Grady With A Chance #9:

Learning How to Share

This fanfic takes place shortly before "Marshall with a Chance"

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

Grady Mitchell stood in a bathroom looking in the mirror at a guy he felt he didn't know anymore. The image that met his eyes was of a pudgy, overweight man with pale Caucasian skin, standing there in nothing but his boxers, blond hair plastered to the side of his face with sweat, and blue eyes clouded with fatigue. "Gregory, come back to bed," wafted into the bathroom, and Grady sighed.

It had been two months since he had first adopted this alias and had joined the West Hollywood bar scene. He made it a point to hang around on some nights when he had nothing better to do, because even though he made connections relatively often, he still sometimes trudged back to his cast mate's home alone. Waiting till he got horny would only make things go worse. Gay guys could pick up on desperation just like girls. It was a phenomenon made worse when the guy asking was geeky, dorky or nerdy in any way.

He really didn't recognize "Gregory" staring back at him. He had put on a bunch of pounds, his face looked rounder, and he hadn't mentioned video games once to any of his dates, if you could call them that. He wasn't being himself, and he felt that the stress of pretending to be someone else was leading to his overall changes. Grady sighed silently once more and primped his ravaged hair back into a shape that didn't look like the face on TV and exited to the bedroom.

He walked back to the side of the bed, and stared into the eyes of the apartment owner, Gus, a fit brunet with fierce green eyes and a swimmer's build. Grady slipped into bed next to the young man who held up the covers for him and snuggled up close facing him. "Sorry. My head went off to spaceland," he said in order to explain his absence.

"That's quite alright, Gregory. What were you thinking about?" Gus asked.

Grady smiled and said, "Mainly about how a hot guy like you invited over a plain looking, overweight guy like me."

"You're anything but plain. You have got the cutest dimples ever, pretty eyes and a cute belly. Plus a great personality that makes me want to make you happy," he responded.

Grady smiled and Gus continued, "Also, I could tell you spent an hour on your hair but really wanted someone to mess it up for you," with a smirk. Grady gave a deep laugh and smiled.

"I am pretty happy right now, just..." Grady said, tapering off into nothingness and looking down at Gus' chest rather than maintain eye contact.

Gus looked at Grady and drew his face back up so their eyes could meet. "I know. I'm respecting your request for no strings, and even though I like that you wanted a second time with me, I get that you'll never be my boyfriend."

"I wish you'd give me the chance to get to really know you, but I get it. You can't be yourself in this situation, and you don't want to go on dinner dates so this is it."

Grady smiled and said, "You wouldn't really want that. I'm a dork and a prankster, I love video games and food, and people tell me I'm goofy too. That's not exactly boyfriend material for the average guy, and besides all that I'm emotionally taken."

Gus ran his hand through Grady's hair and said, "So what if you're a goofy, dorky guy? You still know how to please me. The things you did to me... plus you could be heavier and it wouldn't turn me off. The opposite in fact."

Grady looked at Gus in disbelief and asked, "You prefer chubby guys?"

Gus nodded and said, "Especially chubby guys that know what they're doing with their equipment. And as far as the love thing goes, I know."

Grady paused and stared Gus in the eyes and asked, "You know?"

"I do watch TV. You were really funny this week," Gus replied. The knowledge that his buddy knew his real identity was both terrifying and a relief.

"So what does this mean?" Grady asked, searching Gus' eyes and trying to pick out the hint of trouble.

"It means I get to be intimate with the cutest star I know, and you had a good time. For the record Grady, if you weren't in an open relationship with someone else I'd love to get to know you better, but I'm satisfied seeing you like this."

Grady smiled, assured that he had dodged the blackmail bullet. "Maybe we could become friends after all?" he asked.

"Does that mean I get to meet your cast mates? I'd like that," Gus said.

Grady thought about it and said, "For that I'd have to talk to my partner first. This whole sex with other people thing is still new for us... and I don't want him to feel jealous..." His voice tapered off into nothingness and Gus smiled and nodded. He leaned over and hugged Grady tightly before closing his eyes and trying to fall asleep. Grady attempted the same, and the camera panned up and faded to black.

Tawni Hart let Drake Butler push her chair in as she sat down and used it as an opportunity to look around the room. They were sitting down in a well appointed private dining room, with floor standing potted plants and elegant antique furnishings. She had only heard of the dining room at Don Giovanni's and had never been here before. Their waitress was an overweight woman with a healthy glow to her skin. She took their drinks and appetizer order without a memory aid, and disappeared immediately leaving the couple to their own devices.

"Oh, Drake, this is such a wonderful environment. Everything is so tasteful and intimate. You'd never guess it was a Sunday afternoon," she said.

Her date smirked at her from across the table, and said, "I'm glad you're impressed. You have to know the chef or the owner to reserve this room, and it just so happens that Tim and I worked with the owner when we were kids, right after he left opera and attempted to break into TV."

Tawni couldn't think of a reason anyone would choose to leave a spotlight as large as the opera stage, but she was here because the owner had so she didn't try to rationalize things. "Did you have a chance to catch the show this week?" she asked.

Drake nodded and said, "I never miss an episode. I'm dating the star."

She smiled and said, "I hope you laughed and didn't get embarrassed about the officious waiter sketch. Nico came up with the idea and I put the rest in."

"Why would I get upset? It was funny," he said while looking deeply into her eyes. Tawni was about to respond that not many people could laugh at themselves that easily when she paid attention to Drake's body language. He wasn't laughing like you would if someone had embarrassed you all evening long in a crowded restaurant and then presented you a check while pouring a beverage in your lap on purpose. He was very detached, and Tawni was sure he'd be more upset at seeing a private, and somewhat awkward moment on television.

She was about to say that she changed enough that most people wouldn't get it, when she realized Drake didn't get it either. "Drake, did you get amnesia after that night? There is no way you forgot our private joke."

"What? Oh, right. I recognized it I just laughed and let it go," he responded, but he was still detached.

Tawni inwardly sighed and got scared, she didn't let her mask drop and she continued to smile as she put her hand on top of his and intertwined their fingers. Tawni did her best to look longingly into his eyes and breathily asked, "Tim?"

Her date responded, "Yes, Tawni?" without a hint of guile and that confirmed her suspicions and broke her heart.

"How long have you been dating me while pretending to be your brother?" she asked and rapidly withdrew her hand.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about," he said after only a moment's hesitation. He tried valiantly to save their charade, and that only made her feel stupider.

"I'm not an idiot and I can see that you're not Drake. Drop the scam, and at last tell me that you haven't slept with me, and don't lie for once," she said while staring daggers directly into his eyes.

Tim sighed and said, "I have been intimate with you, but it was only the one time."

"Well that explains how one guy can go from tiger to tender in a week's time," she replied and stood up. Her eyes watered and the heartbreak and disappointment she felt literally rolled down her cheeks.

"Tawni, don't go," he said while standing and holding his hand out towards her. "I'm the one who likes hanging out with you. I'm the twin who is falling in love," he fumbled around and managed to catch her hand as she turned.

"Forget it," she said as she snatched her hand away, "I don't know you, I know fake Drake! I can never trust you now. Even if you promised me I'd never see Drake again, I can't trust that he wouldn't sneak into bed one day and take the only thing he apparently wants from me."

"Since you share absolutely everything, you can share this with your brother too," she said as she spun back around and caught Tim by surprise with a slap that rocked him down to the table. She then ran out of the dining room and the restaurant immediately after.

Grady was sitting on the Hart's couch leaning back and thinking about his love life and life in general. It was a stroke of luck that Tawni's mom was on a skii trip and left the two of them there alone. She had only told them both not to bring any men home or she would kick them out, and the she was gone. He was starting to enjoy this arrangement and reached for the TV remote when the door burst open and Tawni ran through the room, makeup a mess and upset. She entered her room and slammed the door shut behind her, causing Grady to jump up. He ran to the front door and closed it, and then ran to Tawni's bedroom and knocked.

"Tawni, can I come in? What's wrong?" he asked.

"Men are dogs!" she screamed through the door, and Grady decided to chance having stuff thrown at his head. He tried the knob, and finding it unlocked he said, "I'm coming in!" and then opened the door and slid into the room. Tawni's dog worked its way into the room between Grady's legs and ran right up to her owner to be picked up and snuggled.

Grady had never been in her room before, and had averted his eyes from the explosion of pink fluffiness every time he had walked past. Aside from the large vanity desk with the superstar lighted mirror, it looked like what he expected to see in any young girl's room. There were pillows and stuffed animals everywhere, and Tawni sat on the bed, snow white terrier under her chin and stared at him.

"What happened?" he asked as he approached the bed and sat down.

"I found out that I wasn't dating one Butler twin, I was dating both of them at the same time!" she said.

It took Grady long moments to process what that meant. He had heard rumors that they weren't squeaky clean, but he hadn't heard this. "So you were out with Drake and he forgot something important?" he ventured.

Tawni nodded and burst into tears again. She looked so pitiful that Grady slid over and wrapped his arms around her. He silently fumed, and got angrier as Tawni cried more in his arms. Then he heard the door open and suddenly wondered if he should step away from Tawni long enough to see who it was, or just stay where he was and call out. The choice became moot as he heard a familiar voice call out, "Tawni, I got your 'Code 911' text. Can I come in?"

Grady said, "Come in, Sonny!" and he separated from Tawni as Sonny entered. He was inwardly thankful for the other girl's presence. He didn't know anything about consoling the heartbroken, and as Sonny slid in to give her a hug he stood and slipped out of the room. Grady decided to make them some hot chocolate and then see if Nico would have him over.

Nico Harris laughed next to Grady, who had his arm wrapped around his shoulder, while Nico let his leg rest on top of Grady's as they sat entwined together on the couch. The movie they were watching was pretty hilarious, so it eased the mood that Grady had brought over with him.

"I'm glad you came over, G. I miss you," he said.

Grady looked at him and said, "We played gamestation all night on Wednesday."

"I mean as in a date night," the slender teen explained.

Grady gave Nico an amazed look and smiled. "Oh," he responded, "Well, we can do this more often too."

Nico nodded and then they both laughed at the events on the TV screen. "So, is Tawni gonna be okay? These guys played with her emotions pretty badly, right?"

"Yeah. I felt so bad I didn't even feel like reminding her that I had warned her about them months ago."

Nico sighed, disentangled himself from Grady and reached forward to pause the movie, "Is there any plan to get back at these two jerks?"

Grady put his hands in his lap and shrugged, "I haven't heard anything from Sonny. Probably though if I know Tawni."

"Well, if you find out any details you'll let me know ASAP, right? Nobody gets to do something that bad to one of us," Nico said, and Grady smiled and nodded to let him know that he agreed. Nico began to reach for the remote and Grady cleared his throat.

"Um, I've been thinking about what you said."

"About what?" Nico responded.

Grady smiled and leaned up against his love, "When we started this relationship anew, you said you wanted to be intimate."

Nico nodded and said, "Yes, and you said you wanted to take it slow."

"I came to a realization, so I stopped letting guys enter me a month ago," Grady explained.

Nico gave him a puzzled expression, "But, Babe, I thought you preferred being on the receiving end."

Grady nodded vigorously, "I do, but I realized that I'd enjoy that with you so much more, so when we're ready to be with each other again, you're the only guy that can have me like that."

"So you think we'll be mature enough to try intimacy again soon?" Nico asked.

Grady tilted his head to the left and shook it, shrugging. "It might be months, or even a year. I don't know. If Mr. Condor changed his mind I'd hold your hand in public tomorrow."

Nico said, "It's nice of you to sacrifice that, for me, for us, and the gesture means a lot to me, but you're a guy with healthy appetites and the whole reason you went out clubbing in the first place is because you have itches to scratch. Don't make yourself miserable for my sake, okay?"

"It's not just for you," he said, and reaching for Nico's chin drew his mouth into a passionate kiss. They stayed that way for long minutes, only separating by inches and gasping for air as they did so.

"G..." Nico began, and Grady disentangled himself, jumped up and covered his crotch. "Yeah, me too. I guess I should call Chad and get a ride home... before I jump you and things get heavy again."

Nico stood up, and wrapped his arms around Grady in an affectionate hug, then he gave him a chaste kiss and said, "Good night, Babe."

Chad Dylan Cooper pulled up in his convertible, turning his gaze to Grady sitting on a bench by the apartment he used to share with his best friend. "Hey, Cloudy. You called for a taxi?"

Grady walked over saying, "Ha ha," and hopped over the door into the passenger seat.

"Hey! Why'd you do that?" Chad yelled, chastising the fellow actor.

Grady smiled softly and withdrew slightly before saying, "I just always wanted to."

Chat looked him up and down with indignation, "Well don't want to ever again, or you'll be walking everywhere the rest of your life."

Grady didn't rise to the bait and just said, "Thanks for picking me up, Chad. The last bus ran over an hour ago," as the car took off from the curb.

"Whatever. I'm surprised you don't own a car, even a broken down, busted looking one. And it's not so much that I'm picking you up, I'm picking milady up, and she just happens to be where you live," Chad replied.

Grady shrugged, "I guess it was just one more thing I didn't do like a regular eighteen-year old."

"I'll say, most guys do not go from living with their best friend to living with one of the hottest girls in Hollywood," Chad said.

Grady looked over at him, paused for a few moments and then explained, "I meant owning a car."

"Oh."

They drove on in silence for a few minutes more before Chad said, "So you and Nico were dating and now you're not."

Grady furrowed his brow, as he had been dreading this turn of conversation for over half a year, actively for two months since the breakup. "It's complicated and I don't want to talk about it," he finally responded.

"Well, you're also hanging out with Skyler a lot these days, and you better not just be doing that to get into his pants," Chad said, in a show of solidarity for his cast mate that shocked Grady. It also wasn't at all the direction Grady expected the conversation to go.

"No, no, no. Skyler and I are just friends," he said.

Chad looked right briefly and caught his passenger's eye, "Are you sure? He's got a healthy admiration for you, for some unknown reason, so it'd be easy to take advantage of him and I won't have that."

Grady sighed and said, "Yes, I'm sure. Chad, I know that Skyler had a crush on me, but he's started to move past that. He's a nice guy to hang out with, one of the only ones I can go out to a gay club with, and I would never lead him on."

Chad drove on and then said, "Well, that's too bad. Skyler's a good guy."

It wasn't more than a few blocks more before Chad drove the conversation off on a new tangent, "Now that that's out of the way, how is Tawni? I heard she dumped Drake Butler? She had to have a good reason. The Butler Twins are almost as handsome, charming and talented as yours truly."

"Yeah, she dumped him, and I don't think she's doing that well," Grady said. He didn't want to tell Chad her secret shame just like that, but he was certain she was angry, hurt, and sad all at once, and was nowhere near the confident Tawni Hart he knew.

"Well, let her know she's better off without him, unless it was true love and he screwed up somehow, in which case you should let her know it was bound to happen and she's lucky she found out now," Chad said as he began to slow the car.

Grady replied, "I'll let her know."

Chad pulled the car up to the curb and said, "Okay, here you are, my good sir. Now if you wouldn't mind letting Sonny know I'm here as well?"

Grady nodded as he began to push up in an attempt to climb over the door, more to tweak Chad's nose, and it worked. Chad said, "Ah, ah, ah. Open the door like a trained monkey, you monkey!" Grady smirked and sat back down to pop open the car door and get out.

"Thanks again, Chad," Grady said as he hopped out. He heard a muttered dismissal and headed into the apartment building.

Sonny walked into the prop house and found Grady sitting on the couch with a pad of paper instead of a game controller in his hands for once. She smiled and sat down in the chair facing the door and asked, "Have you got any good ideas for a sketch?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking about doing the Real Princesses of New Jersey where Cindy can't reach Mirror Mirror," he pointed to himself and flashed her a smile as he nodded his head, closed his eyes and continued, "Me naturally," as he adopted the expression Sonny liked to call 'Cocky Grady'.

"And then Cindy gets the other princesses together and they go looking for him, only to find him in a mirror in the tanning parlor getting his tone. And since they are already there, they fight over who gets to use the bed first," he concluded.

Sonny leaned back, "Well, it's certainly creative," she said as she smiled at her friend.

"Tawni was much calmer when I got home, but I figure even two hours of crying would have done that. Is she alright?" he asked Sonny.

The brunette looked at Grady and seemed unwilling to say too much, but she nodded and said, "I think she's working through the betrayal factor. It hurts. I should know, and Chad didn't technically cheat on me or anything, he just skipped out on activities."

Grady nodded, "I hope she feels like her normal self soon."

Then Tawni walked into the prop house wearing her pink sweatsuit, hair perfect, makeup done, and looking like her normal self. She nodded at her cast mates and walked to the bar to sit down. The pair of them stared after her as she paraded through the space.

"You look great, Tawni," Grady said, unable to put his real questions into words.

Tawni just smiled, tilted her head to the side and said, "Of course I do. So, what are you working on over there?"

Sonny looked over and adopted her Snowy accent while saying, "Grady's taking Real Princesses of New Jersey out of the living room and into the tanning salon."

Tawni responded immediately as Cindy, "Oh really? Mirror Mirror on the Wall, who's the tannest of us all?"

"Hey, that'd be me. You're disturbing my me time over here," he said with his thick jersey accent, causing the girls to crack up.

Nico walked in followed shortly by Marshall. Their producer walked right to the other side of the room and told Tawni, "It's done."

"Good."

Nico and Grady looked at each other and Sonny looked at Tawni, "What's done?" she asked.

"Tim and Drake Butler auditioned for a buddy action movie and got through a ton of callbacks. They told me about it three weeks ago, which was the last time I thought I saw Tim," she said.

Marshall spread his hands as he began to emote and picked up the story, "And my good friend is the director. He'll tell them that they got the part, and he'll put them through the paces, running generic stunts, which they will do all by themselves."

"It's in the contract they'll sign," said Tawni.

Marshall nodded, and continued, "Yeah, the contract. So he'll keep them occupied for a week, maybe two and then fire them. He told me that he intends to have them up and at makeup at four in the morning, and filming till nine each night."

Tawni smiled, and said, "Yes, they'll go through hell in the wilderness near Hollywood, and go home exhausted every night. Then the director will hire his actual choices for the roles and get on with the movie."

Marshall said, "He was so incensed when he heard what that pair did to Tawni he improved on Tawni's idea and said he'd bank roll the crew being there, so they don't have to volunteer to do it all for free. I got Mr. Condor to spend a little cash and pay the studio back for their other expenses."

Tawni looked at Marshall and said, "Wow, remind me to thank Mr. Condor the next time I see him. For now though, thank you so much Marshall."

The other kids were speechless, and Marshall went on to say, "Nothing is too good for one of my kids. You mess with So Random!, you get made out to be a fool." Then he turned and began to walk out, "I liked that Real Princesses sketch idea you were tossing back and forth. Those characters are comedy gold."

Nico just stared at Tawni as she began to work on her nails, and Grady leaned over, "Hey, Nico?"

"Yeah, G?"

"Remind me never to hurt Tawni," he said.

"Deal."

"Hey," Nico said as he sat down in the commissary across from Grady. Grady looked up from his plate of vegetables, waved and assumed a slightly dopey grin.

"Hey, Nico."

Nico asked him, "What are you doing? There are perfectly good burgers over there today."

"Dieting. I bet Tawni I could eat whatever she or Sonny ate for the next four days, and if I win, she has to come hang out with me for a whole day," he said.

"That's a strange bet, G. Why didn't you bet her something you like to do, or have a competition?" his companion asked.

Grady shrugged, "I need to eat better, and this is a way to motivate me to do that?"

Nico asked, "So if you win?"

Grady beamed and said, "Wizcon 2010."

Nico grimaced, and drew breath on through his teeth, "Are you trying to break her with the nerd overload?"

"Come on! You're gonna be out of town that week anyway. I do have other friends to ask, but I want to spend time with one of my good friends there," Grady whined.

His friend held up his hands and quickly replied, "Okay, okay, I get it." He looked away for a second and then back, "Have you met any friends cool enough to hang out with from your night time escapades?"

Grady blushed slightly and nodded, "I've been meaning to find a good way to ask, but one of my buddies wants to hang out more, and meet the cast."

"And by buddy, you mean one of the guys you don't spend a lot of time watching football with?" Nico asked with a concerned expression.

Grady nodded, still looking at his partner expectantly.

"And you don't mean someone who works here in the studio?" Nico asked to which Grady nodded again.

Nico shrugged and smiled wanly, "Well I can't say I'm overjoyed but I'm kind of curious myself and I don't want to be the person saying you can't be friends with someone."

Grady grinned ear to ear and said, "I can't wait to tell Gus, he'll flip."

"There is something else," Nico said. Grady looked on silently, waiting for Nico to continue.

Nico fidgeted with his fingers and stated, "G, I've been thinking about this for a week now, and I want you to move back in."

The statement floored Grady. He wasn't expecting this request, and the amount of time he had to process it seemed short. "Nico, I don't know what to say. I had been thinking of moving out of the Harts' place, but the last time I came over we almost had an incident."

"Incident, schmincident, I'd have enjoyed it, and you would have too. Say yes," Nico implored him.

Grady smiled and said, "I really want my own place though. Your apartment still feels like home, but I feel guilty not having a place people can visit me, and we still need space. Part of the problem before was that we were living together and working together and loving together. Most people can manage 2 but not 3 of those things, Nico."

"I guess you're right. In that case, I'll be the first gentleman who gets to call on you," Nico said with a smile.

Grady smiled back and the expression stayed plastered on his face long after Nico excused himself and left the commissary. It only faded when he looked back down at his plate and sighed, reaching for a carrot sliver.