Author's Note: I'm so sorry that this is a day late. I've had so much shit going on the last week, it's kind of ridiculous. But I'll try to post Chapter 8 a day early to make up for it. (Try being the keyword here.) Anyways. This is seriously my favorite chapter so far. You'll see why. (:
Alex woke up to a sharp stabbing in her shoulder and rolled onto her back with a groan. She glared at the music box beside her. Even the fake Sonny was out to get her. She pushed the box away and it slid onto the nightstand. If she didn't know any better, she'd think the slight "thunk" it made as it hit the wood was its way of saying "Haha!".
She squeezed her eyes shut against the harsh sunlight streaming past her blue curtains and reluctantly sat up. She stayed that way, arms lazily splayed out over the fluffy comforter in her lap, hair and make up a mess, staring hard at the wall across from her for several long moments. She just couldn't catch a break. She tried to remember what happened the day before, but her memory failed her. Her mind had been on overdrive the night before, she concluded that it must have blown up. All she could manage to conjure up was that Sonny was back. Kind of. Really, Alex had unknowingly hunted her down like a bloodhound.
She breathed in deeply and dramatically flopped back against her pillows. She fought the urge to glance at her nightstand, but her eyes found the cherry wood box anyways. She sighed, defeated, and reached out for it. She held it upside down above her and carefully examined the chocolate brown eyes behind the glass. She remembered taking the picture like it was yesterday.
"Alex, I swear, if you don't put that camera down..." Sonny threatened, the small smile she wore and stuffed animal cradled against her stomach making her less intimidating than a hamster.
"But Sonny!" Alex whined and pulled off her best puppy dog pout. Sonny didn't budge.
"No, Lex. I look like shit."
"You look beautiful." Alex murmured quietly from her spot on the couch facing Sonny, keeping her camera just below her bottom lip. A light pink flooded Sonny's cheeks and she smiled shyly at Alex. Alex's finger pressed the button on the top of the camera and she smiled at the perfect picture on the small screen. She set the camera down on the counter and shuffled over to lean her head on Sonny's shoulder and wrap her arms around waist. Sonny looped an arm behind Alex's back and kissed her hair.
"Love you, Lexy." Alex didn't know if it was the way Sonny's lips brushed against her head or if it was just from hearing her say it, but her stomach twisted and her heart slammed against her rib cage.
"Love you, Sonny."
Alex sniffed and got up to slide her robe on. She took the music box and started downstairs, halfheartedly mumbling a "Good morning." to Justin and Max. She declined offers of pancakes from her parents and made her way into her art room. She needed to paint.
-x-
Brown eyes met brown eyes, a fire in both pairs as the stare down between them intensified. One of them narrowed, the other not moving a muscle. The tension was heavy in the air and the silence was deafening. Another full sixty seconds of uncomfortable glares passed before Sonny finally huffed angrily and leaned back into the sofa.
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? Look, I know we've spent some time apart, but it doesn't mean I love you any less!" No response. "It doesn't have to be like this, you know. You didn't have to attack me!"
"Sonny?" Sonny yelped and jumped at the unexpected voice. She met Caitlyn's questioning eyes and tried to act normal.
"Hey, Cait." Caitlyn shifted nervously behind the sofa and looked past Sonny, then back again.
"Are you talking to a stuffed dog?" Sonny scoffed several times before replying.
"No! Don't be ridiculous. I don't talk to my stuffed animals." Sonny turned back to the dog on the coffee table with frantic eyes and hid it under the blanket. She grinned broadly and faced Caitlyn again.
"Sonny, why were you yelling at the dog?" Caitlyn asked before walking around the couch to sit beside her friend. Sonny pouted.
"He leaped out of the net over my bed and attacked me this morning." She answered sadly. Caitlyn didn't bother to hold back a smile.
"He attacked you?" Sonny nodded and Caitlyn laughed.
"You, my friend, have problems." Sonny smiled briefly before slouching in her seat.
"Tell me about it. You'll never guess what happened last night."
"What, did your teddy bear hunt you down?" Sonny grinned and lightly smacked Caitlyn's stomach.
"No!" Sonny twisted her fingers in her lap and sighed. "I saw Alex last night." Caitlyn's eyes widened.
"Are you serious?"
"Oh yeah. She was at the studio yesterday."
"You're kidding."
"Nope. It wasn't pretty. I was fully expecting to be slapped."
"She didn't!"
"Oh no, of course not. I mean, I could tell she wanted to. But she's classier than that. She just yelled a lot."
"Ouch."
"I know." Sonny sighed and pulled Poppy into her lap. Her thumb ran over the patch of black fur around his eyes. "She said I was gayer than Ellen DeGeneres." She smiled a little and then bit her lip. "And then called me a cold-hearted bitch." Caitlyn didn't respond, but reached over and gently squeezed Sonny's hand. "I told her to keep it down, so Tawni or Marshall didn't hear, ya know?" Sonny swallowed the growing lump in her throat. "She told me she wasn't out to destroy me, she wasn't like me." Caitlyn frowned and ran her thumb over the back of Sonny's hand.
"Sonny..."
"Did you bring your laptop?" Caitlyn internally sighed at the change of subject but jerked her thumb over her shoulder. Sonny grinned and gave Caitlyn's hand a quick squeeze before unraveling herself from the blanket and standing up, Poppy cradled against her stomach. "Then what are we doing out here? We've got music to make!" She grabbed Caitlyn's bag from the floor and pulled her friend into her small bedroom. She set the bag down on her bed and took a purple notebook out from under pillow. "I wrote something."
"I knew that." Caitlyn joked while unzipping her bag to pull out the laptop. Sonny stuck her tongue out at her friend and grinned. She honestly didn't know where she'd be without her.
"Hey Cait?"
"Yeah?" The brunette replied without looking up from her screen.
"Thanks." Sonny's voice was quiet and Caitlyn smiled up at her.
"Anytime."
