Just Playmates

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III. Play No More

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[Sonny's POV]

It was February fifteenth, and I was locked in Tawni and my dressing room while everyone was out at the cafeteria, getting themselves lunch. Complete and utter silence. All I did was sit on the couch and stare absentmindedly at the plain ceiling, thinking, simply thinking. What emotion could possibly run through me besides regret and guilt?

This is when realization hit me: I finally spent Valentine's Day with someone, someone who happened to be the kind of guy who would dump his girlfriend the day before shamelessly, the type of guy who makes me loathe February fourteenth entirely mind you, and yet I had what should have been the best day of my life.

Only, I was the one who messed it up.

Oh, I messed it up big time.

I slapped my forehead before groaning inwardly.

You're such an idiot, Sonny.

Yes, Sonny, I did know that.

Did you know that speaking to yourself was a sign of one of those mental disorders…

"Sonny, you better open the freaking door or else!" Tawni growled behind her door, banging against it with her fist.

"I want to be alone." I whined, pulling a pillow over my face.

"Oh stop being pathetic and just open the door." Tawni scoffed.

I sighed. It's not like I was surprised at Tawni's sudden change of behavior. Her kindness only comes out perhaps once a month or so.

To prevent a Tawni Hart Rampage, I opened the door reluctantly to the blonde's satisfaction before trudging back to the couch and rejoining my butt and the cushion. My eyes averted back to the ceiling as I continued to think about how much I screwed yesterday up. --Why couldn't you just shut your big mouth, Sonny?!

From the corner of my eye, I saw Tawni glaring at me with her hands on her hips. "Now you better tell me what Chad did, so I can yell at him for doing so, make him regret whatever he managed to jack up, and so you can be all happy and cheery again."

…But Chad did nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I just couldn't find it in me to admit it openly.

Tawni, being the smarter person than she portrays, gave me a softer look. "What happened?" She asked.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words formed. I bit my lip and turned my head to look at her. I gave her probably the most vulnerable expression ever because Tawni Hart actually gave me a look that read she was sorry for me.

"Sonny, you can tell me anything. And I swear I'm not going to judge or make fun of you." Tawni promised as she sat next to me on our couch.

I took in a deep breath and finally told her the story.

The whole story.

From Nico and Grady begging me to take Chad out on Valentine's Day to Chad leaving me at the front of my door, both of us heartbroken.

"Wow. You…wow." Tawni breathed out. "Girl, you really messed things up."

I furrowed my eyebrows at her. "And how does stating the obvious help?" I asked, giving her an irritated look.

"Well sorry! I'm not good at this comforting thing!" Tawni defended herself as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"Ugh. I'm going." I grumbled. I stood up and stomped towards the door, ready to swing it open and slam it behind me, when Nico and Grady barged in before I could even touch the handle.

"Sonny!" They cheered merrily, sandwiching me in a hug.

"Uh, hey." I greeted them awkwardly as I gave them both odd looks.

"You are a lifesaver!" Nico exclaimed.

"Yeah, thanks to you, Chad didn't even look at us at the commissary! You made him totally forget!" Grady smiled.

Oh the cruel irony.

Ever been in that position where you're torn between smacking two of your good friends silly until they end up in the hospital or bursting into tears because of how terrible you're just feeling? Tell me if you have because I wouldn't be able to believe you. I salute you for living through that excruciating moment, solider.

"You guys are morons." Tawni gritted her teeth, pulling me away from Nico and Grady's grasp so that she was hugging me protectively.

I guess I chose the latter while I was being squeezed the life out of those two. Oh yes. I did. I, Sonny Monroe, was literally near tears because of Chad Dylan No-One-Gives-A-Crap-Except-For-Me-Unfortunately Cooper. I could feel my insides crumpling and my eyes watering as my breaths grew more shallow. I couldn't believe I felt like crying because of him, and yet, I could feel my eyes watering.

"What's wrong?" Nico asked.

"Yeah, Sonny, why are you crying?" Grady followed.

The two gave me a genuine look of worry.

"I'm not crying! Psh!" I responded stubbornly, rubbing my eyes just in case a tear managed to fall. "Nope! I'm just… just… I'm not crying!" I stuttered.

"Sonny--" Tawni began.

"I-I gotta go to the, uh, bathroom." I lied quickly, racing out of the dressing room before the three could say anything else.

I ran down the hallway, eventually heading out of stage three and into the unknown places of Condor Studios where I practically got lost. I needed to be away. Far away. I just needed to separate myself from them, their attempts to console me, their ignorant ways, and anything that reminded me of Chad Dylan--

"Ow! You little -- Oh, it's just you." Chad deadpanned as he glared down at me.

"C-Chad." I choked on his name.

He rolled his eyes and began to walk the other direction. I guess he had the same intention in his mind: to be far away from me as well.

"Chad! Wait!" I pleaded.

As I ran up to catch up with him, all I could think (scream would be the more appropriate word, actually) in my head was, 'Why the heck are you doing this?! Don't talk to him! Don't even make eye-contact with him! Leave before it's too late!' But despite what my brain was ordering me, I grabbed Chad's shoulder and whirled him around so that he was facing me.

"What?" He asked. He has never looked so upset before.

"Let me explain about what I said." I begged.

"Why don't you let me guess? I mean, you just love games, don't you, Monroe?" Chad asked with fake enthusiasm. And I'd be lying if I said that his words didn't hurt me at all. "Nico and Grady went to you yesterday since I was pissed at them for letting their stupid horse crap all over me. They asked you for a favor, and you, being the sweet and positively annoying girl you are, said yes to their favor. Oh -- and this is the best part --their favor was to ask me out so I could put a hold on my threats. To play with my feelings. Tell me if I'm wrong."

I looked down at my shoes in shame, my bangs falling across my eyes. "No. You got the story straight so far." I managed to mumble.

"Yeah. So I was basically a 'fake' date. Only this time, you're the one faking everything." Chad scoffed.

"But you don't understand! I wasn't faking anything--"

"Just stop lying, Sonny." Chad interrupted, but instead of his voice mocking and cruel, he sounded desperate and completely wounded. "You can just drop the whole thing. I'll let the whole horse thing go, and I won't go to Mr. Condor about it. I promise I won't get your dumb friends in trouble…just…please just stop pretending that you like me."

With that Chad left me again with no words to say. I merely stared at him as we walked away back to his studio, the sound of his footsteps engulfing the entire room.

I tried to speak, to make him turn around, to fix everything. I really did.

But I was just couldn't tell him I wasn't pretending at all.

--

[Chad's POV]

I heard footsteps and looked up, only to meet eyes with two people I seriously did not want to talk to right now.

"What do you want?" I sneered. "It better be something important because I am in no mood for your foolery."

Rico and Brady -- wait, that's not their names. Oh whatever, it's similar enough. The loser in the hat and the other weirdo who has probably never kissed a girl looked at each other uncomfortably before staring back at me. They gave me that look that said they didn't want to tell me the truth, let alone tell me anything at all. I returned it with one that said, 'Go Away.'

"We just needed to tell you something…that includes Sonny." Hat guy told me.

My eyes couldn't help but soften as much as I wanted to continue on with my furious look.

Well, this honestly sucks. Even after all the unbearable pain and misery Sonny has just put me through, that girl still manages to make me weak and act like putty. Why, oh why, must she hold such affecting power over me? The girl is a backstabbing liar, and yet I still see some innocent angel. What. The. Hell.

"And why should I care about Monroe?" I asked, grabbing a magazine and reading it to give Sonny's cast mates the impression that I could care less.

But really: I couldn't.

"Well first of all she's crying--" Virgin-lipped weirdo began.

"Wait. She's crying?" I demanded for a repeat.

No, no, no. Monroe could not be shedding tears. That's…simply impossible! Sonny Monroe does not do tears, she just doesn't! She's supposed to be all smiles and whatnot. No tears allowed!

"Yeah, and she's crying over you." Weirdo continued.

[Insert very inappropriate word here that wouldn't be suitable for children under the age of ten. Pfft yeah. It's just THAT bad.]

No! Sonny's not supposed to be that girl! She's not supposed to be the ex-girlfriend who cries hopelessly for weeks just because I broke up with her! No, she's not even supposed to be crying, damn it! Gah. Why did you have to go to my dressing room in the first place, Sonny?! Oh God -- and now here comes the guilt, ready to trip me into the next century. Thanks, Monroe. Now I feel bad about this.

"S-she's crying? Over me?" I whispered incredulously, my magazine long forgotten on the floor. (I probably dropped it during my state of shock.)

"Dude, she's bawlin' her eyes out as we speak." Rico, Tico, Chamico, what's-his-face replied.

"I know what we did was wrong. We shouldn't have asked Sonny to take you out no matter how mad you were at us." The blonde one muttered. "But she did it just because."

"Yeah, she was a good friend to us. She took you out on a date no matter how much you irritated her." What's-his-face continued on. (Thanks, guys, because this makes me feel better, how?) "But I know that she wasn't pretending anything with you, if, ya know, anything happened between you two."

"Pfft, yeah. Because if she was pretending then she wouldn't be crying right now in her dressing room." The other one added stupidly. His friend gave him a look, elbowing him in the shoulder.

I sighed. "Leave me alone, guys." I ordered, glancing at my door for a split-second before facing the other way so that Dumb and Dumber weren't in my sight anymore.

I could practically see their frowns of disappointment.

"Poor Sonny." I heard one say.

"It's okay, G. We tried our best." The other replied quietly. "I guess our best wasn't enough."

I stared at my vanity mirror on the wall into my eyes.

Sonny. Oh Sonny. Why must it be you?

--

[Sonny's POV]

Okay, I've called myself pathetic many times before in the past, but I think that this is my best. Or worst. However you'd like to interpret my upsetting state.

I was locked inside my dressing room again, sitting on the couch while swirling a plastic spoon around the cup of frozen yogurt. My scene wasn't being shot, thank God, Tawni promised to give me some alone time, Zora swore she wouldn't listen to me whine helplessly to myself in the vents, and Nico and Grady were with Marshal. It was just me, myself, and this bowl of frozen yogurt.

Did you know that if you look up the definition for pathetic, you'll see the name Sonny Monroe right next to it?

If only I had a TV in here…

Wow. That would be the best moment in my life. (Isn't sarcasm just amazing?)

I sniffled and blew my nose before grabbing another tissue to wipe my continuously watering eyes. Gah. If I could just stop crying, at least tearing up, then maybe I could get on with the day and on with my life. But so far, it's been almost an hour and my tear ducts won't give it a rest.

The card that Tawni's boyfriend gave her caught my eye. It was the perfect example of a cliché. Red heart with pink frame around it, phrases like, 'I love you!' covering it entirely. Oh, and Derek even had the guts to call her Baby. How romantic.

"I hate you, Valentine's Day. I'm sure you knew that already." I told the card that I suddenly had the strongest urge to rip up. "I hate you so much that I literally want to write to the president and demand to remove Valentine's Day from the calendar. Why are you even a holiday? Aren't you supposed to model a Saint for God's sake? Why are you ruining my life?!" I scolded it.

I'm yelling at an inanimate object.

Go me.

"You know, I almost hate you as much as I hate--"

"Talking to yourself again, Monroe?"

I turned to see Chad in his full glory, leaning against the doorframe with his signature smirk. How he managed to get in while the door was locked, I will never know.

I simply gaped at him for a moment, the fact that he was standing in front of me, smiling, still registering in my head. Then I immediately wiped my tears and the snot from my nose with the sleeve of my shirt, knowing that I look even worse than a mess.

"Sorry to interrupt. I just had something important to tell you." Chad chuckled. He sat next to me on the couch, his reckless and fun-loving demeanor lessening as he stared into my eyes. "God, I can't believe you're crying." He stated bluntly as he wiped away the tears that somehow made their way down my cheeks with his thumbs.

"Neither could I." I spoke up, my voice scratchy and hoarse. "Why are you here, Chad?" I whispered, confused.

"What? You don't want me here? Normally people would be thrilled to have the Chad Dylan Cooper in their presence." He said cockily.

Whiplash much? What are you -- bipolar? Jeez, Chad. Way to make a girl confused.

I didn't respond to Chad's stuck-up statement; instead I just stared at him, not knowing how to reply back to that. Usually, this would be the time where I'd be shooting out comebacks, and we'd end up going back and forth. Usually, I don't shut up for this long. But here's one thing that remained: Chad is still smiling at me. Like he's not mad. Or hurt. Or anything in between.

"So I found out a little bit more about our date yesterday." He started.

Gah. Why must we talk about this?!

"Oh." Was all I could muster up. I stared down at my lap, unable to look him directly into the eye.

"And I found out that I was right. You're sooo in love with me." Chad mocked into my ear.

I looked up instantaneously. "Huh?!" I shrieked.

"You love me, Monroe. I mean, why else would you be crying over me if you didn't love me? Psh."

My jaw dropped as I gave Chad the most incredulous look ever. Chad smirked at me in return, pulling me closer towards him with his arm. "But it's okay. All girls can't help falling for Chad Dylan Cooper." He stated confidently into my ear before pressing a gentle kiss against my temple.

I could feel my cheeks reddening as the confusion continued to build up walls. "Okay, whoa, whoa. You have no right to kiss me after what just happened here!" I screeched, pulling away from him.

"Of course I have the right. I'm--"

"Chad Dylan Cooper. Yes, Chad, we all unfortunately know."

"Well, I was going to say… your boyfriend -- if you want me to be your boyfriend."

"B-but… WHAT?!" I hollered.

"Okay, Sonny, there's no need to deafen me with your fangirl scream." Chad whined as he rubbed his ear.

"You basically told me off an hour ago, and now you're saying you want to date me?" I gasped.

Chad merely nodded sheepishly, that boyish grin on his face.

Half of me wanted to verbally abuse him with murderous threats while the other half of me wanted oh so desperately to leap in his arms, find that stupid Hollywood sunset and that horse Nico and Grady brought yesterday so we could literally 'ride off into the sunset.'

"I realized that I was wrong to say the things I said to you. I didn't give you the chance to explain yourself, and I'm sorry about that. Like, yeah, you used me to help your idiotic friends. But, at least you weren't faking those feelings for me, faking that kiss…right?" Chad looked at me hopefully, his blue eyes shimmering, shining, glossing, and sparkling again.

Those eyes of his will be the death of me, I swear.

"Chad Dylan Cooper," I glared at him, "you are the most confusing, moody, conceited, jerkiest, self-centered, guy I've ever met. And you also deserved to have sand shoved down into your boxers. And to be drowned in the Pacific Ocean too."

"Hey, you're not perfect either--"

I cut Chad off with a kiss on the cheek, silencing him immediately.

"And yet I still like you much more than I should." I smiled.

Chad gave me the cheesiest grin that made the butterflies in my stomach erupt. I was giggling here for God's sake. One time was enough, a second I could live without.

Chad smile turned into that familiar smirk of his. "So,oh dear playmate of mine, where would you like to go to dinner tonight?" Chad asked.

"Playmate? You still won't let the whole play date thing go?" I asked with my eyebrows raised.

Chad laughed and placed a gentle kiss on my lips. "Not in this lifetime, Monroe."

And oddly, I was fine with that.

A/N: Yay! It's finally done! Your sweet reviews made me smile as always. You guys are simply AWESOME :D Without you guys, I wouldn't even be writing in the first place. And trust me, I'm not exaggerating. I know this was a short, fast-ish chapter. Sorry, it wasn't supposed to be like that. But we all clearly know that Chad couldn't be able to stay mad at Sonny for that long, right? I hope you still enjoyed it though! OH! And did you guys watch the new SWAC promo?! Who's excited for March 14th???!!!

And last but definitely not least, I'd like to dedicate this story to my amazing (HAHA!) friend Hayley! Or mindless scribbles. (Go ahead and love her fics. She won't mind ;D) Thank you for being an amazing friend :] (There's that word again!)