Alrighty! We are so close to the end, here! It's probably gonna be 1 or 2 more chapters, then an epilogue, and then it's FINISHED. WEEE! And that means I'm moving right into the next story; the special exclusive p a tr eo n only sequel/prequel to Always by my Side, followed by the finale of Out of Place, and then Always by my Side itself! And theres more to come after that too! So hold on tight!

Remember! You guys can help me out and speed up my writing by donating to the p a tr eo n of CoffeeFueledAuthor! And you get special prizes as my thank you! We've got that special exclusive tale coming up, as well as plenty of other things available only to those who donate!

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Now, please enjoy! This chapter gets a little more sad, but it will be worth it for the end! Relax, read, review (please!) and enjoy!

Chapter 9: One Last Hope

The sound of the rolling surf felt more like the audible cloud of tv static that lingered in Fear's mind as he began to regain consciousness. His senses started up again one by one; starting with his hearing, then quickly moving to his sense of smell as the scent of the ocean spray overtook him, reminding him exactly where he was when he blacked out. Taste followed soon after, the awful sting of salt water still lingering in his mouth. He began to feel next, noticing a gentle touch gliding repeatedly down his arm as well as the radiating warmth from the sun shining on his skin. Finally, his eyes began to translate the scenery beyond, bringing him out of the darkness and back to the world around him.

With a pained groan, Fear tried to lift his head from the sand to get a better look around. His gaze was pointed towards the ocean, where three curious creatures layed on their belly's half beached in the surf. Sand clung to their downy pink fur, and their long faces looked to Fear with expressions of confusion and concern. As Fear weakly rolled onto his back, he found his glowing comrade sitting over him, looking down into his eyes and breathing in heavy sighs of relief.

Memories as to what lead to his blacking out quickly returned as he studied Joy's golden face. He did it again. He thoroughly embarrassed himself in front of the one person he had tried so hard to impress. Not only had he made a fool of himself by trying to save Joy from a threat that hadn't existed, but he had wound up putting himself in danger. In the end, it was he who had required rescuing from his own panicked mind. He could feel his form become consumed by overwhelming shame and embarrassment, and he put his hands to his face in an effort to hide from the world.

Joy, instantly recognizing the pain in his expression, felt the sharp sting of guilt in her chest. She couldn't help but blame herself for Fear's near drowning experience. If she hadn't pushed him, if she hadn't tried to coax him into the deep waters, if she had just stayed by his side where he felt safe; none of this would've happened. The feeling was inescapable; this was all her fault.

Peering between his lavender fingers, Fear watched as Joy turned away, not even able to maintain eye contact with him any longer. He felt his pulse threaten to stop as he came to his heart breaking conclusion; she was ashamed of him. No matter what he did, he just couldn't prove himself to her. All his attempts during this outing had ended in miserable failure, and now Joy couldn't even bring herself to lay eyes on him. A whirlwind of chaotic thoughts tore through Fear's mind, resulting in a devastating decision.

'I'm just not good enough for Joy.'

Though it pained him to his very core, he decided he could no longer continue this relationship with a clear conscience. Not when it seemed so abundantly clear that he was causing Joy such pain and embarrassment. This was the final straw; it was time to admit defeat.

As Fear and Joy sat quietly with their minds suffocating in self loathing thoughts, it was one of the trio of strange animal hybrids that finally broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Well, that was kind of scary, huh?" The creature chirped to his brethren, mildly surprising Fear with its ability to speak. "Especially since you weren't even breathing when we got you outta there."

The dolph-otter just beside the first nodded his head solemnly, salty brine dripping from the tips of his whiskers. "Yeah, are you sure you're okay? You swallowed a lot of sea water..."

Fear's eyes trailed from the imaginary animals back to the sand beneath the elbow he had propped himself up on. It was even more embarrassing that the monsters he was attempting to rescue Joy from had been the ones who had saved him from drowning. He breathed a long sigh. He couldn't break up with Joy in front of an audience.

"Yeah..." Fear lied, his voice almost completely monotone. "I'm fine..."

"You should at least drink some fresh water after that." The third of the animals insisted. "After ingesting that much salt? You gotta re hydrate. I hope you've got some water bottles on ya or something."

Joy wordlessly agreed with the creatures. This, she knew, was a fact they had picked up during Riley's first ocean vacation. Riley had been playing with these same imaginary friends when a particularly strong wave knocked her backwards. When her father had helped his shaken and sputtering daughter back to her feet, he had immediately lead her back to shore, where he offered her some water from their cooler in the sand. Joy wasn't sure if the same rules applied to emotions, but knew it couldn't hurt. She glanced quizzically at Fear's backpack beneath the umbrella.

Fear followed her eyes to his discarded pack, then slowly shook his head. "I... I didn't pack any water..." He mumbled, another failure of his brought to his attention.

Reassuringly, Joy patted Fear's still sandy shoulder. "I'm sure we could get you some water back at Adrenaline Rush." She helpfully suggested. "They had concession stands just like a real theme park."

Thinking the idea over, Fear finally nodded. He did remember seeing a few stands advertising food and drink. More importantly, however, he remembered how abandoned the park had been. The only ones present besides themselves had been a scarce few mind workers scattered about. This, he decided, would be the place where he'd inform Joy of his choice to part ways.

"Alright." He sighed, anxiety quickly building within him. "Let's go."

Fear gingerly opened the small shacks door, the entirety of imagination land somehow held within. He stepped backwards as he pulled the entryway open wider, gesturing to allow Joy in first without making eye contact so she couldn't see the sorrow hiding deep within. Daintily stepping through the portal, she quickly adjusted her denim shorts. They had both changed back into their summery outfits rather quickly. Fear had clearly been in a hurry to leave the shoreline, and Joy hadn't wanted to keep him waiting. Once completely crossed over to the other side, she turned and took one last glance at the endless ocean, noting the glorious shimmer of sunlight off the brilliant blue waters and catching a final glimpse of pink dorsal fins as the dolph-otters made their way back to the deep.

Fear, on the other hand, made it a point to not look back. It was too painful. The beach was so beautiful and pristine, completely living up to it's name Paradise Shores. And yet he had still managed to ruin Joy's fun with his endless worrying. Not noticing that she was still trying to study the view beyond, Fear quickly yanked the entrance shut behind him, trying in vain to leave the painful memories of his failures behind the door.

The beach now completely hidden behind the crudely painted brick wall, Fear continued forward without hesitation, and Joy slowly trailed behind. He hadn't uttered a word since he had agreed to return to the amusement park, and Joy could feel her insides begin to ache. Fear was almost never this quiet. He was always making some sort of ambient sounds, be it yelping in surprise, whining with anxiety, or giggling in embarrassment. This uncomfortable silence was a clear indication that something was on his mind, and Joy was having nothing but difficulties trying to figure out what he was thinking.

Little did she know that his silence came from an overwhelming feeling of uncertainty. He knew he was going to end his relationship with Joy; he had firmly decided that already and refused to go back on the decision. The question was how? He couldn't tell her the truth. If he admitted that he was leaving her because of his own inadequacy, she would surely respond with sympathy and insist on them staying together. But he couldn't let that happen. He loved Joy too much to see her spending her life with anything less than the perfect figure of masculinity that she deserved.

Fear knew the only way to ensure that Joy left him for good was to lie. Perhaps if he acted pompous, if he made it seem like Joy could never live up to his standards, then she wouldn't argue about splitting up. This, he was sure, would leave Joy furious. He would be forced to carry out the rest of his life knowing the one person he loved saw him as the embodiment of cruelty and narcissism, hating him with all of her being for an eternity. But he was willing to suffer through this heart breaking scenario if it meant Joy wouldn't have to live a life of misery chained down with a pathetic coward like himself.

Fear was still tangled in a flurry of racing thoughts when they finally arrived at their destination. Rather than going through the main entrance as they had before, the emotions had traveled to a smaller side entrance to the theme park located only a short walk from the beach. This, like the main one, was completely abandoned. The ticket booths all sat vacant, acting more as a decoration than a function since the park was free to any and all visitors. Fear and Joy weaseled through the loose turnstiles and onto the familiar path within the parks borders.

After only a brief walk past a few painted coasters, Fear and Joy happened upon a field of booths and stands. Colorful banners hung all along their frames, broadcasting to the world around them what that particular stand had to offer. About three booths down stood the stand they had been looking for; one that proclaimed its variety of cold drinks for sale, including the fresh bottled water Fear required. Joy smiled and quickly made her way towards it, only to stop a few steps in after noticing that she could no longer hear the footsteps of her companion.

Sure enough, Fear had stopped dead in his tracks at the first booth, staring intently in its direction with his mouth slightly agape. A plushie hanging from the carnival game stand's roof had caught his attention. It was an over sized stuffed penguin almost as tall as he was. And not just any penguin; this particular bird plush was decorated with tiny tufts of golden feathers erupting from its eyebrows, accenting its black and white body. This was a rockhopper penguin plushie. Fear stood in an awed silence; this had to be a sign.

Quickly, the nervous emotion studied the rest of the booth. At its rear, three tiny stools stood balancing three empty glass bottles in a tiny pyramid, a large sign behind them reading "KNOCK DOWN THE GLASSES TO WIN". An assortment of colorful plushies hung from the inner walls and ceiling of the stand as the reward to be given out to those who could best the simple game. Unlike the grand majority of the stands, this one held an employee within, a single dark purple mind worker repeatedly tossing a baseball above his head with his glittering hands.

Fear curled his eyebrows. This, he decided, was his last chance. He would attempt this silly carnival game in order to win the rockhopper penguin plushie as a gift for Joy. If he succeeded, he would accept it as a sign that he should not break up with Joy, but should instead focus once more on proving his dedication to his one true love. But if he failed, it would surely be the final nail in this relationships coffin, the last ounce of proof he needed that he was no where near good enough for someone so perfect.

With the determination clear on his face, Fear quickly turned to Joy. The golden emotion was thoroughly confused, having no idea what about that stand in particular had caught her coworkers attention. But Fear responded only with a hearty nod of his head. Joy only blinked in her bewilderment as he turned and marched purposefully towards the brightly colored stand.

This was it. His last opportunity for a precious pebble. Fear took in a deep breath, knowing that the results of this game could make or break his relationship and change his life forever.