After wandering around and making fun of all the artwork, Troy and Ryan had to go back and meet Ms. Darbus and the rest by the Mona Lisa. Then they went and caught a tour bus. They saw the Eifel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Notre Dame and everything imaginable. When the tour bus stopped, they were allowed to explore. Taylor, Gabriella and Sharpay went of shopping together. Ryan and Troy went to a cafe and bought drinks. As they were sitting there, Troy moved his arm slightly. Ryan flinched. "Sorry" Troy said, and he blushed. Ryan looked confused. He didn't know what was happening. Ryan drained his glass and said to Troy "Time to go, yeah?" Troy nodded and led the way out. They walked to a bench by the Arc de Triomphe and sat. Troy smiled at Ryan, who smiled back.

"This was a great idea, wasn't it? I mean, getting out of school, spending loads of time together, exploring a new country. You never know what kind of things might happen, eh?" Troy said, turning his head to Ryan.

"Yeah, and we don't have to speak to the teachers either" said Ryan, and Troy laughed.

"You know, Ryan, I really like you…" Troy said, whilst blushing slightly.

"And I like you too, Troy. You're a great mate" replied Ryan, and when Troy started to explain what he meant, a clock somewhere chimed five 'o' clock.

"Troy! We're supposed to be back at the Louvre in 30 minutes and it's a 4o minute walk! And I don't have any more money with me!" Ryan said, quickly.

"Dude! Chill," said Troy, "we can get the bus. I'll pay, I don't mind. Just don't go freaky again, okay?" Troy giggled.

"Ok" Ryan murmured, and he blushed.

So, they caught the bus together and got off almost exactly where Ms. Darbus and the rest were standing. Sharpay called their names and beckoned them over. So, Ryan and Troy started walking towards them. In the short gap between the bus stop and where the girls were, Troy touched Ryan's hand. Ryan quickly put his hand in his pocket and quickened his pace. Troy turned to see his facial expression: it was unreadable.

They stood next to Sharpay, Gabriella and Taylor. Gabriella said "I have a surprise for you, Troy, and you, Ryan!" Troy and Ryan both glanced at each other, their expressions slightly worried, yet amused.

"Close your eyes, no peeking!" said Taylor and Sharpay. They placed something in their hands. "Open them!" Taylor said, excitedly. Troy had been given a blue and pink striped sweater, Ryan a glorious blue hat with pink spirals.

"There you go, now you can match!" giggled the three of them.

"Thanks girls. This is really thoughtful, I really like it!" said Ryan, smiling appreciatively. "Yeah, me too. I'll wear this later!" Troy said.

Later on, back at the hotel, Troy had asked Ryan for a private word. They were sitting in their room (thankfully Chad had gone to play basketball) and were having an intense conversation.

"So, I like this….erm, girl. She's gorgeous, amazing, and fantastic. Everything I could ever dream of…and more. But, I'm pretty sure he…I mean she, doesn't feel the same way. Help me?!" Troy said. Ryan wasn't used to Troy asking for his advice; it was usually the other way round.

Chad came in, and said "I'm not interrupting anything, am I? Apparently Jason and Zeke have a three – bed room, so, is it ok if I go there?" He was out of breath.

"No, that's alright with me, and Ryan I think?!" said Troy, he looked at Ryan, who nodded in agreement. Chad gathered his things, murmured a word of appreciation and left the room, leaving his key on the bed.

"So, you were saying?" Troy said, turning back to Ryan.

"Just that you'll never know how she feels if you don't ask her and see. Or, you might not need to ask her. Maybe just show her the signals, you know, flirt? And it'll just…happen?!" Ryan replied, amazed at what great advice he had just given.

"You know, Ryan, you give really good advice! And you're fantastic, remember that." Troy smiled.

Ryan blushed, "Thanks Troy, that's really sweet of you, so are you!"

"So, Ryan, do you like anyone at the moment?" Ryan nodded.

Troy smirked. "Who?"

Ryan just shook his head and muttered "Can't tell, can't tell." Troy winked at Ryan, and Ryan raised his eyebrows at him, as if to say "tell anyone and you're dead!"

"It's dinner soon," said Ryan, "we'd better get ready."

Troy agreed and they changed out of their sweaty shirts. Troy put his new sweater on, and Ryan put his blue shirt on that exactly matched his new hat, which he also wore. They left the room and locked the door.

After dinner, everyone returned to their rooms. Troy and Ryan undressed and got into bed. Ryan fell asleep almost instantly, but Troy lay awake, thinking. He planned what he was going to do about the person he liked. Ryan laughed in his sleep. Troy grinned and turned over onto his side. "Yes," he thought, "That's a good idea!" He fell asleep and dreamed of multicoloured hats, but when he woke up the next morning, he couldn't understand why.

Today, Wednesday, they were going to see some historical artefacts around the area. No-one was exactly thrilled about this, but they followed their teachers, anyways. Gabriella was walking next to Troy, and she kept moving her hand as if to catch Troy's. But, every time she tried to do this, Troy would suddenly fold his arms. After this had happened at least a dozen times, Gabriella went off and started muttering to Taylor and Sharpay, who started walking faster.

"So it's not Gabriella you like then?" asked Ryan, looking confused. Troy shook his head. There was silence for a long while.

"So who's this person that you like, Ry?" Ryan blushed.

"Just some girl" he said. Troy smiled, but the disappointment showed through his eyes. Ryan shot a quizzical look at Troy, who shrugged his shoulders and the both of them carried on walking.

The day dragged by, and it was extremely boring. When they finally got back to the hotel, at 8:00pm, they all went and had dinner. It was snails (great joy!) and chips. The pudding was natural yoghurt with sugar, which actually tasted nice! They had all finished by about 9:30pm, and Troy and Taylor left the table at the same time. Gabriella said "No hanky panky!" and all three girls giggled. Taylor blushed. Ryan and Troy looked at each other, utterly bewildered.

Troy and Taylor left the room.

"What was that all about?" said Troy.

"Like you don't know!" Taylor giggled back.

"No. No, I really don't!" Troy was confused.

"Gabriella said you like me?!" she said, batting her eyelids.

Troy shook his head, looking sorry.

"I'm sorry, but I like someone else, NOT you, NOT Gabriella and NOT Sharpay. You let them know that, okay?"

Taylor looked upset. Troy shrugged and entered his room. Ryan arrived moments later. He winked at Troy. Ryan had a shower, and Troy did afterwards.

Ryan had already got ready for bed when Troy came out of the shower. Troy was disappointed. He started looking around for his boxer shorts (he had a towel wrapped round his waist) and Ryan took this as a cue to leave the room/ He pulled his dressing gown on, picked up his keys and was about to leave the room, when Troy turned round and asked "Where are you going?"

"To let you get changed, I was going to go for a quick walk." Ryan answered.

"In your slippers?" Troy smirked.

"What? I was just going to go and see the girl, that's all!" Ryan said.

They smiled at each other, and Ryan left the room. He locked the door on his way out and Troy heard him walk down the corridor.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed, and kicked his bed. Moments later he wished he hadn't, as he felt the pain rush to his new injury. He finished getting ready for bed, ran through his plan again, and started to search for his phone. He found it after searching for about 5 minutes. He dialled Ryan's number (which he knew by heart) and waited for him to pick up.

"Hello?" Ryan said. "Troy? What d'you want?" he said it nicely, not forcefully.

"Are you coming back soon?" Troy asked, checking himself in the mirror.

"Why?" said Ryan, "Are you missing me?" Ryan giggled, and Troy chuckled.

"Yeah," Ryan continued, "I'll be there in a second, see you!" and he hung up.

Troy went to the mirror to make his hair look good. He also pulled down his boxer shorts down onto his hips. He sat down on his bed, waiting. He heard a key in the lock.

"Sorry, I was getting tired. And I wondered whether we could talk more?"

Ryan nodded, and sat down looking attentive. He removed his slippers, and his dressing gown. Troy almost choked. Ryan looked down and realised that his shorts were way too low. Ryan went a very plum colour.

"I'm so sorry! Oh dear…." Ryan said, fumbling to pull them back up.

"No, it's erm….okay!" Troy said, "Don't worry about it!

"So, as I was saying, I…this is really hard to say. Erm…I don't know what to say, actually. Ok, Ryan, I…" but he was cut short by Ms. Darbus who knocked on the door.

"Lights out, Mr Bolton, Mr Evans." She said, and they heard her say the same (except the names) to everyone else, too.

"It doesn't matter" said Troy. And both boys scrambled into bed. Troy and Ryan said goodnight to each other and Ryan reached out and turned out the light. Through, in Troy's eyes, they weren't in darkness at all.