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1)
Ryan wasn’t sure when he’d become friends with none other than Chad Danforth , but it happened regardless. However it had happened, it had led to this; the two of them grabbing lunch together at some takeout place Ryan had already forgotten the name of on a Saturday.
Yeah, you heard that right. Chad asked Ryan to hang out with him outside of school; it wasn’t just him trying to be friendly during lunch breaks or rehearsal, Chad actually wanted to be friends.
Ryan wasn’t complaining, of course. Why would he, when it’s Chad , the guy he’s been kind of crushing on for quite a long time now?
“...and that’s how Troy Bolton made a lasting impression on me way back in kindergarten.”
Ryan smiled, more than a little amused. “So you’re telling me he tried to beat you up and you became friends?”
“Something like that. I mean, that’s at least what my mother told me.”
“I’m still finding it hard to imagine.”
“What, baby Troy Bolton being a bully?” Chad asked, leaning over to steal a few of Ryan’s fries, popping them into his mouth.
“Hey, those were my fries!” Ryan pointed accusingly at Chad, who just made a face at him in return.
“If you want them back, come and get them.”
Was it just in Ryan’s head, or did Chad just imply that Ryan should kiss him? No, it had to be in his head. Just all in his head. Wishful thinking.
“I ever tell you about how I met Sharpay?” Ryan said, dragging himself out of his thoughts and deadpanning. “We were in the womb together.”
2)
Ryan wasn’t one for parties, if he was honest. But this party was being hosted by Chad, who’d personally invited him (and by invited, he meant practically begged him to come). Troy had helped organise it, of course, but it was Chad’s party regardless.
Which was how he’d ended up here just trailing around, not really knowing anyone well enough to actually have a conversation with. He steered very clear of the alcohol, not wanting to get drunk that night, or to have to talk to anyone who was.
This went out the window a little later into the night, after the following events. He was still wandering around by himself when Chad, obviously at least somewhat drunk, stumbled over to him, flinging an arm around Ryan’s shoulders.
“Hey you came!” Chad’s speech was slurred, proving that he was drunk, and he continued to stumble through the house, dragging Ryan with him. They ended up standing in the doorway to some room, probably the bathroom or the kitchen, Ryan leaning against one side of the doorframe, Chad leaning against the other.
“Cool party,” Ryan ventured, and Chad gave him an ear-to-ear grin at this, which told him he’d said the right thing.
“Troy helped, you know.”
“He did?” Ryan asked, ignoring the fact that Chad had told him this about seven times over the past week.
“Yep!” Chad’s gaze slid up to the doorframe, and he frowned. “Shame it’s not Christmas.”
“Huh?”
“No mistletoe,” Chad said, pointing just above their heads. Ryan swallowed. Oh.
Did he just- did Chad just indirectly ask Ryan to kiss him? Then Ryan remembered Chad was probably drunk, and shrugged it off.
“Yeah,” Ryan replied thickly, forcing himself to speak. “Shame.”
Only a few minutes later when some kid from the basketball team, someone he didn’t know at all but dimly recognised the face of, offered him a drink, Ryan took it and downed it all. He couldn’t deal with drunken Chad when he himself was sober.
3)
Ryan ended up staying over that night; the party went late, and he was sure his parents didn’t want him waltzing into the house at 3am and waking them up. If they were even home; he couldn’t remember if they were on holiday or not. He blamed the alcohol he’d downed after what he’d internally dubbed “the mistletoe incident”.
He felt like he’d barely closed his eyes when he was being shaken awake by someone; he rolled over in bed, mumbling something incoherent even to himself. The person shook him a little harder and he blinked his eyes open to the blur that was Chad Danforth’s guest room.
After a moment, his eyes adjusted to the morning light and he spotted Chad. Groaning, Ryan rolled back over in bed.
“You couldn’t have left me to sleep?”
“It’s noon.”
“Yeah, and I’m Sleeping Beauty,” Ryan mumbled, just loud enough for Chad to hear.
“Didn’t Sleeping Beauty need a kiss to wake up?” Chad asked innocently, tipping his head to one side slightly. Ryan felt his breath catch for a moment; this time he was sure Chad had just asked him to kiss him.
Instead of confronting him about it though, he just said, “Not this Sleeping Beauty,” before pulling his pillow over his head.
4)
Chad did eventually manage to get Ryan out of bed, with the temptation of hot chocolate and threats to drop out of the show. It worked in the end, with Ryan getting out of bed at about one pm.
He was given the promised hot chocolate, as he and Chad surveyed the damage the party had caused to the house. It was minimal, since Chad and Troy had thought to put rules in place for the guests, but there was still a lot of cleanup to do.
“And this,” Chad said, gesturing slowly to the upturned couches, spilt food and drink and just the general mess, “Is why I rarely host parties.”
“Amen to that,” Ryan said, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. “Though Sharpay is usually the one hosting the parties.”
“Oh, I can imagine,” Chad replied, raising his eyebrows as he took a sip of his own drink. “I’m willing to bet she ‘performs’ in front of everyone there, too.”
Ryan nearly spat out his drink, whirling around to point at Chad. “Have you secretly been to one of her parties?”
“I’ll never tell, Evans,” Chad replied with a wink that made Ryan lose his train of thought for a moment.
“Well, you’re completely correct,” Ryan continued after a moment. “She tends to rope her friends into performing with her, too.”
“That definitely sounds like Sharpay.” Chad downed his hot chocolate, and Ryan couldn’t help but notice the traces of it around his lips.
“You’ve got a little…” Ryan gestured vaguely to his own lips, in a circular motion, and Chad just smirked at him.
“If it bothers you, come get it off yourself.”
Ryan forced himself not to think of kissing Chad in that moment and instead shrugged, replying, “It’s your problem, not mine.”
5)
Ryan could swim. He’d grown up around Lava Springs, for God’s sake, and spent a lot of time in the pool. There were times, however, when he was too distracted to do simple things, like keep himself afloat in the water.
Said distraction today was Chad Danforth. They were at the local pool, and right after Ryan had dived in, Chad had decided it was the perfect time to take off his shirt.
This, of course, led to Ryan staring at Chad instead of swimming, which led to him rapidly sinking underwater. This of course led to Chad noticing, diving in and “rescuing” him.
The moment Chad hauled him out of the pool, Ryan pushed him away; not because he didn’t like being close to Chad, but because he didn’t trust himself around the other boy.
“I can swim, Danforth,” he snapped. “I was fine .”
Chad raised an eyebrow. “Evident by your drowning, Evans.”
“I wasn’t drowning !”
“I was this close to having to give you mouth to mouth,” Chad teased, stepping closer to Ryan, who stared down at the ground to avoid blushing.
“No, you weren’t,” he mumbled, ignoring how close Chad was to him, or what his joke implied.
+1)
After Chad “rescued” Ryan, the two did end up actually swimming in the pool. Ryan ended up having to prove to Chad that he could, in fact, swim every five minutes, but he was fine with it.
They ended up having a good time, and Chad eventually dropped the whole “rescuing” thing. That is, until much later on, about half an hour before they were going to leave.
Chad cornered Ryan in the shallow end of the pool, pressing up very close to Ryan. He was highly aware of Chad’s hand resting lightly on his waist, and how close Chad’s chest was to his own.
“I saved you from drowning before.”
“You did no-”
“Shut up, Evans,” Chad said, glaring at him. “You’re ruining it.”
“Ruining what?” Ryan gave Chad his most innocent look.
“Your chance to show how grateful you are,” Chad stated, his grip on Ryan’s waist tightening slightly.
“I didn’t need saving,” Ryan said for what felt like the millionth time that day. Then he leaned closer, so close that his lips were nearly brushing against Chad’s. “But I am grateful.”
The gap between them closed, Ryan finally pressing his lips against Chad’s. It was chaste, sweet and innocent, the way most first kisses are. It didn’t last long, Ryan pulling back to look at Chad before he hooked his arms around Chad’s neck and drew him back in again for another, much more passionate, kiss.