Returned

Hey guys I know that I haven't updated Need You More Than Ever for a while but it should be updated tomorrow or the day after. Anyway in the mean time I was on youtube earlier and for some reason had the sudden idea to write this story, so here I am writing at one in the morning, trying to get this down on paper before I forget it, read it and tell me what you think.

Chapter 1

The gang were wandering through the park slowly, each of them lost in their own memories, this was a very special day for them, a day that none of them would ever forget, especially as long as they each had each other, to keep the memories alive and fresh.

August 27th.

The last day that they ever saw two of their best friends alive.

"I can't believe that it's been four years since Troy and Gabby disappeared," Kelsi said softly as she shook her head, trying to get rid of her tears. Jason however looked at his wife and took her hand, gently giving it a squeeze, as he smiled reassuringly at her, she gave him a small smile back before roaming her eyes over the rest of the gang.

They had all changed a lot since high school, although some things were still the same. The boys were still crazy about basketball and would try to get in a game as often as possible, Ryan included, as it turned out once he started to become his own person, and not follow Sharpay the whole time that he was actually a very good basketballer, and had even secured a place on the team for their senior year. The girls however still loved shopping, and spending the guys' money at any given opportunity.

Kelsi's eyes landed on Sharpay. Probably the one who had changed the most out of all of them. After the summer at Lava Springs, Sharpay had apologised to the Wildcats and had quickly became a vital member of the group, her strongest friendship, however surprising as it was, was with Gabriella, which was why Sharpay took the news that their best friends' had disappeared the worst, locking herself in her room for days and refusing to eat until the gang had staged an intervention. Now though, her life was starting to get back on track, she had completed college with a business degree, shocking everyone, and now she managed all of the finance and business part of her and Zeke's very successful bakery. She and Zeke were even living together in their own apartment and engaged to be married next spring.

Next, Kelsi's eyes landed on Zeke, who was holding tightly onto his fiancés hand, knowing how hard this day was for her. Zeke had ended up studying cookery while at U of A, and he now came up with all of the main recipes and was the head chef at his and Sharpay's bakery. He had finally managed to propose to Sharpay on her birthday back in May, after trying to find the best way to do it for the best part of six months.

Kelsi flicked her eyes away from the couple as Sharpay looked like she was about to cry again and her eyes landed on Ryan. Ryan had done well for himself since stepping out of Sharpay's shadow, although he was still single, he had had a few girlfriends, saying that he still hadn't found the one yet. After Troy figured out that Ryan wasn't going to try and steal Gabriella away from him, and rather looked at her like a little sister, the two had become fast friends, with Troy teaching Ryan some basketball tips and then getting him to try out for the team. However Ryan's love was always the theatre, so it was no surprise when that was what he majored in, eventually taking Ms. Darbus place as the drama teacher at East High, although a little less dramatic.

After studying Ryan for a while, Kelsi let her eyes find the Danforths'. Chad and Taylor had been married for about 11 months now and were loving every minute of it. The two of them had possibly had it the hardest when Troy and Gabriella disappeared, being their best friends. Chad blamed himself for months, not believing the others when they said that he had nothing to do with it, and Taylor just clammed up and refused to talk to anyone other than Chad for about 5 weeks. They had finally managed to get back on their feet though, and now Chad was a P.E. teacher at East High and was the assistant basketball coach to Jack Bolton, until he retired at the end of the school year, although Chad being Chad, was optimistic and looking forward to meeting his new boss in the fall. Taylor however had taken a slightly different path and had ended up being a kindergarten teacher at East Elementary, but she loved her job and Chad was lucky if she got home before he did most days.

Finally, Kelsi's eyes shifted upwards, as she looked to her own husband of 2 months. Jason had definitely changed from their schooldays, gone were the stupid questions, and instead he had changed into a very focused young man, who only opened his mouth to ask questions when it was something important. Surprising everyone, including Kelsi herself, Jason had ended up being a teacher himself, although he taught the second grade, along side Taylor at East Elementary.

As for Kelsi, she didn't think that she'd changed much, although her friends would beg to differ. Since high school, Kelsi had become a lot less fearful of voicing her opinion and would now gladly stand up for what she believed in and argue with whoever stood in her way. The petite brunette had always stayed true to herself though and had found her way back to her one true love, music. Kelsi was now the music teacher at East High, and a long with Ryan, helped the students to compose and perform any musicals that the school did, of course with the whole gang watching and cheering them on.

After losing two of their most precious members, the two people that had brought them all together in the first place, the gang had become a lot closer and were all extremely protective of the rest. They made sure that they got together at least once a week, but they all lived in the same building and worked together anyway, so that wasn't much of a problem.

"I wonder what they're doing now," Sharpay suddenly croaked out, startling Kelsi from her thoughts.

"Well personally, I think that they're going crazy from missing me so much and that they're starting to realise that they can't possibly live with out me," Chad boasted with a cheeky grin.

The others all rolled their eyes as Sharpay shouted at him and Taylor hit him over the back of the head, before they all burst into hysterical laughter, earning strange glances from people who were trying to enjoy the nice sunny afternoon in Albuquerque's most beautiful park.

"I think one thing's for sure though," Taylor mused as the gang turned to look at her, "wherever they are, the two of them are still together."

The rest of the gang smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Hey, how about we go back to ours and have some celebratory ice cream sundaes, in remembrance of the two people who brought us all together in the first place, cause if it wasn't for Troy and Gabster breaking the status quo, we would never have become friends, much less started to date," Zeke said smiling as his friends grinned back and they started a faster walk down towards Baylor's Bakeries.

The gang had picked up their pace from their slow stroll through the park, each eager to get to the ice cream. But Taylor wasn't looking where she was going, and tripped over a persons feet that were sticking out from where they were sitting on a park bench.

The person was immediately up off of the bench to help Taylor up.

"Oh my G-d," the person stuttered, "I' so sorry, I didn't mean to trip you up like that."

The gang froze right where they were. They would know that voice anywhere, that voice haunted each of them in their sleep on a nightly basis.

Taylor's head snapped up and her brown eyes connected with a pair of sapphire blue eyes.

"Troy…" she breathed out, as the young man's eyes widened, recognising her instantly.