Sorry for the longer wait than normal. School has officially started and it has kept me pretty busy. Thank you to everyone who reviewed for the last chapter.
VeVe-2491- Chad is a changed man now, you will definitely get to see more of his changes.
Kayalex- Thanks so much for always reviewing. I always look forward to reading your reviews.
LexiTaylor- No this isn't the end, I'm not sure when it will be, but it's not this. Thanks for the review. I'm glad you like the story.
Veeheart914- haha you're review made me laugh. I hope you stick with this story to find out what happens in the end. And theatre camp, well, I love it so your overdramatic review was so great!
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Chapter Fourteen- A new heartbreak
"And cut!" Ryan shouted as the scene being filmed beforehand came to a close. "Good job you guys, keep it up."
Chad smiled briefly in Ryan's direction. He knew the movie was going along very well. They had been filming for a week and a half so far and even though it was tough getting into things, cough Hayden cough, things were finally going great. Chad and Hayden could film a scene without fault now and it was actually starting to look good. Needless to say, Chad was fairly impressed with Hayden's acting. It wasn't as bad as Chad had anticipated it to be.
Hayden hadn't brought Sonny back on set though and that upset Chad. He knew for a fact she was coming in tomorrow because he overheard Hayden say they were going out to lunch. Chad couldn't wait to see her. They were filming an intense scene tomorrow and he couldn't wait to see the look on Sonny's face when she saw it.
He thought about inviting Julie on set tomorrow, but quickly ruled that out. He needed to woo Sonny and bringing Julie in wouldn't do that at all. He figured they would have to meet sometime in the duration of filming, but it needed to be at a time when he could throw Sonny off the track he hoped to lead her on.
As Chad left the set he felt himself smile. Everything was set, his plan to get Sonny back, his friendships, his job. He was finally at a place where he could think about settling down. He could actually picture little Chad's and Sonny's running around his own house. He knew he'd set high hopes for his and Sonny's relationship, but what else could he do? He was an actor after all.
Chad had taken the back roads to get home tonight, forgetting that he would pass the cemetery that two of the most important people in his life were buried in. Mark's anniversary was coming up in just over a month. Three years, three long years. Chad hadn't realized how much he missed him until now. He missed being able to talk to him like they always did. He missed going out and grabbing a beer or going camping for the weekend. He missed having someone to fall back on.
He started to slow down as the cemetery came into view. He looked in the direction of Mark's grave and swore he saw someone. He couldn't tell who it was, but he hastily pulled over to the side of the road. He had no idea if this person was harming Mark's grave.
As Chad came closer to the person, he realized it was a girl, a girl who was obviously sad and needed to vent. She was sitting, playing with the flowers she had brought. Chad couldn't see her face, but he had the tiniest felling that he knew her. "Hey." Chad said as he finally approached this mystery woman.
The girl wiped what Chad assumed was tears and stood up from her sitting position, still not showing her face. She pulled her hood tighter over her head to block her face as she walked past Chad towards where her car was parked. Chad swore he recognized the hoodie; it looked like one he'd lost two years ago. "Hey!" Chad repeated, grabbing the girl's arm to stop her from leaving. "How do you know Mark?" He continued.
The woman drew in a deep sigh, as if she were debating on whether to answer or not. She let out the sigh and began to speak. "He was a good friend." The girl stated slowing pulling down her hood and turning around to finally face the man she hadn't expected to run into.
"Sonny…" Chad looked at her with eyes wide. "What are you doing here?" He asked her, shocked at her current presence. In all honesty he figured she would have forgotten about Mark. It had been three years and Sonny never really talked to him in his last few years. He just couldn't believe that she was here, placing flowers on his grave.
"I always come here around this time. What are you doing here?" Sonny shot back at him, wanting to get the attention off her. She had never liked being the center of everyone's attention, hence why she let Tawni take that job.
Chad knew this act though and he wasn't going to fall for it. "Why do you come here around this time?"
"Chad!" Sonny sighed once again. "I come to pay my respects. Mark's anniversary is coming up and I always come to visit him the month before, okay? He meant more to me than you know. He was a very good friend to me and I just want him to know that. I want him to know that I appreciated everything he did for me and everything he did for you when I wasn't there. I just want him to know that I miss him." Sonny confessed, not caring that her eyes were starting to water and she could feel herself start to break.
"He knew…" Chad broke off. "I miss him too… so much." He whispered while he stared at his best friend's grave. Sonny nodded as she felt a tear slide down her face at the vulnerability in Chad's face. "He was the best friend anyone could have asked for. He never left my side like most would have, like most did. He knew just how to put up with me." Chad paused, wanting the words to digest in Sonny's brain. "And you were there for e. You might not have felt like you weren't, but I knew you wanted to be there. I knew you still cared."
"But how?"
"The flowers." Chad smiled, referring to the flowers she sent to him after his mom's funeral.
"I felt lousy for sending them." Sonny admitted bashfully.
"They were my mom's favorite and also yours if I remember correctly."
Sonny smiled. Chad always has had a memory like an elephant. "Yes, I believe you're right."
"I thought so." Chad smirked.
"You never answered my question." Sonny got back to the original topic not wanting to think about his smirk anymore than she should be.
"And what exactly was that?"
"Why you are here?" Sonny reminded him.
"Ah, well, I decided to take the back roads home from work tonight and saw someone standing in the direction of Mark's grave. I just had to investigate to see what was up. For all I knew, you could have been some grave smasher or something."
"Why the back roads? It takes so much longer."
"Why not?" Chad shrugged. "Besides, it's not like I have someone waiting for me to get home."
"Julie." Sonny mentioned.
Chad just shook his head. "Not tonight."
It was quiet then. Neither one had anything to say, neither one knew what to say. Chad just wished things would go back to how they used to be when he knew what to say or do to make Sonny smile, when he knew her. But now Sonny Munroe was like this foreign language to him. He had no clue how to read her anymore. He had no idea how to act around her. So, he asked the inevitable, "How's the engagement?"
"You don't really want to know." Sonny muttered.
"Just making conversation."
"It's good. We're having fun." She kept it short, knowing what he was doing. He was prying out answers from her to see how it really was going.
"Getting everything you wanted? The big church, going back to Wisconsin and everything?"
Sonny paled at the thought that he still remembered their conversation from years ago. She didn't know what to think of it or how to deal with it. What are you supposed to say when your ex mentions the wedding ideas you told him years back? What was she supposed to say to the man she thought she was going to marry while she was growing up? "Everything is moving along nicely."
"When's the date?"
"That's a little forward." Sonny remarked.
"You don't have one." Chad concluded confidently. He prided himself with the fact that he could still read Sonny's eyes.
"No… Hayden's going to be very busy for the next two months and that leads us into August. We want the wedding to be in October when the leaves are falling." Sonny informed him nervously. Chad had begun to inch closer to her since she started her monologue. Now he was right in front of her, she could feel his breath against her ear as he bent down to whisper, "You always wanted a summer wedding or a winter. You said none of the in between, either sunny or the complete opposite."
Sonny had to take a step back to collect herself after this statement processed through her head. Once she felt Chad's lips against her ear, she couldn't concentrate. His words were flying around in her head making her dizzy. Being in this close proximity with Chad was bringing back old feelings and old memories. She couldn't think about anything else other than Chad and that was never a good sign. She just needed to get out of there and as far as away from Chad as possible and soon before she did something that she would regret. "I should go."
Chad's gaze dropped and though he tried to compose his disappointment in front of Sonny, he knew that he was failing. "Yeah." He simply muttered as he continued to stare at the ground.
Sonny noted how upset he looked and she felt guilty. She hated hurting people's feelings, especially one's of those she cared for. She knew Chad was still hurting and she knew that she wasn't helping what so ever. She figured it was best that they left it at this before someone got seriously hurt again. She couldn't face that once more, even if Chad needed her. "I'll see you."
Sonny started towards the gate, but glanced back when she saw that Chad had turned towards Mark's grave. She saw Chad's lips move and she instantly heard the words, "You broke your promise." And as much as she wished that Chad was talking about Mark, she knew he meant her. She had broken her promise to always be there for him. Now, he was all alone, sitting in front of his best friend's grave as vulnerable as Sonny Munroe had ever seen him.
Hayden was nervous for two reasons on this frightful day, actually make that three, he had just thought of another reason to be anxious. One today was Friday the 13th of August if you want the exact date. But the other two reasons, the more important of the three, had him shaking as he walked through the building they were currently filming in today. As soon as hair and makeup and wardrobe were done, he would have to film the most intense, drama filled scene he has ever done with none other than Chad Dylan Cooper. He had no idea how to even begin.
The third and final reason to why he was sweating bullets was because his fiancé of four months was visiting the set today. First, he had to do this scene with one of the best actresses of their generation watching him and then, he had to watch Chad try to woo her.
Sonny was most likely already here since it was nearing noon and they were going to lunch after Chad and him shot this scene. And after she got home around midnight last night smelling like none other than Chad himself, Hayden was scared silly. But he trusted Sonny, at least he thinks that he does.
But one of those nervous feelings was gone as soon as he saw Chad walk past Sonny looking in the opposite direction. Sonny obviously appeared like she had expected this. 'Good job Sonny!' Hayden thought to himself, 'Way to reject him.' But then the director called him over to start filming and all the nerves doubled.
"Great job!" Sonny cheered as Hayden walked off the set.
"Thanks." Hayden panted from all the yelling. "I don't think I have ever been that nervous before."
"You were fantastic, absolutely amazing."
Hayden smiled at her before leaning in for a kiss. He could feel Sonny's eyes on something else behind him, but he chose to ignore it. Chad quickly started walked by, but Hayden stopped him before he could go any farther. "Hey, Chad! That was amazing, you were excellent."
"Thanks, so were you."
"No cocky retort?" Hayden asked him in disbelief. Chad always had some stuck up response to compliments made towards him.
"Not feeling it today, but really, great job Hayden. You sure impressed him. I almost had to do a double take." Chad glanced at Sonny and Hayden knew something was wrong.
"Thanks man." Hayden sincerely said.
"No problem." The young actor looked down gloomily and said his goodbyes.
"What's up with him?" Hayden asked Sonny once Chad had disappeared.
"I don't know." Sonny shrugged to cover up her lie.
"You're acting the same way." Hayden observed.
"What? No I am not!" Sonny said in a high pitched denial voice. "Chad's just… being bipolar."
"You never did say why you came home so late last night."
"I had stuff to do." Sonny told him.
"Stuff with Chad?" Hayden stated, not questioned.
"What? Why would you say that?"
"You don't have to lie to me. I could smell his scent all over you." Hayden stared into her eyes to search for any uneasiness. He didn't see any, which really calmed him. Ever since he heard Sonny deny her claims, it made him terrified that he was being used again. That maybe her little spat with Chad was like a couples fight. He couldn't lose Sonny, it hurt him too much.
"I'm not lying. I went to Mark's grave and Chad showed up. We hardly even talked."
"Sonny…" Hayden warned.
"Hayden, that's the truth. There is absolutely nothing going on between Chad and me."
"So why's he acting so gloomy?"
"Why do you care so much about Chad's feelings? It's not like he cares for yours?"
"Why are you getting so defensive over this?" Hayden retorted.
"Chad's probably just upset that you're getting all the attention today. He never has been one to share the spot light."
"Yeah, okay." Hayden pretended to believe her. "I'm going to go change and then we can leave."
"Okay, I'll wait outside."
Hayden nodded and headed in the direction of his trailer. He noticed Chad door was open and as he walked by he heard a faint crash. He tried to ignore it, but he knew that Chad had just broken something. He looked over at the set they were at today and saw Sonny exit the area. She was walking around, taking a look at everything. He decided not to confront Chad and continued on his way. He decided that if he was still hearing the noises when he left, then he would go and talk to him.
Sonny chose to go and see what was taking Hayden so long, but paused at the trailer she knew belonged to Chad. She heard him cursing as he was talking cleaning up something that was making a lot of sound. She had kind of figured what he was doing. As she walked up the stairs, she heard Chad curse one more time and take in a sharp breath.
"Knock, knock." Sonny said whilst opening the door to reveal herself. Chad looked up in surprise, but quickly diverted his gaze back to his now red hand when he saw who it was.
"What happened?" Sonny worried. But when Chad just turned away from her, she knew she was going to have to take a different approach to this. "You're really going to act like this?"
"Can you just… leave me alone?" Chad snapped, not even turning to face her.
"No! I'm not going to leave you to tear apart your whole trailer and yourself in the process. Apparently anger management classes are still on your list of things to complete!" Sonny spat bitterly at him.
"At least I can keep my word." Chad muttered.
"You don't get to judge me. You don't get to tell me what to do! At least I'm not sitting on my butt, wallowing, waiting for something that's never going to happen. At least I don't hide from people who are just trying to help! At least I won't be alone for the rest of my life!" Sonny yelled.
Chad turned around to face her at this. His eyes and icy gray color meaning that he was extremely angry. Sonny took a step back, frightened at his new appearance that she had seen only once before. "You don't get to tell me how my life is going to go. You don't get to analyze me. You left me. I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask to be miserable. Maybe if someone showed some god damn effort towards me, it wouldn't be like this. Maybe if I had someone to catch me, I wouldn't be drowning on dry land. Maybe if someone cared enough for me to be there, I wouldn't be here!" Chad bellowed. He heard the step rattle as he stepped out of his trailer. He heard Sonny follow him. He heard the commotion of the other actor's stop as he trudged off the set to his car.
"Hey! HEY!" Sonny chased after him. Once she reached him, she ripped her arm forward to catch his. "You don't get to run away this time. You don't get to say that you have nobody. You don't get to say that I don't care."
Chad just stood there motionless. He slowly started to turn; his eyes still ice and his mouth in a hard line. "I loved you and you left. How does that show me that you care? How does showing up here two years later, engaged, show me that you're there for me? How does doing absolutely nothing to help me out prove to me that you'll always be there?" Chad rhetorically asked. "Sonny, you're nothing but talk. You break promise after promise and expect everything to be okay. Well, it's not this time. You can't fix everybody, you can't fix me! I'm far too broken to be put back together again, thanks to you. I'm not the one who is always running away. Newsflash Sonny, that's you!" Chad opened his car door and slid into it. With one last glare at Sonny, he zoomed off.
He didn't care anymore about his plan to win Sonny back. He didn't care about anything at this point. Why should he when no cares about him? Why should he put so much effort into one person who couldn't even reciprocate in the smallest of ways? Why should he try to win Sonny back when she wasn't even his Sonny anymore? Hayden could have her; he didn't like this new Sonny anyways.
He didn't like anyone right now to be honest. All he wanted to do was get so far away from this place. He just wanted to leave. He just wanted to change his identity and never tell anyone who he really was. For the first time in his life, he wished that he was normal with a steady job and a beautiful wife who blessed him with terrific kids. But of course, the only wife he could picture himself with was the very person who he couldn't stand right now. Of course, he couldn't see he life with anyone but her and that made him sick.
He didn't want her. He couldn't. He felt so stupid for throwing himself out there like that. Sonny Munroe was engaged and not Sonny Munroe, not the one that Chad loved anyways. This new Sonny was older, duller. She wasn't sunny anymore. She was bright and happy and so perky it was annoying yet cute all at the same time. He didn't know what had happened to her, but Chad didn't care anymore. He just wanted to really disappear and never return to the god forsaken land of Hollywood.
Chad just wanted his life to go back to the way it was before, before Mark died, before he and Sonny broke up, before he made the biggest mistake of his life. Chad knew no one was coming after his this time. He knew this time that he would be alone… again.
Thanks again for the reviews! I hope you guys will review for this chapter too. Well let me know what you think and if you're lucky you might just get a preview for the next chapter! Tell me some stuff about you in the review; I'd love to get to know my readers! Please Review!