Chapter Five has made its way onto your computer screen! Can you say "Hell yea!" Haha. Anywho, I hope you enjoy this chapter; I had some difficulty writing it, as I was suffering from a bit of writer's block. But I persevered, and here it is! WOOT! Also, for those of you who read mangas, I put in a quote for Sharpay in here that is also in a great manga called Fake. Those of you who've read it will know what it is, but I thought I'd let everybody know, just in case. Please review after you read, do I really need to say why? Well, for all of you new readers/reviewers, this fic depends on reviews, so if you want it to continue, I need to have reviews! Thank you to all who have stuck with me and reviewed, I really appreciate it. Also, I got an interesting question in a review about whether or not I was going to have a sex scene in this fic. My answer was maybe. Does anyone know what policy about that is? I would love to have a scene like that, but I also want to be safe. Any answers, please e-mail me Thanks!

Chapter Five

(Troy)

I was finding it hard to believe that I was stressing about what I was wearing to Sharpay and Ryan's party. I had never really paid to much attention to what I wore anywhere; I just threw on some clothes. But today, things had to be different, and I wasn't sure why…

…I entered my kitchen and proceeded to get my car keys, looking in the reflective surface on my fridge to make sure my hair was in order. My mom entered and gave me a quizzical look.

"Are you going to a wedding, Troy?" she asked. "I don't think I've really seen you get so dressed up just to go out for a party."

"Yea, well, I just wanna make sure that I look ok…I mean, Sharpay and Ryan have a pretty big house, so…"

"Are you trying to impress someone? Maybe a little friend of yours?" Mom was trying to delve deeper, and I was determined not to lead her on to anything.

"No, mom, I just wanna look good is all." I said.

"Well, I'm sure that next time, you can go more casually dressed. I'm sure that Ryan wouldn't mind if you weren't in a dress shirt and jeans."

"Mom, jeans aren't formal…" I began, then I noticed the name she had mentioned. "Wait, why did you only say Ryan's name?" My mom looked at me, noticing her mistake.

"Well, I don't know," she tried to beat around the bush. "It's just that you used to go out with Chad or Gabriella every night. But recently, when I talk to you about any plans you have, it seems that you're always going somewhere with Ryan. I'm not insinuating anything," She said as she saw the look on my face and knew what was coming. "I'm just saying that I think it's nice that you and Ryan are spending so much time together. And I think it's cute how you two are always going off somewhere…I'm just saying!" My mom caught my other look, and exited, smiling to herself, I'm sure. But on one hand, she was right. I didn't hang out with many of my normal friends as much as I used to, and I was always going somewhere with Ryan these days, did my mom know that we were going out? The thought haunted me as I got into my car. I mean, I wasn't trying to keep this whole thing a secret as an act of rebellion or of fear, I just didn't know whether or not I wanted my parents to know was all.

I drove over to Ryan and Sharpay's house, and knocked on the door. A blond answered the door, but not the blond I expected.

"Hi Troy!" Sharpay giggled. "Come on in!" she grabbed my hand and led me into the house. "Ryan's up in his room, I'll get him for you!" I tried to tell her that I would wait for him, but it didn't work. "Ryan!" Sharpay screamed at the top of her lungs. "Your boyfriend's here!" I heard the rustling of feet upstairs and fifteen seconds later, Ryan appeared at the top of the stairs. He was wearing a dark blue long sleeved shirt, and a lighter blue t-shirt over it, finishing his look with a pair of long-cut jeans and bare feet. I now felt slightly embarrassed that I was a bit more dressed up than he was.

"Troy!" Ryan called softly, as he headed down the stairs.

"Well, I'm gonna return to the party," Sharpay said. "After all, without me, there is no party! Oh, and you two, mom and dad's room is strictly off limits, so no having intercourse in the big-boy bed! No matter how much you want to!"

"Sharpay!" Ryan protested. Sharpay giggled again, and left. I met Ryan at the bottom of the stairs.

"You look nice," I said, hugging him.

"Thanks, and you look…overdressed." he laughed. "I'm just kidding you, ya look fine…perfect." He said, laying a hand on my chest. He then began to do something very strange and unexpected. I was too confused to move as Ryan unbuttoned my shirt, slowly, to reveal the t-shirt I wore underneath. Ryan sighed painfully. "Can't you at least try to turn me on and wear nothing on underneath?" Ryan laughed, and I buttoned my shirt again, it was all a joke, and I was relieved. "C'mon," Ryan grabbed my hand. "Let's go to the party."

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Everyone was gathered in the room with the huge flat screen TV, popcorn lay in bowls on the tables, with sodas and other such party foods. Everyone was in a circle on the floor, and Sharpay had put in the center of the circle a glass root-beer bottle.

"I'm assuming everyone here knows how to play spin the bottle." Sharpay looked around the table. Chad gazed at her.

"How do you know how to play? I mean, where did you learn? I didn't know that a drama person would even care for such jock-ish games…"

"Oh Chad," Sharpay giggled. "My closeted little comrade. Do you know what goes on during a cast party?" Chad knew enough to not ask any further questions. The bottle was placed in the center of the circle, and was spun by Sharpay.

It stopped on me. Everyone "Ooo" 'd and "Ah" 'd.

"Well Troy, get ready," Sharpay leaned in. "I'm gonna show you where Ryan learned to kiss so good from…"

Sharpay was a good kisser, but I knew where my heart truly lied; however Ryan was a bit jealous, he was frowning at Sharpay from his spot in the circle. When Sharpay pulled away, she chuckled softly. She looked over at Ryan, and saw that he was a tiny bit upset. "Oh don't get yer panties in a twist!" Ryan's face reddened as Sharpay said this. "You can have him! He totally was not into it. At least he's faithful, but he's no fun now…" Sharpay shrugged. "Your turn to spin, Troy." I spun the bottle and prayed like crazy that it didn't land on Sharpay, or Taylor, or Kelsi. I was ready to jump out the window if it landed on Chad, but thankfully, it stopped before Ryan. My prayers were answered, and I sighed from relief.

"Oh, come one!" I heard Sharpay say as I made my way over to Ryan. "At least make it a little interesting! These two are going out! Chad! You switch places with Ryan!"

"Um…how 'bout no?" Chad replied.

"But this is not right! This is supposed to be a game full of scandal! And---˝ Sharpay was cut off as I kissed Ryan. And I made sure that this kiss was a good one, like the one we shared last night. I let my soul fly into this kiss, and Ryan was able to put in more soul than I was. It didn't take long before we were rolling on the floor, everybody staring at us. "Now, this is more like it!" Sharpay exclaimed. "I wonder how long they'll be down there for?" Ryan and I stopped kissing and looked up to see many staring faces staring down at us.

"Uh…hi everyone," Ryan swallowed and smiled. "Did we over do it?"

"Little bit," Kelsi replied. "But hey, Sharpay loved it so, I dunno, kudos for that I guess." Everyone laughed.

"Well, we could keep going," I said, watching Chad's expression of surprise. "I mean, our love has no curfew…"

"Hey!" Ryan stared at me. "You took my line from last night! That's perjury! You cheater!" Ryan and I wrestled on the ground for a minute.

"Wait, last night?" Chad said, and Ryan and I froze and looked at him. "What happened last night?"

"Well, nothing really…" I said, but of course, Ryan was aiming to freak Chad out.

"Troy and I were fucking for God last night," He said calmly, looking up at the ceiling, as if he were glancing up at heaven. "We were enjoying the sweet ecstasy of the moment. I never knew Troy had such a huge---˝

"Stop!" Chad yelled. "If you two were screwing, I don't wanna know!" I was surprised; I thought Chad would actually be somewhat ok with it, considering he and Taylor had done the dirty quite a number of times. "Just kidding, sorta," he said, smiling. "Congrats, but I'm on a need-to-know basis. And right now, I don't need to know. But hey, I'm happy for you guys." We all laughed.

After a couple more rounds of Spin the bottle, Ryan gave me a look that told me that he wanted to talk in private, so I followed him to a different room.

X-x- X-x- X-x- X-x-X

Ryan led me into a different room, a room that was totally empty except for a bed. I was a little nervous, based on what happened earlier in the party.

"Look Ryan," I began. "I don't know if I'm ready to…"

"Shh…" Ryan put his hand over my mouth. "I'm not gonna ask you to have sex with me. I just wanted to be alone for a bit. That's all." Ryan ran his fingers through my hair. "I would never make you do anything that you weren't ready for. I love you too much." He giggled. I blushed, it wasn't my place to assume that Ryan wanted sex, I should've asked first. I felt terrible.

"I'm sorry…I just…"

"Troy, listen," Ryan's expression was serious now. "You don't have to apologize so much. I think it's cute that you thought I was dirty." He smiled and laughed softly. "I know that you don't mean it harshly, so don't worry so much. I love you because of those things, so don't change, not for the world." Ryan laced his fingers through mine. "Promise me that." Ryan's blue eyes drew me in…Promise me… his voice rang in my head, and I did something that I didn't normally do…

…I cried.

I cried so freely, letting the tears run down my face in waterfalls, and I felt embarrassed. But Ryan wiped my tears and kissed me hard. Not forcefully, but hard enough to let me know that he was there. I guess that was the point, he was telling me not to worry, that it was okay to be me and make mistakes, and that he would always be there for me. His eyes continued to draw my soul away…I loved him so much.

"Hold me, Ryan."

"Hold me, Troy."

We held each other and never let go, not even when everyone else entered the room and joined in a group hug to end all group hugs. Sharpay had brought in a stereo, and proceeded to blast "Seasons of Love" from Rent.

525,600 minutes - how do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee.
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
In 525,600 minutes - how do you measure a year in the life?
How about love? How about love? How about love? Measure in love.
Seasons of love.

525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear.

It's time now to sing out,
tho the story never ends let's celebrate remember a year in the life of friends.
Remember the love!
Remember the love! Remember the love!
Measure in love.
Seasons of love! Seasons of love.

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So, what did y'all think? Please review, so I can post chapter 6! Oh, and get back to me with any answers about the whole policy about lemon scenes. Byes!

ShadowAngel26