Disclaimer: I own nothing.

the letterman

It's always been a dream of hers to wear her boyfriend's jacket. Particularly, those Letterman jackets that are a staple in every high school movie. It's just sort of nice to think that he belongs to you and you belong to him. For Sonny, it was never about being a popular, or proving herself. She just wanted a jacket.

But when Sonny went to high school, she was the cute, like-able unknown; never the kind of girl who had a football-playing-jock boyfriend. Now, she goes to school in a small room in Condor studios and the only Letterman jackets are in the wardrobe closet. It doesn't mean anything if it's not from a guy.

So Sonny gave up this dream, knowing it would never realize itself. It's not hard to do so, and she easily forgets it.

/

Somewhere between the fights and the moments where he decides to care, Sonny realizes there's a very good chance she has a crush on Chad. She pushes the thought to the back of her mind, unwilling to accept it yet. But they fight more and she sees a strange glimmer in his eyes and the glances towards her in the commissary, and she thinks, he likes me too. So she sort of accepts it, but refuses to act on it because she knows he's a heart-breaker and she just can't get into that. But she decides they can be friends, so she starts spending a fair amount of time in his dressing room.

It's a gradual thing, they bicker and end up in there a couple too many times, so Sonny starts feeling comfortable knocking on the door.

Ninety-percent of their conversations go as follows:

"So," he starts, "Want to play Wii?"

"Uh, sure."

"Is Mario Kart good?"

"Yeah, if you're okay with me winning."

"You've never seen CDC play."

She raises her eyebrows, "Well, we'll see."

"I'm not going easy on you, you know."

"Fine," she smirks. And it goes on just like that for about twenty minutes, until Sonny's filled her Chad quota for the day, or he kicks her out because he needs to 'beautify' his hair. Mostly the latter.

/

They become more and more comfortable with each other, and they watch a couple episodes of each other's show.

"Sonny, I endured that comedy torture for two whole episodes," he whines, "It's only fair that I educate you in the greatness that is the Falls."

She grumbles, "Fine."

At the end of the episode, Sonny is so emotionally affected that her eyes water at the moving finish. She hides her face from Chad. Admitting she liked the show would be admitting defeat, which is unacceptable.

"Did you like it?" Chad probes.

"Nope."

"You're probably the first girl who hasn't cried at the ending," he says before realizing their usual eye-contact is absent, "Wait, look at me."

"Sorry, I've got to go," she responds quickly, "It's my call time."

He grabs her arm, though, and notices her red eyes. "Aha! I knew it! Reaffirmed for the gajillionth time, Chad Dylan Cooper: the greatest actor of our generation."

She sticks her tongue out at him, "Shut up. You laughed at So Random."

"Only to stay on your good side. It's called acting, Sonny, you should try it sometime."

"Ugh!" she huffs and storms out of his room.

/

Sonny decides that it's time to add hugging into their relationship. It was never a big deal with all her guy friends back home. So, it's only natural that she should take some initiative and keep the friendship growing, right?

She does it casually, as she's leaving one day she opens her arms and grabs him lightly, forcing him to do the rest of the work.

He pulls away with an amused expression on his face, "So we're hugging now?"

She turns bright red, and stutters, "Um... yeah... well, I mean... only if you're okay with it..."

"As long as you don't ruin my hair, we're good."

She seizes the opportunity of their closeness and reaches a hand out and ruffles his perfectly coiffed locks.

He jumps back, startled, "What are you doing? You can't just touch the hair!"

"Well, you said I couldn't ruin your hair, so of course I had to," she mocks.

He thinks for a couple seconds, "Touché. But that's the first and last time you touch the hair." But of course she doesn't listen, until he says, "Or you'll be banned."

And then she listens.

/

There's one time they hang out outside his dressing room.

"Please, Sonny, I really need a date, and Selena, Miley, and Hannah were all unavailable."

"Okay, first of all, for the last time: Miley and Hannah are the same person. Second of all, why should I be your backup?"

"Because we're..." he says uneasily, "Friends!"

It's strange, but it's the first time they've put a label on their relationship. Her heart falls a little, but for some strange reason what comes out of her mouth is: "Well, alright. If I must."

He hugs her, "You're the best."

"I know."

"Aw, look at that, I'm rubbing off on you. How sweet. I thought I was the cocky one."

"Do you want a date to this thing?"

His face flushes, "Yes."

"Okay, then stop talking."

/

The party is outside, and by the time it gets dark the temperature has dropped considerably, and Sonny's short dress is no longer enough.

She shivers and crosses her arms, in a weak attempt to warm herself up. But Chad's being unusually observant and he notices, especially when she tries to scoot closer to him.

"Hey," he says softly, "Are you cold?"

"Very."

He removes his blazer, "Here, take this."

She smiles in thanks before putting the jacket on. She keeps it on for the rest of the night.

As they're leaving and about to part ways, she realizes something. She's been wearing a guy's jacket for the entire night.

And even though it's not a Letterman, and he's not her boyfriend, it means something. Because in a wierd way, she thinks, he's kind of hers and she's definitely his.

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