a go at everything and then regret your rash decisions in the middle of the forest when you're really thirsty," he said.
"Bolton, haven't you ever heard of the saying 'nature provides everything you need' or something like that? Because I deem it impossible that there are no streams or rivers nearby."
"Yes I have Evans, have you ever used the words 'patience' and 'endurance' in your vocabulary – perhaps your life?"
"Many times, Bolton – almost all my life!"
"Then I take it, this is the part that doesn't count since you used the word 'almost' in this situation?"
"Ugh, shut your yap, Bolton!"
Troy grinned, he knew he touched a nerve. Sharpay simply hated it when someone gets the last word and she doesn't have a comeback.
"Look Pay," he said softly, "I know you hate your current situation right now but the thing is – if you want water we have about another hour's walk ahead of us. A river's up ahead and if we walk without stopping we could reach ok?" he said.
Sharpay looked like a scared little girl as she sat there in the corner of the small clearing hugging her knees to her chest rocking back and forth slowly. Troy stared at her and he couldn't help but smile. She was exactly like his daughter when scared out of her wits. He remembered coming home after training one stormy night. The sitter told him she put his daughter to bed when he got to the door. He paid and she left and Troy went up to Savannah's room to check up on her.
He opened the door slowly so as not to wake his little girl. The wind howled outside and made the windows rattle. The storm raged as thunder boomed and the house was dark as if thrown in a pit of shadows. Suddenly the lights went out and his daughter's night light was gone. He heard her whimper in her pink canopy bed calling out to him and he groped his way to her.
"Daddy? Daddy where are you? I'm scared, Daddy," a ten year old Savannah Bolton called out in the dark. Troy groped his way to her and got frustrated. Taking out his Blackberry, he flipped it open and let the small amount of light illuminate the room for a moment.
He saw her sitting on the edge of her huge bed, pink sheets swaddled in a ball, and a wild look in her eyes. She was whimpering, knees to her chest as the storm made its noises outside her window. Troy immediately ran to her and hugged her tight.
"Ssshh, honey, its alright, Daddy's here…" he whispered in her ear and she nodded her blonde head letting him hum her to sleep. When he felt her body become heavy and her breathing deeper, he tucked her in and left the room.
Turning around, his hand on the doorknob he whispered, "I love you…"
"What's gotten into you?" Sharpay's sharp voice cut through his reverie and he gaped at her.
"What?" he asked bewildered and she rolled her eyes looking very mad.
"Can you not space out, Bolton?!" she snapped harshly though her eyes looked worried.
"Was I?" he continued to mumble and Sharpay threw her hands in the air in exasperation.
"Dammit! Let's just go to this river…" she muttered angrily and stood up feeling a bit woozy but she walked ahead. Troy watched her retreating figure clutching the half full water bottle and sighed, and then he stood up and got their backpacks and jogged to her side.
"Wait up!" he panted lugging everything behind him and trying to match her quick steps.
"Where's the river you said – up ahead? Let's go…" she was muttering more to herself as she quickened her pace and Troy groaned and tried to match it.
~***~
The couple reached the muddy banks of Albuquerque River and Troy dropped their backpacks safely by a tree before taking off his sweaty shirt and ran towards the river and cannonballed, splashing Sharpay with freezing water. She scowled as Troy rose from the water and shook his head like a dog spraying more water to Sharpay. He laughed at her indignant look and rolled his eyes as he swam lazily farther from her.
Sharpay huffed and refilled her water bottle and put it back in her backpack. When she came back, she could see neither hide nor hair of Troy and she started to get really worried. Did the river current take him away? She tried to be optimistic when she heard a twig snap behind her. She looked behind and saw no one but when she turned back to face the river, her face was sprayed with cold water Troy scooped. She heard his mischievous laugh and the dive indicating that he was trying to run away from her – playfully of course. She huffed once again not intending to give chase. Her son could be as mischievous as his father and it was her turn to have a flashback.
"Mommy, can I pway wit da new water gun Grandpa Vance gave me?" a little boy of three gave his mother puppy dog eyes as he clutched his brand new blue water gun. It matched his own blue eyes and Sharpay couldn't help but nod. He whooped in delight and hurriedly went to the garden hose located near the garden shed of the Evan's humungous backyard. When the gun was full of water, he crept stealthily back to his mother who was sprawled on a long chair sunning herself. He aimed for her face and squirted.
"Jacob Bolton! How dare you squirt water on me!" her playfully angry voice echoed in the Albuquerque wind and the little boy laughed with glee as his mother chased him all around the backyard.
The two ran straight to the wading pool and Sharpay managed to latch on her son's small arm as he laughed with mischief and jumped, dragging his mother with him. The water sloshed as mother and son landed under its depths and Sharpay rose with a laughing Jacob in her arms.
"Again Mommy!!!" he said throwing his small arms in the air and Sharpay couldn't help but laugh. Her hair was ruined, so was her clothes and no one ever does that to Sharpay Evans but he did – and he didn't seem to regret nor care. So she spun him around and took him to the side of the pool and he ran to get his water gun, ready to squirt…
Her fond thoughts were ruined when water was once again splashed at her face and this time she didn't hesitate to swim after Troy Bolton who was laughing his head off as he tread water whereas Sharpay waded madly to get to him. She kicked of her walking boots and threw them on the bank and took off her shirt.
Troy's eyes went wide at the sight of her hourglass body. He momentarily stopped treading water to gape at her and the red sports bra she was wearing. Her tanned and flawless body was turned to him as she threw her shirt where it landed by her boots. He was mesmerized and could only stare. She turned back towards him and started walking. Her cleavage was taunting him and Troy was silently praying not to lose all self control.
Sharpay knew she caught his attention when she took off her shirt. He just stood there gaping at her as she waded her way right in front of him and splashed him with water. Troy coughed and spluttered as some of the water went up his nose. It was her turn to laugh her head off and he just frowned. Then Troy did something she should've expected – he went underneath, clutched her ankles and yanked – Sharpay fell backwards, her mouth forming an 'O' of surprise and water immediately went down her throat.
He watched as she fell with a satisfied smirk but when she didn't surface after a while he dove right back underneath and tried to see if she was alright. Suddenly he felt a pair of dainty hands wrap around his neck and squeeze. Being stronger than her though, he managed to free himself of her grip and resurface with her wrists in his hands. Sharpay glared at him.
"You do not just throw me into the water, Bolton!" she hissed angrily. Troy pouted and hugged her tightly, whispering in her ear like a little boy, "I'm sorry Pay…"
Sharpay could not help but feel his still muscular arms and his muscular frame up against hers and she wanted to wrap her arms around him so much. The two were quite lost in the moment until Troy noticed that the current was becoming a tad stronger. Sharpay hardly felt anything but Troy held her waist and instructed her urgently to climb and cling on his back.
Watching as he waded powerfully upriver she noticed his arms flex and she felt protected as he swam back to the river bank and put on fresh clothes and refill his water bottle. He looked at her bemused expression and gave her a charming smile.
"You didn't feel the water's current becoming stronger didn't you?" he asked, a twinkle in his eyes. She nodded as she put on fresh clothes too.
"Sav and I didn't, first time we were really out on our own. It was nearly too late but she climbed on my back and said that the water's pushing her too much. I managed to grab on a branch and just pull us to the banks and she was howling with laughter. It was fun…" he told her with a fond smile and Sharpay looked quite horrified.
"You nearly killed her!" she exclaimed and he just laughed and walked ahead.
~***~
Troy and Sharpay walked until it was dark and they settled in a clearing up ahead. Troy went off for a while to hunt for rabbits, which he skinned and didn't tell Sharpay what it was until she managed to bug the hell out of him. She looked really horrified when he confessed and scooted far from him. He gave her a questioning look.
"Pay, I managed to get you dinner. What's wrong with that?"
"You, Bolton, managed to kill a poor, defenseless, innocent, fluffy, white, cute creature!"
"I, Evans, snagged a brown, huge and fast bunny for dinner instead of letting you starve."
"Killer…" she whispered and he just shook his head.
"Try to get lost in the woods once in a while, it'll help you lighten up."
"You killed a poor, defenseless –"
"Innocent, fluffy, white, cute creature! Big deal…"
"…"
"Pay…" he whispered softly, sitting beside her. She glared at him and tried to move when he grabbed her hand and sat her back down. Then he tilted her chin towards him and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her.
Troy tilted her head up to the heavens and she saw the dark sky filled with a million twinkling stars. She was at awe as she stared at the night sky, brighter than it can ever be in New York. Then she heard the silence than engulfed them and the soft crackling of the fire. Her hearing seemed to be magnified a thousand times, she heard everything – even Troy's ragged breathing. She turned to look at him and saw him staring into the fire, a glum look on his face.
Putting her hand on his shoulder, he turned to look at her with raised eyebrows. She sighed and shook her head. Troy continued to gaze solemnly at the bonfire.
"Are you alright?" she asked him softly. He shrugged.
"Yes…and no…" he muttered.
"Why and why not?"
"I'm happy you know, being with you after a long time, but I always dreamed that things would be different…"
"Well Troy, we have to let go of our past and face our future."
"I've been facing the future Pay, I always have. Somehow, unfinished business seems to catch up."
"What unfinished business?"
Her question was answered by his lips upon hers as Troy moved with instinct and kissed her. Immediately, his heart and body felt a thousand pleasant emotions coursing through his veins urging him on – his brain did too when Sharpay didn't pull away and actually responded to the kiss!
All the pent up emotion they ever held in the past fourteen years, all their inhibitions vanished as Troy carried Sharpay back into the tent where he lay on top of her as they continued their escapade. The once silent woods of Albuquerque were filled with unusual sounds.
Two squirrels were quietly gathering nuts when the sound filled their ears. They looked at each other, listening intently to the moaning of the wind and the rustle of twigs along with the groaning of the trees. They shrugged and continued their work…
Ah a Troypay moment! Yes, the night is always magical... and so will mine be when I read your reviews...
I'm sorry if it's quite short, maybe I'll post a longer chapter come next update, depending on the number of reviews I get..