I'm back! I'm pretty happy that I've found time now. With my grades in check and virtually no homework because we have another small break coming up for the weekend, I have time to write! Eep, I'm so happy. You probably don't want to hear me yap on and on about this, so here's the next chapter!

~.~.~.~.~.~

Chad's POV

"So. How'd it go with Little Miss Sunshine?"

I quickly pop a Loganberry in my mouth and savor the sweetness that bursts in my mouth while looking over the script. I've done this regularly, looking over the script near the snack table, usually because I've been half-awake lately, and rely on food to munch on in order to revive myself. When I look up, I see Chastity in her Mackenzie Falls uniform, grinning hugely at me.

Chastity: co-star, on-screen love interest, (fake) ex-girlfriend, and potentially, one of my closest friends.

"Look," she continues. "I found this in your dressing room when I was trying to find you." She holds up the piece of paper with Sonny's number on it. "Why'd she give you her number?"

"I asked for it," I say.

"Pfft," she almost laughs. "You don't need her number! It's been on your phone for as long as I can remember!"

"Shh… not so loud," I say. "There's a reason why I told you and not Skyler or Ferguson. Mr. Condor said one person, and for that person not to tell the whole world. Please tell me, that I can trust you."

She sighs. "But Chaa-aad!" she puts so much emphasis into my name, it comes out as two separate syllables. "Everyone knows that it's no fun to know about something if you won't spill! Sometimes I wish I could just read your mind."

"I prefer not."

"But it'd be so easy."

"I tell you most of what's on my mind anyways."

"But you edit!"

"Not very much."

"It's enough to bug the crap out of me."

I see that she's not going to give up, and really, that I have nothing to lose, so I go on.

"It went… alright, I guess," I say.

Her face turns serious. "What happened? What did she do? What did you do?"

"Nothing bad happened. In fact, it was kind of nice. I mean, we haven't spoken to each other in like four… five… six years, so you would expect it to be a little bit awkward, but as far as new beginnings start, it was not bad at all."

"You're being too vague. Just tell me what's on your mind, Chad."

"I don't think I'm being vague at all. We shared a lunch, and then we chatted, nothing special. Talked about life. You know that Grady, the goofy Random, is proposing to his girlfriend tonight?"

She ignores my question. "What did you say? About your life?"

"I told her about my directing thing I want to try out. Mess around with a camera or something. And about that college I might want to go to."

"You didn't tell her about your plan of being a family guy?"

"What plan?"

"Don't play stupid with me, you know what I'm talking about."

I sigh. "Well. You don't just bring up randomly in a conversation 'I want to get married someday and have kids'. Especially when you haven't talked to the person in God knows how many years. Chas, I don't want to ruin it this time."

"I don't see how having future plans will bring down a relationship."

"Please, if a guy randomly told you that they're looking for marriage AND kids? You'd freak out. Especially after what you thought was 'the love of your life' just cheated on you. You know, I always knew there was something off about that guy."

"So Danny did cheat on her? That's no good," she shakes her head. "But you're wrong. I wouldn't freak out. Actually, I'd think he's sweet. I mean, a guy that's a committed and looking for something rather than fleeing from girl to girl. I'd be flattered, personally."

"Well, if you didn't talk to this guy for six years, you probably would end up avoiding him for the rest of eternity."

"Sonny wouldn't."

I shrug. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. She's changed. I don't know what to think anymore. She's just not… as sunny as she's been anymore. Like she used to be all sweet and smiles, but now she relies on coffee and frozen yogurt to survive. Obviously overworked in some way. She didn't tell me much, if anything, of her life, so she probably has no idea what's going to happen."

"But?"

"But what?"

"C'mon, I see the way you look at her. If you really think about it, Chad, nothing's really changed. I mean, when you two broke up, you both moved on, and it became just like old times. You stare at her. You think about her. Hell, even when we're rehearsing I know you're just so close to saying her name instead of Chloe, but you catch yourself. The only two things that have changed are that our jobs are at stake and that Marta's gone."

I remain silent, not able to really respond to her answer, because of how true it was. No, I really hadn't moved on. I had tried like hell, that's even why Mr. Condor suggested for me to fake-date Chastity, but I just couldn't. Sonny Munroe wasn't a forgettable person, and for me, just seeing those brown eyes every day was enough to eat at me from the inside. Yet somehow, after all this time, a friendship was out of line. A relationship a complete fail. But being strangers was practically killing me.

"Do you think she might be the one?" she asks me, when she finds I have nothing to say.

I lick my lips. "To marry? Have a family? That's so far down the road."

"Don't tell me you haven't thought about it."

"Well—"

"You're twenty-three, Chad. An average man would probably be engaged now, out of college on normal standards, maybe even having a kid."

"Yes, an AVERAGE man. I'm not an average guy. I'm Chad Dylan Cooper."

"That doesn't mean anything!

"But? I'm in front of cameras all the time, I can't escape the publicity, there's always some new rumor about me in the tabloids, and the last time I had a real relationship was with Sonny. What's ironic is that all this time I've been craving the limelight, and now I'd do anything to get out of it."

Chastity looks at me. "Look, I understand you, but just getting up and leaving right now isn't going to help anybody. We'll get through it, I promise," she grabs my hand and squeezes it in comfort. "Like all good things, it will eventually come to an end. I guess we have to say goodbye for now… Mackenzie."

As she lets go dramatically, I start to chuckle. "Don't be so cheap. Now you're just stealing scenes from our show."

"Well, you missed five minutes of rehearsal. You might as well catch up," she laughs. She smiles as she says, "But it's true. We will be normal again eventually. If we get this last season, we can all find a way to move on during that year, and we'll be ready to face the real world. You just have to do this 'fake'," her fingers make quote gestures when she says fake, "relationship for a while, and we can all start planning. The limelight will move on."

"What do you mean 'fake'?" I mimic her finger motions. "It's as fake as me and you were when we were dating. Completely, 100% fake."

"Don't be so sure," she says. "You stare at her."

"Do not!" I argue, but I know that Chastity is right and she knows it.

However, she doesn't give a straight 'do too!' answer. Instead, she scoffs and says, "Don't be too touchy. She stares at you too."

~.~.~

Okay, Chad. It's been four, maybe five hours since you asked for her number. Just go ahead and call her already. No, screw calling. Just text her and say hi. You know you're going to have to do it sometime. And what's the big deal? When you two were dating, you would text her like the world would end if you didn't respond after two minutes.

In my dressing room, sitting down on the couch. Even with the Mackenzie Falls reruns playing right in front of me, I don't think about those. No, I just sit there and stare at my phone sitting on the glass table, looking like an idiot. I hear someone enter in, her customary two knocks followed by just letting herself in.

"You probably should text her you know."

"I will."

"How long are you going to take, Grandpa?"

"I'm twenty-three, thank you very much."

"You'll be eighty once you get the guts to talk to her."

"Gee, I love you too."

"Well…" Chastity says. "You've got to do something. Just take her to your house and go watch a movie or something. Order some pizza with… she still like pineapple on her pizza right?"

"That's not it," I say. "It's just that… I don't know. It's so awkward and complicated and just…"

"You're totally exaggerating, Chad," she says. "It's not that hard at all. I bet you have her on speed dial already anyways. Just call her and set up something. I do it with, like, Skyler ALL the time. And we just do it because we're friends, not even a couple. Because can you seriously imagine me with Skyler? Disgusting."

"It's still not the point."

"Do you want me to do it for you?"

"That's completely unnecessary."

"Well, if you don't have the BALLS to do it…"

"Don't start with that, Chastity…"

"Well, it had to be said."

"One time, and it's held against you for the rest of your life."

"That's what happens when you try to hit on a girl while using the 'Who's Tony Hawk's brother, Mike Hawk' joke, then you got owned when she said you didn't have any balls."

"So I tried a new flirting technique. I don't see the problem. And she wasn't even that hot."

"Blonde with blue eyes, bikini body, perfect white teeth, hourglass figure, clear skin, Victoria's Secret model? She's dating Adam Levine now."

"I prefer brunettes."

She sighs. "Chad. Just talk to her. Honestly, it is not that hard. Just think that you guys are… neighbors. Not even friends, just neighbors. You know, send over a welcome basket, invite her to the community barbeque… That's innocent enough, right?"

Now it's my turn to sigh. "Okay, maybe you're right. I'm overreacting."

"Ya think?"

"Well…"

"Okay, okay, you know that Mackenzie Falls beach on Friday, we're having because… we feel like it I guess? Anyways, you know that one?"

"Yeah…"

"Then invite her! It's just our cast, and we're all like family. We'll just… re-welcome her like we did when you first started dating. Simple! And I suppose you're taking the boat out? We'll have so much fun, I promise!"

I can't believe I'm actually thinking about this. Usually beach parties are very close to us, usually us and whoever we're dating at the time or if family's in town. We started this tradition just about two years ago, and it's been this way ever since. It's a nice way to stay connected, I guess. As everyone's struggling to find a way to provide for themselves when we all do have to leave, it's nice to get together and play some volleyball, go parasailing, drink, and just talk to each other about life. It's very convenient, I guess, but I still can't see someone like Sonny being there, seeing me wrestling Ferguson or sharing a Sex on the Beach with Portlyn (who believe it or not, has the same in real life as she does on the show).

When Chastity sees that I'm still hesitating, she continues. "You and her can go surfing! I know you love to surf. If she doesn't know, you can teach her. If anything goes wrong, just hand her to me. Believe it or not, I actually like her. She seems like the only Random that has been normal since the beginning. Very, extremely happy, but still normal."

I chuckle. "You know, Chas, it takes a little while to get used to your… charm."

"Pish posh. Sunshine and I will get along great, as she will with the entire cast. I'll tell them to be on their best behavior. Oh, Chad, it'll be just great, you have to invite her! It'll be a great start! And seriously, when you were dating, you spent so much time with the Randoms, I thought you were going to join their show. She might as well meet us. And it's nothing to rash."

"Chastity, you're taking this fake relationship too far."

"I know, I know. It's just for the cameras."

"Right."

She just laughs. "But really, Chad, when have I led you wrong?" she asks. I figure that I'm hearing the last of it, but just a split second before she goes out the door, she says one last thing, "Call her."

I stare at my phone. Chastity did have a point. I'm hesitant, but I finally get the nerve to do it. I pick up my phone and press number two, Sonny's speed dial number.

I hear two rings before she picks up. "Hello?"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

There it is! I hope you are not disappointed with the lack of Channy in this chapter. This chapter was more of a segway into their second first date (or I guess third, if you count the fake date. Or even fourth if you count Falling For The Falls Part 1 and 2 two different ones! Whoa, they've had a lot of first dates). Plus, I wanted to show the relationship between Chad and Chastity, showing that Chad thinks of Chastity as a sister and how close they are. I think it also shows that Sonny isn't Chad's entire world, nor is Chad completely Sonny's. They are, after all, just fake dating.

For now.

Anyways, hope you guys liked it! I hope to update soon! See you guys soon!(: