Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the storyline, sadly.
~ Chapter Three ~
Chad sighed, running his fingers through his hair as he shut his dressing room door. He was worried about Sonny, and her breaking down in his arms had only increased that worry. He bit down on his lip as he thought back to that moment when he was holding her in his arms, rocking her back and forth as she sobbed. He would have smiled at the thought of her fingers curled into his shirt, gripping him tightly as he held her as close as he possibly could, if it hadn't been in such horrible circumstances.
He heaved a deep sigh as he walked over to his bed, closing his eyes before laying down as he grasped the whole situation, the way she had collapsed so quickly into his arms, the sound of her heartbreaking sobs as he rocked her back and forth. And then the one thing that startled him the most, the one thing that had scared him the most – the way she had swiftly wiped away her tears and got up, asking him to forget about what had just happened before walking away.
He couldn't get over it, the way she had gotten over the breakdown and just walked off. He had no idea what was going on with her, for a moment when he had been comforting her he thought he had the old Sonny back, the one who would easily show her true feelings, the one who couldn't bare to see her best friends hurt, the Sonny he had fallen in love with.
But this Sonny was different, she would curl up in a ball, keep up those solid walls that he had managed to break through for a few minutes, she would forget about the fact that her best friend was dead and she would pretend to be okay, even though everyone could see through the façade.
He knew it wasn't healthy for her to keep up the act, the way she would just go around the studios, smiling a little, laughing at jokes, coming up with funny sketches – it just wasn't normal.
He only had to take one look at the rest of the cast members to know what Sonny should be like, Nico was in love with Tawni, everyone knew that. It made Chad think whenever he saw the depressed boy if he should just tell Sonny how he felt now, before it was too late. Nico had lost his chance, but Chad still had his. Didn't he?
He bit down on his lip as he thought about it, Sonny wasn't herself, he hadn't expected her to be okay but he didn't expect this either. When he had heard about the death of Tawni Hart, he had expected to come into work the next day and see Sonny curled up in a ball in her dressing room, crying her eyes out. But no, what he saw had shocked him – Sonny was getting dressed, writing down ideas as she went along, laughing at some of them before she had seen him.
He had never known that such a happy girl could have such strong walls, he never would have known that Sonny would be the type to keep everything to herself, he had no idea that out of all of the cast members, she would be the one to put up solid walls that whenever anyone broke though them, she would push them further and further away.
He put his hand to his head, massaging it a little as he tried to think of a way to get Sonny to accept Tawni's death, a lone tear fell down his cheek as he thought about how one of them had been so brutally taken away. Body parts had been found, but never an actual body. He could only hope that they would find the person that did this, so her family and friends could find peace.
He frowned at his reflection, Sonny hated him now, she wanted him to leave her alone – he was the only one so far who had got through to her, he could tell she didn't want that to happen again. She had ran away from him, not looking back as she wiped the tears from her face and tried to act like nothing had happened – it wasn't normal. It wasn't good.
He had to help her, he had no idea why but Sonny was different from everyone else. He let himself get close to her, he cared about her, he even loved her – even though he would never admit that to anyone. Sonny Munroe had brought his walls down, he was going to do exactly the same for her, no matter how long it took.