Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: R for language
Summary: When Ryan is attacked, who will stand up for him?
Warnings: Slash
Disclaimer: Ryan and Sharpay Evans, Chad, Troy, Gabriella, High School Musical, and all other characters mentioned within are & TM Disney, not the author, and are used without permission. Everything else is & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
He was in the heat of the moment, swaying from side to side as he carefully watched his opponent's every move. His muscles rippled; he tensed. He was coiled and at the ready, like a tiger waiting to strike down his foe. The ball would be his.
But the ball didn't come. Instead the other guy began to dribble it, switching hands back and forth, as he headed off the court. Chad pulled back, confusion crossing his dark face. What the -- ? Then he saw where his team mate was heading and cursed silently. Closing his eyes, he fervently wished the newcomer would leave before it was too late, but when he looked again, he was just in time to see the ball whizzing through the air as it headed directly for his dearest friend.
Ryan was ready. He grabbed the ball but had to drop his script to do so. The guy who had thrown the ball smirked. "Ready to play with the big boys, Ryeypoo?"
"Better not," advised another of Chad's own team. "He'd try to cock a field!"
"I don't want no guy touching my butt!" exclaimed a third.
"What's this latest piece of crap you're studying?" another questioned as he plucked Ryan's play from the floor.
"Please don't."
The request went seemingly unheard as the boy flipped through the play, muttering at each page. "Boy, girl. Boy, girl. Boy, girl. Boy, girl." His dark eyes glanced up at Ryan, whose expression resembled that of an innocent doe caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. "This isn't the stuff you like, is it?" He started ripping pages from the book.
"That's enough!" Troy raged as Chad looked on with emotions tightening his chest.
"Ooo! Team Captain's a faggot lover!"
Gabriella paused in shock. She and the girls had just entered the gym. "I am not!"
"Then why do you care?" Another page fluttered to the floor.
"It's okay." The words should have been aimed at Troy, but it was Chad Ryan looked at. He had chosen this life, coming out of the closet a week ago for reasons Chad could understand though he'd sworn never to approve. Ryan dropped the ball and started gathering the pages from the floor. Chad choked back tears but remained where he was, frozen by fear of what would happen if he revealed himself.
"No, it's not okay!" Gabriella exclaimed as she and Sharpay charged purposefully forward with Kelsi, Taylor, and Martha following behind at a slightly more gradual pace. "He's our friend!" She glared at Troy, but her gaze cut through to Chad.
"And my brother!" Sharpay was angrier than she'd ever been before. Fury fumed through her and fueled her every move as she closed the distance between herself and the bully. "Leave him alone!" she demanded through gritted teeth. Her delicate hands curled into small fists.
"Shut your twat! What are you gonna do, Butch Princess?"
"She's not -- "
But before Ryan could get his defense of his sister fully out of his mouth, Sharpay swang. Her left hook missed the bully, but her right jab caught him square in the jaw. He reeled for only a split second; then he really fumed. "YOU FUCKING CUNT!" He pulled back his fist to hit Sharpay, and Ryan stepped, with smooth elegance only he could manage in such a dire time, in between him and his sister. He faced the taller boy bravely as his fist barreled for his face.
The basketball suddenly struck the bully's face so hard that he was knocked to the floor, and Chad stepped forward at his full height. "Another fucking faggot lover!" the bully hissed as he struggled to get back up.
Chad pressed a foot down on top of his chest and glared threateningly at those he had once thought to be his friends but who, he now realized, were not. "Yeah, I am." His eyes softened and grew moist as he turned his gaze to face his beloved. "I'm in love with Ryan Evans. I've been an ass, hiding like a sheep in your herd," he glanced at the team he had once been proud to be a part of before returning his gaze to his love, "but I'm done hiding and trying to be something I'm not."
"I'm sorry, Ryan." He could barely talk for the emotions that clogged his throat and made it hard to breathe. "I'm sorry it took me this long and came to this before I realized what a jerk I was being. I hope you'll take me back, but if not, I'll never stop -- "
Ryan was smiling from ear to ear though tears poured down the blonde boy's face. "I never let you go. I was just waiting . . . "
"For me to come to my senses?" When Ryan nodded mutely, Chad moved forward. Finally freed of Chad's foot, the bully started to get up but was stopped by Sharpay's heel pinching his groin. His howl of pain went unheard by Chad and Ryan as Chad cupped Ryan's beautiful face in his hands and brushed his tears away with his trembling thumbs. "And I'm here and I love you."
"I love you too!" Ryan's proclamation of love was a hot, velvety breath of a whisper against Chad's face as they leaned toward each other. As they kissed sweetly, their hands cupped each other's faces and their fingers lovingly caressed their skin. Ryan's fingers twined around Chad's soft curls, and Chad slipped a hand to the back of Ryan's neck, simultaneously relieving pressure on his boyfriend and stroking him.
As the boys kissed and Sharpay kept the bully pinned down, Gabriella and Kelsi gathered the remainants of Ryan's play. When they finally parted, Chad led Ryan from the gym, hand in hand, with the girls following and Troy, who had shed his jersey quietly and left it on the floor, knowing that his father was going to raise more than Hell enough already when he returned from the bathroom, taking up the end.
Chad paused in the doorway and looked back in disgust over his shoulder. "Oh, yeah." He peeled out of his jersey, and tossed it back to the stunned team. "I quit."
A third boy walked quietly from the team, shedding his gear and leaving it behind him as he moved to become part of the new movement. He spoke not a word but silently stepped in beside Troy. He was greeted with nods and smiles of understanding. Then, as one, the group turned to follow their friends who led the pack. Hand in hand, Ryan and Chad walked out the door on their way to a glorious new life out in the open together.
The End