A/N: Here is the second chapter. Sorry it took long to get up but I wasn't expecting such a fast response. Thanks so much for all of the reviews. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything but the plot.

Thunder

Chapter 2 - Finally Free

After a half an hour or so Chad thought he heard his phone beep. He looked over at it and was surprised to see that he now had bars. He gave a silent cheer: finally! He began rapidly scrolling through his contacts to Jon's, the maintenance worker, number. He pressed send before remembering that Sonny was asleep on his shoulder. It seemed to be a shame to wake her up. He picked up his own head and resolved to simply speak quietly.

The phone rang enough times that he was beginning to worry when; "Hello?" came from the other end.

"Hi, this is Chad Dylan Cooper." He spoke quietly but not whispering, making sure to speak clearly as reception was still a bit patchy.

"Oh, what can I do for you Mr. Cooper?" Jon sounded confused. Chad wasn't surprised. He had never actually used the number before and it was after hours.

"Are you by any chance still at the studios?" Chad asked, glancing at Sonny.

"No," he answered slowly, "everyone that was left was sent home when the power went out."

"Damn," Chad muttered, not only in response to that but also because Sonny was starting to move a bit. He hastily reached over and began smoothing her hair – it was the only thing he could think of to try to sooth her.

"Why?" Jon was curious. This whole situation was curious.

"I was here when the power went off and-" Chad began; the hair petting seemed to be working.

"But you guys normally go home at like five."

"We stayed late today and now I'm trapped in the elevator."

"What?"

"Yeah, we were in the elevator when the power went out and we could really use your help. Is there any way you can come over and let us out?" Chad asked.

"Of course" Jon quickly agreed, "Larry was supposed to check everything, lazy idiot." He muttered the last part to himself. Chad decided to remember this "Larry" person and give him a piece of his mind later. "Wait, you said 'we'. Is someone else there with you?"

"Yeah, Sonny Munroe is trapped in here with me," Chad answered, slightly distracted. Running his fingers through her hair seemed to be working. She actually snuggled closer to him causing him to smirk – no one can resist Chad Dylan Cooper for long.

"Sonny is there too? I'll come as soon as I can." While it could just have been that two teenagers were trapped in an elevator, not even including that they were two of the studios biggest stars, that made him seem so sincere but Chad would be willing to bet that it was partly because of Sonny being trapped as well. She was nice to everyone backstage and not many stars were, or they didn't acknowledge them but she always did and people remembered that.

"Just to let you know, I'm at home and the roads are terrible. It'll take some time to reset the generator," he warned Chad.

"That's fine," Chad assured him, "As long as someone knows we're here and we can get out of here tonight – instead of trapped for who knows how long."

"Yeah, good point. Hopefully I'll see you soon," Jon agreed.

"Yeah, same. CDC out." He hung up the phone and looked down at Sonny. He managed to be quiet enough that she was still sleeping soundly.

-About 45 Minutes Later-

Chad had been resting his head on Sonny's while waiting when he felt his phone vibrate: it was a text message from Jon. It read: in the building roads were worse than i thought it would help if u told me which elevator u r in"

Chad quickly replied: "the 1 that goes to the upstairs offices closer to the caf"

"k" was the reply. Chad smiled with relief, glad they were finally going to get to go home and that they weren't going to be trapped here until they died of dehydration or something. Sonny stirred; as if she could sense they were close to escape.

Roughly ten minutes later Jon sent another message: "1 more minute".

"Great" Chad wrote back. He decided it was probably time to wake Sonny up. He didn't want to since she looked so peaceful and she had been so tired. However, it would be strange for Jon to find them like this, especially since everyone knew about their fights and general dislike of each other. Sonny would probably be embarrassed anyway, and then most likely blame him.

He sighed before gently shaking her shoulder. At first she merely tightened her grip but then she began moving before slowly opening her chocolate eyes.

Sonny had been so tired that she didn't even remember falling asleep. Waking up she felt rested but still tired seeing as it had been about two hours. She slowly opened her eyes, trying to remember where she was. All she knew was that she had been sleeping really well. As her memory began to return to her she realized that she was clutching something. She slowly turned to look at it and was surprised to see that it was an arm. She blinked at it before it sunk in. It wasn't just any arm. More specifically, it was Chad Dylan Cooper's arm.

She glanced up into his smirking face, which was way closer than normal, and with one look into his sparkly eyes, dropped the arm like it was on fire.

"Have a good sleep?" he asked, still lightly smirking.

She blushed and tried to glare at him before giving up. She decided to pretend like it didn't bother her. "Yes, thanks for asking."

"No problem."

She felt very uncomfortable, "So, what time is it now?"

"About 9:30," he replied, checking his phone.

"Really? I guess I was asleep for a while," she seemed to bring herself back to what she had been avoiding and awkwardly added, "Sorry, about, you know, holding your arm hostage in my sleep."

"I didn't mind. It's fine," he answered, noticing this really seemed to be embarrassing her. She smiled gratefully at him, glad he wasn't making a big deal out of it.

Now that that was no longer at the front of her mind she seemed to remember the predicament they were in. "Were you ever able to reach anyone?"

He could sense that she was beginning to get nervous again and began explaining, "Yup, I did. That's why I woke you up. Jon came and he said he would have us out in about a minute."

"Really?" She was incredibly relieved. He opened his mouth to answer but as if on cue the elevator made a noise and began to move down.

"Really," he answered, smiling. Finally the elevator touched down and the doors opened. Both took a little more time than normal to get up: having been sitting on the ground for about two hours, they were a bit stiff.

Chad got up first, probably because he hadn't been asleep, and reached down to give Sonny a hand up. She gratefully grasped his hand and he pulled her up. They dusted themselves off and got out of the elevator.

The doors closed behind them as Chad turned on the 'flashlight' app on his iTouch. They could see a light coming towards them, though.

It was Jon checking to make sure they got out all right. "Hey, you guys ok?"

"Yeah," Chad replied.

"We're fine. Thank you very much for coming to rescue us. Who knows how long it would have been if you hadn't been able to come," Sonny was immensely grateful.

Jon almost looked embarrassed by the heartfelt 'thank you'. "It was no problem," he rubbed the back of his neck absently, "I'm just glad I could help."

"Chad?" Sonny turned towards him, "Can I borrow your phone? I need to grab some stuff from my dressing room and its dark..."

She trailed off in the end, partly because she seemed to remember who she was asking, but she and Jon were surprised when Chad smiled and said, "Sure, I need to grab some stuff too but Jon can go with me to mine. I have some stuff to talk to him about anyway."

He held out his phone to her and she took it while blinking in confusion at him, "Thanks." She decided not to say anything else in case he reconsidered.

"No problem, we should meet by the main doors in five minutes."

"Ok," she agreed and left to go to her and Tawni's dressing room. He then turned to Jon as she left.

"Let's go to my room now," he suggested and he began walking. Jon quickly followed.

"Did you say there was something you wanted to talk about?" Jon asked. Chad's demeanor was throwing him off. He hadn't once referred to himself in third person, he had given his phone to Sonny, and now he was back to being bossy. But it was different. Normally he was bossy but more in a 'I'm Chad Dylan Cooper and you need to keep me happy, and besides, why wouldn't you do what I want you to do' kind of way. Right now though, he was merely giving off a very strong 'in control' vibe and had a serious expression on his face.

"Yes, I want to talk about that Larry person." Chad had a frown on his face as they continued to his dressing room.

"Larry?" What does Chad want with one of the other maintenance guys?

"Yeah, didn't you say that he was the one that was suppose to check and make sure that there wasn't anyone oh, I don't know, trapped in any of the elevators?" Jon actually winced at his tone. Now he knew what the difference between the normal Chad was and this one. He was pissed off. Very, pissed off.

Jon looked at him guiltily, "Yeah, he was supposed to. I'm sure it was just a mistake."

"I don't care," They were at his room now and Chad whipped around to face him. "If I didn't have your number in my phone who knows how long it would have been before we could have gotten out, or if I never got service back. We would have been trapped in there for hours. It's the weekend: no one comes here then. We could have suffocated or died of dehydration!"

Now Jon could identify a different emotion in Chad's eyes, under the anger: fear. The poor guy was still a teenager, it's not surprising that he would be freaked out by this happening. He put on a calm voice, "First of all, the power will probably come back on soon and there's a vent in the elevator so you wouldn't have suffocated. Besides people do come on the weekends, just not actors and such. You guys would have gotten out fine."

"Well, still…" Chad said with a slight glare as he grabbed his stuff. While he was still annoyed he didn't seem quite as mad, and afraid, as he had before. "That guy should still be fired or at least get in trouble for what happened."

"Yeah," Jon agreed, "Firing might be a little harsh, though, don't you think? Especially if it was an honest mistake."

Chad frowned slightly, "I suppose…" he trailed off doubtfully. "I know! How about when I get back I trap him in the elevator for how long we were in there? That would be awesome!"

Jon laughed, "Maybe, I'll talk to management about it. It does seem better than firing him."

Now a mischievous smile adorned Chad's face, "It's the perfect revenge! Oh, but don't tell Sonny. She'll be all "it was probably just a mistake" blah blah blah and try and make me feel guilty or stop us or something," Chad said as they headed back to the entrance.

Jon chuckled: That was true. "Alright, I won't."

"Good," Chad responded as they arrived at the doors. He looked down the hall and thought he saw a light moving down the hall. Sure enough it was Sonny with his iTouch.

She had gone to her dressing room and gotten her purse and things all the while contemplating Chad's behavior and what he had told her in the elevator. Sonny got to where they were waiting. "Hey, thanks for letting me borrow your phone Chad."

"Sure," he smiled as he took it back from her and handed Jon his flashlight back.

"Thanks," Jon acknowledged and Chad nodded his 'you're welcome'. "I should be getting back home now. You kids all set?"

"Yeah," Chad said and Sonny nodded.

"Alright then. I'm just gonna turn off the generator. See ya later!" he called as he walked back to the electric room.

"Later!" Chad yelled after him.

"Bye, thanks again for letting us out!" Sonny added. He saluted his flashlight in response and then they couldn't see him, or rather his flashlight, anymore.

Chad turned towards Sonny, "Did you get your stuff?"

"Yup," she held showed him her purse.

"Remember your phone charger?" he teased, smirking.

She stuck out her tongue, "Oh be quiet."

"So, how are you getting home?" Chad asked.

"Oh, since my mom had to go back to Wisconsin this week I've been taking the bus," Sonny informed him.

He frowned, "Well, you can't do that now."

"Why not?" she asked indignant.

Chad just opened the door in response. The thunder was even louder with the door open and it was pouring.

Sonny stared doubtfully out into the darkness and rain. "Well… Still, I'll just take the bus."

"Come on," he said condescendingly, "I'll give you a ride. You can't seriously consider taking the bus."

Her eyes narrowed at his tone. "Yes, I can and I am so too bad." Her eyes glinted as she stared up at him before she took off into the rain to the bus stop.

He groaned, stupid stubbornness, and then he ran after her. He was quickly getting very wet. He reached the bench for the bus stop, glad to be under some cover. Sonny got off the bench when he sat down and turned her back to him at the edge of the small roof over the bus stop. She looked cold though she jutted her chin out and refused to even look at him. "Look, Sonny. I'm sorry. But I mean the buses probably aren't even running in this kinda weather. Let me give you a ride home."

She turned around to look at him. He looked genuinely sorry and his hair was all messed up. She giggled: he looked like a wet puppy. "Well," she started, just as a car drove past them, going way too fast. Unfortunately for Sonny, he went through a puddle and a big splash came up. She let out a small scream when the water hit her and whipped around to try and see who did it but they were long gone.

Chad on the other hand was caught between feeling bad for her and trying not to laugh. She turned back around, rubbing her hands on her arms, trying to get some warmth back. "Um, what were you saying about a ride?" she asked sheepishly.

He smiled, "Follow me." He reached out and grabbed her hand. They ran through the rain towards his car, both trying to ignore the feeling of the others' hand in their own.

By the time they reached his car they were both very wet, though Sonny even more so than Chad. Chad quickly went to the driver's door and got in, turning on the car and therefore the heat faster than he ever had before. Sonny sprinted to the passenger door and jumped in. The heat came blasting out and both panted from racing to the car as they held their hands to the vents for a few minutes.

Chad looked over at Sonny, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," she smiled, "I almost have the feeling back in my fingers."

He smiled back and turned on the windshield wipers. However, it was raining so hard it didn't make much of a difference. Chad frowned as he backed out of the space. He went to the exit of the parking lot and looked out into the darkness only illuminated by the headlights. He pulled out onto the road and drove slower than he normally did. It didn't matter much because there were hardly any other cars out on the road. They reached a stoplight and Chad seemed to be seriously thinking about something. Sonny didn't want to interrupt him, but when the light changed he seemed to have come to a decision. He turned right and continued at the slower pace, squinting through the rain.

"Um, Chad?" Sonny asked hesitantly, not wanting to break his concentration.

"Yeah?" Chad answered, not looking away from the road.

"My house is in the opposite direction," Sonny informed him.

"Yeah," he acknowledged. When she gave a confused look he sighed, "Look, it's very hard to drive in this weather and it's late and my house is much closer. The less we're on the road the better. So, why don't you just stay the night? We have a guest room you could stay in."

"Um," Sonny was conflicted. Her mom would kill her if she stayed the night at a guy's house but… She yawned. The nap from before had not stopped her from being tired and now she was wet and still cold. She was also surprised he even thought to ask. "I guess…" she said hesitantly.

Chad was kind of surprised she had agreed but he decided, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, that it was probably due to the long day and the cold and the wet and that fact that he was being his nice self. He decided not to say anything else in case she changed her mind. He tried to turn on the radio, to ease the silence, but all he could get was static so he focused his full attention back to driving.

A couple of minutes later Chad pulled into a driveway. Sonny looked out the window, trying to see his house but she really couldn't see much. Chad hit the button on the remote causing the garage door to go up. And he pulled inside.

A/N: So there it is. Hope you liked it. Once again please please review. I would like 10 additional reviews (that means 24 in total) before the next chapter(the final chapter) goes up but along with that it will take at least a week for that chapter to go up. I'll try to post in exactly one week (as long as I have the reviews) but I can't promise. Regardless, the more reviews the fast it will go up so... Review! Thanks again for reading!