I really apologize to those of you who were waiting on another chapter, unfortunately, real life got in the way. I've been busy with weddings, graduation stuff, exams, all kinds of fun stuff that prevented me from working on this story, including an original story that I've gotten really into developing the characters for. Since I already made you wait so long, I will stop talking and publish this.

I smoothed my pleated black skirt as I stepped out of my car at the studio. I mentally prepared myself for what lay ahead. The problem was, I didn't know what to expect. After yesterday, when I met the real CDC, things had to have changed between the two of us. Chad had opened up, shown me someone I never expected to see. It was pretty obvious that things were about to change, and big time.

I pushed through the studio door and mentally prepared myself for whatever was going to happen today. It didn't take long before I ran into Chad in the hallway between our sets. He was walking swiftly, his hands shoved into his pockets.

"Hey, Chad," I greeted him happily.

"Sonny," he responded before continuing on his way.

"Wait, Chad, I was wondering if I could talk to you."

I glanced over to see if he responded, but he was still walking, about to round the corner and disappear from sight.

"CHAD!"

Nothing, absolutely nothing, and now he was gone. Great, this wasn't what I was expecting. Apparently nothing had changed.

I didn't act as well as I should have during morning rehearsal. My heart wasn't in it; my mind was only half paying attention. The other half was wondering about Chad, it was secretly fuming. The problem was that everyone was noticing that I wasn't up to par, even Tawni. I was quickly becoming embarrassed and my embarrassment did nothing to ease my anger at a certain blond boy.

It was finally time for lunch and I was secretly thrilled so that I could escape the torturous rehearsal. At the same time, I was dreading the possibility of running into Chad. I couldn't stand the thought of having to deal with him after this morning. I was hurt by his actions and I wasn't sure how I would react when I saw him again. As soon as I stepped into the cafeteria, I spotted him. He was sitting at a two-person table alone. When my cast and I entered the busy room, he looked up and caught my eye with his. I desperately wanted to look away, but found that I could not. It was agonizing. Once he had caught my eye, he had me. He took his index finger and silently beckoned me to meet him at the table. I secretly hoped that one of my cast-mates would save me somehow, but no avail. I walked over to him and sat down across from him. I played with my fingernails until he spoke. He made me come over, so he had to do the talking.

"Look, Sonny, I'm sorry about earlier, but I was running late for makeup," he gave me a half-smile, almost as though he was afraid that I was going to ignore him.

"I got it, it makes perfect sense. I'm glad you told me," was my response, but to my ears it sounded too rushed and even I didn't believe what was coming out of my mouth. Deep down, though I wouldn't dare admit it, I was hurt. His insensitivity hurt me. He could have done more than said hi; he could have said that he had to run, since he was late, something, anything else.

"So are we good?" he asked, he seemed sincere enough.

"We are so good," I grinned at him despite my fury.

He stood up from his chair and extended his hand in order help her from the seat. She took it gratefully. It was sweet; this was the guy she had met yesterday. The other Chad had evaporated once again.

"I'll get you a strawberry milkshake, on me."

The next couple weeks were comfortable; we talked about various things around work, while trying not to be noticed by our friends. He had invited me over again to hang out and play in the pool with Chrissy. He played guitar a couple of times, each time straying away from the song he played when I had first come over. He was hiding something; it was pretty easy to spot, even without Chrissy's help. She swore the song was complete and that she couldn't figure out why he refused to play it. She told me that he had sung it to her recently and that she didn't know why he couldn't sing it now. I liked the way things were going. It was an easy relationship, very little stress.

I could hear banging of doors from where I was in the hallway on the way to the cafeteria. Angry footsteps were nearing me. These footsteps belonged to Chad Dylan Cooper. His face was contorted with fury.

I argued with myself back and forth for a moment, wondering how to approach the situation.

He walked past me without a second glance.

"Chad, wait!"

He turned on his heel and looked at me.

"Go away, Sonny."

"No."

"What?" his eyes flashed to my face.

"No, not until you tell me what your problem is."

"Fine, I just received a letter from my father. He's not returning from Iraq as planned. He's been given orders to remain overseas for another six months. He's missing Chrissy's birthday and surgery. Do you know how devastated she'll be? We haven't seen him in almost two years, Sonny. She's going to be crushed."

"I don't think this is about Chrissy," I tried to make my voice as calm as possible.

"What do you mean? Of course it is."

"Let me rephrase. This isn't only about Chrissy. It's also about you."

He glared at me venomously. I had it the nail on the head.

"You've got it wrong."

"Chad, listen to me. You miss your dad as much as Chrissy does."

He crossed his arms, still glaring at me with a deep hatred, "I don't have to listen to this."

With those final words, he left. Disappeared around a corner and was out of sight. I wanted to cry. I could feel the tears start to well up in my eyes. I made a vain attempt to prevent the tears from leaking from my brown eyes. Needless to say, it didn't work. As I slid down the wall to sit in the middle of the hallway, water droplets fell onto my pink t-shirt. I willed myself not to scream in frustration.

I didn't know what to do. I knew what the problem was, but I couldn't get him to listen to me. Chad wasn't the person I had seen just last week, he had returned to the selfish jerk I had met months ago. My tears had ceased, but I still felt helpless. He was my friend, or at least I thought he was and I wanted to help him. I just didn't know how. Chad was, well, for lack of a better word, complicated. He puts up this front and wants everyone to believe that he is tough. Underneath, he was a softie at least that is what I was starting to believe. After everything I had seen at his house with Chrissy, I just couldn't believe he was emotionless. I knew he wasn't emotionless. That wasn't even the right word, it couldn't be; even his outburst was a display of emotion. Heartless, that was the word that used to come to mind when I thought about Chad Dylan Cooper.