Behind the Veil
a fanfiction by Emma

Chapter Fifteteen

Spring
May

"T-Tawni?"

"Hey Chad." Tawni said to me, smiling widely. She hadn't changed at all. Well, that's not true, she looked, basically the same, her long blonde hair hanging by her waist, it was parted in the middle, and almost poker straight, yet with a few waves here and there.

"Do you . . . uh, want to come in?" I asked stepping aside.

She stepped in and looked around my house, "So . . . you're moving?" she asked.

"Oh . . . yeah." I said, "I . . . yeah I'm moving. . . . Do you, uh, want to sit down?" I asked, motioning towards my couch.

Tawni nodded and sat down, straightening out her skirt.

"So, h-how did you get my address?" I asked.

She hesitated for a second, "People around the town told me."

"That's not true." I whispered, "She told you to come here, didn't she?"

Tawni sighed, "Yes, she did."

"She wants me to forgive her, she wants me to come running back to her, doesn't she?" I said, my teeth clenched.

"Not exactly," Tawni said, "Yes she does want you to forgive her, but she says she you don't have to be friends with her anymore, she just doesn't want you to hate her."

I scoffed "Doesn't she understand, that I am incapable of hating her? That's something that makes me so mad! I think I hate her, but I know I don't . . . I know I love her, but I can't go back. She's torturing me, Tawni!"

Tawni's eyes softened at me, I hadn't seen her in a while.

"Chad, come here," she said, bringing me into a hug.

I wrapped my arms around her, and put my head into her shoulder. This position, I was often in when I was younger, and living with her. Tawni would hold me in this position almost once a night. Sometimes I would be sobbing, sometimes my eyes were dry, and I just needed someone to hold me. I always felt safe in this position, with Tawni, I always felt safe.

"I missed you," Tawni says to me, pulling away, her hand still on my shoulder.

I smiled, "I missed you too, a lot."

"I know she's hurting you, but you have to talk to her." Tawni then said, her eyes begging me to.

"I can't even look at her Tawni," I whisper, "How am I supposed to talk to her?"

"That's for you to figure out." Tawni said.

"I can't figure it out though!" I yelled, "I-I just can't, I need someone to help me!"

Tawni sighed, "No one can help you with this, Chad. You're a twenty-six-year-old man, you need to figure this out on your own."

There was silence for a few minutes. Silence that I thought through. If I talked to Sonny, then everything could be fixed. Maybe. Though I picture myself yelling and screaming, and crying in front of her. Tawni could be right though, this needs to be fixed, and I have to be the one to do it.

"How do I know she's not going to do it again?" I whispered.

"Do what?" Tawni asked.

"Leave, tell me she doesn't love me, disappear." I explained.

Tawni smiled, "You don't," she said, "and that's the magic. That is love, Chad. The way you don't know what the persons going to do next, they could hurt you, or, they could love you, and surprise you. They'll do something you're not expecting. You have to trust in love, or it'll back-fire on you almost immediately, trust it, and you'll be fine, that's what love is."

Nico Harris sat in his gigantic living room, with this huge flat screen TV. He was flipping through the various channels, when the news section caught his attention.

"ALISON MUNROE, FOUND IN SMALL CONNECTICUT TOWN."

He couldn't believe it. Sonny? Could it be? But the word found scared him a little, found could mean various things, found, as in they found her body, something that could have been rotting in a whole for eight years, or found, as in she's alive and well, ready to come back to Hollywood.

"Alison Munroe, mostly known as Sonny Munroe, mysteriously disappeared eight years ago, sources told us, she was alive and well, but decided to be hidden. No one knew where she was.

"Now, we do. Miss Munroe had changed her identity, died her hair, and started a new life, down here in the small town of Scarlet Springs, Connecticut. Chad Dylan Cooper – her ex-boyfriend – moved here, on complete accident, finding Sonny, and her secret.

"I am currently standing outside of the small diner that Miss Munroe opened six years ago. It was a huge money maker for Miss Munroe, and it was hugely popular here in Scarlet Springs. The townsfolk say that Mr. Cooper went int there everyday.

"We caught up with Miss Tawni Hart, while she was on her way into the diner, to see Miss Munroe. We asked her a few questions, before Miss Munroe, pulled her quickly inside."

Nico froze, Tawni, he hadn't spoken to Tawni since So Random! was canceled. He found himself excited to see Tawni on the screen, and hear her voice.

Then, Tawni appeared looking as ravishing as ever. Her blonde hair, longer than he remembered, and still wearing the designer clothes.

"Did you know that Sonny was living here all this time?" One reporter asked.

"No." Tawni answered, looking obviously annoyed, as if she didn't really want to be answering these questions.

"Is it true that Chad Dylan Cooper is currently residing in this small Connecticut town?"

"Yes."

Nico felt blood boil up inside him. Chad Dylan Cooper was near Sonny again.

"Is it true they had a love affair?"

"No, nothing like that happened."

"Did Chad know that Sonny was living in this town?"

Tawni let out a sigh, "No."

Then, a girl with red hair appeared on the screen, dragging Tawni in, avoiding all the cries of "Sonny, Sonny over here!" "Sonny, can we ask you a few questions?" and so on, and so forth, but the girl disappeared into the diner once again.

That's when Nico realized, that girl he just saw on screen, was Sonny, one of his best friends.

The newscaster said it was Scarlet Springs where Sonny was living now. Nico could easily drive there.

Nico found his phone, and picked it up, searching through all of his contacts until he found the one he was looking for.

He picked up on the first ring.

"Grady? Start packing, we're heading towards Connecticut."

Authors Note
Sorry that this chapter is a little short, I really didn't have much to fit in.

So, if you haven't figured it out already - and if you hadn't, that REALLY surprises me - Nico, Grady and Zora will be making an appearance in the next chapter.

I originally had them in the very, very end, to say hello to Sonny, but now that I've started this little Tawnico side ship, I decided to bring them in earlier.

Truthfully, I think there are only about . . . two or three chapters left of Behind the Veil. :(

The next chapter there will be no Chad's POV, just third person with Tawni, Nico, Sonny, Grady and Zora, and then in the next chapter . . . I'll give you a hint: Chan with an ee. :)

Love,
Emma

P.S.: I posted a Chawni friendship oneshot, that is linked with this story, it's called Being Here, so if you checked that out, that would be great too. :)
Thanks.