Pairing: Troy/Chad, Choy, Chad x Troy – Just so there's no confusion…
Fandom: High School Musical
Rating: FRT
Warning: slash, abuse, angst, drama
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, so na, na, nah-na, na. You can't sue me.

~#$#~

Troy told people. Chad kept his mouth shut.

+ = + = + = (Troy) = + = + = +

Troy opened his eyes to a dull day in Albuquerque. The sun was dim and hidden behind angry clouds that shifted only offering momentary brightness. Yet, he did not take this day as an omen of bad things to come; the weather merely heightened his resolve.

'Today,' he thought, 'I'm going to stop lying to everyone and hiding behind basketball, my girlfriend and my friends and I'm going to tell everyone who I really am.'

He got out of bed and walked to his bureau, pulled out some clothes and put them on. He pulled his shoes on as he sat on the bed. He stared at himself in the mirror repeating a mantra of, 'I am going to be myself.' Then he promptly fell back into bed again, feeling dreadfully ill.

= + = + = + (Chad) + = + = + =

Chad awoke to another day that was bound to be stressful. The heavy curtains in his second floor room blocked out the feeble sunlight that poked through the blanket of clouds that lay in the sky. He took the day for what it was – another day of many in which he would have to hide.

'Today,' he thought, 'is going to be worse somehow, I just know it. Maybe I should just stay home.'

He got out of his bed, walked to his dresser and stared at himself in the mirror. "God, I hate you," he whispered to his reflection. His reflection said nothing back and he only just held back from punching the glass. He pulled some clothes out and put them on. Then he opened his door, stepped out and immediately wished that he hadn't.

+ = + = + = (Troy) = + = + = +

Troy lay on the bed, his mind racing with thoughts of the reactions that he expected from his teammates and peers. His head swam as he thought of what his friends would say. He actually felt sick to his stomach thinking of the reaction of his parents and Gabriella. Through all this though, his mind automatically kept excluding someone… a specific someone – Chad. For some reason he couldn't imagine Chad's reaction. He couldn't picture him being cruel or indifferent or even just accepting. His brain just couldn't figure Chad out.

All his thoughts on Chad brought a clear picture of the brown-skinned beauty to his mind. Troy felt as if he had never known true love until he had met Chad for the first time. It wasn't romantic love that Chad had shown him, but the unconditional love of brotherhood. Before Chad, Troy had never known that type of deep affection for anyone, not even his parents, nor did he feel it for Gabriella.

The thought of Gabriella brought a picture of her to his mind: her long dark hair, her shining brown eyes, her sweet innocent smile and her beautiful voice. She was everything a guy could want in a girl and everything any girl would want to be, but Troy didn't want her.

= + = + = + (Chad) + = + = + =

Chad stepped into the hallway of his small home to the smell of stale tobacco. It meant only one thing to him – a bad day was coming. It also meant that his father was awake. Most people wouldn't understand Chad's dread at the moment simply because most people assume that Chad's father was great and wonderful. Of course, most people didn't live with him.

Chad's father hadn't been the same since the death of his wife in a random shooting in a convenience store when Chad was ten. What happened changed Chad, too. No one was sure whether it was for the better or for worse. The changes in the attitudes of both father and son had brought about distinct changes in the Danforth household as well. Chad's least favorite change happened to be staring him in the face as soon as he had opened his door. It was a photograph of his mother.

His father had placed huge photos of his mother all around the house. There was her face in glaring detail around every corner, on almost every available surface. He said that it was so Chad didn't forget what she looked like, as he'd been so young when she died, but Chad knew that it was to make him feel guilty for being only ten and being scared and small. It was to make Chad feel guilty for not being able to sense when a store was about to be robbed or when a crazy man who didn't know much about guns brought one with him and waved it around. Chad knew that it was meant to tell him that everything was all his fault.

+ = + = + = (Troy) = + = + = +

Troy sat up in is bed and retrieved a single piece of lined paper. On it, he wrote the words he was afraid to say out loud. After he finished purging himself, he folded the note, put it in an envelope and placed on his night table. His mother would find it eventually. Then, she would show his father and they would talk (argue) about it until he came home. That's when the real fireworks would start. He couldn't bear to think about it.

He got up and went downstairs, mumbling a hello to his parents and all but running for his car.

Once there, he went over what he would tell his friends, Gabriella and Chad. He knew that he would have to tell Chad and Gabriella separately from his friends because they meant a little more to him than just friends.

He arrived at the school to find all his friends, minus Gabriella and Chad, sitting together out front. He knew it was a sign, but whether good or bad, he wasn't sure. He made his over to them and lost all the nerve he'd built in the car. He decided that that afternoon would have to be as good a time as any.

= + = + = + (Chad) + = + = + =

Chad trudged downstairs, absentmindedly. Hearing the television blaring in the living room, he slipped towards the kitchen and walked out the back door. Chad knew that his father wouldn't have cared either way, but having someone know that you live them and reminding them of that fact are two totally different things.

He walked to school with dark thoughts in his head as he did every morning. He started to jog as that was the only thing that worked, that and thinking of – no, he wouldn't go there. It was forbidden, but by who, he forgot. He ran faster as his mind began to betray him. He ran and ran until he arrived at school. He ran even further in his mind to escape his treacherous thoughts, knowing all the time that they would catch up with him.

He avoided the front of the school. It felt like he had to, for some reason that he couldn't explain. He instead went in the back way and went up to the roof to sit and wait for the first bell. He saw Gabriella off on the far side, doing something that should only be done with one's boyfriend with someone who was most definitely not her boyfriend. He thought about trying to stop them, but instead took out his phone and took a video. He would show Troy later in the afternoon.

+ = + = + = (Troy) = + = + = +

Troy spent the entire day going over in his mind what he would say. Every variation he came up with was discarded as the end of school approached. By the time the end of the school day had arrived, he was a nervous wreck. He and his friends had all planned to meet at the pizzeria after school that day, as it was a Friday and Friday was their day out.

He waited until everyone had eaten and were just sitting and talking when he said he had an announcement to make. Everyone turned to him as he said that and his hard earned courage plummeted from 10 to 0 in 2.5 seconds.

"Well, um, I have something to tell all of you. I've been keeping this to myself for too long. I can't keep it to myself any longer. I have to tell you that I'm gay."

= + = + = + (Chad) + = + = + =

Chad spent the entire day, going over in his mind, what he would say to Troy. Every time he thought of a way to approach the subject, he shot it down. Also every time he saw Troy, he was with Gabriella and looked distracted. By the time the end of school arrived, he was confused, but determined. He and his friends had all planned to me at Tony's, a pizzeria that they all hung out in after school, on Friday's.

He was waiting until everyone had finished eating and left because he and Troy always hung out after. He was sure that all of them would leave soon until Troy made an announcement. Chad was confused and suspicious. He went over in head what Troy might have to announce – each idea more fanciful and outrageous than the last. He got so caught up in his thoughts that he missed most of what Troy had to say, only catching the end.

"… I have to tell you that I'm gay."