It was two a.m. in a city without stars, where the smoke in the air was as thick as oxygen and the night followed you around even on the brightest afternoon, Los Angeles. As for why Allison 'Sonny' Munroe stood outside a seedy motel at two a.m., well, that would be her managers fault, who was still on the phone apologizing to her as she carried her only recovered suitcase through the small side alleys formed by the thirty or so cheap rooms.
"I understand Willow, it's okay, you don't have to apologize anymore, okay? I'm at my room, so I'll call you tomorrow when I wake up, and then we'll hurry to the studio and nobody will ever know." she listened as Willow continued to apologize and then hung up. Her manager was nice and over-dramatic, but she was probably one of the best for it. Sighing she opened the door to A14 and locked it behind her.
L.A. ... how long had it been? She'd been filming overseas, ever since her first audition for her famous part as Kerry, Shia LaBeouf's new love interest in the Transformer Chronicles after Megan Fox's feud with the director, she'd been overseas or out of Hollywood for all sorts of reasons, mostly foreign films, she couldn't even remember how many French and Bollywood films she'd ended up in after Willow insisted on those language lessons.
But still, being out of country for so long, being in the business for so long was more like it, had just made everything seem so... boring. She loved acting, she loved the rush of opening night, but that was it. It was a rush that only lasted awhile, once she stopped, so did the rush. Maybe, that was why she had come back to L.A. for this film? She didn't have a single truly bad memory about this place, so maybe she had come to see if once again she could have the rush, the overexcited giddiness once more.
Or maybe you could see Chad... she scowled and buried her head into the cheap previously body-fluid coated pillows and tried to get the voice out of her head.
Chad Dylan Cooper had not been seen for two years, nothing big, not even enough for people to note his absence, he just sort of faded from media attention, stopped making movies, Mackenzie Falls got canceled, and like a ghost, Chad was out of the public eye. She had tried to call him, every now and then, but his number was always disconnected. Tawni, a close friend even now, especially after one particular incident in France, had no clue where he could be. Zora, who lived in Bollywood as far as anyone else was concerned, only knew that he was still in L.A. thanks to her amazing information network. Nico and Grady had never seen him though, even if they were the ones to remain in TV studios.
"Hey!" she blinked and sat up, letting out a scream as she spotted a bum standing at the end of her bed,
"Get it out!" she screeched, jumping up and trying to push him out without touching him.
"Wait, wait, wait! It's me, Chad Dylan Cooper!"
"Chad?" she asked in shock.
"Sonny?" she nodded hesitantly, "Thank god! Do you have any hair gel on you?" she blinked and began to slowly back away.
"Hair gel?"
"Yes, I can't affor.... I mean, heh heh, I ran out of mine." she nodded slowly, and started to finger the phone behind her.
"Sure.. uhm, Chad. It's in that suitcase right there." she motioned towards it and began to hurriedly dial numbers while he was distracted.
"Thank god!" he moaned, clutching the circular little bottle to his cheek and began to apply it to his ratty looking hair.
"So, what are you doing here Chad Dylan Cooper, " she made sure that whoever had picked up could hear her, "in my, Sonny Munroe's room, A14, dressed up like a bum at the Love You Long Time Motel on First and Bryant?"
"Uhm... no reason, it's for a role, my producers are strange." he replied quickly heading to the bathroom to check out his looks. As soon as he was out of the room she bent down to the phone.
"Send help quickly, I think he's going to attack soon." she murmured.
"Help is on its way." the operator said comfortingly. Quickly she hung up, and wondered if they would show up.
"Really, so what's your character name?" she just had to keep him talking until the police came, who knew what a crazy claiming to be Chad could do.
"Barnaby, he's a bum who lives in L.A. looking for work, he eventually meets up with his old girlfriend, cleans up, and helps his girlfriend get off drugs."
"Really? Sounds cool. Why are you... still in costume?" she was unsure if the question would set him off or not.
"I like to remain in character!" he said nervously. She couldn't help but scoff.
"Right..." she said sarcastically.
"I do!" seeing as that hadn't set him off she decided to continue on.
"Chad, where have you been the last two years?"
"Filming." he replied, she peeked into the bathroom, noting that he was now using one of her razors to shave off his scruffy and dirty-looking beard.
"Oh, so how come you haven't been answering my calls?" she asked, only to gasp as he turned to her, without the beard, even with his longer hair, he did indeed pass for her Chad, but still, he looked... violent.
"You called?" he asked, as if she had told him something special or important, she just nodded her head, "Oh, well... I've been so busy these days, you know how it is?" he smoothed down a loose piece of hair so that it conformed into his now perfect hairstyle, all he needed was some better clothes and he would maybe pass for CDC.
"Uhm.. yeah, so why are you in my motel room?"
"Why are you in a motel?" she sighed.
"Long story, but I asked you first!"
"Well I.. asked you second!"
"Well I was first!"
"Second!"
"First!"
"Second!"
"First!"
"Second!"
"First!"
"Second!"
"First!"
"Second!"
"Second!"
"First.. Dammit!"
"Heh heh, got ya again!" she was to caught up in the moment to care about danger right now.
"Well, whatever. I just happened to be getting into character when these bums were trying to break into here, so I stopped them. You may thank me as the hero I am now." he preened forward proudly. Distantly, she could hear the sound of sirens coming.
"Your story makes no sense Chad."
"Well you never answered me!"
"What was your question again?" Sonny replied, giving him a look out of the corner of her eye.
"I asked you why your in a motel!"
"Well if you must know, my manager misbooked my hotel, and all but that suitcase was lost on my plane here, and this was the only place that would take a reservation without I.D. or paying beforehand."
"Oh... So whatcha been up to?" he asked and took a seat in a chair that she didn't want to know what had happened in before.
"Overseas movies mostly, you've probably heard of my role in Transformers, and maybe you've seen my newest, Le Petit Pain Cheese."
"Or course I have, it's the one where you fall in love, right?" she sighed and rolled her eyes.
"I fall in love in all of my movies, 'The Bun Cheese' is no different."
"Somebody named their movie 'The Bun Cheese'?"
"No, which leads me to believe that you are in fact a real bum." he scowled and stood and preparing to march over and tell her that he was not a bum.
"Freeze! Your under arrest!" he turned and blinked in horror as Sonny quickly ran behind the officers.
"Thank goodness your here! This bum is delusional! He's convinced he's Chad Dylan Cooper!" the cop nodded.
"Don't worry ma'am, we'll take care of him!"
"Wait Sonny! It's me! I'm Chad!" she didn't even spare him a glance as he was lead out the door by the officer, not even a teeny tiny glance, "Sonny!" he screamed.
"By the way, my wife is a really big fan of your latest Le Petite Fille, could I get your autograph?" she smiled a fake smile.
"Sure." she didn't look as they led the bum away, there was nothing to look at.
It was nearly three a.m. she noted as they filed out, and sighing, she picked up her cell and laid down on the bed, dialing a familiar number.
"Hey, this is CDC, if I don't pick up, you know why!" she could hear the arrogance, and adored it even as she despised it.
"Hey Chad," she murmured after the beep, "I saw you today, I guess you hit rock bottom then.... I got you arrested. Don't worry, I'll have my manager bail you out and give you a few dollars. Don't spend it on liquor or drugs or something... but anyway, it doesn't matter, I just called to say I love you." she hung up and pulled out her other phone, the one with Chad's voice recorded on it's messages, and listened to the message, noting that it was only a few messages away from filling up.
AN: I... just don't know. I really don't. I just wanted to write something with Sonny and Chad, and I had this idea of Chad being a bum and Sonny really successful, and Mochamint19 wanted a story inspired by Hammers and Nails by Jack's Mannequin (Good song by the way) and you got this.
I think it scares me.
Oh, it was suppose to be like a five shot, but there is no way in hell I can continue this, unless... somebody wants to collab? (You write the next chapter, I write the next, etc.) If you do, just say so in a review!