Pillow Talk

****

Ryan pulled the duvet up and tucked it under his chin. Sighing, he rolled over onto his side, facing Chad, and closed his eyes. Barely a minute later he swiveled all the way round, taking most of the duvet with him.

Chad grunted and Ryan froze, prayed that he hadn't woken.

Cocooned in the majority of the duvet, Ryan lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling. He crossed and uncrossed his legs, tried counting all the hats in his wardrobe and even began planning the best way to coerce Chad into a shopping trip, but to no avail.

Untangling his legs from the know he had turned the bedding into, Ryan crawled towards Chad and flung an arm over his chest, hoping to find sleep in this position.

"I swear to god, Ryan Evans, that if you do not stop shuffling this instant, you will be sleeping on the sofa for a week!"

Ryan murmured his apologies meekly, but couldn't resist adding,

"You wouldn't want that, though, would you? After what we got up to earlier, I'm surprised you can keep your hands off me."

"Cocky bastard," Chad muttered to himself.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

"Ry, I'm exhausted, this is no time for your messing about."

"I wore you out, didn't I?" Ryan smiled like a cat who'd got the cream. "Besides," he looked over at the alarm clock, "it's only 2:17."

"In the morning!"

"You're getting old if you can't stay up this late."

"Excuse me? Who has to have a nap every afternoon?"

Ryan sniffed.

"Dancing can be very draining."

Still with his eyes clamped firmly shut, Chad wagged his index finger threateningly.

"Oh no, don't start the whole 'dancing vs. basketball' argument again."

"Well, I'm bored. Let's talk about something.........There's a sale soon at – "

" – why do you always have to be like a woman after sex? Always needing to talk."

Ryan shot an accusing glare in his direction, but it was completely lost on Chad's semi-dormant state.

"How would you know? You've never slept with a woman."

"Troy tells me these things," Chad answered vaguely.

Ryan snorted derisively.

"Don't tell me Troy's had sex with Gabriella, they're far too.........pure!"

"And we're not?"

Without needing to see him, Chad could tell that Ryan was doing his customary eyebrow-raising whenever he felt particularly skeptical about something. Chad privately agreed; they had celebrated Valentine's Day with a sweaty, carnal sort of love, not a meal by candlelight spent gazing into one another's eyes.

"They are married, you know? Which means they must have consummated it at some point, although, I agree; it is a bit bizarre."

Trying to block out images of Troy and Gabriella's no doubt embarrassingly awkward post-marriage sex, Ryan added,

"All through high school they were a shining example of abstinence. I'm surprised Troy even knew that babies weren't brought by storks, let alone realised that there was more to a relationship than merely holding hands."

Chad couldn't prevent himself from laughing out loud at that and reached out to pull Ryan closer.

"We certainly don't lack any of the...........ahem...............physical side of a relationship, do we?"

Ryan shook his head and pressed his face against Chad's bare chest, listening for a heartbeat.

Chad ran his fingers through the fine, blond hair in a sooting motion, enjoying the scent of Ryan's shampoo and the slight tang of sweat, a reminder of the rough, dizzying sex of earlier.

Snuggling closer, the steady rise and fall of Chad's chest calming him, Ryan almost began to purr. Trying not to make his yawn to obvious, he gradually succumbed to the inviting pull of sleep, until he heard Chad whisper faintly in his ear,

"I wouldn't really send you to sleep on the sofa, Ry."

Ryan smiled to himself as Chad pulled the duvet over them, finally comfortable with a strong arm holding him tight.