Fic: Community Service, HSM, Chad/Ryan, NC-17 (19/27)
Title: Community Service (chapter 19 of 27)
Author: SallySimpson
Fandom: High School Musical
Pairing: Chad/Ryan
Word Count: 1416, this chapter
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: I have no legal, professional, or spiritual relationship with the terrifying Disney conglomerate. But it's their own darn collective fault that their boys are just so sexy.
Summary: Ryan tells Chad not to question his own sexuality. Chad does not appreciate this.
1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 || 10 || 11 || 12 || 13 || 14 || 15 || 16 || 17 || 18
In this chapter: The morning after Chad and Ryan's big night.
“If you want caffeine, then why don’t you just have coffee?” Chad asked, looking over his shoulder at Ryan. “This tea thing makes no sense.”
Ryan sighed, and stirred honey into his mug. “I don’t like coffee,” he explained, “and I don’t want herbal tea. Ergo, black tea.”
Chad watched him for a moment longer, then turned back to the stove. “Well, what about, like, Starbucks and all that?" he asked, flipping the pancakes with expert precision, the butter snapping in the frying pan. At first, Ryan had snickered when Chad had put his mother’s apron on, but Chad wasn’t about to risk bodily harm just for breakfast. And he wasn’t about to go put a shirt on, either, not when he was hoping to be getting all naked again with Ryan, very soon. "You know, coffee with a ton of milk and sugar and flavor syrups all added in. It's basically like one big hot sundae.”
“I avoid sundaes,” Ryan announced regally. “I’m a dancer. I can’t get fat.”
Grimacing, Chad shook his head. “You’d better be kidding,” he warned, and turned off the burner beneath the frying pan before checking out Ryan’s expression. “Yeah, you’re kidding,” he decided with relief, and set the plate of steaming blueberry pancakes on the table in front of Ryan. “So eat up.”
“No fork?” Ryan asked, laying a napkin in his lap and searching the table as Chad pulled the apron off and draped it over a chair.
“Forks are for wusses,” Chad informed him, but couldn’t keep the laughter out of his eyes. “Fine,” he said, and reached back to pull open the silverware drawer, grabbing a couple of forks. “Wuss,” he teased, handing one to Ryan.
“Ohh, someone is so not getting any tonight,” Ryan retorted, spreading butter on his pancakes and watching it start to melt.
“Who, you? Bummer.” Chad stuffed his first forkful of pancake into his mouth, and then nodded in satisfaction. “Too bad you don’t have a hot boyfriend like I do.”
Ryan laughed and shook his head. “You’re awfully chipper this morning,” he observed, and Chad couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face in response.
“Shouldn’t I be? I had a pretty fantastic night last night.” He winked at Ryan. “That hot boyfriend I mentioned.”
This time Ryan nearly looked bashful. “I’ve never been anyone’s boyfriend before,” he mumbled, so softly Chad barely caught it.
“Yeah, well. I’ve never had one,” he replied. “So that should probably make us even, or something.”
“Yeah, right.” Ryan shook his head but didn’t argue. For several minutes they ate in contented silence, until Chad started to wonder if he could really stand a third gigantic helping, or if he should take the prudent path and stop while he still had a little room left to digest. Looking at Ryan, he decided on the latter course of action.
Ryan laid his fork aside and sipped at his tea, his eyes on Chad. “Do you think you’re done with that whole growing pains thing now?”
Chad’s brow furrowed. “Growing pains?”
“Yeah, you know,” Ryan said. “All that ‘adjusting to life-changing revelations’ you were going on about. Last night... well, you kind of seemed leaps and bounds past that, all of a sudden.”
It was a perceptive observation, and just a little too close for comfort. “Um.” Chad felt his cheeks flushing hot. “I just figured that maybe... I mean, maybe if....” He looked at Ryan, who was still giving him that intent ‘I can see into your soul, you faker’ look. “I thought that if I skipped a bunch of baby steps all at once, then maybe I could kind of trick myself. You know? Like, I needed time to adjust, yeah, but I didn’t want to analyze things, really, I just wanted to feel it and be comfortable feeling it. So, we kind of got a bunch of things out of the way at once.”
“Out of the way?” Ryan shook his head, and leaned back in his chair. “God, you confuse me,” he muttered, but to Chad’s relief he didn’t seem particularly irritated, just... baffled. “First you want the baby steps, then you don’t want them... I never know what’s coming next, with you.”
Chad shrugged, uncertain just how to respond to that. “Uh. Sorry?” he offered, but Ryan stifled a chuckle at his transparently insincere apology, so he figured he couldn’t have totally screwed up. “Anyway, what about you, huh?” he asked, knocking back a swallow of orange juice. “What’s with your whole ‘I don’t need ambiance’ gig?”
“Chad, I’m a guy,” Ryan pointed out.
“Yeah, I noticed,” Chad informed him dryly. “And the whole dick thing kind of clinched my suspicions.”
Ryan rolled his eyes. “What I mean is that I wanted you to fuck me. And you wanted to fuck me, so we were in agreement there. So then why waste time lighting candles?”
The argument made sense, on the whole; Chad could see that. So it was beyond him why Ryan’s words put a knot of dissatisfaction in his gut. “I don’t think... I mean, ‘waste of time’ is kind of harsh, don’t you think?” he asked, but didn’t wait for Ryan to answer. “I didn’t make you sit and wait for an hour while I recited sonnets at you or anything. I just felt like... I don’t know, like it was an occasion worth commemorating, or something.”
“You think you wouldn’t remember it otherwise?” Ryan asked, and the wry look in his eyes made Chad want to squirm.
“No, I didn’t say... forget it.” Chad frowned, and pushed his empty plate away. “You’re the confusing one, anyway,” he mumbled.
“How am I confusing?”
“Seriously?” Chad was incredulous. “You, with your whole ‘impress me’ deal, and then you insist you don’t want presents, or, or specialness, or anything?”
“You impressed me without all that,” Ryan put in, folding his arms on the table and leaning in, narrowing the distance between them. “And anyway, being confusing is the bottom’s prerogative. Just ask any girl.”
Chad frowned at him. “You did not just compare yourself to a girl. Or all girls to bottoms. Or... Christ, Ryan.”
“It was a joke, Chad,” Ryan muttered, but he wasn’t smiling either. He rubbed a hand over his eyes like he was tired.
“Yeah, whatever.” Chad sighed, and stood up to stack their dirty dishes in the sink. “This is stupid, regardless. Let’s just drop it.”
“Fine,” Ryan replied. “I have no idea what we’re arguing about at this point anyway.”
Me either, Chad thought, and couldn’t help but wonder if relationships ever got any smarter than theirs, or if it was always such a damn tangle. “I think we’re arguing to create more sexual tension,” he announced, trying desperately to lighten the mood once more. It was such a rare opportunity for Ryan and he to be together in private for a few relaxed hours, as opposed to scrambling to the finish line so they could go clean up and pretend to ignore each other again. Turning around, he leaned against the kitchen counter, and shot Ryan a smirk. “You know, ‘cause we have to have a fight first so that we can get to the hot make-up sex.”
“Make-up sex?” Ryan asked, some of his customary amusement returning to his eyes. “That’s ambitious, don’t you think?” He stood up and strolled around the table, then braced his arms on either side of Chad, caging him against the counter. “Pushing your limits so hard, twice in one twenty-four hour period? Plus, the sun is shining,” he pointed out, nodding towards the window. “You might actually be able to see my naked male body.”
“Oh, and you really think I can’t handle that?” Chad drawled, slipping his hands around Ryan’s waist and then dropping them to cup his ass, seductive heat blazing through the thin cotton of Ryan’s pajama pants. “I think I’m starting to get used to your naked male body, actually,” he added, and jerked Ryan closer until he could just feel the outline of Ryan’s stiffening cock, pressing against his thigh.
Ryan’s lips parted on a soft gasp, and he wriggled just a little, rubbing against Chad in that way he’d figured out fast always drove Chad crazy. “Will wonders never cease,” he murmured, and slid his hand up Chad’s bare chest.
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Chad muttered, and crushed their lips together in a kiss.
To Chapter 20