Troy's Point of View:

I woke up a few hours later, Chad was still laying on my chest. I moved my body up carefully so that Chad was still asleep. I reached down into my pocket for my cell phone so I could talk to Ryan. I dialed his number quickly and waited for a response.

After three rings, someone picked up.

"Hello?" Ryan answered in a polite and courteous way.

"Hey baby." I sounded a bit tired, my throat felt a little dry as I spoke.

"Hey, are we going to do anything tonight? Did you get my message?" Ryan asked. Even though we were on the phone, I could still he had a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I got your message. I'm sorry for not calling you back. I was really busy and I wasn't aware of my phone." I replied.

"Oh, it's fine." Ryan's voice sounded a bit more perked up. "So do you want to do anything?"

I thought of this question to myself. I decided to tell Ryan what really happened. I had to face this sometime.

"Ryan..." I began to tell him what happened the previous night; how my dad had beaten me, how my mom wasn't supportive and how she wanted me to avoid him, and how I'm currently staying at Chad's house for a while until things quieted down. I purposely left out the kissing Chad part. He didn't need to know anything like that. It would jeopardize our relationship.

"Oh my god, are you serious?" Ryan's voice sounded worried and caring. "So what's going to happen between you and I?" I could tell he was trying to stay strong even though his voice sounded like it was going to break.

"I don't know. I really don't know." A wave of sadness came crashing down on me as I heard sniffles coming from the other end of the line.

"But I thought..." Ryan's voice cracked as I heard him start to bawl and cry. It hurt me so much that I couldn't be there to hold him when he needed me the most. I felt tears start to run down my face as well. I couldn't stand to hear my boyfriend at his most vulnerable moment. It was too much.

"Ryan, you know that I love you right?" I managed to say; my voice almost at a cracking point as well.

After more sniffles from Ryan's side of the line, he began to speak again.

"I love you too, but right now, this is all too much." He said in between sobs.

"I know. And we're going to get through this okay? No matter what. Right now, I need you to be strong for me. Okay? I don't ever want you to be sad or angry anymore. All I want for you is to be happy. Can you do that for me?"

More sobs came from Ryan's end.

"Can you do that for me Ryan?" I repeated once more.

"Okay, I'll try." Ryan said. From the sound of his voice, he had already cried himself out.

"You'll try? It's either yes or no babe." I tried not to sound so harsh but this was for our relationship. And if I had to be strong, then Ryan should be as well.

I heard him blow his nose.

"Okay. I will babe." Ryan sounded like he stopped crying, his voice a bit more cheerful.

"Thanks Ry. I love you." I said with sincerity behind the words.

"I love you too." He replied sweetly.

I felt Chad writhe and stretch as he woke up from his nap. He looked up to see me talking on the phone as he got up and went to the bathroom. The sound of the sink running water filled my ears.

"Hey Ry? I have to go but can we talk maybe tomorrow?" I asked even though my true intentions were to stay on the line.

"Okay. Please don't forget to call." He whined.

"I won't. See you later."

"Bye." I heard the sound of a click on his side of the line as I hung up my phone. After a few moments, Chad came back from the bathroom, he was wiping his face with a clean cloth as he threw it on top of a nearby drawer. He looked at me.

"Ryan, I presume?" He smiled cheekily as he sat next to me on the bed.

"Yeah. I miss him." I sighed deeply. I interlocked my fingers and placed them on the back of my head as I rested on the headboard of Chad's bed.

"Aww. No sweat, I'm sure he misses you a lot. Even though it's only been a day since you last saw each other." Chad scooted up next to me and started to play with locks of my hair that had drooped down on my forehead.

"Yeah. I guess that's how much I care about him." I felt myself growing sad as Chad pushed the stray locks of hair out of my eyes.

"Come on, you know what cheers me up?" Chad asked.

"What?"

"Let's go shoot some hoops. We can call the guys and have ourselves a little two-on-two. And then maybe later we can have a TWO-ON-TWO?" Chad grinned deviously. I smacked him lightly at the back of his head.

"You weirdo! We've known Zeke and Jason forever." I exclaimed as I got off the bed and started to dress into a spare jersey and some basketball shorts out of my duffle bag.

Chad giggled.

"I was just kidding. Although Jason has been working out..." I threw my dirty shirt at him as we started to laugh and throw pillows at each other. A seemingly large one hit Chad dead on in the face as feathers started to slip through the pillows thin fabric.

"You and Jason?" I thought to myself for a moment. "Aww, Chad Danforth Cross."

He threw a pillow back, hitting me elbows as I swung my arms in front of me.

"Who said I was the bottom? It's 'Jason Cross Danforth.' You got that?" We both erupted in fits of laughter. My stomach still in pain but I fought it off.

"Okay okay, let's go shoot some hoops." Chad said as he noticed the mess we were making. I thought he'd be mad but he just smiled.

Chad quickly dressed into his sportswear as he grabbed his basketball from the floor. We ran out of his room and into his backyard hoop...

Ryan's Point of View:

Troy. He must be having such a hard time with his coming out. I can't believe his parents. They're such assholes. I would never know. My parents didn't seem to care. All they cared about was their own personal affairs and money. When it came to the family, my parents had no clue. What am I going to do?

An idea suddenly popped into my head. I retrieved my cell phone off the bedside table and quickly dialed a number.

"Hello?" A humble voice answered.

"Zeke? It's Ryan. I'm going to need some of your delicious, baked goods for a very special person." I smiled widely.

"Sure. Anything for the brother of my honey bun." I giggled loudly.

"What? Did I say something funny?" Zeke sounded confused and a bit defensive.

"Honey bun? My sister always calls you 'Zeke' or 'my boyfriend." We both erupted with laughter.

"Alright alright, enough with that. When do you need these by and how would you like them arranged?" Zeke asked.

"I'm going to need them as soon as possible. Oh and placed them decoratively in a basket. Make sure they are all different. I don't want a whole basket of cookies." I stated; emphasizing key words in the instruction.

"Okay. I can handle that. By the way, if it's not too personal, who is this gift going to be sent to? I can make a personal card if you'd like." Zeke's offer sounded tempting but I'm not sure if I should be telling someone from Troy's basketball team about us yet.

"A simple 'I love you' is fine." I replied back. I could feel my cheeks blushing.

"Oh. This must be one lucky girl. Or whatever you're into." Zeke's words trailed off at the end of his remark. I choked.

"Yeah. Thanks Zeke." I managed to say.

"No problem. I'll call you when it's ready. Later." I heard a click and then silence. I put my phone down and plopped down on my bed. I sighed as I realized how tired I was.

Troy...

A/N: I know. Not a lot of drama. Don't worry, chapters like this one will make a greater impact when you read the later chapters in the story. So sit tight.

Will update soon.