Sorry for the delay in updating, everyone! Thanks again to everyone who commented on last chapter and who has commented on my other one-shots. I feel like a broken record, but as a writer, I always crave feedback and it feels great to read such wonderful responses! So please, sit back, relax, and enjoy the third chapter of "7 Things" as my treat to you all wonderful reviewers!
Spoilers: "Guess Who's Coming to Guest Star?"
Disclaimer: You all should know by now that I pretty much own nothing related to SWAC.
7 Things
"…but nothing's ever gonna change until you hear, my dear, the seven things I hate about you. The seven things I hate about you, oh, you…"
Chapter 3: You're Insecure
Chad Dylan Cooper knew exactly who he was…
…most of the time.
He knew that he was a successful, young Hollywood star. He knew that he was ambitious. He knew that he would do almost anything to maintain his celebrity status, and didn't care, or rather, couldn't care, about who he hurt in the process.
And then, there were days where Chad thought he had himself all figured out, but something usually shook him free from his security and into the unknown. Those were the days when Sonny Monroe was usually around.
He didn't know exactly what it was about that particular perky brunette, but whenever she was near him, he usually started fumbling for words. Of course, Chad Dylan Cooper always had perfect saves – he had never lost himself completely around her. The closest he had come was the night where they had to do a sketch together.
"Guess we'll fall in love now," Chad replied with his signature smirk. Sonny caught his mistake before he had a chance to correct himself.
"We?" she asked. He had been tormenting her the entire week into believing that she would be the one to fall in love with him. She raised her eyebrows, half-puzzled, half-bemused.
Darn it. "You, I said you!" Chad corrected, slightly stumbling, but only momentarily, because Chad Dylan Cooper could not be shaken from his perfect composure.
Sonny's arms remained folded across her chest as she corrected him once again. "You said 'we,'" she replied matter-of-factly.
Chad's eyes widened momentarily before he scoffed and quickly recovered. "Yeah, well, 'we' is my nickname for you," he informed Sonny, who was clearly not buying into his excuse. "We happy?"
Yeah, that had definitely been a close call, but Chad in all of his glory, had still managed to shake off that slight stumble. As the blonde sat, replaying that moment in his mind, an inexplicable feeling passed over him. Dismissing it as a slight reaction to the food he ate in the commissary a few hours ago, Chad returned to admiring himself in the mirror.
And there she was again.
Literally.
The actor swiveled his chair around and faced a smiling Sonny. He noticed how her entire face really did light up when she smiled, unlike the vast majority of the people he had known whose faces only seemed to twinkle in comparison. No, her face was definitely a Rockefeller-Plaza-at-Christmas type of smile. Stupid smile.
"Whatcha want Monroe?" he asked.
Sonny scuffed the toes of her Converse along the floor in that aw-shucks way that Chad thought was absolutely adorable. It made her seem like a seven-year old, asking permission to run next-door to her best friend's house for a sleepover. Stupid adorable.
"I heard that you had an extra seat in your car for the Tween Weekly Awards tonight…"
Chad laughed and Sonny shot him a sharp glare before softening her expression into a sweet smile. She batted her long eyelashes at the blonde actor and placed a delicate hand on his shoulder. Chad eyed the hand suspiciously for a moment before removing it from his jacket.
A signature smirk returned to his face. "…and I would assume that you want to ride with me?" Chad asked, raising his eyebrows. He inhaled and chuckled. "I knew you couldn't resist me for long."
Sonny pretended to gag, but upon Chad's glare in her direction, she feigned coughing. Regaining her composure, she sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Chad noticed how silky it looked. He wondered what kind of shampoo she used on it. He remembered, quite vividly, the night where they drove to Lookout Mountain. Her hair smelled like a waterfall that night. Stupid pretty hair.
After a moment's pause, Chad spoke. "You really want to go to the Tween Weekly Awards with me?"
Sonny laughed, but he noticed how she wasn't using her genuine laugh. She was using the kind of laugh where she didn't want to admit something or wanted the other person in the conversation to be distracted. It was her denial laugh. "Me?" she choked out, "I mean, I don't want to go with you, necessarily, it's just that Tawni and Nico and Grady and even Zora all have dates to the show so I'll stick out like a sore thumb."
Chad's perfect grin widened. Sonny noted this and she shook her head, pointing at the blonde. "And do not even try to make this about me liking you, because I don't," she emphasized. "I just need a ride, that's all."
"And a date," Chad finished with a twinkle in his blue eyes.
Sonny rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Will you or won't you give me a ride to the awards tonight?"
Chad rose from his chair and appeared to be deliberating for a minute. "Yeah, sure, why not?" he agreed. Much to his surprise, Sonny threw her arms around his neck in gratitude. He awkwardly wrapped his own arms around her in a hug. The brunette didn't move for a moment and Chad noticed how perfectly her head seemed to fit in his shoulder and how comfortable it truly was to be hugging her for the first time. The pair cleared their throats simultaneously, as seemed to be customary with them, and nearly leapt apart.
"So, I, uh, will pick you up at 7?"
Sonny's breathless reply of affirmation trailed behind her as she exited.
And suddenly, that feeling Chad thought had been from commissary food, returned.
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"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred!" Chad declared triumphantly as he placed his hairbrush onto the bathroom sink. He admired his reflection in the mirror and smiled with approval. After a quick straightening of his jacket and tie, the actor nodded and admired the finished product in the mirror. Leaning in to study the reflection closer, he noticed a few hairs out of place and licked his fingers before running them over the stragglers.
It was then that Chad realized exactly how insecure he really was.
All of his teenage life, Chad had believed that only girls suffered through bouts of insecurities with image and beauty. And while he sounded like a sissy, Chad had to admit that he did have his insecurities, especially when it came to one particular person.
At that moment, the young star glanced at the clock, and silently cursed as he sprinted for his wallet and keys. Thankfully it was a relatively short drive to Sonny's apartment building, so the blonde arrived on time. He parked his car and waited outside of the building as Sonny had directed him to. Pacing back and forth, Chad could only wonder why his heart had started to beat faster and why he was slightly sweating. It wasn't like he and Sonny were going out on a date or anything. He was just escorting her to the awards show. Just escorting. Like friends did.
A soft "hey" pulled Chad from his thoughts as he turned to face Sonny. With the breath of his half-formed sentence caught in his throat, all Chad could do was stare. In all of her simplicity, Sonny had chosen an elegant silvery strapless dress that fell to the floor. It was strapless, with a sweetheart neckline and an empire waist…not that Chad Dylan Cooper knew this off the top of his head. In his curiosity, he had looked up the style afterwards.
"Wow, you…wow."
Even though the sun was beginning to set and a shadow had crossed their path, Chad could clearly see Sonny's face flush. "Thanks, Chad," she replied with a smile. "You clean up nice. I seem to remember your outfit," the brunette added, noting that her escort was wearing the same ensemble as he did on "prom night."
"It's hard to look bad when you look this good," he smirked, politely opening the car door for his date. Not a date, Chad corrected mentally, just friends.
With a roll of Sonny's eyes, the pair sped off to the theatre where the awards would be held. They arrived on time and stepped out of the car to meet hundreds of flashing light bulbs and chirping reporters.
Chad leaned over to Sonny as the pair stepped onto the red carpet. "Hey, take my hand," he informed her. Sonny's dramatic eyebrow raise was enough to prompt Chad to continue. "Look, it's going to get really crowded as soon as we round that corner, and if you want a ride home, you better not lose me."
As much as she wanted to protest, Chad did have a valid point. Sighing reluctantly, the brunette placed her hand in Chad's and attempted to ignore the feeling of comfort that accompanied.
Herds of reporters, photographers, and camera crews were waiting as celebrities rounded the corner. Screaming fans congregated along metal gates outside of the theatre, hoping for a glimpse of their favorite stars. Chad Dylan Cooper could have looked back on the photographs, videos, and articles that followed the night of the Tween Weekly Awards and picked out things wrong with his appearance in all of them.
But the only thing he noticed was that in every photograph, video, and article, he was holding the hand of Sonny Monroe.
And he smiled.
So, I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this chapter. It's pure fluff and I know it's pretty short. This one is probably the hardest of the 7 things to actually pull of when it comes to Chad. I do feel like he's insecure and I hope I conveyed that a little bit with this chapter.
In summary, you all know what to do! And thanks again for reading this story!