Title: Once in a Moment

Rating: Teen to Mature

Summary: Finally reunited, Sharpay and Troy believed it would be smooth sailing, but they're quickly finding out being normal is often a lot more challenging than being special. And a new kind of danger is creeping up on them from behind.

Notes: Obviously this is the sequel to Forever in a Chance and I know, I know, this was supposed to go out at the end of December, but my health is poor, and has been for quite a while. I've spent the past month in the hospital. But I'm out now and writing again. Of course during that period of time this fic decided to spawn itself from five parts into god knows how many. It's going to be another long adventure.

Warnings: As this is a fic about teenagers, expect questionable situations, adult language, sexually active relationships, and all that other stuff that comes with being a teenager.

Disclaimer: I do not claim to own any of the High School Musical characters, plots or themes which are the direct property of Disney and their affiliates. Nor do I have any money in which to be sued with, considering I am a college student and I'd pay my student loans off before any lawsuit, so don't waste your time. However, any characters not recognizable to the two previously existing HSM movies are mine, and I will prosecute without prejudice if they pop up anywhere else without my permission.

Chapter One: How Everything Changes

Sharpay hadn't exactly been officially enrolled as a Wildcats high school student when she, Ryan and Sam had coordinated her surprising Troy during his audition. In fact she'd only been on campus that very day for the first time, which had left her so very worried she stand out or someone would recognize her as she drifted around more than a little lost, easy to spot in bright pink. Ryan had slipped off earlier, leaving her alone as Henry chose to follow him instead with a slight limp that reminded Sharpay every time she saw it about how close they'd all come to losing their lives. They all lived with scars, some mental, and some like Henry, were physical.

She'd eventually found her way to the auditorium and with just enough time to signal to Kelsi her arrival, hoping Sam had spoken with the girl who clearly still held some kind of grudge against her. Sharpay didn't particularly blame her, after all, Kelsi and Gabriella were friends, but Sharpay knew she was not one to suffer grudges long. And as she spoke succinctly and sharply to Kelsi, Sharpay could already tell they'd never be anything more than acquaintances who dealt with each other for the sake of mutual friends. Sharpay was fine with that, as long as the piano player did her part in surprising Troy.

Then she'd sang, taking only too much joy in the utter glee and shock on Troy's handsome face. It had seemed to her in the past that he did all the surprising, and she wanted to do her part.

Afterwards they'd only had brief moments together, necking in the hallway like the teenagers they were until a teacher happened to stroll past and warned them against such public displays. Ryan and Sam were next to them all too soon, reminding the pair that Troy was needed in his next class and Sharpay and Ryan (and a glaring Henry who'd only just spotted them, proving Ryan was only getting better at losing him) had to return home to prepare to the following day when they'd officially join the student body.

"Pick you up tomorrow?" Troy had asked her, holding her hand only a little desperately.

"Oh," she'd sighed joyfully. "I'd forgotten. You're driving now, aren't you? Never thought I'd see the day."

"Why not?" He'd frowned at her.

She'd smirked, shaking loose his hand. "Driving requires quite a bit of control, and lets face it, Troy, you're a tad more passive than the average kid."

Troy knew it sounded like an insult, but he understood her at once. She was only saying what he'd been originally thinking. And driving did make him nervous. He liked to go the speed limit. He didn't change lanes unless he had several car lengths of space, and when confronted with an aggressive driver he always submitted rather than engage in any kind of confrontation.

He also knew Sharpay meant that his lack of great amounts of testosterone was a good thing in her eyes, not only because she liked to play alpha dog most of the time. She liked him sweet. She liked him careful. She'd fallen in love with him a specific way and she didn't want him to change for anything. He had no problem with that.

"Here's my new address." She'd pressed a slip of paper into his hand. "Seven thirty sharp. Don't be late, Bolton. You know I detest being late. I'll be driving us if you are."

If Sharpay drove anything like she talked, or loved or lived, Troy knew he was scared to death to get in a car with her. But that was okay, because there were plenty of other things about her that didn't scare him, and he could live with the driving if necessary--or at least he hoped so.

Troy hadn't looked at the address on the piece of paper Sharpay had slipped him until the following morning as he slotted his key into his car's lock. He knew the area, surprised at once that she was now residing in a portion of the city with modest homes. Sharpay was a lot of things, but never modest, and he'd already seen the kind of money Sharpay and her family had. It boggled his mind.

Despite a traffic jam in front of the nearby elementary school (resulting in Troy being reminded quite depressingly of his little brother who was not starting the school year on time) he managed to make it just in time to Sharpay's house. He honked his horn twice and took a good look at it.

He thought maybe he'd been mistaken earlier. It was small and modest, but all Sharpay Evans. It was bright yellow, a pleasing tone and not at all abrasive, with a white outline that complimented the house quite nicely. There was a modest yard, littered with bright blue, pink, white and yellow flowers, and he even thought he saw a purple or two, that Troy was sure she tended to herself, as she had a bit of green thumb so unlike him.

The house was only one story, but he could tell it extended back quite a way, providing for at least three bedrooms and a backyard that Troy imagined was just as bright and colorful as the front.

And from the front porch wind chimes hung, ringing softly in his ears with the gentle breeze which also rocked the swinging chair situated on the porch as well.

It was so beautiful and perfect on the outside, so like Sharpay, but on closer inspection he could see all the things that made the house more than just generic. Like Sharpay, there were soft cracks that showed just enough imperfection to provide a feeling of authenticity. The house was everything Sharpay was, but especially unique.

She appeared in the doorway a moment or two after his honks, Henry following behind her.

He hopped out at once, charging up the sidewalk to catch her in a morning hug and breathe in her wonderfully feminine scent.

"You're on time," she remarked almost regretfully, though with a smile.

"And I will be every time," he told her, kissing only her cheek as Henry watched him carefully.

He took her book bag for her and asked her, "Got everything? Your schedule?"

She nodded. "Yesterday."

"Good." Troy looked over to Henry. "Ready to take a ride in my car for once?"

"Actually," Sharpay said, looking to Henry over her shoulder. "We're going to go it alone today."

Troy paused, looking at her quite confused. "What do you mean."

Henry said swiftly, "You show up on time, I walk her to your car, you bring her home on time, and you retain the amount of trust necessary for me not to hold your hand as you cross the street."

Troy smiled up at him. "Thanks."

Henry grunted, and Troy decided that was enough for him.

"Ryan need a ride?" Troy asked, steering Sharpay towards his car.

She rolled her eyes. "He blew out of here more than half an hour ago, going to do god knows what with Sam, Fulton trying desperately to keep up without running."

When Troy had gotten her in the car and seating himself, he asked her, "Fulton?" He started the car, making sure to keep his eyes on the road and not her, no matter how hard the temptation was.

"Yeah," she answered. "I guess he's going to stick with Ryan for the most part, and Henry is going to be with me, mostly because I think Henry likes you a lot more than Sam. Henry knows you're a lot more honorable to me than Sam is towards my brother."

Troy cut his eyes to her for just a moment. "Not that honorable," he mumbled, feeling his face flush when her hand settled dangerously on his inner thigh in response.

"I hope not," she laughed in response, "because you're quite hard to resist, Troy Bolton."

"Fulton?" he prompted her, trying to keep his voice level. "How is he?"

"There's some heart damage," she told him seriously, hand moving from his thigh back to her lap. "Not enough to earn him a new heart, but he's on some meds, and he has to keep pretty calm these days. No running, not heavy physical activities, and much to his dismay, no chasing after wayward Evans. Ryan is under strict orders not to loose Fulton on purpose or aggravate him and Ryan cares enough about him to try and follow Daddy's orders."

"Oh." Troy took a deep breath. It was hard to imagine Fulton, who so easily was boisterous and loud, being quiet and controlled. It would take some getting used to. "No offense, because I do really like Fulton, but why did your dad let him keep his job. He isn't exactly fit to be dealing with the kind of stress his job creates."

"Fulton is family," she replied easily enough. "He's been with us for a while, and he's risked his life lots of times for us, and he almost lost it last year. He's a good man, trustworthy, and daddy knows that even with his heart now, he's irreplaceable. Plus, Fulton has his family to support, his brother's hospital bills to pay, and daddy knows that Fulton won't take handouts, so the best compromise was to let him continue to work for us, but cut back on his load, just not his pay. You get what I'm saying?"

Troy nodded. "Yeah. Your dad is a good guy, Sharpay. A lot of guys would have just dropped him on the side of the road. Your dad didn't need to do this."

"Daddy takes care of his own," Sharpay said with such pride that Troy could actually feel her smile.

"When do I get to see him?" Troy asked, taking his eyes off the road when they came to a stop sign. "I have a lot to thank him for. You know he's footing the bill for Teddy's hospital stay, right?" Troy wasn't sure how they would have gotten along without the financial help. His parents had a good deal of medical insurance, but they'd hit their cap months ago, and they were a middle to upper class family with two parents bringing in good incomes, but with the medical equipment demands their bank accounts were draining rapidly. Sharpay and Ryan's father had saved them a lifetime of debt and ruined credit.

Sharpay looked over at him suddenly, meeting his eyes. "I didn't," she answered honestly. "You could probably talk to him over the phone some time next week."

"What?"

"Daddy is in Washington," she said, nudging him gently to continue driving. "Don't get me wrong, there are still dangers out there, but as it turns out a lot more people wanted Pao dead than actually alive. So daddy is off rebuilding his connections, helping to tie up the case against Pao and his known associates, and he sent Ryan and me here, because he knew it was where we wanted to be and he trusted you to keep us safe." She shifted in her seat towards him and said softly, "with daddy you only have to prove yourself once. He knows how far you'll go to keep us safe, and with Henry and Fulton here, he doesn't feel like he needs to be. It's the first time I haven't had him with me, and I admit, it feels pretty weird."

"And you have the small house so you don't stand out," Troy surmised.

"I told daddy I didn't need a big one right now. You'll buy us a much bigger one when we get married and move out."

Troy laughed loudly. "I have to ask you first, Shar."

"But you will," she pointed out, "and I can wait until you're ready."

"And until we're out of college and I can provide for us," he added.

"We can provide for us," she interrupted, reminding Troy that she was a modern girl and even though she enjoyed being treated like a princess by Troy, she in no way wanted to be his housewife or dependent partner.

"Until we can provide for a family bigger than two," he settled on with a wide grin on his face.

"Just a family of three," she interjected.

His grin grew wider, though he hadn't though possible, and he knew he could be happy with just one child. He didn't care if he had a big family, or if they were just three, so long as Sharpay gave him a beautiful baby with curly blonde hair and bright, shinning eyes. He could do without the attitude, but he'd deal when that surely came along.

"Sure, Shar."

He held her hand as they left the car in the student parking lot and headed up the stairs to the school only a few minutes before the warning bell rang.

"What's your first class?" he asked her, hefting her book back up higher, unsure of what she could have inside it to make it weigh as much.

"English," she said. "I think Ryan is in the class, too. Daddy said the school wanted to split us up completely, but we've always been together in school, so they compromised for about half. I'm pretty sure we've got art and music together, too."

He took his first look at her schedule. "Hey, I've got you in two of my classes," he remarked happily, noting they shared a physics class and history. He pointed them out to her, pleased with how excited she was to sit next to him in history and be his physics partner.

He walked her to her English class, leaning in to kiss her softly. "Your next class is just down the hall, you shouldn't have any trouble finding it. I'll see you after lunch for physics, okay? If we get separated meet me outside the theater, you know where."

She kissed him then, then waved to him shortly and disappeared into the classroom. He looked through the window in the door and watched her make her way over to Ryan and greet him warmly. Seeing that she was settled in fine, he left for his own class, hustling a little when the final bell rang.

He settled into his own first period class, shop, just as the teacher strolled in, notoriously late as usual. Next to Troy on the bench Chad looked up from the magazine he was reading, "Where were you?" he asked. They usually had a good five or so minutes to talk before the bell rang.

Troy dug into the bench's storage space and removed his goggles and protective gear. "It's Sharpay's first day."

"Huh?" Chad asked, and Troy forgot that nearly everyone was oblivious to the recent additions to the school. "Sharpay Evans?" Chad asked dubiously. "The chick who ran off and didn't so much as leave you a note to know she was okay?"

Troy scowled at him. "Don't start that. And yes, Sharpay Evans. She and her brother Ryan are going here now. You got a problem with that?"

Chad held up his hands defensively. "No way, man. Just, you know, try to keep her away from Taylor, okay? My ears are still ringing from the last time they met up."

"You keep Taylor away from her," Troy returned. "I like Taylor, but I've known her long enough to know when she's holding a grudge. She's going to hate Sharpay for the rest of her life probably and Sharpay doesn't need that in her life right now. Lets just work to keep them separated and this year shouldn't be bad at all."

"If you say so," Chad said lightly. "But I have a feeling things aren't going to go nearly as smoothly as you want. This is the world of high school politics and you know how they go down."

And it was all too true, Troy knew. Despite being roped into the heavily academic category at school that was often the basis of many jokes and pranks, Taylor's situation on the student council gave her significant pull regarding the other students. If Taylor set out to do so, she was capable of forcing nearly the entire student body to shun Sharpay, or worse.

"Just talk to her," Troy almost pleaded. "Do it for me."

Chad raised an eyebrow. "That puppy dog thing hasn't worked on me since kindergarten." But the smile on his face promised that he would, and Troy calmed a bit.

Before long Troy found himself in his third period class, somewhat surprised and pleased to see the seat he generally occupied next to Sam to the left of the room was filled by Ryan Evans. Instead he settled in front of Sam and turned back to look at him.

"Sorry, man," Sam said, eyes jerking slightly over to Ryan who was fishing around through his backpack.

Troy waved him off.

"You saw Sharpay already didn't you?" Troy asked Ryan, keeping watch for the teacher who especially detested chatter between students during, before or after class.

Ryan shrugged. "We had art together before this."

"She doing okay?"

A slight expression passed over Ryan's face, something Troy couldn't quite decipher before the male returned, "You seriously underestimate my sister. She'll be fine, and she totally already rules the art department."

Sam leaned forward. "I hear the walls of Ramirez's classroom are already sparkly and pink."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Troy laughed. "Is that what her bedroom looks like?" he inquired to Ryan almost offhand. Sharpay's old bedroom had been a chaotic mixture of pink and purple walls, posters of Broadway shows he was pretty sure she'd never seen in person and bands that he'd hardly heard of, being that their musical tastes were radically different aside from their mutual love of musicals. The room had seemed a little overwhelming at times in the beginning, being so vast and large, larger than his parent's own master bedroom and containing more things that maybe his entire house. It had been so utterly Sharpay.

"You want to know what my sister's bedroom looks like?" Ryan asked with a smile.

Troy rolled his eyes.

"Yeah," Ryan finally answered. "I think she's reached an all time high with the sparkles. But that's nothing, you should see her locker."

At that mention Sam made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a giggle.

"What?"

Sam pressed a hand to his mouth, trying to suppress an outbreak. He finally regained his composure and told Troy seriously, "I like Sharpay, you know that. She's a cool girl, but dude, I lucked out with the right Evans sibling." Ryan gave a proud smile at that comment as Sam continued with, "Troy, that girl can be downright scary. Only she should twist and deform her locker like she did."

"I fail to see what's so funny." Troy crossed his arms.

"It's like a shrine to you," Ryan revealed. "She's got pictures of you up in it with little hearts drawn around your face and lipstick marks everywhere."

Troy figured on some level he supposed he should have been a bit disturbed. While it wasn't uncommon for girls, and even some of the guys to stick pictures of their significant others in their lockers, it was quite another to become obsessive over that person, especially in high school where boyfriends and girlfriends came and went as easy as fashion styles and teenage trends.

But coming from Sharpay it was almost a compliment. Sharpay never did anything small or unobtrusively. Everything about her was exaggerated, and so Troy thought he might have felt upset if she hadn't gone overboard with her locker decoration. It was simply her way, and if anything it was flattering. He'd be sure to add another picture of her in his own locker the following day, because Sharpay was the type of girl who expected it, and he was only more than willing to fulfill her expectations.

"I think it's nice," Troy told them sharply. "It's nice to know I got the Evans sibling who isn't afraid to express their love and not care who sees or what they think. It's refreshing, don't you think?"

Ryan scowled deeply.

Sam looked over at Ryan pointedly.

Troy slid down comfortably in his seat.

The door to the classroom swung open and Sam added hastily, "How about the sub shop at the corner of 7th for lunch? We'll settle this then."

Troy gave a nod and then settled comfortably into his seat as the lesson began. As the calculus teacher began to drone on Troy couldn't help but rest his chin on his palm and realize that everything had changed, and the newfound normalcy they were all experiencing was going to be far more challenging that previously believed. Troy thought they were all up to it, but wondered quite how much they'd suffer first. After all, he reminded himself, nothing worthwhile came without sacrifice, and it was never truer than in the case of the Evans family.