Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

Anyways, this is gonna be a quiet chapter, with little PINK action, but I have something planned for the chapter after this, and it's just gonna break my little heart (sob sob). And, Tracy and Seaweed are gonna end up a little OOC. And by little, I mean a LOT

Oh, and did you know Penny's dad was in jail? In the movie, when Prudy locked Tracy in the basement, you just hear her yelling at Penny, "Wait 'til your father gets out of prison! You'll see more than a jump rope then, missy!"

That is relevant in this chapter.

Our Love Story

Family Dinners

Dinners in the Pingleton house had been uncomfortable for the last month. They began sharply at six o'clock, and generally Prudy and Penny sat quietly, until Penny had finished and was excused to her room.

Today, however, when Penny stepped into the house at six thirty, fully ready for her mother to yell and scream at her, she was shocked to have Prudy engulf her in a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh, my darling!" Prudy cried, holding Penny's face, "Thank goodness your home,"
Penny blinked in surprise, "Erm…sorry I'm late…"
"That doesn't matter!" Prudy laughed, "Oh, sweetie, I have great news!"

"You got a new jump rope?" Penny said, sarcastically. Prudy hardly seemed to notice.

"No! Your father's back,"
Penny's eyes widened. Her father, Peter Pingleton, had been in jail for 18 months. The crime had been 20 months ago, but during the hostage situation he tried to hold, he slipped on a banana peel and fell, damaging his back and spending 2 months in hospital.

Penny's eyes travelled to the doorway, where a tall burly man with a bald head and kind grey eyes stood, grinning at his daughter.

"Daddy?" Penny stammered, before running and falling gratefully into her father's arms, "You're home!"
Peter chuckled, kissing his daughter's head, "I missed you, baby doll,"

Penny hugged him happily. She had always been such a daddy's girl, especially since her mother had always been such a strict Christian.

Peter pulled back and bent down to Penny's eye level, looking serious, "So, what's this I hear about a Negro boy?"
Penny shifted uncomfortably. She hadn't told her mother that she and Seaweed were over.

"Penny? Are you really dating a Negro?" Peter asked. Penny shook her head.

"No, Daddy. We're not together anymore," she insisted. Prudy came up beside Penny, wrapping an arm around her.

"Is that true?" she asked.

"Yes, Mom. Seaweed and I have been over for at least a week," Penny grinned. Prudy smiled happily.

"Great!" she exclaimed, "Well, I made some pork, let's go eat!"

For once, the dinner in the Pingleton house was not quiet and uncomfortable. It was happy, and loud as the three swapped stories about what had happened over the last 18 months.

"And breaking that poor girl's heart in front of all her friends! Forget slapping – I'm surprise she didn't punch your lights out!"
Link sat awkwardly at the dinner table, as his mother served the food and raved at him. His father, Lionel Larkin, sat there reading a newspaper. The only sign of life was the occasional rising puff of smoke from his pipe.

"Tracy is such a nice girl! How could you break up with her?" Lilly Larkin exclaimed, sitting down at the opposite end of the table.

"It wasn't going to work out, okay, Mom?" Link snapped, "It's my choice; not yours!"
Lilly scowled, "Y'know, that girl is exactly what I would want my daughter-in-law to be like!"
Link choked on a piece of chicken, while his sister Loretta began giggling.
"Shut up, Lor!" he snapped at the 10-year-old. She scowled and turned back to her food.

"You must apologize to poor Tracy," Lilly said, "Or this will be on your conscience forever!"

"It's not even on my conscience now!" Link laughed.

"Why not?!"
Link sighed, "I did what I had to do to be happy, okay? If my happiness means squat to you, so be it,"
Lilly frowned, "Your happiness means a lot to me, Lincoln. I just don't want this girl to be miserable because-a you,"
Link smiled, "Look, Trace is a nice girl, and she means a lot to me. Just not as much as P—"

Link suddenly cut off, and looked down at his Brussels sprouts. Lionel suddenly emerged from behind his newspaper, grinning.

"Is there another lass for you?" he asked, teasingly. Link blushed and muttered something incoherent.

"Ooh, Link likes someone!" Loretta laughed.

"Lor!" Link snapped, warningly.

"Did you cheat on Tracy?" Lilly exclaimed.

"No! I wouldn't cheat on her! I just…" Link faltered a moment, "…met someone else. Who I can't get off my mind, who I can't go a day without seeing, who—"

"Yeah, we get it, son," Lionel laughed, puffing on his pipe, "So, you really love this girl?"
Link nodded, "Yeah. I love someone; I really love someone,"
Lionel smiled and ruffled Link's hair, "Then you hold on to her, sonny boy."
"Would you ever give my boyfriend that advice, Daddy?" Loretta beamed. Lionel scowled.

"No way. A boy ever tries to court you, I'm liable to shoot him,"

"Lionel!" Lilly exclaimed. Lionel looked innocently at her.

"What? That's my baby girl!"
Loretta giggled and jumped off her chair, running around the table and crawling into her daddy's lap. Lionel chuckled and kissed her head. Link smiled kindly at them. He could just picture himself doing that, giving his daughter such affection. Except, instead of Loretta's auburn hair and big brown eyes, this child would have his brunette hair, and perhaps smiling blue eyes, much like Penny had…

Link suddenly stood up, shaking his head. Lilly stared at him.

"Are you okay, son?" she asked, worriedly. Link nodded and left the table, running into the bathroom. Once he had locked the door, he splashed cold water onto his face and lent on the sink, looking into the mirror.

He was only seventeen! He couldn't be imaging his and Penny's family already, could he?

"How could he do this?"
Seaweed watched as Tracy paced the length of her living room, and he looked down at his watch.

"Tracy, let's agree, okay? We're both screwed up because our significant others broke our hearts," Seaweed sighed, "We should just move on!"
"No!" Tracy snapped, "I love Link Larkin with all my heart. He's mine!"
Seaweed looked into her eyes, "How are you gonna win him back?"
Tracy suddenly ducked her head. Seaweed blinked a couple of times, before realising, and his face paled.

"No! No, Tracy! Remember the rhyme! 'Round three is where we kiss inside his car…'!"
" 'Won't go all the way but I'll go pretty fa-ar'!" Tracy finished, "But…if it'll win him back, surely it's for the greater good?"

Seaweed scowled, "You think he dumped you cos you wouldn't—"

"No! It's because of that skank Amber." Tracy said simply, "But, this will prove to him I can be just as Amber-ish."
Seaweed sighed and got up, "Well, I'm going to leave then. G'night, Tracy,"

Tracy watched him leave, before running to her mother's liquor cabinet and pulling out several bottles of whiskey. She was about to reach for the phone when it began to ring.

"Hello?" she said, answering it. Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Link! Hi! …time to clear the bad air? Of course! We should do that," Tracy laughed, "Come over, right now. …okay. See you in a few,"

Tracy hung up and beamed. She wasn't a whore; she knew she wasn't! She just needed Link back, and surely doing this one thing wouldn't make her a whore.

Not if you did it with someone you loved.

OMG!!!!!! Why must ALL OF MY CHARACTORS BE OOC?????????? Grr…

Review!