Disclaimer: I do not own Sonny with a Chance.

"Oh I forgot to introduce Jake to you, right? He's my brother"

"Brother?", Chad asked, shocked.

Sonny nodded.

"Brother?", Chad repeated.

"Yes, Chad. Brother. Who did you think he was: my boyfriend?", she asked, laughing.

Then, looking at the expression on Chad's face, her laughter stopped abruptly.

"Oh my God! You actually thought he was my boyfriend!"

Chad remained speechless. Somehow, he just couldn't find words to counteract her accusation. His brain was too busy processing the new information. His embarrassment was growing by the second as he realized how stupid his behavior had been in the past week.

"Hello? Chad? You still here?"

"Uh…yeah, so what were we talking about?"

"We were talking about how ridiculous you are to think that Jake could possibly be my boyfriend"

"Hey, I'm not ridiculous"

"Oh, so you admit that you mistook Jake for my boyfriend?"

"Yes. So what?"

"Ha ha, nothing. I just find it amusing, that's all"

"Hey, what else was I supposed to think? You never told me you had a brother. Then suddenly, one day, this guy's here and he sits next to you, puts his arm around you, drives you home after work…what else was I supposed to think?"

Sonny looked at him keenly. Did he really sound envious or was it her imagination?

"Chad, were you mad at me because you thought I had a boyfriend?", she asked seriously.

He met her eyes and smiled teasingly.

"Maybe"

Sonny took it as a yes. She wasn't surprised by his answer. She had realized quite long ago that something had been happening between Chad and her. She liked him and he liked her. That much was evident. They flirted, they hung out together, they danced with one another; they were almost a couple.

But, like them, their relationship was queer. Officially, they weren't dating. But neither of them complained. They were happy to be in the state they were in, as long as the other person wasn't getting very serious with some other person. If that happened, they would kick in and interrupt it before it got too late. That sort of relationship had sufficed till a few days ago.

But it did not anymore.

Lately, Sonny had been feeling very possessive about Chad. A few weeks ago, she might have not minded Leslie. But now, she did.

She wanted to be on his arm, she wanted to be called his girlfriend, she wanted to go on dates with him.

Random conversations in the cafeteria didn't seem to be enough any longer neither did the good-good-fine-fine spats.

And it seemed to her that Chad was beginning to feel the same way too, by the way he'd reacted when he'd thought that Jake was her boyfriend.

So what were they going to do about it?

How was she going to confront Chad about it?

Then, an idea struck her…

"Hey, Chad…when is your next date with Leslie?"

Chad looked at her suspiciously.

"Why?"

"Simply", she replied, with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"I won't tell you"

"Pleeeeaaaaaaase, Chad"

"Okay, fine. Tomorrow night at 8"

"Where?"

"Why are you so curious, Munroe?"

"Simply"

"Your actions seem to be very suspicious. And what were you doing with Leslie earlier?"

"Just having a friendly chat with her"

"Really? You've never had a friendly chat with her before"

"How do you know? I am friendly with everybody"

To this, Chad couldn't reply. Undeniably, Sonny was friendly with everyone.

"So, where are you taking her?"

Chad resigned to telling her, "Spencer Restaurant"

"Oh"

If she executed her plan properly, that would be Chad's last date with some other girl.

"Why are you smiling so widely?"

"Simply. Okay, come, let's go back to the photographs"

Later, at Sonny's house:

Sonny was getting ready for Dakota Condor's party. It was going to be held at the studio in another two hours. Everybody at the studio was invited.

Jake was coming as well.

"Mom, I don't want Jake to come", whined Sonny, watching Jake getting ready.

"Why not, honey?"

"He'll embarrass me by flirting with Tawni"

"No, I won't", interrupted Jake.

Sonny rounded on him.

"Jake, why are you so infatuated with Tawni? You don't know her. She's so unlike you"

"Of course I know her, Sonny. Look at this", he replied, handing her his Tawni diary.

Sonny flipped through the book. She looked like she wanted to faint.

"Jake, this is creepy. I hope you realize that Tawni is not a topic in physics to be taken notes on and made inferences from"

Jake laughed.

"Sonny, Sonny, Sonny, physics has taught me that breaking down complex things and looking at one part at a time simplifies them a lot and makes them much easier to analyze. Know what I mean?"

"No, I have no clue what you are talking about. All I know is that you and Tawni are a big no-no"

Now Jake was beginning to get angry.

"How can you be so sure we won't work out?"

"See, if you started dating, you'd probably want to take her to planetarium or NASA Ames Research centre or…"

"CERN in Geneva?", offered Jake.

Sonny nodded, "See what I mean?"

"First of all, Sonny, planetariums are boring. I do theoretical physics, not astronomy"

"Aren't they the same thing?"

"Of course not. And secondly, I wouldn't take Tawni to any of those places, even though I would love to go. I would take her to posh, glitzy restaurants, then to symphony orchestra"

"Okayyy, so you know about her…but don't you think that what you have on her is a mere celebrity crush?"

"It started out as one, I admit. But after seeing her in person, I really want to ask her out"

"Fine, it's up to you. I've warned you and my job is done. But whatever happened to that study-buddy cum rival of yours?"

"Adrianna?"

"Yes"

"She's just a study-buddy. Nothing more, nothing less"

"But you guys are so similar; you're always competing for something or the other, always breathing down one another's necks…"

"Yes, Sonny. That's because we're rivals"

Seeing the puzzled expression on her face, he added, "Not every rivalry has to end in love. Not every pair is like you and Chad, you know?"

She blushed.

"What? Sonny's in love with that Mackenzie boy?", asked a shocked Connie.

Sonny glared at Jake, "No, I'm not"

"Yes, she is", replied a smirking Jake.

Later in the evening

At the Condor Studios

Dakota Condor's birthday party

"Hey, Dakota, Happy Birthday! Eleventh birthday, is it?", smiled Sonny.

The little girl just glared at her. Taking the hint, Sonny handed Dakota her present and scurried away to the back.

"Hey, Munroe"

"Hiya, Chad. What are you doing here? Hiding from Dakota?"

"When someone is as great as me, they have to resort to such steps to safeguard their life", said Chad in a very serious tone.

Sonny started laughing.

"Haha Chad, you are so stuck-up. Safeguard your life? Really?"

"Yes, really. There's nothing funny about it"

"Trust me, I am a comedienne. I know funny when I see it. I just can't see how anybody can be so dense", said Sonny, still laughing.

"Chad Dylan Cooper is not dense and you don't know funny"

"Sorry to break this little tête-à-tête, but Sonny, have you seen Tawni?", interrupted Jake.

"Oh, hi Jake. Right on time. Chad, Jake. Jake, Chad", said Sonny, introducing the boys to one another.

Chad felt a little hot under his collar on remembering how much he had glared at Jake. Jake didn't seem to mind, though. He stretched out his hand.

Chad took it, rather unwillingly.

"Nice to meet you"

Chad simply nodded. He couldn't reciprocate the sentiment. He wanted to leave Jake's presence as soon as possible.

Sonny watched the scene with interest. She could sense Chad's growing discomfort.

"And yeah, about Tawni, she's probably hiding from you", she interrupted, wanting to spare Chad the awkwardness.

Jake scowled at her and went away.

"So…", said Chad, still recovering from embarrassment.

"So where's your girlfriend?", asked Sonny.

"I don't know"

"Good"

"Why? You jealous?"

"No", said a defiant Sonny.

"I think you are", said a smirking Chad.

"No, I'm not"

"Yes, you are"

"No, I'm not"

"Yes"

"No"

.

.

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A/N: So, there goes the 7th chapter. As you can see, the drama has come to an end. But humor and romance have not. There are 2 more chapters left. I hope you all enjoyed the story so far.

About my other story, Sonny's Night Out, I wanted to make it a multi-chapter. But the reader response has not been good (I got only 2 reviews for Out of Tawni Town). So unless I get more reviews, I'll end it with Out of Tawni Town, because you people don't seem to enjoy it much. What's the point in writing when readers don't enjoy?

And, review this, okay?

Toodles