Hi there! :)

Time for another update, hope you`re ready!

Thanks for the wonderful feedback on the previous chapter; I`m so glad you liked it! It`s always scary to publish a new part of the story, so I`m really relieved every time I receive kind reviews:)

Today`s chapter is probably a little sadder than the previous one, but it`s important in the development of Sulley and Randall`s relationship. Randall needs to be able to trust Sulley, and after this chapter he will. Yay!

I don`t think I have anything more to tell you before the actual chapter… So go ahead, read and review! See you at the bottom!

Chapter 12: Change of Plans

The CEO of "new" Monsters Inc. returned to duty on Wednesday, after taking Tuesday off due to what he referred to as family matters. The rest of the week at work went by more or less as usual, with only a couple of minor exceptions; like George Sanderson falling onto a trolley of laugh-cans and causing them to fly around the laugh-floor and ruin a couple of doors, for instance.

The new routines had indeed began to settle at Monsters Inc., and the CEO had some fresh routines in his private life as well; he got up an hour earlier than before, and then Mike would drive him over to Randall`s apartment. Then Sulley used Sophie`s key to lock himself in, so that he could join Randall and Mrs Lorenzo for breakfast, checking if everything was alright with both of them. Eventually he would leave for work, leaving the lizard and the old lady to themselves for the day.

Sulley would then go back to the lizard`s apartment again in the afternoon after work, to join Randall for dinner and maybe take him out for a walk - before heading back home for Mike, who awaited him with supper – sometimes; it all depended on the green monster`s mood.

Sulley`s days were busy, sure, but the progress Randall was making made it all worth it. A week ago, the lizard had been avoiding all of the blue monster`s attempts to make contact and bombarded him with sofa-cushions once he sat foot inside his living room; now, however, the scaly one talked, ate, and – apparently - started to warm up to the idea of Sullivan being his friend. Sure, there were still matters Randall didn`t want to talk about, like feelings, Sophie, Rex or his past, but he could go on forever about different things that annoyed him – and Sulley found that was better than nothing.

Once Friday came and the weekend approached, Sulley joined Randall and Gladys for breakfast as usual, before leaving the odd duo to themselves and head on for the week`s last day of work; he couldn`t help but look forward to having a couple of days off duty now, as the week that would soon belong to the past had been rather exhausting.

It was still very cold outside, and once again the sky was clouding over; it wouldn`t surprise Sulley if there was more snow awaiting the citizens of Monstropolis. And just as he reached Monsters Inc., he noticed the first couple of fragile flakes gently dance down through the clear air; he hoped the city council was prepared this time.

As the furry monster entered the building that held his job, he ran into Mike, who was also on his way to work. The friends chatted for a little while (mostly about Mike`s plans for his next date with Celia, as usual), before they headed in separate directions for their different tasks.

As Sulley approached his office for the last time that week, he was pleasantly surprised by two familiar voices behind him;

"Ulley!"

"Sulley! Hi!"

He turned around to face Sophie and Rex, who were on their way to work and dayscare; as usual Rex wanted a hug from the blue monster, and Sulley made sure he got what he asked for. Sophie chuckled at the sight;

"Wow Sulley; You`ve really gotten yourself a fan, there..!"

"It`s mutual; He`s a great kid! Right, Rex?" Sulley looked from Sophie to Rex and then back at Sophie again as he spoke. Rex`s face lit up.

"Thanks for paying him this much attention, it means a lot to him – and to me". Sophie presented the other adult with a warm smile;

"After all, you`re the only male figure in his life at the moment, and -"

She suddenly stopped herself. Sophie didn`t want to talk about things like this in front of her young son, and lowered her voice as she continued;

"We can talk about it tonight, okay..?"

"Tonight..?"

For a moment, Sulley gazed absently on Sophie; until he slowly remembered – he had accepted the invitation to join Sophie and Rex for dinner tonight, and he had completely forgotten about it; he had been busy with both work and Randall the entire week, and – …Randall. He hadn`t told Randall (or Mrs Lorenzo, for that sake) that he couldn`t come to see them tonight; he had to call the old lady to hear if she could spend the evening with the lizard now, and then –

"Sulley..?" Sophie looked at the blue monster with concern; "Are you okay..?"

The CEO eventually managed to pull himself back to the moment, and gave Sophie a light-hearted laugh as he spoke;

"Sure, sure..! I`ve been looking forward to this day all week..!" He lowered his gaze to look at Rex; "Especially to seeing your room!"

Rex grinned back at him and took hold of his hand.

"I`m glad to hear that – oh dear, look at the time; we have to go now, I`m running late -" Sophie excused herself; "I`ll see you tonight, then Sulley! Is seven okay?"

"Seven sounds good..!"

Sophie smiled, grabbed one of Rex`s hands and turned around to head for the dayscare. However, she turned on heel;

"Oh, I forgot; Rex told me he met you and your friend in the park the other day! Sounds like you guys had fun!"

Sulley`s stomach jumped, but he managed to pull a smile that he hoped looked normal;

"Yeah..! Yeah, that was… great..!"

"Once again, thanks for being so patient with my son, and for playing with him – even when you were with your friend..!"

Sulley smiled even wider to cover up his growing feeling of discomfort. Luckily, Sophie didn`t notice – she just returned his smile; "You`ll have to tell me all about it tonight!"

"Don`t worry, I will..!"

Sulley kept his fake, goofy smile on until Sophie was out of sigh; then he replaced it with a face reflecting the stress he felt on the inside at that moment. He had been hoping Sophie wouldn`t talk to him about Tuesday, when he and Randall had spent time with Rex; Randall didn`t want Sophie to know he was back, and Sulley was not a very good liar. This could get ugly.

The rest of the day went by without any big happenings. Sulley met Mike and the others for lunch, and chatted about this and that as usual; his friends had all forgiven him for turning them down on the quiz-night on Monday, and things were back to normal between the individuals in the group.

After lunch Mike headed back for the laugh-floor, and his best friend started walking back to his own office; both of them somewhat ready for the last half of the day. Before they went in separate directions, the green monster grabbed hold of the blue one and pulled him aside for a moment;

"So… In case I don`t see ya anymore today, I just wanted to wish ya luck; you`re ready for the big date now, then..?"

"Date?"

"With Sophie..?" Mike narrowed his eye; sometimes his friend was really slow.

"It`s not a date! And I thought I told you I`m not into her..?"

"Well, she`s into you; and she will be even more so once she learns that you`re looking after her brother..!"

"I`m not gonna tell her about that, Randall doesn`t want me to!"

"Okay, okay… Maybe not today then, but eventually she will find out about it, ya know – and then she`ll go completely crazy for ya; women love men with a soft side – just look at the way Celia looks at me".

Sulley was about to break in, but Mike didn`t allow him to. He held up his hands and gained a more serious facial expression; "Sulley; just give this a chance, will ya? Perhaps you don`t see it yet, but I`m thinking this girl could be good for ya. I`m your best friend, and I want you to be happy; and let`s face it, I`m not going to be around for ever, ya know..!"

"What?! Are you sick?" Sulley looked startled.

"No, silly; I`m talking about me and Celia! One day not far from now she will probably start begging to move in with me, and then you`ll be all on your own, and I don`t want that for you! That`s where Sophie comes in, someone like her would be perfect to keep you company..! And you`ll even get that lively kid as a part of the package..!"

The blue one opened his mouth to protest, but Mike went on – a little more compassionate now;

"Look, Sul; I know it`s too early for you to say you`re in love with her, and you`re too slow to realize that you might be crushing; but give it a chance tonight, okay?"

Mike gave his best friend a big smile and a supportive pat on the arm, and before Sulley got the chance to answer him, the green monster was on his back to his shift; humming on an old love-song.

Sulley watched the snow fall outside his window as the clock approached five; he had been right this morning, there was definitely more snow on its way.

The CEO was getting ready to leave the factory. He planned to run a couple of errands before heading over to Sophie`s house, as he had figured out he should probably bring her a present when he came to visit; so for the last couple of hours, he had tried to decide what to buy her, and whether he should bring something for Rex as well. It was difficult, as he didn`t want to buy her something she could interpret as a declaration of love; but what could he get for a female friend who wasn`t a love interest..? Everything he had thought about so far could be misunderstood, and he didn`t want to buy her something completely off either, like office supplies.

Suddenly the phone rang in his office. Sulley was actually happy about it, as it gave him a longed-for break from his own mind. He had a hard time finding the phone in all the mess on his desk (as usual), but eventually he managed to follow the sound and locate it underneath a pile of paper;

"Hello..?" He answered like he would answer the phone at home, but quickly remembered where he was and hurried to add "James P. Sullivan, Monsters Incorporated!"

"Hello? Mr Sullivan..?" The voice on the other side of the line was squeaky and sounded old, and Sulley didn`t recognize it;

"Who is this?"

"It`s me".

Sulley was about to hang up, this was obviously someone who had dialled the wrong number in an attempt to reach a different Sullivan. Either that or someone was pulling him a prank;

"I`m sorry, but I think you have the wrong nu -"

"Isn`t this Mr Sullivan; Randy`s sweet friend..?"

Suddenly Sulley realized that the monster he was talking to was none other than Gladys Lorenzo, Randall`s neighbour and daytime-caretaker. And just as he realized, he started to worry;

"Gladys? Is everything alright?"

There was a long pause. Sulley`s concern grew, and he suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to call Randall and Gladys and tell them that he couldn`t come over tonight. Just as he opened his mouth to break the news to the old lady, she beat him to it;

"Randy isn`t doing so good".

"What? What`s wrong?"

"I don`t know to be honest, he won`t tell me; he doesn`t talk at all. I think you`ll have to come over a little sooner tonight, to see if you can talk to him… Would you mind?"

Sulley`s heart started pounding. The furry monster made a quick decision - the only one he thought was the right one to make at that moment;

"I`ll be there as fast as I can".

He hung up the phone and hurried for the door; only to remember that he had to call Sophie and tell her the plans for tonight were changed. He ran back to his desk, grabbed the phone - and remembered he didn`t have Sophie`s cellphone-number. He then spent some time looking it up, feeling sweat gather on his back as he did (had his office always been this hot?), and once he found it he dialled the numbers with surprisingly clumsy fingers and waited impatiently for Randall`s sister to answer;

"Hello?"

"Sophie? It`s Sulley!"

"Hi!" Sophie`s tone was happy as usual, and that made it even more difficult for Sulley to break the news to her;

"Sophie..? I`m really sorry, but…" He took in a deep breath; "I can`t make it tonight".

"Is everything okay..?" Her voice gained a touch of worry, and Sulley tried his best to calm her down;

"I`m fine, it`s just… my… Aunt Gladys… She`s sick, and she needs help tonight..!"

"Oh my God, I`m so sorry..! Is she going to be alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, don`t you worry, it`s nothing serious… She just… Needs some company, that`s all… I`m really sorry, Sophie".

"Don`t be, it`s not your fault. Such situations aren`t for us to control..!" Her voice was as calm as ever, and Sulley thought about how much he appreciated it. Sophie continued;

"I`m fine with it Sulley, trust me – and if you want to, you can always come over at some other time..! Why don`t we talk on Monday, and come up with another day?" He could actually hear her smile.

"That would be great..! Thank you, and once again, I`m so -"

"Don`t be".

"Fine – thanks. See you on Monday, then. And say hello to Rex from me, I can`t wait to see him again!"

"I`m pretty sure that`s mutual..!" Sophie chuckled; "Take care, Sulley! Good luck with your aunt!"

"Thanks; Bye..!"

He hung up and took another deep breath; then he left the office and headed straight for Randall`s apartment.

"Hello?" Sulley closed the door behind him as he slowly entered the apartment he had come to spend a surprisingly big amount of time in lately;

"Randall? Gladys?"

The old lady met him in the door to the living room. She seemed a little nervous;

"I`m glad you`re here, Mr Sullivan".

"What`s happened?"

"I don`t know. Randy and I had a perfectly normal day; we went grocery-shopping, we cleaned out my fridge - such things. When we got back here, I started cleaning out that filthy cardboard box that have been placed on the living room-floor for days, and – suddenly he got all sad, and he`s been on the sofa ever since".

"I`ll talk to him; thanks for calling me." Sulley smiled at the old lady, and noticed that she looked a little tired; "Perhaps you want a break now?"

"I could use a nap," she replied. "Thank you Mr Sullivan; I`ll be back for the night-shift". She grabbed her purse, which also seemed to resemble a prune, and went across the hall for her own apartment.

Sulley entered the living room and took in the familiar sight of the purple lizard on the couch. The blue monster felt a chill travel down his spine; Randall hadn`t looked this down since Sulley had first seen him after he came back around a week ago.

"Randall -" Sulley sat down beside him, not knowing what else to say. He looked at the other, before he moved his gaze over at the table; the things from Randall`s locker at work (that had been placed in the cardboard box until that day) where all placed there. Sulley looked at the different items, and didn`t see how any of them could possibly upset Randall in this way.

He looked back at the purple monster again, and noticed that he clung on to something in one of his hands; a little piece if folded paper, which Sulley recognized to be the one Sophie had almost unfolded the day he had given her the box. Curiosity took him over;

"What`s that?" he asked, pointing to the piece of paper.

When Randall didn`t answer, the blue monster took hold of his hand and gently removed the paper-sheet. He unfolded it, and found it was a picture; a picture of two monsters, a young adult and a child. He saw that the oldest one was a younger version of Sophie, and after a moment he also recognized the child; Randall. A young Randall Boggs in purple-framed glasses similar to the ones he had been wearing for a little time during college, who held on to his sister`s hand with a shy smile.

"So this is what you`re thinking about, then… Sophie?" Sulley tried his best to find words that wouldn`t do any more harm, and was almost scared to ask Randall questions. However, he had to get him to talk, so he went on in hopes that he would get a reply; "Do you miss her..?"

No answer.

"I understand if you miss her… She`s your family, and I`m sure she misses you too; you`re her brother. She loves you -" Sulley suddenly remembered what Sophie had told him a week ago: that she believed Randall thought she had replaced him with Rex; "She loves you, even though she has a child".

Randall blinked a couple of times, and Sulley felt more sorry for him than ever before; he had been through so much, and as an attempt to comfort, the blue monster placed his hand on top of one of Randall`s.

However, pity was not what the lizard wanted; he withdrew his hand as Sulley tried to take it in his own. He leaned the other way when the blue monster tried to lay his arm around him to comfort. He didn`t need the other`s touch; besides, his pride kept him from allowing himself to rest on someone`s shoulder, no matter how bad things got.

Luckily for Randall, Sullivan understood his demand for privacy and sat back. But his eyes still remained on the lean figure in the other part of the couch, who blinked and blinked and had troubles talking; Randall feared that if he did, his voice would crack and he would start crying – and that would have been unbearable.

"Randall". Sulley talked to him again as he saw his friend`s struggles; he reached out and placed his hand on the other`s shoulder - the only place of Randall`s body he was somewhat allowed to touch;

"It`s okay to cry".

Randall still didn`t answer; he just swallowed hard and avoided Sullivan`s gaze.

"You`ve been through a lot; crying is a normal way to respond". Sulley still didn`t move his gaze from the purple monster, and his hand remained on the scaly shoulder; "Just let go of it, Randall – it will make you feel better, I promise".

When the other monster still didn`t respond in any way, Sulley thought it was probably the time to suggest something else;

"Do you want to step outside for a while?"

Randall blinked a few more times before he finally said something – although his voice was merely a whisper;

"Yes".

Minutes later, the two monsters were outside in the cold weather together; it was still snowing, but the sidewalks had already been cleared. None of them spoke; Randall couldn`t, as his voice would probably break, and Sulley didn`t have anything wise to say. They just walked side by side for a long time, buried in their own thoughts, not even taking in the surroundings.

After nearly half an hour, Sulley thought it was time to break the silence;

"If you want me to, Randall… I can tell Sophie that you`re back. And that you`ll see her when you`re ready. If you miss her, I mean".

Randall stopped walking and looked at the other through the corner of his eye. Sulley continued;

"Do you want me to tell her?"

The lizard removed his gaze from Sullivan as he nodded slowly; he wanted his sister to know. He hadn`t thought about her for ages, until he finally saw her picture today; and now he was unable to keep her off his mind. It frustrated him; he didn`t want to miss her, but whether he liked it or not he had changed during the past few days, and now suddenly he did. He didn`t know how or why, but it made him feel weak and he hated it; so many things were different now. He could feel his eyes water just by thinking about it.

"It`s okay to cry".

He heard Sullivan`s voice right next to him, and that reminded him of another big change in his life; the guy he had spent nearly a lifetime hating was now someone he could call a friend. For the last week, Sullivan had spent all of his free time with him, in order to make him feel better. Randall still didn`t understand why someone would do that for him; especially Sullivan, who Randall had actually tried to kill a month ago. Due to that, Randall's first thought when the blue one came to visit had been that his intention was to arrest him. When that turned out not to be the case, he had thought his plan was to make fun of him. But now - now he didn`t know anymore. Sullivan had been good to him. It actually seemed like he truly cared, and Randall had a hard time taking it in.

Suddenly the lizard felt something hot running down his cheeks. No. No, not in front of someone; this was just too humiliating for words. Despite giving it his best shot, Randall was completely unable to keep the tears from falling; in fact, the more he tried to control them, the more they ran.

At first, the blue monster didn`t notice; it wasn`t until Randall let out a loud sob Sullivan turned his head and saw how tears covered the other monster`s face. But once he noticed, he didn`t hesitate; he reacted fast and on instinct, by pulling the crying one closer and put his arms around him. Sulley`s reaction led to a new sob from the purple one; nobody had held Randall like that since he was a child, when Sophie – Sophie – a new sob.

Sulley could feel the lean body shake as he held around it; Randall was crying his heart out, and all the blue monster could do was to stroke his back and try to calm him down with clichés;

"It`s okay… It`ll get better… Let it out…"

Sulley didn`t know for how long they stood like that; maybe a minute, maybe ten – all he knew was that, despite the fact that Randall was so upset, it actually felt good. It felt good to be useful. It felt good to be able to comfort. It felt good to know that Randall trusted him enough to allow him to comfort him. And, although he didn`t fully understand it, it felt good just to hold Randall like this; it made Sulley feel… Warm.

The two monsters made it back to the scaly one`s apartment around half an hour later; the owner was doing better, it was as if the crying had lightened his mind a bit. He had never meant for Sullivan to see it, but now that the damage was done, he was actually fine with it; the CEO of Monsters Inc. was the only monster he could call his friend, and if anyone had to see him cry, Randall was glad it was him. The lizard felt safer around Sullivan now, and figured he probably wouldn`t tell anyone.

Mrs Lorenzo was waiting for them at Randall`s door with a face full of worry;

"I didn`t know where you boys were! Are you okay?"

"I`m feeling better…" Randall looked at the old lady as Sulley unlocked and opened the door; "I just needed to clear my thoughts".

"Good; I was worried about you, Randy". She followed the two male monsters into the apartment and headed straight for the kitchen; "Now, do you boys want some tea?"

"Thanks, but actually I should head back home," the blue one answered; "I`ve had a long day, and Mike`s probably lonely; I`ll come back tomorrow."

"Very well" Gladys said, disappearing in the kitchen-door, leaving the two males alone in the hall.

"Are you going to be fine here tonight, then?" Sulley looked at Randall with concern.

"Yeah - I think so".

"Like I said; I`ll come back tomorrow." The blue monster`s worry wouldn`t let go; "Are you sure you`re feeling alright?"

"I`m fine".

Sulley gave the lizard a smile as he let one of his hands gently brush against one of the other`s arms; he wished there was something more he could do to help him, but had no idea of what – Sulley didn`t know what it was like to be this depressed.

"At least I`m not alone," Randall eventually said. The statement surprised Sulley; it was the first time the lizard had admitted that he needed company.

"Do you want me to stay?"

"No. She`s okay…" Randall gestured towards the kitchen, where Gladys was making tea.

"Fine… Talk to you tomorrow, then. I`ll be here around noon; okay?"

"Yeah…"

Sulley opened the front-door and stepped back outside in the hallway. Just as he was about to turn his back and leave, Randall called out his name;

"Sullivan..?"

"Yeah?"

"I…" he lowered his gaze down to his own feet; "I… Thank you".

The words took Sulley by surprise; Randall had just thanked him for the first time. Ever. Despite being a little startled, the blue monster managed to send a warm smile in the direction of his newest friend in reply;

"You`re welcome, Randall".

…and that`s it in this round! Hope you liked it!

I felt so good writing the end of the chapter; finally Randall views Sulley as his friend. It has taken him (and the story) a long time to get there, and luckily they will only grow closer from where they are now *blinks*

In the next chapter, that I guess will be ready on Wednesday or Thursday, Mike will visit Randall with Sulley; I`m still not entirely sure how it will go, but our favourite eyeball will notice how his best friend acts around their former enemy;)

I think that`s all I have to say now… Remember to tell me what you think! About everything, I really appreciate it!

Enjoy your weekend, guys! :D