Rating: PG-13
Genre: Angst, Drama
Characters: Mostly Sharpay and Ryan, the others show up on occasion.
Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or these characters. I'm just playing around.
Summary: An accident, a struggle and redemption.
"I'm sailing on this terrible ocean
I've come for myself to retrieve.
Too long have I been feeling like Lear's children ..."
When Troy found Gabriella she was in the sports field, sitting on the bleachers and staring aimlessly into space. He squeezed in close beside her, nudging her with his shoulder. "What's up, Gloomy Gus?
"Oh, hey," she replied distractedly. She leaned in to receive his kiss with a thin smile before going back to silently staring.
Troy squinted at her. "You're going to give a guy a complex, you know that?"
"Hmm?" She shook herself a little. "Oh, honey, I'm sorry. I was ... " She paused with a sigh, the gloom settling in again. "I was just thinking about how stupid I am and how I shouldn't be let out of the house in the morning in case I never stop being stupid."
"Uh-oh. Sounds serious." He blinked with surprise. "If it makes you feel any better you're still the smartest person I know."
"Really? Does a smart person upset someone who's sister just had a devastating injury by asking them ..." Her voice took on an obnoxiously high octave, "So are you and Sharpay going to the dance, Ryan? Oh, never mind, Ryan, I'm sure you two have more important things to think about than dancing, besides the fact that's what you both love more than just about anything in the whole world and you'll probably never do it again. Dancing's silly!" Gabriella winced hard, slapping her palms against her forehead. "What was I thinking, Troy?
Troy winced along with her. "Gah. Okay, that's kinda bad, but honestly, Gab, I'm sure he knew you didn't mean anything by it. You just wanted to talk about normal stuff and you ... you know ... you forgot. It happens in situations like this. Something really terrible happens and you don't want to talk about that all day but in trying to avoid it, you sometimes step in it. Ryan knows you weren't being mean.""You should have seen his face. It's like he just realized that he and Sharpay were never going to dance as a team again."
Sadly, Troy lowered his eyes. "Maybe he did."
"Oh God," Gabriella moaned, clutching at her hair. "Don't say that!"
He snuck an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. "I'm sorry, babe. But look at it this way, there's no reason that Sharpay can't dance again one day. I know a guy who plays a helluva game of hoops and he has only one leg. They have the most amazing hardware these days substituting for legs and arms, even hands that work like real ones. And you know she's going to get the very best of what's out there. She might not dance exactly like she used to but I know she'll still be doing awesome things on-stage, someday."
Leaning her head on his shoulder, Gabriella considered his words. "That's true. I suppose there's nothing holding her back." A thoughtful pause. "I wonder if Ryan knows that. I wonder if she knows that."
"Sure," Troy shrugged. "Why not? If anything, Sharpay is determined." He laughed at the many memories of the Evan's sister refusal to accept anything less than everything and anything she wanted. With a grin, he leaned his cheek against Gabriella's soft hair. "She'll be fine. I'm sure of it."Gabriella didn't look entirely convinced, but she nodded nonetheless. "I guess you're right."
"That's my girl," Troy enthused, tilting her chin up for another lingering kiss. He grinned against her lips. "It's all going to be fine, trust me."
Gabriella tried to smile back, but it wasn't as easy as she would have liked.
0o0o0o
The momentous day came faster than Ryan would have dreamed possible, three weeks flying by at warp speed. Sharpay was coming home that afternoon and he ran himself ragged trying to get everything in order for her return, even though there wasn't all that much to do that the servants hadn't taken care of days before.
He fretted endlessly over the state of her room (flawless), what was being served for lunch (her favorites) and everything else beside. It was a greeting fit for a head of state and Ryan again tried not to be furious at his father for not being there even if his only excuse for being away was that his frequent absences were the sole reason they lived in such fine estate.
Their mother had made a few half-hearted stabs at being supportive but burst into tears and claimed deep depression so often, Ryan was more glad than not she'd taken off to an "emergency" appointment with one of her many therapists. If anything Sharpay had been right about their parents and their lack of emotional strength -- her insight, as usual, so much sharper than his.
Not that any of that mattered. Sharpay was coming home ... that's all Ryan cared about.
He'd offered to go pick her up at the hospital but she'd refused, telling him she had some "business" to take care of, but Ryan knew from the packages she had delivered to the nursing home, filled with gifts of every kind, she'd been spending the day handing out presents to her caregivers and fellow patients and didn't want Ryan to know about it. Her sentimental streak was one of the worst-kept secrets on the planet but it was a delusion that Ryan was willing to let her keep, if it made her happy.
Pacing the mansion floors with nervous energy, he started at every sound coming in from the outside. "It's just Gene with the flower delivery," one of the maids soothed, patting his shoulder. "You'll know when it's her."
Ryan laughed uncomfortably and went right back to his vigil. He was on the verge of deep breathing exercises when the door was flung open, Sharpay standing in the doorway, holding a small pot of wilted violets in one hand and her beloved dog Boi in the other. Ryan felt the tears well in his eyes but he held them back, opting instead to run up and hug her hard, so hard Boi let out a high-pitched yelp.
"Ryan!" Sharpay chastised, but her eyes were kind.
"Sorry," Ryan apologized immediately before hugging her again. He felt elated and breathless and better than he had since the accident. "I'm so glad to have you home."
Sharpay smiled tightly and gingerly bent to put Boi down. "It's good to be home," she said, but in a way that was oddly subdued. She looked around, her throat working as she swallowed. "Things look about the same."
Ryan glanced around, following her line of view. "Yeah, I guess," he shrugged. "Mom hasn't been redecorating as much as usual."
"Very traumatic, I'm sure," Sharpay said dully. She hooked her hand through Ryan's arm and walked with surprising grace through the foyer. He offered to take the funny little plastic pot of half-dead flowers from her hand but Sharpay shook her head. "I'll hold onto these, thanks."
"Oh, sure." Ryan helped her to the couch, holding onto her arm as she struggled to sit down without toppling over. Once she was upright, there wasn't a problem, Ryan noticed, but when she was seated or lying down, things became much more complicated. He was grateful when their driver Jack discreetly came in the room and handed him Sharpay's cane and left without a word.
It subdued shade of metallic gray, picked as to be neutral, or so Sharpay claimed and slid ingeniously into itself until it could be tucked into her bag, which was fine as she only used it for leverage, to navigate the seemingly simple tasks of sitting, then rising. Suddenly, Ryan thought about all the times Sharpay threw herself so easily on the couch, sitting with her legs tucked beneath her, talking on the phone, watching television, kicking him playfully. Life was so simple then, so easy and ...
Swallowing hard, he pushed those thoughts away. "Can I get you anything?"Sharpay shook her head slowly, staring out over the room as if still trying to orient herself. Her hands still held onto the pot of violets, white-knuckled fingers wrapped tightly around the dingy brown plastic. "I'm good. Is Mom going to be home soon?"
"Uh, yeah. Well, later, she'll be home. She's a little overwhelmed right now." Ryan blew out a tired breath. He tried to put on a more cheerful attitude. "I ordered your favorite lunch from Dean & Deluca." He sat down beside her and nudged her shoulder. "Panini, extra crispy."
Sharpy smiled weakly. "That'll be an improvement over the food I've been eating." She nudged him back. "Can I have yours too?"
"Sure." He nodded at the plant in her hand. "By the way, what's that? It's ... " He paused, searching for the right word. "It's cute."
Sharpay shrugged, but her mouth twitched at the corners. "It's a gift from another patient. I don't think you knew Marnie."
Ryan looked at her thoughtfully. "Marnie? I didn't meet her? Jeez, I've spent so much time there I thought I met everyone."
"She was only in the gym during non-visitor hours." Sharpay shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Double amputee, above-the-knee. She'd contracted some weird disease. They, uh, kept having to take things, one after the other. It was pretty hardcore."
Ryan winced. "Christ ..."
Sharpay shook her head, as if trying to clear away the memory. "Never mind." She took a deep breath and plastered on her brightest smile. "So where's my lunch? And what did you buy me today? I want presents."
"Oh, speaking of presents ..." Ryan rose and held out his hand to Sharpay, who took it with a confused expression. He gently pried the violets from her hand and put them on the mantleplace before leading her through the house to the back, then to the garage. Once they were in the doorway, he instructed her to cover her eyes before flicking the garage light on. "Viola!" he said with a flourish, as she uncovered her eyes.
"Wow," she said, seeing a brand new bright pink Ferrari 360 Spider sitting in the dull light of the garage, shining like a star. She seemed stunned for a long moment. "Wow."
Ryan didn't even try to conceal his glee. "It's from Mom and Dad, your coming home gift. What do you think? Isn't it amazing? Isn't it the only car anyone could ever possible want? Isn't it fabulous?"
"Yeah," she said hesitantly. She ran a cautious hand over the hood. "I'm really surprised." She stepped back and peered at the car and Ryan was surprised to see the color drain from her face at the sight of something on the car, but he chalked it up to the car itself being possibly the most incredible present ever. A 360 Spider, in mind-blowing metallic pink; it was seriously the most over the top thing either one of them had ever been given. "Okay, I've seen enough," she said, suddenly taking his arm and pulling him out of the garage. "I'm starving. And if that panini isn't crispy anymore ..."
He looked at her in askance. "But ... the car ...""It's great," she said flatly. "Let's go."
Gamely, he followed her out, with a searching glance back at the car. Mystified, he wondered what she didn't like about it. Maybe it was too soon to think about driving again, he thought. Or maybe she wasn't in love with the color, but that didn't seem possible, it was beautiful beyond words or maybe ...
Ryan was still confused as they headed toward the kitchen, never noticing the clear markings for "Handicapped" that lined the car's shiny new plates.
0o0o0otbc ...
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