A/N: THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS! I'm so glad there are still LM people out there XD. Here's the next chapter, and to anyone who's not a Rex/Lucy person, just hang on here with me for a little longer XD THANKS!

September 23rd

If, a week ago, thoughts and feelings had whirled around in Emmet's mind and toyed with his affections like a cruel dame, one that he could name and point to, they had backed into a corner with a pointed hat as he knocked at Lucy's door.

He was good.

Emmet had not spoken to Lucy in a week. Rex had called Lucy every day. Emmet stayed in his apartment. Rex went out and took pictures at a skateboard park to send to Lucy, though Emmet still got the scratch on his elbow. As far as Lucy knew, Emmet was off doing who-knew-what, and Rex was the most eligible guy in town.

"One second!"

That voice, the sweet, melodious tint of someone who could still sing very well even though she chose not to, still melted Emmet's heart and dissolved him to nothing.

Immediately, as trampled steps and muffled voices whispered to him from behind the door, the facade of Rex melted away, and the physical attributes he had applied meant nothing. They helped him none when sweat broke down his neck, when his heart clobbered against the whole neighborhood, and when his stomach played a shivering game of hide-and-seek in his ribcage.

How in the world was he supposed to play Rex when Lucy's voice, no longer over a speaker or dictated to a text, reduced him to nothing but a bumbling idiot?

That little voice inside him, the one that almost always had his back, whispered in a terribly frightened voice, "Run! Run away!"

The door peeled back, and there, Emmet's vision of beauty and perfection stood, smiling lightly with a hand stuck deep in her pocket. She muttered something, but he couldn't hear, and bounced her raven hair from side to side, taunting and mocking him. Remember your old life, Emmet? When you and Lucy watched romantic movies and kissed under moonlight on Friday? When this door was the way to take out the trash, not the window through which you visited this woman through a mask of insecurity? Remember, Emmet?

"You look amazing," Emmet blurted. The words distracted and cracked his whirling mind. He deepened his voice much too far, for fear at first it had been too high. "I mean, uh, you look nice."

Lucy snickered. "Smooth, Rex. C'mon in, I'm almost ready, Unikitty's here."

Ignoring the flood of memories bombarding him from all sides, as they did whenever he entered the house, Emmet followed her in, shut the door, and sat on the couch. Rex would not sit, he reminded himself, as he leaned back and put one foot up on the table, while the action sent his shoulders spiked up like a cat.

Lucy vanished upstairs, and Unikitty appeared not a moment later. At this point in time, not the best trade in the world.

"Oh, well, look who it is," Unikitty greeted flatly, eyeing the man before her with a strange mix of disappointment, sympathy, and a ticked-off attitude. "It's Rex, here to take Emmet's place in the world. Tell me, is he going to start watering Planty too?"

"Unikitty…" Emmet warned, his voice back in the correct range. He sat up, dropped his leg from the table, and shifted to face his miffed best friend. If everything in his plan went to heck, he needed Unikitty on his side. "C'mon, please don't be mad?"

The look on her face told him she wasn't mad, but anything but happy. "Not mad. Disappointed."

A chuckle rose up in his voce. "I'll take it."

"Ok, sorry about that, I'm ready." Lucy came bounding down the stairs and landed neatly at Unikitty's side. Emmet dropped his voice, meaning he lowered his collar bone in false belief that would help, and kicked up his feet once more.

"Hey, you look great!" Emmet stood up and stepped over to her side, eyed her hand, and in one swift move, took it in his.

Just like that.

"Well, I'll see you later, Unikitty!" Lucy began to walk towards the door, with Emmet melting in her presence, but a blush-flash blocked their way, planted her feet firmly in the ground, and glared at Emmet. Hard.

Emmet's eyes widened at the princess. Unikitty, please, I know what I'm doing.

She wouldn't. She wouldn't ruin everything because she thought it was a bad idea. That wasn't Unikitty. Unikitty was far too sweet to do something like that. Unikitty wasn't…mean enough to do something like that. He had to believe that.

"Uh, you ok?" Lucy waved a hand before her friend's face, but she continued her death glare at Emmet. Neither moved.

I'm doing this for your own good.

Emmet's heartbeat spiked and gave out.

No, she'll hate me. I can't take that.

Panic seized up, grabbed Emmet's ribcage like metal bars and shook him. The image of having to marry someone else if he ever wanted a family trickled in. The idea of being alone for the rest of his life seeped down. He saw Lucy hating him for the rest of his life.

Unikitty opened her mouth and shut her eyes.

She held his future in her hands, and was about to throw it into the fire.

"Well, we'll see ya!" With as gentle a hand as he could muster, Emmet put a hand on Unikitty's shoulder and shoved her out of the way, fast enough to avoid apologizing through his eyes, but slow enough that he saw the undeniable pain her face.

"Ok, bye Unikitty!" Lucy, unaware that anything had transpired, waved to Unikitty, and walked out the door, letting Emmet catch it behind her.

Nothing but hurt lay in Unikitty's eyes.

Be Rex.

Without a word, Emmet walked out the door and shut it with a firm hand.

#

"C'mon, you got it!"

"No, no, I can't do it!"

"Yes, just…there, come on, YES!"

As pure excitement, pent up in just a few minutes exploded through Sweet, she grabbed Benny by the waist and hugged him tighter than he knew she could. The pinball machine continued to rant and rave with colorful banners and lights about his high score, and even the slightly-annoyed people in the diner found their reactions cute.

"That was the best pinball run I've ever seen, and I come from a planet where we have pinball machines that play themselves." Sweet continued to gush about Benny's win, and her boyfriend made a large, bright mental note that arcade games were a quick, surprisingly easy way to her heart.

"I've been playing since I was a kid, when I had already built a spaceship out of everything, this was like the controls of a spaceship." Benny chuckled, and Sweet giggled right with him. She was possibly the only girl on the planet that didn't think he was weird, at least one some level.

They continued chatting about this and that, meaning they raved about spaceships and the cosmos in general, as they sat down in a quiet corner of the diner. Benny began to bring up the annual Halloween party (the one that he was pretty sure would still take place) when she clutched his forearm, hunkered down, and pointed across the way. "Look, it's Wyldstyle and Emmet! Or, Rex."

"Huh?" For a man whose mind had been on spiders and costumes, that was somewhat of an odd conversation switch. He followed Sweet's hand, and across the diner, Emmet walked up to the pinball machine with total confidence. On some level, Benny hoped Emmet would beat his score, just to impress Lucy. Besides, it wasn't like Benny couldn't beat it again with one hand tied behind his back. "Wow, I can't believe he's actually doing it!"

"She was all over him at the house, it was kind of weird, but you can't really blame him, right?" Sweet brushed her metallic, reflective hair behind her ear, folded her hands together and rested her chin atop them. "I don't know. I feel so bad for Emmet, but Lucy's gonna kill him when she finds out."

Benny nodded quickly. "Cold-blooded murder, unless he can run to Middle Zealand fast enough."

The two continued their people-watching, specifically of Emmet and Lucy. As Emmet played, Lucy had gradually moved to rest on his shoulder, and they could see, even from several feet away, that his whole body tensed at the touch.

"He's flushing like the Plax Spaceship model number 4893."

"Exactly!"

Just as Benny was about to make another observation, Emmet and Lucy ditched the pinball machine, and he pushed a menu at Sweet and hid beneath his own. "Hide!"

"Why?" Sweet left her menu down, and struggled to see over Benny's.

"Because I can't–"

"Hey, we know you guys from somewhere, right?" Emmet, in an over-confident Rex impression, sauntered up to the table and smiled overly-white teeth. Sweet backed up a little.

Letting his menu collapse to the table, Benny shot a 'You'll understand in a second' look before waving to Emmet and Lucy. "Uh, hey Lucy! Rex, is it?" Lying felt awful in his tongue. It made him feel like he had to confess to the whole world, just so he could have a clear conscious. There was a reason Lucy never got a surprise party. She could always tell when Emmet was lying, and Benny had an awful habit of confessing things.

Like, everything.

Sweet, oblivious to Benny's odd trait, poured on the act as hard as she could. "Hi, guys! Aw, you two are so cute together! Hold onto this one, Wyldstyle!" Even as she felt like emotionally throwing up the memory of her words, she smiled, and Rex didn't seem to mind, even if Emmet was dying on the inside.

"Don't worry, Sweet. Hey, you two have fun, alright?" Emmet began leading Lucy to a table, and she bid goodbyes as Emmet shot Benny a harsh look that resembled the words, 'shut up' a bit more harshly than he had intended.

Once they were a safe distance away, Benny finally exhaled. "My gosh that was awful! See, this is why we can't talk to them when he's doing that because I can't lie! I'm gonna need therapy if I even have to be in the same rule as Wyldstyle and not blow this secret! I never could lie, even when I was a kid–"

Reaching across the table, Sweet quickly kissed Benny.

"There, that should shut you up for a good half hour. Let's see, what do you want? I think I'm getting the chocolate milk shake."

#

He was stupid.

They were both stupid.

Then again, there wasn't much else to say. Anything Unikitty thought about the situation had already been hashed over in her mind and with Emmet three times over, and at this point, it was too exhausting to even think about them. So, Unikitty did what she always did when she was depressed:

She went back to a happier time.

The box wasn't hidden particularly well, but Lucy had yet to find it, almost to Unikitty's disappointment. And if she found her digging through it today, then, so be it.

The container in question was an old shipping box, and though Unikitty could hardly recall what had been ordered at the time, it remained a staple in the house for some time. Emmet had not brought it up when he moved out, and Unikitty didn't mention it. She wanted it. She wanted the memories, especially if no one else did.

Dragging it, pushing it, and pulling with all her non-furious might, Unikitty was able to convince the bowling-ball weighted box out into the living room. Albums, photos, trinkets, stuffed animals, pillows, this-and-thats all filled the box way past it's brim, and Unikitty collapsed down next to it, sneezing briefly at the premature dust.

The memory box brought a brief smile to her face.

Unikitty pulled out a picture. Emmet was fast asleep on the swing, and Lucy was tying his hands to the chain so she could push him. Unikitty had said to wake him up in the most creative way.

"Shh, you'll wake him!" Lucy giggled through her own words as she carefully, gently approached her victim.

"Isn't that the point?" Unikitty positioned with the camera, prepared to take several pictures of Emmet's awful reaction to being swung awake – literally. Unikitty watched as Lucy used the stretchy toys they had won out of quarter machines to tie his hands to the swing chain and made sure they were secure, before Unikitty snapped the picture.

Clipped to the side of the box, Unikitty found an older, worn photograph, picked up and handled too many times. At first, she wondered what it could have been to receive so much love, but the first glimpse at the correct side explained everything. It was a snapshot of Emmet holding a scorpion at a wildlife center, and looking absolutely terrified as he did. Lucy was off to the side, pride and love radiating off her face as she laughed her head off.

"Lucy, I can't do this!" Emmet shook his head over and over again as Lucy and Unikitty dragged him to the front of the crowd and asked if he could hold the scorpion. Lucy gave him a quick kiss, but inside, he didn't think that was equal compensation for holding a deadly bug.

Unikitty gently nudged him. "Aw, sure you can!"

"And remember," Lucy said as she backed up. "You have the total support of everyone not holding a huge, fatal insect."

The man instructed Emmet to hold his hands out, and placed a small, ebony scorpion in his hands. Emmet whimpered and froze, and Unikitty took the picture as Lucy cracked up laughing in the corner.

Unikitty dug deeper and pulled out a small, plush stuffed-bear. At first, Unikitty could hardly recall its name, but the memories flooded back in an instant, like the toy carried them with it. Mr. Snuggles' owner was more-or-less unknown, but it had often become household arguments that Emmet more-or-less egged on.

Emmet, Lucy and Unikitty walked up to the next of several carnival games, where Emmet pointed to a small teddy bear and slapped down five dollars. "What do I have to do to win that one?"

"Ah," the man running the ride said, who had a beard that could compete with MetalBeard's, grinned in a mischievous way that the gang would remember as the start of all the trouble. "Want one for your girl?"

"Yup!"

"Alright just hit four balloons in a row." The man stepped back and displayed a wall of colorful balloons, varying in color and size. Emmet took aim with four darts all in the same hand, took a breath, and threw all four in an instant.

They landed in aa perfect row, popping four balloons.

"Emmet, how'd you do that?!" Unikitty was the first to speak, and she hugged Emmet tightly in congratulations. "That was amazing!" Emmet affectionately patted her head, and she purred quietly.

Lucy, somewhat drunk on cotton-candy sugar but still holding onto her wits, pressed a kiss to Emmet's lips and grabbed onto his arm. "I always knew you were good for something," she mumbled playfully. Emmet rolled his eyes but the two shared a sweet look.

The man handed a teddy bear to Emmet. "Nice job kid, now get to another game, you'll put me out a' business."

As they walked, Emmet debated names in his head for the prize, all while Lucy ad Unikitty secretly waited to gain custody of the soon-to-be legendary stuffed animal.

"Mr. Snuggles!" Emmet declared, probably a bit loud for a crowded carnival. "Ok, here ya g–"

Before Emmet could deliver it to its rightful owner, the smell of greasy, too-long carnival French fires reached the trio, and his whole face lit up. "Uh, I'll be right back, I gotta go get some food!" Before he made a mad dash for the stand, Emmet threw Mr. Snuggles up in the air like a basketball jump ball, and two girls grabbed onto it.

After some relatively polite debating, Lucy and Unikitty found Emmet in the carnival tent, setting up three places for them. They explained it to him in blunt terms, asking him who was 'his girl' and who he had intended Mr. Snuggles for. A mischievous look crossed over Emmet's face, one that Unikitty hardly recognized and Lucy didn't like, and he said, "Oh, so you both want it?"

"Yes!"

"Duh!"

In a mockingly-bad impression of one who has forgotten something, Emmet rubbed his head and scrutinized the plushie. "Huh, you know, I don't even remember!"

"EMMET!"

That had been three years ago, and to this day, Emmet had never declared who he had intended the prize to go to. He asked them, often mockingly, why they couldn't just share Mr. Snuggles, and this usually resulted in pillows being throw at Emmet's face, which led to a tickle fight, which almost always brought the trio to a movie night.

Tears started to fight at Unikitty's eyes for dominance, but she just clutched Mr. Snuggles to her chest.

Before any more memories could take a crack at Unikitty's emotions, the door quietly unlocked, swung open, and Lucy walked in. Her face was unreadable. A smile, but with Lucy, a smile could mean just about a million things, and Emmet was really the only one who could decipher how she felt.

The door shut quietly, and still, no one said anything. Was Lucy waiting for her to talk? Because she wouldn't. She wasn't going to ask her how it went, or if they kissed, or if she liked him. No. They may have been best friends who shared almost every secret under the sun, but she wouldn't be alright with this.

Lucy shot a look at Unikitty, who continued rummaging through some box. Was she still upset? She was allowed to date. Nothing with Emmet or Unikitty, or how mad they would be at her, should impact how she lived her life.

"What's that?" Lucy's mouth ran off without her brain's permission, but on some level, it was worth it to see Unikitty look confused rather than miffed.

"Hm?"

Pointing to the box, Lucy sat down next to Unikitty, already deducing what some of the contents were. "The box. What is it? Looks like…"

"…memories," Unikitty admitted with a sigh, one that was slightly overdramatized. What? Unikitty needed every bit of help she could get. "From the last few years and such."

Without asking Unikitty or her own brain if it was a good idea, Lucy pulled out a picture. "What's this?"

Unikitty leaned over and looked at the snapshot. Lucy had picked out one of the better pictures, or three-years-ago-April-first. Emmet was holding his hand out to Lucy, and she was about to grab it, but what each did not know was that both wore a joy-buzzer, and if you had been there, and listened closely, you could hear Unikitty's laughter through the photo. "That's April Fool's Day, you both had a buzzer on your hands."

"Ouch."

"I know."

The two continued looking at snapshots, even laughing along the way a little. Unikitty would explain the memory attached to a stuffed animal or photo, like when Emmet had been so busy planning Lucy's birthday party he forgot the gift, and she loved the drugstore monster-truck toy even more than anything else she had gotten. A picture that seemed to resonate particularly well with Lucy was one of herself fast asleep on Emmet's chest, who had passed out sometime before, his hand in the chip bag and hers on the remote.

"You two loved to do movie night, but I don't remember the last time you actually stayed up until midnight," Unikitty laughed.

Whether Lucy purposefully pulled out the next picture or not, we'll never know, but the next one she asked about was one that gifted a sprinkling of pink powder across her freckles. "Oh, that's Christmas Eve, our first one after the wars and stuff." In the snapshot, Emmet held Lucy by the waist and had begun kissing her beneath the mistletoe, and even through the picture and kiss, you could see Lucy grinning.

Nothing broke her gaze from the picture, and Lucy continued to stare at it, like a teenager who had found a toy from their childhood.

Unikitty said nothing, but something about the glitter in Lucy's eyes and the way she refused to move to another picture told her this was very, very good.

"You…you want to keep this one? I have plenty, and probably a copy of that one somewhere," Unikitty asked, making sure to keep her voice as soft and unobtrusive as possible.

Lucy opened her mouth to refuse, to say that was ridiculous, to put it back and never look at such a picture again, but something gave her pause. Was it her stupid heart? Was it something she felt she owed to Emmet? No one knew.

"You know, I'd–"

The phone buzzed, and Rex's number (or Emmet's secondary number) flashed across the screen.

Confusion raced across her eyes, and decision covered up whatever was supposed to come after.

Lucy scooped up the phone, handed the picture back to Unikitty and shook her head. "Thanks, but they're not my memories anymore." Sliding the phone on, Lucy forced her voice, which had taken on a melancholy tint for a reason she didn't understand, to sound chipper.

Unikitty stared at the picture.

Stupid memories.