When did I draw the short straw at life?

by zina-shipper-2016

Tina, Gene and Louise have all grown up and finished high school. This is basically theirs and their friends story as they sail through the messy complicated waters of life. Will Tina find her soul mate? Will Gene become recognised for his musical talent? And will Louise finally succeed in stealing the restaurant from under her parents noses? All inside!

3. Chapter 3

Hey everyone sorry it took so long to update. For a few days I was staying with my grandparents where there was no internet and then when we got back, my parents wouldn't let me onto the computer much. I also had to rewrite several scenes as they didn't fit into the story. However this is a really long chapter and Gene finally makes his long awaited appearance so I hope it makes up for the wait. Review please! Disclaimer: I don't own Bob's Burgers all I own is my OC's

Chapter Three: Mates Before Dates

'Yes' Tina blurted out before blushing red. 'Yeah Josh I would like to go on a date with you.'

Josh's face then broke into the biggest smile Tina had ever seen. 'That's great' he beamed 'are you free tomorrow evening? Around seven maybe?'

Tina hesitated; the coffee shop closed at seven and she was supposed to be going to her parents for Sunday night dinner; when she had first left home for college, her mother had demanded that she come home once a week for a family dinner and the tradition had continued ever since.

'Uuuuhhh' Tina moaned desperately trying to decide whether or not to face her mother's endless questions about why she was skipping their family's weekly tradition.

'Hey, what's this I hear about a date?' Louise smirked as she slid up to her sister's side. Tina wasn't sure if she was relieved or horrified that her sister had chosen that moment to get involved in the conversation. 'I was just asking her if she was free tomorrow at seven.' Josh replied oblivious to the fact that he had asked that question over a minute ago and still hadn't gotten an answer.

'Oh she is definitely free then' Louise smirked, ignoring Tina's squeak of protest. 'Where should she meet you?' she added.

'How about at the Wharf?' Josh suggested. 'She'll meet you there' Louise promised 'right Tee?' Tina managed a really small nod as a confirmation. 'Great I'll see you then Tina' Josh said with a smile as he started to leave the shop, blowing a kiss in Tina's direction as he did.

The second he left, Jocelyn and Phoebe jumped on Tina. 'Oh my god Tina, who was that?' Jocelyn squealed wanting to know everything that had just happened between her bestie and one of the cutest boys she had ever seen. 'That was Josh, we went out for a bit when I was thirteen' Tina replied, still trying to act casual. 'And newsflash ladies, she's going a date with him tomorrow' Louise announced happy that her plan to set Tina up had worked.

'Wow Tina, you work fast, you were only talking to the guy for fifth teen minutes – and you weren't even trying that hard from what I saw, imagine how fast you'd have a guy agreeing to a date when you were actually trying' Phoebe joked.

'Yeah just imagine' Tina said flatly, before holding out her hand 'and guys, give me the phones.'

'Why?' Jocelyn said innocently, while holding her phone out of Tina's reach. 'To delete the photo's I know you two took' Tina said flatly. She really wasn't in the mood for this. She now was going to have to dodge her mother's relentless questions and prying into her love life when she found out she would be missing Sunday night dinner, her friends had obviously taken photos of her exchange with Josh for the sole intention of sending them to everyone on their contacts list, she had no idea what to wear for the date and to top it all off she saw a trace of chocolate at the corner of Louise's mouth that hadn't been there when she entered the shop looking for forgiveness, confirming her fear that Louise was eating her stock with no intention of paying for them.

'Aw come on! I just want to show Kim!' Jocelyn pleaded, still holding her phone out of Tina's reach. 'Yeah and I want to show Robbie' Phoebe grinned. 'Delete them now' Tina ordered. 'Delete, delete, del- oops, looks like I pressed the wrong the wrong button! Looks like Kim will be informed of your new boyfriend' Jocelyn said with a smirk.

'Oops, looks like Robbie will be receiving some very interesting photos' Phoebe laughed, following Jocelyn's lead. 'Uuuuhhh' Tina groaned, not sure what she should do next; it was too late to stop Robbie and Kim from getting the pictures, but what if they girls were planning to send the pictures to other people as well? Desperate she looked to Louise for help.

'Alright ladies, you had your fun, now hand over the phones,' Louise ordered giving then her meanest expression. Louise may be much smaller than either girl as well as being four years their junior, but she was still pretty intimating and had both girls handing over their phones to her without another word (although Phoebe did roll her eyes) and deleted any traces of the photos. Handing the phones back, she laughed at Jocelyn's crushed expression, 'sorry ladies, but the only people allowed to tease Tina are me and Gene and neither of you look like a guy to me.'

'I think you mean an incredibly handsome, talented, gay guy' Gene corrected, swaggering into the coffee shop. At twenty-one Gene still retained his chubby figure from his childhood and still remained the enthusiastic, loud, over-dramatic and dim person he was when he was eleven. He was also still over attached to his keyboard (the latest model of course) which he claimed was for work purposes; if it wasn't for the fact that he was taller, his hair longer and that he dressed far more crazy then he did at eleven, one would say the past ten years haven't changed him a bit.

'So my lady posse' Gene said swinging an arm around both Phoebe's and Jocelyn's shoulder's; he then dragged them down onto the couch with him, the girls bouncing a bit with the speed that they went down onto the cushions. 'What's this I hear about teasing Tina?' he asked with a twinkle in his eyes. 'Tina's got a date!' Jocelyn blurted out, unable to keep a secret for longer than five seconds. Louise silently cursed Jocelyn for her shallowness and stupidity; not for the first time Louise wondered why Tina had Jocelyn as a best friend. You couldn't tell her anything important; ninety-five percent of the time if you did she'd spill it five minutes later. At least when you asked Jessica to keep a secret you'd know ninety-nine percent of the time she'll take it to the grave.

'Ooh Tina! Spill! Wait no! Tell me everything tomorrow so you, me and Mum can have a DMC* after dinner!' Gene rambled all in one excited breath. 'Uuuuhhh' Tina groaned, while Louise decided to bite the bullet and put her plan into action. Rolling her eyes, Louise jumped over the couch and onto Gene's lap, ignoring Jocelyn's and Phoebe's cries of pain when her flailing limbs hit them in the face. 'Actually Gene, the three of us are going to miss tomorrow's traditional family dinner' Louise said. Gene's following gasp of shock was so loud and deep, Louise was kind of surprised to find there was still air left on the planet. Several customers actually turned in their direction to see if something was wrong.

'How dare you' Gene gasped, holding one hand over his heart like he had just suffered a heart attack. 'Sunday night family dinner has been a family tradition for the past five years; Dad always makes a roast! And now you two just want to abandon that tradition?! I'll have no part in that!'

'But, Gene' Louise wedeled knowing she could have him agreeing to the plan in no time, 'we need you. Tina's first date with Josh is tomorrow night and we need your expert styling advice to make sure she looks fabulous! Don't you want her to look good?' 'Yeah Gene' Tina added, relieved that she may have some help with deciding what to wear for tomorrow night.

'Well my style is amazing; I mean to this day everybody remembers trashion! And I don't want my sister going on a date looking Ron Weasley from 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'. Okay I'll help, but you two owe me a roast dinner!' Gene declared.

'Great!' Jocelyn squealed, 'we'll go over to Tina's at four so I can do her hair and make-up and Gene can sort through her clothes to find something worthy of being worn on a date and if we work hard we'll be able to get her ready by seven!'

'Oh come on, getting ready for a date won't take three whole hours! Louise interrupted believing Jocelyn was starting to take the mick. 'Ah Louise have you ever been on a date? You got to wash and dry your hair, style your hair, decide what make-up looks better for the date, apply the make-up onto your face, do your nails, decide what outfit is best suited for the date you're having, put on said outfit, decide on shoes and accessories, touch up your make-up and make sure you have everything you need for the date. You have to do all that and make sure you show up for your date on time! Actually maybe we should go over to Tina's at three, just to make sure that we're not rushed for time or anything' Jocelyn mused, her rant coming to an end. Louise couldn't even think of a come-back; she was so shocked the ditzy blond actually thought all of that work was necessary just for a couple of hours of hanging out with a guy (or girl in Jocelyn's and Kim's cases).

'Ah come on, that's rubbish! I hang with boys all the time! Seventy-five percent of my friends are boys! And not once when I was hanging out with them did I stress about whether they liked my outfit or my earrings were too much! Not once! And what about Phoebe? I have never seen her stressed about what to wear for a date with Robbie. Ever!' Louise ranted.

'That's different Louise' Gene stated 'first off their your friends, not boyfriends and chances are you wouldn't know romance even if it slapped you in the face. And even if you did know it you'd beat it up for slapping you in the face. Nothing wrong with it but you don't like romance in general. Secondly Phoebe and Robbie have been dating for almost eight years now; by that time whoever your seeing has seen the best of you and the worst of you. It's the first couple of months that all the effort into your appearance goes in.'

'Traitor!' Louise shrieked pointing an accusing finger at Gene. 'We're Belchers! You're supposed to have my back against her! And now you're going against me!'

'Guys maybe you could quite down a bit, we're getting a lot of attention' Phoebe intervened looking around the coffee shop. It was true; every head in the coffee shop was now looking in their direction watching the strange spectacle play out in front of them. Most of them were actually looking interested in the scene playing out like it was a play created for the sole purpose of their entertainment, while the rest were looking annoyed that a group of young adults were interrupting their morning cup of coffee.

'Ok enough' Tina said eager to wind the conversation down in case it drove off some of the other customers. 'Gene and Jocelyn, you two meet me at my apartment at three to help me get ready. Louise I need you to cover for me from half-two to closing tomorrow, ok?'

'Fine' Louise muttered, pretending to be upset but in reality she didn't mind working here at all. Tina paid her better than her parents did, she was helping Mort tomorrow morning for a couple of hours and then she could relax here and eat the cakes meant for the customers and if it meant that she'd earn Tina's forgiveness for the Frond incident and kept the chocolates for herself, she'd even accept no overtime pay. Besides, she thought to herself, now I can get started on my plan.

'What are we going to tell Mum and Dad?' Tina asked. 'I can't imagine they'll be pleased.' 'You leave that to me Tee' Louise said with a gleam in her eye 'I promise I'll sort it.' And with that the Louise went back to working behind the counter, while Tina made arrangements with Jocelyn and Gene for tomorrow, as Phoebe paid for her coffee and left to go back to work. The day was perfectly boring after that. The only thing that kept Louise from complaining was the fact that she was too busy putting the foundation of her plan into action.

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That night with both her parents asleep, Louise snuck into their room to grab the laptop that was on her mother's dressing table and snuck back into her own room. It took much longer than the simple snatch and grab she expected. Her mother was trying some knew protein shake diet that Gretchen had introduced her too. As a result she had much more energy for dancing and karaoke. One of the many downsides to it was that it messed with her sleep pattern making her a light sleeper and much more likely to wake up if Louise made the tiniest noise. But somehow a miracle happened: Louise managed to sneak in and out undetected. Not that Louise believed in miracles no, she credited her amazing sneaking abilities that were put to good use a lot; especially during her high school years when she was sneaking out of the house almost every night to go on prank escapades with the Pesto twins and Rudy if he was up to it (which despite his allergies to some of the materials they used in their pranks was most of the time).

That skill had amazing uses, Louise thought smugly as she settled back into her bed as the laptop whirled to life. While it was password protected Louise knew that her mum used the same password for everything so all she had to do was type in 'little king trash-mouth' and she was in. 'Really' Louise muttered to herself as she opened her mum's Facebook page; 'it's not even hacking she's made it so easy.' Louise had also watched her mother like a hawk all evening from the camera she had installed in the living room. The moment her mum had shut down the laptop she had sent a message to her mother, now all she had to do was answer it and make sure it looked like her mum had said was ok to miss tomorrow night's family dinner. Within a few minutes she had a full conversation typed out between her and 'Linda' on Facebook chat. Closing down the computer she snuck back into her parents and without any noise put the laptop right back where it originally was and snuck back out closing the door softly behind her.

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The next day after leaving the shop in the somewhat questionable hands of Louise, Tina headed back to her apartment. It was close enough to the pier the she got an amazing view of the ocean and Wonder Wharf, but far away for the tourist holiday apartments that she wouldn't have to put up with families moving in and out during the summer. She had moved in here just before the start of her second year of college and wouldn't dream of moving out. She got the most inspiration for her books when she was sitting out in her balcony watching the waves roll into shore and it was really calming to watch.

Gene and Jocelyn were already waiting for her inside when she got there; she had given Gene her spare key yesterday and the moment she entered the duo jumped into action. Sending Tina to wash her hair, Jocelyn continued to sort through Tina's make-up trying to decide what to use, while Gene continued searching through her wardrobe trying to find something appropriate for the date. By the time Tina had to go and meet Josh she had to admit that she looked amazing. Jocelyn who was a trained hairdresser and beautician had pinned her long hair to one side and it was all following curls. Tina had gotten rid of her bangs in high school instead going for a side fringe which Jocelyn had pinned back. Her make-up was simple and elegant, making her eyes look bigger than they were behind her glasses.

Despite Tina's fears that Gene would go for something neon coloured or crazy patterned, he actually picked something that was actually Tina's style. He'd found the dark blue dress that she had worn to her parents silver wedding anniversary last year. It had a knee-length A-line skirt, lace detail around the bodice, short puffy selves and a square neckline. After a quick iron it was perfect. Gene had paired the outfit with a long silver necklace, stud earrings, strappy black sandals and a dark blue clutch. In short Tina looked amazing – and felt like a princess.

'Guys I look amazing, thank you' Tina gushed still unable to believe her eyes. 'All my work is amazing sister! But even I got to admit, I outdid myself with this' Gene admitted as he looked his sister over one last time before Jocelyn gave Tina her bag and short black jacket. 'Better get going, you don't want to be late' Jocelyn teased with a smile. Smiling Tina then ran out the door with an excited Jocelyn and Gene following in her wake.

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Louise strolled down the street leading to the Wharf; she'd closed the coffee shop half an hour earlier today and was walking quickly towards the beach. That morning while she was helping Mort with the delivery of coffins she had gotten a text from Jessica saying that her and the others were meeting at the beach for a campfire and to make camp food that night. The text also asked if she was coming along with a quick line about how her and the others were missing her. Louise had texted back promising she'd be there. She was going for a number of reasons actually: 1) She hadn't seen her friends since summer started a month and a half ago and she missed them a lot (not she'll ever tell them that) 2) Jessica's campfire s'mores were amazing and 3) She didn't want to face her Mum's furious reaction when she read her Facebook and realised that none of her children were coming to the traditional family dinner. Louise was hoping to have a little fun with people who liked being part of her crazy schemes before she had to go home, face her parents and put the next part of her plan into action. For a couple of hours Louise wanted to be a careless college student for a bit, not a master planner and manipulator.

At that moment in time Louise's mind was so full of s'mores and scheming she almost walked straight into a pole. Stopping herself just in time Louise glanced around to see if anyone had witnessed the event – if they did she'd have to kill them before word got out, Louise Belcher did not do things like that! That's when she saw him: Josh. Dressed in a suit jacket with a shirt no less standing near the entrance to Wonder Wharf and looking around nervously. Just before he glanced her way and saw her, Louise ducked into an alleyway, counted to ten slowly in her mind and risked a peek out. Josh looked as nervous as hell and kept checking his watch. Why won't he relax? Louise thought as she resisted the urge to laugh at how desperate he was being; he's still got ten minutes before their supposed to meet. Just then however she spotted her sister strolling up to Josh with a nervous smile on her face.

Wow Louise thought silently as she gazed at her sister; now over her teenage years Tina had developed a pretty nice body and grew out of awkward stage just before high school becoming really pretty. Louise knew that with her sister's crazy quirkiness and individuality she would have been able to pull off one of Lady Gaga's outrageous outfits. But she actually looked amazing, not like a crazy person and Gene actually hadn't incorporated his style into it either; the entire outfit simply screamed Tina, a classy version of Tina.

'Spying are we sister dearest' Gene smirked jolting her out of her thoughts.

'Aaaahhh Gene don't do that! Louise screamed-whispered smacking him on the arm; hard enough to leave a bruise. 'Hey' Gene cried holding his arm. 'Ssshhh' Louise whispered pointing in the direction of Tina and Josh, 'they'll hear you.'

'I did an amazing job didn't I?' Gene said as they watched the two chat nervously. 'I mean all my work is amazing, but I outdid myself here. Maybe I should go into fashion, I guarantee you, I'll be a hit!'

'Yeah sure' Louise said only half-listening to Gene's rambling as Josh hailed a taxi and held the door open for Tina as she got in. As the taxi was passing them, Louise grabbed Gene and shoved themselves down behind some dumpsters, when it passed by them she straightened up again.

'So what are you doing tonight Gene?' Louise asked as the two of them strolled down the street.

'I'm meeting Courtney at that new bar 'The Red White and Brew**' on Main Street. Their cocktails are apparently the bomb! What about you, I assume you're not heading home.' 'Nah I'm heading to the beach for a campfire with Jessica and the others' Louise said. 'Well have fun! I'll tell Courtney you said hi.' 'But I didn't' Louise cried, but Gene was already halfway down Market Street and didn't seem to hear her. Sighing she continued walking until she reached the steps that lead to the beach and hurried down them heading towards the campfire that she could see in the distance.

Everything seemed underway by the time Louise got there but nobody seemed to notice her arrival as their backs were to the direction she came from. Smirking, she slowly started to approach the nearest person to her and then suddenly grab them from behind. 'Ggggggaaaahhhhh!' she shrieked into their ear. 'Gah!' cried Regular Sized Rudy clutching his chest and started to breath quickly as if he was having another asthma attack. Reaching for his inhaler he quickly gave himself two puffs of whatever was in there before turning to face her. 'Louise!' he cried upset.

'Come on Rudy your trying to get into the CIA or something, shouldn't you be prepared in case someone crazy tries to attack you from behind' Louise said as she settled into the sand, in-between Jessica and Ollie.

'I'm studying to be a forensic scientist Louise, not training to be part of the Secret Service. I'm pretty sure that some crazy person won't be sneaking up to attack me – other than you that is' Rudy said in an upset voice. 'Ah relax Rudy, you weren't my first choice for a sneak attack but I couldn't sneak up on either of the twins without one of you noticing me' Louise assured him 'besides at least with them I don't have to worry about accidentally causing their deaths.'

'Great to see you care so much then,' Rudy muttered but he was smiling a little. Her relationship with Rudy was always like that; while Louise used the Pesto twins as pawns for her crazy schemes, Rudy was always her partner in the crime, way too important to be forced to handle the measly grunt work. He was often on the frontlines with Louise causing the chaos – and his position as a hall monitor meant people never suspected he'd be causing the trouble. Jessica had served the group well as their alibi in case they were ever spotted. Louise was proud to say that because of her leadership abilities and the others actually obeying her and rarely messing up, out of the eight years they've been pulling pranks and causing general chaos, they've only gotten caught a handful of times.

'Anyway underlings, how are things going for you since we last met' Louise asked the Pesto twins as she began to prepare a s'more.

'She's talking about us Andy!'

'Yeah she is Ollie!'

'Do want to tell her Andy?'

'I want to tell her with you Ollie!'

'Let's tell her together!

'Yeah!'

'Yeah!'

Louise only half-listened to the Pesto's as they continued their crazy talk. At nineteen they were still joined at the hip and never did anything without the other. She remembered during a prank the five of them were pulling in their junior year when thanks to the damn Logan Barry Bush they were busted by the cops and led down to the police station; Andy and Ollie had a meltdown because they tried to put them into separate cells. The screaming and the crying and the banging continued until Sergeant Bosco – who couldn't stand the noise any longer let the two boys share a cell, where they immediately calmed down, much to the relief of everyone present in the police station. They were currently working as the co-anchors of the morning show 'Get on Up' on their local news station. The producer decided to bring it back with them presenting it after a video of them doing a comedy act together in their senior year went viral. They were actually pretty good to be honest and the audience loved them. On their very first show; the day after graduation they ended bringing a lot of business into the restaurant when they accidentally declared that Bob's Burgers was a way better restaurant than Jimmy Pesto's. That particular comment had gotten them kicked out of home and they spent the first week of summer at Louise's until they got a place of their own.

'Brilliant' the twins blurted out together. 'People keep stopping us on the street telling us how great we are and wanting to take pictures with us, and –' 'Ok, ok, I get it, hugely popular' Louise said holding up a hand for silence, 'I meant is your dad speaking to you again?'

At that the twin's faces fell a bit. 'Not yet' Andy admitted, 'but Jimmy Jr came over yesterday and said that Dad is finally acknowledging that we exist, so progress!' 'Yeah progress!' Ollie said looking delighted.

Louise then felt a twinge of a feeling that Tina called sympathy in her chest for her friends. She knew Jimmy Sr was a bad father, but even she didn't expect him to kick his sons out over a tiny slip up. She remembered when her Dad and brother got their own cooking segment on the show. They developed a bitter rivalry which was going to tear the family apart had her mum not intervened and Bob and Gene fixed their relationship before it was too late. Her Dad had once told her that as parents it was their job to look out and care for her and her siblings no matter if they screw up. Hell, her dad had even forgiven her when she told everyone he made his burgers out of human remains and again when she let Darryl practice his magic tricks in the restaurant when it was full of elderly people, resulting in giving several of the customer's heart attacks and them suing Bob. Maybe it was because she knew her parents cared for her and her siblings where all she ever saw Jimmy Pesto care for was his business, but what the twins did it was an accident. An accident that happened over a year ago now. They should at least be talking civilly to each other by now, but instead due to Jimmy Pesto being a giant jerk, his oldest son and loyal barman had only just managed to get him to say his youngest son's names.

Louise looked at the twins with pity. Maybe they shouldn't hold out any hope that their father will forgive them anytime soon.

'Anyways' Jessica said, eager to steer the evening away from doom and gloom, 'what have you been up to since summer started Louise? We've barely seen you at all!'

'Oh I've been working, good news I've almost got enough for tuition, so probably two to three more weeks and I can start working less hours' Louise said stretching her arms as her s'more started to cook near the fire's embers.

'Does that mean we can go around causing mayhem again?' Rudy asked. 'The last time we went out was in April during Easter; it's July now and I'm bored.'

'Geews Rud' Louise said with a smirk, 'you actually want to cause trouble. If my parents or Mr Frond or basically any figure of authority could hear you they'll claim I've corrupted you.'

'You corrupted me ever since the very first day we met on that field trip to the museum in fourth grade, remember? You convinced to go the closed Amazon room and ditch my bag resulting in me having an asthma attack and almost dying. So I'll be surprised if anyone wants to start complaining now; I mean they had ten years to do so.'

Louise was left speechless. Honestly what was it with people making her speechless recently? First Tina, then Jocelyn and now Rudy. 'Geez Rudy, you make it sound like you would be better off without me' Louise said, diving in to rescue her s'more before it became a melted blob.

'Ah that's not true Louise. Well I'll probably be better off health wise, but my life would be so less interesting without you in it' Rudy said, his eyes shining with happiness. Louise smirked as she bit into her s'more, the marshmallow gooeyness going everywhere.

'Geez guys, will you just get a room already?' Jessica asked, starting to roast a corndog. Louise then choked on her s'more, while Rudy started to get short of breath again and needed another few puffs of his inhaler again before he could calm down.

'God Jessica when I agreed to this I didn't know you'll turn into my mother, asking me questions about my love life. What about you by the way? Any special guys in your life?' Louise grilled and was delighted when her friend turned as red as her hair. 'No actually, my love life is emptier than Jimmy Pesto's restaurant after the twins comment on 'Get on Up!'' Jessica said.

'Is anyone going to forget that?' the twin's chorused. 'Nope' Louise assured them; not keeping her eyes off Jessica. She knew her friend well enough to know when she was hiding something. And Jessica was definitely hiding something. But Louise wasn't going to grill her for information in front of the boys. Being the only girls in their group, they had a secret set of rules for when they were talking about 'girl stuff' and potential secret boyfriends fell under that category. She knew she couldn't pry it out of Jessica with Rudy and the twins present so she would have to leave it for now.

'Hey Louise' one of the twin's asked as Louise turned her attention back to her now lukewarm s'more. 'Yeah Andy?' she asked absent-mindly.

'I'm Ollie.'

'Close enough.'

'Aren't you supposed to be at your weekly family dinner? Isn't it on Sundays? I remember me and Andy were there for one.'

With an evil smirk on her face, Louise threw her now cold s'more aside and leaning over, snatched a bottle of pop out of the cooler and took a long drink, holding out the suspense before answering. 'Yeah Ollie, my parents probably still think it's going ahead but my siblings and I know that's not happening. I've also decided to put my plan into getting the restaurant into action.'

'What?' Rudy wheezed looking shocked, as he was the only person Louise had told her plan to; 'you said you wouldn't do put that plan into action until the year before you graduate!' 'Yeah I had second thoughts Rud,' Louise explained 'a year wouldn't give me enough time to execute it properly, I'll still be waiting even after I graduate; if I start now by the time I graduate the restaurant will basically be mine.'

'What are you talking about Louise? Spill, now' Jessica ordered.

Louise then weighed her options out. She'd tell them her plan and get more people involved than she'd liked or she kept quiet and they'd spend the rest of the night bothering her. In the end she picked option A as she could use the extra help in pulling it off and if it all went south, it would probably be better to hide out in someone's who wasn't family. 'Ok I'll tell you' Louise said, 'but you got to swear on the life of the person you care about most in the world not to tell another living soul.' After they all swore, Louise looked around for any outsiders who might be listening in before leaning closer. 'Alright the thing is -'

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Meanwhile on the other side of town in a fancy restaurant, Tina was having an amazing time on her date with Josh. They caught up properly, found out any new interests the other had and shared funny stories from their past. 'Wait, wait a sec' Josh laughed, wiping tears from his face, 'your sister stole a bunch of fire extinguishers and strapped to the back of her bike to see if could go fast enough to ride on water because she saw something similar happen on 'The Simpsons'?'

'Yeah' Tina said with a tiny smile, 'her reasoning was if she went as fast as Bart did, she wouldn't sink to the seabed and most likely make it to Kings Head Island.'

'Did it work?' Josh asked curious.

'Kinda' Tina replied 'she was actually able to ride on top of the water, but she only got twenty meters from the shore when the extinguishers ran out and she went under. Dad had to go in after her and her bike was destroyed. And she had only got it the week before.' Josh then started to laugh and Tina joined in, because even though it happened almost seven years ago, it was still hilarious: from her sisters crazy reasoning, to the event happening in question, to the police turning up to question Louise over the stolen fire extinguishers.

'Oh my God' Josh wheezed, trying to catch his breath, 'your life sounds crazy!' 'It is a tiny bit' Tina admitted, because the truth was her family did get themselves into some crazy situations over the years (mostly due to Louise), but it did lead to some good stories.

'I'm really glad you agreed to this Tina' Josh smiled reaching for her hand which was resting on the table. 'Yeah me too' Tina smiled intertwining her fingers with Josh. The two smiled enjoying their moment together, unaware that someone was watching their every move.

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Douglas couldn't believe the scene before him. He was walking down the street, when he spotted through the window of a restaurant: Josh having dinner with some mystery girl. Actually to be honest though, she looked familiar. Entering the restaurant he moved quickly to the bar which was pretty close to where Josh and his mystery date were and proceeded to eavesdrop on the pair. Judging by how Josh was laughing, the girl was obviously telling him some sort of funny story. Ordering a drink, he then continued to listen in on the date. He knew he shouldn't be doing this, but as Josh's friend it was his job to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. He also knew that Josh shouldn't really be dating right now, it was too soon.

Douglas kept his back to the couple as Josh was facing in his direction. All he could get from the mystery girl was that her name was Tina and she had a sister who did crazy things. Where did he meet this girl? He knows he met her before but his mind kept drawing a blank space about when and where he met her which was incredibly annoying. After the duo was quiet for about a minute, Douglas risked a glance around. Josh and the mystery girl were looking into each other's eyes and then slowly Josh leaned over the table to his date, his eyes closing and his lips just about to meet hers, when Douglas decides to make his presence known.

Grabbing his drink he sauntered over to the couple just before they could lock lips. The girl sensing they weren't alone backed out of the kiss and looked up. Now that he had a full view on her face he still couldn't place where he had seen her. It was beyond annoying. 'Hello there' he said and was a bit surprised at how coldly it sounded. No need to be a huge jerk, he thought sluggishly. 'Douglas' Josh said. If Douglas had been a bit less preoccupied he probably would have noticed that Josh was shooting him daggers and that he was giving him tiny hand gestures to leave. But Douglas took no notice and stayed put.

'Oh Douglas hey it's been a while' Josh's date said. Douglas squinted his eyes a bit desperately trying to figure out where they met before; the minutes started to tick by and the girl was obviously getting uncomfortable 'do I know you?' Douglas asked finally breaking the silence. 'Um not really. I mean we met when we were teenagers when I was dating Josh back then. I'm Tina. Tina Belcher, Josh and I met at Fresh Feed and he invited me to your school dance, remember?' Once Douglas's mind had thrown up a memory of an awkward girl wearing plain clothes in his mind, protectiveness immediately erupted inside of him even more. Josh shouldn't be dating; it was only three months since the incident. It was too soon and it wasn't fair to him or his date. How was he going to get rid of Tina before either party got seriously hurt? Well only one thing to do.

'Josh, Josh, Josh, I'm disappointed in you. You've only been back for a week and you're already trying to pretend that Amy never existed' he said, biting the bullet. 'Who's Amy?' Tina asked confused while Josh was starting to shoot daggers at Douglas. 'Oh she was his long-term girlfriend of six years. They were getting married, had an amazing life together, stared in a ton of musicals on Broadway. They were totally in love. Had the perfect life. But tragedy struck the young lovers. Amy was killed in a hit and run three months ago. Josh quit his job and was wallowing around up there for months before I convinced him to leave the city and start fresh somewhere else' Douglas admitted, hoping he wasn't destroying his friendship with Josh.

Tina was staring at Douglas speechless while Josh looked like he wanted to be hit by a truck. Or that he wanted Douglas to be hit by a truck, Douglas wasn't sure which. Tina then stood up from her chair, her cheeks flushing red and grabbed up her bag and jacket. 'Tina wait' Josh cried causing several diners to glance over to where they were, but Tina interrupted him. 'No Josh, just no. I'm incredibly sorry about what happened to you it must have been hell for you, but I can clearly see now that I'm just a rebound girl. And I'm not looking for a short fling, I want a proper relationship. Maybe in a few months or years even once you've gotten over Amy, maybe we could have a relationship. But not now it'll only end badly and neither of us deserves that.' And with those words hanging in the air around them, Tina Belcher walked out of the restaurant and into the warm July night.

Relief then flowed through Douglas. That was until Josh hit him and the relief was replaced with pain. 'Ow Josh!' Douglas cried. 'Thanks a lot' Josh snarled as he threw a couple of notes onto the table and stalked out of the restaurant with Douglas right after him. 'Josh wait stop!' Douglas cried, trying to stop his friend before he did something stupid. Josh then turned and rounded on Douglas his eyes brimming with rage. 'Why'd you do that, huh?!' Josh yelled. 'For the first time in months I was enjoying myself, I actually believed that I could move on from Amy and you go and destroy it!'

'What was I supposed to do?' Douglas yelled back. 'I know you miss Amy; I do too but it's obvious that you're just using Tina as a rebound. That isn't fair to either of you! It's only been three months, it's ok to avoid relationships, it's okay to be upset, come on if you walked into that relationship lying about Amy's existence and why you came back here then the whole thing would have blown up in your face and hurt a lot more! Amy wouldn't want you acting like this Josh, come on!'

And as if he flicked a switch, Josh's face crumpled. He collapsed in the middle of the sidewalk and started to sob. Huge, chest heavy sobs. Douglas knelt down beside him and patiently waited for Josh to become calm enough to speak. 'I - miss - her -Douglas so -much!' Josh gasped out between sobs. 'I know Josh, I know, it's ok to be upset, but probably not in the middle of the sidewalk where we can get mugged. Come on let's get you home.' Douglas muttered, helping Josh to his feet. As he began to help his heart-broken friend home his mind flashed quickly to Tina. He'd have to find out from Josh where she lived or worked and go apologise for what happened. He didn't like her much when he was younger but he felt sorry for her. She clearly had no clue about Amy and was upset about being used as a rebound when she wanted something serious. At least Douglas was able to intervene before someone (probably Josh) ended up hurt. Thanking every God he knew that he convinced Josh to move back to Seymour's Bay where him and his family could keep an eye on him; he then concentrated on helping his heart-broken friend home and moving on with his life after Amy.

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'Wait a sec' Louise said holding up a hand for Tina to stop talking. 'He only wanted to go out with you because he was on the rebound from his dead girlfriend?'

Tina nodded, sighing a bit as she continued 'yeah, it's really bad as I really did like Josh, but I'm glad that Douglas told me, otherwise the whole thing would have been a huge mess.' She thought back to a hour and an half ago when she was about to leave for the suppliers with Louise when Douglas came by to apologise for what happened last night. After explaining that he was just worried about Josh and that he had nothing against Tina, she forgave him for what happened last night, before running out to her car where an impatient Louise was honking on the horn.

Now as she was walking around the wholesaler, she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit disappointed that Josh was using her like that. Before then she had thought of him as kind, quirky, and above all not a user (unlike other dancers she knew).

Louise stared at Tina as they walked around getting various supplies for the coffee shop. She looked so down; maybe she shouldn't have tried to set Tina up with Josh and should have just given her the chocolates. Well it was too late to give her the chocolates now, Louise had ate them for breakfast this morning, before she had got to the coffee shop and found out how the date went.

Tina then jolted Louise out of her thoughts 'anyway how did mum and dad take us not going to dinner? Are they mad?'

Louise then shook her head. 'Well they were a bit upset, but they got over it quickly enough' she said.

That was a massive lie. Her parents had flipped. When Louise had snuck into her bedroom at half-past midnight last night, her parents were furiously waiting for her there. As they weren't able to get hold of Tina or Gene and her Mum hadn't checked her Facebook, they thought something had happened. It took an entire hour to convince her parents that Linda had let them off the family dinner what with Bob refusing to believe that Linda would do that and Linda didn't remember giving permission either. Once Louise had shown her parents the fake messages they reluctantly believed them and turned on each other. It was at that point that Louise chucked them out of her room. The next morning was full of tension as her Mum was a tiny bit suspicious about those messages (another side effect of her crazy diet was she was more paranoid), so Louise was actually relieved to go to work.

'That's good' Tina said quietly as she picked up some flour, 'I was really worried that they'd be mad.'

Louise then waved her hand. 'Ah their not too mad they just want us all there next week – no excuses.'

Tina nodded and opened her mouth to reply when a voice rang out 'Hey if it isn't TB!' a tall muscular man them made his way over to the sister's. Louise's mouth then dropped open at said person. He may not have grown much since she last saw him (he was around Tina's height), but he was much more muscular if that was even possible. All in all though she'd recognise Zeke anywhere.

'Hey girl! Long-time no see! Whatcha been up to?' Zeke asked walking over to the girls. 'Oh not much' Louise said shortly. 'I didn't know you were still living around here Zeke; I've barely seen you since your graduation.'

'Yeah' Zeke laughed. 'I'm working as head chef in that new restaurant on the other side of town. The Cream Supreme, have you heard of it?'

'Yeah' Tina said actually getting involved in the conversation now much to Louise's surprise considering her history with Zeke 'you get amazing reviews all the time. I heard even celebrities dine there.'

'Yeah' Zeke laughed. 'Our food is really popular. Say why don't you go over there on Thursday? We're having a European dish night then. I reckon I can get you guys half off your meal. What do you say?'

'Uh sure!' Tina said. 'Really?' Zeke asked hopefully which made Louise turn her full attention towards him and looked him over with curiosity; Tina however remained oblivious to the hopeful look on Zeke's face. 'Yeah, I heard good things about that place; I think it'd be nice to go there with Gene or Phoebe. Well I gotta go; I need to get back to the coffee shop. See you.' 'Bye Zeke' Louise said glancing at Zeke with a 'don't even think about it' look in her eyes. Zeke however just stood there even after the Belcher sisters had turned a corner and disappeared. Then a large grin slowly settled onto his face and he went about getting what he needed for the restaurant a lot more cheerfully then he originally was.

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Zeke couldn't believe his luck. He didn't really believe in God or an afterlife, but now he was seriously considering that God existed and was determined to help him out. He hadn't seen Tina Belcher in years, well he caught glimpses of her around town but they hadn't come face to face. He tried going up to her at graduation to wish her luck in college, but she avoided him throughout the whole ceremony. Probably to make sure she didn't bump into J-Ju. Now that situation was a right mess.

Zeke had always liked Tina. A lot, ever since they first met in fourth grade. But Tina was always interested in his best friend. Why Zeke wasn't entirely sure. Even though J-Ju was his best friend and he cared about him, for as long as he could remember he had always treated Tina really badly. One moment he was interested in dating her, the next he couldn't even remember her own name, even though they lived on the same street ever since they were born. Now J-Ju was his best friend and he did help him from time to time in trying to win Tina back, but he couldn't help but wish that she'd realise there was a guy who liked her a lot more then J-Ju did. Hell, he loved her. He always knew he had a crush, but since the 'Mad Pooper' fiasco he'd realised his feelings ran deeper than that. And ever since then he tried to tell Tina about his feelings, he even told her they'll be getting married one day but she thought he was just being grateful for helping him steal the mascot uniform so he could visit his grandmother before her surgery.

He sighed when he thought about the time when Tina stopped even acknowledging he existed altogether. Ever since high school started and Tina and Jocelyn dated (he always thought that those two were straight, but it wasn't his place to judge) J-Ju started to spread really bad rumours about Tina around. He wasn't really successful as Tammy wasn't around to make sure that everybody heard, so he switched tactics by telling whoever Tina was dating really humiliating stories of her from when they were growing up. Zeke wasn't really sure what benefit his friend was getting out of this and when he asked all J-Ju said was that it was payback for stringing him along. It took every ounce of willpower Zeke had not to point out that Tina had never strung him along, it was always the other way around or to hit J-Ju for being a huge jerk. He chose not to because J-Ju was his best friend and he thought his crush would disappear as quickly as it came. But he still felt incredibly guilty as Tina was never mean to him; she had always treated him and J-Ju kindly; that was until Halloween junior year.

It was the day they broke up for Halloween and he was in the music room, listening to J-Ju bad-mouth her to her current boyfriend (Carl? Christian? He knew it began with a C) when a furious Tina barged in, having overheard every word. She slapped J-Ju so hard that the print was still visible on his face for the entire break, before screaming at him. After she had finished her rant on J Ju she rounded on him, Zeke prepared himself for a slap, but was shocked and heart-broken when he saw the tears in her eyes. 'Why?' she asked tearfully. 'Why would you help him with this? I thought we were friends Zeke.' Those words tore at him and he wanted nothing more than to proclaim his innocence but he knew she wouldn't believe him. He was caught at the scene of the crime with J-Ju and there wasn't much he could say in his defence.

After that Tina didn't even acknowledge his existence and that hurt him a lot. J-Ju carried on like he hadn't done anything wrong, but Zeke knew Tina's family went and got revenge for her. Andy and Ollie had told him that Louise had destroyed every single one of their brother's dance music and Zeke suspected that they had helped her with that. Gene didn't even look in his direction during his last two years at Huxley High and Zeke suspected that some of the crueller songs he wrote were badmouthing him and J-Ju. He even lost Jocelyn's and Darryl's friendship to boot. He'll admit they were more Tina's friends than his; but they were really good mates and were tons of fun to be with. But once they heard about what happened, Jocelyn pretty much threatened him never to speak a bad word about Tina again or she'll ruin his life, while Darryl would barely speak two words to him at all and told him to find a new math tutor. The rest of high was pretty much awful. And he only had himself to blame for not stopping J-Ju at the start.

Still he consoled himself as he went to pay for what he got; Tina had actually spoken to him and said she'll come to his European Dish night at the restaurant. Maybe there was a chance she had forgiven him for his role (however small) in the J- Ju fiasco. Maybe just maybe they could mend their friendship.

And that's chapter 3!

*DMC - means Deep Meaningful Conversation in text speak it sounds like something Gene would say

**The Red White and Brew is an actual bar in America

1. What do you think of the characters so far? (mostly Phoebe, Jocelyn, Josh, Douglas, Rudy, Andy, Ollie, Jessica and Zeke) I've tried to keep them as close to as they are in the series, but some characters are only in it for an episode or they aren't really developed (Douglas, Josh, Jocelyn) so I had to go with what I think they'll be like.

2. Is there any character that you want to see more of or to enter the story at some point. They can be a kid or adult from the show or one of my OC's. I have a general idea about where the story is going but feedback will help me decide what characters to involve more with the Belcher kids.

To any Josh x Tina or Jimmy Jr x Tina fans out there, sorry but I am a Zeke x Tina fan so that will be one of the main ships in this story (there'll be other ships too, but it'll be the relationship the kids in the show has not the adults) also I don't think Tina and Jimmy Jr would have made a good couple as he does act like a jerk to her, while we don't know enough about Josh as he was only in the show for two episodes.

4. Josh fan's though don't worry I do have plans for him further in the story this won't be the last time you see him.

That's it for now, I'm not sure when the next update will be up, but I'll try to have it up sooner. Please review so I know what you think!