Help Me? Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first Spongebob fic, so be gentle, please. A fair warning...there is, I don't know, drug abuse? Ugh, I'm rambling, and I'm sure you've stopped reading. Let's continue, shall we?

I own nothing of Spongebob, not even any merchandise.

Squidward stomped to the pineapple he'd grown so familiar with in the past years, and banged on the door, flinching when he hit the metal so hard. "SpongeBob!" he hollered. "You're late, and old man Krabs is giving ME trouble about it! So get your square butt out of there and get to work! The sooner you start making what he calls 'food' the sooner I can get home!"

No answer. "SPONGEBOB!" Squidward grabbed the wheel and opened the door, letting himself in. "Oh, come on, SpongeBob, what happened, they shut down jellyfish fields for a while again? Ah hah hah hah!"

SpongeBob came dashing from the kitchen, tightening his tie and putting on his uniform hat hastily. "Hey, sorry, Squidward. Eehh...I'm just having a rough morning, you know?"

"You?" scoffed the cephalapod. "Mr. Krabs has been giving me problems all day because you were late." He started walking toward the door, the sponge on his heels. "He thinks that I should be repsonsible for you getting to work on time just because we're neighbors."

"I'm sorry, Squidward," said SpongeBob as he locked the house. "OK, Gary, see you later!" he called out behind him. The neighbors walked to work in silence. Squidward noticed it, but said nothing to question it. He did notice however, that SpongeBob was a bit more jittery than usual. Jittery, but quiet. He kept fidgeting with his hands and once in a while his eye twitched. Eh, he thought. The little guy's probably just excited over the new shipment of Krabby Patties we got this morning.

They arrived at the Krusty Krab, and clocked in.

"SPONGEBOOOOOB! You were an hour late! That time's comin' outta yer paycheck!"

"But Mr. Krabs, you see-" the younger man tried to argue, but the old sailor wasn't having it.

"No buts, boy, now get back in the kitchen!"

"Yes, sir..."

The day passed, and Squidward was almost not miserable at his job. Whenever he would turn to place an order, the young sponge would whip it up, and hand it to him without acting like he was handing him prized jewels. In fact, SpongeBob hadn't really spoken since he had stepped behind his metal kitchen door. He looked tired. Maybe he really was having a bad day.

When the time to clock out came, SpongeBob rushed home without another word to his coworker. Odd, Squidward thought. Normally he wants to walk home, and annoy me with all of his trivial thoughts. Oh well, he's off my back. Maybe I'll get a little peace and quiet tonight.

Squidward made his way home, and settled down to watch reruns of House Fancy, with a hot cup of tea. He reached out a tentacle to scoop some sugar into his cup, only to feel his spoon hit the ceramic with a loud clink. "What the-?" He sighed, knowing he would have to find more if he really wanted to enjoy the night, but all the stores that were near him were closed. Sighing again, he knew what he would have to do. Patrick, he knew, wouldn't have any sugar. He relied on Spongebob to supply him with food, since he never had a job.

Squidward stomped out of his monument house and knocked on his yellow neighbor's door. "SpongeBob, do you have any sugar you can give me? I'm all out!"

There was no answer. He found this odd. He knew he would be home, he and Patrick very rarely go out this late, and if they stayed in the neighborhood to play they'd be outside, making noise. And even then, they haven't been out to play in weeks. "Sponge?" He opened the door to find darkness.

BZZT! Squidward jumped and flinched reflexively at the noise. He knew that noise. He'd been stung enough by those vile creatures. That was the distinct sting of a wild jellyfish. He groaned inwardly. Don't tell me he's brought another wild animal home for a pet, he thought.

BZZT! He followed the noise in the dark, extending his tentacles to feel his way to the sound. He soon found himself standing in the dark in the kitchen, squinting at an even darker square shadow.

BZZT! The momentary glow of the jellyfish let off enough light for him to see that the figure on the ground was in fact, SpongeBob. He heard a low moan come from the shadow. "Sponge?" Squidward found the light switch and turned on the kitchen light. The young sponge groaned and shielded himself from the light out of his eyes.

"SpongeBob, what are you doing?" The neighbor in question gave a light squeeze to the jellyfish in his hands, which elicited another BZZT! His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he shivered and moaned softly. Squidward rushed over and snatched the poor creature out of his neighbor's hands. The jellyfish zapped him and he yelped in pain and dropped it. SpongeBob lunged for it, taking it in his hands and squeezing softly. BZZT! He shivered again. "SpongeBob, let that thing go!" Squidward slapped his hands away. "Why are you doing that?"

SpongeBob whimpered. "It...it feels good...it makes me feel better...Please, Squidward, give it back..."

"No," he said firmly. "I'm stopping this right now."

A/N: Well here you go, I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as I can. Please feel free to let me know what you think. Skyrie out.