A/N: Well, here it is. The absolute final chapter of "This Is War". I think I'm gonna cry!!! Eh, not really. But I am going to miss writing this story. It was a heck of a lot of fun. And your reviews have kept me going!
thunderyoshi: Thanks! Do you need a tissue? lol
flexa: Yup, it happened! I know you love me... lol, and of course, "Still There For Me" is one of my favorite songs too!
mogi93: Aw... thanks so much! I appreciate it!
lol925: Yeah, I know exactly what you mean! I never did learn how to use those words properly. Thanks for guiding me! And thanks for reading like every chapter and reviewing every chapter!
ryellalover21: thanks! I'd love to keep going but sadly, this is the last chapter. :(
Queen Desvel: thanks! I'm happy too!
We're-All-In-This-Together-17: Thanks! I'm glad I made you laugh!
-Millie Keane-: Well... I tried! lol
you go girl: Thanks!
Anna: Wow. You read it all in one sitting? That's amazing! Thanks so much!
LucasAshleySupporter: Thanks! And it's okay, don't apologize, I understand. Sometimes, that happens to me too! Thanks for reading!
Well... after having said that, I hope you all like this epilogue! It will not be the best I've written, but I tried. It's rushed... and to tell you the truth, I'm not very experienced in writing in POVs so please forgive me if you find it utterly horrible. And it's terribly shorter than all the other chapters. But I meant to do that.
Chapter 33: Epilogue
Ryan's POV
"I'll take it! It's brilliant!" I hear Mr. Preston, the theater director, tell Kelsi.
"Really?" Kelsi replies.
A few days ago, she had a crazy plan that she thought might work. She told me that she was going to pitch a story to Mr. Preston, hoping for him to use it as a plot for an upcoming play. She told me that all this drama that's been happening for the past few months sparked an idea in her brain and she thought maybe if she wrote all the past events down on a piece of paper, it would make a great story.
I gave her permission so she could go ahead and do it. Knowing her, she would probably exaggerate a tiny bit, but I trust her and I want her to show Mr. Preston the amazing talent that she has.
This morning, I read what she had written. As I read it, I couldn't really believe what I was reading. Her writing was phenomenal, and the fact that all of this just happened to me, and all in a few short months, is just… very intriguing. I never would've thought that someone would want to make a story out of my life. Mainly because I always thought my life was boring, to be honest. But Kelsi's writing showed me that my life was in fact, very far from boring.
All the drama, the suspense, and the occasional comedy that Kelsi had written about, was all true to life. It wasn't exaggerated one bit.
Reading about my life from another person's view is kind of fun, actually. I myself didn't even notice all the things that were going on. I realized that I missed a lot of details. I found out about habits I didn't even know I had! And now, having a theater director thinking it would make a great plot for a play makes it even better.
"Yes, definitely! It's one of the most ingenious stories I have ever read! It's sure to make a great play."
"Really?" Kelsi replied again, speechless to the fact that a Broadway theater director had actually approved her idea.
"Indeed. The thought of a young man with two twin girls living through all of that drama, the pain, the anguish, having lost his love and having to find it again, the suspense, oh, it's all genius! The plot… it's… it's so rich… so true… so dramatic and riveting. Nobody could possibly relate to it." Mr. Preston rambles.
That's what he thinks.
"How did you come up with such a great idea for a story?"
"Um… I guess it just came to me." Kelsi said, giving me a small wink.
"I'll have one of my playwrights write it. Um… Ms. Davis! Ms. Leslie Davis is perfect for the job! Her specialty in this field of romance will be quite helpful." Mr. Preston says, picking up the phone, attempting to locate Leslie.
"Sir, I hate to tell you this, but… Ms. Davis… passed away." I break the news to Mr. Preston. His face is slowly losing its brightness as he puts the receiver back in the slot.
"That's too bad. I'm sorry to hear that. She was so young though." Mr. Preston says gloomily. "Well, where in the world would I find a playwright at this time?"
"Um… sir?" Kelsi said as she raised her hand shyly. "I might be able to help."
"You write, dear?"
Kelsi nods her head. "Mostly songs. But I've been writing since I was in diapers. I'm sure I could put my talents to good use here."
"Excellent, you're hired." Mr. Preston says and shakes Kelsi's hand. "Since you thought of this plot, I'm sure you will have no trouble writing the dialogue and such."
"Actually, sir, this isn't my plot." Kelsi explains. Mr. Preston's face starts to show a bit of confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"It's kind of a biography."
"A biography? Really? I never would've thought this kind of thing would happen in real life. I mean there are so much emotion and suspense and drama. The poor fellow must've been experiencing a lot of pain."
You have no idea.
"Who is the young man in the story?" Mr. Preston asks curiously.
Kelsi looks at me as if asking, "Should I tell him?" I smile and nod at her, assuring her that it would be fine if he found out. Kelsi smiles and thanks me with her eyes.
She puts her hand on my shoulder and says, "This is the young man sir."
Mr. Preston looks at me, bewildered. "Ryan?" He looks at me with disbelief. "Ryan Evans? No, it can't be."
I nod my head with a smile.
"You of all people! You were the last person on my mind. My God, Ryan, you must be a strong young fellow if you went through all of that. I salute you."
"Thank you sir." I say politely.
"Do you mind if we make a biography of your life and put it in a play? Because if you do, I will respect your decision one hundred percent."
"It would be an honor sir."
"Excellent! Excellent! Now… uh… I just need a title for the show. What should I call it?" Mr. Preston said, pacing throughout his office.
"How about 'This Is War', sir?" I suggest.
"Brilliant. Brilliant, my boy." Mr. Preston gives a hearty laugh and comes over to scruffle my hair a bit.
"And for your brilliance, how would you like to become the lead man? Since you already experienced it I figured you would have no problem going through rehearsals." Mr. Preston offers me.
"Really sir? Thank you, um… yes, I would love to be the lead."
"Great. This play is going to be the next Broadway hit, you'll see."
Well, what an adventure. It's been a few months since our wedding and my life has gone from plain boring to lively and exciting. And all in just a few months. The new play, 'This is War', became quite a hit indeed as Mr. Preston predicted. A lot of women, teenage girls, and surprisingly, a lot of men, came to see it.
I don't know why they wanted to see it so badly. I mean, it's just my life, there's nothing special about my life. It's just these past few months that are interesting. The rest of my life is really… well… boring.
Okay, so maybe I do know why they wanted to see it so badly. At some point, people experience some sort of drama or hardship in their lives, whether they want to or not. Some deal with depression, some deal with the loss of a loved one, some deal with abuse, some deal with financial problems, and some deal with love and being heartbroken. Normally a person would have these problems happen to them one event at a time. I was just the 'lucky' one who had more than one of those problems at the same time.
People have so much drama in their lives that they just want to get away from it all for one moment to see a play more dramatic than their lives. It reminds people that there are others out there that are suffering more than they are.
Sad but true.
And I know that even through this whole thing, there is a hell of a lot more people in the world going through more than I have gone through.
That's the thing, why does there have to be a lot of drama? Why can't we solve these problems? Why can't everybody just help everybody else and get it over with? These are some questions that still haunt me.
Last night, I came back home with Gabriella and the girls, a Tony Award in my clutches. It was for best actor in Drama. I'm quite proud of myself.
I sit here in my – I mean – our living room reading the paper when the phone rings. It's Sharpay. I answer it and she goes on congratulating me and such and how she's so proud of me… etcetera. Typical Sharpay.
But then she stops talking all of a sudden. Not typical Sharpay.
"Shar? What's wrong?" I ask her. She said nothing was wrong, but I know something's up.
"Ryan, I need you to hear something, okay? Guess what it is." She tells me. I listen intently as I hear her padding through her house. Finally, the footsteps stop and I hear a loud wail. I also hear hiccupping and a rattle shaking. In the background I hear soft lullaby music. What? What was this all about? Wait a minute… could it be…
"Well?" Sharpay says from the other line.
"Shar… is that… are you… do you have a baby?" I ask.
"Goo goo gaa gaa." Sharpay said. I couldn't believe my ears. Sharpay has a baby! I'm an uncle! I couldn't help but give a humungous smile.
"We adopted her a week ago. She's three months old and Vietnamese. She's a little underweight but I'll take care of that."
"Shar… that's so beautiful. What's her name?"
"Melody. Melody Desiree Evans-Baylor."
"Shar, that's really beautiful. I can't wait to see her!" I say. Suddenly, I hear the front door open and close as footsteps echo through the walls.
"I'm home!" I hear Gabriella shout. I say goodbye to Sharpay, bidding to see her tomorrow. I walk over to Gabriella and give her a small peck on the lips as she takes off her shoes and coat.
"Work was a killer today." She complains.
"Dinner's ready." I tell her as she climbs up the stairs to change into more casual clothes.
"Great. I'm starving. Oh, but before dinner, I have to tell you, and the girls, something important." I hear her say.
Something important. Gabby's never said that before. What could be so important?
I call the twins down for dinner and they come running down the steps. They help set the table and put the meal on the table. Gabriella comes down with jeans and an oversized t-shirt, which I sense is mine because Gabriella doesn't own oversized t-shirts.
"Guys, I have something important to tell you." She says as she sits down on her side of the dinner table.
She takes a deep breath and sighs, "I'm going to have a baby."
"We're going to have a sister?!" The twins shout excitedly. I chuckle.
"When did you decide to adopt?" I ask.
"No, honey. Not adopt." She looks at me with a smile.
"You mean…" I give her a look with wide eyes and an agape mouth and she nods. I give her a tight squeeze and let go.
"I went to my doctor today to get my monthly check-up and she ran some tests and found out that I was having a baby. You might get a brother, girls. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet." Gabriella informs the twins.
"But when did we… you know… you know…" I try to get my point across without actually having to say it. Gabriella laughs at my attempt.
"Four nights ago. Remember?"
I didn't remember, but now that I'm reminded of it, I remember it very well. Extremely well.
I couldn't help but smile. I have the perfect life right now. I don't want to say it out loud because I'd sound like a bragging jerk, but I have to say, I have the perfect life right now.
I have a beautiful home, a beautiful wife, two beautiful children, I'm about to have a child whose mother is the woman of my dreams, I have a great job, I'm living my dream, acting in Broadway, I have the best friends anyone could ever have, I have the most loving sister, I'm finally an uncle, Kelsi is now a Tony Award winner for best writer, Zeke started a business selling pastries and whatnot, Jason is happily coaching basketball for a local high school, Chad and Devon have been spending more and more time with each other, and Taylor just discovered a cure for cancer.
Okay, okay… she didn't find a cure for cancer. But she's coming close though.
And of course, Troy. Well, he found a new girlfriend. Actually, Gabriella, Taylor, Sharpay, and Kelsi found him a new girlfriend. Her name is Crystal. She's about Gabby's height with brown hair and green eyes. The girls set him up on a blind date… and… destiny took over and they hit it off. They just moved into Troy's house together a couple of weeks ago and I must say, next to Gabriella and I, they look kinda cute together.
And to top that all off, Sharpay just called again. She told us she's hosting a barbeque tomorrow night and the whole gang's coming. And she's making chocolate mousse cake. My absolute favorite treat.
Yup.
No doubt about it.
My life is absolutely perfect.
Well, there you have it folks. The last chapter of this LONG but fun story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It has been a wild ride. To think, I worked on this for about nine months. Nine freaking months! Would've been shorter if I updated faster, but hey, nobody's perfect.
Catch the THANK YOU chapter coming very soon!
I'll catch ya'll on the flip side.