It was a few years later. Leonard and the others were now fourteen and had started high school. Actually, it was the spring after they had started and the school was putting on a spring dance.

A couple of days after the dance had first been announced, Leonard was in his bedroom talking to his pets.

"So, you gonna ask Leslie to the dance?" Spot asked Leonard, hoping that this time Leonard would gain the courage to make a move.

Yeah, Leonard still loved Leslie. In fact his love for her had grown stronger over the years.

"As a matter of fact I am." Leonard said determinedly. "I've had enough with being a coward, I am a teenager now and it's time Leslie knew how I really felt."

"Good for you!" Spot said proudly.

"Eh just be careful there sport." Pretty Boy said. "You could lose her if ya do it wrong you know."

"Oh Pretty Boy leave him alone." Mr. Jolly said disapprovingly. "Leonard's love for Leslie is too strong to not work out. You'll see, she'll return his feelings and they'll be together forever. I hope they have an outdoor wedding so that we can be there."

"Yeesh, romantics." Pretty Boy scoffed.

"Uh, bit too early to really be thinking about that Mr. Jolly." Leonard blushed. "But yeah, of course it'll be an outdoor one."

"Oh goody!" Mr. Jolly applauded.

"I mean I am gonna have man's best friend as my best man for one thing." Leonard smiled to Spot.

"Leonard, I am honored." Spot bowed then smirked. "So despite it being too early you have been thinking about it huh?"

"Not much, just about how to make sure that you guys will be allowed to come." Leonard shrugged. "An outdoor wedding was the only solution I could think of."

"Ah." Spot smiled.

The next day, after school, most of the students were hanging around outside talking about the dance. Ian of course was trying to get Ruth to go with him and she kept refusing. Scott, Spot in his human identity outfit that is, showed up. Even though he accepted being a dog completely he still loved going to school and learning. Leonard, who originally had been against it, allowed him to continue going especially since he had gotten him out of trouble a few times before. To explain his constant height Scott said that his family were all midgets, which Mary Lou, Leonard's mom, confirmed since she had met Scott's 'family' before.

Leonard started walking towards Leslie. Since everyone was talking about the dance he knew that there was a chance of someone else asking her so he wanted to be the first. However Leslie went over to Scott, who was already outside standing nearby so that he could hear Leonard ask Leslie.

"Hey Scott." Leslie smiled.

"Oh hi Leslie." Scott said.

"So I was wondering if you wanted to go to the dance with me?"

Scott froze and glanced at Leonard. Leonard had frozen too and his heart was starting to break. Scott didn't know what to do, he didn't want to hurt Leonard but was too polite to turn Leslie down without telling her the truth. And he couldn't do that, in the past he had offered to tell Leslie about Leonard's feelings but Leonard forbidden him since he wanted Leslie to hear it from him and not from an outside source.

"Uh, I...I guess so." Scott said reluctantly.

"Great." Leslie grinned. "Pick me up at seven okay? Mom wants me to have a small dinner first."

"Okay."

Not too much later, Scott and Leonard were walking home. Fortunately there was no one else around.

"Uh Leonard I..." Scott said sheepishly. "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay Spot." Leonard said. "I figured you'd be too polite to turn her down anyway. But her asking you in the first place...that's what really hurts." He started to shed some tears. "She'll never love me."

"Oh she will eventually." Scott said comfortingly. "She's just probably still a bit blinded by the fact that you two were best friends and she finds dating a friend uncomfortable or something."

"No, I was a fool." Leonard shook his head; the tears came faster.

"Oh Leonard." Scott hugged him.

"Let's just go home." Leonard broke free and continued on.

Scott followed him, shedding his human disguise in the bushes. He then packed it in his backpack and snuck it inside. Fortunately Leonard and Scott didn't have Mary Lou for a teacher anymore, so they sometimes were home first due to Mary Lou staying behind for a conference or to grade some papers or something like that. Sometimes on Friday afternoons Leonard and Scott would hang out at the arcade and Mary Lou picked them up. Well Leonard up anyway, Scott would have to walk home on his own and sneak his stuff in.

Anyway, once inside Leonard just went up to his room, got onto his bed, and cried. Spot followed to hide his backpack under the bed (he and Leonard still had the bunk beds from their childhood since they still could fit in them) and went downstairs for a snack.

"Where's Leonard?" Mr. Jolly asked.

Spot explained. Mr. Jolly was very sympathetic and even Pretty Boy felt sorry for Leonard.

A bit later Mary Lou came home. Spot went over to her and whimpered.

"Spot? What is it boy?" Mary Lou said worriedly; Spot rarely acted like that.

Spot went up the stairs and whimpered at his and Leonard's bedroom door.

"Oh no..."

Mary Lou ran to Leonard and Spot's bedroom. She had every good reason to be worried, this was the first time Spot had ever acted this way. She then opened the door and found Leonard still crying.

"Leonard!" She went over to him. "Sweetie, what happened?"

Leonard stopped crying enough to be able to talk; he also got up a little.

"L-Leslie." He sniffled. "She asked Scott to the dance before I could ask her."

Mary Lou was surprised that Leonard was acting this way about being too late to ask a girl to the dance. At first she thought he had been bullied. Then she got it:

"You love her a lot don't you?" She guessed.

"Yes." Leonard admitted. "I've loved her for years."

"Oh." Mary Lou hugged him. "Well you'll find someone else."

"No mom, I won't. Leslie's the only one for me." Leonard hung his head and winced. "It hurts so much...mom I think...I think my heart's broken."

Mary Lou and Spot both looked at him worriedly. This looked like a strong case. Mary Lou felt Leonard's heart and sure enough his heartbeats felt strained.

"Oh no..." Mary Lou got up and started to leave. "I'd better call a doctor."

She did and the doctor checked Leonard. He then left the bedroom and went over to Mary Lou.

"Will he be okay?" She asked.

"It's hard to say." The doctor said. "His heart is broken in a way, so it seems as if he loves this girl more than his own life."

"You don't mean...?" Mary couldn't finished.

"Possibly not." The doctor said. "As long as this girl likes him for a friend he may be able to pull through. If you want your son to recover quickly though then you should tell this girl how he feels so that she can reassure him that he'll always be a friend to her if nothing else."

"I will." Mary Lou nodded.

"Oh, and until he feels a lot better I don't think he'll be able to rejoin society for a while, so you'd better keep him home for now. I'm afraid can't prescribe anything else, so I'd better go." The doctor started to leave. "A few of my patients got the flu a bit late and will need my attention."

"Good-bye, and thank you."

Mary Lou decided to stay home the next day and then visit Leslie that weekend to tell her.