A/N: I want to make this short, because I know people are anxious. This chapter is dedicated to AppleGirlin, who notified me of my evil cliffhanger courtesy of typing a message through tear-blurred vision.

Chapter 28: Don't Let Me Drown

Despite all the time he spent around the swimming pool at Lava Springs either getting an eyeful of the supple upper bodies of the males on pool duty or lounging in chaise beside his sister, Ryan Evans had never learned how to swim. I suppose that will come in handy here, he thought with a bitter smile. He waded out, the frigid water seeping through his clothes. His instinct was to recoil. To stop. To turn back. He gave it no heed. The hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stood up, goosebumps symbolizing the infiltration of the icy chill. But he hardly felt it. He was already so cold inside.

-Save Me-

Troy drove his truck, easily pushing the limits of the rustic vehicle. His mind was haphazard, his thoughts scattered and disorganized. He tried to narrow the mess into a single pinprick of thought. Ryan. Concentrate on Ryan. He couldn't think of the beautiful blond's form lying still, void of movement, of life. The thought made him ill. Violently ill. It tore his heart to shreds. Where could he have gone? He was on foot and I'm sure his mind is a wreck right now. He needs me. Fuck, I have to find him! An electroshock of pain shot along his forearm. As the cry to accompany it welled in his throat, it was silenced by images filling his mind. Trees. Starlight. A crescent moon reflected on water… "Water?" He exclaimed. And it hit him like a slap in the face, the force enough to send him reeling. He knew where Ryan was. The tires screeched against the pavement as he slammed down on the gas.

-Hurry-

Along the lakeshore lay a hat and a pair of polished black men's dress shoes. He knew without a doubt to whom the flashy apparel belonged. But where was the petite, demure blond theater king? "Ryan!" He called out, his voice rising in panic, cracking slightly on the second syllable of his lover's name.

-Sinking-

Suppressing his will to live, the blond let the water close over his head. Immediately, it rushed into his nostrils, filling them, infiltrating his lungs, denying him the oxygen essential for his survival. He saw no alternative. This is the only way I can right what I have done. Everyone will be happier without me. the lack of oxygen made him dizzy. Soon, his head swam with words.

"I'm proud of you", Troy's voice relayed to him.

"Ryan's only been a good thing for Troy", Chad proclaimed.

The voices raced through his head as his chest constricted, his pulse weakening.

"I love you, too, Ryan Evans."

"Ryan."

"Ryan."

Soon the voices became indiscernible. He could no longer differentiate between the various speakers as they all chanted his name over and over, his life, his whirlwind, dysfunctional, completely and absolutely beautiful relationship with Troy Bolton, the love of his meaningless life flashed before his eyes on a video screen within his mind. While something within weakened, faltered, something else began to strengthen. He realized that maybe, just maybe, people needed him. And maybe he wasn't so insignificant.

"You're so beautiful… I'm all yours."

"Ryan!"

"Ryan?"

"Ry."

A voice that had been buried within him, forgotten, neglected, imprisoned, broke free and it roared in a surge of defiance, overpowering and downing out all the others. It instructed him to do what he had been denying himself the right to all this time. It ordered that he put his guilt and illogical hatred of himself away in one simple syllable that was powerful enough to override everything else. "LIVE!"

And propelling himself to the surface, that is what he fought to do. Thrashing his arms widely, he managed to take a minuscule gasp of air before the weight of his sopping garments dragged him back under.

The fraction of a second he was able to break surface allowed Troy to spot the boy's signature Evans blond hair. And without a second thought, the brunette athlete began wading out into the lake, water soaking through his sneakers, ruining his socks and the interior of his shoes. He couldn't give a shit. As he reached the center of the body of water, he plunged in.

Ryan could make out the form of the boy he loved with all of his heart, the god of East High, his beautiful Troy, brunette hair flowing around him. the image was so ethereal, the blond almost deemed it a fabrication until he felt the other boy's arm close around his waist, pulling both of them up.

Together, they emerged, coughing, spluttering. Their bodies touched and Ryan realized that he had longed to feel Troy's body against his once more. Longed for it with intensity great enough to make him weep. Soon, they flopped side by side on the shore, their sodden bodies strewn out. For a moment, they remained that way, chests heaving in search of replenishing oxygen to their lungs.

Lying there, Ryan let the sound of Troy's breathing, a sound that he had greatly missed, mesmerize him, calm him as it instilled a tranquility over his pounding heart. Their breath rates eased, falling into synch.

The moment transpired. The blond turned to his brunette lover. His blue eyes sparkled with love and starlight, the smile that had nearly been lost forever, that brightened the room with its radiance decorating his soft pink lips. "You didn't let me drown."

Troy shifted his weight, returning the smile with one that warmed Ryan's body, diluting the shivers that wracked it continuously. The athlete drew the performer in, bridging the gap that had formed between them.

Ryan gasped, stifling a whimper of delight as the essence of the beautiful boy enveloped him. How he needed this. How he missed this. Their two separate souls were one once more.

"I didn't, Ry." Troy pressed his forehead to his lover's. Their eyes locked and as always, Ryan could see the truth there, clear as day in his beloved's ocean blue eyes. No, Troy merely rescued him once he had been provided with the outlet to do so. "You didn't let yourself drown."

With a sigh, Ryan melted, wrapping his arms tightly around Troy. My hero. My salvation. He thanked the boy wordlessly. Thank you, Troy… For giving me the strength to live again.

They stayed that way for but a moment longer until they rose together. Troy offered Ryan his hand. "Let's go home, baby."

Ryan took the hand, smiling as he leaned into the boy's virile form. "I'd like that." Remembering his discarded items, he retrieved them. He slid into his shoes and placed the hat back on his head, declaring to himself and the world, which to him was a magnificently smiling Troy Bolton, that he had a right to exist. That he was a son, a brother, a lover, a performer, and a sexy as hell one at that. That he was Ryan Evans, a person.

In one smooth movement, he tilted the brim of the fedora and slid his hand back into the golden boy's. "Today, Ryan Evans will live."

Troy couldn't grin wider if he tried."Today and everyday after."

Then, in perfect unison, looking into one another's eyes, they added the phrase that solidified the declaration, that gave it sustenance. The phrase that defined the very essence of their union; "Now and forever."