A/N: Oh my gosh. I feel awful, I haven't updated this story in awhile. I've been super busy, and I apologize! Also, I haven't been replying to the reviews that I've been getting as much, but hopefully the time that I spent writing this and not replying will make up for it! Plus, this chapter's really long. I think this chapter might be tied with the last one for my favorite. Tell me what you think! Thanks a gazillion to you reviewers – call me what you want, Fluffness, funducky, Joker236, channylover101, WildeEngel, and Love at First Fight – you guys are amazing. I know this story isn't original (to say the least), so it means the world to me that you are actually reading and reviewing and even favoriting!

Stormy with Patches of Sky

"He is sensible and so incredible, and all my single friends are jealous." -Taylor Swift

I surveyed the food in the commissary after the rehearsal for our latest sketch. It was all disgusting, except for a plate that was right next to mine. That plate was loaded with delicious-looking tacos, an opinion which I voiced aloud. The owner of the plate, James Conroy, was flirting quite obviously with me when Chad walked up.

"Hey, I got her to make me a rack of lamb!" he bragged to James, holding up the plate for evidence. Once Chad had convinced James to "stick with him," he turned to me.

"Sonny," Chad greeted with a frozen smile on his face, which convinced me that it must be fake.

"Chad," I shot back with a glare. I swear, it's like the guy's bipolar. One day, he calls me "adorable" and says "we should hang out," and then just a few days later, he cares more about lamb than me. I've given up trying to figure him and his moods out.

"Anyways, they're shooting our scene. We should probably go," Chad turned to James again.

"Oh, you're on Mackenzie Falls this week? Let me guess, stuck up Mackenzie being chased by bad boy bank robber." I smirked at Chad, glad that I had insulted his show. After all, he prized it over everything, excluding himself of course.

"Let me guess, Life of the Boston Tea Party," Chad retorted, glancing over my teapot outfit with a grin. Shoot, he was right.

"Well, at least my show brings joy to our viewers," I laughed, confident that he couldn't boast the same of his.

"At least my show has viewers." Ouch. I had to admit, that was a good one. Stupid Chad and his stupid witty comebacks.

" Wow. What's goin' on here?" James asked, clearly taken aback by our exchange. He seemed to be smiling and nodding his head a bit as he said it, as though he sensed something. Ha! Right. There was nothing.

" Nothing," Chad answered immediately. I guess his thoughts were the same as mine.

"It's beyond nothing," I added. I definitely didn't want a cute guy who had been flirting with me only moments before to get the wrong idea. I would kill Chad if he ruined my chances of dating James, or at least getting to know him a little better. After all, I could go out with people. I was free to do as I liked. And I wasn't sighing and waiting for any guy, either. That period of my life was over. Thanks to Chad Dylan Cooper.

"It's certainly nothing to be late over," Chad said nervously. Nervously? What did he have to be nervous about? "Our scene's up first after lunch," he mentioned in a somewhat more normal tone. "Sonny," he repeated, this time with a smile. I couldn't tell if it was real or not.

"Chad," I gave him a huge fake grin as I bade him farewell in a bright voice. Then I dropped the façade and frowned at him. His smile disappeared and he stared at me with a blank expression before walking away. What the heck was that supposed to mean? Oh well. Apparently James wasn't deterred by Chad, because he (James, obviously not Chad) then proceeded to ask me out. I grinned to myself, relishing the feeling of being liked and wanted. Then I tossed my hair and gave James a coy glance, giving him a "maybe" as a response and walking away with his tasty tacos. Perhaps Chad had taught me something after all - how to take others' food.

But James was evidently well-schooled in charm. Even after Tawni warned me about him, I still fell for it. The flowers, the calls...I almost didn't have a choice. Once we were actually on the date, I had a great time. In the beginning, anyways. I was winning every game that we played, and James had just complimented me when Tawni plopped down next to me. I was just starting to get angry with her when Chad slid into the seat next to James.

"Whoo, sorry I'm late. What did I miss?" The nerve! Barging in on my date? At least I knew Tawni was trying to protect me, for whatever odd reason, but there was no excuse for Chad to be there. James said something about chicken fingers that I totally missed, wrapped up in thoughts about Chad. And no, not in the way you would think, either. Although he did look pretty cute in his casual clothes, which he hardly ever wore. No, no, stupid thought.

"What are you doing here?" James asked Chad, taking the words right out of my mouth. Chad scoffed as though the reason should have been obvious.

"I came to hang out with my bro. So what are you doing here?" he directed at Tawni. Which would mean that he knew I was going to be here, since he didn't ask me as well. But then why would he come to hang out with James when he knew I was with James?

"What are you doing here?" Tawni retorted.

"What are they doing here?" James seemed a bit befuddled by the rapidly growing number of people.

"What are we still doing here?" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in desperation. The night wasn't exactly going as I had planned.

"Do you wanna make a break for it? I know how to tuck and roll," James suggested. I jumped at the chance - anything to get away from Chad. I knew from when he walked up with lamb that he would screw things up for me with James. And I had been right.

"I am right behind you." As we both tried to escape, Chad and Tawni held us back. Apparently, neither of them wanted James and me to be by ourselves. I privately wondered why.

"Who's up for some chicken fingers and skeeball?" Tawni asked with fake excitement, pulling me close to her as she made sure that I didn't make a run for it. There was no way out.

The "date" proceeded awkwardly, until I forced Tawni to play air hockey with me. I soon realized that Tawni was actually the one who had dated James. So much for protecting me - she was probably only jealous. Which made me wonder if Chad was jealous too. After all, he wouldn't be trying to protect me. James was a great guy; I didn't see why everyone felt the need to keep us from being together. But Chad Dylan Cooper, jealous? The thought was just too weird.

The next day, another bouquet of flowers was decorating our dressing room, and I sighed in delight. Much to my dismay, however, the flowers were for Tawni. Even though they came from the guy whom I had gone on a date with less than 24 hours ago. Tawni was right - James was a jerk. We decided to get back at him by keeping him from getting what he wanted, which would end up being me, as long as I had a fake date. At the words "fake date," I instantly knew who to ask.

Chad and I walked into the arcade together, and I immediately spotted James and Tawni.

"Quick! Hold my hand!" I grabbed Chad's hand, a bit more forcefully than necessary. He pulled his hand away as a reflex, which, I'll admit, didn't make me feel too good.

"Don't tell me what to do!" I resisted the urge to tell him that he sounded like a spoiled brat.

"We're on a fake date. We have to make it look believable!" I argued, frustrated. It was almost like we couldn't go for longer than two seconds together before we started bickering.

"Well, if you wanna hold hands you have to switch sides." There were even conditions for holding hands? I obviously made the wrong choice in a fake date.

"Why?"

"Cuz this is my holding hand," Chad explained as he held up the hand that was farther from me. Of course.

"Fine. And just so you know, this is our first and last fake date," I told him with a pointed glare as I switched sides. There was no way that I was going to go through this again.

"Good."

"Good! Now smile like you're having the time of your life," I instructed. As we walked over to our table, my smile grew larger. When Chad was smiling and not opening his mouth, I could almost forget what a jerk he was. It was the perfect time to relish holding his hand.

"They're looking this way. Put your arm around me," I said as I noticed James and Tawni looking over at us. Not that I wanted Chad's arm around me. It was just what he would do if we were on a real date. So it was only logical that he should do it. Right?

"Well, I would, but you sat on the wrong side. This arm says, 'let's cuddle,' and this arm says, 'Hey, good game bro!'" Of course. The wrong side again. Well, I was not going to give in again.

"Well, I'm saying just put one of them around me!" Chad pouted a little, but he did as I told him to. I grinned involuntarily as his arm settled on my shoulders.

"Oh, you should probably put your head on my shoulder," Chad suggested after a little while. I felt a thrill go up my spine, and I desperately hoped that Chad hadn't detected it.

"Okay," I agreed quickly before resting my head on his shoulder. A smile spread across my face. It was one of the nicest positions I had ever been in. "This is nice," I admitted aloud before hastily adding, "in theory." I could enjoy it, but that didn't mean I had to let him know.

"Yeah, we, uh...make a good couple," Chad agreed. I almost screamed in delight. "Hypothetically," he tacked on to the end of his statement. But the brief hesitation before the "hypothetically" convinced me that Chad had only added that part for reasons similar to mine. 'Yes!' I silently cheered before noticing James staring.

"He's looking this way. In reality," I told Chad. I took a deep breath before smiling widely and tapping him on the nose playfully. He took the cue and started to grin too, pulling me closer and even brushing his nose against mine and pretending to nibble on my ear. I laughed, perfectly content. Now I remembered why I had chosen Chad to be my fake date. At least I got to experience something like this with him, even if it was fake.

My phone suddenly mooed, and I sat up, pulling it out of my pocket. "I got a text!" I exclaimed before realizing whose phone the message came from. "From...you?"

"What, that jerk still has my phone?" Chad asked as I read the message.

"And he already wants me back!" Yes, our plan worked!

"Already..." Chad trailed off with an unidentifiable emotion in his voice. I decided to ignore it for now; there would be time to ponder it later.

"I know! How good are we?" No reponse was forthcoming from Chad, but before I had time to wonder about it, Nico and Grady slid into the seat across from us. I privately made a vow to never go on a date there again - real or otherwise, they were all interrupted. Then I realized that they had probably seen me flirting - cuddling - whatever the word is - with Chad, the supposed enemy. Shoot.

"Well, well, well, well." Nico leaned forward with a disapproving look at me. I smiled nervously.

"So, you guys on a date?" Grady crossed his arms. I went with the easy way out of the sticky situation.

"It's fake," I admitted to them. Even if I wished otherwise.

"Oh, then why didn't you ask one of us to be your fake date?" Grady asked. I searched frantically for a response that would make sense.

"Obviously she doesn't think we're good enough to be her fake date," Nico answered for me. I glanced down, a bit embarrassed to think that he had hit the nail on the head. I mean, Nico and Grady are great and all, but would someone like James really be jealous of one of them? Chad was a much better option. In more ways than just that one.

"Either one of us would have made a much better fake date than Chip Drama Pants over here." Grady glared at Chad, and I rolled my eyes. Honestly? Guys were so weird when it came to competition.

"I don't think so." Chad shook his head, and I was tempted to agree with him. Luckily, Nico made some kind of odd noise before calling Chad "Chip" again. All three guys sat up and started making faces at each other. How mature.

"Okay, can we talk about this later?" I quickly broke in before a fight started.

"Fine. But just so you know, I've been in three, four, five fake relationships. So I could have helped you on your little fake date," Nico stressed that it was a fake date just as James was walking over. Perfect timing. Not.

"Ohh, so this is a fake date," James pointed at Chad and me, and we hastily resumed our "couple" position.

"No, this is real. As real as can be," I defended, smiling at Chad as I did so. He did that adorable little twitchy thing with his nose as I looked at him, and my grin grew.

"So you're lying to us?" Grady's expression was offended, and I immediately felt guilty.

"No!" I exclaimed immediately, sitting forward. Chad's arm slipped off my shoulders, and I regretted my movement.

"Oh, so you're lying to me?" James pointed at himself, baffled again. I was beginning to get the feeling that he wasn't exactly the brightest person on the planet.

"No!" I repeated as I lay back again. Chad was already putting his arm around me, which made me wonder if he had wanted to keep it there all along. The little thrill that the thought gave me inspired my next action. "Look, would I do this if I were on a fake date?" I glared at James before turning to Chad. His expression was bewildered, and I almost laughed. Slapping my hand over his mouth, I leaned forward and kissed him. Well, technically, I didn't kiss him, I kissed my hand. But his tongue darted forward and slipped between my fingers, brushing against my lips, which made me sit back up immediately. A beam automatically unfolded across my face.

The "kiss" didn't just give me goosebumps – it also gave James what he deserved. He completely flipped out at the sight of such proof that I was over him, and Tawni and I proceeded to carry out our plan. James ran away; or rather, he tucked and rolled away in defeat. Tawni smirked triumphantly before strutting out of the arcade, while Nico and Grady headed to the mushy machine. I sat down in the seat across from Chad, crossing my arms.

"That was some kiss," Chad smiled at me. Wait, what? He smiled? At me? It wasn't even a smirk? But of course, it was because of something that was fake. How ironic.

"What do you mean? That kiss was fake," I scoffed. No matter how much I wish it wasn't, I added privately in my head.

"Was not!" Chad quickly denied, in a manner that made me think maybe he wished that it wasn't either. I sighed and decided to explain.

"Chad, I put my hand over your mouth." I couldn't help but smile.

"Well, that explains why your lips tasted like skeeball and air hockey," Chad lifted an eyebrow as I shuddered in disgust. How would he even know what those tasted like? And since when do hands taste like activities? He was probably just making it up. Maybe he was disappointed that I didn't really kiss him. Ha! Yeah, right. But did he believe that I actually would kiss him?

"Do you actually think that I would really kiss you?" I leaned forward in anticipation of his answer.

"Well, that's what I'm gonna put on my blog!" He suddenly ducked to the side before rolling out in the same way that James had only moments before. "Peace out, suckas!" he said in an odd voice before running away.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, but I still smiled. So typical of Chad. Maybe our date hadn't been real, and maybe I hadn't exactly planned on being left alone in the arcade, but the night had still been one of the best ones that I had had after coming to Hollywood. After all, I had gotten to pretend that I was Chad Dylan Cooper's girlfriend. After all, who was I kidding? Maybe Chad wasn't the guy who I had thought he was when I worshipped him back in Wisconsin. But maybe I liked him even more as the guy who he really was – a conceited jerk at times, and a pretty sweet guy at others. Maybe the way he was – was just perfect. Maybe I fell for him even harder when I knew what he was really like. But even amongst all those maybes, I knew that I definitely would never tell anyone about my revelation. No, I would go on pretending to hate Chad. Because letting him know – or letting anyone else know – wouldn't lead to anywhere except heartbreak. I vowed to myself, then and there, to hide my love for Chad Dylan Cooper for as long as it lasted. Oh, help me, God. I'm going to need it.

A/N: So I made Sonny realize her love for Chad after this episode. I know many of you may disagree, but I just see her behavior after this episode as a bit more aware of her own feelings – more nervous, more significant actions. It could be a little OOC, but oh well :D Please review! Just taking a minute or two of your time really makes my entire day.