"Good morning, Todd."

With a cheery smile, Sharpay hops on the chair at the bar with Sabrina in her arms. Sabrina giggles excitedly as she reaches out her hand to Todd.

"You're in a good mood," Todd remarks with a sly smile as he sets an empty cup in front of her and grabs the coffee pot.

Sharpay shrugs in response as her smile widens. "I guess I just woke up on the right side of the bed today."

"Well, happiness is a good look on you," Todd remarks as he fills the cup.

Happiness.

That's much too big a word. She thinks it's more like something akin to slight relaxation. She's spent so much time wallowing in self-pity and paranoia and loneliness that she has forgotten what comfort feels like.

Of course, that fear of what could be is still bubbling just below the surface, but her newfound friendship with Troy and Gabriella has quelled some of the distress inside her and lifted some of the weight off her shoulders.

This place will never be truly home, nor does she want it to be, but now that she doesn't feel constantly constricted and held down by her past and her lies, she's slowly coming to terms with the reality that she will be here for the time being.

However, true happiness is not something she'll ever achieve here, and she isn't sure if she'll ever get the chance to experience it somewhere else either.

She takes a sip of her coffee, swatting Sabrina's hand away as she tries to reach for the cup, and laughs softly, a little uneasily. "Yeah, it feels good."

"I'm glad I'm getting to see it," Todd remarks casually and Sharpay raises her eyebrows as she sets down her cup.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asks accusingly, watching as Todd looks down at the ground, a little flustered.

"Well, I actually thought you wouldn't be here for long," he answers, a little embarrassed, and gestures around. "I mean, you've always kind of seemed like you hated this place. I figured you'd leave and find a better place to start over."

Sharpay purses her lips and sighs. How she wishes she could leave this place out of her own volition, start over on her own terms.

"I don't like to give up," she states curtly as she shoots Todd a glare, who throws up his hands in defence.

"Hey, I wouldn't have blamed you if you left. You know how much I wanted to leave this place when I was younger," he says and Sharpay can't maintain her glare as she remembers her first meeting with him and her first week in this town.

She has surely come a long way since then.

"I'm glad you stayed, though," Todd says sincerely, before a mischievous twinkle appears in his eyes. "You're quite the character."

Sharpay lets out a scoff, her widening eyes betraying a hint of amusement, and Todd laughs as he elaborates, "I mean, between Debbie Fisher's annoyance that she's can't figure you out and your quarrel with the Boltons, it's been a fun few months."

Sharpay rolls her eyes. "We never had a quarrel. We just had an… awkward phase. And I'll have you know that we're kind of friends now."

"That's good to know," Todd says, smiling genuinely, before his eyes shift to something behind her. "Also, I'm pretty sure our Mark over there has a crush on you."

Sharpay turns around and feels a grimace form on her face as she notices Mark sitting in one of the booths, staring at her.

She hadn't even noticed him when she came in, but now, she feels queasy. Something about him doesn't sit well with her, especially after their encounter at the park, but she can't quite put her finger on what it is.

Unfortunately, their eye contact has seemed to be encouraging for Mark, and Sharpay groans, turning back to Todd as he comes over and sits down next to her.

"Hi, Vanessa," he greets, before smiling down at Sabrina. "Hi, Iris."

"Hi," Sharpay responds coolly, not looking at him, and shrugging as Todd raises his eyebrows at her.

Mark obviously senses her disdain for him, for he sounds embarrassed as he asks her, "So, how have you been?"

"Good," she responds, taking another sip of her coffee, and then cooing at Sabrina as she continues to ignore Mark.

She plays with Sabrina for a few minutes, acutely aware that Mark is still sitting next to her, and that he's way too close, before he speaks up again.

"So, are you on your way to work, too?"

Her smile immediately falls of her face and she sighs in irritation. "No, I'm still looking for a job."

She knows she could have just responded yes, as to avoid Mark's inevitable questions about why she doesn't have a job, but she knows he's going to keep bothering her anyway.

Really, he could probably give Debbie a run for her money.

However, before he can inquire further, Todd saves the day, and probably her life as well, perking up at her words. "You're still looking for a job?"

Sharpay nods despondently and a smile grows on Todd's face as his eyes light up, an idea seemingly popping into his head. "You know, I have an opening for a waitress on the night shift if you're interested."

Sharpay's eyes widen as his words sink in.

She would make a terrible waitress. She has no work experience and up until recently, she would have thought that this would be way beneath her.

Well, she still does, but coming to terms with being here also means coming terms with not having many options. And this is an option. It would eliminate some of the suspicions she knows some of the neighbours have about her – thanks to Debbie – and it would give her a chance to not be out of her lonely house and work at a familiar, friendly environment.

However, there is still one big problem and it's currently wiggling in her arms.

With a sigh, she drops a kiss to Sabrina's head. "I'd love to, but I don't know what to do about her."

"I could watch her for you," Mark suddenly pipes up and Sharpay shoots him a horrified, incredulous look as she tightens her grip on Sabrina protectively.

This guy can't be for real.

"No offense, but I barely know you. I'm not going to let you babysit my infant daughter," she responds with a slight glare.

However, her face quickly morphing into a smile, she realizes that Mark's babysitting idea could be a good idea, just not with him as the babysitter.

Excitedly, she turns to Todd. "I think I may have a solution."

Before Todd can ask her to elaborate, she hops off the stool and fishes her phone out of her bag, taking Sabrina and the stroller to the bathroom. Sternly telling Sabrina off as the infant tries to reach for her phone, she dials a number, smiling widely as a warm voice greets her on the other end of the line.

"Hey, Troy, it's me… Vanessa. I have a huge favour to ask you."


"I feel like this might be a bad idea."

Troy pulls away his attention from the small infant in his arms to frown at Gabriella.

"Oh, come on. You love Sabrina," he says, pulling Sabrina up so their faces are next to each other as he pouts at Gabriella.

Gabriella rolls her eyes playfully as she smiles and pinches Sabrina's cheek. "Of course I do. But we shouldn't take this lightly."

"Well, I think it'll be good practice."

Both of them freeze, staring at each other wide-eyed as his words sink in.

"Troy," Gabriella says his name warningly, a little solemnly, and Troy shuts his eyes painfully in response and sighs.

"I know."

He lifts Sabrina so she's just on one arm, as he opens his free arm for Gabriella to step into his embrace. With a sigh, she does, snuggling into his side as her eyes meet Sabrina's curious stare.

As Sabrina suddenly reaches out and grabs onto her necklace, she can't help but burst into laughter as she lifts Sabrina from Troy's arms into her own.

"She really does love you," Troy remarks, a little bit in awe like he always is when she interacts with small children.

Gabriella raises her eyebrows at him, feeling a little bashful under his loving gaze, before pointing to the T pendant that Sabrina is examining curiously.

"I think she loves you," she teases him and Troy rolls his eyes and chuckles as he presses a kiss to the crown of her head, before sticking out his tongue out at Sabrina.

"Or she could just be a needy child," he jokes. "She is the daughter of Sharpay Evans, after all."

Both of them chuckle as Gabriella rocks Sabrina in her arms.

They remain like that for a while, lost in the fantasy that they really are doing this to practice, that they really will be parents one day, cooing at Sabrina as they hold each other, like a family.

However, the spell is broken quickly when a revolting smell suddenly enters their nostrils and Sabrina starts screaming.

Scrunching up his nose, Troy remarks, "Yes, that's definitely a child of Sharpay Evans."

Gabriella laughs, moving out of his embrace to go fetch a diaper, but he stops her and shakes his head as he lifts the crying infant from her arms.

"You fed her earlier. I'll do it," he says as he kisses her cheek, "Where was Sharpay's bathroom again? She went through her tour way too fast."

"Second to the right on the first floor."

He nods, before wincing as Sabrina's wails somehow become even louder. Shifting his gaze to the child, he shakes his head disapprovingly. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

Making soft shushing noises at Sabrina, he starts making his way out of the room, throwing Gabriella a last smile before disappearing up the stairs.

As she hears his footsteps above her, Gabriella sighs.

He doesn't need practice. He's a natural. They both are. It's so unfair that they can't have this for themselves. At least not in the way she imagined.

It's a noble thing to do, helping Sharpay with Sabrina, and she does truly love the tiny girl that's finally stopped screaming upstairs, but she selfishly wishes they had said no.

It hurts, to see Troy with a child, to have tangible proof of how great they would both be as parents. She doesn't know how much more of that hurt she can take.

In the back of her mind, a voice reminds her of the options that Troy posited the other day, but she pushes that voice away as soon as it comes to her.

She would love her child no matter how they came to her, whether it's through surrogacy or adoption or whatever other option is out there, but she's not ready to let go of the fantasy of carrying her own child.

She's not ready to come to terms with her pain yet.


"You know, for someone who's never worked as a waiter, you're actually quite good."

Sharpay smirks as she puts down the empty waiter plate in front of Todd and checks her nails. "I know. I'm good at everything."

Todd raises his eyebrows. "I like this new, confident you."

This makes Sharpay smile. With all the nightmares she's experienced in the past few years, she has lost her touch a little. It's nice to try something new and to find success, even if it's at being a waitress.

However, in the past few years, she's also learned that things never really go her way.

Swirling around with the plate after Todd has filled it again, she almost bumps into a patron, nearly spilling the glasses of coke on her plate over him.

"Watch where you're going," she snaps as she pushes past the man to make her way to the table where she's supposed to bring the order to.

The man follows her, wringing his hands uneasily as he says, "Uh… Miss, I asked you for a coffee refill about ten minutes ago. I just wondered when you were coming."

Setting the glasses down in front of the young girls in the booth, so harshly that the liquid nearly spills over the top of the glasses, she turns back to the man with a vicious glare and gestures around at the space, which is completely full except one table.

"I'm a little busy here," she hisses. "And if you do want a refill, I suggest you don't make the waitress nearly spill four glasses of coke."

With that, she marches over to the bar again, where Todd is watching her with crossed arms and pursed lips.

"You really need how to treat our customers more nicely, though."

As she sets down the plate on the bar, she shrugs with embarrassment, pouting a little. "I'll try to do better."

It's not her fault that the patrons here are so annoying, but she needs to keep this job. She knows Todd wouldn't fire her easily, though, but she knows she can't get away with anything like she did when she was younger.

When the door opens and Debbie Fisher walks in, she groans. She's definitely not going to keep this job.

Rolling her eyes as Todd shoots her a warning look, she puts on her fakest smile and walks over to the last empty table where Debbie and her friend sit down.

"Good evening, may I get you something?" she says as sweetly as she can muster, watching as Debbie's eyes widen and the older woman gives her a look over.

"You work here?"

Sharpay nods, the tense, forced smile threatening to break her face. "Yeah, I just started a few days ago."

Debbie narrows her eyes at her curiously and nods slowly, before smiling phonily herself. "Well, I guess we have to do something to pay the rent, right?"

Sharpay's eyebrows furrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Debbie shrugs. "Well, going from communications to a waitress job seems like a bit of a… downgrade."

Debbie and her friend laugh as Sharpay feels rage boil inside of her. These women have no reason to make fun of the waiting staff like that.

She feels guilty. She used to be like that, rude and condescending. Being subjected to that behaviour now makes her realize how awful it actually is.

When she gets out of this place, she's going to be better.

"Two iced teas, please, dear," Debbie's friend says and Sharpay angrily jots their order down on her pad before turning around and taking a deep breath.

She needs to be the better person. She needs to keep this job.

However, she can't resist turning back to Debbie with a scowl, lowly hissing, "At least my life doesn't revolve around a second rate production of Hello, Dolly! that no one wants to see."

She smirks as she walks away, hearing Debbie's indignant huff behind her. As she sees Todd's disappointed frown, she shrugs and points back to Debbie.

"She was the rude one."


If you'd told Troy Bolton that he would become so attached to Sharpay Evans' daughter one day, he would have laughed in your face.

However, every time he has to say goodbye to Sabrina, he immediately misses her and finds himself desperately looking forward to the next time he'll see her.

"Sabrina was a handful tonight," Gabriella comments as she puts her feet in his lap and Troy laughs and nods as he grabs her foot and starts massaging it, Gabriella moaning in response.

Sabrina has been extremely loud and fuzzy tonight, but it's worth it, he figures. That is also a part of having a baby.

Even if the baby isn't his.

"Are you okay?"

With a sigh, he looks up at Gabriella as he notices he's subconsciously stopped massaging it. He smiles at her.

"You know how I mentioned other options the other night?" he starts hesitantly, watching as Gabriella's face falls into a deep, sad frown. "I… I think we should consider it seriously."

He lets go off her foot as his hand comes up to rub his neck and he ducks his head, unsure of her reaction and scared to look her in the eye.

He feels a weight shift beside him and some rustling, before he feels her delicate hands on his face. She pulls him to look her in the eye, their faces inches apart.

"I've thought about it, too," she admits, her voice a little weak, and for a split second, hope rises within, but then he notices the remorse in her eyes.

"I don't know," she says, stroking her thumb along his cheek. "But one day, maybe."

She kisses his cheek and he nods, a dark feeling of sorrow overcoming him.

It hurts, but he understands. She's still too overwhelmed by the pain of their crushed dreams to be ready to take such a step.

But being with Sabrina has made him realize that he is ready. And he'll wait for her to be ready, too.

He'll wait for one day, maybe.


Being a waitress actually isn't all that bad.

Sharpay is still not entirely accustomed or willing to be nice to patrons, though, especially because many of them are rude and annoying, and she knows it's starting to annoy Todd, who previously found her bluntness amusing. However, besides that, she strangely enjoys the job.

It takes her mind off what is happening. It gives her space from Sabrina when she needs it, it surrounds her with people and distractions from her misery, it almost makes her forget the grave danger she's in.

It almost makes her forget that there are people who want her dead, and that she hasn't had an update from Anderson about these people's whereabouts in a long while.

She almost feels safe. She'll never be content, but the paranoia is slowly starting to ebb away and it feels so nice to breathe a little easier.

It also feels nice to be able to appreciate the good things in her life again.

Well, the one good thing. Sabrina.

Sitting here on her couch, with a sleeping Sabrina on her chest, watching television on her night off, she experiences a pleasant emotion, something akin to happiness, yet not exactly that.

Pressing a soft kiss to the crown of Sabrina's head and gazing at her daughter, Sharpay can't help but smile.

She's still so innocent, so untouched by all of this. Although Sharpay still feels guilty about putting her situation, it's still a relief that the situation hasn't scarred her daughter.

Maybe, hopefully, she won't remember this when she's older. She won't remember Don, she won't remember this town, she won't remember the trauma her mother has been through.

Hopefully, she won't have to grow up here.

Everything Sharpay has done is for Sabrina, to ensure her precious daughter will remain unscathed, to protect the one thing that she has left to care for.

She deserves better than to grow up in this town, under these circumstances. However, deep down, Sharpay knows it could be worse.

She just hopes it will be over soon.

Her phone rings and with a groan, Sharpay scrambles to pick it up, expecting it to be Todd.

It's not. The number is unknown.

Feeling her breath hitch, she feels the fear rise inside her. Could it be?

No, that's ridiculous. With the exception of Troy and Gabriella, nobody knows who she really is, and not a single soul in this town knows why she's here.

She's safe here.

Still, she has a bad feeling about it, and biting her lip, she shakes her head furiously, declining the call and pulling Sabrina a little tighter to her as her heart beats loudly and fast in her ribcage.

The phone rings again. She feels her breathing grow heavier, but she stares at the TV, even though she can't concentrate on anything besides the loud ringtone.

The phone stops ringing again and she breathes a sigh of relief. However, her heart is still hammering she feels herself tremble with fear.

Part of her wants to go to the Boltons, to seek refuge with them again, but that would probably end in her confessing everything and she can't do that. It's far too dangerous.

Especially because it's probably nothing.

After a few minutes, the phone starts ringing a third time and Sharpay suddenly realizes something.

Anderson's number is blocked. He has never called her on her cell phone before, but whoever is trying to reach her, really wants to get a hold of her.

Maybe it's him. Maybe he's calling her to tell her the nightmare is finally over.

Her stomach flutters with hope.

So, although she still feels slightly hesistant, she accepts the call and holds the phone to her ear as she fearfully whispers into the phone, "Hello?"

It's not Anderson.

"We know where you are. We're coming for you."


A/N: I'M SORRY.