Author's Note: This is hopefully the last sad chapter for a while. Everything gets worse before it gets better, right? Don't hate me. D:
"Okay guys, meet your new co-star, Sonny Munroe." Marshall said happily. "Now, act friendly. Get to know each other. Paint each other's nails and all that jazz. And Tawni, quit being a diva." Tawni frowned and snapped her mouth shut. Marshall mumbled something about bonding and left them with an awkward silence.
Alex stared wide eyed and slack jawed at Sonny. She remembered going with her Sonny to auditions at least once a week, but there's no way this could be the same girl. Just a girl with the same name, same body and...
"Hi." The same squeaky nervous voice.
"Hello there. Nico." Nico said smoothly while taking Sonny's hand and kissing the back of it. "But you knew that." Sonny blushed and giggled.
"Grady!" Grady held his hand out in front of Sonny. "But you knew that." She stared at his hand for a moment before ignoring it.
"And I'm Sonny! But I knew that." Sonny said with a small hair flip.
"And I'm Alex! But you definitely knew that." Sonny tensed up and slowly turned around. Her jaw unhinged itself when she saw Alex Russo leaning against the wall. She quickly snapped out of her stupor with a grin.
"Alex! My... assistant!" She walked over and shook Alex's hand with a frantic look in her eyes. "I didn't think Marshall would have you out so early!"
"What? No, Alex isn't your-"
"Yes I am." Alex interrupted, sending Max the same glance Sonny was giving her. She really didn't want to help Sonny out right now, but she couldn't exactly freak out on her in front of her co-stars, either. Max didn't seem to get it. "I sent in the applications before we moved out here." Max nodded and turned to Nico and Grady to make fun of the new vampire movie. Alex scoffed. Max bought anything.
"So. Alex. Why don't you assist me with, uh... finding my dressing room?" Sonny didn't wait for an answer. She grabbed Alex's forearm and dragged her out into the hallway, making sure to shut the door behind her. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm touring the beautiful studio with my friends and family." Sonny frowned at Alex's sarcasm.
"You know what I mean!"
"That's none of your business." Alex snapped. She sighed and took a step back from Sonny. "Why do you care, anyways? You didn't care about me two years ago, why would you care now?"
"Alex, you know that isn't true."
"I know that you left me without a goodbye, without an explanation! Hell, Sonny, you never told me you would even be leaving!" Sonny shushed her and she smirked. "Did you seriously just shush me?"
"Yes! I don't need everyone here..." Sonny look around nervously before continuing. "Knowing..."
"Knowing what exactly?" Alex grinned and spoke louder. "That you're gayer than Ellen DeGeneres or a cold-hearted bitch?" Sonny jumped and slapped a hand over Alex's mouth.
"Alex! Shush!" Alex growled and pushed Sonny's hand away.
"Calm down, I'm not out to destroy you. I'm not like you." Sonny's chest tightened and her stomach dropped.
"Alex..."
"Why did you do it? Was it just a game for you, Sonny? A little experiment?"
"What? No!" Sonny squeaked. "God, you know it wasn't like that!" Alex grimaced and crossed her arms.
"Oh, I do? Then why don't you tell me what it was like?" Sonny sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.
"This really isn't the place for this, Alex."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Superstar. Is Miss Summer Fling getting in your way? Let me just take care of that for you." Alex pushed past Sonny and stuck her head in the prop room. "Let's go, Max!"
"But I don't want to leave yet." Max whined.
"Too bad, we're leaving." She slammed the door shut and turned back to Sonny. "Have fun Superstar. Glad you made it to the big time." Sonny was too stunned to say anything as Alex turned and walked away.
-x-
Alex stopped in front of Chad's dressing room, where she could hear her mother's excited voice and Chad's exhausted one coming through the door. She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists at her sides, taking slow breaths through her nose. That didn't just happen. That couldn't have just happened.
"Alex!" She groaned and nearly snapped at him before remembering that it wasn't his fault. "Alex, what are you doing?" She looked at him with a blank expression.
"We're leaving." She said slowly. There's no way he was this dense, right?
"I mean why are we leaving? I thought you were Sonny's assistant." Oh.
"Yeah, that was a total lie." Alex shrugged and opened the door to Chad's room. "Mom, you about ready?" Theresa checked her watch and jumped up.
"Oh! Yes, I told your father we'd be home by four." Theresa stood and shouldered her bag. Alex slumped against the wall impatiently as her mom and brother said their goodbyes to Chad. She went to follow them out to the car, but Chad's hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"Hey, Alex." She repressed an agitated sigh and turned to him with a smile. "You okay?" Her own mother couldn't tell that she was tiptoeing on the line of a mental breakdown, but her long lost cousin could? She gently shrugged off his hand and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm okay." She could tell he didn't believe her, but he pulled her into a quick goodbye hug anyways. She smiled at him as they pulled apart and muttered goodbye before leaving. She almost felt like she could make it out of there in one piece, but a giant mural of Sonny's face on the wall ruined all hopes of that.
Theresa gave her a nervous glance as she exited the studio, appearing to finally notice that maybe it wasn't normal for Alex's eyes to be a little red and puffy. She didn't give her mom a chance to ask about it. She slid her sunglasses down to her eyes, turned her iPod on and slipped in the car without a word.
She ignored her family during the car ride home, instead opting to bounce her knee to the music and act like normal, carefree Alex. She'd never been that good of an actress though and she bolted out of the car as soon as it stopped in the drive way.
"Hey, Princess." Alex froze at her dad's voice and cursed herself for not being quicker. She turned her iPod off and tugged the ear buds out.
"Hey, Daddy!" She gave him a quick hug and a big smile.
"How was the tour?"
"Awesome, but it wore me out, so I'm gonna go lay down for a little bit."
"Alright, dinner'll be ready in an hour!"
"Kay!" She ran up the stairs, not even bothering to stop in and bother Justin on the way to her room. She resisted the urge to slam her door shut, closing it as normally as she could. She tossed her sunglasses on her desk and crawled underneath her covers. She took her music box off the nightstand and lay on her side. Her thumb ran across the glass and she stared at the picture underneath it.
That summer had been the best time of her life. She was head over heels in love with who she thought was the perfect girl. She had Harper, she had Mason. She had her dad. Her perfectly healthy, cancer free dad.
She hugged the music box tight against her chest, making sure to cry quietly so her dad couldn't hear her.