Wow, I wasn't expecting this many reviews for the chapter! Thanks again!

A/N: Expect a lot of drama in this chapter!

Disclaimer: Same as always.

Raising Kids is Hard to Do, Ch. 21

Gabi walked to the door and opened it. She was a bit stunned to see Larissa standing there, tears running down her cheeks. "Larissa, what are you doing here?"

Larissa didn't say anything; she simply flung her arms around her aunt and sobbed into her shirt.

Gabi didn't know how to react to this except to hug her back. She then looked outside to see if Troy or Sharpay was there with her…neither one was. She picked Larissa up and carried her into the house. "Ryan, will you come here please?"

"Good job honey…go and put this away," he said to Theresa. He walked over to Gabi, "What is it…Larissa?" He said in shock when he saw the little girl crying into Gabi's shoulder.

"Will you take her, Ryan? I'm going to call Troy and Sharpay; they must be worried sick right now…"

"No!" Larissa yelled, jolting her head up. "You can't call them! They wouldn't care anyway," she cried.

Gabi looked at Larissa, "What do you mean? I'm sure they are very worried about you. And you still haven't answered my question as to what you're doing here…without your parents." She looked pointedly at her.

"They hate me," she said softly.

After 15 minutes, Troy and Sharpay decided to go upstairs and talk to both girls. Troy opened the door to Ana and Larissa's room, but only saw Ana.

"Where is your sister," he asked.

"She had to go to bathwoom," Ana said, pointing in the direction of the bathroom.

Sharpay walked to the closed bathroom door and knocked, "Larissa when you're done we need to talk."

No answer.

"Larissa, is everything all right in there?" She knocked again.

No answer.

Sharpay, now worried, opened the door, only to find that there wasn't anyone in the bathroom. She let out an exasperated sigh, placed her hands on her hips, now rather angry, and walked into the bedroom, "She's not in the bathroom."

Troy, confused, went into the bathroom and searched the bathtub, the small closet…everything. On his way back to the room, he felt a slight chill coming from the guest room. He walked into the room and saw that the window was open. "What the…Sharpay did you open the window in here," he asked as he shut it.

She walked into the room, "No…" A light bulb went off in her head, "Troy. She ran away," Sharpay said, half worried, half fuming.

"So why did you run away," Ryan asked as he sat down on the other side of Larissa on the living room couch.

"Because mommy and daddy hate me," she said, still crying. "They love Ana, Kayleigh, and Zach, but they hate me! They always get mad at me, even when it's not my fault!"

Ryan sighed, "What do you mean they always get mad at you when it's not your fault?"

She took a breath before talking, "When mommy and daddy brought Zachary home from the hospital, I went up to my room to get something and saw Ana with one of her special dolls…you know, the kind that break if you drop them," she said, not knowing the material the dolls were made out of (porcelain).

Gabi nodded, "Yeah, I know what you're talking about."

"Well I saw Ana with one of hers and I asked her how she got it down, but she wouldn't tell me so I told her that if she dropped it that it would break…so I tried to take it from her since she wouldn't put it down…but then it dropped…she let it drop! She broke the doll, not me!" Larissa said, now sobbing again.

Ryan held her close to him and got another tissue to wipe her face. "What happened after that?"

"Mommy and daddy heard something break and saw the doll and blamed me, even though it wasn't my fault! I tried to tell them, but they wouldn't listen! They never blame Ana for anything because she is special…mommy always takes her side," she said, referring to her autism.

Gabi sighed and took Larissa's hand, "Did anything else happen?"

"They said they'd ground me if something like that happened again…and it did today," she said, the tears coming back.

"What happened today," Ryan asked, still holding Larissa close to him.

"I was going downstairs to find mommy so I could practice my lines for the play with her and Ana was going to find her too, so I just followed her downstairs. I went one way and she went the other…I guess she got mommy's car keys from the counter because I heard the door to the garage open and I thought it was mommy…"

"Was it Ana," Gabi asked.

She nodded, "She was in the garage with mommy's keys! So I tried to get them from her and bring her back inside, but when I tried to, part of the keychain broke off…that's when mommy found us…" She shook her head as fresh tears fell from her eyes, "Even though I told them what happened, they still mostly blamed me…especially mommy!" She would have continued, had she not been crying so hard and nearly coughing up a lung from crying ((have you ever cried so hard that you cough a lot? I have!)).

Ryan pulled Larissa into his lap and hugged her, silently cursing his sister. How could she be so blind? Even though Ana was autistic, she wasn't stupid. When Larissa had calmed down a bit, he handed her to Gabi, "I'm going to go call them," he whispered, not wanting to upset Larissa again. He was going to give his sister an earful or two.

Sharpay paced back and forth in her and Troy's room. "She knows to never run away! What the hell made her think to do something so…so…" She grunted in anger.

"First of all, stop pacing; you're making me dizzy. Second, she obviously thought that we were too hard on her about grounding her; that is probably why she did it…and I'll bet you anything that she's in the backyard somewhere." He looked at her.

She sighed and sat down, "I suppose she could be…but why would she do something like this in the first place?" Her train of thought was interrupted by the phone. She walked over to it, "Hello?"

"You have got to be one of the most narrow-minded people I know," Ryan said rather harshly to his sister.

She sat back down on the bed, "What are you talking about, Ryan," she asked in just as harsh a tone.

"I'm talking about the fact that just because one of your children happens to have special needs doesn't mean she is an angel 100 percent of the time. I mean think about it, Sharpay," he said, wanting to literally knock some sense into her head.

Her eyes went wide, "You know where Larissa is, don't you? Is she with you?"

He sighed, "Yes, and she has it in her head that you and Troy hate her…even though she was telling you the truth," he said after a pause. "When was the last time you really listened to her?"

"Ryan, she is just angry about being grounded and this is how she's getting back at us; she just wants attention; like when she was hitting the other kids in her class because we were giving the twins a little more attention after they were born!" She nearly yelled.

"G-d Sharpay, would you listen to yourself? You sound like a fool! If you keep this up, she is going to turn around and hate you one of these days…although that's highly unlikely since you and Troy are the only real parents she's ever known," he said in a calmer tone.

As Sharpay was talking to Ryan, Troy decided to give her some time alone so he walked into the twins' room. Both were now asleep; about 5 minutes after they sent the girls to their room, they saw that it was naptime for Kayleigh and Zachary. He smiled softly and left the door opened a crack.

He walked down the hall and was about to go into Ana and Larissa's room when he saw something that made him have to blink a few times, just to make sure he was really seeing it. There was Ana, standing on a chair, reaching up to the top shelf and getting one of her porcelain dolls down. He just stood there, dumbfounded. "It really was her," he said quietly to himself. He hurried across the hall and into their room where Sharpay was still talking/yelling to Ryan.

He walked over to her, "Get off the phone and come with me…now," he said, taking her hand.

She sighed, "Listen Ryan I'll call you back…will you just stop it! I think I know my own daughter." She slammed the phone down.

"No, you don't," Troy said.

She turned to him, "What do you mean?"

"Come with me." He took her hand again and led her into the girls' room where Ana was still trying to get the doll down.

Sharpay just stood there, not able to believe what she was seeing. She had to intercede. "Ana, get down from there this instant!" She pulled Ana off the chair and placed her on the bed, "What on earth do you think you're doing!" Before Ana said anything, Sharpay put her hands to her face. "Oh dear lord," she muttered. "Larissa really was telling us the truth."

Troy nodded, "It would appear that way," he said, frowning at Ana.

"We didn't…believe her because Ana is…autistic," Sharpay said as she sat down on Larissa's bed in a bit of a daze. "Ryan's right; we are…I mean I am narrow-minded." She shook her head, deciding to deal with the issue at hand. She looked over at Ana, "Ana did you break the other doll?"

No answer.

"Anastasia Marie Bolton (yes, she has the same middle name as Katie), look at me," she said crossly. "Did you break the other doll?"

Ana nodded her head slowly, "Yes."

"Is this how you managed to get it down," Troy asked.

She nodded her head again.

Sharpay took a deep breath, having a feeling that she knew what the answer to her next question was going to be. "Did you take my keys and go into the garage today?"

She nodded, "Yes…"

"And um…did Larissa try to get you to come back inside," she asked, holding tears back.

"Yes," she said again.

Sharpay didn't know what to think…or say. She looked at Ana, "You are in big trouble; you know that, right," she said firmly.

Ana nodded, "Uh huh," she said, finally showing some sign of emotion.

"Troy, I need to go get our daughter…alone. I'll be back…whenever," Sharpay said, getting up.

"All right," he said, nodding his head.

Ana started to follow Sharpay out of the room, "Mama?"

Troy stopped her, "Nope, you are staying right here, young lady," he said sternly.

Sharpay got her things and drove to Ryan and Gabi's house. Once she pulled into the driveway, she shut off the car, but didn't get out right away. She took a deep breath and pulled her thoughts together, knowing that she would have to do a lot of apologizing to get through to Larissa; let alone her own brother. She finally got out of the car and walked to the door and rang the bell.

Ryan came to the door, "Come to insult me some more," he asked sarcastically.

She sighed, "I've come to take my daughter home."

"Not so fast," he said when she tried to get past him. "What are you going to do to her now? Make her step down from being in the play?"

She shook her head, "No…Ryan you…you were right…about everything," she said, feeling her eyes moisten. "I can't believe that I didn't believe her…"

He nodded, "Come on," he said, allowing her to come inside. "She's upstairs with Gabi. Before I get her, however, you should know that she was pretty upset when she got here…she was crying so hard that she made herself sick, Sharpay," he said, feeling his anger get the better of him. He took a deep breath, "I-It's just…I can't stand to see her like this for this reason," he said calmly.

"I understand," she said softly.

"Mommy?"

Sharpay looked at the stairs and saw Larissa at the top. "Hi honey," she said in a relieved voice; she had to see her to know that she was physically okay. "I need to talk to you for a few minutes…will you please come downstairs?"

Larissa looked at Gabi who simply nodded. She walked down the stairs slowly, not knowing whether her mom was even madder at her or not.

As she reached the bottom, Sharpay pulled her into a tight hug, "I am so, so sorry, sweetheart," she said, picking her up and taking her into the living room. She sat her down beside her.

Larissa wiped her eyes, "I didn't do either thing, mommy," she said, wanting her mom to know the absolute truth.

Sharpay nodded, "I know you didn't sweetheart; we caught Ana in the act…but that isn't the point." She took a deep breath, "The point is that we should have believed you in the first place. You would never intentionally break one of your sister's things; I know that now and I did then…but because of the fact that Ana is autistic, my mind automatically thought that she could never be capable of anything like that." She looked at Larissa and put a hand through her hair, "I am very sorry for not believing you, honey."

Larissa could feel fresh tears falling down her face. She climbed into her mom's lap and sobbed. "I'm sorry I ran away," she said through her tears. "You made…me…mad."

"I know I did; heck, I made myself mad after talking to Uncle Ryan on the phone." She rubbed Larissa's back, calming her down.

"I didn't take your keys either," Larissa said once she had calmed down a bit.

Sharpay nodded, "I know you didn't; we got Ana to tell us the truth; you were trying to stop her from doing something bad, weren't you?"

"Uh huh; I also tried to take the doll away from her so she wouldn't break it…but she dropped it anyway." She looked at the floor.

"Hey, don't blame yourself for that one; even without you interceding I'm sure she would have dropped it anyway."

Larissa looked up at her mom, "Am I still grounded?"

Sharpay sighed, "Yes and no; no you're not grounded for what Ana did; she will be punished for that, but yes because you ran away," she said, seeing more tears well up in Larissa's eyes.

She got out of her mom's lap. "I ran away because you wouldn't listen to me!" She yelled, starting to sob again. She started to cough again, which was followed by gagging.

Sharpay picked her up and carried her to the bathroom, just in case. "You…you're right," she said, rubbing her back. "I didn't listen to you; is that why you came here?"

Larissa nodded, "Yes," she said before getting sick again.

She nodded and continued to rub her back until Larissa was finished. When she was, she took a tissue and wiped her mouth off and held her in her lap, "You know for a little girl you have a very grown up sense of what to do when something is really wrong," she said. She took a deep breath, "No, you're not grounded…but I don't ever want you to run away like that again…ever," she said softly, yet firmly. "You really scared daddy and me."

"So…you still love me," Larissa asked softly.

"Oh goodness yes," Sharpay said as she stood up and picked Larissa up, hugging her again. "There has never been a day when I haven't loved you, sweetie. Don't ever think that we don't love you, because we do, okay?"

She nodded, "Okay."

After a few minutes of hugging, Sharpay set Larissa down, "Ready to go home?"

"Okay, but on one condition."

"And what would that be?"

"I want you to listen to me do my first lines of the play," Larissa said with a small smile.

Sharpay smiled, "Deal."

"And Ana can't interrupt us."

"I promise she won't; if she needs something, she'll go to daddy."

"Okay," Larissa said, satisfied with that answer.

As they walked back into the living room, Ryan walked over to them, "Everything all right now?"

"Yes, thanks to you," Sharpay said as she hugged him. "Thank you," she said softly.

He nodded, "Anytime."

Sharpay nudged Larissa who looked up at her uncle, "Thank you for listening to me, Uncle Ryan," she said.

"Anything for my favorite 5 ½ year old niece," he said as he hugged her.

"Huh?" Was Larissa's response.

He shook his head, "Never mind."

Sharpay smiled, knowing what he meant. She and Larissa then left for home.

Ah, the smell of drama in the evening…actually it smells like rain…it's pouring here. ANYWAY, what did you think? Oh, and I'm not ending the story here! I just figured I'd end the chapter sans the cliffhanger this time. So what do you think will happen with Ana? What will happen between Larissa and Ana? Please review and thank you for reading!