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I'm going to try to make this chapter longer than the last one- I know you guys are thinking 'no way. It's not possible' but I'm going to try and prove you wrong!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.
Ella was feeling like herself a few days later, but unfortunately for Troy he was not. He had gotten the stomach bug from Ella and was currently at his apartment, laying on the couch with a trash can next to him. His head was pounding, his stomach wasn't felling well, hence the throw up bucket next to him, and he couldn't eat anything. His stomach couldn't hold anything down. Since he was older, he muscles were all sore too. He was wearing a pair of boxers and a plain white t-shirt. He was buried under a blue comforter, trying to get comfortable. He would find a spot comfortable enough for his legs, but not his back. He couldn't find a position that would work for him. He was finally able to find a comfy spot; just as the doorbell rang. He groaned loudly, wanting to kill whoever was at the door.
He slowly got up, putting a hand on his back and massaging it, trying to ease the pain that was resting there. He slowly walked to the door and opened it up. "Hey Tay." He managed to say, opening the door wider for her to enter. She did and immediately dropped her purse and put a hand to his forehead.
"What's wrong Troy?" she asked as she followed him back to the living room. He laid back down on the couch and covered himself with the blanket, resting his head on his blue pillow.
He moaned, obviously in pain. "I'm sick." He said simply. He shifted on the couch to rest on his right side, facing Taylor who was sitting on the chair opposite him. "I must have gotten it from Ella. I feel like shit." He closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
"I'm so sorry for coming over then. I should've called first." She said frantically, putting a hand over her mouth.
"It's ok Tay. I could use someone here." He said just as he started having a coughing fit.
He sat up and coughed into his hand, shaking slightly. Taylor gasped softly before sitting next to him and rubbed his back. A few minutes later, he stopped and picked up his glass of water. He took a huge gulp and set it back down on the coffee table. "Thanks Tay." He laid back down again.
Taylor still sat on the edge of the couch next to him, gently rubbing his back soothingly. "You go back to sleep and I'll go to the store and buy some soup, crackers and ginger ale. I'll take your key that way you won't have to get up again." She explained, picking up his keys from the table and took his house key off of the key ring.
Troy tried to smile but failed miserably. "Thank you Tay. I owe you." He said softly, taking a tissue and blowing his nose. He groaned as he set the used tissue on the table. "Ow. Why am I in so much pain?" He asked to no one in particular.
Taylor giggled as she kneeled down in front of him. She brushed the hair out of his eyes in a maternal manner. "I'll be back as soon as I can." She kissed his cheek and stood up, walking to the front door. "Try not to die on me while I'm gone." She teased, leaving the apartment.
Troy just groaned in response, waving a hand in her direction. He rubbed a hand over his pounding forehead. He took a deep breathe and found a comfortable position again on the couch. He buried himself in the blanket again; even his head, and surprisingly to him fell asleep again. About a half hour later, he quickly sat up and grabbed the trash can. He brought it up to his mouth just in time for his stomach to empty itself. Taylor arrived at that moment and dropped the bags on the floor before walking over to the couch, rubbing Troy's back again. He stopped a few minutes later, and put the trash can down. He took a tissue and wiped his mouth and washed out his mouth with some water. He spit it out in the can and leaned back against the couch. "Thanks Tay." He said, covering his face with his hands.
Taylor smiled sadly at him. "No problem Troy. Is there anything I can get you?" she asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"Medicine?" he asked, situating himself by lying on the couch again. "I fell like I'm dying." He complained. Taylor held back a laugh and walked into his kitchen. She grabbed the box of Alka-Seltzer and a new glass of water for him. She walked back into the living room and put two Alka-Seltzers in the cup of water. The two pills sizzled out and dissolved in the water. Troy downed the cup before setting it on the table. "You're amazing Tay."
Taylor giggled and shook her head. "Am not. Just being a great friend for you." She stood up and grabbed the grocery bags from the floor. "I'm going to make you some soup. You just lay down here and relax." She gave him a smile and walked into the kitchen.
"I love you Tay." He said as loudly as he could, which wasn't very loud considering his sore throat and pounding head. He closed his eyes again and tried to get back to sleep. All the while, Taylor was in the kitchen preparing some soup for Troy. She quickly heated up the soup and poured it into a bowl. She crushed up some crackers and added them to his soup as well. She poured a cup of ginger ale for him and set the bowl and drink on a tray. She carried it out to him and set it on the table.
He sat up slowly and pushed the blankets off of him. He pulled the table closer to him so he didn't have to get up. He stirred the soup for a minute, giving it time to cool off. He took a bite and sighed; he hasn't eaten anything in a day. He only managed to eat half of it like Ella before his stomach couldn't handle it. He took a few sips of the ginger ale. "Tay, thank you so much. I promise when I'm better I'll make it up to you. I'll take you shopping if you want." He said, pushing the tray to the other side of the table. He laid back down and Taylor tucked him in with the blanket. He snuggled under them and closed his eyes, letting himself slowly fall asleep. Taylor smiled as she noticed he was asleep and kissed his forehead in a motherly way. She pulled out some magazines form her bag and sat down on the chair opposite the couch. She needed something to keep herself busy.
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Ella smiled as she finished her slice of pizza. Sharpay decided she didn't want to make anything for lunch so she ordered a pizza. Ella was excited; she loved pizza. Sharpay rarely ordered it because it's bad for you. Ella quickly grabbed another piece pepperoni piece and practically devoured it. Sharpay giggled, finishing up her second piece. They were in the living room watching a movie together. They were watching Aladdin because it was Ella's favorite Disney movie. Ella was engrossed in the movie and Sharpay just wanted to spend time with her daughter so she tried to stay awake during it.
Once the movie was over, Sharpay turned the TV off and cuddled up with Ella. Ella sat on her mother's lap and wrapped around Sharpay's torso. "Mama. Is daddy coming over today?" Ella questioned, grabbing Mr. Snuggles and hugging him close to her.
Sharpay kissed the top of Ella's head. "I don't know. I haven't heard from him since yesterday." Maybe he doesn't want to come because of her; Sharpay thought.
Ella frowned. "Oh." A knock on the door made Ella jump up and run to the door with Sharpay following right behind her. Sharpay opened the door and saw Chad standing on the other side. "Hello Mr. Crazy Hair. What can we do for you?" She giggled at him as he took a step behind him, away from her.
Sharpay laughed and ruffled Ella's hair. "Yeah Danforth, what can we do for you?" she sighed, clearly annoyed with him being there.
Chad rolled his eyes at the mother daughter. "Trust me I don't want to be here but Tay threatened me if I didn't come and tell you that Troy is sick. He must have gotten it from Ella when he was here helping to take care of her." He explained, just as annoyed as Sharpay was.
"Daddy's sick?" Ella asked, sad that her daddy wasn't coming to see her.
"Yes sweetie. That's why daddy can't come to see you for a few days." Sharpay kneeled down in front of Ella. "He'll be better in a few days and he'll come and see you for sure." Sharpay smiled.
Ella nodded her head and turned to look at Chad. "Are you going to see daddy right now?" she asked
"Yup."
"Ok. Hold on." Ella said and ran back into the living room. She picked up Mr. Snuggles and handed him to Chad. "Can you give him that for me? Tell him he can hold onto Mr. Snuggles for as long as he needs to." Ella smiled, wanting her dad to feel better; even if that meant giving up Mr. Snuggles for a few nights. Sharpay smiled at her daughter and pulled her closer to her.
"Of course I will."
"Oh and give him a hug and a kiss good night for me!" Ella exclaimed.
Chad chuckled. "Sure thing." He smiled and mouthed a 'no' to Sharpay when Ella wasn't looking. Sharpay giggled and just nodded at him. "I better leave right now. I'll go give this to him right away." He smiled at Ella. He turned to leave but Ella caught a hold of his legs.
"Thank you!" She smiled a smile that reminded Sharpay of Troy's smile. Chad chuckled and gave her a huge hug. "Anytime Squirt."
"Thanks Danforth. Tell Troy hope he feels better." Sharpay said and Chad nodded. "Sure thing." He said before turning and leaving. Sharpay shut the door and picked up Ella. "Don't worry baby. He'll get better and come and see you soon." She kissed Ella's cheek.
"Ok Mama. I trust you!"
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"Tay." Troy groaned, flipping over on his stomach on the couch. "The medicine isn't working." He sighed, burying his head in the pillow. He wrapped his arms under the pillow. He was twisted up in the blankets. He still felt just as crappy as he did before; nothing was helping.
Taylor just stood up and sat down on the edge of the couch. She started rubbing his back just as she had done before. "I'm sorry Troy. I don't know what else to do." She sighed. She had stayed with Troy all day. It was now 6:30 in the evening and she was bored and sick of Troy's complaining. She glanced down at Troy and saw his eyes closed and noticed his breathing evened out- he was asleep again. Someone started to knock on the door and Taylor quickly went to answer it, hoping Troy wouldn't wake up. She opened the door and sighed happily as she saw Chad there. She threw herself in his arms and he chuckled, wrapping his arms around her. "He's finally asleep. He's been complaining non-stop. So be quiet." She explained quietly, closing the door as Chad stepped into the apartment.
"You got it." He saluted to her and she rolled her eyes. Together, they both walked into the living room. Chad started laughing, seeing Troy so sick and deathly looking. Taylor smacked his arm and he quickly stopped. "So how long have you been here babe?" Chad asked after greeting Taylor with a sweet kiss.
Taylor scratched her head; thinking. "Since about 1ish I think." She walked over to the coffee table and threw all the used tissues in the trash. She took a bottle of hand sanitizer out of her bag and rubbed some on her hands before picking up the half empty bowl of soup and empty water glass. She brought them to the kitchen and refilled the glass with water before walking back out to the other room and setting it on the table.
"Tay. Take a break. How about you go home, take a nice, relaxing bath and reading your favorite book. I'll take care of Troy for a little while." He suggested while massaging her shoulders.
She turned around to face Chad and wrapped her arms around his neck. "That sounds amazing. Are you sure you can handle staying here?" she asked as she leaned her head as his shoulder.
"No problem. I'll be home in a few hours. Just relax- you deserve it." He smiled down at her before leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on her lips.
Taylor smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you. I'll see you when you get home." She kissed him one last time before grabbing her bag, kissing Troy's cheek; whispering 'get better' to him and leaving.
Chad smiled at where she had just left and shook his head while smiling. He took a seat on the chair Taylor was sitting at and sighed. "This is boring." He muttered, playing with the bear that was sitting on his lap. Chad, being Chad, decided to turn the TV on, changing it to ESPN. He smiled and set the remote down, watching the headlines of the games.
Troy quickly sat over and hunched over the trash can; emptying his stomach again. Chad grimaced and turned away. He heard Troy gagging and felt like he was going to vomit as well. He covered his ears so he couldn't hear the gagging. Troy stopped a few minutes later and again washed his mouth out with the water. He noticed Chad and rolled his eyes. "You can look now." He said, setting the cup of water on the table.
Chad cautiously turned around and cringed. "That was nasty." He stated simply.
Troy tried to laugh but it came out as a cough. He was thrown into a coughing fit again. Chad ran over and patted Troy's back while Troy coughed into a tissue. Troy sighed as he finished, grabbing the glass of water again and swallowed most of it. He held out the glass to Chad. "Can you get me some more?" he asked voice raspy from the coughing. Chad nodded his head and got up to get some. He returned and handed him the cup. He downed half of it before setting it on the table. "Where'd Taylor go?" he asked, once again lying down on the couch after kicking Chad off.
Chad rolled his eyes and took a seat on the chair next across from the couch. "She left. I figured she could use a break." He chuckled. Chad looked down and remembered the teddy bear. He held it out to Troy who took it; throwing Chad a questioning look.
"You're daughter wanted you to have him for a few days. She said to hug it and hold onto it while you sleep until you feel better." He explained.
Troy smiled softly and hugged the bear to his chest. "Tell her I said thank you the next time you see her." He said, still smiling at the thought of his daughter. "Is she feeling better?"
Chad chuckled. "Yeah. She's back to normal. Happy and hyped up as always." He answered. "She even wanted me to give you a hug and kiss from her but I don't really want to do that." He explained, grimacing. Troy chuckled. "Evans said to feel better."
Troy smiled at the thought of Sharpay being nice to him. If he hadn't messed up then they wouldn't have that problem. Troy grabbed a tissue and blew his nose again. "Chad, my head is pounding, my stomach hurts, my muscles are sore and it takes forever to go to sleep. What do I do?" He complained, groaning as he tried to get comfortable.
Chad shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Why don't you try to take a shower?" he suggested.
Troy thought about it for a minute. "That's sounds great. I think I'll try that." He said as he sat up. He stood up and was met with some pain in his back. He slowly walked to his bedroom and shut the door, using the shower that was in his connected bathroom.
Chad turned back to the TV and continued watching the highlights of the basketball games. 20 minutes later, Troy walked back into the room, a heating pad in hand. He laid back down on the couch and snuggled under the covers.
Chad laughed loudly, grabbing the heating pad from him to plug it in. "I'm guessing the shower didn't help?" he asked, handing the heating pad back to Troy. Troy took it and rested it on his back, lying on his stomach.
Troy groaned, opening his eyes to look at Chad. "Not at all. I still feel like death run over twice." Instead of being a supportive friend, Chad laughed at his friend. "Chad. You're so annoying. You can just leave now."
Chad stopped laughing and looked at him. "I can?"
Troy rolled his eyes and attempted to nod his head. "Sure. I'll just call you guys if I need anything. Thanks man for staying. Tell Tay she's awesome and I'll make it up to her."
Chad nodded his head and gently patted Troy on the back. "Alright. Don't be afraid to call." He said supportively, making his way towards the door. "See you later man."
"Yeah." Troy said quietly, closing his eyes. Troy's cell phone started to ring and he blindly started patting the table looking for it. Once he found it, he brought it up to his ear and pressed the green button. "Hello?" he muttered.
"Hi daddy!"
Troy smiled softly. "Hey princess. How are you?"
"I'm good daddy! I'm not sick anymore. Crazy Hair told me you were sick though. Are you ok daddy?"
Troy chuckled. She was too cute for her own good. "I'll be fine in a couple of days princess. I'm sorry I couldn't come over today."
"It's ok daddy. You're sick. Will you come over when you're feeling better?"
Troy smiled again. "Of course I will. We'll do whatever you want to do."
He heard Ella giggle. "Ok daddy. Did Crazy Hair give you Mr. Snuggles?"
Troy chuckled. "He did. Thank you. He also gave me a hug and kiss from you." He lied.
"Good! Mommy says I should let you go so you can sleep. Please feel better daddy. I miss you."
"I miss you too baby girl. I'll see you in a few days. Can you put your mom on the phone?"
"Yup yup! Good night daddy!"
"Good night Princess. Don't let the bed bugs bite."
"I won't. Here's mommy!" He heard the phone being tossed around before he heard Sharpay's voice "Hello?"
"Hey Sharpay. Thanks for letting her call." He said, coughing slightly.
"You sounds really sick. Are you sure you're ok?"
"I'm fine. I'll be back to normal in a few days. Give Ella my love for me please?" He pleaded, looking down at her teddy bear.
"I will. Maybe when you're better we can talk?" she asked quietly.
He smiled slightly. "Yes. I think we need that. Things were said and we really need to straighten this out."
"Ok good. I'll let Ella call you again tomorrow. Feel better Bolton."
"Thanks. G'night Evans."
"Good night Bolton."
He hung up the phone and tossed it on the table. He smiled as he clutched Mr. Snuggles tighter. He wished he could have seen Ella that day. Just seeing her smile would have made his day. He shook his head and eventually fell back asleep.
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A few days later, like promised, Troy was feeling much better. His head wasn't pounding, his stomach was much better and his muscles were no longer sore. He was sporting a huge smile as he stood outside of Sharpay's apartment. He hadn't called because he wanted to surprise Ella. He knocked on the door and waited patiently for Sharpay to answer the door. The door swung open to reveal Ryan. Troy smiled and shook Ryan's hand that he had held out. "Hey man."
Ryan opened the door wider and Troy walked in. "Where's Sharpay?" Troy asked, taking his jacket off and hanging it on the coat rack.
Ryan closed the door. "At work. She'll be back at around 5 this afternoon. Ella's in the living room watching Dora." Ryan rolled his eyes. "If I have to watch Dora one more time I think I'm going to shoot myself." He sighed
Troy chuckled and patted Ryan on the back. "Sorry man. I'm going to go surprise her." He explained. He walked into the living room and saw Ella dancing to one of the songs. He walked up behind her and picked her up. "Hello my little Princess."
Ella gasped and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Daddy! You're here!" She exclaimed, giggling slightly.
"I am! I missed you princess." He kissed her cheek.
"I missed you too daddy. Are you feeling better?" she asked as Troy sat them both down on the couch. She sat on his lap and was looking up at him innocently.
"Much better. Thank you baby girl." She smiled and hugged him again. She pulled back and once again nudged her nose with his.
"So can you watch a movie with me?"
"Of course. What movie would you like to watch?" He asked as he stood up. He crouched down in front of the cabinet where the videos were placed and opened it up.
She sat down next to him and started thinking. "How about Peter Pan!" She said, pulling the movie out and handing it to Troy.
"Peter Pan is perfect." He chuckled, taking the DVD out of the container and placing it in the DVD player. He grabbed the remote and settled the two of them on the couch.
Ella waved over Ryan. "Come here Uncle Ryan!" She patted the seat on the other side of her. Ryan sat down next to Ella and smiled. Troy hit play and the three of them started watching the movie.
Sharpay arrived home after a stressful day of work. She trudged into the apartment and set her purse on the floor. She set her keys in the key bowl she had. She didn't hear Ella screaming or laughing like she usually did. She walked into the living room and smiled. Ella was fast asleep, leaning against Ryan- who was also sleeping. She saw Troy and gulped nervously. He was still awake and he smiled slightly at her. He stood up and walked over to her. "Hey." He mumbled, nervously scratching the back of his neck.
"Hi." She didn't know what else to say. "What are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to see Ella. I'm sorry if you're mad." He added frantically
"No it's ok. Ella wanted to see you really badly." She explained, giggling slightly as she thought of Ella begging her to take her to her daddy's house. She had to explain to Ella that he was sick and he needed his rest.
"I did too." He said, smiling at Ella who was still sleeping. He turned to look at Sharpay and he turned serious. "Can we talk tomorrow? Maybe over lunch?" He asked
Sharpay nodded her head. "Yeah. We've got to settle this for Ella's sake. My lunch break starts at 12:30 and ends at 2:00. We can meet at your diner?" she asked, knowing it would be easier to meet there.
"Sure. Sounds great. I'll just leave now. Can I come back tomorrow night to see Ella?"
"Of course. She'll love that." She smiled and walked over to Ella, giving her a kiss on the forehead.
Troy followed and gave her a kiss on the forehead as well. "I'll see you tomorrow baby girl. I love you." He kissed her cheek before standing up and walking to the front door. Sharpay followed to walk him out. "So I'll see you tomorrow?"
Sharpay nodded her head. "Yes. Thank you for coming over today."
"No problem. I couldn't wait to see her." He turned around and started to walk to the elevators.
"Hey Troy?" Sharpay called out, standing in the hallway
He turned around and smiled. "Yeah?"
"I'm glad you're feeling better. Really." She smiled slightly.
"Thanks. See you tomorrow."
Phew! Another chapter done! It's another long chapter too! LOL I'm trying for you guys! Things are going to get crazy this week though. I have tons of essays due this week and tons of homework overall. So please bear with me. I'll try to do my best!
Please review!!