I wanted to write this after watching the episode, "The Greatest Love Story Ever Told." (Is that the name of the episode?) *shrug* Well, this is an extended ending. That's it.

Oh and I gave the girl a name. The one from earlier. The one who wanted to walk home with Junior.

Nergal Jr. stood alone in the gymnasium. He looked over the wreckage he and Irwin created. It was mostly all his doing, getting carried away over the who-gets-Mandy fight. This was all formulated to ruin everyone's Valentine's Day. Junior had to hand it to her. She was infinitely hard to read. But then, wasn't everything hard to solve?

He looked down at the red punch on the floor, the light reflecting off the liquid. Irwin left after they apologized to each other. But after he left, Junior figured that he would be alone for the rest of his life. Mandy didn't like him, she was just toying with him—and Irwin. She never did. He thought back to his long isolation periods. His moments of self-loathing. Nobody would ever love him. Who would? He was moody, unpleasant, and unappealing. People here didn't like what was different. And when they didn't like what was different, they neglected them, ignored them, and sometimes even tortured them.

The boy glanced up, realizing he wasn't the only one in the gym. It was that girl. The one who wanted to walk home after school with him. Nergal Jr. yelled at her and made her cry. He couldn't remember the last time someone was so afraid of him. He really messed up. Junior went after her.

"Wait!" Junior called, waving a hand to get her attention. The girl stopped before she exited the gym. She turned around to look at him.

"Oh, hi, Junior," she said. Her tone was less than happy. She wasn't exactly expecting to see him, then again, she didn't expect to see or speak to him again. Junior took a breath.

"Listen, I..." Junior paused. "I...I..." He needed to make things right. If he was going to do this, he was going to do this right. He didn't want to mess things up again. Not anymore.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier." Junior said. This was a start. It wasn't much, but enough. He looked her in the eye, feeling bolder than ever. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I wasn't thinking. I was upset. It wasn't right of me to do what I did." He clenched his fists, getting ready to face the truth. "I'm sorry."

The girl looked at him. She was upset about what happened earlier, but she was still feeling glum after his apology. He said he was sorry, so why was she still sad?

"It's okay, Junior." the girl said. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have provoked you. I guess you could say I wasn't thinking either." She looked down at the floor before looking at him again. "I'm...sorry." She looked away, frowning.

There was one thing Nergal Jr. wanted to know. "Why did you want me to walk you home after school?"

At that, the girl blushed. She never expected him to ask her this. "Because I think you're cute." That answer didn't convince Junior completely. He needs more than that.

"No really" Junior prodded. "Why?"

The girl paused.

"Because you're different from the others." she said. "Different in a good way."

"You don't know the half of it." Junior snapped. He extended his black tentacles out for her to see. She was taken aback. The boy expected her to scream and run away, but she didn't. She looked at him and his tentacles, registering how different he was. This was the true him.

"I don't care that you're a monster." the girl said. "I still want to be with you."

Nergal Jr.'s eyes softened, almost shedding tears. "Really?"

"Really." the girl repeated, truthfully.

The two looked onto each other's eyes. Their fairytale ending. When the beast turns into a prince and he and the princess live happily ever after. In that silent moment, it was just him and the girl...and the disaster behind them. After she saw him fight Irwin, she played dumb, until he shouted her his tentacles. She really didn't care if he was a supernatural monster. She could see the good in him. And Junior knew very well that he was good. He was just misunderstood.

"You...you wanna start over?" Junior suggested.

"Sure." the girl said. "My name is Gertrude, by the way."

"I like that name." Junior smiled. His tentacles went back inside his body. He and Gertrude walked away together, seeing their future unfold.