"Shit."

Troy slowly came awake, hearing Sharpay's sweet voice cursing, as she russled from underneath the covers. He was drifting in and out of consciousness. More than anything, he just wanted to go dback to sleep, but he needed to make sure Sharpay was alright. He rolled over, hoping to take her in his arms and cuddle her back to sleep, without worry.

"Everything okay?" Troy looked at the bed. She'd already gotten up. He must have not been awake enough to register it when she'd gotten out of bed. Suddenly he became aware of an annoying buzzing noise that had been in the background the entire time. He sat up in bed.

Sharpay in her haste had thrown on her tank top over her naked frame. It was twisted sideways, and one of the straps was completely off her shoulder. Her hair was teased up and a little frizzed from the friction against her pillow. Had she not been moving in a frantic state as she hastily dug through her purse looking for the source of the buzzing noise, Troy might have been aroused. But instead he was worried, assuming it was probably her husband calling her.

"Shar?" he asked.

She pulled the phone out and looked down at the I.D.

"Don't answer Sharpay." Troy instructed.

"Shh, shh, shh!" she hissed frantically, flinging her hands in his direction.

Troy quickly hopped out of bed.

"Please Sharpay." he said.

She was about to answer but looked up at Troy upon his request. She glanced between him and the phone.

"You shouldn't feel afraid right now." Troy continued. He walked towards her. "Nothing is going to happen Sharpay. He doesn't know where you are. You don't have to answer that call. You can deal with this later, on your own terms. Don't answer the phone."

Sharpay's eyes looked severely panicked and she froze, her hand clutching the phone in a death grip but never answering it.

"It's okay. You don't need to be scared." Troy said soothingly. He gently took the phone, which had stopped ringing at some point, but started up again immediately, from her hand. She let go of it, but continued to hold her hand up in the position it had been in. Troy clicked 'ignore call'. He held down on the red 'end' button until the phone lit up a "Goodbye!" banner and shut off.

"You're safe with me." Troy told her, looking directly into her eyes. He kissed her forehead. When he withdrew, she held his gaze, her eyes reflecting that of uncertainty and, of course, fear.

"Come back to bed, okay? We'll go back to sleep." Troy offered. He glanced at the clock. Six a.m. They could have gone ahead and gotten up, but Troy wanted more sleeping time, with the blonde beauty in his arms.

Sharpay nodded, and slipped her hand into his, walking back across the hotel room. Troy sat back onto the bed, and Sharpay crawled to the other side of him. She stopped, stiff, sitting up on her knees.

"Come here." Troy held out his arms, laying back against his pillow.

Silently, Sharpay complied, and she nestled into his embrace, managing to give him a small smile. He returned it, and pulled the covers up around them so that they covered her shoulders. He reached back for the table lamp, that Troy had never even noticed was on. He figured Sharpay must have turned it on when she got out of bed. He clicked it off, and then directed his attention back to Sharpay, pressing his forehead against hers.

"When I got home last night," Sharpay spoke, her voice soft spoken but clear, taking Troy by suprise, "He was so angry. I didn't know he'd be there. He's been so paranoid lately. He's always been overprotective anyways, but lately it's just been through the roof. He's always rushing home to check in on me. After he hit my eye, guilt ran him out, but that night he started thinking about our discussion again, about me staying out at night. Taylor called him." She looked up for Troy's reaction.

"She called him last night?" he asked incredeously.

Sharpay nodded, "He told me that she'd said that we had talked, and she really got the feeling I was lonely and missed him. She said she thought it might be a good idea for him to spend more time at home with me or I might... be driven to do things I'd regret."

Troy rubbed her back comfortingly.

"Just what my paranoid husband needed to hear right? So his conversation with Taylor combined with his conversation with me the day before was enough to prompt him to cut the buisness trip short entirely, so he could be at home with me the next couple of days. But when he got home I wasn't there."

"What, did Taylor call him immediately after we left the resturant?" Troy asked, shaking his head, "And how did he get home so soon?"

"He was only a few hours away." Sharpay said, "But... I also didn't go straight home."

"Where did you go?" Troy asked.

"I had to run an errand." Sharpay answered, "But I had to drive out of town and back for it."

"What did you have to do?" Troy asked.

"It's unimportant." Sharpay said.

Troy sighed.

"I'm sorry." Sharpay said.

"Shar." Troy said softly, "There's no use in keeping secrets from me now. I think I've pretty much learned everything."

"Not everything." Sharpay said, with a small forced half-laugh. "Look, it's not anything you need to be worried about. I just had to run a normal errand."

"Most people don't refuse to tell somebody when they go to the grocery store." Troy grumbled, "And as far as I know they don't drive out of town to do it either."

"Troy." Sharpay said, her voice sharp-edged.

Troy stopped talking, and both said nothing for a moment.

"I like it when you call me Shar." she said softly.

Troy smiled a little. He hadn't thought much about it. It seemed like a natural nickname, one he assumed everybody probably referred to her as.

Sharpay shut her eyes, "When we were dating, Charles used to call me... Pay-pay." she smiled at the memory.

Troy's heart panged, as he watched her bittersweet reminiscence. He wondered what it must be like to feel love for someone who scared and hurt you so bad. It seemed unfathomable.

"What happened when you got home?" he probed gently.

Sharpay opened her eyes and all the warmth drained from her face.

"He was already home. He asked me why I'd been out all night dressed up like such a slut." Sharpay said.

Troy could tell she was having a hard time telling the story.

"Uh, Shar?" he asked, interrupting.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever told anyone that Charles...beats you?" Troy asked. The phrase said out loud made him feel sick to his stomach.

"HE DOESN'T BEAT ME!" Sharpay screamed. Troy was completely taken aback.

"He doesn't!" Sharpay insisted, when Troy said nothing, but instead only stared at her in shock. He'd thought that she had already openly admitted he did.

"He has a temper sometimes, and he's taken it out on me before, but he doesn't mean it! You should see how sorry he is afterwards! And I'm partially responsible anyways."

"What?!" Troy interrupted. His blood was boiling, and he felt his heart beating rapidly against his chest, threatening to burst out of its containment entirely.

"Well, I mean, here I am with you!" Sharpay responded, "He's right when he calls me a whore, and wouldn't any husband have a right to be upset about that?"

Troy shook his head, "Sharpay, what the hell are you doing?"

She looked up at him, with her desperate eyes, and shook her head to say that she didn't know the answer to his question.

"You're back-tracking." Troy continued, "Shar, don't defend him. I know he's your husband, but... you have to stop thinking about him in that way regardless. He beats you. Okay?"

She stared blankly back at him.

"He's hurt you. And he will continue to hurt you if you don't get out." Troy studied her expression, "Anything he's told you about the nature of his abuse were lies to get you to stay."

"He loves me." Sharpay said softly.

"I'm sure he does." Troy said gently, "Any man could easily fall in love with you." Sharpay smiled a little at Troy, giving him the response he was aiming for. He now felt like he was dealing with a small child, which made it very odd to think that just a few hours ago he had slept with her.

"But he's very sick Sharpay." Troy said, "He needs help. He's hurting you, physically, and emotionally. You need to stop allowing yourself to be put through this."

"But if he loves me-"

"Those bruises are not from love Sharpay!" Troy snapped.

Sharpay cowered back a little. Troy put his arms around her, and pulled her in close, kissing her forehead. Again, they were silent for a moment or two.

"So what did he do when you got home?" Troy finally asked.

"We started arguing... He kept calling me a slut, and I wouldn't tell him where I had been. We both were pretty upset. He just has a horrible temper Troy. I don't know what else to tell you... He hit me once, hard, in his anger. It usually starts with one hit. Sometimes that's all there is." Troy could hear Sharpay swallow, and for a minute she was unable to talk. Eventually, she continued, "But sometimes... he keeps going. And that's when things can get bad. He kept going last night. I tried to run off... but he kept pulling me back. He was beating his fists into my back... He knocked me down eventually. I finally just curled into a ball to protect my face while he laid into my back. Then he stormed out of the room."

Troy stared at her in horror, "Sharpay that's awful. Why would you defend someone like that?"

Sharpay seemed largely affected by her own story too.

"I don't know... Sometimes it's just habit. I can't help but feel defensive. I married him." she sighed, "After he walked out, I was sitting on the floor crying, and thinking of how badly I wanted to be with you. I was angry too... I just made the decision on a whim that I should leave him."

"It's the right thing to do Sharpay." Troy said encouragingly.

"I hope so." Sharpay said, not as sure as Troy seemed to be. She leaned her face into his chest, "He was probably calling to apologize." she added.

"Sharpay, can I ask you something?" Troy said.

"Hm?" she replied.

"How many times in the past has he 'appologized'?" Troy asked.

Sharpay said nothing for a few seconds, and then sighed, "Too many times to count." she admitted.

A/N: Love, like, hate? Review or I may never know. ;) xoxo.