chapter 5

"The thing is Chuckie… I really like you." Lil confessed to the red-headed male next to her.

Chuckie's jaw had dropped a bit and his eyebrows were raised, his widened eyes blocked by his glasses. But Lil could see the shock on his face. She couldn't wait for his agreeing reply.

At that moment though, he started to laugh, and not in a good way; he was laughing at what Lil had said in the cruelest way possible. His voice got louder as he laughed, more voices suddenly kicking in around them, even though no one else was there.

The ground beneath her began to shake, as if now the actual planet itself was laughing at her. And suddenly…

~~~~~

"KABOOM!" Lil yelled, as she fell backwards, tossing papers into the air, and landing onto Kimi's bed.

"The entire Earth explodes!" she said.

She looked up, and saw Kimi at her desk chair, her eyes lowered at what her friend had told her, looking bored.

"You realize that you're being a bit overly dramatic at this, right Lil?" she asked her.

"And I'm really stressing the 'bit' part." she told her.

Lil sat up straight.

"That could very well happen, Kimi!" she told her, pointing.

Kimi rolled her eyes.

It had been two weeks since the concert date, and while the whole group was still the talk of the town, they stayed out of the center of attention, not wanting to let their fame go to their heads.

The issue at hand though, was an incident that had happened during the rescue mission; Lil and Chuckie's kiss.

Neither of them had confronted the issue yet, but they wanted to do so, but neither of them wanted to make the first move.

Kimi had asked Lil what would happen if she told Chuckie exactly how she felt about him, and she had just finished telling her story. Of course, Kimi knew what Lil was saying was ridiculous.

"Look," Kimi said "I know Chuckie, and he won't laugh at you finally telling him how you feel."

"If anything, I bet he'll be very happy if you do" she added with a smile.

Lil nodded, but slouched a bit.

"I get where you're coming from Kimi, but this is really hard to finally confront." she said "I've known Chuckie for so long, and what with all that we've gone through, it's just so crazy!"

"The kiss was great, but I only did it because I got caught up in the moment."

"So many things went through my mind when we were on our way to the warehouse; the way Chuckie had blocked all his fear with anger on what happened to you, and all we've done over the years, from the day we first met to our 'wedding' that Angelica organized," she went on, using air-quotes "and the feelings finally overtook me and I took the upper-hand."

She supported her head up with her hands, leaning forward more.

"And, well, I know you won't like hearing this, but; that night when we got back from the concert, I didn't coincidentally fall asleep next to Chuckie just because he was close when we both fell asleep on the floor; I made sure it happened." she told her.

She sighed, smiling.

"And, well, the feeling of my head on his broad chest…" she started dreamily.

"After all, let's face it, ever since he started lifting those weights, he's been getting bigger and stronger." she mentioned.

Kimi nodded, but her eyes were still glazed over, looking bored even though this fact was true; Chuckie had started lifting weights around the same time he had started drumming in the band. He realized that his arms felt lighter after lifting weights, so he was able to play faster and had gotten more flexible.

"Well," Lil said "I just felt so content that I never wanted that night to end, he just looked so sweet when he slept."

Lil sighed again, smiling. Kimi sat up straight and snapped her fingers to get Lil out of her trance.

"Look" Kimi said to her friend, leaning forward a bit "I'll admit, I'm a bit on the fence having to talk about this issue, as you're my best friend, and you're talking about my brother in such a romantic way, but I know how you're feeling."

Lil looked at Kimi and shook her head.

"But, this isn't like when you and Tommy got together, Kimi" she told her "Tommy didn't have a clue what was coming when you finally told him, but he liked you all the same."

"But Chuckie and I both know what happened, and while we both may have liked it, what if that moment was just it and nothing more?" she asked.

She pulled her hair and fell back again.

Kimi smiled sympathetically.

"Deny it all you want, but I do know what you're going through, and how you feel" she told her "you're afraid of rejection, and with that, you're also afraid that it will ruin over ten years of friendship, not just between you two, but for the whole group." Kimi told her, but then she smiled once again.

"But I can tell you now that he won't reject you, and I promise you that you won't have anyone to get in between you two to try to get you guys to break up, thus nearly breaking the whole group apart, like Tommy and I had."

"So…" she stretched out the word.

She shrugged then.

"The only people standing in between this happening is you two." she finished.

Lil sat up, and smiled again, this time not in a loving daze, but in determination.

"You're RIGHT!" she said, standing up.

"I'm not going to let this issue pass me by" she declared.

Kimi smiled and stood up as well.

"You go, girl!" she told her.

They both high fived.

Lil's smile faded a bit.

"So… when did he say he'd be back, again?" she asked.

Kimi shrugged.

"He just said he'd be home 'later', so I don't know when…" she answered.

"And, where did he say he was going?" Lil asked.

Kimi bit her lip.

"He didn't say…" she replied.

Lil groaned again.

"So, I guess we've got some time to kill, huh?" she asked.

Kimi nodded, sitting back down. Lil sat back down as well.

Kimi smiled giddily.

"So, tell me more about this 'wedding' that you two went through?" Kimi asked, using air-quotes like Lil had.

Lil giggled a bit.

"Well, it was years ago, before you were in the group, and Angelica had been a flower girl at some wedding that day," she started "she heard both Chuckie and I say 'I do' after Tommy asked if we wanted to play hide and go seek, so she told us that since we said that, that we needed to get married then."

She blushed a bit.

"And I gotta tell you; I was all for it!"

Lil went on, Kimi laughing a bit, the stress finally leaving the air, unbeknownst to them, that it had moved to a house not so far down the block…

-----

"Ugh, this is just so crazy Tommy!" Chuckie moaned out, slamming his face down onto Tommy's desk.

He and his best friend were at Tommy's house, in his room, doing the exact same thing that Lil and Kimi were doing; talking about the stress of the issue at hand.

"How do I tell her that I liked what went on and that we should be together without having to say it that way?" he asked.

Tommy shrugged.

"Who's to say that you can't say it that way?" he asked, sitting on his bed as he strummed his guitar.

Chuckie groaned.

"Because that sounds too pushy, and you know that's not my style" he replied.

Chuckie pulled on his long hair.

"God, this is so confusing and frustrating!" he said

Tommy smiled and laughed a bit.

"Now you know how I felt" he told him.

Chuckie turned around and glared at him.

"How many times are you going to hold how I was against me?" he asked.

Tommy smirked.

"Until I get bored with it" he replied "And that hasn't happened yet!"

Chuckie rolled his eyes.

"Seriously though, Tommy; what should I tell her?" he asked.

Tommy set his guitar down and leaned back, supporting himself up with his arms, and thinking. He kicked his legs as he went deep in thought.

"Well, from what we all saw, she was the one who took the initiative, but I can tell you Chuckie, it was the thrill of the situation that made her do it" he thought aloud.

Chuckie nodded in agreement.

"True…"

He sighed again.

"But now there's so much I want to tell her" he said as he leaned back.

Tommy leaned forward.

"Like?" he asked.

Chuckie span around slowly in Tommy's desk chair.

"Well; the way I felt when she kissed me" he brought up.

He stopped the chair from spinning, facing away from Tommy and looking out the window.

"In that one brief moment, Tommy, all my fear and anger melted away and I felt so happy that I almost forgot why I was so angry in the first place."

Tommy laughed silently. Not in mockery, but in sympathy, knowing how his friend felt.

"And that day after the concert, when I was the first one to wake up, I looked down at her asleep on my chest, and when I saw her peaceful, content face, I just couldn't imagine any time I ever felt happier" he said, beginning to go into a daze.

"She was like an angel…" he said just quiet enough for Tommy not to hear.

Tommy stopped Chuckie before he got to deep into his daze.

"So wait, you were happier then than you were at the concert?" Tommy asked.

"Where," he added "I shouldn't have to remind you; we rocked the stage with KISS and The Crue!"

Chuckie pushed his leg off of Tommy's desk, spun the chair around, stopped it when he was facing his friend, and then leaned forward.

"Nope, that can't even be compared to how I felt then" he said "That concert was nothing compared to how happy I felt with Lil asleep on my chest."

"What about Mr. Yamaguchi giving us that record deal?" Tommy asked.

Chuckie shook his head.

"I meant what I said and I said what I meant; at that moment I was happy one-hundred percent." Chuckie rhymed.

Tommy cocked his eyebrow, smirking a bit.

"Have you been watching those Dr. Seuss movies again, Chuck?" he asked.

Chuckie looked away into the top corner of the room, folding his arms together.

"May-be…" he let hang.

Tommy laughed silently again.

"Well you know what, man, I think you should just go and tell her" he re-implied.

He got Chuckie to look right at him.

"Don't beat around the bush, don't try to say how you feel in any other way, just tell her how you feel and ask if she wants to be together with you" he told him.

"If anything, Chuckie, I know she'll like it if you do, because, since you do tend to take things slow," he said "this could be the only time you take the initiative, and she'll like that, since she took it the first time."

Chuckie stood up.

"So what, do I just go and tell her now?" he asked.

Tommy nodded.

"It ain't so late right now, just go next door and tell her." he told him.

He headed for the door and turned around. Tommy gave him a light shove when Chuckie stopped.

"Just go do it Chuck, I know you can" he reassured his best friend "Besides, you and Lil will look pretty good together..."

Chuckie nodded, and since he was facing away, Tommy didn't see him blush. He went out the door, downstairs, and out the front door to get next door to the Deville household.

"No, Lil's not here, she actually said she was heading to your place to talk to Kimi" Chuckie was told by Phil.

Chuckie had run next door and rang the bell. Phil had answered the door, and Chuckie had just asked him the question he had replied to. Chuckie groaned and tilted his head back.

Phil smiled.

"You were hoping to finally tell her, huh?" he asked.

Chuckie looked back up and nodded. Phil grabbed him by his shoulders and turned him around fast.

"Well, if you get back to your place quick, you might still have a chance man!" Phil told Chuckie.

Chuckie looked back.

"And I thought you were against this" he told him.

Phil nodded.

"So long as you guys don't get so mushy in front of me, I'm all for it" he told him.

"So…" he stretched out.

He shoved Chuckie.

"GO MAN!" he said, pointing down the street in the direction of Chuckie's house.

And at that, Chuckie took off running.

"Well, just like the first time, you're going to have to take the initiative and just go and tell him" Kimi finally admitted to Lil.

"But won't that be pushing my luck?" Lil asked her.

Kimi shook her head.

"Chuckie likes you just as much as you like him, so just go tell him already!" Kimi said, lightly pushing Lil out the open door.

At that, they both heard the front door to the house open and close. They looked down and saw Chuckie close the door, then lean against it, breathing heavily, as if he had been on a long run. He took his inhaler out and took a few puffs before he could finally calm down.

"Looks like this could finally be your chance, Lil" Kimi said happily.

She looked and saw that Lil wasn't next to her anymore. Lil had run back into Kimi's room. She looked and saw Lil on her bed, clutching one of her pillows close. Lil's knees were over her chest, and she was rocking a bit back and forth.

Kimi turned and walked over to her.

"Lil, what's wrong?" she asked.

Lil closed her eyes and shook her head.

"I'm just to scared Kimi, I can't tell him…" she told her.

She sounded like she was on the verge of tears. Kimi pulled the pillow out from her grasp and had her best friend look directly at her.

"So you're more scared to simply tell Chuckie that you like him than you were to kiss him when he was full of anger while all of you were on your way to face a trigger-happy mad-woman holding me and Angelica hostage?" she asked.

Lil sat up properly, stretching her legs out.

"No…" she admitted.

"And  you can go and tell him how you feel when he's right downstairs where you can tell him right here, right now, and you're just going to let this moment pass you by because you're too scared?" Kimi asked.

Lil stood up, her determination finally coming back.

"No, I'm going to tell him!" she said.

Kimi nodded.

"Go get him, girl!" she told her.

Lil ran out of the room and headed downstairs.

Chuckie had finally caught his breath after running the whole distance of the Deville household to his home. He hadn't seen Lil at all the whole time on the way home, thinking maybe they'd run into each other when she would make her way home. But since he hadn't, he knew she'd have to be there. He heard a step on the stair-case creak, and as he looked up, he could see Lil right on the stairs, coming down towards him. He couldn't believe his luck!

As he saw her, he noticed the light of the sun shine through the window from outside and illuminate over her. He could swear that she was walking in slow-motion towards him and he couldn't help but smile. As Lil headed down the stairs she spoke to him.

"Chuckie, I'm so glad you're finally here" she said to him.

Chuckie stood up straight, getting himself out of the daze he was in.

"Yeah, I'm glad you're here, too" he said.

"Yeah," Lil said "because there's something I've been needing to tell you."

Chuckie stepped forward.

"Same here" he said.

Lil stepped off the staircase and towards him.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah" he answered, nodding.

Lil brushed a few stray strands of her pink streak in her hair away from her eyes.

"Well, why don't you go first…" she said nervously, crossing her arms and blushing, looking down.

Chuckie took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He looked up at Lil but then saw something out of the corner of his eye; Kimi at the top of the stairs watching. He pointed at his eyes and then pointed at her, then indicated toward the door to her room. Kimi nodded, her hands up in defense as she backed away, understanding that Chuckie didn't want him and Lil needed an audience.

Chuckie then walked forward and set a hand on Lil's shoulder, getting her to look up at him.

"Okay" he started "you see Lil, that day when we were all on our way to the warehouse, I was filled with so much fear and rage over what was happening, that when you kissed me, I was so shocked I didn't even know how to react."

Lil nodded, somehow thinking that he was 'letting her down easy'. She fought hard not to cry.

"But" Chuckie said, changing his tone a bit "in that one brief moment, all my anger and fear disappeared, and I felt so happy that I almost forgot what was going on right then."

Lil looked up.

"Really?" she asked.

Chuckie nodded.

"Yes, really" he replied.

Lil smiled, and blushed again.

"And Lil" he said "the day after the concert, when I saw you sleeping so peacefully, I was so happy then I never wanted it to end."

Lil almost felt swooned then.

"We've been friends for years Lil," Chuckie said to her "but now, I think we should be more."

Lil's eyes glistened. She was now on the verge of tears again, this time not from disappointment, but from joy.

"Oh, Chuckie…" she said.

She wanted to grab him again and kiss him once more, until he saw him looking at her in a more serious way.

"Uh, wasn't there something that you needed to tell me?" he asked.

Lil had a look of realization on her face.

"Oh yeah…" she said, and wiped the tears out of her eyes.

She twirled the pink streak of her hair, trying to formulate her thoughts. She then took a deep breath like Chuckie had, and started.

"Well, Chuckie" she said "We've done a lot over these years, and all these years, I've liked you so much, but I never knew when it would be the right time to actually tell you."

"But on that way to the warehouse, knowing that a that mad-woman who kidnapped your sister and one of our friends had a gun, I didn't know if that car ride would actually be our last moments together, so I just threw all my cares out the window and took the shot." Lil said, unloading her feelings.

"After all, like I said" she told him, blushing again "you're really hot when you're mad…"

"But when all of that ended, and after the concert, when I saw you sleeping so peacefully as we all came over, you just looked so sweet, and I felt so content that I never wanted that night to end."

She grabbed Chuckie's hands, and they both looked right at each other and into each other's eyes.

"I agree with you Chuckie" she told him "I want us to be more than friends."

Chuckie looked at her, and almost melted by the look in her eyes.

"Lillian Deville…" he started.

She smiled. The only time Chuckie used anyone's full name was when an issue was important to him.

"Yes, Chuckie Finster…" she said, a bit excited, knowing his question may be to her as well.

Chuckie couldn't hold his question back any longer.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" he finally asked.

Lil couldn't hold back her tears any longer. Her face curled into a smile as the tears of joy fell down her face.

"Oh, Chuckie, of course!" she said, almost screaming it.

And, once again, she grabbed him by his shirt collar, and kissed him fiercely, reliving the moment from the rescue mission. After a few seconds though, Chuckie lightly pushed her off of him.

"Wow, okay Lil, while I love it when you do that," he said, feeling a bit light-headed "do you think you could tone it down a little when you get excited?"

Lil put her hands on her hips.

"Oh, so we finally get together, and jou already tink jou can change me, eh?" she asked, faking an Italian accent, cocking an eye-brow.

Sweat ran down Chuckie's forehead then. He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling nervous.

"Well, I, um, uh…" he babbled nervously.

Lil just let out a light laugh. She set a hand on Chuckie's shoulder, kicked her leg up, and lightly kissed him on the cheek, only a little peck.

"Of course, boyfriend…" she told him, loving the fact that she could finally call him that after all these years.

Chuckie took her hand in his.

"So…" he started nervously.

Lil moved her fingers a little to hold his hands more firmly.

"What, Chuckie?" she asked curiously.

He shook off his nerves.

"Would you like to go on a date with me this Friday?" he said, but he wasn't looking at her.

Lil held off her answer because of this, egging Chuckie on. He finally looked up at her.

"…Girlfriend?" he added.

She smiled once more.

"Of course, Chuckie" she told him.

And at that, Chuckie hugged her. Lil sighed, feeling so content with his arms around her. She hugged him back. After a minute, Chuckie let go and stepped back a bit.

He pointed at the door behind him.

"I'm, uh, gonna step outside for some air…" he said.

Lil nodded.

"Cool, no problem." she said.

Chuckie opened the door and stepped out as Lil headed back upstairs. As she was half-way up, right before she heard the door close, she could just hear Chuckie start to cheer. At this, she couldn't help but laugh.

She headed up towards Kimi's room, and saw her friend's door was already open. Kimi had been listening the whole time!

Kimi stood up from her bed, and she and Lil both hugged. They then pulled back, grabbing each other's hands and jumped around a bit, squealing giddily.

"You see, I told you to just take the chance and it would happen!" Kimi told her.

Lil nodded, still laughing a bit giddily.

"Well, you were totally right Kimi, and now we're going out!"

Lil gasped a bit.

"OMG, we're going out on a date!" she said, now realizing it.

She grabbed Kimi by the shoulders.

"Where do you think he'll take me?" she asked.

Kimi shrugged as much as she could with Lil's hands holding her tightly. Lil then put her hands over her head and began to pace back and forth.

"What should I wear? Should I bring my purse or just my wallet?" she continued "and we don't have our licenses yet! Will your or my parents have to give us a ride? OH MAN, that'll be so embarrassing either way!"

She continued worrying, making Kimi go through the same experience she had gone through earlier. Not wanting to see it all over again, Kimi did something a bit unnecessary; she had Lil stop pacing, put a hand on one of Lil's shoulders, and then slapped her friend lightly on both of her cheeks.

"Calm down Lil, it'll be fine" she said.

Lil shook her arms a bit, tilted her head back, letting out a long breath and then relaxed her shoulders.

"Besides, I have something to tell you" Kimi told her.

Lil looked back up.

"Really?" she asked.

Kimi nodded, her arms folded.

"Well, what?" Lil asked, curiously.

Kimi looked directly at her, with a bit of an intimidating stare.

"I love the fact that you two are now together, but, while you are my best friend-" Kimi started.

She unfolded her arms, put one hand on Lil's shoulder again, pointing at her with her other hand, and looked Lil straight in the eyes, glaring, putting a whole vibe of intimidation in the air.

"-if you break Chuckie's heart, I swear; I will find you, and I will MAIME you!" Kimi said, an angry growl in her voice.

Lil stepped back a bit, a little afraid of her best friend being so aggressive. She put her hands up in defense.

"Kimi, chill, I'd never do anything like that at all!" she said "I've wanted to be with him for years; I'll never break his heart!"

Kimi saw the look in Lil's eyes and could see she wasn't lying. In the blink of an eye, she went from her aggressive stance to a normal stance, and the vibe instantly evaporated from the air.

"Alright Lil, and congratulations" she told her.

They both sat down again, Lil trying to get rid of the fear Kimi had given her. After a few minutes of letting the issue drop, Lil looked back up towards Kimi.

"So…" she said.

"What did you and Tommy do on your first date?" she asked Kimi.

Kimi folded her arms again, and then smirked.

"Oh, like you don't know?" she said.

Lil blinked a few times in confusion.

"Uh, no, and I have no clue what you're talking about…" she replied.

Kimi stood up straight, realizing what Lil meant.

"Oh, so Chuckie didn't talk you into spying on us with him that day?" she asked in realization.

Lil shook her head.

"You knew that he did that?" she asked.

Kimi nodded, rolling her eyes a bit.

"Yeah, but I managed to scare him off when he saw that I realized it was him behind all those trees and newspapers with holes in them..."

Kimi frowned a bit and looked a bit grouchy. So Lil decided to answer her question.

"Well, nope, I didn't" she told her friend "he tried to get me and Phil to do it too, but I remember that we promised to stay away from you guys that day, and I didn't want to do it."

She rolled her eyes then.

"But he got Dil to do it, because we both know that he and Tommy are close, but he left a while after spying on you guys because he got bored." she added.

Kimi finally smiled again, the memories coming back to her.

"Well, I have to say that our first date was so great that I didn't even care that Chuckie had been spying on us."

She began to regale the events of what had happened.

"Okay so, Tommy took me to the park for a picnic at the top of the highest hill underneath the old oak tree, and he had packed us a 'special lunch' he had made." she started "he also brought his acoustic guitar in his case, since he's better at acoustic than I am."

This was true; Kimi had skipped past acoustic guitar and went straight to electric and was great at playing all styles on electric; lead, rhythm, and bass. And while she played acoustic a bit, she could only play rhythm. Tommy had learned guitar in what he and his grandpa Lou called the 'traditional' way; playing acoustic first, then electric. He could play lead, rhythm, and bass on acoustic, but only rhythm and a bit of bass on electric.

Kimi shrugged a bit as she went on.

"The lunch he packed was nothing special, though, really; just some homemade sandwiches and fresh fruit," she said, but then smiled "but he had also gotten a six-pack of soda that was in the old-time glass bottles that they re-released, and he used the bottle-opener on his pocket-knife to open them."

She took herself out of the daze she was in.

"You know I'm really into the nostalgic stuff" she told Lil.

Lil nodded.

Instantly, Kimi was back in the daze she had been in, resuming to talk about the date.

"And since it wasn't a school night, we didn't have to hurry home later in the day, as we both had asked to push our curfews over a bit later, thank god our parents let us."

Kimi set her head in her hands, and a dreamy look came over her face.

"So, as the sun began to set, Tommy took his acoustic guitar out of his case that he had brought with him and he…"

She squealed a bit.

"He SANG to me!" she said giddily.

Lil smiled.

"Well, what song?" she asked Kimi.

Kimi giggled.

"Actually, it was more than one song" she explained

"You're not as much into metal as I am Lil, even though you are in our metal band-" Kimi started.

Lil nodded a bit, rolling her eyes.

"I know Kimi, you're constantly reminding me…" she interrupted.

Lil listened to mostly whatever was in the Top 40's, but had started to listen to metal after she joined the band.

Kimi resumed.

"-but in metal, there are actually more than just loud and fast paced music; there are love songs."

She smiled, returning into her daze once more.

"And those were a few of the songs Tommy sang to me" she told her.

She began to count on her fingers.

"He sang 'Heaven' by Warrant, 'Silent Lucidity' by Queensrÿche, and KISS's 'Beth' but he put 'Kim' in its place instead." she said.

"I thought you hated being called 'Kim', though" Lil mentioned.

Kimi rolled over, her head hanging off the edge of her bed.

"Well, it's different when Tommy says it, especially if he sings it" she replied simply.

She then continued with what she was originally talking about, continuing to count

"Oh, and he even had us both sing a duet on 'More than words' by the band Extreme."

She pointed slightly at her.

"Don't let the name of the band fool you; it's a very slow and romantic song, easily played on acoustic."

"But I think my favorite was the last one, which brought me to tears after he sang it" she recalled, her eyes glistening at the memory "It was 'Love of a Lifetime' by the band Firehouse…"

Lil nodded a bit, a small smile on her face.

"I think I know what that song's about just by the title…" she said.

Kimi nodded back.

"We both agreed that it would be our song from then on and we kissed then, right before the sun finished setting."

"Then we both packed up and went home right before our extended curfews." she finished.

She stayed in her loving daze for a bit longer, not wanting to forget, but then finally looked up.

"Why did you want to know anyway, Lil?" she asked Lil curiously.

Lil shrugged.

"Well, because, maybe, since Chuckie had been watching that day, he might copy you guys and do the same thing" she guessed.

She furrowed her eye-brows a bit.

"Although, Chuckie's drum-set isn't exactly portable…" she thought aloud, bringing a finger to her chin.

Kimi laughed lightly and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, Chuckie's got a mind of his own, he'll think of something." she told Lil.

"Yeah, you're right" Lil agreed.

"Besides, he left half-way through the day, he didn't even see Tommy sing to me." Kimi added, making her and Lil laugh at what she said next.

"All he saw was me and Tommy talk, and I could've sworn I heard him snoring at one point."

Later on, Lil had left right before Chuckie and Kimi's parents showed up, sharing a kiss with him right before leaving. Unfortunately, Kimi had watched that time. And since Chas and Kira were just walking through the door at the time, they heard Kimi making fun of him.

"Chuckie's got a girlfriend, Chuckie's got a girlfriend!" she mocked in a sing-song voice, Chuckie clutching his head, his eye-twitching.

"Dangit Kimi, cut it out!" he told her.

Kimi widened her eyes smiling as she tilted her head.

"Aw, did da widdle wuver boy just get angwy?" she asked, then pouted her lower lip.

Chuckie pulled his hair.

"GAH!" he yelled out in aggravation.

"Okay, kids, what's going on here?" Chas asked as he saw what was going on, but hadn't heard the whole thing.

Kimi instantly stood.

"Chuckie and Lil hooked up" she told both Chas and her mother quickly.

Chuckie looked up.

"Dangit Kimi, shut up!"

Kimi turned around and stuck her tongue out.

"Revenge, bro!" she told him.

She then ran out of the room, laughing, leaving Chuckie alone with Chas and Kira.

Chuckie saw the smiles on their faces and his face flushed red.

"Oh dang…" he mumbled.

His parents both sat on each side of him on the couch.

"So you and Lil are finally together?" his dad asked.

Chuckie sighed, and then nodded.

"Yeah…" he said.

Kira smiled.

"Well, why do you seem so embarrassed?" she asked him.

He looked up.

"Because now you're both going to make fun of me the way you did with Kimi when she and Tommy started dating" he said.

Chas and Kira both shook their heads.

"Nah, Chuckie, I think Kimi did enough" Chas told him.

"Although…" Kira said, getting a mischievous smile on her face.

'Uh-oh…' Chuckie thought.

Kira planted a kiss right on his fore-head. She then hugged him close.

"I can't believe you finally have a girlfriend, Chuckie, I'm so proud of you!" she told him.

Chuckie blushed again.

"MOM!" he groaned.

Kimi stuck her head out from around a corner leading into the room.

"Oh, and he and Lil are going on a date this Friday, too!" she mentioned.

Chuckie glared at her.

"Darn it, Kimi!" he said.

Kimi laughed again and dashed back up the stairs. And at that, both their parents began embarrassing Chuckie full force.

"Oh, so where're you planning on taking her, bucko?" his dad asked, nudging him.

He leaned a bit closer, and put a hand on the side of his mouth.

"I'd suggest that you take her to dinner, and let her order whatever she wants, it's a good start." he whispered.

Kira shook her head, having heard this.

"No, take her to a movie, which might be better" she told him "and buy her own bucket of popcorn."

"Or you could do both" Chas compromised.

"True" Kira agreed.

Chuckie clutched his head again in anger.

"You guys, seriously!" he said.

He took out his inhaler and took a few puffs off of it. Realizing that they could be stressing him out a bit, his parents backed off.

"Seriously, though Chuckie, just do something traditional if you can't think of anything" his dad told him calmly "not many people can turn down dinner and a movie, or at least one or the other."

"Also" Kira suggested "if you feel nervous, maybe make it a double date if it's okay with her, which could help."

Then they both each set a hand on each of his shoulders.

"But, of course, Chuckie-" Chas started.

"We're both proud of you" Kira finished.

They both gave him a hug, and left the room. Chuckie laid across the couch, and then thought over what his parents had told him.

"Alright, good job Lillian!" Howard told his daughter as she came home and retold the events of what had just happened to her parents.

They were all sitting at the kitchen table, Phil was upstairs. Unlike Chuckie's parents, though, they didn't exactly want to embarrass her over the situation.

"That's my girl, taking the situation by the horns and making it happen!" Betty said, putting her arm around her and pulling her closer.

Lil had tweaked the story a bit, knowing that her mom always wanted her to be like her; short and to the point with boys, making what she wanted to happen actually come true. She had no clue Chuckie had asked, and not her, like she had said.

"So where did Chuckie say he was taking you on your big date?" her mother asked.

Lil bit her lip a bit.

"Well, he, uh, actually didn't say, he just asked if I'd like to go on one with him." she answered.

Howard looked disappointed then.

"Well how are we supposed to know what outfit for you to wear if you don't even know where he's taking you?" he asked.

He groaned a bit and tilted his head back over the chair.

Lil rolled her eyes.

"Dad, I wear the same type of outfit every day, I don't need to dress up all fancy just because Chuckie wants to take me on a date."

Betty smiled.

"Yeah Howie, besides, I dressed in jeans and sports jersey's when we started dating and you didn't mind" she reminded him.

Howard looked back up.

"That's because no one could ever get you to wear a dress Betty, no matter what" he told her.

"Except for our wedding" he remembered.

They both then looked up at the pictures on the wall in the living room and saw in the center was the photo of their wedding day. Lil snapped her fingers to get them to stop from staring.

"Uh, guys…" she said.

They both looked back at her.

"Yeah, I don't know what Chuckie has planned, but if it involves going somewhere outside of the neighborhood, could I extend my curfew a bit?" she asked.

Her parents both consulted each other, and then gave her a re-assuring nod.

"We'll give you two extra hours, just don't go out to far" her father told her.

"Yeah, Lillian" her mother said "you and Chuckie may be the oldest in your group, but you're still too young to lose your virginity."

Howard went pale at hearing that.

"AW! Mom, really?" Lil said, blushing in embarrassment.

Her mother laughed.

"Oh, we trust you Lil, it's just a parent's job to look out for their kids like that" she told Lil, patting her on the head.

Lil pouted a bit.

"By what, embarrassing them?!" she said.

Her mother just laughed again, and she and her father left upstairs. She could faintly hear her father confront her mother on what she had said to Lil about her and Chuckie.

Lil just sighed.

"Man-o-man, is this gonna be a big issue…" she thought aloud.

August 25, 2012

"Uh, yeah you're certainly right, this is a big issue!" Angelica agreed with her.

She and Suzie had come over the next day as they had heard through Kimi what had happened and wanted to help Lil out.

"I mean seriously, if you don't even know where you're going, how are we going to help you find the perfect outfit?" Angelica asked as she looked through Lil's closet.

Suzie rolled her eyes.

"Angelica, I don't think the outfit really matters compared to what they're going to do" she told her.

Angelica stuck her head back out of the closet.

"I beg to differ" she rebutted.

"I mean, have you seen her wardrobe?" she asked from inside the closet.

She took something off the hanger and revealed a kimono with a flowery pattern upon a clothes-hanger.

"Seriously Lil, why did you keep this?" she asked the tom-boy "when would you ever need it?"

Lil smiled.

"That's the kimono Chuckie and Kimi made for me for the Japanese festival, like they did for all of us."

She pointed up at a picture on her wall and it showed the whole gang in traditional Japanese kimonos at a Japanese festival outside of town.

"Yeah, I get that in sentimental reasons, but really; I don't think it'll work for a date" Angelica said, hanging it back up.

Suzie opened the closet up wider and joined Angelica in helping Lil find an outfit.

"Seriously Lil, you don't have any dresses at all?" Angelica asked her, looking back over her shoulder.

Lil shook her head.

"What's the sense in it, you can't do anything in a dress except stand up, sit, or lie down" she answered.

Angelica looked at the bottom of her closet and saw all of Lil's shoes.

"And you don't have any high-heals?!" Angelica asked, as if it was a necessity.

"Nope" Lil said, and she crossed her legs "I can't walk in those things without tripping all over myself."

"The outfits that you think I need don't sound so important, after all; I prefer jeans, sneakers, and t-shirts; you can do so much more in them" she said to the blonde.

Angelica rolled her eyes and kept looking.

Suzie looked back.

"I get where you're coming from Lil, but still, if Chuckie's going to do something like take you to dinner, you might need a dress and some matching shoes" she told her.

Lil bit her lip, nervous.

"Well, I guess I could get something at the mall before Friday…" she thought aloud.

Angelica snapped her head back, looking at her.

"Friday?!" she said "you didn't say when it was, that's only six days away!

She grabbed her purse and took her keys out.

"We've got no time to lose!" she said urgently "Let's get to the mall A.S.A.P!"

Lil grabbed her wallet off her desk, a bit freaked out at seeing Angelica in her panicked state.

"Calm down Angelica, we just need to get an outfit" Suzie told her as she saw Angelica rushing.

Angelica cocked her eye-brow and looked at her.

"There's a ton of stores in the mall and they have hundreds of dresses and dozens of pairs of shoes" she told Suzie "we need to find the perfect outfit for Lil, and that could take hours!"

Lil groaned at that as they walked outside towards Charlotte's car. Since Angelica's car had been hijacked by Coco and sunken to the bottom of the lake, she let Angelica use her car until her parents could get her a new one.

"So you're going to turn me into your own human-sized Cynthia doll?" she asked Angelica.

Angelica nodded.

"If that's what it takes to get you the perfect dress and matching shoes, then yes, now get in the car." she said to her.

They all got in and set off.

"Are you so sure about this?" Chuckie asked.

"Yeah man, Lil see's you as a rocking heavy metal drummer, so that's what you should dress like" Tommy told him.

They were currently at the mall, trying to find something for Chuckie to wear on the date he had planned for him and Lil.

Dil and Tommy had picked out big black boots, black jeans, and a studded leather jacket for the date. Kimi was leaning against the wall at the entrance to the store. She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, guys, looks don't matter in metal, it's all about how you play" she told them, having Chuckie take the jacket off.

"Yeah, but you wear denim and studded leather at all of our shows" Chuckie told her.

Kimi nodded.

"Yes, but that's because I enjoy it, and I can tell by the way you're sweating that you don't" she told him.

Chuckie couldn't deny it. His sweat made the leather stick to his skin, and it was a bit uncomfortable.

"Besides, we're not trying to find an outfit for one of our gigs, we're trying to find an outfit for a date, and we're not gonna find it in one of my favorite stores." she told her brother.

Kimi regularly visited this store, as well as the CD store. This store, though, was the only place in town to get her heavy metal gear; studded wrist-bands, lesser-known band T-shirts, patches for her denim jackets (she had more than one because one had nothing but KISS patches) and anything else she thought she needed. Kimi was regularly advancing in metal, calling the fan she was a week ago 'a wannabe today'.

They returned the outfit they had picked out to the places they had found the items and left the store.

"Alright, so we just need to find a good enough outfit to wear on whatever date you're taking Lil on." Tommy re-emphasized.

"Which is…?" Dil said, straining to get an answer out of Chuckie.

Chuckie sighed.

"All I can think of is what my parents suggested; dinner and a movie." he finally said "And I want to take her to a good restaurant for dinner, since we did get a good enough amount of cash from our big concert with KISS and The Crue, but I don't wanna break the bank as I need to save money for our tickets to Japan."

Kimi spoke up.

"Chuckie, you only need to save enough for your own ticket, everything else is going to be paid for when we get there; Mr. Yamaguchi owns the hotel we'll be staying at and the studio we'll be recording in," she told him "so spoil yourself and Lil a bit and do something nice, you won't break the bank."

Chuckie blew some of his hair out of his eyes, re-adjusting his glasses, and shrugged.

Dil spoke up then

"Kimi, you seriously think you guys are just going to be recording during the day and sleeping at night when we all get to Tokyo?" he asked "Don't you wanna see the sights at all when we get there, maybe spend a little moolah?"

Kimi face-palmed herself.

"Oh yeah; good thing I haven't spent any of my money yet" she said, relieved.

She took her hand out of her face in enough time to see something; Lil, Angelica, and Suzie just entering the mall a few yards away from them. She immediately threw an arm out and got the guys to stop.

"OMG, don't let 'em see you!" she said to them.

"Who?" Tommy asked.

Kimi nodded her head backwards, indicating towards the trio that had just entered the mall.

"It's crucial that Chuckie and Lil don't see each other before their date, it's bad luck" she explained.

"Why?" Tommy asked.

"Why do you think I avoided you the whole time before our first date Tommy?" she asked her boyfriend.

Tommy smirked.

"Because you believe in crazy superstitions" he told her.

Tommy and Dil both fist-bumped as they laughed.

"Seriously, Kimi, that crazy belief is for weddings, not first dates" Dil told her "Unless we've stepped into the fourth dimension and all the beliefs are backwards."

Tommy cocked an eyebrow at his little brother.

"You can still be one wacky little dude, bro" he told Dil.

Dil smiled, folding his arms.

"And don't you forget it, bro!" Dil said proudly.

They all then noticed that Chuckie had stayed quiet this whole time. He had hidden behind a pillar as they all stayed in the spot they were in, now casually talking, and not drawing attention to themselves.

"Aw, seriously, Chuck, don't tell me you believe that silly-" Tommy started, leaning a bit towards Kimi as he was about to mention what she had said.

Kimi glared a bit.

"Choose your words wisely, Thomas…" she told him.

Tommy immediately changed his position to Dil.

"-alternate dimension belief that Dil has."

Dil glared at Kimi then.

"That was low, turning my brother against me" he told her.

Kimi smirked, snickering a bit.

They all then got Chuckie out from behind the pillar, helping his ease up.

"Seriously Chuck, I was just being irrational, it doesn't matter if she see's you or not" Kimi reassured him.

Dil leaned from behind the alcove they were in, looking at where they had seen their friends.

"And speak of the devil, looks like she did" he mentioned.

Chuckie's face went pale.

"Aw crap…" he said.

"Alright, let's hit Victoria's Secret" Angelica said, pointing in the direction of the store.

But then she noticed a map and changed her mind.

"No wait, forever 21's closer, but I think there's a department store downstairs that sells knock-offs of Victoria's Secret brand, since Lil might be able to afford those more, and since they're having a sale-" Angelica continued, trying to strategize a full plan for their time at the mall.

Suzie came up at her side.

"Hold up Angelica, Lil got a good enough payment from the concert, if she wants something from Forever 21 or Victoria's Secret, she could totally afford it" she reminded her.

Angelica put her hands on her hips.

"Oh, no WAY! Tom-boy Lil is not wearing name-brand Forever 21 products before me!" she said, almost glaring.

Lil sighed, realizing that, while the two older teens were talking about her, they had forgotten that she was there.

"Man, I hate going to the mall with these two…" she said to herself.

She leaned against a wall, letting the argument ensue between Suzie and Angelica. Her eyes glazed over, and she began to stare aimlessly around the area of the mall they were in.

She then noticed something familiar; an afro of red hair underneath a Sherpa-hat, light black hair that was almost blue, frizzy dark-red hair, and black hair in two pony-tails. She knew that she was seeing the back of her friend's heads.

"Oh, cool" she said, directing Suzie and Angelica's attention away from their argument.

She pointed over at the alcove area that Tommy, Kimi, Chuckie, and Dil were talking at.

"Looks like they're here, why don't we all shop together?" she asked, and began to walk over.

Angelica grabbed her arm as she headed towards them and yanked her back.

"NO!" she said, as she pinned Lil against the map.

"What the heck, Angelica?" Lil said, annoyed.

"Chuckie can't see you before the date; it's bad luck!" Angelica told her "And if your first date is a dud, then the relationship is doomed!"

Suzie almost started laughing then.

"My-oh-my, Angelica, your beliefs are crazier than Dil's at times" she told her "I just hope you didn't drill that into Kimi's brain…"

Lil yanked her arm out of Angelica's hand.

"If I want to talk to him, I'll go talk to him" she said "I don't care about your silly little dating theories!"

"Hey guys!" Lil said, walking towards them, Suzie and Angelica behind her.

As they all finally met up, they all gathered into a group.

"Wow, funny running into you guys here" Suzie said to them.

"Eh, we were just helping Chuckie find a nice new outfit for the date" Kimi said casually.

"Shut up!" Angelica said "no kidding; we were doing the same for Lil."

"Dang, great minds must think alike, I guess" Tommy said to his cousin.

Angelica laughed, agreeing.

They all continued talking, and Lil got Chuckie's attention.

"You mind if we get away from here for a bit and talk?" she asked.

Chuckie nodded nervously, and they both quietly snuck away, their friends not noticing.

They both found an empty cushioned bench a few yards away from the elevators and sat down. After a few awkward moments of sitting in silence, Lil finally spoke up.

"I guess this must be a lot to handle, now that our friends are involved, huh?" she asked Chuckie.

He nodded, smiling a bit, feeling nervous. But after seeing that smile on her face, he eased up.

"Tell me about it; they've had me here for hours, trying to get a great outfit for the date." he told her, loosening up a bit.

Lil rolled her eyes and leaned back in the bench.

"That's what Angelica was planning on doing with me; she was going to drag me all through the mall and get me to try on all the dresses and shoes." she told him.

Chuckie cocked an eyebrow.

"What would you need a dress for?" he asked.

Lil looked puzzled.

"Well, for the date" she said.

"Why, you don't think I need a dress for our date?" she asked him.

Chuckie shook his head.

"Nah, I mean, if you don't mind me saying this, but, I'm not really taking you to a fancy, expensive dinner or anything" he said, a bit nervous once more, fearing her reaction.

But he didn't need to worry. She actually sighed and relaxed a bit more herself.

"That's a relief" she said "I was really afraid of what you'd want to do for our date, and I wanted to get the perfect outfit, even if it involved wearing a dress and high-heals."

"Speaking of which" she said, looking directly at him "what are we doing for our date, anyway?"

Chuckie shrugged.

"Well, I guess…" he stretched out.

He thought it over for a bit.

"Dinner and a movie?" he questioned.

Lil smiled a nodded a bit.

"Cool" she said.

"Deal?" Chuckie asked.

"Deal" Lil said, and they both shook hands.

A thought popped into Lil's mind then.

"Not an extravagant dinner, though, right?" she asked.

Chuckie shook his head.

"Not really; maybe just that pizza place near the movie theatre if that's alright with you." he said.

Lil smiled.

"I'd like that" she told him.

They both sidled up a bit closer to each other, and just sat there, relaxing.

Well," Kimi said to Suzie and Angelica "we should get back to shopping, let's go…"

She looked around.

"Chuckie?" she said curiously.

She turned to Tommy.

"Where'd he go?" she asked him.

He shrugged.

"Hey, and where's Lil?" Suzie pointed out.

Angelica looked around a bit.

"Ah crap, she's gone too?" Angelica asked her.

They all began to panic a bit, freaking out at losing them in such a quick amount of time. Before it got to hectic, though, Dil cleared his throat.

"Ahem…"

They all looked at him.

"Guys, they snuck off while you all were busy chit-chatting" he told them.

He pointed behind himself.

"They went that-a-way" he informed them "and by the way; if they had to sneak off, I'm thinking they wanted some time alone."

Angelica leaned against the wall then, groaning.

"Great, now that they're gone, what should we do?" she asked.

"We had a whole plan that we were formulating, and now we can't do it!" she said.

Tommy leaned to the side a bit, looking behind his younger brother.

"I don't think you have to worry about that Angelica; here they come now" he pointed out to his cousin.

They saw the newly-founded couple coming up, holding hands ever so slightly.

"Hey guys" they both said to their friends at once.

They looked at each other after saying that, then they both smiled and blushed. Lil let go of Chuckie's hand.

"Well, thanks for everything" Lil said to Angelica and Suzie "but it seems I don't need a dress anymore."

"Yep, looks like we don't really need to shop anymore, so let's get to the bus stop." Chuckie said to Tommy, Kimi and Dil.

Angelica stopped her cousins and the two step-siblings from leaving as the large group dispersed.

"Hey, you guys don't gotta take the smelly old bus; I came in my mom's mini-van, so we could all just leave together." she told them.

They all agreed to this and left with them.

As they all got in the car, Suzie sitting shot-gun next to Angelica, Dil, Tommy, and Kimi sitting in the middle back-seats, and Chuckie and Lil sitting in the very back, un-noticed, seated right next to each other, even though there was enough room to have an empty seat between them, and held hands as they all left the mall parking lot.

Finally, the end of the week came, as the next five days seemed to stretch on and on, the new couple just wanting Friday to come and for them to finally go on their date. But once it came, they were so excited!

Chuckie's parents had made a fuss over him, wanting to help him get ready for his date, Kira trying to tame his hair and Chas tried to get Chuckie to wear very fancy suits, but none of them were good enough; they were all Chas's, so they either had to different of patterns, or they were too big for him.

Chas and Kira did this for almost an hour, until Kimi got them off of his back and helped Chuckie pick out a nice outfit that wouldn't seem to stick out in public, and to get his hair back they way he usually kept it. Chuckie thanked her and then took off to go pick up Lil.

At the Deville household, her dad made more of a fuss over her than her mother did. Howard tried to get her to wear a dress until Betty calmly talked him out of it and with a compromise from Lil, they both said Lil would wear a skirt. But when she tried to find her favorite blue one, it was missing, so she grabbed an alternative green one, and then changed into a green and white striped shirt and her favorite flip-flops. This wasn't the perfect outfit she had wanted, but it was close runner-up. Luckily though, her purse matched all her outfits.

What she didn't know about her skirt was, that it had been planned out…

~~~

Phil hadn't been hanging out with the group much this week, not because he was grossed-out or disgusted by the fact that one of his best friends was dating his sister, but because he was FURIOUS about it.

He had heard his parents talking with Lil, but only heard the end of the conversation, where they pointed out that Lil was too young to do such a forbidden act.

'Oh, HELL-to-the-NO!' Phil thought as he had stormed back up-stairs.

'Chuckie is mad if he even THINKS he can do the horizontal mambo with my sister, and he's got another thing coming!'

So, believing the insane belief that Angelica and Kimi had told them, he would make sure that their first date would go horribly. Thus, making their relationship unsuccessful, and for a forbidden act to never happen between them. He had taken Lil's favorite skirt from her room and hid it in the laundry room.

But this wasn't his first prank...

~~~

Chuckie finally showed up at Lil's place and handed her a bouquet of roses. After a few minutes of pictures and embarrassing comments from her parents, the couple left. Betty had taken the flowers and put them in a vase.

"So where're we going Chuckie?" Lil asked as they began to walk down the sidewalk.

Chuckie put his hand into his pocket as he continued walking.

"Well, I want to get to the downtown district so we can get to the Cineplex area, maybe get some dinner, and then get to a movie." he told her "So we need to get to the bus so we can make it there on time."

Realizing that the way he was talking made it sound like he was calling all the shots, Chuckie stopped and immediately looked up at Lil.

"Of course, so long as all of that is okay with you" he said "because I'd be willing to change my plans completely, even though my parents may not like-"

Lil put a finger to Chuckie's lips to get him to stop talking.

"Calm down, Chuckie; that sounds great to me" she told him calmly.

Chuckie smiled.

"So, what time does the bus leave?" she asked.

Chuckie took his hand out of his pocket, revealing his PDA.

"Well, I had the bus schedule copied to my PDA, so…"

He used the stylus to try and find the file, but it wasn't on there.

"What?" he said in confusion.

Lil cocked an eye-brow.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Chuckie stopped walking, getting her to stop.

"Well, I had the bus schedule copied onto here, but it seems to have been deleted" he explained to her.

He looked through some other things and his face fell even more.

"Oh MAN!" he groaned "and the movie time list isn't on here anymore either!"

Lil smirked and cocked her eye-brow.

"Chuckie; did you seriously plan our date down to the minute?" she asked, crossing her arms, shaking her head a bit.

Chuckie shook his head.

"No, I just wanted to know the times for the bus and the movies so we wouldn't be late for anything." he told her.

He groaned and put the stylus and PDA back in his pocket.

"But now it seems that my efforts were fruitless; our date is ruined!" he told her.

Lil put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Ah, Chuckie, cheer up, we could still probably make it in time…"

That's when they heard the sound of one of the cars driving down the street stop and park next to them. They looked up and saw Suzie in her car.

"Hey guys, what seems to be the problem?" she asked.

She had seen them stop walking as she drove along, and could tell by Chuckie's slumped-over position that he was bummed out about something.

Lil looked up at Suzie.

"Oh, Chuckie had the bus schedule and movie listing saved on his PDA, but somehow it got deleted and we don't know if we'll get there in time." Lil informed their friend.

Suzie smiled.

"Aw, no need to worry guys." she told them.

She unlocked the doors to her car.

"Hop in, I'll give you a ride" she told them.

They thanked her, and Chuckie politely opened the door for Lil, who slid in and sat in the middle seat, while he took the seat next to her and closed the door. Suzie made sure they were buckled up, and then they took off.

Nearby, behind a tree, someone who had been spying on them stared furiously at the car driving off.

"Crud!" Phil said in anger.

He had been the one who deleted the files off of Chuckie's PDA earlier that week, as he had asked to use it, saying he was going to do his own thing on Friday. But all he did was delete the files.

He had followed the couple, dressed in a hooded sweatshirt that hid his face. He regretted wearing it, as it was summer, and the sun was still out later during the day, and the heat made him sweat profusely. But so long as they couldn't recognize him, he didn't care. But now he was angry that Suzie had solved their problem.

But, just like his other ones, this wasn't his final prank; he had many more planned out. So he took off, knowing the bus schedule himself, making sure he would make it to the Cineplex area before them.

Suzie had dropped 'the lovebirds', as she had called them, off, saying she would be happy to give them a ride back after their date was over, but Lil said that it wasn't necessary, and that they'd make it back home on their own. Suzie was fine with that, but kept in mind that she would be back if they needed her.

So Chuckie and Lil immediately went to the Italian restaurant Chuckie had planned for them to go to for dinner. Chuckie had said that it was a pizza place, but it was more of a sit-down restaurant than a delivery or to-go pizza place.

They had been shown to their booth after waiting for a few minutes. They were handed their menus and some water, and their waiter said he would be back in a few minutes when they were ready to order.

Lil looked across the menu, biting her lip a little, and then looked up at Chuckie. He could tell by the look in her eyes what was on her mind.

"Lil, you can order whatever you want, money is no object." he answered her silent question.

Lil smiled and sighed in relief. She looked through the menu a bit more and then looked up.

"So is spaghetti and meatballs with cheese-bread okay?"

Chuckie looked at the same thing on the menu and nodded.

"Sure, but you don't wanna get an appetizer?" he asked her.

Lil looked back down and shrugged.

"Eh, well, a salad might be nice" she said, and then folded the menu again.

Chuckie looked through the menu a bit more and then decided his choice and closed his menu.

Their waiter returned and they made their order; both were having Pepsi-cola to drink and starting off with a salad. And while Lil had the items she decided, Chuckie had picked Chicken-Alfredo pasta with garlic bread. The waiter took their menu and left to the kitchen.

As they waited, they both sat at their booth awkwardly, when they decided to break the ice and talk. Chuckie glanced under the table and began to talk in a monotonous voice.

"So" he said, like a robot "I saw that one of the movies playing was 'Rock of Ages'."

He looked up.

"Would you like to see that after dinner?" he asked her.

Lil cocked her eye-brow, looking confused. She scooted closer to Chuckie, and he scooted farther. This kept happening until they reached the edge of the booth. Knowing Chuckie couldn't move anymore, Lil glanced under the table before Chuckie could stop her, and she began to laugh. She looked back up to see Chuckie blushing.

"Seriously, Chuckie?" she asked.

Lil reached under the table and snatched what was in Chuckie's hands.

"You're using cue-cards?" she asked him, showing the note-cards with dialogue written on them.

She folded them together and ripped them in half. She then crumpled them all together and tossed them into a trash can near them. She looked back at Chuckie with a sympathetic smile.

"Chuck, I've been a friend of yours for years" she reminded him.

"Just because we've gone a few steps forward and are more than friends, that doesn't mean you need to act like I'm some stranger you're on a blind-date with" she told him.

Chuckie looked up after looking down at his hands in embarrassment. He saw the smile on Lil's face and smiled back.

"Chuckie, just talk to me like you normally do, its fine" she told him, patting him on the shoulder.

He sighed in relief and then leaned back in the cushioned booth. Lil scooted farther so they could have a bit more space.

"Anyway; I'd actually like to see that movie, from what Tommy and Kimi told me, it sounds great." she told him.

Chuckie sat up more properly.

"Yeah, and from what Kimi's told me, they have some songs in that movie that even you would know" he told her.

He reached into his pocket and took out his PDA, showing a picture of the movie soundtrack on CD. He tapped the screen and showed another picture, which was the track listing on the back of the CD. They began reading the songs and talking of them.

Unbeknownst to them, someone was at the other side of the restaurant, angry at what had just taken place.

"Crap!" Phil said quietly.

He had known that Chuckie would be using those cue-cards, so he had taken them and had switched a few in the deck with ones he had written on himself, which contained insults, hoping it would cause Lil to leave in anger. But his effort was to no avail. So he got something out of his pocket to use as a plan-B; a bag with a worm in it.

Knowing that Lil would order spaghetti, he would put this in her plate when the waiter would pass by, as he was sitting outside the kitchen and, hoping Lil would freak out, he would successfully ruin their date!

But, unbeknownst to him, someone else would see him do this.

Kimi, I don't know about this, isn't it rude to spy on their date?" Tommy asked his girlfriend.

They had gone to the restaurant before Chuckie and Lil showed up as Kimi convinced Tommy to go with her.

Kimi placed her hands on the table, on the sides of her plate of Chicken Marcella, looking straight at him, occasionally glancing over at Lil and Chuckie.

"Look Tommy; we are not spying" she told him "we are just on a date of our own, but also observing them on their date."

Tommy shook his head a bit.

"That still sounds like we're spying." he told her.

Kimi sighed.

"Well, we're not doing that, we're just making sure their date will run smoothly." she told him "After all, Lil is my best friend, and Chuckie is your best friend, plus, he's also my brother, so we're really only looking out for them because we care about them."

Tommy quickly glanced over at Chuckie and Lil. He could see that they were both chatting happily, occasionally laughing either in humor, or nervously, while blushing. This seemed like a normal first-date scenario to him.

"Well, while I agree with that, I have to say that they look fine to me" he told his girlfriend "Why wouldn't their date be running smoothly?"

Kimi nodded near the direction of the kitchen door across the restaurant. Tommy looked over and saw someone at a table, eating a sandwich and drinking a soda. He couldn't see their face much because they were wearing a hoodie. But he could already tell who it was.

"What the heck is Phil doing here?" he asked obliviously.

Kimi looked at him as if she expected him to react this way, but didn't want him to.

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked.

Tommy shrugged.

"He's here to spy on their date, like Chuckie did with ours, but knowing Phil for who he is; he's probably trying to sabotage it." she explained to him "He is a prankster, after all."

Tommy groaned.

"So we need to be the secret heroes facing off against the secret villains of our best friends on their first date, and we can't let them know that we're all here?" he asked her.

Kimi nodded, sipping her iced-tea.

"Well that's not fair; we didn't have anyone rescuing our first date while Chuckie was spying on us" he told her.

Kimi rolled her eyes.

"Tommy, you didn't even know Chuckie was spying on us until I told you, and besides, I got him to leave, so we didn't need anyone else to save our date."

"Luckily, he wasn't really trying to sabotage our first date then." she admitted.

She glanced back over at Phil.

"But, since we are here, we should make sure that we don't let this first date get ruined."

She resumed eating her meal.

Tommy looked back over at Phil, and could already see him up to mischief. Kimi saw Tommy looking and looked over at herself.

The waiter had come out of the kitchen with what they had guessed was Kimi and Chuckie's orders. They saw him creep over and place something on a tray of spaghetti.

"Ew!" Kimi exclaimed (quietly, of course as not to attract attention to her disgust.)

"Is that a worm?" she asked Tommy.

He nodded. Unfortunately, the waiter hadn't noticed this. But, luckily, they were right in the path the waiter would use to get from the kitchen to Chuckie and Lil's table.

"Gimme a tissue Kimi" he said to her.

Kimi reached into her purse and pulled one out. As the waiter passed by, since Tommy had kept a sharp eye on him, and since he had fast reflexes from playing guitar, he was able to grab the worm before the waiter could notice, and put it in the tissue and wrapped it up. He stood up from the table, left and went to the bathroom, and came back a few minutes later.

"That's one crisis diverted" he informed Kimi "I threw it away."

He resumed eating his personal sized pesto and chicken pizza. Kimi sighed in relief and went back to eating as well.

Phil glanced over at the new couple and wondered why Lil had not screamed yet at his special surprise. As he finished his sandwich, he mentally face-palmed himself. He had left one thing out of the equation; he and Lil were so alike! While they had some traits that separated them now, they still had so much in common.

So he should have known that she wouldn't scream at finding a worm on her plate, she'd simply get rid of it, or, if it came down to it, actually eat it. After all, they had eaten more than their fair share of worms, mud, and bugs when they were infants and toddlers. What would one more worm mean?

He sighed as he finished off his soda and paid for his meal at the front. He still had to do a little more if he wanted to make sure this date was unsuccessful.

Chuckie and Lil finished off as much as they could of their meals, not feeling the need to save what little was left in to-go boxes. Chuckie paid for the meals at the front with his debit card, and then they left.

"Thanks for paying for the meal, Chuckie" Lil told him.

Chuckie nodded, as he reached into his pocket and revealed a roll of mints.

"Well, like I'd make you pay for your own meal on our first date, that's just cheap!" he told her.

Lil smiled, and then put her hand in his free one. He blushed a bit at this as they went down the street to make it to the cross-walk to get across the street to the movie theatre.

"Well, Chuckie, let me at least pay for my ticket to the movie, okay?" she asked.

Chuckie looked up.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Yeah, I don't want you to shell all your money on me" she told him "And you don't need to pay me back whatever the ticket costs."

She laughed.

"That would make it feel like you were almost paying me for this date" she said "and man would that make me feel dirty."

Chuckie held her hand more firmly.

"Well, you're not dirty, Lil, you're innocent and pure" he told her.

Lil blushed and her eyes glistened.

"Aw, thanks, Chuckie…" she said.

She kissed him on the cheek. Chuckie blushed even more, and then unwrapped the roll of mints.

"By the way, Chuckie; why do you have those?" Lil asked, pointing at the roll.

Chuckie shrugged.

"Well, I did have garlic bread, and I don't want stinky breath for the rest of our date." he told her.

He popped one of the mints into his mouth. As they came up to the cross-walk, though, he immediately spat it out.

"BLECH!" he said, his face scrunching-up in disgust.

"What's wrong?" Lil asked.

Chuckie looked at the roll.

"These aren't my mints; these are cherry cough drops" he said "I hate these things!"

He turned it over in his hand.

"And these are my dad's extra-strength cough drops." He read off the wrapper "no wonder it tasted so disgusting; more medicine taste and less cherry flavor"

He rolled it back up and put it in his pocket as they crossed the street. They resumed their conversation as they made it to the other side.

"Why the heck would someone even mix up your mints and your dad's cough drops?" Lil asked him.

Chuckie shrugged.

"A better thing to ask is WHO would" he told her.

Lil thought it over.

"You think it was Kimi?" she asked.

"After all, she must've been angry when you spied on her and Tommy's first date" she told him.

Chuckie shook his head.

"Nah, Kimi's a good kid, and she doesn't hold grudges against me, not since my near-death heart attack last year." he told her.

Lil nodded. Kimi had realized that life could end in the blink of an eye then, and she didn't want to lose her brother at any time while holding something against him. So she decided, instead of holding a grudge, she'd either confront the issue if she felt that it needed to be confronted, or let it go if it was a small problem that would pass.

"Well then, what about Tommy?" Lil asked.

Again, Chuckie shook his head.

"Nah, Tommy may like joking with me on what I did with him and Kimi, but he wouldn't do this" he said.

He went on.

"I know it couldn't have been Suzie, and Angelica actually seemed to care about our first date going great" he told her "even if she only meant that through clothes."

Lil nodded.

"Dil, of course, well…." Chuckie said.

He thought it over for a minute.

"Well," Chuckie resumed "he's always doing something unexpected, this could be one of his harmless pranks, but he isn't so good at those."

Lil shook his head.

"Not as much as my brother, at least." she said.

Chuckie nodded, and let the issue go.

Lil thought over what she had said, though. Phil knew a lot about the group, just like the rest of them did. As a close group of friends, they knew almost everything about each other on personal levels and beyond. And at times, he could use those through his many pranks.

She looked around a bit then as they approached the ticket window, now feeling like she was being watched. But, not wanting to direct attention to herself, and to not get Chuckie concerned, she let it go, and they bought their tickets. But she knew that something fishy was going on.

Kimi and Tommy got tickets for the same movie Chuckie and Lil were going to, and Kimi was ecstatic about seeing 'Rock of Ages' once again. She loved this movie and had already seen it three times, one of those being on a date with Tommy.

"Dang, we must be the youngest ones in here, again" Tommy whispered to Kimi as they took their seats a few rows back from Chuckie and Lil, who had situated themselves in the exact middle of the room, Chuckie's favorite place to sit.

"Well, most of these people seeing this probably are people who wanna re-live the 80's, when they were our age" Kimi told him.

Tommy nodded in agreement as they got comfortable in their seats, and watched the ads from local businesses roll along. As they watched though, something happened that stopped them from getting to relax. The same hooded figure they had seen at the restaurant was sneaking into the row right behind Lil and Chuckie.

"Oh crap, here comes Phil" Kimi whispered to Tommy.

She pointed slightly at where he was getting himself situated. Tommy looked where Kimi was pointed and discovered her to be right.

"Aw, c'mon!" Tommy groaned out quietly "What is he doing now?"

Kimi leaned forward a bit to see...

Outside, Phil had followed Chuckie and Lil within enough distance for them not to notice him, but so he could still hear them.

He overheard Chuckie say how Lil was innocent and pure.

'Yeah' he agreed through his thoughts 'and I'll make sure that you don't take her innocence and make her impure!'

He also chuckled a bit when Chuckie discovered his mints had been replaced with Chas's cough drops, and Lil had silently guessed right outside the theater; he had done that. He also knew which movie they would be going to, as he had read the notes of Chuckie's he had replaced, so he had gotten his ticket earlier, just in case they would hear him paying for it now.

He had ordered two sodas, one cup he filled only with ice. He was planning on putting it down their backs during the movie and booking it out of there, as Lil's second outfit of choice was dry-clean only, and she'd hate to get it wet. And Chuckie, well, he just hated having anything cold down his back. And with his reflexes, he may cause a scene and (if Phil was lucky) he may embarrass Lil and she'd storm out of there, causing a scene herself and her and Chuckie's relationship would end there!

But there was one thing he hadn't counted on; two people who had successfully stopped his prank at the restaurant, and who would also stop him now.

"You know what" Tommy said to Kimi.

She stopped leaning forward and looked at him.

"What?" she asked.

"I'm not going to wait to see what prank Phil will pull and then narrowly try to stop it," he told her "I want to stop him NOW!"

Kimi smiled slyly.

"Oh, I think I know what you mean, and I know what to do…" she told him.

Tommy nodded.

She whispered into his ear what they should do, and he agreed. They then enacted the plan.

Chuckie and Lil were curious on when the movie would start, until they saw the lights dim, and the previews began to roll.

Behind them though, they heard something. Something that sounded like a muffled yell. They tried to glance back, but since it was so dim, all they could see was three figures stand up and move. They then saw them go out the long way from the room, making it even harder for them to see who they really were. Not really wanting to get into the issue, though, they shrugged it off and went back to watching the previews, waiting for the movie.

Tommy and Kimi had each gone to a different side of Phil, knowing that he might enact one of his many pranks now that it was dark enough for him not to be noticed. Before he could do anything though, Tommy had slapped one of his hands over his mouth before he could say anything, and Kimi had grabbed him by the arm tightly. He looked up at them, muffling through Tommy's hand in anger.

"If you don't want us spoiling your cover in front of Chuckie and Lil, you'll come outside with us, NOW!" Tommy whispered quickly to him.

He looked at each of them, and even through the dimness of the room, he could tell they were glaring, proving how serious they were about Tommy's statement. He nodded, and they left the long way out of the room, going all the way up to the top row, walking to the other side, and leaving through the exit way into the Cineplex lobby.

Once they made it out there, Tommy took his hand off of Phil's mouth, and Kimi let go of his arm.

"Alright Phil, we know what you're up to" Kimi said before he could make up a lie.

"We know you're doing to them what Chuckie did on our first date" Tommy said, indicating him and Kimi.

"But you're also doing worse then what my brother did;" Kimi said "you're making sure their date gets ruined."

"We saw that immature prank in the restaurant with the worm and we stopped that." Tommy said "but we know you've done more."

"And unless you want us to go in and tell them, you'll fess up now, or else!" Kimi said.

They both glared at him, and Phil bowed his head in shame.

"Fine…" he said sadly.

He sat down on a bench, while they looked down at him like angry parents whose child had gotten suspended from school after doing something very wrong.

He sighed.

"Okay, so, when I borrowed Chuckie's PDA, I deleted the movie times and bus schedule he had downloaded so their date would be ruined right off the bat."

Of course, knowing this wasn't just it, Tommy and Kimi stayed silent, forcing him to continue.

He sighed again.

"I also took Lil's favorite skirt so she'd have to wear a totally different outfit during the date." he continued "And I knew Chuckie would be using cue-cards that he had made up for the date, so I replaced them with insults, but Lil discovered he was using them before he could read them and got rid of them."

"Of course, you guys already know about the worm," he said to the both of them.

"And, I also replaced Chuckie's mints with your dad's extra-strength cough drops, since Chuckie doesn't like the taste of them" he said to Kimi.

She snapped her fingers.

"No wonder he couldn't find them earlier today" she said.

She looked back at Phil.

"So what did you do with Chuckie's mints?" she asked.

Phil pointed at her purse.

She opened it and then saw them sticking out of the side pocket. She rolled her eyes and took them out, and then glared back down at Phil.

"Anything else?" Tommy asked, his arms crossed and his foot tapping, knowing there was more.

Phil nodded.

"Yes."

He held up one of his cups.

"I completely filled up this cup with ice because I was going to pour it down their backs."

Tommy took it out of his hand, took the lid off, and discovered it to be true. He then put the lid back on, and threw it into a trashcan, straw and all.

Knowing now that he was finished, they both looked down at him. Knowing this, Phil looked back up. They could see the look of shame on his face, so they softened their glares, but still looked down at him a bit strictly.

"So Phil," Tommy said to him "why exactly are you doing this?"

Phil groaned, looking away from them.

"Because" he started "I don't want Chuckie defiling my sister."

Kimi's eyes widened.

"Huh?" she said "Chuckie would never do that, he takes things to slow."

"And I thought you were on board with them getting together," Tommy mentioned "like we were."

"I was, but after I heard my parents telling Lil how young she was, even though she and Chuckie are the oldest in the group, and saying she was too young to lose her virginity, I don't know, I just snapped and wanted to make sure it wouldn't happen" he explained himself "So, I wanted to make sure their first date was a dud, so that their relationship would be ruined, like Angelica said, and they'd stop dating."

Kimi groaned in exasperation.

"I should've never believe that…" she mumbled to herself.

She looked back down at Phil.

"But, like I said" she told him.

"Chuckie would never do that!" she said, emphasizing her statement by slapping the other side of her hand into her alternate palm.

Phil stood up, now not feeling so ashamed, but still wanting to explain himself.

"But you guys and I each know that Chuckie's a pervert" he told them.

Tommy cocked his eyebrow.

"How so?" he asked.

"Well" Phil said "the stack of magazines under his bed that he won't let us know what they are, and all those nights he's up late on his computer, saying he's studying, when we aren't even back in school yet."

Kimi rolled her eyes.

"We all realize that Phil" she told him.

"We just keep up the charade of not knowing, so Chuckie won't be embarrassed about us knowing" Tommy added.

"And it's not like Chuckie's the only guy doing that; I highly doubt you aren't spending a few late nights in private" she told him.

Phil looked off into a corner.

"Maybe…" he stretched out.

Kimi nodded.

"I also won't be surprised if Tommy's doing that, too" she told him, making Phil laugh and Tommy flush red.

"Only because I respect you, don't want to take my urges out on you, and we're the youngest in the group after Dil" he said quickly in a reply to Kimi, making both her and Phil laugh.

"But seriously…" Kimi said to Phil, getting back on topic.

"Chuckie and Lil both like each other, and Chuckie's very respectable and takes things very slow." she reassured Phil "Just because they're the oldest in the group doesn't mean they'll do anything like that yet."

Tommy checked his watch.

"Okay, we've missed some of the beginning of the movie." he stated.

Kimi groaned.

"Dangit" she said.

Tommy looked over at Phil.

"If we let you go back in there, will you stay away from Lil and Chuckie and let them enjoy their date?" he asked.

Phil nodded.

"Good" he said.

They all went to walk back in.

Kimi stopped him though.

"Oh, and, not to be rude, but, leave Tommy and I be as well; we're on a date, too" she told him.

He nodded, and they all went in. Phil took a seat near the exit, and Tommy and Kimi went back to their original seats, enjoying the rest of the movie.

Chuckie and Lil had watched the whole movie in silence, getting so comfortable that Lil had put her head on Chuckie's shoulder, and Chuckie putting his arm around her. As the end of the movie came, where the two star-crossed lovers had reunited and were now rocking the stage with another famous rock star, the song 'Don't stop Believing' being sung, they both looked at each other, and kissed so passionately and tenderly that the only other kiss that could surpass this was a wedding kiss.

When they broke it, the credits now rolling, Lil only said one thing.

"Our song?" she asked, nodding at the screen.

Chuckie smiled.

"If that's fine with you" he said.

She nodded, and then they stood and left, hand in hand.

Kimi and Tommy left the theatre as well, after sharing almost the same tender moment Chuckie and Lil had, aside from decided on the finale being their song, as they already had one. They could see Chuckie and Lil leaving, and Phil near a large pillar on the outside of the movie theatre, spying from around the edge.

"Aw, crud…" Tommy said.

They went over to him.

"Phil seriously, did you seriously forget what we just talked about back inside?" Kimi asked him.

Phil looked quickly at them and put a finger of his lip.

"SHHH!" He said quickly.

He pointed over at them, and they could see them talking, Chuckie hiding something behind his back.

"So Lil" Chuckie said, as they headed outside the theatre.

"Yeah, Chuckie?" she asked.

They let go of each other's hands.

"It's just, with our date about to end, I was thinking that I should give you something special so we can remember it."

Lil smiled.

"Aw, Chuckie, you didn't have to get me anything" she told him "this date was more than enough."

Chuckie reached behind him and pulled something out of his back pocket. Lil looked at what he had curiously.

~~~~~

Kimi, Tommy, and Phil all said the same thing curiously as Lil said it as well.

~~~~~

"Pacifiers?" Lil asked.

Chuckie nodded, handing one to her.

"You don't remember though, huh?" he asked.

She shook her head, holding the pacifier awkwardly.

"So you don't remember that pretend wedding that Angelica made us do when we were younger when she had been a flower girl at some wedding?" he asked.

Realization came across Lil's face.

~~~~~

Kimi, Tommy, and Phil all realized this as well.

~~~~~

"Oh yeah" Lil said, looking down at the pacifier, beginning to recognize it.

"She had us wear these as pretend wedding rings" she said to him.

He nodded.

She then smiled warmly, getting a bit closer to him.

"You held onto them all these years?" she asked.

Again, Chuckie nodded.

"They were sentimental to me, and I didn't want to just throw them away, but I never knew what to do with them" he told her.

He placed his in his pocket as she placed hers in her purse. They each took each other's hands.

"But I'm happy we could share and remember this happy memory."

They both kissed. After breaking the kiss, they set each other's foreheads against each other.

"Because" Chuckie said "in the future, I hope it will go from a memory of imagination, to a real life event."

"For with this ring, I the wed…" Lil recited.

She then giggled and looked up at him.

"Let's not jump the gun though, eh, Chuck?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Deal" he told her.

They then headed for the bus stop.

"Aw…" both Tommy and Kimi said after seeing what happened.

Phil rolled his eyes.

"That was just weird" he said.

Kimi nudged him.

"Eh, you just aren't in a relationship, you don't get stuff like this" she told him.

"Sentimental stuff is really important in a true relationship" Tommy told him.

"Speaking of which…" Kimi said, looking at him.

She crossed her arms and cocked her eyebrow.

"How come WE don't have anything sentimental, Tom-Tom?" she asked him.

Tommy got nervous at that.

"Uh…" he said, frantically thinking.

He glanced at Phil, who just smirked.

"Don't look at me bro, you're on your own!" he said.

And at that, he took off leaving them there. After a few seconds, Kimi started laughing at seeing Tommy so nervous, and then he started laughing as well, and eased up, and they left as well.

As they headed for the bus stop, Chuckie and Lil saw Suzie in her car once more, pull up to the side of them.

"Hey love-birds" she said to them.

They both smiled, not even one bit embarrassed at her saying that.

"Your first date go well?" she asked.

They both smiled tenderly at each other.

"Perfect" they replied, still looking at each other.

Suzie smiled.

"Well, sounds like it" she said "how's about I give you guys a ride home, huh?"

They both complied and got in the back, holding hands, still looking at each other as Suzie pushed the gas and they took off.

Suzie dropped them both off at the Deville household, and they thanked her for both the ride there and back. She welcomed them, and then parked over in her house across the street from Tommy's house.

The lights of the street were just coming on and Chuckie walked Lil up to her porch. Not really knowing what to say then, not even a simple good-bye, they both just kissed once more.

"I really enjoyed our date" Lil told him, blushing and smiling.

Chuckie smiled back.

"And I can't wait for out next one" he told her.

Lil smiled slyly.

"Are you asking me out on a second date, Mr. Finster?" she asked him.

He smirked.

"Only if you say yes, Ms. Deville…" he told her.

She hugged him.

"Deal" she said.

He hugged her back, and they both kissed once more. Chuckie left with a smile on his face, and Lil walked inside, leaning against the doorway and sighing, a loving smile on her face.

---

"Just perfect…" she said to herself.

"Just perfect…" Chuckie said to himself as he walked down the sidewalk to his house.

---

Phil arrived home soon after Lil had. The lights to the house were off as his parents tended to go to bed early. As he walked inside, he could sense that he was being watched. He was already to defend himself.

"Mom, Dad, I'm not late am I?" he said "I checked the time as I got off the bus, so I shouldn't be late."

"It's not mom and dad" a different voice said.

The lights to the living room came on and he saw Lil sitting in one of the recliners.

"Hello Phillip" she said.

Phil smiled.

"Oh, hey Lil, how was your date?" he asked.

Lil cocked an eye-brow.

"As if you don't know?" she asked.

Phil tried to put a clueless look on his face.

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked, trying to look innocent.

Lil rolled her eyes.

"Phil, we're twins, don't deny the telepathy in between us" she told him.

She stood.

"I knew you were there" she said to him.

Again, just like earlier, Phil looked ashamed.

"Okay" he admitted "I was spying on you and Chuckie because I was afraid Chuckie would try to do something very wrong to you."

Lil smirked.

"You heard mom and dad teasing me, huh?" she asked.

Phil nodded, smirking as well.

Lil then glared a bit.

"But I can also tell you weren't just spying" she said to him.

Phil didn't look ashamed this time, but still nodded.

"Well yeah, unlike your BF, I don't just watch and wait; I take action!" he said.

"I planned a lot of pranks to ruin your date, and I would've gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for that meddling Tommy and Kimi!" he said, in the same style as an unmasked Scooby-Doo villain.

Lil blinked in confusion.

"They were there, too?" she asked.

Phil nodded.

Lil groaned.

"And what were THEY doing there, spying on us?"

Phil shook his head.

"Nope, they stopped a lot of my pranks so your date would go perfectly." he told her.

He clenched his fist.

"And I would've gotten away with it if-" he started.

Lil yawned.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever Phil, just don't do it again." she said, sounding bored.

She stretched a bit, and then headed upstairs.

"G'night Phil" she said.

"Night Lil" he said, and then chilled on the living room couch, flipping on the TV and relaxing after all his 'hard work'