Sonny With a Chance of Amnesia Part 2

The week after Sonny runs from the hospital…

Sonny's P.O.V.

It was a sunny Friday in L.A. outside of Condor studios, but inside, not so much. It was sad, knowing a certain someone would not be out there watching me.

I had officially returned to work on Monday, after grieving over my "loss", if you will, in bed and in front of the TV all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Lucy and my mom had come back to L.A. with me, after leaving Derek in charge of the house in Wisconsin until they returned. They had comforted me, listened to me rant, and fed me while I cried and whined about life being unfair and cruel. They had forced me to get out of bed at 10 o'clock on Monday to get ready for work. They made me shower, wash my hair, and look presentable. Lucy had thought me not fit to drive, shoved me in a taxi, handed the driver a wad of money and told him to make sure I walked through the door to the studio before driving off.

So here I was, backstage before our weekly show. Lucy and my mom were in the audience, making up for Chad, who would definitely not be there. They were scheduled to leave right after our curtain call, since it looked like I would be okay after my recent and most painful heartbreak.

Sonny, stop it! Don't think about him at all! He has changed for the worse, and you do not deserve him. Enough. Focus on the show. Focus on the show. The show...

I was in costume for this week's sketch. It was one of my favorites, a sketch based on the check-it-out girls. They were at the beach. Tawni had thought of doing a sketch with the check-it-out girls to cheer me up.

"It's annoying, you being all sad and depressed. It puts down my prettiness and dampens the cheerful aura of the room," she had said in the dressing room, the Wednesday I came back. I had tried not to laugh, even though she looked ridiculous sweeping her arms out to gesture wildly at her half of the dressing room.

So anyway, I was in a flowered bikini, the same pattern the check-it-out girls wear in every sketch, and I was really cold. I had my official check-it-out girls visor, red flip-flops, and a cover up for the bottom half of my bathing suit, and was decked out in a strip of sunscreen across my nose and big sunglasses. Tawni had the same thing except her flip-flops were white and her cover up was shorter.

"I'm freezing Tawni! Aren't you cold?"

"Not really. I just asked the stage guy to turn down the air conditioning and up the heat, though."

"Good," I said relieved. The music started, cueing us to go on stage. I panicked. "Tawni, I can't do this. I know he's not out there, and now I cannot go out there."

"Chill Sonny, you never knew he was there before, so why should today be any different to you then all those other times that you did not know he was watching you?" Tawni asked, scurrying on stage.

"You're right," I said, mostly to myself, hurrying after her.

But I still could not gain the courage to look in to the audience until we were halfway through our sketch.

"Check out that hottie surfer!" Tawni said, lounging on her beach towel on a pile of sand. That was when I looked into the audience. I saw Chad sitting front and center in the row behind my mom and Lucy. They looked very freaked out, Lucy having just turned around and seen Chad.

I forgot to breathe for a second, thinking he had suddenly remembered he came to all our shows to just see me. But then he looked at Tawni and catching her looking into the audience, winked at her and made a hand gesture for her to call him.

I went red I was so mad. I also forgot my line, which was why I said, "Yeah, but check it out, he will probably just break your heart if you get to know him," boiling mad. Tawni looked surprised but then noticed Chad gesturing and a look of understanding dawned across her face.

"Probably," she said, turning away from Chad and the audience.

"But check out that sea turtle!" she said, returning back to the script.

"Aw, check it out, he's lost!" I said, getting up to grab the box turtle crawling along the sand and placed him back in our pool of water or the "sea".

"Check out that hermit!" I said, pointing at Grady who was dressed like a poor hermit with a metal detector.

"Check it out, he's cute!" Tawni said, giggling.

"Check it out, no he's not." The check-it-out girls music started and I said my favorite line. "Check it out dance?"

"Check it out dance," Tawni replied, just as happy as me to say her line. We got up and danced and when the sketch and curtain call ended, I went out to say goodbye to Lucy and my mom. At least I tried to. I ran into someone on my way out the door. And who else would it be but Chad.

"Watch where you are going. Chad Dylan Cooper has to get to that hottie co-star of yours."

"Butt out, she hates you. I hate you. We all hate you. Just leave," I said fiercely, angry tears springing to my eyes. Chad looked surprised.

"What's wrong with you?"

"You are what's wrong with me," I said, walking past him.

After I said goodbye to my friend and mom, I walked back to my dressing room to change before going to the lunch. Tawni was there, changing out of her bikini.

"You were awesome in that sketch," she said, trying to avoid the subject of Chad in the audience.

"So were you," I said with false happiness. But Tawni noticed.

"What happened? Oh no, you didn't run into him, did you?"

"As it so happens," I said grimly. "That is literally what I did."

"Well, what did he want?"

"A date with you," I said nonchalantly.

"Ew!" Tawni squealed, throwing her costume onto the floor outside her changing room.

"Yeah," I sighed. " I blew up in his face and then he asked what was wrong with me, the usual post-amnesia symptoms." Tawni then pulled her purse from the chair and dragged me out the door.

"Time to cheer you up," she said, pulling me along to our weekly post-performance luncheon with the cast.

The next day was a Saturday, and I didn't have to go to work, but I made plans with Zora, Tawni, and Nico to meet up at the prop house at 11 o'clock. Grady could not come since he had family in town.

When I went into the prop house a little before eleven, Zora was already there.

"Hey, Sonny!" she yelled from above the slide.

"Hey, Zora. What did you wanna do today?" She thought for a moment before answering.

"Ice cream, " she told me. "Definitely ice cream."

"Okay, let's just wait until Tawni and Nico get here and then we can go get some ice cream."

"That's not what I meant," she complained. "I meant get it and throw it at Murphy or the Mackenzie Falls cast."

"Oh, well, okay. That sounds even better."

After calling Tawni and Nico only to find out that their shared limo was stuck in traffic and they would be another fifteen minutes, Zora and I went down to the ice cream parlor a few streets down and ordered several gallons of ice cream. Zora then went to the hardware store and bought stuff needed to make an ice cream catapult.

Ten minutes later, Zora, her catapult, and seven containers of ice cream were waiting. We were on the balcony connected to the cafeteria that overlooked the Fall's infamous tanning spot.

And sure enough, Chad, Portlyn, and Chloe were sitting in their chairs with sunglasses on soaking up the rays. Fury filled me as I looked at the traitor. He still looked beaten up, with several stitches across his face and bruises along his cheekbone, but according to the latest episode of Mackenzie Falls, their makeup people are genius with foundation.

I nodded to Zora who silently put her catapult on the balcony's wall and filled the sphere with Cookie Dough ice cream, then cut the rubber band holding the sphere down. Splat! The ice cream had covered its target, and now Chad Dylan Cooper's banged-up face was covered in Cookie Dough flavored dessert. Chloe and Portlyn came to their senses quickly and fled their seats, running into their studio.

Chad however, had not been so quick and was now covered in not only Cookie Dough ice cream, but Mint Chocolate Chip as well. He furiously grabbed his towel from under his seat and wiped up the sticky substance, wincing as he rubbed at the bruises and stitches. He then looked around for the perpetrator. I stood up from my hiding place, despite Zora's frantic motions to stay put. Chad noticed me and glared.

"You. Are. Dead."

"Well would you look at that? Here I am, alive with a heartbeat," I replied. "And don't look so upset. I hear ice cream is conditioning for the skin. It will help you recover faster from those ugly scars those 103 stitches will leave." I smirked.

"How do you know exactly how many stitches I had? I told no one," Chad said, with a startled look on his face.

"You didn't tell me. Your nurse did, when I came in to see you," I called down. Chad sat up.

"Why would you check on me?"

I sighed. This boy really needed to regain his memory. And fast.

"Long story, but you will probably just forget I ever told you, just like you forgot about everything else that happened the night of the party." Tears popped into my eyes and Zora sighed.

"Here we go again," she mumbled. I shot her a look.

"What party? Chad Dylan Cooper does not remember going to a party, and he goes everywhere and knows everything," Chad says doubtfully.

"Of course you don't remember. You don't even remember me. I'm done with this conversation. You obviously don't remember me and you probably never will." I walked back into the cafeteria and sat down at a table with the leftover carton of Chunky Monkey ice cream.

"You know, you really should just forget about him and go back to hating him. It's much more easier that way."

I turned. Portlyn had come in behind me and was leaning casually against the cafeteria's balcony door.

"Whatda wan?" I asked her, my mouth full of Chunky Monkey and my temper short.

"I want you to get over him. It's annoying even us over at the Falls." I glanced at her, then went back to shoving my face full of ice cream. She sighed heavily then walked over and sat across from me. "Lemme tell you something. A Mackenzie Falls trade secret that you cannot tell anyone."

"Okay…" I said warily.

"We don't all hate you guys at So Random. We actually watch your show on TV sometimes for a laugh. You guys are pretty funny. We just act like we totally despise you for publicity."

"Um, thanks? But my cast really does hate you. "

"Yeah, so here's my point- we do get that you liked Chad and he liked you, and we all sympathize with you over at the Falls, but we need you to get over him and go back to hating him like you and your chuckle pals. It will never be the same. Chad doesn't even remember you ever being on So Random to begin with, so naturally, he forgot everything with you in it- the party, all your arguments, coming to your shows, taking you to Lookout Mountain- all of it."

"You're right. But wait, how did you know about him coming to our shows?"

"I was the one that gave him the idea," she said. "I noticed how he looked at you, and one day I told him to just go see you in your shows, but to disguise himself so you would never know he was there."

Then without a backward glance, she got up and left.

When I got back to the prop house, Tawni and Nico were still not there. Traffic must really be bad, since it had been a good twenty minutes since they called. I decided to sit down and rest, and when I laid down on the couch, I saw a picture of "Eric" and I after that one sketch where he was able to come to the stage during our curtain call. That picture gave me an idea.

I knocked on Chad's dressing room and barged right in without waiting for an answer. I closed the door behind me and looked around; Chad wasn't there. I stopped in amazement. His dressing room was so much better than mine, considering it was about three times larger. The walls were painted a light metallic blue and he had a giant vanity table with all these hair products, with a big mirror attached to the back. That was one wall. On the other wall, he had a giant mural of him, and pushed against the wall was an air hockey table, a pool table, and a DDR game. The third wall, the one with the entrance to the room had a huge flat screen TV with every game system imaginable. The last wall was home to a sort of Café bar, with coffee and smoothies, and wraps, with two tall tables in front. In the middle of the room there were two circular silver sofas with a big glass coffee table with a laptop and several teen magazines in between, as well as a Pac-Man game and a massage chair. I took a seat on a silver sofa and placed the box I brought with me on the coffee table and sat down to wait.

I didn't have to wait long. About ten minutes later, Chad walked in the door, humming to himself. He walked over to his vanity table's mirror and winked at his reflection. Then in the mirror, he noticed me sitting on his couch, and spun around.

"What are you doing here? Isn't it bad enough you accused me of knowing you and then throwing ice cream all over me? Now you show up in my room! What are you, some sort of reality TV show stalker?" I sighed; this was going to take awhile.

"No, Chad. I came here to talk to you. And to show you this." I held up my arm. "Go on, look at it," I coaxed, waving my arm in his direction.

Chad cautiously walked over and took my wrist in his hand. I shivered at his warm touch.

He glanced at my charm bracelet, which I now wore all the time.

"So?"

"So," I explained patiently, "you gave this to me. Well, you didn't really give it to me, but you bought it for me."

Chad snorted then unclasped the bracelet to examine it more closely.

"My Sonshine? Cookies? A pig and a movie reel? What is this? Seriously, am I on one of those celebrity prank shows again?"

"No, Chad. Those charms represent times we spent together. And that is apparently what you used to call me inside your head."

He snorted again. "What are you talking about, Random?" I walked over to my box and took out the contents. They were pictures, of all the things Chad and I did together.

"The cookies," I said, handing him a photo of Chad, Zora, and me in our Blossom Scout uniforms, proudly showing off Zora's certificate for the record of most cookies sold, "represent the cookie selling for Zora. Remember? You were on Dakota's side, and Zora and I were against you, trying to sell the most cookies to get the record for most cookies ever sold. Then you went and choked on a cookie, and I saved your life."

"I remember selling cookies for Dakota, but not with Zora or you," he said, slowly. "And Chad Dylan Cooper never chokes or requires service with his food"

I groaned. Darn his love for me that sent him wandering onto those icy streets of Wisconsin.

"Okay, let's try another one." I handed him another picture, this one showing a cast picture after our sketch that he guest-starred in." The pig charm is for when you accidentally kissed a pig after guest starring on So Random. You were supposed to kiss me. It was then that I realized I loved you," I added awkwardly.

"You were not in that show, Tawni was the one I almost kissed. You're lying."

"Okay, then explain this," I said, giving him a set of five or so photos of our time together while filming his movie. My favorite one was the one of Nico, Portlyn, Chad, and me all sitting around on the movie set, laughing in between takes. He flipped through them, frowning.

"Photoshopped pictures," he finally came up with.

"I thought you might come up with another excuse," I told him, reaching into the box for one final item. "which is why I brought this." It was a copy of his movie. I walked over to his flat screen and put the DVD into the player and skipped to the scenes with me in them. I then went to the final credits so he could see my name proving I was in the movie. I then removed the disk and stood proudly, sure he would not be able to explain this. Boy, was I wrong.

"You fixed this disk. That is really Selena Gomez and you just inserted your name into the credits."

"Then explain why under who played Sonny Monroe, it says Sonny Monroe!" I yelled at him. "I was always there! We always fought! We always laughed and had the occasional fun time! I was always in your life since the moment I first came here. Just accept it! I did, didn't I? I was the one stuck with you for all those years, and just when we finally kiss for real, you have to go and forget me!" I screamed hysterically, tears pouring down my face. I cried over this boy way too many times. Chad looked taken aback.

Someone burst through the door, and through the tears, I could not tell who it was until they spoke. It was Tawni, Nico, and Zora.

Tawni grabbed me around the shoulders and steered me out of the room. Nico grabbed my box and the bracelet from a stunned Chad and followed Tawni.

"K-k-e-ep t-the ph-photos!" I cried. "Maybe th-they will h-h-help you r-remember WHO YOU ARE!" I yelled the last part, still crying heavily. But my cast always has my back. Zora went up to Chad and got right in his face.

"Leave her alone. You have done enough damage to her life by forgetting her, now you go and re-break her heart! Moron! Just leave all of us alone, and forget about coming to our shows, or even talking to us, or you will pay," she said fiercely. "And just remember, if you mess with Sonny, you mess with all of us," she added faux-sweetly.

Then my friends took me to my apartment where I sat alone with nobody but Tawni for company. She had sent the other two away, deciding I needed some time alone, and she would be the one to take care of me.

The next day, I woke up on my bed, fully dressed, to the smell of pancakes. I walked out to the kitchen, where I found Tawni placing chocolate chip pancakes and eggs on two plates.

"You cook?" I asked her skeptically.

"No," she said brightly. "I ordered this. Did you know you can order breakfast and they will deliver it to you?"

"No, I didn't. But thanks," I told her, sitting down to eat.

"Sonny? How are you? Really."

"Not so good, Tawn. I loved him," I whispered, Tawni pouted sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, Sonny. But you need to let him go," she told me softly.

"It's just so hard, you know? How did I manage to go all that time hating him, and then now I can't get over him? I am just so confused."

"I know, Sonny. Try though, please. For me. For our cast. For him." I sniffled, and then Tawni took our empty plates and put them in the sink. "Sorry to drop them and run, but I just realized I have something I need to do."

I waved her off, feeling much better. It was odd, I never thought of Tawni as the caring and concerned type until Chad got his amnesia.

I then washed the dishes in the sink and went to go take a relaxing shower.

Tawni's P.O.V.

I marched into Mr. Condor's office, full of determin-whats it called. Determintation? Nah, determindation? Nope, not that either. Oh well.

I knocked on his office door, completely ignoring the secretary who tried to get me to wait in a chair in the front room.

Mr. Condor was sitting with a cup of coffee going through some bills, with a secretary holding out a napkin and wiping his face every time he took a sip of coffee. Disgusting. For me, that's saying something, since I am all over the whole bite, wipe, and gloss routine.

"What?" he said rudely, without looking up from the stuff on his desk.

"Mr. Condor, sir, its Tawni Hart, from So Random. You know, the one who caught the real money thief?" This got his attention.

"Well, then, what can I do for you, Miss Hart?"

"You said you owed us a favor for catching the thief," I started slowly, trying to lay out my words just right so I could get what I wanted and not get fired at the same time.

"That I did. And what is it you want?"

"Mackenzie Falls. Out." I said carefully, enunciating each word.

"What? Are you nuts? It's our number one tween drama show! I can't just cancel the whole show! When I said I would do you a favor I meant like not firing you and your cast for going through my stuff!"

"No, no, you misunderstood. I didn't mean cancel the show. I meant moving it to a different building. Our cast cannot work under the present circumstances, and we would like their show moved to another stage, please, sir."

I could tell he was actually pondering my request. I got hopeful. If he moved the show's filming somewhere else, then Sonny would not be so distracted and it would help her get over Chad.

"All right," he said, taking his time telling me what he decided. "I said I owed you something, and now we are even. Do not think of me as generous, Miss Hart. My debt to you is repaid and you may go." He went back to his work, clearly dismissing me. I left with a small thank you in his direction. As soon as I had closed the door, I heard him barking orders to his assistant.

"Get those Mackenzie Falls people out of that building! Tell them if they do not leave and move into building seven within the next twenty-four hours, then they are canceled!" I smiled happily and pranced back home, telling myself how pretty and smart I was for thinking of such a great idea. Sonny would surely thank me.

Chad's P.O.V.

"What!? Move by tomorrow? All this stuff? You have got to be kidding me. Whose idea was this?" I was furious. Who was this man to tell Chad Dylan Cooper to move out of his luxurious dressing room and move everything in it by that smelly old building seven by tomorrow?

"Mr. Condor said to do it, or you are canceled, sir," the assistant said meekly. Drat. I did not want my show to be canceled. Too many people depended on me, and Chad Dylan Cooper does not let people down, especially those cute girl fans.

"You!" I snapped to a passing set person. "Get a moving company on the phone. Now. And tell them to get here ASAP!" I turned to the assistant. "Well, why does Condor want us moved?"

"I cannot tell you, sir. I was forbidden to speak of it to anyone."

"Forbidden my cute hair. I swear to make your life miserable if you do not tell me who set this up and why."

The man shook as he whispered. "It was not his idea. A blonde girl came in and demanded that you be moved, since it was disrupting their show. And she owed Mr. Condor something. So he agreed. And here you are, being moved to set seven." Blonde, blonde, blonde. Oh no. Blonde? Tawni.

"Thank you," I said simply, going to find Chloe.

"Chloe!" I called. "Clear out, we gotta be outta here by tomorrow! Condor's orders." She sighed, but went to go tell the others. "Wait," I said. "I have to tell you something. And ask you something. It wasn't really Condor who thought this up. It was Tawni, from So Random. He was just following his orders. Why? And why would she do this?"

She looked at me weirdly, almost pityingly. "Chad, follow me. I need to tell you something." I followed her dressing room. I had never been there before, and it was much less fancier then mine. It had a quartz chandelier on the high ceiling, which accented the silver walls and the dark green sofas in the center of the room. It was debonair, while my room was expensive and modern. I sat down on a sofa, and waited for her to do the same, but instead she picked up a magazine and handed it to me. It had a picture of me on the front. And Sonny? What where we doing holding hands?

"Chad," she said softly. "This photo was taken before you got your amnesia. Let me tell you what happened, since everyone else is afraid to tell you."

She then proceeded to tell me of how I apparently took Sonny to a New Years party, where she got framed for stealing money of Condor's, and she left to go to Wisconsin, where she was rehired after Tawni the rest of her cast mates found the real thief, which was why Condor owed Tawni something. But I did not know Sonny had accepted her old job and went down to Wisconsin where I had a car accident and got amnesia.

"You loved her Chad. You even gave her a bracelet. That charm bracelet that she always wears? Yeah, you bought that for her. And it wasn't cheap, either. And now you have gone and forgotten everything about her, which is why she feels so awful. And she is probably trying to get over you, and you know how those Randoms stick together. Tawni went and asked Condor to move us so Sonny could get over you, Chad. This is all on you. I just though you ought to know this, and nobody else wanted to tell you the story." She got up and left.

I was so confused. So I really had known Sonny and I loved her, and then I went and forgot about her. But I don't like her now, and her friend has gone and got me removed from the best stage set in all of Condor Studios. I was now mad at Sonny. Her misery made Tawni go and have me moved. I was going to settle this once and for all.

Zora's P.O.V.

I got suspicious when Chad Dylan Cooper marched past me with a furious look on his face. Uh oh, it looked like he was on his way to Sonny and Tawni's dressing room. This can't be good. So of course I have to follow them, and find out what that evil actor was doing here, even after I told him to leave us alone….

Chad's P.O.V.

I marched past Zora on my way to Sonny's dressing room, completely forgetting about what she told me about staying away from her cast mates.

I threw open the door to the room, looking around. Tawni was nowhere to be found, but Sonny was standing in front of her vanity table with a look of surprise on her face. Perfect. I crossed the room in a few giant steps and stopped in front of her.

I mashed my lips against her, feeling her confusion as I kissed her forcefully.

"Chad? What are you doing?"

"There, are you happy now? I've kissed you, so why don't you let me and my cast move back to our area. That's what you wanted, wasn't it? For me to remember me and to kiss you again?"

"What are you talking about? I honestly do not know what you are going on about. And no, Chad. I never wanted you to kiss me. I just want things to go back to the way they were before the party. Before you got amnesia," she said, trying to hold back tears as she studied my face.

"Well it just so happens I know what Chad Dylan Pooper is talking about. And I thought I told you to stay away from her!" It was Zora, and she came flying towards me. Sonny tried to reach her and hold her back, but she didn't get there in time, and the next thing I knew, a fist went into my mouth. Then my gut. Then my cheek.

Sonny's P.O.V.

"Zora! Stop, stop, stop!" I pulled her off of Chad, whose lip was bleeding, and his eye was already turning purple.

"You little nimrod! My face! I already have enough bruises and stitches, thank you very much," Chad told Zora angrily.

"I told you to stay away from her, and you didn't listen," she told him simply, a smile on her face. She turned to me. "Tawni used his debt to us to move them out of our studio and into building seven."

"Oh! Where is she?"

"Here I am! Aren't you going to worship me now?" Tawni asked, dancing into the room, and stopping short at the sight of Chad Dylan Cooper holding his stomach with a bleeding lip and purple eye. She burst into a fit of giggles.

"She got you good, Cooper!"

"Shut up," he growled.

"So you heard the good news, Chad? Lemme know when you're available for a housewarming party," she said sweetly, ignoring Chad's incoherent mumbling.

I went over to my friend. "Thanks, Tawni," I told her, hugging her quickly. "And Chad? Do you mind leaving? You're getting blood on my carpet."

We all laughed as he limped out the door to my dressing room. "You guys didn't have to do that." Zora and Tawni looked at me, tears still in my eyes, fresh heartbreak written all over my face.

"Yes we did," the said together. I hugged them. I couldn't have wished for better friends.

Ten years later……

Sonny's P.O.V.

"Derek! Get out of the bathroom! Mom is ready to go!"

"Derek Jonathon Monroe, I will leave without you if you do not get out of that bathroom this instant!" My mom shouted in the direction of upstairs. Derek came down, looking pleased.

"Your team win?" I asked him jokingly, knowing full well he had not been in the bathroom, but in the guest bedroom watching a football game on the TV.

"Shut up," he said, punching my shoulder, the one opposite the baby.

"Careful! She just fell asleep and I swear if you wake her up and she starts crying, I will tie you to a chair and make you listen to her."

"Whatever."

My mom came over and hugged me. "I think we are all sorry Kaylie couldn't make it this year," she told me. "But I will make sure my daughter-in-law will come to finally meet Dylan. It is such a shame she had to work today and still has not gotten to see your little girl."

"She would love the little devil," Derek added with a smile on his face.

"Derek, shouldn't you be the one promising she will be here, since she is your wife?" He shrugged.

"Not really. It's good for Mom to have another girl in the family, though, so I just let her do all the work making sure Kaylie finally gets a day off from the company."

"Man, your girl works too much, it's about time she got a day off," said Nathan, coming to put his arms around me.

"So true," Derek replied. "I'll see what I can do." I hugged each of them goodbye, careful of Dylan in my arms, and shut the door. I turned to my husband.

"Nathan, family days are so exhausting."

"Then it's a good thing they only come once a month," he said, kissing my cheek. I laughed.

"It's not over yet. Tawni and Zora will be coming down tomorrow to see Dylan and wish her a happy six-month birthday."

They had called me that morning, saying they would take a train down from L.A. to come to our house in San Francisco tomorrow to come see Dylan for the first time.

After So Random had stopped when I turned twenty-one (I had been on the show for four years, and viewers just weren't interested in the show when the cast got older), I finished college with an acting degree when turned twenty-two, which is where I met Nathan. We dated for two years, and we got married on my twenty-fifth birthday.

Derek had gotten married to Kaylie, an old high-school sweetheart, a year ago. They were currently living an hour or so away from my mom, who went back to living in Wisconsin after I stopped So Random. Kaylie was having twins and was due in about four months, so she worked a lot at her job as a fashion designer to earn plenty of money to support the two kids and help Derek, who was in law school.

Dylan Isobelle, who was named in honor of Chad and his forgotten love, and had Tawni's middle name, was born six months ago last week, and was a happy and healthy baby girl.

I was still taking a leave from work as an actress and would resume next month to star in a romantic comedy, and Nathan worked as a light and sound producer for various films, which is how he got me the audition for the movie. The audition was a few months ago, and the director said I could wait a couple of months to start filming.

After Chad and the rest of Mackenzie Falls had moved buildings, I had never seen or heard from him again, though Portlyn attended my wedding and sent a card when I had Dylan. I had last seen Nico and Grady at my wedding, and they called to wish me the best after having gotten Dylan's birth announcement. They owned together a restaurant in Hollywood, with the occasional help from Marshall, who was their treasurer. Tawni and Zora had visited my in the hospital right before I had Dylan, but had to leave to go back to L.A., where Zora was currently twenty and was working in her own prank shop, and Tawni, the same age as me, had her own TV show and was going through boyfriends like Dylan goes through diapers.

I owned a huge mansion with a dozen acres of land in San Francisco, which was where Nathan had lived before going to college. The mansion had a silver gate that required a code to open, and it opened to a long driveway that ended in a circle with a lovely Cupid fountain in the middle. The mansion had rooms for Nathan and me and a nursery for Dylan, along with four guest rooms, and every other room that you would ordinarily have in a mansion in California (that includes a pool, six-car garage, the works)

I woke up at around two in the morning to the sound of Dylan's cries. I groaned. Nathan made to get up, but I pushed him back down.

"I'll get her and then go downstairs in front of the fire place. That will calm her down. It always does." Nathan nodded and was snoring before I even put on my robe and left the room.

I woke up at ten o'clock on the sofa in the living room in front of the fireplace, with Dylan asleep in my arms. I looked around, wondering what had made me wake up. Then I heard it. The intercom next to me screamed my name with a voice that defiantly wasn't Nathan's. He usually woke up right before eleven, and besides, this was a female voice.

I pressed the button to reply, knowing fully well who it was. "What, Zora?"

"Code please, Sonny. We've been calling your name for like twenty minutes, until I finally figured out that smarty-pants over here never pushed the talk button on your gate's intercom." I laughed, that did sound like Tawni.

"Hold on guys, lemme get up and get the remote to open it from here." I carefully got up and got the gate remote from the kitchen. I then put on my slippers and with Dylan still asleep on my arms, went to go stand on the front steps of our mansion. I laughed silently as I saw Tawni's car coming up the driveway. It was a metallic pink mustang convertible with the license plate Pretty. She pulled around the circle and stopped at the base of the stairs.

"Where should I park?" I pointed to the garage to the left.

"Just back up and park in the garage. You don't need a code, just drive up and a door will open."

"Wow, Sonny, you're living the dream," Zora commented, as she vaulted over the passenger door before Tawni backed up her pretty mobile to the garage. It was nice how she didn't really change from the time when I first met her, when she was ten. She was still funny, knew how to pick locks, and was still extremely agile.

"Couldn't you have just broken the code? You know how."

"Yeah, but I didn't want to destroy your gate," she laughed as she leaped up all the steps leading to me.

"Aw, is this little Dylan?" she asked, cooing at the sleeping baby. I handed her Dylan.

"Yep. Named after Chad Dylan Cooper himself." I smirked. Zora glanced at me then went down to making faces at the baby, even though she was sleeping.

"You still haven't gotten completely over him, have you?" she asked me.

"Nope. A tiny part of me still loves him, but I love Nathan more," I said, as Tawni climbed the stairs.

"Really, Sonny? With all this money, couldn't you have installed an elevator? Geez."

"Nice to see you too, Tawn." I hugged my friend. Then Tawni spotted Dylan.

"Oh my god, she is adorable! Gimme, gimme!" I laughed.

"Wow, Tawni, who would have thought you for a little kid lover?"

"It's just her. All other babies puke and sleep, then repeat. This one's cute."

"Well just you wait. Why don't you feed her, change her, rock her back to sleep at two in the morning, then repeat every day for the rest of her baby-hood and then tell me if you changed your mind."

Zora laughed. "She got you, Tawni Hart!" And she handed Tawni the baby and followed me inside.

They both stopped as soon as I closed the door behind them.

"Whoa," they breathed in unison, "it's huge."

"I know right? Between my pay and Nathan's we really were able to splurge." And then I put Dylan down in a bassinet in the living room and gave them a tour.

After the tour, I led them into the kitchen and sat them at the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"Our cleaning person comes every Wednesday and cleans the house, and her assistant tidies up the gardens and lawn, cleans the pool, and cooks some meals for us, then puts them in the freezer, so all I have to do is heat them up, but this lunch is made by me, I swear."

Tawni grinned. "I would so trade places with you. My penthouse suite gets cleaned by the hotel maid twice a week, but I don't have anyone to cook for me!"

"Oh grow up, Tawni. I cook for myself, or go down the street to Nico and Grady's," Zora reprimanded. I laughed. I sure had missed this playful bickering after the show ended.

"Tell you what, Tawni. Tell me all the recent gossip and going-ons in L.A. and Hollywood and I'll give you some meals that are already made."

"Deal!"

I reached into the oven and pulled out chicken fingers. "Homemade, I promise. I made them just last night."

Zora laughed. "Chicken fingers. Just like old times."

"Salad too, just for Tawni," I said, pulling a fresh salad with dried cranberries, almonds, and bleu cheese out of the refrigerator, along with a pitcher of lemonade.

Twenty minutes later, I had put the empty plates in the sink and was just about to sit down with Tawni and Zora to talk when the baby cried,

"Drat!" I moaned. She always cries at the worst times. Then her cries suddenly cut off, and somebody came into the kitchen holding her.

"Nathan!" my friends squealed, going to hug him.

"Hey, Tawni! What's up Zora?" he asked, hugging them both.

"Give me the baby," Tawni demanded. She turned to me. "Bottle?"

"In the fridge. Heat it up in the microwave for a few seconds, though." Tawni opened the fridge, heated up the bottle, and went out the kitchen door to wander around the house. "Let's go sit around the pool and talk, girls," I suggested. Nathan nodded.

"Have fun. It was nice seeing you." He went back upstairs, presumably to shower.

We sat out in the sunny San Fran weather by the pool, our feat dangling in the pool, talking about what happened recently in our lives. All was well until Tawni spoke for the first time.

"I saw Chad the other day. He looks good for twenty-seven. He actually looks hot." My heat stopped.

"What?"

"Well, not actually in person. It was a TV interview for his new movie that he is about to start filming next month." I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"What movie?" I asked her, fearing the answer. It was silly really. There were plenty of movies that would start filming next month. July was a popular month for movie filming; there was no reason for it to be the same movie.

"I don't know the exact name. But it was a romantic comedy." Uh oh. I paled.

"Sonny? Are you okay?" Zora asked, pulling her feet out of the pool.

"I forgot to mention something when I was telling you what happened since I last saw you. I auditioned for a movie that Nathan would be working in-" Zora groaned, already seeing where this was going, and Tawni had looked up from feeding the baby, rapt with attention. "And I got the part," I continued, "of one of the two starring roles in a romantic comedy."

Tawni stared. "It's not necessarily the same movie, Sonny," she said reassuringly. "But there is one way to find out." She took out her iPhone. "What is the name of the movie? And why didn't he say who his other co-star was?"

"Knowing Chad, if he has not changed at all in the ten years I haven't seen him, he wanted to keep it quiet that he wasn't the only one starring in the movie and that someone else had to share the spotlight. And the name of the movie is Love Me Until I Leave You." I waited while Tawni typed it in.

"Let's see. Cast list. Apparently only the actors that have told the press they are going to be in the movie are on here. And you haven't told anyone you are in the move, right?"

"Yeah, I only told Nathan, my mom, Derek, and Kaylie, and you guys. We film the trailer in two weeks, and that's when the whole cast list will be out."

"Okay," Tawni mumbled, scrolling through a list. "What are the two main characters?"

"Lizze, who is my character, and Jared."

"Oh dear," Tawni said. Zora peered over her shoulder,

"Uh oh, somebody's in trouble," Zora cackled. "And that someone just got stuck with Chad Dylan Cooper as a co-star!"

I groaned. "Great. Just great. Guys, what am I going to do?"

"Chad doesn't remember anything about you, still. His memory has not come back, so all he will remember is…" Zora trailed off, thinking the same thing I was.

"All he will remember is him kissing me after being accused of loving me and then forgetting me," I finished sourly. "Fantastic pep talk, Zora."

"Just trying to help."

"Sonny, I have an idea!" Tawni exclaimed excitedly. I turned to her. All that college must have sparked up her dead brain cells. No offense to her or her "prettiness".

"Then let's hear it," I said.

"Okay, so we change your appearance and find a way to keep Chad from knowing you are his co-star. You have obviously changed a lot since you last saw him, right? You have the body of a woman that has had a baby, not your old curvy teen girl body."

"Thanks, Tawni," I said sarcastically.

"Let me finish! And your voice has changed, too. So the only thing he can use to identify you is your hair and your face. Change your hair color, wear make-up and get contacts!" I had changed my mind about those brain cells of hers. She had clearly lost it. Thankfully, Zora was brave enough to voice her opinion (which was exactly like my opinion).

"You're crazy. She's not going to dye her hair a weird color like green or purple r start wearing tons of make-up just for a guy."

"Thank you, Zora." I told her.

"Well I am not going to sit back and watch a friend get hurt. Again. Over the same guy!"

And with that declaration, she pulled me to my feet and handed Zora the baby with instructions to stay here and "baby-sit".

As I got pulled to my room to change out of my bathrobe, I yelled instructions back to Zora.

"Nathan is probably working in his office on the third floor, so just go up to him and tell him I've gone with Tawni and you will be in Dylan's nursery with the baby. See him if you've got any problems, there are bottles in the fridge, and she's got a pacifier in her crib upstairs!"

Ten minutes later, I was dressed in a pink sundress with green sandals, with my hair in a sloppy ponytail and sunglasses on my face.

"Let's take my car," I suggested, not wanting to be seen in the pink "pretty mobile".

"Fine," she huffed, walking to the garage door that I pointed out. It opened to reveal a light blue convertible VW bug. "Aw, it's so cute," she cooed, hopping into the passenger seat and pressing the button to let down the top.

"Um, thanks? Now where are we going?"

"To a hair salon. Which one do you go to?"

"A sort of fancy one that's about twenty minutes from here."

"Then step on it!"

I walked into Hollywood Hair Salon, yes I know it's a weird name since it is not in Hollywood, but in San Fran, and waved to the receptionist.

"Sorry I'm here without an appointment, Alissa, but my friend Tawni here demanded I needed a makeover for my movie next month."

"Tawni, as in Tawni Hart?"

"The one and only," I sighed. "Anyway, can you fit me in?"

Alissa's excited manner turned into one of business in a matter of seconds.

"Of course. Diana is working now, so you're in luck. Her next appointment doesn't start for another hour." Tawni clapped. I shot her a glare.

Diana was and had been my hair stylist ever since I moved to San Fran with Nathan. She was a slightly pudgy woman in her mid-forties and was very nice, and was one of those people that thought celebrities were no big deal.

Diana came walking over when she came out of the back spa room and noticed Tawni and me.

"Sonny! What are you doing here? And who's this? Tawni Hart? Ah yes, you two were on that show together, weren't you?"

"Tawni, Diana. Diana, Tawni. She does my hair and knows everything there is to know about me. And Diana, apparently I need a makeover, according to Tawni here." Tawni grinned again.

"Nice to meet you Diana. And yes, we need to make Sonny's hair and face look unrecognizable. Chad Dylan Cooper is her co-star in her next movie."

"Oh dear." Diana really did know everything about me, including all about my relationship with Chad, pre and post amnesia, so she understood about my problem.

"Yes, so I'm thinking black hair. Make some bangs crossing her forehead, with a single purple streak in her hair," Tawni commented as she sat watching Diana wash my hair. I gasped.

"No black! Definitely no purple!" I yelled as Diana massaged conditioner into my hair.

"Honey," Diana said soothingly, "If you don't want Chad to recognize you, you need something different. Something totally unlike you. And I agree with Tawni, black is your best color next to your natural brown."

So an hour later, I was sitting in front of the mirror staring at my black hair with one bright violet streak on my bangs while Diana straightened it. Tawni was busy talking to Diana while I stared at my new hair skeptically.

"So I'm thinking a bright blue for her contacts with lavender eye shadow and just a plain clear coat of gloss should do the trick. I want her eyes to pop. They were pretty before, but they need to stand out."

"But won't that make me more noticeable?" I asked, bemused. Tawni laughed.

"Sonny, darling, that's the whole point. After Chad got his amnesia, you were like a snail, and you hid away at everything for a while. He won't even recognize you when I'm done with you."

But do I really not want him to know it's me? I thought to myself. But when Tawni and Diana glared at me, I realized I had spoken aloud.

"Anyway," I said quickly, "what are we going to do about my name? Sooner or later, Chad will either see the preview of the trailer or the director will call me to set, or something will happen that involves him hearing my name and this will all be for nothing. "

"Sonny, what is your middle name?" Diana asked curiously.

"Well, Sonny is actually a nickname that I have had since I was a little girl, but I have never told anyone that, so shhhh!" I paused to laugh. "But my real name is Rayna Elizabeth Monroe. It was too long for me to pronounce and when I was four I decided I needed a nickname. That very same day I walked outside, looked up at the sun, which was really bright that particular day, and missed a step outside our house, which landed me in the hospital with three stitches. That is when I decided I would call myself Sonny, and the name stuck. My real name is actually a laugh for the people in my family. Rayna means queen in Russian, so if you put my first and middle name together, you get-"

"Queen Elizabeth," Diana finished, laughing. Even Tawni chuckled.

"Why do you want to know, Diana?"

"I'm thinking it's time for a stage name," she said with finality. Tawni clapped her hands excitedly. She has got to stop doing that; she's almost thirty, for heaven's sake.

"So should I just go by Rayna for the movie? Because the reason I changed my name in the first place is because I didn't like it. And then I would be going back to Sonny Monroe for all my other movies and shows."

"I like it. But you should be Rayna Elizabeth. Rain for short."

"No Rain," I demanded. "But Rayna Elizabeth sounds good. Ouch! Diana!"

"Sorry, sorry, I'm just so excited!" Yeah, so excited she flat-ironed my ear!

"Okay, Sonny you're done!" Tawni exclaimed happily as Diana put the iron away. Now pay her and come on, we have shopping to do!"

Diana dismissed my fifty-dollar bill. "My treat," she told me, winking as I thanked her and trailed after Tawni, trying not to stare at my new hair at every reflective surface I passed.

"Okay, Sonny, or should I say Rayna!" Tawni told me excitedly as we waited at a red light. "Are you ready to finish your makeover?"

"Not really," I grumbled, pressing down on the gas as the light turned green.

"Oh come on, cheer up," Tawni told me, punching me lightly on the shoulder. "You are going to look fantastic. No one made-over by me ever looks bad." I sighed, hating that she was right.

"I know, it's just that isn't this a lot of trouble for a little thing?" Tawni gasped.

"How dare you Sonny! I have watched you cry and cry and binge on cookies for this guy. We are not going through that again."

"Ugh. Of course we're not," I told her.

She smiled in satisfaction. "Good." Then I groaned as I parked the car and let her pull me into a store with a fancy name.

"I need options!" Tawni shouted as soon as she walked into the store.

Immediately, at least a dozen people started moving about, pulling things out of drawers here, or grabbing something from a shelf there. A man about my age came up to us and led us to a desk in the back of the large store and sat us down in two comfy chairs. The desk had a small storage unit on the side and a mirror in the middle.

After another minute or two, the dozen or so employees came up to us and deposited whatever they had grabbed from the shelves or drawers into little slots on the storage unit. I looked closely as they left and discovered they were tiny white boxes with a silver symbol on the top. I glanced at Tawni, who looked bored with the whole process.

"Expensive, non-prescription contact lenses from an exclusive eye center in Europe. I used to come here with my mom when I was little and get purple and green contacts for various auditions to make me stand out against the other people. Okay, now all we have to do is pick one," she said, sitting up straighter and riffling through the boxes.

"Okay," I said slowly, still wary about the whole sticking-an-unknown-and-possibly-poinsonous-thing-into-your-eyeball deal. I pulled down a random box, ignoring Tawni's laughter.

"I wouldn't," she cautioned, still trying not to laugh.

Too late. I had already put the sample contact lens into my eye and leaned towards the mirror. Oh my. My eyes were a brilliant neon orange.

"I told you so," Tawni said, snickering.

"How did you know what color they were?"

"Each shelf is in order of the rainbow and the higher up the shelf, the brighter the shade." Of course, I picked one of the first ones on the top shelf. This was going to take awhile.

"Ok, so which shelf should I look at?" I asked. Tawni ignored me and reached across me to pull a box of the second shelf.

"Try these on," she told me, handing me the box. I did, and when I looked in the mirror, I had to do a double take. I did not even look like me with the new hair and my new eyes. I was actually pretty. I mean, I was not bad looking, but I never looked like I was a real actress. Now I looked amazing.

"Wow," Tawni said, impressed. "I love the way the bright blue color of your contacts looks like an ocean is ready to spill out of your eyes any moment. And not in a bad way. I love it, and we are so getting this pair!" Tawni gestured towards a worker and quickly ordered several boxes of this color.

"Tawni!" I protested. "I'm only filming for a few months!"

"I know. But you will have your black hair for a while, and you need these to go with it. Try on this pair, too." She handed me another box and I put them in and peered skeptically in the mirror. These were a green color, like the color of a fresh bamboo sprout. They looked pretty, but not as good as the blue.

"I like them, but they don't pop as much as the blue," Tawni commented. "We'll take eight boxes of these," she told the hovering worker. "And that will be all."

The man nodded and scurried off to get our order. Meanwhile, the manager came to hand me my bill.

"Tawni!" I cried. "These are expensive! The green ones alone cost more than my hair coloring would have cost! It's not a problem money wise, but I am not going to need these all!" Tawni sighed.

"They are worth it. But if you are going to have a hissy fit about it, than fine." She gestured to the manager.

"Change of plans," she said. "Only ten boxes of the blue and four of the green." He nodded and went to go print a new receipt and change the order.

"Tawni, that is still too much."

"Nonsense. I will have two boxes of green contacts, but the rest are yours. And if it makes you feel better, I will pay for a quarter of it."

"Thanks Tawni, I guess ten boxes of blue are better than fifteen. And thanks again for coming with me," I told her as I paid and grabbed the bag out of the cashier's outstretched hand.

"Why are you thanking me now? We are not even close to done. Besides, all this caring is making me exhausted. What do you say we go clothes shopping and then call it a day?"

"Fine. But no expensive clothes."

"Sorry, but no can do, Sonny. I mean Rayna."

"Tawni?"

"What?"

"I despise you."

"I know Sonny, " she smiled. "I know."

An hour later, we were walking through an expensive designer boutique that I hadn't even known was in San Francisco. It was the sort of thing you would find in Hollywood or Paris.

It was a glass four story building with a different major designer on each of the first three levels, and the last level had a café in it and several private dressing rooms, complete with a lounge area, personal fashion assistant, and mocha machines.

Tawni handed me off to my assistant I received as soon as I walked through the door, and sent me to my dressing room. I went straight to the mocha machines and Tawni found me in a soft velvet couch sipping my steaming mocha twenty minutes later when she arrived in the elevator outside the dressing room door.

"The clothes are on their way up," she said cheerfully, going over to the mocha machine, and then messing around with it.

"I figured out how to make them produce Chi Tea when I was eleven. But that was when I actually paid attention to my technology class," she said, in answer to my stare as a hazel liquid flowed into the cup instead of a dark brown.

In the distance, the elevator dinged, and Tawni sent the assistant to retrieve the clothes as she sat down on the couch and kicked me off of it.

I tried on outfit after outfit, Tawni only agreeing to keep one out of every seven. I ended up keeping thirteen out of ninety or so outfits, and I never wanted to see another outfit in my life. But Tawni was satisfied, and even ended up paying most of the very expensive bill, she was so happy.

"I have finally finished with you," she said after a quick stop to the designer boutique's makeup counter. "It's too bad you have to come all the way to L.A. in the middle of July to film the movie, though. This makeup will sweat off!"

"Actually," I said, "despite the fact that Chad Dylan Cooper will be my co-star, this movie will actually be exciting to film, because we get to go to Maui for filming. Oh, and I didn't tell you this, but while you were picking out clothes for me, I got a text from the director. Filming starts next week. We are flying out to Maui in three days, courtesy of the movie production company."

"When you say we, you mean Nathan and Dylan? They get to come?"
"And of course my best friends Tawni and Zora!" I said.

"No. Way."

"Way! I was going to surprise you later, but the director said I get to bring six people with me!"

"So who are the other two?"

"I am surprising my brother Derek and his wife Kaylie. It's sort of like a honeymoon, since they didn't have a proper one."

"Sonny, I love you so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Now I can do your makeup and tell you what to wear, and oh, its going to be so much fun!"

To quote the famous Tawni Hart- "I know, Tawni. I know."

*****

After we got home from our little "trip" and parked the car, I walked around back to see if Zora was out by the pool.

She was in the shallow end of the gigantic pool, right under the waterfall, watching little Dylan float in her water pen.

It was an ingenious invention, this water pen. It was an inflatable crib-like thing for babies who are too young to go into water, and they just play in there, watching the water bubble beneath them and seeing their parents make funny faces from underneath their pen. It has saved us a lot of trouble when both Nathan and I want to go for a dip.

Nathan was lounging in a chair, tanning lotion covering his bare chest and arms.

"Hey, honey," I said, kissing him on his cheek. He did a double take.

"Ahh! Wait, Sonny? What did she do to you?"

"I had to make myself unnoticeable. Chad Dylan Cooper is my co-star," I told him, glaring at nothing in particular.

Zora said, "I like it," at the same time Nathan commented on what I had just told him.

"Aw, sweetie, I'm sorry to hear that."

I could see both Tawni and Zora making gagging gestures, so I said, "It's alright. Have you seen what Tawni bought?"

Nathan turned and caught Tawni mid-gag. She was wearing a new outfit she bought for herself at the boutique.

"It's lovely," he said, laughing.

"Speaking of lovely…" Tawni hinted.

"Oh, yeah! I have a surprise for all of you. Well, except for Tawni. My filming date has just been changed to next week, and it's not in Hollywood, it's in… drum roll please! Maui! We all get to leave in two days. You too, Zora."

"Cool!" Zora said, pushing Dylan and her water pen away from the waterfall.

"Really, Sonny? We all get to go to Maui with you while you're filming?"

"Yes, even Derek and Kaylie are coming. Which reminds me, I have to go call them…"

I left my friends and husband to talk about the upcoming trip while I called Derek. He was beyond excited, and promised to talk to Kaylie as soon as she got home, and made plans to come down tomorrow with her so we could all leave together.

Tawni and Zora came back inside, telling me they had to leave and pack, but they would come back on the train tomorrow around the same time Derek and Kaylie would come.

I saw them off and went upstairs to pack for Dylan and me. Nathan could take care of himself.

The next morning, I woke to an empty bed. I walked downstairs and found Nathan asleep on the couch in the game room with Dylan. Dylan was awake and playing on the floor with her stuffed animals.

I shook Nathan. "Get up!" I hissed.

"Wha?" he mumbled incoherently.

"While you were sleeping, Dylan has been down on the floor playing with her bunny."

" 'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep when I took her down here at midnight. You looked tired, so I took care of her."

"Well thanks. I'm going to drive out and pick up some coffee and doughnuts for breakfast at Starbucks. You need to take care of Dylan and pack for tomorrow. I should be receiving the script for the movie in the mail today, so keep an eye out for the mail man too." I kissed him goodbye and drove off to Starbucks.

When I got back Derek and Kaylie pulled into the gateway as soon as it closed for me. Dang it, now I have to put down the coffee containers and type in the code again.

"Sonny!" Kaylie cried as they drove up behind me.

"Hey Kaylie," I said, as I directed them towards the garage.

"So little sis, do you wanna take Kaylie on a tour of this place while I go take in your food?"

"Nice try, Derek, but I will take in the food. Luckily, I got enough for all of us, so we can all eat it. And Kaylie finally gets to see Dylan!"

"Yes, I am so excited to finally meet the little one."

Half an hour later, we were all done eating, I had taken Kaylie on a tour, Derek and Nathan were playing pool in the game room, and I was introducing Kaylie to Tawni and Zora, who had just arrived.

*****

The day of the trip dawned sunny and bright. No pun intended. I got everybody up at nine, much to their dismay, and thankfully, Dylan had not woken up in the middle of the night, so everyone had gotten a good night's sleep.

Everyone had showered, dressed, packed the luggage into the limo provided by the movie company, eaten, and all the celebrities had put on a disguise.

We got to the airport around noon. I was so thankful that everyone else on the cast was being flown to Maui on various flights and from various airports, so I wouldn't run into anyone I knew. Hint, hint.

Tawni made me put my new makeover to the test as soon as we checked in our bags and was heading towards security.

"Put on your contacts!" she hissed as she pulled me in front of the mirror at the airport's restroom. I huffed, but did as she instructed. Then, Tawni sent me into a stall to change into an extra outfit she had snuck out of my suitcase and put in her travel bag. I had officially adopted a preppy, yet gothic look. With my black hair, and my hot pink and black polka-dotted nails, I looked just plain gothic. When I changed into my new outfit, I added preppy to the ensemble.

Tawni had dressed me in a gray cut-off denim mini skirt, black Uggs, and a neon pink spaghetti-strap top, with a cute and slimming black short sleeved zip-up jacket over top of it all.

When Tawni added my lavender eye shadow and clear gloss, I looked twenty-one again. Maybe younger.

"I love looking young again," I said wistfully, staring at my reflection.

"Don't you dare start the 'I'm such an old lady' speech until you are thirty," Tawni warned as she was putting my makeup into her bag.

"Thanks, Tawni," was all I said, pulling her towards my friends and family.

On the plane, Nathan and Derek kept staring at me until I glared at them to cut it out. Dylan was asleep in my arms, Zora and Tawni were behind me bickering over the movie they were going to watch, and I was in a deep conversation with Kaylie about her job, until Nathan interrupted me to hand me a packet.

"Sorry I forgot to give you this until now, the mail man dropped it off yesterday," he said sheepishly. My script.

"Nathan! Thank goodness you gave it to me now, I have to start memorizing it now that the filming has been moved up!" I then immersed myself in reading it over, getting the gist of the movie.

My main character, Lizzie, and Chad's character Jared, are the best of friends, and have been since junior high, when they shared their first kiss.

They are now in college, and are still good friends. But a new man, whose name is Eli, comes into Lizzie's life, so Jared sees the need to get a new girl too- Monica, who is played by a fairly new, pretty French actress (Chloe Blaine). College ends with Jared being single, and he gets jealous of Lizzie, who still has a happy and romantic relationship with Eli. He never loved Chloe, he has loved Lizzie since they first kissed, but Lizzie said she just wanted them to be good friends, so he never said anything. He goes through various stages of depression, until he finally commits suicide a year after graduating college.

Lizzie, who got a scholarship in college to study law, is now at law school when she finds out about her best friend's death. She has not seen him since graduation, and is really sad and angry with Jared for leaving her. Only then she realizes she loved him all these years and can now do nothing about it. She has a series of dreams about how life would have been different if they had gotten together and he had not committed suicide, which spans over Lizzie's lifetime.

Eventually, Lizzie dies and goes to heaven and ends up there with Jared. And I got all that from the summary on the back of the title page on the script. It sounded way cool, so I decided to flip through the scenes. I loved it until I read one tiny little stage direction. I reread it just to make sure I had it right.

Then I screamed and then everything went black.

"Sonny?"

"Sonny?" I heard various choruses of my name as I struggled to open my eyes.

I found a flight attendant peering at me with worried eyes. Kaylie had taken the baby out of my arms, and Nathan, who had gotten up out of his seat across from me, was know kneeling in front of me with a cool towel on my forehead.

"Sweetie? Are you okay? What happened?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," I answered, trying to sit up. "I think I didn't have enough to eat this morning." Nathan quickly sent the attendant off to get a bite to eat, then sat back down in his own seat, satisfied that everything was okay.

Zora, who, sitting behind me, had seen the whole thing from the gap in our seats, was not so convinced.

"Give me the script," she whispered menacingly.

"No!" I cried indignantly.

"Yes." I handed it over, and a few seconds later, she and Tawni crowed triumphantly, and handed the script back, saying nothing until we landed.

"Really? Heavy making out with Jared Mason? Oh boy, this filming aught to be fun!" Tawni said softly, as we walked out of the plane.

"Oh. My. God. I love you sis!" Derek said as he saw the airport for the first time, coming out of the plane holding Dylan and her little diaper bag. "I am so glad you moved to L.A. to become an actress, 'cuz this is freaking awesome!" I laughed, and took Dylan.

"Come on you guys, a limo will be waiting for us to take us to our resort. We need to go find our bags."

We found our bags, hopped in our limo, and to shorten the next three days before filming into six words, had the time of our lives.

*****

It was the day that filming started down on the beach. And I was terrified.

I had rarely gone out of my resort room, afraid to run into Chad, but Tawni, who had been all about the exotic shopping, said there was no sign of him and he had probably demanded his own beach house instead of staying at the very nice (and probably expensive) Maui Resort.

Tawni had dressed me in a violet sundress that sparked when the sun hit it, and matched the dress with black flip-flops. My usual makeup was on and I had just put on my contacts.

Tawni, Zora, Nathan, and Dylan were coming with me to the beach to film, while Derek and Kaylie were sightseeing and then going to meet us for lunch.

Derek and Dylan were going to go to my trailer and relax before filming officially started.

Tawni and Zora had both put on huge sunglasses and pulled their hair back so they wouldn't be recognized by anyone. I had laughed when I saw them but I was now glad because who would I run into (literally) on my first day on set, but Chad Dylan Cooper.

"Watch where you're going. The great Chad Dylan Cooper is needed on set."

I scoffed; he had not changed one bit, and made to turn away before I fainted from the contact of his shoulder. Tawni and Zora turned away from his eyes quickly, and I tried to do the same, but his next words stopped me.

"Pardon my rudeness earlier. What is a gorgeous girl like yourself doing without a man at your side?" he asked, turning on his famous I-know-I-can-be-rude-but-right-now-I'm-totally-hot-and-attractive charm.

You have got to be kidding me. Age ten or so years, dye my hair, and wear sexy outfits, and WHAM! Chad Dylan Cooper falls in love with you.

Tawni and Zora ran off when I locked eyes with them. I faced Chad.

"For your information," I said rudely. "I am here with someone. Ah, here they are now."

Nathan and Dylan turned the corner. I took Dylan and was not shy about holding him in Chad's plain line of sight.

He turned green, seeing that I was married, and therefore unavailable, and walked to his trailer, which was coincidentally larger than mine.

"Chad Dylan Cooper, meet my husband Nathan. Nathan, meet Chad Dylan Cooper," I said a little too late.

"Well, isn't he cheerful," Nathan said, leading me towards road that would take us to the beach set.

We did cast introductions first. The main cast was introduced, then the minor cast, extras were just pointed out, not noticed individually, and then the director and main set, lighting, hair, makeup, and costume crew were introduced.

"Now let's get started!" our director, Emily, shouted. No megaphone though, she was plenty loud without one.

"We are starting with mini clips that will make up the trailer. So I need Sonn-er, Rayna Elizabeth on set with Chad Dylan Cooper, Orlando Bloom, Chloe Blain, Jessie Smith, and Liam Blake in fifteen minutes! All those mentioned go to your trailers, where your hair, makeup, and costume crews will be waiting. What are you waiting for? Run, run!" she yelled, tying her red hair into a ponytail to try and cool down the back of her neck.

I walked with Tawni to my trailer. Nathan and Zora had taken Dylan to the part of the beach where they were not filming to cool off, but Tawni hated "messing up her Goldilocks" as she called them.

"They are shooting the trailer in order, so it will start off with Liam and Jessie in the fake junior high set that they have about a mile away," I explained to Tawni as we walked towards my thankfully air conditioned trailer. "Liam, who plays a younger Jared, is on swim team with Jessie (a younger Lizzie), and they become the best of friends, then they go as friends to the school dance, where they kiss and Lizzie asks to remain best friends with Jared. Jared agrees, and the trailer cuts to high school, where Lizzie and Jared go to football games, fundraisers, and drive to the prom (as friends) together. Then the trailer goes to college, where it shows Lizzie kissing Eli, which by the way, not that I don't love Nathan, but how cool is it that I get to kiss Orlando Bloom? And then it shows Jared kissing Chloe, then Jared acting depressed, then it shows him, who is actually a blonde stunt double, jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge. The trailer then apparently gets really cool and does this film sequence of putting my face into a computer then aging it until I'm like 70, then it puts the aged faces in the place of mine in the trailer when it shows the old Lizzie dreaming of her perfect life as a college student again. The trailer cuts to black after it shows a picture of Lizzie's grave with college aged ghosts of Jared and Lizzie cuddling together against her grave stone."

"Sounds cool," Tawni said enthusiastically, as she pushed open my trailer and went straight to the couch and turned on the TV.

I was greeted by my team as they surrounded me.

"Hold on. One at a time, " I said, overwhelmed. This crew was obviously new. "Costumes first. Show me what I have to wear," I said calmly. The crews visibly relaxed as I ordered them around, glad for some organization.

I was put into a boarding school like uniform with a plaid skirt, black Mary Janes, and a white shirt with a loose blue tie. They curled my hair and let it flow loose down my shoulders. They rolled up the shirt's sleeves to my elbows and as a last minute decision, changed my Mary Janes to ankle boots.

The makeup crew put on the basics needed to be on camera plus some lip-gloss and light mascara.

Tawni approved my outfit and we thanked my team as we boarded the golf cart that would take us down the dirt road to the junior high movie set.

"Quiet on set!" Emily said as Jessie and Liam, dressed in casual school clothes, on separate sides of the set, found their tape marks. Emily directed the extras, which were decked out in various backpacks, sunglasses, and school clothes, to the set.

"And action!"

An hour later, they finished filming the school clip and ushered all of us to the indoor pool at a local Fitness Center.

When we got there, I was in shock. This was the first place fans were allowed to come, since Emily put out security and fences around the whole area of our sets and filming near the beach, and there were thousands of screaming fans on either side of the metal barriers leading to the doorway.

Emily nodded at us, told us we could sign autographs and do pictures for ten minutes, and then we had to start filming. It was unbelievable. Tawni even took a few pictures, even though she wasn't in the movie. But I had to be careful to never tell anyone who I really was, just that I was Rayna Elizabeth, and they knew me from previous shows.

At the center, Liam got dressed in green trunks, while Jessie had a green one piece. Both of them wore blue team jackets and goggles. Then it was time to start shooting the swim team clip.

Pretty soon we filmed that part of the trailer and then it was our turn for a bit, since child labor laws prohibited Emily using Liam and Jessie for another two hours or so.

Chad, Tawni, and I were put in the same golf cart to go to the high school set, which was behind the junior high set.

"Don't I know you?" Chad asked, eyeing Tawni suspiciously.

"Um, no. Definitely not," she said, averting her eyes.

"Yeah, I do. You're the Random girl. Tawni something or other. What are you doing here?" I groaned silently. Just my luck.

I just hoped Tawni would say something reasonable for once, not some really weird story, like she became a hobo after finishing So Random and Emily found her wandering the streets and adopted her. So I pinched her arm. She shot me a look.

"I am Rayna's personal assistant. She saw my TV show one day and thought that I would make a, um, great movie star assistant, and here I am," she said, throwing me a triumphant smile."

"You look familiar too," he said, turning to me. Oh boy.

"I'm the one you ran into earlier. How rude of you to do that and then walk away without apologizing for doing it," I said haughtily, never looking him directly in the eye, for fear I would be overwhelmed in his sea-blue eyes and fall right out of the golf cart.

"Chad Dylan Cooper does not apologize," he told me matter-of-factly.

"Don't I know it," I mumbled.

"What? Didn't catch that," he said, smirking. "And you may be avoiding the topic now, but I know I know you from somewhere and I am going to find out sooner or later." The golf cart stopped in front of the set.

"I pick later," I said as I pulled Tawni off the cart and ran onto the set.

"Come with me. Please," I whined, tugging on Chad's arm.

"I don't know, Lizzie. Washing people's cars for money to support the Poms team is just not my idea of a good Saturday afternoon, you know?"

"Come on, it's not just for any Poms team, its for my Poms team. Please?"

Chad sighed, feigning boredom. "Fine. But you drive."

"Deal."

We have rehearsed this one-minute clip fifteen times. And I was tired of it.

Finally, Emily shouted, "That's good for the trailer, but we'll come back to it for the movie. And for heavens sakes, Chad, learn your lines!" I smirked at Chad, who turned away and went to go to the food table.

I went over to Tawni. "So what do you think?" I asked her.

"It's nothing like we used to do on Fridays at So Random. It's so much more exciting. And there are so many more reflective things that I can use to stare at myself!" Yep, Tawni has not changed one bit, thank you very much.

"Okay guys, that's a wrap for today. Tomorrow I expect Chad, Rayna, Chloe, and Orlando to be at Seabury Hall by ten tomorrow, as well as the other extras, to shoot the high school car wash and football game clips. Liam, Jessie, you guys are done for about two days, so relax and enjoy Maui or come to set tomorrow to rehearse lines. See you then." Emily gratefully grabbed a cup of coffee from a lighting assistant and went to find her limo.

"Come on, let's call Nathan and Zora to let them know we're done and call your limo to come get you," Tawni said, as she grabbed a plum from the food table.

"Good idea, " I said gratefully.

For another week, this was how it went. We were still filming for the trailer, and if you were in the clips that day, you would go from your resort to the trailer, where your crew would give you your costumes for that day and do your makeup and hair. The gold cart would arrive to take you to the set and you would film for about three hours, take a lunch break, then film another three hours, then either go to the beach, stay at the set and rehearse with some actors, or go back to your resort room. If you weren't filming, you could take the day off and go to the beach, so sightseeing, or go to the set and watch rehearsal in your ragged pair of sweats.

Then the serious filming began as the producers and other crew set up and edited the trailer. Emily sometimes took the day off to work with the people creating the movie trailer, and her assistant director would work with us.

I loved Sam, since he was always more relaxed than Emily when it came to filming. And today, on the day marking the second month of filming, Sam was in charge.

We were shooting the scene in college where Jared finds out Lizzie has a new boyfriend when it happened.

"You what?" Chad cried, grabbing my wrist tightly.

"Ow! Jared, chill. I have a boyfriend. I haven't had one since I was a junior is high school, and I'm now in my second year of college, so it's about time! His name is Eli White. He has the most gorgeous smile, adorable brown eyes, and the greatest laugh," I said, sighing dreamily up at the ceiling of the dorm room set.

"Stop. Since when is it about eye color and how a guy laughs?"

"Since when do you care? And I'm not saying it's about that. Those are just added perks. Like those little pluses your elementary school teachers added to an "A" to make you feel special, even though you still got an "A". "

"Whatever. How could you not tell me?" Chad complained. Stretching back in the recliner and staring at the set's ceiling too.

"We just had our first date last night, so it's not like I kept it from you," I said, looking down at the piece of notebook paper that was supposed to be a report I was writing for class, but really had the lines Chad and I were supposed to say written on it.

Chad's next line was supposed to be "It doesn't matter, we're best friends, and we tell each other stuff like this so we don't get surprised like this when we walk in on each other making out with someone the other guy doesn't know."

But all he got out was, "It doesn't really matter, we're best-" before he stopped and all the color drained from his face. He was still glancing up at the set's ceiling, so I looked up too, expecting to see a bat or something. But it was much worse.

An air vent had become unhinged and was wobbling precariously over Chad. I ran off set, while the stage and light crew scrambled to move precious equipment away from the vent.

But Chad has never been, or will be the brightest crayon in the box, and he sat frozen in fear. He finally made to sit up and run, but it was too late. The vent plummeted the forty or so feet and smashed into Chad, crushing him to the floor of the set.

"Chad!" I cried.

"Someone call an ambulance," Sam called as he and several of the lighting crew men ran over to try and lift the vent off of Chad.

Nathan, who was in my seat near the director's chair at the time, whipped out his cell phone and summoned an ambulance.

The paramedics arrived within minutes, and helped to lift the vent off of my co-star. His face was bloody and a nearby paramedic told me he was unconscious.

"Who is close to him?" the paramedic, who later told me his name was Matt, asked as two of his paramedic friends gingerly lifted Chad onto a gurney.

"I used to be," I said, meekly lifting my hand.

"Me too," Tawni said, stepping forward.

"Good enough. You two ride in the back of the ambulance with him."

I glanced towards Sam, whose face was deathly pale.

"Go on, you two, I'm not filming any more scenes with either you or Chad for a while, so I guess I am going to start with Liam and Jessie. Call me when you get the doctor's prognosis. I will pass it on to Emily," he told us, turning back to the cast and crew. "The rest of you, clear out of this set until we fix everything. Liam, Jessie, go to hair and makeup. We'll shoot the pool scene. Hurry up, no time to worry about Chad now."

I glanced towards Nathan, who was holding Dylan and standing at the back of the studio room with Zora.

"Go," he told me understandingly. "Zora and I will meet you at the hospital."

I barely gave him a second glance as I hopped into the ambulance with Tawni, which I would later regret.

"This is one déjà vu that I hoped never to repeat," I said to Tawni as we waited in the ER waiting room.

"Well, it's not total déjà vu. For one thing, we are in a hospital in Maui, not Wisconsin. For another, Chad got hit by an air vent instead of crashing a rental car," Tawni commented.

"How about this," I said, "Chad's stupidity got him in the ER for both occasions. He will need stitches again. I am here for him. Again. Even after what happened last time. Should I go on?"

"Touché," Tawni said.

"Funny, I didn't think you knew what that word meant."

"Shut up, Sonny," Tawni said, punching me.

"Hey! Expensive movie costume," I said, rubbing my aching shoulder.

I then heard whispers around the waiting room. I should not have said that.

Camera phones were pulled out and people started snapping pictures. One little girl, about the age of six, came to me holding onto her mother's hand.

"Excuse me, but are you Rayna? The star of the movie Love Me Until I Leave You?"

"Yes, I am," I said.

"My daughter would love an autograph, if that's not too much trouble," she said kindly.

"Of course," I said. "Tawni, do you have a pen?"

"Eyeliner pen," Tawni said, holding out a blue stick of eyeliner.

"That'll work," I sighed, signing the piece of paper the girl shyly held out to me.

"Maria? What do you say?" the mother reprimanded.

"Thank you," the girl said softly. My heart went out to the little girl, who was clearly clutching her arm in pain.

"Here, come sit next to me," I offered. The mother of Maria shot me a grateful look.

"Why are you here, Maria?" Tawni asked her gently. I thanked her with my eyes for being nice to this girl.

"I broke my arm," she said, tears coming to her eyes.

"Aw, I'm sorry. I broke my arm once too," Tawni said. "I fell down the stairs in my apartment."

"Why are you here?" Maria asked.

"We are waiting for a friend," I said.

"Oh." Then the doctor called her name, and she stood up.

"Bye Maria," we told her, each giving her a hug. She went to go take the lollipop the doctor held out, but the mother lingered.

"Thank you," she said. "For being kind to my Maria." She left, trailing after her now talkative daughter and the doctor.

Another doctor came to the waiting room door. He walked over to us.

"Matt said you were the ones here for our "special patient"," he said as he led us out of earshot of the people in the waiting room.

"Chad seems to be doing fine," he said, taking us to his room. "He needed ten stitches, two in his forehead for where the wooden plank attached to the vent hit him, and eight on his arm where the grate of the vent cut him. His wrist was sprained in the fall, so he will have a bandage on it for two weeks or so, I'm sure you can easily incorporate that into the movie. His eye is bruised, though not to badly, nothing stage makeup can't cover. Oh, and one more thing. He has a slight concussion, and has been asking for someone over and over ever since he gained consciousness a few minutes ago." Tawni and I exchanged looks.

"Who has he been asking for, doctor?" Tawni asked as the doctor held open the door to Chad's room.

"Someone named Sonny. Do you know them?"

"Doctor, if I tell you something, you have to promise to never tell anyone else."

The doctor promised, and I told him all about his accident, forgetting me, changing my appearance and name, and starring in a movie with Chad.

"So you see, my real name is Sonny Monroe, but I am going by Rayna Elizabeth for the movie, and I thought Chad had no previous memory of me before the accident," I finished, readjusting myself in the chair besides Chad's bed. The doctor said they had sedated him once he woke up so they could find us, tell us what happened to him, and get him the proper pain medication.

The doctor nodded.

"He should wake in about ten minutes. You should decide where you want to go from there and if he seems well enough to go back to filming soon. He will not recognize you, and will ask a lot of questions. Do not answer, instead call a nurse, and she will put him in a wheel chair and take him to a room to get tested for amnesia." I nodded and the doctor left. Tawni and I started talking about the movie, but all too soon, Chad stirred.

"Sonny?"

Tawni's hand clamped onto my arm tightly as Chad rolled over to face me. His eyes were still shut and he was struggling to sit up. I reached over and gently forced him back down to his pillow.

"Oh no you don't. Just lay down and do not try to get up. Tawni, buzz the nurse," I instructed as Chad forced his eyes open.

"Tawni? Why is she here?" Chad asked, trying to see her from around me, who was "coincidentally" blocking his view.

"Psh, did I say Tawni? I meant…. Tami!" I said quickly.

"Hurry!" I hissed to Tawni.

"I hit the button already, relax!"

The nurse came in. "Chad, dear, I'm just going to put you in a wheelchair and take you to a different room," she said soothingly. "If you tell them they are going to a testing room, they always pitch a fit," she confided to us as she pulled out a wheel chair from the hallway.

Ten minutes later they were back. The nurse helped Chad into his bed then took us out into the hallway.

"The doctor filled me in on what you mentioned, Sonny," I growled. So much for not telling anyone, Doc. The nurse heard me and backtracked. "He only told me what was necessary for testing," she said. "He doesn't remember getting amnesia after crashing the car, he doesn't remember going down there at all. He just knows you got fired and came back. He doesn't remember how he didn't remember you, or how much he didn't like you. He knows he hasn't seen you since he switched buildings and he knows he was filming a movie with his co-star Rayna when he got hit. So basically, he now knows you, but he doesn't know you are Rayna. So feel free to fill him in to hopefully jog his memory," she concluded, walking away. "Just buzz me if he needs anything."

I turned to Tawni. "Wow," we said simultaneously.

I went into the room, but Tawni went to go back to the waiting room to give us some privacy.

"Hey," I said to Chad, who was now sitting up and looking quite grumpy.

"Who are you?" he frowned. Not this again. But wait. The nurse said he remembers me…

Once again, I silently held up my wrist, a new sense of déjà vu taking place.

Chad studied it silently. His eyes widened the tiniest bit.

"Sonny?" he asked quietly, staring deep into my eyes. "I don't believe you."

"You secretly came to every one of my So Random shows. You once dressed up as my fake fan Eric to save my butt from nation-wide embarrassment. You were a total suck-up to Condor's daughter Dakota until you found out she stole the money from her daddy's safe. You once had a big birthday bash with all these cardboard cut-outs of you and it backfired when your face said hello to your birthday cake. You guest starred on So Random and kissed a pig instead of me. I saved your life once when you choked on a Blossom Scout cookie. And last but not least, you kissed me on New Year's Eve at Condor's party right before I got fired."

"Um, okay. You sound like Sonny, but you don't look like her. Who are you, some evil celebrity stalker?"

"No. I really am Sonny Monroe. I'll prove it." I took out my contacts and put them into the extra case I keep in my bag. I sat down in the chair next to his bed and stared him down.

"Wow," he breathed. "You are Sonny. Just a little aged and gothic." I knew he would recognize me once he saw my real eyes. Countless times he mentioned my sparkling brown eyes that only I could have, and when he looked into them, I knew I could prove myself the real Sonny.

He leaned over and kissed me softly on the cheek.

"I have not seen you in years," he told me, settling back on his pillows. "So what have you been up to?"

"Chad, listen, there is something I have to tell you." And I began to tell him everything that he had forgotten. About how he ran after me in Wisconsin, got amnesia, forgot about me, hated me when he "met" me after I tried to get him to remember me, moved studio buildings, never saw me again for ten plus years, and was now starring in a movie with me.

"Seriously?" he said, when I had finally finished.

"Seriously," I confirmed.

"So, you and I are co-stars in the movie now?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"So you told me everything that I didn't remember?"

"Of course." Except for the fact that I'm married with a husband and a child named after you, and you are single and are now in love with me again. Oh dear, we have tons of catching up to do.

"And one more thing. I go by Rayna. Not Sonny."

"What, is your name too childish for a grown up actress like yourself?" he asked, teasing me. I rolled my eyes and he grinned. Well, it was more like a grimace, since it hurt him to laugh or smile.

It's just like it used to be, I thought. Just the two of us arguing and having some sort of fun. No, Sonny. It's not like it used to be. What is used to be happened twelve years ago. This is now. You are happily married and have an adorable baby girl that you would not give up for anything. Face it-you don't love him.

But my evil side would not let it go. Yes, she does love him. Still, after all these years, you still love Chad Dylan Cooper. It's not too late.

I shut down the evil side of my brain and listened to the good side. The side that I wanted to believe, no matter how wrong it was. I looked up at Chad, hoping he would give me some insight.

Not likely. He had fallen fast asleep while I was immersed in my thoughts.

Oh well, I could just ask Tawni for her opinion. And boy, did she give me her opinion.

"Chad is a jerk! Just like James! He forgot about you, and now you're wondering if you still love him? Come on, it's obvious that you are happy with Nathan, so forget about him. Just like he forgot about you," Tawni said in the taxi on the way back to the resort.

"I don't know, Tawn. He seemed really happy when he realized it was me at the hospital. And I don't want to put him through what he did to me. I wouldn't want that for anyone, let alone Chad." Tawni just sighed and patted my hand.

"Look into your heart. And then listen to what it tells you," she said, turning away from me to stare out the window at the passing surf shops. I snorted.

"Where'd you get that from, a movie?" I asked, smiling.

"No! From a song," she said huffily. I laughed. She was the best.

I arrived at the resort to find Nathan waiting for me.

"Sorry I didn't go to the hospital, but Dylan was fussing, so I thought it would be better to put her down for a nap. Zora is in our room listening for her," he said, kissing me hello. "So how is Chad? Is he gonna live?"

"Yeah, he's fine. Totally obnoxious, but fine," Tawni said.

Nathan shot me a glance, which I hastily pretended not to see and walked up the stairs to my room.

"Sonny! Thank goodness you're here! I have something important to tell you!" Zora yelled as soon as I opened the door.

"Um, Zora? Can it wait? Sonny just got home, she is probably really tired right now," Nathan said, walking in behind me. He went up to Zora and I swear he whispered something in he ear, but she didn't acknowledge him and just turned away so I shrugged it off.

"Never mind, Sonny," Zora said with her head in the refrigerator. "I forgot."

I laughed. Typical Zora.

The next day was Saturday, and I decided I needed a day to myself, so I took Dylan and went to the beach, leaving my two best friends and Nathan to fend for themselves.

I took a taxi, since I did not want the paparazzi or excited fans trailing after me on my day of relaxation. I paid the driver an extra thirty bucks to keep quiet about him driving me to the beach. He agreed and took the money.

I set up my beach chair just a few feet away from the waves, and set a pillow on a towel beside me, and set up an umbrella behind it. I sat in the chair and pulled Dylan onto my lap, slathering sunscreen all over her. I pulled her auburn hair back into a small clip and put cute little ducky sunglasses on her. I then put her on the towel and gave her a few beach toys along with a Pacifier to keep the sandy toys away from her mouth.

I sighed contentedly, rubbed some tanning lotion on me, and sitting back in my chair with the sun shining on my face.

All was well until I head a voice.

"What are you doing here?"

I groaned and sat up, I apparently had fallen asleep since the sun was now high overhead and my body was as tan as a FedEx box. Time for actual sunscreen now. Then I opened my eyes, though unwillingly. Why? Because I knew that voice. And that voice was supposed to be ten miles away in a hospital bed.

"Chad? What on earth are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question, Monroe." I so did not want to point out that my last name was not Monroe any more. So I let it slide.

"Allow me to point out that you are supposed to be in a hospital bed ten miles away from me, which is why I came to the beach. To relax. To get away from you."

"Ouch, that hurt! And the doctors let me go this morning. They said as long as I keep the stitches dry I can get them out in two weeks. Along with the bandage. For your information, I came to this beach first. Well, I did before I got sent to the hospital. Yeah, this is my beach, I used to come here every day after rehearsal to chill and work on my famous Chad Dylan Cooper skin. This beauty is the result of hard work."

I snorted. "Fine. But I was here first. So please go so I can finish rela-" I was interrupted by a voice.

"Mama." I sat up all the way and reached next to me to pull Dylan onto the chair. She had managed to dump the Pacifier in the sand and then put it in her mouth, getting her mouth all gritty. She was starting to cry.

"No, no, sweetie, it's okay. Here, Mommy will fix it," I cooed, grabbing a water bottle out of my beach bag and carefully I washed out her mouth.

Meanwhile Chad was staring at Dylan with hurt in his eyes. Shoot.

"Who's this?" he asked, faking interest. He carefully kneeled in the sand next to my chair and tickled Dylan under her chin. She laughed, sandy mouth momentarily forgotten.

"Oh, nobody," I said, trying to change the subject. This time, when he spoke, Chad did not try and hide the hurt he felt.

"It doesn't look like nobody. She has your eyes and your hair, so she must be yours. What? Did a punk off the streets of L.A. get you pregnant than walk away?" he asked, his eyes showing hurt, but the rest of his face furious. I cowered, but just slightly. Then I remembered who was stronger and I sat up straight, hugging Dylan to my chest.

"No, she's not some random guy's kid. She belongs to me and my husband." As soon as it was out, I took a deep breath. There, I had said it.

Now Chad openly showed the hurt and I wanted to immediately take my words back.

"Why didn't you tell me, Sonny?" he asked, trying to look me in the eye, but I surreptitiously avoided eye contact. "Why didn't you tell me you were married, much less have a kid? Did you think I would still love you? Well, you're wrong. I'm over it, and Chad Dylan Cooper now has plenty of options."

He started to walk away but paused without looking back at me. "Just one more thing. What's her name?" He seemed to fear the answer.

"Dylan. I named her after someone I care about very much," I said very softly.

But Chad's cool composure broke again, so I knew he heard me. This time, he didn't turn back.

When I heard a car's engine in the distance I knew he was gone. I hugged Dylan to my chest and cried.

I snuck into my room at the resort close to eleven. I had sat at the beach and wallowed in my sadness until around six, then I took Dylan to a nice restaurant and I pigged out. I borrowed a rental car and drove aimlessly for a few hours, then I noticed Dylan fast asleep in the car seat, so I returned the car and walked home.

It was pitch black in the room, and I did not want to wake anyone up, so I carefully felt my way to one of the bedrooms, the one Tawni slept in.

"Tawni?" I said softly.

"Sonny? I wondered when you were going to get back." A light switched on, illuminating my friend in bright pink silk jammies and pink bunny slippers. "So how was the beach…" she trailed off, seeing my still red eyes and messy hair. "What happened?" she asked flatly, taking the still sleeping Dylan from my arms and going over to her closet.

"Never mind, hold that thought," Tawni added, shoving Dylan at me and leaving the room. I sat down on her bed, waiting. I didn't have to wait long.

Tawni came back with a pair of pajamas for me and for Dylan, along with a pillow for me.

"Go into the shower in my room. Put these on and come back out here. I'll take care of Dylan. Then you can tell me your story." She shoved me in direction of her bathroom.

Half an hour later, I was sitting cross-legged on Tawni's bed, wet hair pulled into a ponytail and warm pajamas on my body. Dylan was dressed in her bunny pj's and Tawni had been kind enough to move her crib in here, so she was asleep in the crib beside Tawni's bed.

I told Tawni everything. And she said nothing when I was done. She just nodded sympathetically. She crawled into bed and pointed me to the soft floor, where a sleeping bag and my pillow had been laid out.

"Goodnight Tawni. And thanks," I said sleepily. Tawni said one word, but I knew what it meant.

"Listen." Then I heard snoring from both Tawni and Dylan and knew I had to fall asleep.

I unfortunately had to go back to work on Monday to refilm the dorm scene. Chad had called Emily and told her he was ready to get back to work. Emily, relieved, called me and told me she wanted me on Monday to resume filming.

All through the scene and in between takes, Chad acted like nothing was wrong. He said hello to Tawni and Zora, who came to set with me, he ignored the extras like usual, and he even nodded a hello to Nathan, who had also come, though unwillingly.

The only thing that clued me in to his "mood" was when I came up after a break to apologize. He didn't let me get a word out; instead, he walked away and started talking to Chloe Blaine.

We shot the scene where Jared got together with Monica next.

Lizzie was supposed to catch them kissing in the hallways after class and Jared was supposed to introduce Monica to Lizzie as his new girlfriend, and I could tell Chad was not into the kiss like he should have been. Emily saw it too, and made us shoot the scene over and over again. And it hurt every single time.

But it was payback for me when we started to rehearse the double date scene with Chad, Chloe, and Orlando. Halfway through the date, I was supposed to start randomly making out with Orlando, cue screams and girly squeals.

When I got to that part though, I couldn't do it, so instead of kissing Orlando like I was supposed to, I started "coughing".

"Cut!" Emily yelled. "Someone get this girl a drink of water. Now!" she said impatiently, wanting to get out of the studio for the day. That makes two of us.

Eventually, though, we got the scene done. But only after another break, where I saw Chad walk away from me once again. This got me mad enough to get up the nerve to kiss Orlando, which I did with so much enthusiasm that Chad turned red.

It went on like this for three more weeks. Filming was wrapping up, we only had another week to film and then it was over.

The day started out really well. Chad had started talking to me about three days ago, but it was only polite and short conversations, so I was happy to go back to work after a day off from filming, when Emily and Sam worked with people to age my face, since we filmed some of the scenes when I was old after Jared had died. We were filming the dream sequence today and I could not wait- Chad had to kiss me several times, whether he wanted to or not. Oops, Nathan. I mean, I cannot believe I have to kiss Chad! Ah, who am I kidding I am ecstatic.

Then Zora dropped a bombshell on me during the cast's lunch break. She led me to the prop closet next to the café and told me to sit down. I took a seat on a cardboard box and waited for the words that would change my life, though I didn't know it at the time.

"Nathan's cheating on you," Zora blurted as soon as she shut the door. My face went white and I could not speak. Zora realized, a little too late, what she had said.

She clamped her hands over her mouth. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was told not to tell but I couldn't stand keeping this from you, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she mumbled through her hands. I spoke.

"Wait, you knew about this? For how long?" Zora shook her head. "Zora. How. Long." I demanded.

"A few weeks. Almost a month," she said meekly. "I'm sorry, I really, really am. I walked in on him and the girl kissing in your room at the resort when he claimed to be following you back to the hospital. And I saw them again when you and Dylan went to the beach. Tawni and I had gone out to brunch, and I came back early since I didn't want to go shopping with her afterwards. I also hoped to negotiate with Nathan, but he was –ahem- busy."

"What do you mean negotiate?" I asked, reality of the situation starting to slowly sink in.

"Well, um, when I walked in on him the first time, he told me not to tell you, since you would be crushed. He threatened to close down my shop and make my life miserable if I told you, so I kept my mouth shut. Until you got home. I almost told you, but he whispered a reminder in my ear. I was so selfish, thinking only of myself and how awful it would be to have my life's wok ruined just by a single word to you about Nathan and his bad blood. But then I realized I don't care. It's worth it just to let you know. He then said I deserved to know the truth, and he told me that he ran into her one day in town and she invited him over to her condo. She told him she was going to see Chad, apparently they were close when they were young. The next time they met was when we were at the hospital." Zora hugged me. "I'm so sorry," she said, then opened the door and stepped out.

"Wait," I said, beginning to dig my own grave. "Who was she?"

Zora looked like she was debating whether or not to tell me.

"Dakota." Then she left, closing the door softly behind her. I fell from the cardboard box and slumped against the wall too enraged to cry. But five minutes later, I was no longer mad. I was miserable, and the tears poured from my eyes. I let my eyes close, so I could shut out the world.

Someone shoved my arm. I opened my eyes only to find my vision blurred by lingering tears, so I squeezed them shut again.

"Up you go," the person said, and they hoisted me up and led me to a chair I didn't even know existed, or else I would have sat there instead of on the box.

"Come on, Sonny, open your eyes. Tell me what's wrong," they coaxed. I still couldn't tell who it was with my eyes shut. I pried my eyelids open. Chad's worried face stared me down. I dropped my head to my chest and I closed my eyes again, holding back the tears that were about to start again. Chad sighed then I heard him move in front of me and I opened my eyes just a crack to see him crouching in front of me looking concerned. He was such a good actor for someone who has been ignoring me and only talking to me when necessary.

"Go away," I croaked. He looked surprised. I closed my eyes all the way.

"No. Not until I know what's wrong. And I can't do that unless you tell me."

"Why would I tell you? You've done nothing but ignore me and push me away when I tried to be your friend again." I didn't have to open my eyes to know that he flinched when I said the word friend.

"That is so not true," Chad said. He paused. "Okay, it is. And you know I don't let my guard down very often, but I'm going to now. I'm going to tell you why. But only if you look at me." I quickly debated not listening and just going back to sleep with listening to what he had to say.

I opened my eyes, rubbed at them, and sat up a little straighter. Only to notice that my college sweatshirt I had to wear to film had my makeup all over it. Darn, now I would have to get it redone. Really, Sonny? Really? You are thinking about makeup at a time like this? When you just found out Nathan has been seeing Dakota?

That thought sent me into another wave of tears. Poor Chad didn't see it coming and looked quite startled when I started bawling. Then he shrugged, stood up, and sat down on the arm of my chair. He hesitantly put his arm around my shoulder. I shuddered, but did not stop crying.

He just let me cry until it was all out. I turned to him expectantly. He realized I was done and he had to say what he was trying to tell me.

"I was ignoring you because…I was…jealous. Of your happy life. Without me. You were married with a cute baby, and you were happy. And I wasn't part of that happiness. I know it wasn't fair to me to expect you to come back and like me again after I had forgotten you like that, but I did. And it was a lot to dump on me. And you naming your kid after me was more than I could take. I knew you still cared about me, but not enough to leave your husband for me, like I expected you to. That is why I ignored you. To keep the pain at a minimum. Don't you get it? I have always liked you, but I never really got to tell you how much because I went and had that stupid accident and forgot about you. And I will never say this again, I swear, but I'm sorry for everything that I did to you," he said quickly. I was startled. I hadn't expected him to let all that out. Especially on me. But I had to have known there was a catch.

"Your turn," he said, tightening his arm around my shoulder.

"My story beats your story in a very pitying way," I warned him, sniffling. And I told him everything that Zora told me. When I got to the part about how Dakota was the girl, Chad stiffened.

"I haven't seen her in at least three years. She's like a life-size Malibu Barbie. She still has the dirty blonde hair, but it's longer. She is way to perky, happy, and innocent but really evil. She acted like a total slut last time I ran into her, which is probably why she took advantage of Nathan. That and the fact that Nathan probably declined at first saying he was married to you, which got her mad, since she still holds a vendetta against you for getting her in trouble with her dad," Chad reasoned. "But I am still sorry. No, I am not trying to take advantage of you by saying this, I promise, but we need to get back at him, and odds are he doesn't know Zora told you." I nodded.

"Okay. But how?" Chad helped me up. And kissed me softly.

"Just follow your instincts," he said, leading me by the hand to the makeup room to replace my makeup and to wipe away the mascara and eyeliner streaks that ran down my face from my tears.

"Finally, Rayna. How long did it take you to fix your makeup? We had to film a different scene!" Emily cried, rushing up to me. I glanced at Chad. What was she talking about?

"I covered for you, since she was wondering where you were, and I told her you had a makeup emergency," he whispered in my ear, grasping my hand again. "Now laugh like I just told you something hilarious."

We cracked up as we walked past a furious looking Nathan, whose eyes went from our intertwined hands to our happy faces in a split second.

Chad and I filmed the dream sequence quickly. It only took seven takes, since we kept "messing up" at the part where we were supposed to kiss.

Finally, we were done though, and Chad winked at me as he hugged me and waved down his limo. I waved happily after his retreating limo and waved down my own. Nathan, Tawni, Zora, and I were silent the whole way home. I knew Zora had told Tawni because Tawni kept shooting Nathan murderous glares, but Nathan never saw them because he was too busy glaring at me. I just ignored all three of them.

I couldn't do it forever. As soon as I had put Dylan on the floor to play, Nathan came up in my face.

"What was that? For just being co-stars, you sure looked a little too happy as you filmed the kissing scene over and over again!" he shouted at me. I had had enough.

"Well, next time think of that before going around cheating on me!" I cried back, as much in his face as he was in mine.

Tawni and Zora looked shocked. Nathan was pale and shaking.

He slowly turned around to face Zora.

"You. Will. Pay," he said, pointing a shaking finger at Zora. She stood up straight and stared him down.

"No. I don't think you will. I think you will pay. You may live in San Francisco, but here, in Maui, there are laws that prevent dishonesty. And for that stunt you pulled with Dakota earns you a good three years behind bars," she said triumphantly. Huh, who would have guessed? I teased all those ridiculous laws in different areas, but I learned my lesson. One of them may come in handy when you least expect it to.

With that statement, Tawni held up her phone and dialed the police.

It had been a year since the police shipped Nathan (and Dakota, since the law clearly stated that both of them had to go to prison) to the California Jail.

The divorce papers had been filed, and I was now back to living in my mansion in San Fran. With Chad. And a new addition to the family.

Chad and I had our wedding next month, but the baby was premature. Little Liza Cooper, only two weeks old.

Chad had wanted to name the baby Chad Jr. if it was a boy, but I said no way. So he opted for my old stage name, Rayna. I said no to that too, but we compromised and named her Elizabeth instead, Liza for short.

Tawni, who now had a steady boyfriend, and Zora, who had just dumped her latest boyfriend, come visit us every Saturday. My mom, Derek, and Kaylie, who had to go home early from Maui because of the babies' due dates, now had two healthy one year olds- a boy named Chase and a girl named Rianne (yes, a variation of Chad's name and my stage name) and visited at least twice a month.

Chad came over to sit next to me on the couch on the open back porch, looking out at the twinkling San Francisco stars. He held Dylan, who was starting to look very sleepy, but struggled to stay awake longer than her sister, who, even at three weeks, could stay awake longer than her.

"Look at the stars. The are really beautiful tonight," I say trying to rock an oddly quiet Elizabeth to sleep. "Especially that one. It twinkles so bright. It is the prettiest of them all."

Chad put his arm around me as Dylan crawled from his lap to the area between Chad and I.

"Yeah," he said, looking only at me. "She sure is."

A/N- sorry it's so long, I just could not stop writing it!!! So lemme know if you liked it or not-review, review, review! And if you still want to make a youtube video for it, let me know…tell people about the story and feel free to read my other one-it's a twilight fanfic, still in progress, though

Last but not least, read imalittleteapot-girl stories- they are swac fanfics based on songs- you will love them, I promise!