Disclaimer: The movie High School Musical and all the characters that are in it are NOT mine and I do not claim to own them. Mickey Mouse owns them…sadly.But all characters that were not in the movie are my own creation.

A/N: Thank you EVERYONE for your awesome commentsand reviews. I loved every single one of them and they make me really really giddy. No joke, I giggle like an idiot when I read them. But here is the second chapter, fully equipped with a lot more Sharpay and Troy moments and a little more insight into the past few years of their lives after graduation. Hope you all enjoy and the next chapter will be up as soon as possible!

Details: Years after graduation, Sharpay Evans moves to New York City. She changed professions and has quit what she knew best, theater. But will an unexpected encounter with a long lost friend make her life change back to the perfect one she once had? Or will he only bring more drama back into her life?

Chapter #002: Closer

"So how did you end up in the wonderfully polluted New York City?" Sharpay asked Troy as she moved one of her soft blonde curls away from her face.

Moments after their surprise encounter with each other, Sharpay and Troy had made plans to have a midnight walk in Central Park. They wanted to catch up with one another, see how each other have been but Sharpays heart was a little torn. For the past couple of months, she has been thinking a lot about Troy and how much she liked or could've even loved him. She didn't know how to act around him or what to say.

A breeze of cool air blew past them as they made their way down the curved sidewalk. Sharpay shivered and tightened the straps on her crème, faux-leather trench coat. She had managed to change at her place before going to Central Park where Troy was waiting.

Noticing the small girl next to him shake, Troy used his basic male instinct and gently place his pinstriped blazer over her shoulders. "That better?"

Sharpay smiled but lowered her head, trying to hide the fact that she was blushing. "Yeah, thank you."

Troy smiled, happy that he for once made the 'Ice Queen' act a little shy. "Well, are you sure you want to hear my sad life story?"

"I don't know…are you going to cry?" Sharpay asked, holding the blazer closed at the neck line.

"That's definitely possible."

"Well, in that case, let me hear it."

Troy stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and stared at her with a huge grin on his face. "So you pretty much only want to see me cry?"

"Hey, how many times a day do you get to see a grown man cry?"

"Everyday," He shot another grin at her as they made their way to a park bench underneath a light post. "Do you not remember the tragic ending of the musical I play in?"

Sharpay laughed as she took a seat on the bench, keeping a friendly distance away from Troy. "Well I'm not so fortunate, so spill the beans, Bolton."

He had no choice but to speak up. He knew how Sharpay was back in high school; she never took 'no' for an answer. And from the looks of things, she hasn't really changed all that much. "I've actually only been here for a month and I've been staying with one of the guys in the musical. I used to go to college with him and he told me about this great off-Broadway play that he was trying out for and suggested I should try-out also. So I did and a couple of weeks later, I ended up here."

Sharpay just sat there and stared at him for a second. Troy Bolton, Basketball superstar, was now a singing and dancing drama boy. "Wow, I'm actually a little surprised. I figured you would be playing in the NFL, shooting hoops and scoring goals."

"You know all those terms you just used are from three different sports, right?"

"Whatever," Sharpay then shot Troy her old-fashioned 'ice queen' stare. "Do I look like I watch sports?"

"Right," Troy grinned, realizing that the Sharpay he knew in high school hasn't changed much. "Well, I was playing Basketball for Duke University but I tore my ACL during a game. After a few surgeries they told me I couldn't play anymore so I went to something that I was good at and that I could still do." His grin fell as well as his head. It was hard for him to talk about the end of his lifelong dream of being in the NBA.

"I'm so sorry Troy," Sharpay scooted closer to him, placing her hand on his knee.

Troy looked into Sharpays beautiful blue eyes while placing his hand on top of hers. There was a silence between them as they just sat there, staring into each other. This was the moment that Sharpay has always wanted to experience during high school. She never had the chance, especially when Troy started dating Gabriella Montez; the schools smartest star of the musicals. Sharpay was jealous; jealous of the fact that, not only did Gabriella get the hottest guy at East High but every leading role in every musical the school held until they graduated. Everything she wanted, Gabriella took from her.

A few moments passed before Sharpay realized what was going on and she quickly pulled her hand away from Troys knee. She held her head down, slightly embarrassed by her sudden action. "So…where are you staying?"

A certain awkwardness filled the air as Troy looked over to Sharpay, who had moved a couple of inches away from him. "I'm staying in an apartment, right down the street from the auditorium where we do the play. What about you?"

Sharpay looked up at Troy, his face lit up by the street light near the bench they were sitting at. "I actually only live a couple of miles down the street. If you have time, do you want to come over, maybe have a drink?"

Troy smiled and nodded his head in agreement.

The walk to Sharpays loft was quite, along with the elevator ride up to her floor. She could only think about his touch on her hand and where this trip to her place might lead. It made her nervous; especially since they haven't talked about recent relationships they have or are currently in.

After digging in her designer handbag for her keys, she finally unlocked the door to her loft and walked in as Troy followed behind her. "Make yourself at home." She said, closing the door behind them and immediately heading to her bedroom.

Troy looked around the enormous living space in awe. Everything was white; white furniture and white walls which had pieces of artwork on them which for the most part were, black and white. He made his way over to the large loft window and took a seat at the small dining table near it. There was a notebook sitting in front of him, with an ash tray and coffee mug next to it.

"So what do you want to drink?" Sharpay asked, emerging from her bedroom with her hair up in a ponytail.

Troy looked up at her, watching her as she made her way over to the refrigerator. "Well what do you have?"

"I have beer, coffee and Diet Coke." She said, smiling at him.

"I'll take a beer."

Sharpay leaned down and came out of the refrigerator holding two long-neck bottles of Bud Lite. She popped the caps off with a bottle opener, walked over to Troy and handed him one while taking a seat across from him at the table.

"I can't believe you live here. This place is…amazing." Troy said, taking a sip of his beer.

"Yeah, it better be for three grand a month." Sharpay laughed, as did Troy.

"I wish I would have known you lived here sooner. I run on this street once a week because of my physical therapy. I could've stopped by and said 'Hello'."

As soon as Troy said that, Sharpays eyes shot to her notebook which was in front of him.

That was him.

A guy with brown hair wearing a track suit out on his morning jog.

That guy was Troy.

"Sharpay," Her eyes shot up to Troys. "Are you feeling okay?"

She immediately nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm fine." Grabbing her purse, she dug inside and pulled out her pack of Marlboro Ultra Lights. "Do you mind?" She asked politely.

"If you don't mind?" He asked, pulling a pack of Newports out of his pocket.

Sharpay laughed as she lit her cigarette and handed the lighter to Troy. "You know those things are going to kill you right?"

"Really? I didn't know that." Troys sarcastic tone and grin on his face made Sharpay laugh harder as he lit his cigarette up. "So I told you all about how I made it to NYC, it's your turn now."

Sharpays laughter subsided as she took a drag and blew the smoke to the side. "Well it's a long story, do you have time?"

"It's one in the morning Sharpay and I am wide awake."

"Well you asked for it." Sharpay playfully cleared her throat and took a sip of her beer. "After graduation, I went to UCLA and began working on my major in theater. When I was there I met this guy that was majoring in music. We started off as friends and then we dated my second year in college. He graduated that year but wasn't going to stay in California. He wanted to move here and I told him he could go but I loved him and would miss him very much."

Sharpays voice had gotten a lot more serious and Troy listened to her attentively. She put out her cigarette, took another sip of her beer and sighed. "That's when he proposed to me. I said yes and before I knew it, I had dropped out of school, packed all of my stuff and had been disowned by my parents. I came here and absolutely could not find one job. I tried out for nearly a dozen musicals, and got to all the call-backs but never got the part. At the same time, my relationship was having problems. We broke up on my twentieth birthday and after that I went to design school, opened up my own boutique and have been single ever since." She took one more big sip before throwing the empty bottle in to her trash bin. "And that was pretty much the last five years of my life in a nut shell."

"That didn't take long at all." Troy said, trying to put a smile back on the beautiful blondes face.

"Yeah, I don't like talking about it so I decided to make it short and sweet." Sharpays face was still sad.

"Then let's talk about something else. Something more…positive."

3 hours passed by and Troy and Sharpays conversation never ended. They had gone through everything from music, movies, old school memories, as well as a few more beers. Sharpay was more then a little tipsy while Troy was practically still sober.

"It's been awesome Shar, but it's four and I think you should go lay down." Troy got up from his chair and helped Sharpay get on her feet.

"I think you're right Troy. You're always right." Her drunken jabber made Troy laugh a little.

He slowly led her into the bedroom, which like the rest of the loft, was completely white. Lifting her into the soft bed, Troy gently pulled off her high-heel boots and tucked her in as she began to drift off into sleep. He stopped for a second to look at her face. Moving a curl away from her face, he leaned in close. Those deliciously pink lips that he wanted to kiss so badly glimmered from a ray of moonlight coming from the window. He stepped back; he couldn't do it.

Troy smiled at the sleeping girl and turned to leave but felt a tug at his hand. "Please don't leave." It was Sharpay; her eyes were closed but she seemed to be talking in her sleep.

Troy leaned back down and whispered into her ear. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Sharpay then turned her head. Their faces were so close as she opened her eyes and gazed into his. "Please, don't leave me."

He looked at her, those blue eyes filled with tears. "I won't leave." Troy whispered as he took off his tennis shoes, and climbed into bed, holding Sharpay close as they both fell asleep together.