"Chad?"
"Uh huh?"
"You know what happened with JP, right?"
Chad looked across the table at Troy.
"He freaked out when he was followed, right?"
"Yeah." Troy nodded. "Aren't you… worried?"
"No." Chad shrugged. "Dude, I've been friends with both you guys for years. I can handle it. If anyone asks me anything, I'll tell them the truth." He grinned. "The selective truth, anyway. The truth as it was a month or two ago."
"I guess." Troy laughed.
"C'mon, you." Gabriella said to Troy, walking into the room. "Time for our romantic lunch date."
"This is sick." Troy sighed, standing up. "Why do we have to do this?"
"Because we're never seen together. Did you not see that picture that was printed in a magazine, of you leaving your parents' house? I'm getting more famous and in turn, so are you. And if they keep seeing you leave your parents' house, it's just asking for trouble."
Troy rolled his eyes and nodded.
"I know, I know." He said, linking his arm with Gabriella's. "Bye Chad." He grinned.
"Just so you know, I'll be here, waiting."
----------------
"I'm so happy for you guys." Gabriella grinned inanely at Troy.
"Don't get ahead of yourself. Just because we kissed - a lot, yeah - doesn't mean anything…"
"C'mon, it's not like you guys need to get to know each other." She rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, but…" Troy shook his head. "We'll see."
Gabriella reached across the table and linked her fingers in with Troy's.
"How's everything at work?"
"Good, actually. I'm a lot better when I haven't got things on my mind."
Gabriella giggled.
"There might be a reason I brought you here…" Gabriella bit her lip. "Other than the reason I told you, of course."
"Oh?"
"Well… Okay, here it is. Troy, my record company want me to move to California. Into LA. It's just easier for things, saves flying to and fro constantly, and…"
"Gabi, it's okay. I understand. I guess, in a way, it will make life easier. Right? There will be less speculation as to why we're not seen together." Troy rolled his eyes.
"I guess you're right." she nodded back, and smiled.
"And hey, there's 3 D-League teams in Cali. One being in LA, I'll come to see you before you even know it."
"Thanks Troy." Gabriella smiled gratefully at Troy's reassurance. "And Troy, I want you to take the apartment, it was always your home too, you deserve to live there. Anyway, I don't think I could bare to let it go."
"I forgot about the apartment, that's awesome Gab, thank you. When do you leave?"
"In a week."
"A week?!" Troy responded, shocked. "Aw, Gabs."
Troy got up from his seat, and went over and hugged her.
"I'm gonna miss you. It's gonna be so weird without you."
"I'll miss you too." She smiled slightly. "But being away will be good for me."
Troy smiled a knowing smile.
"You're gonna be that superstar I know you can be." Troy told her, sitting back down in his own seat. "There's a reason you're famous and Sharpay isn't." He laughed.
---------------
Two days later, Troy had already started to move his things back into the apartment. He was seriously starting to feel like living with his parents again was cramping his style, and so he didn't want to waste any time.
Chad was helping him move his things, of course. Troy was glad, and not just because he could admire the bulging biceps peeking out of Chad's sleeves, when he instructed him to life the heavier boxes. Now that he'd let himself admire them, of course.
It was still a little weird. For the both of them. Troy was having to come round to the fact he had developing feelings for his best friend. And Chad was the same, but also had to come to terms with having feelings for a male full stop.
"Chad, can I ask you something?" Troy said, throwing himself down on the couch, exhausted.
"Sure." Chad replied, throwing himself down next to Troy.
"In New York…" he started, frowning awkwardly. "Where did you go? What happened to you?"
Chad shrugged.
"I was so mad. I didn't wanna see you…."
--
Chad just kept running. He only stopped when his legs threatened to give way if he didn't. He slumped against a building, and slid down until he was sitting on the ground. As tears fell from his eyes, he remembered a previous occasion, quite similar to this one.
Back when Troy told him he wasn't going to U of A. He'd run off then, too, and ended up slumped and crying. And because of Troy. And the way he'd hurt him.
The only thought now running through his mind was Troy. The feelings he was experiencing now were scaring him, why was he feeling like this? Why did he even want to kiss Troy? He sighed, picking himself up to his feet. He started strolling in the direction of the hotel. It was then he realised he didn't know where he was. Everything looked different in the dark. He noticed he was right by central park. But central park was huge - he could be anywhere.
He shoved his hands in his pockets, sighing. He looked up at the tall buildings surrounding him, and it was then he realised that he recognised them. He passed a store with dolls in the window, and he remembered commenting to Troy that the creepy one looked like Sharpay. He sped up, and, lo and behold, he found himself in front of the hotel.
He found his key card in his wallet, and made his way up to the room. When he got there, he threw himself down onto his own bed, and started to cry.
Ten minutes later, he'd brought himself together, and was laying on his bed thinking. Every noise out in the hall made him jump, he was absolutely dreading Troy returning.
So with that thought, he packed the little he'd unpacked of his suitcase, picked up his plane ticket from Troy's neat pile of travel documents, and, most importantly, flipped his pillow over so that Troy couldn't tell he'd been crying on it. He sighed, and walked out of the room. When he got down to reception, he handed in his key card, and walked out.
-------
"You flipped your pillow over so I couldn't see you'd been crying?" Troy smiled, apologetically.
"Yeah. Dumb huh?" Chad laughed slightly.
"A little." Troy smiled softly. "Go on." He said, taking Chad's hand and entwining his own fingers with his.
----
Chad slowly wandered down 5th Ave. He was pulling his suitcase along behind him, cursing himself for bringing a suitcase full of stuff. He looked at his watch. It was 10.30pm - only 11 and a half hours until he needed to be at the airport. What was he gonna do with himself? He could walk to the airport, that would take a good while. He sighed, and flagged down a yellow cab.
An hour later, he had checked himself into a small hotel at the airport. He was laying on his bed, in his small box room, just thinking. Ignoring his phone that kept ringing.
In the end, he turned it off. He called reception to arrange a wake up call, and went off to sleep.
The next morning, he awoke early, before his wake up call. He quickly showered, and got dressed. His stomach was in knots - he was gonna have to see Troy at some point, whether he bumped into him at check-in, or not until they were on the plane. He decided to check in as early as possible.
-----
"I'm glad you didn't do anything to put yourself at risk!" Troy quietly told Chad with a smile.
"Was gonna stay out all night, but I couldn't bring myself to do it." Chad rolled his eyes at himself. He shuffled slightly, and lay his head on Troy's shoulder.
"I'm sorry I hurt you." Troy sincerely told Chad.
"I know Troy. Don't worry." Chad smiled to himself. He lifted his head. "Troy?"
"Yeah?"
"I've never felt so comfortable with anyone."
"Me neither."
"This might be a lot to ask of you… and I dunno if you're even on the same page as me, but…" Chad nervously took a breath. "But, Troy, I wanna be with you. I want us to be… together."
Troy smiled, looking at a nervous Chad, whose cheeks had flushed from brown to red.
"Chad, are you asking me to go steady with you?" Troy grinned.
"I… guess." Chad said, scratching his arm. "I think we should make a go of it."
"You're sure?"
"Yeah." Chad nodded. "Wait… you're not?"
"Oh, Chad, it's just that… this whole thing is weird for me but it's twice as weird for you. A little while back you didn't even like boys and now you wanna enter into a relationship with one?" Troy put his arm around Chad's shoulder. "Just wanna make sure you're sure."
"In theory, yes, it's all a little weird." Chad shrugged. "But I know that this feels right."
"In that case… I'd be delighted to be your man." Troy grinned.
"Awesome." Chad grinned. "…That was so weird to hear."