Wow.O_______________________________o

Last chapter…of my long “Missing You” saga.

..

-sniff-

Well, can I just say, THAAAAAAANK YOU for being such loyal reviewers, especially the likes of ClaimedByShadow and HeSaidSheSaidx. :3 But all of you are amaaaaaaazing and I couldn’t have done all of this without you tbh :)

So, please to be reviewing on last time? :’)

Loooove, Beth xx

The World Changes and Rearranges

The End

The Danforths

Chad Danforth still thought of Troy Bolton. Every day.

They had known each other all of their lives; they were born barely a week apart and their mothers had been in the same Lamaze classes and under the same doctors; Lisa Bolton and Annette Danforth had been great friends.

Troy and Chad had been practically brothers since the day they were born. They learnt to crawl, walk and talk together. They learnt to ride bicycles together, learnt to drive together, and played basketball together. They had always been inseparable.

After Troy died, Chad seemed very unwilling to move out of Sharpay’s house; Troy’s memory hung around there so thickly that Chad could revel in it and feel like he’d never left, and the Bolton kids were so like their dad that it was comforting. Just proof that Troy had been there, and always would be. Eventually, he was persuaded to move out just after little Tiffany turned one; the house across the road was put up for sale and Taylor hinted that they could expand their family if they moved in there – this was the argument that eventually won it for Taylor, as Chad did want more kids (preferably a baby boy).

Over the years, Angel had grown up into a beautiful young woman – to Chad’s dismay, as he insisted the boys would be all over her before she reached double figures. She had the thick black hair of her mother, with definite Danforth curls livening it up, and she had the warm puppy-dog eyes of her dad’s as well. She was the biggest girly-girl in the world, and thrived on all things pink and fluffy. Chad was dismayed – Taylor was just happy that her baby had some intelligence along with the girliness. Often, Angel was top of the class in most subjects and her mom was already thinking of Harvard and Yale and Stanford…

Chad could almost hear Troy laughing, proclaiming that all girls were slightly girly, and that Chad was dumb for even thinking his daughter would be any different.

He could practically see Troy hugging Taylor and whispering that she shouldn’t already be pushing her expectations so high on the eight-year-old; she should let Angel enjoy life first.

Then, a little over a year ago, just after they finally unpacked the last box in their new house, Taylor discovered she was pregnant, to the joy of the family. When it was discovered that they were, in fact, expecting two new additions, Chad was delighted, literally running into Ryan’s house and yelling it, grabbing Gabriella in a huge bear hug, before going to repeat the action in Sharpay’s house.

Isabella Melanie and Cheyenne Stephanie were born three weeks before their due date (to Taylor’s joy as she was already overly uncomfortable). Each were absolutely perfect, with identical mops of black hair and confused deep blue eyes as they looked about their new surroundings. They were absolutely identical, and had Chad and Taylor guessing all through the first couple of months – as they got older, they looked less and less the same. Bella had big deep brown eyes like her older sister, and had kept her black hair. Cheyenne’s eyes had stayed that deep blue, much to her parents’ confusion. Then, they had discovered that Chad’s great-great grandmother was from England and had had blue eyes much like Cheyenne’s that could’ve skipped a generation or two. Cheyenne and Bella had the same hair, but Bella’s stayed against her head, while Cheyenne’s splayed out in curls.

Chad picked Bella up out of Angel’s arms, pressing a kiss to her head; they were only thirteen months old, but they were already developing their own little personalities.

Bella was undeniably a daddy’s girl; even Chad could see that. She loved to play with a toy xylophone, which Taylor was excited about as it showed a possible interest in the arts. She loved Taylor’s shoes – which Chad was less than pleased about. She also liked to chew books when she was teething.

From what he could tell, Bella was going to turn into a shoe-obsessed-xylophone-playing-book-hater.

Cheyenne was the most surprising of the Danforth spawn. She had, probably, the second most girly-sounding name, yet she was already showing an interest in sports. She liked to try on her dad’s sneakers and wobble about in them; going for a run with her dad owned Dora the Explorer; sporting annuals were better than eating works of the Brontë sisters, and her dad’s old basketball jersey was the best security blanket.

Troy would’ve loved to see the twins. Of course, they would be his goddaughters; Chad and Troy always agreed that somehow they would try and keep an active role in each others’ lives, even if it was through their children.

Chad would never forget the sparkly-eyed man who had always been his best friend. Neither would Albuquerque, it seemed – when his death became public, Troy pretty much became a local hero. Children were told if they behaved, they might wind up “like young Troy Bolton”. Girls were told that if they were always friendly, and nice to the boys, they might wind up with a nice Troy Bolton lad.

Chad momentarily studied Bella and pictured her with the Troy Bolton lad – a.k.a Shaun – but was overcome with a jealous fatherly rage and whispered “No guys till I’m in my grave, y’hear?”

Bella gurgled in response and wriggled until she was put down. She immediately toddled over to Angel and fell into her arms, followed shortly by Cheyenne who succeeded in forcing their big sister back into the snow and into a giggling heap of daughters.

Chad Danforth, now twenty-nine, held a hand out to his wife, Taylor, who was twenty-eight. Her birthday was in a week.

“Bless,” she cooed, smiling proudly at her daughters, “Such a beautiful sight,”

“Yes it is,” Chad replied quietly, but when Taylor turned, her husband’s eyes were only on her.

Taylor’s face split into a big grin, “I love you, y’know? You daft lunkhead basketball man,”

“I love you too,” Chad replied, leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers.

As Chad spent the day with his family, he got the feeling that, wherever he wound up, Troy Bolton was watching them.

The Evanses

Gabriella Evans had almost lost her whole world after Troy’s death.

No, this isn’t Sharpay’s drama-queeny-ness finally rubbing off on her. She could practically feel the fragments that were her life crumbling around her ears.

Sharpay had gone deep into depression after Troy died; she wouldn’t leave her home or see anybody, so Dylan and Shaun stayed with Gabriella and Troy, as did Chad and Taylor. So many people mourning in such a small house did nothing for anyone’s mental states and they definitely could not move on. Dylan, Angel and Zoë, bless their souls, had no idea what was going on and clearly never understood the concept of death. Taylor and Chad kept to their room, Ryan was barely in the house with burying himself in helping his sister and his job, which left Gabriella – poor, pregnant Gabby with no reason to hide from the questions – to explain to the kids what had happened to Troy.

The stress was unbearable; to see little Zoë’s face crumble as she anxiously repeated “What?”, over and over as understanding settled into her young self. To have to cope with so many grieving people in one house was devastating. So much so that three weeks after Troy died, Gabriella woke up one night to a terrible pain in her slightly swollen stomach and blood splattered over the sheets. She drove herself to hospital, leaving everyone asleep in the house (or in Ryan’s case, at his office) and went straight to hospital. There, she lost the baby.

She hadn’t even thought to call anyone, not even Ryan. All Gabriella wanted was for Troy, one of her best friends, to reappear, alive, and tell her that it would be okay, that there would be other children. But he didn’t; because he was gone forever as well, like her baby, like some twist of fate. And when she was told “irreparable damage” had been done to her womb and she could no longer have children, Gabriella came to the conclusion that the world hated her.

Not quite a month later, Gabriella was admitted for attempting to kill herself.

Ryan had come home after a frantic call from Taylor, who has panicking as Gabby had locked herself in the bathroom and wouldn’t come out. He hurried home and almost the moment he knocked on the door, Gabriella opened it, startling Ryan with her appearance; her hair was a tangled mess tied in a lazy ponytail, her eyes wide and full of anguish and her skin was pallid. One hand clutched her other wrist, but Ryan was too busy looking her in the eye to notice; her big brown eyes were bloodshot and the pupils were dilated, and she was looking at him like she hadn’t seen him in a long time.

“R-Ryan…” she stammered in a tiny, weak voice.

“Gabby? Are you okay?” Ryan asked hesitantly.

Gabriella’s face crumbled and tears dripped from her eyes, “I’m sorry, Ry.”

“What for?”

“I changed my mind…I didn’t want to; I didn’t mean to! I changed my mind, please let me change my mind!” Gabriella gabbled, her hand shaking violently.

“What did you change your mind about?” Ryan demanded.

Only then did he see her hand.

Her fist clutched her left wrist tightly, but that didn’t stop the liquid seeping through her fingers. The red was vivid against her pale hand, and Ryan suddenly felt the bottom of his world fall away.

The blood dripped from Gabriella’s wrist and landed with a soft dripdripdrip on the linoleum.

Every atom of Ryan’s body screamed at him to do something! His wife was practically bleeding to death in front of him and he could only stand there, staring, thoughts running around like a hyper four year old in his mind.

Why would she do this?

Is it my fault?

Is it the kids’ fault?

Why would she do this?

What can I do?

Have I lost her already?

Why would she do this?

Why didn’t she speak?

Why was she so desperate?

Why would she do this?!!

“Ryan, MOVE!!!”

Ryan half-turned, his eyes not leaving Gabby’s wrist, as Taylor barged past him, clearly knowing what to do. She grabbed a towel and pushed it against Gabriella’s wrist, muttering “Thank God the kids’ are in bed…”

“Chad!!” she bellowed, looking round Ryan, “Call a freaking ambulance, now!!”

Chad stepped out of his bedroom, rubbing his eyes tiredly, then he saw his friends’ faces and instantly ran down the hall and Ryan heard the familiar dialling.

For the rest of the evening, and into early morning, Ryan was jostled here and there, dragged up and downstairs and bullied into an ambulance while Chad stayed home with the kids. Taylor attempted to talk to him, as did various doctors and nurses, all of whom were worried he was in shock; which he was, I presume. He just stared at everyone, still wondering: Why would she do this?

It turned out Gabriella had severe depression, and after three months of rehab treating it, as well as continued therapy, she was allowed home, to children who were just happy she was still here, friends who were concerned and a cold husband, who still didn’t understand why she’d try to kill herself.

“I don’t know,” Gabriella would sigh everytime he’d bring it up, lying back weakly in bed, “It just seemed…right. You don’t understand how lost I was, Ry…”

“Don’t call me that.” Ryan would snarl, “You would’ve left me, your children, all of us…just because…because…I don’t even know why!! Maybe cos we were still caught up in Troy’s loss and didn’t all sob over you when you had a lesser tragedy!”

He would regret saying it instantly, but he always did. And she would always start crying, and get mad.

“Our child is as much of a loss as Troy freaking Bolton!!” she would bellow, generally followed with something thrown in his face.

This would lead to a quickly-arranged visit to the therapist’s office, and sometimes a trip to the hospital depending on her aim.

It seemed like their life – their whole marriage – was slowly slipping out of their control. Ryan was sure that what had happened had ruined the best thing to ever happen to him.

And he despised Troy Bolton for it.

Whenever he tried to talk to someone about it, they would always be to caught up with the fact he blamed Troy to do him any good.

“It isn’t Troy’s fault!” Sharpay would practically scream.

“Oh yeah, cos he planned to die, right?!” Taylor would snarl.

“How could you think that, you sick bastard?” Chad would mutter, turning away.

All too busy judging him to help him through his depression; his dark abyss; who cared about his pain, when Troy was dead?

His whole life seemed prepared to fall apart at the seams, when who should enter but Mimi. Although Ryan had doubts, thinking that maybe adopting this child wouldn’t help their marriage, Gabriella was certain that she was a gift from God, and their whole relationship was strengthened. Gabriella became happier, brighter, a proper soccer-mom. Ryan was happy and finally could leave Gabby alone instead of keeping and eye on her every second of the day, and Dylan adored his baby sister. Dylan grew up to be a smart boy like his mother, competing in academic decathlons and spelling bees, but he also had a talent for dancing and singing and was the school’s Theatre Boy. He also loved sports, and often would be out playing or racing with Zoë Bolton. Currently, his obsession was skiing and he had been nagging Zoë and his dad to take him out to a empty hill while Albuquerque had real snow, while Zoë would rather be out riding horses.

Odd children, Gabby would think as she looked at this two kids arguing over doing such dangerous activities!

Ryan thought, like his wife, that Mimi and their son were gifts from someone up there, but perhaps not God…

So every night, while Gabriella would pray to God and thank Him for every gift, namely Mimi and Dylan, Ryan would offer a silent thanks to Troy Bolton; he always knew his old friend would keep his eye on all of them.

The Boltons

The simple fact was, Tiffany Tory Bolton would never know her father. And that just broke her family’s heart. Not just her immediate family, but her various aunts and uncles to, like Taylor and Chad Danforth. The very idea that young Tiffany would grow up not knowing the wonderful person her dad was mortified them all.

What hurt Sharpay even more was how much like Troy she was. Little Tiffany was a little Tomboy, who spent her weeks running, playing soccer and basketball with siblings and cousins; she wasn’t like her sister and didn’t care so much about her appearance. Her nails were bitten down, her clothes were often muddy and she desperately wanted to cut her beautiful hair so it wouldn’t get in the way, but her mother couldn’t bear the idea. She had Troy’s hair - brunette with hints of natural blonde highlights. Zoë had the same, but hers was lighter with unnatural blonde highlights.

Every time Tiffany ran out the front door, clutching some form of ball to her chest, Sharpay would swallow back a lump in her throat, and whenever the youngster came home in trouble for attempting to feed a squirrel a bookmark (which happened a lot), Sharpay couldn’t help but laugh, tears sparkling in her eyes.

“Mommy,” Tiffany said one day, “Do I make you sad?”

Sharpay’s immediate reply was “What? Of course you don’t, munchkin! Why would you think that?”

“I dunno…it’s just, every time I do something normal, you look all sad,” Tiffany mumbled. Sharpay’s face fell and she leant down, dropping a kiss onto her youngest daughter’s head.

“I cry in a good way, pumpkin. Not because I’m sad. You are just so much like your daddy,”

And Tiffany would be proud of this answer because so many people said her dad was amazing, before running out to the empty-driveway clutching her father’s basketball, pulling her big sister along with her, ignoring Zoë whining that her hair was messy and that she wasn’t dressed for sports.

Sharpay sighed as she walked up the stairs with a load of laundry, absently looking at her engagement ring from Troy. She never took it off, and it warded men off from asking her out – she didn’t want them to anyway! Her heart would always be Troy’s.

It was almost midnight and God, was she tired!! This was a daily routine for her; still working so late while her children slept.

As she passed her youngest daughter’s room, she spied light shining under the door, and snuffling noises inside. Her suspicions aroused, she set the basket down and opened the door, walking inside.

The orange basketball light in the corner was aglow, and her daughter sat on her bed, her quilt wrapped around her shoulders and a red book in her lap. Her hair was mussed up, and her big blue eyes were studying the book intently. She looked up when her mother entered, guiltily. Sharpay frowned and stepped forward, picking the book up. She swallowed thickly when she saw it was her high school yearbook from junior year, open to a page about the Wildcats basketball team; a 17-year-old Troy Bolton, pre-Sharpay sex, pre-disappearances, pre-babies and responsibility, grinned up at her, his eyes a-sparkle and his hair flopping attractively over his eyes. He looked so young and handsome, and beside it was Sharpay’s comment; it was obviously her due to the bright pink ink and the ‘i’s were dotted with hearts.

‘Hey, Troy. Have a good summer and be sure not to completely lose contact, kay babes? Yes, I HAVE forgiven you for stealing my musical, haha :). Toodles, S xxx’

Sharpay smiled fondly at her own young, carefree image. Seemed like a lifetime ago now.

“Sweetie, did you get this from Mommy’s room?” Sharpay asked. Tiffany nodded, and Sharpay noticed for the first time that her eyes were shiny with tears.

“Tiff…?”

“Why didn’t I get to know him?” she asked suddenly, pulling her quilt even tighter around her little body, “Everyone knows him and everyone tells me how amazing he was and they just make me wanna know him more and I never can cos he’s dead.”

Sharpay flinched slightly at her baby’s words, but there were more important things to think about now.

“Baby…I’m sorry,” Sharpay whispered, sitting beside her and hugging her tightly. Tiffany clung back, whimpering.

“Mommy…”

“Yes, pumpkin?”

“…tell me a story,”

Sharpay frowned slightly; Tiffany never wanted to hear a story! She’d always tired herself out so completely that she would be unconscious in seconds.

Sharpay racked her brains for a moment before realizing exactly the right story. Silently, she stood, pulling the quilt with her, and pushed Tiff back so she was lying, before squeezing in beside her and covering both of them. Then, she tucked an arm around the six-year-old and began.

“Well…once upon a time, there was a young high-schooler called Sharpay; a drama queen, blonde, big brown eyes, a pretty girl actually, with plenty of talent. She had a brother, her best friend, Ryan. And one day, she met this other guy, handsome, athletic, bit buff actually…but you’re a bit young for that. Anyway, she fell in love with this guy. He was amazing, and his name was Troy Bolton…”

~The End~