After an amazing Sunday, picnicking in the park, taking in the cool, spring Albuquerque air, Troy and Chad were both pretty bummed when Monday morning rolled around. After cooking Chad breakfast, a meal he didn't usually indulge in, Troy saw Chad off, feeling thoroughly depressed.
After catching a few more hours sleep, Troy went off to work, where he had practise. Next Tuesday was his game against the LA D-Fenders, he dropped a text to Gabriella to let her know. He couldn't stop thinking about Chad all day - he wished the scouts that found him back in high school had spotted Chad's potential too. Maybe they'd be together in D-League, playing together as T-Birds. Then he wouldn't have to spend any time away from him.
But it was only him here. Well, him and his team mates. He glanced at Gary, dribbling around the court. He smiled to himself. It felt strange that he had been his first gay crush - he had since well got over him and they had become good friends. He could definitely still see why he had been attracted to him - but he was now happy with his man.
When he got home that night, he sighed, feeling quite lonely. He decided to call Ryan because, for all Ryan knew, Chad could still be missing and Troy still pissed.
"Hey, Troy." Ryan answered the phone. "How's everything?"
"Everything's good."
"Oh, really?" Ryan asked. "Did you, uh, sort everything out with Chad?"
"Um…" Troy smiled to himself. "Yeah, I guess we sorted everything."
"You gonna tell me what happened?" Ryan laughed, getting Troy's vibe that there was more to it.
"Well… he said he kissed me because he felt like it. So I was like, you just felt like it? He said yeah. He said he just wants to start going with the flow and doing what he feels like. I asked him would you kiss a guy again? He said yeah, if he wanted to. I asked him if he'd kiss me again, he said yes.
"He said he didn't understand what he was feeling. But it turned out he wanted to kiss me again. So… he did."
Ryan giggled.
"Carry on!" Ryan urged.
"He was still confused because we made out, and liked it, but he said the day before he was turned on by a girl. So I said is he bisexual, he said maybe, he didn't know. But then he told me he's never felt so comfortable with anyone, and said he wanted us to be together."
"Oh my god!"
"I'm not even finished!" Troy laughed. "Anyway, Gab moved to LA, her record company thought it would help her career. So I moved back into the apartment, and, uh… Chad's gonna move in during spring break."
"Oh my god!" Ryan repeated. "I can't believe all that happened in such a short space of time."
"Tell me about it! It's a whirlwind. But nothing's ever felt so right."
"Aww!" Ryan cooed. "I'm depressed about being single now."
"Single? In the school of cock?"
"Ha ha." Ryan dully sighed. "Yeah, all these guys are only after one thing. I've dated a bit but… you know."
"I get it. I guess I'm lucky." Troy paused. "I feel lucky."
"You are." Ryan sighed. "Hey, I'm gonna be in Albuquerque for spring break. Maybe I can come and see you guys."
"Of course!"
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A couple of nights that week, Chad and Troy saw each other. They went out for dinner, went to the movies, stayed home and explored their new found sexuality. Troy was grateful for the evenings they spent together, because come the weekend, he was super busy with a game. Before he knew it, it was Tuesday, and he was on the plane to LA. He hadn't seen Chad since Friday and was missing him in body as well as soul. Still, he missed Gabriella too and he was on his way to see her.
She picked him up from the airport, accompanied by some paparazzi. Troy was stunned - compared to LA, Albuquerque had hardly any paps and besides, he hadn't realised how famous Gabriella had gotten.
"This is a little strange." He told Gabriella, in the car to her new house. "Do you get this all the time?"
"Not all of the time." She laughed. "Some of the time. You get used to it." She nodded, Troy raised his eyebrows. "I haven't yet." Gabriella laughed.
"I guess it's all part of being a celebrity." Troy shrugged.
"Yeah." Gabriella said quietly. "And now you're one too."
"I guess I'll get used to it." Troy smiled. "If you can do it, so can I."
"It's gonna be harder for you, though." Gabriella smiled sympathetically. "You know, with you and…"
"I know." Troy nodded, cutting Gabriella off, worried about the driver listening. "It's cool. We're all in this together, right?"
"Right."
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Gabriella attended Troy's game, which the T-Birds won. Afterwards, they went out to dinner. They spoke about Gabriella's new life in LA, the D-League… everything except Chad and their relationship. They both knew they couldn't talk about that in public. So, after dinner, they retired back to Gabriella's new house.
"Wow." Troy said, laughing as he stepped through the door. "This is huge."
"Six bedrooms." Gabriella nodded. "I often feel a little lost in here."
"Six? Wow."
"The record company bought it. Since they got me to move to LA, I'm living here rent-free for a year, then once I've made some money I can either buy the house or start paying rent. Or move out."
"Nice!" Troy laughed. "It's a great house, though. It will be great when you start a family."
"Like that's gonna happen anytime soon."
"You're gonna meet a guy, soon, I bet." Troy nudged her in the ribs.
"I doubt it."
"What? But you're talented, beautiful, sweet, funny…"
"Troy." Gabriella sighed, rolling her eyes. "It's kinda hard to meet a guy when the whole world thinks I'm in a committed relationship."
"Oh…" Troy trailed off, blushing slightly, and feeling a sinking in his heart. "I'm sorry."
"It's cool." Gabriella smiled, feeling guilty for depressing Troy. "Pretty soon I'm not even gonna have time. Anyway, I'm having the time of my life, I don't need a boyfriend. I guess I'm just enjoying being single."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Anyway, no one can live up to you." Gabriella giggled, squeezing Troy's face.
"I'm sure." Troy laughed. Gabriella paused.
"He will have to be some guy to fill your shoes, though." She said, with a smile, but seriously.
Troy looked at Gabriella. He pulled her into a hug.
"Don't say that." He laughed softly. "Now I wanna cry."
"Don't be silly." She mumbled into his shoulder.
"I feel bad!" Troy smiled. "I love you. I don't like remembering that I hurt you."
"Forget it, Troy." She said. "It's not even your fault. You can't help how you feel, just as I can't help how I feel."
"And?" Troy asked. "How do you feel?"
"I love you." Gabriella said simply. "And I know I have to work to get past it. But I don't know how."
Troy sniffed, blinking heavily to try and rid his eyes of tears.
"You're killing me here." He giggled slightly through the painful lump in his throat.
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When Troy stepped off the plane, he was smiling to himself. He'd had a pleasant time with Gabriella, and it was now only a few days until Chad moved in.
Speaking of Chad, when Troy strolled into arrivals, the man himself was there, grinning, his white teeth showing in glee.
"Chad!" Troy threw his arms around Chad, but only for a moment, before coming to his senses and breaking the embrace, patting Chad on the shoulder.
"Hi Troy." Chad grinned still, speaking in a slightly flirtatious fashion.
"Shouldn't you be at school?"
"C'mon Troy, you should know my timetable by now. The amount of meetings we've arranged around it."
Troy widened his eyes, shifting them left and right, but letting himself relax when he remembered he was back in Albuquerque, he'd only been in LA a couple of days but was finding it hard to let his guard down, he'd become accustomed to the swell of paparazzi.
"Sorry." Troy said, boldly, sarcastically. "You'll have to give me a copy to put on my refrigerator."
"Hey," Chad laughed, "Might not be a bad idea once I move in."
"I have a game tomorrow." Troy said, changing subject completely. "You gonna come."
"I'll have to consult my timetable."
"It's at 7.30pm, jackass."
Chad laughed. It was times like this that felt the weirdest - when they spoke to each other like one of the guys, as opposed to their lover. Being accustomed to this manner of speaking to each other for the majority of their lives, it was often how they spoke to each other, still. It was appropriate, not least because, Troy thought to himself, you never know who was listening.
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The next day, Troy smirked as he jogged out onto the court, and saw Chad sitting where he sat every time he attended a game. Troy looked around the coliseum, not a bad turnout today. The team had gotten used to the games pretty much selling out, recently - a direct result of Troy's celebrity status. Troy's eyes vaguely, instinctively looked to the area JP could often be found in. He couldn't help it; he did it every single game. Even the away games, although obviously seating was different in every venue, and found himself glancing at the most random things.
More often than not, Troy's eyes would find JP. He attended most games, and, Troy discovered, this one was no exception.
Troy took a breath, and put it to the back of his mind, as he did every time. He smirked to himself. Besides Ryan and Gabriella, the definition of his entire sexuality was in this room. Well, the large coliseum, but still. Gary… JP… Chad. All here. Troy felt his heart beat irregularly, if only for one beat. He took a deep breath. He looked around at his team mates, and laughed to himself when his eyes met Gary. He took one last reassuring glance up to Chad, and threw his mind entirely into the game.
The T-Birds lost. The score ended as 99-94, in favour of the visiting Dakota Wizards. Troy skulked off of the court, jumping almost out of his skin when he got pulled into a corridor on his way to the locker room.
"Hi."
"JP?!" Troy said, wide eyed, suddenly quite conscious of how sweaty and gross he felt. "How the hell do you people get back here?!" Troy shook his head in bewilderment, making a mental note to speak to the manager.
"Great game."
"Hardly. We lost. I guess you missed the end of the game."
"You guys were dead in the water twenty minutes ago." JP grinned. Troy cracked a small smile.
"What's going on, anyway? Why are you back here?"
"I… I wanted to see you." JP smiled.
Troy inwardly groaned. JP had some kind of mysterious charm, the kind you almost can't fight.
He sighed. JP's chocolate brown hair was sticking up, looking stiff but curiously also soft. Troy remembered how it felt, and blinked slowly. He smiled inwardly, noticing the stubble that covered JP's face. The thought immediately came to his mind that it would scratch his own face if they were to kiss. Stop it, Troy scolded himself. He continued to take in JP's features, though. His pink, full lips, his bumpy but perfect nose, his big, emerald green eyes. Eyes that were grinning at him with plenty of lust. Troy blushed, invisibly, he hoped.
JP's fingers fiddled with the chunky silver ring on his thumb. He bit his lip, and shifted his eyes onto a speck of something on the wall. Troy hadn't responded, he wasn't sure what to do next. He tried to divert his eyes from ogling Troy - his hairy, muscled calves standing proudly below his shorts, JP's eyes moved, of their own accord of course, up to Troy's upper half, lingering on the way between his hips. Troy's biceps were glistening, sweat settling and drying on the tanned skin.
"Just so you know…" Troy finally broke the silence, JP's eyes immediately jumping back to look into Troy's. "I'm seeing someone."
"Oh…" JP said, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his heart. "Wow. I'm happy for you."
Troy smiled awkwardly, slowly pushing his hands into the deep pockets of his shorts.
"I don't know why I came back here." JP sighed, honestly. "I'm sorry."
"Oh, it's okay." Troy shrugged. "It was nice to see you." He smiled. "Honestly."
"When you're not busy…" JP started, but hesitated, biting his lip before deciding to proceed. "Come to mine, we'll have lunch. Just as friends, obviously. I mean, we had fun when we hung out, right?"
Troy looked around, nervously. He was torn. JP was fun to hang out with, yeah, but he was also dangerously attractive. What would Chad think? He was surely allowed to have friends.
"Sure." Troy sighed, smiling at JP, who was now also smiling, his enticing green eyes dancing with relief and happiness.
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I'm so sorry it's taken me a while to post this. Hm, didn't I say that in the last chapter? I got a bit of writer's block in the middle of the Troyella scene, I hope it doesn't show. Anyway, I finally got the idea of bringing JP back for a bit, because I like him as a character, and he's hot. Lol. What are your guy's opinions on him? Do you just want him to get the hell out? Lol..
Please review.x