I'm terribly sorry for the long delay. I'm not that much into Chyan anymore, my mind has been taken over by new obsessions and real life, but still… I had to finish this for you and… damn, this chapter is still not the end!

I don't know why but I can't seem to get there. I was really determined to finish the story with this chapter, but after I wrote 10 pages and there was still no end in sight I just thought: 'What the heck, I'm gonna post this now!' I really hope you like it.


Christmas something (or should I make that Easter something?)

Part Five

Chad slammed the door to his room shut and locked it in advance. He knew that sooner or later someone would come looking for him and he didn't want to see anyone right now. There was so much going on in his head, so many jumbled emotions and thoughts… he couldn't talk to anyone.

Certainly not to his mom who would be out of her mind from worry by now… and least of all to Ryan.

Chad fell down onto his bed and buried his face in the pillow.

Ryan who had done absolutely nothing to fight off the advances of this… this asshole Alex.

Well, okay… he'd said that Alex wasn't his boyfriend, but then…

The look Ryan had sent over to that jerk… fleetingly, insecure…

So very not-Ryan. Not the Ryan Chad had thought he'd come to know, come to lo…

'No,' Chad thought determined and screwed his eyes shut forcefully. He wouldn't think about love now! Or Ryan… or Alex…

He wouldn't let himself think about anything at all.

Chad turned onto his left and pulled the covers over his fully dressed body, not even bothering to remove his shoes.

Who cared about stains on the bedcovers when the world around him was slowly falling apart?


It was nearly midnight when Alyssa and Tom finally said goodnight to Darby and Vance and made their way to their suite after a long and tiring conversation.

After releasing Sharpay from babysitting duties and making sure her two baby's were sleeping peacefully Alyssa walked straight over to her eldest son's rooms but found the door locked. No knocking or pleading through the thick material brought forth any reaction from inside and so she eventually turned away dejected.

Well, at least Chad was safely inside and not wandering around in the cold like she'd feared all along. He was probably asleep by now.

Perhaps a good night's rest was what they all needed right now. Tomorrow things would look a little brighter, right?

They had to, it was Christmas Day after all.


The next day was Christmas, alright, but… the morning didn't bring any brightness whatsoever.

Quite the contrary. It seemed as if whoever was responsible for the weather had spontaneously decided to adjust to the ongoing mood around. Cause where for the last few days sunshine had illuminated the world and reflected in the snowy mountains, Christmas morning started out with thick clouds hanging dangerously low in a gray and bleary sky.

The weather forecast had sent out warnings about heavy snowfalls and maybe even a storm to come in the afternoon. They'd strongly advised people to stay inside and that 'safely waiting it out' would be for the best.

Independent of the weather forecast Chad had come to the same conclusion when he'd woken from a sleep much too light and constantly disturbed by nightmares.

Horrible images of watching Ryan make out with Alex in public had changed into pictures of his mom breaking into tears when she'd looked at Chad disappointedly and Chad had bolted from sleep drenched in sweat more than once during the night.

One look out of the window into the bleary morning sky and Chad had fallen back onto the bed, had pulled the covers over his head and tried to ignore everything around him.

Thinking about the past evening made his stomach lurch painfully and a blush creep onto his dark face.

And it wasn't even Ryan's behavior that did it.

No, Chad was embarrassed to the bones about his own actions last night. Now that he could think a bit more clearly the jock had come to see that he'd been totally overreacting.

Sure, that Alex-freak had been all over Ryan… with the touching and ruffling the blond hair… and, yes, Ryan hadn't actually been protesting too strongly… at first.

But then… then he'd tried to assure that Alex wasn't his boyfriend… anymore at least. Obviously they'd some kind of history together but… what if that's all it was? History?

Chad let out a deep sigh. He should have stayed cool and let Ryan explain, he should have believed his boyfriend, listened to him… and not run off like some pouting heartbroken girl!

God, he'd acted like a lovesick jerk and had made a complete fool of himself.

And in public! In front of his whole family (and the Evans's, too).

And now they all knew.

He'd come out to everybody! To his mom!

A new wave of shame overtook Chad and he buried his head deeper in the soft pillow. What must they all think of him now? His mom, his brothers… and Ryan?

"Oh God," Chad groaned, "I'm never gonna come out of this room again!"


Alyssa Danforth walked over to the plush couch and sat down next to Tom with a sigh.

"It's no use," she complained, "he won't come out of his room. He won't even talk to me."

"You have to give him time, honey." Tom answered and pulled his girlfriend near his chest. He stroked her dark hair softly and put a loose strand back behind her ear. "He will come out eventually."

Alyssa let out a strangled laugh at that particular phrasing and Tom smiled sheepishly.

"I meant out of the room."

"Yeah," Alyssa sighed, "the other coming-out is rather unnecessary now, don't you think? At least to us."

"Does Chad know that?" Tom inquired.

"Of course, I tried to tell him that we knew and… we're okay with it. But…" she let the sentence trail off and sighed again.

"He'll come around," Tom assured and gave her a soft kiss, "I'm sure he will."


Meanwhile on the fourth floor Ryan was desperately trying to block out the constant pounding on his door by pressing a pillow over his ears but… it was no use.

He threw a quick glance at the alarm clock. 10:13 o'clock.

Sharpay had been hammering against the wooden door for exactly eleven minutes now and Ryan just knew that she wouldn't stop any time soon.

Damn his overly headstrong twin!

He let out a sigh and rolled off the bed to drag his tired body over to the door. Without opening it he shouted like he'd done two times before already:

"Would you fucking stop that, Shar?"

"No!" his twin answered (just like she'd done the other two times) and gave the door one really hard bang for good measure before she resumed knocking an annoying rhythm. She even had the nerve to sing along.

"Joy to the world, joy to the world, joy to the…"

"STOP THAT!" Ryan cried and yanked the door open in such a rush that Sharpay's fist crashed against his chest in one painfully blow.

"Ouch!" the blond boy yelped and stumbled backwards. One hand pressed against his aching sternum he glared at his sister marching in and then he gave the door an equally hard kick to close it forcefully.

Sharpay stared him down indifferently.

"Don't look at me like that, Ry. You deserve no better for letting me wait outside for so long!"

"I deserve…" Ryan repeated stunned. "Nobody told you to come pestering me, Shar!"

"You stood me up!" his sister stated simply.

"Huh?"

"We had a date, Ryan." Sharpay said and when the confused frown didn't leave Ryan's face she clarified annoyed:

"Hel-lo-o! Rehearsals, remember? We said ten o'clock!"

Ryan couldn't stop a disbelieving snort from coming out.

"You're kidding, right? Sharpay," he sighed exasperated, "did you really think that after what happened last night I was gonna go sing happy Christmas tunes with you?"

He shook his blond head, "And here I thought being twins meant that you knew me at least a little."

Ryan plopped down onto the bedside and buried his face in both hands, the perfect picture of misery.

A moment later the mattress dipping slightly indicated that Sharpay had sat down beside him and sure enough a hand suddenly came resting on his shoulder.

"I do know you, Ry," Sharpay said, "and what's even more astonishing is that I know Danforth as well. He'll come around soon enough."

"No, he won't!" came Ryan's muffled reply. "He thinks I'm with Alex… he thinks… he really believes me capable of cheating on him!"

The blonde's head came up and bitter blue eyes looked at Sharpay. "You don't know him, Shar… and neither do I, I guess."

"Oh, puh-lease, Ry!" Sharpay stood up and started pacing the floor. "Enough with the self-pity! It was a simple misunderstanding, that's all! And Chad totally overreacted and freaked out and I'm sure he's getting it now and probably is completely ashamed by now. Ashamed about the scene he made and his public coming-out and not about…"

Sharpay broke off, completely surprised by her own insightfulness. Why was she so understanding all of a sudden? And, even worse, genuinely compassionate?

She threw a self-conscious glance at her brother who stared back at her with eyes as big as saucers. After a while an unsure smile started tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"You think? Really?"

Sharpay nodded slowly and smirked:

"You'll see, his freakage won't last till lunchtime and by tonight's party he's gonna come crawling back, begging you to take him back already!"

Ryan wasn't so sure about that. Chad had been pretty pissed at him last night… he'd told him to fuck off… but maybe…

Maybe Sharpay was right and Chad was more embarrassed about coming out to his family than he was angry with him.

Maybe he would indeed come crawling back to him…

Ryan couldn't help it when his thoughts turned into a different direction all of a sudden. 'Hhm, Chad crawling and begging… is it suddenly hot in here or what?'

Ryan blushed but didn't care at all. It was normal, wasn't it? Thinking about sex when he'd gotten so used to it?

After all, he'd had sex with Chad every day for the last…, in fact, these few days of the Winter Break with Chad he'd had more sex than in all his previous years at the Resort combined…

And Ryan was suddenly very determined. He wouldn't let the best (and hottest) Winter Break he'd ever had get ruined by a stupid misunderstanding.

Not to mention the deepest and truest relationship he'd ever had!

He would find a way to make Chad see reason and come back to him, crawling and begging or not.

Well, if he had a say in this, these two would definitely be involved sooner or later.


It was right before lunch that Linus was crouched down beside a big decorative plant in the halls opposite Chad's door, his heart thumping in his chest, waiting breathlessly for the room service to arrive.

Earlier he'd overheard his mom order a late breakfast for Chad and he'd known right then that this would be his one and only chance.

He knew he could do this, he had to! He'd promised Ryan, and Ryan was his bestest friend and… well, he just needed a bit of luck. And the right timing. And Miles, of course.

Soon enough the elevator dinged open and a waiter stepped out, pushing a small cart loaded with a breakfast tray in front of him.

'Now, Miles!' Linus thought desperately and when he heard a loud clattering coming from around the corner he couldn't help but smile proudly. No matter that he and Miles didn't always get along very well (they were brothers, so… duh), in family emergencies like this they knew they could count on each other.

Like now.

Linus watched the waiter look around for the cause of commotion and, seeing none, he took a few steps around the corner. That was all Linus needed.

Quick as a lightning he dashed out from behind the plant and flew over to the waiter's cart. The small boy lifted the white linen with speedy hands and hurriedly crawled underneath, pulled the fabric back down immediately and held his breath.

He just hoped his small weight wouldn't make much of a difference to the waiter, who came back to his cart, muffling something about 'stupid little boys destroying precious decor'.

Linus still held his breath when the waiter pushed the tray in front of Chad's door and knocked politely.

"Room service."

The door was opened after a few seconds and Linus couldn't stop a sly smile from spreading over his face when he, along with the tray, was pushed inside Chad's room.

So much for sneakiness.

And now on to the difficult part.


"Thanks," Chad muttered and watched the waiter close the door behind him. Then he cautiously lifted the tray's cover and glanced at the breakfast underneath.

Cereals, jelly-toast and several fruits stared back at him but Chad didn't feel like eating right now. He simply grabbed the glass of orange juice and took it with him over to the window where he stood, watching the gray sky and taking a slow sip every now and then.

The clouds seemed to rush by and it would certainly start snowing soon but Chad didn't care. He wasn't planning on going anywhere today, he would…

CRASH

Chad spun around at the sudden noise from behind and the sight that greeted him made him nearly drop his juice.

The waiter's cart lay pushed onto its side and the tray and all the breakfast things were scattered over the plush carpet. One red apple was rolling away from a broken plate and came to a halt bouncing against… a small shoe?

Huh, what the…

Chad couldn't believe his eyes. There was his little brother, lying sprawled on the floor with toast and cereals all over him and an apple at his feet.

"Linus?" Chad asked dumbfounded and took two steps further into the room. "What…? I mean, how did you…?"

"Ugh," Linus smiled sheepishly and sat up, "I sneaked in with the waiter… you know, under the cart."

"Very sneaky," Chad couldn't help but smile slightly.

"I totally was," the small boy emphasized, "but then… my shoelace got caught in the wheels when I tried to climb out and, well…"

"I see," Chad sighed and started collecting the sprawled items to put them back onto the rightly placed again cart. "So, what do you want?"

The sound of his voice told Linus that his brother wasn't too happy with him being here and he fidgeted around with his hands under Chad's unyielding glare before he finally stated softly:

"I'm… ugh, I mean, I want to… are you gonna be angry and shout at me as well?"

"What?" Chad's eyes grew wide at the sight of genuine worry in the kid's face. He plopped heavily onto the bedside and took a deep breath. But before he could start reassuring the small boy that he wasn't angry, Linus continued anxiously:

"You shouted at Ryan yesterday and then you ran off, and Ryan too and then…" he sat down next to Chad on the bed and went on in a rush, determined to get it all out:

"Then everybody was suddenly shouting. First Tom and Alex and then Sharpay too and then Alex ran off and mom says he's not gonna come back for the Christmas party… not that I care because I don't like him at all. He made both you and Ryan leave and… and he made me miss more ice-cream and… Sharpay let us watch Charley Browne's Christmas, that was nice, but… I didn't get to open one gift like we normally do on Christmas Eve and… it was the worst Christmas Eve ever and…"

Linus had to stop to take a much-needed breath but before Chad noticed (he was still trying to straighten out the jumbled thoughts of his brother) the small boy spoke again:

"And I don't want you and Ryan to be angry and fighting because Ryan is my best friend and… and I like him. He's funny and he gave me a hat and… and I don't like Miles calling him 'queer'… though I don't know what that means but… I guess it's nothing nice… although it sounds a bit like 'queen' and that's something nice, isn't it? But I guess queer is a bad word because mom got furious when she heard Miles say it."

Linus looked up at Chad and scooted closer so that he could lean against Chad's side. The older boy instinctively put an arm around his brother, deeply lost in thoughts.

Obviously there'd been a hell of a lot going on last night, hadn't it? The dinner… Chad could only assume what had been the cause for everyone shouting at each other, Alex and Tom and Sharpay… but if it had ended in Alex leaving than it could only mean that…

"Chad, is it a bad word?" Linus interrupted his train of thought and Chad came reluctantly back to reality. He looked down into the waiting small face of his brother and muttered:

"Oh, yeah, I guess it hasn't as nice a meaning as 'queen'."

"But what does it mean then?" Linus wanted to know.

Another deep sigh escaped Chad. How should he explain something like this to a six-year-old? But explain it he would. He thought that, after involuntarily coming out to everyone and ruining Christmas Eve for them, it was the least he could do now. Be honest about it. So Chad took a breath and started to explain:

"You see, queer is a bad word that stupid people use for someone who… who likes other boys. Take Ryan for example, he likes other boys and… some people are freaked-out and call him queer. But that's not right. They should say 'gay' instead, or… better yet, say nothing at all. It's nothing wrong with being gay, no matter what people tell you, okay?"

"Okay," Linus replied and Chad could see the gears turn in his small head when Linus scrunched his nose and crooked his head to the side. His curls bounced against Chad's arm when he finally asked:

"So, Ryan is gay, okay. I get that. But… does that make you gay, too? I mean, because you like him?"

Chad briefly hesitated before he replied: "Yes, I'm gay too. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure," Linus shrugged and after a small pause he added: "After all, I'm also gay."

"What?" Chad exclaimed.

"Well, I like Ryan too, so…"

Chad tried to stifle his laugh when he answered: "Ugh… look, Linus. I'm sure you like him but… that's different, okay?"

"No," Linus frowned. "It's not! Do you think he doesn't like me back? Because he does, you know? He said so, I'm his bestest friend!"

"Of course he likes you back, you annoying little grasshopper." Chad ruffled though the thick curls so much like his own and went on:

"But it's still different, okay?"

"Why?" Linus inquired further.

Oh God, why had he started this? Chad thought desperately about how to explain the difference without… you know, telling too much.

"Because," he tried, "look: Do you think you like Ryan the same way mom likes Tom?"

Linus thought about it. "You mean with… kissing and… stuff?"

'Stuff?' Chad thought, horrified by what Linus might have stumbled upon accidentally.

"Ugh, yeah… let's take the kissing," Chad quickly agreed. "Do you want to kiss Ryan?"

"No!" Linus made a face imagining that. "Do you?"

Shit!

'Well done, dude!' Chad groaned inwardly. But, hey… in for a penny, in for a pound… He could just as well go and say it, couldn't he?

"Yes."

"Really?" Linus gasped. He didn't sound grossed-out to Chad, just adoringly curious.

"Yes, really," Chad smiled and fought a blush in vain. "And that's the difference. If you like a boy so much that you wanna kiss him… then you're gay."

"Okay," Linus stated at once, "then I'm not gay at all. But I'm still Ryan's bestest friend!"

Not waiting for a reply the tiny boy jumped from the bed and trotted over to pick up a small package from the ground. Chad hadn't noticed it before now, too wrapped up in first his thoughts and then the discussion with Linus.

The package must have fallen off the cart earlier. Linus brought it back to the bed and pushed it into the surprised Chad's hands. It was a Christmas gift, wobbly and soft and wrapped in simple blue paper.

Chad frowned and asked: "You brought a present with you?"

Linus nodded and after sitting next to Chad again he said:

"Ryan asked me to give it to you."

"Ryan?" Chad gasped and eyed the gift once again, "Ryan gave this to you?"

"Yeah, he came to me after breakfast and asked about you," Linus grinned, "And when I said that you'd locked yourself in here he came up with the plan to smuggle myself under the waiter's cart to get to you."

"That was his idea?" Chad couldn't believe it. So Ryan wanted him to get his Christmas gift? He wanted him to… he still wanted him? Even after his stupid behavior last night?

"Wow!" Chad shouted suddenly and Linus nearly fell off the bed in shock.

"Hey, are you gonna open it?" he asked.

"What?"

Oh, right… the gift.

Chad pulled the bright yellow bow to the side and started tearing the wrapping apart. He couldn't wait to see what Ryan had gotten him. The paper flew to the floor only seconds later and then…

Then Chad's lap was suddenly full of something unbelievably soft and fluffy.

"Clothes?" Linus groaned at the sight of the beautiful shirt, no… a jumper, colored in the darkest blue Chad had ever seen.

"He brought you clothes? What a stupid gift! Doesn't he know that Santa's already bringing boring clothes?"

But Chad wasn't really listening to his brother. He'd unfolded the jumper with shaking hands and had noticed the motto at once. Big white letters on the chest said:

"I don't dance…"

A smile spread over Chad's face when he remembered the circumstances that had led to him saying (or singing) these words for the first time on the baseball field at Lava Springs. So much had happened since then… but somehow both he and Ryan seemed to regard this single summer day as truly memorable for their relationship.

So memorable in fact that they'd both tried to capture the spirit in their mutual Christmas gifts.

Chad briefly thought about the delicate glass sphere with the baseball players inside before his eyes wandered back to the jumper again.

It was really beautiful.

Chad stood up and pulled his own shirt over the head to try on the new one. It fit perfectly, Ryan knew his body well.

Oh, well, of course he did, he'd seen and touched it countless times, hadn't he?

Chad's hands caressed the shirt fondly until he suddenly came across a different kind of fabric under his fingers. He looked down at the shirt's band and noticed for the first time another sentence there at the bottom.

It wasn't printed but hand-stitched onto the entire seam, all around the shirt in a cycle. The same dark blue color as the jumper made it nearly unnoticeable to the eyes but Chad could feel it. He quickly pulled the shirt off again and turned it so that he could read the words properly. Now they were clearly visible, at least if you knew what to look for.

Neatly stitched calligraphy read:

"… but if I would, it would only be with my wonderful boyfriend. So… sorry, girls, no chance in hell. You may just as well get lost and try bothering somebody else."

Chad laughed out loud.

Oh my god, that was so… him.

"What?" Linus suddenly asked. "What's so funny? It's just a jumper, Chad!"

"Just a jumper, yeah." Chad replied and sent his brother a brilliant smile before he put the fabric back on.

"Linus," he addressed the small boy, "I've gotta go find Ryan, okay? Tell mom…" he hesitated briefly and went over to the shelf where he'd put Ryan's gift the day before, "tell her that I'm okay and I've gotta see my boyfriend, okay?"

Not waiting for a reply Chad ushered Linus out of the room and started running down the hall to the stairs, the bag with Ryan's gift swaying dangerously to and fro with each bounce.

Linus stared after him for a few seconds before he shook his small head, turned on the spot and entered his mommy's rooms.

If being like that over a boring jumper was what being gay did to you, well then Linus was suddenly very sure that he would never be gay. Not even a little bit.

He hated getting clothes as a present after all!


TBC

I don't know when, but I'm gonna try and write the happy ending as soon as I can. Please, tell me how you like this in the meantime.