A/N: Alright, written after the WORST day of my life, the day where I've gotten a speeding ticket and yelled at by people at work and my car broke down and I stepped in a pile of red ants that bit my legs and I had a fight with my husband and now tomorrow I may not get to go see my family like I've been wanting too all month. Wow, it's been a bad day.
This is also my first High School Musical story. I LOVE Chad and Ryan. Troy can go jump off a cliff.
Disclaimer: Disney owns this, as they do my soul.
Liza Danforth knew her son. She knew all of Chad's quirks and mannerisms, what words would make him freak out and what words would calm him down when that bad day had suddenly just taken a turn for the worse. Her son had always been an open book, so easy for her to read and to watch over. Unlike her two daughters, Chad wore his feelings on his sleeve and would even sometimes open up to his mom about what was wrong.
He had even shared with her the story of how his first girlfriend ended up on the floor. Taylor McKenzie had been a fixture in Chad's stories for a few months when he came home from Troy's one night laughing about it. Chad and Taylor had wound up falling asleep on the pull out couch in Troy's living room during the movie and no one had quite the heart to wake either of them. Until Chad finally hit his deepest level of sleep and quickly shoved Taylor not only off the bed but into the Bolton's coffee table.
After making sure she wasn't hurt, the whole group had found this unbearable funny. Troy had even shared stories from other sleepovers where no matter who started on the floor near Chad, no one was there once morning came, his well placed kicks and shoves scaring everyone off. And of course, every morning Chad would wake up and deny he did this; that he fought off anything and everything in his sleep.
Liza knew these stories to be true because even when Chad had just been born, no matter how many times she bedded him down with his favorite blanket or stuffed animal, all items always ended up on the floor. She knew he just learned to fight off anything that seemed to suffocate him in his sleep. Even his favorite Buddy Teddy wasn't immune to this.
Which is why what she found that Sunday morning so shocking. She knew Chad had a friend spend the night but they usually all passed out on the sofas in the game room. They hardly ever spent any time in Chad's room which is why she thought it would be safe to sneak in there to grab some early morning laundry.
Instead of dirty socks she found her son on his side holding his friend Ryan like an artist would hold his masterpiece. Ryan was cradled in her son's arms and while Chad held him close there was still something in his arms that held back, like if he held Ryan too tightly he would break him. For once in his life, Chad wasn't fighting with the night, he was embracing it.
Liza left without her dirty laundry that morning. She didn't say anything when the boys bounded downstairs and scoffed down the eggs she made before Chad ran off to basketball practice and Ryan seemed to just sprint out to his car, being late for practice with his sister.
But when Chad came home that night he found, next to the clean laundry on his bed, his mom waiting for him to talk.