Troy sat on the very edge of his seat, his fists curled into balls and his left foot crossed over his right, which was jiggling so quickly it was a blur.
Troy Bolton had never been so nervous in his life. Never.
He felt nauseous.
The play wouldn't start for another half-an-hour, but his character opened the show, and Troy had to be at his queue before the set was changed, otherwise he wouldn't be able to get on stage.
And so here he was sitting on a metal folding chair next to a rack of props and clothing… just… waiting, creating more time to dread.
It was horrifying.
"Yo! Hey man! How you holding out?"
Troy's eyes, which had been previously fixed on his vibrating foot, flicked to his best friends face, which had that huge heart stopping grin on it that made his stomach turn upside down.
That combined with the nerves-induced-nausea was not pleasant.
Troy tried to reply, but the only noise that came out of his throat was a sort of grunt sound. Chad chuckled, "Nervous?"
Troy tried to laugh, but his throat closed up and all he got was a gasp.
This conversation was not going well.
He coughed and managed to utter "yeah… a little."
Chad laughed again and gave Troy one of those manly-punch-on-the-shoulder things.
"Well, good luck man."
Troy bolted out of his seat so suddenly Chad stumbled backwards in alarm.
"Don't say that!!"
Chad stared at him, incredibly confused. "What?"
"What you just said!"
"You can't say 'what' in the theatre? But you just did… and I'm pretty sure your character does like four times."
Troy rolled his eyes, not sure whether he should sigh or laugh. Chad was so adorable when he was confused.
Troy gave himself a little microscopic shake.
Chad was NOT adorable.
Troy DID NOT have a crush on his best friend.
Troy had been pounding that into his brain over and over again for months. He was a guy. Chad was a guy. Guys don't like other guys… well… he didn't anyway.
Chad was his best friend.
It didn't matter that he was hot as hell with a great ass and an amazing grin.
Troy could NOT have feelings like that for his best guy-friend.
…and he didn't…
He was just going through some hormonal change… thing… it would pass…
The only problem was that the 'warm fuzzy' feeling that Troy got whenever Chad smiled at him wasn't going away.
In fact, the more Troy tried to convince himself that it was entirely impossible to think that he was attracted to his friend the more the "attraction" grew.
It was irritating to say the least.
Anyway, Troy opted for the sigh.
"No, not 'what', what you said right before 'what'. That's what you can't say."
Chad furrowed his brow. "I have no idea what you just said."
"G-O-O-D. L-U-C-K. Don't say that."
Troy couldn't resist a small chuckle as he watched Chad's lips move slowly trying to spell it out. His "eureka" moment was even cuter than his confusion.
Wait.
No it wasn't.
His confusion wasn't cute, so "eureka" couldn't be cuter.
Chad wasn't cute.
Troy did NOT have a crush on his best friend.
"Oooooh. That. Why not?"
Troy shrugged. "I dunno. You just can't… and now I've been doomed to a horrible performance."
"Aw geez, sorry man."
"'Break a leg'"
"Hey man, I said I was sorry. Don't go getting violent on me."
"No!" Troy shook his head, "That's what you say instead of- umm… 'G.L.'. Break a leg."
"Oh." Chad didn't seem to know what to make of that. "OK… um… break a leg then."
"It's too late. I've been cursed. You don't have to clap at the end. I'll understand."
Chad laughed, which made Troy's stomach flip, and that warm feeling was spreading from his toes.
Aw hell, who was he kidding.
Troy totally had a crush on his best friend.
"So… there's absolutely no way I can reverse this… curse thing?"
Troy knew there was something you were supposed to do, but he just couldn't remember-
Chad didn't know either.
If Troy told Chad that you had to do something… else, he wouldn't know the difference…
Excellent.
"Umm… you have to kiss."
Chad froze.
"What?"
Troy blushed, mentally patting himself on the back. He had never had such a good idea before in his life.
"The person who wished the performer 'G.L.' has to kiss the said performer."
"Oh…. You sure?"
"Yeah."
"So, um, if I don't reverse this… thing, you'll do horribly."
"Yeah."
"And you really believe in that stupid superstition."
"Yeah."
"Oh."
Chad looked horrified at Troy's utterly serious look.
"You're not joking are you? You really think we have to…uh….you know… really?"
"Look, Chad, if you're really not comfortable with it or anything, we- we don't have to. I mean… I'm sure we'll do…um… fine… I guess. "
It was a really good thing Troy could act so well.
Chad was actually buying this.
"It doesn't… like… mean anything…right? It's like a kiss your aunt gives you… right? Like… a peck, or whatever?"
"Yeah! I mean… we don't have to like make-out or anything."
Troy chuckled nervously at that, but Chad didn't seem to find it funny at all.
Chad shuffled from foot to foot, glancing around nervously, making sure no one else was there. "Uh, when does the play start?"
"Twenty minutes."
"….Okay..."
And with a sigh that was suited for a man about to approach the noose, Chad leaned forward and placed his lips on top of Troy's and then almost instantly tried to pull away again...
…which wasn't working so well because Troy had wrapped his hand around Chad's neck which forced his mouth to stay put.
Chad jumped and tried to shove the other teen away… but Troy, now determined to get what he wanted, grabbed Chad's hip, crushed their bodies together and opened his mouth against his friend's.
The darker boy gasped, which gave Troy's tongue the opportunity to slip inside Chad's mouth.
Since Troy started to think about Chad… differently… he had been wondering, however grudgingly, what kissing him would be like. Would it be like kissing Gabriella? He doubted it. Gabriella was nice, but the girl couldn't kiss. She just opened her mouth as if she was shocked with something. Very fish like. Her hands were always placed loosely on Troy's shoulders, sometimes she didn't even close her eyes, and he could never kiss her without tasting animal crackers.
He didn't even like animal crackers.
He wanted to be able to really lose himself in someone else when he kissed them, but being the faithful boyfriend that he was, he hadn't been able to 'inspect' his fellow peers as closely as he wanted.
He didn't have to anymore.
The feel of his tongue sliding against Chad's was breathtaking, and the other boy tasted like grapefruit. He couldn't hold back his moan even if he tried.
And apparently, neither could Chad, who seemed to suddenly enjoy the situation and draped his arms around Troy's waist.
Well wasn't that just super!
More than super… that was fantastic.
How many more utterly exhilarating surprises did Chad have hidden up his sleeve?
Troy was determined to find out.
Troy heaved his friend against the wall and pushed his hips into the others. Chad groaned ever so softly and dropped his head backwards. Troy's mouth slid down his throat, nipping at his ears and licking his adam's apple.
Goosebumps broke out all over Troy's skin as Chad's hand slipped into the actor's pants.
He seemed to know what he was doing.
That was a surprise.
A really nice one at that.
Troy didn't know why Chad was so seemingly experienced, but as the teen's hand stroked him firmly and fingers played sinfully against burning flesh, Troy didn't really care too much.
His hips thrust swiftly into that oh-so-talented hand, his breath coming out in short puffs, his head buried in Chad's shoulder.
Oh God this was good.
Troy sought out Chad's mouth, and lips meet in a sloppy kiss, teeth clashing together, tongues slowly gliding against one another.
Troy couldn't hold on much longer.
"Ch- Chad! Ah God… I'm gunna-"
Chad grinned into Troy's mouth and sped his hands movements, applying just a little more pressure….
Troy buried his head in Chad's hair to muffle his cry as his hips thrust erratically in to the warm hand holding him just before he came, all strength leaving his legs.
The two stayed in that position just long enough for Troy to regain his footing and allow the feeling to creep back in to his knees.
Troy grabbed a towel off the rack of props nearby and cleaned himself off.
He glanced at Chad slyly, who was still leaning, almost lazily, against the wall with this lopsided smirk on his face, something poking sharply out of the teen's pants.
Troy gave Chad a toothy smile, gazing at him with a slightly predatory glint in his eye as he reached out to-
"Three minutes, everybody!! Three minutes to showtime!"
Troy growled in complete disappointment and let his head drop onto Chad's chest.
They were just getting to the really good stuff.
Chad groaned and lifted Troy's chin so the two were looking at each other.
"You owe me man."
Troy was gifted another quick peck on the lips before Chad pushed off the wall and started to jog off the back stage area.
"Break a leg!"