A Coward's Work is Never Done
Summary: When Chuckie learns that he didn't get accepted to Yale, but Nicole did, his friends convince him to test his love for Nicole, but Chuckie will learn an important lesson in the end about romance, and its boundaries. Takes place during the gang's senior year in high school.
Disclaimer: I do not own the original characters of Rugrats, they're the property of their original creaters. Also it should be noted, that Peter is an OC owned by TCKing12, Jesse is an OC owned by Jesse J Barrow, and, I own Zack, along with any other new characters you don't recognize.
It was January of 2029, and Chuckie, Jesse, and Zack were all seated at a cafeteria table at lunch, eating their takeout orders from Burger Queen. Chuckie looked unusually sad on this particular day.
"What's wrong pal?" Zack asked.
"It's those college applications." Replied Chuckie with a sigh.
"What about them?" Jesse asked.
"Well, while I got accepted at Penbrook and MCLA, Yale turned me down, and Nicole got accepted to Yale. We were planning on going to college together next year." Replied Chuckie with a sigh.
"Awe, I'm sorry to hear that pal. What's MCLA anyway?" Zack asked.
"Oh, it stands for Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and is located in North Adams, Massachusetts. They have a really good Psychology program there, and offer Yoga in their physical education department." Said Chuckie.
"Didn't Tommy apply to go there too?" Zack asked.
"How would I know? You guys both know very well that Tommy has been more or less an outcast ever since he started going out with Vanessa last year." Said Chuckie.
"Oh yeah? And Tommy's an outcast? And what about you! You know Chuckie, you are such a coward!" Said Jesse.
"I am not." Chuckie snapped.
"Oh come on, we all know you've been dating Nicole since that Valentine's day dance in the seventh grade. You told me so when I came up for Tommy's barmitsfa the following year." Said Zack.
"You're one to talk, you've been dating my sister forever, and unlike you and Kimi, as far as I know, Nicole isn't dating anybody else." Said Chuckie.
"Uh, Chuckie, you know why that love triangle was going on, and it's old news, isn't it about time you drop it?" Zack asked.
Chuckie nodded, and put another French fry in his mouth.
"But really Chuckie, do you think you and Nicole are meant to stay together forever?" Jesse asked.
"Well, yeah. Otherwise we would have probably broken up a long time ago." Said Chuckie.
"But how do you know for sure?" Zack asked.
"Yeah there's a good chance that once you two are off at different colleges, your relationship will be history." Said Jesse.
"Oh, I never thought of that." Chuckie said nervously.
"And don't you remember? Nicole isn't going to be here this weekend. She's going on that all girl's skiing trip up in the mountains with Kimi, Lil, and a bunch of the other girls from Drama Club, Film Club, and the Cheerleading squad." Said Zack.
"So this weekend, is your chance, to prove you're not a coward, and try going out with someone else on a date for a change." Said Jesse.
"I don't know you guys, wouldn't that be being dishonest towards my current girlfriend?" Chuckie asked.
"She never has to know." Said Jesse.
"Ok, I'll do it, but if anything should go wrong and Nicole breaks up with me cuz of this, just know you'll be the ones to blame." Said Chuckie.
Jesse and Zack nodded in agreement, as everybody finished up their lunches, threw away their trash, and headed to their final two periods of the day.
While Chuckie was in his seventh period math class, he happened to look over at the girl who was sitting two rows over. Her name is Violet. She was tall and slender, with long dark purple curly hair, wearing a dark green sweater and black pants.
"Violet, could you please come up to the board and solve this quadratic equation?" Asked Mister Bates, the math teacher.
"Why certainly!" Said Violet, as she got up from her seat and went up to the blackboard to solve the equation.
While she was up at the board, Chuckie couldn't stop staring at her, and was quite relieved that Nicole was in gym seventh period, and not in the same class with him. After school, he overheard Violet in the hallway, having a conversation with some other girls while he was getting his stuff together from his locker, which had been relocated, switching with Jesse, since Jesse and Tommy came to school together most mornings, unless Vanessa was bringing him, it made more sense for them to have lockers next to one another.
"So, you going on the ski trip this weekend?" Said a black girl with dark curly hair.
"No, I didn't pay my student dues in time." Replied Violet.
"Awe, that's too bad." Replied the black girl with dark curly hair.
"It's ok. I'm sure I'll find something to do." Said Violet.
Just then, Chuckie got the urge to walk up to Violet. Looking around, thankful to notice Nicole wasn't in sight, he slowly approached Violet.
"Can I help you?" Violet asked, noticing Chuckie out of the corner of her eye.
"Uh, yeah. Um, well, I was just wondering, well, I was just wondering if you'd like to hang out this weekend?" Chuckie asked.
Violet stood there for a minute, unsure of what to say, then, she spoke up.
"Sure! I'm sleeping over at Vanessa's tonight, but how about we get together tomorrow? We can go see the new Brady Girls movie. Um, you're Chuck Finster, Kimi's older brother, right?" Violet said.
Chuckie nodded.
"Great! I'll be by your house tomorrow night at seven." Said Violet, as she started to walk away.
"Sounds great. Bye." Said Chuckie, waving as he watched Violet disappear out the front doors of the school.
As Chuckie got his stuff from his locker, he paused for a minute, and sent a group text to Zack and Jesse, telling them he had a date with Violet on Saturday night. Zack and Jesse replied with smilie faces. He then headed to do his Friday afternoon shift at the Java Lava, which was double this week since Kimi was leaving for the ski trip. He checked his schedule for Saturday, and breazed a sigh of relief when he saw his shift would be ending at six, allowing him to get home in time for his date. Luckily Violet was Vice President of the Yucaipa High Drama Club, and since Kimi was a member, she's called their house numerous times, so if Chuckie had to reschedule, he could easily retrieve her number from the caller ID log, and see about making any time adjustments, but he was glad he didn't have to do that.
All that afternoon and evening, and during the following day, he couldn't stop thinking about the date. He was both, excited and nervous, in terms of how it would turn out. Chaz noticed a look of worry on Chuckie's face and asked him what was up.
"Something on your mind son?" Chaz asked.
"Oh I'm ok dad, it's just, well, I'm hanging out with a new friend tonight, and, well I'm a bit nervous." Said Chuckie.
"Who's the girl?" Chaz asked.
"Violet." Chuckie replied, as he got another batch of napkins out of the back storage bin and put them in the dispenser on the counter.
"Oh, well I wouldn't worry. I seem to recall Violet has spent plenty of time with your sister, and she seems really nice. If I were you, I'd just, go and have a good time. And remember that since you're a senior, your weekend curfew is now 2 AM." Said Chaz.
"Thanks dad, I've gone out on hundreds of dates with Nicole on a Saturday night, I don't need to be reminded that my curfew got extended on weekends because I'm only five months away from being a high school graduate." Said Chuckie.
"Speaking of graduations, did you hear back from Yale?" Chaz asked.
"Yeah, I didn't make it, but I did get accepted at Penbrook and at MCLA. Not sure which one I want to go to." Said Chuckie.
"What about MCLA? Your friend Tommy is planning to go there." Said Chaz.
"Dad, in case you forgot, Tommy and I don't hang out anymore. He's changed since he started dating Vanessa last year." Said Chuckie.
Chaz just looked at Chuckie with a frown, before going and making up another batch of hot chocolate.
Before Chuckie knew it, 6:00 had rolled around on Saturday evening, and he sprinted so fast out of the Java Lava, you would think the building was on fire. He raced home, showered and changed into a nice blue button down shirt and some kackies, and waited for Violet to show up. He was thankful she was agreeable to a chick flick, and not wanting to go to some horror film, as Chuckie didn't care much for those, and in case this date didn't go well, he'd at least have the movie to enjoy, and not give him nightmares. Before he knew it, 7:00 rolled around, and the doorbell rang. While he knew it was most likely Violet, he was home alone since Kira and Chaz had to work late at the Java Lava, with Kimi being gone, unable to take a Saturday evening shift. Chuckie peered through the peep whole and saw Violet, all dressed up in a pink dress and black high heals. He opened up the door and stepped outside.
"Hey Chuck, ready to go?" Violet asked.
"Call me Chuckie, and, yes." He said with a half smile, as they went and got into his blue sports car in the driveway.
As they pulled out of the driveway, they started talking about places to go and grab a bite for dinner before the show.
"So, how about we hit Red Lobster. I hear lobster fest is going on right now." Said Violet.
"Nah, they're a bit too expensive for my budget." Said Chuckie.
"What do you suggest then?" Violet asked.
"Let's go to Friendly's. I hear they recently opened up here in Yucaipa, California, we can split the munchy mania if you'd like." Said Chuckie.
"Ok, sounds good then." Said Violet, as they drove in the direction of Friendly's.
Much to their disappointment though, when they got to Friendly's, they discovered a full parking lot, with no parking spaces.
"Wow, I guess Friendly's is popular on a Saturday night." Said Chuckie.
"Well, they did just recently open, so I'm not surprised." Said Violet.
Just then, Chuckie happened to stare a glance at the gas gage on his car, and noticed it was close to empty. He started to blush.
"Something wrong?" Violet asked, as she caught a glimpse of Chuckie out of the corner of her eye.
"Uh, I'm almost out of gas." Said Chuckie.
He hurried away from Friendly's, in the direction of the nearest gas station, but he didn't make it. The car started to sputter, and stopped in an area with nothing surrounding them.
"Uh oh." Chuckie muttered.
"Let me guess, we're out of gas." Said Violet.
Chuckie nodded, looking embarrassed.
"No worries Chuckie. All we need to do is call one of our parents or Triple A to rescue us." Said Violet, getting out her phone, only to notice she had no cell service.
"Afraid I don't have service out here. How about you?" Violet asked.
Chuckie pulled out his phone and saw he had no bars of service.
"Looks like we're stuck here." Chuckie grumbled.
"Well, at least we have each other." Said Violet with a smile.
"Yeah, I guess so. It's just, I'm usually a lot more careful. It's probably because I planned on this last minute, and got so caught up with my double shifts this weekend at the Java Lava, with my sister being gone and all, that getting gas was the last thing on my mind." Said Chuckie.
"Hey, it happens, we all make mistakes." Said Violet.
Chuckie nodded, trying to smile just a little. They sat there for several minutes in silence, staring at one another.
"So, how was your sleepover with Vanessa last night?" Chuckie asked.
"We had to cancel. Apparently her boyfriend was having one of his random mygrane headaches, and being in her arms was the only thing that felt good. She's dating Tommy Pickles, the captain of our school's wrestling team, and champion rock wall climber and tight rope walker in gym, not to mention, he's become quite the poet since he and Vanessa started dating, and the word around school is, he's completely given up on his dreams of being a movie director, and gone on to taking up an interest in writing, since he lost his sight nearly two years ago in an accident, and, as a result of something else that happened last year that the events of escape my memory right now, but I swear, when those two are together, he's like a little love sick puppy or something. It's disgusting!" Said Violet.
Chuckie thought for a minute, and while he remembered what turned Tommy's attention completely away from his original dreams of becoming a movie director, he didn't feel like talking about it, so just, shrugged off the thought, before responding.
"You know, I know you and Vanessa are best friends, but there's just something about her that Zack, Jesse and I don't like about her, but everytime we try to confront Tommy about it, he just snaps at us, or tries to pin us to a wall, and claims we're just trying to break them up so we can steel her away from him." Said Chuckie.
"I've known Vanessa forever, and, I know at times, she can have her quirks, but she seems so happy with Tommy, that I just, leave them be." Said Violet.
"Yeah, well, I've known Tommy since I was a baby, but seems ever since his accident nearly two years ago, he's changed, and, I'll be glad when the end of the year rolls around and we all graduate. Heck, if me, Tommy, Jesse, Zack, and Phil and Lil's families weren't so close, most of us wouldn't be speaking to one another at all anymore." Said Chuckie.
"Hey, it's called high school. We all grow up and change, but change doesn't have to be a bad thing. It can be a good thing too." Said Violet.
"You really think so?" Chuckie asked.
Violet nodded.
They continued to talk for several more minutes, that is, until Violet's stomach started growling.
"Man, am I getting hungry!" Said Violet.
"Me too." Said Chuckie, who then remembered he had a pack of salteens still in the glove compartment from sometime back in December, when a stomach bug was going around, and Nicole had brought them with her because she was feeling sick of her stomach.
"Wait, I've got just the thing." Said Chuckie, reaching for the glove compartment. As he reached for it though, he bumped heads with Violet.
"Ow!" Said Violet.
"You ok?" Chuckie asked.
Violet looked into Chuckie's eyes, and kissed him.
After the kiss, they stared at one another for several minutes in silence. Chuckie got the salteens out of the glove compartment and handed them to Violet.
"Thanks." Said Violet, opening the tiny package and popping a cracker into her mouth.
"No problem." Said Chuckie.
"So, about that kiss." Said Violet a few minutes later after finishing her package of salteens.
"What about it?" Chuckie asked.
"Well, doesn't that help enlighten the evening?" Violet asked.
"Look, I'm sorry for such a cruddy evening, and, I understand if you never speak to me again." Said Chuckie.
"No, no, don't be sorry." Said Violet.
"Yeah, had I not been wanting to prove myself to not be a coward to my friends, this never would have happened." Said Chuckie.
"What do you mean, not a coward?" Violet asked, sitting up straight in her seat.
"Well, in case you didn't know, I've been dating Nicole since the seventh grade, once I gained her trust after pulling a stupid lie on her to get her to notice me back in the sixth grade, and, well, when I didn't get accepted to the college she got accepted to, my friends figured I needed to test myself while Nicole was away, well, in the event that once we're off at different schools next year, I have to find someone new." Said Chuckie.
"Now come on, you're venturing off to college on the other side of the country. Isn't that enough to say you're not a coward? And besides, why should you have to prove yourself to anybody anyway? Shouldn't you be asking yourself what you want and what you want to be like?" Violet asked.
"Yeah, I guess, it's just, well, all my life, I've always been the one to play it safe. When I was little and afraid of germs, I wore a germ suit, that is, until it got me stuck in a bush in Tommy's backyard. I was always having to be pushed into trying new things, and then, I've had the same girlfriend for the last five years. If I don't start accepting changes, I'm just going to be a coward forever, and end up in a whole somewhere." Said Chuckie.
"But there's nothing wrong with playing it safe. And, don't you think there's more to loving someone than to simply, go out with someone for several years, just because you want to play it safe?" Violet asked.
"What do you mean?" Chuckie asked.
Just then, a motorcycle pulled up behind the car and stopped, cutting off Chuckie and Violet's conversation and scaring them out of their wits, as this was the first sign of human civilization that had come by since the car ran out of gas, which was nearly two hours ago at this point.
The person stopped the motorcycle, and walked around to the driver's side of Chuckie's car. Chuckie caught a glimpse of the guy. He was tall with dark brown hair, and wore a gray confederate uniform.
"Peter!" Chuckie cried.
"Chuckie? What are you doing out here?" Peter asked.
"Well, Violet, my date for the evening and I, we were on our way to the gas station, when my car ran out." Chuckie said.
"Hi Peter, I'm Violet." Said Violet.
"Nice to meet you." Peter said with a smile.
"And sorry to hear this happened. Come on, let me help you. Have either of you tried to call for help?" Peter asked.
"We tried, but neither of us get cell service out here." Said Chuckie.
"No worries. I've got a small can of gas in my sattleback of my motorcycle, I'll give you enough to get to the gas station, and if we hurry, we can make it to the Octiplex for the final showing of Adventure Squad and the Lost Toom." Said Peter.
"Well, actually, Chuckie and I had plans to go and see The Brady Girls, but at this very moment, anything sounds good and will beat spending the night in a cold car." Said Violet, as Peter filled Chuckie's gas tank with the small can of gas, and Chuckie switched on the car, and drove towards the gas station, as Peter put in a quart of gas, which was just enough to get them there.
Chuckie filled up the gas tank and the two of them, headed to the Octaplex, where they met Peter.
"Thank you for rescuing us Peter." Said Chuckie, as he met Peter at the door of the theater.
"No problem." Replied Peter with a smile, as the three of them headed into the theater to see it mostly deserted. By the time they got there, it was nearly 9:30, and there was one showing of the Adventure Squad movie starting in ten minutes. They approached the ticket counter and bought their tickets for the movie, and Chuckie and Violet stopped by the consession stand and bought a large thing of popcorn and sodas, since they were starving at this point. Chuckie was glad to see that Dil's best friend Lance, wasn't working that evening at the Octaplex, as Dil now worked at RadioShack, either the one across the street, or the one at the mall, while Lance worked at the Octaplex, and, both of them, were weird in their own way, so Chuckie was relieved that tonight for once, he didn't have to see either of them, risking embarrasement. They went into the theater, where the previews were starting, and found Peter, who wasn't hard to find, since the theater was mostly deserted. Violet sat in between Chuckie and Peter, and before they knew it, the movie had started.
But during the entire movie, Chuckie couldn't help but notice that Peter and Violet were getting really close. Putting their arms around one another, kissing, and whispering to one another.
"You know, I'm Peter, king of the Confederacy." Whispered Peter in Violet's ear.
"Ooooh, I love being with a king, and I don't mean Elvis Presley." Whispered Violet into Peter's ear, as they continued to snuggle closer together, eventually, kissing near the end of the movie.
While Chuckie saw all of this, he wasn't bothered in the least by it, as while he and Violet had shared a kiss in the car earlier, it hit Chuckie for the first time that he wasn't just with Nicole to play it safe, and he also wasn't with Nicole because he was afraid to go out with any other girls. Rather, kissing Violet helped him to realize that he doesn't want to kiss anybody else besides Nicole for the rest of his life, and, he was going to prove it to her. He could also tell that Peter and Violet were meant for each other, and while the evening had started off horribly, he was pleased to return home after the movie, knowing the evening ended on a good note for everyone.
The following day, Chuckie had a day off from working at the Java Lava, so he could get his homework done, and take care of something very important. A trip to Kay Jewlers, where he picked up a promise ring, that had Nicole's birth stone in it, as she had texted him, saying she'd be coming over that evening as soon as she returned from the ski trip. Sure enough, 5 PM in the afternoon rolled around, and Kimi came home, along with Nicole.
"Chuckie, I'm home, and, someone's here to see you." Kimi shouted up from the bottom of the stairs. Chuckie ran down, the ring in his pocket, to see Kimi and Nicole at the bottom of the stairs.
"Hey Kimi, how was skiing?" Chuckie asked.
"Fun but exhausting, I'm heading upstairs to take a soaky bath and do some yoga." Said Kimi, scooting past Chuckie and heading up the stairs. Chuckie walked over to the couch and Nicole sat down beside him.
"So, did you miss me while I was gone?" Nicole asked.
"Of course I did." Chuckie replied, blushing.
"So, do anything fun while I was gone? Or did you have to work all weekend at the Java Lava?" Nicole asked.
Chuckie thought for a minute before answering, trying to decide if he should tell Nicole about the weekend he had. Then, he realized that he couldn't lie to her, as he's already lied to her once before nearly six years ago, chances were that if he lied to her again, they'd be history. So he took a deep breath, and then he began.
"Well, I went on a date this weekend." Said Chuckie.
"A date? With who?" Nicole asked.
"With Violet, Vanessa's best friend and the Vice President of the Drama Club." Said Chuckie.
"Let me guess, Vanessa's boyfriend and your childhood best friend mister Tommy Pickles set you two up." Said Nicole.
"Actually, you'd be surprised. I didn't see Tommy around anywhere at school on Friday, and, I asked her out myself, after noticing her in my math class at seventh period, and being pushed into dating someone new by Zack and Jesse, to prove I wasn't a coward." Said Chuckie.
"What do you mean to prove you weren't a coward." Nicole snapped.
"Well, I hadn't had a chance to tell you this, but, I got turned down by Yale." Chuckie said with a puzzling look in his eyes.
"So what." Said Nicole.
"Don't worry, I did get accepted to Prenston and to MCLA, but, it won't be the same. We won't be together." Said Chuckie.
"Again I say, so what." Said Nicole.
"Well, I wasn't sure if we were just dating one another for the past five years because, well, we wanted to play it safe, or, if we really and truly, did love each other that much, that we'd want to be together for the rest of our lives." Said Chuckie.
"Why would you think this, and why hadn't you ever said anything to me before?" Nicole asked.
"Well, it never came up. But after I kissed Violet." Said Chuckie.
"You kissed her? You kissed her?" Nicole shouted, cutting Chuckie off.
"Yeah but the best part was after the kiss." Said Chuckie.
"I'll kill you!" Shouted Nicole, grabbing Chuckie by the shoulders and shaking him.
"Calm down Nicole, let me explain." Shouted Chuckie, as Nicole took her hands away from his shoulders, and took a few deep breaths.
"I realized after the kiss, that it meant nothing, and that I really had feelings for you. And, no matter where we go to college next year after graduation, we'll make this relationship work, because love, is stronger than anything. I could be in Japan and we'd still love each other. Because there is no limitation where love can go." Said Chuckie.
"I didn't realize you felt this way, but, yeah. If I didn't love you as much as I do, we would have probably gone to that valentine's day dance in the seventh grade, and broke it off. Heck, I probably wouldn't have even forgiven you from the whole Chango incident in the sixth grade. I mean, I liked you back then, when you were yourself of course, and over the years, the more I've gotten to know you and how sweet you are, the more I know that we're meant to be together forever." Said Nicole, gazing passionately into Chuckie's eyes, and giving him a smile.
"And to prove it to you, I want to give you this." Said Chuckie, as he pulled the box with the promise ring out of his pocket, and placed it on to Nicole's finger.
"This ring is a simble of my promise, that we'll be together, forever." Continued Chuckie, as he leaned in, and the two of them, had a long kiss.
The next day at lunch, Chuckie told Zack and Jesse about how things went down that weekend, and explained to them that while he may be a coward in a lot of ways, this love he had with Nicole was a lot more than that, and he was grateful to know, that no matter how far apart they would end up at college, they would always be together.
"Kimi and I already agreed to that over a year ago when I gave her her promise ring." Said Zack.
"Yeah, I remember hearing all about that event when I snuck." Said Jesse.
"Sh'sh'sh'sh'sh, not so loud." Whispered Zack into Jesse's ear, not wanting the entire cafeteria to hear, or be reminded of the events of last year's incident, as he glanced over to a table across the way, where he saw Tommy across from Vanessa, and next to them was Violet, sitting across from Peter.
"Yeah well I gave Lil a promise ring at her birthday. Remember?" Jesse asked.
"Yeah, I remember." Said Chuckie, as he took another bite of the wapper he snuck in from Burger Queen.
"But why didn't you guys think that maybe Nicole and I had a strong a love for one another as you have for Lil, or Zack has for Kimi?" Chuckie asked.
"I'll take the liberty of answering this one, since I've been around you a lot longer than Jesse has, as he was out of the picture for eleven years of our childhood, while I've only been gone half the time, and, we've remained best friends, even after we all more or less, dumped Tommy off at the nearest Vanessa trash vender. In all the time I've known you Chuckie, you've always been a bit afraid to try new things, and I'll never forget, how you'd wear your clothes until they were too small for you, or, until they wore out, simply because, you simply, didn't like change. I wanted to make sure that clinging to Nicole wasn't just, another one of those, being too afraid to change things, or, if there was really romance going on between you two, and, from what you tell me, it looks like you two really have something going on between you two, and, no matter where you two end up going to college, I know you two will make your relationship work." Said Zack, as he took another sip of his soda.
"Yeah, and maybe Violet and I weren't meant for one another, but thanks to having to be rescued, it appears that our good friend, king Peter, has found his queen." Chuckie whispered to Zack and Jesse, as he glanced quickly over at the table across the way, to see that Tommy and Vanessa had left, but Violet and Peter were still sitting there, smiling at one another from across the table, and holding hands.
"Yeah, I think Violet found her match too." Jesse whispered to Zack and Chuckie.
The End
Author's Notes: So, you're probably all wondering, what has happened with Tommy? And who's Vanessa? And you probably have a lot of other burning questions now. Well, not to worry. If I can stay focused, be looking for a very emotional story about Tommy's junior and senior years of high school, coming very soon to a fan fiction sight near you. I'm probably going to write the whole thing and then publish it all at once, otherwise, I'm liable to get distracted, and not finish it, as a lot of emotional things happen, some of which, are going to be hard to write about. Nonetheless, I hope you all enjoyed this story, and, there'll be more stories about our favorite rugrats characters, both, original characters and traditional ones, coming soon.