A/N: Okay guys, here's the deal: I hate this story.
A friend of mine requested it and to be honest, I had no idea where to begin or end. Apparently requests aren't my forte. But yea, I really, really hate this for some reason. Mostly because it's lacking in a point, due to the fact that it was a request. I tried to give it as much purpose as possible, but... meh. I'm terrible at humor, which is the angle I was going for here.
I'm not sure if I'm going to leave this one up. I guess that all depends on what you guys think. So to my good buddy Sari, hope you enjoy this one, cause I nearly killed myself writing it.
I'm worried about people maybe getting on me for Chad acting out of character here, so just to elaborate: Chad acts out of place in this fic because it's an experiment in what he acts like around his mom and dad. We never see that kind of interaction and I like to think he acts completely pathetic and weak around them because, hey, being a jerk can get exhausting ;)
So enjoy, tell me what you think. Reviewing'll make it easier to decide whether I leave this abomination up or not. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Sonny With a Chance.
---
He didn't notice the vice grip his girlfriend had on his hand until he lost all the feeling in his arm.
Chad looked down at the girl hanging off of him and smiled, leaning over to place a kiss on the top of her head.
"Sonny," he whispered, "I told you, you're fine. Trust me, they'll hardly even pay any attention to us."
Sonny just nodded, keeping her grip on his arm. He squeezed her shoulder when he noticed her shaking. "Would you relax? You're the one who wanted to come home with me tonight."
Sonny shrugged, not bothering to look up at him. "Mom's working late and I hate thunderstorms... And besides, I thought your parents were never home."
Chad sighed. "Yea, usually. In fact they've been gone for about three weeks now. I just got the text that they were back as my shift ended, otherwise I would have warned you." Sonny's demeanor didn't seem to change at this. Chad smirked. "If you're that nervous, I can always send you back home... All alone. While the thunder and lightning and pounding rain presses on..."
Sonny's grip tightened on him, if that was at all possible. "No, no... it's fine..."
Sonny continued shaking, wondering what she was getting herself into. What could the parents of Chad Dylan Cooper, of all people, be like? She loved Chad with all her heart, but he could certainly be... unpleasant when he wanted, for lack of a better word. And Chad said they were usually never home. They always seemed to be very busy with something or another. Unwarranted self-importance seemed to be Chad's speciality, and Sonny worried now, more than ever, that he got it from his parents. Sonny's palms began to sweat at this point. What if they didn't like her?
She looked down again, staring nervously at the doorknob as Chad began leading her inside.
She relaxed slightly as the smell of home-baked cookies drifted to her nose. That seemed... surprisingly normal for a household like this... If you could even call it a 'house'. The word 'mansion' didn't even seem to do it justice. She imagined the farms she grew up around back home could probably fit in the bottom floor alone, with room to spare.
Chad smiled, noticing her grip relaxing a bit.
"See? Told ya. Everything's fine." Sonny smiled a bit, still holding cautiously onto his arm.
"Chad? You home?"
That's when Sonny saw something she never thought she'd see in her entire life. In fact, she was sure no one on the planet had seen it. She imagined if she called Ripley's with the story, they would laugh at her, saying it was impossible:
Chad lit up.
Not the kind of lighting up that occurred whenever he read that Mackenzie Falls was soaring ahead of So Random in the ratings. Not the kind of lighting up when he noticed he was having a particularly good hair day.
No, his eyes nearly popped out of his head, and he grinned from ear to ear. He was simply lit up. Sonny had to admit, it almost didn't look right on him.
"Hi Mom!" Chad hurried into the kitchen, seemingly forgetting that Sonny was with him. Not one to take anything personally, she chuckled it off and followed him in. By the time she got there, Chad was already in the arms of who she assumed to be his mother. It was quite the sight: stuck-up, bad-boy Chad Dylan Cooper, clinging tightly to his mother's waist like a child.
She smiled to herself when his mother ran a hand through his hair; Sonny imagined that she was the only person on earth who had permission to touch his hair.
"We missed you, baby. Did you have a good week at work?"
Sonny had to bite her lip at this point to keep from laughing as Chad bobbed his head up and down enthusiastically. "Yea, did you catch the show last Wednesday?"
"We ran back to the hotel as fast as we could; we only ended up missing the first five minutes."
Sonny finally had to giggle at the scene that unfolded in front of her. Chad pouted, his mother pinched his cheek, telling him it was no big deal, and Chad muttered his apologies. There was officially no denying it: Chad Dylan Cooper was a Mama's Boy.
His mother turned to face her at the sound of her giggling. Sonny stopped abruptly, suddenly remembering why she'd been so scared in the first place. Much to her relief, she just smiled.
"And who's this, Chaddy?"
Sonny bit her lip again. 'Don't laugh, Sonny. That would be horrendously rude, don't laugh.'
Chad blushed furiously, suddenly remembering that his girlfriend was in the room. "Mom," he mumbled, "Don't call me that."
Obviously not getting the message, she laughed and ruffled his hair. "What are you talking about? Your father and I have called you that since you were two."
Chad's blush deepened while Sonny continued her inner struggle to not burst into hysterical laughter. He groaned in irritation before gesturing to her.
"This is Sonny. She's my girlfriend. She--"
"Girlfriend?", his mother interrupted. "When did that happen?"
His father, who seemed to have shown up out of nowhere, spoke up. "You haven't been bringing girls back to the house while we're away again, have you?"
Sonny raised an eyebrow. "'Again'?
"Chad Dylan," his mother pressed on, ignoring the humiliated look on her son's face. "How many times do we have to have this talk--"
"Oh my GOD, cut me a break, would ya? My girlfriend's standing right here; can't we talk about this later? Are you trying to humiliate me?"
His father continued speaking, once again ignoring him. "I've completely lost track of how many times you've done this... How many girlfriends have you had now?"
"Yea Chad, how many?" Sonny chimed in, smirking. The thought of him having girlfriends before her didn't bother her too much, but she knew it was putting him under a lot of pressure, something she didn't see him in often, and it was absolutely hilarious.
Chad sighed deeply, attempting to change the subject. "SO, anyway, I was going to ask if Sonny could hang out here tonight. Her mom's working all night and she's afraid of thunderstorms." His mother beamed at this.
"Oh, absolutely! We'd love to have you here, dear. You'll get her all taken care of, right Chaddy?"
Chad held back the urge to bash his head against the wall.
"Yea, I guess. I was just gonna give her a shirt out of my closet and let her sleep on my bed..."
"Ooooh," she answered in a tone that suggested 'I know exactly what you're up to' . "Gotcha," she nudged him and winked, obviously thinking she was being skillfully subtle, despite her being painfully obvious.
'Kill me now. Someone just end my suffering right here," he thought to himself.
His mother made a face, taking a step towards him. "Are you okay, Chaddy? You're acting awfully strange..." Chad glanced uneasily at Sonny, who, he was surprised to find, was still smiling. Sonny knew better than to fall for all the covering up he was doing. It was clear he was a completely different person around his parents, but now that she was here, he was desperately trying to channel the arrogant Chad she knew so well.
Chad ran a nervous hand through his hair before grabbing Sonny's arm and beginning to lead her away. "Yea well, this has been fun. Me and Sonny'll be upstairs if you need us..."
"Oh, well, come back down in fifteen minutes; I'll let you lick the spoon," she offered with a smile.
Sonny felt Chad's grip on her arm tighten at this. "Mom... I'm way too old for that," he muttered, dragging Sonny up the stairs.
"Well come down later anyway!", she called after the pair. "We can show Sonny your baby pictures!"
---
All the laughter Sonny had been bottling up finally came bursting out as Chad flopped down in the giant bean bag chair in the corner of his room. She held her hands over her stomach and bent forward, trying desperately to catch her breath. Chad glared at her, waiting for her to stop. It seemed like an eternity before she finally calmed down and plopped herself down next to her.
"Got that out of your system?", he muttered under his breath.
Sonny sighed, patting his shoulder. "Your parents are awesome."
Chad did a double take at her. "Awesome? I don't think I've ever been that humiliated in my entire life..."
Sonny chuckled and patted his knee. "When I think 'child star', the last thing I picture is a home like this. I sort of expected them to be... distant, uncaring..."
Chad grimaced slightly. "Yea, they care a lot, I'll give ya that."
Sonny smiled. "Yea, they do. It's adorable. And it's adorable that you think you can hide the fact that you like it." Chad narrowed his eyes at her.
"I don't think so."
"Oh, I do think so," she said. "CDC spends all day acting like he owns the world,I imagine he needs someone to take care of him at the end of the day."
Chad smirked and fixed his tie. "True, being awesome is exhausting work." He smiled when Sonny giggled. "Yea, I admit it. I'm a sucker when it comes to them. It's just that they're not around very often and I miss them so much by the time they get back--"
Sonny giggled, putting a finger on his lips to silence him. "Take good care of 'em. You don't know what day is going to be their last." Chad frowned, realized Sonny was referring to her father. He scooted closer to her, wrapping an arm firmly around her shoulders. Sonny sniffled. "I miss him so much... I never really realized how much I took him for granted until he was gone..."
Chad bit his lip, not entirely sure what to do to comfort her. He couldn't exactly say he knew how she felt. He'd been spoiled by two parents that fussed over him far more than necessary. He hadn't realized how much he'd taken that for granted until Sonny brought it up.
Still at a loss for what to do, he simply leaned over and gave her a loving peck on the cheek.
"I love you, and I promise I'll always be here for you."
Sonny smiled and looked up, kissing his nose. "I love you too. Thanks for letting me see the other side of Chad today. Even it was just for a few seconds."
Chad laughed, nudging her. "Hope you enjoyed it, cause you're never going to see it again."
"Chaddy!", came the call from downstairs, "Last chance to come get the spoon before I put it in the dishwasher!"
Chad pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. Sonny smirked and gently pushed him off the bean bag. "Just go."
Chad rolled his eyes and stood up, strutting out of the room, clearly putting on a show for Sonny. "Yea... Only cause you told me to." Sonny watched as he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
She smirked again at the sound of Chad rushing down the stairs and calling back excitedly. "Coming, Mommy!!"