Hey guys! Thanks to everyone still reading! Shout out to my hundredth reviewer, XRock-HardX. Thanks to all my other reviewers too, obvs! Please R&R, it means a lot! Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot line!
Chapter Twenty
After Chad finally managed to stop laughing, we went back to set. Everyone except Marta was there. I'd seen her before, while I was angry at Chad, and she looked pretty smug. I didn't know why, but when she walked in, saw me and Chad together, and scowled, I realised.
"Chad! It was Marta!"
"What?"
"Marta! She put the pictures in my photo album!"
"Well, duh! Who else would it be?"
"Good point. Man, I'm such an idiot! I should have realised!"
"Don't beat yourself up. Save that for her."
"Chad!"
"What? She made you angry at me! I have a right to want you to beat her up."
"Why me? Why don't you do it?"
"I can't hit a girl!"
"I suppose. But I'm not going to hit her! I'm better than that!"
"Most girls would want to hit her."
"Oh, trust me, I want to. But that's the wrong thing to do. You fight fire with fire, you just get burnt."
"I still think you should hit her." He mumbled.
"Chad! I am not going to hit her!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"Good!"
"Good!"
"So are we good?"
"Oh, we are so good."
"Good." He smirked as he leant down to kiss me. I heard a disgusted groan and turned to see everyone staring.
"So, what, you haven't dumped her yet?" said Skyler, trying to pick a fight, as usual.
"No, and I don't plan to. Why? You like my girl, Sky?" Chad replied, causing Skyler to blush.
"Why would he like her?" scowled Marta.
"Same reason I like her. She's perfect." Chad smiled at me, and I blushed, looking down.
"Yeah, right. Whatever you say, Chad," Fergusen smiled mischievously, shooting me a condescending look, "We all know you'll break her heart by the end of the week."
"No, I won't."
"You don't have to defend yourself, bro. We don't mind. In fact, it suits us. You dump her, she's heartbroken, and the Random-loving lunatic leaves the show. Then Portlyn can come back."
"What are you talking about?"
"Didn't you know? Port wants her job back. And they don't have the money to pay four female leads. So one of them has to leave. And who do you think they're going to kick off?"
"They wouldn't! Ratings have gone through the roof since Sonny joined the cast!"
"So? People love drama, and if Isabella, the new favourite character, suffers an untimely death, ratings will rise even more!"
"Yeah, and then drop again!"
"You know old Condor. He won't see it that way. He never does."
"They wouldn't hire Portlyn back! She walked out! She set filming back by weeks!"
"Yeah, but viewers liked her. And the crew liked her. And we liked her."
"The viewers like Sonny! And the crew like Sonny!"
"Correction; some viewers like Sonny. Most hate her for stealing Mackenzie away from Chloe. And yeah, the crew like her, but we don't."
"Chad! Calm down, its fine. If they fire me, I don't care. I'll find another job. It won't be hard, not after I've been on the Falls."
"That's not the point, Sonny! They can't fire you! They just can't!"
"Yes, they can, Chad! Just let me do my last few shows as well as I possibly can. Then at least I can leave with some dignity."
"This still isn't fair. C'mon, let's go talk to Mr Condor." Grabbing my arm, he pulled me towards the exit.
"Chad! Stop! I don't need to speak to Mr Condor!"
"You do, Sonny! They can't just fire you! I'll miss you too much!"
"Look, it hasn't even been confirmed yet, has it? They might just be making it up to scare us…" I trailed off as we turned the corner to see Portlyn leaving Mr Condor's office, smiling widely. When she saw us, her eyes narrowed.
"So, this is the pathetic little cow that thought she could replace me, is it?"
"No. Actually, this is Sonny, the amazing girl who actually did replace you." replied Chad, glaring at her.
"So, you still haven't gotten over it?" she smirked, causing Chad to grip my hand tighter.
"Gotten over what?" I asked, clueless.
"Oh. So, he didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
"Before I left, me and Chaddy here dated. And, let's say, I took everything from him, then broke his heart." I stood, shocked, as the meaning of her words sunk in.
"I-Chad-how could you?" I asked, furious.
"Quite easily. After a couple drinks he didn't even try to say no." she grinned maliciously, and I turned to see Chad wince and try to pull his hand away from mine. I held on tighter. He had to know that I was here for him, no matter what this girl told me.
"Just leave us alone."
"Are you sure that's what he wants?" she said, looking at Chad pointedly. He was biting his lip now, and I could see the tears in his eyes.
"Chad? Are you okay?"
"I'm good. Can we just go? Please?"
"Sure. C'mon." I said, tugging him back in the direction of my dressing room.
When we got inside, I locked the door and pulled Chad into a hug. When he stopped shaking, we sat down on the couch.
"What's wrong?" I asked, feeling terrible.
"She-she…She got me drunk, one night. I remember leaving the club with her, then waking up in this big pink bed. Naked. I never felt so dirty. I know it's usually girls who go through this, and I know it makes me seem so stupid, but I always wanted to, you know, lose my virginity to someone special, someone I cared about. And she messed that up for me. Completely."
"I'm so sorry Chad! When did this happen?"
"About a year ago, on my eighteenth birthday. She called it a birthday present. Worst birthday present I ever got. I thought I was over it, but apparently not."
"If it happened a year ago, how come you managed to work with her all that time before she quit?"
"It was hard. The reason I reacted so badly today was because I thought I'd seen the last of her, and I was shocked when she turned up. Plus, I didn't want you to meet her. I knew she'd tell you that, to try and make you angry with me, and I didn't want you to hate me."
"Why would I hate you? It was her fault."
"Yeah, but I'm not…"
"Chad? Seriously? No offence, but I didn't expect you to be."
"Oh. Well, I guess that's a good thing. I think." He said, looking relieved and confused at the same time.
"Look, how about we just forget about Portlyn, and watch a movie or something?"
"Sounds great." He smiled, kissing me quickly on the cheek.
"Chad?"
"Yeah?"
"You can kiss me, you know."
"I just did."
"Properly. You've never kissed me on the cheek before."
"You've kissed me on the cheek!"
"Shut up and kiss me, Chad!" I said. And that's exactly what he did. Again, and again, and again…