It's pride month and I have fallen fast and hard for the Ryan and Chad ship so I'm doing a bit of an HSM 2 and 3 rewrite. I'll be releasing the first 2 chapters of however many today and then the rest as I finish them. Maybe I'll try to stick to the two chapters per release if I can keep up the momentum and the content up but I can't promise any more chapters too soon after this one.

Chad Danforth was a one-dimensional character and it suited him just fine. He was a basketball guy, a Wildcat shaking things up on the court with his best friend and fellow basketball guy, Troy Bolton. Off the court, Chad didn't shake things up. Until he met someone who made it abundantly clear that Chad couldn't stick to the status quo anymore.

There were some things you just didn't do when you were a basketball guy. You didn't sing, you didn't dance, and you didn't fall in love with another man. Especially not a man who sang or danced. But then Troy stepped on that stage and soared and suddenly anything was possible. Troy's love for Gabriella and for singing showed Chad that love makes pretty much anything possible.

When summer rolled around, Chad found himself working for Ryan and Sharpay Evans. Sorry, Mr. and Miss Evans, as they were required to call their classmates. It was bound to be the most miserable summer of their lives, and then, suddenly, it wasn't. Ryan made things a little less miserable.

It became abundantly clear that Sharpay Evans was trying to steal Troy away from his girlfriend of only a few months, Gabriella Montez. A few months ago, Chad had also tried to break up the couple. But Gab was good for Troy, probably the best thing that had ever happened to him. She brought out a side of Troy that could take on the world, made him stronger and more sure of himself than their team ever had. Chad wanted to be able to uplift Troy like that as well but for now, he knew that meant not getting in the way of the blooming relationship. Sharpay apparently hadn't gotten the memo. She had always been the kind of girl who got what she wanted and right now she wanted the perfect summer romance.

So everyone with half a brain was suspicious of the snake wearing salmon, and Chad had the idea that Ryan was probably complicit in his sister's shadiness. He couldn't have been more wrong.

He wanted to say that getting close to Ryan Evans had been for Troy's sake. That he was investigating. Maybe at first it had just been an investigation, but Ryan wasn't a snake like Sharpay. Ryan was a good guy with ambition who'd been snubbed by Sharpay enough times to know how this story would end. Sharpay would get what she wanted and Ryan would get stuck as a backup dancer or worse.

The first time he and Ryan connected was the first time that Chad got called to caddy. Golf team pro Troy had quickly gotten snatched up by Sharpay and so Ryan and Chad were left doing the actual caddying.

"I could probably carry both," Chad offered, watching Ryan drag the other golf bag.

"This is ridiculous," Ryan declared, adding, "I'm getting us a golf cart. Be right back. Mom and dad can wait and I don't think Sharpay is really here to golf."

Chad snorted, "That doesn't surprise me."

Ryan smiled at him before darting away, Chad watching him move gracefully across the stretch of green, the lanky, springy body of a dancer who had transfixed Chad without him realizing it. A minute later Ryan returned with a golf cart.

"I'm saving up for a car," Chad said absently as he loaded the golf bags and slid into the seat next to Ryan, their legs touching.

"My sister has her cute little convertible but I'm more of a scooter guy. And golf carts, I suppose. Let me know if you ever need a chauffeur. I know how fast these things go and I'm not afraid to push it to 15 miles an hour for you."

Chad laughed, "Well if you ever need a ride when I get my car let me know. It won't be a convertible, though."

"Convertibles are overrated. And I will keep your offer in mind."

At the end of the day, as they rode back in the golf cart together, Ryan surprised him once more.

"You did twice as much caddying as Troy, so…" Ryan parked and pulled out his wallet, pulling out two fifties.

"An extra 40 plus tip." Chad stared at Ryan's hands a little longer, overwhelmed by the generosity.

"Are you sure?" He asked and Ryan smiled, holding it out to him once more.

"Thank you, man. Thank you."

"It's no problem. Here at Lava Springs, we like to reward hard work and talent."

Chad felt a little flustered.

"It doesn't take talent to carry around golf bags."

"Maybe not. But I've seen you play basketball. And baseball. And you've got skills."

"There's a staff game coming up soon if you want to come to see me play baseball again," Chad offered, the words outside his mouth before he could contemplate how they made him sound, "And, uh, I saw you in that play, that Troy was in. You have skills too."

Ryan looked away and blushed and Chad felt butterflies like he couldn't explain.

"I'll think about it, thanks. And uh, I hope you caddy for me again."

"Me too."

He lay awake thinking about it that night. Thinking about how he'd begged Ryan to come to watch him play baseball, like a little kid with a crush. But he didn't have a crush because- because…

Because he was straight. And because he was in a relationship with Taylor. But… Maybe his feelings for Taylor weren't as strong as whatever he'd felt today. Well. Whatever. He had to get his head in the game.