A/N: I'm so proud :) My other fiction (I Should Tell You) got nominated for the slash awards! It probably won't win, but at least it's cool to be nominated, right?

P.s. - This chapter is dedicated to my new beta, xIreth.

Thanks to everyone else who offered, though! I got way more offers than I expected, I'm sorry I couldn't accept all offers! My love goes out to all of you!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, it'd be rated R.

In My Life

Chapter Ten

Life was just plain irritating at this point. With no one talking to him, Chad got impatient with everyone, but mostly himself. Alright, maybe Troy did talk to him, but every other word that came out of Troy's mouth was 'gay' and that was really starting to irritate Chad. A small part of himself knew, and accepted, the fact that the way he thought about Ryan was not straight, but the rest of him screamed rejection at the thought he might be gay.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that as soon as the bell rang, he shot off like a bird from Hermione Granger's wand and went home, so Troy couldn't corner him and try to force him to admit his sexuality.

Of course, he had to endure all the snide comments about his pink hair as he tried to get through the other students in the hallway, but soon he was locked away in his house, and the first thing he did was go to the sink. He began scrubbing his hair, hoping the pink dye would wash off. Parts of his hair started turning back to normal, but now it just looked as if he had pink highlights.

He sighed, but decided it was better than being entirely pink haired. He turned off the steady flow of water from the tap and began searching for his hairdryer. Once he found it, he turned it on full blast- it took a lot of hot air to dry his hair.

Chad exited the bathroom and went up to his room, switching on his computer and getting on AIM. Maybe he should get advice from complete strangers; it seemed like a good idea as they were a third party and what he did didn't really affect them.

Sighing, he entered a random chat room, contemplating what to say. Finally, he just decided to be blunt to these strangers. Very blunt.

Slowly, he typed in a sentence.

Bballboy545: i think i'm gay and have a crush on my friend.

Instantly, there were typical replies calling him a fag, a queer, a pillow biter, and all sorts of negative names. There were almost no positive replies, except for one that caught Chad's attention.

ALittleFallOfRain: Hey, if you like him, just tell him. Even if he doesn't like you back, he's your friend, and probably won't think any less of you. It'll be a lot easier just to get the weight off your shoulders. And there isn't anything wrong with being gay.

As soon as that post was entered, everyone harassed the girl who wrote it. At least Chad thought a girl wrote it; after all, what boy (besides Ryan) would base their name around a song from Les Mis while using proper grammar?

He sighed, and logged of his computer without another word. And that was when he realized he was very late to his private rehearsal with Ryan.

IMLIMLIMLIMLIMLIMLIMLIML

"Private rehearsal." Ryan said glumly, looking at the rehearsal list on the bulletin board.

"Cheer up Ry. It won't be that bad. At least you can laugh at his singing; I'm sure it'll be terrible." Sharpay said cheerfully, trying to pick up her brother's spirits. When that failed, she dropped her false smile. "Come on, Ry. I mean, you'll only have to sing with him for a little and then you can leave. You don't even have to talk to him, if you don't want to."

Ryan just shrugged. "Whatever." He muttered sullenly, jamming his hands into his pockets. "Nothing I can do about it anyway."

IMLIMLIMLIMLIMLIMLIMLIML

"I can't believe I'm being stood up at a rehearsal." Ran muttered to himself as he sat in the auditorium, with only Mrs. Darbus in the room. Chad didn't even bother turning up for their private rehearsal. It was quite offending, really, but at least this meant Ryan wouldn't have to talk to the bastard.

"I'm sure Mr. Danforth will show up any minute." Mrs. Darbus' voice rang out from the stage, where she was admiring the background they had painted over numerous detentions. "Mr. Evans, if you don't mind, while we are waiting I am going to get some coffee. Wait here until Mr. Danforth comes, and when he does, practice with him until I get back!" And with that, she exited the room grandly.

"Great." Ryan rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "I'm stuck here alone, waiting for a moron who probably won't show up anyways." He sighed.

Ten minutes later, there was still no sign of Chad. Ryan wanted to just leave, but he couldn't. Mrs. Darbus would kill him if she got back and he wasn't here.

"God!" He stood up and got on the stage, pacing back and forth. "That idiot! First he insults me! Then he pretends to go and be all sorry about it! Then he steals my color! And now he's standing me up in rehearsal! That idiot! I hate him! I don't know why I still even bother with him. He's an idiotic low life who looks like he lets a porcupine live in his hair style!"

"I'm not that bad…am I?" Chad's voice said meekly. Ryan whipped around to see the boy standing there, rubbing the back of his neck and looking thoroughly uncomfortable. And Ryan couldn't keep his temper in check.

"Yes! Yes you are!" He said angrily. "Now get up here! We have to rehearse. I've been waiting for you forever."

Chad looked ashamed of himself, but Ryan was too angry to notice. He got on the stage and held up his script. "So…what should we sing?" He asked nervously.

"Let's just start with the beginning song." Ryan snapped. "I want to get this over as quickly as possible, Danforth." Chad noticeably flinched at these words, but Ryan was feeling sadistic right now, and didn't care how much he hurt Chad.

"Alright." Chad said, and began singing his first line during the opening song. At first, he was shy, and his voice was weak, but as he got into it more, his voice strengthened, and he actually sounded pretty good.

"Now bring me prisoner 24601
Your time is up
And your parole's begun
You know what that means."

Ryan scowled: he couldn't believe he was working with such an amateur. Of course, if he wasn't disappointed, hurt, and angry with Chad, he would've been ecstatic that his friend- well, ex friend- was getting interested in the theatre. He'd probably have offered Chad singing lessons. But he merely rolled his eyes as they went on with the song.

Yes, it means I'm free.

No!
It means you get
Your yellow ticket-of-leave
You are a thief

I stole a loaf of bread.

You robbed a house.

I broke a window pane.
My sister's child was close to death
And we were starving.

You will starve again
Unless you learn the meaning of the law.

I know the meaning of those 19 years
A slave of the law

Five years for what you did
The rest because you tried to run
Yes, 24601.

My name is Jean Valjean

Chad had almost completely gotten into character now, and the song was flowing along quite smoothly. That was, everything was going fine until he sang his next line.

And I am Javert

He stared down at his script in amazement. Ryan raised his eyebrows at Chad, wondering why he had stopped in the middle of his line.

All of a sudden, Chad began to laugh hysterically, causing Ryan to take a step away from him, looking at him as if he had lost his mind. Which he most likely had.

"Um, Danforth? Could you please not have a mental breakdown on my watch?" Ryan asked coldly.

Chad merely chuckled- it seemed so funny that here he was with Ryan, saying the first musical reference that Ryan had ever mentioned to him. It seemed so…unlikely.

"Come here, you little drama geek." He said affectionately.

"What?" Ryan asked, askance. Did Chad really just call him a drama geek? Did he want Sharpay to slap him again?

"I said, come here, you little drama geek." Ryan didn't do as he asked, since he was rooted to the stage in shock. Chad sighed in exasperation, and tackled Ryan, pinning the boy underneath him, and straddling him to make sure he couldn't escape.

"What the-" Ryan didn't get to express his confusion because Chad instantly covered the blonde's mouth with his own, shutting Ryan up effectively. Chad's tongue invaded Ryan's mouth, as the slimmer boy looked up at Chad with scared eyes, too afraid to move.

When Chad pulled away, Ryan scrambled away until he was far enough that Chad wouldn't be able to pounce on him again. They both were on the floor, panting, their lips slightly puffed.

"What the hell?" Ryan asked, wiping a sleeve across his mouth. "What did you do that for?"

Chad was startled. He assumed that Ryan had kissed him at Zeke's party, so obviously the blonde wanted him. Why was he acting so upset? "Don't ask me, you kissed me first!"

"You mean yesterday? That wasn't even a kiss! That was a brush on the cheek!" Ryan exclaimed indignantly, gazing at Chad furiously.

"I didn't mean then! I mean when you made out with me at Zeke's party! Or did you think I'd be too drunk to remember?" Chad accused.

Ryan just stared at the darker boy for a few moments, before he found that it was his turn to break into hysterical laughter. "What? Did you seriously think you were making out with me?" He asked between giggles.

"Wasn't it?" Now Chad was confused. "So who was it? Sharpay? All I know was that it was blonde and pink!"

Ryan was laughing so hard tears had sprung up into his blue eyes. "No…not Sharpay." He said, still chortling. "Chad, you were making out with Zeke's pillow. You know, the horrible pink ones with bright yellow stripes?" And with that explanation, he fell back into helpless laughter.

"You're kidding!" When Ryan didn't reply, but kept laughing, he pulled a face at the boy. "Well, at least the pillow is a better kisser then you are!" This only made Ryan giggle harder.

When the blond had finally calmed down and caught his breath, he turned to see Chad staring at him with confusion. "What is it?"

"So you're telling me…I had a sexual identity crisis for nothing?"

"You had a sexual identity crisis?" Ryan asked, surprised. He knew Chad had been acting weird lately, but he didn't think it was anything that serious. He thought Chad was just being a typical teenager: full of angst.

"I guess I did…" The bigger boy trailed off, looking at the floor. He scooted closer to Ryan, afraid to look the boy in the eyes. "So…are you still mad at me?"

"I don't know?" Ryan said uncertainly. "I mean, what you said hurt me Chad."

"I know. I'm really really sorry." Chad said, biting his lip. Then something occurred to him, and he met Ryan's gaze, grinning. "You called me Chad?"

"What?"

"You didn't call me Danforth. You called me Chad again!" Chad said triumphantly.

"I guess I did?" Ryan said uncertainly, not understanding why on earth that would make Chad so happy. Just because he had called him 'Chad' didn't mean he had completely forgiven the boy.

Chad scooted even closer to Ryan. "So…?"

"So what?" Ryan asked, for the first time being the confused one in a situation with Chad Danforth.

Chad reached his hand for Ryan's cheek. "May I?" When Ryan gave a slight nod, Chad brought his lips to Ryan's own, kissing him softly this time. There was less fire, but it was sweeter, more experimental, to see if the other really had feelings for him.

As Ryan pulled back, a dazed looked in his blue eyes, Chad couldn't help but protest. "Not gay." He muttered, blushing when Ryan gave him a quizzical look.

"It's you doing the kissing, Mr. Danforth." He stated, quirking his eyebrow in an adorable way.

This caused Chad to pause for a second to think. "Well…maybe just gay for you then." He said, before drawing Ryan into another kiss.

A/N: There's the happy ending you've all been waiting for. Though the story hasn't ended yet. Next chapter will be Taypay, Chyan, and such and so.