Dating Do's and Don'ts
"Alvin I…" Brittany started. She wasn't sure what to say. She had always thought Alvin was cute, but she had never expected an action like this from him. She thought he considered her a friend and nothing more. Alvin's face seemed to droop at her hesitation.
"Brittany if you…" he started, but was cut off by Brittany's smile. That was one of the things Alvin loved about her the most. Her lovely smile could make him drop everything to be with her.
"Alvin, I would love to go on a date with you" she said happily. Alvin looked at her lovingly, taking in her beauty. He realized he was holding the aconitum in his hand.
"Well, uh, I guess these are for you" he said handing them to her. He still wasn't sure why, but he had a funny feeling about the name aconitum. He knew it from somewhere, he was sure of it. He learned where moments after handing it to her. She smiled and looked at the pretty bouquet. She accepted it, grabbing it around the wrapped section. She smelled the aconitum. The smell was very intriguing. She went to feel one of the petals, but the moment her finger connected with the plant she screamed. The flower burned her, as though it was on fire. She dropped the flowers on the ground and started to blow on her finger. Alvin looked shocked.
"Are you alright? What happened?" he asked examining her finger. There were no marks on it at all, but Brittany still said it hurt. Then Alvin looked at the aconitum and its other name flashed through his mind. Wolfs bane. How could he have been so stupid to forget something like that? Wolfs bane repels werewolves. It burns them as though they had stepped into a wall of flame.
"M-maybe you're allergic to aconitum" he said nervously realizing the mistake. He picked up the flowers and was heading to put them in the trashcan when Brittany stopped him.
"Oh, don't throw them away. I may be allergic to their touch, but they are beautiful flowers. Here let's put them in the garden so I can collect them after our date" she said and she took the flowers from him, ensuring she only touched the wrapping paper. She gently placed them on the garden bed amongst a group of daffodils.
"There, now when I come back later I can take them inside and put them in water" she said sweetly and turned back to Alvin. He was still concerned about Brittany keeping the werewolf repelling plant, but he hid his concern behind a smile.
"Shall we" he said like a gentleman and extended his arm for her to take. She blushed then accepted his hand.
"So where are we going to go?" she asked as they headed away from the Miller house.
"Well, Simon said he had booked 'The Rose Petal' for himself and Jeanette, but I'd say that's for us" he said and started to lead the way. The walk took longer than expected and Brittany got a little tired. She had only ever been driven to her favorite restaurant. She had never had to walk there before. Alvin noticed then smiled to himself. He quickly scooped her up bridal style in his arms and continued along. Brittany giggled at how she was now being carried to the restaurant, but she liked it.
"You know Brittany, you look very beautiful tonight" he said gazing down at the Chipette in his arms. She blushed.
"Thank you Alvin" she said. She had never known him to be so sweet before. For the remainder of the walk, Alvin complemented Brittany. They began to talk, just about regular things like school and friends, but they both enjoyed it. They had never had such a nice time together. Every so often they would have moments where they weren't fighting and arguing, but it would only last for a short while. However tonight, Brittany felt as though in the many years they had been friends, she had never been able to enjoy his company more. Finally they approached the restaurant. The sun had almost completely disappeared now. Its final orange rays were faint. As they were about to walk inside, Alvin gently helped Brittany to her feet.
"Can I help you?" A staff member asked from behind the counter as the two chipmunks walked inside hand in hand.
"I uh, have a reservation for Seville" Alvin said. He hoped that Simon hadn't been lying about reserving the restaurant. Luckily however, the staff member pointed to a name on the list and turned back to them.
"Uh here we are. Seville. Right this way please" he said before leaving his seat and indicating for the two to follow him. The restaurant was very illustrious. The walls were painted in different shades of pink and red and the restaurant was very crowded. Circular tables were positioned all around the restaurant with happy couples seated at them all. The Rose Petal was one of the number 1 restaurants for couples in the town. The staff member took Alvin and Brittany to a booth table at the back of the room. The table was covered with a white sheet and had small pink candle lit on it. Brittany and Alvin took their seats opposite each other and smiled as their eyes looked upon the others.
The staff member returned to the front desk and a waiter approached them.
"Hello, my name is Mitchell, and I'll be your waiter this evening. Here are some menus. I'll be back in a few minutes" he said handing the menus to the children before departing off to assist other patrons. Alvin had a look at the list. He could tell why Brittany liked the place, all the food seemed very good. As he selected his meal, he looked up to see Brittany staring at the menu hungrily as her eyes scanned over the food choices.
"I think I'm going to go with a salad. What would you like?" Alvin asked as he placed his menu down on the table. Brittany looked up at him.
"I'm going to go with a large rump steak cooked rare" she said, licking her lips in anticipation. Alvin looked at her curiously. He figured it had been the werewolf curse that had made her eat burgers at school; however he hadn't actually thought she would eat a steak, that just seemed too far; however he didn't want to upset her so he just nodded at the strange request. After a few minutes Mitchell returned and took their orders. As he left Brittany looked at Alvin.
"So Alvin, I didn't know you liked me more than a friend. When did that happen?" she asked him. He started to blush.
"Well… I started to like you a few months ago when we went to the beach. You looked so pretty in your bikini. Then the next day you still seemed pretty. Ever since then, you have just looked so… beautiful" he said, his blush turning from a light pink to a bright red. Brittany began to blush as well and she smiled.
"Is that why you were acting so strange that day?" she asked. Every so often she had noticed him staring at her, but whenever she turned to ask him why he would immediately turn away. All the day he had been acting strange. Distant like he was deep in thought.
"Well, yes. I couldn't stop thinking about how good you looked" he said, looking down, his face still a burning red. Brittany's smile deepened. This was so strange. She had no idea he had these feelings, and from so long ago. She couldn't believe that he had been able to keep such a secret from everyone. Then she realized something.
"Is that why you have been hanging around with my sisters?" she asked. He looked a little surprised.
"Uh… yeah, well, I… they sort of noticed me staring at you so they got a little suspicious and confronted me about it. So I told them the truth. I'm guessing that they must have told my brothers and staged this whole thing" he said, returning his gaze to her blue eyes. He hoped she would buy the lie, especially since it was a half truth. It felt so weird. They just didn't seem like her eyes. They seemed, darker, as though the sparkle that had once existed within them had disappeared.
"Well, we will definitely need to have a word with them later, but I am having a good time with you tonight" Brittany said happily. Alvin smiled. They talked happily together for a while. They started to talk more about themselves and even told each other things about themselves that they hadn't let anyone else know. Brittany laughed when she heard that as a young child, Alvin had used to walk around with a pink blanket. They were so busy talking; they didn't notice Mitchell approach them with their food.
"Here we are, sorry about the wait" Mitchell said as he presented the two chipmunks with their meals. Alvin started to slowly eat his salad, however he was a little shocked by Brittany. She dived straight into eating her steak, barely using her cutlery at all. Within minutes the steak was gone, and juicy blood was smeared all around Brittany's mouth. She licked it off hungrily.
"That was delicious" she said happily. Alvin tried to hide his disgust at the site he had just witnessed. He noticed that a few of the other patrons had seen the act and were a little disturbed by her lack of manners, however Brittany hadn't seen them. Alvin tried to eat his salad a little faster so that Brittany wouldn't be waiting a long time for him to finish his meal.
"So Alvin, what do you think about the school play so far?" Brittany asked, placing her head into her hands and watching him happily from across the table.
"Well, I think it is turning out really good so far. I'm annoyed that I got stuck as the stupid butler, but I'm happy for Theodore. He is starting to enjoy his role a lot more now. It is really good to see him happy, and I think Eleanor is impressed as well" he said. Brittany looked at him curiously.
"What do you mean?' she asked.
"Well, when they were performing today, they seemed really happy for each other. I think Theodore is enjoying her company as well. Both having the starring role seems to be inspiring Theodore to keep working hard for her" Alvin said, taking another bite out of his salad. He had finished half of it so far. Brittany suddenly seemed to get a little annoyed.
"What's wrong?" Alvin asked concerned. She looked at him and let out a sigh.
"I just don't think is fair. I'm so much better at acting then Eleanor. Why did she get the lead role and I get stuck as some stupid tree" she whined.
"You are a great actor Brittany, but I think Eleanor isn't doing a bad job so far. She is turning out to be a very good actor as well" Alvin said. Suddenly Brittany flared up.
"What do you mean turning out to be a very good actor? She is not a good actor at all, that's why I should have the role!" she growled. Some other patrons turned to see what was wrong.
"Brittany, don't be like that. She's your sister. You should be happy that she is having fun with Theodore as the lead roles" he said in a gentle voice. He knew that because of her werewolf curse, her anger and subsequently her jealousy were higher than usual, but what Brittany had just said was not very nice at all. She shouldn't say something like that about her sister.
"You are actually defending that little brat! I'm better than her by far!" Brittany cried out angrily. Now even more patrons were watching the angry Chipette. Alvin wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to upset Brittany, but he didn't want her insulting Eleanor. He considered her a friend, and he didn't like to hear people saying things like that about friends.
"Brittany calm down. You are overreacting…" he started, but those words sparked the Chipette off. She screamed and flung his bowl of salad in his face.
"Overreacting! I am not overreacting! That little brat takes my rightful place and then you defend her! That's it Alvin, we are finished!" she screamed and stormed out of the restaurant. All the other patrons watched her leave then turned their attention back to Alvin. The chipmunk removed the salad from his face and sighed. The night had been going so well, she had actually enjoyed being on a date with him. Now he had caused her to just scream at him and storm out of a restaurant in front of dozens of people. He hopped out of his seat and went to the front desk to pay for the meal. The man didn't say a word to him as he handed him the money. No one else had any idea what had just happened. They just watched as the sad chipmunk left the restaurant and began to slowly walk home.
The entire walk back Alvin couldn't stop replaying the scene over in his head. Why had he said that to her? He should have realized she would be angry about it. He let out another sad sigh. As he walked he grew closer and closer to home. As he walked along his street he spotted something at the Miller's house that caused him to suddenly break into tears. The aconitum was sitting in their bin crushed. He tried to wipe the tears from his eyes, but they continued to dribble down his cheek. He lowered his head and continued home. As he walked through the front door he found his brothers waiting for him in the den. At first they let out satisfied smiles at his appearance, but as soon as they saw Alvin's face the smiles immediately disappeared and they rushed over to him.
"Alvin what's wrong?" Theodore asked. Alvin looked at both of them and glared through his tears.
"I hope you two are satisfied. Tonight was one of the worst nights of my life. Now just leave me alone" he growled then turned and headed toward their bedroom.
"Wait Alvin, what happened?" Simon said and he placed his hand on Alvin's shoulder to stop him. The red capped chipmunk turned and snapped his hand away.
"What happened is you two just ruined my life! Now Brittany hates me and it is entirely your fault! You should never have put us on that date!" he shouted then turned and trudged back upstairs, leaving the two hurt and worried chipmunks standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"What happened? Why is Alvin so upset?" Theodore said wiping a tear from his eyes. He felt so sad for Alvin, especially now that the eldest chipmunk blamed them for the entire event.
"Something must have happened on their date" Simon said shaking his head. He looked at Theodore and realized the small green chipmunk was very upset about what had just happened.
"Don't worry Theodore, Alvin is just upset. He doesn't blame you for anything. He will calm down" Simon said and gave his younger brother a hug. The little chipmunk let out a sad sigh.
"Well, why don't we call the Chipettes. Maybe they can tell us what happened" Theodore suggested. Simon nodded in agreement. The two younger chipmunks headed towards the phone, but a second before they could pick it up, it started to ring. Theodore and Simon glanced at each other. Simon shrugged his shoulders then picked up the phone.
"Hello" he said.
"Simon, it's Jeanette. What happened with Alvin and Brittany's date? Brittany just stormed inside shouting…" she started when suddenly a loud scream came from somewhere behind her, followed by a huge crashing noise.
"Brittany wait not the…" Jeanette started to say when another crash cut her off.
"What was that? What is going on?" Simon asked worried.
"Brittany just broke the new mirror and shoved over the bookshelf. She is really mad. What happened?" Jeanette said, fear and concern clearly evident in her voice.
"We don't know. Alvin just showed up crying then he shouted that it was our fault or making them go the date. Something must have happened" Simon said, now getting very worried. What could have happened to cause this reaction from both of them?
"Whatever it was, we need to find out what happened. At this rate Brittany is going to destroy the entire house. See if you can… Brittany no don't!" she said before shouting. There was suddenly another crash followed by more screams.
"We'll ask Alvin again. Try and get Brittany to calm down" Simon instructed.
"We'll try, but believe me it won't be easy. So far our den has been destroyed and now she has moved to our room" Jeanette said concerned. As she spoke Simon could hear some muffled crashes and screams.
"Ok. I'll call back as soon as we get an answer. Do your best Jeanette" Simon said kindly.
"Alright, we'll try. I'll talk to you later" she sighed and hung up the phone. Simon hung his end of the phone up and turned to Theodore. He had heard everything.
"We need to talk to Alvin" Simon said watching the small green chipmunk shiver in fear. He led Theodore upstairs toward their room. The door was closed. Simon attempted to open it, but found it locked. He knocked on it.
"Go away!" Alvin growled from somewhere on the other side.
"Alvin what happened? Brittany is destroying the Chipettes house right now and the girls have no idea why. Please Alvin, tell us what happened?" Simon pleaded. At first there was no sound, then the blue-clad chipmunk heard some slow footsteps approach the door. Alvin opened the door. His face was still stained with tears, and now his eyes were puffy and red.
"Alvin, what is going on?" Simon asked quietly. Alvin let out a sad sigh.
"The night started off so well. We went to dinner. I even carried her there when she started to get tired. We ate in peace and then…" he paused and started to cry again. He covered his face with his hands. Simon and Theodore just looked at each other. What happened that reduced their brother to tears like this.
"It's alright Alvin. Tell us what happened?" Simon said kindly and led his brother back into the room and over to his bed. The sad chipmunk sat down and his brothers sat on either side of him.
"Well… she asked me whether I liked the play. I told her I thought that Theodore and Eleanor were doing great. Then she started to get angry at me and started shouting that Eleanor was a brat and she was a terrible actor" he said. Theodore looked very angry about that, but he said nothing and allowed Alvin to continue.
"I told her to calm down and that she was overreacting, then she threw my food in my face and stormed off. Then when I got home…" he started before crying again. His brothers just waited until he finished. Alvin sniffed then continued, "I found the flowers I gave her in the trash" he said. Simon and Theodore looked at each other. They had not expected something like this. Brittany was unreasonable and hot tempered at the best of times, but never had she done something like that before. She always defended her sisters, and had never once said anything bad either of them, and she certainly wouldn't overreact to complement about one of them.
"Look, Alvin, don't worry about what happened. You said nothing wrong. You were just trying to be kind and she overreacted. I don't know what has gotten into her lately, but I hate how she has been behaving, and tonight has been the worst so far" Simon said reassuringly. Alvin just looked at him sadly.
"I know that, but that doesn't change anything. She hates me now" he said and he hung his head in his hands.
"Could you guys leave me alone for a bit" he asked and hopped up and walked to the window seat. Theodore and Simon didn't know what to say. Alvin was really upset. They wanted to stay with him and try to reassure him as best they could, but right now he wanted to be alone. They both sighed and left the room.
"What has gotten into Brittany? First she starts to act weird and now she insults her sister and screams at Alvin. We need to find out what is wrong with her soon before she hurts someone else" Theodore said. Simon said nothing but nodded in agreement.
"Let's go call the girls and tell them what happened" he said and led his younger brother back into the den.
A few hours passed and the Chipettes had headed to bed. Brittany had screamed and yelled all night. She had destroyed or knocked over almost everything in the house. After the boys had called and explained the situation, Jeanette and Eleanor had no idea what to do. They knew why Brittany was acting the way she was, but they had no idea how to stop her. Eventually she had grown tired and went to bed. Miss Miller had cried herself to sleep. The poor old woman had no idea why Brittany was so aggressive. The girls explained what had happened at the restaurant to her, but it didn't change the fact that Brittany had just destroyed the entire house. Jeanette and Eleanor stayed downstairs for a little while and gazed over the scene. The den was in pieces. The couch had been knocked over and the cushions had been ripped to bits. The mirror was in shards and the TV was smashed. The bookshelf and broken when it hit the ground and all the books scattered the den. Most were ripped to shreds.
"We'll clean this up in the morning. We need to go get ready for Brittany's transformation" Jeanette sighed. Eleanor just nodded. She hadn't shown it, but she was really upset that her sister had said those awful things about her. The two girls entered their room to find it in shambles. Jeanette and Eleanor's beds had been tipped over and their desks had been knocked down. The dresser still stood up, but all the drawers had been ripped out and thrown around the room. Clothes scattered the floor. They watched as Brittany slept peacefully in her bed, the only section of the room that was undisturbed. Slowly she started to roll around and growl, then her changes took place. Eleanor and Jeanette sighed and ignored the now yapping Brittany. They moved to their beds and helped each other flip them back over. They left the rest of the room, they just couldn't be bothered. Brittany watched them curiously as they sat on their beds sadly. They suddenly heard a tapping on the window. Eleanor approached it and opened the window up. Alvin slowly crawled through. His eyes were still puffy and red, but he had stopped crying. As soon as his feet hit the floor he walked away from the girls and sat on Brittany's bed.
"We didn't think you would come over tonight" Jeanette said as she watched the sad chipmunk. He turned away from them. Brittany scurried over to him. As soon as she caught his scent she grew happy and started to bark, but when she drew closer her attitude changed. She sensed his mood. The werechipmunk started to whimper and backed away from him, choosing instead to scuttle over to a corner and lay down.
"Alvin, we're sorry. We didn't mean for this to happen" Eleanor sighed and moved toward him. She sat down next to him. Jeanette followed her and copied her move. Alvin let out a sad sigh.
"Don't worry about it. What's done is done. Let's just get through tonight and pretend nothing happened" he said quietly. Jeanette and Eleanor looked at him sadly then hugged him. This time it was not awkward or strange. He hugged them back, but it wasn't the same. He was still really upset. As the girls released him they realized this and let out a sigh. Suddenly Alvin felt something nudge him from behind. He turned around to see that Brittany had left the corner and was looking up at him sadly. She pushed herself between him and Jeanette and snuggled closer to him and lay down. Alvin started to rub her back. He let out a weak smile.
"Well, at least this part of her still likes me" he said. Suddenly his smile collapsed and he started to cry again. He covered his face with his hands, but it didn't stop the tears. Eleanor and Jeanette felt so bad for him. He really cared for Brittany, and now she had just screamed at him for nothing but him complementing Eleanor. They moved closer and gave him another hug while Brittany just gently rubbed herself against him.
"We are so sorry Alvin. If we hadn't forced you into a date like this, none of this would have happened" Jeanette said and some tears started to leak from her eyes as well. He removed his hands and turned to her.
"Don't worry about it. You were trying to do something nice for Brittany and I. if things had turned out differently I would be thanking you. I don't blame you, and I don't blame my brothers either" he said then squeezed the two girls tightly.
"I'm really upset at the moment, but I'll be ok. Don't feel bad, you have done nothing wrong. Let's just put tonight behind us and focus on our job. When Brittany is back to normal again, I will try and talk to her and see if I can make things right. For now, just know that I am glad that you and my brothers cared enough about my feelings that you tried to help. That's all that counts" Alvin said kindly. Eleanor and Jeanette both smiled at him, and he smiled back, this time strongly. He wasn't sure why, but now that he knew that the others were ok, it made him feel a little better as well. At his sudden change in mood, Brittany started to bark happily and she snuggled closer to him. He had to smile at that.
"Should we put her in the closet" Jeanette asked, watching her werechipmunk sister snuggle against Alvin. He turned to her.
"Well, maybe later, but right now, she isn't misbehaving. Let's just let her be. Now you two go and get some sleep. I'll take the first watch" he smiled. Jeanette and Eleanor smiled back. At least he wasn't sad anymore. Both girls lay down and soon fell asleep. Alvin lay on Brittany's bed for a while with the happy werechipmunk before he turned to her.
"Brittany, can you be a good girl and stay here on the bed" he asked. The werechipmunk looked up at him and panted happily.
"Good girl" he said before hopping up from the bed. He surveyed the room.
"Well, it looks like you had quite a temper Brittany" he said and looked at the werechipmunk. She seemed to realize what he was talking about and she shyly covered her face with her paw.
"Don't worry about it. The girls are probably tired from trying to calm you down, so I'll do them a favor" he whispered kindly, then he started to clean the room.
Well that's it for this chapter. I won't lie; this is probably the hardest chapter I have written ever. I'm not that good at writing relationship arguments, especially when something goes wrong from a conversation and not some outside event. Will Alvin be able to fix things with Brittany, or are things just going to get worse? Find out, on the next update!