Behind the Veil

a fanfiction by Emma

She was mine. I remembered that clear enough. We were completely in love, and I thought nothing could ever tear us apart. I guess I was wrong. Completely wrong.

Chad Dylan Cooper sat in the seat of his limousine, holding her hand. Sonny Munroe's hand. The most perfect girlfriend in the world's hand. He loved her, he loved her more than anything in the world. Nothing, he thought, could ever change that, because they were together, and that's what mattered.

He remembered sitting at home in his room, with the TV on, showing a commercial for the, "Newest arrival to So Random! Sonny Munroe!"

He had thought she was adorable ... her smile, her hair, her eyes. He thought she was perfect, and he knew that she would be working next to him or years ... years. ... That brought a smile to his face.

But she was a "Random" ... and that could never be.

When Chad has saw her in the cafeteria ... he knew who she was. He fell for her, in there, right then ... to the sound of her laugh ... how she said his name.

Then she turned ... she hated him, and suddenly they were enemies. So he had to act like he hated her too.

Soon his favourite part of the day had turned into their little arguments.

"Good!"

"Good!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Slowly but surely ... he had made it into her heart ... maybe it was his charm, or his looks, but she assured him, it was neither of those. It was just him.

"Did you have a good time, Sonny?" he asked, as he breathed in her scent.

"Yeah, it was so much fun ... thanks for taking me Chad." she replied, as she lied her head down on his shoulder. It seemed she fit so perfectly there, like the crook of his neck was specifically made for her.

"Anytime ... so, want to make plans for next week?"

"I'll call you about it later, I have to ... check my schedule to see if I have any rehearsals late next week."

The rest of the car ride was silent, just the two sitting the car.

Now standing at the door to her apartment, Chad took her hand as he said: "See you tomorrow," he smiled, leaning in.

Sonny breathed in sharply as she backed away a little, "Chad ... we need to talk."

Those four words in the same sentence never lead to anything good, he dropped her hands, and looks suspiciously at her.

"I'm leaving ..." Sonny said.

"Leaving to where?" Chad asked her, digging his hands into his pockets.

"I-I don't know yet." Sonny whispered, her gaze dropping to the floor.

"When will you be back?" Chad had asked.

"That's the thing, Chad ... I'm not coming back." Sonny said, "I wanted to tell you ... that maybe we should ... break up."

"Why?" Chad heard himself asking, "We've been going so well ... haven't we?"

"Yeah ... we have."

"Then, why Sonny, why?"

"Because ... I ... don't think I ..." her voice dropped down into a low whisper, "I don't think I love you."

Chad blinked as he stared into nothing ... he didn't believe the words he was hearing ... he couldn't.

"Chad ... Chad?"

"Don't say anything to me." his voice grew into a growl.

Tears started falling from her face, slowly ... slowly ... until they left her cheek, and fell ever more slowly to the ground.

"Chad ... please don't be mad ..." Sonny sobbed.

"No ... no I'm not mad." Chad said through clenched teeth, "Just ... a little furious maybe."

"Couldn't we still be friends?"

He wanted to say yes. He really did. But he couldn't ... not now.

So he answered with a dull and harsh, "No." leaving the girl in tears, calling his name over and over again.

"Chad! Chad, please! Please try to understand! Chad ... CHAD! CHAD PLEASE!"

But he didn't turn around. He walked down the hall, his hands clenched inside his pockets, palms sweating. His heart broken.

He felt his face growing warmer; his eyes started to sting, but he blinked it off fast. He wasn't the type to cry over a stupid girl ... and he wasn't about to be.

But Sonny wasn't a "stupid girl", she was Sonny ... your Sonny ... your Sonshine, your everything. And now she was gone, forever ...

The next day, she was gone. When he went back to apologize, her apartment was empty.

- - - -

I wished so hard I could take back what I said to her, I loved her. And she flicked me away like one of those pieces of linton her sweater.

"Tawni ... do you happen to ... uh ... know where Sonny went?" Chad asked, stepping into the dressing room.

"Yes. I do, but it's not like I'm going to tell you." Tawni snapped.

"Tawni ..." Chad started.

"Don't 'Tawni' me, Chad Dylan Cooper! We trusted you! As the cast of So Random! we trusted you, and let you penetrate our inner core, because you promised that you would never hurt Sonny!"

"Hey, hey! Don't go all flipsy on me! Sonny's the one who dumped me!" Chad shouted, he was sick of this. All the newspapers were blaming him for the break up of the, "Most Beloved Couple" because they didn't believe that "Sweet-Innocent-Sonny Munroe" would ever do anything like this.

"She wanted to say friends, Chad! It's not like she didn't want you in her life anymore!" Tawni started, standing up from her chair and facing Chad, advancing towards him, "We were right! You are scum, we should have never ever, Let. You. In!" she screamed jabbing his chest at ever word she annunciated.

Chad hadn't said anything. He had stared at the blonde headed girl with sad eyes. Maybe she was hurting too, he didn't know. Sonny and Tawni ... they actually were friends ... maybe even best friends. He hadn't known. But they dealt with each other ... and they talked ... and if Tawni cared this much ... he had a feeling it wasn't just about him.

Tawni sighed walked back over to her mirror and calmly fixing her hair, she turned back to Chad after a while and stared him in the eye, "She's fine. She isn't telling me where she went, and I don't think she wants me to know. She said she needed some, 'down-time' I don't know what she means by then, and I don't know when she's coming back –"

"She isn't coming back." Chad whispered.

"What?"

"She told me ... she said, 'I'm not coming back.'"

"Okay then ... she's not coming back." Tawni finished.

"I'm sorry ... I-I ..."

"You don't have to apologize to me, Chad."

"I tried to find her ... to apologize ... but she left before I could." Chad insisted.

There was silence for a few minutes, as the two teens stood awkwardly.

"She said hi ..."

"Who?"

"Sonny ... in her email. She told me, to say hi to you, for her."

Chad smiled. She was still Sonny.

- - - -

My heart was breaking ... shattered everywhere. No one could clean it up. It was impossible.

Five months later, Chad had a system. He would get up, get ready, go to work, try to cope with people, go home, eat, then sleep. He did that everyday. People had noticed the difference.

"Dude, she's just a girl." a co-worker on the set of Mackenzie Falls had said.

She's not just a girl. She's Sonny.

Slowly, Mackenzie Falls lost viewers, because of the difference in Chad's acting. His co-workers were quitting, and in a year, it was pulled off the air.

So Chad returned to his house, jobless, and over the years, his stardom fell. Soon he could actually go out in public, and people wouldn't chase after him. He could be free.

Years later, Chad decided to quit acting, to move away from everyone and start new. So he packed his bags, loaded his car and moved to a small town in Connecticut, named Scarlet Springs.

She was mine. I remembered that clear enough. We were completely in love, and I thought nothing could ever tear us apart. I guess I was wrong. Completely wrong.

I wished so hard I could take back what I said to her, I loved her. And she flicked me away like one of those pieces of linton her sweater.

My heart was breaking ... shattered everywhere. No one could clean it up. It was impossible.

End Note: Okaaaaaaaaaay. That's it, this is my VERY first SWAC fanfiction, so please be nice. I know the Sonny and Chad are OOC in this, but it is kinda a serious moment, and it IS kinda a serious story ... ish, the next chapter has some pretty funny stuff. ^_^ XD

So please read and review (well, you've already read it, so PLEASE just review it.) I might have the next chapter up soon, I'm not sure though, you might have a week wait, but that's not so bad.

BTW, please check out my friend's profile HeCalledHerCass she has her own SWAC story going on, only four chapters, but it's still really good! :) so that's

www. fanfiction. net/~ hecalledhercass (take out the spaces)

THANKS! ^_^
Emma