Disclaimer: Sonny With a Chance belongs to Disney.

Author's Note: This is sort of a sequel to "Facing the Music," but I'm trying to write it so that you don't have to read that first. However, I do reference the events of that story occasionally, so it has more levels if you're following along.

Confession

It was a beautiful California morning, and Sonny Munroe was in the Mackenzie Falls make-up room with Chad Dylan Cooper. It had become sort of a routine, since their first completed date just over two weeks earlier, that she'd seek him out at the beginning of each workday, and they'd chat for a little while. Chad was still leery of approaching the prop house. This was due both to the habit the rest of the Randoms had of teasing him mercilessly and the fact that a framed picture of him throwing up water on Sonny was prominently displayed. He would, however, sometimes stop by Sonny's dressing room. With only Tawni and Zora as the other potential occupants, the atmosphere wasn't so bad. Zora was hardly ever there, and even if Tawni was, she was usually too busy looking into her mirror to pay any attention to anyone else.

"Well, I need to get back to So Random," Sonny announced as their conversation wound down.

"Yeah, I should get to work, too," Chad agreed. He gave her a hug.

"Have a good day," she wished him cheerily, giving a little wave as she turned to go.

"You too. I love you," he responded. They'd each taken about two steps away from each other before it sank in what he'd just said.

No. I did not just… he thought desperately, blue eyes widening with alarm. Maybe he'd imagined it? Maybe she hadn't heard? Unfortunately, he heard her footsteps come to an abrupt stop behind him.

"Did you just say what I think you said?" she asked, and when he turned around to face her again, he couldn't read her expression.

Okay, yes, he thought. Yes, I did.

"I…um…" he floundered.

"That's what I thought you said," Sonny interrupted, taking a tentative step forward. She didn't need him to confirm it in so many words. Chad Dylan Cooper only got tongue-tied when he'd accidentally revealed a little too much about himself. She knew him well enough to realize that with him, the lies came smoothly; it was the truth that could be rough.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said quickly. "It just slipped out. I mean, I know it's too early. Of course I know that. Why wouldn't I know that?" He was babbling. Sonny was the only person in the world that could make him babble and act like a fool. At the same time, he still wanted to be with her more than anyone else. It was quite the conundrum. Her brow furrowed.

"Well…did you mean it?" she countered, and he hesitated. The lie would have been easy. How many times had he said those words because a script told him to? He could just say it came naturally, and it didn't have to mean anything.

But somehow, he just couldn't. Looking into those big, brown eyes, he couldn't bring himself to take the easy way out. Whatever the consequences, he had to tell the truth.

"Yeah," he admitted quietly.

"Okay, then. I…" Sonny trailed off, shaking her head. "I have to go. See you later."

"Yeah, later," Chad agreed, but he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he watched her walk away.

Stupid, stupid! He chastised himself. How could you make that kind of mistake? After all, he was a professional actor. He knew when to say his lines, and, almost as importantly, when not to say them. He was afraid that he had completely screwed this all up.

It had been clear to Chad almost from the beginning that if he wanted to keep this relationship with Sonny going, it was largely going to be his responsibility. Sonny had been the one to cancel their date within an hour of agreeing to it. Sonny had been willing to call it quits after the first, aborted date because he said he didn't want to be seen with her. He had to be very careful, at least until she was as committed to this as he was. If that was even possible.

No; he had to stop thinking that way. Of course it was possible; he was Chad Dylan Cooper.

The fact remained, however, what he'd just been was the opposite of careful. Somehow, he had to find a way to fix this.

He was a consummate professional, so by the time he reached the set for today's filming, he'd put Sonny out of his head and was completely ready to immerse himself in the role of Mackenzie.

And if he said "Sonny" instead of "Chloe" once or twice, well, that's what film editors were for.

Sonny was ashamed to admit that she tried to avoid Chad for most of the day. It wasn't that she didn't want to see him – at least, not exactly. It was just that she didn't know what to say, or what he expected her to say. A part of her told her she was being silly, that the best way to get over this awkward episode was to talk to him about it. That was probably true, but she was still nervous about facing the situation head-on, so she put it off.

She could no longer evade him when it was time for their afternoon classes. Chad slipped into the seat next to her and leaned her way.

"Are you mad at me?" he whispered.

"No! Of course, I'm not mad," she assured him. "I just…need a little time to think. Okay?"

"Yeah, of course," he responded, and though his arrogant, flippant manner was back, she swore she could see him withdraw into himself a little. Sonny inwardly winced at the thought that she'd hurt him, however accidentally. At that point, the teacher came in, effectively ending the conversation.

Sonny wasn't able to focus very much on the lessons, but she'd always been a good student, so she hoped that one day's inattention wouldn't hurt her studies too much. She stopped Chad before he could leave.

"Come to my dressing room in two hours," she invited him. "We should be done with our day by then." He nodded acknowledgement and went his way.

Chad was definitely nervous as he raised his hand to knock on the dressing room door. Obviously, Sonny wanted to talk to him privately about what he'd said this morning, but what was she going to say? Would she break up with him? Just say that things were moving too fast? Or would she, wonder of wonders, actually say she loved him, too?

Enough daydreaming, Cooper, he thought sternly, and he knocked sharply, struggling to regain his poise. Sonny opened the door, looking her usual cute self, and ushered him in. They just remained standing silently for a moment, staring at one another.

"So…" they both said at the same time, eliciting a giggle from Sonny and a sheepish grin from Chad.

"You wanted to talk?" he invited, hating how cliché the words sounded.

"Right," she said, shifting her weight nervously. "I really hated the way I left things this morning. I mean, I'm sure that wasn't quite the response you were hoping for."

"I wasn't hoping for anything," Chad replied earnestly. "I told you, it was a mistake to say it. I didn't mean to tell you like that."

"The thing is, we've only been going out two weeks," said Sonny, still feeling the need to explain herself.

Two weeks, three days, and almost 21 hours, Chad amended internally. But who's counting?

"We've had all of four dates," Sonny went on. "You haven't even kissed me yet!" Truthfully, she was a little bit miffed about that last part. After all of his boasting, he hadn't even made an attempt. What was the matter with the boy? Or was there something wrong with her?

"Maybe that's because the last time I tried, you made me kiss a pig!" he retorted.

"Yeah, that was pretty funny," Sonny laughed at the memory. When she caught Chad's expression, however, she quickly sobered. "Um…sorry about that. But that was totally different! We weren't dating, and…and you were getting in my head."

"Really?" He raised his eyebrows. "And here I thought you were immune."

"Not immune, just resistant."

Chad couldn't help but grin a little at that. So his perfect record had not been marred after all; he had been getting to her. Although she'd been so afraid of him that she'd stuck a pig in his face. How was he supposed to interpret that?

"So…it's not because you didn't want to kiss me?" asked Sonny carefully.

"Of course not!" he exclaimed, honestly shocked. "How could you even think that? I just wasn't sure how you do things in Wisconsin."

"I'm not sure why that should matter. We're in California."

"Still, I didn't want to offend you or anything." He took her hands in his and gazed adoringly into her face. "You mean a lot to me, Sonny."

Sonny felt her insides melting at the face that had made Mackenzie Falls the most popular tween drama on television. He really did have a lot to be cocky about - not that she would tell him that. His ego was big enough already. In any case, his words reminded her of the seriousness of the thing they were here to discuss.

"For your information, I'd have let you kiss me after the third date," she informed him, trying to be nonchalant as she worked out a way to get back on topic.

"Well, that would have been nice to know," he responded, thinking of all the missed opportunities. He wondered if he should go for it now but decided against it. So soon after his confession, it would just be too awkward. He needed to wait until the moment was right.

"The point is, I appreciate how you feel, but I'm just not there yet."

"But you might be eventually?" he asked hopefully.

"Maybe. I mean, you don't really plan these things, you know?"

"Tell me about it." Chad certainly had never expected to fall for a Random from Wisconsin, after all. Talk about a bolt from the blue! "I completely understand. It's not like there's a rule that we both have to be at the same place in the relationship at every moment, right?"

"I guess not." Sonny looked relieved, and Chad did his best to put a positive face on for her.

"Fine," he said impishly.

"Fine," she played the game readily enough.

"Good."

"Good."

"So we're good?"

"We're so good," she agreed, hugging him enthusiastically. "Well, I should get home before my mom gets worried."

"Yeah, you should. We're still on for tomorrow night, right?"

"Definitely. Thanks for understanding." Sonny flounced out the door, leaving Chad alone.

Chad sank into a chair, allowing his brave façade to crumple. Even though he had not really expected her to return his feelings at this point, he couldn't help feeling a little hollow. Making light of the situation during their talk had been one of the most difficult things he'd ever done, but it had also been necessary. He wanted very much to keep Sonny in his life, and he was willing to wait for her to catch up. He didn't want to scare her away. He heaved a deep sigh. After all of the love situations, requited and unrequited, he'd been in as Mackenzie, he'd thought he understood this romance thing. He was discovering, however, that his imaginings while getting himself into character had not even come close.

"I understand," he repeated to the empty room. "But it still hurts."

Zora, lurking in the air vents, had listened to Sonny and Chad's conversation with a great deal of interest.

Trouble in paradise? she wondered, chewing her lip in thought. She wasn't sure what, if anything, she should do about the situation. Despite thinking they were alone, the couple had been somewhat oblique about what was going on, although the fact that they hadn't kissed yet was interesting all by itself. Zora's first impulse was to tell the others about that, but when she peered down at Chad, looking so uncharacteristically dejected, she changed her mind. She still wasn't crazy about the guy, but for some reason, this just wasn't striking her as funny. Perhaps a little of Sonny's righteous tirade had sunk in. She'd berated the other Randoms forcefully for teasing Chad about throwing up on their first date, and ever since, making fun of him hadn't held the same charm as it once had.

Zora waited until she was sure Chad was gone before she worked her way out of the vents and exited the building. She decided to simply watch those two and see what happened. She was aware that it was a mistake to act or jump to conclusions before you knew all of the facts. That Sherlock Holmes convention couldn't come soon enough; she was very much in need of some help with her deductive reasoning skills.

Author's Note: Sorry the ending's a little abrupt. I'm realizing that this sounds a little like the plot to an episode from The Big Bang Theory, but it's not like this sort of thing doesn't happen in real life.

Just to give you an idea where I'm going with this, from the way Chad was talking to his reflection if FftF Part 2, I got the impression that he'd never been on a serious date before. I'm sort of taking that concept and running with it. He also got pretty possessive after she agreed to a single date.