Meanwhile, Thomas and Monica were laughing, singing, and dancing their way out of the arcade. They had several drinks, and once they left, several eyes followed them.

"Che...Check it out boo, I'm a fireman!" he said as Monica's eyes widened.

"I'm on fire baby," Monica said, " Come help me! "

"Oh, I'mma help you out, baby."

He held a bottle of sparkling grape wine at about waist level, popped it open, and it rained all over Monica like a thunderstorm. She opened her mouth with the craziest "AUUUUUUGHHHHHH!" ever heard.

The onlookers stared on with disbelief, fear, and general scariness. Thomas shot a mean look back.

"What, you guys never had fun before?" he asked them.

"It's a celebration chickens!" Monica cheered, "Lighten up!". She was drenched in grape wine, and ran up to Thomas yelling, "I love you so much honey boo!"

"I love you too, Monica baby!" And they ate each others' faces up with a sloppy, barely connecting kiss. When they pulled away, a flavorful trail of saliva emerged.

Monica giggled and said, "Boy, you so gross."

"Well," Thomas shrugged a bit, "You started it"

"Nah, you started it, girl."

"Boy, you started it!"

"I'mma start somethin' alright," Thomas said.

He swooped her up off the ground and spun her around like a tilt-a-whirl.

"Oh my God!"

Monica giggled as Thomas whirled her around. And then...

"WHOOAAAAAA, Tommy!"

He had flung her up in the air and caught her like a Frisbee. Monica looked at him with a smile and disbelief.

"You lowkey scared the hell outta me," she told him while blushing. "Don't do that junk again. I'll hurt you, boy!"

"Well," Thomas looked at her and grinned, "I guess I'm just gonna have to get hurt then."

"Whatever lil boy," she replied, "What the hell should we do after this?"

"I heard they're having a couples thing at the free hotel. We should check it out." Monica rolled her eyes.

"I don't trust that place. They be on some crazy stuff."

"That's what makes it fun, now come on, honey."

"I guess," she said, "There ain't really much else to do."

He looked at her with a smile. "See, that's the spirit."

However, she got a stern look on her face and pointed straight at his nose.

"But if I get caught up in somethin' dumb, I'm whooping your natural-born behind til it turns bright red."

Meanwhile, me and the crew finally made our happy faces up to Fubway, and we were prepping for the big showdown. Marriam was gonna arrive at work in less than eight minutes, and I was nervous as hell. If this plan didn't work, she would literally serve me my head on a platter. So I had to make sure everything was right.

"Alright, so uh, I guess we gotta do a soundcheck?"

"Forget that," David said, slowly strumming his guitar. "You know we got it straight, you don't have to check nothing."

Macy chimed in and asked, "Do you not trust us or something?"

"I mean I trust y'all I just gotta do a soundcheck, make sure everything's okay."

But Cooper jumped up and told me, "If you trusted us, you wouldn't have to check for nothin'."

Brenda added, "I can't play if you don't trust us."

I shook my head in my hands and decided that it just wasn't worth it.

"Fine, we won't do a soundcheck, but let's just run through some vocals real quick."

Bell cleared his throat and screeched, "AAAAAA, EEEEE, IIIIII, OOOOO, UUUUU." I swear I went deaf for a second or two.

"Bell, you wanna tell me what the hell that was?" I asked.

"You said we gotta run through our vowels, so I ran through them. Oh, I forgot..."

He cleared his throat again and belted out, "And sometimes YYYYYYYY!"

Just then, Marriam walked in with a mean look on her face like she was a teacher or something.

"Why does it sound like a retired Opera singer in here? And why the hell are all you punks in my restaurant?"

The room instantly went quiet, and everyone looked at her. I tried to feign a smile.

"Hey babe, we were just...."

"Don't even speak you broke-down coward, screw you and everybody in here."

Bell flipped his non-existent hair, smacked his lips, and said, "Oh no sweetie, I didn't do a damn thing to you, and you wanna be all bad and..."

A second later, he was on the ground. Marriam had grabbed him by the face and slammed him to the floor.

"So, who else wants to talk?"

We all looked at each other, thinking, "I'm not gonna do it."

"Come on, speak up, don't be shy," she said in this faux innocent voice. It took me a second to tell her my plan, but I had no choice.

"Look, I know I made you upset, and I'm sorry that I even thought you did something like that. But if you give me a few, I can make it up to you".

She rubbed her chin and asked, "How exactly are you gonna do that?"

"I'll show ya." I sent the cue to The Five Teens to start playing, and almost immediately, a beautiful rendition of "When will I See You Smile Again" flowed out of their instruments. Johnny and Bell began singing "Ohhhhh..." in the background and to my surprise, their voices blended well together. Then I got ready to sing the first verse and put on my best New Edition impression...

"Tears, I see drop from your eyes

Tell me why you cry-yyy

Guilt, I feel when you look at me

Did I let you dooown?"

I was feelin' it, so I got on my knees to sing the bridge. Marriam's face started to glow again as Johnny and Bell continued their smooth harmonies.

"Girl you see that I, I apologize!

Tell me what to do, to get through to you!

Girl, it's not the same, I know I was to blame!

Just tell me when will I

See you smile again."

Then we all sung the hook together like a barbershop quartet

"Tell me when will I see you smile again,

Cause I know I messed up, baby

And I know you're fed up, sugar"

While singing, I noticed Marriam holding her heart, and a single tear fell from her eye. Before I could even get to the second chorus, she had rushed up and leaped on me with open arms.

"Joshie! Joshie! I forgive you!" She then gave me a big and quick kiss. It was downright amazing.

"Thank you, baby," I said, "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," she said, "Just know that no matter what, I will always love you."

"I'll always love you too, baby."

Bell started crying and wiping tears like he was at a movie.

"Romance always makes me cry, whyyyyy!". He was boo-hoo crying, rolling on the floor, and Johnny just stared. Meanwhile, Marriam and I had moved to the counter.

"I'm delighted you forgave me," I said.

"Mmm-hmm," she replied. "Just don't do nothin' like that again."

"I won't, I promise."

We shared an intense kiss while leaning back on the counter. Then she looked at everyone in the room.

"Why y'all still here? Get out!"

Everyone dashed out of Fubway and went on their merry little way...