Title: Frogs and Princes (Part 2/?)
Rating: PG13 (mainly for innuendo and slash themes)
Word Count: 2168
Summary: Overthinking is a bad thing. Sometimes rehearsals aren't so great either, but at least there's always this dance.
A/N: Huge, huge thanks to everyone who commented in the "what should I call Ryan's scooter?" thread on the I Don't Dance lj community. This chapter is for all of you. Thank you also to those who reviewed chapter one. :D
Kelsi didn't think she'd ever been as nervous in her life as when she walked into school the next day. She didn't speak to anyone as she wove her way through the crowd outside homeroom, heading straight for the music room that had been her home since term began. It was the music room she had written some of her best songs in; it was the music room she and Ryan had cried in after Chad and Taylor started dating; it was the music room she and Ryan had... Oh.
Suddenly she wished she had somewhere else to work in.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out, flipping it open automatically before noticing the name at the top of the graphic. She took a deep breath. Here goes nothing...
ashton not start - only just leaving. not goin homeroom. meet u in 2nd free
Kelsi couldn't help but laugh as she read the message. He'd named his beloved Vespa Ashton within minutes of setting eyes on it, or so he had told her. Sharpay had wanted to name it Lauren, Hugo, Gene, or something else equally related to couture or Hollywood royalty, but Ryan had insisted: it had to be Ashton. Kelsi had asked him why one day. He'd shrugged and smiled innocently at her, before saying cheerily that he'd always wanted to ride Ashton Kutcher and walking towards English class. Kelsi hadn't spoken to him for the rest of that day after she'd snorted orange juice out of her nose and all over her favourite top.
She shook her head tried to will the away the memory. Fun as it was, she could not let herself be distracted from whether or not Ryan would ever forgive her. Well if the message was anything to go by he was still talking to her at least. Although if he was pretending like nothing had happened it would be almost as awkward as if he wasn't talking to her at all. After all it was one thing to be ok with something in the moment, but another to be ok with something afterwards and... Calm down girl, you're over thinking things.
It was times like this she really wished she had paid more attention when Ryan had been trying to teach her yogic breathing.
Her phone buzzed again just as she sat down at the piano, almost making her miss the bench entirely. So much for that moment of calm. It was Ryan again.
eta... if had to lose my girl kissing virginity with anyone am glad u. love u even if u gave me girl cooties 3
Kelsi laughed and shut her phone, putting it back in her pocket. They were going to be fine.
***
They may have been going to be fine, but the Wildcats were clearly not if that afternoon's rehearsal was anything to go by. The singing was mediocre at best, and even Troy and Gabriella finally getting their harmonies right couldn't lift the performers' standard as a whole. The dancing was... well. Kelsi found herself suddenly really grateful that she was just in charge of the music once Ryan's dance rehearsal began. It was all she could do smile supportively at Ryan every time one of the dancers went wrong or missed their count or... heck it was all she could do to not walk out.
Ryan was, apparently, not faring much better.
Standing in the centre of the stage, he pinched the bridge of his nose and tried not to wince as the basketball slipped from Zeke's hands and almost hit Jason in the head. For the seventh time that afternoon. No wonder the poor boy was failing maths.
Ryan almost cried as the song started itself again and Chad almost immediately became two counts behind everyone else. He turned around and gestured to Kelsi to stop the music. She pressed pause on the stereo and watched as Ryan's entire body seemed to relax instantly. He twisted his body back towards the dancers and waved at them, before clapping his hands and saying the words he's been wanting to yell all afternoon.
"OK everyone, we're done."
***
Ryan had just picked up his towel and water bottle when Chad approached him. It wasn't unusual for one of the Wildcats to hang around and talk to him after practice, but it was usually Gabriella with her encouraging words, or Zeke with his cookies that just had to be passed to Sharpay, or Troy with his earnestness and eager sentiment. Not Chad. And certainly not Chad looking so forlorn.
"I suck, don't I." Chad said before Ryan had even had chance to say hi, great practice, it's good to see you working so hard. Even if Chad's words were more true at that moment than anything he might have said.
Ryan rubbed his left temple with his free hand and tried to come up with an answer that wasn't 'I love you, but yes,' or 'yes, and me being in love with you won't change the fact that all I need right now is some Audrey Hepburn and a hot bath, so if you don't mind I'd like to pretend you don't need cheering up,' or just plain 'don't worry, I love you anyway.' He settled for some advice. And a lack of 'I love you'. It would probably get him further in the end. "You have to stop counting Chad... You're focusing more on your numbers than on the beat." There. Honest and without a trace of irony.
Chad blushed and lowered his head, looking embarrassed.
"Told you I couldn't dance." he muttered, suddenly looking so pathetic that Ryan couldn't help but want to help him. Still, this was Chad and Ryan knew he wouldn't get him very far with sympathy.
"You told me you didn't dance." he smirked at Chad, thinking back to that day. That day. "Didn't. Not couldn't. There's a difference, or have you taken too many knocks to the head with a basketball to see that?"
There. Chad's head lifted and he laughed. "You're all right, Evans, you know?"
Ryan rolled his eyes. Of course he knew. "I believe the word you're looking for is fabulous."
Chad opened his mouth and then closed it, swallowing awkwardly. Well that was a conversation killer. Always best to not refer to oneself as fabulous when in the presence of your ridiculously closeted jock crush. It was back to the matter in hand, then: Chad's dancing. Ryan dropped his dance bag back down to the floor and took a step towards Chad, gesturing for the ball the other boy held in his hands.
Chad handed it over, eyeing him suspiciously, seeming to forget that these days a basketball meant dancing almost as much as it meant his game.
"Right." said Ryan, taking the ball and turning back to face his audience of, uh, Kelsi, and moving into the starting position for the Now or Never choreography. Basketball was not Ryan's game and he could never pretend it would be, but Ms Darbus wanted a Senior Year musical complete with basketball, and he'd let someone burn all of his hats before he created anything less than brilliant. Really it was lucky that Ryan had spent so much time at the games this year, even though gathering moves for his basketball choreography debut hadn't been his intention at the time. No, his intention had been...
"Dude," Chad said, waving his hand in front of Ryan's face. "You OK, man? You kind of spaced out there."
Oh. Right. "Uhh... Yeah, I'm fine." Distracted by memories of a sweaty Chad... Totally not his fault. "Kelsi," he called in the direction of the orchestra pit, where she sat scribbling frantically in her notebook. Ryan rolled his eyes as she looked up; it was all she seemed to do some days. "Hon, can you start up the basketball number?"
Kelsi nodded and reached over to the stereo Ryan had brought in the week before. They had only had the recordings of all of the completed songs for a few days, but they had already proved invaluable to the dance rehearsals, giving the orchestra some time to breathe. She pressed play as Ryan told Chad to watch him, and then sat back to do the same, a smile forming on her features.
Ryan's dancing was as flawless as she would have expected it to be, and he worked with the ball like he had been dancing with one all his life. Chad was impressed, especially given that Ryan's basketball skills had proved to be zero to none in the few informal games Ryan had joined in with in the summer.
"How... How do I get to look like that?" He was stammering, and Ryan was sure he could see a faint blush on his dark cheeks.
"You never will." Ryan sighed dramatically, and Chad's smile dropped. "I'm sorry, you just wouldn't work as a blond." he deadpanned.
"You! You're in for it man." Chad grinned and pushed him playfully.
"I don't doubt it." Ryan almost squealed as he lost his balance, "But could you perfect the dance before you kill me? I want to see my hard work pay off before I die."
"Hard work. Dance. Right." He didn't exactly look convinced.
"You need to learn the music Chad. Not just listen to it a lot... Learn it. Really learn it. Like, listen to it all the time until you can hear it without listening to it. You need to feel the beat, because once you feel the beat the rest will follow."
"I... That's asking a lot, isn't it?"
"You're a good dancer Chad. I know you can do it. Here," he said, motioning to Chad for his hands and taking a step towards him, the basketball forgotten on the floor. "Let's try with something I know you know the steps for, something a little easier."
Kelsi had been listening, and knew where Ryan was going with this from their discussion during chemistry that afternoon. She sat down at the piano. "You want a waltz, Ry?"
"Yeah."
Chad blinked. He was supposed to waltz? With Ryan?
"Here," said Ryan as he took Chad's hands, moving them so that they were in the correct closed hold position. "While I know you know it, I know you're not confident with it. So pretend like you're me and you'll be fine."
"Thought you said I'd never work as a blond," Chad murmured, his breath coming dangerously close to Ryan's ear.
It took all of Ryan's self restraint not to jump him right there.
Apparently Chad felt something too if the hitch in his breathing was anything to go by. Whatever he felt, he covered it up by laughing suddenly and plucking the straw fedora from Ryan's head, resting it precariously on his own.
"What?" he grinned cheekily. "If I'm going to be you the least I should do is steal your hat."
Ryan was suddenly transported back to that day at Lava Springs in the summer; the day when he thought he might have had a chance with Chad. He felt a flush creeping up his chest and thanked the theatre gods that the lights were dimmed in the auditorium. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Kelsi looking at him again.
She winked at him knowingly and began to play.
Chad swallowed nervously and began to dance, his nerves seeming to melt away as they took their first step, and he lead Ryan around the half empty stage almost effortlessly.
Ryan maintained eye contact throughout the dance as he was twirled and even lifted by his partner. It was in the name of good practice of course; what kind of dancer would he be if he didn't maintain eye contact with his dance partner? Still, he could pretend it was for a different reason, even if his partner didn't know it. Perhaps that was the reason he found himself getting a little too lost.
Kelsi had stopped playing minutes before and Ryan was still stood there, his arms around Chad, holding him in frame.
"Ryan..."
Chad was looking him in the eyes, his lips moving soundlessly.
"Hey, Ryan..."
Chad was bringing his hand to cup Ryan's cheek, inching his face forward. Any moment now and their lips would touch.
"Evans!"
Ryan was shaken out of his daydream by Chad shaking his shoulders. Oh.
"Dude, I gotta go," Chad said, lowering his hands and removing Ryan's from around his waist. "I have a date tonight." he squeeze Ryan's hands as he let them go, and stepped back, smiling bashfully at the other boy. "Tay's mom and dad are outta town... She's letting me stay over tonight."
Chad jumped off the stage and jogged up the aisle, calling out as he turned the corner into the corridor, "Later man!"
Ryan stood alone at stage left, staring blankly after him and trying to pretend his heart wasn't breaking.
He failed miserably.
