A/N: Scenes of heavy prejudice ahead.

Three weeks had gone by, and Squidward was finally getting used to the new routine. It was a little disturbing having secret agents around most of the time, but he figured that he could live with it. It was the first Friday night that class was off, and so Squidward decided that a date was in order. He and Alaxis had sealed the deal over the phone, and he was ready to meet her at Fancy's Restaurant in downtown Seattle. As he left his home, he saw Spongebob walking down the street towards him.

"Hey Spongebob!" He waved, and Spongebob waved back.

"Where are ya going all gussied up?" Spongebob asked smiling.

"I have a date with Lax tonight!" Squidward proudly replied. Spongebob raised an eyebrow, asking, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"What could go wrong?" Squidward asked, and Spongebob's face put on a "really?" expression. Squidward hopped into his Honda, and pulled off.

Squidward had picked up Alaxis at her house. She wore a cream dress, with a gold necklace, while Squidward was wearing a simple tuxedo. After picking her up, he drove them to the restaurant.

When they arrived, the place was packed with customers. Fortunately, Squidward had reservations. He walked up to the counter, and asked for his reservation. The host, an orange fish with a black toupee, looked through the list, searching for Squidward's reservation. Eventually, he said, "Ah yes, Tentacles, party of two. Your table is ready. Come with me."

The host fish grabbed two menus and walked to a table on the right side of the restaurant. The atmosphere was as fancy as promised. A candle lay lit on each table, with every table dressed in a cream colored tablecloth which fell down around the sides of the circular tables. Squidward sat down and opened his menu.

Lax dug around inside of her purse, looking to make sure all was in order before closing it. She opened her menu and hummed. She made a particularly loud hum at one point, and Squidward raised his eyebrow.

"Fillet Mignon is sixteen dollars." she mused.

Squidward went back to his menu when a waiter with a handlebar mustache walked up. He looked at the couple sitting at the table, saying in a thick French accent, "I'm terribly sorry, but I'm afraid I cannot serve you tonight!"

Squidward asked, "Why?"

"Because we do not service your kind here," he stated flatly. "Monsieur, please leave."

Squidward looked and saw a fish couple eating peacefully on the other side of the restaurant.

"Hey! How come they get to eat here!?" Squidward argued, pointing to the fish couple.

"Because they aren't trying to date a human!" The waiter stormed off angrily.

Squidward and Lax got up and decided to go somewhere else. They drove to an Applebee's a few blocks away, and got the same treatment. Squidward was growing short on his already limited patience. Their final attempt was a Cracker Barrel that was once again, a few blocks away.

They had been welcomed in, and were properly waited on. After their orders had been taken, Squidward said, "Well, we can finally get this date started."

Alaxis smiled at that, before looking around at other customers. A few older couples were staring at them, the women in particular. Alaxis looked at other patrons, and she found a few engrossed in conversation, while a few were simply enjoying their food. Among the other patrons, she found few people that were staring at them.

Eventually, the stares from the older people were starting to make Lax uncomfortable, and she said, "I don't feel very comfortable here."

Squidward's face dropped a bit in disappointment. "What's wrong?"

"There are people staring." Alaxis replied, her eyes darting around quickly. "It's unnerving!"

From a hidden corner in the restaurant, a group of Anti-Fish protesters got up from their table, and made their way over. Alaxis clutched her purse tight, and Squidward took notice. Squidward's eyes darted to the entrance, but one Anti-Fisher had moved to block it. A waitress was moving from out of the kitchen towards a table, and they pushed her into a table, rushing to Squidward and Lax. Squidward got up and prepared to fight.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't the hospital girl! Didn't we teach you a lesson missy?" One said, sneering in wicked satisfaction.

"We aren't hurting anyone. Leave us alone." Squidward ordered, and one laughed.

"Oh but it is us who will be hurting you!" He said, and the gang made move to grab him, but Squidward punched one away, and elbowed another. Two others moved to trap his arms, and the leader punched him in the gut. Two more goons dragged away Alaxis, and by now, the entire restaurant was screaming in terror.

The leader turned to the crowd and asked, "Why are you screaming? We are purifying this restaurant!"

Squidward bucked against his captors, and stomped on one's foot. When the goon fell back, he turned forcefully, swinging the other goon onto the ground. He grabbed a plate from a nearby table, and smashed it against the goons face. The one with the hurt foot rushed Squidward into a table, sending plates and glasses crashing. Squidward felt several punches across the face before he was dragged onto his feet, and thrown to the floor.

Alaxis was crying when the gang dragged her to the window of the restaurant. With one fluid motion, they threw her crashing into the window, before nodding to the crowd, and leaving. One of the patrons called 911, and the others went to help Squidward, who was panting heavily.

Police littered the scene, yellow tape and evidence markers everywhere. Everyone who had remained was interrogated, and the goon who had been hit by the plate was sent to the hospital. Alaxis was in the ER, and Squidward was sitting in the back of an ambulance, an icepack to his head. An officer shook his head at the wreckage, and Agent Calone was giving instructions to the police. After a while, Calone walked over to Squidward.

"Next time, you're not leaving without an escort." Agent Calone ordered.

"Sure." Squidward was in no mood to argue. He sat and mused about things. Why did life seem to hate any good that happened to him? He was almost certain that Alaxis wouldn't want to be around him anymore.

After a week had passed and he was out of the hospital, he went to visit Lax before leaving. Her injuries consisted mainly of glass cuts, and scrapes that she got from hitting the ground. He walked into her room slowly, still feeling sluggish from the fight. When he entered she was looking out the window, watching the Space Needle that stood so far away and yet so near.

"Hey!" Squidward greeted.

"Hey."

Squidward sat in a chair that sat at the foot of her bed, and sighed. Without looking at him, Lax said, "I can't do this."

Squidward raised an eyebrow, and even though she couldn't see it, or so he thought, she continued. "I can't take being constantly stared at. I can't take living in fear, never knowing if today you'll be beaten or worse."

"Lax, I thought we were stronger than that!" Squidward reasoned. "We can take on entire armies if we face them together!"

"We were stronger than that. I just want a break from all of this. I just want to think about things."

"Are we still friends at least?" Squidward asked, cursing himself mentally.

"I don't know…"

Squidward felt his heart tear in two. He closed his eyes, and sucked in a breath. He got up, and left.

Squidward and Spongebob were having a cup of coffee at Buffalo Café, and Spongebob's face was unreadable, but Spongebob was sympathetic with Squidward. Squidward's eyes started to tear, and Spongebob asked, "What's wrong?"

"This is where I told her." Squidward replied. Spongebob nodded in understanding.

"Why don't you talk about it, Squiddy?"

Squidward sucked in a breath, and then started. "Just a month ago we had gone through this same thing, and she promised that we could face things together. I believed her. We were constantly getting stares from people, that much is obvious. Then that date happened, and well, everything seemed to break."

"The other assault is still fresh in her mind Squidward. Some people take a long time to get over experiences like that. They never forget them, not by any means, but they take some time to feel comfortable again." Spongebob wisely offered. "What're some good things you remember?"

Squidward thought a minute, then said, "I remember the Carnival. It was our first date, kinda. One time we went to a karaoke bar, and I sang that Richard Marx song, "I will be waiting for you" or something like that. We would sit at the park sometimes, and just watch the big tree that stands in the center."

Spongebob smiled. "Now there, don'tcha feel better?"

"I guess." Squidward replied. Spongebob sipped his cappuccino, and Squidward asked, "How can I get her back?"

That took Spongebob by surprise. He and Sandy had never broken up, so he didn't know how to approach the situation.

"Just give her time." Spongebob answered. "She'll come around."

"You think so?" Squidward asked with pleading eyes.

"I know so!" Spongebob assured.

"Y'know what Spongebob? You're a real pal!" Squidward said. Spongebob smiled, and sipped his cappuccino again.

Squidward sat in his home of one month and watched TV. He sighed listlessly, and glanced at the time. It was time for bed. He got up and flipped off the television, ascending the stairs and getting into his comfortable bed. He hoped that this brush with love would not end so quickly, but he had doubts.

In her house, Alaxis looked at a picture of Squidward that adorned her bedside table. As she held it, she ran a thumb over it, her heart sinking a bit. She didn't want it to be over, at least, not truly over. She just wanted to get her thoughts together.

Spongebob and Sandy, or Mr. and Mrs. Squarepants, sat inside their surface home, which was a beautiful pineapple color inside and out. Patrick lived with them, and he had already gone to bed. Spongebob looked into their fireplace, which set a soft and mellow mood for the den. Sandy curled up close to Spongebob, slowly drifting to sleep, as Spongebob wondered about anything he could do to help Squidward. Squidward was one of his best friends, and there was no way he was going to let down his best friend.

A/N: A little bit of a short chapter. I've introduced some darker elements, but the focus is on light matters, of course. Read and Review.