Hello readers! Once again, I am so happy everyone likes this story. I had so much fun writing it, as always. And I have to thank my friend Andrea (-Clarisaa) for helping me write it! She's the best!

Dedications:

EVERYONE!!!

Disclaimer: I….own……..nothing…..yet.

*P.S. The italicized words are flashbacks!*

"…So of course I jumped, and now I have these scars all over my arms," Pearce Connery finished, casually flexing his arms to get Sonny's attention.

They were at a coffee house, trying their "not-a-date-if-you-don't-want-it-to-be" again; and this time, Sonny was enjoying it a lot more. Thoughts of Chad still haunted the back of her mind, but she tried to focus on having fun with Pearce. She hoped maybe it could turn into something, because she really liked what she saw in him.

Sonny laughed at his outrageous story and ran her fingers along his arm muscles flirtatiously. "That must of hurt," she said.

"Oh, it did," Pearce laughed. He took a sip of his coffee and took Sonny's hand in his.

Sonny glanced up and saw the sincerity in Pearce's eyes. She was beginning to think that emeralds were more precious to her now than sapphire.

"Sonny…what are we doing?" he asked. Sonny froze and almost broke down with those familiar words. All thoughts of Pearce vanished as Sonny's mind flooded with thoughts of Chad, and when he so slowly, so carefully, spoke those words to her…

"Why are you here, Chad?" she asked, picking up the bottles of lotion and nail polish that fell to the floor.

"Okay, listen," he said. He stood up and moved in front of Sonny, preventing her from gathering the rest of her things. She looked into his eyes, and drowned in the pools of sapphire.

"I came here for a reason, not just to make small talk," he said. She figured that much, but her heart skipped a beat when he took one of her hands in his. His skin was soft and warm.

"Sonny…what are we doing?" Chad asked. He gazed into her eyes and squeezed her hand to pull Sonny out of her trance.

For a moment, Sonny wanted to stand up and walk out of the coffee shop, leaving that Pearce Connery behind forever. She wanted to find Chad, and hug him and kiss him with all of her heart. She missed him; that much she couldn't deny. But he had crossed the line, and she needed to move on. She had to.

"Sonny?" Pearce asked, concern in his voice. Sonny jumped back to reality and squeezed Pearce's hand.

"Yes, sorry, we're having coffee," she answered.

"No," he said. "Our relationship. Where is it going?" he asked quietly. Pearce needed to know where he was going with Sonny. He couldn't continue on with these "not-a-date-if-you-don't-want-it-to-be" outings. He wanted answers, and he wanted them now.

"I just don't know," Sonny said softly. Her mind kept saying, This is Pearce Connery. Attractive, funny, sweet. He's yours if you say so!

But her heart was screaming Chad Dylan Cooper! Chad Dylan Cooper! Chad Dylan Cooper!

And Sonny just didn't know which one made more sense.

"Sonny, I like you. A lot," Pearce confessed. "Do you feel the same about me?"

Sonny knew she liked Pearce. Her knees went weak when he smiled at her and she blushed when he said her name, but for some reason, she couldn't answer him right away.

Pearce waited impatiently. What was wrong with her? She was fine before he mentioned anything, which made me deeply regret opening his mouth in the first place.

"I like you, Pearce," she finally said. Pearce breathed a sigh of relief. "But we need to take this slow. I'm still a little upset…"

"About Chad?" he asked.

"Yeah..." she hated to admit that her heart still stung from thoughts of Chad. She kept convincing herself that Pearce was better for her, and that her little fling with Chad was over. They hadn't talked in days, and eventually she would recover….right?

"Sonny, you need to move on," he suggested, squeezing her hand tightly.

Sonny didn't make eye contact with Pearce. She couldn't stop thinking about Chad…

"I love you, Chad. And I know you're going to be a father, and there's nothing I can do about that. I knew that by telling you that it would just create more drama, and I didn't want to do that to you. You have enough to deal with, and---"

She was stopped by Chad's index finger over her lips and a knowing smirk. He gently tucked a tendril of hair behind Sonny's ear. She gazed into his eyes, and almost couldn't process when Chad whispered, "I love you too, Sonny."

She shook those wonderful yet painful memories out of her mind. Why couldn't he get out of her head?!

"I know I do!" she practically shouted. Pearce jumped back, and her hand became cold when he let go.

"Sorry," she said. She ran her hands through her hair and sighed. "I didn't mean to snap. It's just a touchy subject…"

"That's okay," Pearce smiled. "You wanna get out of here?"

Sonny nodded.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The next day, Sonny stayed late for rehearsal. She made her way to the cafeteria for dinner, which was kept open for actors who worked late, and grabbed a "hamburger" off of the counter and placed it on her tray. Sitting down, she wondered where Tawni was. She knew Nico, Grady, and Zora went home right away after rehearsal, but usually when Sonny stayed late, so did Tawni. So, instead of taking a bite of her "hamburger," she went to look for her.

After wandering around for half an hour, Sonny assumed Tawni had left as well. Then she noticed a familiar shape down the hallway.

"Hey Marshall, have you seen Tawni?" she called. Marshall turned and smiled.

"Hey Sonny. Last I saw her she was heading towards the dressing room."

"Oh, okay, thanks," Sonny said.

She hoped she hadn't missed her.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tawni was gathering her things into her bag to go home. She had stayed late to rehearse with her cast-mates and she just wanted to go home.

As she packed her hairbrush, she heard the door behind her open and close.

"Sonny?" she said, throwing a bottle of nail polish into her bag. "Is that you?"

"No," a deep voice responded. "It's me."

Tawni whipped around. "Pearce? What are you doing here? Sonny's not here, as you can see." She gestured around the empty room to make her point, but Pearce was closing the distance between them.

"I'm not here to see Sonny," he replied. He was in front of her now, his warmth breath fanning itself over her scared expression. "I'm here to see you."

Tawni took a step back, but he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"What are you doing?!" she asked, hitting his chest with all of her strength.

He pulled her closer and eventually ran his lips over her skin. She relaxed under his touch, momentarily forgetting about her best friend. When he took a break to breathe, she remembered.

"This isn't right. Sonny and I are friends!" Tawni said as he trailed kisses up and down her neck. "I don't want to hurt her!"

"Let's just keep this between you and me," he whispered in her ear.

"But--" Tawni tried to say, but was cut off by Pearce's lips on hers.

His lips were hungry, full of lust, kissing her roughly. Tawni's mind was cleared of any coherent thought at that moment. Instead of thinking how wrong kissing her friend's crush was, she closed her eyes and kissed him back. Their lips moved in perfect synchronization, as if the kiss had been rehearsed. She wrapped her arms around his neck, wanting to be as close to him as possible. His tongue ran across her bottom lip, begging for an entrance. She didn't hesitate to part them and let their tongues collide.

The sweet taste of Tawni had Pearce in a trance. He wanted more. Much more. He kissed her urgently and passionately as he pushed her up against the wall. Tawni tangled her hands in his hair, pulling him closer. He pulled away, but only to move his lips to her neck. His lips made their way to her shoulder, and then came back up along her neck and jaw line, stopping just under her ear. He gently sucked on her earlobe just before whispering, "I want you." A quiet moan escaped her lips as she grabbed his face and locked her lips in his.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Sonny shrieked as she swung open the dressing room door.

Tawni and Pearce froze, and in a moment of panic, Tawni slapped Pearce across the face. "You asshole! What are you doing?! I'm Sonny's friend!" Pearce was stunned by the instantaneous reaction on Tawni's part and rubbed his face gently. What was with people and hitting his face lately?

"Not anymore…" Sonny said in anger. She turned and ran out of the room, tears streaking down her face. Why her!?

"Sonny! Wait!" Tawni cried after her. "I can explain!"

Sonny stopped and turned to face Tawni. Her eyes were wild with terror and disbelief. "How?!" she screamed.

"I…I don't know! He just came in here and…" Tawni couldn't explain. Sonny wouldn't believe her if she told the truth. She had trusted Pearce, but most importantly, Sonny had trusted her.

"You knew we had something going on, Tawni!" Sonny could hardly see past her tears; Tawni was just a blurry figure to her.

Forgetting all about Sonny's feelings and focusing on her own, Tawni shouted, "You have Chad!" However, she was unaware that Sonny and Chad hadn't spoken for days. "Why couldn't I have someone for once?!"

"I don't have Chad!" Sonny shrieked. Upon saying this, Sonny was overwhelmed with emotion as they hit her like a tidal wave. She lost control and started to sob.

Tawni stood there, unsure of what to say next.

Sonny, with a wipe of the eyes, stormed off. She had lost everything. She had lost Chad, thinking she had Pearce to fall back on. But she was wrong, and instead she lost Pearce and one of her best friend's. How could this be happening?!

Oh, isn't drama exhilarating?

So, I am pretty sure that the next chapter is going to be the LAST CHAPTER of "For What It's Worth." It's been a fun ride, and I'm glad everyone took it with me!

Any reviews are loved and treated with amazingness. So please review!

Peace, Love, and Cake Batter Ice Cream

-Emily.