Take Me There
Chapter 17
A/N: Ok, so I hope everyone likes this chapter. I wanted to fit a lot of stuff in it and I think I did an ok job. I wanted Ryan and Troy's shopping spree, Chad's party, Ryan's gift for Chad and Ryan's mother to be the main parts. Did I do ok? It turned out to be an extra long chapter. You like? Review and let me know. On with the story...
Warning: THIS CHAPTER IS LONG! HOPE THAT'S OK:)
Previously...
Gloria wasn't expecting anyone to have heard her phone conversation, so it was a surprise when Chad's voice sounded out through the room.
"Mom, did I just hear you right? Were you talking to Ryan's mom?"
"Um, yes."
"Ok, why?"
"I spoke with Ryan this morning. I know he wants to speak with her, so I called and set it up. She will be stopping by tomorrow. Don't tell Ryan, it's a surprise."
"Oh, it sure will be. So, where is Ryan anyways?" Chad yawned as he spoke.
"He had some errands to run. He said he would be back later. There is some left over breakfast in the kitchen. What Ryan didn't eat, that is. Go and eat."
Chad walked away towards the kitchen. He never saw the large smile that covered his mother's face.
"Ryan isn't the only one in for a surprise tomorrow, sweetie. Just you wait and see. Tomorrow is going to be full of surprises."
Gloria had no idea just how right she was.
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Exactly twenty minutes after calling Troy, Ryan was surprised when he saw that they were on time. He breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at them, he noticed that Gabriella had a huge smile on her face, Troy on the other hand, looked like he would rather be anywhere but here. Ryan couldn't blame him. They had so much to do in such a short amount of time.
"Ryan, hi!" Gabi practically squealed. He hugged him as soon as she saw him. Troy only smiled.
"Hey, Ryan." Troy said.
"You guys have no idea how lost I am! I mean, how can she think it possible to plan a surprise party that is tomorrow!" Ryan was having fits. He noticed that Troy was indeed trying to hold back his laughter, just like he had been on the phone.
"Troy! This is not funny!"
"Dude, it so is!"
"He's your best friend, now help me!"
"Dude, you like like him, its only fare that you plan his party."
Ryan's jaw dropped.
"I what him?" He asked, still not believing what Troy had said.
"Ryan, its kind of obvious that you like Chad. I mean, Troy and I both saw it that day at the country club."
"And you're ok with it?" He asked, almost afraid of what they would say. Suffice to say he was stunned when Troy laughed.
"Man, come on! We aren't like Zeke. If you like Chad and he likes you, which we think he does, and you make each other happy, then who are we to stop you guys?" Ryan was shocked that this was coming from Troy. He couldn't believe he was hearing this. They were basically giving him permission to be with Chad.
"Thanks you guys. It means a lot that you would say that. I know we aren't really friends, but you mean a lot to Chad. He'll be happy to know you feel that way." Ryan turned to walk away when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around he saw that it was Troy who had stopped him. He had a smile on his face. Somehow, this made Ryan feel slightly better.
"Ryan, listen. Gabi and I just wanted to say we're sorry."
"For what?" Ryan asked.
"We know we haven't always treated like a friend. Truthfully, it's our fault. We never gave you a chance. We would really like to change that. You're good guy and we see how Chad looks at you. If he sees something special in you, then there's no doubt he's right. So, what do you say? Friends?" Troy held his hand out to Ryan, waiting and hoping he would take it. After only a few seconds, he did. Ryan took Troy's hand and shook it. He smiled. Gabriella hugged him again, instead of a handshake.
"So, enough with all this mushy crap, how about we do what we came for?"
"SHOPPING!" Gabriella shouted. Troy and Ryan both groaned. It was going to be a very long day.
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Back at home Chad was beginning to worry about Ryan. He hadn't seen or spoken to him since last night. When he asked his mother, she had told him that he had some errands to run and would be back soon.
"MOM!" Chad yelled. Gloria came rushing into the living room expecting to hind the house on fire.
"What? What's wrong? Where's the fire?"
"There's no fire. Why would there be a fire?"
"There had better be a fire. Or else you have some explaining to do."
"Why?"
"For yelling at me like the house was on fire, that's why!"
Chad only laughed at his mother. She was a character. That was one of the things he loved about her so much.
"Sorry about that. Its just, well, I'm bored."
"Ok, so call one of your friends. I assume you still have some?"
"Well, of course I do."
"So, then call Troy or something and see if he wants to play some ball."
"Yeah, I guess I can do that." Chad jumped from the couch and grabbed the phone. Dialing the number, he waited for Troy to answer. When he did, he was startled to hear someone laughing in the background.
"Hey, Chad. What's up?"
"Hey, Troy. Dude, I'm bored. Wanna hang out?"
"Uh, what about Ryan? I thought you and he were like joined at the hip or something? Ow, damnit, that hurt!"
"What hurt? Troy, what are you talking about?"
"Um, nothing. Listen man, I'm kinda busy right now. So, how about I give you a call later and we can hang then. Cool? See ya." Not waiting for Chad's reply, Troy hung up.
"What in the world?" Chad said out loud to no one in particular.
"MOM!" He yelled again.
Gloria came rushing back into the living room.
"Chad, if you tell me there isn't a fire this time, it is soo on!" Freaked out by the way his mother was acting, he spoke quietly.
"Um, I just wanted to say, uh, I love you." He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his mother smile.
"Aw, baby, I love you too, but I'm in the middle of something, so no more interruptions unless it's an emergency, ok?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Such a good boy." He heard her say as she was walking away.
"Damnit, I'm still bored."
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"What did you hit me for? That hurt!" Troy screamed at Ryan.
"Attached at the hip! We are so not!" Ryan shot back.
"Yes, you so are!"
"No, we aren't!" Gabriella decided to jump in before this got out of hand.
"Boys, we don't have time for this. We still have a lot of shopping to do. So, Ryan apologize for hitting Troy."
"But..."
"Not buts, apologize, now." She was putting her foot down.
"Sorry Troy."
Troy snickered. Gabi turned to face him.
"Now, Troy, tell Ryan you are sorry for what you said about him and Chad." Troy's jaw hit the floor.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Now, do it before I lose my patients."
"Sorry Ryan."
"Good, now let's go." She turned to walk away. Troy and Ryan followed, both sulking. Looking at one another, they mouthed the same thing.
"Women."
"I heard that!" Gabi yelled.
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After what seemed like forever, they were actually done. Ryan couldn't believe it, but they were finished with their shopping.
"Hey thanks guy. I would so still be shopping for stuff if it wasn't for you."
"No problem, Ry. Glad we could help." Hearing Troy call him 'Ry' was defiantly something he would have to get used to, but it wasn't so bad.
"So, do you understand how things are going to go tomorrow?"
"Yeah. You want me to call Chad tonight and make plans with him tomorrow. Do whatever I can to keep him out of the house til six. That sound about right?"
"Yes. Now, Gabi, you are going to bring Taylor and Kelsi over to help get everything ready, right?"
She smiled at him.
"Yep. We will be there at ten am sharp."
"Good. Then it looks like we are all set. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Bye."
"Bye, Ryan."
"See ya, dude." With that, they all parted ways. Troy taking Gabriella home and Ryan going back to his house.
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Having left everything with Gabriella, Ryan was empty handed when he walked in the front door that evening. Something that Chad found very suspicious.
"RYAN! Man, where have you been? I've been bored out of my mind all freaking day."
Ryan only laughed. Chad was so cute when he was pouting.
"I had some things I needed to take care of. That's all."
"Oh, well, I would have gone with you. You know that."
"I know, but you were sleeping so good, I didn't want to wake you. Next time, I will."
"Sounds good. So, wanna hang out?" Chad asked all excited like.
"Chad, I'm just so tired. Right now all I want to do is take a nice hot shower and go to bed."
"Oh."
"Maybe tomorrow. We can do something together. Sounds good?"
"Yeah. That's fine. You go ahead and go to bed. You look worn out."
"Oh, you have to idea. I'll see you in the morning. Night, Chad."
"Yeah, night Ry." As Ryan made his way up the stairs, Chad swore under his breath.
"I'm still freaking bored."
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Ryan's alarms went off at eight am the next morning. He smiled to himself.
"Its Chad's birthday. I hope he likes everything. And I believe I have the perfect gift. If he doesn't know how I feel about him after he gets my gift, then he really is a lunk-head basketball man. Oh well, guess its time to get up."
Rolling over and once again detangling himself from Chad, he took off to the bathroom. He needed a nice hot shower to wake him up. Not long after Ryan woke, Chad woke up. He was only awake because for some ungodly reason Ryan had set the damn alarm. He didn't have much time to think on it because his cell phone started ringing.
"Hello?"
"Chad, hey, what's up?"
"Man, I'm trying to sleep."
"Dude, you sleep way to much as it is. Now, get your lazy ass up and meet me at my house. We are so gonna hang today."
"Isn't it a little early?"
"Its never to early to play basketball. Now, get your ass out of that bed and come on. That is, if you can pull yourself away from Ryan for longer than a nano second."
"'Nano-second'? Troy, were do you get these words?"
"Blame Gabriella. It's all her man. Now, come on. Meet me outside in half an hour." Troy hung up before Chad could protest anymore. Sighing, he rolled out of bed. Just as he was about to walk into the bathroom, the door opened and a very wet, half naked Ryan came walking out.
"Oh, hey Chad. What are you doing up so early?"
"Well, for starters, your alarm clock."
"Oops, sorry."
"And secondly, Troy called. He wants to hang or some shit."
"Oh, well have a good time." Ryan turned to walk away. Chad watched him as he walked. After a moment, he discovered he now had a slight problem.
"Oh well, nothing a nice wank in the shower won't fix."
After dressing and making his way down stairs, Ryan called Gabi.
"Hey. Everything a go?"
"Yep. We'll be there in an hour."
"Good. See you then."
"Bye."
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Since the beginning of the summer Ryan had been writing. Not just anything but a song. It was usually Kelsi's department when it came to writing music, but for some reason Ryan had been inspired. His inspiration? Chad. Plain and simple. He had only just finished the song less then two days ago. As soon as he found out it was Chad's birthday, he knew exactly what he would give him. The song. It was a song he had written for him. It was their song.
Chad had left almost twenty minutes ago. He said he didn't know how long he would be gone and that he would call Ryan sometime today and let him know. Ryan only smiled and said he would see him later and told him to have fun with Troy.
It was then that he heard a knock at the door. Opening it, he was greeted with the sight of three very beautiful girls weighted down with shopping bags. He laughed.
"Ryan, a little help here!"
"Sorry, Gabs." He took some bags from each of the girls. They followed him into the kitchen.
"Ok, so we have a lot to do and only a few hours to get it done in. Now, I figured the easiest way to get things done would be to divide things up and each of us do our own thing. Does that sounds ok with everyone?"
All three girls nodded yes.
"Good. Now, Taylor, I was thinking you could start with decorations. We only want the living room and the main hallway decorated. After that, I was hoping you could start with the food. Just simple finger sandwiches. Chips, dip, soda, maybe some fresh fruit. And of course, the cake. One thing, Chad is allergic to chocolate. Sounds ok to you?"
"Yep."
"Good, now Gabriella, how about you start calling all of Chad's friends. You are friends with most of them, so I'm guess you know who to call and who not to call. After that, I was hoping you could set up the music. I brought my music station from my house with me. It's up stairs in mine and Chad's room. Just move it down here and plug it in? Simple?"
"Yeah. Sounds good to me."
"And what about me?" Kelsi asked.
"I have something special I need your help with." Ryan smiled.
"Now, let's go girls, we don't have all day! Let me know what you are finished. I'll be with Kelsi in Gloria's office."
Each girl went her own way. Ryan turned to Kelsi and motioned her to follow him. Once they reached Gloria's office and Kelsi saw what was set up, she squealed. It was a keyboard.
"I need your help with a song. I have the lyrics, just no music to go with it."
"Ok, let me see it." Ryan handed her the lyrics. After a few minutes of reading over them, she smiled.
"This is so good, Ryan. Did you write this?"
"Yeah." He blushed. "I wrote it for Chad. Its his birthday present."
"Oh my gosh! He is so going to love it. I take it this is your way of telling him you have feelings for him?"
"Yes. Do you think he'll get the message?"
"Oh yeah. Loud and clear."
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"Man, I am so tired!" Chad and Troy had done almost everything there was to do in their small town. They had been to the movies, played mini golf (in which Troy won hands down every time) stopped for a bit to eat, and then back to Troy's house for four games of basketball. By the time they had done it all, it was almost 5:30. Troy knew they would have just enough time to shower and get back to Chad's house.
"Hey, Chad, how about you shower here? I think you have an outfit here from the last time we played ball. I would hate to send you home all sweaty and have Ryan all over my case."
"You sure, man?"
"Yeah. You used the one upstairs and I'll use the one downstairs."
"Cool."
It took another twenty minutes for both boys to shower, dress and meet back outside.
"So, look, I bet you thought I forgot what today is?"
"Um, no. Did I?"
Troy couldn't believe it. Chad had forgotten his own birthday.
"Dude, isn't today someone's birthday?"
It was like a light bulb appeared over Chad's head. He laughed.
"Oh my God, I can't believe I for got my own birthday! How lame am I?"
"Very. Now come on. I'm driving you home before Ryan has my hide." Laughing, they jumped in Troy's truck and headed to Chad's place.
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Ryan had to hand it them. They had actually pulled it off. Everything looked great. They house was decorated and the food was ready, all thanks to Taylor. Gabi had called all of Chad's friend's, which turned out to be a select few, only those who knew that Chad and Ryan were both gay. She had also set up the music system, without any help from him. He and Kelsi had practiced his song all afternoon. They had it down perfect now. Chad was going to be so surprised when he got home.
It was just as Ryan was thinking about Chad, that he heard Troy's truck pull up outside. He flicked the lights off and told everyone to hide. He could hear them walking in the door.
"Dude, looks like the neighbors are having a party or something." It had been Gabi's idea to have all the guests' part down the street at a neighbor's house. She was a brilliant girl. When Ryan could make out their figures walking into the living room, he got ready. He saw Chad reach for the light switch.
"Man, where are mom and Ryan? And why is it so freaking dark in here?" As soon as he flipped the lights on, everyone jumped from where they were hiding and yelled...
"SURPRISE!!!" Chad was indeed surprised. So surprised that he jumped. Everyone laughed. People started making their way to him, wishing him a happy birthday. He turned to face Troy.
"Was this you?"
"Nope. It was all Ryan. He's a master at this stuff man. Got it all together in less than 24 hours. Don't let him slip through your fingers." Troy slapped him on the back and walked away, looking for Gabriella. Chad turned just in time to see his mother walking in. She pulled him into a hug.
"Happy Birthday, baby! Surprised you, didn't we?"
"You have no idea."
"Well, you go and have fun with your friends. I'll be around if you need me." She kissed his cheek and walked away.
Chad finally spotted Ryan. He made his way over to him.
"Ryan. You did this? You planned this whole thing in less than a day?"
"Yeah."
"Thank you. This is unbelievable."
"Your welcome. It was no problem. I mean, its not everyday we turn 18, now is it?" Before Ryan could say another word, Chad pulled him into a hug. Ryan smiled as he hugged him back. Pulling away, they smiled at each other.
"Now come on, let's eat! I'm starving!" Chad laughed as he followed Ryan into the kitchen.
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As the party went on, Ryan was beginning to get more nervous. He was afraid of what Chad would have to say once he heard the song. Turned out he wasn't going to have to wait much longer.
"All right people, its my party and I want gifts! So, come on, show me what you got!" Everyone laughed at Chad's childish behavior.
One after another, each guest gave Chad his gifts. He was having the time of his life. That's when he realized Ryan was nowhere to be seen. He turned to Troy.
"Hey, you seen Ryan?"
"Oh, yeah. He said he'd be right back. Something about a present for some birthday dude." Troy laughed at his own joke.
It was at this time that Ryan came walking back onto the living room. Kelsi was right behind him, carrying a keyboard. Chad's eyes were huge; his jaw was on the floor. Ryan was going to sing. For him. He couldn't believe it.
"Excuse me everyone. Can everyone please be quiet now?" Kelsi asked.
Everyone turned to face her and Ryan. Silence was all they heard. Ryan spoke.
"Um, ok, so I'm not the best at talking in front of big crowds. Singing I can do, talking not so good." He turned to face Chad. "As soon as your mom told me it was your birthday, I knew exactly what to give you. A song. Once I have been writing all summer. This is for you, Chad, happy birthday."
Turning to Kelsi, he motioned for her to start. Ryan followed soon after.
There's a
place in your heart, nobody's been,
Take me there.
Things
nobody knows,
Not even your friends,
Take me there.
Tell me
bout your momma, your daddy, your hometown,
Show me around,
I
want see it all, don't leave anything out
I want to
know, everything about you.
And I want to go, down every road
you've been.
Where your hopes and dreams, and wishes live,
Where
you keep the rest of your life hid,
I want to know the boy behind
that pretty stare,
Take me there.
Your first real kiss,
your first true love,
You were scared.
Show me where,
You
learned about life, spent your summer nights, without a care.
I
want to roll down main street, the back roads,
Like you did when
you were a kid
What made you who you are,
Tell me what your
story is.
I want to know, everything about you.
And I want
to go, down every road you've been.
Where your hopes and dreams,
and wishes live,
Where you keep the rest of your life hid,
I
want to know the boy behind that pretty stare
Take me there.
I
want to know, everything about you.
Yeah, everything about you
baby.
I want to go, down every road you've been.
Where your
hopes and dreams and wishes live,
Where you keep the rest of Your
life hid,
I want to know the boy behind that pretty stare.
Take
me, take me, take me there.
Take me there.
When Ryan finished, he looked at Chad. He was waiting for any sign of how he felt about the song. He didn't have to wait long. Almost as soon as Ryan had finished the last line of the song, Chad was on his feet, making his way to where Ryan stood. He stopped in front of Ryan.
"You wrote that? For me?"
"Yeah."
"And that's really how you feel?"
"Yeah, it is."
"Good." Came Chad's reply. Instead of talking, he pulled Ryan in for what would be their first official kiss. As cheesy as it sounds, when Ryan would later think back on it, he would swear he saw fireworks. It was gentle at first. Like they were getting to know one another. But ever so slowly they deepened it. When Ryan felt Chad's tongue seeking entrance, he gladly welcomed it. It was magical. That was the only way they could think to describe it. It was worth all the waiting, the flirting, everything.
Only breaking apart to catch their breath, Chad's lips sought out Ryan's again. Ryan was melting into their kiss. He felt his knees going week. That's when he felt Chad's arm wrap around his waist. He smiled into the kiss. It was the cheering and catcalls that broke them apart this time. Turning around, they saw that they had an audience. Both boys blushed. Chad's arms never left Ryan's waist.
"Well, it's about time, boys! I was beginning to think you would never get together." Gloria smiled at her boys. She hugged them both and walked away.
While everyone was congratulating them on finally getting together, Ryan noticed someone had walked in through the back door. When he finally spotted who it was, he almost fainted.
"Mom?"
"Hi, Ducky." Mrs. Evans was standing beside Gloria, an uneasy look on her face.
A/N: Was it too long? I was afraid it would be too long and it might turn some people off! But I wanted everything that happened in this chapter to be in this chapter. So, PLEASE review and let me know what you thought. As you can see, after 17 chapters, they have finally kissed! Yay! Was it worth the wait? Anyway, review please. Next chapter will be up tomorrow! Until then, Tootles:)
A/N2: Also, the song is 'Take Me There' by Rascal Flatts. The song was my inspiration for writing this fic. What did you think? Obviously, where the word 'boy' is in the song, I changed it. It originally was 'girl'..hehe. :D