Disclaimer: I do not own SWAC, Disney, or anything else copyrighted.
Chad spent a total of six weeks at the rehabilitation program. The first few days, he went through a withdrawal, a detoxification, from the drugs. He felt physically sick, mostly nauseous, but would sometimes throw up. The only meetings he went to during those few days were personal one-on-one sessions with Dr. Johnson. She didn't want him going to group meetings until his withdrawal symptoms lessened. After those few days, he started to feel slightly better, and was given some medication to help with the detoxification.
He talked to Dr. Johnson about the meetings he would be attending. They agreed that he wouldn't start attending regular NA meetings until he moved back to Los Angeles, but he would attend at least one at his stay at the center. He would attend group meetings every other day, and would have one-on-one meetings with Dr. Johnson on the days where he wouldn't have a group meeting.
He took detox medication the first three weeks of his stay to help with any oncoming withdrawal symptoms. After the first few days, but up until about four weeks later, he continued to feel withdrawal symptoms lightly. There would be moments where he felt fine, but others were he felt extremely tired, or nauseous, and during the first couple of weeks, there would be moments where he felt like he couldn't move at all.
He kept in contact with Sonny, Alex, and his parents during his stay. He would often text Alex, since he was usually working and Chad didn't want to bother him too much. He would call Sonny and his parents everyday. He would call his parents first, and they had nice, but usually short conversations. He usually talked to his Mom more, since his Dad was usually out working during the day. He got a total of three hours to use his phone, from 1-4PM. The people at the facility were strict about their phone use, and if they were caught using their phone during other parts of the day, then they would have privilages taken away.
Chad's "graduation" would happen during the last week of January. It wasn't a real graduation, and there wasn't some big ceremony announcing him leaving the facility. It was just a bigger good-bye, with food and drinks set up, and everyone would say good-bye to each other. His parents were going to fly up to Colorado to pick him up and bring him back to Los Angeles. Alex and Sonny could not make it; they were both scheduled to work that day. Sonny would be at the airport that night when Chad arrived, and Alex said they would be able to hang out the next day, since he worked during both the day and night. It was a sweet and quiet "graduation" - Dr. Johnson talked to Chad's parents, and he talked to some of the other residents. A lot were new, and some he had been around with since early in his stay. They all wished each other the best of luck. He even made a few friends there, and they agreed they would try to keep in contact.
"I know I keep saying this, but you look so good," Chad's Mom said, hugging him as they walked outside.
Chad laughed. "Thanks, Mom."
The three of them got into the taxi and chatted quietly on the way to the airport. His Dad told him about funny and interesting things that had happened at work, his Mom told him about a few modeling jobs she had gotten, and he told them about the people there at the facility. They continued to talk about those things, and possible upcoming family events on the plane ride to California.
---
Sonny walked into the airport and sat down near the exit to Terminal 4. She knew he was flying with American Airlines, so she sat down near that exit. She got to the airport about 45 minutes early, in case his flight was early. She sat down and grabbed her phone. Of course, she had received a few texts during her drive, so she answered those while waiting.
Chad walked out of the plane. It had arrived 25 minutes early, and he was afraid Sonny wasn't there yet. He felt nervous, almost as if he had butterflies in his stomach. Chad walked away from the gate and towards luggage and the exit. As they rode down the escalator, Chad looked around, trying to find Sonny. Suddenly he saw her, sitting down, looking at her phone. She started laughing, and she looked up while laughing. Suddenly, she saw Chad and her smile grew wider, her eyes shining more. She stood up and happily waved at him. As soon as Chad got to the bottom of the escalator, he started walking towards her. She ran over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist and started spinning her around. She giggled, holding onto him tighter.
He put her down and stepped back slightly as they took in each other's appearances. True, it had only been a month and a half since they last saw each other, but it felt like longer for both of them. She seemed to be healthy (weight-wise). Her hair was longer and a bit darker. He seemed to not be quite as muscular, and seemed to have gained a tiny bit of weight, which she assumed was from the lack of drugs. He definitely lost part of his tan, but even though he didn't look quite the same as before, he was still perfect in his eyes, and it was like the old Chad was back, smiling at her.
"You look good," he softly told her, reaching forward and grabbing her hands.
She smiled and shrugged. "I guess. You look nice."
He chuckled softly. "I feel nice, too."
"That's good," she said, grinning at him. He grinned before leaning forward and kissing her. He placed a hand in his hair as she wrapped her arms around his torso, kissing him back. He pulled away slightly and said, "I need to get my luggage."
She giggled and said, "Way to ruin a moment, Cooper."
"It's true," he said, shrugging as he let go of one of her hands and walked towards the luggage. He found his parents, who were holding his luggage.
"Well, there you are!" his Mom said, smiling. "I was worried you two had ran off somewhere." Chad and Sonny laughed, Sonny's laugh a bit more nervous. "Well, c'mon. You're more than welcome to join us for a late dinner, Sonny."
"Sure, I'd love to," Sonny said, smiling slightly.
"Oh, sweetie, don't be scared we know your name," his Mom said, smiling as they walked out of the airport. "Chad here talks about you a lot."
"Oh, does he?" Sonny asked, looking up at Chad, grinning. He merely shrugged, a cheeky smile laying on his face.
"Now, did you drive here, or did you take some other form of transportation?" his Mom asked as they stepped outside.
"I drove," Sonny said.
"Do you mind if we ride with you?" his Mom asked. "I'm sorry to ask you this, but we took a taxi here..."
"No, it's no problem at all," Sonny said, smiling. "Let's just go this way..." She parked on the first floor of the parking garage, and it was very close to the entrance. His parents put their stuff into the trunk while Sonny got into the drivers seat. Chad sat down next to her while his parents got into the backseat. "Where to?" Sonny asked, pulling out of the spot and driving out of the garage.
"La Hacienda," Chad suddenly said. He turned to his parents and said, "If that's okay."
"That's perfect," Chad's Dad said, smiling. "We'll go to the one by our house, near Highway 105."
"You like Mexican food?" Sonny asked, getting onto the right highway.
Chad nodded, smiling. "It's a nice little place. They cook some great Mexican food."
It took them over half an hour to get there, due to a bit of traffic, and like Chad mentioned, it was a bit of a tiny restaurant. There were a few cars parked out front as Sonny found a spot near the door. They went inside, and people there immediately recognized them.
"The Coopers!" one of them happily greeted. "Oh, we haven't seen you in forever! Why, Chad, you've grown up so much!"
Chad laughed. "Good to see you, too, man."
"Four of you tonight?" he asked. They all nodded. "Now who is this lucky lady?" he asked, referring to Sonny as they walked towards the back.
"Sonny," Chad said.
"Ah, yes, I thought I recognized you," he said, setting down four menu's on the table. After they all sat down, he said, "Enjoy!"
They looked over their menu's as their waitress came over and happily greeted them before taking their drink menu's. "Oh, and can you get us some white cheese queso?" Chad's Dad asked. The waitress nodded and walked off.
Chad set his menu down, and his parents also set their menu's down relatively quickly. Sonny looked over the menu before smiling as she put down her menu. Their waitress came back with their drinks and their queso. "The usual for you three?" she asked Chad and his parents, who laughed and nodded. She smiled and wrote down their order. She looked at Sonny and asked, "And for you?"
"I'll have the beef taco salad, no tomatoes or guacamole," Sonny said.
Their waitress nodded and walked off. Sonny, Chad, and his family sat there and ate happily, talking and laughing. Chad's parents started bringing up old stories of Chad, something he was a bit embarrassed about.
"One time, Alex and Chad decided to switch places," Chad's Dad.
Sonny giggled. "Oh, do tell this story."
Chad groaned as his Dad began, "Well, as you know, Chad and Alex looked very much alike. Platinum blond hair, blue eyes, a bit of tan... they were almost the same height, and strangers swore they were twins. Anyways, one day, they decided to switch places, thinking we wouldn't notice..."
His Mom continued, "Of course, we did notice, and we told Alex's parents, and we decided to play along with it. By the time they went to bed, both boys were dying to get back to their own houses. They were so homesick!"
Sonny was continuously giggling by the end of the story as Chad blushed. "That's hilarious!" she said inbetween giggles.
"So, I must ask you two," his Mom said, leaning close to them. "I'm sorry if this is a bit personal, but I must ask... are you two actually dating?"
Chad and Sonny looked at each other, deeply thinking about it. Were they dating? They had never discussed it before, even though they had kissed and clearly acted like one. "Yeah, we're together," Sonny said, looking at his Mom and smiling happily.
His Mom smiled. "You two are so cute, I must say."
"Well, we should probably be heading back out, it is getting a bit late," Chad's Dad said, leaving the money on the table and getting up. Everyone nodded, agreeing, and got up. They headed back out to Sonny's car.
"If you'll take a right out of the parking lot and head straight and turn on Sunrise Avenue, we'll show you where our house is at," Chad's Mom said as they started to drive off. It only took them about five minutes to get to Chad's parents house, and Sonny marveled at their house as she parked in their driveway. It was a two-story brick house, and it seemed very big. There were two cars, one Hybrid Saturn Vue and a Prius parked in the driveway.
"Thank you so much for dropping us off," Chad's Dad said, patting Sonny's shoulder.
"Thank you both for dinner," Sonny said, turning around and smiling at them.
"Are you still staying the night here?" Chad's Mom asked as his Dad got out of the car.
Chad nodded. "Yeah. I'll be in in a couple of minutes, though." His Mom nodded as they grabbed everyone's belongings from the trunk and walked back to the house.
Chad and Sonny sat in her car for a few moments, glad to have a little more alone time. They looked at each other and softly smiled. "Thanks for being there today," he softly said.
She nodded. "You're welcome."
They leaned forward and kissed each other. It was a simple kiss, but they could each feel the sparks that the kiss caused, the same spark that ignited during each of their kisses. "I would definitely call this going out," Sonny murmured against his lips.
He huskily chuckled. "Me, too. I doubt we're friends with benefits."
She softly giggled. "I know we're not."
"Fine."
"Fine."
"Good."
"Good."
They laughed at their joke, something they still continued to do.
"I missed this," Sonny confessed, sitting back in her seat.
Chad nodded. "I did, too. Saying that through texts just wasn't the same."
She nodded. "I agree." She yawned and said, "You should go inside. I need to get home."
"Why don't you stay here?" Chad asked. "My parents won't mind. They seem to like you. Plus, you live at least 45 minutes away from here, and I don't want you crashing on the side of some road."
She thought about it for a moment before shrugging. "Okay."
They got out of her car and walked inside. "Sonny's staying the night!" Chad called out once they were inside. He wasn't quite sure where his parents were, and he was a bit tired as well.
Chad's Mom suddenly came out of one of the rooms and walked over to them. "Oh, goodness, you two do look very tired," she said. "Well, Sonny, you can borrow some of my clothes to sleep in, and you're welcome to any of the food you want, you can use any of the bathrooms and watch any of the televisions... well, except for in a couple of rooms..."
"Mom... I'll tell her where she can and can't go," Chad said, smiling.
His Mom laughed. "Of course. Well, your Father and I are also tired, so we'll be heading off to bed shortly. See you two in the morning," she said, kissing her son on the forehead and hugging Sonny before walking off.
Chad chuckled lightly. "Alright, follow me this way..." Together they walked upstairs and down the hallway into Chad's room.
Sonny looked around. It was almost like a guest room, except she could see a couple of his belongings in there.
"Here you go, dear," Chad's Mom said, popping into the room and handing Sonny some clothes.
"Oh! Thank you," Sonny said, taking the clothes from his Mom.
His Mom smiled and nodded. "You're welcome. Goodnight, you two."
"'Night," Chad muttered while grabbing some clothes out of his drawer. He turned to Sonny and said, "You can change in here. I'll be right back; I'll just be in the bathroom."
Sonny nodded as he walked out of the room. She quickly changed into his Mom's clothes, which included a grey t-shirt and a pair of black long shorts. Surprisingly, they fit well, and were quite snug. She opened the door when she was done. She placed her clothes next to her purse on the floor and sat on the edge of Chad's bed.
As she stretched and yawned, Chad walked into the room. He was wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of shorts. "You look nice."
She grinned as she flopped back onto Chad's bed. "Thanks."
"Hey, now, you can't just hog up the whole bed," Chad said, sitting beside her.
She yawned again. "Where should I sleep tonight?"
He shrugged. "You can sleep in here, you can sleep in one of the guest rooms..."
"Do your parents trust me in here?"
He shrugged. "I'm sure they don't care. I'm almost 20. As long as we don't make too much noise..."
She giggled and playfully hit his chest. "Oh, Chad, we're not doing anything... tonight."
"Ooh, so when are we doing something?"
"Not tonight," she persisted, fixing herself so that her head was on one of the pillows.
"And usually I sleep on that side," he said, laying down next to her. "But I'll let it slide tonight."
"Thank you," she said, leaning up and turning off the light. She could feel him wrapping his arms around her waist as she scooted closer to him. "Chad..."
"Hmm?"
"Thanks for letting me stay here."
"You're welcome. Like I said, I didn't want to find out you had crashed somewhere..."
She smiled. "Thanks for caring, too."
He nodded. "You, too, Sonny. Goodnight."
"Night."
Things were silent for a few minutes before Chad asked, "Sonny?"
She grumbled lightly. "Yes?"
"We forgot something."
"...and what would that be?"
"A goodnight kiss, of course."
She laughed and turned around. She placed a hand on his cheek and leaned forward, giving him a sleepy yet incredibly passionate kiss. He was shocked at first before kissing her with as much passion, his hand bringing her closer to him.
"Is that good enough for you?" she murmured, her head returning to her pillow.
He chuckled and said, "Definitely. Goodnight."
A/N: I hope this was good! I won't be able to update until Sunday, because I work all day today and tomorrow. Thanks for the reviews!! Let's time, let's reach 70 - I'm giving you more than enough time to review! ;) Haha.