Chad was feeling much better by the afternoon and was itching at the seams to get out of the house. The longer he had to wait for Chris to get home from his 'arcade date' the more annoyed he got with him. If he hadn't been in fear of losing his career he would have stormed out of the house to track him down. But, what a mess that would be. Finally, he heard a door swing open and slam once again.

Chris walked in to find Chad pacing around the house for no reason.

"um… Chad what are you doing?"

"What am I doing? What am I doing?… No, what are you doing?… you were suppose to be home an hour ago! Do you have any idea what can happen to a guy after being alone in a house for three days!"Chad's outburst was a total cry for someone to return his sanity.

" I think I have an idea…" he said with a laugh as he watched Chad pace

"Dude, maybe you should lie down."

"Lie down? Lie down?… I've been lying down all day"

Chad was a pretty funny sight- strutting around like a patient in a psycho ward, wearing clothes that didn't even match, and rambling about his much needed time out of his prison!

Chris tried to hold back a laugh. "Ok… Never mind… Here are your keys."

Chad gave him a angry yet borderline-loony glare.

He grabbed the keys and headed out the door.

Chris was finally able to let out his laugh. "I hope he doesn't get pulled over for 'driving under the influence of crazy!" He laughed to himself.

Chad jumped in his car and felt a lot more at ease.

Taking a refreshing breath, he watched the birds and smelled the fresh air… Wait, that's not fresh air… There was no second guessing that smell-it was the sweet essence of Sonny.

'Wow' Chad thought 'Staying in the house all the time must do something crazy to your senses too.' But, he didn't really mind the smell that brought such a pleasant relaxing feeling- even if it was something his mind was subconsciously imitating.

The smell seemed to linger as he drove and it definitely lightened his mood. He was happy to be driving but was brought to reality when he figured out he had just driven around the block three times.

"Where am I going?" he said to himself "Well wherever it is I'm not going to get there till Tuesday if I keep this up.- I'll just go to the mall and grab a sandwich."

He arrived at the mall a few minutes later. Just seeing a lot of people walking around made him feel like he was part of the world again.

He made his way down to the food court, all the strong foods made his stomach start to ache again. But, a sub sandwich would hit the spot perfectly! So he jumped in line.

Suddenly his eyes were darkened by two hands. "Guess who!"

A bubbly voice perked up. Chad's mood did a 180 degree turn at the touch of those hands and the sound of that voice. Chad spun around to see that bright eyed girl he had been missing all week. "Hey Sonny" His smiled.

But his smile faded when he looked down and realized what he was wearing- a pair of gray and white sweat pants with a classy blue button up shirt. (He was in the middle of changing from his 'sick' clothes into his nice clothes as Chris came in the door, He was so intent on leaving the house he kind of forgot about finishing.)

Chad had a pretty red face as Sonny looked him over and laughed. "What are you wearing?" She had a huge smile on her face. Chad couldn't help but smile back.

He just rolled his eyes. "You are so behind the style Sonny. Chad Dylan Cooper sets the standard and this is all the rage!"

He turned his back to her and pretended to be surveying the line ahead, when his face had cleared of embarrassment he turned back around, hoping she was still there. She was, she held a bigger grin than normal.

"What?" He said with a smile on his face.

Sonny paused admiring his returning sparkle in his eye and his refreshed punch of sarcasm that she feared might have gotten lost somewhere along the way.

"It's just good to see you back to normal"

Chad held his grin. "Thanks, I been feeling better for a few days now." He said casually.

"Oh, well good." She said playfully. "So what are you doing out here?"

"Just really needed to get out."

"Oh, there's probably people you wanted to see again hugh?" She smiled a big smile.

He smiled back. "Well I'd be happy to see anyone these days"

She kept her smile and rolled her eyes.

Chad didn't know why she found him particularly entertaining right now. He wanted to think it was because she missed him being around.

"So," she said "going anywhere tonight? Cause we could hang out?" She teased.

Chad's eyes lit up "No… I'm not…" but then he remembered Chris' stupid date.

"No.. I can't Chr…I mean I (that was a close one) have a d…" He stopped himself mid sentence. He couldn't tell Sonny 'He' had a date-that would mess up his hopes that he had accidentally built up.

He looked in Sonny's eyes, she seemed so perky and fun right now! 'Why did Chris have to make a stupid date tonight?'

"uh… I have a previous engagement." He smiled at her nervously.

She gave him a playful smirk. "Well that's just too bad because I just bought this beautiful new dress that needs to be taken out to dinner tonight." She gave him a flirty smile, and waved the bag in front of him as if trying to persuade him to change his mind.

Chad's eyebrows rose and he was pretty sure his chin touched the floor.

His irritation toward his cousin grew worse as this conversation built.

"Maybe some other time?" He said hopefully.

Sonny put on a disappointed frown. "Ok, maybe later then."

She threw him a playful smile accompanied by a cute wink, as she skipped merrily away.

Chad just stood there and watched her walk away, her brown hair bouncing behind her. "Yep... I'm... gonna kill him."

This is definitely one of my favorite chapters! -So much fun :)