Later on, after the game of Hidey-Ho ended, Boober and Mokey walked through the gorg's garden. Though technically he could have gone by himself, Boober was too afraid of the gorgs to risk visiting the Trash Heap alone. So he asked Mokey to come with him. That and she was the only one he confided in about having a crush on Jessa.

"Are you sure there are no gorgs out there right now?" Boober asked nervously.

"The gorgs are nowhere to be seen, Boober," Mokey reassured him. "Now come on."

She dragged him across the way as he whimpered nervously, scared that a gorg might spot them.

"The Trash Heap will know just what to say."

"I hope so."

Boober couldn't go on much longer just admiring Jessa from afar. It was getting to the point where he was struggling to suppress his feelings. He wanted her but didn't know how to get her to like him back. So this was his last resort. Boober and Mokey made it without being caught by any of the gorgs and were greeted by Philo and Gunge.

"You are in the presence of. The all-knowing. Trash Heap! Meh!"

Marjorie rose to see Mokey and Boober standing in front of her.

"Hello?"

"Go on, Boober," Mokey encouraged him.

Boober cleared his throat before speaking.

"Well, I'm really in love with this fraggle," he admitted sheepishly. "And I need to know how to get her attention."

"Aw, young love!" The Trash Heap gushed. "What is she like?"

Boober was silent for a minute before responding. He wasn't sure how to describe Jessa.

"I just… well- she's very beautiful," he began. "She's not afraid of anything, very athletic, and has this sword that can change into anything. And whenever she's around, I start to feel…"

Boober trailed off, realizing what he was about to admit.

"You feel…?" The Trash Heap pressed on.

"Happy."

Boober struggled to say that, but Mokey heard him loud and clear.

"Aww Boober," she gushed while grinning.

"Did you say that the Fraggle makes you feel happy?" The Trash Heap asked Boober.

He nodded and hummed in response, albeit shyly.

Philo and Gunge had a hint of who Boober was referring to but kept their mouths shut. The Trash Heap did as well but did not point it out.

"Do you know how I can woo her?"

The Trash Heap pondered for a moment before answering him.

"As a woman myself, I can tell you this; take her on a date."

"What?"

"Girls love it when guys ask them out."

"Do they really?"

"Take your lover girl somewhere romantic and tell her how you feel."

"The Trash Heap has spoken!" Gunge and Philo replied in unison.

"Oh thank you so much!" Mokey thanked them on Boober's behalf.

"Anytime, young fraggles." The Trash Heap replied before they walked off.

When Mokey and Boober were far away enough from them, Philo and Gunge turned to the Trash Heap.

"Marjorie, should we tell him?" one of them asked.

"No. We are not to get involved," she advised. "Let Jessa decide when it's the right time to tell him and the rest of the fraggles the truth about herself."

"Do you think she ever will though?"

"Only time will tell, boys."

The Trash Heap deflated into her hole a second later. Meanwhile, Boober and Mokey were talking about the advice he was given.

"Mokey, I don't know if I can do this," he said to her. "What if Jessa says no? Or even worse laughs at me."

"You'll do fine, Boober," Mokey reassured him. "And you don't have to do it right now. You can do it when you're ready."

"Where can I possibly take her that isn't the Great Hall? Or the gorg's garden?"

"There are lots of caves in Fraggle Rock that Jessa would probably like."

"If I'm going to take her on a date, I want it to be somewhere quiet and free of danger. I don't want us to be interrupted. Not by gorgs, and especially not by other fraggles. No offense."

"None taken."

Boober sighed, knowing that he was going to have to think of an ideal location for a date.

"On the bright side, you have plenty of time to ponder on that while you find the confidence to ask Jessa out."

"Or on the dark side, I get rejected."

"Boober, you don't know that until you ask her."

"It's easier said than done, Mokey."

They made their way back into the rock, walking past the other fraggles as they carried on with their own shenanigans.

"I'll explode into smithereens if I do. Or I'll say something stupid, or lose my ability to speak."

"The Trash Heap only said how to get her attention, not when to do it."

"Yeah?"

"You can ask Jessa out at your own pace."

Boober remained silent, pondering on Mokey's words.

"I'm also afraid that somebody else will get to her before me."

They continued to talk about this on their way back.

Jessa, Red, Gobo, and Wembley were in the boys' bedroom hanging out after the Hidey-Ho game.

"I almost had you when I was the seeker," Gobo said to Jessa.

"How the hell could you even see through that blindfold?" She asked him.

"I couldn't, but I could still hear you."

"I'm still blown away by her jumping onto those rocks," Red pointed out.

"Yeah, how did you do that?" Wembley asked Jessa.

"Talent."

Gobo then took out his fizzy drink but didn't open it.

"Talent, huh?" Red asked her.

"Yeah, took me years to learn that trick."

"What flavor is that, Gobo?" Red asked, pointing to his unopened beverage.

"Peach."

Red grabbed it from him, surprising and irritating him.

"Thanks for bringing me one," she teased.

"I didn't get it for you!" Gobo growled before grabbing it and trying to pull it away. "Get your own, Red!"

Jessa laughed at them playing tug-of-war over the peach-flavored carbonated drink.

"Gobo, Red, stop fighting over the drink," Wembley tried to tell them.

This didn't do anything to ease the fight, and soon enough the motion was enough to trigger a potential spew. Gobo took his beverage back from Red before noticing the carbonation building up.

"Now look at what you did, Red."

"That's what you get for not bringing two of them."

Gobo snarled and threw it back to her.

"You can have that one then. I'm getting one that won't spew on me."

"No way, I don't want it now," she said while throwing it back to him.

"You made it like this!"

Gobo tossed the bubbling drink back to Red before she yelped and tossed it to Wembley.

"Hey, don't toss it to me!" He yelled before throwing it to Jessa.

"Me either," Jessa said before she threw it back to Red. "You started this, girl!"

Soon, all 4 of them were tossing it back and forth and arguing until somebody threw the bottle up to the ceiling, the impact causing it to explode and it began spewing everywhere. They all screamed and tried to shield themselves the best they could. Jessa held a random large pillow in front of her to avoid getting sticky, which protected her pretty well. Everyone else, however, got soaked in peach soda. Not only that, but the entire room was now wet and sticky.

"Red, you owe me another peach soda!" Gobo griped at her.

Boober and Mokey showed up before anything else could be said and were surprised by what they saw.

"Why is everything all wet?" Boober asked before sniffing the air. "And peachy?"

"Ask Red," Jessa answered him. "She started it."

"I was just picking on Gobo," she replied.

"Yeah, and you made a huge mess," Boober said to her in a rather annoyed tone. "This is why you don't eat and drink in your holes."

"Yeah!" Wembley added in agreement.

Boober then glanced at Jessa, who was surprisingly dry after Red's drink exploded all over them.

"How did you not get drenched?" He asked her.

Jessa held up the now wet and sticky pillow in response.

"I guess you have your work cut out for you," she said to him.

"Now I'm all sticky," Gobo complained. "I'm going to wash off."

"Me too," Wembley said before following him out.

"And I'm getting the hell out of this sticky haven," Jessa said before leaving the room, Boober following her.

"Never thought you'd walk in on the aftermath of a game of hot potato with soda, didn't you," Jessa said to him.

Boober listened to her talk, blushing like an idiot.

"All I can say is that I'm not going to be the one to clean it up."

"I'm amazed it didn't get on your clothes."

"Or in my hair. It would've taken at least a whole bottle of shampoo to get all the sticky out."

"Now I'll have to use all my rock soap to get the fizzy soda out of Gobo's and Wembley's bedsheets. And I'm already low on rock soap as it is."

"Red owes you some more then since she had to go and mess with Gobo's drink."

Jessa then went into Mokey and Red's room to get her sword. Boober stood in the archway and watched her fasten her holster to her waist before they both headed to his room. Jessa sat on a nearby rock and watched Boober load his washtub with water.

"I just hope I have enough rock soap for both their blankets and pillows," Boober said out loud while pouring hot water into his tub. "Maybe I have some back here somewhere."

While Boober was looking for extra rock soap, Jessa glanced at her reflection in the water, the irises in her eyes changing from black to silver, which was her natural eye color. Shazzles were known to have different eye colors while Fraggles only had black. Jessa briefly let the silver shine through before dimming her irises and changing them back to black.

"Now have I not noticed all this rock soap in the storage room?!" Boober asked before setting the huge unopened sack down. "It must have been from when the gorgs had one of their gatherings."

"Gatherings?"

"It happened when Mokey went out to pick a radish from their garden and she overheard the gorgs planning a weekend-long party. So we gathered as much rock soap as we could. Because I didn't want to get squished by a gorg."

"I can only imagine what those big Neanderthals out there celebrate."

"Jessa, would it be any trouble for you to open this bag?"

"Not at all."

Boober stood back as Jessa whipped out her sword and sliced the sack open with one swipe. He blushed and felt his heart fluttering from how little effort it took her to open the bag of rock soap.

"Wow, clean cut," he managed to say while inspecting the bag.

Jessa put her sword away before Boober scooped some rock soap out and into his wash tub, the suds beginning to form.

"Now I just need Wembley and Gobo to bring their sticky sheets in here."

Right at that moment, the boys arrived with their sticky clothes and blankets, all clean and changed into fresh clothes.

"Perfect timing," Jessa said to Boober. "There they are."

"Here's all the sticky stuff," Gobo said before he and Wembley sat it down.

"Honestly guys, if I wanted to get rained on by a spewing soda bottle, I would have put on a hazmat suit beforehand." Jessa joked.

"Don't blame us. It was Red," Gobo replied. "And it's not like you got hit."

"True."

"I'll let the suds in my laundry water see to that," Boober said while taking Gobo's wet sticky sheets and shoving them into the water.

"In the meantime, we better clean the soda out of everything else before it dries like that."

Gobo and Wembley left, but not before Boober interjected.

"Make sure to use dish soap and not the other cleaner," he called out. "It leaves a weird residue on the floor."

His advice went ignored by Gobo, but Wembley took his word on it. Boober went back to scrubbing the sheet against the washboard as Jessa watched him.

"So… Jessa?" Boober began.

"Yeah?"

Now was his chance. He had to ask her out.

"You seem in a much better mood today."

Boober mentally slapped himself. That was not what he wanted to say!

"Is that supposed to be a bad thing?" She asked.

"No! It's just… well, last night you were sad and crying. And today you were playing Hidey-Ho with everyone else. It's almost as if it never happened."

"I haven't forgotten though, Boober. I still remember what happened last night. Just because I looked happy earlier doesn't mean that any negative feelings I have disappear."

This struck a chord with Boober.

"I don't show it, but the turmoil is still there."

Boober let what Jessa said sink in like the sheet in his washtub. He scrubbed a few more times before speaking.

"You hide it very well."

Jessa remained quiet, watching Boober scrub the sheet. What else could she say? She then laid down on the rock to rest her eyes, exhaling deeply. Boober watched the suds build up in his laundry water, some forming into bubbles and floating up in the air.

Boober's POV:

I stole glances at Jessa resting while I scrubbed all that sticky peach soda out of Gobo's bed sheet. What she said about her trauma still lingering within her despite appearing okay on the outside, played in my head over and over like a broken record. Frankly, I'm a little jealous that she can perfectly mask her emotions. Mine show too much. It's a flaw of mine that I've never been able to address. I then thought about Jessa's expression last night when I told her that everyone in her childhood home didn't deserve her. That was the most emotion I've seen from her so far. She has such a strong poker face that it's hard to tell what she usually thinks. As for me, I grew my hair out to hide my eyes to avoid other fraggles seeing how I felt. They can't see my constant anxiety and fear. Not even my closest friends can know the terror that lies within me. So my eyes stay hidden for a reason. After making sure the sheet was free of any disgusting soda residue, I took it out and squeezed it before hanging it up. I then put Wembley's sheet in my washtub before sitting next to Jessa, who opened her eyes to look at me. The way she lazily gazed up at me was enough to make me weak in the knees. Good thing I was sitting down.

End of Boober's POV:

"Taking a break already?" Jessa asked Boober.

"Wembley's sheet got more soda on it than Gobos did, so I'm letting it soak."

Boober sat crisscrossed on the rock they were both on and made eye contact with her.

"I'm going to make my artichoke souffle for dinner if you're interested in staying another night."

"I'll be heading back to my place at some point, but I will stay long enough for dinner."

Jessa smiled up at Boober, who smiled back and blushed. She then noticed some laundry soap suds on his cheek and chuckled.

"What?" Boober asked nervously. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Suds," Jessa replied before extending her hand and wiping them off his cheek.

Boober felt a shockwave of surprise throughout his body when her hand touched his face to wipe off the laundry suds. Her thumb brushed against his cheekbone, making his heart skip a beat. By the time Jessa flicked the soap suds away, Boober's face was the same shade of red as his hair. He then felt his tail wagging and his baloobius glowing as he rubbed the spot on his face where her hand was, grinning like a dork.

"Must have splashed on your face while you were scrubbing the sheet."

Boober tried to calm himself long enough to interact with Jessa without acting like a lovestruck nut job.

"Y-yeah, maybe."

"At least it wasn't peach soda being spewed everywhere."

"Tell me about it."

Jessa then sat up and turned to face Boober, her sword hanging freely in its holster.

"Good thing I wasn't there when it happened."

"Good thing there was a giant pillow for me to use as a shield. I hope nobody was using it."

"Nah, I doubt it. That was just a spare pillow they had."

After chatting with Jessa for a bit, Boober got up to scrub Wembley's bed sheet, but he still conversed with her.

Jessa had gotten ready to go home after supper and was saying bye to Red and Mokey.

"It's been fun girls, but I gotta head home."

"I'll say, you're good at Hidey-Ho. But not as good as me."

Jessa and Red shared a laugh when Boober appeared just outside their room.

"Hey, going back already?" He asked Jessa.

"Yep."

Jessa walked out and Boober tagged along, wanting to accompany her. They both almost passed by Wembley and Gobo's room when one of them spoke.

"Were you getting ready to leave without telling us bye?" Gobo asked as he and Wembley both walked out of the room.

Jessa and Boober stopped in their tracks and turned around.

"It's not like I'm never going to come back," she replied to him.

"It would be a shame if you didn't," Boober said to her before holding her hand.

Jessa blushed and reciprocated the handhold, albeit subtly.

"When you do, we gotta play more Hidey-Ho," Gobo said to Jessa.

"I can see why you guys like that game. Oh and by the way, watch out for exploding soda bottles while I'm gone."

"You don't have to tell us twice."

"Yeah, it took us hours to clean up," Wembley added.

"It gave you something to do, didn't it," Boober replied.

"Something not fun."

"Either way, I'm going home for now. Deuces."

Jessa and Gobo fist-bumped each other as Boober watched, gently squeezing her hand. She and Wembley then waved at each other before she walked off with Boober.

"Your souffle was good by the way," Jessa said to him.

Boober smiled and intertwined his fingers with hers.

"It's my most popular recipe," he couldn't help but brag.

Jessa stole a glance at Boober while he was looking away to hide how hard he was blushing. Taking notice of how cute he was, she couldn't help but smile at him.

"I'm not sure when I'm going to come back, but hopefully it will be soon," she said to him.

Boober then remembered that he still hadn't asked Jessa out yet. Sweat began to run down his face as they approached the Terrible Tunnel.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later."

"Jessa, wait."

Boober tightened his hold on her hand as she stopped.

"Yeah?"

"This is it, Boober. Go on and ask her out!"He thought to himself.

Jessa waited for him to say something while Boober tried to find the courage, but he failed to do so.

"I hope you don't get hurt in the Terrible Tunnel."

"I won't."

"I just can't help but worry about you going in there alone."

"You get used to it after 5 years."

"With all those monsters and ghosts?"

"Have you forgotten about my sword, Boober?"

Boober glanced down at Jessa's fluorite and moonstone-encrusted sword and sighed.

"It's sweet that you care though."

Boober thought back to the note she left him this morning and blushed.

"I do. I care about you a lot," he admitted before hugging her.

Jessa blushed and had to restrain her tail from wagging. But she did hug him back.

"Regardless of what happens in that tunnel, I'll be back."

Boober made a small noise before burying his face into the side of her neck. He was tempted to plant a kiss right there and right now, but the more sensible side of him told him not to do that. He wasn't about to invade her space bubble like Sidebottom did. After a while, they let go of each other and Boober watched Jessa walk deeper into the Terrible Tunnel. Once she was out of his sight, Boober walked away from the entrance and banged his head against the wall. He then heard Mokey approach him.

"I couldn't do it," he said to her, already knowing what she was going to ask.

"There's always next time, Boober," she said in her warm and dreamy tone before she walked him back.

Boober sighed sadly, not knowing how to express what was going through his head right now.