CHAPTER 6 – "Look at the all the fishies!"

LPOV

"Ooh Joe can we go in there?" I pleaded, pointing at the shop that sold Otter merchandise.

"Really Lolo?" he asked, tiredly. He was holding several bags of stuff I bought already, I almost felt sorry for him.

"YES!" I grabbed him by the hand, ignoring the electricity passing through, and pulled him down the crowded sidewalk, towards the Otter shop. Once inside I knew I had to get it. It was a Harry Potter sweatshirt with an otter on the front called Hairy Otter. It was right up my alley. I got a large so it would be warm and big enough to wear with leggings. I took it over to the checkout and looked through my bag for my wallet.

"Are you kidding me?" I looked up, thinking it was Joe, but instead found it was the cashier.

"Yeah, I love Harry Potter." I snapped. He had green eyes and dark curly hair; I could stare at him for days. Wait, you love Joe! No I don't he doesn't like me remember? I shut my thoughts off and took my shirt from him.

"Thanks."

"I'm John. You are?" He held out his hand and I was just about to shake it when Joe came out of nowhere with the guys in tow.

"Leaving. Let's go. We need to get in line." He spoke up, pulling me by the hand towards the entrance of the shop.

"Well it was nice meeting you." Said John, waving to me.

"What the hell is your problem? Couldn't you see I was talking?" I demanded, pulling my hand out of Joes grasp, once we were out of the shop.

"Yeah, well it's not like you can date him." He countered.

"I WASN"T GOING TO!" I shouted, earning several looks from passerbies; I didn't care. "I can talk to whomever I want Joseph, it doesn't mean I'm going to jump in bed with the first guy who notices me." I said, stalking off towards the aquarium.

"Wow, you fucked up, man." I heard Joey say.

I couldn't say I was surprised by Joe's actions; things like this had been subtly happening when we were back home.

JPOV

"Lauren, I'm sorry. That's not what I meant!" We were currently walking towards tanks filled with seaweed at the Aquarium, when I was apologizing for the hundredth time.

"Oh my dead god! Do you ever SHUT UP?" She asked, reeling around to face me. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid of ANYTHING but it's hard not to be afraid of Lauren Lopez when she's mad.

"Sorry?"

"Ugh! Fine, I forgive you. Just stop whining!" she said, a small smile playing on her rosy lips.

"YAY! We're a family again! Does that mean you and Mommy aren't getting a divorce?" asked Joey in a baby voice. I gave him a look and expected Lauren to say something but when I heard nothing, I turned and saw no one where she'd been standing.

"Uh where's Lauren?" asked Darren uncertainly, coming up behind us with the Brian's.

"Lauren?" I shouted into the crowd.

"Lolo?"

"LAUREN?"

"There!" shouted Rosenthal, pointing towards a kiddie plaything. Turns out it was a 'kelp forest'.

We ran over and looked through the windows of the giant play pen; all of us too big to go in.

"Lauren. What are you doing?" I asked, half laughing.

"I'm Nemo! And you guys are big meanie barracudas." She told us. We all laughed at her.

"Lauren, c'mon let's go check other things out."

"You'll have to catch me first!" She shouted, making a dash for it.

"GET HER!" yelled Brolden. We all let out loud battle cries, chasing after the tiny girl in an attempt to get her. I swear people thought we were crazy.

"Wait, let's split up, yeah?" said Joey, pulling Darren towards the seahorse sanctuary.

"You're on your own Joe." And off ran the two Brian's leaving me to look for Lauren in the jellyfish area.

"Come out, come out where ever you are, Lauren." I only had to whisper because the section was completely empty. Wait, not completely empty, I thought, spotting some movement behind a huge tank holding some sardines.

I walked slowly over to the tank, and jumped on the person behind it.

"I found you!" I shouted triumphantly, tickling her sides. I loved the feel of her in my arms, it's like we were two pieces of a puzzle, as cheesy as that sounds.

"Stop! Stop, unkle! I can't breathe!" She squealed.

"Never!" And after a few more denied protests, she suddenly stopped moving and breathing all together.

"Lauren?" I shook her, no response. "This isn't funny. Oh shit! I killed her!"

"Hah, zombie!" She yelled, wriggling out of my arms and booking it towards the exits. I followed only to find she'd been captured by Joey and Darren. Turns out Seahorses are next to jellyfish.

"!" she half cried. I laughed, leaving her to deal with them, and called Brolden, who agreed to meet us at the Open Sea section; if we hurried we could catch the feeding of the inhabitants.

"Hey, who wants to go see sharks?" I asked the overgrown children.

"YEAH!" shouted Darren and Joey, their captive long forgotten as the charged towards the Open Sea. I looked at Lauren who was now residing on the floor where the guys dropped her.

"Need help?" I smirked as she nodded; out of breath for a proper response. I took her hand and pulled her rather unceremoniously up straight. She stumbled and fell into my arms. As cliché as it was, my whole world stopped and it was as if she was the only one to exist. I could see her getting lost in my eyes for just a moment, but that all stopped when she straightened herself up.

"Uhh, I think we should go now." She said, avoiding my eyes.

"Y-yeah," I stuttered. "Let's go." Way to mess up again, Joseph.

LPOV

Wow, his arms are so warm, I thought to myself. Stop it Lauren, you're like his sister.

But he gave me the look!

What look?

The look!

HE DOESN"T LIKE YOU!

SHUT UP! Great, I'm arguing with myself, I've officially lost it.

"Uhh, I think we should go now." I said, looking anywhere but him.

"Y-yeah."

I stepped back, letting my hair cover my blush and walked in the direction of the Open Sea, not caring if Joe was following or not.

"There you guys are!" Said Darren. "What took so long?"

"N-nothing." Stupid stutter. "So are we gonna watch, or just talk?" Darren narrowed his eyes at us but let go of the subject.

"Shhh, it's starting," whispered Rosenthal, breaking the tension. Phew.