Troy's eyes widened and he let go of her hand quickly. He had assumed she was fully asleep. He never intend for her to actually hear him. Her respond startled him. To make it harder on him, Sharpay kept her eyes close the whole time. Even after what she had said, she remained facing the window, and her eyes shut. Troy had no idea whether she meant, though he really did believe she did—Sharpay wasn't exactly the type of person who spoke without meaning.
The rest of the way home was silent. Troy focused on his driving, not daring to look at Sharpay, even if she was asleep…he felt awkward. Luckily it wasn't long before he pulled into his driveway. He was tired before, but now he was really beat. If he closed his eyes, he would have fallen asleep in a heartbeat. But somehow he was going to have to get Evelyn upstairs and wake Sharpay up. He thought about taking Evelyn first, then coming back to wake Sharpay up—but he felt rude. What if she woke up while he was taking Evelyn to her bedroom?
"Sharpay." He tapped her gently.
She groaned.
"Sharpay, we're here. Get up." He hissed quietly.
Sharpay opened her eyes and frowned.
"Okay." She managed to speak as she gathered her bag.
Troy unlocked the doors and got out of his car, making his way to the other side of the backseat where Evelyn slept peacefully. He carried the little girl into the house and to her bedroom. Sharpay had followed behind, way behind, taking her time. He trusted her to lock the doors before going up to her room. He didn't bother to go back downstairs after getting Evelyn in her room.
"She might not be comfortable sleeping in those clothes." Sharpay peaked her head into the room. "Get her into her pajamas or at least something comfy." She suggested, walking into the bedroom.
Troy shrugged. "If you can find something in her drawers." He sighed running his fingers through his hair.
Sharpay searched through the drawers before coming across Evelyn's pajamas. Even though it wasn't dark yet, she had a feeling the little girl would be asleep for a while, probably throughout the rest of the afternoon and night. She knew she would be doing that.
"I'll change her. You can go get some rest." Sharpay looked over towards Troy who nodded and headed out of the room.
Sharpay crawled next to her daughter and sighed. It was going to be hard trying to change Evelyn while she's sleeping.
"Come on." Sharpay lifted the shirt off the little girl's head.
Evelyn groaned and shifted to her side.
"Evelyn." Sharpay rolled her eyes, gently pushing the child back to her original position.
"Hmm." Evelyn opened her eyes slowly.
Sharpay smirked. She had failed to not wake her daughter up.
"Sorry." She spoke. "Need you to get in comfortable clothes." She said as Evelyn sat up on her bed.
The little girl nodded and got into the clothes lying next to her.
Sharpay rubbed her tired eyes. Boy she was dying to talk to Troy, but she knew she'd have to wait until he was wake. She had so much to say and had no idea where to begin. She got the 'I love you' out of the way. Even if she was a little embarrassed to look at him after saying it. She had denied it for so long, getting it out in the open was hard. She meant to eventually look at him, but she fell asleep sooner than she had expected.
"So that was why you and dad have been going out?" Evelyn asked after getting back under the covers.
Sharpay turned her eyes to her daughter. She had been so lost in her thoughts she had forgotten she was still in Evelyn's room.
"What?" She sat on the bed.
"You and dad went out that night, and left me with my grandparents. That's what you were dealing with?" Evelyn repeated her question.
Sharpay nodded. "We were trying to get your paper works. Just so they could leave us alone." She explained. "They have been bothering us about you and taking you away, we didn't want that to happen. We tried to fix everything before that could happen. But unfortunately it never went according to plan." She touched her daughter's cheek with the palm of her hand. "Your dad and I both want you. We both love you. Don't ever think we don't want you." She pulled Evelyn into a warming hug.
"I know." The nine-year-old nodded, hugging her mom. "But…I don't want to leave without daddy…." She trailed off as Sharpay released her slowly. "I like it when I'm with both you at the same time."
Sharpay sighed.
"I don't want to end up putting all this weight on you, honey." She started. "But something like that is between your dad and I. Everything is complicated." Sharpay fixed her hair quickly, feeling the messy ponytail falling down.
Evelyn nodded. "But can we stay with daddy for a while?" She asked, her eyes filled with hope.
"For a while, yeah." Sharpay smiled standing up. "I'm getting hungry, I should go eat. You want something to eat?" She offered.
Evelyn shook her head. "No. I'm going back to sleep." She smiled before snuggling back under the covers.
Sharpay giggled and out of the bedroom, turning off the lights.
…
"You're not asleep…." Sharpay spoke, her eyes narrowing at Troy. It wasn't a question, more of shock statement.
Troy looked at her. He was in the middle of making a ham sandwich. He was dressed in boxers and a t-shirt, getting ready for sleep….
"Nope." He said and looked back down at his food.
Sharpay made her way to the stools by the counter. She decided to let Troy finish making his food before she got started on whatever she could fix herself. This wasn't exactly her house; she didn't know what Troy had to eat. Since she had gotten here, she hadn't had much time to explore the refrigerator or the pantry. But from what she could see, you could tell only a man lived in the house. Everything was pre-made food.
"Why are you not asleep?" Troy looked up at her as he spread some mayonnaise on his bread.
"Got hungry." Sharpay answered quickly.
"Help yourself." Troy looked back to his fridge, giving her the hint to feel free and work her way around him.
"I'll wait until your done. I'm not in a hurry." She smiled kindly.
Troy nodded.
After a couple of minutes of silence, Troy manage to finish his sandwich. He was tempted to speak, but had no idea what to say. For once he was out of words. He looked back up at Sharpay, to find her eyeing him down.
"Good sandwich." He spoke as he took a bite out of it. "Want a bite?" He offered, knowing it was the kind thing to do.
Sharpay stared at him for a moment before responding.
"Okay."
He handed her his sandwich, which she took a small bite out of.
"Really good." She smiled chewing politely as she handed Troy his sandwich.
Troy sat down on the stool next to her while munching on his food.
"I need to talk to you." Sharpay said trying her hardest not to look down.
Troy narrowed his eyes. "Okay." He mumbled.
Sharpay let out a loud breath and began playing with the hem of her blouse.
"I meant what I said." She began. "I do love you."
"And I meant what I said. I love you too." Troy placed his sandwich back down on the plate.
"I want to live with you." Sharpay blurted quickly.
Troy raised his left eyebrow at her, unsure if she was just saying random things. He believed her, but sometimes he just needed to hear things twice from her just to make sure she was at the right state. All the stress going on could be messing with her mind. Sometimes people completely gave up and just let their stupidity take them away. He just didn't want Sharpay to make a mistake and the two of them having to live with what they had already gone through--and this time would be much worst, Evelyn would get hurt also.
"No you don't." Was the best comeback he could say. "You're just saying that Sharpay, that's really a big step." He shook his head.
Sharpay shot him a frown.
"I mean it. I really want to. I love you. I meant it. Troy, I don't want to go back there without you. I really mean it!" She exclaimed standing up from her stool; she almost looked as if she were about to cry.
Troy shook his head. "This place is nothing like your house. Nothing. It's smaller. You'd get bored here." He spoke using a serious tone. " As much as I'd love for you to just stay with me, I don't think you'd like it here." He bit his lower lip.
Sharpay wanted to scream at him, but she couldn't. Only she knew he was just trying to make sure it was what she wanted. And it was. She wanted to be with him, she was done hiding and crying about every little thing that bothered her. He told her he loved her and that was all she needed to answer all the dreading questions in her mind. If he loved her like he said, he would be willing to be with her again, and was what she wanted.
"Troy…"She mumbled. "I want to be with you. I love you." She looked at him, her eyes watery and sad.
Troy sighed. "I love you too Sharpay." He held out his hand for her to hold. "But I don't want you doing this because you feel the need to. I don't want you to have to relive what we went through—I don't want to relive it—and I'm pretty sure Evelyn would not want to live it." He shook his head. "Give it time and see how things go." He kissed her forehead softly.
Sharpay let out a loud exhale and gripped his hand tighter. "Fine. But I'm not leaving Troy." She whispered. "I really don't want to go back there—without you." She gave his hand one more squeeze before letting it go.
"Stay for as long as you want, but if you can't stand me, leave. Don't bother trying to deal with it Sharpay. Because this might be a test for you, if you can really live with." Troy tried to send her a comforting smile.
"It's not a test. I know I can live with you. It's just for me to prove it to you. Since you don't think I can." She smirked.
Troy let out a soft laugh. "I just don't want something bad to happen and for you to feel like you're stuck with me." He found his way back to his sandwich again.
"I will always be stuck with you." Sharpay smiled. "I'll always be connected to you through Evelyn." She took a bit out of his sandwich. "Like I said Troy, I'm not leaving you. I want to be with you and until you allow me to live with you, I'm just going to be a really long guest here." She ran her fingers through his sandy brown hair, making his close his eyes—enjoying the everlasting feeling. "I'm not joking around." Her tone became serious again.
Troy was about to speak when both of her hands landed on his cheeks. Her touch made him feel alive and lost at the same time. Boy it was a dream come true to have her in front of him, begging to stay with him. He wanted her to, it was just not that easy anymore.
"I love you." He said softly before leaning forward for a deep kiss.
Sharpay wrapped her arms around his neck, making her feel more stable against Troy's body. She felt his hands move down to her waste, slowly caressing her bare skin under the blouse.
The kiss soon ended, not that they wanted it to. But they were both getting tired and Sharpay wanted some more of his sandwich for now.
"If you love me, why won't you just let me live with you?" She questioned watching him sit down on the stool by her side.
Troy sighed.
"Because it's a lot for you to give up. You have your theater over there—and your house is amazing. You can't let all that go just because you want to be with me."
Sharpay rolled her eyes.
"Yes I can." She frowned at him. "I don't care where we live Troy, I just want you to be with me—and Evelyn. But I don't want you to leave this place either—you work here. I can always move my theater down here. I'm sure it'll pick up after a while. And I can sell my house." She explained.
Troy shook his head. "That's too much for you to give up, Sharpay. And as much as I'd love to live at your house, I can't." He spoke watching her eat his sandwich. "I can't drive two hours to go to work."
"Well then I have a better idea." She beamed.
Troy shot her a confused look.
"We buy the house we wanted before…" She trailed off noticing the shock look on Troy's face.
"You'll still have to move down here." He noted.
"Either way Troy, I'm moving down here." She smirked. "The three of us can live here or we can go try and buy that house we wanted before."
Troy knew she was going to win. He just felt bad that she would have to sacrifice her whole career just for him.
"Is this really something you want to do?" He questioned already knowing the answer.
"Yes." She answered right away. "I told you. I really want to be with you. And you're not making a great effort of showing that you want to be with me." She scolded at him.
"I do want to be with you." He said. "I just feel bad."
Sharpay shook her head.
"Well don't." She handed him half of the sandwich. She had already eaten most of it.
Troy just nodded.
"So…can we go look at the house? Please? I saw it the other day with Evelyn and it's really pretty Troy. I want it!" She exclaimed causing Troy to step back.
"Tomorrow. We can try." He spoke.
She threw herself to him, pulling him in for a long deep hug.