Heavenly Habits
Wow the last chapter is here! Can you believe it? Due to my busy schedule and all the stories I am already in the midst of writing, I am going to put this last chapter in Ryan's and Gabby's POV instead of rewriting the whole story in Ryan's POV. Who knows, I may do it someday. Just right now, I fear I don't have the time to, much as I adore the idea. So enjoy this last chapter. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for reading this. It means so much to know someone truly enjoys your writing!
.o.
I pull out of her driveway, a goofy grin on my face. I can't believe we both felt for each other for so long without knowing. I almost regret not bringing my feelings up sooner. If I would've known that she felt the same way, I would've for sure.
But, really things couldn't have gone better tonight. I couldn't have asked for a more perfectly romantic moment. Seriously, I as a guy admit that I am a sucker for the whole romance thing. Sure, they say it's all for girls, but seeing as two raised me, romance was pretty much shoved down my throat. In a crazy messed up way, I learned to love it just as much as Sharpay does. Well maybe not as much. I don't think that chocolate and roses is an everyday requirement, but every once in a while hell yeah. Keep the romance alive.
.o.
I pull into my own driveway and hop out of the car, feeling good. It's amazing how different you feel once someone really loves you and you know it.
I walk to the door, black socks skimming the walkway. I smile at the memory of how I came to wear these socks. As soon as I enter the warm foyer, Sharpay bombards me.
"Finally! I've been waiting for forever! Get over here and tell me everything! I want to hear exactly what happened. I can't wait till I can talk to Gabriella. You will have to do!"
She takes my hand and drags me into the parlor, plopping us on a soft cream-colored couch. Her eyes are shining with excitement and she tucks her legs under her, settling in as if she is preparing herself for a bedtime story. "Start now!" she begs.
"Well," I begin with a chuckle. "I, uh… well we were sort of sitting in the theater and the Sound of Music had just gone off and we were just sitting there and I told her I loved her like I always do and she said it back like she always does and then I sort of told her about how I loved her as more than a friend and everything and all the things I loved about her. And then she shocked the hell out of me and said the same back. It was pretty surreal."
Sharpay sighs satisfactorily and lets her head flop against the backing of the sofa. "That sounds awfully nice," she murmurs, a tinge of sadness to her voice.
"It was," I answer back solemnly.
"I'm afraid," Sharpay states mysteriously.
"Afraid of what?" I ask, urging her to continue.
"Afraid that I'll never fall in love. That no one will fall in love me. That I won't get that fairy tale ending," she says, her eyes sparkling with tears.
"Oh, Shar," I say and throw my arms around her. "You will get it. You will."
"But how do you know?" she asks seemingly on the verge of sobbing.
"I just do," I say, patting her back comfortingly. "I just do. Maybe even with Zeke. He's crazy about you, you know."
She pulls away from me and her warm brown eyes bore into mine. "You think?"
"I know. Every time he sees you, his face lights up. And you're the only one he bakes for just because. I mean you don't seem him baking me ginger snaps for no good reason."
Sharpay lets out a small giggle and swipes away her tears. "You're right. It's just I know we're dating and all, but he's never actually said he loves me before."
"Give the man some time," I say softly. "Saying you love a person is a big deal. Look how long it took me and Gabriella to say it. We've known each other practically our whole lives and it took seventeen years for us to admit it."
"You guys have been saying I love you since you were nine," Sharpay says rolling her eyes. "I know what you mean though, you mean I'm in love with you."
Sharpay pauses for a second and then smiles. "I remember the first time you told her you loved her. We were walking Gabriella back to her house at night on this really warm summer evening. This is when we lived next door to her, and we had been playing at the park all day long like we did every Sunday. We were all so sleepy and you had to give Gabby a piggyback ride cause she was so tired she couldn't walk. And when we reached her porch you gently set her down and you said really softly, 'I love you, Gabby' and I remember how her eyes suddenly grew very wide and she said, 'I love you too' and kissed your cheek. And you turned red but only I noticed cause it was so dark."
She chuckles and continues, "That's when I knew that one day you guys would be together. I just knew it. You were always so protective of her and caring towards her and she always wanted to please you. It was just inevitable."
I process the information and smile. "Funny, how you knew it at such a young age and yet it took us forever to realize it."
"Well I was always so much more mature than you guys," she says sarcastically.
"Hahaha," I say back. I glance at the clock and hop off the couch. "We seriously need to get to sleep."
Sharpay looks over at the clock and nods her head, stifling a yawn.
"Wanna sleep in Mom and Dad's bed?" she asks, a mischievous grin on her face.
"Sure," I say, knowing she secretly wants a reason to not have to sleep alone. Whenever she feels vulnerable about something, she hates to be alone.
We make our way into the master bedroom and I collapse on the bed, snuggling my head into the silky pillows. Sharpay, still clad in her clothes, grabs some of Mom's pajamas and runs into the closet to change into them.
A few minutes later she reappears in a pair of pink flannel pajamas and hops in the bed, burrowing her self in the covers. I clap my hands and the lights turn off.
"Ryan?" Sharpay whispers a few minutes later.
"What?" I whisper sleepily.
"Are you worried?"
"About what?"
"Tomorrow. School. How everyone takes you guys."
Well not until now I wasn't. "Should I be?" I ask tentatively.
"I don't know. Do you know if any guys had their eyes on Gabby? I know Troy did."
I grow angry at the thought. "Not that I'm aware of. Oh well, hopefully he won't take it bad."
"Yeah. Well, g'night Ry."
"Night Pay."
I have a hard time falling asleep and when I do, I have a lovely dream in which Troy beats the shit out of me for kissing Gabriella in the hallway. Gulp.
.o.
I wake up after a terrible dream. In my nightmare, I woke up the next day and everything was how it used to be. Ryan and I had never professed our mutual love and he just acted like my friend. I had dreamt it all in my dream. If that makes any sense.
I rub my eyes and glance over at the phone, remembering my conversation with Taylor last night. I was so happy. So why did I have such a weird dream? Am I afraid of something I haven't even realized I'm afraid of?
Shrugging off the covers I realize Ryan and Sharpay will be here in ten minutes. Crap.
I dash into my closet, reluctantly yanking off Ryan's sweatshirt and pull on a red sweater and cream colored knit jacket over it. Yanking on jeans and my navy converse, I leave my hair a mess of curls and quickly swipe on some mascara. I'm really glad I can get away with such little makeup. I mean I'm only skipping some liner and eye shadow. I don't wear that much even on a regular basis. I prefer to be natural, unlike someone I know. Cough, Sharpay, cough.
Grabbing my backpack, I race downstairs and grab an apple. After kissing my mother goodbye, I fly down the porch steps to find Sharpay's pink convertible perched on my street. I hope they haven't been waiting too long.
I walk over and see Ryan grinning at me from the passenger seat. I grin back at him and slip into the back seat, chunking my bag on the floor of the car.
"You're five minutes late," Sharpay states as if she's irritated as she pulls out onto the street.
"Good morning to you too, Shar," I state sarcastically, and add sweetly, "Sorry I woke up late."
" 'S okay," Ryan says, leaning over the back of his seat to kiss my cheek. "Good morning."
"Good morning," I repeat weakly.
"Ryan, just because you guys are like a couple now, doesn't mean you get to stand up for her like that," Sharpay says bitterly. "Not that you didn't always do that, but whatever."
"Yeah, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Ryan says, rolling his eyes at Sharpay.
"Ignore her," he tells me with a wink. "And eat that apple."
I blush and take a bite. It's so cute how he's obsessed with making sure I take care of myself.
We ride the next few blocks in silence listening to Sharpay prattle on about all the shopping she has to do this weekend. Apparently green's the new blue, or orange is the new black or something like that. Throw in a few "yeahs" and "mmhmms" and you don't even really have to listen. Ryan helps pass the time, making silly faces that appear in the rear view mirror, making me giggle.
Sharpay pulls into the lot and parks as well as she can. Let's face it Sharpay has horrible driving skills. She barely passed the test. Why we let her drive, I don't know. Oh wait, because she's Sharpay. I love the girl, but I'm really scared when she drives. At least Ryan sits next to her, so he can grab the wheel in case of emergency.
"Ready kids," Sharpay asks, her hands dropping from the steering wheel, latching on to the handles of her various designer tote bags.
I take a deep breath and nod and Ryan gives me a reassuring smile. "Everything's gonna be fine, Gabby," he says sweetly.
I nod again and we all pile out of the car. As soon as I hit the pavement, Ryan takes my hand and the three of us fall into place as we walk, Sharpay on Ryan's right.
We walk into school and I must confess I feel like I can't breathe. Ryan and I have never held hands while we walk and people are noticing. Yet, their expressions seem to quickly fade back to unsurprised. Sharpay must be giving them a sly mind-your-own-business look. I now feel somewhat terrible for all the not so nice things I have thought about her this morning.
Sharpay sighs and leaves us as she enters her Pre-Cal class, a cheery "toodles" thrown our way.
Ryan and I walk on. To my surprise, he continues to walk with me, not breaking off to enter the gym doors and I give him a puzzled look.
"I thought I'd walk you to class," he says as if he's unsure.
I smile and squeeze his hand. "That'd be great."
He looks relieved and grins back as we reach my physics class.
"Later Ry-" I begin but cease to finish as Ryan kisses me passionately and whispers, "Later". He turns to walk away, leaving me dumbfounded.
I stumble into my class a little shell-shocked, as is the rest of the class it appears. I slink into my seat as whispers swirl around me.
"I saw them holding hands on the way to class, but I didn't think anything of it. I mean they've always been close-"
"Damn he was kinda sexy. I sort of regret not pressuring him to go out with me…"
"Dude, did you see that? Montez and Evans macking. Dawg, that's hella crazy-"
"Aw what a cute couple!"
Well at least some comments sound positive. I try to relax a little as the teacher shushes the class. Thank you, Mr. Gill!
.o.
Well now everybody knows! I can't sincerely believe I did that. I think I was just so nervous that I decided to like sort of get the whole kiss over with. I mean, really, it was the one thing that would truly let everyone know, "yeah we're together but it isn't a big deal". Except I guess it sort of is a big deal to everyone.
I push open the locker room door and slide over to my locker, sighing. I really hate physical education. Especially since I am practically the only one who hates sports in the class. Cept, for Randy, who never dresses out and sits playing his Nintendo DS on the bench. He's getting an F for sure. But hell, we are required to take it even though surely I should get some waver for all the physical training I do to keep in shape for dance.
I grab my gray shirt and sweatpants and yank off my shirt when a loud "Evans" booms from the other side of the room.
I turn around to find Troy and Chad striding towards me.
Feeling a little embarrassed, I struggle with my gray shirt, yanking it down over my exposed upper body. "Yeah?" I ask confidently.
"So, how's it going?" Troy begins sounding wickedly nice, baring an all-knowing smile.
"Nice pecs," Chad offers, a somewhat appalled look on his face.
Throwing him a strange look, I ignore his comment and say, "fine" to Troy.
"So we were wondering if you could clear something up?" Troy questions.
"Uh sure."
"Were you not seen kissing Montez outside of Gill's class moments ago?"
How the hell did they already know? "Um, I guess." I shrug and then cross my arms over my chest. "What's it to you, Bolton?"
Troy's eyes flash angrily and Chad grins as if he's about to go into fight mode, pushing up the sleeves of his navy sweatshirt.
"Oh, just cause I thought it was made pretty clear that I had my eyes on her, that's all."
He's trying to rile me up and unfortunately it's working. "Oh I'm sorry, Troy. I didn't happen to see your name written across her." I say my voice rising.
"No need to get touchy, Evans," Troy says coolly, placing a hand on Chad's shoulder who looks about ready to jump me.
"Besides, aren't you with Cheri or is that already over?" I challenge.
"I can't have two women in my life, Evans? I didn't know that was only reserved for you. You know, I hear Sharpay's pretty good in bed. I mean you would know right. I hear you sleep together all the time."
OK, seriously, I really don't want to be that guy, but I'm thinking I may have to if this goes any further.
"I'm not doing this," I state boldly, and shock them as I change into my sweats and throw my clothes in my locker, slamming the door shut defiantly.
"Go fuck your self, Troy," I snarl as their mouths drop open. Ryan Evans doesn't ever talk like this. Well now he does.
"Cause pretty soon," I add as I head towards the door, "No one's gonna want to."
Frustrated and angry, I race threw the gym doors and out onto the track. As my feet hit the shiny black tar, I breathe heavily and try to calm down. Running can be therapeutic, right?
.o.
I hang my head as I walk towards the doors to go to the portables. I don't want to be miserable and cold.
I hear light footsteps and Ryan's beside me.
"I need a hug," he says, dejectedly.
Awww, he's so cute. I nod and his arms wrap around me tightly. He smells like outside and he heaves as if he's gasping for breath.
"Are you ok?" I ask as I pull away and we step outside, walking towards math.
"I just ran three miles," he says, as he casually drapes an arm around me.
"Why?" I gasp.
"Cause I was pissed off and needed to release some not so positive energy. Troy and Chad know. And they made some lovely comments. Apparently, Troy thought you were his and he thinks I sleep with Sharpay."
"What?" I gasp again. "Oh, Ryan I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault," he says. "Besides I gave it right back to him."
I freeze a little and look at him uncertainly. He wouldn't…
"Don't worry it was all verbal. I wouldn't have anything physical which kinda surprised them," he chuckles.
"Well," I add, smiling at him. "If it makes you feel any better, all the cheerleaders in first period were very disappointed to find you were a taken man."
Ryan snorts. "I appreciate the gesture, Gabs, but their disappointment doesn't boost my ego. As far as I'm concerned, I'm only interested in one girl and I believe you know her."
I giggle and peck his cheek as we climb up the ramp and into the classroom.
As soon as we enter the classroom, Taylor starts smiling and clapping her hands excitedly. She hops out of her seat pulling us both into a hug.
"Oh you look so cute together!" she screeches.
"Tay, it's not like you've never seen us together before," I say, rolling my eyes.
"You know what I mean!" she says, giggling.
Ryan chuckles a little at her reaction and we slide into our seats.
Kelsi and Martha who sit on the left of me, lean over whispering about how great they think we are together and I smile and beam, biting my lip in excited nervousness.
Ryan looks over at me and laughs at the sight of me biting my lip.
"What?" I ask, eyeing him carefully.
"It's just I didn't know we switched habits," he says teasingly, throwing a pencil between his lips and chewing thoughtfully. "I don't know if this is gonna work."
He's put on his glasses. Oh, he looks so good. "I'm not sure either," I say concerned, playing along.
"Well, I propose a new habit," he says grinning.
"And what is that?"
He leans over and captures my lips tenderly.
"Kissing," he whispers, his face inches from mine. I hear a gleeful sigh from Taylor who is probably thinking about our wedding as much as Sharpay is.
"Sounds heavenly," I whisper back, contentedly.
.o.
Hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing. Thanks again so much to anyone and everyone who took the time to review and/or read. There will be an epilogue so stay tuned!