A/N: Hi everyone, like any sane person on this planet, I'm just happen to be a Channy shipper. And since they are so irresistible, I know I have to write something to express my love for the world to see :)
So here I am, on , posting my first story ever, and I really really hope you guys would enjoy it! Pardon me and my English, cause I'm not a native speaker :P
The story was inspired by a bunch of other stories on this awesome forum, plus Taylor Swift's Back To December, plus a quote from Twilight. I also included some lines form FFTF part 2, but with a little twist to them. Please R&R *hugs* :)
Disclaimer: I don't own SWAC, Twilight nor Taylor Swift. If I did, Taylor would be singing songs about Channy and Bella-Edward while they're making out *drools*
"Don't let me go!", Sonny turned her head slightly, her voice trembled with pure horror.
"I won't. Now will you please just hold on to handlebars and stay focus?", Chad suppressed a laugh and gripped the back of Sonny's bike tighter, balancing it while she pedaled wobbly.
"At this rate, I think I might get hit by a bus any second now", Sonny scoffed, but a hint of panic lingered in her words.
"Right, like I'm going to let that happen. But if it did, I have to inform you that I would live without you just fine…", he trailed off.
Sonny felt an instant throb in her chest. Her thought wavered for a split second and the bike collapsed, leaving her crestfallen.
Chad rushed to her side, an expression of concern mixed with amusement on his face. He pulled her into a tight embrace, his lips brushed her nose with a butterfly touch. "… I just don't want to."
Sonny bought herself a cappuccino and sat in the corner of Wind Chime. Coming to this café was becoming a ritual to her. Somehow, she believed that the darkest corner always gave people a great observation of their surroundings. And so she sat, with the hope of seeing pedestrians passing by would fill in the unfathomable hole in her soul. But who was she kidding? If that was the solution to every heartbreak, she wouldn't have felt so hollow. Because Sonny, of all people, understood that no matter how many cups of coffee she drank, how many strangers passed by, the chair next to her would still be occupied by her haunting past, not Chad…
"Chad, you promised! You said you wouldn't let me go!", Sonny choked out between sobs. With every word spoken, she could feel his fingers becoming colder in her hands.
"Yes, but that was 2 years ago, when we were 14. Things have changed, Sonny", he muttered, retreating his hands out of hers, his voice a monotone.
"Tell me what have, Chad? Look me in the eyes and tell me!"
"I have. I've learnt that the world is not just one block wide. I've learnt that I was just an infatuated kid back then. The best way to love someone is to set them free, Sonny. I'm sorry." With that, he turned and walked away.
"Don't let me go!", Sonny reached out, but her voice was lost in the dead silence of the empty hallway…
The wind chime at the door rang, informing the arrival of another customer, snapping Sonny back from the devastating memory. She remembered Stephenie Meyer once wrote: "When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it's not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end". Truth be told, Sonny believed in it, but complying it, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. So she lived on the contrary, letting the break up along with the good old times come back whenever they wanted to, all the while grieving over them. Each memory was a stitch to her tattered heart, it pained her, but in the end, all would be healed. Sonny laughed at how optimistic she seemed to be and sipped her cappuccino slowly, the bittersweet flavor felt dull compared to the salty taste of the drop on her lips.
"Sonny?"
With one word, all the images from the past came flooding back to her, as sudden and nerve-racking as lightning. She knew that voice! But how was it possible? She struggled to blink back tears and looked up, yet through her blurry vision, it was still him.
"Chad. It's been over a year, hasn't it?", her voice broke a little at his name.
He simply nodded, pulling a chair out and sat down opposite to her.
"So… I can't believe I meet you here. What are the odds?", Chad lifted the corners of his mouth to form a smile, but it didn't touch his eyes.
His words fell into an awkward silence. Sonny didn't reply. Instead, she toyed with her silver spoon, the cappuccino getting colder as each second passed like blood pulsing through a bruise, slowly and excruciatingly. She stared at her cup, but she could feel his gaze scrutinizing every thought that flickered through her soul.
"Is there something wrong?", he asked, sincerity and skepticism burning in his voice, but his poker face remained expressionless.
"No" She lied, her gaze stay locked on anywhere but the deep ocean in the eyes of his.
"Then why don't you look at me?"
The answer to his question danced on her tongue, waiting to escape. Sonny pressed her lips together to keep it in. She didn't want to tell him her utmost fear, that his eyes haunted her. No, not exactly, it was the way they reflected her image. Sonny had been so used to seeing him stare at her with adoration sparkling, so pure that she wanted to keep it locked in her heart that way forever, for fear that one day it would change. Now, knowing that he was no longer hers, Sonny couldn't come to accept the irrevocable truth, so the last thing she'd want was seeing it being slapped to her face. Yes, she was in denial, but assuming that there were only indifference, distance and coldness left in his once soft eyes, she couldn't take the risk.
"Sonny! Look me in the eyes like you always have!", Chad leaned over the table, the perfect façade slipping away. He lifted her chin with one hand, but she jerked back, her smoldering eyes filled with resentment.
"How, Chad? How can I look at you like nothing's ever happened, when you've changed?", frustration and agony washed over Sonny as she choked back the tears.
"It's because you deserve better", he murmured gently.
The words caught Sonny off guard. As a reflex, her head snapped up, and for the first time in over one year, she saw herself his blue eyes. They were as clear as crystal, as piercing as fire, and Sonny couldn't detect any lies in them. All she could see were… were exactly the same eyes of exactly the same person that she fell in love with. Suddenly, all the details made perfect sense to her, like a missing puzzle finally falling into place. "The best way to love someone is to set them free", Sonny recalled Chad's words with disbelief…
"All the things you've said…", she exclaimed.
"I suppose my attempt to leave didn't do you any good, did it? I thought you'd be better off without me, but seeing you today made me realize how I was dead wrong", he blushed, his hand reached out and caressed hers.
"Chad, I… I don't know what to say", the outburst of butterflies put Sonny at a loss for words.
"How about 'yes'?", his features lit up with hope and anticipation. Sonny could feel his grip on her hand tighten.
"To what?"
"To giving our relationship a second chance", a smile slowly crept across Chad's face, and this time his eyes seemed to melt in the wake of it. In response, Sonny could only smile back, but she knew Chad would understand her answer.
"I'll take that as a yes.", he walked over the table, and before Sonny could react, he pulled her close and placed a soft kiss on her lips. At that very moment, it occurred to both of them that a kiss was the most effective way to stop speech when words became unnecessary.