{ Freddy }

The news was broken that Bonnie and Foxy were engaged. Freddy slapped the redhead on the back. "You did it!" he told him, beaming.

Chica squealed inhumanly loud and hugged Bonnie in a death grip. She was crying and laughing at the same time, saying over and over how happy she was for her best friend.

Foxy turned from the girls to Freddy. He smirked and whispered in the brunette's ear, "your turn, mate."

Another wave of nausea washed over Freddy. "Soon," he promised, then went back to his room.

The weekend passed and Bonnie went back to school. She and Foxy's wedding had been scheduled for a few weeks later.

It was a sunny Tuesday afternoon. Chica had just got back from work as a cashier at the supermarket. She put her purse down on the counter and got out a pack of chocolate cream-filled cupcakes from the pantry, licking her lips and smiling.

Freddy snatched the package from her, kissing her cheek. She whined and stomped her foot.

"Freddyyyyy, give me back my cupcakes," Chica begged.

"No cupcakes for you. I'm taking you out to dinner," Freddy said, putting the cupcakes on a high shelf.

Chica grinned. "Where?" She asked.

"I don't know, we'll find out," he replied. "Just go grab a jacket in case it's cold."

"No fancy dress like Bonnie?"

"Sadly, nope."

Chica pouted, but then smiled again. "Alright."

She went to her room to go grab a jacket and put her makeup on. Freddy went to his room to grab the wedding ring. He usually kept it under his pillow when it wasn't in his jacket pocket.

Nothing but cold sheets met his hand when he felt around under the pillow. Confused, he reached into his pocket, thinking he had shoved it inside instead. Nothing.

Panic fluttered in his chest, but he shoved it back down. He probably just misplaced it.

Freddy began looking through his room for other possible places he might have put the ring. He found nothing but socks, old toys, Gold's mangas and magazines full of ladies in bikinis, and a random stash of candy.

"Gold?" Freddy called, rifling through a dresser full of pajama pants.

"Yeah?" the blonde asked, coming in and closing the door halfway.

"Have you seen the ring?" Freddy asked in a hushed voice, turning to face his older brother.

Gold shook his head. "Why? What's wrong?"

"I can't find it." His voice had a hint of hysteria to it, his eyes wide.

"Well, when was the last time you saw it?"

"It was in my pocket right before the... party," Freddy answered, then raked his hands through his hair angrily. "It must have fallen out of my pocket!"

"While you were twerking to All About That Bass," Gold snickered.

Freddy slugged him in the arm. "Shut up! This is serious!" He growled. "One of those freaking teenagers must have stolen it!"

"You got enough for another one?"

"No Gold, I can't just pull two thousand dollars out of my ass."

Gold snickered again. "That would be so cool if you could."

Freddy growled in frustration. "You can't be serious about anything!" he said, his voice rising.

"Freddy, calm down!"

Freddy sighed and felt tears sting his eyes. "The ring was stolen, or lost, or something. The point is, I don't have a wedding ring, I don't have enough for another one, and I'm taking Chica out to dinner. She's probably expecting a proposal. I'm sure Bonnie told her every detail of her proposal, and she expects it to be every bit as romantic, if not more!"

By now Freddy was hyperventilating. What was he going to do?

Gold rifled through the stash of candy and pulled something out. When he turned, Freddy saw that it was a strawberry ring pop. it has dust and hair clinging to it.

"Here," he held it out to him with a smile.

Freddy smacked his hand and the ring pop flew into the wall and cracked into pieces.

"NO!" Gold yelled, falling to his knees.

"I'm not proposing with a candy ring," Freddy said, rolling his eyes.

"Why not?" Gold asked, standing up. "Come on, how many women can say that their wedding ring was freaking strawberry-flavored?"

"You're a nut," Freddy huffed, standing. "I guess I'll just take her to dinner. I'll save up for another ring and propose later." He picked up a brush from the dresser and started working through his tangled brown hair.

"You know she's expecting a proposal," Gold told him. "It's either that, or a plastic dinosaur ring like I told you about a few weeks ago."

"I'm not going all Sims 3 on Chica."

Gold just laughed.

Freddy finished getting himself ready and walked into the kitchen. Chica was there, wearing white skinny jeans, a pink shirt, and a yellow hoodie. She smiled at Freddy as he took her hand.

"Have fun you crazy kids!" Gold yelled after them, waving dramatically.

They got into the car and started down the road, Freddy silently freaking out.

Should I...?

No... you can't.

But...

You can't.

When they stopped at a red light, Freddy made his decision. He turned to Chica. "Hey baby, I need to go pick something up at the store. Is that alright?"

Chica looked a bit confused, but nodded. "Yeah, that's okay. I need to get myself some more twinkies anyway."

Freddy pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car. He and Chica walked into the store. "Meet back here in about five minutes?" Chica asked. Freddy nodded and gave her a small kiss on the cheek, and then they parted ways.

As soon as Chica was out of sight, Freddy bolted down the aisle toward the jewelry. When he got there he skidded to a halt and slapped his fingers on the glass, panting and searching for a ring.

The lady at the desk jumped when he smacked his hands down. She had long, straight black hair framing her hard daek blue eyes. She was short, but looked to be in her mid-twenties. Her skin was lily white, which contrasted greatly to her black T-shirt.

"Woah buddy, where's the fire?" she asked with a slight New York accent.

"Sorry," Freddy said, gasping for breath. "About to propose, need a ring."

"You're proposing tonight and you don't even have a ring?" The lady laughed. "Your procrastination level is over 9000."

Freddy sighed. "Can you just help me please?"

She leaned forward. "Sure, whatcha lookin for?"

"Something under a hundred bucks."

The lady burst out in laughter, smacking the desk as she fought for breath. Freddy just stared at her, confused. Finally she stopped and looked up, wiping a tear from her eye.

Her eyes met his and her smile fell. "Oh, you're serious?" she asked, knitting her eyebrows.

Freddy nodded slowly, agitated.

"Well, sorry dude. Cheapest I got is about eight hundred, and that one's on super sale."

A long sigh escaped his mouth and he slid down against the glass case, covering his face with his hands. He let out a low moan. "What am I going to do?" he asked to nobody in particular.

"Well..." the lady said. Why is she still talking to me? Freddy wondered. "You can get her a mood ring, or maybe a ring pop."

"You're the second person to suggest a ring pop," Freddy half-growled half-mumbled.

She laughed again. "Maybe you should consider it, then."

Shaking his head, he stood and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. "Well, thanks anyway I guess, er...?"

"Mary. Good luck with your girl," She added as he started off.

"Thanks," Freddy called behind him as he walked back towards the front of the store.

When he got back, Chica was already waiting, holding a box of twinkies. She smiled at Freddy and nudged his arm with her elbow when he got to her. "What did you get?"

Crap, Freddy thought. I didn't even grab anything. She's going to get suspicious.

"Oh, they didn't have what I was looking for," he answered with a fake, exaggerated pout.

Chica laughed. "That's alright, I'm sure it'll be there next time." She looked over at one of the checkout lanes, which had just finished checking out someone and was open. "I'm going to go check out my twinkies, alright?" she asked.

Freddy nodded. When she walked off he looked at the big wall that had racks of candy, gum, snacks, etc. He looked through the tic-tacs and longingly touched a snack-size Nutella.

His eyes landed on a box that was sitting on the rack. Inside were ring pops, wrapped up in their pink plastic encasings.

How would she react?

"Freddy! Are you coming or not?" Chica's voice reached his ears. He turned and saw her by the door, holding her twinkies.

"One second, I'm looking at the candy," he called back with a smile.

She rolled her eyes and laughed. "Meet you in the car, then," she replied as she walked outside.

Freddy waited once more until she was out of sight, then grabbed a strawberry ring pop, causing all the wrappers to make crinkling noises. He paid for it quickly, shoving it into his pocket and walking outside to the car where Chica was waiting.

He closed the car door and turned the key, the ignition roaring to life. Chica had placed her twinkies in the back seat.

"So, where are we going?" Chica asked as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"You pick."

"I'm really feeling pizza."

"Pizza?"

"Pizza."

They said "pizza" in voices mimicking the "okay? okay" voices from The Fault In Our Stars, then broke out into laughter.

Freddy pulled into the local pizza place and they walked inside. After being seated and waiting for a few minutes, a waitress came and took their order. Freddy ordered a large half-cheese and half-anchovies.

"Anchovies are nasty!" Chica complained.

Freddy laughed. "Don't worry, I only got half."

Chica pouted, but when they got the pizza she perked up again.

They ate in silence for a while.

When they finished, they walked outside and instead of going toward the car, started walking in circles around the parking lot, holding hands, talking, and laughing.

Freddy jumped up on the curb and balanced, waking with his arms out like an airplane.

"Hey Chica?" he asked after they had fallen silent for a few moments.

"Yeah?" she replied. She had pulled her hair back into a miniature ponytail at the back of her neck. Her purple eyes looked up at Freddy.

He jumped off of the curb and stood in front of her. They had stopped walking, and stood at the edge of the parking lot.

"Do you love ring pops?"

Chica cocked one eyebrow. "Yeah, they're delicious."

"Do you love me?"

This time she laughed. "Of course I do, Freddy. That's a silly question. Anyway, where are you going with this?"

Freddy scratched the back of his head. "Well, I, erm... See I... Well um..."

He tapped his chin, unsure of how to put it that he lost the expensive wedding ring that he was originally going to propose with and now she was getting an edible candy ring that cost 50¢ at the department store.

Finally, he just sighed and took her hands in his. "I need to ask you something. Promise you won't laugh or get upset, or... both?"

Chica looked confused at this point. "Uh... sure," she told him.

"How long have we dated now?"

"About five years."

"How long have you loved me?"

"Since, like, 6th grade."

"How much do you love me?"

"More than I could say in words."

"Then you shouldn't get angry. Alright."

With another nervous sigh, he pulled the ring pop out of his pocket. He unwrapped the pink wrapper and shoved it back inside, holding the candy. The ring itself was blue, contrasting with the red of the lollipop, which glowed in the streetlights.

"Uh... I'm really confused."

Freddy laughed nervously. "Work with me," he told her.

He got down on one knee. "Connie, I love you. I, uh, don't have much more to offer than this ring pop, which in my opinion is pathetic, but, it's the thought that counts, right?"

Chica had realized what was going on at this point. Her expression was a mix between happiness, confusion, and amusement.

"Well, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

She laughed, a warm sound that echoed in the empty parking lot. "Yes, yes, yes!" she squealed. Her arms wrapped around Freddy tightly. He was shocked at first, but then hugged her back. After a moment, she broke away from him and they both stood.

"You're so silly," she told him with a smile as he slid the lollipop on her finger.

Freddy returned the smile. "Hey, how many women can say that their wedding ring was strawberry-flavored?"