Disclaimer: I do not own SWAC, or any of the recognizable characters. However, I do own Chad's father, Kenden, and Lauren.

…Actually, this is dedicated to All We Are who's name happens to be Lauren, so perhaps she owns Lauren =D

Coming Out

I can't go on.

I can't go on.

I can't go on like…like this.

My life's existence? Twenty-five years. Twenty-five years of breathing in fresh air, marked with nine years of being in the spotlight.

Marked with five years of…

Five years of keeping secrets. Secrets are what harm us the most, aren't they? They sting, and clog your brain, and change you completely.

I always thought that my secret was a good secret. In fact, I love my secret. Or should I say secrets? All three of them. But keeping them a secret is way too painful to think about.

It's denial, in a way. I'm denying them – and it's not by choice.

What happened one day so long (five years) ago, was the best thing – but to the company that controls my life, the worst.

Don't get me wrong, I love Hollywood Falls. When I was fifteen, they let me be the star of my own television show. When I was nineteen, I was the lead actor in a number one film due to them. When I was twenty, they told me that I had made a mistake….And they told me to keep it a secret.

They told me to keep on being the egotistical, glamorous snob that I once was. But keeping that appearance up has been exhausting. It's not noteworthy. It's not admirable. They say that honesty is the best policy, don't they? And yeah, I am Chad Dylan Cooper. I have been known to be a nonchalant bastard, but my fans deserve to know the truth. They deserve to know the real me. All of me.

"I need a press conference, as soon as possible." I told my father – better known as my manager. He studied me for a minute, swallowed hard, and placed one of his firm, worn hands on my shoulder.

"Are you sure about this, son?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." In fact, I had never been so sure about anything in my life.

"They'll-"

"I know," I cut in. "I don't care though. Let Hollywood Falls drop me. Let my fans hate me. But they're good fans, dad. If they're true fans, then they'll support me. They'll support us."

"Okay," I watched as my dad cracked a small smile. "I'll arrange the press conference." He took a few steps away from me and halted. "Kenden called you a few minutes ago. He misses you, and wanted you to call him."

At this, I smiled at my dad and watched him finally walk out of the room.

Yeah Kenden, I'll call you. Pretty soon, everything's going to be okay.

Ooo000ooO

Flash.

Click.

Flash.

They were all around me…. The media was eager for me to spill something. To make some huge announcement, and I was glad. In a few minutes, the weight would be off my chest. I could be free, and everything, hopefully, would be good again.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as the microphone came to life, and it seemed like everybody paused when it did.

Ready, Chad? Ready.

"Everyone," My voice shook a little as droplets of sweat gathered on my brow, and I shook my head – hoping to shake my doubt and fear away. This was good. This was going to be good.

Swallow.

Breathe. Just breathe.

"About five years ago, I did something. And ever since then, I've been…Well, I've been lying to you." (cue the gasp). Breathe, Chad. Just Breathe. "It seems like in this world…This corrupt, Hollywood world – appearances are everything." Again, I paused – wanting my words to sink in.

"Well to me, that's not true. I believe that what's inside is what counts. I also believe that lies aren't good. And lying to please someone – or some business, just isn't right.

Get it out, Chad. Just get it out.

They were watching me. They were watching my every move. I was just glad that they couldn't see what was back stage – because that's where I looked.

And damn me, I was determined to just get it out.

After I gritted my teeth and said a little prayer, I waved towards the backstage area, then I leaned towards the microphone, and spoke: "Kenden, could you please come here?"

(cue another audience gasp)

Something then tugged at my heart, as, fifty seconds later, Kenden ran out onto the stage, grabbed a hold of me, and looked at me with the brightest smile.

One ounce of relief spread through me, as I opened my arms to him and scooped my red-headed four-year-old up.

"You guys," I began speaking again as soon as I was sure that Kenden wasn't going to fall out of my arms. (Down side about being a dad? You're always scared that your kid's head is going to pop off). "I would like you to meet Kenden." I held back a grin as my boy waved brightly to the crowd.

Still, before claiming him as my own, I wanted to introduce a few more people.

"Lauren," Again, the audience gasped, and my son craned his neck to look backstage and wave at the girl I was beckoning. "Could you come out here, baby?"

At the sight of little ringlets on a heart-shaped face fixed on a chubby body waddling out onto the stage, I placed Kenden down, and then I walked over to pick up my chubby two-year-old.

"Hewoo." She cooed at me, laughed, and then constantly patted my cheek as I walked back towards the mic stand.

I was pretty sure that the audience's eyes were close to popping out of their heads.

"This is Lauren." Enjoying more than a hundred people looking at her, my little brunette grinned her dimpled grin and waved happily at the audience.

"And I would also like to introduce you to that thing that happened five years ago." Making sure that Lauren was stable in one hand, I beckoned for my beautiful to come out, and then I looked back at the press.

Yep, their eyes were definitely about to explode.

To them, a little over four years ago, Sonny Monroe disappeared from the fame view of life. What they didn't know was that I had married her, and one month after our marriage, she had conceived our little boy. It was Hollywood Falls' decision for us to keep our marriage at such a young age secret. It was our decision to protect our children from the fame. But here, today, coming out and telling the truth felt amazing.

"Tat's my momma and daddy." For a moment, I was ecstatically proud for Lauren and her amazing, presidential-like vocabulary and ability to speak in front of so many people…But then again, the press just gawked.

Sonny grinned at me, walked over, and grabbed a hold of my hand.

The truth.

"Five years ago, Sonny and I got married…" And in a little less than five minutes, all of my secrets were exposed. They knew about me. They knew about my precious family – and telling the truth had never felt so good.

A/N: I really had you all going with the first five-hundred words, didn't I? Haha.

Anyway, I really don't know where I got this idea from; it just hit me while I was driving to Starbucks (so it's blamed on Starbucks). And the cute waiter AT Starbucks was named Kenden, hence the weird name for Chad and Sonny's kid…

I hope that you liked it. I haven't really written anything like this for SWAC; so please, let me know if it's terrible or okie dokie.

-Aly