It's been far too long. I know. I'm sorry. Self-flagellating as we speak. Anyway, it's long(ish) to make up for it…and I may have lied when I said less angsty musings…but this is the last of the non-action pre-dance contest chapters! I promise!

Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue.

Warning: Over-angst and dialogue-heavy. Also guy love and bad words. No like no read.

Dedication: To everyone who reads and/or reviews. The feedback and support I've been getting is really overwhelming, thank you!

Special mention to Sadatoni: Thank you for reviewing!

And StillThereForMe: Congrats darling! I knew I wouldn't win against you…

It was after school, and Chad and Gabriella were hanging at Troy's house, relaxing just like Ryan said. They had the afternoon sun, Mrs Bolton's homemade lemonade, and the sweet, simple pleasure of just sitting on their asses all day. Gabriella had half-heartedly tried to insist on practicing a little more to make sure they had it right, but Chad told her that Ryan said rest was more important right now, and to be honest, she didn't need much convincing. She was beat. They both were.

"So…" Troy sipped his lemonade and threw Chad a coy smile. "Who is she?"

"Who is who?"

"This girl you've got the hots for."

Chad sprang up off the ground and spluttered, "Huh?"

"Aw, come on! Like you could keep this from me. You're crushing on someone, I know it."

"How do you know this?"

Troy shrugged. "Your mom told me."

Chad groaned and sank back to the ground. He could guess exactly how much detail his mom had gone into…how embarrassing!

"So…you gonna tell us who she is?"

Chad laughed. "No."

"That's not a denial…" said Gabriella.

"True." Troy smirked. "But I really want a name."

"Well you're not getting one."

"Don't be like that. I'm your best friend; you're supposed to tell me who you're crushing on. It's practically the law!"

"He'll just keep bugging you until you tell him." Gabriella warned.

"I don't care!"

"Is she a cheerleader?"

"Troy…" Chad growled.

"Is she taken? Or did she knock you back already?"

"Troy, please…"

"Describe her to me. Is she pretty? Tall? Short? Smart?"

"Look, I don't…"

"Blonde? Brunette? What does her name start with?"

"Troy!"

"Is she even at high school?"

Suddenly Chad snapped and yelled, "Troy just SHUT UP already! It's not even a…" Then he stopped abruptly, clasping a hand to his mouth as if to stop more words tumbling out, and his eyes went wide with horror. He had almost said it…he had almost told them it wasn't a girl. And he could see the cogs whirring in their heads; they weren't stupid. They knew what he had almost said. All three of them were frozen in the moment, afraid of the reality that would come crashing down if anyone moved or made a sound. The tension was so electric that the breeze was causing little static sparks in the air. What would happen if one of them were to ignite?

"Kids!" The voice of Mrs Bolton came floating out from the house, breaking the trio out of their trance. "Do you want anymore lemonade?"

Troy's head snapped round to the back door and eventually he cleared his throat and answered. "No thanks, mom! We're fine!"

Gabriella was staring intently at Chad, who was making a determined effort to look anywhere but at her or Troy. She was scared that pressing the issue would take them to some very uncomfortable places, but she also wanted to know for sure what he was about to say before he stopped himself. It was the same curiosity that had snagged her when Chad hadn't been talking to Ryan, and that curiosity had gone unquenched. She wasn't going to let him have two mysteries over her. She had to know what that last word was. It just couldn't go unspoken.

"Chad?" She inched closer to him and used her softest, most reassuring voice. "What were you going to say?"

"I wasn't going to say anything." Chad had sat up and pulled his knees up to his chin, and his was mumbling into them like a petulant child. Gabriella decided to treat him as such.

"Yes you were. You said 'It's not even a…' It's not even a 'what' Chad? What were you going to say?"

"It's not important." he huffed. There was a whiny misery to his voice that Gabriella had heard before, and suddenly something clicked inside her head. She knew why Chad didn't want to talk about who his crush was on…why Chad and Ryan never touched during practice…and she knew that if she was going to get him to open up about it, then Troy had to be elsewhere.

"Troy, could you go inside for a while? I need to talk to Chad alone."

Troy quirked an eyebrow, but did as he was told. He could tell when only a girl could smooth things over. As soon as he was out of earshot, Gabriella put a finger underneath Chad's chin and gently lifted his head up so that he faced her.

"It's not a girl, is it?"

Chad's eyes began to moisten and he looked away out of shame. He couldn't bring himself to deny it, but he didn't want to admit it either. Gabriella felt a stab of sympathy for him and quickly pulled him into a hug.

"It's Ryan, isn't it?" she whispered. "That's why you don't touch."

Chad burst into tears. "I don't know what to do!" he sobbed. Gabriella hushed him and held him tightly, and gradually he managed to tell her everything, right from the first time he dipped Ryan to that stupid tango and his stupid dreams. She listened with compassion and when he had finished, she used a corner of her shirt to dry some of his tears.

"You don't want me to tell Troy about this, do you?"

Chad shook his head. She could see why. It wasn't something that was likely to go down well with the basketball team, and even though Troy was different, he was still a guy – a heterosexual guy – and Chad was nowhere near ready to tell him any of this.

"I'm here for you. If you ever need to talk, I'll just be a phone call away."

"Thanks Gabriella." Chad wiped his eyes on his sleeve and smiled. A visible weight had lifted off of his shoulders, and he seemed a lot happier than he had been in weeks. Whoever said that a problem shared was a problem halved certainly knew what they were talking about.

HSM

Inside the house, Troy had been watching from the window. He had been alarmed when Chad burst into tears and started crying on Gabriella's shoulder like a baby. He honestly couldn't remember ever seeing Chad cry before, so he knew that this was serious. Then, after opening the window just a crack, he caught the words he hadn't wanted to hear, even though something told him that they were coming: And then I kissed him…

Him. The word kept bouncing around Troy's head until he felt like screaming. Him. Chad had kissed him. 'Him' meant 'not female' which meant 'guy', which meant that Chad, Troy's best friend since before he could remember, was gay. When Troy reached this point in his thinking, it was like the rest of the world faded into the background and all he could hear was his own blood pounding through his ears. He felt dizzy, he felt sick, and he was having killer palpitations. But after a moment of panic, he realised that Chad being gay wasn't his problem; it was Chad's, and he calmed down a little. He looked out at Chad cradled in Gabriella's arms and couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. Sobbing like a girl while your best friend's girlfriend comforted you had to be a really dark place to be. He had to help somehow. Chad was his best friend. His gay best friend, admittedly, but his best friend none the less.

"You can come back out now!" Gabriella called. Troy ambled back outside and sat down in front of them.

"I heard everything." he said. Chad froze with fear, and Gabriella looked at him with apprehension, willing him to be reasonable.

"Troy…" Chad began, but Troy interrupted, eager to get in first.

"Look, before I say anything, I just want to get something cleared up."

"What?" Chad asked, failing to hide the dread in his voice. Troy paused. It was an awkward question that he was about to ask, but if he didn't then he knew it was going to plague him forever.

"In the locker rooms, did you ever…"

"Whoah!" Chad cut him off, seeing exactly where he was going. "No! No way!"

"What about the showers?"

"Dude!" Chad's face screwed up in disgust. "You guys are all like brothers to me! I would never even consider…"

"Okay!" Troy laughed. Chad's disgust at the very idea of what he was suggesting was reassuringly genuine. "I believe you. It's cool."

Chad breathed an incredible sigh of relief and Gabriella smiled, pulling her boyfriend in for a tender kiss.

"I'm proud of you." she said. Troy grinned.

"So…" He turned to Chad, whose eyes were looking considerably less puffy than a second ago. "What now?"

"I don't know man. I want to say it's just business as usual but…"

"Business isn't exactly usual anymore?" Troy finished. He smiled at Chad's nod. It was nice to know that they could still tell what the other was thinking. It was weird to know that Chad had been…well, he had a whole other side that Troy never knew about, but whatever had changed, they would still be okay. And if they weren't…well, Gabriella would probably have something to say about that, wouldn't she?

HSM

Over at the Evan's house, Sharpay and Ryan were rehearsing their own routine with increased fervour. Despite Ryan's assurances, Sharpay was not convinced that Chad and Gabriella were going to crash and burn during the competition. Therefore, she and Ryan were practicing tenfold. It had to be killer in order to guarantee them first place. Ryan was starting to cramp in his left thigh, but he dared not complain. He just grinned through the pain and cursed himself for being so stupid as to get them into this mess in the first place.

Later that evening, even Sharpay had been forced to admit exhaustion and crawl up to bed for some rest. Ryan's leg was cramping so bad he couldn't even make it up the stairs, so he settled down on one of the sofas for the night. He knew he wouldn't be able to practice again until competition day. If he did then he risked serious injury, and even Sharpay would have to understand that. Closing his eyes, he tried to imagine what life would be like with a reasonable twin. He would be able to make his own contribution to the drama club, rather than being a yes-man to all of Sharpay's. He would be able to help who he liked, regardless of any ongoing vendettas his sister might have. Then again, helping who he liked hadn't worked out all that well. Helping out who he liked had left him open and vulnerable to stupid jock jokes, or what he suspected to be stupid jock jokes. At least with Sharpay in charge he was answerable only to her wrath, and he could handle that. But all this confusion and uncertainty…God, he just wanted it to be over!

Why had Chad kissed him? He knew it hadn't been a prank now…but then he had no idea what it was if it wasn't a prank. Chad did not like him. Chad liked girls. The awful thing was, it was getting to a point where going over that fact left a little twist of jealousy in Ryan's belly. Prank or not, he liked Chad. Of course he did. It was called masochism.

"Ugh! Evans, you are such an idiot!"

He cried out to the ceiling and slammed an open palm against his forehead, ignoring the sting. He was so frustrated with himself, but he was losing his anger. He couldn't hate Chad anymore. He wasn't sure he had reason to, and that meant he was in big trouble. There was no way he was going to have the strength to thrash Chad in the dance contest if he wasn't angry with him.

God, Sharpay was going to kill him…

Next update coming…God knows when.

I blink and months pass, so I'll make no promises. Reviews are very welcome, but your time alone is beyond appreciated.

Oh, and Happy Holidays y'all!