START OF SOMETHING NEW – Ch 3: An eventful intermission

Disclaimer: SLASH. If you don't like, then why are you even reading this far into the story?

A/N: -crawls out from under the lurkage rock- Hello everyone, I'm back! This update is wayyyyy over due. So, without any more from me, enjoy the final chapter of Start of Something New! (edited 1.18.07)

That night, Troy could not sleep. Every time he shut his eyes, thoughts of Ryan and their electricity-filled hand contact plagued his dreams. He never knew he could think of one boy that often. He felt extremely guilty for being so hard to Ryan after the restaurant, and knew the apology was inevitable, but whenever he bang to think about that confrontation, Troy broke out into a sweat. He honestly did not know how he was going to apologize, especially when he couldn't think of Ryan, much less actually speak to the boy, without becoming tongue-tied and turned on.

Which brought up another question that freaked Troy out. He was not gay. He couldn't be. He was a jock; captain of the varsity basketball team at East High. Jocks were not gay in Troy's mind. Plus, he had had girlfriends before. True, his relationship with Gabriella hadn't turned into anything more than a friendship, but that didn't mean anything…

But after that night's curtain call, Troy didn't know what to think.

The rest of that Saturday morning and afternoon passed uneventfully, Troy growing even more anxious and nervous than he already was by the second. Finally, the clock ran five o'clock, signaling to Troy that it was time to head to school, for he had a five-thirty call for that night's show of Twinkle Town.

Troy's heart rate sped up a bit as he pushing open the doors of East High's auditorium. Not only because Ryan was inside those doors, but because he knew what he had to do. He knew he had to apologize, but even after agonizing about over what he wanted to say, he still had no idea what he was going to say or how he was planning to articulate it. As he pushed the heavy mahogany doors, he entered nonchalantly, as if he didn't have a care in the world. He caught a glimpse of Ryan and winced, for Ryan was standing right next to Gabriella.

Of course, because of his luck, Gabriella caught sight of him, and waved him over to the group. She began to babble to him about her day and who was coming to the show that night, but Troy did not hear a word. He was too busy staring at Ryan, who was blatantly ignoring him. He hadn't even said hello to Troy as he arrived, but Troy didn't blame him. If Ryan had done that to him the night before, he would be mad and ignoring Ryan as well.

He finally got a chance to talk to Ryan right before the curtain.

"Ryan, can I talk to you for a second?" Troy questioned shyly.

Ryan eyed him, a scowl playing on his face. "What do you want Troy? You made it quite clear that you did want anything to do with me last night."

"That's what I want to talk to you about, I didn't what I was saying last night, and…"

"OKAY EVERYONE! SHOW TIME IS HERE! PLACES!" Mrs. Darbus called out, cutting Troy off.

Troy cursed under his breath, and looked at Ryan. "Can we finish this conversation during intermission, maybe?"

"Fine. Whatever. I need to get to the other side of the stage." Ryan retorted, and made a hurried exit from the room.

Troy's gaze followed the boy out the door, sighing with relief, as he did not even fully know what he had been planning to say.

Intermission came quicker than Troy had thought it would, and Troy was still scared shitless. Over the course of the two and a half hours he had been in the presence of Ryan's animosity, Troy finally began to realize just what he had to say.

The lust he felt toward the other boy finally registered in his brain. Troy had been waiting in the wings for his next scene, and Ryan was singing a solo on stage. Troy could not turn his attention away from the boy and ever inch of his body began to feel tingly, almost like the shock he had felt during the previous night's curtain call.

As the applause from Ryan's song jarred Troy from his mind-searching, Troy looked up just in time to catch Ryan's eyes as he exited the stage. In that instant, Troy realized he wanted him, and wanted him badly.

When that thought entered his brain, Troy's eyes grew extremely wide. Had he really just thought that about another boy? Again? And then another thought popped into his musings, thinking like that about another boy means only one thing. He was gay. He was gay. Oh shit.

And right after coming to that realization, Troy had to go onstage for a duet between him and Gabriella that closed Act I. To say that Troy's mind wasn't on acting and singing was an understatement.

During the intermission, Troy found Ryan, and forced him into a dressing room to talk.

Ryan shut the dressing room door, and turned toward Troy. "What do you want, Troy?" He sighed in exhaustion.

Troy took a deep breath and licked his lips in nervousness. "I want to apologize for my behavior last night."

Ryan eyed him cautiously. "Am I hearing you correctly?" Troy nodded. "Fine. Then apologize."

This was it. The time for Troy to confess everything was at hand.

Troy swallowed nervously. Well, here goes nothing, Troy thought to himself. "First off, what I said last night was completely out of line. And I'm sorry."

Ryan cut him off. "Yeah, not buying that."

"Will you let me finish? Thanks," Troy shot Ryan a glance, and almost immediately melted under his gaze. He quickly averted his eyes, and composed himself again. "Look, I'm really not good at stuff like this… Ever since last night's show, I've been so confused and scared, and I just couldn't deal with it, so I snapped at you, seeing as you were the cause of all the confusion. I… I guess because of what happened it made me think about things I never gave a second thought too, and I began to like what I was thinking, and I freaked. And after I said those things to you I immediately regretted it, but was still too damn scared and confused to go back inside and tell you that. But then today watching you, I realized I shouldn't be scared and I'm not confused anymore…"

All throughout his speech, Troy was looking anywhere but at Ryan. If he had though, he would have seen first a very confused Ryan, but by the end, would have seen an extremely delighted Ryan. Which he did, as he glanced up at Ryan when he trailed off.

Ryan gazed at Troy, a smirk on his face. "Will you just shut up and kiss me already? Because I know you want to."

Troy's mouth dropped open, and he fumbled for the right words. When he couldn't find them, Ryan chimed in, "Do I have to do everything?"

Ryan leaned into Troy, crushing their mouths together. Troy gasped at the sudden contact, but soon found himself enjoying it. Ryan's hands had found their way to his hair and his waist, and the electricity that the two had felt at the curtain call the night before had returned with a vengeance. Everywhere Ryan touched sent shivers down Troy's spine, and the kisses Ryan planted on his lips made it even more intense.

The two broke apart a few minutes later, a sort-of awkward silence filled the room.

"So… I guess this means the apology is accepted?" Troy inquired.

Ryan placed a small peck on Troy's mouth. "Yes, you dumbass. You are forgiven."

Troy smiled up at Ryan, his mind telling him he made the best choice to finally accept who he was.

The rest of the night's show went on without a hitch, Troy and Ryan positively glowing in their parts.

And when the thunderous applause and the standing ovation during the curtain call happened that night, Troy was standing there on the stage right next to Ryan, hand in hand as they took their final bow. If anyone were to look closely, they could spy that their fingers were intertwined, but no one paid any attention to that tiny detail.

Troy squeezed Ryan's hand as the curtain descended. Sure, he was still a bit scared about the realities facing him, but he was glad he would have someone to help him along the way. He truly was starting something new, and he knew in his heart this was what he wanted.

THE END

A/N: whew! This fic is over! It only took me 9 months to get it done. haha.

And I just wanted to say a very big THANK YOU to each and every one of my reviewers. I seriously love you all. 54 reviews for 2 chapters? That is the most I've every gotten, and it means so much to me that you all enjoy me writing. Also, I want to say that I'm home from college for a month (winter break), so that is why I actually updated. So hopefully I will update Everything Changes sometime soon as well! So keep your eyes open for more updates from me!

Okay, enough babbling from me. The fic is finished, so now more than ever I want your feedback. So please leave me a review! (Oh, and cookies to everyone who reviewed last chapter, and my mom's Christmas cookies to everyone who reviews this chapter! hehe)

--Laura--