Author's Note: Hey guys, I'm sorry this update is late. I like having the next chapter written before I post one, but I haven't started chapter six yet, and I figured y'all have waited long enough. I'm apparently on an angst kick, (I don't know why), so you may want to throw things at me when your done. Sorry. I'm not to sure if there is going to be one or two chapters yet, but I can at least promise you guys a sequal. Thanks for all of your reviews!

Chapter 5: Fight Harder

Monday came way too fast for my liking. I had moped around all weekend trying to figure out exactly what happened on Friday. Once I had accomplished that, I had tried to think of a way to reverse it. Needless to say, I came up with nothing. I couldn't think of anything I could do.

When I woke up on Monday, I had slept in, and had all of five minutes to get ready and leave if I were to make it to school on time. I was able to grab a shower and just threw on whatever clothes I could find fast enough. I ended up eating on the way there, and slid into the classroom just as the first few students wandered in from the bell. One of the girls, Casey had asked if I was ok, because what I was wearing had apparently broken a fashion code. Casey was the Sharpay wannabe I told you about earlier.

There were no interruptions the rest of the week, and I was lucky to not have slept in again. I did however spend any free time I had wondering how I could get Ryan back. I say that like I had him in the first place.

I had realized something about Ryan as I sat on my couch Friday evening. He wasn't the same guy he was in high school. In high school he followed Sharpay around and was basically her shadow. I couldn't remember him ever making decisions for himself, or taking control of things. Now he was taking care of Riley.

I had no idea what he did for a living, or how he went from acting to business. I knew nothing about Ryan Evans any more except that he was an amazing dad. I realized that I had been going at this in the wrong direction. I was focused on who Ryan was, not who he is now. I had to learn the new Ryan, how to approach him. Only one problem with that, I needed to see him in order to do that.

He stopped picking Riley up from school on Friday's, completely breaking his tradition with her. She would take the bus home every night, but she didn't seem unhappy with it. She would wave goodbye to me, promise that, you guessed it, her homework would be done and that she would get help if needed. Then she would skip out the door and head to her bus. God I loved that kid.

Nothing exciting happen for about a month, I handed out homework, the kids handed it back. I'd go home to my empty apartment and daydream what it would be like to be a part of that family. That perfect family. Or so I thought. It was the first week in June when I found out my dreams weren't exactly reality, and I got the reality check from an old friend.

There was only three weeks left in school, and for the last week they were going through auditions for the school's year end performance. Now Riley had been telling me how much she had practiced for her audition, and even performed it for me during her lunch period. It was flawless. I told you, she was an Evans. Her audition was Friday after school and all through last period she couldn't sit still. When the bell rang she left in quite a hurry. So much so, that I didn't get my good bye. I was sad about that.

I was sitting at my desk marking papers when there was a knock on my door. I turned and smiled. I got up from my desk and quickly walked over to my visitor.

"Sharpay! It is so good to see you!" I said hugging her. She returned the hug saying hi as well. She looked the exact same. Her hair was flawlessly pulled into a high ponytail, her make-up was perfect, and her outfit was still designer. Her look screamed star. But even though she was still dressed the same, something was different. Her eyes, they didn't look like they could throw daggers at you. Instead, they were soft and caring, almost like a mother's look to her family, and they matched the heartwarming smile she was giving me. "What are you doing here?"

"Riley forgot her knapsack," she answered. I looked at Riley's desk and sure enough on top of her desk was her bright pink bag. "Oh, you meant Albuquerque didn't you?" she laughed. I nodded. We moved over to my desk and we both grabbed a seat.

"I'm home for a while to help out my brother. Riley has been telling us about her audition all week. I told her I would come and watch. I'm in town till the end of June, after that its back to Broadway and a new musical."

"That's amazing! So is Ryan watching her now?" I asked, trying not to look so eager. The last thing I needed was Sharpay, the girl who had a crush on me all through high school to know I was crushing on her brother.

She didn't answer right away. She turned her head and let out a sigh before she said anything. "No, that's why I'm here. He's busy at work."

"What?" Surely Ryan would have taken time off work to spend time with Riley. He was always so dedicated to her. She was his world for crying out loud!

"Yeah, Ryan…he's, I don't know. The last month or so he's practically thrown himself into his work. My dad handed the family business to him last month."

I tried to hide the shock on my face but I must have failed miserably. I was confused. In high school Ryan had told us that his dad had practically banned him from the family name because he was gay. Why was he in charge of the company now?

"I can tell by that look Troy that you don't understand." She giggled. "It's a good thing really. When he followed me to New York, he started focusing more on school. It was a chance for him to start with a clean slate in a new city. Nobody knew who he was, or that he wasn't very scholastic before. He met Jaime, and he changed. He fell in love with numbers; my dad even thought he'd marry Jaime. He was still in denial. When Ryan graduated he was on the honor roll, and he'd been able to do that while still taking care of Riley. His son gave him a granddaughter and a degree in something they both loved, accounting. Eventually he caved, and let Ryan start at the company, and now he handed it over to him so daddy could retire," she smiled. You could see in her eyes how proud she was of Ryan.

"That's great!" I said. Was it possible for me to like him more? I mean, he was perfect!

"Yeah not really," she said shaking her head. I went from smiling to being completely confused.

"Why?"

"Because. Now, he doesn't know how to divide his time three ways."

"Huh?" Three ways? I thought it was just two, work and home life, paper work and Riley. Where was this third thing coming from?

"Work, Riley and a love life. I swear, if he doesn't get a boyfriend soon I'm gonna kick his behind. He hasn't dated anyone since Riley was born, and I don't know why. He needs someone, even if he is too stupid to see it." There was the true Sharpay I knew, very forward and spoke her mind. I laughed.

Then she started staring at me. It was just like Ryan's piercing stare, but different. Her eyes were brown but just as sharp as her brothers, and she tilted head trying to figure things out on her own just like he did, but it was still different. Even if it was different, it still had the same effect on me. It was freaking me out. I shivered a bit. Then the hard piercing stare softened again to that same mothering look.

"Fight harder Troy." Fight harder for what? Hiding the fact that she was freaking me out? I looked at her as if she lost her mind. She just shook her head at me.

"I'm begging you Troy. Don't give up on him, and don't let him win."

I couldn't hide it from her anymore, I sat there dumbfounded. How did she know about the two of us, surely Ryan didn't say something to her. Then again, he probably didn't need to, with that twin intuition thing they always had going on.

"How did you know Sharpay?"

"Ryan didn't say anything directly, if that's what you're thinking. He didn't have too. The first night I came, we sat and had a long talk about things. He told me all about Riley's wonderful new teacher, and how much she loved him. Then he made a joke out of it saying I would never guess who it was. He was right, no offense." We both laughed. "But then his whole demeanor changed when he said your name. He had this look in his eyes, the same kind of look he gets when Riley celebrates her birthday or something. It was an almost wistful look. I called him on it, and he denied it. But we both knew he was lying."

My heart sank as I heard that he denied his feelings for me. I wasn't that bad, I hoped. She put her hand on my knee in a comforting manner. "He made up something about not crowding Riley's life on an uncertainty or some other crap that I didn't buy, and then called it a night." She stood up and grabbed Riley's bag from her desk. I stood up from my desk and rubbed my head. For some reason it was starting to hurt.

"Listen Troy, I know my brother and he likes you a lot, he's just scared. You're good for him and Riley, and I know a good thing when I see it. So fight harder Troy, my brother and niece are worth it. And so are you." She kissed my cheek and left the room as quickly as she came, leaving me as confused as ever. I needed to think this out, and find some Tylenol because I had one major headache.

I grabbed my things and headed for home. I walked past the auditorium, and stopped in my tracks as I heard the music coming from it. I decided to go in and watch the auditions for myself. As I was walking down the row, Sharpay turned around from her front row seat and motioned for me to join her. I sat down beside her and she whispered into my ear that Riley was next. I smiled happily to myself knowing I hadn't missed it.

When it was her turn, Riley came out on stage holding a microphone that if I wasn't mistaken, had pink jewels all over it. I looked over at Sharpay questioningly.

"For good luck, I swear!" We both smiled. The music started and Riley sang her heart out, and did her choreography just as she had rehearsed. As the final notes of her song rang out, I clutched at Sharpay's hand in anticipation of the drama teachers critique.

"Very nice, Riley," Mrs. Kevins said. Riley stared at her with her big brown eyes waiting for the answer she longed to hear. "You've got a spot in the final assembly!"

"Yes!" Riley all but yelled as she ran off backstage. I let go of Sharpay's hand as we both gathered our things and headed out of the auditorium to meet Riley at the backstage entrance.

When she came out, she was back in her school clothes and when she spotted Sharpay and me, she came running over. Sharpay smiled at her and hugged her as she said, "congratulations." Riley smiled and said thank you, then she turned to me.

"You were amazing Riley. You worked hard and it all paid off. I'm proud of you." She gave me a small smile, and came over and hugged me. I hugged her back, as Sharpay looked on with a huge smile. I smiled back, and then looked down at Riley who was still hugging me. She had her face buried in my shirt and her grip on me tightened. I looked up at Sharpay a little concerned. Riley wasn't hugging me anymore, she was clutching on to me for dear life. Sharpay's face mirrored my own as she mouthed, "What's wrong?"

I shrugged my reply as I tried to loosen Riley's grasp and bent down on my knees to look her in eyes. Instead of pure joy in her eyes, there were tears. My heart broke at the sight, and it took all of my courage not to tear up as well. She clutched at me again, and buried her face in my neck as she cried. I picked her up and held her tightly to me. I rubbed her back in a calming motion as I nodded to Sharpay. "Can you grab my bag Shar, and let's get out of the hallway?"

We made our way outside to a bench and sat down. I still had Riley in my arms, but her cries had seemed to subside. I unclasped her hands from my neck and positioned her so she was sitting in my lap and looking at me. I wiped her cheeks with my thumbs.

"Ry, what's wrong? One minute your all excited and the next your upset. What's got you in such a mess honey?"

She looked at me and sniffed as she answered, "You saw my audition." I didn't understand, I looked over at Sharpay and she shook her head in confusion as well. If I had known Riley hadn't wanted me to watch it, I wouldn't have.

"I'm sorry Riley, I didn't think you would mind if I watched. I didn't mean to make you upset, I'm sorry." I pushed the hair out of her face and looked at her.

"NO!" She practically screamed and clutched at my neck again. I hugged her back, only because I didn't know what was going on. Riley was really scaring me. "I wanted you there, and Auntie Sharpay."

"Okay Riley. Then what's wrong? Mr. Bolton and I aren't following you baby." Sharpay soothed as she rubbed her hand up and down Riley's back.

Riley turned her head so she could look at Sharpay and still hold onto me. I didn't think the situation could get any worse, but like I said, Riley had impeccable timing. "Daddy missed it." I sighed audibly and looked up at the sky. How could I have missed that?

"Oh Riley, your Daddy wanted to be here. He really did, but he got held up at the office." Sharpay said, covering for her brother.

"He's always working now. He didn't want to be here." Riley stated, not believing Sharpay.

"He did so Riley. Here," she said pulling out her cell phone. "Let's call him and find out." I looked at Sharpay, wondering what she was getting into. She dialed a number and put the phone to her ear. Riley stared at her. She was still holding on to me, but her grip had loosened around my neck. "Hey Ryan, it's me…yes she did just have her audition…yes she was great, but I'll let her tell you about it…" Sharpay handed the phone to Riley who took it apprehensively and slid down off my lap. Immediately my body missed having the small weight on top of me. I just watched as Riley walked a few steps away and started having a very animated phone call with her dad. I looked over at Sharpay, who was shaking her head.

"What?"

"That is the last time I will ever cover for my brother again. Tonight I'm giving him a piece of my mind."

"Huh?"

"Riley was right. He did forget." My jaw dropped. "This is why you can't give up Troy. Ryan needs you; he's working too hard and doesn't have his priorities straight since he denied his feelings for you. You're so good for him, and just there with Riley? You have the father thing down to an art." I smiled at her and thanked her as Riley came running up to us.

"We have to go home! Daddy said he'd be there soon, and that he wants to see my performance. He's coming home early Auntie Sharpay, we need to go now!" she said in a flurry of excitement.

"Okay Riley, we'll go." Sharpay said standing up. Riley hugged me goodbye with her usual statement, then walked towards the direction of Sharpay's car. Sharpay looked at me and hugged me. She whispered, "Fight Harder," then kissed my cheek and ran to catch up with Riley, leaving me on the bench with my thoughts.

I needed a plan, and I needed one fast.

-Disney-Kid