Wow…
So, I know I've been forever in updating, but lately my life has been absolutely chaotic. A couple days after I last updated on December 23, my dad fell off a ladder and broke his hip, also dislocating it during the fall. He had to have emergency surgery and was luckily discharged from the hospital by New Year's Eve. Since he's been hurt, I've taken on a lot of stuff to help out my mom around the house. I also started a new semester of college January 11 and it's turned out a lot more challenging than last semester; I'm barely keeping my head above water.
Two weeks ago, I was going through midterm week for college and last week was spring break. I was hoping to get in an update or two, but my friends all wanted to hang out before and after I got my wisdom teeth pulled. I've also been working on a play for a contest that's going on at my college, not to mention all of the term papers I have to write!
There have been a lot of personal/friendship things going on in my life, as well. Things that have made me give a good, hard look at who I can trust and who I can't. It's a difficult thing to do when you're in college and you're supposed to be at the point where you make lifelong friends. Unfortunately, there are some people out there who are in college yet remain on a middle school maturity level.
I've been so busy that I completely lost track of time and was unable to update. The one thing that's pulling me through this semester is the light at the end of the tunnel: May 6. Otherwise known as the day I go on summer break! I'm hoping to get a couple more chapters posted before then, but if I don't you guys can definitely count on me starting that day!
Hopefully, you can forgive me for the hideously long delay and we can all be friends again. Because you guys were so amazing with the reviews while I was gone and I've definitely done you all wrong by leaving you hanging. C:
Summary: The cast of Mackenzie Falls and the paparazzi: two things you don't want in your relationship when you're dating Chad Dylan Cooper. The cast of Mackenzie Falls and the paparazzi: two things you will have in your relationship when you're dating Chad Dylan Cooper
Disclaimer: Me no own, you no sue. (Anything you recognize is not mine. Anything you don't recognize probably is mine. Probably.)
Four Seasons
By EmbracingRain
Arc One
Spring
Chapter Three
April 27th
7:50 pm
CBN Studios
Helen DeGuinness Set
Backstage
Sonny watched as Chad listlessly fiddled with his phone, a concerned look upon her face. For the past few days, the normally pompous actor had become progressively pensive and moody - the complete opposite of how he usually was. In fact, Chad had seemed kind of hurt after Sonny had agreed to come on this talk show, but she could not fathom why. She gently prodded his foot with hers, and the blonde looked up at her with a terse smile.
"What's wrong, Chad?" she asked quietly, hoping that none of the people surrounding them would hear her question.
Chad shrugged one shoulder. "Just waiting for an important call," he replied, holding up his phone.
"An important call?" Sonny repeated, bewildered. "But…we're going on to talk to Helen in like eight minutes. What's so important that - MMPH!" Sonny found that she couldn't talk as Chad pinched her lips shut and answered his rapidly ringing cell phone.
"You've got Chad," he said into the phone, animation returning to his voice as a wide smile spread across his lips. Sonny glared at him through slit eyes, waiting for the moment when he finally stopped pinching her lips shut and she could give him a good lecture. "Excellent! Thanks, man. I knew you'd deliver." The actor hung up his phone and released his girlfriend's lips, standing up and patting her on the head.
"Chad!" Sonny exploded as quietly as she could (interrupting someone that would soon be trying to help show the world that Sonny and Chad's relationship was not falling apart with a fight between said couple wouldn't be wise). "Do you really think you can just go around shutting me up?! And then patting me on the head?! I'M NOT THREE."
The star of Mackenzie Falls looked at the brunette with wide eyes. "I didn't mean to be demeaning!" he defended himself, sounding flustered. "That call was just really important. I've been waiting for that guy to call me for almost two days now!"
"What was so important about it?" Sonny asked, folding her arms over her chest and tapping her foot against the plush carpet. If Chad was hiding things from her…
"It's a surprise!" Chad said, giddiness and excitement dripping from the sentence. He grinned widely at Sonny.
"What kind of surprise?" she prodded suspiciously.
"I…can't tell you," Chad whispered. He suddenly looked like a little child that had gotten into the cookie jar and was hiding the secret from his mother.
But still, Sonny thought to herself as she let her suspicions fly out the window, it's nice to see him out of that weird funk he was in for the past few days. She studied her boyfriend for a few moments, taking in his slacks and collared shirt. He was putting more effort into this than she'd been giving him credit for. Sure, Chad hadn't wanted to do a press conference, writing it off as too serious for the situation, but allowing an interview on Helen DeGuinness showed that he did care. And he was probably right: a press conference was too serious for their situation. Plus, the paparazzi hadn't exactly been their friend lately.
"Okay," Sonny said, offering him a small smile. "You just haven't been yourself for the past few days."
Chad shrugged simplistically. "There was just some stuff I had to take care of before we went on the show," he replied, a bit aloof. "That was the last of it."
"Are you sure you can't tell me?" Sonny wheedled, sliding her arms around Chad's waist and blinking up at him with the saddest eyes she could possibly muster.
Chad chuckled and hugged her tightly. "Sorry, sunshine."
"I promise you that I can keep a secret," she whispered, kissing him sweetly.
"Heh…sorry, sunshine, but the surprise will be better if you don't know about it," Chad responded before kissing her back with voracity.
Sonny Munroe was not a stupid, innocent girl. She knew that about half of what was behind Chad's kisses was emotion. The other half was the often addressed but rarely talked about inevitability: sex.
Chad hadn't made his past a secret. Sonny never asked for numbers - she didn't want to know - but she knew there had been plenty of girls Chad's life. He never pressured her, but she had made it perfectly clear to him that she was an emotions first kind of girl. No sex without love, no love without commitment. Here they were, about five months into their relationship and the 'l-word' hadn't even shown up once. It was difficult knowing that sex was almost always on Chad's mind while emotions were constantly on hers. Sonny was starting to wonder if Chad ever thought about ending things. He'd agreed to her conditions wholeheartedly, but she sometimes couldn't help but think his resolve would eventually slip. After all, how long could Hollywood's teen jerkthrob go along with that stipulation without cracking?
Somebody cleared their throat rather loud and Sonny pulled away from Chad's lips, feeling her face color when Chad kept his arms wrapped around her tightly and refused to let her step away. The woman who had interrupted them looked just about as embarrassed as Sonny was feeling herself.
"Yes?" Chad asked irritably. Sonny reprimanded him by swatting his arm and he grinned down at her devilishly.
"We're about to go on a commercial break, so I need you two to follow me."
Smiling as graciously as she could, Sonny maneuvered herself free of Chad's arms, straightened her clothes and fluffed her hair, then followed the woman down the hall, Chad in tow. His hand was warm and reassuring in hers, something she was grateful for now that nothing was distracting her from the looming interview.
The stage lights weren't too bright, the audience welcomed them with frenzied applause, and Helen greeted each teen with a warm hug. Sonny's small fear that Tawni had been trying to play a prank by booking the show vanished as the comedienne took all of this into account.
"Don't worry about anything," Helen said as someone new affixed miniscule microphones to Sonny and Chad's shirts. "The interview is going to go exactly as we discussed over the phone. A small discussion about the pictures and articles, then we'll go on to some fan questions. Feel free to get as personal as you want. This is your interview, not mine."
Sonny relaxed into the couch as Chad's arm curled around her shoulders. For the first time since Sharona's article had shown up, she actually felt like things were going to be okay. This was one of the most respected talk shows on TV. If this interview didn't fix things then Sonny and Chad would have to figure something else out.
This has to work, Sonny thought to herself.
"Ready?" Helen asked with a slightly excited smile as technicians and makeup artists scurried from the stage. The audience perked up in their seats.
"Aaa-and we're live! In five…four…three…two…!"
The lights surrounding the stage adjusted slightly and Helen DeGuinness turned toward the camera with a generic smile, one that could have graced any television personality's face. The audience erupted into raucous applause.
"Welcome back, everyone," the blonde hostess said, "we're here now with two very prominent teen celebrities. You've probably seen them in magazines and all over TV these past few months. We're here today to discuss some rumors surrounding their relationship; rumors that have been causing quite a stir. These are two of Condor Studios' hottest teen stars: Chad Dylan Cooper and Sonny Munroe."
Sonny smiled brightly and waved at the audience and camera as Chad nodded coolly, most likely trying to keep up his appearance. The faces of the audience members were nothing but a vague blur to the actress, but she thought she felt a positive vibe coming from the seats.
"Welcome to the show, guys," Helen said, turning to the pair of actors.
"It's great to be here," Sonny and Chad intoned in unison, earning a chuckle from the audience and their host.
"So, the majority of 'Channy' fans around the world are in an uproar about these rumors. Is there anything you'd like to say? Perhaps some reassuring words?"
Chad leaned forward, looked intensely at Helen, and said quite seriously: "Neither Sonny nor I have been cheating."
"Nor have we even thought about it," Sonny added, equally as serious. "We've been trying to get to the source of these rumors for months now and the farthest we've been able to trace it is back to the Sharona Knows website. My cast and I have dealt with Sharona before and the site seems like a likely source."
"The thing is," Chad chimed in, "we can't figure out where she's been getting her pictures and stories."
"It seemed pretty obvious to me that they were mostly Photoshopped," Helen joked as a series of photos flickered onto the giant screen behind them, a picture with Portlyn's planet of a head placed over Sonny's being the most prominent.
Sonny allowed herself a small giggle and Chad smiled down at her in amusement.
"From what I've heard about you two and from what I've seen," Helen pressed on, smirking at the young pair's connection, "you're just not that type of couple. Young Hollywood has to be tricky enough to navigate as it is. Cheating just… It seems like an outrageous accusation."
"We feel like it is," Chad replied.
"Naturally you've got a solid support system, right?"
Sonny nodded, seeing the camera swing to focus on her out of the corner of her eye. "Our families and friends have definitely been a huge help. I honestly don't know what I would do without them some days."
"Now…One of our viewers - BlueEyesxx - has been wondering how your friends have helped. And I've got to say that I'm kind of curious as well. Because from what I've heard there's been a pretty serious rift between your two shows for a couple of years now."
Sonny and Chad exchanged a knowing look and Chad cleared his throat in a slightly embarrassed manner.
"Sonny's friends have kinda become my friends," he admitted slowly. "They're really great people and very willing to help. Last week all of us sat down with my costar Chloe and we went through the tabloids and pictures to find imperfections."
"They've been a major help," Sonny added. "I don't think we could've gotten through all of those magazines and pictures without them. We are so grateful."
"Words can't express how…lucky we are to have friends like them," Chad said sounding a bit uncomfortable.
"And that's a lot coming from Chad," Sonny snorted, elbowing Chad in the ribs and grinning at him widely.
"It really is," he agreed good-naturedly, causing the audience to laugh.
"Well, seeing as how we're somewhat on the topic of those fixed pictures," Helen said, "how would you like to help us out with those? I'm sure you'd like nothing more than to correct at least part of the wrong that's been done to you."
Sonny and Chad readily agreed. After all, it had been a part of the agreement. The pictures were familiar, pulled from the magazines and articles the group of actors had looked over the previous week. Together, Sonny and Chad pointed out the many flaws, including the ones in the picture from Tawni's surprise birthday party. The whole situation was filled with comfort and ease. The audience laughed when Sonny and Chad laughed, and it seemed as though everyone was filled with the same amount of incredulity. Was it really possible that this whole problem had stemmed from one measly article on some horrid woman's website? How had it spun out of control so fast?
The half-hour the young couple had on the show was beginning to wind down when Helen DeGuinness plucked a couple of index cards from the coffee table that sat in the center of the half moon-shaped couch after a brief commercial break and some reassuring words. It was viewer question time no doubt.
"As you've probably guessed by now," Helen announced, settling back into her seat as she spoke, "we've moved on to the viewer question portion of the interview. I only have a couple for you two today because we've got a bit of a surprise planned…" The interviewer's eyes flickered to Chad who squeezed Sonny's hand and smiled when she looked up at him questioningly. "The first question is from Shealtiel in Australia. Shealtiel wants to know whether or not your relationship has helped to mend the rift between So Random! and Mackenzie Falls."
Sonny motioned for Chad to take the question when he glanced at her, choosing instead to ponder over what this mystery surprise was and whether or not it had to do with Chad's last minute phone call before the interview.
"That's actually an interesting question," Chad said diplomatically. "I think it's hard to give a completely accurate answer because it'll be biased no matter how you look at it. I said before that Sonny's friends have sorta become my friends, and they have in a sense. If you're going to be in a committed relationship with someone, you can't go ragging on about their friends all the time. You have to learn to be open-minded. Before Sonny and I started dating, I would've never hung out with Grady and Nico. But being with Sunshine has helped me become more accepting." Chad smiled sheepishly when the audience acknowledged his use of Sonny's nickname with wolf-whistles and cat calls.
Sonny smirked absently as she continued thinking about the surprise. Maybe they were bringing on her castmates? Or maybe they were going to get the opportunity to give away a car to someone needy!
"I don't think that my costars have been very willing to accept Sonny's," Chad continued, "but Chloe's been a good friend to all of us. I think she's more of a Random at heart than she is a member of the Falls. But thanks to her and Sonny's friends, the transition has been a lot easier than it otherwise would've been, and I don't think things are as tense between our shows as they used to be."
"I LOVE YOUUU, CHAD DYLAN COOPERRR!!" a girl in the audience screamed suddenly, her voice piercing across the room. "MARRY MEEE!!"
Laughter rippled through the air and Chad grinned, holding up his hands innocently as he exclaimed, "Sorry, but I've got my girl!"
Sonny felt herself turn an exceedingly bright shade of crimson, a color that must have clashed nicely with her clover colored dress.
"Our second question," Helen said after she stopped laughing, "is from two viewers, actually. XJamesBondX and cookie-cutter-rockstar both want to know how the two of you got together in the first place."
"Well, Helen," Sonny said, extending her hand to reveal the sparkling charm bracelet that never left her wrist, "Chad has this way of charming a girl into submission."
"Can we get a close-up of this?" Helen asked her camera man, pointing to Sonny's bracelet as Chad babbled something about Sonny having a thing for 'the bad boy type' and thus being unable to resist him. "These are absolutely magnificent! How many of these are there?"
"Twelve," Chad responded promptly.
"One for each month Chad spent trying to win me over," Sonny finished. "I had to give in eventually or I would've run out of links."
"Now, does each one have a story, or what? Oh, look! It's Wisconsin. That one's fairly obvious, but what about…this guy here?" Helen queried, pointing to the parrot charm.
"Chad has a great aunt who has this parrot named Merle. He got us in a bit of trouble when we were at Chad's parents' house for a picnic last year."
"And the laughing bone? What's up with him?"
"Because Sonny's funny," Chad said, shrugging.
It was at that precise moment, in the middle of the conversation, that hundreds of yellow and orange balloons suddenly rained down from the ceiling and startled Sonny. As balloons poured down, Sonny gaped openly at Chad who was smiling so wide it looked like he might actually pull a muscle. Sonny's confusion only continued to rise when a cake was wheeled onstage.
"What on Earth is going on?" she breathed.
"Happy five months, sunshine," Chad told her.
What was he talking about five months? What was so significant about five months that… And that was when it hit her. They'd been together five months today and she'd forgotten while Chad had remembered. That was why he'd been in a funk for the past few days! That was why he'd had that phone call before the interview! He'd cancelled plans with her and had done this instead.
Giggles bubbled up out of Sonny's throat and she threw herself into Chad's arms with a smile so wide that it rivaled his. "I can't believe you did all of this!" she whispered loudly in his ear (the cheering was loud but easily drowned out).
"I know you were probably expecting something for next month," Chad confessed, "but I thought five months was just as significant considering what's been going on lately. I had a whole night planned, but when we agreed to come on the show I had to change my plan of action. The cake is your favorite, you know. Chocolate and vanilla swirl-"
"Chad Dylan Cooper, you are the most adorable boyfriend," Sonny declared before she kissed him.
May 6th
4:17 p.m.
Condor Studios
Mackenzie Falls Set
Portlyn's Dressing Room
Nico sighed as he paced Portlyn's empty dressing room, the one she now had to share with the other girls cast as recurring characters. She'd told him to pick her up here almost twenty minutes ago, the only time she could get out of the studio with him without people seeing. It was always on the sly with Portlyn; she could never be up front and open with their relationship (a fact she constantly made clear to him). And now she was late for their outing (she could never call it a date). Portlyn had left him a note that said she was in a meeting with the writers of Mackenzie Falls and he could use her laptop until she got back. The later it got, the less interesting waiting for Portlyn got and the more Nico was drawn to the WiFi connection.
With a sigh, Nico pulled a chair up to the little table Portlyn's bright pink laptop was perched on and opened it up. Her email was open on the screen and Nico was just about to minimize it in favor of a game of solitaire or pinball when the subject and sender caught his eye. After a quick scan, Nico's heart plummeted. He stood up from his seat abruptly, glancing repeatedly from the screen of Portlyn's laptop to the door, almost completely at a loss for what to do.
"Well, I…I can't just stand here," he muttered to himself frantically. "I gotta…print! I can print it." Running a hand over his hair, Nico hit the print button on the screen then waited impatiently for the printer to spit out the email. His heart was hammering in his throat and the bland room was starting to spin when he finally got to close the laptop, fold up the lonely piece of paper, and escape the room.
Still worried that somebody (namely Portlyn) would catch him, Nico sprinted back to the So Random! prop house where he knew Sonny, Chad, Grady, and Chloe were hanging out between Chad's scenes. He stumbled into the room short of breath and thrust the email into a very bewildered Chad's hands.
"What is this?"
"I found it on Portlyn's email," Nico explained. "I thought you and Sonny-girl might wanna see it."
Raising and eyebrow, Chad flipped open the paper.
"'Port,'" Sonny read aloud over Chad's shoulder, "'thanks for the great tip offs about Sonny and Chad. You'll be seeing your cut of the profits by the end of the week. I'm looking forward to your next tip. Sharona?!"
"This was on Portlyn's email?" Chad exclaimed.
"Yes," Nico said assertively. "I was over there and she said I could use her computer while she was in a meetin' with the writers of yo show-"
"Portlyn's not in a meeting," Chloe said, confusion written across her face, "she went out with Skyler."
Somehow, Nico wasn't surprised, but still… She was out with Skyler DeVane? Nico looked over at Chloe in uncertainty.
"I overheard them talking," she said with a sympathetic smile. "I'm really sorry, Nico."
"Portlyn can't be the one behind this," Sonny insisted as she stared, unblinking, at the paper in Chad's hand.
"The email's addressed to her," Chloe refuted.
"Chad heard Skyler on the phone with someone. He was asking if they'd gotten the pictures."
"He said he was talking to his mom, but I didn't really believe him. I mean, c'mon! Nobody at the Falls calls their parents on set."
"I do," Chloe said.
"You're different," Chad told her.
"There's always the chance that Portlyn and Skyler are both in cahoots with Sharona," Grady suggested. He didn't glance up from his comic book as he spoke. "They're both kind of sketchtastic."
"Sketch…tastic?" Chad questioned.
"Yeah. Untrustworthy, screwy…all that good stuff."
"We need to take this to Marshall," Sonny decided. "He'll take it to Mr. Condor."
"And what're ya gonna tell Marshall? That I was readin' somethin' I shouldn't've been?" Nico said.
"No, Sonny's right," Chloe said, shaking her head. "Nothing's more important to Mr. Condor than image, Nico. If someone's been messing with the image of his studio, then something is going to happen to that someone. Portlyn made her choices and she has to deal with the consequences." She stepped forward and slipped her hand into his shyly. "It's the right thing to do in the end, Nico. It'll help Sonny and Chad, and we're all gonna be here on your side."
May 14th
10:47 p.m.
Baldwin Apartments
Chad's Apartment
Living Room
Sonny sighed in contentment as she listened to Chad's heart thrum steadily in his chest. For the past week, peaceful moments had suddenly become abundant. Thanks to Nico's discovery, the mysterious informant had been found. When presented with the evidence, Portlyn confessed to both Marshall and Mr. Condor with a stony face. Her only motive had been petty jealousy and she had been using Nico in order to get most of the information she had passed on to Sharona.
Mr. Condor had been absolutely livid. Portlyn had sat in his office for two hours as he ranted and yelled about her actions destroying the images of two of his most important actors before he fired her. The brunette had emerged from the office with her head held high despite the fact that she was now out of a job.
Surprisingly enough, Skyler had been proven completely innocent to the whole matter. He honestly had been talking to his mother on the phone like he had told Chad. And although he had been seeing Portlyn, he was blind to the fact that Nico was as well.
"I may not like you Randoms," he'd told Nico, shaking the comedian's hand, "but I'm a decent guy. She had us both and I think we're better off without her."
It was true that the paparazzi had gone a bit wild for a few days after finding out who had been behind the whole affair, but things eventually died down.
…When Grady wore a cheese patterned suit to a club opening.
That had opened up a whole new can of worms, but one that caused much less of an uproar.
"Looks like we did it, sunshine," Chad said, turning off the television and tossing the remote to his modern, glass and chrome coffee table. He sounded as tired as Sonny felt. The past few months had certainly taken their toll on the couple. "We took down Sharona, had our first big publicity upset, got interviewed by Helen DeGuinness, and got Portlyn written off the Falls. All within the first five months of our relationship." He paused then shifted to look her dead in the eye. "Are you as scared as I am about what the next five months are gonna do to us?"
"You see us together another five months?" Sonny asked, surprised.
"You don't?"
"Of course I do! I just…didn't know if you ever thought ahead that far," she confessed, staring down at her lap as though her pants were much more interesting than the conversation.
"Sonny, if I wasn't with you for the long haul, I wouldn't be putting in the effort. You wouldn't be the first person I called in the morning and the last person I called at night. I wouldn't have stayed with you past the first week if I didn't see this going somewhere."
"Cheesy," Sonny said with a teasing smile.
"But true," Chad retorted quickly. "Look, sunshine, I know we haven't been able to concentrate on our relationship very much since we started dating, but our problems are over with now. We're about to take a break from filming for a few months…we're gonna have a lot of time to focus on us. And I know I'm no expert at long term relationships, but I think we're doing well for a couple of teen celebs that were just accosted by the media!"
Sonny chuckled and smiled at him brightly. For a jerkthrob, Chad sure knew how to make everything feel alright. He had definitely changed over the past year and a half, something she hadn't really be expecting given who he'd been since before their paths crossed.
"I think we're doing fantastically," she agreed whole-heartedly.
"The question is," Chad said pensively, tapping a finger against his chin, "how am I going to top our five month anniversary?"
"I don't want to do anything for our six month," Sonny blurted out.
Chad looked taken aback. "Why not?"
"Why celebrate one day when every day is special?"
"So…you want to celebrate every day? 'Cause I'm not made of money, Sonny."
Sonny rolled her eyes at Chad's lame attempt at a joke. "Every day is a celebration, you dork. When one year rolls around…then we'll celebrate."
While I got a lot of suggestions for Helen's questions, these were the ones I chose to use in the story:
How did you get together in the first place? - cookie-cutter-rockstar; XJamesBondX
So, the majority of 'Channy' fans around the world are in an uproar. Is there anything you'd like to say to those fans? Perhaps some reassuring words on the subject? - DrowningxInxSapphire
How have your friends helped? - BlueEyesxx
Did you two getting together mend the rumored rift between your shows? - Shealtiel
Once again, thank you guys so much for all your support over these past few months! You guys are definitely the most epic, kick ass reviewers I could possibly ask for! While I'm making no promises about when I'll update next, I know the time span won't be as long as this one.
I love hearing your speculations on the story, so drop me a line and tell me what you thought about the chapter and/or what you think will happen next. And I will for sure try to reply to all of your reviews since I've been unable to thus far.
I'm pretty stoked for Arc Two: Summer, because there's going to be a lot of interesting things happening in Sonny and Chad's individual lives, and things could get a little…off kilter for them. Again.
Love,
EmbracingRain
