Chapter Text
Chad woke up to the sound of his phone. His mind still foggy with sleep, he tried to hit snooze, then realized that it wasn't his alarm at all, but a phone call. He held his phone out at arms length, trying to get his eyes to focus on the name on the screen. It was Ryan.
He looked across the room at Jake, who had woken up but was trying very hard to pretend he hadn't. God, Chad had been lucky in the roommate draw. Jake deserved a cake or something for how much he put up with. "Sorry," Chad whispered. He answered the call, but he didn't speak until he was out in the hallway, the door closed behind him. "Hey, is everything okay?" asked.
"Hey," Ryan said. He sounded chipper. "Everything is great, how are you?"
"Dude, it's like five thirty in the morning," Chad said. "I thought there was an emergency or something."
"Oh shit, I'm sorry," Ryan said. "I totally forgot about the time difference. Go back to bed, you can call me later, it's not time sensitive or anything."
"No, I'm awake now, it's fine," Chad said. It was good to hear Ryan's voice. Between the time difference and their schedules, they had barely talked lately. He walked down the hall to the stair well, and closed the fire door behind him. The walls in this dorm were paper thin, and Chad had quickly discovered that this was the only place to talk on the phone without someone getting irritated with you. "What's up?"
"So I had an idea," Ryan said.
"Okay," Chad said. "I'm listening." The door opened, and a girl walked into the stairwell. She was dressed in work out gear, and she gave Chad a once over, clearly judging his pajama pants. He gave her a sheepish smile, and she continued down the stairs.
"I know things have been hard schedule-wise lately," he said. "Especially on my end. And I feel really bad about that. So in order to make it up to you... How would you feel about an all expenses paid trip to New York?" Chad couldn't help but smile at the excitement in Ryan's voice. "I'll pay for your plane ticket. You don't have to worry about lodging, obviously. And we could go out for a fancy dinner and then go see a show. Equus is playing, if you want some full frontal Daniel Radcliffe."
"Ryan," Chad said. "That's... That's too much, Ry. I want to, believe me I want to. But I can't let you do that, that's not fair." It was weird, dating someone who had so much money. Ryan always wanted to pay for things, and Chad tried not to feel too guilty about it when it came to the small stuff, because Ryan could pay for things. But every once in awhile he would want to do something big, and it made Chad feel terrible because he couldn't reciprocate.
"It's really not a big deal," Ryan said "I want to do it. Besides, it's just like if I was coming home for Columbus Day weekend, the plane is just going the other way."
"Wait," Chad said. "Columbus Day weekend?"
"Yeah," Ryan said. "That's like the only time I don't have rehearsal. You have it off, don't you?"
"Yeah," Chad said. His stomach sank. "But Troy's coming home that weekend and we already made plans." He rested his head on his free hand. "I'm so sorry, I would totally cancel but I promised and he had to rearrange a bunch of stuff-"
"It's fine," Ryan said. "Troy is important to you, you've got to see him too. I totally get it."
If it was Chad, he would have been so irritated and passive aggressive, but Ryan was completely sincere. "Look, I know Albuquerque isn't as cool as New York," he said. "But do you maybe want to come home for the weekend? Gabriella's coming too, and I know she would love to see you. I bet we could get a party together for Friday night. And I'm sure we can get some time to ourselves."
"You sure that'll be okay?" Ryan said "I don't want to intrude on your time with Troy."
"No, man, he'll totally get it," Chad said. "As long as we get in a game of one on, everything will be fine."
"That would be great, then," Ryan said. "But you've got to let me plan a special date, okay? If you can't come to New York I'm bringing New York to you."
Chad laughed. "I'll get to New York someday," he said. He looked across the stairwell. The sun had risen just high enough to start streaming through the small, grimy window.
"I'm buying a ticket right now," Ryan said. Chad could hear the keys on his computer as he typed, slow and singlehanded because he was holding the phone. Chad smiled, imagining it. It was seven thirty there. Ryan was probably already fully dressed, and fully caffeinated. He hated dining hall coffee, so he always went to a cafe bright and early. Chad knew he had a roommate, but he couldn't remember his name, and as far as Chad could tell he was never there. He certainly wasn't there right now. Lucky for him, Chad thought. Ryan was a morning person to the point that it was unbearable. He was always humming, and dancing around the room while he got dressed, and throwing open the curtains so the light would come through.
"I miss you," Chad said.
"I miss you too," Ryan said. "But only a few weeks, and then we'll be together again. In fact..." Even over the phone, Ryan insisted on the dramatic pause. There was a loud click, and Chad wondered if he had moved the phone towards the computer just so he could hear it. "I will be getting into Albuquerque at four twenty five on Friday, October tenth."
"That sounds perfect," Chad said. "Do you want me to get you at the airport?"
"I'll have Sharpay do it," Ryan said. "I should probably spend some time with her, I may as well get it over with."
"Fair enough," Chad said. "I'll talk to Troy and let you know what the plan is. Look, I'm going to go, now that I'm awake I'm starving so I've got to run to the dining hall. But we'll talk soon, okay? Maybe we can Skype later?"
"How much later is later?" Ryan said. "I've got a choreography workshop for most if the afternoon and then I promised Kelsi I would record vocals for one of her composition assignments."
"Damn it," Chad said. "Let's just talk now then. I've got class at nine, and then practice, were never going to be able to talk tonight."
"Go eat," Ryan said. "You know how you get when you don't eat. We'll figure it out."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure," Ryan said. "I love you."
"Love you too."
"Talk to you later," he said.
"Bye." Chad hung up the phone, and rested his head against the wall. The dining hall wasn't open yet, and it wouldn't be for another hour. He wasn't sure why he had told Ryan that. He should at least go back to his room and get dressed, he thought. Or try and go back to sleep. Or do the reading for his nine am class. Or call Ryan back, and talk to him, like a good boyfriend would. There were a lot of things he should have been doing, but he couldn't bring himself to do any of them, so he decided he would wait in the stairwell until people started to use it.