Ch 12
Lancelot was furious as he walked into the forest. Artie had really crossed the line by asking Gwen to marry him. "He's so dead when I find him! Then I'll tear him limb from limb. His friends won't be able to help." He thought angrily as he walked through the trees. Artie and Gwen were in the lake swimming and playing. Gwen's laughter was music to his ears. Fiona smiled as she and Shrek waded into the lake. Artie was feeling relaxed until he heard somebody yell his name.
Shrek watched as Artie ducked under water. Gwen understood when she saw Lancelot standing there. "What're you doing here? You're going to ruin everything!" she yelled as she splashed him. "Why're you with Artie? He's the Mayor of Loser ville!" he said to her. "Because I love him and you're the loser! At least Artie cares about me in ways I understand. All you care about is dumb jousting!" Gwen yelled. Lancelot was reallt scared by her defiance. He then walked off in a huff. Artie came up to the surface but found Gwen gone. "She's upset. Lancelot showed up and upset her greatly because she loves you." Fiona told him. Artie understood and got dressed. "Where're you going?" Shrek asked him. "I'm going to find Gwen and calm her down. You know how it is." He told him. Shrek chuckled at that as Artie walked off. Gwen was sitting by the campfire beside Puss. He could tell she was upset. "What's wrong senorita? You seem upset." He said gently. "It's just those losers back at Worchester. They're always judging me whether I'm there or not. I really love Artie but they can't see that." She explained sadly. He understood. Donna and Charlotte had calmed down. They felt sorry for Gwen. "Don't worry sweetie. Those other kids at Worchester are going to get jobs kissing you and Artie's feet." Donna told her. Gwen smiled as Artie came to see her. "Are you okay?" he asked her. "Yeah. It's… just everybody back at school. If they knew we liked each other, they'd be mad. They don't understand." She told him. "I know how you feel. But it's not up to them, it's up to us." He told her as he kissed her. She then felt better. "I feel sorry for her. She used to be popular and now it's hurting her more than ever. It was easy for me to leave Worchester without a care because I was a loser. She's going to need me more than ever." He thought as they went back to the lake and undressed. They waded into the water.
Shrek and Fiona had went back to the campfire. Snowgre was thinking about somebody he cared about at high school. Her name was Cheri. She was a cheer leader but she was human not an ogre like him. She had brown hair, slender bodied and really nice for a popular girl. But many popular boys were trying to make their move on her. "What's wrong?" Shrek asked him. "Nothing." the ogre teen said as he walked off from his cousin. Shrek was really worried for Snowgre. He'd been getting into trouble at school. He'd had parents but they were taken away from him a few days before turning thirteen. Because he had nowhere else to go, Snowgre had been sent to a foster family but they were humans. At first he thought it was cool until his powers emerged. Once that happened, his so called family were afraid of him. His foster father ignored and hated him. After taking so much hatred from them, he ran away to find Shrek because he was his only living relative but he and Fiona didn't know this but he was planning to tell them but Shrek knew what was going on and wanted to help the kid before it was too late, Snowgre was letting off steam as he shot beams of ice and snow at the trees. He wanted to tell him.
But he was worried in case they'd reject him too. He was wearing something aroundd his neck. It was a locket in the shape of an icicle. When he opened it, there was a picture of him and his parents together. It had been taken before they had passed away. A frozen tear fell down his face. "We need to talk." somebody said firmly. Snowgre turned around and saw Shrek beside him. He was looking at the teen's locket. "I see you found it again." he said gently to him. "It was in their room. It's the only thing left that reminds me of them and that I used to believe in the idea of family until they left. Now I don't. All they bring is pain." he told him coldly. It shocked the elder ogre to hear that. All the happiness seemed gone in his eyes and voice. He needed a home and a family again. In his head he was getting an idea but he wasn't sure if it would work. "What if you lived with me and Fiona and became part of my family?" he said to Snowgre. There seemed to be a flicker of hope in the teen's eyes at that. "What do you mean?" Snowgre asked smiling a little. "You could live with us. Fiona's pregnant and giving birth soon. I want... to help ya get a second chance at a family and life. I know you get into trouble at school and that you ran away from your foster family but they were jerks anyway. You need people like you. What do you say?" he explained to him. "I'd like to try again." Snowgre answered quietly. They then walked back to the campfire. Fiona wondered where they'd been. "It's okay. We were having some guy talk." Shrek said as Snowgre sat beside Artie.
Charming had heard Shrek and Snowgre's little talk and smiled evilly. He could use it against Snowgre later when he and his friends came to stop them. He knew something about Snowgre's parents that Snowgre didn't know. They were alive but were in his dungeon. "I can't wait until I see his face when he realises they're not dead!" he cackled as Lancelot returned. He knew he was still upset about Gwen. Later Snowgre was still up while everybody was asleep. He could hear his parents begging for mercy in his head. "I know they're dead but in my heart it's like they're not." he told himself as he looked at the night sky. Fiona felt sorry for him. Shrek had told her what was going on with the teenager. She understood when her husband told her his idea about giving his cousin a second chance. .