Synopsis: -"Lobsters mate for life, Sonny. And it's so obvious that you found your lobster!" Tawni helps Sonny realize her feelings about Chad. Implied Sonny and Chad. Read and review! One-shot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonny With A Chance or any of its characters.

Finding Your Lobster

Sean O'Keiffe, a new cast member of Mackenzie Falls was known as the number one 'playa'. He was tall, lean, and had soft brown hair. His chocolaty eyes could make any girl melt and his charming smile could make people do things they never thought they'd do. He was a god.

And that's why when he asked Sonny Munroe out to dinner, she squealed and basically screamed, "Yes!" It's also why a certain beach blond boy felt his blood boil with jealousy and rage. The bubbly brunette girl was his - although she didn't quite know that yet. He couldn't afford to have Sonny fall for a bigger jerk than him. Most of all, he couldn't afford to have her emotionally hurt by this heart wrecker.

He decided to confront Mr. Cocky-Butt Face (a.k.a. Sean O'Keiffe), and give him a piece of his mind. Chad found the even bigger ego maniac preparing for the date with Sonny. His Sonny.

Chad barged into the room and angrily shouted, "What the hell was that at lunch?" referring to when Sean had decided to ask Sonny out.

Sean coughed lightly. Exactly as planned. The whole facade he was keeping up of pretending to go out with Sonny was to make Chad jealous so that he could realize his love for her. Sean struggled to hide his smirk. "Why Chad! I have no idea what you're talking about." Sean knew he was doing this for Chad's own good.

He growled. "You know that we're not supposed to date people from other TV shows. It's against the rules. It's unethical!"

"You're not going to tell on me, are you?" Sean fake pouted. "Aren't I your best friend?" It was true. Ever since Sean had come to the set, the two had been close. But all the past friendship was forgotten when Sean had decided to ask Sonny out.

Chad rolled his eyes. "You always have to push the boundaries. Why can't you just follow the rules for once?"

"Has it ever occurred to you that you might be, well, jealous?"

Chad scoffed as if it was the most ridiculous idea he had ever heard in his life. "Jealous?" he asked incredulously. "Chad Dylan Cooper does not get jealous. Especially not over Sonny Munroe!"

At that moment, said actress walked into the room, clad in a black dress that fitted her tightly around the bust and waist, but flared out once it reached her legs. A pair of insanely tall black high heels graced her feet, and her hair was combed until the vibrant brown shone brightly and the wavy curls cascaded over her shoulders. She wore a very slight hint of makeup and her lips were glossed and refracting the light that hit it. Needless to say, she looked amazing.

Chad was stunned absolutely speechless at her transformation.

Sean smiled at her and she smiled back. "Now shall we go to the Empress Pavilion?" he asked as he offered his arm to her.

"We shall," she replied as she accepted his proffered arm. With that, the two of them walked out of the room, arm in arm, laughing at some joke Sean had cracked.

So Chad had decided to crash the little 'date'. He knew it would annoy Sonny (yes, score!), and it could also prevent her from having her heart broken (double score!). In seconds he was in his car and ripping out of the parking lot to go to the desired restaurant. They have to still be there, he thought desperately through the jealous and angry haze that surrounded his brain. It's too early, they can't have left yet.

Meanwhile, Sonny was having a pleasant conversation in a secluded booth with Sean, the player of all players, the gamer of all gamers, the number one most eligible bachelor and biggest playboy actor in America. He was nineteen and already he could make woman swoon of all ages.

She was so lucky.

"So these crazy evangelicals are standing in the middle of the speaker's circle, and they're all screaming and shouting about how we're all going to hell, right? I was seventeen at the time and like, I've got Tommy Hilfiger written on my shirt, so I'm automatically going to hell."

"Seriously?" laughed Sonny

He laughed along with her. "Yeah. He said that Ghandi was going to hell because he wasn't Christian, that Mother Theresa was going to hell because she was Catholic, and Martin Luther King Jr. was going to hell because he was an adulterer."

"Oh, not because he's black?"

"Ha ha, no, not because he's black."

"So these were nondiscriminatory hell preachers."

He laughed. "Yeah. So they were all holding this sign with this list of people who are all going to hell and my friends and I walk straight through them shouting, 'GET DRUNK! HAVE SEX! PARTY 'TIL YOU DIE!'"

Sonny laughed. "That's crazy!"

At that moment, Chad walked up to the two of them. "Hey Sean," he greeted through clenched teeth. "Mind if I join you?"

Inwardly, Sean was rejoicing. He honestly couldn't have planned this night any better himself. However, he had a part to play. He struggled to pull his smirk down under a look of disapproving. "Uh, well--"

"Great, thanks," he cut across him. He plopped into the seat next to Sean in the booth and turned a full on smile to Sonny. "Hello, Sonny. How are you?"

The actress was slightly taken aback at his demeanor and a little annoyed that he was crashing her date. "Um, I'm fine. Thank you for asking."

"That's great. So what were you guys talking about?"

"We were talking about--" Sean began, but he was cut off once again.

"Well anyways--" started Chad, who was then also cut off.

"Chad, I'm not on a date with you," Sonny told him irritably. "As a matter of fact, why are you here? You know that we're on a date."

He opened his mouth and was about to reply when he realized that he didn't have an answer. He tried to gather ideas together, but Sonny's lip gloss was doing strange things to his brain.

"Well, while you're trying to come up with an answer, I'm going to the bathroom." She turned to smile at her date and got up and left.

The moment Sonny was out of earshot, Chad turned to his best friend. "You can't date her, Sean."

"And why not? The last time I checked, this was a free country."

"You just can't!"

"Why? Give me one good reason why I should stay away from her."

Chad through his hands up in the air in frustration. Why wasn't Sean getting it? He was supposed to be his best friend! "Because!"

Sean's eyebrows shot up his forehead. "Because what?"

"Because I like her!" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop him, but the moment they were said, he knew that he couldn't doubt their truth. He did like her, he couldn't deny it any longer. "I like her and it's killing me just watching the two of you together! Please, Sean! I'm begging you, don't do this to me!"

Sean smirked at his best friend. "About damn time you idiot."

Chad opened his mouth to retort, but immediately stopped, confused at his friend's words. After Sean's reply sunk in, Chad finally asked, "What?"

"I know you like her. It's so obvious."

Chad shook his head, but he wasn't all that angry. He should have known that his best friend would do something like this to get him to open his eyes. "You damn bastard."

Sean looked around Chad to see if Sonny had walked out of the bathroom yet. When he verified that the coast was clear, he turned to his best friend. "All right, here's the plan. I'm going to leave right now and when Sonny comes out of the bathroom, you're going to tell her that I got paged and I asked you to make sure she got home safely, okay?"

Chad was confused. "What is this supposed to do?"

Sean rolled his eyes. "It's supposed to give the two of you an opening. Come on, Chad, it's kind of obvious the girl hates your guts. You're going to have to work your ass off to get this girl on your side."

Chad grimaced back at his friend. "Okay. If we're going to do this, we better do it now. She might come out of the bathroom any moment."

He nodded. "Right." He got up and downed the rest of his drink in one gulp. Then he slammed the glass back onto the table and said, "Good luck. Try not to screw this up."

Chad was too preoccupied to care about his comment; instead of coming up with something clever to shoot back at his friend, he was trying to think of what to tell Sonny when she came back out of the bathroom.

Just as Sean was pulling out of the parking lot, Sonny emerged from the bathroom, hair freshly arranged and lips newly glossed. She frowned when she realized that Chad was the only one left in the booth. "What happened to Sean?"

"He got paged. He has to film a new scene for Mackenzie Falls," Chad replied, slightly dazed by the shine of her lips. "He asked me to make sure you got home safely."

Sonny's shoulders visibly slumped. "Oh."

After an intense inner battle that involved much fist-clenching and lip-biting, Chad finally got the balls to ask the question he'd been dying to know the answer to since Sean asked her on a date. "Do you like him?" he blurted hurriedly.

Instead of looking severe and disgusted as he expected her to, Sonny actually looked a bit surprised. "Why are you so interested?" she asked a little skeptically. Chad felt that huge, imaginary burden lift from his shoulders when he realized that she wasn't upset with him for asking such a personal question.

"Just curious," he shrugged. "He seems to have the female population wrapped around his finger. His reputation precedes him in five different states, yet women all over the country would eagerly line up just to sleep with him. Why?"

Sonny bit her lips in spite of herself. "He's gorgeous," she replied simply. "Girls would line up all over the country to go out with him because he's supposed to be the perfect man. He's well on his way to becoming a successful actor and he's one of the sexiest men in all of America. It's a status thing."

Chad sighed and sipped at his drink. "He's a commitment phobe, you know."

She nodded. "I figured."

He finished the rest of his drink in one mouthful and sighed as he set his glass down. "Would you like to stay a bit, or would you rather go home now?"

Sonny looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"He asked me to take care of you," he said with what he hoped was a nonchalant shrug. "Would you like a ride?"

She shook her head as she foisted her purse higher up on her shoulder. "No thank you. I can make it home fine."

Chad nodded and followed her out of the bar and to her car. Just as she was about to slide in, she abruptly turned to face Chad. "Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?"

He took no notice of how close they already were and moved in even closer. "Do you not want me to be nice to you?" he smirked. "Would you rather I be mean to you?"

She scowled. "No."

Chad's smirk softened into a smile. "I'm just trying to make an effort here. You don't have to be so suspicious, Sonny."

She nodded slowly, gazing into his eyes. "Well we should probably get home," Sonny said.

"Yeah," Chad conceded. "Have a good night, Sonny."

"Good night, Chad."

Then they made the mistake of looking each other in the eyes. In that fateful moment when blue met brown, it seemed as if the ground had fallen out beneath them. All of a sudden their lungs constricted and their worlds collided in a way that they never would have thought possible. Unconsciously, Sonny leaned forward ever so slightly and Chad began to meet her.

Suddenly a waiter flung open the door to the restaurant. "Hey, mister! You forgot your wallet!"

The two actors were forced out of their trance and jumped, completely startled at the sudden interruption. Chad inwardly cursed the waiter's horrible timing, but Sonny was positively reeling in confusion and embarrassment.

"Thanks," Chad told him as he went to retrieve his wallet. "Thanks a lot," he added under his breath. Then he turned back to Sonny who looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"So, I'll…um, well I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," she said hurriedly.

"Yeah," Chad nodded, slightly crestfallen. "Tomorrow."

"Bye," she called and before Chad could do anything else, she got into her car, slammed the door and turned the ignition. In hardly no time at all, she was out of the parking lot and out of sight.

Sonny knew in the back of her mind that it probably wasn't the best idea to be driving at that moment. She was tired and incredibly confused. She had been two inches away from kissing Chad Dylan Cooper, her worst enemy since the first day she arrived at So Random! Sonny decided that she would head back to the studio. It would be a good way to clear her head.

The moment she arrived, she walked into her dressing room to find Tawni sitting on the couch, doing her nails. "Sonny!" Tawni lit up in surprise when she realized her fellow cast mate had come back.

"How'd your date go?" Tawni asked.

"I almost kissed Chad," Sonny announced, still in a daze.

Tawni's mouth dropped in astonishment. "Chad Dylan Cooper?" she asked as she struggled to compose her face into an expression of polite puzzlement.

"Yes," Sonny said as she plopped down on the couch next to Tawni.

"Care to explain how that happened?"

"He crashed our date," Sonny said simply.

"…and that led to kissing?" Tawni asked, slightly confused.

"Kind of. He crashed our date, then Sean got paged to shoot a scene when I was in the bathroom, then Chad was making sure I got home and he walked me to my car and then…"

Tawni's eyes widened. "And that's when you almost kissed him?"

"Yes," Sonny said, almost despairingly. She finally snapped out of her trance. "Oh my God, what's wrong with me? I almost kissed that jerk!"

"Wait, so what exactly happened?" Tawni asked.

Sonny threw her hand up hopelessly. "We looked at each other and then…then something sort of…happened, I guess. Something just happened and the next thing I know, I'm leaning forward and he's leaning forward and we're practically two inches apart and…"

"…and what?" Tawni asked excitedly.

"A waiter interrupted us," she admitted. "Chad left his wallet in the restaurant and a waiter came out to give it to him.

"Oh," Tawni said disappointedly.

"Yeah…" Sonny trailed off.

"I don't understand," Tawni said bluntly. "Why did you almost kiss him?"

"I don't know!" Sonny sighed in frustration. "I just looked at him and then all of a sudden I feel all these weird feelings and all these weird thoughts and I just find myself leaning in. I don't know what happened!"

The two of them sat quietly for a while, contemplating Sonny's complicated love life.

"So what does this mean?" Tawni asked to break the deafening silence.

"I don't know," she replied. "I…I just don't know."

"I think I do," Tawni said confidently.

Sonny turned to her expectantly.

"This means you like him!" she shouted, excitement written in every line of her face. "You totally have the hots for Chad!"

"What?" Sonny asked indignantly. "I do not!"

"Yes you do! It's written all over your face! You like Chad, you like Chad!"

"I do not!" Desperation hung from every word, as if she were frantic to prove her wrong. "I can't like him, he's a jerk!

Tawni snorted. "So were you."

"No," she shook her head emphatically. "No, I don't--I don't like him. I can't like him."

"Uh-huh," Tawni tutted, skeptical. "Just wait, Sonny Munroe. You just wait. You found your lobster."

"My what?"

"Lobsters mate for life, Sonny. And it's so obvious that you found your lobster!" exclaimed Tawni.

"But...lobster?"

"Calling the concept of 'soul mates' lobsters sounds less cheesy."

Sonny blushed, realizing what Tawni was implying. It wasn't possible. She couldn't possibly like Chad! "Well then I most definitely did not find my lobster!"

Tawni, however, was not paying attention to her friend's rationalizations. "You found your lobster, you found your lobster!" she sang.

She gave in. Tawni was obviously not going to give up. "Okay," Sonny sighed. "So maybe I did find my, er, lobster."

So you know those randomly and sporadically bolded and/or underlined letters throughout the chapter? If you put them all together, it spells out a message.