A/N: This takes place a few months after the whole…Chicago thingy. So…yeah. Enjoy.

Lola stood outside West Side Fitness Center, looking up at the faded sign above her. She sighed and pushed the front door open. A blast of cold air hit her as she entered and she looked around for any changes there might have been in the past 5-6 months.

Had it really been that long since she'd been there?

She looked around for some familiar faces and spotted some of her old co-workers helping people out with the equipment. She walked up to the front counter and looked over the side. There was an old, but surprisingly buff wolf sitting behind the counter, reading a magazine.

"Hey, Jerry."

The old wolf looked up and dropped his magazine.

"L-Lola? Is that you?"

Lola smiled weakly and nodded.

"Well gee wiz! How's Hollywood been treating you kiddo?"

"Oh…fine, I guess. Uhm, is Gloria here?"

Jerry gave her a knowing look and pointed to the back room. Lola nodded and walked past the counter.

She approached a door marked "Employees Only" and hesitated. It'd been so long since she had been there, that she felt like an outcast. None of her old co-workers, who she knew spotted her, reacted to her being there. It was as if she was no longer a member of their secret little club. She knew it was ridiculous that they should even treat her as if she didn't exist, just because she left, though she felt guilty that she never visited or kept anyone updated. Especially about Gloria. She had always been a good friend, and was the one that got her to even try out for the movie. She could understand why she would be upset about not keeping her updated or making time to spend with her, but she had grown so busy and distracted. If Gloria was truly a real friend, she would have to respect that.

Lola gathered her courage and opened the door.

"Gloria? You in here?"

Gloria came from behind a locker and wrapped a towel around her neck. She stopped short when she saw Lola standing in the doorway.

"Oh. It's you." Gloria crossed her arms and leaned against the side of the locker and looked her over.

"Yeah, it's me." Lola shut the door behind her and waited for her friend to say something.

"What do you want?"

"I just came to see how things were going."

"Is that all?"

Lola gave her a sad look. She never believed Gloria could be so cold.

"Look, I'm sorry I haven't been in touch lately, I've just been busy."

Gloria narrowed her eyes. "I'm sure."

Lola got frustrated. "I dunno why you have to be such a bitch about it. You're the one who wanted me to try out for this part!"

Gloria looked away and sighed. "I know."

"Then why are you so mad at me? You won't even answer my calls anymore!"

Gloria continued looking away from Lola and said nothing.

"Are you jealous?"

Still nothing.

"That's it isn't it? You're just jealous. You can't respect the fact that I've been busy, or that I could possibly have a life outside of this place."

Gloria turned completely away from her and it was all the answer she needed.

Lola clenched her fists. "Fine, be that way. I don't need this drama. Be jealous or whatever, I don't care anymore."

Lola turned around and reached for the door. She waited a second more to see if Gloria had anything to say, but when she still said nothing, she opened the door and left.

"Nice seein' ya Jer." Lola said sharply has she strode past the front counter and out the front door.

He waved, but she was already gone.

Lola knocked on the door to a very large, white house and waited. She felt as if a chapter of her life was over and there was no going back. She had made knew friends, and in the short time she'd known them, she felt closer and more at home than she ever had, and she was grateful. Never had she felt so comfortable and accepted and something inside her knew that no matter what happened, her new friends would still have her back and understand her.

She looked out over the lake that was in the side yard and something about it made her calm her thoughts a bit.

The front door opened and Daphne looked out.

"Oh, hey! What's goin' on?" Daphne opened the door wider and gestured for Lola to come in.

"I gotta vent."

"This house was made for venting. Come in my child." Daphne smiled and grabbed Lola's arm and led her in.

"Thanks." Lola followed her into the living room and realized that she wasn't the only visitor. Bugs was standing in the living room, having a heated conversation on the phone.

"Oh. Bugs is here?" Lola's stomach tightened.

"Yeah."

"Who's he…uh…talking to?"

"His agent I think." Daphne snapped her fingers to get his attention and he turned around and spotted them. He nodded as if to say hello and held up his finger to indicate that he'd be off the phone in a minute.

Lola watched him pace and smiled. "He's busier than anyone and even he can look at you and acknowledge you exist."

Daphne noticed Lola got off track in her thoughts and waved a hand in front of her face.

"Yoo hoo? You came to vent?"

"Oh. Yeah."

Daphne pulled her over to the couch and they sat down. Lola continued watching Bugs slowly saunter with his head tilted on the phone. She had grown used to seeing him in a basketball uniform, but he was in a light blue over-shirt and khakis today, and it complimented his tall, thin frame.

Daphne cleared her throat. "So?"

Lola looked to her and blushed. "So?"

"Would you vent already!"

"I'm sorry. It's my friend Gloria." Lola waved her hand by her head as if to clear her previous thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"I…well she-"

Bugs hung up the phone and tossed it on the couch next to Daphne. "I HATE that guy!"

They both turned to him with questioning looks.

"My agent! He's a jackass!"

"What now?" Daphne gestured for him to sit down also.

He sat in a recliner next to the couch and rubbed his forehead.

"No, don't worry about it. You ladies continue whatever it is you were sayin'."

Daphne turned back to Lola. "So, Gloria…?"

"Who's Gloria?" Bugs looked up.

"Lola's friend."

"You have friends?" Bugs joked.

"You shut up! I have friends…at least I used to." Lola looked down at her hands.

"Hey, we're you're friends." Daphne put her hand on Lola's shoulder.

"Yeah. What the hell, I gave ya my bagel!"

Lola gave Bugs a sarcastic look. "Oh yeah, sign of a true friend."

Bugs smirked.

"So, what's going on with this Gloria?" Daphne got back on topic.

"I dunno, I think our friendship just ended. She's acting like she's jealous of me. It's very highschool."

"Jealous of what?"

"The whole Hollywood thing, I guess."

"Well I say let her. If she's really your friend, she'll come around and you two will work things out."

Daffy suddenly burst through the front door. "Bugsth! I got it runnin', come on!"

"Comin'. See you two later." Bugs got up and left for the front door.

"Where are they going?" Lola watched them leave and turned to Daphne.

"Fishing." Daphne waited until she heard the front door shut before grabbing Lola's arm, surprising her.

"What the..?"

"Ok…what's the deal?"

"What d'ya mean?" Lola looked at Daphne nervously.

"You, with the staring, and the daydreaming. When did this start?"

Lola turned a deep shade of red and gulped. "I don't know what you mean."

"Cut the crap, I ain't stupid. You like him!"

Lola bit her bottom lip. She wasn't expecting the conversation to go there so quickly and she got flustered. She did like him, but she had been having a hard time coming to grips about it for a while 

now. She wasn't ready to own up to her feelings just yet. She mainly saw him as a close friend. A very charming, intelligent, funny, handsome close friend.

"Lola, come on. You can tell me. I won't blab to him, honest." Daphne put her hand on her heart and held up two fingers in a "scout's honor"-like fashion.

"Oh yeah, and what about to Daffy?" Lola glanced at her sideways, un-convinced. She knew her friend was gossipy.

"Why would Daffy care?"

"I don't know!"

Daphne reached out and put her hand on Lola's knee encouragingly. "Lola, I won't tell anyone. I promise."

Lola sighed, and looked down, still blushing.

"So you like 'em?"

"A little." Lola clenched her eyes shut in disbelief that those words even came out of her mouth.

"I knew it!"

"Don't over-react about this. I'm not in love with the guy! I just…I like him. I respect him."

Daphne elbowed Lola. "I knew you would. You guys are so cute together."

"R-Really?" Lola's blush deepened.

Daphne giggled. "Yep!"

"I feel kinda bad about it..." Lola looked down at the floor and put her hands together in her lap.

"Why on earth would you feel bad?"

"Well, Lily. She's liked him for so long and I've probably seen, I dunno, 3 of his cartoons?" She looked back at Daphne and sunk into the couch.

"What does that matter? All that means is you like the real him. He wouldn't care if you were a fan or not."

"But what about Lily? I'd feel bad if we became…involved. She'd kill me." She still couldn't believe she was having this conversation, or even thinking about it.

"Who cares about Lily? It's what Bugs wants, right? He doesn't even like her!"

"Yeah, but he doesn't want me either." Lola crossed her arms and gave her a serious look.

"Well…" Daphne rubbed the back of her neck.

Lola's eyes got wide and she sat up straight. "Well? Well what? Did he say anything?!"

"Actually, no. He hasn't." The disappointment in Daphne's face was evident.

Lola slumped back into the couch. "See? Told you."

"Well now hang on. Bugs doesn't talk much about those kinds of things unless you ask him."

"I'm not going to ask him that!" She shot back up again frantically.

Daphne put up her hands defensively. "I didn't say you had to."

"Don't you dare ask him! And don't you dare get Daffy or anyone else to either!"

"Calm down, calm down. I won't. I said I wouldn't say anything, ok?"

Lola loosened up again and sighed. "Ok."

"What I was saying was, he doesn't talk about those kinds of things. So that means there could be a chance he does like you, but just hasn't…made mention of it."

"How would I know then?"

Daphne shrugged. "Not sure. He's a mysterious one all right. 30 years of knowin' the guy and I still don't have him figured out."

"Hmm…"

"But don't lose hope."

"I don't have any, so I have nothing to lose."

Daphne put her arm over Lola's shoulder. "Don't be so depressing."

"It's just a stupid little crush. It'll go away with time."

Daphne smiled knowingly. "Uh huh…"

"I really do value his friendship though. It's just that, it's getting harder and harder to be around him without finding something new that I like about him."

"I know what you mean."

"What, is that how it was with Daffy?"

Daphne burst into laughter. "Heavens no!"

"Then what…?"

"I'll tell ya sometime."

Lola raised an eyebrow, but didn't question her any further.



Lola hugged Daphne good-bye and waved as she headed back to her car. She smiled to herself, knowing that if she had truly lost her friendship with Gloria, she had gained an even stronger friendship with Daphne. It was nice to let her in on her little "secret". She trusted Daphne, and rather than feeling anxious that someone else knew, she felt like a large weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

She walked past, what she assumed was Bugs car; a cherry red 1957 Cadillac. She stared at her reflection in its shiny exterior. The sun was beginning to set and the red hues in the sky played off the car's paint job and gave it a very photogenic look. She was almost hypnotized by it, so much so, that she didn't notice someone walk up behind her.

"Like the car?"

Lola quickly spun around and saw Bugs standing at the head of the driveway, with Daffy behind him heading back for the house.

"Y-Yeah, it's very…shiny."

He smiled. "Yeah, shiny."

He began walking up to her and she quickly turned back towards the car, trying to hide the blush on her face. She pretended to still be interested in looking at the car.

He stopped next to her and looked at it also. They were both silent for several moments before Bugs spoke up.

"Listen, about earlier. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."

She turned to him, slightly confused. "Huh?"

"The 'no friends' comment. I was just kiddin'."

She had completely forgotten about it. She knew it was friendly banter, but having him apologize for it just in case, made her smile.

"Oh. I know. It's fine."

He nodded. "Good."

She knew there was still a blush on her face so she kept facing the car.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"So uh, did you guys catch anything?"

Bugs laughed lightly. "Heh, no. Not with Daffy's mouth carryin' on."

Lola laughed knowingly.

"So ya headin' home?"

"Yeah, I was just heading to my car." She gestured to her old, beat up white Geo, slightly embarrassed.

Bugs looked past her and observed the car.

"Ah, Geo. 5 speed manual?"

She looked at him, surprised. "Yeah?"

"Those are spunky little cars for what they are."

"You're into cars?" Lola smiled in slight surprise.

He shrugged. "You could say that." He tapped the side of her arm with his hand and began to back away. "Well, I should head back."

"Right. See you later."

"Yeah, see ya tomorrow." He smiled and began to head back towards Daffy's house.

"Bye." Lola watched him walk away and brought her hand up to rest over where he touched her arm, as if to hold onto the feeling a moment longer. She caught herself and shook the mist from her head before turning to get to her car.

She sat in it and held onto the steering wheel for several moments in thought.

"Well old girl, someone just gave you a compliment, for once."

Another day of shooting had ended. Most of Lola's scenes consisted of her running in the background. Some of them were alongside Bugs, and she thoroughly enjoyed the attention "movie Bugs" was giving her, even though it was only acting.

She had changed into her normal clothes and was heading out with her duffle bag slung over her shoulder, when she ran head on into him.

"Oh man, I'm sorry!" She clenched her teeth and berated herself for not paying more attention.

"No, it's fine." Bugs brushed himself off and smiled at her.

They stood there not knowing what else to say for a moment.

"Uhm, well I guess I'll see ya later." Lola smiled weakly.

"Yeah."

They both started to walk away from each other, but Bugs stopped and turned back around.

"Hey Lo?"

"Yeah?" She turned to face him.

"Ya wanna grab some coffee?"

She clutched onto the strap of her duffle bag and gulped nervously. "Sure, that'd be great!"

Lola sat across from Bugs, at the same table they sat at the first time she went to drink coffee with him. She had been out with him and several of the others many times since then, but it'd been a while since she was actually out, alone with him.

"Heard anything about your friend?"

"Who, Gloria? No, I give up. If she wants a friendship, she can call me. I'm too busy to worry about it anymore."

"How long have you known her?"

Lola shrugged. "3 years? I met her through my old job."

"What was that?"

"I was a fitness instructor."

Bugs nodded and soaked it in. "That's interesting."

She scoffed and looked off to the side. "Not really. They're a dime a dozen here in L.A. Easy money."

"You're too hard on yourself. At least, lately ya have been. Is somethin' wrong, aside from your friend?"

Lola fought the blush on her face and took a swig of her coffee.

"N-no. Just have a lot on my mind I guess."

"Ya sure?" Bugs studied her.

"Yeah. But thanks for worrying about me." She smiled to herself. He always seemed to worry about her.

Bugs nodded and took a sip of his coffee. She observed him for a moment and gathered up to speak up.

"So, if it's not too personal…uhm, what was the deal with your agent the other day?"

Bugs laughed. "Nah, it's fine. He just he contacted me about a movie deal for next winter and I told him I was too busy. I have this movie in progress and school's starting up soon..."

She raised her eyebrow questioningly. "School?"

"Huh? Oh, I own a school."

"Really? Wow, now that's interesting."

Bugs smiled; amused that she hadn't known about that, when he figured it was common knowledge.

"So that was it? He was just…"

"Well, when I told him about my other priorities he got kinda upset, then went on to asking whether he was getting benefits from this current movie. Typical behavior from him I suppose."

Lola tilted her head. "What the hell?"

"Yeah, he's an ass."

"Pfft. Agents."

He gave her a surprised look. "You got one?"

She waved him off. "Heh, no. I just wanted to sound like a smartass."

Bugs laughed. He smiled and stared at her for a moment and she blushed. She looked down at her coffee and tried to settle her cheeks down.

"Lola, ya always know how to make me laugh. Not many people can do that."

Her blush deepened and she looked up at him. "Really?"

"Really."

She smiled to herself.

"Listen, I didn't invite ya here just to talk about your friend and my asshole of an agent…"

Lola's eyes grew wide and she stared at him nervously. Her heart began to beat erratically and she gulped.

"I was wondering if you'd like to go out sometime."

She paled. "You mean…like on a date?"

"Yeah." He said matter-of-factly.

"I…that is…" (YES! YESSSS! Oh God, don't act too excited.)

Bugs raised a concerned eyebrow at her obvious internal turmoil.

"Yes! Sure. I mean…yes."

"Heh, ok?"

Lola beamed.

"Is Saturday good?"

"Yeah, Saturday's great!"

Her ears were buzzing and she could feel the heat radiating off her face, but she no longer cared if he saw. Her mind raced in a mixture of emotions but got cut off by a beeping sound that seemed to come from under the table. Bugs reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a beeper and glanced at it. He gave it an aggravated glare and shoved it back into his pocket.

She gave him a questioning look as he stood up.

"Sorry, gotta run. I forgot I had a meeting to go to."

"Oh. Alright."

"It's the asshole." Bugs teased as he threw money down on the table.

Lola smiled, reassured.

"I'll see ya Saturday."

"Yes! Saturday." Lola watched him walk away until he was out of ear-shot.

"YES!"

Lola pushed herself up and took off in the other direction, walking with an obvious skip in her step. Fear and anxiety started to creep up on her and she stopped abruptly when she came to a realization.

"Oh shit! What am I going to wear?!"

A/N: I like how Bugs was just straight forward about it. "Let's go out" Screw all that awkward stuff…just get to it. Hoorah!