*No, please, don't go…*
She nervously gave a side glance to PaRappa, who simply shook his head at the two walking off. "Well. They're gonna be a while, knowing PJ…" He gazed over at the plaza in front of the theatre, taking in a relaxed breath.
Lammy fidgeted slightly as she felt herself start to freeze up. *Why, oh why did they have to go? I feel like I can barely move because I'm so-*
"Hey Lammy." The dog next to her called out her name, causing her to flinch slightly. "You wanna go for a small walk? It actually is pretty nice outside..and it might be a bit until they come back."
*Now he wants to do something. I feel like I'm about to pass out…* The panicking lamb simply smiled and nodded her head in response, trying her best to mask her utter terror.
Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice, as he gave a smile back and began to walk off, motioning for her to join him.
Taking a quick look back at where PJ and Katy went off to, she shuffled along and followed him, her entire stomach in knots.
A cool breeze wafted through the air as the sun set in the orange tinted sky, the clouds resembling sweetened cotton candy. Short trees with vivid emerald leaves swayed along with the wind, making a soft rustling sound echo through the area. The few patrons still walking through the plaza chatted and laughed with one another, moving along their way in lazy strides.
The two walked alongside each other in supposedly comfortable silence, one of them completely unaware of the other's distress.
Lammy rubbed her neck nervously. First the theatre, and now this...was she ever gonna get a break tonight?
It was nice of Katy and PJ to try and push them along with their help, she'll admit that much. But it was just too much stress on her. Even now, she could feel absolute panic bubbling up inside her. All she wanted to do was retreat back into her own home, where she didn't have to be set under the weight of worrying about every little action she does or word she says.
*But...at least he seems happy now. And that's what really matters here.
Even if I feel like I'm gonna be sick. It doesn't matter.*
She gazed over at him, her heart beating a tad faster as she noticed the grin in his face. Any semblance of the bad mood he had earlier was gone, and was replaced with a content relaxedness.
You can't judge a book by its cover though. She was still curious as to what was bothering him..
Maybe...maybe she should ask him? Just to make sure. Yeah. She'll do that. Or at least try to.
She cleared her throat softly, trying to force the words out her mouth, stuttering a quiet, "U-uh...hey, PaRappa…"
"Yeah?" He perked up his ears at hearing his name, looking at her inquisitively.
Lammy felt herself gazing back at him for a moment too long and hurriedly looked away. "W-well...I was wondering something..about earlier. If it's okay to ask you…." She dared not look at him again - but found herself doing so anyways.
His eyes were directly on hers, making her mind melt in panic. PaRappa didn't seem to notice, as he had a soft smile on his face, and innocently replied, "You don't have to ask me if it's alright. Just go ahead and ask."
*It's hard to when you keeping looking at me like that!* "I-I...Um..well…" She hurriedly tore her eyes away from his once more, trying to think past the overwhelming fear inside her. "S-so...earlier...y-y-you didn't look like you were in the b-best mood. I-I-I was just wondering...if you're okay now?"
He kept looking at her, his eyes searching her face, and eventually took in a deep breath, gazing downwards; she began to worry that she accidently reminded him of something traumatic. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just…" A defeated sigh was let out of him, his entire stature starting to droop. "I keep thinking about Sunny, I guess. She's moving away soon. Really soon. And no matter what I try to do..she just doesn't seem like she cares much." He tugged on one of his ears softly. "I can't help but feel down about it...y'know what I mean?"
The lamb gazed down upon her friend, feeling a flurry of emotions swirl inside her. *Sunny. Of course it's about Sunny. How could I be so dumb not to think of that…* She rubbed her arm carefully, a sense of pity and distress making her throat begin to ache. "I-I'm sorry.. I know exactly how you feel."
Even though she wasn't here, she was all he could think about still.
*This..this was a dumb idea. A terrible idea. As if I could actually ever have the chance to-*
PaRappa frowned at her, snapping her out of her thoughts. "What?"
*Uh oh. Did I do something wrong?* "E-eh...yeah, I do. Is that..?"
He shook his head at her. "You shouldn't feel like that too! Some punk out there messing with you Lammy?" Straightening his stature, he searched around himself. "No one'll be giving my friends trouble with me just standin' by."
She could help but giggle at his defensive manner, reassuring him with, "Ha….relax, there's no one doing anything like that anymore."
He relaxed his posture, grinning at her. "Well if you say so Lammy. But if anyone..and I mean ANYONE wants to bug you-" He pointed at himself boldly. "They're gonna have to answer to this guy first!"
The lamb found herself chuckling at him again, feeling much less tense now. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind then." The truth was, she could definitely handle herself now (all she had to do was remember her old guitar, cracked clean in half after some sap didn't know how to leave the girls of MilkCan alone), but it was nice of him to even offer.
They went back to walking, the patrons walking around the two as they enjoyed the evening together. Neither of them said anything to each other for a few minutes, until suddenly PaRappa piped up with a question of his own.
"Hmm..actually, now that I think about it...is there anyone you have your own eye on?"
She could swear she felt her heartbeat freeze right then and there. *...he didn't just ask what I think he did, did he?*
He cemented her fear with his next question. "C'mon...there's gotta be someone." Shoving his hands into his pockets, he smirked. "If I guess right, you gotta tell me. It's only fair."
*..Uh oh.* A sense of alarm overcame her as she attempted to stutter out comprehensible words. "I-I don't-"
"Hmmm..is it PJ?" He looked thoughtful for a moment. "I mean, I wouldn't judge you.."
She let out a small giggle. "Ha..n-no." Not that she held anything against the bear. But it was moreso the bear's best friend that…
"Let's see...is it Katy?"
Lammy shrugged. "S-she's moreso my best friend.."
"Well...how about Matt, back when he was still around? He's a good looking guy."
She frowned as she thought about him. He was here for a few years, but then moved away. Paula did as well.
Where they are, no one really knows, since they didn't keep in touch.
"N-not really…"
PaRappa's eyebrows rose up slightly. "Really? All the girls were chasing after him...even though he wasn't very interested at all." He stared at the ground for a moment before slowly muttering, "Well...give me a minute to think..."
She rubbed her arm nervously. He listed off quite a few people...soon, he would probably get to everyone else. Possibly including himself. And then what would she do? *It's getting a bit too close for comfort.*
"W-well...it doesn't matter anyways. He wouldn't ever see me in the same way - he has his eyes on someone else too. I guess I don't blame him though..."
He looked up at her with a questioning face after hearing her harsh words. "You shouldn't be so pessimistic Lammy..or hard on yourself. You gotta believe - no matter how it doesn't seem like you should." Rubbing his neck, he continued with a warm smile. "And you never know. Maybe someday, this guy'll realize how awesome you really are. And then..y'know."
Lammy's eyes widened at his sincere words. *Wow. He thinks..I'm awesome?* She looked away to hide her blushing face, feeling incredibly giddy all of a sudden. "A-aw...t-t-th-thank you...I..I hope that it does happen….hopefully….."
He gave her a wide grin. "I'm sure it will, Lammy."
They smiled at each other before looking away, and began walking through the plaza once again. The streetlights illuminated the sidewalks, a soft glow lightening up the plaza. The sky was now tinged purple, the sun beginning to dip down beyond the horizon.
They walked in silence for a moment until PaRappa glanced over at Lammy, noticing how she was still so standoffish.
"...hey." The person he was addressing hitched her breath, her ears going straight up in surprise. "Now I couldn't help but wonder one last thing...why are you still so shy around me?"
Lammy felt like a lamb caught in headlights. Her height shrunk down slightly as she habitually covered her stomach with her arms. "U-uh...um..I'm not?"*I'm trying my best not to be...it's just so hard around you though!*
He let out a small chuckle. "Yeah you are. I thought we were friends?" He shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I know we aren't really the closest, but..it makes me feel like you don't really like spending time with me, is all…"
*What?! Oh no...what do I even say to something like that?*
"Oh, PaRappa! No no no...that's not it at all.." She made a slight grimace at seeing him prick his own ears up at this.
"So there is something?"
"N-no…."
"No no, there is, I can tell. Alright, what is it?" He stopped walking alongside her, and stood away from her, gesturing to himself. "What is it that's always making you nervous around me?"
*Everything.* "N..no, there isn't…"
"Is it the way I look?" He gazed down at himself, adjusting his grey tank top. "I guess it can look either really intimidating or really dumb…"
She fidgeted nervously, clearing her throat before letting out an anxious,"No…" *It doesn't look like either of those things to me….ugh, no, don't think like that right now!*
He gave her a doubting look, and crossed his arms. "Really? Well...it has to be something then."
*It's everything.* "I t-told you, there isn't-"
"Lammy." He firmly called out her name, causing her to stop in her words. "..C'mere."
She hesitatingly walked over to him, and felt her arms gripping herself tighter in pure terror. "Hmm...look at me."
Her eyes went down to the ground, disregarding his command until he repeated, "Look at me. Please."
She took a small breath and finally gazed up at him, feeling her face instantly burn at having to make eye contact with him.
He squinted slightly as if trying to figure out something until he suddenly looked away, muttering, "Hmph. No, I still can't figure it out. You're a tough nut to crack…" A frowning dog itched his head, deep in thought as the lamb next to him let out a shaky breath she was holding in. "I thought if maybe I could get a good look at you, I'd be able to tell..like how you can tell when people lie. Or maybe it was something else…?"
Far away, a large teddy bear and blue cat sat at a table, watching the entire spectacle carefully.
"Mmpf..well? What's going on?" PJ shoveled another handful of popcorn into his mouth, not caring that crumbs were falling all over himself and the table.
Katy wiped a few that happened to fall on her off of her arm before responding. "I don't know..they're talking to each other, but I can't hear them…"
"Aren't you supposed to have good hearing or something….aw, crap."
"What? What is it?"
"I don't have anymore popcorn left…"
"Are you *kidding me*?! I just bought that for you like 10 minutes ago!
The resulting shout caused the faraway lamb to notice them. She frantically waved for them to come over, putting her hands behind her back when PaRappa looked at her again.
"Uh oh! We've been spotted!" Katy shielded her eyes in an attempt to avoid detection.
"Yipe!" PJ hurriedly looked around himself, setting his eyes onto the empty popcorn bucket in front of him, and then hastily pulled it onto his head.
Lammy let out a soft sigh as she watched her friends attempting to hide. *Have they been watching us this entire time?*
PaRappa gazed off to where she was facing, noticing the two sitting at the table. "What...hey!"
They jolted from their spot as PaRappa ran over to them, Lammy walking along a few steps behind him.
He was smiling widely at them, not even considering the fact that they were trying to eavesdrop on them. "Where have you guys been? It's been a bit."
Katy relaxed at his innocent question. "Erm, well, you see…" What were the right words to say? Can't make him suspicious... "We came out a little bit ago..but then we saw you two talking."
"We didn't wanna interrupt you or anything like that," mumbled PJ from under his headgear.
The rapper stared at him for a moment, simply remarking, "...I'm not even gonna ask." He took a glance up at the sky above them, heaving a soft sigh as the stars twinkled slightly. "It's getting a little late…" He looked back down at his friends, giving them a benevolent smile. "Today was a really fun day...but I think it's time to go home."
PaRappa had offered to bring everyone home in his car, and was chatting with PJ, who had shouted out 'Shotgun!', and ran to claim his spot.
Which normally would have annoyed everyone, but left Katy and Lammy time to chat in the backseat. The boys were loudly talking to each other, too distracted to pay attention to them.
"So..Lammy. If you don't mind me asking...how did everything go?" She leant in close while talking to her, keeping her voice barely above a whisper.
"E-em...not bad, I guess.." She flicked one of her ears shyly.
Katy instantly noticed her nervous tick. "Lammy, you're a bad liar."
"W-well..h-he asked me a few things...t-that's about it though…"
The feline's ears pricked up at this. "..really? At least you guys managed to talk a bit?"
Lammy thought back to how they were simply able to relax, both in silence as they listened to the breeze take to the trees. "Y-yeah..it was really nice…"
Just then, the car had started to slow down. The driver spoke up from his seat. "Alright...first stop; Lammy's house. You sure you don't need a ride home Katy?"
"I'm sure! I'm staying over at Lammy's for tonight, but thanks for asking!" She got out of the car, giving Lammy a quick, warning glance before closing the door.
The lamb nervously cleared her throat, and quietly muttered, "Th-thanks PaRappa...for d-driving us home…."
He turned around slightly in his seat, giving a small wave of his paw. "No problem Lammy. Thanks for coming today. It was a lot of fun." Grinning at her, he added, "It was great to see you again too."
She was caught off guard by his little compliment, feeling her entire face start to heat up as she stared back in surprise. She eventually started fumbling with the handle of the door, stuttering out, "I-I...y-y-you too…" before finally getting out of the car.
Shutting the door, she berated herself mentally, feeling hopelessly embarrassed at freezing up once again. *I can't believe I was sitting there, gawking at him like that...ugh….*
Inside the car, PaRappa waved to his friends, and began driving the car out of the driveway. He noticed Lammy give off a small wave of her own before heading inside her apartment, Katy following her close behind.
PJ watched them disappear inside the building, with Katy already looking as if she was bugging Lammy about everything that had happened, and gazed back at PaRappa.
He could see the dog's forced smile quickly beginning to fade as he turned the steering wheel.
PJ sighed as he watched his best friend's state detoriating right next to him - no doubt that the news of Sunny was really starting to beat down on him.
There has to be something I can do...
The bear looked around, trying to figure out a plan, when he suddenly had an ingenious idea.
Well..he had a good time with Lammy, didn't he? Maybe they should just have another get together, like today..since it obviously helped to keep his mind off of it, even for just a few hours. That sort of distraction is a key point in trying to overcome….grief? Whatever it is he's going through.
Plus, who knows? Something could finally be able to work in Lammy's favor too. Knock out two birds with one stone.
He gave a wary look to the dog's phone on the seat between them, taking a nervous gulp. This probably wasn't going to end very well...but desperate times...
"Hey, PaRappa?"
"Hm?" The dog gave a quick glance over at his friend, still keeping his eyes on the road, even though they were nearly to his house.
"..uh….can I see your phone really quick? There's something I gotta do before I forget.."
He lifted an eyebrow at him, slowly reaching down to grab his phone out of its place on the seat between them, unlocking it. "Sure, I guess…"
PJ gladly took it and waited until his friend was focusing back on the road before hastily began typing a number into it.
Feeling too anxious to type out anything, he brought it up to his ear, trying to ignore how PaRappa was eyeing him warily.
*Well...let's hope this works.*
The bass guitarist set her purse down on the nearby counter, stretching each of her limbs out in a cat-like way. "Aaahh...that was a fun day, wasn't it Lammy?"
"..."
"..Lammy?"
"Oh...uh, yeah. Yeah, it really was!" replied a distant voice.
Katy turned around to see her friend staring into nothing with a content look. She nervously walked over, waving a hand in front of her face, cautiously asking, "You doing okay there Lammy?"
The lamb took a few moments to register she was being talked to. "Oh...yeah. I'm gooood….everything's good…" She rubbed her arm slowly, her small tail waggling softly.
Katy shook her head at her, walking over to the couch and grabbing the remote. *I guess someone had a better time than they let off.*
"C'mon, silly. Relax." She patted the seat next to her, welcoming Lammy to join her.
Instead, the lamb dreamingly wandered over, softly sitting down next to her friend. She set her eyes on the TV in front of them, although she didn't seem to be paying much attention to it at all.
Katy smirked at her friend, her own tail curled around herself as she watched Lammy gaze off slightly to her side.
She was staring off into space with a small grin on her face, looking absolutely mesmerized by whatever she was thinking about. A small chuckle was let out of her, along with her rubbing her shoulder shyly.
*What a lovesick dork.*
"Lammy?"
"Hmm?" She gazed over at the voice, her thoughts still distracted, a dumb smile etched on her face.
"..anything on your mind?" She rose a sly eyebrow up at her, trying to get her to respond.
"...no. Not really…" The lamb looked away, shaking her head at the question. "Guess I'm still sorta thinking about earlier…"
Katy laughed softly at this. "So it was a good idea to finally try and do something then?"
"Yeah...I-I never did thank you, by the way, for trying to help me with it."
Her feline friend reached over to give her a small hug. "D'aaawww...what are friends for?"
Suddenly, a loud song started blaring through the air, startling the two.
*'No time for tears! ''No time for tears!'
'The goal is near! ''The goal is near!''
'I'm trying to shift..' ''Tryin' to shift..''
'To a higher gear! ''To a higher gear!''*
"Wh-wha...s-s-sorry!" Lammy fumbled in her purse for her phone, dropping it on the ground before managing to grip it firmly. "W-w-wh-why is he calling me?"
Katy's tail whipped around excitedly. "Well...are you sure it's him?"
"Y-yes, I'm sure!" She hurriedly looked at the screen to see if it was true.
Sure enough, it was him. She'd be happy if it didn't make her so nervous about why he was calling. Or if Katy wasn't ogling her, waving for her to answer it already.
She slid the button and brought it to her ear, trying to will herself to relax past her racing heart. "Hey! W-what's up?"
Surprisingly, a drowsy voice responded to her. "*Hey Lammy! PaRappa's busy driving me home, and he.. No. No, I'm not gonna… just focus on the road man!*"
Lammy took a look at her phone to make sure it was actually PaRappa's number, that didn't get mixed up with PJ's somehow. 555...yeah, this was it. She brought it back up to her ear, listening to the two arguing over the phone.
"*That's why I said to watch the road! You're the one driving here! Ahem. So uh, what he wanted to ask is if you, Katy, and Ma-San wanted to come with us to the beach.*" She heard a bit more scuffling as shouting started sounding out.
Shaking her head, she held a hand against the phone, whispering to her nearby friend, "I-It's PJ...he wants to know if M-MilkCan wants to go to the beach tomorrow."
Katy immediately bolted from her half of the couch to Lammy's side. "What, together?"
"Y-yeah..I guess so-"
"YES! Yes yes yes!" She danced in her spot, her enthusiasm starting to spook her a little.
"O-oh...I guess you really wanna go then...it's definitely been a while….w-wait, but what about Ma-San?"
"She doesn't like going there, remember? Something about the sand, or something.. Plus, she's busy tomorrow anyways, so we're good there."
Lammy nodded to her, bringing the phone back up. "Hello? PJ?"
"*Give me th- Yeah! PJ here!*"
"W-well, Katy and I would love to go. Ma-San can't, but hopefully that will be okay?"
"*Yea, sure! Sounds awesome! Does 2 sound good?*"
Katy nodded hastily to her ovine friend. "Sounds good to us. See you then!"
PJ held PaRappa away at arm's length (which consisted of nearly holding him against the door itself) as he shouted into the phone, "Cool! See ya!"
He finally let go of the dog, who angrily snatched his phone from his grasp and shouted out, "PJ! What the hell?!"
"I know, I know! Didn't you have fun today though?"
"Yeah, but I-"
"You need this, man. The last thing you need is to be at home, moping over this whole situation with Sunny. I know you well enough."
PaRappa glared at him, feeling a bit embarrassed over the entire situation, until he heard him continuing in a low voice.
"I don't want to see you down, PaRappa. I just want you to be happy." The massive bear sighed as he rubbed his head, obviously distressed from the situation. "I..know what it's like to just sit by, and be depressed because a few simple things don't go your way. And I don't want my best friend going through that."
He looked over at the rapper, not caring that his eyes felt slightly wet. "You get what I'm saying? Just..if you're not gonna do it for yourself, can you at least do it for me?"
PaRappa relaxed himself at the sudden change of his voice. "..I had no idea this really meant that much to you PJ." He sat back in his seat, leaning backwards as he took a calming breath. "..Sure. Yeah, I'll go. No fuss." He looked over at him with a tired smile and held his hands up. "See? Promise."
The DJ grinned back at him, feeling at ease knowing he was going along with his request. "Awesome. Thanks for driving me home."
"No problem. See you tomorrow."
PJ clambered out the car, waving goodbye to his friend as he began to slowly drive off to his own home.
Inside the car, PaRappa couldn't help but think over his friend's words once more. '*...and I don't want my best friend going through that*'.
*Dammit. Why does he have to know me so well?* Grumbling to himself as he drove into his own driveway, he turned the car off, deciding to sit alone with his thoughts for a few moments before heading inside.
Ultimately, it was true. He could already tell he was gonna beat himself up for Sunny saying no again...as if it was really up to him, or something. And this whole situation was seriously draining away all of his optimism when he needed it most.
He's supposed to be the guy that everyone can look to for a pick me up. The one who will always confirm with them that they 'just gotta believe!' when the going gets tough.
But what about now? What about now, when the main person he had believed so much for was going to be gone from his life soon?
PaRappa rubbed his head under his hat, finally taking the keys out of the ignition. He doesn't have the answer to that question. Or pretty much any of the other questions that have been running through his head constantly.
He shoved his phone into his pocket, making sure he also had his house keys with him before he began to begrudgingly walked the steps up to his house.
Maybe it's actually a good thing that PJ set up another get together with everyone after all, now that he thinks about it. It's only a few hours after the last one, and he's already feeling like this…
How is he gonna feel in a few days when it actually becomes the day that he's been dreading?
The dog grumbles under his breath as he looks for the correct key on his keychain. All these stupid thoughts were starting to irritate him. He doesn't wanna think about any of that..not for a bit.
He didn't want to think of it at all since it really hurt. It pained him immensely to have to force himself to keep on this positive persona of his when he seriously didn't have it in him..how could he? The girl of his dreams, moving far away somewhere..acting as if everything was perfectly alright, like she was just going down the street for…
Look, there he goes again, with these pessimistic thoughts. He thumps his head against the door before opening it, shoving his keys back into his pocket before taking one last look at the night sky.
The stars were still twinkling up there, all of them illuminating the night sky besides the crescent moon. They managed to still shine so brightly…
*And what about me?* PaRappa looked down at his hands, feeling incredibly off. *Something big happens, and I'm already starting to-*
"PaRappa!" A voice called out for him inside the house, making him perk his ears up. "Is that you at the door?"
"Oh, uh, yeah!" He finally began to shut it behind himself, shouting back in his best makeshift cheery voice, "Just had to check something really quick!" The door eventually shuts behind him, clicking softly as he locked it, with him running off to help his dad with whatever gadget he was working on.