"Don't you think your friends will be upset with you for missing the game today?" Ryan asked his boyfriend as he watched Troy slip off his shoes before joining him on the couch.

"They might be," Troy said, shrugging his shoulders slightly. "But they'll just have to get over it. I'm not going to play."

Ryan sighed but leaned his head on the brunet's shoulder. The two of them had already missed the entire day of school, so even if Troy wanted to play, the administrators probably wouldn't have let him.

Instead of engaging in academic endeavors, they had spent their day at the soup kitchen in downtown Albuquerque preparing and serving food to those who needed it. Troy wrapped his arm around Ryan as he remembered back several days when Ryan had come into his room waving around a piece of paper and spouting off something about calling in gay.

Once he had calmed the feisty blond down and able to actually figure out what he was going on about, he had still been a little bit confused as to why this meant so much to Ryan.

"It's my way of being able to be politically active," Ryan had said. When Troy still had a confused look on his face, the blond continued. "Look, I'm tired of people telling me how or who I can or cannot love, and this is my way of just giving the big ole' F-you to the establishment.

"I'm a caring person, and instead of getting mad at people telling me that I'm less than they are, I'm just going to go out and prove to them that they can't define love or me."

Troy had just smiled goofily at his boyfriend and then pulled him in for a big kiss. When he pulled back, he looked Ryan straight in the eyes and said, "I love you, you know that? Every time I think I can't possibly love you more, you go and do something that proves me wrong."

Ryan grinned back at him. "I can do something else that will prove you wrong, too," he said as he waggled his eyebrow suggestively.

Troy blushed as he remembered what exactly had followed.

"What are you thinking about?" Ryan asked, noticing the blush on his boyfriend's cheeks.

It took Troy a moment, trying to get the images of a hot, sweaty Ryan out of his head, but then he replied, "Just thinking about how I'd much rather be here with you than at a stupid basketball game."

Ryan just smiled and pecked Troy on the cheek. "You just like me because I put out," he said.

"That's just one of the reasons, I promise," he said, leaning in for another kiss.

A/N: I wrote this in response to the Day Without A Gay national protest that is happening today (Dec. 10, 2008). You can find more information by going here: .org. What better way to get the word out than through a nice little Tryan story?

I hope you all enjoy it!