It's short, I know, but I just sat and wrote and before I knew it the chapter reached a logical conclusion. Be happy you have another chapter at all. I'm killing myself getting this written and getting all my schoolwork done too. I mean literally: my skin has visibly paled with the strain!

Anyway, fic:

Disclaimer: I think we all know by now that I do not own anything, although I would give my right arm to have the rights so I can make the cast of HSM actually film and televise this…so if the Disney corporation is interested in my right arm, we should totally do lunch.

Warning: Bad words, boy-on-boy, and a complete lack of concern as to whether that offends you or not.

Dedication:

Sharpay was pacing the stage. Furiously. Every now and then she would direct a withering glance at her brother, who could only stay silent and pray she didn't forcibly remove any part of his anatomy. He reckoned his legs and arms were safe – Sharpay still needed him fit for the dance competition and her rage wasn't so blind that she had forgotten that – but a finger or an earlobe could easily go without directly affecting his ability to perform…

Suddenly Sharpay wheeled around. "You said they wouldn't get it in time!"

"I didn't think they possibly could!" was the meek reply.

"I warned you about underestimating them…"

"I didn't! It was one time…a fluke! They won't get it right on the night. They've exhausted themselves so much concentrating on getting it that one time that when it comes to performing it in the competition, they'll crack under the pressure. It's not a problem, I swear!"

Sharpay narrowed her eyes. "A fluke?"

"Just a fluke." Ryan nodded.

"And they're completely exhausted?"

"Spent all night practicing that one sequence. They don't even have the rest of the routine in check yet."

"But they do have that sequence…"

"No they don't. They did it once. You know it takes more than one good run to get it in the bag."

"And they'll fall apart on the night?"

"Without fail."

"…Okay then."

Sharpay discarded her aggressive scowl and replaced it with a classic winning smile. She tossed her hair over her shoulder, then hopped off the stage and breezed out of the auditorium.

"Sharpay!" Ryan called after her. "Sharpay, we still have to practice!"

He was met with the empty swish of the door in reply.

ONE HOUR EARLIER…

Chad ambled into school yawning and working the stiffness out of his poor abused limbs. Gabriella hadn't gone home until the smallest hours of the morning, when her mom came to pick her up after deciding that 2.30am was not an appropriate time for her daughter to still be out at…especially alone in a boy's house. She found Gabriella curled up on Chad's couch, completely burned out. It had been a shame to wake her, but she couldn't be left where she was. After that all Chad remembered was easing down onto his bed and closing his eyes, then opening them again at 6.30am. He had slept so soundly that he hadn't even dreamed – even his subconscious was exhausted!

"Good morning stud!" Troy bounced up to Chad on the way to homeroom and grinned. "I heard you spent all of last night entertaining my girlfriend…"

Chad rolled his eyes. "Dude, she went completely military on my ass! She was like your dad, only way more scary."

Troy laughed. "But you got it eventually, right? The hard part?"

Now it was Chad's turn to grin. "Yeah, we did."

"So everything's going to be okay?"

Chad inhaled slowly, taking in the clear, morning air and feeling refreshingly optimistic. "Yeah, I think so." he said. Troy struggled not to look as relieved as he obviously felt – he still felt pretty bad for getting his best friend into this whole mess. Chad was feeling a little playful and considered giving him more grief over it, but soon dropped the idea when he spied Ryan walking down the hallway (two footsteps behind his sister, as always). Butterflies immediately filled his stomach. All morning long Chad had been psyched to think of Ryan's face when he told him that he had been right to believe in his and Gabriella's capabilities. He hadn't spent any more time working out how he felt about Ryan, but he knew that when he told him they had gotten the sequence, the drama geek would be proud of him, and the thought of that made Chad go a little warm inside.

"Look, see you around later Troy. I gotta talk to Ryan." Chad clapped Troy on the shoulder and walked off in Ryan's direction. He caught his eye and signalled for Ryan to follow him, then ducked around a corner. Perplexed, Ryan soon appeared behind him.

"Hey, what's up?"

Chad glanced around, checking that they had some privacy. All was clear after Sharpay could be heard clip clopping all the way onto a separate floor.

"Okay, I have some good news."

Ryan quirked an eyebrow. "Good news?"

"Yep."

"Go on…"

"We got it."

Ryan blinked. "Got what?"

"The impossible sequence! The one with the spin and the lift and the dip…we got it!"

Ryan blinked again. "Really?"

"Yeah! You were right; we just had to keep working together."

"When you say you 'got it'…"

"Well, we managed to do it once."

"Just once?"

"Yeah. Oh, you should have seen it Ryan! It was the coolest thing ever and…"

"I'm sorry, I'm just making sure I heard right: you only got it once?"

Chad's face fell. "I thought you'd be happy…"

"I am! I just…I didn't think you'd get it this fast…"

An awkward silence fell over the two boys as Ryan seemed to withdraw into himself with conflicting emotions ghosting across his face, and Chad was left not really sure how Ryan was reacting. Finally, Ryan seemed to make a decision.

"That's really great news. I'm proud of you." he said with genuine warmth in his eyes. Then, as an afterthought he said, "You must have worked really hard for that…you should take a break. Both of you should. You deserve it. Both of you, you really deserve it." Then he mumbled his excuses and walked off to find Sharpay…

And so Ryan stood, an hour later, staring at the empty doors through which his sister had just left. His head was swimming with so many different thoughts and feelings that he was starting to feel dizzy, and he carefully sat down on the edge of the stage, trying to breathe evenly. He honestly didn't think there was any need to panic, but he was doing it anyway. He was quite certain that he hadn't just lied through his teeth to Sharpay and that Chad and Gabriella genuinely would fall apart come crunch time, but the thing that was puzzling him was the complete lack of satisfaction he got from knowing that. The more compassionate part of him was still feeling overwhelmingly guilty about sabotaging Chad's dancing efforts after swearing an intension to do the opposite, but he managed to keep that at bay by remembering Chad's twisted little joke, whatever that had meant. There was however, a big fat flaw in that method in that it just wasn't sticking anymore.

When Chad had told Ryan that he and Gabriella had supposedly cracked the sequence, there was something in his expression that had really bugged Ryan: a complete lack of smugness. If anything, Ryan could have sworn that those big brown eyes had been pleading with him to show some kind of approval. And he had more or less resembled a kicked puppy when that approval hadn't come gushing forth…and as much as Ryan hated to admit it to himself, he knew these were not the actions of someone out to spite him. These were the actions of someone who had put their trust in him, and worked flat out to prove themselves, and after realising that; no matter what angle he came at it from, Ryan could see that he had foolishly lashed out and made himself the bad guy. But it was too late to turn back now. Sharpay was involved. He had no choice but to let everything play out and pray for something in the vein of a happy ending. He only hoped that wasn't too much to wish for. Sighing, he left for the classes he knew he wouldn't be able to concentrate on. All that was rattling around in his head was the need to work out what had motivated Chad to kiss him if not spite, and he'd be damned if that little mystery wasn't going to really fry his noodle…

I also saw HSM2, because my friend made me. There were far too many opportunities for me to read into Chad and Ryan exchanges, to be honest. And thank God they didn't give Ryan a female love interest! Kept him nice and camp, the sweet little darlings. Anyway, it was okay. I'm glad Ryan came into his own, but that's about it. I was otherwise nonplussed.

Review, if you see fit. I will greatly appreciate feedback to fuel the next chapter, which will be longer than this one. And more to the point: less angsty musings, more action!