Disclaimer: Still don't own HSM, I'm just playing with them in twisted ways that Disney wouldn't allow.

A/N: This chapter is almost all italics, because everything in italics is a flashback. Originally, this whole story was meant to be a one-shot, but when the story got to be over 10 pages, I figured nobody would want to read all of that in one sitting, so I broke it down into three parts. Thus, why you're reading practically an entire chapter in italics. To make it simple:

ItalicsFlashback

--Oh yes, this is the part of the story most obviously inspired by Song Birdy's "Bite Your Tongue", so giving credit where credit is due! Thanks to your story, I was able to finish my fic (read her story when I was stuck here, and that's where I got the idea). Now everyone go read it after you review this chapter:P

Thank you!

Explanations

By: StillThereForMe

Chapter 2/3

Ryan didn't care about him like Gabriella did. He was pretty sure Ryan didn't even like him. He'd flat out told Troy that when this whole thing started.

It'd been the second or third week of rehearsals for Twinkle Town. The cast had been scheduled to work on one of the first big dance numbers of the show, but Ms. Darbus soon discovered that although Troy had a talent for singing and 'passable' acting skills (it wasn't too hard to 'act' like he was in love with his girlfriend at least), he needed a great deal of help when it came to dancing. She had barely begun teaching the choreography for the song, and Troy was already constantly tripping over his own feet or crashing into Gabriella and the surrounding extras. Although he kept apologizing and trying his absolute hardest to follow Ms. Darbus's directions, he was continuously forgetting his steps and moves. To make matters worse, everytime he tried to correct himself, he ended up ruining somebody else's routine.

Troy had previously thought that dancing would be the simplest Drama ability to pick up since it was physical and that's what he was most used to from Basketball. But he soon found out that a big difference between dancing and sports was the simple fact that, although sports had pre-game strategies, you could mostly make it up as you went along, but in dance it was really important to stick as close to the choreographed routine as you could "until it became practically second nature." That made dancing more about memorizing, which made it more a mental ability, which may explain why Gabriella picked up dancing so easily and quickly. Needless to say, Troy didn't.

Eventually, Ms. Darbus loudly declared Troy more of a detriment to what everyone else could possibly achieve in the group rehearsal than an asset, and so therefore would better serve himself and the show by instead meeting with Ryan (who was an extremely talented dancer whom had already picked up Troy's entire routine in the first fifteen minutes of rehearsal) for a personal one-on-one dance session after the group rehearsal was over. So Troy embarrassingly left the auditorium to wait in the gym shooting hoops for two hours. Gabriella stopped by after to inform him that Ryan was waiting for him in the boy's dressing room now, and to reschedule their date which they had previously planned for after rehearsal.

At the time, he'd been grateful that they weren't going to the restaurant—he hadn't planned on Gabriella looking like she did after the dance practice. With her dark black hair slightly messed, heat flushed cheeks, and out of breath from all the dancing, he definitely wouldn't have been able to concentrate on a simple conversation or even the food. At that moment, he wanted to skip his session with Ryan and pull Gabriella into a dark corner and kiss her until she forgot her name.

Yet, Gabriella naive to his (what he thought at the time were) perverted thoughts informed him that since he was going to be hanging out with Ryan, she'd made plans with Sharpay to go out to the mall together. She excitedly told Troy that this was their opportunity to finally make friends with the Evans twins, so they should both make a real effort to be kind and get to know them, so auditions for the next musical would be less "dramatic." Gabriella found her accidental joke hilarious, but as she laughed Troy could only focus on how red Gabriella's tongue was and how much her chest bounced with each laugh—thoughts he was mentally slapping himself for having but thinking nonetheless. Sharpay arrived then, saving Troy from his hormonal torture (although the way she suggestively leaned against the gym's wall in those bright pink short-shorts that he didn't remember her wearing earlier really did nothing to calm down his body after Gabriella).

"Have fun with Ryan!" Gabriella had called to him as she skipped over to Sharpay and out of the gym—a terribly ironic line Troy realized thinking back.

He'd purposely made his way slowly over to Ryan's dressing room, trying to clear his head of the less than pure thoughts he was having about his girlfriend. He shouldn't be thinking about rolling around in his bed with her—especially while in school! Sure, his thoughts weren't explicit or anything (the one time Chad had shown him a porn video from his dad's collection, Troy couldn't bring himself to sit through the whole thing and had to leave the room—which the guys had teased him about for a week after), but they were still embarrassing. Especially since he and Gabriella hadn't even discussed sex or anything yet! Not to mention it wouldn't be any easier to pick up his dance routine while thinking about…that!

This is where Troy's thoughts were when he opened the dressing room door and caught Ryan kneeling on the ground before Alan, whose pants were around his ankles.

"Oh, shit Troy!" Alan's hands flew away from Ryan's head as he stepped away from the blond, only to trip and fall.

"Troy…you're here."Ryan smiled nervously from his spot on the ground. "Well, this is awkward."

Alan quickly scrambled to stand, pull up his pants, and grab his script from the table (which he did all in amazing time). "Uh, see ya next rehearsal!" Allen mumbled as he dashed past Troy out the door.

"Right…dance session with you. That's why I was staying late." Ryan thought aloud as he brought himself to his feet.

"Yeah…" Troy nodded, still recovering from the unexpected sight earlier.

"Sorry about that—I was waiting and kinda forgot you were coming when Alan came in and I got distracted…" Ryan rambled and wiped his mouth on his sleeve, before slapping himself in the forehead. "That was stupid; this shirt is dry clean only!" Ryan grabbed his black hat and frustratingly shoved it onto his head. "Should've used the towel…"

Troy laughed nervously, still trying to get the vision of Ryan and Alan out of his head and failing. "Oh well…"

Ryan smiled and walked over to the stereo on the other side of the room. "To tell you the truth, I'm kinda surprised you're still here."

"I was uh…shooting hoops in the gym until Gabriella—"

"No, no!" Ryan laughed as he bent to plug in the CD player. "I mean after seeing me and Alan."

"Ohhh…" Troy rocked back and forth awkwardly, hands shoved in his pockets. "That."

"Yeah." Ryan stood and brushed imaginary dust off his pants. "Would've thought you'd run out of the building after seeing that."

"No, of course not!" Troy assured immediately, remembering Gabriella's words earlier about getting along with the Evans twins. He figured Ryan thinking he was homophobic would not be the best way to start that friendship. "Stuff like that doesn't bother me! Not at all!" Troy shook his head for good measure.

"Really?" Ryan asked as he slowly turned to look at Troy, a small smile on his face.

"Yeah!" Troy nodded quickly, and then suddenly froze as he realized what his words suggested. "Not that I'm—! What I mean is—!"

Ryan held up a hand, chuckling. "Forget it Troy. Let's just go over the steps."

"Yeah…" Troy nodded again, nervously. "Let's do that."

The blond boy grabbed a remote from the table and pressed a button. The music Kelsi had composed for the number they'd been working on earlier suddenly began playing through the speakers.

"That's so cool!" Troy laughed and walked over towards the stereo. "The CD player's remote-controlled?"

"Yup." Ryan replied, picking up his script from the chair and flipping through the pages. Though his eyes were examining the back of Troy a little too closely for Troy's comfort.

"Um…" Troy tried to ignore Ryan's stare and focused on the stereo in front of him. "So, uh, the music…is this Kelsi playing?"

"Some of it." Ryan explained, still watching Troy as he made his way over to close the door. "The piano's her anyway. Everything else is people from Band and Orchestra I think. She wrote all the parts though."

"Wow," Troy tried to keep the conversation going as his heart sped up. He was really nervous, and he couldn't figure out exactly why. Ryan staring at him was making him uncomfortable, but something else was making him feel off too. "Kelsi's uh, really talented."

"I guess." Ryan shrugged as he locked the door to the room. "She's definitely dedicated, that's for sure."

Troy spun around when he heard the lock. "Did you just lock the door?"

Ryan looked at him, face in perfected confusion. "So no one would walk in on us rehearsing…" The blond explained innocently. "It always annoys me and Sharpay when people interrupt us…unless you'd rather the door be unlocked?"

Troy suddenly felt like saying 'yes' would sound like he didn't trust Ryan—which would sound homophobic—which would be possibly ruining their possible friendship.

"No, no it's okay." Troy shook his head then nodded; suddenly feeling like the room was really hot. But those words were just asking to be twisted.

"Shall we begin?" Ryan dropped his script open to the correct page on the ground, and walked over to Troy arms spread.

"Yes! I mean yeah." Troy answered too quickly.

"Alright then." Ryan giggled, and Troy hated himself for noticing the difference in the sound and red shade of his tongue from Gabriella's. Ryan stepped closer to Troy, enough so that the taller basketball player could feel his breath with each word Ryan spoke. "So, which one of us do you want to take the girl's part?"

There was no right answer to that question.

"Whatever you want." Troy looked away from Ryan's eyes as he stepped back slightly to increase the space between them without looking like he was.

This was different from getting ready to dance with Gabriella. With her, Troy had been worried about messing up the choreography and then looking like a fool in front of her. With Ryan, he couldn't even think of the steps he was supposed to do—he could only think about how different Ryan's body looked compared to Gabriella's. The fact that the top two buttons of Ryan's shirt were undone, giving him a glimpse of the pale flat chest beneath, was one pronounced difference. Ryan's short hair under the black hat was also greatly different than the soft black curled hair he was used to seeing on Gabriella—and also drew his attention to Ryan's slightly curved neck. Why was it bothering him so much anyway? Comparing the two of them was doing weird things to his head…

"I guess that means I'm taking the girl's part then." Ryan grabbed the remote from the table again to restart the song. "Ready to dance?"

"Sure."Wanting to get the session over as quickly as possible, Troy grabbed Ryan by the waist and pulled him into the starting position Ms. Darbus had drilled into his head.

Immediately he noticed how much firmer Ryan's waist was than Gabriella's. She was so much softer than the boy's—something that made Troy curious as to what else was different (aside from the obvious parts he knew each of them did or didn't have). As Ryan counted out the beats and steps for Troy, the playmaker tried hard to follow and clear his head of the twisted thoughts that must only be entering his head from the teasing Ryan gave him earlier

Troy was incredibly stiff in his movements at first—not making one movement that wasn't specifically choreographed by Ms. Darbus earlier, as well as keeping Ryan as distant from his body as the dance would allow. Eventually, Ryan then began to start taking over the lead, pushing and pulling the Wildcat to where he needed to be and making it look more natural (even if that did mean an arm flew out or an elbow bent that wasn't scripted).

"Relax Troy, don't be so nervous. Just pretend I'm Gabriella." Ryan's voice muttered close to Troy's ear.

The little encouragement was all that the brunet needed to completely concede against fighting away the twisted thoughts in his head. He gave in. He tried to ignore the silky feel of Ryan's greenish-blue ("teal" Troy vaguely recalled Ryan correcting Darbus earlier) shirt, the puffs of warm air alerting him to how close the pink mouth was to his neck, but he couldn't. He tried to ignore how much easier it was to dance with the boy even when he wasn't focusing as hard on the routine but failed. And he really tried hard not to notice how Ryan seemed to get closer and closer to him. He was getting too comfortable. Ryan wasn't Gabriella—had his mind not made that abundantly clear already? So why was his body letting him relax as if it was her? He had to stop that.

"Wrong way." Ryan whispered in Troy's ear.

"Oh, sorry." Troy stepped back and tried to correct himself by rearranging his feet, but instead ended up tripping Ryan accidentally; causing the blond to fall onto a pile of costumes on the floor.

"Wow, when you screw up, you really screw up." Ryan laughed from the floor, though visibly annoyed at being tripped. His black hat had fallen off so his messy blond hair was visible again. His teal shirt was pushed up slightly, revealing a pale slip of Ryan's stomach—all forcing Troy to recall all too clearly what Ryan had been doing when he walked in. "I think I fell on something…ow…"

"I'm sorry Ryan…here, let me help you up." Troy reached down to grab Ryan's hand, failing to notice the mischievous glint in Ryan's eye quick enough.

Instead of pulling the blond up, Ryan unexpectedly tugged back on Troy's arm and forced the taller boy to fall on top of him. And yes, Ryan's body was definitely firmer than Gabriella's all over.

"Thought so, that explains the nervousness." Ryan smirked at Troy's confused face.

"What…?" Troy pushed himself up on his elbows, as if a clearer view of the boy's face would explain what he was talking about.

Ryan's hand shot at the opportunity to cup the bulge in Troy's shorts as an answer. "If you wanted something, all you had to do was ask."

"No!" Troy immediately sat and stood up, taking a few steps back from the still-grinning Ryan—who didn't look like he was just kidding around this time. "No, no that's from before—with Gabriella and…"

"And you didn't lose it after seeing me and Alan?" Ryan crossed his arms behind to pillow his head. He was still smirking widely and was laid out very comfortably on the pile of clothes (the "falling on something" line apparently just a lie to guilt-trip Troy into helping him up) appearing almost as if he was lounging in a bean-bag chair. "Or did the dancing just heat you up again?"

"No! It's just—I mean—It wasn't—I…" Troy ran his hands through his dark brown hair as he racked his brain for a reasonable excuse. He couldn't think of any. But that was pathetic! He'd just been getting those same feelings for Gabriella not even half an hour ago! How could he be feeling for Ryan like that so quickly? He loved Gabriella, and he barely even knew Ryan. "I'm dating Gabriella you know!"

"So? I don't want to date you. Hell, I don't even like you. You probably piss me off more than anyone else in this whole friggin' school." Ryan explained plainly, stretching his arms out and twisting his body lazily.

"What…?" Troy tried to focus on Ryan's words as he stared mesmerized at the pale boy's waistline be revealed and then hidden with each turn of his body.

Ryan pushed himself up off the floor. "I can't help it. After hearing Sharpay go on and on and on about how wonderful you are day in and day out." Ryan made his way slowly over to Troy with a predatory look on his face, much like those mountain lions Chad always compared Sharpay to. "'Troy's so athletic, Troy's so hot, Troy Bolton is so perfect!' Even after you auditioned and she dammed Gabriella to hell, God forbid anyone say one bad thing about Troy fucking Bolton." Ryan slammed a hand against the wall he'd backed Troy up against—just missing Troy's head.

Troy was scared. He was scared and he wasn't. He was scared, but also incredibly calm at the same time. But more than anything else he was confused. Confused at what he was feeling, the way his body was acting, what Ryan was saying, and at the whole insane situation.

"But, if you hate me so much, then why…?" Troy managed to ask.

"I'd have to be out of my mind to pass up a chance to be fucked by the Great Troy Bolton." Ryan half-mocked the playmaker, before he pushed his lips harshly but skillfully against Troy's.

Troy hated the fact that he enjoyed that one meaningless kiss more than any he'd shared with the girl he was in love with so many times before.

"But—" Troy panted after they parted.

"Out of breath already, Troy?" Ryan laughed. "You're still a virgin aren't you? Well, I'm honored to be your first."

Troy glared at the blond as he caught his breath. "I don't get it. How can you kiss someone you don't care about?"

"Oh please," Ryan answered quickly, rolling his eyes. "Sex has virtually nothing to do with love—and yes, that includes kissing. The whole world practically knows you love Gabriella, but I can guarantee you that I can make you feel a whole lot better than she could—the simple fact that guys know what guys like better than girls. Not to mention I'm a hell of a lot more experienced than your little Einsteinette, so I know what I'm talking about." Ryan tugged down the zipper of Troy's shorts, without a glance away from Troy's face. "What do you say?"

"But why would you even want to?" Troy pressed.

"I have my reasons." Ryan brushed aside the question. "Now, do you want to or not?"

Then, Ryan did something with his hand that made Troy want to scream. "Oh my god, Ryan!"

The blond smirked triumphantly. "It'll just be for fun. And I promise—the very second you miraculously realize you're absolutely completely straight, the second it doesn't feel good anymore I'll stop." Ryan kissed up Troy's neck to his ear. "The moment you think Gabriella could do better, you can walk out that door no strings attached."

That moment still hadn't arrived yet.

Next and last chapter will be up as soon as I can finish re-typing it! Please review so I can improve!