Something Inside

All previous disclaimers apply.

What was happening to him? Chad took a moment to ponder as the beautiful man he had glimpsed in his mind long before he had seen him walk into the club led him out onto the dance floor by the hand. He had been surprised at how cool the offered hand had been, but the way his heart had pounded and the way his mouth had gone dry had cleared the questions out of his head and he had accepted gladly when Ryan had asked him to dance. He hadn’t really had time to tell Taylor, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was something about Ryan that was going to change his life completely. He had glimpsed that much. But still… how could it be that his heart was still in his throat and he was still trying to think of something to say as Ryan tugged him to the middle of the dance floor and set his hands to Chad’s hips to encourage him to dance. He was not that guy, Chad mused. He was not that guy who got messed up over any other guy. Admittedly, he was not messed up over Ryan, not really. He had just met him, but Chad was not that guy who fluttered and flirted and couldn’t think of anything to say. He was always calm, cool, and collected when it came to everything, but especially relationships. There was no point in being over dramatic and emotional when so much could potentially be on the line. He wondered if Ryan would make him want to be.

Wait right there, Danforth! His mind screamed at him. And it was right. He needed to take things slow. Even if, no, especially if Ryan was going to change his life the way he thought his might, he needed to make sure that he kept his wits about him. He believed in what he could do, but he was never going to be destiny’s puppet. He would have to make sure that Ryan was who he wanted before he did anything stupid with his heart. Oh, but Ryan could dance.

Chad couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face as he wrapped an arm around Ryan’s waist and pulled the smaller man closer to his body as the graceful blond spun around so that his back was to Chad. They seemed to fit together. It was so easy to move together. Ryan was so much more graceful, but he never made Chad feel like a clod as Chad was sure he could. Two songs passed without them noticing as Ryan turned around and wrapped his arms around Chad’s neck. Chad shivered when cool lips touched his neck and pulled away just a little.

Ryan looked up at him, confused, then shrugged and tried to lean in closer again.

“Ryan,” Chad murmured, pulling back a little further, “We don’t even know each other.”

“Does that matter?” Ryan pulled Chad’s head toward him and made to kiss him, but Chad pulled back. It was harder than Chad thought it should be. Ryan seemed so slight and small.

“It does to me,” He unwrapped Ryan’s arms from him and walked back up to the bar. This was the man who was supposed to change his life? He scoffed inwardly. His glimpses had never been wrong before, but there was always a first time for everything.

Suddenly Ryan was seated next to him, looking at him through the mirror on the back of the bar. Neither said anything for a long moment. Chad could see that Ryan was trying to catch his eyes in their reflections, but he couldn’t bring himself to match the burning gaze. If he did, he knew that he would lose his resolve. So, he stared at his own reflection, watching Ryan’s out of the corner of his eye, waiting.

Ryan was confused. In all his long years, not once had anyone turned him down when he had wanted them. He hadn’t been expecting Chad when he had walked into the club. Sharpay had begged him to come with them tonight and he hadn’t been able to resist her. It had been nearly seventy years since he had seen his sister and he hadn’t realized just how much he had missed her until they had been together again. His sister was spoiled, bitchy a lot of the time, and much too inclined to throw a fit when she didn’t get what she wanted. He adored her. He found himself laughing and smiling more than he had in decades as she pulled him from store to store that Troy had paid off to stay open late just for her and insisted that they buy Ryan a whole new wardrobe. She thought he needed to catch up with the times. After all, he was beautiful and eternally young. Suits just didn’t work for him the way they worked for Troy.

Troy and Gabriella were more than happy to have him with them as he was making their girl so happy. He knew he would never really be close to Troy, he had too much resentment toward him still to be close, but they got along well enough. Troy made his sister happy, that was all he needed to know. Gabriella was much easier for him to get along with. In fact, they spent long hours deep in discussion or bent over a chess board. He didn’t know why it was easier for him to see Gabriella kissing Sharpay, or running her hands through the long blonde hair, but he shrugged it off. Troy, Gabriella, and Sharpay were kind of a package deal. He had learned long ago to accept that. It was easier when he could see just how much the three loved each other and just how happy Sharpay was.

If only to keep a smile on her face, he had agreed to come with them. He wasn’t sure it was such a good idea, but he didn’t tell them that. Truthfully, he wasn’t sure if he wanted them to know that clubs were his chosen hunting ground. He was fully fed, it was true, but still instinct was instinct. He had been surprised to find that his sister and her lovers had made a change, as Troy had said. Ryan had never killed his donors, since the night he had been created, but the others hadn’t had a problem with it. It was why he had left them to be out on his own the first time, just thirty years into his rebirth. He had left them again at the beginning of the Great Depression for the same reason. But, he was shocked to find that they didn’t even hunt anymore. They paid off someone at the hospital and bought the blood they drank. They were more controlled than him now, and it made him a little angry and ashamed of the fact that he did, indeed, still hunt. When he’d had that thought earlier in the evening Sharpay had caught it and glared at him.

“Please, you think we’d look down on you for that?” she’d scoffed. And that had been the end of the conversation. But, not the end of his worry.

He’d been so sure that he would be able to resist anything at the club, but he hadn’t counted on walking into the crowd and seeing the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on from across the room. The caramel colored skin was beautiful, flawless. The hair, tied back tightly, oh, how he wanted to run his hands through it. His breath had caught when he had looked up and the warm brandy eyes were looking back at him. Suddenly, all he had known was that he wanted the young man at the bar. So, with no thought of hiding, he had gone to him, introduced himself, asked him to dance.

It had all been going so well! Just as he wanted it to go. Chad had been responding perfectly…until he decided it was time to make his move. And Chad had turned him down. Not only turned him down, but walked away from him. His first reaction had been anger. No one turned him down! It just didn’t happen. It hadn’t happened in all his life or his death. He had quickly gone from anger to amusement. Chad had turned him down when he was obviously as attracted to Ryan as Ryan was to him. It was such a mystery to Ryan and so few humans were that he had decided there might be something there worth pursuing. He could always use Chad for food later. Right now, he was intriguing.

And so Ryan found himself seated at the bar, trying to get Chad to look at him. When Chad stubbornly refused to cooperate, Ryan sighed and did something he hadn’t done in a very long time. He apologized.

“Chad, I apologize. So many have reacted to me in so much the same way for so long that I just reacted the same way to you that I have always with them. But, it was wrong of me. You deserve more respect from me than I gave you. Please accept my apology so that perhaps we can start again?” He turned to face Chad then and waited, for once unsure of the reaction he would get.

Finally, after a long moment, Chad turned to him and nodded, “Dinner tomorrow night. Late. I have a game. Nine o’clock at Benji’s off of eighth.” Then, Chad got up and walked away. Ryan smiled when he heard the pretty young woman who joined Chad on the way out.

“What happened? Are you guys going out? Dish! Jesus, what’s the point of having a gay best friend if he won’t even talk guys with you?!”

“Ryan,” Sharpay was suddenly at his side, “What exactly did I just see?”

“Sharpay,” Ryan turned to her and smiled, widely, surprising her, “For the first time in a hundred years, I have a date.”