Chapter#1

(I'm having writers block with some of my other fan fiction. (No, don't worry I'm not giving up on it. Just need to take a breather from my other stories.) So, I decided to dive into my first ever IJ FF. I hope you enjoy. Please read and review, and no I'm not just looking for compliments. I mean if you truly enjoy it then great, but all I ask is that if you leave a constructive review please be detailed. I mean if you just tell me you hate it and don't tell me why how am I supposed to do better next time, Right? (Not that constructive reviews haven't been detailed. I'm simply just putting it out there as a friendly reminder.)

Thank you in advance. I appreciate you all so much. )

I stood on the top level of Jersey Gardens mall, watching one of my best friends make a total fool of himself.

"Come on Murr, do it again." Joe called from next to me on the microphone. "To this girl here." He said pointing to a young blonde woman.

We had been doing Impractical Jokers for six seasons now, and every year it seemed like our dares had gotten harder, but then again so had the punishments.

"Come on guys." He breathed beneath a haze of embarrassment.

"I mean you could just take the loss Murr." Q muffled beneath a laugh, grabbing the mic from Joe.

I could tell by the way Murr's body rose, how he puffed his chest that he thought this girl was cute, plus that stupid smile on his face reeked of longing.

"Do it man." Joe said, impatience lining his voice, shouting from above.

Thankfully she didn't seem to notice Joe's shouting. Then again, she was on her cell phone, oblivious to what was about to happen to her.

Poor girl.

Murr cupped his hands in front of his face for a moment and then walked over and embraced her.

Then, just as they were about to break he pulled her back in and licked her earlobe. She screamed, and ran away with her hands on the sides of her head.

Her phone conversation long forgotten.

"Eww, dude, you're gross." I said, pulling the microphone away from Q's hands. "Something tells me you won't be getting a date Murr. Sorry bro." I finished, watching his frowned expression.

He ran back upstairs, painting when he got there and slapped Joe on the hand, forcing the donut to fly from him.

"Yea, that's what you get." Murr then proceeded to stomp on it.

Joe studied it for a moment, with a sad face but then shrugged his shoulders and picked it up.

"Oh my god." Sal said, beneath a gagging fit.

Joe's smile ripped through his cheeks as he walked over to Sal. He acted like he was going to go face first into the smashed creamy concoction, but instead he smeared it all over Sal's face.

I thought he would eat it. Joe loved sweets after all, even labeling himself as a fat bastard who lives and dies by the pastry, but the floor was too gross even sating his insatiable sweet tooth.

"You're so gross." Sal said, gagging more.

I laughed, and dangled my arm on the railing. This is how it had been. Even before the show. I hadn't met the boys in High school, because they went to an all-boys school.

Sal was the first one I met. In college, he attended St. John's University for finance. I was taking English.

We had met at a party held by a mutual friend. After that he introduced me to the other guys, and we've been friends ever since.

It's been nearly twenty years. I couldn't imagine my life without these morons.

"Yea Joe, you're pretty gross."

He shrugged and grabbed another donut from the table. Shoving half of it into his mouth with one bite.

Yep, this was my life. I thought with a sigh. I loved them though, and every single second of comic relief they brought into my life.

I shook my head and watched as Q made his way downstairs.

"Ok Q, make like a penguin and waddle." Sal said into the mic after wiping his face.

I know why he was making him do it. We had been making fun of Q's shirt all day. It was a black button down, but had a white patch in the center. Q was great, one of the four funniest people I knew, but his fashion sense was way off leering towards nonexistent.

"Oh, over to that couple." I concluded, pointing over to an elderly couple sitting at one of the benches below.

"Make sure they see you." I finished, handing the mic back over to Sal.

Q shook his head and stiffened his body as he waddled over to the couple.

"Hey." Q kept his head straight and stiff when he spoke, only underlining the already forming wrinkles that hung on his face.

The elderly man stared at him, regarding him with a raised eyebrow of confusion.

"Hello young man." He pulled his glasses off and dusted them and put them back on as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Ask him what time it is." Murr said.

Joe unplugged the mic and motioned for one of the crew members to come over.

"Do you have it?" He said to them.

A young boy with red hair approached, holding a bucket and staring at the contents. His lips puckered, disgusted by the smell of it. It had to admit, I had smelled a lot over the years being around four guys all day, but this was bad.

Either that or lately my sense of smell had been more sensitive. Maybe it was to make up for my failing eyesight. I needed glasses, but decided to opt for contacts instead.

The guys would never let me live that one down. So, I never told them.

"Hey man, thanks." Joe said patting the boy on the back with his free hand.

"It's about 3:45." The elderly man said looking at his watch.

"Omg, I can't believe we are about to do this." Sal said, covering his mouth in disbelief, but the remnants of a mischievous grin leaked to his eyes.

"Yea, especially since he has a date tonight. He's going to kill us." I continued, reaching into the steel bucket and pulling out a cold slimy fish.

"Great." I said into the mic to Q. "That means its feeding time."

"What?" Q said, looking around and releasing his stiff pose.

We ran downstairs, with fishes in hand and threw them at him.

"Are you guys crazy?" He said, putting his hands up in a defensive position.

"You know I have a date tonight." He said, once we stopped.

We all stared at him for a moment, then turned meeting each other's faces.
"Well." We all said in a ringing unision.

This was part of a punishment we had been planning for weeks now.

"Bud, you better cancel." Sal said, patting Q on the back.

"He can't." Murr said, pressing his hands to his face to ward off a laugh.

"What do you mean I can't?" Q said, retrieving his phone from his pocket and opening it.

"Nah Nah." Joe said with an extended finger and ripping the phone from him.

"Dude, I'm sorry, but you have to go just as you are. Smell and all." I said, wrapping my arm around him, but then I released and walked out of the camera's view after gagging from the smell of him.

Q sighed, hanging his head down in shame as he made his way down to the food court.

It's where he liked to have first dates. It was casual yes, but that's how Q liked things. Casual. Plus, with all the food vendors it left a lot of options open. It's where he took me on our first date.

"Ok man, have fun."

We all watched from a table far away as Q sat down.

"How long do you think she will stay?" I said, arching my body just so I could get a better view of him.

"Stay?" Sal tssked and shook his head. "Nah, this girl is gonna up and leave the second she smells his fishy ass."

"We should bet." Murr said, pulling out a pen and paper.

"You want to bet on our friend's misfortune?" Joe said as he picked at his tray of general tso chicken. He turned back to us with a shoulder shrug. "Ok, I say five secs." He licked at his finger that had a bit of sauce left on it.

I watched as Q sat there, so sad and miserable. My heart broke for him just a moment. I had hoped that one day he would find love. Q and I had liked each other for a long time, but we decided with the show that it was best if we didn't date. He's been through so much he deserved someone that would make him happy. He didn't always have the best taste in women. Physically yes, Q went out with a lot of hot women, but not a lot of nice ones.

"How about you?"

I turned, shaking myself back into reality as I stared at an all too eager Murr.

"Oh, sorry, um I say 2 secs."

His pearly teeth were exposed from the lips that normally concealed them as he jotted down my bet.

We watched, anxiously awaiting as his date approached. She was just as beautiful as I remembered back in Memphis. That's where he met her while we were on tour. Reggie, I believe was her name.

"Hello." Q said with a smile holding his arms out.

She threw a bit of blonde hair out of her face and returned his smile, until she came closer. Her porcelain face had been shaded a toxic green.

"What is that?" Her voice was high pitched as she pinched her nose with her just fresh manicure.

"It's fish." Q said with a shrug.

"So, you hungry?" He said, turning and extending his arm around. "There's a burger king or.."

He turned back around, cut off by the now empty space that greeted him.

"Well we don't have to do burger king. We could go to wendy's instead." He shouted, so his voice would carry across the food court and through the patrons, who were now staring at him like he was crazy.

"Ok, bye." He said, reaching his hand around and rubbing at his neck.

I frowned, watching his defeated frame walk over to us.

"No, go away." I said, smacking his arms away when he reached around to hug me.

"Come on, it's not so bad." He said in a comical tone.

"No, go away." I said again as I ran away.

"I'll get you." He said in a deepened tone.

"No, please Q, go away."

I cursed my untied sneaker that had tripped me when Q had successfully wrapped me into his frame.

"Eww. Go away." I closed my eyes, smacking whatever flesh I could find.

"Oh no." Q said, deepening the hug and trapping me further. "I'm never letting you go Fayth."

How badly I wanted that to be true. I would have done anything for that to be true. I had settled on someone else, because I wasn't a size 2, or in my twenties anymore. The white gold ring that burned on my fourth left finger reminded me so.

I shuffled what could have been in my mind as I allowed Q's arms to wrap around me.

I thought I was going to vomit from the smell, but every inch of me longed to be surrounded by him. I felt safe and warm with him near me.

"Ok, that's a wrap." Sal said, clapping his hands.

I opened my eyes and greeted a slightly darker world, one where Brian Quinn wasn't mine, or would never be.