Chapter 10

A/N: I didn't mean to stray from the Ant Farm characters this chapter… it was just how it turned out. I'm not going to make a habit of this. Promise.

What I can't promise is a quick update for Chapter 11. It's not even written, and I don't know when I'm going to start writing it.

Anyway. I hope you guys had a Merry Xmas. And a Happy New Year. Thanks much for the reviews. "Do it for the children!" That cracked me up. And that very last review gave me an ego boost. =)

Sonny Munroe was having a great time tonight. There was just that little issue earlier about a stalker earlier tonight – but that was taken care of way before she even realized there was a stalker issue.

Apparently, Nicki's bodyguards had caught some creepy guy, who was waiting by the lounge entrance for her the whole time. They'd dispose of him fast, before everyone had arrived for dinner.

Good riddance. She had enough crazy fans to last her a lifetime. Ever since she left So Random to venture out on her own, and made a singing career for herself – she'd been increasingly hounded by fans and paparazzi left and right. She honestly didn't know how Chad had handled it –

Chad.

He was like a pest. Even now, while she was enjoying a good time with her fiancé Nicki, she thought of him.

She'd been thinking more and more about Chad over the past month, since Nicki had popped the question – which was completely all of Chad's fault.

Chad had seriously stepped up his game in recent efforts to contact her. Somehow, he'd managed to grab a hold of her new cell numbers – all her cell phones – and then her agents' cell phones, and even her mom's cell…

He even stooped so low as using her old Friends at So Random to get her to talk to him.

With perseverance and a lot of willpower, however, she'd managed to stay away from him. She managed to get away from everything that started the whole mess –

Hearing his voice, seeing his eyes, laughing at his goofy mannerisms –

She managed to get away from everything, but her own mind. Her mind was like a prison, and everywhere in that prison she was seeing images of Chad here and Chad there -

She wished her thoughts of Chad would go away.

Macy's voice prompted her to come back out of her thoughts –

"Sweetie, are you all right?"

Sonny was brought back to the scenery of Chi's.

She looked to her right, and found concerned looks on Macy and Stella –

"It's nothing, guys." She flashed them her toothy grin, which almost faltered.

"Good." Nicki smiled. "That lobster isn't going to eat itself, you know."

"Eew. That would be weird." Kevin pointed out.

The whole table laughed.

"Wait. What did I say?" Kevin was confused.

"It's nothing, Kev – " Nick was saying –

"Guys!" A girl's voice interrupted.

All heads turned to the voice. It was Rocky Blue, that talented young dancer that crashed the dinner earlier, along with her friend Cee Cee. In some ways, Rocky reminded Sonny of her –

She was smart, friendly, with lots of energy. And ambitious.

"What is it?" Nick said, curious.

"The paparazzi found out that we're eating here. They're camping outside the building as we speak."

At once, Justin and Nicki Starr took to the windows –

"Oh wow, they're mobbing Joe big time right now." Justin noted.

"How would they even know? We planned this dinner secretly." Nicki whined, very annoyed.

"Someone told. I think we should cut this dinner short." Justin said to everybody. "The sooner we leave, the better it'd be…before the rest of the paparazzi come."

"I hate New York." Nicki moaned. "We don't have this kind of Paparazzi problem in LA."

"Well, that's that, I guess." Stella said, not sounding at all bothered.

Everybody at the table had put their utensils down, and made to get up –

"We'll take the other passageway," Justin said. "We'll get to our car faster."

"No can do," Cee Cee said, as she joined the group. Panting a little, she said, "I was just that way. Apparently the paparazzi are camping out there too."

"What?" Nicki cried out. "Wait – how do you even know about the secret passageway?"

"Well … how else do you think we were able to sneak in?" Cee Cee said, as if this was the stupidest question in the world.

"I never – " Nicki was tongue – tied. "You know what? I'm going to have a talk with Big Man. This has to be his fault. If we'd chosen our security team tonight, like I'd wanted– "

"Hold up." Nick Lucas interjected. "Why assume this was Big Man's fault?"

Justin stepped in. Very calmly, he said, "Calm down, guys. Nicki, don't jump to conclusions. We don't have all of the facts. We'll just have a friendly chat with Big Man. See what we can do now that all the exits are blocked."

"That sounds like a good idea." Sonny agreed.

"Wait," Stella said. "Before we go, let me try and get Joe on the phone. See how he's holding up. He shouldn't be having this kind of problems with the press anymore." Concern for her boyfriend filled Stella's voice.

Stella fished for her phone in her bag, and kept on fishing –

Macy laughed. "What's wrong, Stels, can't find it?"

"Don't worry. It should be here …. Wait. It's not here."

Worry showed on Stella's face. "I need that phone! Tomorrow, I'm going to be so busy, and I'm going to have a million people calling me on that phone."

"Don't worry, Stels. I'll help you look." Macy said helpfully.

"You mean, we'll help you look." Cee Cee interjected. "We'll all help you look, right?" Cee Cee looked to everybody, but her eyes seemed to linger most on Sonny.

"Yea, sure," Sonny found herself saying.

"What? No. You're leaving with us now. Once we get a hold of Big Man." Nicki said.

"Nick, this'll probably take a second." Sonny said.

"She's right," Nick Lucas chimed in. "If we all spread out to look for the phone, we should find it in no time – "

"Did I say everybody? I meant just the girls." Cee Cee cut in, with a bright smile.

Nick looked confused. He opened his mouth, but Stella was already talking, "You know what? Cee Cee's right. I think we'll be ok."

Stella leaned in to whisper something to Nick, which Sonny overheard –

"I think it's best if you and Kevin were to keep Nicki and Justin company. Just in case things get too heated between them and Big Man … "

Nick looked like that was a sensible idea. "You're right…"

Nicki inserted himself back into the conversation: "Ok! It's settled! You girls go look for Stella's phone, while the rest of us are going to find a way out of here. You better find it asap…" He warned the girls.

"Or what?" Sonny challenged. "You'll just leave us?"

Nicki shot Sonny a look of surprise, like he wasn't expecting to be challenged in front of other people. "Forget I said anything." Nicki said, putting his hands up. He left with his brother, and Nick and Kevin.

Sonny was already starting to look for the phone, but was surprised when Stella suddenly rounded on Cee Cee and Rocky –

"Ok, girls. Fess up." Stella said in a warning tone. "What's up?"

"W-w-what do you mean?" Rocky said innocently.

"Oh, don't play that game with me. Macy and I have done that lots of times when we were your age."

Sonny felt like she was missing something –

"You took my phone somehow, didn't you? For some reason you wanted to split the girls and the guys up." Stella surmised.

Sonny was confused. Why would Cee Cee and Rocky want to do that? Sonny's question was answered, however, when Chyna arrived on the scene, holding Stella's phone, with Fletcher in tow, accompanied by a familiar, lanky figure with blond hair…

For a very long time, Chad had imagined how this moment would go – when he'd first lay eyes on Sonny again, to see her heart shaped face, her trademark bangs, the cheery red lipstick that emphasized her toothy grin –

But this moment had none of that. Instead, Sonny looked at him like she was seeing a ghost – in shock and disbelief.

"Sonny…please say something." He said.

Him speaking must've lit up something in Sonny –

There was that cock of her head, a glimmer in her eyes.

"What do you want me to say, Chad?"

"Chad Dylan Cooper. That really was Chad Dylan Cooper – " A voice started squealing -

"Oh would you put a sock in it?" Sonny rounded on the voice. It was a little girl. The little girl's parents, behind her, glared at Sonny…

Sonny was red. "I'm sorry, sir, missus, I didn't mean to – "

"You celebrities have such anger management issues." The mother tutted. Her long nose sniffed with disapproval under a tightly wrapped bun of hair.

Sonny smiled apologetically, again, then diverted her attention to the little girl. She bent down to eye level, and said in the sweetest voice Chad had ever heard her use, "Sorry honey, but Chad Dylan Cooper is not somebody you should be idolizing."

Ouch. That hit him where it hurt.

"Sonny, you don't mean that." He tried to put on a charming smile –

Sonny rolled her eyes. "You haven't changed a bit, have you? You still think you can charm your way out of things."

Before Chad could say anything, Sonny was already walking away –

"Um, not that way!" Chyna cried out, worried. She hooked Sonny by the arm, then steered Sonny towards a door –

Apparently Sonny was so mad, she didn't even realize she was being led –

Chad followed everybody through the door to a set of emergency staircases. It was complete privacy. Well, except for the fact that Chyna, Fletcher, and Sonny's gang of friends were right behind him, and hanging onto every word.

"Oh, good!" Sonny cried out. She whirled to face Chad, "Now I can really let Chad have it!"

Chad cringed at the volume of Sonny's voice. Her voice carried up and down the stairwell. "Sonny, can you please tone it down, a smidge?"

Sonny, for the moment, said nothing, but she glared. Hard.

"Are you really still mad at me, after all this time?" He asked.

Sonny exhaled sharply. Her eyes seemed to wander a while, before it finally settled on him.

"You haven't called me. Not once." She said finally.

His heart felt like breaking at the sound of her voice.

"What do you mean – you've blocked me from all your cells, your mom's cells, your receptionist keeps saying you're not there – how do you expect me to reach you?"

"I mean before you found out about my engagement, you egghead."

"I – you told me that you wanted space. So I honored your wish." He said honestly.

"For two years, Chad?"

"I …. Yea."

"I said I wanted space, you ignoramus … I never said I wanted you completely out of my life."

"Not true. You did say it once." He pointed out.

"Because I was mad! That was a pretty stupid stunt you pulled. I thought I'd won that Tween Music Choice award legitimately – imagine my surprise the next morning when I'd learned that you fixed the results so that I'd win!"

"Hey." Chad defended himself. "You deserved that award over Taylor Swift. I don't know what the fans were thinking."

Chad's spirits lifted, when he thought he saw Sonny's mouth twitch –

"I just wanted to make up for that first Tween Choice nomination." He confessed. "That's all."

He'd demanded a recount then, and Mackenzie Falls had ended up beating out So Random.

"Chad," she said quietly, "You always go to these extremes. First, you drive me crazy putting yourself first every time - and then next, you drive me crazy trying to make me happy. I know you had good intentions…but I needed – need - to know that I have control of my life."

"Sonny…I was just trying to make up for my mistakes. If I went overboard, it's because more than anything in the world – I want you back in my life."

Sonny surprised him. She laughed – but it wasn't the kind of laugh that'd made his heart sing everyday. It was an ironic laugh, and it felt wrong to hear it come from Sonny –

"Chad, you've had plenty of chances to come back into my life. Two years worth of chances!" She held up two fingers for emphasis.

"That's not fair, Sonny. Would you have been ok with coming by to visit me, knowing you had to see my girlfriend – not that I had one or anything the last two years."

"Yes. I definitely would have. Because that's what people do when they want someone in their lives."

"It's a two way street, Sonny. You could've come to see me anytime."

"I did! I tried, Chad. Many times. But your bodyguards always turned us away! Why was that, Chad?"

"That's because I only wanted to see you, Sonny – not you…with some other d-dude with his arms wrapped around your shoulders. Even now, the thought of it makes me sick!" Chad gagged.

"Nicki's a good guy." A smile had crept on Sonny's face, "I think you would've liked him if you took the time to know him."

A ripple of no's, nuh-uhs and I don't think so's broke out from Stella, Macy, Cee Cee and Rocky.

Chad was losing hope –

"The day of the wedding is set. It's in 3 months." Sonny said, with a tone of finality to her voice. It had almost crushed his spirits. Almost.

But then a flicker of hope took hold of him.

3 months…

An idea burst inside of him that was so bright that Chad felt like he was the sun –

"3 months! 3 months, Sonny…that's more than enough time. We can get to know each other again. I can change your mind, if you'd let me – "

Sonny looked unconvinced. "Chad, it's too late."

"It's not too late, Sonny. You don't understand. We have 3 months – "

"You waited too long, Chad." Sonny insisted. "You could've sent me a call, a text - heck, even a postcard anytime … and yet you waited until you heard I was getting married, to become a part of my life again? I was waiting to hear from you…all this time."

"I – "

The door behind Chad burst open. Several, male voices rang down the stairwell -

"There you guys are - !"

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We just talked to Big Man – "

"Wait, Chad Dylan Cooper?"

Chad grimaced. The guys' timing was all wrong. If he just had a few more minutes of quiet to talk with Sonny -

But it was too late. The whole stairwell erupted then. About ten people were talking at once. The guys were asking questions. The girls answered them. It'd only quieted down, when the distinct voice of Nicki Starr demanded,

"What is this tool doing here?"

Chad's blood boiled. Just hearing him talk – made his head hurt. He couldn't fathom what Sonny saw in the guy.

"Nick, calm down. Chad and I…we're just having a talk." Sonny explained.

"Yea, Nick. Do you mind?" Chad said, annoyed.

"Shut up." Starr said. He didn't waste any time advancing on Chad. He climbed down the steps and marched straight to Chad's face. "You shouldn't even be here. How'd you even…?" All at once, it seemed to dawn on Starr. "It was you!"

"What was me?" Chad scoffed, playing dumb.

"Shut up. That was clever. Using the press as a distraction. Nice strategy. But the fun stops here. Leave now. "

Starr was in his face now. Starr reeked of seafood in his breath.

Chad had no intention of budging.

"I'm not going anywhere. Not until I finish talking to Sonny."

"Oh yes, you are. This is my building."

"So what. This is my – yea, I got nothing." Chad finished lamely.

Chad continued, "But I do have the right to talk to my ex – girlfriend. So if you don't mind, we're in the middle of an important conversation here."

"Chad. I think you better go." Sonny said. She'd slipped in quietly, and was wedged ever so delicately between Chad and Starr now -

Chad took a step back to study Sonny. Was she being serious?

She was. She had a look on her face, which said, plainly, Quit pushing it!

Chad sighed. "Ok fine, Sonny. I'll go. But we're not done. You know that, right?"

Sonny was quiet.

"Sonny, please. Tomorrow. Come see me tomorrow. At the NEC. We'll talk then?"

"I don't think so, Chad."

Sonny, please don't do this to me…

"We have three more months, Sonny … can't you see that?"

"Three months of engagement plans." Starr smiled.

"I'm sorry. Was I talking to you?" Chad snapped at Nicki Starr irritably.

Chad wanted desperately to snap the smugness off of Starr's smirking face.

"You think you're all that because you got money, you can sing, and you can dance. But you probably can't even out-dance Dee Dee and Stony over there!" Chad exclaimed.

"Actually, it's Cee Cee and Rocky – " Cee Cee began.

"Cee Cee, not now." Rocky said, embarrassed.

"Ok!" Cee Cee smiled.

Starr's sharp jaw set. He leaned menacingly towards Chad, but Justin Starr was already in action. He hooked his brother's arm. "Calm down, bro."

Chyna spoke up then, "Um. Sorry….I know this is coming at a bad time, but I just got a text from my dad. He's pretty angry with me right now. So….yea…."

"Don't worry about your dad," Chad said, still staring down Nicki Starr. "I'll take care of him."

But Chad only heard the anxiety level rise higher in Chyna's voice, "Cameron's calling me. I think we better go now."

"Sounds like a great idea." Nicki Starr smirked. He shrugged off his older brother's grip.

Chad really didn't want to leave. He had more to say. Sonny and him…they had more to talk about. Didn't they? He looked to Sonny, who only sniffed and turned her head away -

Really, Sonny? Really? You can't even look me in the eye?

"Sonny, please. Will you see me tomorrow?"

"Just go….Chad."

Something snapped in Chad -

"Ok, fine. Have it your way."

If that was the way she wanted it. Well, fine. What can he do about it?

He took one last, angry look at Sonny before he spun around and marched down the steps, past the girls, and finally, past Fletcher and Chyna. He didn't even look to see if the two were following –

Somewhere in between leaving the building, and dodging the press, and the walk back uptown, he fell apart.

The whole trip back was a trying one for Chyna, to say the least. It wasn't even the sneaking around the press that she had trouble with. It was just the sheer effort of listening to Chad going on and on about Sonny.

It'd all started when, somewhere on their walk back uptown, they'd ran into a Latino man in sunglasses and fake dreads, selling merchandise from his makeshift sunglasses stand. There were some watches, and a few necklaces to choose from, but what had gotten Chad were the sunglasses.

Chad had caught sight of one particular pair, and now the whole time uptown, he ranted nonstop of Sonny this and Sonny that –

"Sonny loved this pair!" He bawled. "It was her favorite kind! She wore it all the time to the beach, and I would take her – and it was just so funny to see her at the end of the day… She doesn't tan well for a Mexican American, see…so after we finished sunbathing she'd be all red except for her eyes!" Chad had laughed at the memory of it, mixed in with fits of tears.

That was how the majority of the walk had went…listening to stories about Sonny. Sonny this and that – honestly, it seemed endless…

It came to the point that Chyna had to tune Chad out, for the most part, until at one point, when Chad had looked her straight into her eyes –

He'd told her, "Learn from my mistakes, Chyna. You can still fix things."

Chad was very vague and nonspecific, but he didn't need to elaborate. She knew full well what he was talking about, and if she was being honest with herself,

it was advice she had a hard time stomaching. She couldn't imagine her and Fletcher's relationship getting sour to the point where she couldn't be a part of his life. It didn't matter how jealous she'd gotten of Janice. She was better than Chad.

Or was she?

Chad was in the middle of recanting another story of Sonny, when mid-sentence, he stopped. He was no longer interested in continuing. His eyes darted wildly from left and right, and the next words he said spooked Chyna a little, "Is it me, or are we being followed?"

Chad whirled around as if to catch someone in the act. Chyna followed his line of sight –

"I don't think anyone's following us." She said. As she looked, she took in nothing suspicious…just the scenery of an increasingly thicker crowd of people on the streets, seeming to mind their own business.

"I think the guy turned the corner." Chad said.

Chad sounded sure of it.

"Why so paranoid all of a sudden?" Fletcher asked.

"I'm not being paranoid." Chad said, annoyed. "It's just that when you spend half your life followed everywhere by fans, you develop a sixth sense about things."

They continued on walking. One more block down, Fletcher had to stop –

Curiously, Chyna walked up to Fletcher. She was about to ask what it was that he was looking at, but she didn't need to say a word –

Across the street was a single, mid sized building, a mix of brick and drywall, with tall, framed windows. She could see even from a distance, different kinds of art showcased under bright lights. There was art on canvases, art hanging on the wall, clay sculptures – the list went on. It read on top, in painted lettering "5th Ave Gallery."

"It's kinda like a replica of Bay View Gallery." Chyna smiled.

"Yea..." Fletcher agreed. His voice sounded distant, as if his mind had wandered off –

"Remember when we had to break into Bay View Gallery?" Chyna reminisced.

"Yea. And Zanko still made off with my painting." Fletcher smiled.

Chyna slapped him in the arm. "That was all your fault, dummy! If you remember." She smiled.

Fletcher and Chyna had broken into an art gallery back in San Francisco years ago to retrieve one of his paintings. They made out with Fletcher's painting, but then Fletcher had the bright idea to replace the stolen painting with a "duplicate" he'd made.

It never crossed his mind that a duplicate made by the original artist was just another original.

Fletcher laughed. "Good times."

"Agreed. I'd do it again just for the fun of it, though." Chyna said.

She really meant it. Heck, it was fun just to reminisce about it. Those were simpler times, even thought it was only 4 years ago…

"Chyna, I need to tell you something." Fletcher blurted suddenly.

The way Fletcher had blurted at her, it was like he'd been meaning to tell her all day. She knew the feeling, with Olive –

"What is it, Fletcher?"

Chyna was interested in what Fletcher had to say. She felt like what he needed to tell her was important…

But then Fletcher became distracted. He was looking over her shoulder now –

Chad picked up on the change in Fletcher.

"What, what? Do you see something?" Chad cried out. He spun wildly around. A look of confusion lined Chad's face.

"Nothing. Again." Chad said, perplexed. Chad sounded disappointed, as if he wanted a crazy stalker fan to distract him from his Sonny troubles. "Did you see someone, Fletcher?"

Fletcher shook his head, but Chyna had the feeling that Fletcher was lying. Fletcher looked like he had a million things going on in his head at once.

Chyna chose to leave it alone, for now.

"How about we just keep going." Chad suggested, uneasy. "Maybe it's just my paranoia rubbing off on you guys."

The three of them kept walking then.

Chad resumed telling them Sonny stories. "Look at the scarf on that lady's neck! I bought Sonny a scarf just like that…"