Disclaimer: I do not own Sonny with a Chance

A/N: You guys responded wonderfully to my review plea and made me very happy. So, a big thanks to all those who reviewed. As a reward, here's an extra long chapter.

Read it and tell me what you think about it in a review. Please?

The next day morning

Mackenzie Falls lounge

"Hi Chad!"

"Hi Portlyn!"

Portlyn came in with a smile on her face.

"So how did your scene with Marta go?", she asked. Portlyn's character was a recurring one and not a regular. So she wasn't needed on the set everyday.

"It went smoothly. Completed it in 3 takes", Chad replied, satisfaction apparent on his face.

"Good for you. So shall we run the lines once before the shoot starts?"

"Yeah sure"

Forenoon

Portlyn walked towards Chad cautiously.

"Hey Chad, I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah?"

Chad noticed the twinkle in her eyes, the twinkle that appeared whenever she teased him about Sonny. He braced himself. This was not going to be good.

"What is it I hear about the Chad Dylan Cooper apologizing?", she asked, smirking.

Chad gritted his teeth. So Sonny had lived up to her word, had she? Stupid Sonny. Stupid Sonny for spreading the news around when he had specifically told her not to. Stupid Sonny for that annoying sunshine smile of hers which made him unable to be mad at her.

"Yeah I did. So what?"

"So why did you apologize to her?", she asked, looking interested.

"Actually, I had been ignoring her completely for the past two days. So I figured I owed her an apology for being so discourteous. That's why"

"Why did you ignore her?"

At this, Chad remained silent. Voicing out his issues would somehow make them more intimidating and harder to confront.

"Simply"

"Chad!"

"Ok fine! I was feeling jealous of her boyfriend, alright?"

"She has a boyfriend?", Portlyn asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, the guy who has been hanging around at the studios a lot lately… the one with the brown hair"

"Yeah, I can recollect…He's her boyfriend? She told you so?"

"No, you did."

"No I didn't. All I told you was that he was somebody from her native state. I wasn't sure who he was…"

Chad stared at Portlyn. She was right. She hadn't told him that that guy was Sonny's boyfriend. Then who had? Uh oh! Nobody had told him anything about Sonny dating Mr. Brown Hair.

He had simply jumped to that conclusion all by himself. In fact, he hadn't seen them going on a date, holding hands or kissing (thank heavens for that!). So why had he presumed that they were going out?

So was there a chance that the brown-haired guy wasn't her boyfriend?

His heart felt much lighter now that he knew that there was. A huge grin spread on his face at the thought and talking to Portlyn about Sonny didn't seem such a bad idea anymore.

"Marta told me about your cranky behavior yesterday. And it was bad the day before too…and it was all because of Sonny?"

"Maybe", shrugged Chad, his bearing almost defensive.

"Wow Chad, I've never seen you so upset over a girl. You must like her a lot…"

"I don't like her a lot. I only have a small, very small crush on her" It was an outright lie of course. He had a huge crush on Sonny. Actually Chad sometimes thought that the word 'crush' was a serious underestimation of his feelings for Sonny. But Portlyn didn't have to know that. So he resorted to his usual, "Chad Dylan Cooper doesn't fall for girls; they fall for him"

She scoffed at this.

"In fact I don't think that you just like her, I actually think that you're in love with her."

Chad looked at Portlyn incredulously. Like? Yes. Like a lot? Yes. But love? He wasn't so sure.

"Don't give me that look Chad. You don't believe me, do you?"

Chad simply shook his head. Words felt too heavy in his mouth to talk.

"Come with me, I'll prove it to you"

"Where are you taking me?"

"Oh just trust me and come", she replied, a little irately.

She made him stand in front of a flower vase.

"Okay Chad, I'll ask you some questions and you'll have to answer them honestly. Deal?"

Chad laughed inwardly. Contrary to what the general populace reckoned, he did not believe that honesty was the best policy.

"We'll see"

"I'm only doing you a favor, 'kay? So heed me and be honest, at least to yourself"

Picking a flower from the vase, she asked him, "Have you noticed this flower vase before?"

Of course he had. Silly question.

"Yeah"

"Do you remember when it was placed here?"

"No"

Now Portlyn's eye had a knowing glint. Chad wondered what it was all about.

"So when did you first notice it?", she asked.

Chad's mind reeled back…

Sonny Munroe, the queen of grand ideas, had decided to organize a prom. Chad, on the other hand, was yet undecided on the nuances of romance. So when Sonny gushed on about how romantic proms were, Chad snubbed her by expressing his skepticism about it and the conversation ended up as one of their trademark spats. But something about it intrigued Chad; he wanted to know if the romance that Sonny had talked about existed outside of Mackenzie Falls, he wanted to know if the dazzling fantasia his head had conjured up in response to Sonny's monologue had a real world counterpart. And so he went.

When he held Sonny in his arms, he realized the truth in her words about 'a perfect dance' with 'one special person'. He smiled at her and she returned it; the night felt more beautiful than ever. But it was over all too soon. Even though he wanted to ask her for another dance, he couldn't, not when her castmates were all there. So he went back to Mackenzie Falls to reflect on what had transpired at the prom: the silent, unusual, almost ethereal harmony that had existed between Sonny and him when they had danced, the experience of romance that he'd thought was fabled…

"Chad"

"Sonny?"

"I just came here to thank you for giving me my perfect dance…it-" ,she sighed "it meant a lot to me" she said, giving him a tentative smile.

Under usual circumstances, Chad would have been self-centered and attributed it to his greatness, but this time the aura seemed too pristine and delicate to be broken by shallow comments.

"I had a great time too, Sonny"

Both of them fell silent, contemplating how comfortable and nice they suddenly felt with each other. The abrupt change in the comfort level was almost disarming…

"Er Sonny…Can I have another dance?" , Chad asked, standing up and holding out his arms.

Sonny smiled and readily slipped her right hand into his left one and placed her left on his shoulder. He took out his music player and placed one earphone into her ear and another into his. He then turned on the music and placed his right arm over her waist.

Both of them waltzed around the place, completely oblivious to everything but one another. The atmosphere seemed to echo their state of mind: blissful, romantic and magical.

They would have danced on forever but their stamina did not permit it. So they turned off the music and smiled at each other; it had been a lovely experience and something that they would be unlikely to forget in their lifetime.

"Wow Chad, these flowers look so beautiful. Are they real?"

Chad looked at the vase she was talking about. He had to agree with her…everything seemed extra beautiful after the dance. He picked a flower and ran it over his face.

"No Sonny, they aren't real. I suppose they are scented plastic ones"

"But they are beautiful all the same"

"Yes Sonshine they are…if you want you can take them"

"No Chad, they beautify this place too much to take them away from here…let them be", saying that, she brushed the petals softly.

That was the day when he had actually looked at those flowers closely. That was the day he had begun appreciating their presence.

And ever since that day, those flowers were reminders to Chad of all things beautiful. More than anything, they brought back the memories of the dance that had taught him romance. He smiled reminiscently.

"I knew it!" Portlyn's triumphant voice broke through his thoughts. He looked at her startled.

"Knew what?"

"Knew that you associate these flowers with Sonny. See, you're in love with her"

Chad finally understood what Portlyn was trying to say. Being in love enhanced the beauty of and brought appreciation to otherwise subtle things like flowers.

Meanwhile, in the corridor near So Random!

"Hey Leslie, sweetie, how're you doing?", asked Sonny Munroe in a pseudo-sweet voice.

The red-haired girl turned towards the source of the greeting.

"You're Sonny Munroe, right?"

"Yep, the one and only"

"Fine, thank you."

"You're dating Chad Dylan Cooper, aren't you?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Just thought I'd let you in on some of the things about his likes and dislikes."

Leslie looked at Sonny suspiciously.

"How do you know what Chad likes and what he doesn't?"

"I'm a close friend of his, silly"

"Okay, go on"

"Do you have an orange gown?"

Leslie nodded.

"Then wear it to the date. He loves orange" Chad hated orange.

"Okay"

"Chad's secret passion is reading. So gift him with tons of books" Chad hated reading (as his walkathon against books so clearly showed).

"Really? He doesn't seem to be the type who likes to read much"

Ugh! Why did that girl have to be so inquisitive, why couldn't she just go along with everything that Sonny said?

"Yes, really"

"Okay, if you say so. Then?"

"Comment on how totally not cool his middle name is. He hates 'Dylan' with a passion"

Leslie raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"He really hates it. Believe me"

Sonny had to stifle her giggles on imagining Chad's expression if he ever heard the statement.

"His favorite show is So Random! Comment on how much you enjoy it"

Leslie just nodded her head.

"Okay then, I gotta go. Have a good time on your date! Bye!"

A/N: Okay dear readers, I am a little unsure about this chapter. I don't know if it has come out well.

Background information:

1 Portlyn does not know exactly what caused Chad to notice the flowers. But she has correctly guessed that it has something to do with Sonny using a combination of feminine intuition and the fact that she has caught Chad staring at them every once in a while with a love-struck expression on his face. And Chad is still processing the possibility that he might be in love. He is almost but not fully convinced yet.

2 Sonny's mischief isn't over yet. And Leslie is treating Sonny's words with a pinch of salt.

3 For those of you who missed Jake, he'll be back the next chapter.