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Ryan refused to become that awful cliche of the campy gay kid falling for the straight-as-a-ruler jock. Ryan knew better than that. He had a huge crush on Troy Bolton for the better part of his freshman year - worst decision of his life - and it put him through enough bouts of teenage angst and pining to convince him that straight jocks simply weren’t worth the trouble.
When he ended up becoming closer to Chad Danforth at the resort after the series of strange events that were the summer vacation (most of which had inadvertently been set into motion by Sharpay), they had become something like friends. Friends in the sense of the word that Ryan held exactly no romantic intentions towards Chad. Zero, zilch, nada.
Sure, Ryan was gay and he wasn’t blind but that absolutely did not mean he had to have feelings or a boner for Chad. Just because he had a crush on Troy that one time when he was young and naive didn’t mean he had to like any smelly, old jock that came into his life.
Of course, Ryan could admit to anyone who asked him that Chad was an attractive guy. He was handsome, funny and smart (for a jock) and he appreciated all of those qualities in a strictly platonic manner and not at all in a sexy I-want-to-eat-whipped-cream-off-his-abs kind of way.
Okay, so maybe Ryan was a little bit in denial over the fact that he might have a tiny, microscopic crush on Chad. But it wasn’t anything real. People had crushes on other people all the time and people got over those crushes. All the time. Ryan would be no different.
Well, it would have been easier to remember that if Chad would just stop smiling at him in the middle of class for no reason. He was doing it again. Ryan had lost count how many times Chad locked eyes with him and smiled brightly at him from his desk. Ryan was going to kill him eventually. Or kiss him. Either, or.
Chad coughed into his fist and kicked a wad of paper towards Ryan’s feet. He coughed again. Ryan tried not to snort as he reached down to grab the note, unfolding it. Maybe Chad could dance but his acting still needed some work.
stay back after class! i wanna ask u something :)
Ryan raised an eyebrow at Chad who was pretending to pay attention to what Miss Darbus was saying for once. He tucked the note under his notebook and waited for the bell to ring. If Sharpay was a little suspicious of Ryan for wanting to hang around after class to hang out with Chad, she said nothing.
“It won’t take long, promise.” Chad said to her as she stood in the doorway and Ryan tried to ignore the tiny part of him that felt disappointed that it was just going to be a short conversation. Sharpay looked between the two of them as though she was trying to size up the situation.
“I’ll be in the car, Ryan. Don’t take all day.”
Chad smiled at him after Sharpay left and Ryan hated him and his own gross hormones for the way it made his stomach do a little somersault and tied his insides into a knot. When Chad flashed his smile at Ryan, the irrational part of his brain could almost forget Chad was straight (and therefore very, very off-limits).
“Sorry to ask you to stay back,” Ryan shrugged. “I just wanted to ask you if you were maybe going to be at the game tomorrow night?" Chad asked, grabbing Ryan’s hand. Ryan stared at it before looking back up at Chad.
“I wasn’t really planning to go. I don’t usually have anyone to go with and no one usually asks me.” None of the other members of the drama club were big fans of the sport, much less Sharpay who wasn’t overly fond of the basketball court and how it smelled like gym socks. Not even their mutual crush on Troy was enough to make her agree to go watch a game with Ryan. Ryan had asked her. Many times.
“Well now I’m asking you.” Chad said, still grinning. “You could go with Gabriella! She’ll be there, of course.” He rolled his eyes as though to say you know how Gabriella and Troy are.
“It’d be great if you could be there too, you know.” Ryan looked down at Chad’s hand that was still resting on his wrist. Chad followed his gaze and quickly pulled his hand back.
“Come on, Ryan, I’ll even say please. Please?” Ryan tried not to blush. Which probably wasn’t working, damn it.
“I…Okay. I’ll try to make it. No promises.” Ryan hated himself. He didn’t need to encourage this stupid feeling. Chad batting his eyelashes and asking someone to go watch his game was like some typical jock seduction technique that should only have worked on some innocent schoolgirl, which Ryan was not.
“Cool! Okay, look I’ve got to head for practice before Coach chews me out.” He hung around like he was waiting for something. Ryan stared at him. Chad looked a little red.
“I should probably go too before Sharpay leaves me behind.”
Chad nodded.
“Yeah, yeah. Cool. I’ll just…” He jerked his thumb in the direction of the gym before bolting off.
Huh, Ryan thought. Weird.
-
Ryan wasn’t going to the match because he liked Chad. Because he didn’t. He and Chad were just friends. Good friends. His heart and his hormones just needed to catch up with the program. He spent about three hours figuring out what to wear after he had decided to go, much to Sharpay’s unending amusement. Sharpay didn’t really approve of his crush or that Ryan was going to a basketball match to cheer said crush on but she still helped him pick the jeans that made his butt look the best. Ryan loved her.
By the time he made it to the gym, the seats were almost all filled up with other students and parents and the players had yet to make it out of the court. He heard someone call his name from the front, a hand waving in the air. Ryan looked closer and found Gabriella waving him over.
“Hi, Ryan! I saved you a seat!” Gabriella smiled. It was in the front row. The Girlfriend Row. Like, if you dated any member of the team it meant you would be sitting there. Ryan told himself he was being silly.
There were a few other girls sitting next to Gabriella but they might not even all be the players’ girlfriends. It was just a silly high school notion people had about sitting at the front row of the basketball matches. Zeke’s brother was sitting in the front row too with Zeke’s mother! That’s what Ryan was to Chad. Brothers. Yeah.
“Chad told me you would be here.” Gabriella said.
Chad had apparently been so sure that Ryan would have been there that he was suddenly hit with a wave of self-consciousness. He brushed it off as he took his seat next to Gabriella. She seemed happy to have the company.
“It’s your first time watching them play right? They’re great!”
The team appeared on the floor and Chad made eye contact with Ryan and winked at him before running to his position. Ryan was not blushing. He wasn’t. The stadium was just stuffy. They really had to do something about the ventilation because it sucked.
Of course, their team won because they had Troy Bolton on their team and he was like some real-life protagonist of a cheesy high school movie that it would have been weird for him not to win. He looked at Gabriella and gave her a thumbs up and she cheered. Ryan had to admit it was sweet. The members of the basketball team began swarming Troy in the middle of the court and chanting his name.
Ryan guessed it was his cue to leave as Troy walked over to their seats, nodding once at Ryan before taking Gabriella’s hands in his and saying something in her ear that made her giggle. Ryan got up, about to move to the exit when he heard someone shout his name.
“Ryan!” Chad jogged up to the stands. He was sweaty and Ryan should have found it gross but the part of him that wanted to lick Chad’s abs was perking up like it was the hottest thing he had ever seen. “Where you going?”
“Um, well. The game’s over and everyone’s leaving.” Ryan felt a little unsure on the proper procedure of going to watch a friend’s basketball game. He was way out of his comfort zone. He could sing and dance in front of the entire school but he didn’t know what to do here.
“Just stay a while longer. The bunch of us are going to go get pizza after this. Please?” Chad said. His hand had somehow gotten on top of Ryan’s hand again. This seemed to be becoming a habit. Ryan wasn’t complaining about it even though he really, really should be putting up some kind of protest. Chad really needed to stop touching him and saying please at the same time.
“But if you have to go, I understand…” Chad said as though he realized he might have been coming across as pushy. “I mean, I didn’t tell you we’d be going for pizza after so it’s my bad for springing it on you so last minute and trying to drag you along.” Chad said, chewing on his bottom lip like he was nervous or something.
“I’ll go.” Ryan said.
Chad’s entire face lit up. It was impossible for Ryan to not smile back.
“I’ll go hit the showers and we can leave. Five minutes, tops. I promise. I’ll give you a ride!” Chad said before running to the locker room. Ryan’s hand felt warm where Chad’s hand had rested on top of it. He looked down at his shoes, feeling a little out of sorts.
Gabriella and Troy both looked at Ryan and smiled like they had a secret.
-
Ryan took a bite of the pizza and even though it looked heavenly, he could hardly taste it because he was too busy wondering what he should do and trying to convince himself to stay. Ryan thought most of the basketball players had been working at the summer resort but there were a lot of them that he didn’t recognize and he actually felt shy.
He was an openly gay boy in high school so he stopped worrying about what other people thought of him a long time ago but he couldn’t help but wonder what the other basketball players thought about him being there. Most of the people who there and weren’t players were their girlfriends. Ryan took a swig of soda to stop himself from thinking too much.
Chad was busy talking to a few of the other players and Gabriella and Troy had probably gone off somewhere to make out because he had no idea where they were. Ryan played idly with the end of his straw wondering if he should call Sharpay to pick him up and just go home when one of the waiters came over to clear the empty plates.
“I see these group of guys come in here every other week but I can’t say the same about you.” The waiter said. Ryan looked up at him.
“Well, I think we both know it’s pretty obvious I’m not part of the team.” Ryan said.
“Yeah, I sort of figured. You’re much too pretty to be a jock.” The waiter smirked at him. “My name’s Drew.”
Oh. Ryan raised an eyebrow. He glanced over his shoulder to see everyone else still too occupied with discussing the highlights of the game and eating pizza. He turned back to Drew and offered his hand for him to shake.
“I’m Ryan.”
“So… this might be a little out of line, but you’re not dating one of them are you?” Drew asked.
“No, I’m not.” Ryan said a little too quickly, and wasn't sad about it at all and definitely did not think about Chad in the slightest.
“Then, you wouldn’t mind if I asked you for your number right?”
This was great. This was Fate giving him the opportunity to get his priorities in check and not falling any deeper into straight-boy Hell than he already had. The waiter was pretty cute. What the hell, Ryan thought as he fished out his phone from his pocket, smiling and about to hand his phone for Drew to add his number.
“Hey, Ryan. Everything okay?”
Of course, Chad had to choose that moment to interrupt. Ryan blinked. He had been several tables away just a minute ago.
“Everything’s fine, Chad.” He handed his phone to Drew, who looked slightly confused but entered his contact in all the same under Chad’s watchful gaze.
Drew grinned. “Thanks. I get off at ten. Call me.” He winked and clapped one hand on Chad’s shoulder - Chad glared at it - before leaving the two of them alone.
“Ryan, that guy’s probably like thirty.” Chad said.
Ryan rolled his eyes. “No, he’s not. He’s probably like twenty-five, tops.”
“You’re barely eighteen!”
“Yes, I’m well aware of that.” Ryan said, crossing his arms as though challenging Chad to say anything more. He didn’t have any business telling Ryan who he should or should not date. Besides, it was better for him to start dating someone else instead of nursing some weird, stupid crush-by-proximity that he had for Chad. “I don’t need you telling me what to do, Chad.”
Chad frowned, at a loss for words.
“Maybe I should just go. I can call Sharpay to pick me up.” Ryan didn’t want to have any weird feelings for Chad anymore, but he didn’t want to argue with him either. It was better for him to just leave.
“Ryan, no. Just. I’m sorry, okay? I told you I’d give you a ride. Let me just grab my stuff and we can go.” Chad was touching his hand again. This time, Ryan gently pulled his hand back. He didn’t see the hurt look that flashed across Chad’s face.
“Look, you don’t have to call your sister. Let me just get you home. Please?” There was that word again. Ryan bit his lip.
“I’ll wait for you outside.” Ryan said, feeling like an ass.
-
It was awkward in the car. The atmosphere was stifling.
They had gone the entire drive without talking. As they pulled to a stop outside the gates of Ryan’s residence, Chad finally broke the silence.
“Look, Ryan. I’m sorry for the way I acted earlier. I kinda ruined the evening, huh?” Chad laughed but it was nervous. “I was really happy you came to see me play tonight.”
Ryan stopped looking out the window to look at Chad.
“You seemed really sure I was going to be there, according to Gabi.” Chad looked embarrassed by the fact.
“Well, I was hopeful.” Chad said, turning towards him. The light in the car was dim but Ryan could tell he was looking straight at him. His hand had somehow made its way to Ryan’s in the dark. Ryan felt inexplicably shy.
“I was really glad you asked. No one’s ever asked me to go to one of those games before. I mean, I was glad I decided to go. It was my first time watching a basketball match and you guys were really grea-”
Ryan froze. Chad’s lips were pressed against his. Ryan was too shocked to register that this, this was a thing that was happening. His brain felt like it had shut down and he had forgotten whatever he was babbling on about. Chad pulled back and looked uncertainly at Ryan.
“You just kissed me.” Ryan said.
“Er, yeah.” Chad said. “I’ve been wanting to for a long time now.”
“You’ve been wanting to kiss me for a long time now.” Ryan parroted before narrowing his eyes. “You’re straight.”
Chad opened his mouth to say something but Ryan held out a hand to stop him.
“Is this part of some kind of experiment or something? Look, I may wear obscene amounts of pink and I may be into musical theatre and I sing and dance, but I’m not some stupid movie cliche! Just because I’m the Out Gay Kid in high school doesn’t automatically mean I’ll fall into the arms of any straight jock who kisses me.” Ryan said all in one breath. He was probably red in the face. His cheeks felt like they were burning.
“Ryan, I-”
“Thanks for the ride, Chad. Good night.” Ryan said, not letting him get another word in. He slammed the car door on him and left.
As he entered through the gates, he didn’t turn around to see Chad hitting his head multiple times on the steering wheel.
-
Chad left him several texts the same night.
ryan im really really sorry :(
ryan please call me
i dont want to talk about this through text its not right
ryan just let me talk to you about this tomorrow at least
i want to talk to you about this in person
good nite
Ryan stared at the texts in the morning. Sharpay had already caught him moping over his french toast during breakfast and vowed to make Chad pay for hurting Ryan. Ryan didn’t even mention his name but Sharpay just gave him an uncharacteristic hug and said “Chad is an idiot” and it made him feel just a little bit better.
Ryan felt like he could do this. He could get through the day without acting like some heartbroken fool. He was a strong guy. He could call the cute waiter from the pizza place and go on a date and move on. He was unstoppable. Sharpay was right.
Chad was an idiot. Chad was just another stupid jock. Chad was going to be the guy he knew in high school he’d laugh at over drinks with his friends in five years when they discussed people they couldn’t believe they liked. Chad was-
Chad was waiting outside his locker when they got to school.
Sharpay glared at him. Chad looked at her sheepishly.
“He doesn’t want to speak to you.” Sharpay said, turning her nose up at him and hooking her arm protectively around Ryan’s.
“Sharpay, I just really need to talk to Ryan alone.” He looked at Ryan. “Please.”
Ryan took a deep breath. He was really beginning to hate that word, especially coming out of Chad’s mouth.
“Sharpay, you go on ahead. I’ll be fine.” Sharpay looked at him and he nodded. She begrudgingly left them alone in the hallway and headed to class.
“Make it quick, Chad, or we’re going to be late for class.” Ryan said, refusing to meet Chad’s gaze.
“Ryan, I’m really sorry if I made you uncomfortable last night after what I did. I just… I wasn’t lying, you know. I wasn’t lying about wanting to kiss you for a while now and it’s not because of some weird experiment or something.” Chad made a face like the word left a bad taste in his mouth. “I’ve been wanting to kiss you because I really, really like you and last night, when you looked so happy to have been there I couldn’t help myself. I’m sorry.”
“...You like me?”
Chad nodded.
“Yes, I like you. A lot. You seem to think that I’m straight but I never explicitly said that, you know.” That… was true. Ryan was beginning to feel like he was the idiot.
“So, what about you?” Chad asked.
“What do you mean?”
“When someone usually tells someone they like them, the other person tells them how they feel. Or don’t feel.” Chad hastily added at the end.
Ryan’s cheeks felt warm. He opened his mouth to reply when the school bell rang.
“We’re late! We should go.” Ryan said, flustered. Chad laughed and grabbed Ryan’s hand.
“Come on, I know this place we can go to hide out for a while and just talk. I just want to keep talking to you for a while more.”
“Chad Danforth, are you suggesting that we play hooky?” Ryan asked in a tone that suggested he did not approve but his laugh gave away how he really felt. “Let’s go.” He said, in a conspiratorial whisper and before he knew it they were running.
“Nobody comes through here. We store old uniforms and extra equipment if we run short on the gym.”
“Gabriella and Troy probably made out here a bunch of times then.” Ryan said, wrinkling his nose.
“If we’re talking about places where they’ve made out, I don’t think any place in this school is safe from that.” Chad said. “You haven’t given me your answer yet, by the way?”
Ryan licked his lips nervously and blushed when he caught Chad staring.
“I agreed to skip class with you right after you said you liked me. I’m pretty sure that says more than enough.” Ryan said, feeling shy.
Chad was holding his hand again. Ryan didn’t think he could ever get used to the feeling of his hand on his.
“I want to hear you say it.” Chad said, voice low. Ryan gulped.
“Okay, okay. I like you. I like you a lot, you big lug. Are you happy?” Chad grinned from ear to ear.
“I’m ecstatic.” He said and kissed him.
This time, Ryan kissed back.
--
Ryan had refused to become that awful cliche of the campy gay kid falling for the straight-as-a-ruler jock because in all the movies and television shows because those cliches usually ended up in heartbreak and awkwardness for everyone involved. Those cliches sucked.
So instead of falling for a stupid jock that would break his heart, he fell for Chad Danforth and actually got himself a pretty happy ending.