Chapter Twenty-One

Chad was a nervous wreck…first Taylor had led to Sharpay's unintentional accident, and now he had led to Troy's collapse. He had run to Troy as soon as he had fallen, calling for Mr. and Mrs. Bolton to come as quickly as possible. They had run outside, asking him what happened before picking up Troy and carrying him into the house. They put Troy on his bed, trying in vain to wake him up before his parents ran down stairs to call a doctor while Chad kept watch.

Chad didn't know what to do. He had tried everything he could think of to wake Troy up but nothing worked. He felt so helpless, like all he could do was watch while his best friend wasted away before his eyes. He knew he should have talked to Troy before it got to this point, but he kept telling himself that Troy would get over it…that it wasn't that important…Now he saw how wrong he was…how wrong his choice was…how wrong his plan was…

There was a frantic knock on the down stairs door and Chad heard Mrs. Bolton rush to open it, thinking it was the doctor. He heard a shout and a few yelled questions as footsteps ran up the stairs in the direction of the room.

Suddenly the door flew open and Chad's eyes widened in shock at the person standing in the doorway…

"Sharpay?" he asked.

Sharpay ignored him…or didn't hear him…either way she ran to Troy's bed and knelt down. Gently she reached out and before Chad could even call a warning to stop, she took Troy's hand in her own.

As soon as her hand met his…a split second later…Troy's eyes flew open. He stared at the ceiling for a moment before turning his head to face Sharpay. He smiled softly, seeing her there beside him, tears collecting in her eyes. "Hey…" he whispered.

"Hi…" she replied just as softly, eyes filling with tears. "Are you ok?"

His smile grew a little bit more, "Of course," he said partially in a daze, "It's just a little bit of food poisoning…"

Sharpay shook her head, letting out a small laugh from what he had said as a memory arose in her mind…

Susan walked quickly down the sterile halls of the hospital. She had gotten the call nearly an hour ago and still had yet to find Tom. She didn't know why he had had her listed down under contacts, they had only met a few months ago…yes, they were pretty serious…but she never expected that he would want her to be the one called if something happened to him…

She'd never tell him, but she had listed him as her emergency contact as well. She smiled softly as an elderly woman at a desk finally gave her the room number to Tom's room. The woman didn't know what was wrong with Tom though…which left Susan in the dark still. All she had gotten was a call saying that Tom was in the hospital.

She walked quickly down the hall reading the numbers of the doors until she reached 3324, Tom's room. She took a deep breath before softly knocking on the door and opening it. Her hand flew to her mouth, stifling a gasp.

There was Tom, lying on his back in the hospital bed, IVs and tubes sticking out of him, an oxygen mask taped under his nose. He was either unconscious or asleep…and she prayed it was the latter…less serious one. She slowly and quietly walked over to Tom's side, taking a seat in the chair next to his bed.

Hesitantly she reached out and took his hand in hers, just sitting there watching him. She didn't know how long she sat there but after a long while, Tom's eyes fluttered open. He smiled softly, vision clearing enough to see Susan seated there with a concerned expression on her face.

"Hi…" he whispered.

"Hey…" she said softly. "What happened?"

He shook his head, "It's just a little food poisoning."

She let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding before lifting his hand and kissing it…

"Don't even joke…" she murmured, reaching out to stroke his hair.

Troy laughed at that while Chad just looked on utterly confused…and happy at the same time. He looked up just then, in time to see Mr. and Mrs. Bolton appear in the doorway. Mrs. Bolton let out a worried breath before rushing over to Troy to see if he was alright.

The doctor showed up a little while later, Sharpay had yet to leave Troy's side much to the confusion of his parents who could have sworn that Troy had been dating a brunette a few days ago. But they decided not to ask, and Chad wisely decided not to speak, until Troy had been check out. He had collapsed from exhaustion and was to stay in bed all day, making sure that he ate three square meals at least.

Chad left the same time as the doctor, and Sharpay left a small while later, after Troy had fallen back asleep. She muttered a quick goodbye to Troy's parents, not wanting to stay to get an interrogation as to how she knew that something happened to Troy.

She showed up the next day, bright and early to sit and talk with Troy. She had been thinking all night and had realized something that made her reconsider her separation with Troy. She had been so worried about him, wanting to keep away from him for fear of him being hurt…but he had been hurt…and they hadn't been together.

She started to think that maybe…just maybe…they would be ok this time…

The more she thought about it…the more she realized that all those times in the past…they had both been important people or started a relationship that people really wouldn't have accepted. A pharaoh and a priestess, a patrician and a slave, a noble and a common soldier, a married man and a widower, and a politician and a teacher. Each relationship had had some element of deviance to it. No one would accept it…but now…they weren't really that important and the most that they had that went against the grain was that Troy was the Basketball King and she was the Ice Queen. No one would have cared, and if they did they would have gotten over it eventually…and if they were together now…and possibly later…then no one would be the wiser about their status…

She had rolled her eyes at her stupidity. Why hadn't she thought of this before? Coming out to people would have been so much simpler and easier than trying to hide it. The last time they had tried to keep their relationship a secret…she had ended up dead…thanks to her best friend…She should have remembered that and just told Troy that they should be public about it.

They talked about it that Saturday at Troy's house. They both agreed that they would be public about their relationship, face it now so they wouldn't have to later. The first people they told were Troy's parents. It took a while to explain what happened to Gabriella as well as to explain how they had gotten together in the first place, but in the end his parents were in full support of them.

Chad had called as promised, but he had waited till after dinner, which Sharpay had with Troy and his family. He had invited Troy to the park tomorrow with the gang, he told him to bring Sharpay…something about he and Taylor needing to do something.

Troy had no idea what they had to do, but he asked Sharpay nonetheless. They agreed to go…together…

A/N – Yay! They're official! Wooo :) Next chapter will involve the gang in the park…and a new relationship development with two other characters!