I don't own anything.
A/N: Well we've finally come to the end of "A Second Chance" well I'm a little sad to see this end but I guess it means that more stories are on the way. Well, I just want to take this time to thank my reviewers from the last chapter. AshleyZac4life, kuropie, blueprincess972, look at the stars, k, xo-ChaylorGGQueen-xo, AyaneC, toddntan, googoogrl007, Tracie2004, and baby2ludaris. Thank you guys and all my other readers well here are the last two installments of a second chance.
Chapter Fifteen
Just as Taylor suspected, Jason had made arrangements for her and Lucas to be kicked out of the house he had bought them. She glanced down at the papers on the kitchen table that had been served to her earlier that day. Refusing to cry, she just sat there glaring at the papers and wondering what it was she had ever saw in Jason Scott. She looked up as the front door opened and immediately heard the voices of Lucas and Troy as they made their way inside. "No way, and you just let him foul you." Lucas asked as he and Troy walked into the kitchen, the response Troy was about to give stopped cold on his tongue when he saw Taylor sitting at the kitchen table and the papers in front of her. Moving quickly he walked towards her with Lucas following as well.
"Baby what is it?"
"Jason's kicking us out of the house…you says he's not going to pay for people to stay someone that hate him." She mumbled softly as she looked up at him. Troy sighed and looked back at Lucas who had an unreadable expression on his face. Clearing his throat he waited for the young man to look at him before speaking.
"Lucas go upstairs and hang out while I talk to your mother." Not saying a word Lucas turned and went upstairs, but not before taking a final look at his mother and then Troy. Once he was out of the room, Troy picked up the papers and looked them over. Taylor sat with her head bowed as he silently went over the paperwork. Once he finished he tossed it to the table and reached out grabbing her hands. "He's an idiot."
"He's kicking us out."
"You can come and stay with me…I live alone and the house is so huge and empty." He replied as he knelt down in front of her, looking up at her with pleading eyes. "It's a nice house…and you know what I want you to come and live with me. You and Lucas both." He replied as he looked up at him. Taylor had tears shining in her eyes as she looked back down at him.
"Troy that is such a nice gesture but me and Lucas would be such a burden and-."
"You and Lucas could never be a burden." He whispered as he smiled at her. "No one I love could ever be a burden, and I'm serious about this I want you to come and stay with me." Taylor sighed and looked away from him.
"Are you sure that's what you want?"
"I've never be more positive about anything in my life…I want you both to come and live with me…I know Lucas will love it, he can have the second master bedroom."
"And what about me?"
"My room of course." He stated with a smirk, Taylor looked at him for a moment before glancing at the door her son had used earlier. Shaking her head she began to speak.
"Lucas he'll-."
"He already knows your son isn't stupid…he's a smart young man and he knows about you and me." He replied as he reached out and grabbed her hand. "Come on Taylor…are you seriously going to allow Jason the satisfaction of kicking you out with now where to go," he waited till she was silent before continuing. "Cause that's exactly what he wants." Taylor was silent as she listened to Troy. After he finished he took a deep calming breath, and sighed. "So what do you say?"
"I say…when do we move in." she said beaming up at him, Troy grinned as well and bent down kissing her passionately, the moment ended as Lucas fell in through the swinging door onto the floor that led to the kitchen. Taylor and Troy looked at him for a moment trying to look mad but soon smiles went across their faces as they laughed. Lucas jumped up off the floor and dusted himself off.
"Thank god you said yes." He replied looking at his mom and then over at Troy shaking his head at him. "What, man I'm serious…I've seen your house on MTV Cribs and that place was sick."
Jason Scott sat in his office tapping his foot impatiently on the floor as he looked at his private investigator Quentin Mathis. Rubbing a hand over his face he looked at the man for a moment before speaking. "What the hell you mean…she already moved out? Did she go back to live with her parents."
"No…she moved in with a Troy Bolton." Quentin said as Jason slammed his fist down on the table, wincing he shook his head and sighed. "They had quite a party moving out…Taylor and Lucas have been staying with him for at least two weeks."
"I was going to throw her out at the end of the month." Jason said more to himself than Quentin. "She just moved in with him…she moved in there with our son." He said shouting the last part. Quentin frowned and sighed, sometimes he just didn't understand his boss. Jason was a brilliant business man but when it came to family and feelings he fell short. He had been a witness to all of Jason's ways. He had seen him cheating on Taylor numerous times and had been hired to quiet some of the women. Jason wasn't a good man, and even though he worked for him he was happy that Taylor was finally free of him. Her and her son, didn't need to stay in that house any longer.
"Sorry, Jason that's what happened."
"I need to go down there."
"You're still healing from when Troy Bolton kicked your ass last time you were down there." Quentin blurted out, Jason narrowed his eyes at the man for a moment before crossing his arms and shaking his head.
"He didn't kick my ass."
"Of course he didn't." Quentin replied sarcastically as he watched Jason stand up behind his desk, narrowing his eyes at the man, he took a step forward. "Is there something you'd like to say?"
"Yeah…get the hell out of my office I'll be in touch." Jason said dismissively as he looked at Quentin who just picked up his suit jacket and headed out the door. Jason waited till the door slammed before moving back to his desk. While silently thinking about when he should head back to New Mexico.
"Damn! That thing is off da hook." Chad exclaimed as he looked down at the platinum ring Troy had pulled out of his pocket. Glancing back up at Troy he smirked and shook his head.
"Sure didn't take you to long to pop the question."
"It's not like I don't know her or her son…and it's not like we just met. I love her and she loves me and I'm not going to waste another minute of our lives. We belong together." Troy said with conviction as he placed the ring back in his pocket. Chad nodded, and leaned against the equipment rack in the gym.
"So you're finally going to take the plunge."
"You and I both know that I won't take this so called plunge with anyone else other than Taylor." He replied as he picked up some orange cones and started setting up the gym for P.E. Chad followed behind him silently.
"So when are you going to ask her to marry you…and can I tell Gabby."
"No, because then she'll tell loud mouth Sharpay and it won't be a secret anymore." Troy stated with a sigh, as he looked at his friend for a moment. "We all know how Sharpay is…and now she's pregnant so anything she does she'll probably blame it on the hormones or something." Chad nodded his head and sighed.
"Damn I feel sorry for Zeke."
"Oh man please you and I both know that Zeke is the only one that can handle Sharpay the rest of us are simply out of our league when it comes to her and her ways." Troy stated offhandedly as he looked at his friend for a moment.
"Okay well back to the proposal…how you gonna do it."
"I don't know." Troy said softly
"What you mean you don't know…you went and bought the ring you have to have some idea on how you want to pop the question."
"Well I was thinking about getting down on one knee and asking her."
"LAME!" Chad said as Troy sent him a heated glare. "Man this is future not the past…you gotta do more than get down on your knee and ask…you gotta make it flashy."
"I'm not making it flashy, Chad. I don't do flashy."
"Well you should...I remember when I proposed to Gabriella." He said getting a far off look on his face. Troy rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"That's because you were so nervous you dropped the ring and had to chase it on your hands and knees throughout the entire restaurant and you were knocking over tables and getting food on everyone."
"See…I bet Gabriella will never forget it."
"You're right about that." Troy said with a laugh as he sat the final cone down and placed his hands on his hips. "Look man I just want this to be perfect…it's not like I get to say freeze and do it all over again until I get it right."
"Okay…man so what are you going to do?"
"Well, I'm probably going to take her out to dinner man." He replied with a sigh as he looked at the other man standing beside him. "I'll probably go out to dinner and place the ring in a glass of wine."
"What if she drinks it?"
"She won't."
"How do you know?" Chad asked curiously as he turned to look at Troy. "I mean what if she's thirsty and she just downs the glass and the ring goes down her throat and she starts choking and…and-."
"Chad…do us both a favor and shut up." Troy said with a roll of his eyes as he looked at his friend who was shaking his head as he thought about all the things that could go wrong with Troy's plan. With a sigh, Troy looked at his friend for a moment and shook his head.
"Sorry." Chad said sheepishly.
"Its okay man…look you better go soon, you know how these teenage girls are about you and that fro of yours." Troy said glancing down at his watch. Chad shudder as images from the last time he had stayed with Troy during his P.E. class flashed in his mind.
"Damn man you right about that…I better go." He said, he and Troy pounded fist one last time before he headed out of the gym. Troy watched him leave for a moment before sighing and heading back to his office to relax before the hordes of highschool students came in for their afternoon P.E. class.
When Troy got home that afternoon, he was surprised when he didn't see Taylor's car in the driveway. Pulling into the driveway he got out and entered through the side gate, as he entered his spacious backyard he saw Lucas and Olivia "playing" basketball. Slowly he walked over towards them and cleared his throat. Smiling as the two teenagers jumped apart, Olivia placed a small hand on her chest and took a deep calming breath. "Uncle Troy you scared us." She exclaimed in shock. He smiled and shook his head.
"What are you two doing?"
"Nothing much."
"Really…cause from what I saw…well let's just say that wasn't nothing." He said sternly, however he couldn't help the smile that was spreading across his lips at the fear that spread through the children's features. "So don't let me see you doing that again…now where is your mother."
"Oh she went to the store for something…and she took Aunt Sharpay with her that's why Olivia is here." Lucas said brushing his lips over Olivia's temple. Troy raised an eyebrow at the gesture and then nodded his head.
"Alright well…I'm going inside you two," he said pausing to take the time to point them both out. "You two behave." After saying that he went inside, and headed towards the living room, flopping down on the sofa he kicked off his shoes and laid back getting as comfortable as possible. Picking up the remote he turned the television on and frowned when he saw it was on the "Style" channel. Shaking his head, he smiled as Taylor's favorite show came on. Laying back down he decided to see if "Clean House" was as good as Taylor claimed it was.
Sharpay and Taylor pulled up into Troy's driveway, getting out of her car Taylor looked rushed around to help Sharpay get down out of the passenger seat. "So, when is Zeke coming to get you and Olivia?"
"Whenever I call…that's what he said." She replied as she placed a hand on the small of her back. Taylor nodded her head knowingly as she watched her friend wince in pain.
"Back pains."
"Yeah, girl was it like this when you were carrying Lucas." Taylor closed the door and nodded her head as she thought about to her pregnancy. Jason was always gone and Taylor basically had to manger and do things by herself.
"Yeah, girl it was something else." She replied as they walked towards the front door, with Taylor gently leading Sharpay inside.
"I wish Zeke would let me drive…I don't want to call him every time I go somewhere." She replied with a shake of her head. Taylor just smiled and looked at her friend for a moment before replying.
"He loves you Shar, and he doesn't want you or the baby to get hurt…he's just being protective."
"I know and I love him for doing that but I don't want to feel like a burden."
"Sharpay…he loves you, believe me Zeke would never look at you as if you're a burden." Taylor said opening the door, she stepped aside so Sharpay could entered following behind her she closed and locked the door. They entered the semi quiet house, and wandered into the kitchen trying to find everyone. "Troy's car is outside so he has to be here right." Taylor said more to herself than to Sharpay. Finally they made their way into the living room, and found Troy asleep on the sofa with an episode of "Clean House" on the television screen.
"Wow! I never knew Troy liked this show."
"He never watches with me." Taylor admitted with a pout as she walked over to Troy and knelt down beside the sofa. Brushing the curls off his forehead she smiled and kissed him softly on the lips, moaning he said the last thing Sharpay and Taylor expected.
"Who wants a clean house." He mumbled and rolled onto his side away from Taylor, who immediately busted out laughing along with Sharpay. The boisterous laughter woke Troy up, slowly he sat up and frowned as he looked at Taylor and Sharpay who stood on the other side of the sofa.
"What's so funny?"
"You are…I can't believe you just said that." Taylor said bowing her down as another round of laughter erupted from her. Looking over his shoulder at Sharpay he mouthed 'What did I say.'
"Just 'Who wants a clean house' I can't believe you said it either." Sharpay replied with a smile, Troy rolled his eyes and stood stretching he looked between Taylor and Sharpay before mumbling.
"You two are not my favorite people right now." He said as he headed towards the kitchen, Taylor and Sharpay followed behind him, running up behind him Taylor wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged his back tightly while resting her chest on his shoulder blade.
"I'm sorry baby you have to admit though that was pretty funny."
"Sure it was…so I take that you two are finished."
"Yeah…Olivia and I are just waiting on Zeke to come and pick us up." Sharpay said looking down at her watch. Troy nodded and finished his walk to the kitchen him and Taylor wrapped around one another and Sharpay with shake of her head. "Geez, can't you guys wait till I'm not in the room." Planting a big kiss on Taylor, Troy looked over at Sharpay and smiled.
"Now where's the fun in that."
"I'm pregnant Troy and the last thing I want to see is you kissing someone."
"Hey! He better be kissing me." Sharpay rolled her eyes and sighed.
"You're right…fine I don't want to see Troy and YOU kissing." She said as she walked over to the table and sat down just as Olivia and Lucas came into the room. Olivia chucked at her boyfriend's face as he watched his mother and Troy kissing walking over to her aunt she sat down beside her as all three of them cleared their throats. Once the adults were no longer lip locking Olivia spoke.
"When is Uncle Zeke coming to get us." She asked as Lucas came and sat beside her draping his arm over the back of her chair. Sharpay looked at the arm pointedly before knocking it off.
"He should be here soon."
"What! Olivia I never thought you'd actually try to get away from me."
"Well, I better if I want to have the better project tomorrow in science class." Rolling his eyes Lucas shook his head and smiled.
"How many times do I have to tell you…you are not going to get a better grade then me?" He said with a chuckle. "I already finished the project last week…and you haven't even started."
"Oh I finished…I just want to go in and make some better adjustments so I can get the better grade." She said with a wave of her hand. "But you wouldn't know about that." He smiled and kissed her cheek.
"Come on let's go watch some television before your Uncle gets here." Sharpay, Taylor and Troy watched as they exited the room before exchanging looks between one another. Sharpay giggled for a moment before shaking her head.
"Those kids are just some nerds."
"Don't talk about my son like that." Taylor said but couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she just shook her head and hugged Troy tightly as he kissed her forehead.
Later on that night when Troy was positive that Taylor was asleep he wandered down to Lucas' room. Knocking softly on the door, he paused and then pushed the door open poking his head inside he looked at Lucas who was sitting on the edge of his bed. "Yo, Luc…can you talk?" he asked softly
"Sure, Troy what is it?" Walking inside the room, he closed the door and walked over to the chair and sat down. Leaning back he rested against his desk and pulled out the ring he had been carrying all day from his pocket.
"You know man…I've been talking a lot lately about your mom and I and about our future as a couple." He watched as Lucas sat up, looking at him curiously. Rubbing a hand over his face Troy sighed. "I'm thinking about asking your mom to marry me." He blurted out, Lucas mouth dropped opened in shock and he slowly shook his head.
"You're joking."
"I've wasted a decade…and I'm not going to wait any longer to make Taylor my wife." Lucas nodded his head in understanding before getting out of the bed and walking over towards Troy.
"Is that the ring?"
"It is…," Troy said holding it out so Lucas could get a better look at it. "I picked it myself so what do you think."
"It beautiful…my mom is going to flip."
"And hopefully say yes." Lucas looked at him strangely for a moment before shaking his head and sighing.
"Of course she'll say yes…she loves you so much. I see it in her eyes…you're the only man whose made her look like that."
"That you for telling me that." Troy whispered softly.
"So when are you going to ask her."
"I was planning on taking her to the lake where we shared our first kiss, and where we reconnected at…I think that will be the perfect spot."
"Yeah, it sounds perfect." Lucas said glancing away from the ring to look Troy in the eye. "She'll say yes."
"So from your reaction I take it that I have your blessing."
"Are you kidding? I would love to call you dad." Lucas replied with a smile as Troy pulled him into a hug.
The next day Troy told Taylor that he was going to take her down to the lake, smiling he looked over at Taylor who was at that time taking in the sights as they drove towards their destination. "So Mr. Bolton what are we going to do out here."
"Enjoy one another's company." He replied with a smile as he looked over at her and pulled over so they could get out. "Come on…let's take a walk around the lake." He said grabbing her hand. Together they started to walk around the lake, at first they were in a blissful silence simply enjoying one another's company. Troy could feel his heart beating a mile a minute he was so nervous, glancing over at Taylor who had her head resting on his shoulder slowly put him at ease. Then again she had always had the ability to make him calm down.
"It's a beautiful day isn't it?" she asked he looked at her and nodded his head.
"It is beautiful." He replied as they continued walking till they made it to their spot, stopping Troy looked down at Taylor and then back out towards the lake. "Um, Taylor where do you see us oh let's say…about a year from now."
"Still together." She said without a pause, "At least that what I hope…" she trailed off as she took her eyes off of him and looked out into the lake. Troy nodded his head slowly and smiled for a moment before reaching into his pocket and taking out the ring.
"Taylor?"
"Yeah." She said looking at him.
"Let me see your hand baby." Curiously Taylor lifted her hand and placed it into Troy's palm; he looked up at her for a brief moment before smiling and slipping the engagement ring on her finger. Taylor gasped and placed her other hand on her mouth.
"Oh my gosh."
"Taylor…baby will you marry me."
"Oh my goodness I don't know what to say." She replied softly as she looked at him with tears shining in her eyes. Troy watched her closely hoping that she would say yes. Slowly she began nodding her head as tears welled up in her eyes.
"So what do you say baby…you wanna where that wedding veil." He asked softly as he reached up and brushed her tears away before leaning forward and kissing her softly on the lips. Taylor smiled and kissed him back.
"Yes." She whispered as they pulled away from one another. "But what about Lucas."
"Already gave me his blessings." Troy stated happily as he looked at Taylor. "He feels the same why I do…there's nothing left for us to do. We both love one another and this is exactly what we both want." He replied softly "Right?"
"You are so right…I can't believe this you actually want to marry me."
"I want to marry you…I want to make you and Lucas my family and hopefully we can get to work on siblings for Lucas sometime down the road. Taylor I'm ready to make that commitment to you…I've been ready for over a decade." He whispered.
"And I'm ready too." She replied with a bright smile. "Oh Troy I love you so much." She replied before she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again.
"I love you too baby."