Title Sick
Author Hannah Sheree
Rating G – only little kisses; some fluff
Warnings Spoilers for Rent. If you haven't seen it, you've been deprived (says the girl who only saw it for the first time last week).

Chad Danforth was never sick. It was like Troy with the whole singing and dancing thing. It just didn't happen. Except Troy did sing and dance and it was weird and kind of ruined his whole theory. Now Chad was sick, and it was not only weird, but miserable.

It wasn't like he had pneumonia or the chicken pox. It was just a flu, but it was enough that he felt thoroughly depressed and exhausted. His head felt clogged and heavy and his bones thoroughly ached, and he's just come down from a fever, so he was sweating and shivering at the same time. He had a cough and scratchy throat that no water or honey could soothe. His mother was fussing over him, while at the same time bitching about how she'd had to miss work for the day. He put it all down to PMS, one of those things he really didn't want to think about.

He was lying in bed, bored out of his brains and really wanting to do something. But before, he'd struggled down to the kitchen, only to realise he was exhausted, and had to sit at the table for a while to regain his strength. It sucked.

In addition to feeling like crap, he had missed practice, and would do for about a week. He'd had to cancel his date with Ryan for the evening. And his mother didn't want him infecting his sisters, so he was forced to be in his room. He wasn't even allowed to watch TV!

So he slept. When you're sick, there really was little else to do. He was surprised when he woke up, to find someone poking him gently in the side. Groaning, he opened his eyes, just about ready to kill his little sister (assuming he found the energy for that), only to find Ryan on his knees beside his bed.

Chad blinked. Several times. Then he fell back on his pillow, coughing lightly. He glanced at the clock and saw that school had finished maybe ten minutes earlier. Sharpay must have driven him then.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, worried at how harsh his voice sounded. It was because of his throat, not because he didn't want Ryan there!

Ryan beamed at him, obviously not bothered by the tone of his voice. But then again, when was Ryan ever bothered by anything? "You were sick, so I decided to come over here and look after you!"

"Dude, much as I appreciate that, won't you get sick too?"

"No. Unlike some people, I'm not scared of needles and had my shot for cold and flu." Ryan stated in a very I told you so way.

Chad glared at him. "Hey, those needles hurt!"

"Yes, well, look who's sick, and look who's here to look after the sick one?" Ryan said, raising his eyebrows. He reached beside him to pull up one of his many bags, this one inevitably matching his green and purple outfit. Only Ryan could pull of a green and purple outfit with such style and then find matching shoes, bag and hat, Chad realised with a sigh.

"I have some DVD's to watch," he said, pulling a few DVD's out and putting them on the bed, "and some fairy floss and my mum said to bring chicken soup, but I didn't see the point in that, so I brought some chicken flavoured chips and, oh yeah!" He grinned back at Chad before kissing him quickly on the lips.

Chad smiled at him. "Just because you had your shots doesn't mean you can't get sick, especially if you're kissing me."

"It was just a little one." Ryan pulled out a laptop, making Chad's eyes widen. The kid had everything!! "So, choose a movie. I usually watch Rent when I'm sick; it always makes me realise I'm lucky to only have the flu instead of AIDS." He told Chad sombrely.

"Are they all musicals?" Chad asked warily, picking the stack up. Hairspray, The Sound of Music, Singing in the Rain, Footloose, Rent, Cats ,Beauty and the Beast?! Ryan didn't have everything; he lacked his sanity!!

When Chad could finally find his words, he handed them over to Ryan. "Um, you choose," he said weakly.

Ryan grinned and pulled Rent out of the pile, placing the rest in his bag. "We can watch another one after this." When Chad saw his positively wicked grin, he realised that Ryan knew what he was doing.

"I hate you," Chad moaned finally, pulling the blanket over his head. He heard Ryan give a light chuckle. A moment later, his bed sank slightly, on the other side to where Ryan had formerly been. He felt legs being thrown over his and the blankets being pulled from his face.

Ryan lay against the headboard, putting an arm around Chad. Chad groaned and finally moved his head the huge distance from the pillow to Ryan's chest. Ryan then adjusted the laptop over their legs and clicked a few buttons. A piano started playing a tune that Chad hadn't even realised he knew.

"Fairy floss?" Ryan offered, breaking open the packet. Chad took some and then settled himself more comfortably on Ryan, turning in so that he was more curled around Ryan. When Ryan grinned at him and shifted so that they were both more comfortable, he felt like his heart was about to explode with happiness.

Chad endured. He did anything for Ryan, and enduring was one of them. And i Rent /i wasn't that bad because it had swearing and lesbians. Despite being with a guy, Chad still couldn't get over the typical love that a man had of lesbians. It was actually going really well and he was almost asleep on Ryan's chest when Ryan started to sniffle.

"What happened?" Chad asked groggily.

"Nothing," Ryan told him, voice shaking. Chad had never thought that Ryan was a crier, but here he was, tears ready to fall. "Not yet. But Angel's about to die!" Another song started and then Ryan was all but squeezing the life out of Chad as he tried not to cry. As Chad watched he found that even he wanted to cry. Well, it was sad! To his credit, he didn't actually do more than tear up. Ryan cuddled him, resting his head on Chad's.

"It has a happy ending," Ryan assured him softly, voice a little sleepy now.

As intrigued as he was, Chad couldn't help but let his eyes close, listening to the music play in front of him. Through his doze he heard more songs that he recognised, and realised in the back of his mind that his mother used to play them. It was a comforting thought for some reason. At least he didn't know the words, like he did with Phantom of the Opera, willingly or not.

He didn't realise he'd fallen asleep until he heard his door opening. It took some effort to crack his eyes open and once they were, he wished he hadn't been so stupid. Sharpay stood in the doorway, an annoyed expression on her face.

"Ryan!" She complained now that she saw Chad was awake. "Why aren't you answering your phone? You're an hour late and I had to leave my facial to come get you. You were supposed to call me ages ago! My pores are huge and it's entirely your fault!"

Chad looked up at Ryan to see that he was just now waking up. The laptop sat in sleep mode on their laps and the fairy floss was completely eaten. Sharpay strode over to the bed and Chad honestly expected her to yank Ryan out of it forcefully. Instead, she put the laptop in his bag while he got to his feet, easing out from under Chad. When he stumbled, she grabbed his arm and began leading him (with surprising gentleness) towards the door, holding the bag for him.

It was so big-sister-like that Chad had to smile at it. Mean as she was, Sharpay did have her good moments, particularly when it came to her younger brother. They were just far and few between. Like threatening all of his boyfriends that her stilettos hurt when shoved in certain parts of the male anatomy and what a fate it would be if they hurt her brother.

"Hold on," Ryan told her, pulling his hand away from hers. He bent and kissed Chad gently, once on the mouth and then on the forehead. "Get better soon," he whispered; voice hoarse from sleep, "I miss you."

Chad nodded, "Thanks," and smiled up at him. "The movie didn't suck, I'll give you that."

Ryan grinned at him and kissed him once again, hugging him as best he could with Chad still lying down. He then returned to Sharpay, taking his bag from her. Sharpay lead Ryan out the door, his head on her shoulder. The door shut and a minute or two later, Chad heard a car start up and drive off.

He was in love with Ryan. He'd have to remember to tell him that later.

Chad fell back to sleep, smiling. He already felt better.