Title: Going Home
Author: Lisa (Lissical)
Summary: After leaving her abusive husband, Sharpay Evans takes her young daughter and decides that it's time to return home. Eventually a Troypay.
Disclaimer: I only own the characters I made up; everything else belongs to Disney.
A/N: I just came up with this idea. It will slowly become a Troypay, so please bear with me.
Going Home, Ch. 1
Sharpay Evans-Hunter finished packing up everything into her car. She got in and drove away, hoping to never see that house again. The only thing she had left was the little girl sitting in the backseat sleeping. She was currently the only reason Sharpay wanted to wake up in the morning. As she drove, she couldn't help but to think about how she came to this decision to suddenly up and leave her comfortable surroundings in sunny California.
Flashback; 2 Years Ago…
"Isn't she precious," Sharpay said as she held her and her husband Mark's new baby, Elizabeth Grace Hunter in her arms.
He smiled, "She looks just like you," he said as he gently took the new baby from Sharpay and rocked her.
She nodded, "We must be the two luckiest people on the planet," she said as she watched Mark rock her.
End of Flashback.
Sharpay tried to focus on the happy memories as she drove down the interstate, occasionally glancing in the rearview mirror to check on her 2 year old toddler. She could feel fresh tears fall down her face as the horrible memories of the past six months started to flood her mind.
Things had been just fine up until he lost his job. Then the alcohol seemed to become his new best friend and his own worst enemy. She had tried several times to help him, but every time she did, all he would do was yell at her about how messed up life in general was…and then the physical abuse began.
She remembered the first time it happened as if it was only yesterday…
6 Months Ago…
"I'm sure you'll find another job," she said to Mark. "You always land on your feet."
He turned to her, rage in his eyes, "Don't even try to play that pity game with me, Sharpay," he growled as he walked into their bedroom.
Crying could be heard from the next room; their new baby was awake. Sharpay hurried into her room, "Shh, it's all right honey," she said as she rocked the 1 ½ year old toddler.
Mark walked into the room, "Will you shut her up already? I am getting a headache here!" Mark yelled, only causing the baby to cry even harder.
"I-I'm trying," she said, hoping that he wasn't going to start yelling at her…again.
"Then try harder, damn it," he yelled as he walked out of the room.
As soon as Elizabeth had calmed down, Sharpay placed her back into her crib and walked out of the room and walked downstairs to the kitchen. What she did not see was her husband walking in the opposite direction with a drink in his hand. As she walked closer to him, her arm bumped his, causing the drink to spill all over his shirt.
"You stupid idiot! Now look at what you've done!" He yelled as he drew his hand back and slapped her so hard that she nearly lost her balance.
"I-I'm sorry," she said almost inaudibly. She wasn't about to let on that she was currently in a great deal of pain not only from the slap, but also to her shoulder, which had hit the corner of the counter.
Things had only gotten worse from that point; she had become his target practice every afternoon when she would return home from work.
1 Day Ago…
"I thought I told you to buy the store brand, Sharpay," Mark yelled. "We can't afford this!" He slapped her across the face, causing her to drop the brand-name coffee on the floor. Thankfully, it was in a container and didn't spill all over the place.
She bent down to pick up what he had knocked out of her hands, "I looked for it…but they didn't have it," she said as she held back tears.
He glared at her, "Then how the hell are we going to pay for this?" He yelled, only this time louder, causing Elizabeth to wake up from her nap. "That damn child," he said, standing up and walking towards the stairs.
She quickly stood up and ran over to him, "Don't even think about touching a hair on her head! Do you hear me?"
He shoved past her and walked into the little girl's room. "I said shut up!" He picked Elizabeth up and slapped her, "That ought to teach you," he said in a low voice.
Sharpay ran into the room and picked up the screaming toddler. That was it; he could touch her, but never was she going to allow him to harm another hair on her daughter's head.
That same night, while Mark was out at the bar, where he normally hung out until at least 2:00 AM, she called her brother back in New Mexico. He told her that he would gladly allow her and Elizabeth to stay with him for as long as she needed. She began packing that night, but Mark decided to come home a little early and saw what she was doing. He threw her suitcase on the floor, thus emptying all of its contents.
Sharpay did the only thing she could think of: she took her now empty suitcase, thanks to Mark, and hit him over the head with it, knocking him out. She then quickly placed everything back into the suitcase, grabbed Elizabeth's bag she had packed and Elizabeth and ran out of the house.
Sharpay pulled over to the side of the road, unable to drive any further; tears were streaming down her face, thus causing her vision to become blurry. The last thing she wanted was to get into an accident. She looked back at Elizabeth, who was still asleep and quietly stepped out of the car, allowing herself to cry for the first time since it all started.
As she pulled herself together, she heard her daughter calling for her from the backseat. She quickly wiped her tears and walked over to take her daughter out of the car, "Shh, you're all right sweetie," she said, holding her daughter as tightly as possible. "We're going to a nice, safe place where no one can hurt us," she said as she continued to hold her daughter.
Ryan made sure to get everything that Sharpay would need when she and Elizabeth would arrive. Had he been in California, he would have probably killed Mark for what he did to his sister. He wasn't about to let him or anyone for that matter hurt her the way he did.
Sharpay pulled up in Ryan's driveway. Taking a deep breath, she shut off the car, got out, and walked around to the other side where she got a now calm Elizabeth out. She had tired herself out from crying the rest of the way to Albuquerque. She picked her up, "Look where we are," she said, pointing to the house. "We're at Uncle Ryan's," she said, trying to sound as upbeat as possible. She decided to leave her things in the car for now; she could get them later. She walked to the door and rang the doorbell.
Ryan opened the door, and just stood there for a moment, looking at his sister; she had never looked so defeated in her life. "Hey there," he said as he hugged her, "I'm glad you came."
She nodded, "Yeah me too." She turned to Elizabeth, "Look honey, do you remember who this is?"
Elizabeth looked up and smiled, "Uncle Wyan!" She reached out for him.
He gladly took her in his arms, "Hi there pumpkin," he said as he kissed her forehead. He held her close and rubbed her back, causing her to flinch and cry out in pain. "What's wrong honey," he asked as he lifted her shirt. He looked up at Sharpay, "He didn't."
She nodded, tears now in her eyes, "He did."
Ryan sat Sharpay down in the living room, "I'm so sorry you had to go through this," he said after a few minutes. "Everyone's been asking about you…I didn't say anything…"
She nodded, "Thank you; I appreciate that."
"Except…"
She looked at him, "What?"
"Well, you know Troy…he's always known when something is up with you…You two did go out for quite a while after he and Gabriella decided to break it off and just become friends."
"Ryan, what are you getting at?"
"He's not an idiot, Shar," he said as he looked at Elizabeth.
She just stared blankly at the wall. Troy couldn't find out about what had happened; she hadn't seen him since college…4 years ago! He just couldn't find out the truth…
Okay so I got this idea while moping over the fact that my boyfriend is moving (and no, he doesn't hit me!). Then I decided to just write my sadness out on paper…err…the computer. Anyway, please tell me what you think so far. Do you like it? Hate it? Please tell me. It truly helps!