Disclaimer: I don't own it.
Hold your breath 'til we cross the sundown,
This is the moment, time is racing, slow it down.
She knows something fortuitous will happen before it actually does, because she has a busy afternoon ahead of her, the barista at Coffee Bean has accidentally put whipped cream on her vanilla latte, and she is running considerably late. So it really isn't much of a surprise to her when she collides into someone else on the crowded street, her cup flying in the air and its contents spilling all over her new white blouse.
A curse escapes from her lips as she manages to catch her BlackBerry before it joins the wasted vanilla latte on the ground. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she says quickly, glancing briefly at her phone. Now, she's officially twenty-five minutes late to lunch. "I should have paid more attention to where I was going."
The stranger she has bumped into, a man noticeably taller than her with blond hair and sunglasses shielding his eyes, shakes his head imperturbably, "No blood, no foul," he assures her coolly. "I wasn't paying much attention—" He cuts himself off abruptly, one hand reaching up to take the sunglasses off. "Sonny?" he asks in disbelief, his cerulean blue eyes widening.
A hand flies up to cover her mouth, "Chad? Chad Dylan Cooper?" She can hardly believe her eyes. "What are you doing here? It's been forever." She hasn't seen or talked to him since the day she left So Random!, the sketch comedy that had made her famous.
"I'm here to do press for my new movie," he explains with a small smile. "I've really only been doing movies since MacKenzie Falls stopped production. Today's my day off so I thought I would just have a look around since I never really have time to explore the city."
She nods absentmindedly, and then offers, "Do you want to go grab lunch? I was just on my way to this great café down the street…I mean, we could catch up or something." She almost regrets the words as soon as she says them. She and Chad were never really friends, but they were something. They had dated for a while, after the rivalry between their shows had cooled down, but Chad didn't want anything serious and she'd gotten tired of putting up with him. He was never around and she felt that he never really cared for her, so they'd ended things not long before she quit working on So Random!.
To her relief, he agrees, "Sure. Sounds good. Let me just give my manager a call and tell him not to expect me back at the hotel for a while." He pulls out his cell phone and makes a quick call before sliding the phone back into his pocket. "So," he begins lightly, "I haven't seen you around lately. Not doing any more of those lame comedy shows?"
She giggles, knowing that he's not serious and that now they've both matured enough to be above such petty drama. "No. I'm not acting at all, actually. I decided that Hollywood wasn't for me. I only saw the glamour of it. I mean, yeah, I wanted to make people laugh. But I was never cut out for that kind of scene, you know? Once I had the chance, I realized that it wasn't everything I thought it was. I'm writing now, actually. Sometimes for comedies, so I can still make people laugh in my own way. I'm also writing music. I'm happier now."
He looks at her content smile, which speaks volumes. "I'm glad for you," he tells her sincerely. She smiles and thanks him. "Acting is all that I really have. It means the world to me. But I'm not the same guy you knew back when I was doing MacKenzie Falls. I guess I was stupid, I let the fame and the heartthrob status get to my head."
She says gently, "I heard about what happened. The show stopped production because—"
"—Because nobody wanted to work with me anymore," he finished for her. "Pretty much. And no one was really keeping up with the show by then. We had five seasons under our belt, people were getting bored with the exaggerated storylines and the unnecessary drama." He suddenly notices the gleaming golden band around the finger on her right hand glinting in the sunlight. "You married, Munroe?"
"No, but I am engaged," she corrects brightly. "I'm getting married next month, actually."
"Congratulations. Who's the poor guy?" He teases, and his smile is so gorgeous that she actually can't concentrate for a second.
She sticks her tongue out at him playfully. "The lucky guy's name is Nick. He's in the band that I started writing songs with when I first quit acting. He's my best friend." Her face glows just talking about him, and he feels a pang in his heart that he can't quite explain. "What about you? Aren't you still a stud muffin? Surely you have some girlfriend waiting at home for you. Or maybe even at the hotel," she adds as an afterthought, grinning.
But he shakes his head, brushing it off. "No girlfriend," he informs her lightly. He casts a sideway glance in her direction and notices that she looks uncomfortable, so he changes the subject quickly. "Well, this is pretty unbelievable. I mean, what are the chances of me meeting Sonny Munroe again?"
"I guess it's just fate. Maybe we were meant to be friends, now that we've both grown the hell up," she smiles at him again and the crack in his heart grows larger as they enter the café.
—
"So." Chad stands outside her apartment, hands in his pocket. "I had a lot more fun catching up with you than I would have thought."
She laughs, "So. You haven't changed that much, I see."
"You know I'm just messing with you. I have changed, actually. Everything is so different now. I'm not the same guy I used to be." He doesn't notice that he's moved closer until he is right in front of her, only a few inches separating them.
"Chad," she murmurs, backing away. "It's really late, I should go inside."
"Do you know how much I missed you, Sonny?" He is looking straight into her eyes, and although she knows it's just another line from another boy who doesn't really care about her, her breath catches in her throat.
"Forget it, Chad. You had your chance a really time ago."
"I didn't say I loved you," he whispers. "But you were unlike any other girl I had ever met, especially compared to the other girls in Hollywood. What happened to us, Sonny? Why'd we break up? I needed somebody like you. You were good for me."
"That's a question you really should ask yourself," she says softly. "You were never there for me. I needed a real relationship, I needed something real in that fake world of fame and glamour and manipulation. You couldn't give that to me."
"I know," he breathes heavily, and his hand is entwined with hers. "But talking to you today made me realize that I missed you. I still haven't met anyone as optimistic and genuine as you. I'm still surrounded by the same people and fed the same bullshit in the same industry. I don't think that I want this kind of life forever…but at the same time I do. But I also want more than this. I want to be able to be with somebody who knows me, who wants Chad and not Chad Dylan Cooper, popular teen actor and hottest guy in the business. I want…" His voice trails off, and she feels her heart beating faster. She wants to ask him what he wants, if he wants her, but the words don't arrive.
And then it isn't long before their lips crash together, pent-up emotion turning into a passion that can't be quelled.
She pulls away, "Chad."
"Sonny?"
"I'm engaged."
He kisses her again, with even more fervor than before, "I know," he mumbles, breaking it, "Just one night."
And she slips the ring off her finger and places it in the pocket of her jeans that won't stay on for much longer, before she gives in, "Just one night."
—
When Sonny wakes up in the morning, the other side of her bed is empty. She curses her stupidity, scrambling out of bed and grabbing the Beatles t-shirt that Chad left behind. She throws it on, but doesn't bother going downstairs or looking around because she just knows that he's gone. It's difficult to fake the feeling of abandonment.
She takes in the familiar setting of her bedroom—the acoustic guitar leaning against the wall, the scattered notebooks on her desk, her BlackBerry sitting on her dresser—and the one unfamiliar aspect—the discarded clothes from the night before all over the floor. And that's when she notices the CD resting on the pillow. She picks it up, sliding it into her computer, and clicks 'play' on the audio file.
"Hey, Sonny. It's Chad. I just wanted to say goodbye, but I didn't want to wake you up. Hope you don't mind me using one of your blank CDs and your computer. I wanted to tell you… I wasn't lying when I said I've changed a lot. I'm a different person that I was before, and I know last night was wrong. But it wasn't a mistake. It was one of the best nights of my life. But I'm not who I used to be and I know that it can't happen again. You're an amazing girl, Sonny. You're smart, funny, talented, and beautiful, and nothing is going to change that. You're getting married next month. Nick is a lucky guy. He's lucky to have you. So get married, be happy, live your life to the fullest. I know that's what you're good at. Maybe one day we can see each other again, but not now. Right now we both have to learn how to live our own lives right. See you later, Sonny."
Feel my breath, I'm alive when we're side by side,
Now this is dedicated to you.
We are only here for one more night…
Author's Note: PLEASE REVIEW to see more posts from me. (:
Song credits go to: Stay Young by We the Kings