A/N - I'm not too sure where this story came from to be honest. It's my first attempt at Chad/Ryan and I hope it's okay. I'm not too sure whether or not this a one shot yet as I think this can be developed into more but that depends on what you think. Let me know. :) Also this hasn't been betad so please excuse any mistakes you find. x Jenny x

Chad looked at the clock and sighed, he knew he shouldn't have expected anything different. Of course Troy wasn't going to show; Troy was too busy with Gabriella to remember he had a best friend waiting for him to shoot some hoops. He tried to remember the last time he had a real conversation with his best friend and came up short. He guessed it was just after the talent show, right before the kiss of the year. Chad selfishly wished Troy hadn't kissed Gabriella, at least when the pair were just friends Troy remembered he had a best friend. Chad dribbled the basketball aimlessly around the playground, he was still scared to leave in case Troy did show up. But he knew he wouldn't, he was holding onto a friend who had clearly let go. Sighing a dejected sigh, Chad picked up the ball and walked away.

The big haired basketball player didn't have an exact location in mind when he started to walk, lately he had found that he didn't like his own company very much so he knew he was going to look for someone he knew, or a place where he could be around other people. He decided the best place to go was the mall, normally he had a rule that the mall was the one place where you shouldn't go on your own. But he had no one to join him on his adventures. He thought about phoning Jason, or one of the other members of the Wildcats team, but it seemed everyone was paired off. He supposedly was paired off two, only unknown to everyone he was paired off with one of his friends, Taylor, not his girlfriend as everyone thought. Chad knew the truth, and he had told Taylor everything about him once they had one the state championship, she accepted him with a smile, pleased that she was the first one to know the truth. Especially something that best friend, Troy Bolton knew nothing about. He thought about phoning her, but she was happy with someone else now and he didn't want to get between anyone. So he headed to the mall alone.

He was right, the large shopping centre was crowded with families, lovers, and friends all wondering around with no cares in the world. He felt his stomach rumble and decided first things first he was going to check out the food courts. He went to his favourite pizza stand and ordered a large slice, he then went to find a seat. That's when Chad noticed that he wasn't the only person sitting alone at the mall, he was even more surprised when he noticed that the other boy sat alone was none other then Ryan Evans. He walked over to him and smiled. "Hey," He said casually, waiting for the blond boy to respond.

"Oh, hey Chad." Ryan smiled half heartedly. Chad sighed when he saw Ryan look around for everyone else, he frowned but seemed more relax when he realised Chad was on his own.

"Mind if I join you?" Chad asked hoping that the answer would be yes, because if it wasn't this was going to be too awkward to walk away from. To his delight, Ryan nodded eagerly and Chad sat opposite him. "Where's Sharpay?"

"With Zeke," Ryan sighed. "Troy?"

"With Gabriella," Chad mimicked Ryan's sigh and they both smiled at each other.

"Didn't fancy wondering around on your own either then?" Ryan asked as he took a sip from the bottled water he was holding. After chewing on his food Chad went to reply.

"I was supposed to meet Troy, he didn't turn up, and yeah I didn't want to be on my own." Chad only then realised how pathetic he sounded. Troy didn't control his life, he had other friends he could hang around with. Didn't he?

"I know that feeling," Ryan sighed miserably. "All my life I've never had to worry about being alone. Now Sharpay has found someone else to spend her time with and I'm on my own for the first time ever. I thought it would be refreshing, spending time with me. Turns out I annoy myself in the first half hour." Ryan laughed nervously, but sadly and Chad felt his heart go out to him. Ryan wasn't anything like his sister. He was kind and caring, and even though he would never admit this when Sharpay was around, Ryan had raw talent. He didn't work hard, dancing and singing came naturally to him.

"Well how about we spend the day together?" Chad suggested. Hoping that the young blond boy would say yes straight away. When he did Chad felt himself smile. "Are you hungry?" When Ryan nodded, Chad grinned. "Me too."

"You're eating pizza, and you're still hungry." Ryan laughed.

"I'm a growing boy," Chad chuckled. "What do you fancy? My treat..."

"Pizza." Ryan grinned.

"Seriously?" Chad wasn't too sure why he was surprised. He had always thought Ryan would be a picky eater because of his acting and dancing, he was expecting him to say something like sushi or something posh and healthy, and equally as disgusting. "That's cool." Chad said when Ryan nodded with a smile. He quickly finished his slice and they stood up and headed to the pizza stand. Chad ordered a large pizza this time instead of just a slice. They ordered it with half of Ryan's topping and half of Chad's.

When Ryan insisted on paying half of the bill, Chad wanted to say no but then Ryan said something that surprised him, "I'm not a cheap date, Chad." It made him laugh but then he started to think of what it would be like to go on a date with the blond drama student, and that made him smile even more. They paid for their food and headed back to their table, talking as they went.

"So what do you want to do after we eat then?" Chad asked. He had decided to sit next to Ryan instead of opposite, the blond didn't seem to mind, in fact Chad was pretty sure that he was leaning into him as much as Chad was to Ryan.

"How about a movie?" Ryan suggested once he swallowed the bite of pizza, unlike Chad, Ryan didn't speak with his mouth full of pizza.

"Only if I get to pick the movie." Chad laughed. Ryan just nodded and picked up another slice. They continued to speak as they ate, they both enjoyed the company and was glad that they hadn't spent the day on their own.

They walked up to the theatre to see what was showing, Chad walked a little closer to Ryan than he would have walked to anyone of his other friends. Chad wasn't sure what it was about Ryan that made him want to be this close, he was pretty sure it had something to do with how cute he was, the way his blond hair was always perfect even when he took of his hat, or the way he was always dressed perfectly but never looking as though he had made a real effort unlike his sister. But he knew it was more than that, he knew it was the way Ryan was insecure about himself, the way Ryan held himself together through his sisters rants and tantrums, but more importantly it was the way Ryan cared.

Chad immediately wanted to see the new action film out, he was pretty sure Ryan would point black refuse to see it with him but he grinned when Ryan brought two tickets for the next showing. The next showing was three hours away and they both decided to spend that time walking around the shops. Chad always hated shopping, especially with girls mostly Taylor who always used the fact that she knew about Chad being gay and saying he was supposed to like this sort of thing. But with Ryan, he found shopping a laugh. Ryan was constantly pointing out things that shouldn't be seen, and making remarks about things that were on sale. Chad joined in and they found that the three hours passed quicker than they would have liked. As the day was getting later, the mall was starting to get more crowded and Chad was pleased that he had a reason to walk extra close to him, occasionally their fingers would brush and Chad found himself brushing his fingers against the blonds on purpose just to feel even closer to him.

"Chad?" Ryan asked once the lift doors had closed. They had both decided to take the lift straight up to the theatre hall considering they had their tickets already and they were too tired to walk through the crowds to get to the stairs on the other side of the mall. Chad looked up at Ryan who was standing next to him, their hands almost touching as they leaned against the metal bar.

"Yeah?"

"Are you... are you gay?" Ryan choked out nervously. Chad grinned, Ryan asking that question could only mean one thing right?

"Yeah, I am." Chad shrugged as though it wasn't a big deal. He saw Ryan smile nervously. "You are right? I mean..."

"Yeah, I am." Ryan laughed, he knew that everyone had always assumed he was which made the coming out to everyone so much easier, even though he hadn't really come out. Every one just knew and he was glad.

Chad didn't say anything he just smiled and placed his hand on top of Ryan's, he smiled when he felt his fingers link with his. The two boys didn't say anything as they untangled their fingers once the doors opened. "Want some candy?" Chad grinned. Ryan nodded eagerly, and Chad smiled he had never seen Ryan so happy before and he felt privileged to be the one to see and make the other boy smile.

Ryan picked up a bag of sugar explosions, and Chad wondered what Ryan would be like on a sugar high he was glad that he would soon be able to see. Chad chose some chocolate nuts and raisins and then paid, when Ryan pouted Chad sighed and said that because Ryan paid for the tickets it was the least he could do to provide snacks and drinks. They walked into the theatre and chose seats at the back. Chad grinned when he realised they were double seats and didn't have arm rests between them. They sat down and placed their drinks by their sides. Ryan leaned against Chad, who if asked would claim he only put his arm around Ryan so they were both comfortable, but he secretly loved having the blond boy in his arms.

"Chad," Ryan said quietly, even though as they were early they were the only ones in the screen so far.

"Yeah, Ry?"

"I'm glad Zeke has Sharpay, and Troy has Gabriella."

"Why?" Chad asked as his fingers curled around the blond locks of hair. He felt Ryan purr as he played with his hair and decided that was the sweetest sound he had ever heard and did it again.

"Because it means I get to spend some time with you." Ryan smiled. Chad looked down at the blond boy and found that his brilliant blue eyes were staring intently at him. As Chad reached down and placed a soft kiss on the pale pink lips he decided that he too liked that Troy had Gabriella and Zeke had Sharpay, because he loved spending time with Ryan.