OH so adorable Chad's point of view….:) :) :)

We didn't eat.

Not anything.

We drove.

Just drove.

Until the jeep crested the sandy coast of Venus Beach, and chugged along up a small, winding slope. Sunset spilled slowly across the beach, silhouetting the still palm trees an inky blue, against the orange ocean.

I wished I was warm. I wish I could pick the sun out of the sky and hold it in the palm of my hand, letting it melt into liquid light. Then I'd drink it. And it would run down my throat, into my heart, and pump into my veins through my whole body.

And I would be warm. Sooooo…sooooo…warm.

I would break the thick silence that was killing me from the inside out, and tell Sonny how stupidly obsessed and in love I was with her. And then I'd kiss her perfect lips, sharing the warmth with her.

But I was cold.

And the sun had sunk below the horizon.

We should've been home by now. We should've been at the studios, laughing it up among our friends and living once again amount the sickening lie that only became more and ore sickly.

I was done lying, though.

I didn't get more lost on accident. I knew where we were, and I knew how to get home. I just couldn't go there. No matter if we were meant to be or not, you make your own fate. And Sonny Alison Monroe was going to be mine. She was, and forever would be, my angel.

The darkness was endless beyond the headlights, and I wondered how far I could get without Sonny figuring out we were hours from the studios.

"Sonny," I said softly.

No answer.

I didn't blame her. I wouldn't talk to me either.

"Are you…hungry, at all?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shake her head.

I sighed, blinking against sleepiness. What was I doing? No matter how far I drove, she still wouldn't love me.

She never loved me.

"Mmm…Chad?"

Oh my gosh. She talked me. Answer her, you big dummy!

"Uh…uh, yes! Sonny?"
"Can you pull over? Before you fall asleep behind the wheel? You're scaring me."

"Of course."

I did as she told me, partly because I was too tired to argue. The jeep came to a gentle halt, sitting on the shoulder of a hill that had great view of the beach.

Stifling a yawn, I pressed my bare back against the cold leather seats, and closed my eyes. Not to sleep. To think. About her.

"Chad?"

Gosh, I loved it when she said my name.

"Mmm?"

"I know that you got lost on purpose."

I opened my eyes, staring ahead into the starry night sky. I could've composed a million and one lies, but I was so tired of anything but the truth. So instead, I asked, "How did you know?"

"I won't tell you, until you tell me why you did it."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because it's sort of a long story."

"Well, then you better start telling me now," she said.

Oh my gosh.

She leaned across the seat, laying her head on my bare shoulder. And her hair was so soft on my skin, it gave me goose bumps.

And you know something?

I was warm. It wasn't the sun that had caused it. It was Sonny. It was her hot skin directly in contact with mine, her cheek moving back and forth on my shoulder, and her hand resting on my stomach. It was enough to make me—

Well, never mind. The thing is, I drove myself ten times crazier when I put my arm around her, and began stroking her hair. It felt just the same as it did this morning before she woke up—perfect.

"I still can't tell you," I said, disappointed.

"Would you rather write a letter to me?"

"I don't have any paper."

"It's imaginary."

"Oh?"

"All you have to do is start with saying, 'Dear Sonny.' Then you can tell me whatever you want to."

"Will you write back?"

She giggled. "I might."

"All right." I cleared my throat. "Dear Sonny, do you believe in God?"
"Dear Chad, I'm not sure. I went to church as a kid, but kinda stopped after my dad died. I'm still opened to it, though. I'm just kinda waiting for a sign, I guess."

I hesitated and I wondered if she could hear my heart thumping in my chest, anticipating what I was about to tell her.

Then finally, she asked, "Dear Chad, do you?"

"Dear Sonny, I do. Well, I didn't…until about a year ago. I'd just gone through a really hard break up with this girl. Amy, was her name. I remember, praying for the first time. And asking God to send me someone that wouldn't break my heart. Someone I was meant to be with for the rest of my life."

I took a deep breath.

"Two days later, Sonny, you came to So Random."

Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. I'd told her. I'd told her. I'd told her. Why did I tell her?

But she snuggled closer to me. "Dear Chad, do we ever have to go home?"

I closed my eyes again. For the first time, I would have to lie to her. I knew we'd have to go home sooner or later. But it hurt to know that. The truth hurt more than anything, so I told her lies.

"Dear Sonny, of course we don't."

"Dear Chad, you're a liar."

I sighed. "Dear Sonny, just go to sleep, angel."

Her breath rushed across my skin, releasing the stress of the truth, and settling into dreams of sweet, merciful lies.

I felt her sleeping against me all night long. I didn't doze off once; caught in the inevitable reality, and praying to a God I believed so completely in.

I prayed that there'd be such thing as time travel.

I prayed that the night could last until eternity.

I prayed that Sonny could forever indulge herself in endless dreams, of nothing but lies.

My angel stirred.

"Chad?" she mumbled sleepily, her lips moving against my shoulder as she spoke. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah."

"I had a dream."

"Yeah? What about?"

"About bunnies. And flowers. And rainbows."

"That's nice. When you go back to sleep, you can dream that all over again."

"Okay," she agreed; half-asleep and speech slurred. Two seconds later, she was out again.

"Dear Sonny," I whispered into her hair. "I wish I could tell you this when you were awake. But, I think…I think I love you."

I closed my eyes again, and continued praying.

Continued lying.

Continued loving her.

For those of you who don't believe in God, all I ask is that you keep an open heart and mind. He will, in time, revel himself to you. He is the realest thing in my life, and hope he is, or one day will be in yours too.