Hello, everyone! I just love Chad and Sonny's relationship... It's so interesting! Anyway, this is my first SWAC fanfic, so I really hope that you enjoy reading it. If you could, when you finish, please leave me a review. Thank you! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own SWAC.
Something To Do With Pie
He was really in the zone today. Passion thrummed off of him in waves as he gazed deep into his co-star's eyes, gripping her hand. His lines tumbled off his lips as he acted almost without thinking. Suddenly, the bell rang, the scene ended, and Chad Dylan Cooper, the self-proclaimed greatest actor of his generation, snapped out of Mackenzie's personality. With a slight incline of his head, he withdrew his hand from Portlyn's.
"Two hours for dinner, then back here for notes." called the director of the Falls. "Good job today, everyone! Especially you, Chad. Very nice."
Chad grinned casually, quietly reveling in the praise from his usually stoic director. "Thanks." The cast broke apart and chatter filled the studio. Chad pulled off his jacket and loosened his tie. Time for dinner. He was starved. Unexpectedly, he felt an ice cold hand take his and he shivered in surprise.
"Chad? Are you going out to eat with the rest of us?" Portlyn looked hopeful. Chad considered it—it would be nice to get out of Condor Studios for a while. But he had promised the cafeteria ladies that he'd see them for dinner. He had them making him an entire rack of lamb for lunch tomorrow, and he was not about to disappoint the source of his exquisite meals.
"Sorry, but I'm gonna have to pass today, Portlyn." He flashed a patented CDC heart-melting smile and Portlyn's eyes unfocused slightly as she sighed dreamily. Chad carefully extricated his hand from hers and slipped away from his befuddled co-star. Portlyn made it so easy to dazzle her… Her unrequited crush on him created good chemistry on Mackenzie Falls, but off set, it simply began to annoy him.
Chad crossed through the halls, passed the different doors of the some of the other shows on the lot and entered the cafeteria. The lights were dimmed. The only people populating the room were a man reading a newspaper and drinking a coffee in the corner and a dark-haired girl sitting by herself at a table in the middle of the room. Chad ignored them both and moved to the counter.
"Hey." He gave the young cafeteria worker a dazzling smile and she jumped up instantly from where she was leaning, wiping her hands on her apron.
"Oh, Mr. Cooper! I have your bouillabaisse right here." She took out a pale blue bowl and handed it to him over the counter. Chad took it on his tray along with another bowl of chocolate pudding and grinned lazily. "Thank you so very much."
"Oh, you're welcome." The woman smiled back at him, clearly star-struck.
Chad shook his head and turned away. He stopped dead, frozen where he stood, a little bouillabaisse slopping over the side of the bowl with unresolved momentum. The dark haired girl he'd ignored upon his entry to the cafeteria was none other than Sonny Monroe, his partner in constant arguments and the source of his most secret daydreams. She was bent over a white packet, reading the fine black print, one hand lazily stirring a cup of hot chocolate, her pink lips mouthing words as she read.
Chad forced his legs to move and, slipping on a customary smile, slid his tray onto the table with a clatter, startling her enough that she jumped. Her eyes flew to his face and her patented "Sonny Smile" slipped slightly when she saw who it was. It hurt his heart to know she thought so little of him.
"'Sup, Sonny?" He smoothed a napkin onto his lap. Call Chad Dylan Cooper many things, but never say he wasn't obsessive over the cleanliness of his clothing. Sonny watched him carefully. "Bouillabaisse?" He asked casually, as though they sat together and ate all the time.
Sonny sighed and closed the white booklet. Chad managed to catch the words So Random! Rabbits, Turtles, and Pie, Oh My! on the cover before Sonny had slipped the packet under her chair and moved her hot chocolate so she was holding it with both hands, keeping them warm, presumably. He wondered briefly if her hands were often cold, and what it would be like to have the privilege to hold her hands whenever he wanted. "What do you want, Chad? And why are you eating in here and not with the rest of Mackenzie Falls? Wasn't the wrap up of your fall finale episode today?"
Chad swallowed a mouthful of stew. "Well, they were all going off set to eat and I'd promised the cafeteria ladies that I'd… hang on, how did you know our fall finale episode wrapped today?"
Sonny flushed a shade of pink that made her chocolate eyes look even brighter, if possible. "Oh, I-I…"
"You keep tabs on Mackenzie Falls?" Chad let a slow grin envelop his features. "Don't tell me… you watch our show?"
Sonny shushed him. "Shh! Shh! Don't say that too loud!" She glanced around, but the man with the newspaper in the corner was gone and they were alone in the cafeteria. "I don't want my cast to know." She admitted, looking down into her mug. "I can't betray them like that." She shot me a glare. "Don't think it's about you. I do not watch Mackenzie Falls for you."
Chad felt his grin falter. "Oh, but, Sonny, you know deep down, that's why you watch it." He forced it back to his face. "You just don't get enough of me during the day, so you have to watch me while you snuggle up in bed at night. I get it."
Sonny snorted. "Dream on, Chad." She took a sip of hot chocolate.
Chad glared at her, irritated at her refusal to flirt back. "Why are you here, anyway? Where's the rest of your Randomites?"
Sonny shrugged. "Tawni and her mom went shopping, Nico and Grady are somewhere downtown playing arcade games, and I'm not sure where Zora is."
Chad felt something twist his stomach. "So, they just left you by yourself."
"Yeah." Sonny twisted her mug. "Well, I suppose. But it's ok. They have a lot to do, and it gave me time to look over the script for our new sketch tomorrow." She giggled, her eyes lighting up. "It's all about the tortoise and the hare but instead of racing to see who's faster, all they want is some pie!" She was laughing outright now. "Pie!"
Chad just shook his head, forcing the smile tugging at the corners of his lips into a grimace of disapproval. "See? This is why Mackenzie Falls will always be rated higher than So Random!. We," He dabbed at the corners of his mouth with the napkin. "have class."
Sonny snorted. "Whatever, Chad." As she put her chocolate back down on the table, a little of the now lukewarm beverage slopped over the side of the mug and onto Sonny's hand. She glanced at it and flicked her fingers outward, effectively sending several tiny droplets of liquid chocolate straight at the greatest actor of his generation.
Chad jerked his backwards in surprise, his chair scraping loudly on the cafeteria floor. "What are you doing?" He screeched, scrubbing at his face with the napkin. "You got… you got…on the face!"
Sonny laughed. "What's the matter? Is Chad Dylan Cooper afraid of a little hot chocolate foam?"
Chad dropped the napkin and gave her a squinty-eyed glare. "Oh, it is so on, Monroe." And with those words, Chad proceeded to flick fingers tipped with chocolate pudding at the pretty girl sitting opposite him. Chocolate speckled her forehead and and cheeks there was a frozen moment in time where Chad was positive he'd just made a very big mistake.
Sonny's mouth was open in a small 'o' of surprise. Then she started to laugh and, in a move faster than Chad could have blocked, she scooped pudding out of his dish and drew a brown line across his forehead.
Chad leaped up from the table, his bouillabaisse forgotten. "Get over here, Sonny!" Sonny screeched with laughter and, abandoning her chocolate, darted towards the cafeteria doors. But Chad was too fast for her and, at the instant she reached the door, his warm arms encircled her waist, pulling her against him quicker than either of them were prepared for.
Chad froze as the smell of Sonny's shampoo assailed his nose. Strawberries. His arms involuntarily tightened around her as he breathed in the essence of Sonny. His breath just barely stirred the dark hair in front of his mouth. Was it his imagination, or was Sonny actually leaning against him? Maybe, just maybe… He was suddenly snapped back to reality—cold, harsh, reality—when Sonny cleared her throat.
"Um, Chad?" Her voice was quiet and husky.
Chad slowly released her. He tried to speak, but his words came out embarrassingly strangled. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Yes, Sonny?"
Sonny turned back to face him, her face a brilliant shade of crimson. "My…um…" Her voice trailed off, getting smaller and smaller with each word. "My… script is… table…"
Chad stared into her eyes for half a second. He couldn't risk any longer than that. He made his way back to the table, leaving Sonny standing alone at the door to the cafeteria. He could feel the pudding on his forehead hardening. He'd actually had fun just now… when was the last time he'd just goofed off like that? Chad Dylan Cooper did not goof off. Ever. He picked up the pristine white script and turned back to Sonny. Her hand brushed against his as the papers were exchanged. Their eyes met and time froze yet again.
"You know, Chad." Sonny whispered. "I wish we were better friends."
Chad swallowed. Better friends? Oh, what he wouldn't give to be more than friends. He steeled himself. It was now or never.
"Sonny…"
Sonny seemed to realize that something big was about to happen. Chad looked down at the ground briefly, getting up the courage, before he looked up into her eyes, which were big and round and expectant.
"Sonny, I don't want—"
"Chad!" The fragile moment shattered. The door behind Sonny had slid open and there Portlyn stood with a white sheaf of papers and a confused expression on her face. Her intrusion could not have come at a worse time. Chad took one last look at Sonny, who was purposely avoiding his eyes, and turned to his co-star.
"Yes?"
Portlyn held up the papers. "You left next episode's script on the stage and I thought…" She trailed off. Chad took the script from her.
"Thanks." An awkward silence fell over the three teenagers. It was Sonny that broke it first.
"Well, I have, um, my own script to study, so…" She sidled around Portlyn.
Chad couldn't stop himself. "Sonny…"
She paused, her hand on the doorframe. "Chad?"
The pause stretched. Portlyn looked from one to the other, clearly unsure as to what was happening.
It would be so easy. Just a few simple words… he said them on Mackenzie Falls all the time. Why then was it so difficult to say them to Sonny?
He realized she was still waiting for him to say something. "You have pudding in your hair." He finished lamely.
"Oh." Clearly expecting something else, Sonny reached up and touched her bangs. Sure enough, they were caked with dried pudding.
Chad stepped forward and, using his pristinely clean nails, scraped the chocolate from Sonny's hair. He gave her a small, private smile that he only reserved for her, hoping against hope that it had communicated at least something of what he'd wanted to say.
Sonny smiled back, a brief smile of understanding, and slipped through the cafeteria doors, leaving behind only Chad and Portlyn. The latter shot the former a semi-irritated look.
"Chad?" She simpered, reaching for his hand. "What was up with that?"
Chad shook his head at her, disentangling their hands. "I don't think you'd understand even if I told you, Portlyn." He turned his back on her and dumped the entire bowl of bouillabaisse in the trash. "I don't know that I quite get it." He murmured to himself, dumping the pudding after the bouillabaisse. As he stared into the trash can, watching the wasted food run together into a mix of colors, something suddenly occurred to him, and Chad Dylan Cooper began to laugh.
Portlyn bounced over, eager to see the source of his amusement. "What? What is it?" She peered into the trash can and wrinkled her nose.
Chad simply shook his head. "Pie." He said. "They were chasing pie. I guess that is pretty funny." And with those words he strode, still grinning, from the cafeteria, leaving behind a very perplexed Portlyn.
Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly. ~Rose Franken
Thank you for reading!
Love,
Allie