A/N: Well, well, well. Valentine's Day is rolling around again, and what does that mean? Lots of love everywhere. And when I think of love, Channy isn't far behind. Here's a little oneshot on love, inspired by...well, Valentine's Day, really. Oh, and the song L-O-V-E, the lyrics of which I do not own. Enjoy!
Love vs. L.O.V.E.
"Oh my gosh!" Sonny's exclamation was loud enough to be heard by everyone in the cafeteria, and I was no exception. Seeing as I was already heading in the general direction of the table where she and Tawni were sitting (not to eat with them, of course; they were simply in the path from the counter to my table), I decided to see what all the fuss was about. As I drew nearer, my attention was caught by the magazine that Sonny was poring over diligently.
"Oh, is that the latest issue of Tween Weekly?" I asked with a smirk. "Shocked that there aren't any pictures of you - again?"
"Actually, no. I was just looking at this ad; a movie about Valentine's Day is coming out next Friday!" Sonny informed me excitedly. "Tawni, you wanna see it with me?" The blonde glanced up, mildly interested.
"Is it about me?" How self-centered. You'd think she had more important things to think of than herself.
"No." Sonny looked slightly frustrated.
"Does it have cute guys in it? And I don't mean normal guys, I mean hotel heirs and movie stars and princes!" Tawni flipped her hair as Sonny took a deep breath, looking to the ceiling for help. I could have told her that it was a lost cause - some people were just hopelessly beyond help.
"Yes," Sonny said through gritted teeth, annoyed. It made me laugh to see it, and she glared at me in response.
"Then I'm in!" Tawni agreed. Sonny clapped her hands happily, and I gave them both a scornful look.
"Do you have a problem with that, Chad?" Sonny fired at me, aggravated. That look that she gets on her face during confrontations is so irresistible that it's not even funny. So why should I resist? After all, irresistible means "unable to resist." Why try to do something I'm unable to do? I may be Chad Dylan Cooper, but there are limits to one's abilities.
"Oh, nothing," I replied sweetly, taking the empty seat next to her. "I just find it funny that you would actually spend money to go see some chick flick about people who have issues with Valentine's Day. After all, it's just a day. It's not that big a deal." I knew right when the words left my mouth that Sonny would protest. And she did. Not only is she irresistible -not like that, I only mean it's impossible to keep from provoking her when she puts on that argumentative face - but she's also predictable.
"What do you mean, 'just a day'?" Sonny asked fiercely. "It's not 'just a day'!" She emphasized it with air quotations. "It's a day where you express your feelings for others! It's a beautiful day, one of the most wonderful of the year. Definitely the most romantic. After all, it's the day of love!" She threw her hands up in the air dramatically as she pronounced the last sentence. Not bad. All in all, a moving speech. One of her better arguments. But still not good enough.
"Ha!" I scoffed. "Love. Right. Just because this day happened to be named after a saint, it's somehow the official day of love? What kind of logic is that?" Sonny's hands fell to the table as she leaned forward, looking at me intently.
"Do you even know what love is, Chad?" she questioned me, incredibly serious.
"Of course I do," I responded, equally as solemn. "It's that feeling I get when I look in a mirror." Sonny rolled her eyes before focusing on me. I squirmed inwardly under her gaze, but I tried not to show any visible emotion.
"Really, Chad? Really?" I swear, she used that line more often than I did, and it was my line! "Love isn't what you feel when you look at yourself - or at least, it shouldn't be." Her voice took on a dreamy quality, as though she wasn't really talking to me anymore. "It's that feeling that you - you just can't describe. You'd do anything for the person you feel it for. It makes you feel like flying, like you can do anything. It's...unbelievable." Sonny trailed off, her elbow propped on the table as she stared into space at places and people I couldn't see. I felt an awful twinge in my stomach as I wondered whom she was thinking of. I had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't me, which hurt more than I would have thought.
"Well," I began, shaking off the feeling, "you're wrong. On one account, at least. It's not just a feeling, you know."
"Let me guess - it's a word too, right? Just a word to you," she interrupted. I gave her a slightly irritated look before continuing.
"No, actually, it's not just a word to me." I saw Sonny open her mouth to respond, and I hastily cut her off. "Nor is it, in fact, a word."
"What are you talking about? Of course it's a word!" Tawni interjected. I had almost forgotten she was there. During my conversation with Sonny, Tawni had somehow managed to slide the magazine away from Sonny and begin perusing it herself. I wisely chose not to contemplate how this had been accomplished without either Sonny or myself noticing.
"Actually, it's not," I contradicted her before turning back to Sonny. "It's an acronym."
"An acronym," she repeated, slightly uncertain. It gave me the impression that she didn't know what an acronym was, but she definitely wasn't going to admit that to me.
"Yes, an acronym," I confirmed. "Like SCUBA, or RADAR, or ASAP. Each letter stands for something." I decided to be nice and give her the definition, allowing her to save face.
"I know what an acronym is!" Sonny exclaimed indignantly. But the expression in her eyes said something else.
"Uh huh," I said skeptically. "Well, regardless of whether or not you know what I mean by it, love is an acronym."
"Well, I hate to admit it, but you're right. I don't know what you mean. How is love an acronym?" Sonny asked after a brief pause, and I grinned. I'd been hoping she would ask that question.
"Well, L," I told her as I moved closer to the edge of my seat, decreasing the space between the two of us, "is for the way you look at me." To make sure that she understood, I looked her straight in the eye and turned on the charm. Sparkly eyes, dashing smile, you name it. Sonny's eyes softened as she locked her gaze with mine - mission accomplished.
"O," I paused before continuing, "is for the only one I see." Tawni coughed emphatically, clearly disbelieving. I continued to have Sonny's full, rapt attention, however.
"V is very, very extraordinary," I resumed, not sparing a glance for the blonde on the other side of the table. As I spoke, I took Sonny's hand in mine, just as I had all those weeks ago when she first barged onto my set. Her eyes still grew as wide as they had back then.
"E is even more than anyone that you adore," I concluded, my voice softer and sweeter than before. Sonny swayed forward in her seat, apparently unbalanced, and I tugged slightly on her hand to keep her leaning towards me. I moved closer to her, about to kiss her...
"Ha!" Sonny and I both froze before turning to look at Tawni, the source of the noise. "You - you were - ha! - about to kiss - ha! - Chad Dylan Cooper! Ha!" she gasped out in between giggles. I glared at her, affronted and - dare I say it - a bit disappointed. After all, I had been so close. Sonny jolted back to life, brushing her hair out of her face nervously.
"Ha, ha," she echoed, a bit less wholeheartedly than Tawni. "Yeah, that's - that's funny!" I had been right when I said Sonny couldn't act. Even the blonde (the dumb one, not me) could tell that she was faking it.
"Oh my gosh! You actually wanted to kiss him? Sonny!" Tawni burst into manic laughter again. I was starting to worry about her sanity. "And the funny thing is - you were going to kiss him after that stupid acronym stuff, right? And he didn't even make that up!" Sonny, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment, whipped around to face me.
"What?" Her voice was angry, and I shifted in my seat, uncomfortable.
"Well..."
"Of course he didn't! Don't you know that he has someone write all his lines for him?" accused Tawni. "That one's from a song. He doesn't know what love is, so he fell back on someone else's words!" Another giggling fit soon followed as she stood up unsteadily and walked - more like stumbled - out of the cafeteria.
"Chad, did you really do that?" Sonny asked, frowning. She looked so forlorn, I didn't know how to explain it in a way that made me look good.
"Well...maybe." Her frown grew deeper. "But I do know what love is, Sonny," I added in my defense.
"Do you, Chad?" She replied tiredly. "Do you really?"
"Yes. It's..." I took Sonny's hand again as I searched desperately for inspiration. Her downcast expression was what finally gave me an answer. "It's feeling sad when the other person is sad. It's...always wanting to be their shoulder to cry on," I continued, remembering one of our past conversations.
"Or laugh on," she amended.
"Right. Or laugh on. It's doing stupid things just to make the other person happy. Like dancing to no music in an empty room. Like actually being nice, even though it goes against your principles. Like kissing a stupid pig." I grimaced at the memory. I am never going to forget that disgusting moment, unfortunately. "It's being there when they need you, even if it means dressing up in a stupid weird beard costume. It's going on a fake date with them, just to pretend for one night that things are exactly the way you want them to be." I paused in my recollections, remembering when I had thought that Sonny kissed me, only to be corrected. That was one of the most potentially humiliating moments in my life. Thankfully, I managed to think my way out of it. But that possibility was still harrowing.
"You know, Chad," said Sonny in a low voice, bringing me back to the present, "All of those had to do with me." She blushed as she spoke, and I (shockingly) felt a bit flushed myself.
"Well...yeah, I guess so," I stammered out. If my idea of love somehow revolved around Sonny...
"So you think love is..." Sonny didn't seem able to complete her sentence, perhaps afraid of the implications. I knew I was.
"A feeling," I finished for her. "Not just a word. Not just an acronym. But a feeling, too. And not just one I get when I look in a mirror, either. One that I get when - " I had fully intended to tell her right then and there that I loved her. But I couldn't bring myself to it, instead stopping abruptly mid-sentence and choking on the words. And really, you can't blame me. I hadn't really come to terms with it yet myself, much less worked up the courage to tell her.
"I know," Sonny replied softly with a small smile, placing her other hand on top of our already clasped ones. "I know," she repeated, looking straight at me. We stayed like that for a moment, simply looking at each other, before I broke the gaze.
"So...are you still going to see that movie?" I asked awkwardly. She lifted an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"Well, you see, I was thinking maybe - " My mouth ceased to function again, and Sonny giggled. This time I was certain that my cheeks were now tinged red.
"I would love to go with you, Chad," she answered while I was still attempting to formulate the question. "I'll placate Tawni somehow - perhaps with a mirror. Just to share the love." She grinned at me knowingly, and I relaxed, smiling back.
"Well. Now that we've got that cleared up..." I pretended to check my watch. "I've gotta go." I really didn't, but I felt the need to celebrate somewhere, preferably out of the public eye. Sonny nodded, believing me, and I stood up to leave. "Oh, and by the way, sunshine - " I called out across the cafeteria as I reached the exit, "it's still an acronym!" I winked at her on my way out, leaving her with no time to protest. The sounds of her sputtering in disbelief behind me were audible even out in the hallway, and I chuckled to myself. Oh, yes. Life was good.
Love - (n.) an indescribable feeling, known to make people do anything for the recipient, however stupid. (i.e., My love for Sonny is quite possibly the most irrational feeling ever. And yet, it's also the one that feels the most right. Who would have thought?)
L.O.V.E. - (n.) an acronym in which the meanings assigned to each letter combine to describe the general feeling of love. (i.e., L.O.V.E. equals love. Don't even ask. Just go with it.)
Love and L.O.V.E. Such similar concepts, yet so different when you look closely. Is one better than the other? That's a debate yet to be resolved.
(But for the record - L.O.V.E. is much better. Just saying.)
A/N: Please review if you liked this story even just a bit, or perhaps even not at all. I'd love to hear your feedback. Thank you, and Happy Valentine's Day to all (even though I'm a bit early)!