Chapter 8, Wednesday Afternoon

The high Egoed rodents were now in downtown LA on a sidewalk nearing their destination, but even a mole could see that the mood wasn't in good shape. Even so they Continued on, for neither would admit it, but they still wanted this to work.

Brittany didn't even know why she got out of bed that morning. All she wanted was this to end thinking the state of the mood was partly her fault, she was afraid to utter another word, as it might make things even worse. She just hoped something would happen that could fix this.

Next to her, Alvin wasn't happy with how things went either. Though his pride wouldn't let him say it out loud, even alone, he too was in love, and he wished to fix this, Little by little. As they cleared a crosswalk he began repairs.

"You know, I never took you for the action type." Alvin Commented plainly. This caught Brittany off guard, as she was still deep in thoughts of regret. But Brittany is a girl of composure, and If She let even a shred of weakness show, Alvin would… Well Alvin probably wouldn't try to exploit It, at least not now… Even so she'd prefer to keep Her composure in front of him.

"I'm not, I just thought I'd give it a try."

"Well, I'm gonna be honest, it doesn't look too Good a movie. We can still watch it of course, but I was wondering if you had something else in mind?"

This surprised Brittany, as this was strange and new Behavior for him. "He's letting me choose? Why? He must've considered me picking the girliest movie possible and him hating it the whole time, though that would be a little Funny… No! I can't ruin this! He would never let me choose, The universe must've taken pity on me and possessed Alvin. I should pick a movie that I would like but he would at least tolerate."

"Hmm… how about… um… Hairspray?" She looked beside him

"Hairspray? That's the… Musical right?"

"Musical? Wait, would he even like a musical?" She thought as they neared another crosswalk

"Mmhmm." She hummed with a nod, shielding her nervousness. Alvin thought for a moment. Musicals aren't all That bad, in fact he played in Jekyll And Hyde as Mr. Hyde when he was younger. How can a movie be worse? As the two began to cross a street, Alvin made his decision

"Okay, We can watch that. Just don't sing along or anything."

Brittany giggled at the request, Happy that he had said yes "No promises!" Alvin snickered at her, and Jumped up the curb, and helped Brittany up.

"Thanks. Now hurry up, we still have a movie to see!" And so they continued. From street to plaza, station to intersection. And finally the duo found Themselves in front of the theater. And in they went.

Brittany walked in with hopes that her crush would at least like this movie, she knew He was in a play but that was gothic, Hairspray's a romance, entirely new territory.

Alvin on the other hand, was expecting something that he would hate but force himself to tolerate. But that didn't happen.

Though He found everything a bit corny, he still liked the characters, the story and even the songs. He And Brittany laughed and Laughed, though Alvin made sure to hold his amusement at times so Brittany didn't think he liked romance too Much.

He'd heard horror Stories from His friends that their girlfriends would make them watch every romcom imaginable. If he wanted a romantic future with Brittany, he couldn't have her getting too comfortable with his Time.

When it was over, They trekked home. Besides the unofficial date, No other milestones had been reached. No confession, no Kiss and no relationship changes. Still just friends.

Brittany hated this, the universe had given her the chance of a lifetime and she felt it was wasted. But Brittany doesn't like giving up, she Always got what she wanted. Shoes, Dresses, Bags… Why shouldn't Alvin be the same?

Now dusk, the sun was nearly finished with its daily journey over LA, casting the city in a brilliant orange. The two found themselves on a Suburban road lined with trees a couple blocks away from home. No further progress made. Brittany sought to change that.

"So… Do you like musicals now?" Brittany asked.

"I guess so, I still probably won't watch them on my own but the movie was… it was decent." Brittany seemed Happy at this. Alvin was open to new things, if she can get him she probably shouldn't make musicals the Most frequent date activity, But it made her happy.

But she can't do all this planning for nothing. Jeanette Said there was a chance he Felt the Same, though it was only a hunch, that girl knew people well. But if Brittany wished to call Alvin her own, she couldn't wait for Alvin to ask her out, That could Take forever! She had to do it herself.

"H-hey Alvin?"

"Yeah Britt?"

"I love you" She ordered herself to say, but that's not what came out "I… had a lot of fun tonight Alvin, I think we should do this again sometime!" Brittany looked to Alvin, Analyzing him, trying to figure out if he was happy to be asked this question.

He seemed a little caught off Guard but not too affected "L-like j-just us?"

"Close, but not enough. Yeah! I'd really like to do this again! Because… i… say it!" Brittany took a deep breath "i… I think I'm in love with you…"

…

The tension could be cut with a knife, Brittany has gotten it out. But was it a mistake? The fear of rejection had returned, but it made no difference. For now there was no taking it back. Confession had been achieved, Now reciprocation was due. But Alvin was taking an awfully long time to answer, it had been a whole ten seconds since she had confessed her love to him and nothing! But then he said something.

"Y-you do?"

"Yes, I do." She waited for a response, it felt like ages waiting for his mouth to move. She tried to anticipate his response, his Eyes, They're wide. Of course they are! Maybe his body language? His paws are in his pockets, like they've been for the whole walk. She was beginning to worry if she'd made a mistake, but then Alvin gulped and took a step toward her. Putting just half a foot between them, but then there was nothing between them when he kissed her.

It was Bliss. At first Brittany's eyes widened, but then they softened, and then they closed. "Yes! Finally!" She thought as she wrapped her arms around Alvin. It felt like fifteen seconds, but she wanted it to last much longer. As the sun set turning the street from Orange to a dark blue, the two pulled away.

"I love you too." Alvin stated, with a slightly pinker smile, making Brittany smile at her new Boyfriend. He took her hand. "Let's go home." And together they continued their walk.

This walk didn't last long when Brittany tripped on a crack, Alvin caught the chipette who now weighed a few ounces less before she could hit the ground. "You oughta be careful Britt, you could get hurt!" Alvin told her, smiling. Brittany laughed as Alvin helped her on her feet

"Thank you Alvin." She gave him a quick kiss and began leading the way home. The mood was high when they were just two houses away from Home, Noticing how dark it had gotten Brittany decided to check the time. She Frowned when she checked her purse but couldn't find her phone.

Noticing a frantic Brittany looking around everywhere Alvin spoke up "What's up Britt?"

"I can't find my phone!" Alvin Scratched his head and scanned the sidewalk he had just been on and then, it clicked.

"Ha! You probably dropped it when you tripped, don't worry I'll get it." He reassured her

"Oh you don't have to!"

"I insist!" Just like that he ran off, Disappearing behind a corner. Brittany sighed and knocked on the door, within a few seconds it opened. And Brittany saw her sister Jeanette.

"Hey Brittany! How was it?" The purple clad chipette inquired

"Oh my god it was amazing!"

"That's wonderful Brittany, and uhh…" Jeanette looked over her sisters shoulder

"Where's Alvin?"

"Oh I dropped my phone, so he went to go get it. Leave the door open for him kay?" Jeanette nodded and Brittany walked in to see the only other chipmunk in the living room was Simon in a recliner.

"Ah your back, how was your 'friendly' dinner?" The bespectacled chipmunk asked, Brittany blushed a little and looked to the side

"I'll tell you when Alvin gets back."

Meanwhile Alvin had arrived at the sidewalk where Brittany tripped and was scanning the ground for anything pink. But he stopped, for some reason he had a bad feeling, As if he was being watched.

He looked up and around the houses, but didn't see anyone. He scanned the parked cars and couldn't see anyone. He looked at the surrounding roads and locked on an old van in the middle of the street about 60 yards away from him. He looked at it for a few moments. Its headlights were off but it was definitely running. Alvin was overwhelmed with a terrible feeling of dread that made him wanna get out of there immediately.

Suddenly the van's high beams flicked on. "Oh no." and its tires squealed as the van started barreling down the road towards Alvin. He turned around and ran as fast as he could. He could hear its engine getting closer and closer. He turned his head and saw the Van was right on top of him and its side door was opening. He tried running even faster but was confused when he saw an object fly pass him. It landed 10 feet in front of him and as he ran closer he saw it was a Cylindrical metal object.

Whatever it was he didn't care, he had to keep going, he had to get back to Bri–

White. All Alvin could see was white. He couldn't see anything and stumbled on the sidewalk. His ears were ringing and he was pretty sure something was bleeding. He felt two leather fingers pinch the back of his neck and pick him up. Then he felt himself being thrown against something metal. He heard a door closing as well as a voice

"Quick cuz! Knock him out!" Suddenly a cloth was put to his nose, and he smelt ether. He immediately felt his strength leaving him and soon his consciousness left as well.

Before he drifted off he heard someone speak a few words before he fully went under "Vance is gonna love this."