Hi, this is Angelwriter84 and I decided to try something a little different than my normal. Family Guy. I'm not sure how long this story will be yet. Depends on how everything goes. But thanks for reading and, please, be sure to give me feedback. I'm new to writing for this kind of show. You guys are the only ones that let writers know if they are on to anything good or not.
*DISCLAIMER* Before reading, please know that the characters and setting (Family Guy) was created by Seth MacFarlane and that the TV show is owned by Fox.
I like the show. But like, a lot of people, my favorites are Brian and Stewie. All characters will appear in this story because I like to include all characters, but the story will probably center on them most of the time.
I hope you enjoy it. If you have any suggestions, please R & R!
Chapter 1 New Neighbors
It was a typical Thursday night in Quahog. Like everyone else, the Griffin family was sitting on the couch, waiting to watch the latest news broadcast of the day. Brian Griffin drank his usual martini as the usual shenanigans that made up the Channel 5 News broadcast played before them on the screen.
Tom hogged the spotlight from Joyce, and Ollie briefly declared that tomorrow's forecast would be "fine."
Brian and Stewie both decided that they were uninterested in the Channel 5 at the same time. They made eye contact.
"Neh…." They both communicated their indifference at the same time and stood up to take their leave.
Chris responded with a sigh and took out his iPhone. And Peter, thinking they were in a contest, felt the need to assert himself by making an obnoxious dad noise.
"Huh uhrm!" He fished the sofa cushions for the remote.
"Ughm!" Chris quickly followed in his father's footsteps to start a throat-clearing contest.
Brian narrowed his eyes. They had been down this road before. These contests could go on for sixty seconds. Or longer. "I'm not doing this…"
He and Stewie had only taken two steps when Tom announced that there was "Breaking News."
Brian and Stewie, half interested, stopped to see what was going on now.
"It seems a dancing star is moving to Quahog," Tom stated.
"That's right, Tom." Joyce agreed and took on a summary of the story. "It seems Spooner Street is in for some exciting times. Star dancer, Lily Sanders, best known for her appearances on Dancing with the Stars, is moving to Quahog. We now go live to Asian reporter, Tricia Takanawa for more on the story. Tricia?"
Meg and Lois both gasped at the same time in excitement. "No way!" Meg gushed.
Peter stuck out his tongue and made a fart noise with his tongue. Brian rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. Like Quahog needs another spoiled star."
He felt something climbing on his head and looked up, only to find Stewie freaking out. "Brian! I've got to get an autograph! I'vegottogetanautographBrian! Do you think she can get me on the show?"
Brian could actually see Stewie doing that. Dressed as a girl. "Gay," was his only response to Stewie.
The camera was now on Tricia Takanawa, stating the rest of the story in her usual monotone manner. "Joyce, I'm standing here at 32 Spooner Street where dancer Lily Sanders is moving into her new home…"
The Asian reporter was standing next to a young, pretty girl that looked to be in her late teens or early twenties at best. Stewie's hands shook as he gushed over his recognition of her. Since he'd decided most dancing shows were overrated, Brian wasn't familiar with her. "Ooohhh! It's her!" Stewie squealed.
She actually looked like a normal person that had just been through a long traveling and moving process. She seemed taken aback by the crowd around her new half-moved in home, and was a little dressed down for the interview in tights and a long shirt. She had light skin and light brown hair that was, at the moment, pulled back in a curly bun.
"What's she doing in Quahog?" Brian asked.
They all stopped when they noticed Cleveland, who was now this dancer girl's next door neighbor, randomly standing in the upstairs window of his house. He waved to the camera. "Hey y'all!" he yelled.
Peter waved to the screen. "Hey, Cleveland! Lois, look. Cleveland's on TV!"
"Peter, they're live right outside your house. If you walk outside, you might be too," Brian pointed out.
Peter's eyes widened in realization and, within a second, he was gone.
Lily stared at Cleveland a moment before deciding to wave. She went back to answering the reporter's question. "I dance to pay my way through college. I am studying marine biology, and got an internship here. So we moved, and are really excited to be here."
"Lily, our records indicate that your family remains back in California. Who, then, moved with you?" Tricia asked.
Something caught Lily's attention to the side. "She's here now!"
The camera switched to the side to reveal a taxi driving up to the curb. Since it was only a few houses down, Brian could hear it. As soon as it stopped, another dog about his size bolted from the back seat. It ran so fast, he couldn't tell much about it.
"A dog!" Stewie elbowed Brian. "Hey, Brian. If it's a girl, it would be sooo like you to…"
"Just human women, Stewie. Mostly," Brian admitted.
The dog leapt into her owner's arms. For some reason, she was attached to a leash from the taxi. "Lily!" she panted. "They. Put. Me. In the kennels. I gave them an airline ticket, and they put me in the kennels! And the taxi driver won't let me off this leash!"
The "taxi driver" was revealed to be Peter, who turned out to be holding the leash….for whatever reason.
Lily tried to smooth over the conversation. "Um… This is my dog, Sadie. She's normally used to making public appearances, but…she doesn't seem pleased at the moment."
Peter narrowed his eyes at the dog. "Sadie, that's a very bad girl. You're supposed to be this well-mannered dog… And you just ran off like that."
Sadie pulled at the leash. "Get this the hell off me!"
The camera lost focus on the exchange as Tricia Takanawa gave a brief summary on Sadie. A beautiful picture of her popped up in the left hand corner of the screen. She sat on all four with a sweet smile, was just a little smaller than Brian, and was a light beige cocker spaniel. Her ears came just to her shoulders, and had just a little wave to them.
"Our reports show that Lily's dog, Sadie, is quite famous as well. She makes several appearances in shows with her owner, and is also a specialized rescue dog," Trisha summarized.
"Ooohhh, Brian…" Lois joined in on Stewie's idea.
Brian found himself directly in front of the television. "What?"
Stewie sputtered in amusement. "B-Brian…. You were just at the stairs with me a second ago. H-How did you even get across the room? That's so cool!"
He decided to have some fun with this. He pattered over and sat beside Brian. "Yes, she's very talented, Brian… And smart, from what I hear…. Probably smarter than most of human women you've dated put together. So… It's too bad you're not attracted to your species, right? Heh? Huh?"
His voice got more high-pitched. "Yeah, you might could actually have a good t- Ah!"
Brian pushed him over. For some reason, Joe had wheeled onto the scene in his police uniform. Out of nowhere. Brian was pretty sure they were all in on a scheme to get on the news.
"Peter, you're….you're going to have to let that dog go…" he said, in his usual serious exasperated manner when he was working.
"Okay…" Peter sighed. He released a very agitated Sadie from the leash, and, by his usual poor judgement, handed that same end to her. He started to walk off camera, then turned to her with his hands on his hips.
"Hey, wait a minute! Where's my tip money?!"
"What?" Sadie asked, perplexed.
"My. Tip. Money." Peter sounded out.
Sadie hesitated a moment, then released the other end of the leash, which came back and popped Peter in the nose.
He clutched his face. "Augh…. Augh….."
"Sadie!" Lily scolded. "You're on camera!"
"What?" She looked as if she'd just noticed everyone for the first time. She spotted Trisha and the camera from her owner's arms.
She pointed to the camera and gave her owner a brief, apologetic look. "Oh."
"Yeah." Lily cracked a smile, revealing that actually thought the whole thing was funny.
She let Sadie down, who turned out to also stand on her hind legs. Before anything else could be said, Quagmire walked into the picture in his pilot's uniform. "Yeah, I'm from the airport. And they want to apologize for putting a dog in a kennel like their supposed to. Giggity. So they wanted me to give you these free tickets."
He handed them to Sadie, who took them suspiciously and gave them a glance over. Quagmire leaned against Lily. "By the way, I'm your neighbor. Aaaalriiiiight…."
As soon as he walked off you could hear the conversation between Peter, Quagmire, Joe, and Cleveland off screen.
"Hey, Cleveland! We did it! We got on TV!" Peter yelled.
"I saw!" Cleveland yelled back.
The camera man centered on Trisha and Lily. Sadie was now sitting calmly at her owner's feet. "Our time was primarily taken up by bystanders, and this is the best interview we can do at the time. I am hopeful that lack of interview will be excused by this final shot of star Lily Sanders and her beautiful dog that I will have an extended microphone for, should we do any more interviews, because I am Asian. Tom."
The last shot revealed Lily and Sadie to be somewhat perplexed by the unprofessional interview.
The screen cut back to the newsroom, where Tom and Joyce had apparently gotten bored with the overextended broadcast and were no longer present. A janitor finally sat down in Tom's place and cleared his throat as he put on a fake mustache.
"This is Channel 5 Neeewwws….." he stated enthusiastically, as the screen went blank.
"I've got twenty dollars on Brian's next girlfriend," Lois was telling Chris.
"I'm in," he said.
"Me too," Meg stated.
Lois was actually counting the money. "Meg, that ups to sixty… And that's a little too much, so…"
"What?" Brian gasped, feeling outraged. "Just because she's a dog that talks…"
"She's a female. That alone qualifies her," Stewie pointed out.
"Stewie, Lois and Meg can't even understand you. Stay out of it." Brian briefly brushed Stewie off before making his point. "You know what? Bet on it. You'll lose because I'm going to prove you wrong."
"Prove us wrong, how?"
"I'm going to prove I'm not interested by not asking her out."
There was a brief moment of silence. Then, to Brian's demise, everyone burst into laughter.
Meg shook her hands. "Oooohhh…."
Lois put another twenty on the couch. "I'll give it a month, because Brian actually might try to follow through with it."
Brian walked into the kitchen to get away. He dug around in the kitchen, looking for everything he needed for another martini when his phone rang. When Brian turned around to get it, Stewie was randomly in his high chair. He scooted over closer to Brian and gave the phone a suspicious glance.
"It's Jasper," Brian snapped. He answered it and put it on speaker so he could make his martini at the same time. If Jasper was excited about something, which he usually was, this could go on a while.
"Hey Jasper," Brian answered.
"Heeeeeyyyyy cousin!" Jasper called out joyfully.
"Oh my God," Stewie burst out. "Well…. At least he's friendly."
Brian gave him a look. Before he could say anything, Jasper continued the conversation. "Brian! Good news! Did you watch your news broadcast back home? One of my best friends is moving to your neighborhood. We work together choreographing routines for Club Med. She's beautiful, she's great. I think you'll really like her. Ricardo and I are coming to Quahog tomorrow night because she and I have to work on a project together. We should totally all go out to drinks together…."
Brian had been trying to get a word in since "great," and reached for the phone. But Stewie got to it first, and took it off speaker.
"Hello, Jasper? It's Stewie. Brian is making a martini, but he heard everything and he said that sounds juuuust wonderful…." Stewie tilted his head at Brian and gave him a taunting look.
Stewie jumped out of the high chair as Brian grabbed for the phone, causing the chair to topple over with Brian. "Stewie, no!" Brian yelled, irritated at his infant best friend.
"Yes, yes. Yes, I know! Wouldn't they just be a match made in heaven?" Stewie gushed as Jasper chattered.
Brian pushed the chair off of his and looked up at Stewie. His head was so tilted at this point that his left ear was at the center of his chest and his right ear was directly above the other.
"Yes, that would be perfect. Brian loves that place!" Stewie walked into the living room. Brian stood in the middle of the kitchen, once again defeated by an infant. Who now knew how to work with his gay cousin.
"Yes… Well, here's Brian again. I must tell you, he is a little nervous about going out with your celebrity friend. So if he tries to back out, don't let him."
Brian walked into the living room to claim his phone, but Stewie put the last part of Jasper's gushing on speaker for everyone to hear.
"….won't let him do it. It could be the best thing that ever happened to them! I'm sooooo happy my cousin Brian is actually going on a date with my friend Sadie…."
Brian's eyes widened as Stewie took the phone off speaker and gave it back to him. "You're all set, Bri!"
Lois, Chris, and Meg heard the last part of Jasper's sentence and was practically rolling in the floor. Chris and Lois had to return each other's twenties.
"Couldn't wait one night," Lois stated sourly.
Chris laughed, having won half the bet.
Jasper talked on and on, and would probably keep talking for at least half an hour. Brian saw one last chance, and gave it a shot.
"Aw, Jasper…. I'm not really sure I should to this. I've been dating human women so long, I'm not sure how it would be with another dog. I mean, you're married to a human," Brian stated desperately.
"Brian, I love Ricardo. Just give it a chance. I mean, it doesn't matter as long as you love the other person, right? What? You're not dating anybody. Besides, good luck finding another talking dog that is gay. Unless they're Air Bud! Ooooohhhh! I'm terrible!"
Brian accepted defeated. "Yes, you are terrible," he agreed as he went back into the kitchen. He heard his family's snickers behind him as he looked for a bigger martini glass.
Brian sensed someone behind and turned around to see Peter randomly standing in the kitchen behind him. "We're going to the Sander's house for dinner tomorrow night."
Brian sighed, took his huge martini, and went upstairs.
…
Brian walked up to the Sander's house with his family, carrying a bottle of wine. He still wasn't sure about this meeting thing, but he really wanted to see his cousin. Jasper and Sadie apparently began working as soon as he got in, so all the texts from Jasper were brief "so exhausted" messages.
Lily came to the door as soon as Lois rang the doorbell. Everyone that hadn't met her yet was briefly introduced.
Stewie, playing the part of the adorable baby, ran up to his favorite dancer. "Lily! Stewie Griffin. I'm a huge fan."
Lily picked him up. Stewie embraced her, cherishing the moment. "Aw, you are so cute, little guy! You are about the same age as my little niece."
"This is Stewie," Lois said, patting his head.
"She can't understand me, can she?" Stewie asked Brian.
"No, I don't think she got it," Brian answered flatly.
She led them into the kitchen, where Ricardo was helping her set the table. "I'm so sorry, everyone. I'm apart of Club Med's project, too. Jasper, Sadie, and I worked really late. They went into town to pick up drinks because Sadie makes better drinks than I do. They will be right back. Please, sit. Please excuse the boxes."
The house was literally half moved into. The kitchen was unpacked, and large things like tables and couches were together and in place. But there were boxes all in the living room, by the staircase, and around some in the hall. It looked like the coffee table in the living room had been pushed back, possibly for dancing space. And there was enough space in the living room to just sit around.
"Oh, dancing looks charming on TV. But it must be exhausting to choreograph all day long. Like an all day long workout," Lois said to Lily.
"That's exactly what it is!" Lily sighed. "All of us are absolutely exhausted right now, and the bottoms of our feet are raw from the carpet. But Club Med's new commercial routine is almost done."
Ricardo turned around and set some plates on the table. Brian turned and waved at his cousin's husband. "Ricardo!"
Ricardo held out his arms. "Brian!" he exclaimed.
Brian gave him a brief hug. Peter looked astounded. "He talks?!"
"Usually just to Jasper because his English still isn't there yet, but he's working on it," Brian answered.
Dinner turned out to be four pizzas neatly laid out across the table in nice platters, pasta, and cheese sticks that looked too perfect to be homemade. And there was a faint burnt smell in the kitchen only Brian could probably pick up on by now. It was increasingly obvious that something had happened to the original dinner and Lily had probably resorted to a "homemade" dinner straight from an Italian restaurant. But that was just fine with Brian.
As soon as everyone's plates were set, they heard Sadie and Jasper enter the house.
"Lily! Sadie's making strawberry cheesecake martinis!" Jasper sang from the hallway.
"Oh, yay! So you found everything to make it?" Lily asked.
Jasper walked in first with two bottles of alcohol in brown paper bags. He brightened even more than usual when he saw his cousin. "Brian!"
Brian stood and helped him with a bottle. They gave each other a hug. "It's good to see you, Jasper."
Sadie came in behind Jasper. She smiled as Brian and Jasper as she passed, answering her owner's question as she place a set of keys on the counter. "Yeah, we found everything."
She handed the bottle and two grocery bags she was holding to Lily. Jasper and Brian handed the bottles they had over. As soon as Sadie took the bottle from Brian and handed it to Lily, Jasper took put a hand on his shoulder and eagerly introduced them.
"Sadie, have you met the best cousin ever? Brian. Brian, this is my best friend. Sadie."
Brian smiled at Sadie, feeling unusually shy. "Hi, I'm from across the street…"
Sadie smiled back. "Hi, Brian. I've heard a lot of good things about you from Jasper. We've worked together on and off for years."
"Good things, right?" Brian raised an eyebrow because he was actually curious.
Sadie laughed a little. "Yeah. You're both so lucky to have each other as a cousin. I mean, if it wasn't for you, Jasper and Ricardo wouldn't have been able to get married."
Brian relaxed. Her voice was soothing and sincere as she spoke to them. "Well, Jasper's always been there for me. It was the least I could do," Brian said.
"Well, I'd better get started on the strawberry cheesecake martinis. Who would like to try one?" Sadie offered.
"I do! They're the best!" Jasper went to retrieve something from the grocery bags.
"That actually sounds really good," Lois agreed.
"They are. Even if you're not a martini person. It's one of my favorite drinks. I got the recipe on vacation a few years ago, and now everyone always wants one," Sadie explained.
Everyone agreed to try one. Lily and Lois prepared sodas for the kids as Jasper sat a box of brownies on the table. "Oh, Peter? Remember these? I knew you liked them, so I picked some up."
Peter gasped and crossed over to Jasper's side of the table. "Depression brownies!"
Jasper smirked at Peter's nickname for the brownies and opened the box. "Well, here. Homemade. Just for you," he joked.
Ricardo laughed a little. Jasper looked at his husband. "And what are you laughing at?"
Ricardo lifted the lid of the box and pointed out the "Gay District Brownies" label on the box. "Homemade," he repeated.
"Aaaahhhh!" Brian and Stewie pointed back at the Filipino man because they got the joke.
Jasper sighed and took the brownies to the counter. He emptied them onto a plate and threw the box, glancing at Ricardo as he did so.
"He's telling me I never cook," he explained to Brian.
"You don't," Sadie interjected.
"I don't," he admitted.
"You sound married," Brian teased.
"I'm so married," Jasper sighed. He placed the brownies on a table and gestured to them.
"Now homemade," he playfully explained to Ricardo. "As far as anyone else is concerned."
Lily finished and joined everyone at the table as Sadie gave everyone their strawberry cheesecake martinis. She leaned on the table, staring at the brownies. "Those. Look. Amazing."
Brian noticed the martini Sadie placed beside him. It looked exactly like a strawberry cheesecake in martini form. The alcohol part yellow and sweet, and there was even some crust on the very top with the strawberry.
"Wow. These martinis are amazing. I normally only drink traditional martinis, but this…. Sadie, it's great. Thanks." He took another sip of it.
Jasper sighed sadly. "If I didn't have to fly home, I would put it in two giant bottles to take home with me."
"Jasper, I gave you the recipe," Sadie replied.
"Mine aren't as good as yours!" Jasper actually seemed to be in despair over this.
Once they all passed around everything they wanted on their plates, Lois turned to Lily. "It's so exciting having a Dancing with the Stars dancer, living here in Quahog. I mean, it must be pretty exciting, huh?"
"It was…. But it gets tiring. And it's not a promising career. Just ask Jasper and Sadie right now, it really wears out your body. But the job is fun, the pay is great. Good enough to get us a house and get me through college. If I get a job as a marine biologist, I hope I won't have to dance all the time. But I could never stop, so maybe an every now and then appearance."
Brian noticed Stewie putting a gun away with narrowed eyes. "You must never stop dancing."
Brian nearly dropped his glass when Sadie noticed too, but she seemed unusually calm about it. "Um… Lily, I think Stewie might want an autograph after dinner."
"Aw, of course I will!" Lily chimed.
Stewie realized she understood him. "Yours too?" he demanded. When Sadie nodded, he seemed satisfied. The gun was somewhere else and both hands were visible again.
"I think we all want autographs," Lois chuckled.
"Nah…" Peter said out loud.
"I want a picture," Chris stated.
"Peter! Chris!" Lois scolded.
"Will you be on the show this season?" Meg asked.
"I will. Ugh, it's going to be so much traveling. Sadie's invited to join in on some numbers and make some appearances with me, but she hasn't decided yet." Lily sounded as if she were scolding Sadie.
Sadie quickly gave her owner the middle finger as she took a carefree sip of her martini. Lily narrowed her eyes. "Oh. Way to go, Sadie. Way to be a good dog."
Sadie grinned and got another cheese stick. "I'm an amazing dog."
Lily sighed. "You are." She pretended to cough into her napkin. "Bitch," she coughed out, almost inaudibly.
Peter laughed. "That's pretty good! Wish we could call Brian that. But he's a boy, so…"
Brian changed the subject. "So, Sadie… I heard you did specific rescue work. What exactly do you do?"
"Oh. If someone has fallen through some thin ice or is somewhere that is hard for a human to reach, I get to them and give them some kind of rope so that they can be rescued. And then they pull me back," she answered casually.
"That's so cool!" Meg stated.
"I'm not going to lie, it was at first. But I think I might want out now. I'm not sure. Something like that doesn't happen very often, so the rescues are few and far in between. I'm only two away from being able to retire from rescuing. I'm thinking about it. The last time I rescued someone from icy water, we were on a trip to Alaska and I almost got eaten by a killer whale before they pull me up, so it kind of turned me off to the job."
"Wow, what are the odds?" Peter stated, amazed by the mention of killer whales.
"That's what I thought," Sadie agreed.
"I hope you do quit," Lily said. "Every time I have to send her out there, I feel like I'm going to lose my dog. We only started it because we were staying with a relative of ours in Alaska a few years back, and they were short on rescue dogs for people that fell through the ice. Sadie volunteered."
"It was a phase," Sadie explained to Brian. "So Brian, it's nice to know that I still live next to a dog like me, since I won't be close to Jasper anymore. He told me you're a writer?"
"I am," Brian grinned.
"What's your favorite classic?" she asked.
"David Copperfield, hands down. I have a first edition."
"No way! Me too! Well, that and Wuthering Heights. Lily got me hooked on that story."
"That's a good one," Brian said, getting excited. He didn't expect a house of dancers to be so intelligent and down-to-earth. They were starting to have a good time.
Jasper was giving him the "I knew it" look. "So… When are we going out for drinks? I would say let's pick a night when we all won't be so tired, but I think we are going to be dancing the whole time we are here."
Brian grinned and made eye contact with Sadie, trying to ask her and answer Jasper at the same time. "We can go anytime you want, if all of you still want to. All of you sound busier, so you can pick. We could even go tonight, if that's better for you."
Jasper actually seemed to think about it. He turned to Sadie. Apparently, whatever he'd done, they were on the same page. Sadie didn't seem confused. "Tonight…. What do you think, Sadie? Would it be better than tomorrow night?"
Sadie laughed. "By the time tomorrow night gets here, you're probably going to be texting him to bring a martini to the living room."
"Yes, I will," Jasper laughed.
"Yeah, and tomorrow night, you'll both be really edgy. Lois, Meg…. If you want to see the real side of dancing, come to the living room during the day tomorrow. You'll get to watch me and Sadie have it out all day," Lily chuckled. All the dancers in the room laughed.
"Yeah…" Sadie added, "And Jasper finally being all like, 'Honeys! Honeys…. It's my project. We are putting my choreography here. You go to the side of the living room, you go to the other, and follow my lead."
Everyone, especially Jasper, laughed as Sadie imitated Jasper's club dancing. Brian laughed because it was actually pretty good. "Like it!" he said.
"It works though," Jasper said in his defense. "It gets you back on track."
"So what's Day Three?" Brian asked.
"A little more laid back," Jasper explained. "But Lily's boyfriend is flying in that day. We should have everything put together, but we have to teach it to him and practice it together. Then Ricardo and I fly back the next day."
"My… So busy…." Lois admired.
"Yeah. I'm working," Jasper stated. "So drinks?"
"Sounds like tonight?" Sadie interjected.
"Tonight," Brian concurred.
...
Later after dinner, they all went out to drinks together. Through small talk, Brian discovered that he and Sadie had a lot in common. A lot not in common, but a lot in common. He enjoyed being around her. And Jasper and Ricardo helped fill any awkward lull in the conversation. They went from casual conversation to funny stories as they ordered their last drinks.
Brian and Ricardo were listening as Jasper and Sadie remember how he got started on the strawberry martinis.
Sadie held a glass of red wine as she told the story. "So anyway, he was depressed about something. And I thought I'd go over to his place and make a bunch of strawberry martinis and put them in his refrigerator because we had a big dance coming up and if we didn't perform, we were both…."
"So screwed and sooo fired," Jasper finished for her.
"Yeah, so I left them for him and went to practice. I mean, nobody expects someone to down eight martinis in one night right before a show…."
"I learned. Well, not really. Oh, I'm terrible…" Jasper pointed down at the row of wine glasses he and Ricardo had lined up.
Sadie continued. "So I went over to his apartment the morning of the show because he would not answer the phone. I looked everywhere, and I finally find him in the tub with either empty martini glasses on the floor. I started shaking him like, 'Jasper! Jas-Per!' and he all he kept saying was, "I d-wanna….I d'wanna…."
Everyone burst into laughter as Jasper stared Sadie down. "Well, aren't you just an awful person."
"I'm sorry," Sadie laughed. "It was just so funny…"
"So what had you so down?" Brian asked.
"You know, Brian. I don't even remember anymore…" Jasper suggested that this incident caused him more problems.
"Did you get to the show?"
"Oh, of course. A lot of dancers are at their best drunk. Especially Sadie. Ooohh! Score one for me!"
"It's probably true," Sadie grinned.
Suddenly, the lights at the bar dimmed and the DJ turned up the music to a slow song. Every so often, the DJ would dim the lights for a slow song and resume the music everyone liked to hear when they'd had a few beers.
"Ooohh! Ooohh! 'All of Me!'" Ricardo took Jasper's hand. "Hey guys, we're going to dance. Is it okay if we dance? It's one of our favorites."
"Yeah. You two have fun." Brian smiled as his cousin pulled his partner to the dance floor.
Sadie shifted as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Hey listen, Sadie… I-I just want to let you know that I really am having a good time with you tonight. I don't want you to feel like it's just because Jasper wanted us to come. I came because… I enjoyed meeting you over dinner with our families," Brian said confessed awkwardly.
"Thank you. I really am having a good time with you tonight too, Brian." She gave him the most reassuring smile. "At first, I was kind of upset with everyone for trying to match us up or something, just because we're both dogs. First it was Jasper, then your owner, and then Lily said something…."
"Me too! Everyone was doing that to me, too. My family even- Wait…Peter?!" Brian gasped in surprise.
"Yeah, the first thing he said after he apologized for the taxi impersonation incident was 'I have this talking dog….'"
"Oh." Brian could see it.
"Yeah," Sadie confirmed awkwardly. "But I really am having a good time. I'm glad we came."
Brian grinned back at her and offered her his hand. "Uh, Sadie… I'm probably not as good as you, but… Would you like to dance?"
"I'd like that." Sadie took his hand and followed him to the dance floor near Jasper and Ricardo. Brian place one hand on her waist and kept her other hand in his. She let him, and followed perfectly as he led.
Brian didn't even mind that their first dance was a sad song. One he usually hated, to be honest. He enjoyed every moment of it. Towards the end of the song, he twirled her around. When he pulled her back in their eyes met for a brief moment. Brian gathered his courage and kissed her. Sadie reluctantly kissed him back. It was like everyone else on the dance floor disappeared, and it was just them. When they pulled away, they both couldn't help but laugh a little.
Sadie snickered with him at the irony of the situation. "I think it's best if this doesn't mean it's serious…"
"Yeah, I completely agree," Brian laughed.
Brian frowned when he noticed that Jasper and Ricardo were no longer dancing. Jasper was sending a text with a smile.
"Jasper? Are you…. Did you take a picture? Did you send it to Stewie?!" Brian demanded.
To answer his question, Jasper's phone lit up three times back to back. Brian felt his phone vibrate and pulled out his phone. Stewie's name and picture were on the screen. "Great."
"Sorry, cousin. He just really wanted to know," Jasper apologized.
Brian started to answer, but Jasper put it on speaker. "I want to hear what he says, though. Everybody lean in. The kid is hilarious."
"Briaaaaannnnn," Stewie's voice sang on the other end.
"Not now, Stewie I'm busy," Brian said, annoyed by his best friend at the moment.
"Yes, you definitely are busy, Bri."
Brian narrowed his eyes and hung up the phone.