A/N- Man, I am just whipping this stuff out today! Once I start writing it's hard to stop. This chapters kind of boring, but it sets the scene for the next chapter, which I'm very excited to write. =)

Thank you to everyone who's been reviewing and favoriting. That really means a lot to me. You guys are great!

Chapter 4

I Will Always Desire It

The next morning, Chad was intentionally late for work. He had no desire to see Sonny unless he had to. After the dream he had last night, he was extremely confused. He knew that he no longer saw Sonny as only a friend, but he had no idea how to act around her.

Obviously, she had no knowledge of his dreams or of the struggle he was enduring in his head. But, she must have know that something happened to make him run off yesterday afternoon. Chad knew that she was not stupid; she must have been able to tell that there was something wrong.

Chad was worried that, when he saw her, he would make a complete fool of himself. He would probably get so caught up with the sight of Sonny, that he would not be able to control his teenage boy hormones, and he would kiss her again. He just could not let that happen.

So, he spent the entire morning at the Mackenzie Falls set. Not once did his take his normal stroll to So Random; it took all the strength he had. At one point, Chad saw Sonny enter his set. He begged his costar, Portlyn, to go tell her that had to run home urgently, while he hid behind a rack of costumes. He saw Portlyn go over to talk to her, then he saw Sonny frown and nod, then turn away to go back to her own set.

"Thanks a lot, Portlyn." Chad said, coming out from behind the stand.

"Anytime," she replied. "But why were you hiding from her, anyway? Isn't she your best friend?"

Chad shrugged. "Well yeah. . . But, I mean. . . It's complicated."

She nodded empathetically. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," he snapped. "Not really. Let's just get back to rehearsal." Chad hung his head and walked back to the stage, ready to read his lines and try to forget about Sonny, for once.

-

At lunch, Chad took a seat in back corner, facing the window, in hopes that Sonny would not notice him.

But, of course, she did.

She plopped down next to him with her lunch and frowned at him, crossing her arms. "I know you didn't go home today. I saw your car in the parking lot. What is wrong with you? First you ran off yesterday, now you're trying to avoid me? Did I do something wrong? Did I make you upset?"

Chad looked down at the table, not daring to look at her beautiful face, which right now, he was guessing, was tainted with anger. He thought for a moment, trying to come up with an excuse for his odd behavior. "I dumped Hallie."

"Oh." She said. "Well, I hate to say I told you so, but-"

"Come on, Sonny! Can't you see I'm upset? That's not exactly what I want to hear right now!" Chad mentally applauded his acting skills; he wasn't known as 'the greatest actor of his generation' for nothing.

"I'm really sorry. I guess she just wasn't the girl for you. And I'm sorry I thought you were mad at me. I can understand if you upset." Chad felt her hand rest on his, and he automatically looked up at her.

Big mistake.

The second his eyes met hers he was lost in a trance. It was like gazing into pools of the most sweetest chocolate, only way more desirable. He could have sat there for hours, just looking at her flawless face, which was smiling in a reassuring manner at him. His eyes rested on her lips. Those tempting lips, which had given him that brilliant kiss. He had the urge to repeat it, to feel those lips on his again.

He was about to move his head closer to hers, when suddenly Sonny began to cough, ripping her hand away from his to cover her mouth. Chad snapped out of his daze.

"It's alright," He said, getting his head back into their conversation. "She wasn't all that great anyway."

"Well, lucky for you, I have the perfect distraction!" Sonny went from sympathetic to excited in under a second.

"And what's that?" he asked.

"Tawni's birthday party is tonight. It's going to be huge. Anyone who's anyone is going. And since you're not going out with What's-Her-Name, I was hoping you would want to go with me!"

"What?" Chad teased her. "Couldn't find a date? Had to settle for the best friend?"

"Well, it's not that I couldn't find a date. Lot's of guys would kill for the chance to date me, thank you very much. I just figured it would be more fun going with 'the best friend' rather than a guy I barely know. But, you don't have to go if you don't want to. I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to find a date at the last second."

"No!" Chad stopped her. "I mean, don't bother, I want to go. It sounds like a good time, and I haven't been to a decent party in a few weeks. So yeah, I'll go."

"Yay!" Sonny stood up, wrapping her arms around him excitedly. "Thank you so much, we're going to have so much fun!" She pecked his cheek and let him go, skipping towards the door. "Pick me up at eight!" she yelled to him before disappearing to the So Random set. Chad smiled. He loved that he made her that happy.

He felt another body sit down next to him, and looked over to see Portlyn.

"I know why you were avoiding her earlier," she said, giving him a mischievous look.

"Port. . ."

"You like her! You like Monroe, and now you don't know what to do because she's your best friend!" Portlyn always knew what Chad was thinking, but unlike the way Sonny did it, being cute and happy and understanding, Chad just found Portlyn annoying.

Chad nodded. "Yeah, well, if I make one wrong move it could ruin everything." She smirked as he said the words.

"Good thing you two are going on a date tonight, then, huh?" She reached over towards Chad's untouched plate and began picking at his french fries.

"It's not a date. We're just friends," he told her.

"So? Then make it a date. Show her how you feel. Be romantic, make her swoon." She stood up, and walked out of the Commissary.

No, Chad thought. It's not a date, and I'm not going to try to sweep her off of her feet- she'd kill me. I'm just a friend tonight, and I'm going to keep it that way.

He knew, though, that it was easier said than done. It would be quite a challenge trying to keep his hands off of her tonight, and his mind out of the gutter.