The Start of Something New...er (Ryan and Sharpay)

[Sharpay Evans]

Sharpay lost all the logic that was just on her head a few seconds ago as they kissed, she didn't want to think at that moment. What was happening to her was what she had wanted all along, and she wouldn't want it to end so soon. This was what she has been looking for all along, where they really belong, where she belongs. Suddenly everything she had thought of that seemed more important than their relationship back then started to feel like just another challenge that they can go through together. She was starting to think that she wouldn't even need to go to Juilliard anymore, not if she wouldn't be with Ryan. Her back-up plan was U of A, after all, their dad has offered to help them too...if Juilliard doesn't work out, they can just go to U of A and still succeed, really anywhere as long as they're together, that was what she wanted all along. If only she had realized this earlier, they wouldn't have broken up.

It seemed as though Ryan was hesitating when she wasn't responding at first, she knew because he had stepped back. And knowing him, he was probably thinking of apologizing for what he did even when he didn't need to, so she felt like she needed to reassure him again. She needed to tell him a lot of things that he needs to know, like how much she really loves him, and how she really never stopped doing that. When he moved closer to her again, she slowly wrapped her arms around him, slowly holding him tighter to hers, eliminating all the little space left between them as they continued to kiss. They stood there like puzzle pieces fitting perfectly together, just as it had been from the beginning.

Their telepathy seemed to be working once again though, she could feel it, and this time she was sure they were really in sync with each other's thoughts. He got her answer with no words needed, and she was so glad for it because at that moment she was sure words would only fail her, and also because she didn't really want their moment to end. But as another loud cheering was heard from the party, Sharpay understood why Ryan had pulled away, she was about to as well. It was only then that she remembered they were still outside in a pretty much public place, and that there would be trouble if they were seen, unlike other couples. She could still feel Ryan's lips close to hers, his thumb running on her jawline, making her shiver slightly, her cheeks feeling so warm she could only imagine how much she was blushing at that moment.

It still seemed like a dream though, which made Sharpay just stare at him for a few seconds, waiting for him to just vanish and then she would wake up and feel stupid. The only proof that this was real was when she reached out and touched his face, he didn't disappear. Sharpay smiled, she had not touched him like this for a long time, she realized she had really missed him this much, more than she ever knows. "I love you," she whispered, her thumb brushing his cheek, "always have, always will." And she leaned up to give him a quick kiss.

[Ryan Evans]

Ryan's face slowly broke out into a smile as he caught the stunned look in her eyes as she continued to stare at him. As Sharpay placed her hand on his face he let out an involuntary sigh as he placed his free hand over hers, lacing their fingers slowly as he leaned closer again. He felt his body slowly heat up as she whispered the words that he'd been hanging to hear for months now, "I love you, alway have, always will." It was true that he'd heard her say "I love you" in many ways to him before, so it really was nothing new, but hearing her say it here mere centimeters away in the dank lighting of the East High parking lot it was as if he was just hearing it for the first time. When she leaned up to kiss him again he was glad for reprieve in talking as a soft smile curled on his lips as he kissed her gently, because at the moment he wasn't sure if he voice still worked or not, hoping to God that his thoughts would reformulate into some logical sentiment sooner rather than later.

When they broke apart again he cleared his throat as best as he could, lolling his neck back in forth in impatience as he tried to regain his voice. With one final cough he finally crack into a smile again as he tried his best to maintain eye contact with her and keep his heart beating at a steady pace all at once. "I love you too, Shar," He said slowly trying to make sure none of the words failed him now, which was only half working since he voice was cracking from his own haywire emotions. "out of anything that stopped over the past months, that was never one of them." He continued, his own voice now bordering a whisper as he continued to trace his hands over her slowly as he nodded along with his words to emphasize his point.

As soon as he stopped talking, the silence fell between them again, but this time not in an awkward sense, it just felt surreal to be back like this again, especially when he had been so convinced that maybe they just weren't to be. Clearly, he mused with a barely audible chuckle, this was not his year for correct presumptions. The soft whir of a nearby passing car shook him from his thoughts again as he cleared his throat. "So where exactly does this leave us?" He questioned, feeling like it was a little obvious, but if they had agreed to end it in the first place, it only seemed right they agree to this again as well.

[Sharpay Evans]

Sharpay felt electricity shot through her hand as Ryan placed his hand over hers gently, their fingers slowly intertwining just like the way she was used to, exactly the feeling she has always loved ever since. Her heart was threatening to burst from too much happiness as they kissed again, even if it was just short and sweet, the feeling lingered on. After they broke apart again, she giggled silently, biting on her lip as she swayed their adjoined hands. It was as if she was once again in love for the first time, that was how it felt at that moment. She continued to just look at Ryan, not even saying a thing, just looking at him like she had never done before, the smile never leaving her lips. His simple actions, even just the little way he reacts made her giggle, he just seemed too perfect for words. She let out a sigh as she looked into his eyes, she didn't really expect her prom night to turn out be as perfect as this.

As Ryan cleared his throat, Sharpay looked up at him with her eyebrow raised playfully, knowing that he would say something. She couldn't help but grin as he kept on clearing his throat, his voice seemed lost too as well as hers. As he started to speak those words though, she could feel her emotions mixing once again, and it was almost too much for her to take. They both loved each other so much, they have always did, that apparently their break up made no sense at all. It just made them miserable. She couldn't even speak now, she didn't know what to say. Her mind stopped working right there and then, so she just threw her arms around him, kissing him again as her way to express what she really felt at that moment, but had to pull away fast as the sounds of the ongoing party inside reached her once again, reminding them again that they weren't really alone just yet.

When she finally released him from her tight hold, she reached for his hand again, lacing their fingers together. As a car passed by, Sharpay felt like they needed to go somewhere more secluded, so she started leading Ryan to a darker part of the area. When he asked her the very same question he had asked on that summer night where it all began, she stopped walking and faced him fully again, placing a finger over his lips. "Hold on, let me try it again..." she said with a wide smile on her face, her eyes brightening up in excitement. She cleared her throat and closed her eyes as if deeply concentrating on something.

If you would let me, I would love to be your girlfriend...again...for now, and for as long as you would want me to be.

She opened her eyes and bit on her lip, anxiously waiting for his response.

[Ryan Evans]

It seemed like a much longer amount of time had passed since Ryan last spoke, and it was only when he sputtered with a cough that he realized he'd been holding his breath. It wasn't even if he thought she'd reject him, because if anything Sharpay was subtle was not one of them, which was slowly starting to work in his favor again. He continued to watch her curiously as the expressions on her face changed slightly as the seconds ticked by, knowing that even telepathy couldn't sort out the complexities of the emotional reactions of girls. He was about ready to open his mouth to speak again hoping now that he wasn't dreaming, or worse, that this wasn't Sharpay but was actually a cyborg. All his paranoid thoughts shot out of his head however when she kissed him again, her arms snaking tight around him again.

It was only when Sharpay pulled away again that Ryan remembered where they were, he chuckled as he realized they were still in the parking lot, still very much visible to anyone who would happen to walk by, and judging by how dark it was outside the looming threat of them being discovered was growing as their prom night was slowly coming to a close. His eyes flitted to the heavy gym doors that weren't even 30 yards away before returning his gaze to Sharpay. "We have to stop doing that," he warned slowly, his voiced hushed in amusement as he stepped close to her again, or maybe she had moved closer to him it was getting harder to tell as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "...well I mean at least here," he added as he mulled over his words again, thinking that he didn't really want to stop kissing her, but he didn't want his prom night to end spent explaining to the throng of formally dressed teenagers why he was kissing his sister in plain sight.

When Sharpay grabbed for his hand, he gladly laced his fingers in hers, understanding as another car passed by them that they had clearly pushed their luck too many times today already. Ryan let out a faint sigh as he let Sharpay lead him, his thumb once again tracing over her hand as he looked down to where they were linked thinking that if anything their sheer physically compatibility should serve as the answer to anything he had asked. He barely noticed that Sharpay had stopped walking until he almost bumped into her, his shoes scuffing lightly as he caught himself again and shooting her a grin before readjusting and standing straight again. His smile twitched lightly when she stood square in front of him, her finger on his lips before he even had a chance to mindlessly ramble to her again. When she finally spoke his met her with a perplexed face, his eyes narrowing slightly wondering what she had meant by "trying again", his expression only becoming more confused when she closed her eyes. When he heard what she said he dropped her hand almost in shock, his eyes widening like he'd been struck by lightening as a giddy look crossed his face. As soon as she opened her eyes again he couldn't fight the full beaming smile that broke across his face as she bit her lip slightly just as she did earlier.

Standing opposite her, he felt as if there was no helping his cause now, whenever he tried to speak out loud it felt like his mouth was too dry, and his thoughts all seemed to be amassing in one giant mental stutter as he continued to just stare, knowing his reactions must look borderline helpless if not crazy. He let out a deep breath and trace his hand on hers just rolling his eyes at himself before just deciding to nod and lean in to kiss her again as he twitched like mad now, his excitement getting the better of him as he smacked with full force into her forehead. "jeeze, that was smooth" he muttered, rubbing his own head softly before leaning down and kissing her forehead lightly. "sorry," he mumbled softly into a laugh as he continued to dot kisses on her forehead. "Because I'm afraid of trying again right now, just take that as a yes," His voice almost jumping the octave in excitement towards the end. He let out another laugh when he pressed his forehead to hers again, shaking his head slowly. "So before I make any more suave moves tonight, do you want to head out of here?" He asked softly his hand tracing up her arm again. "Because I think I've had about all of prom that I can handle." He finished, his tone bordering on exasperation as the faint sounds of the prom met his ears again.

[Sharpay Evans]

Sharpay's heart nervously hammered on her chest as she waited for Ryan's response, and as he suddenly dropped her hand, her heart almost sank along with it that was until she saw his giddy face looking right back at her, making her not hold back on her smile anymore. She started giggling as she continued to watch the many emotions cross his face, his body reacting quite violently, she thought as she watch him twitch, along with it. His voice once again seemed lost since he was not speaking, and the Ryan she knew, her Ryan, would have spoken a lot of things already, that's just how he is, that was one of the many things she loved about him. It was really surprising to see that he has not really change so much like the way she had thought since their break-up, it seemed like they both just had those fronts for each other and for the rest of the school these past few months ago.

She was still giggling at him, waiting for the moment that he would calm down even though she knew it wouldn't come so soon. After all, if she was in his position, she would have done the same, if not worse. She was actually still feeling like that too, like she wanted to scream it out loud, but she knew she couldn't do that, like he said, at least not here. She grinned as she stared back at him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze as it held hers once again. Her heart started to beat like crazy once again as he started to lean in again, just when he said that they should stop doing it here, but at the moment she just didn't care. She was eagerly waiting for his lips to be on hers again, but instead his forehead made contact with hers first, bumping with more force. "Ow," she rubbed her forehead, but not even feeling that much pain, she was just too glad to see the old Ryan, her Ryan back. She chuckled as she finally felt like they are really back together, and every missing part of them too, she wouldn't even want to trade this suave guy for another.

As his lips made contact with her forehead though, she couldn't help but close her eyes, it was a refreshing feeling. Everytime Ryan does that to her, she always feels so secured, like she doesn't even have to worry about anything. She giggled once again as she opened her eyes to meet his, nodding at his answer. "I love you," she whispered once again, her arms wrapping tight around his body. When he suggested heading out, she nodded much too eagerly, at the moment she wanted nothing more than to be alone with Ryan in a much safer place than this. She was so ready to go too, but that was until she remembered they did have people they had left alone inside. "Um, Ry..." she started, an amused expression on her face as she thought, "what about Kelsi?" she asked, knowing that he has not really ditched her just yet, Ryan is much too nice for that.

[Ryan Evans]

Ryan felt as if it would be impossible, he would never get used to her saying those three simple words to him again, at least outside of that platonic sense that they had grown so used to over time. "I love you too," he answered back happily as he stayed leaned close to her, not wanting to interrupt this moment, even though he knew they could stay like this forever, solely because if they stayed in that spot people would eventually find them and stare at how ridiculous they looked. He couldn't help but burst out laughing as he watched Sharpay's enthusiastic nod, it seemed like they were back to their evasive social issues again, and just as always he couldn't care in the slightest.

He was about to ask how they intended to get home when suddenly he was reminded about Kelsi, who was probably still standing inside completely oblivious to his departure. "Riiiight..." he laughed nervously as he looked over in the direction of the school. "Kelsi..." he petered out again, feeling a little like a jerk that he had forgotten his date, but he had more important things happen to him so he felt like he could be forgiven at least this once. "Give me...50 seconds, a minute tops." He said with a nod as he stepped from her grasp. "Start counting...now." He shouted the last part as he started sprinting back to the gym as fast as he could. "Oh, and you might want to break it to baker boy." he shouted back to her with his cupped hands, sticking out his tongue lightly before making an about face again and pulling the doors open as fast as he could.

As soon as he was back inside the gym again, his pace had hardly stilled as he ran through the crowded dance floor, not even sure if he had interrupted the flow in the middle of a slow song or not, he was a little too hell bent on getting as far from here as possible anyways, so it didn't seem to matter right now. He mumbled several unintelligible apologies as he kept bumping in to people on the way back to where he had left Kelsi. An amusing thought crossed his mind as he thought that while people were mostly oblivious it still wasn't every day that Ryan Evans ran through the East High gym like a mad man, in fact he couldn't think of any time that had happened before. When he finally caught sight of Kelsi he was far from surprised to see her exactly where he had assumed, still chatting with the now less than enthused DJ. When he approached, he finally slowed his pace with an awkward stumble, the loud scuff of his shoes only disguised under the pounding music. "Uhhhh, so," He started a little stupidly, his hands stuffing in his pockets awkwardly. He wasn't sure if there was any graceful way to leave his prom date at prom, so he did the next best thing, lied. "I hate to say this but I have to head out early," He sighed, trying to seem reasonably dejected by this prospect. "Shar's...sick" He answered as fast as he could. "And our parents are..." He tried to register where they were last and all he could think was only god knows where "Out of town." He decided was the safest and most honest answer. "But the limo is still yours past midnight," He offered, glad that for once he had paid a separate driver, it seemed like fate in this case. "and I think you and the rest of the Wildcats can find some use for that." He chuckled as he nodded to the table where most of his friends had all congregated. He wheeled around to leave again only to then turn back and face her again and smile at her "I had a really great night, by the way." He said, hoping that she'd construe that he meant with her, and not with the amazing girl outside who he wanted nothing more than to get back to.

It seemed like only a second had passed when he finally tore back across the gym, going through the routine of bumping and apologizing before body slamming the door and stumbling out onto the pavement and sprawling out before leaping up again and dusting himself off. "I'm okay," he shouted over in the general direction of where he knew Sharpay was before slowly walking back over to her, trying to keep calm, but all he really wanted to do was run over to be close to her once more. "so...now are we all set to go?" He asked with an eager impatience as he laced his hand in hers again, his foot tapping excitedly as he leaned over and kissed her cheek softly.

[Sharpay Evans]

Sharpay squeezed Ryan tighter one last time before letting go of him slowly, chuckling as she noticed that he looked like he had just remembered he had a "date" for the prom. "You go and break the little girl's heart," she nudged him as she stuck her tongue out watching him sprint towards the gym doors once again, "and I'll break it to cookie boy just because he's slow enough to notice," she shouted right after, rolling her eyes and letting out an exasperated sigh at the thought. At least this would be her last date with Zeke, she would never date him again after this ever, she swore to herself. She giggled as she watched him literally run towards the gym like his life depended on it, she just loves her crazy boyfriend so much...she felt her heart beating so fast again as that thought sank in. Ryan is her boyfriend again. They were finally reunited after those months, and she couldn't help but think as she compared how they were apart and now, that that was really how it was meant to be.

As soon as Ryan was out of her sight, Sharpay skipped back to the bench they were sitting on earlier, that was where she had left her pink purse. She quickly fished for her cellphone, and her fingers moved rapidly, typing just a simple "Have 2 go.Sick.Tootles! xoxo" in just a few seconds then sent it to her supposed to be date for the night, Zeke. After that, she proceeded to call the driver of their limo, and threatened him as well that if he doesn't get there in exactly 3 minutes he would be out of job by tomorrow. After putting the phone back in her purse, she walked back to the spot Ryan had left her, anxiously waiting for his return. She was surprised though that she didn't have to wait long, she stuck with his words. As soon as she got to the same spot, the gym doors opened once again as if it had kicked Ryan out and sent him flying and falling on the ground. She was worried at first but as soon as he leaped up again and dusted himself off, she let out a loud laugh, watching him go back to her, and her eyes never leaving his face as she shook her head.

Sharpay squeezed Ryan's hand as soon as they were linked again, her giggling still not stopping, even more when he kissed her cheek. "Almost. I already called our driver...he should be here soon," she winked at him, her lips forming a mischievous grin as she remembered the threat inside her head. As she finally saw the limo in sight, Sharpay let out a victorious grin, so glad that her intimidation still worked. "Well here he is, that was fast," she winked at Ryan once again knowing that he would know if she had done something mischievous, before leading him towards the limo as it came to a stop in front of them, but as an idea struck on her, she turned to face him again. "Oh, I now know where I want to go!" She exclaimed excitedly with her eyes wide before finally pulling him towards the limo again.