One-shot. But it's pretty darn good if I do say so myself, but my opinion isn't the one that matters (hint, hint). A single line from the song Fractions by Emery, which I do not own, inspired this. On that note, I do not own Sonny with a Chance or any of the show's characters.

You keep coming back disassembled and I keep losing this fight…

Glistening lines marked both reddened cheeks as she stared up at me with her tear-distorted brown eyes. Her figure was leaned desperately against the doorframe and she clutched her left arm with her right hand. I momentarily contemplated slamming the door right then, but decided against it and loosened my grip on the cool brass handle. Instead, I sighed, dropped my hand to my side where it struck my jeans with a tired thud, and stepped aside to allow Sonny inside.

"What's the matter this time?" I asked in exasperation as she collapsed into my tan leather sofa without calculation. Closing the door behind me, I forced a smile before planting myself beside her. "Sonny?"

She sniffed several times, supported herself on her hands, and attempted a weak smile. "Why do you assume something's wrong, Chad?"

Fighting the urge to scream at her to stop this, I inhaled deeply and let out a shaky breath. "Sonny, there are tear stains all over your shirt and your face is red…you're sobbing, Sonny. Sobbing. That means you are crying very hard."

"No, no," she insisted, shaking her head violently and propping herself up more. "I—I…it's that I…"

I rolled my eyes and yawned as her lips fumbled to make words. Finally, I summed up my resolve, for the first time in forever. "What, Sonny? You've got a cold? You're allergic to Tawni's perfume? You got sand in your eyes? I've heard them all. Stop pretending I'm an idiot and just tell me about your stupid fight with James Conroy!"

Her bloodshot eyes widened a bit and her mouth, which had been half-open in mid-speech. For a split-second, she looked to be glaring at me. "Alright. Well…he was flirting with Tawni today and when I confronted him about it—"

"You mean, when you pinned him to a wall and he struggled and you screeched at him for coquetting with your cast mate, got it. Continue."

Her chin tilted down the smallest bit and her eyes narrowed. "Right. Well, when he denied it, but I told him I saw him, and then he was all, 'Oh, that! No, I was just playing around', and then—"

"You didn't hear him out and you went down a long list of other times he's wronged you. You probably slapped him, too, and then he abused you in some way…" I grabbed her arm, watching her wince as I did so, and pulled down her sleeve to reveal a faint purple splotch. "Right. And then he left, and you screamed after him—"

"Chad!" she said suddenly, drawing a sharp breath and shooting up to her knees, inching ever closer to me. "You…you know so well. Chad…don't you see? I can't have James. He doesn't know. He doesn't get it!"

Her face pulled close to my neck and she closed her eyes, breathing, "But you do."

In that familiar slow moment, Sonny's hands snaked behind my neck and she looked into my eyes with practiced innocence and apprehensiveness. I melted at the sight, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her flat up against me as she straddled my legs. Our lips moved in harmony, but all I could think about was how many times we had gotten to someplace like this. I pushed her away and she wobbled to the ground.

"And you couldn't wait to tell me so you could press yourself up against me again! Don't think I don't know what you're doing. You accuse me of being too overdramatic, but you're causing drama just to manipulate me, and I'm sick of it!"

"How could you?" she sobbed, up on her feet with her finger extended towards me. "You can't just…judge me like that! You think you know me well enough to—"

"But you just said I knew you—"

"Don't you dare try and twist my words, Chad Dylan Cooper!" Her palm flew towards me and connected with my face with a deafening smack. Momentarily inept, eyes shut tight, I sat there and took it as Sonny's fists flew past me, causing the air to whoosh past my skin. Occasionally she was able to punch me, but she hadn't gotten too far when I sprung up and seized her by the wrists. She wriggled and writhed as I flung her and pinned her to the couch.

It took a few minutes before she went limp, panting heavily and groaning in frustration. "If you're finished."

I waited her to say something, but she simply glared up at me miserably.

"You keep dragging yourself over here and knocking at my door, just to fling yourself at me and cry, and I try to help you but you just corner me! You're completely unstable…I just…" Sonny's eyes portrayed her fear of what I was going to say next. I had to look away to continue. "Don't come here anymore, Munroe."

I relaxed my grip on her wrists and she sat up, staring unblinkingly at the wall opposite the door. I inched my hand towards her in the space between us, wondering if I should apologize, but she sprung to her feet and briskly marched out the door, slamming it behind her.

Was I free now?