AN: Okay… so, I am totally in love with High School Musical now… this is my first fiction devoted to it! It's Ryan/Troy, so if you don't like that, don't read!

Disclaimer: I don't own Troy or Ryan (but dang, would I love to!), or anything related to High School Musical. The plot, however, is mine!

+ Ryan's POV +

If there's one thing I can't stand, it's waiting. I've been waiting since middle school: waiting for life to be easier, waiting to understand people around me, waiting to understand myself, waiting for just a little bit of happiness. Don't I deserve just a little bit of happiness? Maybe not. I sigh, staring off the bridge. The water beneath reflects everything; the clouds, the moon, the stars, even my own pale face. A tear drips off my nose and makes a tiny ripple in the lake. I laugh at the irony; if the water represented the world, or even just East High, I would be so much less than that tiny drop. At least the drop added something to that water. I stare even harder into the water… it's so calm and smooth on the surface, but beneath there are dozens of large, sharp rocks. I lean over further. How can something so beautiful and perfect have the ability to ruin someone's life they were stupid enough to fall? All of a sudden, I realize, I'm not even thinking about the lake anymore. Sure, I've fallen… I've fallen hard for a guy who will never look twice at me. I crawl up onto the rail of the bridge, the sobs shaking my body now as my brain throws images of him at me… images of him laughing, smiling, staring at anyone but me. I can I go another year, another week… hell, another second without him? I lean closer to the water and rocks… they look so comforting, so welcoming…

+ Troy's POV +

It's hard to get away sometimes, you know? It seems like I can never get a moment alone, so sometimes, as crazy as it may sound, 3 a.m. is the only time I can really be alone… I leave the cell at home and I just walk until I feel like I might collapse… then I keep walking. Tonight is definitely one of those nights… I should really be jogging, but these few hours to myself aren't about warming up for the team or anyone else… it's just about a few hours of solitude.

My breath is misting in front of me, and I can hardly feel my nose. I grin at the moon, and I'm just about to come up to my favorite place to just stop and think. A small bridge over a huge lake… wait a second. What the hell? I have never run into anyone on one of my walks, and now there's someone hanging from the bridge. Wait. Hanging from the bridge? The guys body is doubled over the rail, and even from a ways off, I can see the tears glistening on his cheeks. Oh my god. Is he going to jump! He leans even further, his frail body shaking. I run toward him as fast as I can. I don't even have to say anything; my footsteps alert him and he turns to stare at me.

Ryan Evans?

I stop and stare back. His bright blue eyes are hurt, shocked… I take a step toward him.

"Hey Ryan…" oh my god, I have never felt so awkward or so desperate in all my life. "What are you doing?" Duh. He just… he can't do it. He doesn't say anything; he seems frozen in place. "Hey… come down, Ryan." His eyes are as confused as I'm sure mine are pleading. Ryan just gazes into my eyes for a second, and then he steps down shakily. I feel myself sigh with relief as both feet touch solid ground. I feel like running up to him and hugging him, but I just grin. He smiles back, uneasy. His blonde hair is messy from hanging… just hanging there, the rail the only thing holding him back, he seemed so vulnerable… so gentle. Why would someone like Ryan kill themselves? He steps towards me cautiously.

"Hey Troy… what's going on?"

"Nothing. What are you doing, Ryan?" He looks away… is mad at me?

"Are you just asking or do you really want to know?" He looks back at me… God, what is it about those eyes that I haven't noticed until now?

"I really want to know." This seems to catch him off guard. He stares at me again for a second.

"All right… can we go somewhere else, though?" I nod anxiously. This bridge used to be the most comforting place in the world for me… now how will I feel here?

+ Ryan's POV +

I never thought I'd be sitting alone with Troy Bolton in a park at five in the morning, watching the sunrise. I pretend not to notice, but Troy keeps reaching up to wipe away tears, and I feel awful. He just told me to let it all out, and I did… actually, I may have gone a bit too far. I told him every excruciating detail… the ridicule, the bullying, how hard it is to be 'Sharpay's brother' day after day, how no one seems to notice me. Now we're both sitting here crying… Troy Bolton is crying because of me, like I've cried because of him so many times.

"I'm sorry Troy… Troy?" All of a sudden, his eyes snap shut and his heads falls gently into my lap. I stare down at his innocent face. I think this is the Troy no one ever sees. He almost always has that cocky grin on his face, but this unguarded face, this gentle bliss on his beautiful face… that's who I love. Timidly, I reach out and run my fingers gently through his hair. I grin, really grin, as the sun rises over the hills. The only things that Troy, the guy I love, doesn't knoware thatI'm gay, and thatI'm in love with him.

+ Troy's POV +

I've never slept so peacefully in my life. Sure, a park bench may not sound that comfortable, but whatever I grabbed as a pillow last night is so warm and comforting… I could lay here forever… and despite the frost on the grass, I feel so warm inside… I stretch my arms way above my head, opening my eyes and squinting at the sun. I look up and see Ryan's face. His eyes are closed, sleep making his face a bit more relaxed… but I can still see a stressful look. I don't ever remember noticing this never-disappearing worry that Ryan had. I haven't noticed a lot of things about Ryan Evans, and I'm starting to regret it. What if I hadn't stopped him last night? Would I have ever gotten to know why he was the way he was… would I have cared if I never had spoken to him again? All of a sudden, something dawns on me… my pillow for the night was Ryan's lap. I expect disgust to wash over me, but it doesn't come. I stare up at his angelic face. Wait a sec… angelic! What the hell am I thinking? I sit up abruptly, and my movement wakes him. He mummers something, then opens his eyes slowly. When he sees me, a smile lights up on his face.

"Morning."

"Morning."

Wonderful. I love awkward silences. Not.

"I'm really sorry about…"

"Don't be, man. It's fine." I smile gently at him. "Shit!"

"What?" Ryan immediately looks concerned for me. I could sit there and feel glad about that all day, but I won't.

"It's 9:00." Ryan scrambles for his cell phone and looks something up.

"We had study hall until now."

"Great!" Relief surges through my body. "Our next class starts in 15 minutes… what class is it?"

"Drama." Ryan's face drains of blood.

"Damn! Come on!" Without thinking, I reach out and grab Ryan's hand, dragging him behind me as we both run.

"We don't have time to get our stuff, Troy!" He pants from behind me. I barely hear him. His hand is warm and comforting in mine, despite the awkwardness of the situation. We keep running and it seems like we'll never reach the school.

+ Ryan's POV +

Oh my god… I know Mrs. Darbus will kill us both if we are late, but that's kind of hard to think about with Troy holding my hand. Not the other way around… Troy is holding my hand. We dash up the stairs to the school together, hands still intertwined. Only when we burst through the doors do we drop hands, running as fast as we can down the hallway together. I look at him out the corner of my eyes. He looks panicked. Out of breath, we both burst into Drama just as the bell rings. Mrs. Darbus eyes us, but technically, she can't do anything; we were on time. We both make our ways to our seats. Sharpay raises an eyebrow at me. She may be the only person that knows I'm gay, but even she doesn't know that Troy is the guy I've loved since middle school. That might have just changed, though, judging by the glint in her eye. The rest of class is hard to focus on. I just sit there, numb. At one point, Sharpay gets up and goes to talk to Troy. I hardly notice. Sure, being with Troy was amazing, but two hours of sleep doesn't quite do it for me. I didn't want to close my eyes because I never know when Troy could be that close again. Shar soon gets back to her desk and shoves a piece of paper at me. I look over at her blankly and she rolls her eyes and shoves it towards me again. I look down at it.

Ryan-

If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you, okay?

555-2145

Troy

I feel my face flush again, and look up at Troy… he was just staring back at me, but surely he wasn't blushing as well? I smile at the back of his head… I've said, "Thank God It's Friday" so many times in my life, just to try to be normal… but it never really had meaning until this Friday.

Please review! It means so much. And also, I don't know if there's a lake where they live.. but for my purposes, of course there is, who are you kidding! ;)