Thank you to everyone who has been reading this story :-D I know it's moving kind of slowly, but things will start to pick up in the next couple chapters. The first two chapters were really just background information to bring you guys up to speed as to what's been going on with Chad and Sharpay since high school.

Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter and I can't wait to see what you guys think.

Special thanks to -BabyBleuxCullenQueen-, xdontforget, kyw0202 and MissCar for reviewing the last chapter.

Chapter 3

The beginning of winter break had been busy for her and Chad. She had been in the thick of rehearsals for the winter program and he had been gearing up for the upcoming basketball season.

In the four days prior to Christmas Eve, Sharpay had found herself performing her heart out on the stage; it had been at a U of A winter program when she was four that had made her want to sing, dance and act. With that memory in mind, she had put her all into her performance even though it had just been a small part.

The busyness of the winter program rehearsal and performing schedules hadn’t allowed Sharpay to enjoy the holiday like she had in the past, but she hadn’t minded. The final performance ahd taken place the night before Christmas Eve and she had planned to spend the following day soaking in the sights, smells, sounds, feelings, and tastes of Christmas.

She had woken up on Christmas Eve morning and had taken a shower before deciding she needed coffee. Dressed in a robe with her wet hair tucked under a towel, she had greeted Chad, who’d come out of his room, and then had descended the stairs. She had frozen had on the bottom step when she had seen a sleeping figure on the couch. Upon closer inspection had revealed that the person on the couch had been none other than Troy Bolton.

Wanting to know why Troy was crashed on the couch, she had quietly ran up the stairs to talk to Chad. Reaching the top of the stairs, she had heard the shower running and Chad humming along to a tune in his head. Not wanting to wait for him to get out, she had opened the bathroom door then had slammed it shut after going in to get his attention.

“Sure, come right in,” he muttered from behind the shower curtain.

“What the hell is Troy Bolton doing on my couch?” She demanded.

“First of all, it’s our couch and secondly, if he’s doing something other than sleeping, I had nothing to do with it.”

“But why is he here?”

Chad’s explanation for his best friend’s presence had been that they had gone to a party the night before and had decided that Troy should sleep over instead of going home tipsy. Then, instead of giving her a chance to respond, he had ordered her out of the bathroom and had promised that he and Troy would be gone before she knew it.

She had humped in response and had flushed the toilet out of spit. She had then opened the bathroom door and had run right into Troy, causing the towel her hair had been wrapped in to come undone. She had had to grab his shoulders to keep from rocking backwards and had looked right into his deadly blue eyes in the process. It had been nearly eighteen months since she had seen him, but save for the morning stubble on his face he looked exactly the same. He looked especially good from the angle she had from his arms.

Shaking her head, she had taken her hands off his shoulder then had pulled the bathroom door closed.

“Chad will be out soon,” she told him before she had all but run to her bedroom.

She had taken her time getting dressed and getting her hair and makeup done. By the time she had left her room, she hoped that Troy and Chad had already left, but when she had reached the stairs she had heard them talking downstairs. She had turned to go back to her room, but had stopped when she had heard Troy grilling Chad about their run in that morning.

“She came out of the bathroom with wet hair and in a robe and said you were still in there,” Troy had stated.

“We’re just friends,” Chad had defended him. “We only have one bathroom and she had to brush her teeth.”

“Yeah, right,” Troy had retorted. “Next you’re going to tell me I don’t have to sleep with one eye open because she won’t rape me when she has the chance.”

Sharpay had felt like she had been slapped in the face. Sure she had gotten a little carried away in high school, but she would never force herself on him; she had never been that desperate. Before she had been able to get down the stairs, Chad had come to her defense and told Troy that Sharpay was nothing like she had been in high school.

When things had gotten quiet, Sharpay had decided it was time to make her presence known. She had come down the stairs and had walked into the kitchen where the guys had been. “Morning,” she had greeted.

“Morning,” they had chorused and Sharpay had noticed that Chad’s voice had been a little off.

“What are you guys doing today?” She had asked them.

“We’re going to do some last minute shopping,” Troy had said. He had then surprised her, and judging by the look that had appeared on Chad’s face had surprised him as well, by asking her to come shopping with them. “God knows Chad needs help after last years’ Wicked Cool Mom mug.”

What had followed had been a list of teasing put downs between the two best friends that had seemed to revive Chad’s friendly side.

“At least I get my mom things she can actually use.”

“At least my mom actually gets things she wants.”

“At least I don’t live with my girlfriend’s mom.”

Finally, when she hadn’t been able to stand another minute of it she had cut Troy off and had declared that she would go shopping with them as long as they didn’t fight like that at the mall.

Their shopping trip had lasted two hours and after dropping Troy off, Chad and Sharpay had returned home. She had helped Chad pick out a heart shaped pendant for his mom that hah had five smaller hearts attached to it each the birthstone of one of her children. She had also convinced Troy to use the giftcard he had gotten for his mom to get her a gardening kneeler/seat, something she had known his mom, an avid gardener, would love.

That evening, she and Chad had sat down by their little Christmas tree and had exchanged presents since they were both staying the night with their parents. He had let her open her gift first and her hand had flown to her mouth in shock when she had seen the set of amethyst earrings and the amethyst setting on a wooden ring base that she had seen in the store while they had been shopping.

Speechless, she had thrown her arms around his neck and hugged him. After, she had asked him how he’d known she wanted it and he had admitted that he had seen her admiring it while they had been waiting for his mom’s necklace.

When he had reached for his gift, the realization that he had spent nearly double what she had spent settled in and she had fought to back the temptation to snatch his gift back and lie about it being the wrong one. But the look on his face when he had seen the picture of the new Redhawks logoed barbecue coverd had made her breathe a sig of relief. He had been so excited over the cover that he had made her go outside with him to put it on his small barbecue and hadn’t seemed to mind the fact that the cover was three sizes too big.

After a few minutes the coldness of the evening had started to get to them, so they had gone inside and had finished gathering up all of the stuff they would need at their respective parents’ house. Then he had driven her to her parents’ house and had come in for a few minutes to say hello to her parents and Ryan then left, leaving her to spend time with her family.

After their tradition of take-out Chinese food for dinner that night, her family had gone into the TV room and, just like old times, had watched White Christmas. She had felt a home squeezed onto the couch between her mom and brother, but had felt like something was missing, she just hadn’t been sure what it was at that time.

It had felt weird sleeping in her childhood room again and she had struggled to fall asleep, but sometime between midnight she had. It had been a text message from Chad wishing her a Merry Christmas that had woken her up shortly after eight in the morning. She had replied to his message with a return of the pleasantry and had thanked the ‘jerk’ for waking her up.

Unable to fall back asleep, she had gotten up and had taken a shower before getting dressed. Once she had gotten downstairs, she had found her parents drinking coffee in the formal dining room and had learned Ryan had gone over to Kelsi’s house. She had then fixed herself a cup of coffee then had goen into the TV room to find a parade on.

“MOM?! DAD?! SHAR?!” She had heard Ryan yell an hour later as he had come in the front door.

“We’re engaged!” Ryan had announced before Sharpay and had her parents had fully made into into the hall where he and Kelsi had been standing.

Congratulations had been made and it was decided that Kelsi, whose family had already done their present opening, would stay for breakfast. She had been sure they had surprised Kelsi when instead of having somebody else cook their breakfast, they family had worked in the kitchen together making their large breakfast.

During breakfast, Sharpay had felt like the fifth wheel and had wished that Chad was there with her. The thought had surprised her at first, but it had made sense after a second, Chad had become her best friend and she had spent a lot of time with him. After breakfast, Sharpay had put dishes away in silence and as her mom and Kelsi had talked about wedding details; she hadn’t been sure where her dad and brother had slipped off to, but she had had a hunch that they had been smoking celebratory cigars in her dad’s office.

After presents had been opened, Ryan had taken Kelsi home and had hung out with her family while Sharpay had relaxed for awhile before she had helped her parents cook Christmas dinner. Ryan had returned a few minutes before they had sat down to eat and Chad had showed up just as they were finishing. While Chad had eaten the piece of pie her mom had offered him, Sharpay had gathered her stuff and when he had finished, she had said goodbye to her family.

On the way to his parents’ house, they had dropped her stuff (and the pie her mom had given him) at their house and had changed into warmer clothes. Then they had joined his family and the Boltons’ to take a tour of the nearby neighborhoods decorated that had been with lights. She had walked between Chad, who kept his arm wrapped around her shoulder the whole time, and Troy.

They had walked for nearly an hour then had headed back to Chad’s parents’ house where they had warmed up with hot chocolate, which had nearly come out her nose when Troy, Chad and his brothers had performed a rowdy dance to the Russian dance from the Nutcracker.

It had been after midnight when Chad had helped Sharpay up and they had said their goodbyes to everyone. He had then driven them home and they had gone to bed.

The day after Christmas, Chad and Sharpay had driven Troy, who had wanted to get out before the snow storm the weather man was predicting hit, to the airport and as they had driven home it started to snow. With the weather man reporting that it wasn’t likely to stop snowing anytime soon (and at their mothers insistent), they had stopped at the grocery store and had stocked up on things they would need then went home.

When they had woken up the following morning there had been six feet of snow outside and more falling, they had opted to stay inside and watch movies; a decision that had been repeated for the days following.

By New Years Eve, they had both been ready to escape the confines of their house and had planned to go to a party nearby. They had gotten dressed up nice, him in a pair of khaki slacks and a black button down shirt and her in a black satin spaghetti strapped dress that fell to her knees. They had pulled on their winter coats and Chad had gone outside to test the walkway, but had slipped on the icy walkway in the process and had landed on the cement with a thud. With Chad complaining of a bruised ass, they had begrudgingly decided to stay home and he had gone upstairs to change into dry clothes while she had made hot chocolate.

Ten minutes later, they had found themselves sitting on the couch sipping hot chocolate, him in a pair of plaid pajama pants and a white t-shirt and her in her black dress. She had felt silly for not changing, but she had bought the dress for New Years Eve and she was going to wear it. Of course, while he had been upstairs, she had taken off her heels and had taken off the pantyhose she had worn more to stay warm than for fashion.

They had watched a couple movies and had cuddled under a blanket until eleven thirty when they changed the channel to watch the ball drop. Then had counted down with the people on TV and when the clock had struck twelve, she had pressed her lips against his.

The close proximity they’d had for days had fueled the fire as he had pulled her into his lap and they had continued to kiss. Her tongue had slipped into his mouth as his hands had run over the smooth satin of her dress, sending shivers up her spin. He had wrapped his arms around her body tightly then had shifted their position so she had been laying on the couch and he had been on top of her. She had pulled the hem of his shirt up and had broken the kiss long enough to free his upper body from it then had run her hands down his smooth back, feeling his muscles tighten as they embraced.

Her eyes had fluttered close as his lips had kissed down her neck to the top of her dress as his hands had slid down her body. He had taken a gentle hold on the hem of her dress then had pulled it up and over her body, leaving her in a pair of black panties. His mouth had found one of her already hard nipples and had sucked on it while one of his hands played with the other nipple, which had caused a throaty moan to escape her lips.

When he had broken the contact between their bodies, she had looked up at him in confusion.

“Grab your dress.” His voice had been low and husky.

She had as she had been told and had followed him up the stairs. She had tossed her dress in front of her bedroom door then had followed him to his bedroom. She had sat down on the edge of his bed and had watched as he had stripped all his clothes, revealing his hard manhood. As he had opened up a condom, she had slid off her panties and had tossed them on the floor then had positioned herself in the middle of his bed.

He had climbed onto the bed and had positioned himself over her then had slid his manhood deep inside of her. Their lips had found each other again and her hands had weaved through his short hair as he had slid in and out of her. His pace had sped up as they both had neared their release. He had come with a groan and she had followed a few minutes later.

He had collapsed next to her on to the bed, his chest rising and falling with every breath he had taken. She had waited until he had fallen asleep before she had kissed his cheek and had grabbed her panties before going to her room. She had pulled on one of his t-shirts that she’d “borrowed” to use as a nightshirt and had climbed into bed, falling asleep with a satisfied smile on her face.

Tune in next week to see what brings Troy home for good and if Gabriella is with him.