Here's the next chapter to this sweet story! Let's see what Judy and Skeeter have to say to help Doug out! Anyway, enjoy!

"So, she actually said yes, huh?"

Doug could only watch as Judy took a sip from her protein shake, giving a nervous smile. "Y-yeah. I took your advice, Judy, and I finally decided to ask Connie out."

His older sister gave a small smirk. "Heh, I knew you had it in you, little brother. Frankly, I figured you needed to go on the rebound after the you-know-what."

Doug laughed a bit as he rolled his eyes. "Always looking out for me, even when you decide to follow me to New York."

"Hey, it just so happens Broadway just happened to be in the same area you were living in." Judy lowered her sunglasses. "I only moved in because..."

"I know, I know, you asked us to live with you until we can get some good jobs." Doug said. "And if you think about it, getting into the comic industry IS a good business so far."

"Well, congratulations on that, but a bigger congratulations towards you finally growing a pair and asking that beautiful woman that had eyes on you since you were kids out." Judy smirked.

Doug blinked twice. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, come on, Doug, I know you liked Patti and put her on that pedestal for years, but you should have AT LEAST noticed just how attracted Connie was to you when you were kids." Judy explained as she was sipping up the last of her shake. "Surely, you noticed the sweet googly eyes she made at you a few times when you were trying to impress Patti, how she forgave you easily when you made up that lie about the cousin... one of my best roles yet, may I add... and even after she slimmed down, she still had eyes for you."

Doug bit his lip. "I, uh... never noticed."

Judy crossed her arms. "You know, sometimes you're truly hopeless, Doug."

At that moment, the door opened up with Skeeter and Porkchop walking in, the latter holding up a hat full of dollar bills and coins. As Porkchop climbed up to the table and dumped the money in front of the siblings, the dog couldn't help but give a big smile as he crossed his arms. Judy looked over the money before giving a smile. "Oooooh, nice haul today, Porkchop. Guess you really must have impressed SOMEBODY."

"He certainly did." Skeeter honked as he looked over towards Doug. "Sorry I'm late, things have been a bit slow in the unemployment office."

"Any openings?" Doug asked as he looked up at his friend.

"A couple that require some great dancing skills, but otherwise, still looking." Skeeter chuckled. "How about you, Doug? Any luck with your interview?"

"Well... one of the directors did accept one of my comics." Doug smiled. "He thinks it might be a new hit with the modern world."

Skeeter laughed/honked. "Hey, at least you got something off the ground!"

Judy smirked as she said, "Doug also asked Connie out at long last."

Doug shook his head in shock as Skeeter's eyes widened upon hearing that news. Doug turned to his big sister with a frown on his face, "I was going to tell him that."

"Hey, I just wanted to cut to the chase, can I help it?" Judy smirked.

"You finally got back on the rebound? That's great news!" Skeeter honked a bit as Porkchop gave a thumbs-up.

As the dog got off the table and started to head to fetch something, Doug gave a small sigh. "Yeah, hanging with Connie long enough, I thought... well, it was about time, you know? And she's just so sweet and kind, and we always had some sort of connection..."

"Which, in my humble opinion, was always there, you just never bothered to look." Judy smirked. "You know that's the second thing I'm going to bring up every time we talk to each other."

Doug groaned as Skeeter raised an eyebrow. "The second thing? What's the first thing you plan to bring up?"

Judy couldn't help but give a small smirk. "There's a bomb in the lasagna!"

Doug groaned even harder in frustration, holding his head. "I get it, I get it, can we not bring this up?"

Judy laughed a bit. "You know what's fun about looking back at embarrassing stuff in my life, you can always look back at them and give a laugh at how you try to spice things up."

"...fair enough." Doug sighed. "So anyway, I plan on taking Connie out Saturday after the Beats Reunion concert."

His best friend and big sister gave a small 'ahh' as they nodded at each other. At this time, Porkchop came back, holding an Ipod with his earbuds attached, the little object having replaced the Walkman that Porkchop used to carry around.

"Hey, I don't suppose Connie sprang for extra tickets... for... you know?" Skeeter whispered.

Doug smirked as he pulled a couple tickets out of his pockets. "Front row seats."

Skeeter grinned as he took one of the tickets and looked at it. "When you see Connie again, tell her she's incredible and I'd like to thank her!"

The young man just laughed at his friend's excitement. "I'll be sure to take note of it for next time I see her."

"Oooooh, is there going to be a next time? And before your big date with her?" Judy teased as she gave a wink from behind her sunglasses.

Doug just gave a small sigh. "Judy, you know I see her at the coffee shop almost every afternoon after hours."

"You know I'm just teasing, little bro." Judy rolled her eyes. "In all seriousness, any big plans to impress your little date?"

"Well, actually, after the concert, I was planning to have a small picnic with her in Central Park." Doug smiled as he gave a sigh, romanticizing in his mind a special scenario between him and the lovely Connie, probably wearing a sparkly silver dress, her hair flowing in the wind, and her eyes fluttering at him cutely.

Judy, noticing the glazed look, held out her fingers in front of Doug and snapped them a few times, bringing the boy out of his daze. "H-huh, what, when, where, who, why?"

The girl rolled her eyes as she stared at her brother. "You know, I have my fantasies too, Doug, but I don't go overdramatic with them."

"You go overdramatic all the time, even in a new role." Skeeter pointed out.

Judy paused as she looked at the blue skinned boy, frowning. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

Doug laughed a bit as he gave a small sigh. "I guess I'm thinking a lot lately. I mean, despite my excitement, I'm a little worried."

Skeeter and Judy turned towards Doug as they both had a strange feeling they knew what Doug was worried about, but Skeeter took the courtesy to ask anyway. "What about?"

"Well... I don't know if this'll end up like Patti or what? I mean... what if this doesn't work so well between Connie and I? Am I just not... meant to be with anybody? Am I destined to walk through the world alone and heartbroken? I don't know if I can take this heartbreak again..." Doug wallowed as he looked down, his confidence beginning to shrink.

Judy frowned as she slapped the boy on the face. "Listen, Doug, I'm not having any of that self-pity stuff, and you shouldn't either!"

"Ow!" Doug yelled after a small delay in the slap, causing the boy to rub his cheek.

"Look, you had a couple of bad boo-boos here and there. A few others probably have too. But you are just getting back on the rebound. You're just starting to notice another girl who you're slowly realizing you may even like, probably two, no, three, NO, four, BIG NO, about a HUNDRED times more than your last crush!" Judy explained. "Chickening out now, you will regret that for the rest of your life. You need to get on the field, and you need to show Connie just how much you care for her! So tell me this, are you going to chicken out?"

Doug looked rather surprised at his sister's confidence speech. She always was a bit melodramatic, but still, it was for a great cause. And hearing her, that slow boost of confidence was slowly coming back. "N-no..."

"Louder, I didn't quite catch that." Judy smirked.

"I mean, NO! Of course not, Judy! I can't be thinking negative thoughts right now!" Doug said as he stood up. "I have a date Saturday afternoon, and I'm not going to back out of it now! Connie's counting on me to be there, and I'm going to be there!"

Judy smirked as she crossed her legs. "Skeeter?"

All eyes turned directly to Skeeter as he gave a small smirk of his own. "Hey man... I think you're going to do just fine."

Doug couldn't help but give a small smile, as he was now looking forward to that Saturday more than ever.

And that's the second chapter! How did you guys like it? Next time, Doug attends the Beats Reunion concert to not only cheer on Connie, but also slowly begin to fall in love with her! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, everyone!