CHAPTER 24

Ryan sat in his seat next to his sister, the sun beating down on his fair skin. He was pretty sure he'd have some degree of sunburn before the ceremony was over even though he laid on the sunscreen really thickly before he left for graduation. Whoever thought graduation should be held out on the football field should have been dragged out into the street and shot. After, of course, they were forced to be sunburned as well.

He kept staring up and over a few rows at his boyfriend, who was also casting glances back at the blond. The letter B might be very close to the letter E in the alphabet, but that didn't mean much when it came to graduation seating. There had to be at least 50 people between him and Troy, but judging by the fact that Gabriella was the next one to give a speech, and because everyone had told her that the key to a good graduation speech was to keep it short, he didn't think he had too much time before he was reunited with the brunet.

He felt a sharp jab in his side and turned to see Sharpay making a face at him. He made a face back before she shrugged, seeming to give up on being subtle and pointed him in the direction of the audience that was seated in the stands on the other side of the stage.

He looked up just in time to see the flash of his parent's camera go off. He shuddered. He loved his mom, he really did, but she always seemed to exemplify the stereotypical characteristics of a loving mother. He actually had to sit her down before they left and have a conversation about how the only people in front of whom she was allowed to call him "ducky" were his immediate family and Troy. Anyone else was off limits.

He smiled weakly back at his mother who was waving frantically at him from her position in the stands, before his attention—as it invariably always did—went back to his boyfriend. The two made eye contact for a brief moment before Troy focused back on the stage where his ex-girlfriend was currently giving a speech.

•••HSM•••

Troy watched as Gabriella approached the podium. He'd gotten an advanced copy of her speech the day before, and so he knew that contrary to what everyone had told her, the speech was not going to be short in any way. It was actually pretty good, though, so her friends would ultimately forgive her. Hopefully.

Since he had already read the speech, he allowed his mind to wander. He turned to his left and caught sight of Zeke who was actually paying attention to the speech. He, along with Chad and Sharpay were sticking around town to go to the University of Albuquerque. Chad and Zeke would be playing basketball, although probably not starting until their sophomore year. Sharpay was going to study theater, obviously.

She'd probably end up marrying Zeke and taking over the family business when she was old enough, but he sure as he wasn't going to be the person who voiced that opinion. Whatever happened, he was sure the two of them would be happy.

Chad and Taylor had decided to give the long distance relationship thing a try. While Chad would stay back home, Taylor would make a go of things on the East Coast at Brown University. She was going to study microbiology and zoology. She was sure to win a Nobel Prize before she was 30 years old; Ryan agreed wholeheartedly.

Troy searched the crowd again before coming upon the bouncy brown curls of his short playwright friend. Kelsi was going to study composition at some conservatory in New York. It wasn't really all that surprising. What was surprising, however, was the fact that Jason was also going to a junior college in New York. Troy could only imagine the fight his friend's parents had put up when he made that announcement—Jason's parent's were particularly protective of him—and was glad that he wasn't around to watch his father's gasket blow.

He looked back down in his lap at the program he was holding. His mind drifted momentarily to the graduation robe he was wearing. Who ever thought it would be appropriate for kids to wear gowns like this to a ceremony? When were robes ever appropriate? Graduation really was kind of silly.

After he contemplated the meanings and rituals of the American high school graduation ceremony, he let his mind drift back to his boyfriend. His beautiful boyfriend. His smart, lively, sexy boyfriend.

After they had gotten back together after the last basketball game, and, uh, consummated, their relationship. Both he and Ryan had spent a long time talking about their future, what they wanted out of it and how it was to best go about attaining it.

Ryan thought it would be a bit stereotypical for him to go into some theater program, and even though he did love it, he felt his passions lie somewhere else. Troy, really never had given much thought to what he wanted, aside from basketball, which he had clearly decided was worth giving up. So, he was wide open to a lot of different options.

The two of them had submitted applications to many different colleges, and still hadn't made any decisions, except for the one that meant they would be going to college together. Troy knew that's exactly what his boyfriend wanted, but was hesitant to ask it of him. He remembered the exact way his face looked when he told the blond that going to different schools was not an option. He also remembered what happened right after. It was hot.

They were definitely going to be doing that a lot over the summer, what with neither of them having summer jobs and a whole lot of time on their hands. Oh yeah, summer was going to be great.

He looked back at his boyfriend just in time to make eye contact. The wink he gave the blond caused him to blush. Later today was going to be great, too.

•••HSM•••

Troy found himself with Ryan immediately following the ceremony. The two had met as soon as all the mortarboards had found their way back to the ground. It really was an unsafe tradition; someone could lose an eye.

The two had been talking and taking photos with their friends as they went off to find their families, while they waited for Ryan's parents to make their way down to the field. Troy's parents were being held up. Apparently being the coach of a championship team meant that all of the parents of every graduating senior needed to say something to his father.

Eventually, all parents and other assorted family members made their way to where the two of them were standing, and then the obligatory picture taking began. One with Sharpay and Ryan, one with Ryan and Troy, one with Troy and his parents, one with Sharpay, Ryan and Troy. Any combination of people they could find and the picture was bound to be taken.

Finally it came time to take a picture of the Evans family. Troy backed away from his boyfriend as the rest of his family gathered around. He was prepared to take the photo for all of them when Mr. Evans' booming voice caught his attention. "Come on, Troy," he said, "I said I wanted a picture of the entire Evans family. That includes you now."

The brunet smiled at the tallest of the Evans and headed over to the group where he took his place next to Ryan. He wrapped his arm around his boyfriend's waist and sighed in contentment as he felt Ryan lean into him. "I love you," he said as he lay his cheek on his boyfriend's blond hair.

"Love you, too," Ryan replied quietly before smiling for the camera.

•••HSM•••

"That was so cute," Kaden said from his position on the couch. Half way through the story, he had curled himself into Jordan's side. He hadn't moved since then, too enraptured by the story.

"Yeah, I particularly liked how you basically censored all the parts where you and Ryan were getting it on, too," Jordan added, earning himself a playful smack on the arm from his boyfriend. "What?" he questioned, looking down at the blond. "You like the romance, I like the action. To each his own."

"You're so gross sometimes," Kaden said, shaking his head.

"Well," Troy piped up, "I had to leave Ryan's virtue intact somehow. I couldn't go out airing all of our dirty laundry, now could I?"

"You didn't care all that much last year, if I remember correctly," Kaden said, rolling his eyes. "I seem to remember several times walking into our dorm room with you two in various states of undress."

Ryan blushed. "Okay, moving on," he said, hoping to steer the topic of conversation in a different direction. "I think we're basically done moving everything up. Do you guys have any plans tonight?"

"I think we were just going to get some dinner and then head back to my place," Jordan said, a leer on his face. Ryan rolled his eyes; Kaden did the same thing, but didn't say anything to refute him.

"What about you guys?" Kaden asked, sitting up straight and scooting forward as if to get up. "Any big plans?"

"Ryan's probably going to have me help him set up his bedroom," Troy said, looking over at the blond. "Heaven forbid he sleep in a room that is not yet done up to his standards."

"Shut up," Ryan said. "Besides, after we're done setting the bedroom up, we can spend the rest of the night in there."

Troy's mouth spread into a grin before he whipped his head to look at their two friends. "So," Troy began, "you two should probably be going now."

Kaden had already begun getting up before Troy had started talking, almost like he knew what was about to happen. He gave Ryan a meaningful look that said he already knew where that conversation was going. "Come on," he said to his boyfriend. "Let's go."

Within moments, the two were out the door, Troy closing it right behind them. He then quickly made his way across the living room and over to the couch. He lifted Ryan up and tossed him over his shoulder. "What are you doing?" Ryan asked in between his fits of laughing.

"Well, I'm kind of bypassing the whole decorating thing and going straight to the rest of the night thing," Troy said as he entered Ryan's bedroom. "Do you have a problem with that?" He asked as he removed his boyfriend from his shoulder and tossed him lightly on the bed.

"Definitely not," Ryan replied.

THE END

A/N: Okay … so, I realize that it's taken a while, but hey, it's finished, right? And everything ended happily. I have an idea for another story in this little universe I've worked up in my head, but I have a different story I'm going to be working on next.

Any way, I hope you all enjoyed the story. I know I enjoyed writing it. Now, please read and review.