DGG: Hm. I didn't really update as soon as I originally intended to do. I was originally shooting for Wednesday, but other stuff got in the way. I edited this chapter last night, so I could post it then, but it was like 1:30 in the morning and I needed to get up in six hours, so I couldn't sit there and do one last read-through before posting it. So...yeah. It's here now though! Woo! Haha. I'm really lame...

Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

The next day at work Spongebob was back to being extra cheery; he just couldn't wait to see Suzie again! He worked steadily, yet he always kept an eye on the clock in order to count down the seconds until her arrival. But above all, he was extremely happy. He would proclaim it to anyone who would listen, and everyone else was happy for him. Squidward was happy because that meant Spongebob was too preoccupied to bother him for the time being. Mr. Krabs was so happy with Spongebob's work performance that he gave his fry cook a whole ten minutes to eat his lunch with Suzie before he had to get back to work. Yes, everyone was ecstatic about the newcomer in Spongebob's life. Everyone except for Patrick, that is.

The starfish was still fuming about his best friend's behavior from the previous day. Spongebob liked this girl. He really, really liked this girl! And yesterday Spongebob had already shown signs of forgetting about his best friend! He never thought that was even remotely possible before yesterday! The two of them always hung out whenever Spongebob wasn't at work or at school! How could she have worked her evil love-related magic so quickly on his best friend? Patrick wasn't sure of many things in life; however, he did know one thing: if he didn't do something, then this new sponge was going to ruin everything!

He recalled that Spongebob had invited her to eat lunch with him later, and he planned to help his best friend out of this situation. Suzie was the cause of all this nonsense, and he had to keep them apart! The chubby star sauntered to Bikini Bottom's most famous fast food joint and peered through the giant glass window. Immediately, Patrick huffed as he placed a frown on his face; the she-devil was there.

"Wow, you sound like you come from a really close family," Spongebob said while taking a break from eating his Krabby Patty.

"Yeah, that's why it was really hard to move so far away from them, but I figured it would be for the best in the long run," explained Suzie before she took another bite of the salad she brought in.

"Hey, Spongebob! Long time, no see," Patrick spoke happily as he suddenly popped up between the two, his back facing the female.

"Um…Patrick, what are you doing?" questioned Spongebob.

"Oh, nothing," he shrugged. "I was just a little hungry and thought I'd stop by the Krusty Krab to get some lunch."

Spongebob blinked.

"Well…I'm on break right now…"

"You're just going to let me starve? You've changed, Spongebob. You've changed," Patrick shook his head while folding his arms across his chest melodramatically.

Now both sponges blinked, neither truly sure of what to do.

"Patrick, I'm a little busy right now," the fry cook motioned to the female behind his friend, "I have a few more minutes here, and then I'll make you whatever you want."

"But I'm hungry now!" the starfish pouted.

"Patrick, I said I was on break," Spongebob reiterated through clenched teeth, once again motioning to Suzie.

"But I'm a paying customer," Patrick smirked.

"Payin' customer?" Mr. Krabs suddenly burst out of his office like he had super-sonic hearing. "Spongebob, you're causin' me to lose money!"

"But…my lunch break's not over yet…" he frowned.

"Are you disobeyin' a direct order?" the crab huffed.

"No, Sir," Spongebob sighed in defeat before turning back to look at Suzie. "Sorry I couldn't stay longer, Suzie."

"That's okay," she smiled as she packed up her things. "Maybe we could talk later when you get off work."

The male sponge instantly brightened, "Really?"

"Sure," she smiled. "You can come by my apartment later. My apartment number is ten; I'm on the top floor."

"Okay, I'll see you later!" he cried as bounded happily back into the kitchen.

"It was nice seeing you again, Patrick," Suzie waved at him before she turned to leave.

"Uh huh," he spoke flatly, not even bothering to turn and look at her. But as soon as she left, he slammed his fist down onto the table in frustration. "Tartar sauce!"

That evil she-sponge thwarted his efforts! She was good at this game. Well, if Spongebob was going to her apartment later tonight, then so was he. After that, he waited around outside the Krusty Krab until closing time, and when Spongebob skipped merrily out the front doors, Patrick followed stealthily behind him.

"Look at him," Patrick noted while his best friend led him to the apartment complex. "That girl already has him wrapped around her little finger! She's going to just rip him away from his old life!" Patrick suddenly put a scowl on his face at the thought. "Well, not if I have anything to say about it!"

"Wow, you really do have a big family," noted Spongebob as he looked at all the pictures on the mantel of her parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and a few nieces and nephews. "It must have been really hard for you to leave them."

"Very," she stepped up beside him to stare longingly at the photos. "They were all pretty devastated too, but they understood that I needed to get out and see the world on my own."

"So do you have a job here?" Spongebob changed the subject.

"I work in a clothing store just down the street," she smiled, her long ponytail swinging behind her as she turned her head to the right to look at him.

"Is that where you got that pretty dress?"

She giggled, "No, actually I made it myself."

"Wow. Really? It looks great! What else can you make?"

"Oh, about anything: scarves, shirts, skirts, socks, mittens, hats. You name it, I can probably make it," Suzie winked.

"Do you think you can make me something?"

"Sure, what would you like?"

Spongebob placed a hand to his chin for a moment to ponder; however, before he could answer, a loud rapping came from the front door.

"Hm. I wonder who that could be?" the red-head wondered aloud as she opened the door. "Patrick?" she questioned, blinking in surprise at Spongebob's friend.

"Patrick?" Spongebob repeated as he stepped toward the doorway. "What are you doing here…?"

"You know what I'm doing here," answered Patrick matter-of-factly.

"What? No, I don't," he shook his head, still quite bewildered.

"Spongebob," Patrick held up his "BFF" ring.

The male sponge was still confused.

"Yeah? What…what about it?"

"Spongebob Squarepants, we are best friends, are we not?"

"Well yeah, Patrick, but…"

"And as a best friend, it is a part of your duty to help me when I am in need."

"So what exactly is it that you need, Pat?" the male sponge shrugged, still perplexed by the starfish's presence.

"Oh…I…um…" the pink male stuttered. He hadn't thought this far ahead yet. He had to say something, but what could he say? Panic overtook him as he said the first thing that came to his mind. "I need help waxing my eyebrows!" he suddenly shouted.

Both sponges gave the star a deadpan stare.

"Um…" Spongebob finally spoke up. "Well, couldn't that wait? I mean, I'm kinda in the middle of something here since someone cost me the rest of my lunch break."

"No, Spongebob. It really can't wait. We have to go do it right now," he urged.

"Why do you even want to?" the fry cook raised an eyebrow.

"Because maybe I'd like to feel pretty," Patrick scoffed while placing his hands on his hips. "So come on."

"Patrick," Spongebob complained. "I'm hanging out with Suzie right now."

"Come on, Spongebob, you just met her! She'll be here tomorrow!" Patrick rolled his eyes. "I'm your best friend, and I need your help now."

"Getting your eyebrows waxed isn't a life or death situation, Pat," Spongebob spoke sternly. "I'm sorry, but I'm busy right now. We'll do it later…I guess."

Patrick crossed his arms in a huff.

"You just don't wanna leave because of that stupid love bug thing Mr. Krabs was talking about!"

"Love bug?" Suzie finally spoke up, raising an eyebrow as she turned to look back at the male sponge.

"Don't act like you don't know what it is!" Patrick cried.

"What's he talking about, Spongebob?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows now.

"Well," Spongebob started, a slight blush taking over his face. He suddenly found that he couldn't look her in the eye, so he diverted his gaze toward the ground where he was nervously tracing his right foot in circles, "ever since I saw you for the first time at the Krusty Krab, my boss said I was bitten by the love bug…"

"Really?" a slight blush came to her own cheeks.

"Yeah," he laughed nervously, stealing a nervous glance toward her, his hands clasped behind his back sheepishly.

Silence fell upon the three individuals in the room as everyone took in what just happened. Patrick looked back and forth between the two sponges with a slight feeling of triumph. She wasn't talking. In fact, she seemed a little shocked. Maybe now that she was aware that Spongebob knew she had released her love bugs, she wouldn't be interested in him anymore! Then everything could finally go back to normal! However, Patrick's happiness was short-lived when Suzie suddenly smiled.

"Oh, Spongebob," she spoke.

And that's when the unthinkable happened. Upon hearing her breathless words, Spongebob's nerves seemed to steady. He stood up straighter, no longer fidgeting as a large, dreamy smile crept onto his face. The two then stared longingly into each other's eyes and before long they intertwined their fingers with one another's. Little hearts seemed to just pop up all around them as they stood as though they were frozen in time. This wasn't going at all how Patrick had hoped it would!

"Spongebob, snap out of it!" cried Patrick in a panic.

But the sponges were in a world of their own. Nothing could touch them. Nothing could penetrate the love bubble that seemed to surround them.

"Spongebob!" Patrick waved his arms frantically. "Spongebob!"

"I haven't eaten dinner yet," Spongebob suddenly spoke up apparently not hearing the cries of the other male. "Would you like to go out somewhere?"

"I'd love to!" Suzie batted her eyelashes.

The two sea sponges, with hands interlocked, turned and walked out the door as if Patrick was invisible. The star's jaw just dropped. What just happened? He came here to save his and Spongebob's friendship, yet he somehow just made the situation worse! Maybe this was too much for him to handle on his own. He had to save Spongebob from the evils of women before it was too late! He rushed out of the apartment and ran down the street to his friend Sandy Cheek's underwater tree dome.

"Sandy! Sandy!" Patrick beat on the plastic bubble. He didn't have a bowl to fill with water to put on his head, so he couldn't go inside the completely oxygenated area.

"Patrick?" Sandy, a common brown, furry land squirrel wearing a purple bikini-like outfit stepped up. "Well what are you doin' here?"

"Sandy, it's terrible! Something terrible's happened to Spongebob!" he cried.

"What?" she gasped suddenly on edge. "What do you mean? Is he hurt? Was he kidnapped? Is he missin'? What's the problem?"

"No, it's worse than any of those things!"

"What could be worse than that?" she frowned, worry etched on her furry features.

"He was bitten by a love bug!"

Sandy raised an eyebrow at the sheer ridiculousness of his statement.

"Say what?" she spoke flatly.

"A love bug," he repeated. "Spongebob was bitten by it and now he's spending all his time with some…some…girl! It's horrible!"

"That's it? Patrick, I don't really see the problem," Sandy scratched her head.

"How can you not? Aren't you a scientist? Don't you study these kinds of things?" he frowned.

Sandy chuckled.

"Patrick, calm down. Spongebob havin' a li'l crush on somebody is nothin' to fret about," she shrugged with a smile.

"It's not just a little crush!" Patrick pounded both fists on the dome for emphasis. "He really, really, really likes her! They went out to eat together right now! This is terrible!"

"What's so terrible about it?" the southern squirrel raised an eyebrow.

"We won't be able to be BFFs anymore!" the star stuck out his lower lip.

"That's ridiculous, Patrick. You and Spongebob are tighter than bark on a tree. Just calm down. Now if you're done actin' like a fool, I have some experiments I'd like to check on."

"Sandy, no! Come back! We have to save Spongebob from the evils of girls!" Patrick cried as Sandy began to walk away; however, she stopped once he finished his sentence.

"What'd you just say?" she turned around, practically snarling.

"I…uh…" Patrick stuttered nervously, shrinking in fear.

"You'd better get out of here, Patrick, unless you wanna be squashed flatter than a flapjack underneath a steamroller!"

The star instantly turned around and ran screaming from the tree dome. Patrick was horrified, for more than one reason. But the main reason was that Sandy wasn't going to help him keep Spongebob away from Suzie! How could she not understand what happened when someone got into a relationship? She was the smartest person he knew, and yet this predicament with Spongebob wasn't bothering her at all! Well, maybe Sandy didn't realize the seriousness of the situation, but Squidward surely would.

The starfish huffed away to his street, where Squidward's island head home stood in between his and Spongebob's homes. Once he got there, he started beating on the wooden door.

"Squidward! Squidward! You have to help!"

Reluctantly, the door opened, "What do you want, Patrick? I thought we established that we wouldn't bother me after the sun goes down."

"I know, but this is important!" Patrick exclaimed, still in a frenzy. "Spongebob's in trouble! He needs our help."

"Oh, really?" the octopus answered sarcastically. "Well, in that case…"

Suddenly, he slammed the door in the star's face.

"Good idea, Squidward, we may need some supplies. I'll wait here while you get 'em."

"You do that," said Squidward's muffled voice from behind the door.

Patrick waited and waited but still his annoyed neighbor never returned. A couple hours passed, and he was growing weary, but he suddenly perked up upon hearing Spongebob's merry voice singing. He turned to his right and saw that his friend seemed to be floating on air as he skipped happily up his walk way. The sponge didn't even notice his friend as he opened his front door and stepped inside.

Patrick placed his hands on his head. This couldn't be happening. Spongebob was falling deeper and deeper into Suzie's evil clutches. Well, if no one else would help him, he would just have to try and do it himself. Tomorrow, he would put a stop to this once and for all!