Disclaimer: I do not own SWAC, Disney, or anything else copyrighted.
Chad wasn't worried about becoming an addict.
The tabloids were worried about an upcoming addiction. He didn't focus on those words, though; all he could focus on was how, in each of those articles, they somehow mentioned him as an actor that was "good", "great", "talented", whatever - those words were always positive.
He received a few more calls from his parents, too. He made up a new, a better, excuse for them as well: Hollywood was going through a bit of a slow news period, and since he liked to go out a lot, they just focused all their attention on him, and would make up these outrageous stories and lies about him. They continued to believe his stories.
Sonny didn't talk to him for a few days after their morning confrontation. He avoided her side of the studios that day, but he ended up terribly missing her. He missed her presence, her laughter, the sparkle in her eyes... he really missed her.
On the second day, he couldn't take it anymore.
He immediately called Jason, who lived outside of LA, and asked if he could come over. So, him and Jason sat in his apartment that night smoking marijuana. That was his main thing, the one thing that really brought Chad, Max, Trey, and Jason together. The first time he tried it was at a party when he was sixteen, about two years ago.
That's where he met Jason.
Chad had stepped outside to get away from the party. It became a bit overwhelming for him, with everyone hounding him. He looked over and saw this mysterious guy just sitting there, smoking like nothing was wrong.
"Want some?" the guy, Jason, had asked upon seeing Chad's curious stares.
Chad's first mistake was even acceping the joint.
He wasn't an addict. True, he was quite experimental with what he tried (it seemed like the guys were constantly bringing him different things), but marijuana was his "one true love", his first, the one he knew he could go to in case things went a little too wrong. Mary Jane always made him feel better. For a while, anyway.
A good night's sleep usually helped, too, but Mary Jane made him feel better when he wasn't sleepy.
He used to never touch over-the-counter drugs, after what had happened with his Dad. Max had convinced him it was okay to use them. "If they were bad, then they wouldn't be over-the-counter, we'd need a prescription for them," Max told Chad one day. That reasoning helped Chad make another decision: It was okay to use sleeping pills. With the lifestyle he lived, of course he would run into sleepless nights. One night became far too sleepless, so he went to the store and bought the best and biggest box of sleeping pills he could find. Ever since then, he would use them during sleepness nights.
Chad couldn't become an addict.
When he was little, he wanted to become a family man. He wanted one wife, the perfect wife, and at least one kid. Two or three would be better, but as long as he had a child, he would be okay. In his mind, when he was little, he knew being bad would result in not having a family. That's what he learned from TV and movies, and from his Aunt.
Nowadays, he wasn't sure what he wanted. Eventually, he wanted to settle down. He didn't know when, though. Not anytime soon. He hasn't been in a committed relationship for well over five years, and even then, it was just simple puppy love. If he's really never been in a committed relationship, how can he be sure he could be in one at this point in his life? He was an actor, always working. At day, he worked, and at night, he partied. That was his life. Could he find someone to match that? Sure. Some random girl would love to be attached to his arm at all the parties. But, he never stayed in one place at a time at those kind of things - sometimes, if he brought a date to those, they would both wander off and never even see each other again.
But, there was Sonny... Would he change himself for her? Would he party less, hang with his friends less, just to be with her? He wasn't sure. He didn't want to be in a relationship with her because of that very reason. He "fought" with her, he "teased" her, he did all of that so she wouldn't want him. Sure, they were acquaintances, almost friends, and they did fake date well... He always felt bad for pretending to make fun of her. He didn't like making fun of her... most of the time. Sometimes, he liked seeing her get upset - it was cute.
Stupid cute.
Three days after their confrontation, Sonny walked over to him after filming was over for the day. "Chad?"
"Huh?" he quickly asked, also quickly turning around. He hadn't heard anyone coming up to him out in the parking lot. Once he realized it was Sonny, he strangely grew nervous. "Hey."
"Hi." She smiled softly and said, "So, uhh... haven't really talked to you in a few days..."
"You just couldn't resist Chad Dylan Cooper, huh?" He smirked, a mischiveious sparkle in his eyes.
He could tell Sonny knew he was messing around with her by the giggle that she let out. "Oh, yeah," she sarcastically said. "Totally."
He laughed, which caused Sonny to laugh a bit more. These were some of the things Chad continued to enjoy - the tiny moments he shared with certain people that felt so carefree, so simple. He loved moments like these.
She stopped laughing, but a small smile still remained on her face. She reached out and touched his arm. "It was nice seeing you Chad," she said before walking off, her hand slowly slipping away from his arm.
"Wait, where are you going?" he called out.
She turned around, laughing slightly. "Home. It's the end of the day, Chad, and I've got a hot date with my TV tonight."
He laughed. "You have fun with that, Munroe."
She giggled as she got into her car. He watched her drive off, away from Condor Studios from the day. He stood in that spot for a few moments before heading over to his car. He decided to have a night in that night, too.
That was until it got interrupted by Max, Trey, and Jason.
---
The tabloids seemed to love Chad lately. Too bad he still wasn't paying attention to the negativity of the situation.
It had been a blissful week. True, the tabloids still mentioned him, but not as much - finally, there were other celebrities to talk about. He was able to hang out with his friends without the whole world completely knowing again, his parents weren't really on his case, MacKenzie Falls' ratings were better and higher than ever... oh, and Sonny was talking to him again.
Of course, he was naturally worried for the girl when he saw her outside on the pavement, sitting down with her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. "Hey," he quietly said, squatting down next to her.
"Hey," she muttered, her head still on her knees, her eyes facing forward.
"What's up?"
She didn't say anything fro a moment before saying. "I'm worried about a friend."
"Which friend?" he asked, truly intrigued.
She shook her head. "You don't know them. They're from Wisonsin."
He nodded. "Tell me about them."
She pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. She looked over at him from the corner of her eyes. "I'm worried about them... They've been acting different lately... Apparently, they're dealing with things they shouldn't be dealing with, and... it's changed them." She sighed, looking down before saying, "We got into a bit of a scuff a couple of weeks ago. Even though we're okay now, things are still...weird...different...strange... I really don't like it..."
Why did that sound so...familiar?
Chad reached over and started rubbing her back. He could see the tears welling up in her eyes, and that really touched him. He didn't know who she was talking about, but she must care about them a lot if this whole situation is making her cry. "Why don't you talk to them?"
She shrugged, smiling softly. "They're a bit stubborn."
"Well, maybe you and a group of people can talk to them? That way you don't have to be directly yelled at."
She paused for a moment. "I don't really know their friends. I mean, I know a couple, but for the rest of their friends... I've heard little about them. I've seen pictures, of course, but other than that... I think that's what's making him do all this stuff..."
"Well, maybe you two should directly - wait, him?"
Sonny didn't mean to say "him" - she hadn't caught herself slipping that word out. "Uh, yeah, I-I'm talking about a guy..." she quietly said.
"It is... you know, a friend, boyfriend, ex-boyfriend..." His statement came out more like a regular statement than a question. Yeah, he was a bit jealous of whoever she was talking about.
She let out a sad laugh. "No, it's not a boyfriend... or an ex. I'd be a bit more upset if he were my boyfriend... We've been friends for over a year now..."
"Would you... want to go out with him?" He didn't mean to sound pushy, but he was genuinely curious about this guy.
She shrugged, looking over at him. "I'm not sure anymore."
That made Chad think about his and Sonny's friendship. Even though they were talking again, he still hadn't seen her much in the past few weeks... They probably talked to each other for a minute each day, but sometimes, even if they saw each other, they didn't talk. Obviously, whoever Sonny was talking about what somewhat close to her, and after all that thought, he realized he wanted to be a better friend to Sonny. If they couldn't go out, the least he could do was attempt to be better friends with her.
"Hey, let's go out for a while," he said, standing up.
She quickly looked up at him. "Wait, what?"
"Oh, n-not like that," he stammered. "As friends. Maybe we can get some ice cream and I can take you home. I overheard you were having car troubles..."
She nodded and stood up. "That sounds great, Chad."
Life can't always be great, though.
A/N: Aah, thank you all for the reviews!!! I am so happy you all are enjoying this story. It means so much to me!!! Now, I want to set a goal: Let's make it to 15 reviews! I would like 20, but 15 is more reasonable. We can do it!