Chapter 14

Los Angeles

Sharpay stared at the horizon. There it was. She could see the buildings of downtown Los Angeles teasing the skyline in the distance. She felt a pang of excitement in her heart.

Troy glanced at her and smiled.

"There it is," he said.

"Wow," she breathed.

They drove around the city, and Troy exited the highway at Downey.

"Let's stop at my grandpa's house and then maybe I can show you around after dinner or tomorrow," Troy said.

After a few turns and stoplights, Troy turned into the driveway of a modest stucco one story house. It was a yellow color. There was a brown two car garage on the left. The front door was just to the right of the garage and there were two windows on the right of the house.

"Well, this is it," Troy said, turning off the ignition of the car.

Sharpay suddenly felt nervous. She barely knew Troy and now he was going to introduce her to his dying grandfather. It was all just so strange.

Troy looked at Sharpay, who was hesitating.

He smiled. "Don't worry. My grandpa doesn't bite. I'm sure you'll love him."

He casually put his arm around Sharpay's shoulders, guiding her to the front door.

Sharpay felt her cheeks turn slightly red. She had to get herself together to meet this man.

Troy dropped his arm from around Sharpay's shoulders and knocked twice on the door before opening it and yelling into the house, "Grandpa? It's me, Troy! You home?"

Troy stepped inside, and Sharpay followed.

A man with grey hair and a huge smile appeared from around a corner. He was probably about six feet tall, but a bit hunched over. One thing was for sure. The man didn't look sick at all.

"Troy!" he exclaimed, wrapping the boy in a bear hug.

"Hey, grandpa," Troy replied.

"I wasn't expecting you!" He pulled Troy back and a serious expression took over his face. "Your mother has called here about 50 times in the last week looking for you. What are you doing causing your mother to worry like that?"

Troy looked at his feet. "It's a long story. Maybe we can talk about it later."

"All right," his grandfather replied. Then he noticed Sharpay, who was hanging back. "And who's this lovely lady?" he asked, his smile returning.

Troy's face lit up. "This is Sharpay."

"Troy is one lucky dog," he said to Sharpay, embracing her just as heartily as he had Troy. Sharpay was surprised at the man's act of friendliness, but she wasn't totally freaked out. He seemed like a very nice man.

Troy laughed. "Oh, she's not my-"

"Well, if you have an inkling of sense in you, boy, you'll be changing that really soon," his grandpa said, cutting Troy off, mid sentence.

Sharpay could have sworn that she saw a blush creep onto his face.

Then Troy's grandfather got a serious expression on his face again. "I suppose I know why you came."

Troy sighed. "Is it true?" he asked. Sharpay could tell that he didn't want to hear the answer.

"You listen to me boy. We all get old and die someday. My time is just coming a bit sooner than anybody anticipated, apparently. And don't even tell me to get treated. I don't want to spend the last days of my life in a hospital sick and on chemotherapy. I have nothing to worry about. I'm going to see my maker."

Sharpay suddenly felt very sorry for Troy's grandpa. She hadn't even known him for five minutes, and she could see why Troy like him so much.

"Well, I hope the two of you plan on staying for a while. I'm bored out of my mind and I could use some young people around here."

Sharpay smiled. Troy's grandfather was something else. She wondered if Troy would be a lot like him when he got old.

Troy's smile returned to his face. "Sure, gramps. I think we could afford to keep you company for some time."

"Don't call me gramps, boy. It makes me feel so…old," his grandpa said, playfully scolding Troy.

Troy smiled. "Sorry, Grandpa." He emphasized the grandpa.

Troy's grandfather smiled. "You can call me grandpa too if you like," he said turning to Sharpay.

Sharpay smiled. "Sure thing, grandpa."

"Well, come in kids. Can I help you with your luggage? Sharpay, why don't you have the guest room. We can make this punk sleep on the couch." He motioned to Troy and winked at Sharpay.

"Don't worry about it, grandpa. Sharpay and I can get it," Troy said.

Troy's grandfather looked offended. "No way are you going to make this lovely lady help you. Haven't you learned any manners? Plus, what do you make me out for? Some helpless geezer? Please." He rolled his eyes.

With that, Troy's grandfather led Troy out the door.

Sharpay wasn't sure what to do with herself, so she sat down on one of the 70's style sofas in the living room. It smelled like must and cigar smoke.

Then she noticed a picture on the end table next to the couch. She picked it up. Troy was in the picture, but he looked quite a bit younger. He had a toothy grin on his face and was holding up a fish that was about half the size that he was. Standing next to Troy was his grandfather who looked incredibly proud of his grandson.

Sharpay smiled. It was hard to believe that the man standing in that picture was given only a month to live.

"Wow! Did you bring your whole life with you or what?" Troy's grandfather asked Sharpay, struggling through the door with two of her suitcases and her backpack.

Sharpay let out a nervous laugh. She liked Troy's grandfather, but she wasn't exactly sure that now would be the best time to tell him why she was with Troy.

"I just wanted to be sure I didn't miss anything," she said.

"Stop harassing her, grandpa. You haven't even known Sharpay for ten minutes yet," Troy said, amusement in his tone.

The two shuffled to the guest room down the hall, laughing amongst each other.

Sharpay had grown up with her grandparents not even five minutes away. Both of them had always seemed so stuffy, though. Her grandmother was constantly fixing her clothes and muttering about how kids these days didn't know how to dress decently. Her grandfather was always reading the paper and napping. They always insisted that she and Ryan call them grandfather and grandmother.

Troy's grandpa was so different. He just seemed so interested in investing in Troy. He was so welcoming and upbeat and friendly. Sharpay already felt like he was the grandpa she never had.

She smiled and looked at the picture of Troy and his grandpa again. Once again she was overcome with gladness for leaving Nowhere, but she also couldn't help but feel a small twinge of homesickness, thinking about her family.

------

Gabriella looked at the clock in Ryan's car. It was five in the evening, and she was getting hungry.

The two had been silent for the past three hours, and every minute made Gabriella feel more on edge than the minute before. After three hours her uneasiness combined with the tension in the car had become absolutely unbearable.

"Ryan," she said quietly. "Maybe we should have some dinner."

Ryan continued to stare at the road. "Yeah. Let's find somewhere to stay. I need to sleep."

"I saw a sign about a mile back that said there's a Holiday Inn at the next exit."

"Thanks," Ryan muttered, still refusing to even glance at Gabriella.

Ryan pulled off the highway and turned into the Holiday Inn. They silently exited the car and made their way over to the reception desk.

"Can I help you?" a bored sounding woman said from behind the desk.

"Yes. We would like a room," Ryan said.

"Smoking or non?" the woman asked.

"Non."

"Single or double? The single is 50 dollars a night and the double is 65."

"Double," Ryan replied without hesitating.

The woman typed something on her keyboard. "That will be 65 dollars," she said.

Ryan pulled out his wallet and counted out 65 dollars, then handed it to the woman.

"All right," she said. "Here's your room key. Go up to the second floor and turn left. You're room is 203. You need to be checked out by 11 tomorrow morning. There's a free continental breakfast in the dining room tomorrow from eight to ten. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Ryan said. "Do you have any dinner options here?"

"Sure. Our dining room is open until seven for dinner."

"Thanks," Ryan said.

The two went up to their room and put their belongings in the closet.

"Let's go eat," Ryan said to Gabriella, not looking at her.

Gabriella sighed. She was upset that Ryan wouldn't even look at her, but she kept on reminding herself that she needed to give him some space to be angry. At least he hadn't broken up with her. Yet.

Gabriella felt like a mess. What if he did break up with her? What would she do? Maybe when they found Troy and Sharpay she could just stay with them.

Gabriella had to stop thinking. It was getting her into trouble.

She followed Ryan to the dining room where they had a silent dinner. Gabriella had been hungry, but sitting with Ryan in a tense silence had killed any appetite she had worked up earlier.

After their dinner, Ryan paid for the meal and they went back up to their room.

It was only six, but Gabriella could tell that Ryan was ready to sleep. She knew he hadn't slept at all the night before because he had been driving.

Once they were in their room, Ryan began to adjust his sheets. Once he was done, he grabbed a change of clothes. "I'm gonna shower," he muttered, heading for the bathroom.

"Wait," Gabriella said breathlessly, gently grabbing his forearm.

Ryan turned around but said nothing.

"How long is this silence going to last? Ryan, I know that you are angry, but I can't take this for much longer." Gabriella felt tears forming in her eyes. She willed for them not to fall. "If you're going to break up with me, please just put me out of my misery." She couldn't stop the tears from falling any longer. They stung of misery as they cascaded down her cheeks.

Ryan was now a blur in Gabriella's vision. He hadn't moved. He didn't just ignore her, but he didn't make a move to comfort her either.

"I'm sorry," she whispered and turned to go sit on her bed.

Then she felt his hand on her shoulder. She took a shaky breath. Just his touch was comforting.

He guided her back around until she was standing face to face with him. Then he pulled her into a hug, stroking her hair. In that moment, Gabriella felt so safe.

"Gabriella, what you did really hurt. It's going to take some time for me to forget it, but I'm not going to leave you. I love you."

Gabriella started sobbing. The difference was that now she was cry tears of relief.

Ryan guided her down to his bed so they were sitting next to each other.

"I probably don't want to hear this, but why? Why did you feel like you had to kiss Troy when you knew you had me?" he asked her.

Gabriella took in a shaky breath, calming her sobs. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. "You never kissed me like that. He just…I guess I just really wanted to be kissed like it really meant something. It was like he was willing to make himself vulnerable or something. I think I let him kiss me, wishing it was you who kissed me like that."

Ryan sighed. "I was right. I didn't want to hear that, but I think I needed to. Listen, I have a lot of thinking to do, but I promise I won't leave you. I'm gonna take a shower now, okay?"

"Okay," Gabriella whispered.

Ryan stood up and headed to the bathroom. Half way he paused and turned around. "Gabriella?"

"Yeah?"

"I forgive you."

"Thank you," Gabriella whispered.

She felt like such an idiot for ever being unfaithful to Ryan. At that moment, Gabriella vowed to never cheat on Ryan ever again, no matter what the circumstance was. No way was she ever going to do anything that could cause her to lose a man like him again.

A/N: So, here's your next chapter. Please review! I was a little weak on reviews for the last chapter, so this is your friendly reminder to review review REVIEW! ☺☻ Have a wonderful Sunday.
Oh, and I would love to know what your first impressions of Troy's grandpa are. He's my favorite character!