A/N: Hey'all, I've been very busy; sorry for the wait! And if you actually suffered because of that, well, I'm flattered. It means you actually care ;)
Enjoy!
***
"We need to see Chad," Zora demanded of the burly security guard, who pointedly glanced at the Banned wall, and then back at her.
"CHAD!" Zora screeched towards the entrance of MacKenzie Falls' large lounge. "Get your butt over here!"
"Like he'll actually heed orders from a So Random! eleven year old," Tawni muttered, rolling her eyes. A little speaker mounted on the wall near the security counter buzzed to life.
Chad's cool, emotionless voice spoke through the intercom, "Let them in," he ordered. The security guard began to object.
"Mr. Cooper," all four are on the-"
"I said let them in," Chad interrupted, a hint of annoyance in his voice now. The buzzing ceased as Chad' cut off the connection. Nico and Grady turned to look triumphantly at the guard with identical Chad-worthy smirks on their faces. The guard mumbled unintelligently as he allowed them to pass.
Chad was reclining on a leather sofa, waiting for them. When his icy blue eyes spotted them, he smoothly snapped up the footrest, kicking his feet up and crossing his arms behind his head, the perfect image of spoiled and rich. Nico had a sudden urge to punch Chad's perfect face, like he often did when Chad acted obnoxiously.
Chad tapped his sunglasses with an index finger, lowering them down to hide his eyes. "Why are you here?" he asked coldly.
"Intentional or not, Sonny's break up with you is hurting So Random! almost as much as its hurting her," Tawni snapped at him accusingly.
Chad's sunglasses could not hide his involuntary wince.
"Good," he replied, trying to hide his pain, "Go on," he added, voice dripping boredom.
Zora knew better, though. "You need to make up with her," she told him in a no-nonsense tone.
Chad sat up slowly, clasping his hands in front of him. He looked at the crew, eyes revealed over his sunglasses as he leaned over.
"Look, you got what you wanted. You planted the seed of doubt in Sonny's mind; she decided I wasn't good enough for her," he said quickly, trying to maintain his calm. The rest of the MacKenzie Falls cast had wisely quietly left. "Maybe she's right. Either way, I've been trying to for two days to apologize to her, but due to interference," he emphasized, "I wasn't able to speak a word to her in private, even though we work less than half a mile away from each other the entire day. What do you want me to do? You guys just going to step down and watch her reject me? A lot of good that will do."
Tawni felt like answering yes, but Zora shot her a warning glare.
"Look, Chad, we all are really sorry for ruining you and Sonny," Zora told him earnestly, "We thought that you two being together would only produce negativity for So Random! and that you would use her or eventually hurt her.
"But it doesn't seem that way anymore," Zora continued, "When she left you, you came back to her, trying to make amends, but we blocked you. And now it probably is too late for Sonny to just forgive you." Chad listened, trying not to drop his jaw open in surprise at her words.
"The key is to do something so drastic that Sonny will have to believe your love is genuine," Zora said.
"And what's that? You've obviously thought hard about this," Chad replied skeptically.
It's Portlyn's birthday party tonight, right?" Tawni answered before Zora could, "Make a big show of apologizing to her in front of all the guests and press. Arrange for some paparrazi to be allowed in too." Now Chad really did gape.
"What the hell am I supposed to do? Get a mike and sing a love song?" he asked sarcastically.
"What; do you need a script?" Grady jabbed. "'Cuz apparently you can only get things done by acting."
Chad glanced dully at Grady, then dismissed him as if he was a passing fly. "You don't really expect me to-"
"Do you ever want Sonny back or not?" Zora interrupted, her voice intense.
Chad shut his mouth, staring back into Zora's eyes with the same intensity, "I do," he whispered.
"Well then," Zora said, leaning back on her heels, "Let's show the whole world what a great boyfriend Chad can be."
***
"Oh So-nny!" Tawni called in a sing-song voice, prancing into their dressing room. Marhsall had excused them all from rehearsals that afternoon and delayed their sketch till Friday to…. accommodate their new plan. Tawni spotted Sonny stretched out on her bean bag, eyes closed as if asleep. She made no move to acknowledge Tawni's greeting. Tawni marched straight to her, bent down, to Sonny's ear, and said loudly, "Good news, friend! We've been invited to Portlyn's birthday party tonight!
Again, Sonny made no move other than opening her eyes to look at Tawni. "Who's Portlyn?" she asked sullenly, closing her eyes hen Tawni's look turned surprised.
"She's Penelope in MacKenzie Falls," Tawni answered patiently.
"Right," Sonny agreed with no hint of recognition. "Why would she invite me, or you?"
"Because I'm pretty," Tawni answered immediately, then thought about the other part of Sonny's question, "Well, because… um, you're -wait-" Tawni tried to think of why Portlyn would possibly give Sonny an invite. "Oh it doesn't matter. You're invited, and so am I, and we are going to the party together." Tawni finished firmly.
"It's a really late invite," Sonny muttered, eyes open again. "What is it, 2pm already?" Her eyes widened with panic at a new thought. "Is, will -Chad- be there?"
"I don't know," Tawni replied dismissively, "But you have to go with me," Tawni headed pointedly towards Sonny's closet. "Is most of your good stuff in here or at your apartment?" Sonny didn't answer. "Well, I guess you usually go from here to parties, so they should be here…" Tawni held up multiple dresseds to inspect them.
"Sonny moved from he bean bag to Tawni's pink sofa chair ottoman. She observed in silence as Tawni inspected her party dresses.
"How's this one?" Tawni admired a strapless, glittery baby blue dress that she'd held up. Sonny'd never worn it before; she thought it was too fancy. In fact, the only reason she'd bought the expensive thing was-
"No way," Sonny answered immediately. Tawni looked at her with suspicion.
"Why not?" she demanded, looking from the dress to Sonny and back. "I have a pair of wedge sandals I could lend you with the straps the exact same color."When the resolve in Sonny's eyes didn't waiver, Tawni added, "You bought it. What's the matter with you?"
"I bought it because it's the exact same color of his eyes, ok?" Sonny blurted out. Immediately after she blushed and wished she could pull her words out of the air and back into her mouth. Tawni hid a smile. It was why she'd chosen the dress too.
"Either wear the dress now, or wear the dress after I pout and whine and make you absolutely miserable." Tawni told her brightly.
"How is the second alternative different from right now?" Sonny asked her.
That made Tawni pause for a minute. "I'm not sure… but I don't really care." Tawni answered, "As long as I'm pretty, it's okay."
Sonny sighed at that. "Fine, Tawni, I will wear the stupid dress to the stupid party."
***
A/N: If any of you have a lot of time on your hands, or if you noticed, if I spelt "Portlyn" as "Portland" by accident, could you report it? I'd like to make sure they're all "Portlyn". Thanks, and thanks for reading!
--SherriLee
