Oh my goodness, I cannot believe the response the first chapter received! I don't think I've ever written a story that received that kind of feedback. You guys totally made my day! But now I feel even worse when I have to admit that I will be gone for another week. Hopefully when I return, I'll be able to get several more chapters up. Thank you all, again, so much!
Hope you enjoy!!!

"Dr. Chris," Connie whispered into the phone, "he's the only one she remembers. She may like him, but I don't. I've seen the kind of press he gets and I know the kind of boys he is. I don't like the idea of her being with him as she regains her memory."

"Mrs. Monroe," Dr. Chris responded, "there is obviously something about Chad Dylan Cooper which allows your daughter's mind to recover. Sonny really should spend time with him. If you still feel uncomfortable, though, just keep a close eye on them. Have her call you every hour or have one of her other friends tag along with them. They won't be anywhere else besides the studio anyway. They can't get into much trouble there."

"You'd think so," Connie reminisced on the stories Sonny would share with her. "All right, Dr. Chris, you win."

***

"Thank you, mom," Sonny smiled as her mother dropped her off at the studio.

"I'll be back after rehearsal, Sonny. Stay safe and call me if anything comes up," Mrs. Monroe requested. Sonny nodded and skipped off.

"Chad!" Sonny shouted when she caught a glimpse of his blonde hair.

"Sonny," Chad turned around. He had spent his entire Sunday coming up with ideas of how he could use Sonny's memory lapse to his advantage, but seeing her now, he decided it was not the right time to put one of the schemes into action.

"Where are you going?" Sonny finally reached him.

"Uh, to go film Mackenzie Falls."

"Oh, right, duh," she laughed nervously.

"Sonny!" a female screamed from ten feet away. Sonny turned around to see Tawni standing there with arms crossed. "Come on, we have rehearsal to do. So let's let Chad leave so we can get going."

"Okay," Sonny looked back and forth between the two blondes. Sonny's mother had explained to her how much Tawni really did care but failed to show it. Mrs. Monroe had gone into great detail about how worried Tawni was when Sonny had her accident. "So what is on the agenda today?"

"We're coming up with new sketches for next week's show. Marshall said you could help, but your doctor said he doesn't want you in next week's show. He doesn't want your mind cluttered with lines," Tawni led Sonny into their dressing room and sat her down in her chair. "But I need you to get your memory back so we can do 'The Check-It-Out' girls sketch together. So come on, come on, Sonny." Tawni bobbled Sonny's head between her hands.

"Tawni, stop!" Sonny grabbed her head in pain, but could not help but laugh at her friend's ignorance. "My memories won't come back that easily. We're just going to have to wait."

"Yeah, I don't know if your mom shared this with you or not, but I'm not really good with waiting. When Tawni wants something, she gets it."

"So Random cast to the stage. So Random cast to the stage," a voice came over the intercom. Tawni grunted and pulled Sonny along to the stage.

"Sonny!" Marshall greeted her, "How are you feeling today? Any memories?"

"Sorry, Mr. Pike. Nothing," Sonny shrugged.

"She remembers Chad Dylan Cooper," Tawni eyed her down. Grady and Nico gasped as they joined Tawni's stare.

"All right, everyone calm down. Sonny, why don't you take a seat and we can begin discussing which sketches we'll do this week," Marshall pulled the attention towards himself. Sonny climbed into the seat with her name on it, as everyone else did the same for their respective chairs. One by one, everyone shared ideas of sketches they had created over the weekend. Sonny carefully listened to their ideas, in case anything raised a memory – but by lunchtime, nothing.

"Tawni, that sketch idea was hilarious. Where did you come up with it?" Nico praised her.

"Of course it's hilarious – I came up with it. As to where it came from, it was all from up here," she smiled pointing to herself.

"I need to use the bathroom," Sonny declared poking at her tray of "food."

"Okay?" Grady looked at her puzzled.

"Can someone tell me where it is?" she clarified.

"Oh! Down the hall, take a left, and it will be on your right."

"Thank you." Sonny sighed as she walked out of the cafeteria. All morning was spent listening to the people she was supposed to be friends with go on about a show she was supposed to be a part of. Her presence was supposed to trigger memories, but her stubborn mind wouldn't clear up. She ran both hands through her hair as she looked to the ground for answers. Suddenly, she collided with someone with a familiar thud. "Oh my gosh, Chad, I'm so sorry. I guess this time it is my fault."

"Don't worry about it, Monroe. Now we're even. Where are you going in such a rush anyway?" Chad caught her with his hands before either of them hit the ground.

"I told them I was going to the bathroom, but I just needed some space."

"Still no memories?"

Sonny shook her head. "What if they never return? What if I'll never be who I was before?"

"Trust me, Sonny, you're not that different right now – just a few less memories. As for regaining your memories, they'll come back. Come on, I want to show you something," Chad grabbed her hand and began pulling her past the bathrooms.

"Um, I think I need to get back to them soon. I don't want them to worry about me."

"Don't worry, I'll have you back in the amount of time it takes a girl to use the bathroom. Come on."

"Chad, where are you taking me?" Sonny demanded as she was pulled out the door.

"You'll see."

"I'm beginning to see why you infuriate me so much."

"Here we are!"

"Oh, Chad, it's…a garbage can?" Sonny looked at him strangely. "Why did you bring me to a garbage can?"

"You don't remember?" Chad faked a hurt look across his face.

"Ha ha. Very funny, Chad. Seriously, why are we here?"

"You said you needed some memories. Now you'll always have this. The time Chad Dylan Cooper took you behind the garbage can. It's your first new memory."

Sonny rolled her eyes laughing, "Chad, you're so weird."

Chad's watch began beeping. "I have to get back to filming. Here, I'll take you back to the cafeteria. They walked back inside the building together and he dropped her off at the cafeteria doors.

"Thank you, Chad." Sonny hugged him softly and began to walk away, waving at him over her shoulder.

"Anytime, Monroe," he replied to himself.

"What are you doing?" Portlyn nudged him from behind. She had been in the bathroom and caught sight of the two walking down the hallway upon her exit. "Where is this coming from?"

"Portlyn, chill. I've got this whole thing under control," Chad looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was nearby. "Sonny only remembers me right now, and she needs me. I'll be there for her, but once she gets her memory back," Chad pulled the pen out of his shirt pocket and pointed to the top of it, "I've got the whole thing on tape. Any memories she gets she'll tell me. There's bound to be something I can hold against her once she's herself."

Portlyn smiled maniacally, "Oh that makes more sense. You were scaring me, Chad. Come on, we're late for filming." Chad looked down at the camera pen in his hand. He sighed, turned it off, and placed it back in his shirt pocket.

***

"Hello, Sonny," her mom smiled as Sonny entered the car. "How was your day?"

"It was okay."

"Any new memories?" Her mother backed the car out of the lot.

Sonny smiled as she thought the memory Chad had given her. "No, nothing yet."

"Are you hungry?"

"Starving! You should have seen what they were serving for lunch. I couldn't even bring myself to touch it. I think one thing was actually moving."

"Well, would you like to go to McDonald's or Subway?" Mrs. Monroe offered. She knew what her daughter would choose if she was normal, and she was hoping this little test would show whether or not Sonny was still there.

Sonny paused to consider her choices. Scrunching her face, she began to respond, "I feel like I should say Subway – since I'm on TV. But McDonald's sounds so much better."

"McDonald's it is, then," Mrs. Monroe smiled to herself. She was going to get her daughter back eventually.

***

Sonny was sleeping soundly in her bed. She was dreaming of herself sitting on top of the studio building talking with Chad. At the moment in time, she did not care if she knew anything of her past. Her mind felt free and she felt safe sitting next to someone who made her feel good for just being herself, and not the Sonny everyone else wanted.

Suddenly, a cow walked out and lay down between the two and began to moo. Sonny could not hear what Chad was saying any longer, because the sounds of mooing overtook his voice.

Slowly, Sonny woke herself up and tried to identify the location of the mooing in her room. Finally, she remembered that was the sound her found made instead of ringing.

"Hello?" she yawned.

"Sonny?" the voice on the opposite end answered.

"Chad? Why are you calling so late?"

"Actually, it's two in the morning. So technically it's early."

"Chad, why are you calling so early?"

"I wanted to make sure you got home safely. I didn't see you after lunch today, and I was worried the other Randoms left you somewhere alone."

"So Chad, why are you calling so early? Couldn't you have called like, five hours ago? Or in five hours?"

"Sorry, Monroe, were you sleeping?"

Sonny yawned again, "What was your first clue?"

"Okay, now that I know you're safe, I'll let you go back to sleep. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Chad." Sonny hit the end button, laid the phone back down on her nightstand next to the picture of her and her father, and was asleep before her head touched her pillow.

Chad stared at his black cell phone. He could not believe he had just called Sonny at two in the morning with such a bad excuse. He really had been worried about her safety, but mostly he just wanted to hear her voice. With her only remembering him, it made Chad feel special. It gave him power and dominance. It set him apart from everyone else Sonny knew. After setting the phone down, he pulled the pen out of his shirt pocket. He had no idea why he was doing this to her – she did not deserve it. He loved it when she smiled yet he knew what he was doing was going to make her cry. He sat the pen down next to his phone on his own nightstand. Pulling off his shirt and jeans, Chad climbed into his bed at last. The cool sheets settled upon his body, reminding him of Sonny's touch as she hugged him. Everything about her was so fragile – was he really going to break her? Could he afford not to?