A/N: You guys are awesome. :) Thanks to channylover101, Fluffness, Purple13512, call me what you want, iNerdyQueen, TeddyLuver, and LivinTheDream17 for reviewing! Hope you like this chapter. :D

Stormy with Patches of Sky

"I'll be there for you...when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you...like I've been there before. I'll be there for you...cuz you're there for me too." - The Rembrandts

I groaned in disgust at the commissary's daily special. One thing that I had not expected in Hollywood was the gross food, if it could even be deemed food. Chad walked up to get his food as well, and I greeted him in a short tone.

"And speaking of shiny coats...Chad." Ha. That showed him, alright.

"Sonny," he retorted in the same manner. "Cloudy, Rainy," he acknowledged Nico and Grady. I suppose he thought that he was being funny.

"We have names," Nico informed Chad, obviously not finding the joke humorous.

"Yeah, but remembering them would take effort and interest and...excuse me," finished Chad, giving up on the conversation. Wait, but he remembered my name. Does that mean he thinks I'm worthy of interest? Oh, how pitiful. I'm getting excited because someone simply remembered my name. One benefit of being stuck-up like Chad is that people have low expectations for your manners, so when you do show a little courtesy, it seems like a huge deal. But it's not. Chad took advantage of my musings by cutting in front of me.

"Hey, you can't just cut in front of us like that!" I admonished him.

"Yeah, they also said I couldn't be this handsome, and yet," he gestured to his face. "Here I am." Well, I have to admit, it is kinda true. Oh, why does he have to have that perfect smile and those sparkly eyes? I watched in disbelief as Chad used that charming grin of his to get a steak. His beautiful castmate Portlyn soon followed with a lobster in tow. Life just isn't fair sometimes. Good looks really do make a difference. Just ask the cast of Mackenzie Falls. But the rest of us can make do, which is what prompted me to pull out my cell phone and order pizza.

Fifteen minutes later, I watched, disappointed, as my castmates got up and left me alone in the commissary. They had completely rejected my sketch idea without even thinking twice about it. I had worked on it for ages, formulating the main idea, the details, the powers, the costumes, the pictures...and they didn't care in the least. Needless to say, I was feeling a bit down. But when I saw Chad come over to see what was the matter, I couldn't help but feel a bit happier. He had noticed my change in mood and come to restore my previously high spirits. That meant he cared, right? At least a little.

"So. Pooperang. Really?" he said, referring to one of "Robo-Baby's" tools. So much for making me feel better. He sounded like he was mocking me.

"Yeah. Really," was my curt response.

"Hey, I thought it was funny. I almost choked on my bananas foster." Chad said. I guess maybe I'm not as good at interpreting tones as I thought. He thought it was funny? Well, I never would have seen that coming.

"Well, it's nice to know someone laughed," I sighed. Especially someone who normally doesn't think anything is funny, I added inside my head. That had to count for something, didn't it? Then his second statement hit me. "Wait, we have bananas foster?"

"They do, you don't," Brenda, the evil lunch lady, informed me. Figures.

"You know, Sonny, it didn't seem like your friends were very supportive." Chad actually sounded concerned. "It was almost like they were dissing you."

"No," I tried to pretend everything was alright. "Them mocking me and making fun of my idea is just their way of..." I couldn't really get around the fact that they meant what they had said. "Mocking me and making fun of my idea," I finished. What was so bad about my idea anyways?

"Yeah, you do things differently over at So Random!. I mean, at the Falls, when one of us cries, we all cry. I just assumed that when one of you laughs, you all laugh." Well, that made sense. All for one and one for all, right? But apparently the rest of my cast didn't seem to agree.

"Yeah, well I guess they could have been a little more supportive," I conceded. Who would have thought that Chad, of all people, would be the one who comforted me and was there for me when I needed it?

"Sounds like someone needs a shoulder to laugh on," was Chad's reponse. I couldn't help but feel a little excited. What he said could only mean one thing, right?

"Are you offering me your shoulder, Chad?" I asked with a smile. He grinned as he stood up and put his arm around my shoulders. I'm mildly ashamed to admit that I trembled just slightly as he did so.

"I'm offering you all our shoulders," he gestured towards the Mackenzie Falls table in all its glory, and I couldn't help but like how it looked.

"They are nice shoulders," I said, starting to give in. Chad was an extremely persuasive person.

"Look, know we have this stupid rivalry between our two shows, but it doesn't have to be that way, right?" He wanted to just ignore the feud? Pretend it never existed?

"I guess," I replied, grinning. It sounded good to me, especially considering I could still feel his arm around me.

"What are you doing right now? Take a break from So Random! and come hang out at the Falls," he coaxed me. "Mackenzie Falls. A quaint little town nestled at the corner of life and dreams." I could almost see it before my eyes as he spoke. Who cared about my cast? I was going to Mackenzie Falls.

"So...stage two?" I confirmed.

"Yeah, stage two," Chad smiled at me. And that pretty much sealed my fate.

When I walked into the Mackenzie Falls lounge, I was completely taken aback by the luxuries they had. A chocolate fountain, loganberry smoothies, a masseuse, the list went on and on. I was just in the process of getting a pedicure when the cast of So Random! walked in. They were appalled that I was "cavorting with the enemy," and I was subsequently banned from the prop house. But I didn't care. I walked out with my head held high. After all, Chad Dylan Cooper was on my side.

The next day, I sat at the Mackenzie Falls table and dined on lobster instead of the usual ick. I made the lobster talk as I ate it, but no one seemed to get it, Portlyn especially. I started wondering if I really had made the right choice, especially seeing as my castmates were laughing their heads off over at their table. Then Chad stood up and pulled out my chair for me to get up. His chivalry reminded me that other people cared about me now, and I strutted out of the commissary, wearing my Mackenzie Falls uniform proudly. After a brief contest of forced laughter with the So Random! table, I went to stage two. I had a few issues, especially with the meditation room and the gong there. Somehow, it didn't seem like I fit into the Falls as much as I had the day before. When Chad and Portlyn went to film a scene, I felt like it was portraying my life.

"I know I've taken you from your friends - your world - everything you've ever known. But trust me, you'll be happier here," Mackenzie said. "You do trust me, don't you?"

Caught up in the scene and my thoughts, I responded. "No, I'm not sure that I do." After all, Chad hadn't proven himself to be the most trustworthy person.

"Of course you trust me!" Chad exclaimed before realizing that it wasn't Portlyn who had spoken. "Wait, who is talking while I'm acting?" I pretended to look around for the offender, but inwardly I couldn't help but wonder whether or not I had made the right choice.

As I pondered this, Tawni, Nico, Grady, and Zora barged onto the set, dressed in the outfits that I had designed for the sketch they had originally shot down.

"We're here to apologize and ask you to come back," Grady explained after some conversation.

"Maybe she doesn't want to come back to you losers," Portlyn smirked.

"Correction! Loser Force Four!" They all assumed their superhero poses, and I felt the grin on my face grow even wider. They liked my idea and they wanted me back!

"Wow. I've never met a group of losers so proud to be called losers," Chad smiled.

"Well, I'm proud to call myself a loser too," I said, walking over to join my cast. "So I guess that makes us Loser Force Five!"

"Wait, you guys are making up?" asked Chad with a hint of worry, almost as if he (gasp!) cared.

"Yes, we are," I replied, looking at my cast with a smile.

"But that ruins Chad's plan," Portlyn told us.

"What plan?" came out of my mouth immediately.

"I don't have a plan," Chad denied almost as quickly, which obviously meant that he had one.

"Sure you do! Keep you fighting with each other so Mackenzie Falls can stay number one!" Portlyn stuck out her tongue at us.

"Please, don't talk without a script!" Chad scolded her. And that could only mean that what she had said was true. Chad had tried to use me. He never cared about me. Chad Dylan Cooper doesn't care about anyone but himself.

"So you were just pretending to be my friend," I stated, hoping somewhat that he would deny it.

"Well, yeah!" So much for that. "I saw an opportunity and I knocked." That was it? My sadness was just "an opportunity" to him? I felt so stupid.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I'm knocking back, and I'm sticking with my real friends," I told him defiantly. There was no way he was ever going to fool me again with his sweet words and dimples. I had to get back at him. So I instructed my castmates to take everything they could, and we ran off with their food and smoothies. Oh, yes, revenge is sweet. Not to mention chocolaty.

A/N: So what did you think? Review, review! :)