A/N: Hello wonderful readers! See, I can update faster! My parents were away for this weekend so nobody was around to shout at me to get off of the computer. Well, except for my brother. But that's just typical of him. Anyway, thanks to my reviewers!
lol925: Aw, thanks! Well, at first Troy was into her but then he saw the real her. And here's an update for ya!
moonshine101 (my fanfiction): Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Vanessa Turner: Thank you! Here's an update!
Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter, I worked really hard on this! It's a little bit longer than the others! And there's a suprise at the end!
This Is War
Chapter 11: Christmas Miracle
That evening, Ryan is trying to prepare everything for the Christmas party. He and the girls are well dressed and now Ryan is checking off things on his checklist.
"Streamers… check… balloons… check… food… check… drinks… check… presents… check… lights… check… movies… check… camera… check… camcorder… check… and… pieces of mistletoe… check." Ryan said as he looked around the room.
"Girls, come down here!" Ryan called for his daughters. Rachelle came down and is dressed in red while Roxanne came down and is dressed in green. "How do we look?" They asked, turning around so their dad could see.
"You look great girls." Ryan said as he snapped a picture. "Now, everybody's going to be here any minute, it's almost seven. Now what do we do when we have guests over?"
"Be polite." Roxanne replied.
"Use your manners." Rachelle added.
"And never humiliate daddy in any way whatsoever." Both girls said.
"I've trained you girls so well." Ryan said as he smiled to himself.
After a few minutes, Sharpay and Zeke arrived with shopping bags in their hands. Sharpay rang the doorbell and the girls answered it.
"Sharpay! Zeke!" The girls exclaimed. Sharpay and Zeke went through the door. "Hello wonderful nieces!" They both greeted. "And hello wonderful brother." Sharpay greeted Ryan. "You look rather… extra nice this year. Any reason?" Sharpay asked curiously. Ryan bent over and whispered something in Sharpay's ear.
"Oh, my God. Are you freakin' serious?" She squealed. Ryan nodded.
"I have it all prepared." Ryan said. "Oh, I got you something special." Ryan said as he handed a present to Sharpay. Sharpay shakes it a little. "But don't open it until Christmas, which is only a few hours away." Ryan said.
"Aw. Thanks Ry. You're the best." Sharpay said as she hugged her brother. Then the doorbell rang again. The girls answered it.
"Mr. and Mrs. Cross!" The girls exclaimed as they let the couple enter their mansion.
"How many times have we told you girls, call us by our first names." Jason said as he put down his stuff near the big Christmas tree in the living room.
"Yeah, no need for formality. We're all friends and family." Kelsi said.
"Jays! What's up dude?" Ryan greeted as they did the one-armed hug thing.
"Nothing much. We got you something good this year." Jason said as he pointed to a present near the tree with Ryan's name on it.
"You didn't have to. But thanks! And I got you guys something too." Ryan said as he also pointed to a present near the tree with Kelsi and Jason's names on it.
"Thanks man."
Meanwhile, Sharpay was talking to Kelsi about her baby. Sharpay just rubbed Kelsi's stomach and felt a jolt.
"Wow, she's an active little girl isn't she?"
"Yeah, sometimes I feel like going to the bathroom for number one and number two at the same time when she kicks at my kidneys." Kelsi said, making Sharpay laugh.
"When are you due again? April?"
"Yeah, April. Four more months."
"So have you guys picked out a name for her?"
"No, we haven't yet. We're going to borrow a baby name book from the library."
"Oh, okay. Well, I have something for you guys and your little baby." Sharpay said as she went near the Christmas tree to get two presents and handed both of them to Kelsi. One said, 'to: Kelsi and Jason', while the other said, 'for: baby girl'.
"You really didn't have to Shar."
"I wanted to. Besides, it's the season!" Sharpay exclaimed just as someone rang the doorbell. The twins answered it and in came Lataysha and a guy they didn't know.
"Hi girls! This is Jonathan, my new boyfriend. I invited him over if you don't mind."
"Not at all!" The girls exclaimed.
"Well thank you! I have something for you two, but don't you open it yet until tomorrow!" Lataysha said as she put her presents near the tree and turning to everybody else and started chatting with them.
A few minutes later, the doorbell rang again. The twins answered it and in came Chad, Taylor, and little Devon.
"Hey girls!" Taylor greeted.
"Hello Ms. Taylor. Hello Mr. Chad. Hi Devon!" The girls greeted.
"Devon, you wanna play with Rachelle and Roxanne?" Chad asked as he put Devon down.
"Can I?" Devon asked his parents.
"Sure, sweetie. Just be careful. And try not to break anything." Taylor said.
"Yay!" Devon said as he ran to Rachelle and Roxanne, took their hands and pulled them upstairs to play.
Meanwhile, Chad and Taylor put their presents by the Christmas tree and started talking to everybody as they exchanged gifts and whatnot. The doorbell rang again but this time, Ryan answered it because the girls were busy playing with little Devon.
Ryan opened the door revealing a stunning looking Gabriella on his front step.
"Gabriella. You look…" Ryan stuttered, while trying to find the right word to described what Gabriella looks like. He finally found the right word. "…You look… perfect." Ryan said with a smile.
"Thank you. You don't look half bad yourself." Gabriella said as she entered the mansion with Ryan following closely behind.
She thinks I don't look half bad! Wait, so does that mean, I do look half bad, and the other half looks good? But that's an insult. Or does she mean I look perfect that I don't look half bad at all? Ugh! Ryan thought as he put his hand to his forehead.
Gabriella put her presents by the Christmas tree and started talking to everyone. Then Ryan put on slow, romantic music and the couples started to dance. Ryan approached Gabriella cautiously.
"May I take this dance?" Ryan said as he offered his hand for Gabriella to take. Gabriella smiled and took his hand. "It's my pleasure."
Ryan and Gabriella came to the middle of the huge living room. Gabriella locked her arms around Ryan's neck and Ryan put his hands on Gabriella's waist. They started swaying slightly to the music.
"You know, I don't think I can remember the last time you had your arms around me like this, swaying to a slow, romantic song." Ryan said.
"I don't think I can either. High school seems so far away." Gabriella said as she rested her head on Ryan's chest. Ryan looked around the room and saw Sharpay and Zeke kissing under a piece of mistletoe. Then he saw that he and Gabriella were only a few feet away from another mistletoe. He tries leading Gabriella towards the mistletoe.
A few minutes later, Ryan and Gabriella are finally under the mistletoe.
"Gabriella, look up." Ryan said. Gabriella did as she was told and looked up.
"See anything?" Ryan asked. Gabriella looked at Ryan.
"Oh, I see what you're trying to do. You lead me to a piece of mistletoe so you could kiss me on Christmas Eve. Well, you know what mister? It's not going to happen. You know why?" Gabriella said. She leaned towards Ryan and started whispering in his ear.
"Because I'm going to kiss you. Not the other way around." Gabriella said as she pulled Ryan's face toward her. But before their lips could meet, the doorbell rang. Ryan sighed. "I really should get that." Ryan said as he detached himself from Gabriella. Gabriella sighed.
"And this must be Troy." Ryan said. Perfect timing as always. Ryan thought as he opened the door to reveal Troy.
"Oh, hey Troy, what's up?" Ryan greeted.
"Nothin' much. I have something for you guys." Troy said as he revealed a bunch of presents.
"All right. Come on in." Ryan invited Troy in.
"Aren't you going to invite me in, Ryan?" Leslie said as she appeared beside Troy.
"What is she doing here?" Ryan asked Troy. Troy mouthed something that was too fast for Ryan to understand. By the looks of it, Troy didn't want her to come either.
"She has a name. And I came here because our daughters invited me." She explained.
"Rachelle! Roxanne! Can you girls come down here for a minute?" Ryan shouted for the girls. Then he turned to Troy. "Troy, go ahead in and make yourself comfortable." Ryan said. Troy obeyed. As he put his presents down by the tree, Rachelle and Roxanne appeared on the staircase landing. Everybody stopped what they were doing to see what the commotion was.
"Yeah dad?" They asked innocently. Ryan approached them.
"Did you invite anybody to our Christmas party without my knowledge?" Ryan asked calmly. The girls didn't answer. "Did you?" Ryan asked one more time. It took a while for them to answer but they finally did.
"…Yes." They both said.
"And who would they be?" Ryan asked.
"Leslie." They answered again. Ryan sighed as Leslie came into their view.
"Leslie!" The twins shouted as they ran to her and hugged her. When they let go, Ryan came in front of his daughters and faced Leslie.
"You have to leave now." Ryan said.
"That's awfully rude of you. I haven't even been here five minutes and you're already kicking me out. Get into the holiday spirit for Pete's sake!"
"You're not welcome here." Ryan said harshly.
"You're not a hospitable person, are you?" Leslie said.
"Dad, you're breaking the rules!" Rachelle said as she came by Ryan and looked up at him.
"What rules?"
"Be polite, use your manners, and don't humiliate daddy in any way whatsoever!" The girls said.
"You're being rude…" Rachelle started.
"You're not using your manners…" Roxanne added.
"And you're humiliating yourself in front of your guests." The girls said.
"And Leslie's a guest too, since we invited her." Roxanne argued. Ryan sighed. "Girls-" He started.
"Dad. Be nice." Rachelle said.
"'Tis the season." Roxanne added. Ryan sighed and turned back to Leslie with a smile. Then he sighed again. "They're right. 'Tis the season." He said as he let Leslie in. Leslie turned to the girls and winked at them. The girls gave her two thumbs up.
But before Leslie could do anything else, Ryan approached her. (A/N: This next scene is like the part in HSM when Sharpay confronts Kelsi and she gets scared. Think of this that way except Ryan is Sharpay and Leslie is Kelsi. Ryan shows his dark side)
"Aw Leslie, let me give you a hug!" Ryan said as he put his acting face on as he hugged her.
"Since the girls like you so much, I'm letting you slide. Just for tonight because it is the season. But if you make a move, I will do to your back what Sharpay did to your previous apartment door. If you can recall what I'm saying." Ryan whispered into Leslie's ear. Leslie remembers the event clearly.
FLASHBACKLeslie is in the apartment that she shares with Troy. Troy is at work and Leslie is working on something important. Suddenly, she heard someone trying to turn the doorknob. Then it stopped. The next thing Leslie knew, the front door was demolished and Sharpay walked through the debris.
"Sharpay?" Leslie said.
"Why hello Leslie. I heard that you're planning on doing something to my brother and his daughters. Well, I just came by to tell you that whatever you're planning, I suggest you stop planning it because you will be sorry. I'm very protective of my nieces and so is my brother. So watch out." Sharpay said as she turned and walked out. Then she turned back around again.
"Oh, tell Troy I'm sorry about the door. Tell him to not worry about the expenses. I'll pay for the repairs." Sharpay said before she left.
END OF FLASHBACK
"I said, do you understand?" Ryan asked, knocking Leslie out of her thoughts.
"You can do that?"
"Why can't I? We're twins. What she can do, I can do. And I'm stronger because I'm the guy. So do you understand?" Ryan asked. Leslie nodded her head frantically. Ryan patted her back and released from the hug.
"Great to know." Ryan said, smiling as he went back to his other guests.
Damn! I can't do it tonight! I'm gonna have to do it some other night when he's not as mad. Or I could just drug him… Leslie thought. A diabolical plan forming in her head.
A few minutes later, Ryan and Gabriella were dancing again. They never got to kiss and now was their chance. They were under a piece of mistletoe again and Ryan looked at Gabriella.
"Hey Gabby, guess where we are again." Ryan said flirtatiously.
"Where?"
"Under the mistletoe."
"Oh, well then we have to finish what we started, don't we?"
"We should."
With that, Gabriella pulled Ryan's face towards hers and their lips met. It was a sweet, innocent kiss, like the kisses they used to share in high school. But the problem is, they're not in high school anymore.
Gabriella deepened the kiss. Her tongue was licking Ryan's lips, as if asking permission to enter. And Ryan, naturally, granted her wish and their tongues met, fighting over who gets the higher authority. They never decided who, so they just went back and forth going in and out of each other's mouths.
After a few minutes of making out, Gabriella and Ryan pulled apart to take a breather.
"Wow." Ryan said.
"Yeah, wow."
"I don't think I've kissed anyone like that before. Especially on Christmas Eve." Ryan said.
"Me neither." Gabriella agreed.
"I enjoyed it." Ryan said.
"Me too." Gabriella said as she leaned in to kiss Ryan but was interrupted by Sharpay.
"Everybody! We're going to watch a movie now! Which movie do you guys wanna watch?" Sharpay asked, then she shouted all the available movies. Of course, every movie was a family type of movie because there were children in the house. So they were caught between "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Elf". They tossed a coin and "Elf" won.
About an hour and a half later, Ryan looked at the clock and saw that it was almost 10:45 p.m. and the kids were already asleep on the couch.
"Hey Ryan, is there a spare room in this mansion that we can put little Devon in until we leave?" Chad asked Ryan.
"Yeah, there are three guest bedrooms that you can choose from. Two are on the second floor and one is on the third."
"Alright, thanks." Chad said as he carried Devon upstairs to tuck him in.
"I think I'm going to put the girls to bed too." Ryan said as he picked up Roxanne.
"I'll help you with Rachelle." Troy said while putting Rachelle in his hands.
"Thanks man." Ryan said as they took the girls upstairs to their rooms.
While the three boys were gone, Sharpay kept giving Leslie death glares. And if looks were like actions, Leslie's whole body would've bloody by then.
Jason on the other hand, was just tending to Kelsi's needs since she was pregnant and can't move a lot.
Taylor was talking to Lataysha, Jonathan, and Zeke about things and work, and other things. Random stuff.
Leslie was just trying to avoid Sharpay's death glares, but was unsuccessful.
Finally, the three boys came back and Ryan put on more music. This time, livelier ones.
Everybody was up and dancing all night. Except for Kelsi and Jason. Kelsi can't dance anymore because she was too tired and Jason didn't want to leave her all alone so they were talking in one spot. Even though everybody was getting tired, they still kept dancing.
A few minutes before midnight, someone rang the doorbell.
"Who could that be at this time of night?" Zeke said as he went to answer the door. When he opened it, two police officers stood in front of him.
"Good evening sir, we're from the New York Police Department." One officer said as they showed Zeke their badges. "We're looking for a Mr. Ryan Evans." He continued.
"Yes officer. I'll go get him." Zeke said as he went to the living room to get Ryan. Ryan went to the front door and the others looked on to see what was happening.
"Yes officers?" Ryan asked. The police officers forced Ryan into the living room where everybody could see him.
"Mr. Evans, you are hereby arrested for the reason of possession of illegal items." The second officer said.
"What?" Ryan said as he was being handcuffed.
"Sir, we have the right to search you." The first officer showed him a piece of paper with rights on it and they started searching him.
What? Ryan? He couldn't! I thought he was decent! Gabriella thought. Everybody was in pure shock now. Nobody knew Ryan Evans would do such a thing.
"But I don't have anything." Ryan explained.
"That's what they all say." The second officer said.
After a few more minutes of searching his clothes, they finally found a paper bag in one of his back pockets.
"Hm… what do we have here?" The first officer said. "Illegal drugs?" The officer opened the paper bag. After he saw what was inside, he closed the paper bag back up.
"Sir, we're going to have to ask you to put your hands behind your head and get on your knees." The second officer said. Ryan did as he was told.
"We're also looking for a Ms. Gabriella Montez. Do any of you folks know where she is?" The first officer asked. Everyone looked at Gabriella. Gabriella gulped one more time.
"I'm Gabriella Montez." Gabriella raised her hand and stepped forward.
"Please come here ma'am." The second officer said. Gabriella obeyed and stepped in front of the officer.
"Ms. Montez, we know that you and Mr. Evans here are together and we just want to inform you about what your boyfriend has in this bag." The second officer said. Gabriella didn't want to know what he had. She nodded anyway.
"I don't think it's any of our business to show you so he's going to have to show you himself." The first officer said. Gabriella turned to Ryan. Then the first officer put the paper bag in Ryan's hands that were still behind his head. Ryan got the item out and dropped the bag. He held the item in front of him with two hands. Gabriella thought it was drugs, and it was powder so it had to be held with two hands. But then, she saw Ryan open something small. She couldn't really tell what it was. Ryan started to talk.
"Gabriella, I know we've only been together for about a month. But I've known you since high school, and I think I know more about you than you do about you. If these guys are going to take me to the big house, I wanna say something before I go. I love you. No matter what. I loved you since high school and I never stopped. And I want to be with you forever." Ryan said. Then the clock started chiming, signaling that it was midnight and it was Christmas. He opened the item he was holding and showed it to Gabriella.
"Gabriella Montez, will you marry me?"
So how do you like me now? I told ya there was a surprise at the end. What do you guys think she's gonna say? Tell me in your reviews!!!
Oh, and can you guys tell me in your reviews which part was your favorite? Other than Ryan popping the question. Personally, my favorite part was when Ryan showed his dark side and threatened to hurt Leslie. Sharpay is pretty strong to be able to break a door down by herself! I wonder what Ryan could do since he's stronger! LOL anyway, review!