*sniff, sniff* "What's that smell?"

You mean your salami leg, their salami leg, his salami leg, or Carl's shoes?

Oh I love you Sheen, ahaha xD

Thanks for the sweet feedback, you guys. Love you all! :D

Cindy sighed, closing her locker shut. It's already been a week into school, and Neutron sure was adjusting well. Straight A's, getting high fives and hugs in the hallway, and even an almost-friendly wrestling match with Butch and Nick.

Her gaze flickered down the hall, 10 lockers down, which was where Jimmy himself was standing. His shirt's sleeves were pushed up his arms, and from where she was standing, she could see his muscles flex.

Cindy sighed blissfully, leaning her head against her locker. Her moment of happiness was ruined when she heard-


Cindy's teeth grinded together.

Jimmy looked up, smiling goofily when he saw Betty Quinlan walk up to him; she really had changed, from longer hair, to a body to drool over, to the cheerleader outfit she was wearing; that's right. Betty's head cheerleader. And one of the most popular girls in school-but that hadn't changed since elementary school.

And Jimmy was taller than her. Score.

"Hey, Betty!" Jimmy greeted and they hugged. Cindy growled.

"How are you adjusting?" Betty asked.

"Pretty well. For once, I'm not getting teased about my height anymore," said Jimmy.

Betty giggled.

"Betty!" Britney Tenelli called from across the hall, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder; she was co-captain of the cheerleading squad, and some of her hair was up in a preppy ponytail. "C'mon! We're gonna be late for practice!"

"Coming!" Betty called back before turning to Jimmy. "Later, Jimmy." She kissed his cheek then walked away.

"B-Bye!" Jimmy called back, stammering. Closing his locker shut, he met a set of angry, watery green eyes. "Cindy?"

But the blonde was already walking away, wiping angry tears from her eyes.


"Dude, what did you do?" Sheen asked as he and Carl walked with Jimmy to the cafeteria. "Libby texted me that Cindy's crying over you!"

"She's crying?" Carl looked worried, following his friends to the lunch line. "Why?"

Jimmy slapped his hand to his forehead. "She must've seen me with Betty! I-I didn't know that she'll be crying over it..."

Libby walked up to them and Sheen's eyes brightened.

"Hey, Libs!"

Libby gave him a little smile. "Hey." Her eyes narrowed at Jimmy. "You betta talk to your girl, Jimmy. She's stopped cryin', but she won't come to lunch."

"I didn't know that she..." Jimmy sighed. "Where is she?"

"The library."

Jimmy paused for a split second. "I'll be right back."

"Go, Jimmy!" Carl cheered as Jimmy ran out of the cafeteria.

Jimmy stopped to catch his breath as he entered the library. He heard a sniff, then headed to the back of the library.

And he headed straight for the back, walking fast. Cindy looked up from where she sat at the table by the window, glaring at him and wiping her face; unfortunately, her face betrayed her emotions.

"Go away, Neutron," she snapped, her voice cracking.

Jimmy sat down across from her anyway. "You didn't show up fifth period. I got...worried."

"Why do you care?" Cindy crossed her arms.

"Because I'm your friend?"

"You are not my friend!"

"I bet your heart's telling you different."

"What do you know about hearts?"

"I know that I care about you. And I hate to see you cry because of me."

Cindy huffed, uncrossing one arm and placing her hand on the table. "I don't get you, Neutron."

"What don't you get?"

"I'm getting mixed signs from you!" Cindy blurted out. "I..." she sighed. "Never mind. You wouldn't understand."

Jimmy made a bold move and gripped her hand. "Then help me understand."

Cindy looked down at his hand, then back up into his eyes, biting her lip. "Fine. Maybe I didn't like you all hugged up on Betty Quinlan."

Jimmy chuckled. At least she's opening up..."Betty was just being nice."

"I'm sure you were too. You're great pals, aren't ya? Or are you 'good friends'? I bet you're gooood friends."

"Gee, Cindy, jealous much?"

Cindy yanked her hand away. "You idiot! Of course I was jealous! I always have been! I-!" Her lips pressed together. He could tell she wasn't going to finish her sentence. Geez, was she Professor Calamitous?

Jimmy's stomach rumbled, and he clenched it. "Wanna get out of here? I know you're hungry."

"What, like leave school? With you?"

Jimmy nodded. "We can take the hover car-" Which was redesigned with new technology, like his lab-"and grab a bite to eat on the way to the lab."

"Just you and me?"

"Just you and me. No Carl, no Sheen, no Libby...and no Betty."

Cindy smiled a little. "Okay. Let's go."


"Never thought I'd be ditching school, let alone with you, Geektron," Cindy said, sipping on her lemonade as she followed Jimmy through the techy halls to his lab; the latter just laughed as he led the way, carrying his and her fast food bags. Everything was white and silver, absolutely clean, with some inventions on display.

The doors slid open to the main room; nothing looked rundown anymore like it used to. Everything in there, like the halls, looked brand new, white and silver, and expensive. He now had a black chair in front of a wall-sized screen. In the center of the room-which was the most biggest and spacious, more so than before-was a circular table, with five rolling chairs around it. And, beside his working station to the farthest left, was a floor to ceiling sized window with a view.

"Wow..." Cindy hadn't been in his lab when he changed it. "You clean up good."

Jimmy smiled. "Like I haven't heard that one before." He sat down at the circular table, gesturing for her to join him; she did, taking a seat beside him. He placed the bags on the table, and they dug in, pulling out fries, burgers, sauces, and chicken tenders.

"Did you...make all of this?"

Jimmy shot her a lopsided grin, "Being a spy has its perks."

"No wonder you're still alive." Cindy dipped her chicken in sweet and sour sauce, "I don't think I would've been able to handle all of that."

"If anything, Timmy and I's actions have managed to catch up with us, causing a 'war of the worlds' in a sense. That's why we left the people we cared about out of it." Jimmy bit into his burger. "And it turned out that our enemies were teaming up and causing chaos in other universes, knowing that we'd jump in and try to stop them. And I've seen more than you can imagine. Ghosts, vampires, ghouls, goblins, demons, fairies, you name it. I've seen them all."

"Fairies?" Cindy repeated. "You didn't tell us that."

Jimmy nodded. "Timmy really opened my eyes, and for once I didn't listen to the facts or science. Everything that we know and heard is real. Timmy had Fairy Godparents, and they were the 'computer holograms' we saw four years ago. They granted him wishes and everything. He even had a Fairy Godbrother. They all came from this universe called 'Fairy World'...

"Unfortunately, these cloaked figures set out to destroy them; we don't know their identities. And on the night of our last battle...the fairies were wiped out of existence. It was a genocide...

"Timmy lost his family that night."

"Poor Timmy..." Cindy sighed. "I never knew...that explains so much..."

Jimmy nodded. "Even though the war is over, we still have allies from other universes who will come to our aid if it's ever truly essential. Have you ever heard of Danny Phantom?"

Cindy shook her head and he continued, "Well, he's a ghost legend. He was fourteen when he got his ghost powers-his parents were ghost hunters and they tried to create a portal to get to the Ghost Zone, which is where all of the ghosts roam. It didn't work, so Danny went to try to fix it and he turned the portal on while he was still in there...He told me he felt like he was being electrocuted as his DNA started changing.

"His real name is Danny Fenton, but when he 'goes ghost', he's Danny Phantom. His transformation is fascinating."


Jimmy looked up, playfully offended, but saw her smiling at him, and smiled back.

"So..." He said after a while.

"So..." she echoed.

His smile turned teasing, "You missed me, huh?"

Cindy mock-glared at him. "Whatever."

"But seriously though," he said after he stopped laughing. "I'm honestly curious. What was going on in your head?"

Her cup suddenly became very interesting. "You're gonna laugh."

"Try me." When she didn't respond, shaking her head firmly, he sighed in exasperation. "C'mon, Cindy. This is one of the only times when we're alone, with no possible interruptions for at least three hours. It's just you and me here. If you want, whatever happens in this room stays in this room."

She finally spoke up with a bitter, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ever since I moved here, you and I have been at each other's throats to be, academically, best at everything, and even activities outside school. And throughout that time, we 'supposedly' hated each other; from influences of our best friends and at such a ripe age, we were told that the opposite sex was disgusting," Jimmy began.

"And then we had an alien invasion-"

"-Because of you-"

"-And they kidnapped our parents-"

"-Because of you-"

"And then we went to save them, but we were imprisoned-"

"-Because of you-"

"WOMAN!" Jimmy snapped, and she giggled. He sighed, continuing in a calmer tone, "I was honestly about to give up. I really was. Everybody hated me. Even my best friends started to turn on me. And without Goddard there..." he cast a glance in Goddard's direction, "there was just no hope for me..."

He grinned crookedly at her, "And then you come along."

"And I came along," Cindy reminisced.

"Who would've thought your cold heart could melt?" She shot him a dark look and he snickered. "After your words of encouragement, and threat if I told somebody you were nice to me, I figured you weren't...so bad.

"And since then, well...I actually began looking forward to you, and Libby, coming with us on our crazy adventures, believe it or not..."

Cindy then thought of something, a light blush painted her cheeks, and she bit down on her lip. "Jimmy?"


She looked at him from underneath her eyelashes, "Do you remember when we got stranded on that island?...Our island?"

Jimmy smiled a little, even blushing too. "Yeah..." Our island...

"I've..." She placed her hand on her chest, looking at him again. "Felt things." After admitting this, she felt better, but also more nervous now than ever. "I-I mean, I guess something was always there, but that island really opened my eyes."

"It was the same for me too," he admitted, and she held herself back from squealing. She did smile though, before it fell as she hugged her knees and told him quietly...

"When you left...I didn't know what to think. I was still young. At first, I thought that you were just on one of your do-it-alone adventures and you'll soon show up again in the news as Retroville's hero. But you didn't...you never did...

"But then...years start to pass...The longest four...five years of my life. Without you, things just weren't the same. There was no one to compete with, no one to bicker and fight with...I mean, Sheen and Carl were close, but the fighting...wasn't as...passionate as ours.

"I was fourteen when I started to loose hope...that you weren't coming back. Either that or you just didn't care anymore. I didn't want to believe the latter. I mean...after all that we've been through? If I were you, I just couldn't...throw that away, y'know?

"Sheen and Libby believed that wherever you were, you were happier, and Carl was starting to think that you were dead. It was possible...we have had near-death experiences, too many to count.

"While I was beginning to agree with Carl, a small part of me was still hoping that you'd come back..." She sighed, then shrugged and said casually, "Then I'd kill you and dig you up from the grave to beat you up again."

Jimmy snorted, then he had a more serious, softer look. "You know...I never stopped thinking about you."

Cindy blushed, stammering, "M-Me?"

"More than Carl and Sheen." Jimmy nodded. "During training sessions, during the missions, before I went to bed, and when I wake up. I always wondered what you were up to, hoping that the war would never reach our dimension and that you and the others were safe."

"Wow, Neutron...your feelings are showing."

"I'm not a robot, Vortex."

"But you acted like one! Couldn't you see that I was trying to get your attention because I liked you?" Jimmy's eyes widened, and she got to her feet, gazing hard at him as the confession came tumbling out. "Happy? There! I said it! I liked you, James Isaac Neutron, and I still like you now! My feelings have never changed since you left! Well...except...-" She turned her back to him as he spoke, finishing her sentence-

"-They got stronger." Cindy whirled around in shock, finding him standing too. "I know. It happened to me too. Why do you think I thought about you nonstop, Vortex? No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't stop! When are you gonna take a hint?!"

"Me?!" Cindy shot back, advancing on him, and for once, he stood his ground. "Me?! When are you gonna take a hint?! We get so close to actually achieving something together, and you always have to screw things up!"

Jimmy's nostrils began to flare, but then he took a breather. Were they seriously having a fight over their feelings?

"What do you want me to do?" He asked her, maintaining his cool.

Cindy huffed, shaking her head. "I'm done trying to convince you."

She turned around to leave but his hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling her back to him; it was so swift, so...spy-like. "Trying to convince me what?" he asked. "That you like me?" he continued, "That I'm supposed to like you better than Betty?" His grip loosened, fingers wrapping around hers. "Vortex, that is the severest understatement of the century. I can't believe that you still think that, after all these years, that you're still second best. Wanna know a secret?" He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "You never were."

The blonde's heart jumped as he pulled back to look at her. "Neutron...-"

"Shh..." He placed a finger to her lips, which he realized were very soft. "You've always wanted me to tell you how I felt. I think it's best if I show you instead..."

She licked her lips after he removed his finger, feeling her chin being caressed. "Then do it," she dared him.

Chills ran down her spine as he cupped the side of her neck, fingers weaving in her hair. She couldn't believe it, closing her eyes because she was too shy to look into his. She didn't believe that this was happening...(For what, the third time on the lips?) He actually had the guts. He was going to do it.

Neutron was going to kiss her.

I think we all know what's gonna happen next! Hehe xD

It's been a while since I've had one of the main couples kiss early in the story. Could you blame me? ^w^