A/N: Paige again (I'm writing a lot of these lately! xP). Thanks for the reviews... blah, blah, blah... you know. The usual.

Chapter 8

"Pay... Wake up," Troy said, shaking his girl friend gently.

"M.." Sharpay muttered, slapping his hand away.

"Okay, but I'm going to Starbucks without you," he teased. He knew

Starbucks was her favorite place to go and with that comment, her head shot up.

"Starbucks?" she asked with sudden interest.

"Sure. Now let's go or we're not going to have enough time to clean out your house."

"Oh yeah," Sharpay said, rubbing her eyes. She threw on a t-shirt, jean shorts, and flip flops before running a brush through her hair. "Ready," she said with a smile. Troy couldn't help but notice how pretty she was, even with only casual clothes on.

"Let's go then," he said, slipping his hand into hers. They walked outside and drove to Sharpay's old house.

Once there, Sharpay felt tears well up in her eyes. She hadn't visited her house ever since Ryan passed away and just seeing it brought back memories. Troy squeezed her hand after noticing her teary eyes and she smiled sadly at him.

"Ready?" he asked softly and she simply nodded. They walked inside and Sharpay lead him to her room.

"Well... this is... was.. my room," Sharpay corrected herself. The walls we a light pink color and on the right wall was a door with a star on it which read "Sharpay". Troy couldn't help but smile at how much this room resembled the used-to-be ice queen. Her bed had a white fluffy comforter and Troy slowly made his way over to it and sat down, careful not to mess up the sheets.

"I'm assuming we're starting with your room," he said and Sharpay, still on the opposite end of the room nodded.

"We'll start with my clothes," she said and opened her closet door. Inside, the clothes were color coded and went from pink to white. Tons of shoes were scattered on the floor and Sharpay smiled. Troy walked over to her and peered inside the closet.

"You have a lot of clothes," he said, stating the obvious.

"Of course. I was the ice queen once, you know," she said. He nodded.

"Do any of your old clothes still fit?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. Sharpay shrugged.

"I'm not sure." She held up a pink tank top to her slender body and smiled. "Still fits. I guess I don't grow that much." Troy laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.

"You've always been short," he said and Sharpay playfully hit him.

"That's not funny! I have a disease!"

"Maybe I shouldn't get near you. Does it spread? I'd hate to be turned into a midget," Troy teased, removing himself from her.

"Shut up Troy," Sharpay said with a giggle. She never knew they'd be having so much fun at her house. Maybe that's just because she had been prepared for the worst. But, the worst was yet to come. They hadn't even seen Ryan's room yet.

"Hey!" Sharpay spoke with realization. "You never took me to Starbucks!" Troy shook his head and smiled.

"Is that all you ever think about?" he asked, reconnecting himself with her.

"Yes. As a matter of fact, it is." She nodded. "So are we going to go or what?" Sharpay began to head for the door.

"Not so fast Pay," he said, gently taking hold of her wrist. She spun around to face him. "You know we haven't finished here." Sharpay looked at the floor.

"I know," she said, sadly. Then looked back up at him. "Are you ready?" she asked, voice quiet.

"Whenever you are," Troy replied. Sharpay started down the hall, Troy's hand in hers. They stopped once they got to a light blue door with a sign on it which read, "Ryan's Room" in his messy hand writing. Troy could almost feel Sharpay's heart breaking but his whispered words of encouragement in her ear and she slowly opened the door.

Sharpay let out a deep gasp the minute his room came into view. She was kinda glad that her parents weren't home at moment. They'd be there later though, she knew that. but having them around, would have been harder, than having her hand tucked safely into Troy's. there was something so calm about him, that even though she was sad about seeing all Ryan's stuff lying around the room, the way he left them when they left for college, she could still smile and remember all the good times.

She let go of Troy's hand and sat down on Ryan's bed, taking in the feel of the comforter. She remembered coming in to buck with him at nights when she heard thunder, or when she'd had a bad dream. His bed was always open for her, and having his arms wrapped around her calmed her more than anything in the entire world.

She moved her hands across the bed, feeling the soft material, as her eyes wandered around the room. His desk was full of pencils, papers and books. His plasma TV was full of dust, and on the walls were hinging pictures of them together, along with some of his friends. She let her tears fall slowly, and turned to look at Troy, who hadn't said or done anything.

He shot her a sad smile, and sat down next to her, wrapping his strong arms around her. She nuzzled her face into his neck, letting her tears fall. She needed to get it out, and then she could work better after. She knew that. It was hard for her, and having Troy there was really relaxing her.

"You better now, Pay?" Troy whispered, kissing his head.

She pulled back slightly and shot him another sad smile, "Yeah, much. Thanks Troy. We better get done. I want to do Ryan's now. I want to keep some of his stuff, but all his clothes can we give to the Church, and they can give it to whoever."

"That's a great idea." Troy said, "I'll go downstairs and find some boxes to put it in. Don't you think your mom and dad left some for you?"

"In the kitchen, perhaps." Sharpay smiled, as they stood up, "I'm just gonna go through all his old books while you pick them up, 'kays?"

"'Kays." Troy laughed, moving down the stairs, trying to keep himself cheering. He stopped when he reached the end of the stairwell though, because he came face to face with Mr. Evans, "Oh… Hi sir." He mumbled, blushing slightly.

"Troy Bolton." Mr. Evans said, arching an eyebrow, he had not forgotten how this boy had hurt his daughter back when they were still young, "What are you doing here?"

"Cleaning Ryan's room with Sharpay, sir." Troy said, extending his hand, which Mr. Evans shook, "I was just looking for some boxes for all Ryan's clothes."

"In the kitchen," Mr. Evans replied, "But could you come with me a minute, I need to speak to you?"

Troy knew it could be dangerous, Mr. Evans was a guy who took very much care of his daughter. Troy remembered being slightly afraid of him back when him and Sharpay first started dating. He knew he had to go with him though, so he nodded, wanting to be on his good side. They continued into Mr. Evans' old office, which was now also almost empty.

"I just need a word with you." Mr. Evans explained, "I'm getting older, I had kids at a quite old age. I already lost my son, and since you're now… dating my daughter, I need to know you will take good care of her. I can still remember how things ended between you too, and I don't want her to get hurt."

"I would never dream of hurting her." Troy quickly said, and he really meant it, "I was a kid back then… I was stupid. But I love your daughter, and I know she has been through a lot, losing her brother. I will stand by her side, if she want me to, sir. I can't imagine myself with someone else than Sharpay."

"That's good to know." Mr. Evans said, moving towards the only furniture left in the room, and old desk. He opened the first drawer, and took out a little box, "My wife and I originally wanted Ryan to have this, since he's the son. It's the family engagement ring, and the son always gives it to his new wife, so it will stay in the Evans name." He held out the little black box, opening it to reveal a fine ring with a big white stone, "But since we do not have a son any longer, I figured our daughter should have it, though it'll be a Bolton ring from now on, then."

Troy's jaw hit the floor. That ring was so beautiful, and it would fit Sharpay's hand perfectly. And he who had thought Mr. Evans was about to kill him. This was so unexpected, but he felt so honoured. This was amazing. He admitted it, he had thought about proposing to Sharpay soon, because he didn't want to wait, but getting such a beautiful ring for free, was something he'd never thought would happen.

"I take it you are thinking about marrying my daughter, right?" Mr. Evans continued, closing to box with a smack.

"Yeah," Troy quickly said, locking eyes with the older man, "Yes, of course. I mean, wow… That ring is amazing. Sharpay is gonna love it."

"Only the best for my sweetie." Mr. Evans said, pushing the box into Troy's hands, "And I expect the wedding to be soon, Bolton, 'cause I want to be there to send my sweet pa off, before I die."

Troy just nodded, plans of a possibly proposal floating in his brain.

--

Sharpay had made two piles with stuff, when Troy entered the room again, his arms full of boxes, that just needed to be unfolded, and then they'd have plenty of room. One of the piles was quite large, and he suspected that was the one with stuff they'd throw out or give away. The other pile was smaller, and it held a lot of personal things. Pictures, old drawings, and stuff he made in woodcraft at school. She's also decided to safe all his old DVD's and CD's, he could tell.

She looked up, and actually seemed quite cheery now, "Hi, what took you so long?"

"I had a quick talk with your father." Troy just said, letting his fingers brush quickly over the box in his jeans pocket, "Here are your boxes. Should I just throw all his clothes in it?"

"Fold it nicely." Sharpay told him, her eyes getting big, "And then the Church can figure out what they want and they can throw the rest of it out. I need a box to all the stuff we're taking with us, and all the stuff we're throwing out, are going down on dad's trailer. He can drive it to wherever he want it."

"Okay," Troy replied, unfolding a stack of boxes, and then started to place Ryan's clothes into the boxes, "After this, we're doing your room, right?"

"Of course." Sharpay smiled, closing the box safely, "There's a lot more stuff in there that I want to keep. Maybe I should keep a lot of my old clothes too, until I pick all my stuff up at the dorm."

Troy paused and turned to look at her, "Does this mean you're moving in with me for real?"

She paused too and locked eyes with him, "I guess it does."

"That's great!" Troy cheered, "But what about work and money? We're both only half done with college."

"You can finish yours, and I'll see if I can get a job at East High." Sharpay said.

Troy wrinkled his brow, confused, "As what?"

"The drama teacher, duh." Sharpay just said.

"You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?" Troy asked, laughing

on the inside. He only needed about a half year of college, and then he could

move back too and get a job, and they could be a happy family. Have some kids and live happily ever after.

"The last few days…" Sharpay whispered, moving over to stand in front of him, "I just want to be with you, Troy. And teaching at East High will make me feel closer to Ryan. Is that okay?"

"It's more than okay." Troy assured her, pulling her head in for a kiss, as his fingers once again brushed over the black box in his jeans pocket. He wanted to propose to this gorgeous woman, and make sure she was his. And he wanted to do it soon.

A/N – Stessa here! I'm finally leaving one of these, lol. The next chapter will be the last, and we hope you enjoyed this chapter too. Remember to leave us a review, please? It means the world to the both of us.