Disclaimer: I do not own SWAC or any of its characters

Okay I hope that it's good.

Love

My alarm blared with the possibly most annoying noise that man had ever created. I rolled to the other side of my bed and blindly, my eyes were still closed, fumbled around my nightstand with my hand to find the off button. I missed the button a few times, pressing the backlight button, the radio, and finally my Ipod. My eyes flashed open and I successfully pressed the power button on my radio. I probably could have unplugged the damn thing in less time.

The light stung my eyes from opening them too quickly; my eyes were not properly adjusted to the bright surroundings. I looked at the clock- 5:30. Why did I wake up this early? Oh yeah, there were some people- okay, one person mostly- that I really wanted to avoid. I pulled my favorite pair of jeans out from my drawer and a loose fitting tank top. I pulled my old, worn-out hoodie over the top and I was set to go. I didn't bother with my hair; it was just a rehearsal, no one would care if I looked like hell on feet.

I didn't want to go to work this morning. Not only did I not want to see Chad to begin with, but if I did see him, and God forbid have to talk to him, it was going to be really awkward. And the thing was, it was kind of unavoidable to see Chad as some point during the day and Chad was going to make sure that he had the last word in this situation. He wasn't about to just leave things like this. I knew him better than that.

In fact, I purposely came an hour early to work, to avoid him.

I sat in the driver's side of my car in the studio's parking lot, my head against the steering wheel. God, this was going to be such a long day. I stepped out of my car, my eyes consciously searching for Chad's car, even though I was absolutely sure that he was not here. When I didn't see it, I locked my car and nearly ran into Condor Studios.

"Sonny!" Tawni screamed. "What's up with you and Chad? I knew you were lying to me! Friends tell each other these things." Tawni pouted at me. "Why didn't you just tell me? I could have given you advice." She was holding up a newspaper with a picture of me and Chad together, the both of us smiling, as we were leaving Condor Studios last night. I groaned and my head fell into my hands.

No one was supposed to know.

That picture was probably posted on the Internet and plastered in every magazine across the due to, dare I say it, mostly the fans of Chad Dylan Cooper. Now the whole world knew, are was going to know very soon that something was going on between us. Fuck my life. I scolded myself internally. Sonny Monroe will not use that kind of language. But quite honestly, that didn't stop me. In my mind, I was dropping the F-bomb left and right.

"Sonny! Earth to Sonny Monroe! Hello… Umm… Care to explain?" Tawni asked, snapping me out of my reverie by waving her hand close to my face and almost catching my eye with one on her fingernails.

"Hey watch it! You could poke someone's eye out! And what are you doing here so early?"

"I needed to talk to you. And that does not answer my question. Sonny," she whined. "Please tell me." I rolled my eyes. I supposed, that working with her, she would find out sooner or later. And I figured that it should be sooner and that the story should come from my mouth, not some tabloid.

"Alright, I'll tell you." Tawni was jumping up and down, positively giddy with excitement. "But not here. I'll tell you in our dressing room. It'll be just the two of us and you can't tell anyone. Got it?" She nodded and then proceeded to walk with me, side-by-side, to our room. She closed the door behind her and sat down next to me on the couch.

"Now, you have to tell me Sonny. What's going on with you and Cooper?" I sighed.

"It's a long story."

"We have time. We did arrive early after all."

"Ok, it's not as bad as I'm sure that story," I said, motioning to the picture with the giant headline reading Hollywood Hottie Hits on Small Town Girl?, "cracks it up to be."

"I sure hope not. This story," she replied, holding up the paper, "does not speak very highly of you, Sonny."

"Oh boy."

"Yeah. We need some serious damage control here."

"Well, basically all that happened, is I met Chad after work, he drove me to his house," as I continued talking, I realized how bad this actually sounded, "and we made out for a little while, then he drove me home. That's it." I wasn't technically lying, was I?

"Are you sure that's all that happened? I mean, why would you just make out with him, why not go all the way? You hit the jackpot for a damn fine body, girl, so you better-"

"Tawni!" I nearly shouted at her. "Chill out! That's all that happened."

"Whatever you say, Sonny." I was going to cut in and say something but she raised her hand to prevent any words from escaping my mouth. "Whatever you say."

We had just finished rehearsing out sketch when we all decided that a lunch break was desperately needed. I didn't really care to listen to anything Nico and Grady were talking about, Zora sort of left because we all knew too well that she would end up being in the lunch room before us, so that left… Tawni and me. How wonderful.

I was aware that in the end, Nico, Grady, Tawni, and I would all sit at the same table, but for now Tawni was going to beg me for more details about what went down last night.

"What did you wear?" She gasped. "Even better, what did he wear? You do know that could explain a lot about how he feels about you. But I imagine he was still in his uniform because he always is… Wait, you weren't in your costume were you? Of course not. Is he a good kisser? I'm sure he is. He's probably kissed lots of girls, not to make you feel bad or anything Sonny. He's always been that way. But when he's around you he's different…" I didn't really have to answer any of her questions because she seemed content assuming the answer by herself. I just "hmmm"d and nodded.

We reached the cafeteria and all grabbed trays. I'm not sure why we decided that what they had available was better than the sandwiches, but subconsciously I knew that the best sandwich was the one named after Chad and that I really didn't want to order it. I sat down next to Grady and across from Tawni, my fork twirling in what looked like two-month old refried beans. I decided that the fries I had taken were my best bet and ate one. They weren't bad.

But when Chad came in, the little I had eaten nearly came back up. Not because I was repulsed by him, however, but because of how much I wasn't.

I could help but notice that he looked very different. His normally perfect hair was wildly disheveled and the knot on his tie was very loose, about to fall off his neck. His shirt was halfway untucked, but not in the way that made it seem like he wanted it to be that way. It looked as if he hadn't changed at all from last night. Or showered for that matter. His eyes were puffy and red and the skin under them was a very light purple color. Had he gotten any sleep?

I wondered if I looked as bad as him. Though I'm sure that if I came looking like that, I could not pull it off like he could. I would probably look like a hobo desperate to get into Hollywood.

"Cooper looks awful," Nico said, quite happy with the new prospect. It looked like he was holding back laughter.

"What happened to him?" Grady added on. I looked over at Tawni, who looked shocked. I tried to beg her silently to not say anything and, luckily, she seemed to get it and keep her mouth sealed shut.

"Wow." I couldn't help the single word that escaped my lips. It didn't matter how much I hated him in this moment, because I needed to find out what was wrong. "Umm… excuse me. I need to umm… sort some things out." They sort of just waved me off and I jumped when I saw how fast Zora managed to take my seat.

I ran over to Chad and pulled him out of the crowed cafeteria by his wrist.

"Chad, what's wrong with you? You look like you got attacked by a wild dog or something."

"I'm fine, Sonny," he replied, pulling his wrist from the weak grip in my hand.

"Chad, you're not fine. I kno-"

"Sonny," he whispered to me in a harsh voice. "I'm fine. Ok?" I think he must have saw the hurt that his words had put into my eyes, because his eyes flashed with an emotion I couldn't recognize and he began to apologize. "Look, Sonny. I-I didn't mean it like that. I just… Look, I'm really sorry. About everything. And I am fine. Do you forgive me Sonny?"

I thought about it. I wasn't quite sure if I did, even if I couldn't bring myself to absolutely hate him.

"I don't know Chad. I just…" I sighed, "don't know. I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry Sonny? You didn't do anything. Everything was my fault."

"Then why did everything happen like it did, especially now that you're saying it was all your fault and you regret it?"

Chad placed both his hands on my shoulders and backed me up against a wall. I wasn't scared, even though and girl in her right mind should have been. I knew Chad wouldn't hurt me. Well, at least, not like this.

"Because, as much as I try to hate you, I think the harder I try, the more I fall in love with you. The more you push me away, the harder I fall. Don't you get it Sonny? This has never happened to me before. And I can honestly say that I'm scared of it." I was beyond the point of comprehendible words by that point. My mouth was hanging wide open in the perfect shape of and "o" and my eyes were dilated with disbelief. "Sonny. I mean absolutely every word I've said. I can't do this anymore." He paused.

"I can't decide which would hurt me less. I could walk away, right now, and never think of you or look in your direction ever again. And option two is staying like this, because this is all I've ever known."

"What are you saying?" I finally asked.

"I love you, Sonny Monroe. You have all the power to break my heart like it's never been broken before."

"Chad I…" I stopped, quite unsure of what to say. "I don't think I would know how." He sighed in relief and gently kissed the top of my forehead. His lips slowly trailed down to my own, where I could feel their touch, light as a feather.

"I can never hate you. I never could because I am sure that I love you," he whispered against my lips.

"I love you too," I replied, throwing my arms around his neck. "I love you too."

So, I hope none of you mind that their romance moved a little too fast. I think there will probably be fights too, just like before but I guess we'll see. Maybe a little on and off type of relationship. (but I'm going by the chapter names for the challenge so don't sure me!) Anyway, I'd love to know what you guys think. You are all freakin' AMAZING!