Disclaimer: See last chapter

~ Chapter Nine ~

Her arms folded around her waist, her eyes darting around the long corridors of the studios, tears brimmed her eyes as her whole body shook, looking around corners before turning as she fought back the tears.

Her face was pale, the dark circles underneath her eyes, her eyes brimmed red from the tears she had cried before. She looked down at her hands as she stopped, leaning against a wall as her heart thumped in her chest, closing her eyes before sinking down to the floor.

"When did we even become friends?" Sonny looked up at the girl in front of her, shaking her head as she thought about it,


"I don't know Sonny, you just have that – thing." Tawni shuddered, looking at her reflection in the mirror, applying her lip gloss over and over again until it was perfect before finally turning around,


"That thing?" She raised an eyebrow at her best friend, biting down on her lip to stop herself from laughing,


"Yeah, you have that thing where you make people care." Tawni sighed, running her fingers through her hair as she sat down next to the girl,

"I'm glad anyway, that you're my friend."

"I'm not your friend," Tawni laughed, tapping Sonny's shoulder and ignoring the look of hurt on the girls face as Tawni shook her head, "I'm your best friend." She smiled, laughing when Sonny jumped on her and wrapped her arms tightly around her.

"Sorry." Sonny muttered, about to pull away only for Tawni to wrap her own arms around Sonny, hesitating a little into the hug before both of them relaxed.

"Now as your role of best friend, I'm going to give you a make-over."

"Tawni, you don't have to do that!" Sonny giggled, sighing when Tawni pulled away and grabbed her hand,

"Shopping!" She screamed, dragging Sonny out of the dressing room for their first of many Shopping trips.

Sonny curled up into a tight ball, wrapping her arms around her knees as hot tears fell down her face, she put her head on her knees, biting down on them to stop herself from screaming as she thought about all those times she had spent with Tawni.

"Sonny?" She looked up for a second, regretting it when her eyes connected with the one boy's who she didn't want to see right then.

"J-Josh." She stuttered, looking away as she wiped away her tears, trying to stand up on her shaking legs, needing to get away from the person she had convinced herself had killed her best friend.

"Do you need help?" He smiled at her, holding out his hand as she shook her head,

"No.. I like it down here." She murmured, her heart thumped loudly in her chest and she wondered for a moment if he could hear it too. Josh shook his head, putting his hand on her shoulder, his own heart beating quickly as he felt a sudden jolt run through his body.

"Get off me." Sonny stared up at him, pushing his hand away as she got up, not looking behind her as she ran away as quickly as she possibly could. Her body shook as she reached the doors, running outside, stopping to clutch at her chest, trying to inhale, struggling for every breath. She only just heard someone call her name before the darkness took her in it's arms.

- - - - - - - - - -

Chad looked down at the girl on his bed, biting down on his lip as he held the cold towel to her head and heaved a deep sigh. He grabbed her hand when she moaned a little, her hand gripping onto her head as her eyes fluttered open. He smiled as she looked around, panicking for a second until she realized who the boy sitting next to her was.

"What happened?" She whispered,

"You had a panic attack and fainted." He scowled, sitting on the bed to wrap her in his arms, ignoring the way her body trembled as she settled into his arms,

"What happened?" He asked her, smoothing down her hair with his hand before wiping away her tears, "I was running away." She shrugged, a light tinge of pink playing on her lips before more tears fell down her pale face.

"From Josh?" He frowned, running his hand down her body until he got to her lower back, rubbing small circles as she wrapped her arms around his waist and put her head on his chest.

"You don't understand, it was the way he looked at me and the way he was..he-he did it.. he did." She pulled away from him to look into his eyes, shaking her head and biting down on her lip.

"Why can't you just believe me? He did it, I know he did it, I know.. and you don't even care, you don't even care that I might be right and I don't understand why... I-I." Her hand raised to her mouth as she sobbed, tears falling down her face. Chad sat up, taking her in his arms as she cried, small screams of anguish creeping out every now and again.

"Please believe me." She finally whispered in his ear, her fingers clenched tightly around the back of his shirt, "Please help me."

"I do believe you, it's going to be fine." Chad ignored the tears that fell down his own face, wishing he could stop her from hurting, wanting to stop the tears that fell down her face as he slowly put his hands on her face, lifting it up so she was looking at him. He smiled a little before letting his lips softly graze hers, smiling into the kiss when her arms trailed up his body to his hair, deepening the kiss a little, letting his tongue slip past her lips as they lay back on the bed.

He untangled himself from her arms a little before looking into her deep brown eyes and smiling, "You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that." He smiled, wiping away the tears as she gave him a small smile, leaning into him as she closed her eyes, "You'll protect me, won't you?" She murmured, smiling when he nodded,

"I will always protect you, always. He's not going to hurt you, nobody is ever going to hurt you." He whispered, smiling when she finally fell asleep, safe in his arms, feeling happy for the first time in a very long time.

A/N: Review!