Wow. I mean, wow. I wouldn't blame any of you if you'd given up on me at this point. I mean it's been...how long has it been? *checks* Holy mother of monkeys on unicycles, TEN MONTHS? God, guys, I really am sorry. Senior year was just so damn busy, I barely had time for anything. That's a stupid excuse, but there it is. But don't completely give up hope on me-I promised I'd finish this story, and I will, dangit! Now, on to some long-overdue reviewer response!

Butterfree: Oh, yeah, I totally see where you're comin' from. I'm always spastic about checking my stories for stuff like that. That's why I'm not uploading OTR 2 until I have the rough draft totally finished-I don't wanna write something, then find out it completely messes up the story later. Rambling, sorry. ^^; Thanks, I could use a little less to worry about. Hope you like this chapter too!

Registered2Comment: Hellz yeah for bein' right without research! *epic freeze-in-the-air high-five* Man, you know a lot about fish. Are you an ichthyologist? (Tee hee, I sound so smart) But how do you mean it acts like a dog? Does it chase its tail? That'd be hilarious to watch XD I hope you still like this chapter too!

Now then, let's finally continue our story!

Enjoy!

For a moment, Deb thought she had walked into the wrong apartment .Everything was so clean! She had never seen the tables not covered with plates and take-out containers.

Before she could ask, Nemo walked into the room.

"Hi, Nemo!" She chirped, but suddenly raised an eyebrow. "Nemo, why are you still in your pajamas? You have school today, silly!"

"I know that!" Nemo said defensively, then calmed down. "Things have just been...a little crazy this morning."

"Did you guys get a maid, by the way?" Deb asked.

"Not exactly," Nemo smirked.

Deb questioned this, but decided to ignore it. "Did your dad leave early for work?"

"No, he's here, he just-"

"Do you have any, uh..." Marlin cleared his throat awkwardly. "...clothes you can change into? Because I'm afraid I don't really-"

"Oh, not to worry! Everything is under control!"

With this, Dory threw her fins up enthusiastically. Unfortunately, she hadn't accounted for the small space.

Marlin was thrown off balance by this sudden movement and started to fall out the door.

"Oh, dear!" Dory rushed over to him.

Now it was Marlin who was flailing his fins wildly in an attempt to regain his balance. He accidentally grabbed Dory and sent her falling to the ground. Marlin followed suit, falling on top of her.

"Agh..." He winced.

"Oh, my..." Dory shook the fuzzies away from hitting her head.

Marlin made to get up-

"MARLIN?"

'Oh, no. No, no, no, please don't let that be her.'

He slowly turned and was horrified, but not terribly surprised, to see Deb, her fins crossed with a menacing look in her eye.

Looking down at Dory, clad only in a towel, and him on top of her, he knew this was not good.

"Wait-!"

But Deb had turned sharply and was heading out the door.

"Deb, wait, this isn't-!"

He grabbed her before she got all the way out.

"What about Nemo? Remember, grown-up bonding time?" He spluttered desperately.

"What, so you can have some grown-up bonding time?" She spat at him, before casting a murderous glance at Dory.

Dory, who had gotten up by this point, didn't notice this and merely waved at Deb, her smile bright as the sun.

Deb looked back at Marlin. "I don't think so."

And with that, the door slammed shut, leaving Marlin a mixture of sad, hurt, and angry.

"Oh, she's lovely, Carson," Dory gushed.

That one comment briefly disposed of the sad and hurt parts.

He slowly turned towards Dory. "My name. Is MARLIN. And do you have ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE JUST DONE?"

Both Nemo and Dory shrank back from that.

"What did I-?" She began.

"YOU made me FALL! And now she thinks we...we..." Marlin stuttered.

Dory gasped loudly. "Kissed?" She said this as if it were the most horrible thing she could think of.

Marlin really didn't care to explain in front of his son. "Yeah, something like that." He put a fin to his forehead, wondering how he was going to fix this, and also reminding himself NEVER to listen to his conscience about strangers again.

Dory's fins flew to her mouth in horror. "Oh, dear...Wait a moment."

Dory swam into the bathroom for a moment. She emerged mere seconds later in a beautiful, summery seaweed dress.

"Now, what to do-"

"Wait-wait-wait!" Marlin shook his fins. "Where in the world did you get that dress from?" He knew she hadn't brought any bags with her.

"Oh, I made it!" Dory bounced into the living room.

"Made it? Out of what?" Marlin followed her.

He soon got his answer as he saw dress-shaped cutouts in his curtains.

Marlin just stayed there, motionless, staring at the curtains in pure shock.

Dory gauged his face. "You're unhappy," She said quietly, hoping it wasn't true.

"YOU CUT UP MY CURTAINS?" Marlin yelped.

"Oh, you are unhappy!" Dory moaned. "I'm so sorry, I-"

"No, no, I'm not unhappy, I'm angry!" Marlin corrected.

"An-gry?" Dory cocked her head.

"Yes, angry! It's an emotion, you ever heard of it?" Marlin scoffed.

"Well, I have heard of it, but I've never-" Dory started to explain.

"Ya know what, forget it, alright?" Marlin put a fin to his forehead in exhaustion. "I have bigger problems. Like Deb."

Dory gasped loudly, which made Marlin look up slightly. "You should sing to her!"

"Excuse me?" Marlin turned fully to her.

"You should put all of your feelings, your thoughts-all of the wonderful things you feel about her into a beautiful ballad!" Dory sang the last two words, then looked dreamily off into the distance.

"And then she'll know for sure."

Marlin blinked a few times, wondering where on earth this woman got her common sense from.

Dory noticed this. "What is it?"

"It's...I mean, it's like you escaped from a fairytale book or something," He shook his head.

"Is...that a bad thing?" Dory asked.

Marlin merely sighed.

Suddenly, he spotted something in the corner of his eye. Turning, he saw Nemo, fully dressed with his backpack on, waiting patiently.

It hit him with a jolt. "School! We're gonna be late!" He grabbed his keys and swam like lightning out the door.

"We'd better follow him, Paco!" Dory started to swim off, too.

"My name's Nemo!" He laughed.

"Oh, right, of course!" She chuckled as well as the two darted after the uptight clownfish.

Alright, next chapter up faster than ten months, for sure! At this point, I don't trust even myself, so that's the best I can promise.

Sling pianos at me in reviews? Heh heh. ^^;