Behind the Veil
a fanfiction by Emma

Chapter Seventeen

Spring
Beginning of June

Sonny, Nico, Grady, Zora and Tawni all sat at Sonny's dining room table. They each had a cup of coffee in their hands – well, everyone except for Zora, who had a cup of herbal tea.

"So, you talked to Chad?" Nico questioned Tawni.

"Yes, I did." Tawni said with a sigh.

"And you talked about . . . Chad?" Grady asked.

"And Sonny, yes." Tawni said, "I thought we already covered this." she added.

"We did," Zora groaned, "I remember, but these pea-brains have the memory of a goldfish."

"Hey!" Gradyand Nico cried.

Sonny smiled, some things never change.

The five were trying to decide if Chad was really going to come or not, of course, Sonny wanted him to, she really wanted him too. But there was a part of her that was afraid of him coming. What would he say? What would happen?

Nico sighed, "I have to talk to him."

The four stared at him wide eyed, in disbelief.

"Nico, Chad hates you," Tawni said, "I remember, he always told me. He won't listen."

"I have to try. I also have to apologize,"Nico said, "I was a total jerk to him, shoving him in the halls. We had an argument once."

"An argument?" Sonny said, "What about?"

"Well . . . it was about a month after you left, and, he was in the Prop House with Tawni, Tawni was holding him, –"

"–Oh I remember this . . . ." Tawni mused.

"– he wasn't crying, but it looked like he could if he wanted to. I glared at him, and said, 'What are you doing here, Cooper?' he turned around, and looked at me, he stood up fast, 'I'm sorry.' he said, then he tried to get out. – You see, the day after you left, he banned him from the Prop House, saying he wasn't allowed to step foot inside our studio at all.

"I was really upset, and angry with him at the time – I always have been, but it was more rage back then – I turned around, before hecould leave I shouted, 'Stop with the fake-broken heart Chad, you're not fooling anyone but Tawni!'

"So, that ended with a full fledged fight with Chad, and then Tawni backing him up." Nico finished.

Tawni sighed, "That was the day we broke up." she whispered, "Or, the day you dumped me."

Nico glanced at his hands. It was suddenly very quiet between the five friends.

"So . . . I'm going to talk to him," Nico said, "I need to."

"Are you sure?" Sonny asked.

Nico sighed, "Yes."

LINE

Nico knocked on Chad's door, patiently waiting. There were a few minutes of silence before Chad opened the door, saw who it was, then slammed it shut again.

Nico sighed, "C'mon Chad!" he cried, "Open the door!"

He heard a muffled, "No!" from behind the door.

Nico grabbed the handel, surprised to find that the door was open, he walked in.

"I knew I should've locked that. . . ." he heard Chad mumble.

There was an awkward silence as the two stood and stared at each other.

"So what are you doing here?" Chad asked, "Coming to give me another punch? – Oh, right, that was Grady, where is he anyway? Waiting in a bush?"

"I'm not here to hurt you Chad." Nico said.

"Yeah you're right, you've enough of that already."

"I'm actually here to apologize." Nico explained.

Chad clicked his tongue off the roof of his mouth, "Well, apology not accepted."

"You didn't even hear my apology!" Nico cried.

"I don't need to." Chad snapped back, "You don't deserve my forgiveness."

"I know I was a jerk to you!" Nico yelled, but he then settled himself, "I know I was, and I . . . I know now that it was wrong, I was young, and hurt–"

"You were hurt?" Chad yelled, "I was shattered! You and Grady didn't help that much either! She was my girlfriend, I seriously thought we were going to get married one day! Do you know what she told me the night she left? Do you!"

Nico was silent.

"She told me, she didn't love me," Chad hissed, "How's that for being hurt?"

Okay, maybe "young and hurt" weren't the right words, Nico thought.

"I was young and confused," Nico corrected himself, "You can't really blame me, can you? From your passed experiences with girlfriends, you always dumped them, and left them to rot somewhere, crying. Sonny didn't tell me why she left, she just said that you knew, and you guys had broke up. She didn't tell who did the breaking. So I let my mind roll, and I did some bad things. I lost Tawni over this, I was broken too, we all were."

"You could've let me explain, you could've let me speak, but instead, you shut me up, with your fists." Chad whispered, "I'm not forgiving you. It's not my fault that you Tawni broke up, and from what I remember, you were the one who dumped her. Not the other way around."

Nico sighed, "Sonny wants you," he said, "She hasn't said it out loud, but I knowshe does, just by the look on her face when I say you're name. So . . . fine, you don't have to forgive me. I just want to know, are you coming to see her, or not?"

"Well, I don't know, there's about four people I don't really want in the room when I talk to her." Chad said, with a roll to his eye.

"What about this . . . you don't have to forgive me, but to make it up to you anyway, I'll make sure Tawni, Grady, Zora and I are all out of the house when you come. Okay?"

Chad's eyes softened at Nico, then he glanced down at his shoes, "I . . ."

"Just give me a time and date." Nico said, "I'll make sure we're out of there."

"Tomorrow . . . three o'clock."

LINE

Sonny sat and gaped at Nico.

"S-seriously? He's coming here?" she asked.

Nico nodded, "Yep, three o'clock."

Sonny couldn't believe it, truthfully, she had pictured two three different ways of what was going to happen. The first one was that Chad never came, he was just too mad at her to be with her ever again, and he packed up his things and moved away, never staying it touch with Sonny ever. Then a couple years later, they would meet up, and Chad would still completely hate her, he would have a gorgeous, skinny, blonde girl attached to his arm, and he would be completely over her.

The second one was that he came, but he didn't want her anymore. He just wanted to be away from her forever, so he could finally move on, and be on his own. They would stay in touch, but only hardly. They would meet up every once in a while, but he would never want her again, and she would be tortured with his pain forever.

The third one . . . was the one she wanted to happen the most. That was the one where Chad comes, and they're together, forever. It was as simple as that, he just comes, and they talk, and everything's okay.

Sonny found herself smiling at the last one, she looked up at her ex-cast mates, they were smiling back at her.

"How excited are you?" Zora whispered.

"I love him." was Sonny's answer.

LINE

Nico walked around the town of Scarlet Springs with Tawni beside him, Grady and Zora had ran away, because they found a book store they wanted to check out, so it was just the two of them. It was about two-thirty, and Chad would be coming anytime to Sonny's apartment.

Tawni ran a hand through her hair, then quickly put it up in a messy bun, it was getting hot outside. And the awkwardness of the situation she was in wasn't helping. She hadn't been alone with Nico in years.

"So . . . it's hot." Tawni said, fanning herself with her hand.

"Yeah, it is," Nico answered.

They two stared at the floor, they both felt the awkward in the air. It was like a huge fog was casting over them.

"Listen–" Nico started.

"–I'm sorry." they both said.

Nico sighed, "You first."

"I didn't listen to you," Tawni said, "I know that I should've listened to you better, but . . . I had to help my friend, and I lost you out of it, but . . . I'm fine. I think. I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you, and I'm sorry that I messed it up."

"You didn't mess it up!" Nico cried, "I did! I was the one who wasn't listening, I should've just believed you, and let my mind run. I'm sorry, I messed it up."

Tawni sighed and sat down on a bench, "We both messed it up."

Nico sat next to her, "It was a . . . tough situation. We didn't know how to handle it, we were just kids."

Tawni looked sadly at Nico, "I missed you," she said, "If that even means anything now."

"It means everything now," Nico told her, "Because maybe . . . we could . . . start over?"

Tawni's heart thudded in her chest, "Really?"

"Yeah . . . I mean, Sonny's back, Chad's back, it's obvious they're going to be back together again, why not start new? Start fresh, just me and you."

Tawni wrapped her arms around Nico and gave him a tight hug, "I'd like that alot."

LINE

I burst into Sonny's apartment, she sat there, sitting quietly for me.

She stands up and looks at me, opening her mouth to say something, but I shushed her.

"No, no, no . . . don't talk, it's my turn. Please just . . . don't say anything."

She nods at me, and I start.

"So, you were right – or 'Charlotte' was right – I build walls, barriers almost, and I don't let anyone in. I shut myself out. At first, I didn't understand why I did this, but I know now. . . . It'sbecause I didn't want a repeat, I didn't want to get close to someone, because I was afraid they'd leave. And I'd be alone.

"I could trust Sonny with everything, I trusted her. I could divulge my inner-most-secrets to her, and I knew those secrets would be safe, because they were with Sonny. And vice-versa, I kept her secrets safe too. And she trusted me.

"When you – Sonny – left, I felt broken . . . torn, and everything I told Sonny broke off of her, on the ground, for everyone to see. I was alone when Sonny left . . . and I had nobody. So I shut everything out.

"Then I met Charlotte, and she helped me come out – not a lot . . . but I came out. Suddenly, I didn't feel all that alone anymore. Sure that aching feeling in my heart was always there, but it was less severe, and I thought I could actually be getting over you, not completely, but I was. So I let Charlotte in, I let her come through the wall. But then . . . she did exactly what I feared, she ripped me down, she tore me apart. And I rebuilt the wall.

"I've never stopped loving Sonny . . . y-you. No matter how mad I was at you, I always love you. I was so mad I couldn't look at you without wanting to burst into tears, yet, I still love you. You ripped me apart into millions of little pieces, which I still can't put together, yet I still love you.

"You'velost your trust. You've gained it, and lost it, then gained it again, only to loose it. But, I'm letting you back in," I raised my arms shakily, as if I was afraid of something, "I-I'm letting you back through the wall, so you better not fuck it up this time."

Sonny looked at me, with those eyes of hers, they were soft, and loving, and then she smiled.

"Chad . . . I–"

"– I gotta go." I interrupted her.

"What?" she looked at me with a confused face.

Sonny sighed, "First . . . come here."

She placed her hands on the sides of my face, and brought me close, giving me a soft kiss, full of meaning. I knew what it said, it told me she was sorry, that she loved me, and that she really never stopped loving me, and that she wants to fix things, and make them all better. So I kissed her back, letting her know, that I wanted her too, but I was afraid. Afraid of what would happen in the future. But what Tawni said rang in my ears. You have to trust in love.

We parted, and Sonny rested her forehead on mine, "Are you sure you want to go?" she asked with a smirk.

"Yes," I said, "I have to go home, I have to put pictures on my walls."

She looked at me with confusion, she didn't understand. Of course she didn't, all I did was smile at her, a sincere smile, a real smile.

"You'll understand in time." I told her, giving her a kiss on the cheek, and then leaving through the door.

*Sniff, sniff*

Authors Note
So . . . this is basically the last chapter, I have a epilogue I'm going to write and then . . . it's DONE. All I can say is . . . THANK YOU, thank you guys SO much, I've gotten 300 reviews on this story, and it's my first SWAC EVER! :D

Just . . . thank you. :)