Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was another day, and another cloudy one at that. But that was pretty normal in the city of Brighton, which was a dull, gray town. And that would be because of the ghosts that usually tried to make the town full of misery. However, as of late, things seemed to be getting brighter and better, and it was all in part thanks to a certain, bright young girl of thirteen by the name of Molly McGee, who had moved in with her family to help make the town a brighter place. Sure, she had her roadblocks, but thanks to making some new friends AND with the help of a grumpy ghost named Scratch, the town was starting to get a bit friendlier, though it was a big road.

But there was more to the story than just the friendship of a girl and a ghost who happened to be cursed to living with the family by accident. There were also Molly’s family members… the father, Pete McGee, the optimistic family man who often tries to help his family out… the mother, Sharon McGee, a caring woman who helps with the family with the finances AND making sure things are in tip-top shape… and then of course, there was Molly’s brother… a nice kid, but also a troublemaker who always finds an easy way to scam or make a quick buck, or could easily play things for laughs until things go too far… and yet, not having a care in the world as he seemed to be having the time of his life.

Then again, that was ALWAYS to be expected for Darryl McGee, a young eleven year old who seemed pretty proud of what he had done today, humming to himself as he was walking home and shuffling his hands in delight, before walking in and settling down on the couch, getting himself comfortable. He hummed to himself as he picked up the remote and turned on the TV, in hopes of watching some cartoons. However, before he could, he heard the familiar sound of his phone ringing.

Darryl groaned as he picked up his phone and frowned as he noticed the name on his number being that of his teacher’s, before ignoring the call and putting it to the side. However, not even an ignored call was going to last very long.

“DARRYL!”

The young boy winced as he turned to see his sister giving a rather disappointed frown as she was shaking her head, followed shortly by his mother and father, who also looked very disappointed as Sharon gave a groan. “We just got a call from your teacher, who says you sold him a fake ticket to a show?”

“What? It’s not my fault he wanted to see that movie.” Darryl rolled his eyes. “I just said I had a ticket, and that I wasn’t going to see it. I only left out the part where I said it was yesterday’s ticket.” Darryl said with a smirk. “And hey, I made five bucks, that’s a steal!”

“Yeah, and that’s five bucks you’re going to be giving back to him…” Pete shook his head. “Look, Darryl, we love you, and we know you’re better than this. Why do you always try to find trouble?”

“What?” Darryl frowned as he looked around in confusion. “Come on, can’t a guy just make an honest buck around here?”

Molly paused as she gave a sigh. “No offense Darryl, but the only times the words ‘Darryl’ and ‘honest’ are in the same sentence is if the word ‘NOT’ is between them. I get it, you have ideas for these schemes, and you can’t help but run into trouble, but do you SERIOUSLY have to condemn yourself… so many times!”

Darryl chuckled a bit as he got up. “Come on, even if it was underhanded, you have to admit it’s pretty funny…”

Molly and her parents turned to each other and rolled their eyes as she gave a frown. “Darryl, what do we do with you?”

The young boy chuckled as he put his hood over his head and gave a smirk. Pete shook his head before giving a sigh, “I expect you to return that five bucks back to your teacher…”

“Yeah, yeah, I will.” Darryl said as he relaxed a bit.

“Come on, family, lay off the kid.” Another voice came up as a familiar blue ghost with a large nose appeared as he gave a snicker. “Okay, yeah, he’s a bit of a troublemaker, but at least he’s finding some fun in this. Heck, very devious of him to pull the ol’ ‘ fake ticket’ trick.”

“Scratch.” Molly gave a slight groan as she shook her head, before giving a sigh. “Well, whatever. I can’t let Darryl’s tricks distract me right now… I got to prepare!”

With that, Molly turned face and started to run off, her face immediately turning from a bit of frustration to an excited look as she rushed up the stairs to her room, with Scratch and the others watching, with the ghost giving a sigh. “That girl… always excited about something…”

“Yeah, but that’s why we love her.” Sharon smiled a bit.

“Uh, what’s going on?” Darryl asked as he looked up in confusion.

“Ugh, Valentine’s Day is coming up. Best time for couples, maybe, but for a ghost like me… I have no reason to celebrate it.” Scratch grunted grumpily, before pausing. “Hmmm, unless, of course, someone gave me a box of chocolates, then… I’d do it for the chocolates.”

“Ohhh… I see.” Darryl lowered his eyelids in disgust. “The whole romance part of it. I’m guessing Molly’s preparing something special for Ollie…”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Scratch frowned as Pete and Sharon smiled a bit.

“Well, I personally think it’s nice that Molly has found a nice boy to go out with… and one that shares her interests…” Sharon smiled.

“Yeah, it’s almost like you and me, right, sweetheart?” Pete smiled as he held his wife’s hand.

“Oh ho ho, stop, Pete…” Sharon giggled.

Darryl looked back in disgust as he crossed his arms. “Mom, Dad, do you have to act like this right now?”

“Oh, Darryl, you’ll understand one day when you find yourself falling in love with the right girl…” Pete smiled, before pausing. “Or the right boy, honestly, we wouldn’t judge.”

“Me, find a significant other?” Darryl scoffed as he turned back towards the TV. “Yeah, right. The day I fall in love will be the day I give away money to the poor.”

“Heh, yeah, Darryl! Don’t you let societal norm define you!” Scratch chuckled as he settled next to him on the couch, before reaching for the remote. “The single life is the BEST life, in my personal opinion.”

Pete and Sharon shook their heads as they laughed a bit, before Pete said, “Oh, son, you say that now because you’re young, but you just wait…”

“Oh, Pete…” Sharon grinned as she cuddled her husband. “I’m feeling a little frisky today…”

“Are you now?” Pete chuckled as he led Sharon out of the living room, the two of them laughing as Darryl gave a small groan and scoff.

“Ugh…” Darryl shook his head. “Valentine’s Day… what a dumb holiday.”

“Hey, I agree with you, kid.” Scratch said as he gave a smile. “Sometimes, I can never understand that holiday… I mean, for what, a few cards and declarations of love? You see that basically every day, it’s nothing special. Now, Halloween? Christmas? THOSE are holidays worth remembering!”

Darryl nodded with a smirk before turning on the TV, only frowning as the first thing that was on was a couple kissing. “Ugh…”

With that, Darryl switched the channel, only to see another couple kissing on a nice backdrop in Paris. “Ugh…”

Darryl switched to another channel as he noted a man and a woman as they were exchanging gifts, the man saying, “I hope you love my Valentine, sweetheart!”

“Oh, darling, you know whatever you give me, I’ll always love you.” The woman said as she made lovey-dovey eyes at the man.

“Seriously, isn’t there anything on that isn’t about couples kissing?!” Scratch asked as Darryl looked annoyed, switching the channel.

“And now, for the final minutes of the Men’s Basketball game between the Hillwood Chargers and the Townsville Bulls!” An announcer said as the screen was now showing a basketball game.

Darryl blinked twice as he looked over at Scratch as the boy shrugged, “Hmm… I suppose that’s all right, I mean… there’s no kissing or lovey-dovey stuff in basketball…”

“Yeah, turn it up a little…” Scratch said, looking curious at the game.

“Will do!” Darryl grinned as he started to turn up the volume a bit as one of the players was seen leaping up and scoring a basket.

“And with just a minute left to go, and another basket scored, this game is just about over! The Hillwood Chargers have the ball, and the clock is just running out at this point… and the Hillwood Chargers have won the game! Looks like the head player’s girlfriend is coming over and…”

Darryl’s eyes widened as he felt disgusted, seeing what was on screen as a girl ran over and hugged one of the ball players, sharing a kiss. “UGH, COME ON!”

“Yeah, sports are overrated anyway…” Scratch grabbed the remote and switched it off, before picking up a laptop. “Fortunately, we can always STREAM our shows! I’m sure we’ll find one that-”

“On second thought, Scratch…” Darryl groaned as he held his head. “I need some air for a minute. You can go ahead and watch whatever… I need to clear my head out of this whole Valentine Day stuff…”

With that, the young man got up and walked away, causing Scratch to look off in confusion, before giving a shrug as he went back to the laptop, trying to find a good show.

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Outside the streets of Brighton, Darryl was walking down the long road of Main Street, trying his best to get his mind off of everything. “Love… Valentine’s Day… what does everyone else know?”

He looked around and noted the way everyone was putting up decorations in the city for the special holiday tomorrow… AND the fact that there was more than a few people looking rather excited. He groaned as he held his head… he just kept walking and walking, trying to keep his mind off of Valentine’s Day.

Now, it wasn’t that Darryl hated Valentine’s Day, far from it. He just didn’t understand what use the holiday was, when basically, couples can fall in love every day. What was it about this day that made it special, anyway? Darryl didn’t know, and he honestly didn’t care. Love was a foreign concept to him, and he was never going to understand it…

However, sometimes denying love can be a childish thing, as one way or another, Cupid’s arrow could always find its mark. But let’s leave Darryl to stew for the time being…

As a few minutes before Darryl had even arrived, an influential young girl of about thirteen was using her phone to film herself in front of some streets as she was giving a vlog.

“Valentine’s Day is coming up, Fandreas, and I’m sure you’re all excited for this day as much as I am!” Andrea chuckled as she gave a peace sign. “Davenport’s may be out of business, BUT what hurts us only gets us to pick ourselves back up!”

Indeed, Andrea was looking pretty happy as she was talking to her fans through her phone, streaming herself as she was walking through the streets, showing off everything she could. However, truth be told, it was the only thing keeping her distracted from some small, devastating news. The news that she had been hoping to avoid in her head… but even then, it just filled her head and wouldn’t go away. She had recently gotten into contact with Alina Webster, who she hadn’t seen since business camp, and had hung out with her for the most part. And although the two had a vibe going that day, something had happened that… well, for the most part, while Alina was pretty cool with Andrea, she had her eyes on someone else…

This completely ruined the blue haired girl’s confidence from the inside as she felt the hurt of rejection come slamming down on her. Although she was pretty cool with it on the outside and gave her respects for her fellow rich friend, on the inside, she was upset… she had hoped that she would have confessed close to Valentine’s Day, and wanted to get a date… but the fact someone had approached Alina first… it ate at her, devastated her.

Still, she didn’t want to show that to her fellow Fandreas, so for now, she kept that part silent as she decided to retract herself back to her old ‘persona’ and started to act like her own self. Though, on the inside, she was still hurting a bit.

“Look at all those nice hearts hanging from the side. I bet a lucky couple would love to stand under those!” Andrea laughed a bit, although partway through, the laugh fell to a small sob, before Andrea took a deep breath. “Uh, sorry about that. It just… thinking about love can… make you cry sometimes, you know? And that’s pretty normal! Uh… hey, a Valentine’s Day parade could be uplifting for a lot of people, you know! For couples and… the special someone you want to hang with… yeah…” Andrea paused as she bit her lip. “Uh… doesn’t that sound fun?”

However, she said the last bit so weakly as thoughts of what Arina had told her devastated her psyche. She groaned before holding her phone up. “Uh, I’m sorry, Fandreas, I’m just… not up for a stream today…” She noticed some hearts being sent. “No, no, thank you all for the hearts, but really, I’m okay. Just… going through a lot in my life. I need some time to think for myself. Thank you for tuning into my stream, Fandreas, don’t forget to subscribe!”

With that, Andrea ended her stream fast and turned off her phone before putting it back in her pocket. She paused, before shutting her eyes. “Ugh, this is the worst week of my life!”

With that, Andrea started to move fast, not wanting to see the decorations in front of her… not wanting to be reminded of love right now…

At the same time though, someone had turned the corner… and…

BUMP!

Both Darryl and Andrea had collided as they fell to the ground.

“Ow…” Darryl frowned as he got up. “Hey, watch it, will you?”

“You ran into-” Andrea complained as the two got up before the two got a good look at each other. Andrea blinked. “O-oh! You’re Molly’s brother, aren’t you? Darryl?”

Darryl paused silently as he looked over at Andrea’s face, examining her as if for the first time. “Yeah. That’s me. Andrea Davenport, right? Molly’s said a lot about you, but I don’t think we talked… uh… face… to… face.”

“Uh… y-yeah…” Andrea paused as she and Darryl looked into each other’s eyes. “I guess we haven’t…”

For a moment, Darryl had stood there in silence, just looking over Andrea as Andrea was looking over at Darryl. They didn’t realize it yet, but this was but the first step in what would become a very interesting relationship… as Darryl’s heart was beginning to beat a lot faster than usual. He had met Andrea a few times before with Molly close by…

But this was the first time he was in the same area alone with her as the young boy had started to feel… pretty strange…

Chapter Text

"So Alina said no, that she was already seeing someone. I was devastated beyond devastated. Just when I thought we had some sort of connection, she had to pull this 180 at me." Andrea said sadly as she and Darryl were now sitting at a nice little bench, conversing with each other as they were now talking.

Darryl winced a bit as he touched his heart. "I am so sorry to hear about that. Nobody deserves to have their heart shattered like that... especially not when it's close to..." He gave a small barfing sound. "...THAT... holiday."

"It really sucks." Andrea sighed sadly as she held her phone closely. "And to think, I had it all planned out and everything."

"Yeah, Molly might have mentioned something about you wanting to run your own skinline care, a charity for dogs with dandruff, an entire company that'd go global." Darryl raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah... then I'd marry Alina, who's really good at market analysis, and her parents owned Webster's department store in Mewline." Andrea smiled happily before looking at her phone as she tried to look for it, before pausing. "Oh, uh, I had this whole slide show, but... I kinda deleted it in my... tears... anyway, the plan was for me and her to merge stores together in the future and become the ultimate Midwest power couple!" She sighed sadly. "I guess that's not happening now."

"Gee, I'm sorry to hear, but..." Darryl gave a sigh. "Call it my general opinion, but I think you might have set your standards a little too high."

Andrea frowned as she looked down at Darryl, a frown appearing on her face. "Take that back!"

"Sheesh, defensive, much?" Darryl rolled his eyes a bit, before shaking his head.

The blue haired girl narrowed her eyes towards the short boy, before taking a deep breath, and giving a sad sigh. "I'm sorry, Darryl, it's just been... a bad couple of days for me. I really wanted to enjoy Valentine's Day with Alina, but to find out she had someone else..."

"Hmph. Valentine's Day. If you ask me, you're lucky not to spend that holiday at all." Darryl frowned as he crossed his arms.

It was then the blue-haired girl raised her eyebrow towards Darryl as she raised her eyebrow. "You know, I don't think I ever asked you what stick went up your butt to be angry today. You keep mentioning Valentine's Day in a negative light."

"It's just... I don't like the holiday. How could I? It's the holiday where you write little cards, put them in set-up student's bags, maybe a few of those candy hearts with messages that you just eat anyway, and you don't really like the taste of the candy, because it tastes so much like chalk..." Darryl spat in disgust. "Not the good kind, either!"

Andrea paused as she tapped her fingers. "You know, I always wondered about the taste of those candy hearts. Cute messages that are written, terrible taste."

"Exactly!" Darryl said. "And those hearts are usually just generic messages, like 'I Heart You' or 'Be Mine' or 'Love You'... words, that's all they are. And what's worse about it, as I grow older, it seems a LOT more people, couples alike, still seem to regard Valentine's Day as this 'special holiday'..." Darryl frowned.

"...Darryl... I have to ask, but... do you not... like... get the concept of love?" Andrea raised an eyebrow.

"No, no, I get it. Our parents meet, they have a few dates, they fall in love, sometimes they get married and have kids, sometimes they don't." Darryl shrugged. "What's there to say about it? Why is it Valentine's Day that's important to couples? Why dedicate a holiday to it at all? Halloween, awesome, Christmas, the best... Saint Patrick's Day... a weird one, but I get the aspect... why does Valentine's Day, of all days, need to exist! Couples have wedding anniversaries for those types of things!"

"Well... my parents met AND married on Valentine's, so they'll be having a busy day that day." Andrea chuckled nervously.

"Yeah? Lucky them." Darryl rolled his eyes a bit, before noting Andrea's sad expression. It was then Darryl's hard eyes softened a bit as he paused. "Oh! I guess you must get lonely back at home when they're on their dates."

"It's not all bad. It does leave me time to do a little more streaming." Andrea shrugged. "But Valentine's is just the one day of the year where my parents are usually gone all day, preferably not only spending time with each other, but also having their wedding anniversary together."

"Still, to be home alone... must be... pretty cool?" Darryl smiled nervously. "I-I mean for any other kid, but... for you?"

"True... for any other kid, being home alone is pretty nice, but it does get a little lonesome." Andrea sighed.

What Andrea said gave Darryl some thought as he tapped his fingers. "Hmmm... are your parents home now?"

"No. Ever since the store closed down, they decided to start their Valentine's Day/wedding anniversary trip early, so I've just been home alone for a while." Andrea explained. "I did have a babysitter for a little while in my younger years, but I became grown up to the point where I could take care of myself."

"...I don't have anywhere else to go today, so... uh, I was wondering if we can continue our conversation in a less..." Darryl looked around the area as Andrea looked over to see some people still setting up Valentine's decorations and all that around the park. "...crowded area."

"Well, if you wanted to come to my mansion, you could have just asked." Andrea rolled her eyes, but gave a small smile. "I could use the company, anyway..."

Darryl gave a light chuckle and a blush.

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It was a bit of a walk but after a while, Andrea and Darryl had reached the nice little mansion that the Davenports had lived in. Darryl couldn't help but admire the house in awe, having taken a look at the outside for the first time up close. "It's a wonder you host a lot of parties up here..."

"Only the best." Andrea laughed a bit before pulling out her house key and turning the lock before opening the door. "Well, come on inside, Darryl, but try not to trudge beyond the living room. I don't want my parents to think I've been messing with everything in the house."

"Hey, I'll be carefu- whoa..." Darryl's eyes widened as the blue haired rich girl led him inside, the boy just looking amazed as he entered through the door. He had to admit, the inside of the Davenport mansion was amazing. As Darryl walked through to the utility room (wiping his feet on the mat before anything else), he couldn't help but look around the area... a nice large kitchen that could staff like a few people, complete with various ovens and the like, a nice chandelier in the living room, some nice couches, an easy chair with a lamp (Darryl guessed that was for Andrea's dad to sit on) and he noticed a few stairs going up to more rooms, and a door that Darryl assumed led to the basement downstairs. Still, he had to admit, the place looked pretty fancy.

Andrea chuckled nervously as she turned to Darryl. "I usually bring a lot of my friends here for parties and such, and I occasionally bring Molly and Libby over for parties, but I think this is the first time I actually brought a boy home... to my knowledge."

Darryl paused as he looked around the empty kitchen. "Aren't there usually butlers or maids here?"

"There is an occasional butler that comes in to serves snacks... and a few other maids to clean, but... not ALL of them are here at this hour." Andrea explained as she looked at her watch. "When the house is occasionally empty like this, it usually means most of them have the day off or at least a couple are on their breaks."

"So... wait, butlers and maids are allowed to relax?" Darryl asked in surprise.

"We're not a cruel, rich family, Darryl." Andrea frowned. "My parents pay them. Minimum wage, at the very least."

"BUT the fact of the matter is, you ARE home alone." Darryl smirked as Andrea led him over to a nice red couch.

"For the most part, yes." Andrea shrugged as she offered the boy a seat.

Darryl grinned as he settled down on the left side of the couch, with Andrea sitting in the middle as she gave a smile. "Comfy?"

"Oh yes, very comfortable." Darryl laughed as he settled his buns down. "I could get used to something like this."

Andrea giggled as Darryl looked around and laughed as he continued, "You know, when I always do a get rich-quick scheme, I always pictured using the money to buy my very own house... something akin to this."

"Well, you're going to have to make more than your little lemonade stand money to get a mansion like this!" Andrea chuckled.

"Oh, really?" Darryl smirked as he turned to Andrea. "And what have you done with business?"

"If you must know, I did have a good app running that sold my business good." Andrea crossed her arms, as if being proud of that fact.

"The same app that ran companies out of business that you were forced to shut down because it ruined the economy of Davenport... and Bizmart took over and closed down your store?" Darryl teased.

Andrea's eyes widened, before stammering a little, before recovering a bit as she narrowed her eyes at Darryl. "Well, at least I didn't try a literal pyramid scheme into selling a fake car to one of my teachers..."

Darryl's eyes widened as he gave a frown. "And who told you about that?!"

"Please, Molly always tells me everything about you and your family when we have one of our 'girl' days." Andrea said. "It's like you have the business flare, but the lack there-of of how to sell them properly."

"Yeah, well... you can sell properly with your little Fandreas, but business flare... please, it's as good as your social skills." Darryl glared at Andrea.

"Heh, at least I DID successfully run my own app... and have great computer skills... AND know how to back up MY deals. You're all talk and no show!" Andrea crossed her arms.

"And you're all show and no talk!" Darryl argued as he narrowed his eyes. "I bet if we were working together, we'd be..." His eyes widened. "We'd be..."

Darryl and Andrea then paused as their argument was momentarily forgotten as both of them seemed to be in thought, with Darryl saying, "Saaaaaaay... you know, you do have a good sense of business..."

"And you know a good way to raise money..." Andrea agreed with a small smile.

"Is there any reason why we can't combine our natural talents together?" Darryl asked.

"...no, I can't think of a bad reason..." Andrea smiled. "And I mean... if you had someone looking at the angles you weren't... it be a major help..."

"And if you had someone who could help talk about how good your products could be..." Darryl smirked as he crossed his legs. "You know, we should collab our ideas sometime!"

"We totally should!" Andrea smiled as she pulled out some plans from underneath the coffee table and put them out.

Darryl looked over at the plans Andrea pulled out as he looked amazed. "Yoooooooou... really planned a lot, didn't you?"

"Only in my spare time." Andrea giggled as she pulled out one of her plans. "Okay, so I mentioned I wanted to do a skinline care product, but I only got so far as the concept."

Darryl paused as he picked up the plans and looked them over, giving a small hum as Andrea stared at the boy, feeling curious about what he thought. After a moment, Darryl grinned. "Heh, I suppose that could work... but uh, you got any idea on how to make the product?"

"Well, uh... I always just considered looking at the ingredient bottles of other products and-" Andrea started.

"Uh uh." Darryl shook his head, stopping the girl in her tracks. "The best tricks don't come from looking at random ingredients... the best tricks come from how you make your product... well, uniquely you. It takes pizzazz, skill... and some factory workers who understand this more than our little kid minds could handle."

"We could always learn what types of ingredients are safest to use." Andrea smiled.

"Yes, yes, I get it!" Darryl grinned. "Perhaps we could test them on some rats..."

"First of all, I am not a rat person, and second... I'm not really a fan of animal testing." Andrea said as she bit her lip.

"Oh, you're right, you're right! Animal testing is considered taboo in this day and age... okay, forget animal testing. We test it on human test subjects!" The young man called out as he pointed his finger up in the air.

Andrea couldn't help but smile as she and Darryl continued to trade ideas throughout a good couple of hours... even when they were taking a break, both Andrea and Darryl were enjoying each other's company more as they seemed to talk about business ideas, trading each idea, and disapproving of one where it would go too far. Pretty soon, Darryl looked up at the clock and noticed it was six...

"Whoa, I didn't realize I was gone for three hours!" Darryl yelped as he got up. "My parents must be worried sick about me. Sorry, Andrea, I have to get going..."

"Oh, that's okay. I'm glad we can collab like this!" Andrea smiled. "It's often rare I share my ideas with someone, especially when they can be as brilliant as you."

Darryl blushed a bit, before pausing. "Y-yeah, well... you're smart yourself. You have some great ideas, but with my ideas, I'm sure they'll be grand."

"Grand..." Andrea smiled. "I like that..."

Darryl smiled as he started to get up, before pausing as his heart was still beating a bit. He looked back towards Andrea, who seemed to be putting her things away... as he thought about it.

"Hey... Andrea?"

"Hm?" Andrea looked up at Darryl in curiosity.

"You say you're going to be alone tomorrow, since your parents went out?" Darryl asked.

"For the most part, yes, there will be a few butlers and maids, but yeah, mostly home alone." Andrea said.

"Well... uh... not that I don't care for the holiday or such, but... well... I was wondering if you'd like to... well... collab ideas again? Over a shake?" Darryl bit his lip, wondering why he was even doing this.

"Just... a shake?" Andrea asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Or... or if you want, it doesn't have to be a milkshake, I can take you out to a nice dinner... granted, it'll have to be fast food, but-" Darryl chuckled nervously.

Andrea paused briefly as she looked at Darryl, surprised at his bold attempt to ask her out... she wasn't sure if she wanted to date right now... then again, he did say it was just to collab ideas... and she did like hanging out with Darryl. She smiled, "Sure. Dinner sounds good."

"G-great! I'll... pick you up after school?" Darryl asked.

"Sounds great." Andrea said with a smile, before pausing. "And Darryl?"

"Y-yeah?" The boy asked.

"...thank you for giving me this." Andrea whispered with a smile on her face.

"...hey, just happy to help, Andy." Darryl smiled, before yelping.

Andrea blinked twice as she gave a slight frown. "Andy?"

"Sh-short for Andrea. I know you don't like being called anything other than Andrea, but if you- that is-" Darryl stammered a bit.

For a moment, Andrea still held a sour frown as she glared at Darryl... before giving a small laugh as she smiled. "Andy... I never would have thought of that nickname... that's cute, Darryl."

Darryl gave a small sigh of relief, realizing she didn't actually hate the nickname. He then gave a smile, "Well, then I'll see you tomorrow, Andy."

"Of course!" Andrea smiled, her heart slowly skipping a beat as she watched the boy wave good-bye to her before going off. After a moment, Andrea closed her eyes and smiled happily. "Andy... that's a nice name... has a good ring to it, too..."

Outside, as Darryl was walking out, he couldn't help but pause as he felt his head. "Did I just call her Andy and actually get away with it? I can't believe I did that... actually... what is wrong with me? I left hating Valentine's Day... and now I'm actually wanting to hang out with someone on Valentine's?"

As Darryl walked away from the mansion, he couldn't help but give a sigh. "And not just any someone... it's Andrea Davenport, the rich friend of my sister's... the one who used to be quite all that. And yet..." He paused as he felt his heart. "Why do I suddenly feel something?"

He shut his eyes as he looked back towards Andrea's mansion, pausing a bit, before giving a smile. "Maybe it's because I found a good challenge... the challenge of winning over Andrea Davenport... granted, I don't know HOW I'll win her over, but her ideas..." He gave a light chuckle. "Sounds like perfect scams to me! Oh, the delight and riches I'll get when these businesses get started... I'll probably be the richest McGee in no time flat!"

He gave a small maniacal chuckle, although his heart was beating faster as he had the thought of a smiling and giggling Andrea on his mind. He blushed a bit before holding his head, before shaking it, as he gave a grin. "Just wait until everyone sees it. By the time the year is done, I'm going to become QUITE the successful child... and it'll all be thanks to Andrea Davenport..."

He laughed a bit before walking away, although as he continued to walk, visions of Andrea being cute and giggly filled his head, before giving a smile. He couldn't wait to talk to her tomorrow!

Chapter Text

The camera focused on Andrea as she seemed to be holding her phone up and doing a wink to the camera.

"Hello, my fellow Fandreas! Andrea Davenport here with a brand new update on a product that could be SOOOO fun, it could clear your skin!" Andrea grinned as she turned to her right and gave a sultry wink. "That's right, after so long, I've finally decided to enter into the merch market, thanks to a little help from a new friend of mine! Darryl, tell them all about my... er, OUR new amazing product!"

With that, Andrea flipped her phone over to Darryl, who could only give a small grin towards the camera before lowering his shades. "Hey folks! Are you tired of having skin so dry, you start flaking? Your old skin care products not doing it for you? Then you need a product that's better... that improves... that even helps moisturizes the skin before your very eyes! Fandreas, your dear host and I present to you..." Darryl then pulled out a small bottle that was purple on the outside, with a label that had letters with the first letter fashioned in the style of Andrea's hair. "Andre-bulous! The skin moisturizer that helps clear up that dry skin!"

"That's right, Fandreas!" Andrea smiled as she put the phone down and entered next to Darryl, who could only give a small grin. "This new product line is still in the testing phase, but rest assured, 'Andre-bulous' will help clear out those dry spots on your hands and skin, whether you got them from your workplace, exercising, or just growing pains... just apply a bit to your hands each time and let the soothing cream help do the work!"

"Heh, I know I like to rub this cream all over your pretty neck." Darryl smirked towards Andrea.

Andrea blinked twice as she gave a laugh. "Oh, Darryl, you are so adorable when you offer to give me my product name..." She then gave a frown. "But seriously, we're on camera."

She coughed as she quickly turned back towards the camera as the young man put some of the skin cream on his hands and rubbed them around. "Just a little application to the skin and yes, your cuts won't go away right away, but they'll heal slowly thanks to the soothing sensation that is 'Andre-bulous'!"

"This product is sensational, and so is this pretty girl here!" Darryl gave a chuckle as he put his arm around Andrea, making her blush a bit.

She quickly gave a giggle. "You said it, Darryl! Now... uh, we got a commercial to... cough cough... finish?"

"Of course, of course." Darryl chuckled as he released her from her grasp and lifted the bottle up. "Andre-bulous! Once you get the cream, you'll be smooth as butter!"

"Will be available soon! Coming in the summer!" Andrea giggled as Darryl put the product away. "Well, Fandreas, I'm going to be turning off the stream for a while, but I'll be back tomorrow for another fantastic stream, and tomorrow will be make-up tips! So do not miss out! Special thanks to Darryl McGee, who is happily helping out sponsor my new product! See you all, Fandreas, and don't forget to like, subscribe AND donate!"

With that, Andrea was about to push the button on her phone to end the recording, but before she could do that, Darryl had decided to ask...

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"Did I do good?" Darryl asked in curiosity.

"Hm?" Andrea paused as she turned her head, her phone having been forgotten as she put it down. "Oh, you've done wonderfully, Darryl. Very good in promoting, as a matter of fact!"

Darryl blushed a bit as he put his hand behind his head. "Thanks... uh, honestly, I was a little nervous, but once you put it on me, I think I was really getting into it."

"Trust me, D-Man, you did great." Andrea smiled.

Darryl's body relaxed a bit as he put his hand on hers. "Thanks, Andy... that really means a lot."

Andrea giggled as she sat down next to the boy and smiled happily. She could hardly believe that it had been three months since she had met up with Darryl, that day before Valentine's, and that they just started to hit it off more naturally than they thought. If she had told herself a year or so ago that she would be hanging out with a boy, much less falling in love with one that would be the youngest brother of her best friend, she'd have scoffed at that possibility. Technically, she'd scoff at a lot of things, but the fact that this little collaboration between the two lasted longer really soared in her heart.

As for Darryl himself, he found himself looking towards Andrea with a heartfelt smile, usually reserved for a lot of things, but for Andrea? He'd give one to her every day if he had to...

"It's amazing how long we lasted, you know?" Darryl smiled as Andrea sat next to him. "I'll be honest, I didn't expect things to get this far. Usually, when I think up a product or something, it's usually slapdashed and sloppy... I mean, when we finally got that skin cream to work a few days ago, I couldn't believe my eyes!"

Andrea giggled as she flutted her hair a bit. "I think that's because you didn't have an amazing partner to help guide you through your interesting ideas."

"And a very cute partner at that." Darryl smirked as he turned towards the blue-haired girl with a sharp grin on his face, leaning over as he kissed her on the cheek, making her blush.

Andrea gave a loud giggle as she felt Darryl's lips on her cheek. "Darryl... sweetie..."

"You know you love it, Andy." Darryl smirked as the two stared at each other happily. Darryl couldn't help but sigh as his mind wandered back to their official first collab... not a 'date', as Darryl and Andrea tried to deny, but a 'collab'. Of course, some people that suspected Darryl and Andrea and saw them suspected otherwise...

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THREE MONTHS AGO...

Valentine's Day had rapidly approached as everybody that fateful afternoon was a bit busy. Every student had been let out of school, couples were starting to hang out with each other for a lovely Valentine's Day... well, as lovely as Brighton would allow it, anyway... but all in all, everybody seemed to be having a good time.

But nobody could have been more excited for this particular day than Darryl himself, which left his parents, his sister and even Scratch confused, as they saw his reaction towards Valentine's Day not more than a day ago. Their best guess... probably wanting to pull pranks on lovebirds. At least, that was Scratch's theory.

But surprisingly for the school day, Darryl went through it without pulling any pranks... well, maybe a little one involving a coin and a string to distract one of his teachers... but a relatively harmless prank compared to those he usually pulled off, and that was because he was thinking about his... well, he didn't want to say date, he didn't want this to be strange... it was more of a... 'collab' than anything. Because if there's anything social media influencer girls often did, it's collaborations.

Needless to say, the day went by without so much as a hassle, and Darryl was already out the door and outside the school as he patiently waited for the girl he had talked to yesterday to come out. After a moment, he saw a few students passing by, but it wouldn't be until five minutes later when he saw her... Andrea Davenport, who... it could have been his mind playing tricks on him, but... was she wearing make-up today? It looked good on her... was looking around until she spotted her target and smiled as she ran up.

"Hi there, Darryl!" Andrea smiled as she offered her hand. "Soooo... ready to go?"

"Anything for you, my dear." Darryl smiled as he took his hand as the two started to walk off together. Of course, if they had lingered for a moment longer, they would have seen Molly and Libby coming out, so thank goodness for him they didn't see Darryl and Andrea leaving together. "So, where do you want to go? We do have a few fast food places..."

"Hmmm..." Andrea paused as she put a hand on her chin and rubbed it, trying to think of a good place. "Well, whenever my parents and I have to eat somewhere below us, I always had a soft spot for 'McGoofy's'."

Darryl's eyes lit up as he licked his lips. "Ahhhh, McGoofy's, the only fast food restaurant that can be quite fun for a kid... with a nice little ice cream machine, nice burgers, and some of the best fries on the planet!"

"I know, right?" Andrea grinned. "Way better than that Burger Prince..."

"Well, now, to be fair, the fries there are pretty good too." Darryl pointed out.

"Yeah, but the burgers looked so squished!" Andrea rolled her eyes.

"Tell me about it!" Darryl chuckled as the two continued walking down the street.

And as they walked, both young man and rich girl took the time to take a look around the streets of Brighton, everyone getting in all sorts of lovey-dovey moments for Valentine's, with a couple kissing near one of the street corners, a small parade going through the city, even small flower petals were flying around.

Despite all that, though, Andrea and Darryl did their best to ignore all of them (mostly because they were still uncomfortable with the concept of Valentine's Day, both for different reasons) as they made their way through the town until finally, they arrived at McGoofy's. Once they got their food all ordered and sat down together, Darryl decided to continue the conversation from yesterday.

"Soooo... I was thinking about what our skin-care product... like, what should we make?" Darryl said as Andrea looked up in interest. "Because thinking about it... maybe we can make a nice little lotion for people's skin... you know, when people have to work, but their hands get all crinkly and bloody sometimes from all the work."

"Ew, yeah, skin can sometimes do that!" Andrea winced a bit, before smiling. "But I get where you're coming from. Maybe the lotion won't heal the self-inflicted cuts, but it'll help soothe the skin a bit, have it cool down from the rash that people sometimes get, whether it be from menial labor or whatnot."

"Yeah!" Darryl nodded eagerly before taking a bite out of his burger, chewing a few times before swallowing it. "But also, you have to consider the name."

Andrea paused as she took another bite. "The name of the product?"

"Yeah, something catchy, something fun..." Darryl nodded as he took a fry and swallowed one with ease. "Something along the lines of 'Oceanic Skincare'!"

"...we're nowhere near an ocean, though." Andrea pointed out in confusion, before giving a smile. "Although I have gone to Palm Springs before."

"Oh, Palm Springs? Really? You know, I've always wanted to go there, how is it?" Darryl asked, his curiosity peaking.

"Oh, you know, it's a nice place... nice swimming pool... good restaurants... nice little place to relax... but it is SOOOOO hot out there." Andrea sighed. "The only good thing about being on vacation is staying in the air conditioned room... and hey, my parents DID get us a good suite."

"Wow..." Darryl looked at the girl and sighed in admiration. "I guess you've gone to a nearby beach in Palm Springs, then."

"The best beach! Got a lot of good tanning in." Andrea giggled. "You can't tell because I'm wearing my hoodie, but I have a well toned body."

All of a sudden, the idea of Andrea showing off her tanned body ran in the young man's mind as he shuffled his feet a bit, biting his lip. "I'll take your word for it..."

The blue haired girl laughed wholeheartedly, before giving a cough. "Anyway, I was thinking more... 'Andrea's Choice' for the name. It IS my product, after all."

"True, true. Gotta have a personal brand. None of that generic stuff." Darryl nodded. "But how can we make this product more... uniquely you? I mean, Andrea's Choice is fine, but it's too generic. Who's to say there's not other choices for skincare products out there?"

Andrea gasped as she put a hand on her cheek. "You're right! I didn't think about that."

Darryl chuckled. "See, this is why I'm the brains of the operation."

"Well, part of the brains." Andrea smirked a bit, causing Darryl to look up at her with a slight glare. "But what can we do for a good name?"

"Well, Andrea definitely needs to be part of the name, but what to do with that?" Darryl asked as he tapped his fingers on the table, before snapping his fingers. "I say we combine your name with another word... like you do 'Fandreas' on your streams."

Andrea's eyes lit up as she looked at Darryl with a smile. "Oh Em Gee... Darryl, you are a GENIUS!"

"Heh, I told you. Brains." Darryl smirked as he pointed to his head. "The real question is, what word should we combine your name with? Some girl? Terrific? Radiant? Humble?"

Andrea closed her eyes as she blushed a bit. "Oh, Darryl, you don't have to compliment me like that..."

"I'm just spitballin' some words here, let's see you think of something." Darryl paused.

Andrea paused as she took a fry and ate it, before pausing. "Hmmm... crunchy."

The young boy blinked twice in confusion. "That's your idea, crunchy?"

"What? No, no, I was saying, this fry is a little crunchy." Andrea shook her head before swallowing her food. "What words can we combine with my name... hmmm... amazing?"

"Andr-mazing... no, it wouldn't catch on... how about dazzling?" Darryl smiled.

"Sparkling?" Andrea suggested.

"Glamourous!" Darryl grinned, pointing a finger at Andrea and winking at her.

Andrea giggled. "Funny!"

"Fantastic!"

"Sweet!"

"Fabulous!"

Andrea's eyes widened as she put a finger on Darryl's lips. "Oh em gee... Darryl, you are again a genius!"

"For suggesting 'fabulous'... hmmm..." Darryl paused, before giving a grin. "How about the name 'Andre-bulous' for the product name?"

The blue haired girl looked at the pudgy boy, before giving a warm smile. "Oh, Darryl, that is got to be the most fantastic name I've ever heard. Andre-bulous it is!"

Darryl smiled as he shared a laugh with her, his heart soaring as he looked over at the girl. Afterwards, the two finished their meal and Andrea gave a smile as she said, "Thanks for taking me to dinner, that was rather sweet of you."

"Y-yeah, it was." Darryl chuckled as he put a hand behind his head and blushed. "It was worth spending that allowance money for two..."

Andrea paused as she looked up. "Hmmm... well, I guess I should go back..."

"You could... OR..." Darryl smirked. "We could walk around the town for a while. I know I said I don't enjoy this holiday, but... at least I won't have to be walking through the mess of Valentine's shenanigans going around..."

Andrea looked surprised at Darryl's bold offer, before smiling. "I would like that."

With that, the two started to hold hands and walked out of the restaurant, their bellies full AND their minds on their new product. Although both of them were hesitant on calling this outing a 'date', they were more comfortable with 'collab'. Even still, Darryl and Andrea found themselves enjoying each other's company, and it would only grow further from there...

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PRESENT TIME...

And grow further it did as Andrea and Darryl met almost every day in private to make sure their plans for their skincare product would be good... for the most part. The two still hadn't told anybody else about their time together, but Andrea HAD told Molly that she was planning on a skincare product to test out on her, and the happy girl more than agreed to help her out. Of course, Darryl also had Molly test out the product in secret, simply asking his sister to test out some cream he was experimenting with, and although Molly had her doubts, she did help Darryl test some things out.

But eventually, both Andrea and Darryl finally hit on a formula that was right for the most part. And it wasn't easy, as it took a little swaying from Darryl's teachers to let him use the science lab, but it was worth it in the end. Although, most of the days they spent together weren't always just focusing on their product. Sometimes they'd just hang out and talk, sometimes Andrea would take Darryl to her favorite places, sometimes Darryl would take her to his favorite places... and sometimes, they'd just walk through the park together, holding hands and blushing a bit. Despite all this, they still called their little outings their 'collabs'... no matter how much their hearts were racing when around each other.

Although about a week or so ago, Darryl had the urge to... kiss Andrea on the cheek. He didn't know what possessed him to do it, but when he did it the first time, although surprised, Andrea had no objections to it... so Darryl kept going with it at least every day they hung out, at least once. And today was no different...

Andrea giggled as she looked at the young man. "You know, you're always so sweet when you do that, D-Man."

"Thanks, Andy..." Darryl smiled, before giving a pause. "You know, since we're finished streaming for now... do you... want to go somewhere?"

Andrea's eyes lit up as she turned to Darryl. "Sure! Where to?"

Darryl gave a smile as he put his hand on hers. "I was thinking maybe the park... I want to give you a special surprise."

The blue haired girl's eyes lit up. "What is it?"

"Uh-huh, I can't say." The boy smirked as he got up. "You'll have to wait and see..."

"Ohhhhh... but I can't stand waiting." Andrea moaned as her eyes widened cutely. "Pweeease, Dawwyl, pwease tell me what my suhpwise is. Pweeeease?"

Darryl yelped as he noted Andrea pulling off a rather cute expression, before biting his lip. "Oh no, my one weakness, a girl pulling off the cutest, adorable look in the world!"

"And I'll keep doing it until you tell me the surprise." Andrea licked her lips as she continued to shine her eyes.

Darryl yelped a bit before pulling out his sunglasses and putting them on, before giving a smirk. "You'll have to wait and see..."

Andrea frowned a bit, before giving a smile. "All right, let me just get my phone."

With that, Andrea picked up her phone and put it in her pocket before grabbing Darryl's hand. "I'm ready..."

Darryl grinned as the two started to head out of her room... little realizing that on Andrea's phone, her camera button was still on... and the chat seemed to be going wild with messages, saying stuff like 'Did Andrea just let Darryl kiss her?', 'She seems to like it', 'Andarryl for life!', and multiple hearts and messages with a hashtag of 'Andy Loves Darryl'!

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But none was more surprised than a standing Molly, who was sitting on a park bench and checking Andrea's stream on her phone (mainly to see what Andrea wanted her brother for, since Andrea didn't usually work with other people on her streams usually). She stared with a rather interesting look of awe on her face... before letting out a big grin.

"My brother... and one of my besties... together?" Molly asked before squealing happily. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I totally didn't see that coming! They are SOOOO cute together!"

Molly gasped a bit. "Wait a minute... does this mean Darryl has a crush? And my brother is actually in love? The fact he just called Andrea 'Andy' and she's not berating him for it..."

The Thai-American girl paused as she looked at the stream again. "But it does explain why Andrea didn't seem to react when I mentioned her plans and said 'I moved on'... either way..."

Molly quickly put her phone away as she gave a determined look. "Sounds like something a curious sister and best friend like myself should investigate!"

Chapter Text

"Come on, Darryl, why do I have to close my eyes?" Andrea asked as she had her eyes closed and moving.

"Just keep them closed." Darryl smirked. "It's part of the surprise."

"All right, they're closed." Andrea said, her eyes still closed.

"Harder..." Darryl coughed.

Andrea had her eyes tightly closed as she giggled. "Yes, sir."

Of course, she couldn't help but open one eye a bit, but Darryl caught her as he wagged his finger. "Uh uh, no peeking."

"All right, all right, they're closed." Andrea said, closing that one eye back up.

Darryl smirked as he continued to walk forward, holding Andrea's hand and pulling her up towards a small path. The area they were in right now was a small park, with a nice grassy field as he looked around, before muttering to himself, half-hoping his ghost friend had set everything up exactly as he wanted... which was a nice picnic for him and 'someone else' (who Darryl refused to tell who to Scratch, but DID offer him a few tacos from the local Mexican restaurant to keep him quiet... of course, Darryl also had a sneaking suspicion he took some goodies for himself while setting up said picnic, so... no rush, really).

He turned quickly to the left and sure enough, there was the picnic, all set-up and nice... with one bite taken out of a sandwich nearby.

Darryl rolled his eyes as he looked over at Andrea, whose eyes were still closed. "One moment..."

With that, Darryl let go of Andrea's hand as he rushed over to the picnic to throw out the sandwich with the bite on it, put his hand in the picnic basket and replaced it with a new sandwich, before giving a grin. And meanwhile, Andrea frowned as she waved her arm around, her eyes still closing. "What's going on, Darryl? Why did you let go? Are we here? Can I open my eyes now?"

Darryl, feeling satisfied, turned to the girl he was badly crushing on as he coughed. "Okay, NOW you may open your eyes."

Andrea opened her eyes slightly before widening them in pure surprise and delight. There was Darryl, sitting on one end of a picnic blanket, and in front of him, a nicely set-up picnic. "Darryl... did you make all this?"

"Well, I had a little help, and I didn't exactly SAY what I was doing with it, but... yeah, I planned this, as you might say." Darryl gave a chuckle.

"Awww, D-Man, you didn't have to go through all this trouble." Andrea smiled as she walked over and sat down crosslegged.

"Well, no, I didn't have to... but... I wanted to... you know, as business partners, of course." Darryl smiled.

The blue haired girl gave a giggle before pulling out her phone and putting it to the side, angling it on the picnic basket to show the two in front. They still had not noticed they were still being streamed as Andrea said, "Well, I still think it was nice of you to do this... you know, I never really do picnics except for the company ones my father usually attends... so, a nice, private picnic is a nice change of pace."

"Really?" Darryl smiled a bit as he blushed. "Well, I know it's not entirely the fancy type of picnic you're used to, but-"

"But... it's uniquely you." Andrea finished as she looked at him, a smile on her face. "And that's what's most important, right?"

"R-right..." Darryl said. "So, uh, would you prefer PB and J, or cold cuts?"

"Cold cuts, for sure." Andrea grinned as she picked up her sandwich and examined it. "Would be nice to have some mustard though..."

"Oh, allow me." Darryl smiled as he pulled out a bottle of mustard (making sure it wasn't the hot and spicy kind) before lifting the bread and carefully squirting it into the sandwich, being careful not to put mustard stains on her hoodie. "There you go."

"My, such a gentleman, Darryl." Andrea giggled as she took a bite from the sandwich... and licked her lips. "Hmmm... this is pretty good..."

Darryl smiled as he took a couple bites from his sandwich.

Little did the two of them realize, was that as the two of them were casually munching and enjoying the surprise picnic lunch, little did they realize was that up in a tree somewhere, a pair of binoculars were seen poking out of the tree, spying on the two. And deep inside the tree, wearing some black war paint on her cheeks, was Molly McGee, who seemed to be primed and serious.

"Okay, there's my brother... and there's one of my best friends... a rich best friend, if you will." Molly said to herself before looking over and examining their body language and behavior. "Okay, so it seems they're enjoying a nice picnic lunch... nothing unusual about tha- oh?"

Molly then noticed something unusual as Darryl was unintentionally reaching for a bag of chips that was set nearby, with Andrea's hand also going into the bag of chips. Molly's eyes widened in surprise as their hands touched slightly, if only for a mere moment.

Andrea and Darryl's eyes widened as they looked at each other's hands, then at each other. The two then smiled as they gave some laughs, before looking away and blushing. Molly, as expected, gave a wide smile as she held her hands together. "Oh my gosh, those two are SOOOO cute together. I don't think I'm able to hold this much enhappifyingness within me!"

She gave a small gasp as she held her heart, feeling it beat for the two as she giggled. She then paused a bit before lowering her hands down. "Hmmm... though there is still a catch with this, I feel it. I don't know what yet, but..."

Giving a pause, she picked up the binoculars and went back to watching her brother and rich best friend sharing a moment.

"S-sorry for the whole, uh..." Darryl chuckled nervously as he finished up his chips.

"No, no, it's fine, really." Andrea also returned his chuckle with a nervous giggle. "I wasn't too... opposed to it, really. In fact, it felt actually... uh, well... nice."

"Really?" Darryl said with a small smile, his heart beating. "W-well... I suppose since we're finished with lunch... and I don't have to be home for a good while... do you want to... well, walk together with me?"

"Uh, walk?" Andrea paused as she gave a nervous chuckle. "Gee, I don't know, I... well, my parents won't be home for another hour, so... I suppose I have time..."

"Great!" Darryl smiled as he got up and held out his hand. "Shall we go?"

"...don't you want to pack up the picnic first?" Andrea asked in concern.

"Ahhh, don't worry, I've got a good clean-up crew coming in..." Darryl smiled as he clutched her hand. "Besides, this won't be about them... I want this to be about you... and me."

"Oh... well, okay, then..." Andrea smiled as she clutched his hand, before grabbing her phone and holding it close as the two walked away, hand in hand.

At that moment, Molly dropped out of the tree and gave a small, raised eyebrow as she noted the two walking together, hand in hand.

"Awwwww..." Molly's eyes widened cutely before all of a sudden, Scratch came in with a watch as he noted the picnic stuff all used up.

"Geez, and Darryl didn't even save me a pickle or something..." Scratch muttered before starting to pick up the area. "Well, at least the tacos are going to be worth-" It was then the ghost noted Molly standing nearby, seemingly in thought. "Oh! Hey, Moll! What's going on?"

"Oh, hey, Scratch." Molly said. "You just saw Darryl leave, right?"

"Uh, no, I only just came here from another direction. He did mention something about having this picnic lunch here with somebody, but didn't say who. Was it you? Were you the somebody?" Scratch asked in curiosity before picking up the blanket. "Why?"

"Soooo... you don't know about Darryl and Andrea, then?" Molly asked.

Scratch was about to pick up the picnic basket, before stopping himself short. The ghost immediately dropped everything before floating over and raising an eyebrow. "What's that now?"

"I'm surprised you didn't look at the social media stream for Andrea's Fandreas. Andrea doesn't realize it because she thought she shut the phone off, but apparently, she and Darryl are sharing some sort of... chemistry together." Molly said with a big grin.

The ghost's mouth dropped in awe, before shaking his head. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait... wait. You mean to tell me that Darryl, Mr. Can't-Resist-Getting-Into-Trouble, Mr. I'm-Never-Falling-In-Love-Ever... is actually falling in love... with ANDREA DAVENPORT, of all girls? Whatever happened to that whole thing she had with that other girl she mentioned before? Didn't she have, like, a set plan and everything?"

"Well, sometimes, our plans could very well change, Scratch... and interesting of all... I think Andrea likes my brother back!" Molly swooned happily.

"Ick..." Scratch frowned. "Sooo, what, this makes you think that just because your brother is in love with a girl... one that's one of your quote-unquote 'best friends'... it might be a big change? You do realize that Andrea could very well be your SISTER IN-LAW if Darryl decides to keep going with this... IF he keeps going with this!"

Molly raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, if?"

"Oh, come on, Molls, you can't be this dense! Think! Darryl would never want to go out with a girl... unless it's for an ulterior motive. For all we know, this is a plan to prank Andrea out of her money!" Scratch shuffled his hands.

"Scratch!" Molly gave a slight frown.

"Well, obviously not ALL of it... just some of it." Scratch said. "Her parents are rich, I'm sure she's got, like, a couple hundred thousand more bucks in their vaults."

"Well, even if you're maybe right, I'm not counting out the possibility that my brother has found his soul mate!" Molly swooned happily. "Oh, wouldn't it be amazing to have the Davenport family be our in-laws? Oh, do you think Andrea's wedding dress would look good in classic white OR teal blue? I know white's tradition, but I can see Andrea wanting a more 'regal' wedding."

Scratch frowned as he muttered to himself, "Barely finding out about this relationship, and Molly's already planning a wedding..." He gave a sigh. "Well, I think you may be wrong on this. Where are they now?"

"Huh?" Molly blinked, before gasping. "Oh, right! I'm following them right now! I think they went this way!"

With that, the girl started to rush off, with Scratch giving a raised eyebrow, before lowering his eyelids.

"This, I got to see for myself..."

With that, Scratch went invisible and flew off after Molly, in hopes of catching up to the couple.