Yeah....six reviews already...that's awsome....

I love this flashback! It was inspired by something that happend to my cousin.

Chapter 2: Awkward Moment

When Ryan was finished his story his grandson had a small smile on his face. " At least I didn't pull any one with me."

Marissa laughed. " True....but see Eric, it's no big deal. I mean there is always someone out ther who has done more embrassing things then you have. Isn't that right grandpa?" She flashed a grin at Ryan.

Ryan rolled his eyes. " Okay, enough you two. That was more then forty years ago. I've had my share of being laughed at because of that. I don't need you to make fun of me too."

They both shook their heads and grinned. " Oh, we would never make fun of you grandpa, never."

The twins nodded their heads in agreement.

Ryan turned to glance at Travis, who just shrugged his shoulders. Then he nodded and turned back to Marissa who still had a smirk on her face. " And what about you, Miss Issa? How was your day?" He was now grinning.

" Fine."

" Just fine?"

" What are you getting at gramps?

He kept smiling. " Who was that nice young man I saw you with after school today."

She blushed slightly. " No one."

" Oh really, it didn't look like no one to me."

Eric turned and gave his sister a questioning look. " Who is he talking about?"

She glanced at her brother and then sighed. " Jared Cartmen...he....um..he kind of asked me out today."

Eric raised an eyebrow. " Really?" SHe nodded and he let out a laugh. " Wow...about time. I mean, seriously that guy has had a crush on you for like two years now."

She smiled. " I know. Actually I was kind of getting annoyed with him. If he wouldn't have asked me today I probably would have just went up to him on Monday and demanded to know what he was waiting for."

Ryan sat up straighter in his chair when he heard this last part and then smirked at his wife. " Well, well, well, like grandmother like granddaughter. Don't you think Kels?"

Kelsi chuckled. " Yeah, kind of."

Marissa turned to stare at her grandparents. ' What? Did you demand grandpa to o out with you grandma?"

Kelsi shook her head. " No...he asked me out on his own. But I do know what you are talking about when you say you are annoyed with this Jared boy. Because there was time when I was annoyed with your grandfather for making me wait. But unlike you Issa, I did go and demand an explanation as to what was taking him so long...."

" Ugh," Kelsi groaned into her phone as she pulled back the curtains to glanced out of her apartment window. It had been snowing for two days straight and although she liked the snow, it was really starting to annoy him. " I wish it would just stop snowing already. "

" You know," a voice chuckled on the other end, " there is a good chance that you will be living in New York for a while. What are you going to do every winter? Fly somewhere warm?"

' And what would be wrong with that, Gabi?" she asked sly as she pulled the curtains over her window and sat down on her small couch.

There was a pause as Gabriella contemplated this. " Well....nothing, I guess. I mean you can certainly afford to do so."

Kelsi rolled her eyes, even though the other women could not see her. " Yeah, right. I'm starving student, I have no money. You know that."

" True....but Ryan does."

" I 'm not going to make him pay for me to escape the cold."

" But....if you were married, then technically it would your money too."

Kelsi groaned. What was with everyone thinking that her and Ryan should be married? " Look Gabs, I know you and Troy did the whole married and have kids before twenty thing. And that's great. It works for you. But Ryan and I aren't ready to get married yet. I mean, we are both very busy with school and all. And...oh I don't know. It just isn't the right time. I am perfectly content with the way our realtionship is."

" Right...." Gabriella replied, not really believing what her friend was saying.

" Seriously Gabi, I am."

" Whatever," the brunette said with a smile in her voice. " Keep on convincing your self that."

" So how is life back in Albuquerque?" Kelsi asked in an attempt to change the subject.

" I don't know... I mean this is not how I pictured I would be at twenty-one," she sighed. " Although I think I am actually okay with the way things are turning out." She added. Suddenly there was a bang on Gabriella's end and Kelsi heard her friend curse, something that did not happen very often.

" Trouble in paradise?" she asked with a smirk.

" Josh just spilt his breakfast all over the floor. Look....can I call you back?"

" Yeah sure."

" Thanks...bye....talk to you later."

" Yeah, bye." Kelsi chuckled as she hung up hre phone and then went back to making her own breakfast, which was what she had been doing before Gabi called.

But as she put her toast in the toaster she could not help but wonder about what her friend had said. Was she really happy with the way her and Ryan's realtionship was? Or was she - like Gabriella suggested- just trying to convince herself that she was?

It wasn't that she wasn't happy with the way things were. She knew that she had an amazing boyfriend; one who not only loed her very muvh but one that also happened to be her best friend. And she knew that he would be there for her no matter what happened, as she had proved many times over the last four years. But the more that people kept asking about whether or not there was to be a wedding soon, the more she began to wonder if there would ever be one. Perhaps he wasn't even going to ask her.

She sighed as she took a bite of her toast and then shook her head at herself. Of course he was going to ask her....some day. But still, it seemed that everyone was anxiously awaiting for that day to come, and they were getting more and more impatient.

Just the other day ger ada had called and jokingly asked whether or not she should start palnning on how he was going to rob a bank in order to pay for the extravagant event that Sharpay and Mrs. Evans would no doubt plan. She had laughed and told him not to worry, and he assured her that he was not. But she could hear the stress in his voice. She knew that weddingd were expensive and that the Evans family would most likely want a big event. She also knew that - although her parents never say it out loud, except when they are trying to joke- they could not really afford to live up to such high standards.

And last week when Sharpay had been in New York for her semi-annual visit, she spent the majority of the time dropping hints about how lovely it is to be married and settled down.

The more that Kelsi thought about it, the more it started to frustrate her. And before she knew it, she was pacing her kitchen with a cup of tea and starting to mumble to herself. " What is his problem? I mean why won't he just ask me already...everyone else is married or engaged. I mean even Chad and Taylor have beaten us it to. Ahhhh...this is stupid...."

Before she was fully of aware of what she was doing, she had grabbed her coat and was running down the stairs, ready to go and....do something.

But as soon as she opened the door to go outside she cursed out loud. Normally it did not really bother her that Ryan lived in an apartment building a couple of blocks away from the main campus, instead of in residence. But take in the fact that it was not only snowing and windt, but that she was already frustrated, and the walked just seemed too much.

She grumbled the whole way to his building and then partically stormed up the steps to the 9th floor. She never took the elevators, they tended to be to slow. She took a huge breath as she walked up to his room door and then puased for a second. Then she knocked loudly. When he didn't answer she groaned and then knocked again, this time a little bit louder.

When he didin't answer again, she sighed and then dug through her purse for her key. As she unlocked the door and walked into his apartment she could hear him singing in the shower, and although she was in a bitter mood, she could help but smile - just a little bit. But then the thought of him being all happy and oblivious to the problem made her more irriated.

She shut the door behind herself and then sat down on his couch and waited. As she sat there she began to contemplate what she was going to say to him. After a while she decided that she was just going to ask him right out why they were not at least disussing the possibility of marriage.

A moment later she heard the water turn off and the bathroom door open and she instinctively got off of the couch. Ryan - unaware that he had a visitor- walked out of his bathroom wearing nothing but a towel. He stopped and put on a charming smile when he noticed her. If the fact that he wasn't wearing any clothes bothered him, he didn't show it.

She blushed slightly and inwardly cursed at herself for not at least warning him that she was here. Trying not to focus on the fact that he was pretty much naked and dripping wet in front of her, Kelsi cleared her throat and looked down at the floor. " Um..." There went her her plan of just asking him.

He chuckled at her bashfulness and she just blushed more. " Not that I don't mind my girlfriend coming to see me...but is there a reason why you just showed up at nine in the morning without warning?"

" We..uh...we need to talk."

Ryan's smiled become a frown. " About what?"

She took a breath. " Us."

He stared at her for a moment and then whispered. " You want to break up with me?" He asked, praying that he was wrong.

She shook her head vigorously. " Oh..." she should have known that this was te conclusion that he would have come to. " No, no, no. That's not what I meant."

He sighed in relief. " Good, because i don't want that Look, can I at least put some clothes on before we talk." He glanced down at his towel and smiled. " Unless you want me to stay like this."

" Yes."

He raised on eyebrow. " You want me to just weat a towel?"

" Crap....no....I meant...yes you can go put some clothes on..not that you should only wear a towle....damn....I ma messing up and now I am just going to shut up before I make a bigger fool of myself, okay."

He laughed and walked over to to kiss her lightly on the cheek. " You're so cute when you are nervous. I'll be right back."

She didin't say anything, just watched him walked into his bedroom and shut the door. As soon as the door shut she say back dwon on the couch and put her head in her hands. How the hell was she going to ask him when she kept getting nervous and saying stupid things?

A moment later he emerged from his room wearing a pair of faded blue jeans, a plain black t-shirt and a black fedora. She shook her head at his attire. Sometimes it was hard to believe that he was so melodramtic in high school. He had come a long way since then. Then again, they all had.

" So, what's up?" he asked as he poured himself some coffe and added sugar. Although he used to never drink coffee, he had gotten hooked on it during his first year of Julliard. And now he sometimes wished that he had never started because he had sort of become depended on it. " Do you want some tea?" He knew that although he was boderline depended on caffine, she still prefered herbal tea and honey.

She shook her head and he walked over to his couch and let out a huge breat. " Why aren't we married?" He stared at her for a moment and then began to laugh. She let go of his hands and then frowned. " Stop laughing, I'm serious."

At her tone he stopped laughing and then got of fhis couch and headed towards his bedroom. She got up to follow him, but he was already back before she could do so. He was chuckling and holding a small black box.

She walked over and stopped in front of him, staring between the box in his hands and the smirk on his face.

" Now this is awkward," he admitted.

She nodded. "Yeah."

He looked down at the box in his hands. " I've had like for about a week now. And I have been debating about how and when I was going to ask you. But I guess I don't have to anymore."

She didn't say anything, just stared at him. She felt kind of stupid. She should have just been patient and waited for him, instead of getting all emotional and rushing over here.

He grabbed her hands and gently kissed them and she could not hep but smille. He then got down on one knee and she felt her knees start to tremble and tears form in her eyes, irritating her. She had always told herself that when Ryan proposed she would not get all emotional and nervous. But here she was shaking and starting to cry.

" Kelsi," he paused for a moment before he began his speech. " Did you ever stop to listen to the words of the songs you wrote when we were in high school? I mean really listen.
She frowned at him slightly, unsure where this was going. He continued before she could respond. " I know that when you wrote thoses songs you had no idea the we would end up together and I know that most of those songs were written for Troy and Gabriella, but still. I can not help but wonder if you knew exactly how I was going to feel" He stopped for a moment, as if he didn't know what to say next and then he smiled. When he opened his mouth again, Kelsi was surprised to him him sing. " I sang you words I've never said, and it was easy, because you saw the real me. As I am, you understand and that's more then I've ever know. To hear your voice above the nosie, and know I'm not alone. Oh, you're singing to me. When I hear my favourite song, I know that we belong because you are the music in me. You are most definately the music in me Kels, and there is no one that I would rather spend my life with then you." He took a deep breath and opened the box. She could not help but gasp when she say the ring. What surprised her the most was the fact that it was not a very bug outlandish stone. It looked rather simple, and this made her happy. It was something that she could actually she herself wearing. " Kelsi Nielsen....would you please do me the honour of becoming my wife? Will you marry?"

She looked into his eyes, slowly nodded and then pulled him to his feet. " Yes," she said simply and then kissed him passionately.

So there is chapter 2. I have chapter 3 and 4 already written...but I am going away for the weekend, so the earliest I can type chapter 3 up is on Tuesday.....unless the hotel that I am staying at has the internet.