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Chad would never be caught dead in a theatre. That was a place for other people, not him. How he ended up at rehearsals for some stupid musical instead of shooting hoops in the gym, he didn’t really know, but his boyfriend was probably to blame.
He yawned and stretched in his seat in the audience, waiting for Zeke and the others to finish double-checking the sets. The initial run of the song could be pushed back depending on how dry the paint was, or how stable the house was.
“Bored?” a voice came from beside him. Chad didn’t even have to look up to know it was his boyfriend, the one and only Ryan Evans.
“A little. Do I even need to be here?” the brunet complained, to which Ryan only responded with an exasperated click of his tongue.
“You’re not skipping rehearsals, Danforth. Not on my watch.”
Rolling his eyes dramatically, he groaned, “Nothing’s even happening. We’ve been running the same song for the past few rehearsals, and with all due respect, I’m getting sick of hearing Troy and Gabi be in love.”
“You’re not the only one, you know,” Ryan said as he parked himself on Chad’s lap. “I managed to convince Kelsi to run a new song today so that we’d get a break from the others.”
Chad leaned in and pressed a kiss to the base of Ryan’s neck. “I love you so much, you know that?”
The choreographer gave him a playful swat on the arm. “Just because I made rehearsals a little less boring for you? And here I thought you loved me for my fine ass and great hair.”
“The ass is just a bonus. Seeing you be in charge of everyone is sexy,” he laughed.
All Ryan could do was scoff in protest. “Flattery will not get you out of rehearsals, just so you know.”
“Worth a shot,” the jock mumbled. His boyfriend only shook his head in response.
Thankfully, Ms. Darbus chose that moment to call for the whole cast so that they could start running the song. Ryan was always positioned beside Kelsi in the orchestra pit, and Chad was (almost) always sitting in the wings while Troy and Gabriella had their lovey-dovey moments onstage.
The cast and crew had to find ways to keep themselves occupied while the rehearsals didn’t need them, so they had accumulated an alarming amount of hobbies to pass the time. Zeke and Jason had started bringing playing cards and teaching everyone poker, Martha learned how to do a split and a cartwheel, Sharpay began braiding everyone’s hair, and Taylor started doing makeup. Chad’s makeup, to be exact, and Sharpay had too much fun dressing him up during rehearsals.
He was thankful most of the experiments they performed on him were not privy to his boyfriend, and he could suffer the humiliation on his own. Taylor seemed to be happy with this hobby of hers, and that was good enough, he supposed.
“Penny for your thoughts?” she asked, drawing a few hearts and teardrops on his cheek.
Sharpay looked up from what she was doing and added, albeit not very helpfully, “Chad thinks?”
Taylor laughed, “Occasionally. His eyebrows get all scrunched up when he’s deep in thought.”
The jock scoffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest, his best attempt at looking offended. He never liked talking to girls. They liked to gossip too much, and it was hard for him to brood in peace whenever he was hanging around them.
“I’m not thinking about anything,” he grumbled.
“My point exactly,” Sharpay said with a smirk, to which Taylor responded with a dramatic eye roll.
The two girls kept working on his look, which was alarmingly bearing more and more resemblance to a clown’s outfit, until they seemed satisfied enough.
At this point, Troy and Gabriella had progressed to their nth repeat of the song, and were running through a rough draft of the choreography, since Ryan tended to choreograph by sound and made things up as he went along. Neither of Chad’s companions missed his longing glance in the choreographer’s direction.
“Why don’t you go show him how you look?” the brunette suggested, fluffing Chad’s unreasonably curly mane. “He could probably use a nice distraction.”
Sharpay nodded in agreement, pushing him towards the centre of the stage, where Ryan was directing Gabriella’s movements. Chad protested at first, before unwillingly stumbling to his boyfriend.
Ryan turned from Gabriella and gave Chad’s look a once-over before bursting into boisterous laughter, the kind that made him tilt his head back and place a hand over his chest. The blond put his other hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder and gave him a lopsided grin, “It suits you, Danforth. I daresay you even look good.”
“Your sister is a menace,” the curly-haired boy grimaced, allowing Ryan to place his hand on Chad’s shoulder and guide him backstage. “I can’t stand being her dress-up doll anymore.”
The choreographer could only laugh again in response. He straightened the clown costume’s collar and pressed a gentle kiss to Chad’s cheek. “You’re adorable.”
“I’m not! I look like an idiot,” Chad grumbled.
Ryan laughed and ran a hand through his boyfriend’s hair, “My idiot.”
Chad let out a huff of indignation, and pulled Ryan closer for a full-blown kiss, that lasted only seconds before the devil incarnate (read: Sharpay Evans) called out, “Oh, get a room, you two!”
The shorter male laughed and patted his boyfriend’s cheek affectionately. “I gotta go. Love you!”
Watching the dancer’s retreating figure, the jock suppressed a smile and sat back down on top of a set piece. Taylor caught a glimpse of his expression and shot Sharpay a knowing glance.
The blonde quickly caught on and unzipped the clown costume that Chad was wearing over his clothes. “Are we amazing or what?” the she-devil joked with a smile.
“Amazing in what sense?” he retorted, slipping off the clown costume.
Sharpay scoffed in mock outrage and handed the discarded outfit to her assistant. “Excuse me, we got your boyfriend, who is extremely busy, to kiss you. In the middle of rehearsals, might I add.”
He crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared at her. “What makes you think he wouldn’t kiss me even if you guys didn’t dress me up?”
Taylor rolled her eyes and put away her makeup kit. “This is a stupid discussion I refuse to take part in.”
“Then don’t,” Sharpay replied curtly and turned her attention back to the jock. “You think he’d kiss you in rehearsals even without your crazy clown getup? Then prove it.”
Holding his head up high, Chad straightened his shirt and walked over to the centre of the stage, where Ryan was still talking to Gabriella, giving her pointers on her dance, most likely.
Gabi, bless her soul, saw him approaching them, noted the hesitancy in his eyes and gracefully said, “I think I’ll go drink some water. Be back in a bit.”
Ryan was a bit taken aback when she suddenly took her leave, but he turned to face his boyfriend and was pleasantly surprised by the sight.
“Gabi’s a saint,” the brunet breathed.
Ryan simply shook his head. “She’s an enabler. What do you need?”
Chad smiled mischievously and took his boyfriend’s hand. “A kiss.”
“Who put you up to this?” the blond said after obliging. An indignant squeak from Sharpay interrupted him before Chad could answer.
The two lovers shared a look before bursting into laughter.
Ryan ran a hand through his boyfriend’s hair and planted a kiss on both cheeks. “I love you, Danforth.”
“I love you more, Evans,” Chad replied. “Even if you forced me into doing this stupid musical.”
Ryan rolled his eyes dramatically, “You love me too much to refuse.”
“It’s an excuse to see you being sexy in your natural habitat,” he shrugged.
His boyfriend scoffed and swatted him playfully on the arm. “Excuse you, I’m always sexy. It’s not my fault you have a thing for dancers, Mr. ‘I Don’t Dance.’”
Pretending to be offended, Chad placed a hand over his chest and summoned his best impression of Sharpay not getting what she wanted. “I’m offended that you think I’ve ever been attracted to any other dancers.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean,” he said, “you’re the only one I’ve ever liked, or had a thing for.”
The blond cupped his boyfriend’s face in his hands and started placing light kisses all over it. “You,” kiss, “are,” kiss, “adorable, you know that?”
Chad pouted playfully, “I’m not.”
“Mr. Evans, Mr. Danforth,” their drama teacher called, “I deeply regret interrupting your lovely moment, but break time is now over, let us proceed with rehearsals.”
Both boys looked guilty, cheeks turning red as everyone stifled a laugh.
“Uh, yes,” Ryan cleared his throat awkwardly. “Places for ‘Just Wanna Be With You’, everyone. Kelsi, could you cue them?”
The pianist, resisting the urge to smile, nodded and motioned for Troy and Gabriella to take their places.
“You might want to drink some water first, though,” Kelsi added.
The choreographer nodded and walked backstage as quickly as he could, with Chad following suit. Everyone was silent for a moment once they had gone, before bursting into raucous laughter.
Once they were safe backstage, Chad slid down and sat on the floor.
“That was …” he paused for a moment to think.
“Embarrassing,” Ryan supplied.
The brunet nodded and pulled some water from his bag, offering it to the blond, who took it gratefully.
“Can we just stay here for the rest of the day?” the jock mumbled in an attempt to make a half-meant joke.
His boyfriend chuckled dryly, passing him the water bottle. “I’d love to, but we’ve got to get back soon.” Ryan brushed off his pants and offered a hand to help Chad up.
They walked back to the stage, before Chad stopped in his tracks.
“What’s wrong?” his boyfriend asked concernedly.
The brunet swallowed before shyly mumbling, “Can I have a kiss before we go?”
“My, my,” he teased, leaning in for a kiss. Ryan wasn’t that short, but he still had to tiptoe a little to reach Chad’s lips. “Aren’t we clingy today, Danforth?”
Chad laughed against the other’s lips, “Always for you, Evans.”