Chapter 11 –

"We're coming over tomorrow though." Taylor looked at Sharpay and smiled.


"Yup. We're going to take you two out shopping. If you're not too busy!" Gabby nudged Taylor and they both laughed.


"Get out of here you guys." She half-heartedly swiped at them with a hand towel. "See you tomorrow." They left.

She didn't have to wait long before she got another call from Troy. She directed him to the apartment as he drove through the busy streets, which was no easy feat. She was very impressed that he did it with no problem. Sharpay sat on the couch waiting for him to arrive. At the knock on the door, Sharpay leapt up and ran to open it.

The door revealed a smiling Troy. He looked incredible. He stood there staring back at her. Troy looked like he just stepped out of a fashion magazine. He was wearing a black leather jacket, a beige sweater, jeans and black leather shoes. She looked back up at his face and was taken in by the happiness in his eyes.

"Sharpay." His voice was rough with fatigue. He held out a rose.

Sharpay accepted it and threw herself into his arms. "Troy!" He held her up in the air and hugged her. Finally he let her down and Sharpay led him into the apartment. He looked around and smiled. It looked almost exactly the same as his own apartment. Right down to the furniture and colour theme. Sharpay noticed his amused look. "What are you smiling at?"

"I can't believe how alike we are." He moved his arm in a sweeping motion. "It looks almost identical to my flat."

"Really?" she looked around. "I'm sure your place is a bit larger than this is though."

He held out his thumb and index finger and held them a tiny bit apart. "Maybe a little" he smiled at her. "Still it's almost exactly the same."

"Weird." She pulled him down to the couch. "You must be so tired!"

He pulled her down with him. "A little."

She leaned against him and sighed. This had to be her favourite moment when she sat with him.

He put his arms around her and exhaled. "This is nice non? I love just to sit with you." He leaned down and kissed her hair.

"Mmmmm, for sure." She looked up at him remembering he just took a really long flight.

"Are you hungry?"

"Yes."

Sharpay got up. "Ok, I just have to reheat the sauce. You can freshen up in there." She pointed to the bathroom. He went in. "You like pasta right?" Sharpay heard a muffled yes from behind the closed door.

Minutes later they were at the table eating the pasta. They talked over what they had been doing over the time that they were apart. They discovered that they were both worn out.

"Yes, that last concert in Barcelona was ok but I think I need sometime off, which is why I'm here now. I was planning to surprise you in Albuquerque." He looked around. "But this is better." He grinned at her and leaned over the table. "We don't have any distractions." His lips touched hers.

Sharpay gasped. She loved the feel of his lips against hers.

Slowly he deepened the kiss. His tongue toyed with hers as he drank from her. He was like a man starved. Her taste had him craving for more.

Sharpay wrapped her arms around him and drew him down to her. She kissed him back with just as much feeling. It was amazing the way that the world tilted every time his lips touched hers. She closed her eyes and let the feelings take over. They rapidly opened again when something smashed on the floor.

"Oh no!" The bowl holding the majority of the spaghetti was on the floor in pieces.

"Sorry chère." Troy was immediately on the floor trying to clean it up.

"It's ok I'll get it." She knelt down beside him and helped pick up the pieces of the shattered bowl.

They managed to clean it all up with only a few minor cuts and a few splotches on their clothes. Sharpay gave Troy a T-shirt while she changed into another one was well. She threw their clothes into the washing machine while they sat down on the couch again.

"Shar." He stopped. He wasn't sure what he was going to say.

"Yes Troy?" She was trying to clean up a little cut on his hand.

"I love you more than I have ever loved anyone before."

Not knowing what to say, Sharpay stared at him. "Troy..."

"I just wanted you to know how I felt about you. This is definitely not some casual thing."

"I know it's not." Sharpay knew from the beginning that she could never just put him aside as a fling. She'd definitely fallen for him. "And you are the most incredible person I have
ever met."

Troy noticed that she didn't say she loved him back though. It was in every look and every touch she gave him, he could feel it but she still hadn't said the words out loud to him. He would have to give some more time. Troy decided to take the conversation into another direction. "So what is there to do in Taos?"

Sharpay looked into his eyes and saw that he understood. "Well there is Stanley Park, the aquarium, shopping, Gas Town, there are just too many to count. Taylor and Gabi offered to go out with us tomorrow. Do you mind?" "No. Sounds great. What shall we do until then?" He looked around the room. "Should we rent some movies or something?"

"Sure." Sharpay suddenly found her fingers very interesting. "Um...Troy. I was thinking." She paused for a breath. "You don't have to go to a hotel tonight. Unless you already have a room somewhere. Then I would completely understand-" She realized she was babbling incoherently now and stopped.

"Sharpay, what are you saying?" Troy grinned. He knew exactly what she was saying, but he wanted to hear her say it.

Heart racing, Sharpay tore her gaze from her fingers and looked at him, straight into his eyes. She blurted it out before she lost her nerve. "I want you to stay with me."

His lips touched hers. "I would love to, chère." Troy nibbled on her lip then pulled back before he couldn't. They needed to do it right. Which meant not right now. They needed to savor the moment and take their time. "Come. Let's get those movies." Sharpay nodded.

They got up and went to the video store but it was such a beautiful night that they decided to go for a walk instead.

An hour into the walk, they decided to stop at a Starbucks and have a coffee. They had just gotten their drinks when Troy's phone rang. "Allô? Neo." His smile faded and his brows snapped together. "Qu'est ce que s'est passé?" He sighed. "Tell me." He stopped and listened. "Ok I'll be there soon." Sadly, he looked at Sharpay. "Shall we go back to the apartment?"

Sharpay nodded. They picked up their coffees and walked out. Obviously Neo called with bad news. "What's going on Troy?"

"Neo just told me that I have to return because something has gone wrong. He wouldn't tell me what it was because he said I would worry too much. I just have to go and find out myself." He shook his head. "It is so strange. Neo never has trouble when I'm away. It's very unlike him. It must be really bad for him to call me from my vacation time."

"So when do you have to leave?" Her spirits slowly started to slide again.

Troy noticed it immediately. " Sharpay, chère. Don't get sad. Come with me. You have a few days left of your holiday don't you?"

"You have no idea how tempting that is. But I can't I have to get things sorted here. You know with the apartment and everything." Why didn't she just go with him? She shook her head. It's too soon.

"I know. I will stay here for a few hours then." He was a little disappointed when she said no but he understood.

Silently, they took the elevator up to the apartment.

She unlocked the door and they walked in. Sharpay took off her coat and took Troy's to the closet and hung them up.

"Chère, what's the matter?" He looked at her and could feel a tension going through her.

"I don't want you to go yet." She mumbled as she sat on the couch.

"No not that. There is something else." His ocean blue eyes caught her brown ones, and she knew that he could see she wasn't being totally honest with him.

"Troy, there are just some things about me I'm not ready to share with you yet." She felt incredibly guilty. She wanted to tell him but what if it changed the way that he felt about her? She didn't think that she could handle that.

He nodded knowingly. "I see. And you think that it's so horrible that I will leave you?" Sharpay 's eyes widened when he verbally expressed her own thoughts.

"Ah. Ok then." He saw he was right and pulled her over to him. " Sharpay, I can assure you that there is nothing about you or anything that you can tell me that would change how I feel about you."

Sharpay stared miserably out the window. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because I truly love you. Shar I haven't thought of anyone but you since I met you. I have not only thought of you, I dream about you, I fantasize about you. Je te révère. There is no other woman for me."

A tear rolled down Sharpay 's cheek at his admission. She opened her mouth to say something but Troy silenced her with a finger on her lips. Sharpay looked at him with big eyes. She was totally in awe of him.

He replaced his finger with his lips. "Chère I can wait. I will wait until you are ready to tell me." He looked into her eyes again and got up off the couch. "But I must go now and attend to this problem." He shook his head unbelievably. "My only break in months down the drains."

Sharpay helped him take his bag to his rental car. "I hope to see you again soon Troy."

"You will. I love you Sharpay." He kissed her again, deeply. He pulled away before it got to the point where he wouldn't be able to stop himself from taking her back to the apartment. Both stood there trembling and staring at each other for a long while.

Finally Troy broke the spell and got in the car. "Bye chère, I'll call you soon. Je t'aime!" "Bye Troy!" She watched as he drove away. Slowly she walked back to her own apartment. She walked in and sat down on the chair facing the window. She looked around the room. It felt way too big.

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