AN: Thanks to Thatpersonthatreads for the new review! And of course, much thanks to my faithful reviewers as usual! ^^

Chapter 38 - The Love Boat, pt. 1

So throughout the previous night and all throughout the next day, which was a Tuesday, Alex and AJ were busy making preparations for Mickie and Chris's surprise cruise date. Clearly, the two of them insisted that it wouldn't work out, but Shelley and Lee wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. After lots of convincing, the two gave in and decided to go through with the date, and to keep the surprise, Alex and Chris and AJ and Mickie each drove to the Marina separately. The boys boarded the ship first.

"Alex, I'm telling you, this is going to be a total waste of time!" Chris argued. "Mickie made it clear that she only wants to be friends and only friends, and I respect her decision. Even if it kills me on the inside."

"Dude, will you knock it off? Mickie's gonna love seeing you, and with us all being on a cruise along the ocean, it'll make things that more romantic, so stop being such a wuss and put a smile on your face!" Alex exclaimed.

"Well you know, I'd be much happier if we weren't surrounded by all these rich snobs in the monkey suits." he replied.

Since the cruise was formal, everyone there was required to dress up, including the Guns. Chris wore a black dressy shirt which showed off a little bit of his collarbone, along with dark jeans and black sneakers. Alex, who was really pissed about having to wear anything formal, instead wore the best thing he could find, a black graphic tee with a black leather jacket, dark jeans, and converses to finish it off. Since he looked more punk than formal, he got a few looks from some of the other guests, but he didn't give a damn.

"Yeah, I hate these obnoxious, caviar-sniffing, Porshe driving, Beverly Hills lookin' turdmunches." Alex agreed.

An older couple, who just happened to stroll by, gave him a dirty look.

"Who the hell are you staring at, you never seen someone as handsome as me before? Go on ahead and get to your Geritol before it expires!" he cried.

Chris stifled his laughter. "This was all your idea, dude."

"And it is! Ooh, the girls are here. You, work your charm on Mickie, and AJ and I will be right across from you at this table way over here." he said quickly, scurrying away.

"Wait a minute, I thought this was supposed to be a double date!" he called.

"Well, it kind of is and it kind of isn't, but make what you want to make of it." his friend shrugged.

"So you're pretty much lying to me then?" asked Chris.

"…Yeah..." he smiled, nodding. "Now knock it off and focus on Mickie, she's coming your way!"

He looked ahead to find the Country Diva approaching him, and he exhaled nervously. "Wow, that woman can make a guy weak in the knees." he uttered.

...

Meanwhile, Mickie and AJ were boarding the ship next. "You need to stop worrying so much, Mickie, everything's gonna go great!" April exclaimed. She wore a black and white sailor top with a tulle skirt bottom, along with knee high converses.

"Then why am I so nervous to be with someone I know and love so well?" Mickie asked nervously.

"It's normal to be nervous, and I'm sure that Chris feels just the same, but once you strike up a conversation with him, things will be just like old times!" she replied, smiling.

"Ok, so how do I look?" the Diva asked, turning around to face her best friend. She was wearing a dark red form fitting dress that hugged all of her curves, a black choker around her neck, her hair was in an updo, and she wore black ankle boots.

"You look hot, and I'm sure that he will fall head over heels over you." she replied with a wink. "Now he's right over there waiting for you, so good luck!" she gently shoved her ahead, before rushing to join Alex. "And hello to you, handsome."

He smiled and gave her a kiss. "Hey, gorgeous, glad you could make it!"

"Where else would I be?" she replied, lacing her hands with his. "Uh, dude, the memo said that this was a formal thing, you look like you came here straight off of a Harley." she chuckled, amused.

"Yeah, I don't really care, to be honest. I'd rather have my own style than to dress up like these tired old hags."

AJ laughed. "I love the way you think. And you know, even though we're here to make sure that our friends leave here hopefully happy and holding hands, it's nice that you and I are here on a date, too."

"It is nice, isn't it?" he agreed. "Now while we enjoy each other's company, let's sit back, relax, and let nature take its course."

"Isn't that for like, childbirth or something?" AJ asked, giggling.

"Oh. Same difference. Yo, waiter, bring us a couple of sparkling ones, will ya?" he called.

Meanwhile…

Chris was still smiling while Mickie approached him. "Hey, Mickie! Wow, you look so…so beautiful." he sighed, blushing a bit.

She blushed in return and replied, "Aw, Chris, thank you! You look incredibly handsome as well, y'know."

"Well, I know that I look good, but I still have to admit that I cannot match your untamed beauty." he replied with a cocky look.

Mickie laughed. "Must you be so arrogant?"

Before she took her seat, he stopped her. "Oh no, allow me." he replied, pulling out her chair for her. "Ladies first. And yes, I just wouldn't be the same person if I weren't arrogant, so ha."

"Well, thank you. You're such an arrogant gentleman, but I wouldn't take you any other way." she smiled.

After that, they looked across at one another, with a little bit of an awkward silence in between them.

"Sooo…" he began.

"Sooo…" she began.

"You know that Alex lied to us? He said that this was supposed to be a double date, and where are he and AJ, WAY over there!" he snapped, turning to look at them.

Shelley scoffed and replied, "What the hell are you talking about, we're right across from you! Dillhole."

Chris quickly flashed him the finger before turning back to Mickie with a charming smile.

She laughed. "That's not very nice!"

"So? He's always being mean to me, I have a God given right to defend myself! So anyhoo, what's up with you lately? You've been strangely quiet yesterday afternoon and ever since."

"I dunno, I guess I was just tired from being on Fear Factor, and our long flight back, so yeah. So um, I've noticed that you and Velvet were having a great time yesterday afternoon." replied the Diva.

"Well, after her near suicide attempt, I was still worried about her, so I just wanted to make her feel better and y'know, remind her that she still has her friends to depend on. That's all." he explained. "So now can I ask you something?"

"Sure!"

"Uh, last night, Alex and I were wondering where you were and wanted to check up on you, but when we turned around the corner, we…found you heading off somewhere with Jericho. Now, I know that this is none of my business, but I was just wondering …what you guys did." he said slowly, nervous to hear her reaction.

She raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so concerned?" she asked.

"Mickie, it's just, we all know that Jericho's a skeevy kind of guy, I mean, look what he's done to Punk lately! I just don't want him hurting you and he's just no good for you!" he explained.

"Seriously, Chris? Look, he just came over to check up on me, too, we talked for a few minutes, and then we left to listen to some of his band's demos. That's it." she explained.

"Are you sure that's ALL he wanted to do?" he asked.

Surprised to hear these accusations from him, the Diva retorted, "Ok, just for the record, he and I have known each other for years and we were good friends for a while. Now, he's just trying to reconnect with me again and I'm open to that. What's so wrong with me hanging out with an old friend, Chris? I'm a grown woman, I'm free to do whatever I want to!"

"Well, I am sorry for being worried about you, but I just can't help it!" he exclaimed. "I'm still your friend, too, and I still feel the need to have to look out for the woman that I love."

Her expression softened upon hearing that. "Well, if you're jealous, there's no need to be. There's nothing happening in between Jericho and I. Now if anyone needs to be jealous, it's me. The reason why I was so quiet lately was because I constantly had to sit there and watch you and Velvet laughing it up and having a great time. Just like we used to. I miss that so much, Sabin."

He felt a little guilty and took her hand. "I miss that too, Mickie, but you were the one who made it clear that we just can't be together. And now you're feeling jealous? You're totally confusing me here, which do you want?"

"I—I don't know!" she cried, holding her head in her hands.

"Well, this is obviously hurting the both of us, so maybe the best option would be for us to…move on?" he asked regretfully. "What do you think?"

She tightened her grip on his hand and tried to reply, but before she could, Chris looked ahead for a sec to find the shocker of the night. "Oh, my God."

Velvet Sky stood at the back of the ship, smiling and waving towards him.

"What? What's going on?" asked Mickie.

Alex and AJ had heard the outburst and saw Chris gesture towards the back, where they saw Velvet, too. They quickly rushed to her, while he was about to join them. "Uh, I-I'm just feeling a little seasick, that's all. I need a few minutes." he lied.

"Oh, are you going to be all right?" Mickie asked.

"Oh yeah, yeah, this is a one man job, be right back!" he said quickly, heading off.

"Ok, be careful!" she called back, totally confused.

...

Moments later, the three rushed to the blonde Knockout.

"Velvet, what are you doing here?" asked Sabin.

"What the HELL are you doing here?" a pissed off Alex demanded.

"Look, before you yell at me, I just came to see Chris. I've been begging to go on this trip, but Alex and AJ wouldn't let me!" she exclaimed.

"Well, they had a good reason to keep you back home, Vel, Mickie's right over there and you know what'll happen if she sees you here?" asked Chris. "She's going to flip out."

"And that's exactly why I'm taking you right back to the cab that brought you here." Alex began, but before he could pull her away, she got out of his reach and turned back to her crush.

"Why does everyone think that I'M the troublemaker?" she demanded. "I didn't come here to start anything, I just wanted to see the man that I love. Chris, give me a hug!"

"...What?" he asked, confused.

"Come on, I came all this way to see you, now hug me, please?" she pouted.

"Go away!" Alex cried, trying to usher her away.

"Fine, fine. Come here." Chris gave in by wrapping his arms around the blonde, while she just about melted in his embrace and hugged him back. "Uh, Vel?...Vel?...Ok, you can let go of me now…Vel!"

"It feels so right." she smiled.

"Ok, time for you to go." Shelley replied, prying her away, but before he could take her anywhere, the ship's horn sounded, and before anyone knew it, they all saw the folks outside on the boardwalk waving goodbye to them. After that, they were slowly sailing away from the pier.

"…What's going on?" Velvet asked slowly.

"What do you think? The ship's sailing away and you're still here!" cried AJ.

"Oh, no! If I get caught, they might make me scrub the ship, or walk the plank or…they might make me eat soap!" she cried, thinking the worst.

"Well, we wouldn't have to worry about this kind of thing if you'd just STAYED AT HOOOOME!" Alex yelled.

"All right, there's not much that we can do now. Velvet, you just have to stay out of sight and make sure that nobody that works around here catches you. And whatever you do, make sure that Mickie doesn't see you, all right?" Chris pleaded.

"Can't promise anything, but I'll do what I can." the blonde shrugged.

"Ok, now I…hey, shrimp." he smiled, taking one from the waitress nearby. Alex said nothing and joined him, only he decided to take about 10-15 of them, startling the poor employee.

"I love skrimp!" he exclaimed, smiling.

"Dude, it's shrimp." replied Chris.

"Shut up, who cares?"

"Guys, we have bigger issues here and you're sitting here pigging out on shrimp?" demanded AJ.

Before anything else was said, the ship's captain approached them next. "Excuse me, do you all have tickets to board the ship?"

Chris, AJ, and Alex rushed to shield Velvet, while she tried to hide herself. They all took out their white slips.

"We have them right here, Captain. What's wrong, is there a problem?" asked Alex.

"Yes, there is. We've got news of a castaway hanging out somewhere on this ship. But it's no matter. We'll search em down even if it takes all night." he replied, all too serious. Velvet gulped. "You all have a good evening."

Once he walked off, the three sighed in relief and then turned to Velvet.

"See why you're a problem now?" Shelley demanded.

"Oh shut up, Alex! Look, nothing should go wrong if I just lay low and stay cool. But still, Chris, why hang out with Mickie if she may be interested in Jericho now? I'm here, and the two of us could have a great time together." the blonde said sweetly, but once she tried to grab his arm, her arm accidentally bumped into another waiter's tray, sending it flying in one direction and its contents flying in another.

Hearing the loud crash, Mickie and the other spectators whipped around when Velvet was quickly shielded again.

"Goddamn it, why don't you watch where you're going, prude?" Chris made the cover by yelling at the innocent waiter. Then, he quickly joined Mickie with a smile. "Hi, I'm back."

She giggled. "Hi! So is everything ok with you now?"

"Yeah, I uh, had to get Alex off of my back first, but I'm as good as new." he replied.

"Well, you don't have to worry, if you start to feel sick again, I'll take care of you." the Diva said with a genuine smile.

Sabin kissed her hand. "You're so sweet as much as you are beautiful."

Velvet saw this from where she was standing, snuck past Alex and AJ, and then came up with a great plan. She approached a female employee. "What size are you, like an 8, small?" she asked.

"Yeah."

She nodded with a mischievous grin. "Walk with me. Talk with me." the blonde replied, casually leading the employee into a back room. As soon as she closed the door, she pretty much mugged the poor woman, slamming her against the door to where she could be seen sliding down the glass window with her cheek pressed against the surface.

"Mickie, you're the sweetest girl in the world, and because of that, I have a gift for you." Chris continued, still smiling. "And I want to give it to you in a special place."

She gasped, sneakily looking around before whispering, "Chris, you know that I'm not doing that again! The last time we ever did anything like that was for your half birthday, and under the circumstances, I'm certainly not doing it now!"

He laughed. "NO, not that! ...Unless you really want to…"

"Chris!" she snapped.

"I'm kidding!" he cried, defensively putting his hands in the air. "No, no, since Alex insisted that we have this date, I went out and got you a little something special." he replied, handing her a small box.

"Aw, Chris!" she beamed.

In the meantime, Velvet had emerged from the back room, wearing the female employee's uniform, which was about 4 sizes too small for her. Her pants ended above her ankles, and the top was so tight that her boobs were threatening to pop out of it. To disguise herself, her hair was up in a bun, with a captain's hat on her head to top it off.

AJ and Alex were supposed to be guarding the blonde to prevent her from doing anything else silly, but instead, the two were more interested in each other, making out the entire time.

She broke away first and said, "Uh, Shells…aren't we supposed to be watching Velvet?"

He halfheartedly glanced back and replied, "Oh yeah, she's still back there, I guess. Hasn't made a peep all night...Kiss me again?"

"Mm hmm!" she agreed, wrapping her arms around his neck and sitting on his lap.