Disclaimer: I don't own SBSP.

Dear Diary,

You would not believe the day I had yesterday and today with my sweet little Gare Bear. After buying that pet translation collar for him, he and I had some pretty fascinating conversations that none of us in our wildest dreams thought would happen. Like, how he has always dreamt of soaring high above Bikini Bottom. Then suddenly breathing fire on all his enemies, sending them scattering throughout the ashes of the city.

Wow, and here I thought he actually had much happier thoughts; like say, owning his own library. You know, something less violent and more pleasant. Well, I did want to know what he dreamt about. Heh, guess my curiosity got the best of me. Dreamland can be a pretty strange place after all. Once, I dreamt about becoming a mature young doctor at the Bikini Bottom hospital, after graduating from medical school. In another, I was the proud new owner of the Krusty Krab, and Sandy and I were married! Yes, strange indeed.

Gary seems to believe I'm secretly love-struck over her because of all the flowers I've given her whenever I step foot in the tree dome. Also, how we spend a lot of our time together doing karate or something science related, which either involves chemistry or inventions. But we only see each other as nearest and dearest friends, karate, and lab partners.

Besides, wouldn't that ruin our friendship. Wouldn't it be awkward for us to be dating? What would everyone else say if that were to be the case? Oh, all this talk about romance is making my head spin. Uh, anyway, one thing he asked me earlier was why on earth would I ever want to be friends with someone like Squidward. He said that it was perfectly clear he really doesn't like me because of my outgoing, childish personality. He even tried to get rid of me a lot. But I knew deep down that he really did care, and that he wasn't such a bad person.

Speaking of which, I should go pay Squid a visit at the hospital later to see how he's doing. I should apologize for annoying him so much lately. But then again, he'd probably only file another restraining order against me. On second thought, maybe it'll be best to just drop that idea and leave him be.

Another question Gary asked was will I ever get my drivers license, to which I simply replied: I'm still working on that one, unfortunately. But a sponge sure can dream.

Hopefully, one day I will finally overcome this anxiety of mine. I'll be able to hop into the drivers seat, buckle up, insert my very own car key into the ignition, grab the gear stick, and drive without panicking behind the wheel, or crashing into anyone or anything. If Patrick, Mr. Krabs, and even Gary can do it, then so can I.

I just gotta believe in myself, have some patience, and most importantly never give up on this second biggest goal I had for such a long time. I'm sure I'll get there eventually. Baby steps, Spongy.

I already accomplished becoming a member of the Krusty Krab crew, which I still sometimes find so hard to believe. Thinking that it'll all be apart of my crazy imagination once I woke up the next morning, and believe me I definitely have that. That's where my imaginary friend Cuddle E. Hugs came from after all.

Yeah, I don't think I'll eat another rotten Krabby Patty ever again, no matter how perfect I may think it is. Unless, I wanna deal with another upset stomach, or food poisoning. That was yet another topic myself and Gary brought up during today's conversation, along with many other past memories; like the sea bear attack. Looks like we were both such a chatterbox, huh?

With that said, Gary really is the best pet a sponge like me could ever ask for, and collar or no collar I will always love him with all my heart. Sure, we both had our ups and downs in the past, just like Patrick and I had. But we will always have each other's backs, and let nothing ever get in the way of our friendship again.

Once he had finished writing his diary entry, SpongeBob tilted his reading glasses a little to eye the snail across from him with a slight chuckle. Gary was watching some cheesy romantic comedy on television, while chowing down on some crispy potato chips. About half way through, he turned his attention to the little invertebrate, who smiled warmly at him.

Since the day the two had first met each other, they had been the very best of friends. They spent every waking moment they could together, whenever SpongeBob wasn't too busy with his greasy fry cooking job at the Krusty Krab, or hanging out with his other best pals in the whole ocean: Patrick and Sandy.

No longer interested in the mushiness the movie had to offer, Gary switched the TV off, and slithered up to SpongeBob's feet.

"Meow."

"Finally had enough of those old romantic comedies for one day, buddy?"

Gary yawned out of boredom, then nodded in agreement with SpongeBob's words.

"Oh, I hear ya. They can get rather old after a spell. But for something that's supposed to be funny, they definitely can be a real tearjerker. Why, I'd probably use the whole tissue box," SpongeBob laughed.

The little snail just rolled his eyes, well aware that the sponge could cry like a water fountain.

You once used the box itself, he thought with disgust, remembering the whole pen pal dying incident.

Master, you can be so weird and gullible. And Seriously, who even has that many tears inside their bodies, or can even laugh so much without their sides aching? I really gotta get him to try and control his sadness and laughter. Not everything is funny or sad. No wonder that big nosed son of a gun next door hates him so much.

"Yeah, they sure can be quite emotional and entertaining."

He nodded again, and flew up into his beloved owner's lap to give him a lick on his right cheek. SpongeBob giggled at how much Gary's tongue was tickling him, and gave the little snail a small scratch underneath his chin in return. A sly grin soon spread across his face as an idea popped into his head.

"Hey, Gare Bear, you wanna play a game? Oh, I know a good one. It's called tickle Gary!"

Before Gary had a chance to get away, SpongeBob suddenly sprang up off his chair, gently throwing him to the floor. A pair of hands ran their way through the bottom feeder's tummy, making him laugh out loud. Both the book and pencil he held before dropped to the sandy floor in the process.

"Gotcha, you can't escape from me!"

"Meow, meow, meow!"

"Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?" he asked over and over in a way that sounded like he was talking to a dog, while Gary meowed and laughed with delight.

"Gary is my good boy, and the best pal ever! Yes, he is!"

"Meow!"

"Oh, yes you are!"

"Meow!"

"Okay, Okay, I'll stop with the baby talk. By the way, that was to get you back for making me fall into that mud puddle."

Just before he could get back to his feet, Gary pounced on top of SpongeBob and began tickling him back until his ribs and throat hurt, covering him in both slime and saliva. Of course he knew that the sweet little fry cook was definitely gonna need a shower or nice long bubble bath after this, but right now he didn't seem to have a care in the world.

Right now, he was gonna cherish every single bit of the heartfelt moment between them while he could. Even if it left him in a rather sticky, slimy situation. After a few minutes, they finally had to stop their silly little game so they could catch their breath.

"Alright, you win...I-I surrender...Throat hurts...Ugh, need water," SpongeBob replied in a squeaky voice, panting and wheezing. Gary smiled with satisfaction before he went into the kitchen to fetch the tired, aching sponge a glass of water.

"Meow?" He meowed with concern wondering if he was alright, hoping he wouldn't drop dead or pass out from exhaustion.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired, sore, and thirsty. Thanks, buddy." He coughed; his throat dry and scratchy from all the laughter. Once finished gulping down the ice cold water to help quench his thirst, he snatched Gary's voice translation collar off the hook and slipped it back over his bright pink shell, so he could speak full sentences once more.

Squidward had previously stolen and replaced it with a walkie-talkie one while SpongeBob and Gary were sleeping the night before. However, he managed to regain his collar shortly after the grumpy octopus was sent to the hospital from the sea worm attack at the snail park.

"Well, that was a nice little break from my collar. Now that I can speak your language again, I just wanna say that regardless of our disagreements we've had throughout the years, you're still the worlds best pet owner ever. I love you so much, Papa Bob."

SpongeBob's bottom lip quivered, his sky blue eyes flooded with tears as he carefully lifted Gary up off the floor and hugged him tightly in his arms. Then wiping his tears away with a sniffle, he planted a little kiss on his eyestalks. He gently pulled him back towards his body for another long loving cuddle.

"T-that's the most sweetest thing I ever heard you say to me, Gary. I-I love you too. Always have and I always will. After this, how about we go for a nice evening stroll together? Just you and me."

The little snail smiled and nodded in agreement. After another long day of conversations, a walk sounds pretty good right about now.

"Count me in, Papa Bob."

Authors note: I know that Gary no longer had his collar near the end of the episode, but I just wanted to hear him tell SpongeBob how much he really does love him despite their disagreements they had in the past. I just love these two and their friendship so much! SpongeBob and Gary: Bffs 4 ever and always!