Chapter 20
When midnight hit home Troy was handed the biggest amount off whiskey he had seen in his life by his dad, "Happy birthday." Jack said to him Ryan smiled sleepily at him.
"Let my husband sleep." Troy said kissing Ryan's cheek. "Your going to have a hangover from hell in the morning." Troy said to him he smiled at his husband who grinned at him. "Your as pissed as a newt buddy sleep it off." Troy said to his husband who closed his eyes while Troy drank his whiskey he walked back to his friends and parents Chad's parents were sitting with them now.
"To absent friends." Troy said to his friends.
"Absent friends." they all said together.
"This maybe the last time we all come together, so lets make it the best Christmas any of us has had and make all of the moments count." Troy said as he sat down next to his best friend. "That was really sappy wasn't it?" he asked Chad nodded.
"Your married its allowed." Jack said to him. "Plus you just had a major dose of whiskey." Jack added Troy giggled.
"I'm probably going to regret this in the morning, but since my birthday will be over by the time we land I want to get drunk I can deal with the hangover later." Troy said to his parents who laughed.
"Well I want to sleep I don't fancy seeing my baby drunk so good night baby." Sarah said to him with a smile as she kissed her son. "Happy birthday Troy, may this year be as happy for you as the last one." she said Troy nodded a little and watched his mom leave that end of the plane with most of the adults.
"Coach you staying with us?" Troy asked his dad who laughed but nodded his head.
"Wouldn't miss it for all the tea in China, fill you up?" he asked Troy nodded.
"Your not going to want to remember this day." Jack said to him Troy laughed.
Hsmhsmhsm
The drive to the cabin was a brief one and most of the day was spent sleeping of the jet lag, that evening though was the evening when they were celebrating Troy's birthday though technically in this part of the world Christmas day had ended while they were in the air. "You know this sucks I get to open my presents a day later this year than any other year, who do I kill for that monumental cock up?" Troy asked everyone at the table.
"That would be you." Chad said to him Troy laughed.
"I hate me right now." Troy said to him Chad chuckled.
"I hate you right now." Ryan said to him. "You let me drink myself to the point where I have the hang over from hell." Ryan said to him Troy giggled.
"I told you to stop more than once babe." Troy said to him with a smile.
"Why don't we go to the lodge, it isn't far from here and continue the celebrations?" Jack said to them Troy looked at him. "Your university students and you want to stop drinking." Jack asked Troy laughed with Chuckie as he went back to grab his and Ryan's jackets from their bedroom. When he came back Ryan was laughing with Chad.
"What's so funny honey?" Troy said to his husband.
"Your's and Chuckie's reactions." Ryan said to him Troy glared playfully at his boyfriend. "Who said I was going anyway?" Ryan asked.
"I did." Troy said to him. "Your not going to spoil my birthday night are you?" Troy asked with a mock pout on his lips.
"Argh." Ryan said taking his coat from Troy as Chad and Chuckie laughed. "Don't get me so drunk this time." Ryan said as Troy put his own jacket on.
"I didn't plan on letting you get that drunk on the plane, you just didn't want to give me your drink." Troy said as Sharpay came into the room in a pink fluffy jacket. "Your sister is insane pink and fluffy for god sakes." Troy muttered to Ryan who giggled. "I can never get used to your dress sense Sharpay." Troy said to her as Jason came out of the same room flustered and blushing furiously Ryan and Troy shared a look before desolving into a fit of giggles.
"I hear the head up here is fantastic Jase." Troy said to his friend as Ryan and he head for the door with them Sharpay turned to glare at him but Troy was already laughing at his friend who was blushing some more.
"Who said I put out for him?" Sharpay demanded.
"You mean that flustered and blushing look meant something else?" Troy asked her with a raised eyebrow. "You mate are in so much trouble." Troy said to him Jason stared at him. "Hey look, have I ever cared about what you do around me dude, I meant her brother might just want to murder you." Troy said to him Ryan growled at Troy.
"I wouldn't do that to him, I'll let dad do that." Ryan said to Troy.
"Stop teasing your friend Troy." Sarah said to him as he walked up behind him with his dad.
"But mom its so much fun, Jason knows its all in good jest anyway. Marriage does strange things to people you know, must remember to give Jason the talk later." Troy said Jason having had enough growled before chasing after Troy who had started to run a split second before his friend, Jason having always been the faster runner than Troy managed to tackle him to the ground about fifty meters from them. "Hey Jase." Troy said as he turned to look at his friend.
"Your so not funny Bolton." Jason said to him.
"No… but I wanted to be…" Troy said pouting as he slapped a ball of snow into the boys face.
"Argh." Jason spluttered as they rolled over so he was on top.
"Not my favourite position in the world but this will do." Troy said the others were laughing. "Did you enjoy your snow pie?" he asked as he grabbed more so and took to destroying Jason's hair with it. "I always said you'd look good in white." he added as Sharpay threw a snowball at Troy's head which just missed so it hit Jason again.
"Hey your meant to hit him not me Sharpay." Jason squealed.
"I like that, thanks Sharpay." Troy called back to her as he got one in the face from Ryan, Troy and Jason noticed that the rest of their friends and family were laughing and throwing snowballs at each other. "Your dead Evans say good bye to your hair." Troy said rising to his feet he helped Jason to his feet. "You want to make the pair of them pay?" he asked Jason nodded happily as he slapped on Troy's face.
"That is for earlier." he snarled Troy laughed at him as he ran in the direction of Ryan who was currently waving of Troy.
"No not the hair." Ryan moaned.
"You probably should have thought of that before you put on in my face lover boy." Troy said to him with a devilish smile on his lips. "Now you did the crime you have to do the time." Troy said tackling him to the ground. "I may not be a sports major but you better believe that I am better than you at the physical. You want to save your hair tell me how great and magnificent I am." Troy said to his husband who shook his head.
"Not a chance." Ryan said to him Troy nodded as started to grind snow into Ryan's hair.
"I warned you about that." Troy said to him laughing as Ryan tried to push him of. "You want to tell me how great I am?" Troy asked Ryan shook his head as Troy rubbed more into his hair soaking his boyfriend's hair and pretty much destroying his hair style in the process. "Eat snow honey." Troy said as he rubbed some in his husbands face before standing up he offered a hand and felt himself being frown to the snow face first.
"You git, my hair." Ryan said as Troy turned over. "You messed up my hair." he said shivering Troy stood up again. "I'm freezing." Ryan muttered Troy wrapped his arms around Ryan's waist drawing him in.
"I forgot your not used to this weather come here." Troy said to him softly Ryan melted into the touch of his husband as Troy used his own body heat to help warm Ryan up. "You wouldn't believe he was ill just by looking at him would you?" Troy asked Ryan who shook his head. "You glad we came here?" Troy asked.
"Yeah I think we did a good thing coming here." Ryan said.
"I was thinking we could all fly back on a commercial and let Chad and Mikey stay here as long as they like." Troy said to him Ryan stared. "This place is beautiful, or buy them open first class tickets back on a commercial life." Troy add Ryan thought about it.
"I think that is a great idea." Ryan said to him. "Let me make the calls." Ryan said to him.
"Sure thing." Troy said to him Ryan smiled.
"You really okay with all this?" Ryan asked turning in Troy's arms to face him.
"No but I don't want him to see how upset I am either." Troy said to his husband. "Its killing me knowing I'm losing my best friend Ryan." Troy said to him Ryan nodded his understanding. "It feels as hard as it did with Matt." he added Ryan felt his tears fall into his hair as Troy buried his face in Ryan's hair quietly.
"Talk to him about it." Ryan said to his husband.
Hsmhsmhsm
Troy sat on the decking out side the lodge with a cold beer in his hand when Chad found him, "Hey." Chad said. "Ryan said you wanted to talk to me about something." Chad added as he sat down next to his friend. "Is this to do with what's happening to me?" he asked.
"I don't know what Ryan told you, but I'm having some trouble with getting to grips with it is all." Troy said to him.
"Yeah I thought you may have had trouble, Troy don't do it to yourself, I can't win this one we both know it." Chad said to him Troy nodded. "I got to meet my soul mate, I get to spend some time with him and I get to know what that's like." Chad said. "Am I scared to die you better believe it, but just like you I have my faith to, I know that when I am done here I am going to a better place. The pain isn't going to follow me either, and I am grateful for that." Chad said Troy looked at him realizing just how tired his friend looked. "When the time is right if you don't come I understand." Chad said to him Troy chuckled.
"I'll come if only to kick you in the ass." Troy said and he felt his friend pull him into a hug. "Isn't it me that's supposed to console you." he asked Chad laughed. "Thanks." Troy said to him as he buried his head on his friends shoulder.
"Your going to do great." Chad said to him. "Don't move away though, you belong in America, make a life for yourself here." he added.
"You think we should stay?" Troy asked.
"I definitely think you should stay." Chad said to him Ryan had come out to see what was happening with the two of them and smiled to find that his husband and Chad were talking to each other. "Who's going to annoy the hell out of Sharpay with me not about, Jason as been whipped into shape." Chad said to him Troy and Ryan laughed Troy looked over his friends shoulder at Ryan and smiled at him Chad looked back. "Hey you come sit down would you." Chad said to him.
"What was that about staying?" Ryan said to Troy.
"Chad wants us to stay here and make a life for ourselves here." Troy said to him.
"What do you think?" Ryan asked.
"I think we should do it." Troy said to him. "We can always go a few years from now." Troy said to him. "If we still want to, the house will make an excellent holiday home." Troy said to him Ryan nodded.
"I was really hoping you'd change your mind." Ryan said to him. "I don't know if I'd cope to well if I was that far away from my family and sister." he said to him. "We have god children to think about as well you know." he added Troy nodded his head. "Plus Gabi wants to have our child for us as well, that's going to be hard if we are half way across the world from her." Ryan said Troy laughed nodding his head.
"I get it." Troy said with a genuine smile as he sipped his drink. "And your both right." Troy said leaning around Chad to peck his husband on the lips. "You tell anyone I said that though and you both are going to be eating snow." Troy said to them Ryan laughed. "Chad we wanted too talk to you about something else." Troy said to him.
"Oh." Chad said.
"Ryan and I are going to sort you guys some open tickets out." Troy said.
"What?" Chad said.
"We all have to go back to work in a couple of weeks, but if you guys want to stay on and make use of the cabin then we can do that." Troy said Chad stared at him. "Talk to Mikey you don't have to give us an answer now, but this place is beautiful and two weeks is never enough time." Troy said to Chad who smiled.
"I will and I think we'll probably take you up on the offer." Chad said Troy and Ryan smiled at this. "So are we going out on the slopes tomorrow?" Chad asked.
"Damn straight we are." Troy said to him.
"I need a board." Ryan said.
"I think me and Alex are the only ones with boards dude." Troy said to his husband who laughed. "I don't want you to do a mischief though." he added.
Hsmhsmhsm
The next morning Troy and Alex left earlier than the others to get an early board, the two of them were quite happy to have the slope to themselves for a while. Alex wasn't as keen on snowboarding as Troy but he knew that Troy was the thrill seeker of the family, "How's college?" Alex asked him as they sat on the lift going back up the slope.
"Good, interesting." Troy said to him.
"You still going to Australia after graduation?" Alex asked.
"A combination of Ryan and Chad managed to change my mind on what we were doing after graduation." Troy said to him.
"I thought you might change your mind." Alex replied. "Has Chad brought up Matt for you?" Alex asked.
"You mean do I think of him more now that I know my best friend is dying, if so then yes it had crossed my mind. Yes I know that my brother and Chad have nothing in common in the way that they died or is going to die." Troy said to his brother. "Thanks for the presents by the way." Troy said to his brother who laughed.
"Your welcome, I know that you need most of the books we got you." Alex said.
"They are going to come in handy next semester." Troy admitted. "Chad and Mikey are going to stay after we leave, I said they can use the cabin for as long as they like, we are buying them open return tickets." Troy said to his brother who nodded.
"I think that's a great idea, this place is gorgeous at this time of the year." Alex said to him Troy nodded his head.
"I know." Troy said to him. "I'm not sure whether I would come back here." Troy added.
"You will, this place is special, it will be special to you after his gone to, your memories of this fortnight with him will be here with you long after his gone." Alex said to him with a smile on his face as Troy jumped of the seat when they reached the top.
"You coming Alex?" Troy asked.
"Sure." Alex said as Troy started down the mountain.
Hsmhsmhsm
Ryan
Me and Alex went up early, we decided to get a couple of descents in before everyone else got up there.
Will be back in a couple of hours
Troy
Ryan smiled at the note in the neat handwriting of his boyfriend, he joined the others in the dinning room while eating their breakfast, "Is Troy up yet?" Sarah asked him.
"He went up the mountain with Alex early." Ryan said to her.
"I bet they did." Jack said shaking his head. "Troy and Alex love to do things on their own." Jack added. "We'll eat then I'll take you shopping for what you need before we go up and join them." Jack added Ryan and the others nodded. "Troy's probably taken one of the harder slopes down, his more talented than Alex though so he won't have taken the hardest route down." Jack said.
"Your son is a terror." Ryan said.
"I brought him up well." Jack said Sarah giggled.
The group walked out of the cabin after breakfast walking up the path from the cabin to the shack that should all the equipment they would need, Alex was walking back with a medic and Troy with his arm in a sling grimacing in pain. "What happened?" Ryan asked as they approached.
"I hit a rock." Troy said to him. "Boulder more like it, smashed my board up pretty good and need to get my arm checked out at the hospital." Troy said to them.
"I'll come with you." Ryan said.
"Its probably just a sprain, go have fun I'm not in much pain but I hit my head on the way down." Troy said to him with a smile.
"Your sure?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah I'm sure go have fun." Troy said to him with a smile on his face.
"Okay call me if you need something." Ryan said kissing Troy before letting them leave.
Hsmhsmhsm
That afternoon Troy was back on the slopes with a new board wearing it in, his hand in a bandage, Ryan approached him when he reached the top.
"Hey gorgeous everything okay?" Ryan asked.
"Just a sprained wrist which I have been told to watch." Troy said to him. "I'm more annoyed about my board than I am about my hand, that was a gift a couple of years ago, you just get used to something and then you lose it. Oh well how's it going with you guys?" Troy asked as they shuffled towards their friends.
"Chad likes falling on his butt." Ryan said to him Troy snorted.
"I could have told you that years ago." Troy said to his husband who giggled. "He looks good out here, and your wearing that to bed tonight because your damn hot." Troy said Ryan giggled. "Not that your not already hot but in that you go up by an order of magnitude." Troy said to Ryan laughed as Troy took his hand.
"Want to come with me?" Troy asked Ryan nodded.
"You going to make me fall on my backside?" Ryan asked.
"No your do that all on your own." Troy said to him with a grin as he watched the determination on his husbands face, who managed to get about fifty feet before falling on his backside.
Troy set of after him as he got near him he sent a huge spray of snow over his boyfriend before dropping next to him with a smile, "That was not funny you twat." Ryan said stuttering because of the cold that had invaded his personal space.
"That was a right of passage thing baby sorry, I tell you what if I fall over some where down the slope like I did this morning you can hit me with as much snow as you like." Troy said Ryan smiled. "I have to fall over on my own though." Troy said to him Ryan laughed as Troy got up and helped him to get up himself.
"Your going down Bolton." Ryan said to him Troy nodded as he took off down the slope Ryan could only stare as his husband left him in the dust. "Bolton that just isn't fair." Ryan said taking of after him Ryan found him half way down the slope sitting down again.
"You fall their wildcat?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah I slapped onto my ass." Troy said.
Five minutes later they were sitting in the snow laughing. They were both freezing their butts off as they sat in the snow, "I've not had that much fun in a long time." Ryan said.
"Why don't we go back to the cabin change, get a movie from the collection and I'll cook dinner?" Troy said looking at his watch Ryan nodded as they headed down the slope. "You have a good time today?" he asked.
"Yeah I did." Ryan said to him Troy nodded. "What about you?" he asked.
"I spent most of it at the hospital waiting to be seen." Troy said to him. "But yeah I liked the clean runs I had." Troy added.
"You fell deliberately didn't you?" Ryan asked Troy nodded as they reached the bottom Troy unclipped his board from his feat picking it up he waited for Ryan to do like wise before starting back to the cabin. "When they come of the mountain they are going to be frozen, so we turn the heating up to max and we start cooking good mountain comfort food." Troy said to him Ryan smiled at him Troy grinned back.
"You have no idea how good that sounds." Ryan said.
"Yeah I do, you want to help me cook?" Troy asked him Ryan nodded his head.
"Love to." Ryan said to him.
Hsmhsmhsm
They were setting up for dinner when the others walked into the cabin, Troy looked up as the group came into the kitchen well as many as could get into the space which was pretty big anyway, "You guys just disappeared without a word to anyone." Chad said to them as he sat down on the kitchen stalls with a glare at his best friend.
"Yeah I know, but I was cold and my wrist was starting to hurt again. The cold wasn't doing it any good so I said we should come back, plus the cabin is heated fully and the food needed to be cooked." Troy said to his parents who laughed. "We are almost ready so go sit down." Troy said to his family and friends.
"You got this?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah I'm good, why don't you go down into the cellar and bring some wine up for us all." Troy said to his husband who nodded. "Grab Chad and Mikey if you need them." Troy said the men nodded before entering the dinning room.
Ten minutes later the whole group were sitting around the enormous table enjoying the company of everyone else at the table, "So what do you guys have planned for tomorrow?" Jack asked.
"Well I was planning on going into town tomorrow." Troy said to him.
"Cool I think we might join you." Sharpay said to him.
"You might as well, the shops around this area are incredible, but it is an hour into the city so we are leaving early and coming back probably quite late." Troy said to her the friends nodded as they sat eating their meal.
"I didn't know you could cook this well." Jack said to him.
"When you're the only one who can cook out of the four of us you need to learn to cook well, or eat take out and have a porker for a husband." Troy said to him Ryan elbowed him in the side. "We did let Chuck cook the first week we were in the house and ended up having food poisoning." Troy said to his friends who chuckled.
"Your never going to let me forget that are you?" Chuckie asked.
"I might my butt won't though." Troy said to him Chuckie laughed.
"Ha ha." Chuckie said.
"I think we are going to stay here tomorrow." Chad said to him. "I want to get down with this snow boarding thing." Chad said with a smile Mikey was laughing.
"He fell on his but so many times today, I am putting it on you tube later." Mikey said. "We want to do some snow boarding." he said.
"Your choice." Troy said with a warm smile.