A/N: Hello, dear readers! *dodges TheSarahStar's flying cannon*. I know. I should be ashamed. But, you, my beautiful readers, have the patience of saints for waiting this long! So, without further ado, the penultimate chapter of LWMS! Who else feels like crying?

Thank you Little Miss Me for your reviews! Aww, have a tissue! *hands you tissue* :)

mrpuppy - N'aww, I'm sad that you've gone off SWAC, but I'm happy you're still reading my story! It means a lot to me :)

WARNING: Overly bipolar chapter. First half is enormously depressing and the second half is just me being random :P

Note: This chapter, like the last, is flashbacking time and so is in past tense, which is unusual for me. Bear with me?

Note 2: The first half of this chapter is based on my one-shot Watching Over You. Go check it out if you haven't. It's an add-on to this story.

Chapter 60 (OMW) - Flashbacks, Part II

Chad's POV

It was January, 2012. About a year since Sonny and I broke up after the recount.

Exactly a year since my mother passed away.

So now I had Sonny back. She was mine again, and I was so grateful. I just wished I could get my Mom back too.

Mr Condor knew about it being the anniversary of my Mom's death. Sonny had told him, asking if we could have the day off to mourn. Condor kindly accepted, which I was grateful for. Condor may have been mean and slightly evil, but wasn't totally heartless.

I was lying on the couch, with the TV blaring away. I was home alone - Josh was at school, and Sonny had taken Abby out to the park. She was trying to get her tired out - we were planning on dropping Abby off with Tawni and then making our way to the church, to see Mom.

I heard a small clicking sound - the front door. I sat up on the couch, my head turning to the door, and I smiled when I saw my girlfriend, holding my little sister in her arms. Abby gave me a small, gentle grin as she waved a bouquet of flowers at me - lilies, my Mom's favourite flowers when she was alive. Sonny put Abby down, taking the flowers from her, and instructing her gently to go find a couple of toys to take with her to Tawni's. Abby nodded obediently, toddling off to the kitchen where she'd left her favourite stuffed animal earlier. Sonny giggled, watching the my little sister, before turning to me and giving me a sympathetic smile. I nodded in thanks. Though I didn't like people constantly apologising for my Mom's… death, I didn't mind with Sonny. Sonny was different. When other people apologised, it just made me feel like they thought I was sad and pathetic and in desperate need of a hug, like some little kid who'd lost their blankie. Sonny understood, though - when she tried to sympathise, she did it right. She wasn't patronising, she didn't overdo it.

She took a seat next to me on the couch, resting her head on my shoulder. I leaned my head against her own, stroked her hair smoothly. We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Sonny started to mumble small things about new words Abby picked up while they were out and friends she was making, and I made small murmuring noises to sound like I was listening. But really I was too busy thinking about the dream – nightmare – I'd had before they'd came home. A recurring dream that I'd had almost every night for the first few months after Mom died. It faded away when Sonny came back, but even then it was still there. The memory of my mother's kind, warm eyes. The memory of how, on the last day we ever talked, I told her that I never wanted her to speak to me again.

Oh, the irony. Because she never did.

No matter how long ago it was that my mother died, I will never forget that look in her eye when I yelled at her and told her that I didn't need her help, that I didn't want her around. The regret (understatement of the century) I felt the next day, when I found her lying in her bed; cold, motionless, built up in my chest and I felt like I was going to be sick whenever I thought of it. It's a constant reminder to me – you never know what you have until it's gone.

I learnt my lesson, I suppose. But why did the universe have to end my mother's life to teach me a lesson?

"You okay?" Sonny asked softly, interrupting my thoughts.

"I'm…" I huffed, "…okay. I guess. I've been so much better, though."

"I know." Sonny sighed, embracing me in a careful hug. I hugged her back mindlessly, my thoughts still on other matters.

Why did she have to go?

"Hey, but don't worry." Sonny said, semi-perkily, "Shall we go drop Abby off with Tawni now, and then go see your Mom?"

I nodded, rubbing my nose with the back of my wrist. Sonny broke out into a smile. "Abby!" She called out for my little sister, "C'mon sweetie, we're gonna go see Auntie Tawni!"

Suddenly, my blonde little sister burst back through from the kitchen door with her plush giraffe in tow, giggling and squealing as Sonny picked her up and planted a massive kiss on her cheek. I watched, smiling half-heartedly. I was glad that, back then, Abby was way too young to know what today really was.

Sonny drove us to Tawni's house, with Abby sat in my lap. That wasn't really the best idea I'd ever had – what if we'd crashed? – but I just needed to hold my little sister. She, and Sonny, were the only two things that, without, I probably would've fallen apart, right there, right then.

I felt pathetic. I was the one who was supposed to be strong for my family – I was the older brother. But here Abby was, giggling away, and Josh was being brave and going to school despite the occasion, and I was here, clenching my fists in my baby sister's lap just to stop myself from shattering. I felt like a pathetic mess. If everyone else's lives were continuing so normally…

Why wasn't mine?

Abby ran straight into Tawni's arms and the blonde picked her up and swung her around. Tawni may have been annoying, but she had a connection with my little sister – she still does. Seriously – I never would have expected Tawni to be so good with kids. Apparently I was wrong.

"Hey, guys…" Tawni greeted Sonny with a smile, and then turned and looked at me sympathetically. I nodded, guessing that Sonny had told all her Random friends about today too.

"We'll be back for her later." Sonny informed Tawni with her usual smile, before it faded a little, "You sure you can handle this?" She asked her friend. Tawni chuckled.

"Please! I can handle this just fine; you two go and do whatever you've gotta do." She rubbed her nose against Abby's, earning an excited little coo from my sister. "We'll be just fine, won't we, Mini Me?" She cooed. I rolled my eyes.

"If you dare turn her into a mini you, Tawni, I'd never come to you for babysitting again." I joked. Tawni stuck her tongue out at me, making Abby giggle approvingly. I shook my head. "Great." I mumbled. Tawni laughed.

"Chillax, Cooper." She said, "I got this. You two have a nice day."

My heart sunk. Have a nice day? How the hell was I supposed to do that?

"Oh, and Chad?" I whirled around to see Tawni frowning concernedly. She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry about your mom. It kind of explains why you were such a jerk after yours and Sonny's break up." She smirked lightly, adding jokingly, "If I'd have known, I might've treated you a little better after the whole Sonny break-up thing."

I couldn't help but chuckle, even though it sounded pretty hollow, "Thanks Blondie."

"No prob, Pooper."

The air around us was still, like the whole day was pretty much lifeless. I could hear the distant noise of the busy city around us, but I wasn't really focused on it. Sonny laid the bouquet of flowers on my mother's grave while I sat down next to it, my fingers tracing her name in the gravestone.

Sonny slumped next to me, resting her head on my shoulder. She caressed my back, humming softly. I closed my eyes while listening to her humming, and all I could see was my Mom's bright blue eyes, her kind smile, her blonde hair, her friendly face. Even worse, the second image that appeared – the helpless, defeated look in her eye when we last talked.

When I told her that I never wanted to speak to her again.

And no matter how much Sonny's soft, gentle touch comforted me, I still found myself wallowing in guilt and self-pity. It felt like I had, in a way, murdered my mother. I felt like I had basically laid a death wish on her, and that's exactly what the universe delivered. But that's not what I wanted. Tons of kids said that they wanted their parents to go away, right? But they never mean it.

I didn't mean it!

But it came. It came, like it had heard my wish, and it stole my mother away from me.

"It's my fault she's in there, you know." I told Sonny. Her head whipped around and she stared at me with wide eyes.

"What?"

"It's my fault." I mumbled, shuffling uncomfortably. My voice cracked on 'fault', and I clenched my fists. I was not going to cry… not now… I didn't feel like I deserved to cry.

"Chad, how is it your…"

"A few nights after we broke up, Mom tried to comfort me and I told her to never speak to me again." I raked a hand through my hair. I'd never told anyone about this. I was too ashamed. "The next day, she didn't get out of bed, and when I got home..." I choked on the last three words, "She was gone."

And then I broke down. Broke down at my mother's gravestone. Three hundred and sixty-five days of emotion poured out in those next few seconds. I fell onto my hands and knees and repeatedly punched the ground beside the gravestone. I felt a few tears emerge but it was only when I spoke that I realised I was full-on bawling. A couple of curses escaped my mouth.

"I h-hate this." I sobbed, before planting my face on the ground and growling, "I hate it, I hate it, I hate it."

"Chad…" My girlfriend's soft voice contradicted mine. I envied how calm she was. "Chad, honey, it's okay."

I squinted my eyes together in attempt to stop the tears, but they just kept coming. Sonny wrapped her arms around my waist and lifted me up so that I was balancing on my knees and looking her right in the eyes.

"Chad." She murmured, wiping away a few stray tears that littered my cheeks. Her fingers traced around my face, outlining each feature. "Listen to me, yeah? What happened to your Mom was not your fault." I folded my arms and avoided her gaze and she sighed. She held up my chin, forcing me to look her in the eye, like you would for a toddler. Her brown eyes were warm, her touch was soft. Just by looking at her, my bitterness towards myself melted a little. She loved me, didn't she? Whether I was a murderer or not.

And Sonny, she – she didn't think I was a murderer. Which, in a way, I suppose I wasn't. I didn't know that Mom was going to die. I didn't realise that my words would soon become reality.

"Do you remember why she died?" Sonny asks me softly, "Do you remember what the doctors said?"

I closed my eyes. I'd almost shut this whole explanation out of my head. I was too busy trying to blame myself. "She'd had an operation in that hospital, the week before." My teeth involuntarily clenched together. "It was nothing serious, but the doctor said that, um… she caught some super-bug while she was there. It was a mutant virus or something – immune to any antibiotics they could throw at it. Mom– Mom didn't tell us about it. She didn't tell us about this bug that she'd caught – she thought it would go away. But it didn't. They couldn't treat it, and so it killed her." I suddenly felt weak in the knees and collapsed onto Sonny's shoulder. "They couldn't treat the super-bug. They couldn't save her." (A/N: Ugh. Biology reference. Yes, there are such things as mutant bugs :P)

"Hey, hey!" Sonny stroked my back, like I did for her when she was upset or scared or angry. Her touch sent electrical impulses down my back, somehow shocking my system and making the sobs die down a bit. "It wasn't your fault – see? I mean, your Mom caught this bug before you said what you said to her. Even if you hadn't said that, they couldn't have saved her."

I inhaled and exhaled slowly, calming myself down while I listened to Sonny.

"I know it's hard, Chad – it's hard losing a loved one. And I know that you've probably been beating yourself up about what you said this whole year, haven't you?"

I nodded, ashamed.

"Don't." She smiled, "You shouldn't be mad at yourself – I'm sure your Mom isn't. Wherever she is right now, she's smiling, I'm sure."

I scoffed, "Smiling at the mess that is her son?"

"Smiling at her son; the teenage actor, the brilliant boyfriend, the caring brother. Chad, for this whole year, you've been trying your best to take care of your family. And I know it's been hard, but you have me now. Things are only going to get better – I'm going to help you. I promise. Trust me – your Mom is so proud of you. She's so, so proud."

She laid down on the grass beside me, gently patting the space beside her, trying to get me to lay down too. She was lying on her side, with her hand resting under her head to support it. I laid next to her, folding my arms and resting them on my stomach, giving her a sweet smile. She grinned.

"Hi." She said with a small giggle.

"Hey." I replied, smiling at her little laugh, which caused her to laugh again. She reached her free arm out to spike up my hair, which had fallen flat from me slamming my head down on the grass in my moment of pure anger at myself. I placed a hand on my forehead, biting my lip, worried that I'd left a mark. Sonny seemed to know what I was doing immediately. She giggled again cutely.

"Don't worry, Chad." She said, giving me the most adorable smile ever, "Your face is fine. You look perfect."

I smiled softly. The moment felt magical, just like every moment with Sonny does. But I couldn't help the sickly feeling in my stomach – my mother was a few feet under us – cold, dead, underground. Sonny noticed my distress and reached for my hand, placing it on Mom's gravestone. She kissed the hand tenderly, like kissing a child's hand after they'd just injured it.

"Everything's going to be fine, Chad." She promised.

For the first time in a whole year, I fully agreed.

"Come ooooon, Chad!"

The day after the anniversary, I remember being woken up to the lovely symphony of my brother, baby sister, and girlfriend, screaming in my ear.

Great.

"We have work!" Sonny cooed, shoving my arm while Josh pulled on my foot and Abby poked my face, "And you promised you'd take Josh and Abby to see Condor Studios and introduce them to the Randoms and stuff!"

I scoffed, my voice mocking. Hey, I hadn't had much sleep last night – despite the strange disappearance of that random reoccurring nightmare of my last few moments with my mother – so could you really blame me for what I said next?

"Oh, yippee. A day with my siblings and the Randoms? What could make this better?"

Sonny slapped my arm, "Your girlfriend in a bad mood because someone forgot to buy her pancakes!"

I rolled my half-closed eyes. "You guys go without me. I'll catch you…" I snuggled my head into the pillow, "later."

I heard the muffled giggles of my little family, and face-planted the pillow. Nut-jobs.

I paid for that exactly 6 seconds later.

"OH MY-" I refrained from swearing in the light of my audience, as said-audience dumped a decently-sized bucket of ice-cold water on my poor defenceless body. The three of them then exploded in fits of giggles – even innocent little Abby. Sonny's laughter, though, soared above everyone else's – light and happy with a hint of crazy. Yup, that's my Sonny.

"You guys are evil." I said, spluttering. Sonny giggled, ruffling my drenched hair.

"And proud!" She said with a wide grin. I eyeballed the ceiling.

"Now I'm definitely not coming."

Sonny frowned, before her eyes brighten and she seemed to come up with a plan.

"Puppy dog eyes!"

And so, being the strong, brave, totally not-whipped boyfriend I am, I very kindly drove my little family to Condor Studios. Abby, with Josh gripping onto her little hand, skipped towards the door, babbling to herself, with Josh interjecting every now and again to make some sweet little comment that made her giggle uncontrollably and adorably. Sonny cooed every few seconds, her grip on my arm getting tighter. I rolled my eyes and smiled gently, trying to seem as interested as she was which was pretty much near impossible.

We walked into the Prop House on some kind of Mexican stare-off between Zora and Condor's little 'angel' Dakota, with Nico and Grady watching with narrow eyes, posed in a stance as if they're waiting for some action so they can jump in there and stop them. Uh oh. Nico and Grady, trying to stop a fight?

Almost like Sonny and I can read each other's mind, we looked right at each other and nodded, and as Zora and Dakota all but dived at each other, we each ran up and held them apart. Being the total hero that I am (ha) I dive for the smaller Dakota, while Sonny makes a break for her larger, weirder, and debatably scarier cast mate.

"LEMME AT 'ER! LEMME AT 'ER!" Zora screamed, while Dakota wiggled in my arms. Sonny shot me an exasperated look over Zora's shoulder.

"Guys, break it up!" She moaned, while Nico and Grady shrunk away from the scene and made their way towards the door, where my siblings were, watching the action from a respectful distance and ready to make a break for it in case things got too serious.

Wusses. And, really, how serious could a catfight between two little girls get? Alright, so these are two incredibly dangerous and creepy 'little girls', but still.

"Zora, Zora!" Sonny shouted, grabbing her cast mate by the shoulders and whirling her around so she was facing her, looking her right in the eye. She speaks to her slowly, calmly, as if that will have an impact on the raging girl's actions, "What did she do?"

I couldn't see her face, but Zora's whole body scrunched up, "She threatened to smash Gnomey!"

I blinked, "Another Gnomey?" I queried, while Dakota stopped fidgeting in my arms, "I swear she broke the last one. And the one before that. Do you guys seriously have that many gnomes?"

Zora shot a look over her shoulder at me, like she was offended, "This was Gnomey Junior!" She moaned, like I was stupid. Even Sonny shook her head at me slowly, like she was mildly disappointed. Seriously?

"The fiend!" I said in mock horror, and all three girls glared at me. If I wasn't somewhat scared of each of them, I would've rolled my eyes. Zora did exactly that and then turned back to Sonny.

"I told you, Sonny!" She growled, "She's evil."

For the first time, Dakota spoke up in that rude, self-confident, I-can-say-anything-cos-my-Daddy-can-fire-you voice of hers. "Obviously someone doesn't have many friends, for being so attached to a gnome."

Her voice was so snarky, I almost hinted to Sonny to let Zora go and let her at the little snob. Zora wriggled and writhed in Sonny's grip though, pretty much leaping at her target. Dakota, who had now pretty much calmed down, shoved my arms off of her and folded her own, smirking that wicked little smirk of hers. Zora was right – she is evil.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and turned to see my little brother, giving me a weird look.

"You guys are pretty crud at dealing with angry girls, aren't you?"

I shrugged, "I have you – I've dealt with wriggling, girly little pains in the asses before."

He pulled a face, "Ha, ha, you're a comic genius." He said ironically, before dropping back to his previous tone, "Need any help?"

"Dude. Your dolls still have fights you can't solve."

His face hardened, "Action figures."

Nico called from the door, where he was now holding my little sister while Grady did the whole pick-a-boo routine. "I hear ya, dude!" He shouted, Grady giving Josh a thumbs-up.

He ignored mine and Nico's comment and sauntered past me, to where the insane little snob and his future girlfriend were giving each other stink eye. Dakota saw the approaching figure and immediately reached for a gnome on the centre of the table who I presumed was Gnomey Junior. Zora gasped when Dakota laid her hands on the gnome, almost as if she was committing a crime. Dakota stared at the gnome with a calculating look.

"I wonder if Junior here bounces."

Zora's eyes widened dramatically. "You wouldn't dare!"

Dakota stared at the gnome for a few more seconds, pulling a studious face. Suddenly, though, Mr Unexpected-Hero spoke up.

"Hey," he said, putting his arms out, "put it down."

Dakota pulled a face. "Why should I listen to you?"

Josh smiled a little, "Because I'm older than you." I mentally fist-bumped my brother. I'd taught him well. "And besides, it's not like you can fire me or something, cos I don't work here."

Dakota smirked evilly, "But I can fire your brother." She said, looking up at me with adoring eyes. I shuddered. She still had that thing for me, then.

Josh raised a cautious eyebrow, "But then you wouldn't be able to see him… all day long… it'd get kinda lonely."

Dakota's face fell flat and I shuddered harder. Never did unemployment look so good.

"C'mon," Josh said, a playful smirk on his lips, "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" He then paused and shrugged, "Wait. You're totally pickin' on the right-sized person here. Bullying a gnome. How hard of you."

Dakota's eyes widened, so far they were almost falling out of their sockets. No-one talked to Dakota Condor like that. Ever. She was obviously off the edge. Especially when Zora added; "Beat it, shorty!"

Seeming to have forgotten her daughter-of-the-boss status, Dakota's arms went limp, the gnome falling in the process. However, it fell on the table, with not enough force to fully smash it. The breath everyone had been holding in had been released, and Dakota fled the room as quickly as possible. Zora pretty much flew straight towards Josh.

"You saved Gnomey!" She gushed, grinning ear to ear. Josh gave her a small smile.

"It was nothin'." He said softly. It was the first time I'd seen that guy act 'soft'.

"What's your name?" Zora asked, extending her hand out to shake his.

"Josh." He nodded, "Chad's bro."

Zora grinned, "You're much cooler than your brother."

"Hey!" I moaned, but neither of them seemed too interested in me. I heard Sonny 'aww', and rolled my eyes. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the beginning of 'Zosh', and the restoration of Sonnying It Up. Yippee.

And, I guess I'm slightly, maybe, possibly, kind of happy that 'Zosh' came about, cos Josh became a slightly more respectful dude when that happened. Yeah. Go love. And as Sonny would say, see? Love does change people for the better, la de da, flowers and pretty stuff, blah blah blah, love, yay.

So keep that in mind.

And, I guess it's true. Love changed me for the better, right? I mean, without Sonny, I'd probably still be some jerk, sleeping with five women per week and dumping each of them, even if they were pregnant. Yeah, I think we're all grateful that Sonny came into my life. Now, we're married.

And I am something that I never thought I'd be.

I'm happy.

A/N: Yayyy another totally cliché ending! Lol. That last half was based on an idea for a one-shot that someone gave me, but I never wrote it as a one-shot cos I couldn't think, but now I could! Yay :P

I really hope that y'all enjoyed the chapter! It's the second-to-last episode... so sad!

Review, please, guys! ;D

~Amy x