Disclaimer: Still only own the plot. If I owned more, I'd have already seen the next episode. Grrrr.

"Chad!" Sonny exclaimed, "What are you-"

"Sonny!" Chad yelled back, "What do you think you're doing?" Sonny suddenly realized Chad was practically soaked from the waist down. She jumped and twisted the nozzle to off.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she said, dropping the hose and running over to him. She brushed uselessly at the water on the front of his shirt before he waved her off.

"Come inside," she said, "I might be able to find some old things of my dad's that you can wear."

"I'm not wearing-" Chad started to protest.

"Do you have a choice?" Sonny asked. That shut him up.

A little while later, Chad came out of the bathroom wearing a pair of rolled up jeans and an oversized plaid flannel shirt.

"You couldn't find anything nicer?" he asked derisively. Sonny was sitting on the couch with a nearly perfect view, and she actually thought he looked nice "dressed-down" so to speak. Not that she was going to tell him that.

"You'll live. Besides, this way you might have a chance of fitting in around here without getting mobbed."

"But I like getting mobbed," he complained.

"Yeah right, like anyone enjoys being mobbed," Sonny retorted. The awkward silence stretched on for what seemed like forever.

"So…" Sonny said.

"So," Chad replied, "As I said earlier, did you really come back to be Cinderella? Cause last time I checked all the good Prince Charmings are in LA anymore. I mean," he said gesturing to himself, "case in point. Minus the clothes, of course."

"And case in point why I left," Sonny muttered under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing. Look, I was helping out around the house. Normal people do. And that's what I am now – a normal person."

"Are you Sonny? Are you really?"

"Yes, Chad! I am, really. I never wanted to be like you or find a Prince Charming," She bit her tongue before adding "like you" to the end of that sentence.

"Really? I'm surprised. Every girl wants a Prince Charming."

"Not every girl."

"You sure? Not even a little bit?" Chad wheedled. Sonny bit her lip.

"Well, ok maybe a little bit, when I was little, I mean, what girl doesn't like dressing up like a princess and pretending that someday-" she trailed off noticing Chad's lopsided smile. The one that looked genuine and made her insides tingle. "What?" she asked.

"See, I knew it," he said, quickly recovering from the moment of openness.

"Did you really miss fighting with me that much? It seems so unlike you to take the time to fly here just to make my day worse."

"Oh, but that's what I live for – ruining your day." Chad smirked.

"Be serious, Chad. What are you doing here?" Sonny glared at him. Chad sighed and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He seemed to transform under her gaze from the cocky, arrogant star to a normal adolescent boy. Looking at the floor, he mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that?" Sonny asked.

"I miss you," Chad said more forcefully.

"You missed me? That's so sweet." Sonny smiled.

"I know." Chad smiled back. Sonny's bit her lips attempting take back the smile but failing. There was a comfortable silence. Chad sat down next to Sonny on the couch, a little closer than she was entirely comfortable with.

"Come back with me, Sonny," Chad begged, reaching toward her. Sonny jumped away and stood up, suddenly suspicious.

"They sent you, didn't they?" she accused.

"Who?"

"Don't play all innocent on me. The So Random-ers. They made you come to convince me to come back. What happened, did you lose a bet?"

"What? No! I told you I missed you. Don't you trust me?"

"You know Chad, I don't think I do. Not anymore." She turned her back, ready to walk out. Chad jumped up to stop her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Why not?" he asked. Sonny half turned back, but shrugged his hand off.

"Maybe you'd better go."

"Well, I would, but I can't be seen like this," he said, hoping to make her laugh. Instead she just glared at him. "Come on Sonny," he begged, "Just tell me what I did."

"If I just tell you, then you won't learn anything and you'll just do it again later."

"What are you, my mother?" Sonny rolled her eyes at that.

"No. But any normal guy would know better, and know exactly why they needed to apologize," Sonny said, turning away.

"I need to apologize?" Chad said with a huge grin. Sonny's mouth dropped open.

"You know what, that's it. I'm not dealing with this anymore," she said, walking to the door.

"Sonny," Chad called after her, running to catch her arm, "Sonny, I was kidding."

"How dare you?" Sonny screamed suddenly, "How dare you touch me after what you did?" Her eyes welled up with tears, which then spilled over, leaving glistening tracks down her cheeks. "I trusted you, I – I was even beginning to like you, at least the you that was nice. And then you had to go and-" Chad pulled her in to a hug, setting his chin on her head. She squirmed, trying to escape.

"I hate you," she yelled, pounding her fists on his chest, "I hate you!" Chad just held her, stroking her hair and murmuring, "It's ok, I know," and other such nonsense. Finally she calmed down and stopped struggling.

"Better?" he asked. Sonny sighed.

"Yeah. I, uh, I'm getting your shirt wet."

"You're good at that," he said, smiling down at her. "Besides. It's not mine" They laugh together and lapse into a warm shared silence.

"Sonny?" Chad said.

"Mmm?"

"I really am sorry." Sonny looked up at him and suddenly realized where she was. She stepped back quickly and cleared her throat.

"I, uh, I'll just go check on the dryer," she said. She turned to go.

"Sonny?" Chad asked. She turned back to face him.

"Seriously. Will you come back with me?" Sonny thought a moment.

"Ok," she said. "I'll come back."

***

"You know, Chad, coming to apologize was really sweet of you. I think maybe you're finally turning into a decent person," Sonny said. She was sitting with Chad in the plane on the way back to LA. It hadn't taken long to convince her mother that she wanted to go back – not after the way she'd been since she'd left.

"Nah," Chad said, "not really."

"Yes, really. When I first met you, you wouldn't have done that for anyone," Sonny objected.

"Uh, yeah. About that. It wasn't exactly my idea, you know. Mr. Condor practically ordered me to make sure you came back," he confessed.

"What?" Sonny said loudly. Several other passengers turned and shushed her.

"Sorry," she whispered, "You mean all of that – all the sweet things you said – that was all fake?" she asked turning back to Chad.

"Not fake. I was just doing what I do best – acting," Chad said with a smirk.

"I can't believe you. And here I'd thought you'd changed. You know what, fine, I can't get off the plane, but from now on I am not speaking to you!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

"Good!" Sonny said. For once, Chad let her have the last word. She turned in her seat and watched out the window, her jaw set. She would not give in.

Half an hour later, Chad felt something brush his shoulder. It was Sonny's head, lolling in her sleep, almost leaning on him. Looking down on her, he smiled. She looked so innocent when she slept, innocent and cute. Sure the whole "not talking to you" thing was a setback, but at least he had gotten her to come back. Maybe this time around he'd figure out how to get her to fall at his feet, like all the other girls.

A/N: And that's it! A few orders of business to take care of. First: Thank you guys soooo much for sticking with me through this and making this my most popular story by far. Also a very special thank you to everyone who reviewed: Brucas224, TrinityFlower of Memories, KSpazzed, October, BrittBrat500, MusicFreak-Twilight, sonnycentral, nameuscool, Faded Feathers and barkaduter6teen. You guys rock!

Second: while I hate to plug myself, if anyone felt like nominating for the SWAC awards, I'll back you up =P I'm especially proud of this one =)

Third: I asked at the end of the last chapter whether I should continue with SWAC fics, and the consensus so far has been yes. Thing is, I can't choose which to start with. So, I'm going to let you guys vote. Here are the three choices:

A Punch in the Face: Chad can't believe Sonny thinks he wouldn't know a real romance if it "punched him in the face" and he's determined to prove it to her. Probably Multi-chapter, the episode I think should have come after episode 11: Promises, Prom-misses.

Suffering in Silence: Companion one-shot to this fic in Chad's POV, explaining and expanding on the last sentence in this one. Probable possibilities for extension into a sequel to this fic.

(as yet untitled): My version of Episode 2: West Coast Story. Instead of challenging Mackenzie Falls to Musical Chairs, Sonny challenges Chad to switch shows with her for a week, to prove once and for all who is a better actor. (I'm kinda looking for a collaborator on this one because it's probably going to involve So Random sketches and so far I only have one idea, so if you're interested in collab-ing on this, PM me)

Please leave a review voting on which you'd like to read next (I will eventually do all of them, this is just for which order to start in).

And fourth: while you're reviewing to vote on which story is next, please review this chapter and the story as a whole. Your comments are very valuable to me, plus they usually make my day 100 times better =)

Wow, that was a long author's note. At least I saved it to the end, yes? Have a nice day, and please review on your way out.

~Laure