A/N: I apologize in advance for the long-awaited update. Life is painful, isn't it? :P

I couldn't believe what I'd just gotten myself into.

I had just married Sonny Monroe. And after what we'd been through, she'd probably want a divorce. Great. I would look like one of those rotten Hollywood celebrities who got drunk all the time and thought of marriage as no big deal. Then people would think twice before casting me in movies. My career would be over, and my life would flash before my eyes.

Okay, so maybe I was being a bit melodramatic (as usual), but I wouldn't be surprised if that stuff happened. So right now, I had to work on keeping the paparazzi under control. Some stupid reporter had managed to get a picture of me slipping the ring on Sonny's finger. Now the media was going crazy because they didn't even know we were ever engaged, and now we'd just gotten married. The rumors had started like wildfires. I didn't look too drunk in the picture, but still…it was only a matter of time before everyone found out it was a drunken mistake.

I met with my agent, Jeff, but he was no help. He just yelled at me for doing something so completely reckless without even thinking about how it would affect my future. It reminded me of the time my dad yelled at me when one of my ex-girlfriends thought she was pregnant with my baby. Not my most pleasant memory. Thank God I didn't have a kid now, that would've made this an even bigger mess.

Then Jeff told me it wouldn't look as bad if I waited a few months and then got a divorce, as opposed to just doing it now. At least that way, people wouldn't think I was drunk when I got married. Made sense to me. But if Sonny didn't want to wait a few months…I shuddered at the thought. Then Jeff told me to talk to my lawyer and go over all the legal marriage stuff.

"Oh, and Chad," he called to me before I left. "You gotta really charm this girl. Act like a happy couple. The press will move on. And don't do anything stupid, please." He seemed exasperated.

"Don't worry, I got this." I lied. I smiled weakly when I remembered my attempt to "charm her" this morning. I left her a note, I called her Sonshine, and even gave her my sexy Chad-tastic wink. She didn't seem amused. She just looked shocked, and not in a good way.

I sighed. Waiting outside my lawyer's office took forever! I looked at the antique wooden clock by the unlit fireplace. The seconds seemed to drag on for hours. I put my feet up on the marble coffee table and drummed my fingers along the plush cream-colored leather of the couch. Hopefully Sonny would still be awake by the time I got back. Maybe then I could finally talk to her about this whole thing.

Suddenly my stomach started to churn. What if she still hated me? What if she didn't want to put on a happy face for the press? I knew she didn't care about how the public saw her as much as I did. I would have to seriously charm her—as Jeff said—if I was going to make this work. Wow. That was gonna be really hard to do, considering what happened between us the last time we were together (and sober).

It was the night before I left for Paris…she'd come over to say goodbye, and I remembered feeling like my heart was going to shatter. I'll admit I did like her—for a while. But it had been five years since I'd seen her. I'm no Bella Swan, so I was able to get over her (eventually). Not that I know anything about Twilight, that was just a guess. I had dated a lot of pretty girls in Paris, but I'd never thought about marrying any of them. Then again, I never thought I would marry Sonny, either.

But when she'd stopped me outside my studio that day before I left, I felt so overwhelmingly drawn to her, it kind of scared me.

"Chad!" she'd called out to me. "Wait up!"

I smiled, glad she'd finally got over that awkwardness from when we'd kissed the other day. I looked at my cast members, who were busily packing our remaining suitcases and Mackenzie Falls props into the already-overstuffed could probably handle that on their own. I tried to walk oh-so-casually over to Sonny, secretly thrilled that she cared enough to say goodbye to me.

"Hey," I said breathlessly when I reached her.

"Hey yourself," she wrapped her arms around me.

"I can't believe I'm not gonna see you for five years," I blurted out, hugging her back.

She quickly pulled away, and I felt my stomach drop. "Five years?"

I knew I should've told her how I felt, but she didn't seem like she'd be thrilled at the idea of a long-distance relationship. To be honest, I wouldn't have been too happy about it either.

"Why would you kiss me right before you left for five years?" She was practically screaming at me now.

I shrugged. "I just wanted to see if you liked me." Whoa…that came out all wrong. I liked her too!

She frowned, obviously misinterpreting what I said. I wanted to tell her how I felt so badly…but I just couldn't. I knew she had big plans for the future, and so did I. We didn't need to spend five years dwelling on what could've been.

Still, I didn't wanna say goodbye like this…that would just be parting on bad terms. And CDC just didn't do that. I'd even told Nico and Grady that I'd miss all our crazy prank wars.

"So…" I shifted uncomfortably. "I guess this is it…" I cringed at my own words. She was still frowning, looking all hurt and confused. Not to mention cute. Stupid cute.

"I'll miss you, Sonny," I mumbled. Finally…I said something right. Now she was biting her lip, looking like she was trying to decide something. I hadn't realized I'd been holding my breath, waiting for her to say something back. But then, just when she opened her mouth to say something, I heard Portlyn's annoyingly high-pitched voice screeching at me from the limo.

"Chad Dylan Cooper! If you're like, gonna be my boyfriend, the least you could do is not keep me all waiting and stuff every time we have to go somewhere!"

Oh God…she still wasn't letting that go. My other castmates snickered into their palms. Ever since our producer had made that joke about how Portlyn and I should date just for publicity, that stupid girl had taken it literally and started calling me her "boyfriend." I had never bothered to argue with her or correct her, because my castmates all thought it was funny. Plus, she kind of scared me when she got mad.

Cringing, I turned my head slowly to glance at Sonny. I didn't even want to look at her face now. If she'd been mad about me not liking her before, this would set her off even more. But maybe she hadn't heard Portlyn…oops. Maybe she had. Her eyes narrowed, and I could practically see the flames coming out her nose.

"You were dating her…and you kissed me?" She looked livid with anger. Suddenly, the name "Sonny" didn't seem to suit her much. I whipped my head around to make sure Portlyn hadn't heard, then I turned back to her and lowered my voice, almost pleading.

"I'm not really dating her…" I struggled to find the right words. "It was a joke!" I wondered if I sounded as guilty as I felt. I looked into her disbelieving eyes and felt my heart sink. I wanted to panic, but I just couldn't do that anymore…I felt like it was all over for good. She just shook her head and her lips twisted into an I-can't-believe-you smirk. I could tell she was hurt; I just didn't know what the hell I was supposed to say. Again. Damn it!

"Everything's just a big joke to you, isn't it?" She wasn't screaming, but her voice sounded much harsher all of a sudden. I had never seen her so full of scorn. I knew I had really screwed up this time. She took one last look at me and gave a frustrated sigh. Then she started walking away before I could even stop her. Weird thing was, I didn't even try. Usually, I was the type of guy that never gave up. But this time, the pain had cut so deep; I thought I had lost her forever.

I winced in pain at that horrible memory. I laid by head back on the couch and closed my eyes. It had been so long since I'd thought about that. The first few nights in Paris had been horrible. Sonny came in my dreams almost every night, usually ready to kill herself. It scared me to death every time. I just couldn't let go of her. Our director had complained time and time again that I wasn't motivated enough. A thousand times, I had thought about calling her just to tell her how much I missed her. Of course, I chickened out every time.

My castmates thought I had gone crazy from working so hard, and they made me come party with them every Friday night. I started drinking, and they started hooking me up with all these gorgeous French models. (Hey, some of them actually had nice personalities!) It took a while, but eventually, I was able to get over Sonny.

And now, just when I had completely gotten over her, there she was, back in my life again. Not only that, I also had to "charm her" and keep her in my life. At least for a few months. I gulped. It was gonna take a lot of work to charm my way out of this one.

A/N: so yeah…review!

Also, I have some very exciting news. So I'm gonna be a bitch and brag about it: I got into a creative writing summer program at Columbia University! Yep, Ivy League Columbia. I mean, I know my writing's good, I just never thought it was that good. So if any of you wise-asses out there think you can write better than me, apply to Columbia! You just might get in. ;)

Anyway, next chapter's in Chad's point of view. And keep reviewing; you guys are the best reviewers ever. You make me really want to update more.