Grady With A Chance #3:

Interference isn't Bliss

This fanfic takes place shortly after the previous chapter "And We're Back"

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, or their world, and this isn't intended as a threat to that ownership.


Nico and Grady were sleeping in bed together, both snored slightly and Grady rolled over and unconsciously hugged Nico. Nico's eyes bolted open and he rolled out of bed tumbling to the floor. Grady stirred due to the noise and opened his eyes, "What's going on, baby?"

Nico stood up and brushed himself off, then turned toward Grady with a bit of aggression, "You poked me!"

Grady looked puzzled for a second and then lifted the covers to look down below and sheepishly smiled and said, "Um... the dream I was having wanted to tell you good morning?"

Nico walked back over and sat down on the bed, "This is still all kinda new, I mean we've been dating for almost three months, but this is the first night we fell asleep in the same bed. I'm still not used to you having a pet name for me."

Grady said, "That's cause you never had a nick name. You've been calling me 'G' since we were in elementary school."

Nico smiled, "I guess you're right... babe," he said, trying it out on Grady. Grady just smiled right back at him and pulled him close to give him a kiss. Nico wrapped his hands around Grady's shoulders and turned to straddle him, climbing under the covers.

After a few more minutes of mutual groping, Grady came up for air and nearly breathlessly said, "Baby?"

Nico looked him in the eyes and said, "Yeah, babe?"

Grady said, "More than my dream wants to poke you right now." Nico laughed and began unbuttoning Grady's pajama top. Just then Nico's alarm went off, causing him to stop what he's doing, and groan. Nico climbed off of Grady, got out of bed, and turned the alarm off.

Grady said, "Awww."

When he heard the shower turn on he jumped up out of bed and ran across the hall to his room, and shut the door.


Chad Dylan Cooper looked into the face of Penelope and asked, "Do you know why you're here?"

The actress who portrayed Penelope on the Falls gave Chad a look of disinterest, "Not really, but let me guess? You want me to go over to So Random!, kidnap Grady Mitchell, tie him up, make it look like I'm doing unspeakable things to him, or an acceptable likeness of him, all while orchestrating the arrival of Nico Harris on the scene to witness it all, so as to drive an unbreakable wedge between the two best friends as Nico sees me, the current object of his obsession, engaged with his pal for no apparently good reason other than to be spitefully mean."

Chad gasped, then narrowed his eyes, "You're good! But actually, I really want you to do all of that, but reverse it. How do you do that by the way?"

Penelope quipped, "You talk in your sleep." Chad looked shocked, then perturbed but waved his hands to dismiss her. She shrugged and walked out of his dressing room.

Chad couldn't wait until Grady was distraught over the betrayal, then he'd be able to sweep in and do his thing. A shoulder to cry on would turn into a warm hug, a kiss and then he's back, baby!


Grady had managed to resolve some sexual tension once he had gotten into the shower, so he made it through the bus ride to the Studios sitting next to Nico the entire time without a big tent in his pants. Once they had gotten inside though, Nico had run off to the commissary, while Grady, who for once wasn't really hungry, went to their dressing room.

It wasn't long before the door burst open and Tawni walked in. "Grady, here you are! I need your help!" she said.

Grady jumped up from his chair and said, "Yeah, Tawni?" Tawni showed him a picture of two fancy cakes, one was a pink cake with four tiers, and the other was a three dimensional frosted sculpture made to look like a forested park made up of little island scenes connected by rainbow paths.

"Which cake do I buy for my upcoming birthday?" she asked.

Grady looked shocked, then he looked back and forth between the pictures. "Um... I think the layer cake looks like more food, but kinda traditional. They both look so delicious, but why are you asking my opinion?"

Tawni said, "No reason really. I mean, you're gay and you love to eat. Isn't this your particular area of expertise? Vanity cake choices?"

With an audible gasp of air, Grady turned away and crossed his arms. "Tawni, I'm hurt that you expect me to be some sort of dessert designer simply because I'm a gay, cake lover."

Tawni walked over and put her hands on his shoulder and said, "I'm sorry, Grady. I didn't mean to offend you."

Grady said, "Well, if you're sorry..."

Tawni continued, "So I was thinking the 3D one..."

Grady turned around with a big grin on his face, "Yeah, that one."

Tawni threw her hands up, flashed him a smile, cocked her head to the side and said, "I just knew you'd agree with my choice. I have excellent taste." Tawni then began to head to the door.

She stopped right on the threshold, "I really am sorry for putting stereotypical expectations on you. I mean, nobody could even tell you're gay from the things you like to do, or how you act."

Grady said, "Really?" hoping she meant that he was manly.

"Yeah. You are weird, and a bit of a dork, but not the least bit effeminate. See you later," she said, as she opened the door and walked out. Grady went back to his chair and sat down.

Nico walked in and said, "Good news, G. That new character you wanted to do last year has Marshall chomping at the bit."

Grady looked over and asked, "Which one is that?"

Nico said, "You know, Girlfriend Guy. The dude who chicks find so sensitive they don't view him as a dude. You submitted it last year and he was all, 'No, no. With the Check It Out Girls, Sally Jensen and old standards like Dolphin Boy, you're headed to overload.' Well it's a whole new season, and Marshall wants to see where you take Girlfriend Guy."

Nico reached out a hand as he watched an imaginary person walking away from him, "But... but I love you." Then he burst out laughing while holding his stomach. "That name you came up with was awesome too, Shannon Flowers."

Grady said, "Uh... I don't think I want to do that character anymore."

Nico suddenly stopped, turned to Grady and asked, "Why not? It's comedy gold! It'll be just as funny as Dolphin Boy!"

Grady said, "I just don't want people to start seeing me as effeminate, that's all."

Nico walked over and said, "Look, babe. Being gay doesn't make you effeminate or anything. It doesn't affect who you are, make you less manly or whatever. You are you."

Grady countered with, "Tawni said I was too dorky to be seen as gay, but Girlfriend Guy isn't dorky, he's sensitive, and sensitive guys are seen as gay."

Nico hugged Grady and said into his ear, "But you are both sensitive and dorky. And who is it that is dating this adorable, hilarious, sensitive, dorky guy?"

Grady hugged Nico back and they separated enough while still in an embrace to see each other's faces. "You are..." Grady said as he started to sway back and forth in Nico's arms.

Nico said, "That's right. Now man up and start writing Girlfriend Guy. If you're afraid to put yourself into your characters then you might as well give up comedy."

Grady kissed Nico on the lips and broke the embrace before they got too lost in it. "You're right. So, I'll see you in the prop house in a bit? I want to go write some notes down while things are quiet around here."

Nico nodded and said, "You sure will." Grady headed to the door and grabbed a pad of paper on the way.


Grady was walking down the hallway to the prop house, writing notes in his pad when he bumped into someone so hard that he was deflected into the wall. He started out saying, "I'm sorry, I should have been walking where I was looking." What he saw was three, beautiful, young women, extras from this week's taping of Mackenzie Falls. They were all wearing low cut shirts and skirts that barely covered their thighs.

Grady was kind of awestruck by what he saw as he stretched his hand unconsciously towards one of the girls who had fallen down. She took his hand and he helped her up without taking his eyes off of her bosom. In Grady's head he seemed drawn to her chest because he was so intent on proving to himself that he did or didn't like girl's bodies. He thought that life would be easier if he was mostly bisexual like Nico, but the fact that he had never really paid attention to that before now drove him to stare, almost as if he couldn't believe the proof before him that he was indeed more gay than anything.

However, by this time the girls were offended. The one he had helped up withdrew her hand from his as she got her balance and noticed Grady's stare. She then took one step back and calling out, "Pervert!" slapped him on the face so hard that he spun towards one of her comrades. This second girl backhanded Grady as he nearly collided with her and she yelled, "Pig!". Grady collided with the wall and fell backwards flailing his arms just in time to see the third girl step in and slap his cheek again, practically screaming, "Dog!"

At that point, Sonny poked her head around the corner of the hallway, and seeing Grady being team-assaulted by the three extras ran over and put herself right in the middle of the group, screaming "Stop! Stop! This has got to be a misunderstanding!" Grady's cheeks were bright red, in stark contrast to his normal pasty complexion.

The first girl said, "Oh, I'm sure. This perv was staring at my chest. He deserves this, and maybe a swift kick too!" The second girl nodded her agreement, while the third vocalized it, "Yeah, hollywood guys are all alike."

Sonny said, "I'm sure there's some other reason for whatever happened." She grabbed Grady's arm and took hold of his hand. "Grady couldn't possibly have been..." then Sonny stopped in mid-sentence as Grady squeezed her hand tightly.

The three girls looked between Grady, head hung low and looking apologetic and dejected, and Sonny, righteous peacemaker who was strangely silent. The second one said, "Let's go Mandy."

Sonny waited until the girls had left and she hurriedly ushered Grady towards the prop house. He looked like he was on the verge of tears, but holding them in because he was so embarrassed. "Grady?" she asked trying to draw him out of his shell. "Do you want to talk about what happened? I know you weren't blatantly ogling them, so what's up?"

"No, Sonny. I was. I was staring at her chest and I don't even know why. It was like I couldn't look away, but at the same time it didn't make me feel anything. I'm so... sorry. I don't know how to make up for that!" he said. Sonny looked on in disbelief as she heard Grady spill out his heart.

Zora slid down the prop house slide and said "I think I know what's going on." She stood up and walked over to Grady as he was about to sit down on a barstool at the far end of the room.

Grady asked, "You do?"

She smiled the smile that indicated that Zora was doing some high level hypothesizing and said, "You're doing what I like to call reverse reinforcement. You know you're into guys, but you can't quite believe it yourself on a subconscious level, because you've been told all your life that you'd eventually like girls, and that one day you'd find the girl of your dreams, settle down and all that icky stuff. So you're unconsciously looking at examples of the opposite sex's physical traits to see if you can feel a reaction."

Sonny and Grady just watched Zora as she paced back and forth explaining. Zora continued, "Whether you feel anything or not, you're reinforcing behaviors that are the reverse of what you should naturally be feeling, given the avowed depth of your feelings for the same sex. Thus, reverse reinforcement. It's unconscious, meaning you can't help it, so don't worry Grady. You staring at girl's butts or chests doesn't mean you're broken. It just means that you're starting at girl's butts and chests."

Sonny looked to be at a loss for words, but she found some. "Zora, that's an amazing analysis of the situation," she said.

Zora shrugged, "It's nothing. I happened to be in an overhead vent watching when it all went down. It was like Grady's brain shut down, but he didn't seem to be 'interested.'"

That was when a studio employee came in and handed Sonny a note. Sonny read the note and then said, "Whoa, Nico has to run to do something important. It says here not to wait for him to begin brainstorming."


Grady walked back to his dressing room and opened the door, oblivious to much of everything. However, when the door opened wide, he took in a horrific scene. "Penelope" from Mackenzie Falls was straddling a slim, smartly dressed, young black man on a chair in the center of the room, and she was kissing him and fondling him. Worst of all he was kissing and fondling her back. Grady spun around and walked away from the dressing room at a fast pace. Penelope stopped making out with the young man.

He looked up at her and asked, "Que es esto?" She smiled at the young man and said, "I think we're done here."


Chad was standing in the hallway as Grady ran up to him, face white as a sheet. Grady showed no intentions of stopping, so Chad called out to him. "Grady, what's wrong?" Grady focused on Chad and stopped running. "You look like you have just seen a ghost. Is everything alright?" Chad asked.

Grady just stopped still, looked Chad in the eyes and grabbed him in a tight embrace, leaning his head on Chad's shoulder and staring away into nothingness. Chad patted Grady on the back and guided him to his dressing room, which was conveniently nearby.


Nico walked in the door to the apartment and looked around. Grady's door was closed and the lights were out everywhere else. Nico hit the lights in the living room, closed the door and walked down the hall. "Hey, babe. What happened today?" There was a shuffling sound and then the door opened. Grady was standing in the doorway, his eyes were puffy and it was obvious he had been crying.

Grady stared daggers at Nico and accusingly asked, "So now it's 'babe'? Now you want to spend time with me."

Nico looked confused and he said, "Grady, I don't know what you mean by any of this. I was worried cause you took off from the studio at noon and didn't give any explanation to anybody. You didn't even tell Marshall!" Grady crossed his arms and looked away at that. Nico continued, "I'm actually relieved you're here at home, but don't you think you should explain what happened earlier?"

Grady looked back at Nico and read his body language carefully. He took a deep breath and said, "Can you explain what you were doing at 11 o'clock in our dressing room?"

Nico looked confused once more, "I wasn't at the studio at 11."

Grady turned suddenly on Nico and poked him in the chest, "We got your message about having to take care of something important. So imagine my surprise when I headed back to the dressing room to grab a script from last year when I saw you making out with that Penelope woman from Mackenzie Falls!"

Without skipping a beat or becoming self-conscious in the least, Nico asked, "What?"

Grady's lip drew in uncontrollably as he said, "So you won't admit you were cheating on me. At least tell me why you'd do that in our dressing room! There are easier ways to tell someone you're dumping them!"

Nico said, "Grady, I wasn't in the dressing room then. I was across town at the bakery. This was supposed to be a surprise, but here." He fumbled around in his pocket and handed Grady a slip of paper.

Grady looked at it and saw that it was a receipt. "What does this mean?"

Nico smiled at Grady, "There is a time stamp, and the last four digits of my debit card on that receipt for a triple chocolate cake with custom icing. Doesn't it show that I was at the bakery at 11:11am this morning?"

Grady looked at the receipt closer, and then back at Nico with pure surprise. "It does. How? Why? I saw what I saw! What's going on here?"

Grady seemed to think of something and then looked horrified. He slumped against the door frame and said, "You weren't the one being unfaithful, it was me."

Nico stared at Grady with his mouth wide open, "What?"

Grady looked at Nico and said, "When I saw what I saw, I was so shocked and hurt I ran away. Chad was the first familiar face I saw as I was walking around and he asked me what was wrong. I... I really needed a hug so I hugged him, and the hurt was so raw I kind of lost myself. Next thing I knew we were in his dressing room and he was asking me questions. I told him I had seen you with Penelope and he was so understanding. He didn't talk about you, he only said things would be ok and that he was here for me. Then he kissed me."

Nico listened raptly, and said, "Go on."

Grady gulped and said, "He kissed me and I didn't stop him. I kissed him back. We made out for a few minutes until he started reaching for my belt buckle. Then I gently pushed him away and ran out of his dressing room and came straight here. But that doesn't change that I cheated on you. If I hadn't felt too betrayed to think about sex I probably would have slept with him. I am so sorry, Nico."

Nico rolled it over in his head, it was obvious he was thinking but his expression was inscrutable. Grady squirmed and averted his gaze. "Grady, I can't get mad at you for any of this."

Grady asked, "Why not? I was weak, and with my heart, Nico, not just my body."

Nico calmly said, "Because you were played, babe. That "Penelope" chick has never given me the time of day. You happened to witness her in our dressing room during the one time I was away at the bakery, and I only left because the bakery called and said that if I didn't come pick up my cake this morning they'd be forced to throw it out. You saw her with someone who looked exactly like me, but I'll bet he wasn't wearing the clothes I'm wearing right now. Lastly, Chad just happened to be hanging out in public instead of at the Mack Falls stage when you ran away from the So Random! stage."

Grady looked him in the eye, "That doesn't excuse what I did to you."

Nico stared back at his clear blue eyes and said, "I'm not gonna lie and say that part makes me happy, but I can't get mad about it. At least, I can't get mad at you about it. I am really mad, but not at you, G."

Grady asked, "What are you gonna do, baby?"


Chad Dylan Cooper walked into his dressing room and began to set down his smoothie when he looked at the walls and saw large posters that all had a picture of his face on them and different captions each in unmistakable letters. "Chad Dylan Cooper has a birthmark on his butt" "Chad Dylan Cooper screwed me" "Chad Dylan Cooper is a monster" Chad was so shocked he dropped his smoothie which splattered all over the carpeted floor.

At that very moment there was a knock on the door and Chad spun around and asked, "Who's there?"

He heard Grady respond, "It's me, Grady." Then he saw the knob turn before he could race to the door. In walked Grady and Nico.

Nico didn't waste any time. He shut the door behind him and said, "You're going to stop messing with us or else."

Chad tried to play it cool and say, "I don't know what you're talking about. And pay no attention to these slanderous posters."

Nico said, "Oh those are gifts, those are the originals to a series of magazine ads and billboards we'll be paying for if you don't leave us alone. And it's hardly slander if it's true is it?"

Chad spun on Grady, "You told him about my birthmark? How could you?"

Grady said, "Chad, we're serious. You called up that actor who looks like Nico and had your costar make out with him in our dressing room. Then you tried to get in my pants less than 20 minutes later."

Nico said, "And if it doesn't stop, we'll be feeding the whole story to Tween Weekly. They'll probably have us on TV with those voice changers and blurred out profiles explaining the whole story, but we just don't care. We'll out ourselves on TV, and drag you along, if you try to break us up again."

Chad hissed through his teeth, "You wouldn't! It would ruin your careers."

Nico fired back, "I think we'll survive, we're comedians. But how well do you think it would go if the world found out that Chad Dylan Cooper was a boyfriend stealer? They'd say, 'He can have any girl you want. Hell, he can have any guy he wants who wants guys. Why would he try to steal someone who's in a relationship?' Then that'd be it for you."

Grady said, "I wish I could forget yesterday. You ripped my heart out, Chad. I think I hate you now." He walked towards the door. Nico followed him out.


Shannon Flowers chivalrously held a chair for Marissa to sit down at the cafe table he had been sitting at with Claire and her little sister Angie. He said, "So... uh Marissa, how was your day?"

Marissa, the brunette beauty responded, "It was so full of drama! Becky told Cindy that she was in love with Marco, but Marco is dating Adrianna, and I told you last week that Phillip is crushing on Adrianna!"

Claire, the blond piped up, "Oh yeah, and today Phillip got into a fight with Tanner on the football field during practice. It happened right when Julie walked by."

Angie yelled out, "Boys suck!"

Marissa paid Angie the barest of attention and said, "I know, right? So like Tanner is in love with Julie, but Julie must have told him she's in love with Phillip, and Phillip is going after Marco's girlfriend and Becky is crushing on Marco, so everything's all messed up."

Shannon just looked back and forth between the girls as they gossiped, "I thought Becky was dating Louis?"

Claire and Marissa responded in unison, "He dumped her for Charice last night."

Shannon said, "That's horrible."

Angie said, "That's why boys suck!"

Claire continued, ignoring her sister, "I know, right? That means that Becky is all reboundy right now, so it'd never work between her and Marco, but she's so screwed up she just can't see it."

Shannon said, "I thought Marco was dating Adrianna? I'm so confused."

Marissa said, "It's not confusing, just sad. Now if I could just get Troy to notice me."

Claire said, "Marissa, there's no way Troy is dumping Lucy until homecoming."

Marissa, "So true, so true. So who are you hoping asks you to the dance?"

Claire twirled her hair and said, "I don't know, maybe Nate... or Winston."

Shannon looked self-conscious and he offered, "Uh... Marissa, I don't have a date to homecoming, so if you wanted..."

Marissa looked at him and said, "Aw, Shannon. It's so nice of you to offer to go stag with me. Well, anyway, thanks for meeting us after school, Shannon. You're a good friend."

Claire said, "Yeah, bye, Shannon!" She turned to Marissa as the two stood up and dropped a few dollars on the table, "Who are you going to ask to the Sadie Hawkins dance in May?"

Marissa answered Claire as they walked off, with Angie stalking away after them. Shannon sat at the table watching them go. Shannon reached out towards the retreating girls with his left hand and said, "But... but I love you."

There was thunderous laughter and the lights dimmed.