Take Me There
Chapter 12
A/N: Sorry this is a day late. There's no excuse really..lol. Hope you enjoy. :)
Previously...
Everyone was waiting for Troy to speak. After a few minutes, he did.
"One question."
"Yeah?"
"You've never, like, had the hotts for me before, have you?" Troy asked, as seriously as he could.
That was all it took for Chad and Ryan to break down in laughter.
It seemed like things were going to turn out all right after all.
HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM
The rest of the day had gone exceptionally well, considering how lunch had gone. Once Troy and everyone knew the truth, things seemed to move along much smoother. They even seemed to be accepting of Chad's friendship with Ryan, which was a great thing as far as Chad could see. He had been so worried about everyone would react.
Once Troy had broken the ice with his rather unexpected question, which sent Chad and Ryan into fits of laughter, everyone seemed much more at ease with the entire situation.
They finished their lunch and Ryan invited everyone back to his, and now Chad's room. The fact that they were sharing a room had yet to come up. Chad wasn't sure how he would the gang would take that, so they kept it to their selves. They watched movies, mainly musicals, eat popcorn, and just talked for most of the night.
They seemed to be becoming fast friends and for that Ryan couldn't be more thankful. He had been so worried about how everyone would react; he never stopped to think about the possibility of them accepting him. Except for Zeke, who had shocked everyone with his reaction, everyone seemed to be ok.
It was after two o'clock in the morning before Taylor realized she still had to drive everyone home. Thanking Ryan and Chad for inviting them over, they all, very slowly made their way down to Taylor's car. Everyone, for the most part, was sleep walking.
With their friends now gone, Chad and Ryan made their way into Ryan's room. Not stopping to give it a second thought Chad kicked off his pants, threw his shirt on the floor, pulled the bandana out of his hair and climbed in bed. It wasn't until he realized Ryan was still standing at the foot of the bed that he looked up.
"What's wrong, Ry?" Chad asked, sleepily.
"Uh, nothing. I just forgot you were still locked out of your room."
"Oh, uh, if it's making you uncomfortable, I can leave. I mean, like I said before, I'm cool with sleeping on the floor." Chad threw the blankets back and made to get out of Ryan's bed. Ryan stopped him.
"No, its cool. I mean, we do have to get used to living together and sleeping in the same room, so we may as well start now."
"But there was never anything about sharing a bed. Listen, I'm sorry. I'll go. I can see it's making you uncomfortable." Chad had almost made it out of the bed when Ryan pushed him back down. Shocked, he could only stare.
"Oh, uh, wow, I'm sorry! Its just, if your cool with sleeping in the same bed, then I have no problem with it." Ryan knew if Chad was looking at him, and he was pretty sure he was, then he could see the slight blush now on his cheeks. Meeting Chad's eyes, he saw that he was smiling.
"Its cool with me. Plus, when we get back home, it will leave us with a lot more space in our room."
This time it was Ryan's turn to be shocked. He hadn't meant them sharing a bed once they were back home, he had only meant while they were still at Lava Springs. But if Chad wanted to sleep in the same bed with him, then who was he to try and stop him. He smiled.
"That's cool with me. You think your mom will be ok with it?"
"I don't see why not. I mean, she trusts us. Plus, I'm starting to think she likes you more than me."
"Well, duh! I mean, what's not to like?" He asked, with a touch of innocents to his voice. Chad laughed and threw a pillow at his head. He tossed it back on the bed and started undressing. No matter how hard he tried, Chad just could not look away.
Unlike Chad, Ryan took his pants and shirt off and folded them, placing them on the corner chair. He sat his shoes in front of the same chair and placed his hat on top of the desk. All the while Chad was watching with such interest.
"Why in the world are you folding your clothes? Dude, just throw them on the floor and come to bed." Ryan laughed.
"Yes, dear. Coming, dear." He batted his eyelashes and climbed in bed. Chad laughed and reached over to turn off the bedside lamp.
"Night, Ry. It was a good day."
"Yeah, it was. Sleep tight, Chad."
And with that, both boys slipped off to sleep, both dreaming of the other.
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Waking the next morning, both boys realized that they had never been so content and comfortable in their lives. Of course, neither would ever dream of admitting it to the other. This time when they woke, they were on separate sides of the bed and even though they weren't wrapped in each other's arms, there was still a sense of content in them both.
Once they were awake, Ryan was the first in the bathroom, claiming he needed more time to ready himself. Chad didn't think to question him. If it meant he would be getting a few more minutes of sleep, then he was all for it.
It must have been a while cause the next time Chad woke, it was daylight outside. Glancing around the room, he noticed Ryan was nowhere to be seen. Looking at the bedside clock, it read 1:35pm.
"Holy crap!" Was all Chad said. He rolled out of bed and slowly made his way to the bathroom. Once there, he brushed his teeth and turned on the shower, hoping it would help to wake him fully.
After a nice shower, Chad made his way back to Ryan's bedroom. Realizing he was still without clothes, he grabbed a pair of Ryan's sweats and threw them on. It was too hot for a shirt so he never even looked for one. Making his way out into the living room area, he started looking around for Ryan. He wasn't in his room, he wasn't in the living room. Chad was starting to get worried. It was like Ryan to just leave and not let him know.
Chad walked into the small kitchen area, still no Ryan. Looking around for any sign that Ryan might have left a note, Chad came up empty handed. Walking back out to the living room he noticed that Ryan's cell phone wasn't on the charger.
"Fine then, I'll just call him." Chad dialed the number. Cursing under his breath, all he got was Ryan's voice mail.
"Hi. You've reached Ryan Evan's voice mail. Obviously I'm not here right now...either that or I saw your number on the ID and just don't like you enough to answer. Leave a message and if I call back, then your worthy my time, if not, Sorry!" Beep!!
Chad had to laugh. Only Ryan would be so brutally honest in his voice mail message. Leaving a short message Chad told him to call.
"Hey, Ry. Man, where are you? I woke up and you were gone! Call me dude! I'm bored." Chad ended the call.
Making his way back to Ryan's, well technically his and Ryan's, bedroom he flopped down on the bed and grabbed the TV remote. Ryan had a large flat screen TV in the room and for that Chad would be eternally grateful. Flipping through the stations Chad found that no matter how many channels you had, there was never nothing on. Remembering Ryan's large array of movies, he hoped off the bed and walked over to the DVD cabinet.
When he opened it his jaw dropped. Ryan must have had every movie ever released on DVD. There were hundreds in there. He had everything from sappy romance movies, to comedies, action-adventure and yes, of course, musicals! There were even Disney movies! Ryan had it all. Looking through the shelves, he decided on a comedy. Nothing depressing and nothing sappy.
Chad was still sitting on the bed when the credits started to roll. He had watched the entire movie and still no call from Ryan. Picking up the phone he called again. Like before, it went straight to voice mail. Once he heard the beep, he left yet another message.
"Ryan, seriously, where are you? I'm starting to get worried. Call me back." Again, he ended the call.
Flopping back on the bed, he decided he would watch another movie while he waited on Ryan to call. With no one around to laugh at him, he decided on a sappy love story. No one would ever know.
Walking back to the movie cabinet, he chose Pride and Prejudice. All Chad knew was that it was a book first, at least, he thought he remembered one of his teachers mentioning it in class before.
Half way through the movie Chad had went from laying down on the bed to now sitting on the edge. He couldn't believe how good the movie was. Why had he never watched it before? It was so romantic. Albeit, he would never admit to anyone that he was watching it, he couldn't for the life of him take his eyes away from the TV screen.
By the movies end, Chad Danforth was in tears. He couldn't believe it. He had never cried during a movie before. But for some reason, this movie just got to him.
"Dear God, could I be any more gay right now?" He asked to no one in particular.
Wiping away the tears that had fallen, Chad turned and looked at the clock. Now it was going on six o'clock and there was still no word from Ryan. One last time he tried his cell phone. This time, Ryan answered.
"Hello."
"RYAN!"
"DUDE! Don't yell! I'm right here!"
"Sorry, but I've been trying to get a hold of you all day. Where have you been?"
"Oh, sorry. I turned my phone off before and must have forgotten to turn it back on."
"Ok, no big deal. But where are you?"
"On my way back to the country club."
"You left?"
"Um, yeah."
"Why?"
"I had things to do. Don't worry, I'll be there in like ten minutes. Bye." Without waiting for Chad to respond, Ryan ended the call. Chad looked down at the phone in his hand.
"He hung up on me! Well, the nerve!" Irritated, he threw himself down on the bed. He would wait right here for Ryan. He had some explaining to do.
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After Ryan had showered and dressed for the day, he was on his way out when the phone rang.
"Hello."
"Ryan, dear! How are you?" It was Gloria.
"Oh, Hi, Gloria! How are you?" Ryan asked.
"I'm wonderful, dear. How are you?"
"I'm doing good. Oh my gosh! I can't believe we forgot to tell you!"
"Tell me what?" She asked. Ryan could tell by the way her voice got higher she was expecting some good news.
"What happened yesterday."
"What happened yesterday?" She asked again, this time more anxiously.
"I can't believe Chad didn't tell you!"
"Ryan, honey, please, what is it?" She was almost yelling now.
"Oh, Gloria, its good. Its a very good thing."
"Honey, please tell me! You've got me interested now! Don't leave me hanging!"
Ryan laughed.
"Do you have plans for today?"
"No, nothing too important. Why?"
"How about I come and pick you up and we spend the day together?"
"Oh, Ryan, dear that sounds lovely! But what about Chad?" Again Ryan laughed.
"He's still sleeping. I don't want to wake him after his tiring day yesterday."
Gloria snickered.
"Tiring day? Ryan, is there something you would like to tell me?"
If it was at all possible, Ryan's face turned the deepest shade of red there was.
"Gloria, no! Goodness!" She laughed.
"Spending the day together sounds wonderful. I can be ready in half an hour."
"That sounds great. See you soon."
"Goodbye." They both hung up.
Making his way to the door, Ryan thought about leaving Chad a note. At the last minute he changed his mind. After all, how much could he and Gloria find to do in one afternoon?
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Using his room key to unlock the door, Ryan staggered inside. He had so many bags it was a wonder he was even standing up right. He yelled for Chad.
"CHAD! Hello! I could use some help!" Within seconds, Chad came running down the hall. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Ryan standing in the door way with more bags than he ever thought possible for one man to carry.
"Um, hello! Some help please!"
Without saying a word, Chad began taking bags out of Ryan's hands. He finally spoke.
"My God, Ryan! What in the world did you buy? The entire store?"
"No." Was all he said.
"Where do you want them?"
"In the bedroom, please."
Following Chad, Ryan walked down the hall and into the bedroom. The first thing he noticed was the main movie menu on the TV. There was no way he was seeing what he thought he was seeing.
"Pride and Prejudice!!" Ryan screamed, which cause Chad to drop some of the bags he was carrying.
"Damnit, Ry! Don't scare me like that!" Ryan could hear Chad swearing under his breath. He laughed.
"Sorry. Its just, when I saw the TV and realized what movie was playing, well, to tell you the truth, it shocked me."
"Oh, crap. Listen, you never saw this, got it?" There was a faint blush rising on Chad's cheeks. Ryan tried to hold back his laughter.
"Oh my God, you watched it! You watched Pride and Prejudice!" Ryan couldn't believe it.
"Yeah, so what if I did?" Chad was acting a tad bit defensive.
"No, don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with it. I'm just surprised it all."
"Whatever."
After a couple of seconds, Ryan spoke again.
"So, did you like it?"
Ryan thought he heard Chad mumble something but he couldn't be sure what it was.
"What? I can't hear you."
Once more Chad mumbled under his breath and Ryan couldn't quite make it out.
"Chad, seriously, I can't hear you."
"YES! I liked it, ok? It was probably one of the best movies I have ever seen! There, you happy now?" Chad huffed and sat down on the bed. Ryan walked over and did the unexpected. He kissed Chad on the cheek.
"Yes, I'm very happy." Smirking, he walked back to the bags they had discarded on the floor. Overlooking Chad's fish out of water look, he began taking things out of the bags. That's when Chad noticed what it was.
Clothes. And lots of them. There were shirts, pants, shorts, shoes, flip flops, hats, bandanas, boxers and some stuff that Chad wasn't even sure what they were.
"Ryan, don't you think you have enough clothes already? I mean, damn, that's a lot of stuff you have there."
"Oh, I know. But it's not for me." Chad was confused.
"Ok then. I'll bite. Whose stuff is this then?"
"Yours." Ryan smiled and went back to unpacking the bags.
"WHAT?" He screamed and jumped off the bed.
"You heard me. I was getting tired of you not having anything decent to wear. That's where I was all day today. Shopping. For you."
"You're kidding me!"
"You know I never kid about shopping! Plus, your mother was a great help!"
"My mother? You took my mother with you?"
"Of course I did! She called, I asked, she accepted, we shopped. End of story."
"And she let you buy all of this? She didn't protest or something?"
"Oh she tried. But in the end, I guess you were right."
"About what?"
"She does love me more than you! Once I bought he something pretty, she was putty in my hands. After all, it's the least I can do. I mean, you offered your home to me. I had to pay you both back somehow."
Chad couldn't believe it. Ryan had spent all day shopping for him. That had to mean something, right? He wouldn't just spend all that money unless he cared, would he? All sorts of questions were running through Chad's mind.
"Maybe there's a chance for us after all." He smiled as he watched Ryan pull item after item from the bag.
A/N: Sorry it's a day late. I hope everyone likes it. Just a little 'FYI'...now that Chad and Ryan are both out to everyone and they have no reason to hide anymore, there will be a lot more Chyan interaction going on! A lot more Chyan lovin' than the previous chapters, is that alright with everyone?..;) Hope so. Anyway, review and let me know what you thought. Next chapter will be up tomorrow. Since I'm off for the next 3 days, I will have more time to write. Until next time, Tootles:)