Look at that: ANOTHER update!

My goodness, I'm flying through these chapters now!

Hm. I hope that doesn't mean they suck.

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I love each and every one of you more than you'll ever know!

Disclaimer: I own a new ring, pillow, and glass cow. Nothing from SWAC though.

Episode 37:

My Two Chads

Chad Dylan Cooper Does Not Go On Dangerous Dates

October second was the day Sonny Munroe decided to give Chad Dylan Cooper another chance.

By October third, she was already coming up with conditions.

"You can't send Chaz out on dates with me," she stated firmly. "If a date sounds too dangerous, just tell me the truth. I'd rather find some activity we can do together than go out with your stunt-double."

"Right," Chad replied, nodding his head vigorously. "No more dates with Chaz."

"And it would be nice if you'd put a little more effort into getting to know me," Sonny continued. "You expect people to memorize every little detail about you because you're such a great guy, and yet you can't even tell me when my birthday is."

"Uh-huh. More details. Got it."

"You need to stop lying to me as well. You can't pretend you're this amazing boyfriend when you're really skipping out on dates. A relationship doesn't work without trust and right now, I have no idea how I'm supposed to trust you after everything you've done – Chad, are you even listening to me?"

Chad lowered the lobster claw he was about to stick in his mouth. "Funny, funny little Sonny. When have I ever listened to you?"

He really should have expected the punch his girlfriend inflicted on his shoulder. Man, she could hit hard when she was angry!

"That," he said, holding up a finger, "Is exactly why I sent Chaz on dates. You, Miss Munroe, have a violent streak under that extremely cute exterior."

"You think I'm cute?" Sonny gushed. Then, she cleared her throat loudly, regaining her composure. "Stop trying to charm me! I'm trying to talk to you about something serious, Chad. If you can't even pay attention, how do you plan on fixing our relationship?"

"I was paying attention," Chad pointed out. "I was paying attention when you called me last night. I was paying attention on the drive to work this morning. I was even paying attention while we waited in line for our lunches. That's a lot of listening, Sonny! If I keep listening, my ear is going to fall off from over-use!"

Realizing Chad was right (sometimes Sonny didn't notice how much talking she did), the brunette hung her head. She hadn't been trying to annoy Chad; she just wanted him to understand that what he did with Chaz wasn't right.

"I'm sorry," she apologized softly. "It's just…It hurt me when I found out you were brushing off our dates. I felt like maybe…I don't know…you're tired of being my boyfriend."

Dropping the lobster a second time, Chad turned to Sonny, gently cupping her chin in his hand. It didn't matter that the entire commissary was watching them; all he cared about was making sure his girlfriend heard every word he was about to tell her.

"I am not now – nor will I ever be – tired of being your boyfriend, sonshine."

"You're just saying that," Sonny accused.

"No, I'm not." Chad sighed. How was he going to prove to Sonny that he really did care about her? "Look, I promise I'm going to do all that stuff you've been talking about lately. You know, the whole finding out more about you thing and going on dates myself. As a matter of fact, I was hoping to ask you out on a date tonight."

Sonny's eyes lit up immediately. "You were?"

"I sure was!" This was one of the many moments Chad was happy to be an actor. He hadn't been planning on making a date at all, but he was happy he'd thought of it! "To further show you how sorry I am for everything, I'm even going to let you choose what we do for our date."

He was allowing her to pick the activity for their date? She needed to think of something great, something that would totally make Chad's night, something that would bring the two of them closer than ever-

"We should go mountain-climbing!"

Finally finding time to stuff a few bites of lobster into his mouth, Chad nearly choked on them after hearing Sonny's suggestion.

"Mountain – Mountain-climbing?" he managed to croak.

"What's the matter, Cooper?" Sonny taunted. "Does that sound too dangerous for you?"

She wanted him to say yes. She wanted him to admit that mountain-climbing was too dangerous for either of them and they should think of something safer to do with their time. That way, she would know that he was ready to start being honest with her. If Chad was able to admit something was out of his comfort-level, maybe he could do it again instead of asking Chaz to perform the stunt for him.

Chad wanted to say no. Mountain-climbing wasn't safe for anyone, especially famous three-named dramatic actors who were afraid of heights. However, if he denied Sonny her request, she would think he was a chicken. No one called Chad Dylan Cooper a chicken.

"Okay," he agreed slowly. "Mountain-climbing it is!"

"Good," Sonny said with a smile.

"Good," Chad repeated.

Despite their words, neither teen felt good about the impending date.

"Mountain-climbing?" Connie Munroe echoed. "You're making Chad Dylan Cooper go mountain-climbing?"

"I'm not making him do anything, mom," Sonny protested from the bathroom, where she was trying to brush her hair into the perfect ponytail. "He let me choose what we would do tonight, I made a suggestion, and he went along with it. He could've said no."

"But mountain-climbing? Honey, this is the same guy who wouldn't even drink a hot beverage! How do you expect him to risk his life doing something this dangerous?"

"Indoor mountain-climbing," Sonny pointed out. "I don't think either of us is going to be in danger while we're in a store."

Studying her reflection in the mirror, Sonny realized she'd missed a few strands. She let the current ponytail go and started working on a new one. She didn't turn around when she saw her mom appear in the bathroom's open doorway.

"Sonny," the older of the two stated. "You don't even like mountain-climbing."

"So?"

"So why are you going? Are you trying to make Chad break up with you? Because I can promise you he'll do just that if you keep pushing him to his limits."

"Of course I don't want Chad to break up with me! I want him to stay with me forever. I want us to be that couple that everyone looks at ten years from now and says, 'Wow. I can't believe they're still together!' Can't you see that isn't going to happen if we continue down the path we're on now? Don't you get that we're going to fall apart at the seams?"

Sonny threw her hairbrush against the wall – not hard enough to leave a mark, thankfully – and gripped the sink so hard that her fingers turned white. She bowed her head quickly but Connie wasn't stupid. She could tell when her daughter was about to cry.

"Oh, baby," she said gently, wrapping her arms around the teen. "What makes you think you and Chad are going to fall apart?"

"You saw the game show we were on yesterday, didn't you? He knew absolutely nothing about me and we've been going out for months. Months! Not only that, but he's been sending another guy on dates with me. Why would he do something like that? He's my boyfriend. Shouldn't he want to spend time with me?"

'Ohh, Chad is so lucky he's not here right now,' Connie thought, shaking her head. 'I might have to kill him for making my little girl cry!'

"I wish I could stand here and tell you that everything will work out the way you want it to," she started, "But I couldn't do that without lying. I can't see into the future. I have no idea if you and Chad are meant to be. I do know this much though: Chad was a jerk when we first moved to Hollywood, right?"

Sonny nodded solemnly. "Everyone hated him back then."

"You never hated him, did you?"

Through the mirror, Connie watched as her daughter mulled over her answer. Finally, she shook her head. "No…No, I never hated him."

"Why didn't you hate him, Sonny? What was it about Chad that drew you to him instead of pushing you away?"

Of course Sonny knew the answer to that: Chad won her over during the rare occasions when he was nice. She knew that even though he looked like a tough guy on the outside, he wasn't as mean as he thought he was.

"I never hated him because I thought there was a person worth getting to know beneath all the jerkiness," she snapped, rolling her eyes. "What if I was wrong? What if the real Chad Dylan Cooper isn't worth getting to know? What if he doesn't have a nice bone in his body?"

"He asked you out even though the two of you are supposed to be enemies, didn't he?" Connie pointed out. "He took you on a second first date after ruining the first one. He went camping and even looked after your friends while you were sick in an effort to bring your two casts together. He even rode a bike and gave himself a concussion just to show you how sorry he was! I would say he has a few nice bones in him."

"Okay, so maybe he can be nice. That still doesn't make up for him not knowing anything about me or-,"

"He's already apologized for that. He knows what he did was wrong and I'm sure he'll try harder now. This is the first time he's had a long-term girlfriend. You can't expect him to learn everything there is to learn overnight. Relationships take time, effort, work, and patience from both parties, not just one of them."

Sonny's grip loosened from the sink as she raised her head, meeting her mom's eyes for the first time.

"You think I should go easy on him, don't you?"

"Well, I think he's going to have a hard time changing into a better person if he dies on a mountain-climbing expedition."

Connie kissed the top of Sonny's head before fleeing the bathroom, leaving the actress alone with her thoughts. Sonny couldn't keep from sighing.

Why did parents always have to be right?

"We don't have to do this."

"I want to do this."

"It's not too late to go out for dinner or hit a movie-,"

"No. We agreed on mountain-climbing. Mountain-climbing is what we're going to do."

Throughout the entire argument, Chad never took his eyes off the wall looming before him. Yes, it would be scary. Yes, he would probably look like an idiot. No, he wasn't going to chicken out and go with one of Sonny's other suggestions. He promised her mountain-climbing and mountain-climbing was what she was going to get!

Thankfully, there weren't very many customers shopping in the sporting goods store. Chad could only imagine how awful it would be to try scaling the wall while people snapped pictures of him. That would be a great story for Tween Weekly: Chad Dylan Cooper Only Makes It Half-Way Up the Mountain!

"Good evening!" a man greeted as he joined the couple. He wore a nametag that read Mike and a very bright smile. "Are you guys thinking about going up?"

"Up?" Chad repeated nervously.

"We were thinking about it," Sonny jumped in. "We might wait for another night…"

"She doesn't know what she's talking about," Chad denied, waving off Sonny's rebuff. "We're not only thinking about going up; we're planning on it!"

"Great!" Mike exclaimed. "I just have a few forms I need the two of you to sign and then we'll get you strapped up in the harnesses!"

"What are the forms for?" Sonny asked as the employee handed her a clipboard.

"Oh, you know, just the usual stuff. How our store can't be held responsible if you get hurt, blah blah blah. Stuff like that."

Chad tore the papers from Sonny before she could sign them.

"Hurt? How would we get hurt? Have your harnesses ever been broken? Has anyone gotten hurt here before?"

"Whoa, calm down! The forms are just a cautionary thing," Mike explained, holding his hands before his chest defensively. "It's rare for someone to injure themselves indoor mountain-climbing."

"He knows that," Sonny replied, stealing back the clipboard. "He knows that what we're about to do isn't really dangerous at all, don't you, Chad?"

The dramatic actor nodded. "Pfft – of course I know it's not dangerous! How stupid do you think I am?"

"Right…Well, I'm going to get your gear ready while you look over the forms," Mike said, already heading off. "I'll be right back!"

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sonny asked, giving her boyfriend one final chance to admit defeat. "I'm not going to think any less of you, you know."

"If Chaz Milton Looper can handle dates like this, so can I," Chad stated firmly.

"You're only doing this to prove you're better than Chaz, aren't you?" Sonny finally caught on. "Chad, you don't need to do something you're scared of just to make your point-,"

"Sonny, listen." Chad took her hand, squeezing it lightly. "When I asked you what you wanted to do tonight and this was what you came up with, I was surprised. Obviously, you're the kind of girl who likes dangerous dates. And I'm okay with that…or I will be okay with that. I'm willing to do anything to keep you happy – even if it means putting myself in danger."

"Chad, there's something you should know before it's too late-,"

Mike chose that moment to return. Chad handed over the forms and that was that. The next thing she knew, Sonny was slipping on her harness as Chad did the same.

"As you can see, there are plenty of places along the wall where you can put your hands and feet," Mike went over the rules. "The goal is to reach the very top before your opponent. There's a bell up there – you probably can't see it from here – but whoever rings it first will be declared the winner. If at any time you feel you need to return to the ground, just raise your hand. I'll let you down…but you can't start over again without paying another fee."

"Won't I have to let go of the wall in order to raise my hand?" Chad asked. "What if I fall?"

"The whole time you're climbing, I'm going to be holding onto this rope," Mike explained, holing the rope up so Chad could see what he was talking about. "Trust me: as long as I'm holding this, you're not going to fall."

"You won't need to raise your hand anyway," Sonny encouraged. "You're going to make it to the top, Chad!"

A scowl was her only response.

"Well, it sounds like you guys are ready to begin!" Mike interjected. "Ladies on the right, men on the left, please."

Sonny and Chad headed to their respective sides, waiting for their signal to start climbing. The wall was huge; there was plenty of room for three or four more people to climb along beside the two actors. Sonny was glad it wasn't squished. She would probably concentrate more on finding the fastest way up than staying in a straight line while doing so.

"Oh! I almost forget the most important part!" Mike ran up, bring two helmets with him. "You need to put these on before you do any climbing!"

"We better forget about the whole thing," Sonny said, gesturing to Chad. "He can't stand helmet hair."

"Ha ha," her boyfriend commented. "That was so funny I forgot to laugh."

With their helmets fastened tightly – Chad in blue, Sonny in red – everything was finally ready for action. Sonny bounced from foot to foot as she anticipated the 'go' signal. Chad, standing several feet away from his girl, couldn't stop staring at the top of the wall. Why did it have to be so tall?!

"On your marks!" Mike cried out. "Get set…GO!"

It didn't take Sonny long to find a steady rhythm. Right hand went to a new cleft, right foot followed. Left hand went to a new cleft, left foot followed. Hey, this wasn't as hard as she thought it would be! However, when she paused to see if Chad was having as much fun as she was, she found a completely different story:

Chad Dylan Cooper was still on the ground.

"This is the part where you're supposed to climb, Chad!" she called down to him. "You're not going to let me ring the bell first, are you? You don't want to let a Random win!"

"I'm just giving you a head-start," he lied smoothly. "I figured that was the fair thing to do. You know, since I'm so much better at this than you are."

"A head-start, huh?" Sonny shrugged. "Okay. If you're allowed to do that, then I guess I can give you a chance to catch up."

"I don't need your pity."

"Who said anything about pity? I'm just giving my arms a chance to rest, that's all."

Chad wasn't stupid. He knew exactly what Sonny was doing. He watched her as she dangled above him several feet, one hand covering her mouth as she yawned. She made mountain-climbing look so easy.

"Come on, man!" Mike complained, studying his watch. "I can't close up the store until every customer is out of here. Please don't make me stay here all night!"

Reaching for one of the clefts that were easily within his reach, Chad pulled himself up enough to get his feet off the ground. Instead of going any further, he stopped where he was. Sonny could see that he was shaking in fear.

"You know what I like most about climbing?" she said in a loud voice, making sure it would reach Chad's ears. "I love how you keep going and going and going until you finally reach the top and you don't even realize how far you've gone. It's like, the higher up you go, the more your troubles disappear."

"Of course your troubles disappear," Chad agreed. "The higher you go, the more dangerous the drop will be if you fall. After you're dead, you have no more troubles!"

Well…That wasn't the direction she'd wanted the conversation to go.

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it," she finally said, "But you're so close to the ground right now, you wouldn't even get a bruise if you fell."

"Good. I'm Chad Dylan Cooper. I can't afford to get a bruise."

Her plan wasn't working. Sonny needed to think of something else if she wanted to get Chad moving. She just needed some sort of reward, something that would force Chad to move his feet-

-She needed to act out his biggest fear. Chad was scared to death of falling, right? Maybe if he thought she was in danger…

Slowly, making sure her boyfriend was focusing his attention on anything except her (thankfully, he was still staring at the wall), Sonny slid one of her feet off its current cleft. Her entire leg plunged downward.

"Chad!" she cried in terror. "Chad, help me! I'm falling!"

Forgetting about his own safety, Chad shot forward, moving ten times faster than Sonny had gone before stopping for his sake. He was breathless by the time he reached her, but he still managed to wrap a comforting arm around her.

"Sonny!" he panted, his blue eyes searching hers quickly. "Are you okay? You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"

"You're the one who's going to be hurting."

Chad gave her a puzzled look. "Why am I-,"

"You were just tricked by a Random!"

She took off, continuing on her path toward the bell. Chad, realizing that his girlfriend had never been in any real danger, followed after her. This time, the distance between them could be measured in inches instead of feet.

With Chad hot on her tail, Sonny climbed as fast as she could. Just to make sure the dramatic actor stayed focused, she would throw taunts at him every now and then. He stayed behind her for most of the race-

-Until the two teens were almost to the top of the wall.

"You better wipe that smile off your face, Munroe," he said, the sweat glistening on his forehead. "You're about to lose!"

"Last time I checked, I was the one in the lead, Cooper."

"Oh, really? Well, maybe you should check again!"

The bell was just within Sonny's reach when a different set of fingers wrapped around it, keeping the actress from ringing it. His triumphant smile was glorious as Chad rang the bell loud and proud, almost as though he was proclaiming to the entire store – nay, the entire world – that he was a champion.

"In your face!" he bragged, snickering at his girlfriend in a very impolite manner. "You were all, 'Oh, I need to rest my arms. I have this race in the bag!' I guess somebody was a little bit too cocky, wasn't she?"

"Maybe somebody was," Sonny relented, "But I think somebody else was a little bit too unsure of himself, wasn't he?"

"What are you talking about?" Chad scoffed. "I never doubted my skills!"

Sonny leaned closer in order to whisper in Chad's ear. "Look down."

He did just that – and yelped in a very un-Chad like way. He clung to the wall tighter than ever.

"I hate heights," he chanted. "I hate heights, I hate heights, I hate heights!"

Sonny knew exactly how to calm him down this time: she pressed her lips against his cheek in a feather-light kiss.

"Thank you," she said softly. "What you did tonight, climbing this stupid wall with me when you're afraid of heights and…Well, let's just say that you earned back some of my trust tonight."

"I did?" Chad cleared his throat when his girlfriend glared at him. "I mean, of course I did! How, exactly, did I do it though?"

"You did something dangerous even though you really didn't want to," Sonny explained. "That proved to me that you're done sending Chaz out on dates."

"You don't have to worry about Chaz ever again," Chad promised. "From now on, our dates are going to be exactly the way they should be: just you and me."

Maybe Chad wasn't the perfect boyfriend. He had a lot to learn about relationships and, in all honesty, so did Sonny. She was far from the perfect girlfriend. Would she ever get better at accepting Chad for who he was? Would he ever learn that dating someone meant putting the other person before you?

She didn't know the answers to any of the questions, but she did know one thing: she and Chad would figure them out together.

Author's Note: So? What did you think?

Let me know in a review?