A/N: So, for those wondering why I'm updating so late, I actually ended up catching the flu over the week of Thanksgiving, so I pretty much slept for a few days, woke up, went to work, took some medicine, then went back to sleep all that week. Then I got a sinus infection after the flu calmed down, so it was a fun week(extreme sarcasm). Anyway, I'm back to one hundred percent in terms of health(barring my diabetes), so I'm gonna try and get back into the swing of things soon. Until then, here's a fic I've had in my head for a good while.
"And... Yes! I win!" The blond ten year old declared triumphantly as he came to a sudden stop from his sprint and kicked open the double exit doors of Dimmsdale Middle School, then stepped out onto the front steps and to his right, just barely sidestepping the huge flood of his fellow students that poured out of the building that many felt was their shared prison. Once the majority of kids his age and younger had significantly dwindled down to little more than a trickle, Chester peered around the corner of the door he was holding, only to find that the two people he was actually racing were still only about halfway down the hall, walking rather casually for people who were supposedly 'racing' him. "Oh come on! I get you, AJ, since you'd marry this place if you could, but Timmy?! What are you doing, dude?!" He yelled dramatically, a look of absolute horror and disbelief plastered on his face.
"What is he saying?" The significantly balder of the two boys glanced to his right at his brunet-haired friend, lips curled into a slight grin.
"I think he wanted to race us, but I'm still exhausted after this morning..." Timmy Turner paused in the middle of the hall to squat, then stood back up to stretch his muscles and reach his arms up over his head, stretching those muscles as well.
"Ah, right. Francis' workout routine." AJ nodded in acknowledgment, inwardly thankful for the fact that his parents got him up early enough to catch the bus every day, unlike his buck-toothed friend, who usually relied on an alarm clock that he usually forgot to set, thus forcing him to walk(or if Francis was around; run) to school. "Well, if it's any consolation, at least all that training keeps him from catching you now. Silver linings."
"Ugh..." Timmy groaned, hearing several bones in his arms and legs pop and crack. "Too bad he's too stubborn to realize that and give up..." The boy muttered as he fell back into step next to his genius friend, and the two at last exited their school, meeting Chester on the front steps as he tapped his foot against the cement impatiently.
"Finally!" The blond exclaimed at the two, releasing the door he'd been holding for them. "What gives?! You two want to miss the bus, or did you get too caught up making plans for your dinner date?"
"No, if you'll notice, Timmy is clearly too exhausted to race you, and even if I was athletic enough to challenge you, there is little for me to gain other than bragging rights, which, thanks to where we stand on our school's popularity scale-"
"Alright, enough!" Chester yelled, holding his head to keep his brain from spinning due to his friend's lengthy explanation. "If I wanted to learn today, I wouldn't have slept through the last three classes, Brainiac!"
"And yet by some miracle, you're still passing them. It's mind-boggling." AJ deadpanned, frowning as Chester grinned in triumph and folded his arms behind his head.
"What can I say? I know what the lady teachers like..." The boy winked at his bald friend, who was now looking him up and down with an expression of immense confusion. "Heh... Timmy knows what I'm talkin' about, right dude?" Chester glanced over at the brunet, who merely rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Let's go with 'yeah' before you go and incriminate anyone." Timmy stepped past his two friends and descended the front steps of their school to walk over to the bus, Chester and AJ quickly moving to catch up after AJ shot Chester another questioning look, and the blond merely replied with a shrug and a grin.
"Chester would be the type to think that girls his age have cooties, but women are just fine..." Timmy thought to himself as the aforementioned blond boy ran up behind him and playfully pushed him out of the way so he could get on the bus first.
"C'mon, man! Y'gotta be quicker than that if you wanna outrun Francis, right?" Chester shot him a teasing grin as he reached the top of the bus stairs, then made a beeline for the back of the vehicle.
"He's feeling competitive today, huh?" AJ questioned in a joking tone as his friend allowed him to go ahead of him and get on the bus.
"Only because he thinks he's so charming..." Timmy again shook his head, this time grinning at his bald friend's naïve, confused look that he shot him. "Speaking of Francis, lucky for Chester that he walks home."
"Heheh! Right? We'd have quite an altercation on our hands if he took the bus same as you, him, and I!" The sweater-vest-wearing boy chuckled as he too made for the back of the bus as Timmy at last climbed in and up the short few steps.
"Yeah-Hehe... That." Timmy agreed with his friend, despite not having the slightest clue what on Earth an 'altercation' was. While he wasn't anywhere near as bothered by it as Chester was, he had to admit that AJ's habit of using big words and phrases just to sound smart did make him come across as a little... Robotic. He and Vicky's sister, Tootie; found it pretty funny at times though, as their bald friend always seemed to see things from behind a pane of very thick glass, kind of like a scientist or someone who just 'observes' things without really being a part of them. "Hm... I thought for sure she'd..." The boy began to scan both sides of the bus aisle, looking for the bespectacled girl who'd usually by now announced her presence by shouting his name.
He looked behind him, thinking he might've missed her when he got on, and she him by being too absorbed in her homework, but once he'd confirmed he hadn't, he looked down the left side of the bus all the way to the back, then over to the right, all the way up to the seat next to him. No raven-haired twin tails, no purple horn-rimmed glasses, no Tootie. Normally, this would have set him at ease, as the very slightly younger girl could definitely get on his nerves with her near constant fangirling over his very existence, but he'd seen her today, both in class and at lunch, and he knew she took the bus, same as him, Chester, and AJ, so where was she?
"Hey, did either of you two see Tootie run past us in the hall?" Timmy called down to his two friends, though he ended up garnering the attention of several of his other fellow students as well.
"Huh? Tootie? She's not here?" Chester leaned up from his seat to peek over the back of the seat in front of him, that particular one being Tootie's preferred one, due in no small part to its proximity to Timmy, no doubt. "Huh... That's... Kinda weird... Nah, I didn't see her run by me when I was holding the door..."
"Maybe she's still coming? The bus isn't gonna leave for another few minutes, so...?" AJ offered, sliding over to row of seats on Timmy's left to look out the window at their school. "She in detention, maybe?"
"Tootie? In detention?" The blue-eyed brunet asked incredulously, quirking an eyebrow up at his friend, who was apparently more book smart than smart in general. "Tootie's almost as smart as you, AJ. No way she'd be in detention."
"Hey, first time for everything..." The bald ten year old shrugged, then slid back over next to Chester.
"What's it matter, anyway? It is just Tootie. Red's little sister? The girl tried to marry you a few months ago, remember?" The blond spoke up, drumming his fingers on the back of the seat in front of him.
"Yeah, Vicky's little sister. Vicky, as in, our evil babysitter? As in, the same girl who forced me to dig a swimming pool for her in my backyard because I forgot to wake her up so she could watch her favorite show?! If Tootie misses the bus, it's gonna come back to me, because Tootie likes me!" Timmy yelled, earning him a few more quizzical glances from the other kids sitting around him.
"Huh. Sounds like a problem." Chester scratched his chin in thought as he reclined back in his seat, then folded his arms back behind his head again.
"A big problem." AJ agreed with his friend, but stayed firmly in his seat next to Chester as he adopted the stereotypical 'Thinker' pose.
"Alright, so since we're in agreement-" Timmy began to speak and moved to turn back toward the front of the bus.
"Your problem." Both Chester and AJ interrupted in unison, causing their buck-toothed friend to stumble and quickly spin back around to face them.
"What! What do you mean 'my' problem?!" Timmy exclaimed in shock, earning him more than a few poorly suppressed giggles from his surrounding schoolmates.
"Well... Not to suggest we're not gonna help you-" AJ began apologetically, rubbing the back of his head with his hand and looking away.
"Which we aren't." Chester interjected bluntly, giving his friend a somewhat apologetic smile.
"Ahem... It's just... Tootie really likes you... Like really does. And she's... Kind of clingy to the point where... Um..." The bald boy trailed off, then looked to his left at Chester.
"I think Brainiac's trying to say that that crush Tootie has on you? That's all you, dude. AJ and I have got your back with just about anything else, but if Tootie crushing on you means anything you do wrong around her is gonna find its way back to Vicky? Eh... I think we're gonna pass on sharing that fate, just in case she starts getting a thing for one of us for helping her... Know what I mean?" Chester shrugged again. "Besides, I'm sure Tootie's fine. She's got a phone, so if she does miss the bus, she can always call her parents or Vicky, can't she?"
"Well yeah, but... Hah..." Timmy sighed and hung his head. He wasn't angry at Chester or AJ; they were just being smart, and if he were in either of their shoes, he'd probably say and do the exact same thing...
But then, there was more to the situation than he'd let on too. Truthfully, the fear of what Vicky might do to him if her little sister was even slightly inconvenienced had caused him to become... A bit overprotective of the girl, even if he rarely(or ever) showed it. It didn't make her habit of following him around or her near constant fangirling over him any more bearable, but it did make being babysat by her terrifying older sister a little less unbearable, so that was a definite plus.
"Argh... I'm gonna go take a quick look around, make sure she's coming." The brunet declared with a slight frown, knowing he more than likely wouldn't make it back in time before the bus left, assuming Tootie wasn't less than a minute away.
"Dude, you sure? You can probably ask the bus driver to wait for an extra minute or two, but that's it. You don't make it back in time, you're walking, and that means dealing with... You-know-who." The blond ten year old attempted to talk some sense into his friend, who had already pulled an about-face and was making his way toward the front of the bus.
"He's right, Timmy." AJ chimed in. "The buses have a strict schedule to keep, and I doubt they can make an exception for you. You don't even know if Tootie really is coming, after all. Maybe she went home early after lunch?"
"I'll be fine." The blue-eyed boy called over his shoulder as he stopped in front of the bus driver. "Even if I don't make I back, and Francis chases me, I can outrun him, no sweat." He remarked with a somewhat confident nod, before turning his attention to the older, gruff-looking man that was their bus driver. "Um, excuse me, my friend-"
"Kid, if you think I didn't hear you after all that, you clearly think I'm a whole lot older than I really am." The bus driver raised an eyebrow at Timmy, his expression flat, yet rather unimpressed by the ten year old's assumption. "And I'm afraid there's really not a whole lot I can do, anyway. Got my schedule to keep, like your little friend said, so you stayin' or goin'?"
"...I guess I'm going." Timmy responded with a sigh, noticing some dark thunderclouds beginning to roll across the sky towards them as he looked out the bus' windshield.
"Alright then, if you don't make it back in time, have a safe walk home, kid." The driver gave him one final nod, then started the bus up to prepare to leave.
"Mngh..." Timmy quietly grumbled to himself as he descended the stairs of the bus and got off, making a quick beeline for his school's front steps and then climbing up them before pulling the front door open and darting back inside, the door clicking behind him loudly as it closed. "Huh... Bet Crocker's already left to go 'fairy hunting', so at least I don't have to deal with him... And unless Francis has detention, he should already be gone..." The boy mused to himself as he walked through the empty halls of his school, which felt strangely eerie without the telltale sounds of students moving through them, or the occasional screech of a chair as it slid across the floor of one of the school's many classrooms.
"Let me think... Tootie's last class is... In one-oh-four, so..." Timmy looked up above the door he was passing by to see that it was the very room he'd been looking for, the number one hundred and four plastered just above the old, stained wooden door. He went through the open door without a word and stepped over to the desk, a relatively young-looking brunette seated at the teacher's desk. "What's her name again...?" He wondered to himself, remembering he'd seen the light-skinned woman before around the school, but had never caught her name, as she wasn't one of his teachers. "Um... Hi?"
"What the fu-?!" The woman exclaimed in surprise, very nearly rocketing out of her seat from the shock of hearing Timmy's voice. She quickly looked to her right, then down at Timmy, her bright blues eyes wide and a little defensive. Upon seeing that it was just one of the school's many attending students, however; she visibly calmed down, letting out a low sigh of relief. "Oh, uh... I figured everyone who wasn't a teacher had gone home for the day..."
"Er... Yeah, sorry about... That." The brunet replied sheepishly, feeling a little bad for having almost given the somewhat soft-spoken woman a heart attack. "I was... Um... I-Is Tootie Valentine one of your students in your last class of the day?"
"Yes, actually. Is she... A friend of yours?" The woman reached across her desk, pulling an attendance sheet out from a small, square plastic bin.
"Well... Kind of... I guess we're friends, yeah..." Timmy admitted, knowing that if Tootie were there, she'd probably be hugging the life out of him after hearing that.
"Uh-Huh... Well, I am her teacher. Ms. Harper, nice to meet you...?" The brunette placed the attendance sheet she'd retrieved back into the plastic bin, then turned to face the buck-toothed boy, her eyebrow raised in interest.
"Uh-Tmmy. Timmy Turner. I was wondering... If she got picked up from school early today? I saw her at lunch, but she wasn't on the bus when I got on, and she takes the bus home, so I..." He trailed off, taking a quick moment to glance around the classroom he was currently in.
"Timmy... Where have I... Oh! I've heard about you..." The teacher known as Miss Harper finished with a quiet giggle. "So you must be Tootie's..."
"Please don't say..." Timmy began to think in dismay, already knowing what the next word out of the woman's mouth would be.
"Boyfriend, right?" The twenty-something year old grinned as Timmy's cheeks flared a bright pink.
"N-No! It's not- She and I are just f-friends!" He exclaimed in embarrassment, trying to ignore the burning in his cheeks.
"Mm-hm. Heard that one before..." The brunette deadpanned, not believing this small boy for a second, especially especially after that kind of response. "Anyway, no, she left my class as soon as the bell rang, I assume to go to her locker before heading to the buses. If I remember right... Her locker isn't far from Denzel's classroom; just head out of here, go right, then take another right where the hallway splits in four directions, and a left at the end of that. Her locker should be just a few steps after you round the corner. If she's not there, maybe she got a ride home or something." The young teacher shrugged as she finished.
"Oh, alright. Thank you." Timmy nodded, then spun around on his heel and made for the door, pausing for a moment to look to his left and right, up and down the hall.
"Tell her Ms. Harper says 'hi' if she's still here!" The brunette teacher called after Timmy as he walked around the door frame and out of sight. "Oh! And try not to dawdle too long, I hear it's going to rain soon!"
"Alright, will do!" The boy replied absently as he forced his mind to focus on the directions he'd been given; not wanting to forget them. "Jeez, does Tootie just tell anyone who'll listen that we're a couple or something...?" He shook his head as he continued down the hall, taking a second right when he came to the four-way intersection that formed. "Agh... What am I even still doing here?" Timmy wondered aloud to himself as he took out his phone, which indicated the time as two-forty, which was right about the time that the buses usually left. "Darn it, no choice but to walk home now... Tootie better be here after-"
"Ah-! L-Let go of me you giant-Aow! Idiot!" Timmy came to a dead stop in the middle of the hallway as he heard Tootie's voice echo down it from up ahead. He listened and momentarily even stopped to hold his breath, wondering just who this 'giant idiot' was whom she was referring to. "D-Don't you know not to pull a girl's hair?! Or pick on girls in the first place?! Ack! Or people with glasses?!"
Quietly, the brunet moved to his left and tiptoed along the row of lockers, trying to walk both as quickly and noiselessly as possible. "Oh great, Tootie's either gone and picked a fight with Trixie's bodyguard, or..." He let out a low groan as he reached the edge of the lockers, then slowly peeked around the corner, confirming his suspicions and making his heart sink in his chest.
Just a few yards down, near the middle of the hallway, was Tootie, standing in place and tugging fruitlessly on one of her twin tails like a dog on a too-tight leash. And tightly holding said length of hair was a large, calloused, gray-colored fist, attached to an equally gray-colored arm, which itself was the left arm of Francis, infamous bully of Dimmsdale Middle School, and arch-nemesis of Timmy and his friends; after Vicky, of course.
"Sorry, my dad taught me to look past gender differences and see everybody as equals, which means that you're gonna get the same pounding as your little boyfriend and his friends if you don't stop struggling!" The freakishly large gray twelve year old spoke in his unintelligent growl of a voice, his fingers tightening ever so slightly on Tootie's braided lock of hair.
"I already told you, I don't care what you have to say!" Tootie fumed, landing ineffectual punches on Francis' large gray hand. "Pulling my hair is not the way to ask me for anything, and why would I even listen to you anyway, Francis?! All you do is bully Timmy and his friends!" Again, the raven-haired girl grabbed the lock of hair Francis was holding and tugged on it, pulling in such a way so as not to cause her own scalp discomfort.
"Well as it turns out, since you're Turner's little girlfriend, I figured you could do me a favor, and I'll make sure to keep you off of my 'people to pound into the dirt' list." The large boy grinned, exposing his yellowed, cavity-ridden teeth as his captive stopped resisting to listen to his offer. "All I need you to do is distract Turner at school tomorrow, just have him follow you near the boy's bathroom right after his first class, I'll finally catch the quick little nerd, and instead of you getting a beating, he will!"
Tootie looked up at the gray bully in shock, genuinely surprised that with the little gray matter that existed between Francis' ears, he'd been able to come up with a fairly intelligent plan. Of course, he'd also proven how dumb he was by asking her, of all people, to help him, considering Tootie's massive crush on Francis' intended target. She narrowed her eyes and scowled at the older boy as he finished, her teeth, still adorned with braces; bared a little. "Like Hell I will! How stupid are you to think I'd even think about helping you hurt Timmy?!"
Meanwhile, Timmy; still listening intently, pulled his head back around the corner, lightly butting the back of it against the wall of lockers he was leaning against. "Argh... Why does she have to antagonize him?! He's just gonna end up hitting her now, and..." The boy muttered, his bright blue eyes glancing to his left, where just around the corner, Francis was likely seconds from punching Tootie in the face for talking back to him. If she was lucky, she might get away with broken glasses and a black eye. If she wasn't... "Getting punched in the mouth with braces on? Her mouth might get cut up, or her braces could really mess up her teeth!" Timmy thought fearfully, partially for Tootie, and partially for what Vicky might do to him after 'letting' her little sister get hurt!
"So that's a 'no', then?" Francis questioned, raising his right hand up in front of Tootie's face and forming a fist, making his knuckles crack threateningly.
"Certainly looks that way, but I guess I can forgive you for being too dumb to realize it." The bespectacled girl spat out, not quite believing Francis would actually hit a girl, especially not in the middle of the school they both attended. However, her confidence slightly faltered as she saw the twelve year old rear back his fist; a cold, neutral expression on his face. "Y-You'd better not, Francis! You lay another hand on me, and my sister'll- She'll make you regret it!"
"Guess I'll just have to make sure I knock enough of your teeth out so you can't tell her who hit you then, huh?" The gray boy threw his fist forward, intending to hit the small girl in his grasp square in the mouth, and not noticing the sounds of swift footsteps closing in on his right.
At that same moment...
As he'd heard the monosyllabic grunting that passed for Francis' little speech come to an end, Timmy acted, almost without thinking; and darted around the corner, sprinting as fast as his short, ten year old legs would carry him. He knew what he was about to do would end badly, and very likely painfully, and he honestly wasn't sure if Tootie, despite the massive crush she had on him; would do the same for him if their positions were reversed, but there was no way he was going to stand by and knowingly let her get hurt while he slunk away like a coward. At the very least, maybe him intervening would let Tootie get away, or perhaps lessen the beatings they'd both probably receive.
So with that in mind, the brunet ran down the hall toward them, not even bothering to stop as he was within mere feet of Francis, and reared his right leg back, then swung it forward, delivering a straight, running kick directly into the older boy's right shin.
The sheer force of his foot moving at such a high speed, then coming to a full stop as it hit the brick wall that was Francis, caused Timmy's whole body to come to a similar dead stop, reflexively recoiling his foot back a little in pain.
The act, however; had not been in vain, as the oldest of the trio of children released his dark-haired captive and glanced down at the small boy who had kicked him, a mildly surprised look in his eyes. "Ah, Turner. I figured you were already on the school bus. Your girlfriend and I were just talking about you." Francis, having completely lost interest in his original target, focused exclusively on Timmy, whose body was by now too flooded with adrenaline to notice the dull throbbing in his right foot.
"J-Jeez! He is a freak! Did that even faze him?!" Timmy thought to himself, glancing over to his right at Tootie, who seemed as surprised as he was, though he had a feeling she was more surprised at his mere presence than how ineffective his kick had been. "Y-Yeah?" He gulped loudly, realizing he'd need to distract Francis from Tootie long enough for her to slip away, and that meant making himself a target. "Well... Here I am." Timmy slowly inched to his left, causing the older boy to turn and keep him in the middle of his field of view, but putting Tootie at his back, and thus, out of sight. "You- You really shouldn't be mean to her... Tootie's sister... She's not the type of person you wanna cross, Francis..."
"Heh... Now you too? This girl sounds like just my type, if she's really as tough and scary as you say..." Again, Francis grinned, exposing his teeth, which looked as though they hadn't been brushed in many, many months. "But enough about her, let's talk about you, and the beating you've been skipping out on for quite a while now... No way I'm letting you run from me this time, and even if you do, your little girlfriend's gonna have to be your stand-in instead!"
"Oh y-yeah?" Timmy stammered out, barely noticing Tootie still standing behind Francis' massive bulk. "What is she waiting for?!" "Well...? Are you gonna keep me waiting all day? I've- I've got p-places to be!" He taunted as he pressed himself up against the row of cold, metal lockers behind him, knowing he'd likely just signed his own death warrant after saying that.
"Hmgh... Looks like there is a spine in there, even though you're always running away from me..." The giant twelve year old growled out, then once more reared his right hand back, balled into a fist.
An instant later, the brunet watched Francis' fist fly right at him, before everything somehow... Slowed down. Time hadn't stopped, like when he wished for the ability to mess with time from Cosmo and Wanda, it just... Slowed. Almost to a crawl. Despite this though, Timmy felt as though he knew he could still move at his normal speed, and acted; more on instinct than any sort of real thought. He dipped down low, bending his right leg while sliding his left along the floor to his left, performing a sort of 'half split' as he ducked the older boy's punch just in time.
SLAM!
The slamming and crunching of metal echoed through the hallways of the school as Francis' fist missed its target and collided with the locker Timmy had pressed himself to, bending and warping the flimsy metal door as the force of being punched made it sort of contract and bend around his hand, looking not unlike a sort of glove.
The next moment, Timmy looked up to see the face of a very surprised Francis looking down at him, before he quickly scurried out from under the older boy's arm and looked at the spot where his head had been. Among the relatively unscathed gray skin and warped metal, the brunet could faintly make out a bit of pink... Something. The color was familiar, but Francis' hand obscured most of it, preventing Timmy from immediately identifying it. "Wait, is that my...?" He brought his right hand up to his head and felt about in his hair, soon realizing that the pink hat that he normally wore, was no longer there.
"Rrgh...! Hold still, Turner! The next one won't miss!" Francis growled out as he tugged on his arm, only to stop short and find he was caught on something. Turning to face the lockers, he again tugged his arm, slowly coming to the conclusion that the metal locker door had actually bent around it and trapped his fist within its warped frame. Upon realizing his predicament, the gray-colored boy grasped his right wrist with his left hand and began to tug on it, attempting to free himself.
Seeing that the bully was momentarily trapped, Timmy looked over to where he'd last seen Tootie, his eyes widening a bit as they fell on the bespectacled girl, still standing around in what appeared to be complete awe at the situation that had just unfolded before her.
"Argh! When I get my hand free, you're dead! Both of you!"
His gaze snapping back over at Francis upon hearing the twelve year old's unquestionably sincere threat, Timmy scrambled across the hall's tile floor on all fours over to Tootie, quickly pushing himself to his feet before grabbing her wrist and giving it a light tug. "RUN!" He turned on his heel, whipping his body around and darting back down the hall from the direction he'd come, now with the violet-eyed girl in tow.
For several seconds, Tootie merely allowed herself to be pulled along, her legs instinctively sprinting on their own to keep pace with Timmy and thus, keep her from being dragged in his wake. "T-Timmy?" She finally questioned as they rounded the first corner, and now approached the four-way intersection the brunet had traversed just a few minutes prior. "Y-You came... For me?" The girl managed to get out between breaths for air, not being quite as used to running for her life as Timmy was.
"Huh?" He glanced over his shoulder at her for just a moment, then turned to face forward again, slowing down just enough to hang a left at the next corner and run over to the small alcove between the rows of lockers that the doorway to Ms. Harper's room provided. "Oh no..." The boy muttered quietly as he looked through the small window into the now darkened classroom, then tried the doorknob, frowning as it turned just a little to indicate it was locked. "Darn it..." Timmy remarked in frustration as he turned to lean his back against the door. "She must've already left-Ack!" He gasped in surprise as a pair of small, thin arms looped under his, capturing him in a tight(though not entirely unpleasant) hug.
"You came to rescue me!" Tootie exclaimed in a tone dripping with admiration for her crush as she nuzzled her cheek against his; the shock of her sudden hug knocking the boy a little off balance.
"Ngh... T-Tootie... This really isn't the time..." Timmy stammered out, feeling just a bit conflicted. On the one hand, he did feel pretty darn heroic rescuing Tootie from Francis, and aside from some pulled hair, she seemed relatively unhurt. Coupled with this, he couldn't help but feel like a knight of sorts; he'd essentially rescued the princess from the clutches of an evil troll... Though on the other hand, said princess was Tootie, a girl just a little clingier and geekier than what he imagined a princess to be like. "And... And besides, I only came to get you because you weren't on the bus." He attempted to wiggle out of her grip, to no avail.
"And you ended up saving me from that cave troll named Francis. Ended up looking pretty cool doing it, too." The girl pulled back a little to make eye contact with her crush, her face just a few inches from his. Normally, he would've pushed her away by now, or at least squirmed out of the hug she was giving him, but it seemed today was her lucky day, as Timmy did little more than return her gaze, his eyes darting about, seemingly searching her expression for... Something. At the moment, she was far too preoccupied with enjoying her close moment with the brunet to think on much of anything else.
"Eheh... Well, y'know... It was probably just... Adrenaline and stuff. When I heard his voice from down the hall, saying he was going to knock your teeth out... I didn't even really stop to think." Timmy shrugged in confusion, not really having an explanation for his actions. "Ah... But you're... Alright... Right?"
"Nnf..." Tootie winced, Timmy's question causing the pain in her scalp from having her hair pulled to flare up, as if on cue. She at last released him and gingerly touched her scalp at the base of the pigtail Francis had pulled, then gently rubbed at the spot, trying to dull the pain. "Yeah... Probably just gonna be sore for a while... What about you? Are you-Oh no... Your hat..." The girl frowned, shooting her rescuer an apologetic look.
"Hm?" Timmy tilted his head quizzically, bringing his hand up to feel about on his head once again, soon remembering the lost and now very likely obliterated pink baseball cap. "Oh, right..." He sighed, wishing Cosmo and Wanda were with him, rather than at his house; so he could simply wish the hat unharmed and back on his head. "Eh... Don't worry about it. Long as you're okay, I'm happy. I can always buy a new hat, right?"
For several seconds, Tootie didn't respond, opting to instead beam at Timmy excitedly, then sprang forward, capturing him in another tight hug; the force of it making the old wooden door the boy leaned against shake loudly and collide with the door frame. "I knew it! You were worried about me!" Again, Tootie nuzzled her cheek against Timmy's, somehow more lovingly than the first time, the contact making the brunet feel uncomfortably warm.
"N-No, I-Come on..." Timmy groaned out, making sure he sounded much more aggravated than he really was. "I just wanted t-to make sure you didn't get left here... You know Vicky would've taken it out on me if you did..." Against his better judgment, he half-heartedly returned the hug Tootie was giving him and looped his right arm around her, his hand settling in the middle of her upper back and giving it a little rub.
"Why, did she say that?" The bespectacled girl pulled away somewhat suddenly, her hands moving up and settling on Timmy's shoulders as she looked him in the eyes again.
"W-Well no... She didn't say it so much as she suggested it... I know she at least expects me to make sure you catch the bus home when school's over..." Timmy spoke hesitantly, wondering how much Tootie knew of this little unspoken agreement between him, her, and Vicky, and thus, how much he should divulge to the girl in front of him.
"Ugh... I know Vicky can be... Abrasive at times, but you're not my keeper. I seriously doubt she'd blame you for something happening to me that was out of your control, Timmy." Tootie remarked with a raised, suspicious eyebrow, though her voice wavered a little, proving even she wasn't entirely sure if what she'd said was true. Her older sister didn't treat her anywhere near the way she treated the kids she babysat, but she could definitely be mean when she wanted to... As well as a little unfair.
"...Maybe not." The buck-toothed boy conceded, feeling a tiny bit reassured by the slightly younger girl's smile. "But it's better to be safe than sorry..." He trailed off, only for his eyes to widen rather suddenly. "W-Which reminds me! We have to go, maybe we can still catch the bus!" Just as he finished speaking, he heard a loud slam from down the hall, where Francis was. The boy was likely punching the locker in frustration, and Timmy doubted it would hold him for much longer.
Grabbing Tootie's hand again, and ignoring the dreamy expression that took over her face from the contact; the brunet half walked, half jogged down the hall, a goofy grin on the girl's face as she followed, allowing herself to be pulled along.
It took less than thirty seconds for them to reach the exit doors at the end of the hall, and Timmy was quick to shove them open and step outside onto the school's front steps; the sky above them having darkened considerably during the short few minutes he'd spent looking for Tootie. As expected, the school bus was nowhere in sight, likely having left well before he'd even stumbled upon Francis and the girl currently giving his hand little affectionate squeezes. "Argh... Crap!" The boy cursed, an action fairly out of character for him, since his fairy godmother was quick to scold him for it on the rare occasion he did do it. "The bus left already!" He turned and exclaimed the obvious at Tootie, snapping her out of her reverie.
"Oh! Uh... So what are... We gonna do?" The violet-eyed girl questioned in an almost confused-sounding tone, like the concept of the bus not being there to take them home was completely alien to her; distracted as she was by the prolonged contact with her crush.
"Hah..." Timmy sighed, annoyed that the inevitable had come to pass. "Unless you can call someone to come pick us up, we're gonna have to walk... Which means we'll probably get caught in a thunderstorm..." He gazed up at the clouds, pregnant and dark gray with rain; and frowned. It wasn't as if it was cold out, considering the fact that Dimmsdale was in southern California, but it wasn't hard to tell that the city was about to receive a downpour, and neither he nor Tootie had umbrellas.
"Hm..." The raven-haired girl hummed to herself in thought, at last releasing Timmy's hand as she reached up to her vest pocket and took out her phone. "My dad's still working at this time, and my mom aid she had to do errands today... But Vicky should be home! I can... Call her...?" Tootie declared excitedly, only to trail off, her tone becoming unsure as Timmy frowned and crossed his arms, his head tilted toward the ground and his eyes shut in contemplation.
"...Walking's starting to look like the better option..." The boy muttered to himself, not wanting to spend more time around his babysitter than was absolutely necessary, especially considering that she was babysitting him after school today anyway.
"Oh don't be like that, Timmy!" Tootie chastised her crush in a playful tone, rolling her eyes and grinning. "Vicky isn't that bad- ...Well alright, I know she can be pretty mean to you, but... But I'm here!" The girl stepped closer to her crush, affectionately wrapping both of her arms around his right one, mostly to gauge how much she could get away with, since he'd yet to push her away like he usually did. "Lucky for you that I like you; she won't be mean to you in front of me!"
"Agh..." The brunet pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand, wanting to believe that Tootie was telling him the truth. "I... Alright, I guess it's better than getting soaked..."
"Yay!" The girl exclaimed in excitement, bouncing up and down a few times as she held Timmy's arm, before releasing him and focusing her attention on her phone, her fingers rapidly tapping the screen's keyboard before hitting the phone's send button. "Shouldn't be long before-" The raven-haired girl was cut off by a quick chirp from her phone that drew her attention back to the screen, but her smile soon faded as she read the reply to her text aloud. "In shower. Start walking...?"
"Mmph..." Timmy let out a small moan as he huffed out a breath through his nose.
"Ugh! Damn it, Sis..." Tootie groaned in a loud, dramatic fashion, returning her phone to her vest pocket. "Guess we might as well get moving... Hopefully she's almost done, and can pick us up before it starts raining..." She moved past Timmy and down the steps, a little annoyed that Vicky had unknowingly picked an awful time to take a shower. "On the bright side..." Tootie glanced to her left as Timmy followed her down the stairs and caught up with her, making her lips curl up into a little smile. "I get to have a little more time with Timmy...!" She felt a little tingle run up her spine at the thought, which in turn caused her skin to break out with slight, barely visible goosebumps. "So, um..." The girl began, using every ounce of her strength to suppress the urge she felt to move closer to Timmy and capture him in another hug. She'd gotten away with two in their school and possibly half of one on the steps, but she wasn't about to try her luck and go for a third one; her crush was being unusually patient with her, even deciding to walk with her when he could just leave and head straight home, so she had no intention of squandering what little time she had with the brunet, except... "Shoot! What should I even talk about?!" She mentally screamed, realizing how very unprepared she was for the current situation.
For nearly two years now, Timmy had been her goal, the prize she sought who was the driving force of her actions, and despite how frequently he pushed her away, she'd always remained undeterred, hoping that if she could just get him alone, away from all the prying eyes that made her feel so insecure and manic around him; she could prove that she wasn't crazy... Or not completely crazy, anyway. She was well aware of the fact that she had a few... Eccentricities that Timmy might find mildly unnerving, but those were only brought about by her affection for him, which was by and large unrequited.
Unfortunately, she'd grown so accustomed to Timmy running from her that she really didn't have any sort of plan for the extremely unlikely event when he wouldn't run. The very event she was now experiencing firsthand.
"So how is Vicky? ...To you, I mean." The blue-eyed boy spoke up, causing the girl walking next to him to sigh in relief, though a low rumble from the darkened sky overhead drowned her out.
"Uh, she's... Usually pretty okay. Vicky acts a lot like... Really a stereotypical older sister, to be honest. We get along most of the time, and she can be... Kind of overprotective..." Tootie remarked with a hint of annoyance in her tone, remembering it had been Vicky who'd insisted she have a cell phone for emergencies, despite their parents' worries that she might lose it, due to her being only ten. "And I guess we fight sometimes too, like most siblings. Um... She y'know, teases me sometimes about how I look... Kind of like a geek." Tootie blushed self-consciously, slipping her thumbs into the straps of her backpack. "...I really don't know why she treats you... The way that she does, Timmy. I suppose she's just nicer to me because I'm her little sister."
"Probably." Timmy answered with a shrug. Up until recently, he'd always thought Tootie had it the worst out of everyone Vicky babysat, as she had to live with the demonic red-head. It had crossed his mind that she might not have it so bad a few weeks prior, when the older girl picked Tootie up from school for a doctor's appointment, and he'd later heard from the raven-haired girl herself that she didn't mind being babysat by Vicky when he, Chester, and AJ were talking about the chores Vicky usually had them do when she watched them, but now he had quite explicit confirmation from Tootie; Vicky wasn't evil at all, she apparently just wasn't that fond of the kids she babysat, and he seemingly got the worst of it only because she spent the most time around him.
"M-Maybe, um..." Tootie began as she and Timmy reached the edge of the school's parking lot and stepped onto the sidewalk, the brunet pausing to look both ways before they prepared to cross the street at the crosswalk.
CRASH!
Both children flinched at the loud crashing noise, with Timmy gulping audibly as he realized the noise had been far too metallic-sounding and low to the ground to be the crackling of thunderclouds. He slowly turned around to face the school's front entrance, confirming the sinking feeling he had in his gut.
Standing in front of the double doors at the school's front entrance was a familiar mass of pale gray skin and dark clothing, the figure's face twisted into a scowl as he scanned the parking lot, looking for Timmy and Tootie. It took little more than a few seconds for him to notice them at the parking lot's edge, Timmy's distinctive bright pink shirt easily drawing Francis' attention to him. "Turner! I'm-"
"RUN!" Tootie yelled, mimicking the frantic tone her crush had used a little while earlier as she slipped her hand back into his and started to run across the street with him in tow, both thankful that no cars were coming from either direction as they sprinted across the asphalt, reaching the opposite side in seconds. "Hah... "Wh-What should we do?!" The violet-eyed girl panted as they slowed down a bit and she allowed Timmy to slightly take the lead.
"Uh- Well... How far and for how long do you think you can run?" The brunet questioned as they ran down the sidewalk, heading in the direction of their neighborhood.
"Ah-I dunno! It's not like I run... To school everyday!" Tootie exclaimed between breaths of air, hoping all those laps she jogged during gym class would pay off, now that she desperately needed them to, both for her and Timmy's sake. "How far... Is your house from here?"
"Eh... About a mile and a half? Maybe two?" The boy remarked uncertainly, picking up his pace a bit as he heard Francis bellow his last name from somewhere far behind them.
"Agh... Really?! We should just head to my house! It's a few... Blocks closer than yours is!" Tootie proposed, knowing that if they headed for her house instead of Timmy's, they might run into Vicky, which was much more preferable than going to what was probably Timmy's empty house.
"Ah-Alright, your house it is!" The buck-toothed boy nodded in agreement, his hand still tightly gripping hers.
With their hurried pace, it didn't take long for them to reach the suburbs they lived in, and Timmy chanced a quick look behind them, only to notice that Francis was still chasing after them, looking not unlike a humanoid rhino thanks to his grayish skin and the way he leaned into his run, arms outstretched in front of him, reaching for the two of them.
It occurred to the brunet that he was normally much farther ahead of Francis than he currently was. Instead of a hundred or so feet between them, it seemed less, more like fifty, maybe even forty. "Hah... You doing okay?" Timmy, his breathing starting to become a bit labored from running; turned his head to look at Tootie, who was now panting, her mouth agape as she tried to catch her breath and keep pace with him.
"Oh yeah, hah... I'm fine... Phew, j-just not how I expected our first date... To go, that's all! Ehehe... Enh..." The raven-haired girl chuckled weakly, then let out a tired-sounding groan, the muscles in her legs feeling like they were on fire.
"Agh... Yeah, maybe we should do something a little more relaxing next time... You wanna see a movie?" Timmy offered his companion a lopsided smile, earning him a very surprised look in return, though it was quick to shift into one of fatigued annoyance.
"Oh, now you-Hah... Now you wanna ask me out?! You think-Ah-" The girl momentarily cut herself off to close her mouth and swallow, her throat and tongue feeling uncomfortably dry due to her desperate gasps for air. "You think that's funny, Timmy?!"
"A little, yeah..." He smiled, his cheeks taking on a light pink color. "Just thought I'd y'know, give you a little motivation?" He finished with a wince, feeling something cold and wet hit his forehead, followed by another, then another as he stared at Tootie, noticing her glasses now had little droplets of water on them. This observation was almost immediately followed by a loud rumble from overhead that ended in a loud crash, making Timmy and Tootie both flinch at the startlingly loud noise.
"Hah... M-Motivation?! What, you're saying you'll go on a date with me if we survive this?" The bespectacled girl questioned tiredly, but there was no mistaking the faint spark of hope in her voice, her eyes widening just a bit behind the lenses of her glasses, blurry with water.
"Ahehe! Sure!" Timmy turned to face forward, answering his stalker-turned-partner in crime with a smile. "B-But only if... Phew, only if we survive!"
"Urgh... You suck!" Tootie cringed and gritted her teeth at the brunet's somewhat underhanded trick, though she knew deep down it was for her own benefit. Her thighs, calves, ankles and feet burned, and her lungs didn't feel much better, but despite the pain, she'd managed to finally land a date with the boy she'd been crushing on for the past two years. Maybe he was just delirious from adrenaline, maybe the thought of Francis beating the stuffing out of them had caused him to go a little crazy, but either way, he'd made something akin to a promise to her, and even if she was almost certain she'd be too exhausted to move tomorrow, Tootie summoned up the strength for one final push, ignoring the screaming pain in her legs and chest as she somehow quickened her pace, pulling just slightly ahead of Timmy.
For just a moment, the buck-toothed boy was caught off guard by this, as he'd been almost positive that Tootie was about to collapse from exhaustion. This was quickly subsumed beneath a feeling of relief, however; as he was pretty confident that if Tootie had exhausted herself to the point that she couldn't run anymore, he wouldn't be able to carry her, putting them both at the mercy(or lack thereof) of the bully still chasing them. "I shouldn't be surprised, she is pretty much in love with me..." He shook his head with a slight grin at this thought, then looked up, chancing a quick look at the street sign that flew by as they sprinted past it. "H-Hey, this... This is your street, isn't it?"
"Ahn..." Tootie let out an exhausted whine, her lungs burning as they tried to suck in air to let her body keep up its furious running pace. "Y-Yeah... My house... It's just the... The fourth one down..." She gasped for air as she spoke, her body feeling like it was moments away from collapsing.
"Fourth?" Timmy parroted back in a questioning tone, mentally counting the houses they passed by. "Let's see, we've already been by two, this next one is three..." He thought to himself, allowing Tootie to pull him along as she tore around the corner of the third house's fence and ran across her own house's front lawn, both of them somehow avoiding slipping in the wet grass as the rain began to pour down on them harder.
The two practically leapt up the stairs of Tootie's front porch, the raven-haired girl roughly turning the doorknob, only for it to click and hold fast. "Crap! Ngh... House keys..." She remarked in a raspy voice as she patted her vest pockets and tipped over to lean against Timmy, her throat burning much like her lower extremities and lungs.
"I've got you." The brunet reassured her, looping his right arm around her shoulders to steady her. For the moment, all Tootie's creepy mannerisms and behavior seemed like such a distant memory; it felt good to have, as she called it, 'rescued' her from Francis, and Timmy got an odd little feeling of pride that he felt for Tootie. She'd managed to keep up with him, and even acted when he'd been too surprised by Francis' sudden reappearance when they were outside the school. In short, if she'd asked him for something after today, he'd do it in a heartbeat; she deserved that much, at least.
"Agh... Frickin' key..." Tootie gasped out as she produced her house key after a few more seconds of fumbling through her pockets, thankful both her and Timmy had finally arrived at her house, and she now had a moment to rest and catch her breath. She brought the key up and pointed it toward the lock, only to freeze as she heard a loud click from inside her house, followed by the front door being suddenly pulled open.
Standing before Timmy and Tootie in the doorway, transparent steam still wafting off her body from her recent shower; was the raven-haired girl's older sister, and Timmy's babysitter, Vicky; her very presence punctuated by a crackle of thunder and a flash of lightning overhead.
Having a wardrobe of similar outfits much like the boy and girl in front of her, the red-head wore a lime-green tank-top, showing off her slightly freckled shoulders; along with a pair of black jeans and matching sneakers. Her hair, still a bit damp, was done up in the familiar ponytail style she favored. "...Well that was fast." She remarked with a look and tone of dull surprise, crossing her arms as her eyes glanced back and forth between the two ten year olds, noticing the way they panted and gasped for air. "You only texted me about five minutes ago... You both run all the way here?"
"Th-That stupid giant dumb idiot Francis..." Tootie trailed off, taking a moment to push herself up off of Timmy, and realizing he'd slipped his arm off her shoulders at some point, allowing it to hang limply at his side. "He's been chasing us since we left school and-"
"Argh! Turner! I'm gonna beat you two down until your kids have bruises!" As if on cue, the large gray tween the two had been running from appeared from around the corner of the fence they'd passed just moments ago, his arms still outstretched as he stomped across the front yard toward the porch they were occupying.
"Oh really?" The sixteen year old quirked an eyebrow up at the now steadily approaching boy, the corners of her mouth curling up into a sadistic grin that immediately made Timmy's blood turn to ice upon seeing it. She stepped to the side, bidding her sister and Timmy go into the house while she dealt with their pursuer.
And not wanting to have that terrifying expression directed at him, Timmy quickly snatched up Tootie's left hand and darted into the house with her, while Vicky stepped forward again, effectively blocking the doorway once more.
She recognized the abnormally large, gray boy from somewhere, though she couldn't quite place him. Another shout of her Twerp's last name, and she'd quickly become irritated by the loud, unintelligent boy; though his threats of harming her sister and property certainly played a factor. With a roll of her eyes, and her arms still crossed with apparent indifference, Vicky lifted her right leg, jutting it straight forward at a ninety degree angle, causing Francis to run right into the sole of her shoe face-first and come to a dead stop.
"Augh!" Francis cried out as he took a few steps back, then brought both hands up to his face to gingerly touch his now very likely broken nose. "Rngh! Y-You-! M-My doze!" The bully managed to get out, his words coming out more nasally than before.
"You ran into my foot." Vicky said nonchalantly, lowering her leg back down to the ground. "I'm gonna assume you're Francis?" With the twelve year old now standing before her, the older girl took another moment to look him up and down, the feeling of deja vu still nagging at her. "Huh... Oh wait." She snapped her fingers, at last recognizing the familiarity of the name and the boy it was attached to.
Coincidentally, Francis also lowered his hands from his face at this point, intending to get a good look at the feminine-sounding figure he'd run into. Once he saw her, however; his face went from a pale gray color to stark-white, his pupils shrinking down to tiny black dots as his mind was wracked with terrified recognition of the girl in front of him.
"I used to babysit you!" "Y-You used to b-babysit me!" Vicky and Francis exclaimed simultaneously, with the boy taking another step back as the red-head's grin widened, exposing her pearly-white teeth.
"Heehee! Now this is interesting." Vicky held her ground in the doorway, just in case the gray child she used to babysit tried anything... Desperate. "I've heard you just love to mess with my property... That true?"
"Wh-what! I've never e-even been to your house before today, how have I-" Francis stammered out fearfully, his anger at Tootie and Timmy having fizzled out in the face of his ex-babysitter.
"I'm referring to the Twerp, idiot. Goes by Timmy? You know him as 'Turner'? Ringing any bells? He is my property, and I don't take kindly to people damaging my things, understand?" Vicky's grin faded as she narrowed her eyes, eliciting a desperate nod of understanding from Francis. "Good. Now-" The red-head took pause, feeling a light nudge against the back of her leg.
Peeking from between her left leg and the door frame was Tootie, who scowled as she realized that the bully of her and Timmy's school was still on their front lawn. "Did he mention the part where he pulled my hair because I wouldn't help him lead Timmy into a trap? I feel like that deserves mentioning." The raven-haired girl narrowed her eyes at Francis much like her older sister had as she finished.
"N-No! I-" Was all Francis managed to get out before he felt a hand snatch the front collar of his shirt, along with the chain around his neck, and lift him up just enough so he had to stand on the tips of his toes. He fell silent as the red-head's face appeared dangerously close to his, becoming the only thing in his field of view. "Ack! L-Lemme go! I-I didn't know she was your sister, honest! I never- Never would've even talked to her if I- P-Please!" He begged as he winced and shut his eyes, feeling a hot prickling in their corners.
Suddenly, the older teen released him, letting his feet drop to the ground before giving him a rough push backward, though not before twisting and positioning her foot behind Francis' left leg, causing him to trip and fall over as he stumbled backward from her push. He landed on the hard, rain-covered cement walkway with a loud thud that seemed to shake the ground, his terror-filled eyes warily looking up at Vicky.
"Get the Hell off my lawn, or I'll make that broken nose look like a kindness." The red-head spat out, her words dripping with venom. "And if I hear about you laying so much as a finger on my little sister or my property again... Just remember that I know exactly where you live."
Knowing better than to make the terrifying red-head have to repeat herself, Francis immediately scrambled to his feet and spun around, then sprinted out of the house's front lawn and down the street, disappearing around the corner at the end of it.
Once the twelve year old was out for sight, Vicky's scowl quickly faded, being replaced by a mildly sadistic grin once more. "Hehehe! Ah... Scaring that punk never gets old..." She turned back toward her house, frowning as she realized she was already soaked to her skin by the falling rain.
Tootie stepped back as her older sister approached, allowing her to come back into their house before she shut the door behind her, a dramatic sigh of relief escaping her before she darted over next to Timmy, who currently stood next to the couch, tapping his fingers together nervously.
"Hmph... Didn't plan on taking another shower today..." Vicky remarked in annoyance as she brushed a few locks of her now soaked hair out of her face, then looked down at her equally soaked clothes, realizing the black bra she wore under her tank-top was somewhat visible. "So what happened anyway? Why's the Twerp-"
"Be nice, Vicky." Tootie spoke up in a stern tone, frowning at her older sister. "If it weren't for Timmy, I'd probably have a black eye and some broken glasses, or worse, need to go to the dentist to get my braces adjusted. Francis was about to hit me when Timmy showed up... He rescued me, so could you please-... Just give him a break?"
Timmy watched as his babysitter seemed to mull over her little sister's request, before visibly relenting with a huff and a roll of her eyes.
"Ugh... Fine. Let's go upstairs so you can change into some dry clothes, you can tell me the whole story while you change." Vicky gestured toward the stairs leading to the second floor with a slight wave of her hand, then turned her attention back toward Timmy as Tootie hesitantly left his side and made her way toward the stairs. "Twer-... You stay down here and... Just relax on the couch and watch TV for a bit, I'll be back down in a few." With that, Vicky broke eye contact with the boy and followed after her sister, leaving Timmy alone in the living room.
Only once both girls were gone did the brunet allow a shaky sigh to escape him as he leaned back against the side of the couch, his head hanging down and forward a bit as he brought his hand up to his chest to try and clam his racing heart. "Hah... Phew, that... Could've gone worse, I guess..." Timmy muttered to himself, pushing himself away from the couch, then quietly walked around it before finally slipping off his shoes and nearly backward falling into the cushions, his aching body thankful that it could rest, at last.
A few hours later...
"Ngh..." Timmy moaned out, cracking his right eye open, followed by the left; as he scanned the room he was in, finding it was similar to, though not exactly like; the living room at his own house. After a few moments, he realized he felt... Oddly warm, though not to the point of it being uncomfortable. "Hm... Mm?" The buck-toothed boy propped his left arm underneath himself, then pushed his body up into a sitting position, causing the large, warm blanket he was wrapped in to slip off his shoulders. "I- Augh..." He yawned. "Where...?"
"Huh, you were cuter and quieter when you were asleep, Twerp." A familiar voice to Timmy's right spoke up, drawing his attention to the opposite side of the couch, where his babysitter sat, her legs propped up on the coffee table in front her, one laying on top of the other. She didn't avert her gaze from the TV, which was currently showing some action movie, though the volume was much lower than what Timmy would've expected it to be.
"I... Am?" The brunet tilted his head in confusion. "And... When did I fall asleep?"
"I'unno. When I came down here after Tootie told me what happened, you were zonked out on the couch. I was going to wake you up, but..." The older girl shifted a bit in her seat, almost like the act of explaining herself made her uncomfortable. "...I figured you needed the rest, after you and Tootie pretty much ran all the way here from your school."
"Oh. Um... Thanks..." Timmy took the opportunity to shift about as well, eventually settling on sitting cross-legged and wrapping the blanket back around himself. He was still a bit cold from his damp clothes. "Were you... Did you...?" He raised his arm a little, waving part of the warm blanket in the air between himself and the red-head.
"Well you did run here in the rain, and I assumed you wouldn't want to wear any of Tootie's clothes, so I..." The older teen trailed off, her cheeks turning a barely visible shade of pink. "You were shivering in your sleep."
"Was I? ...Thanks again, then." Timmy briefly glanced over at his babysitter, noticing her disinterested expression, though she continued to stare straight ahead at the TV. He wished their conversation felt a little less stilted, but this was probably one of the most amicable talks they'd ever had, and it seemed neither of them really knew what to say.
After roughly another minute of tense silence, a loud sigh escaped the red-head, and she turned to face Timmy, though her gaze was directed at the middle couch cushion between them. "...Look, I... I want you to know that... You're a good kid, Timmy. I know you and Toots aren't exactly friends, and her little obsession with you probably drives your right up a wall, but... It took a lot of ball- Character to go look for her when she wasn't on the bus, and even more to run in and save her from that... Troll, Francis. That's not to say- ...I'm not gonna promise to suddenly turn around and start being... Someone I'm not to you, but... I appreciate you looking out for my little sis, and I won't forget that you did." Satisfied that she'd managed to say what she wanted to, Vicky turned back toward the TV, her expression somehow... Softer than usual.
"That's... Alright. I just... Didn't want to see her get hurt because Francis was after me, that's all." Timmy felt his cheeks heat up, realizing just how odd and somewhat embarrassing it felt to receive praise from his normally abrasive babysitter. "And, ah... You're welc-"
"Timmy! You're awake!" A loud, shrill voice from the boy's left cut through the relative silence of the living room, followed by the origin of said voice leaping over the arm of the couch and crashing into the brunet, the young girl's slender arms snaking around Timmy's blanket-clad form.
"Ngh-! H-Hey, Tootie..." Timmy stammered out as the raven-haired girl hugged him tightly and nuzzled her cheek against his. "I was... Actually gonna ask you if you might... Wanna sit with me, Chester, and AJ at lunch from now on? Just in case Francis is dumb enough to come after you again, he might... I dunno, reconsider if it's the four of us?"
"You really want me to? Really?!" The girl beamed at him excitedly and, before he knew it, released her grip on him, only to slip under the hem of the blanket he was wrapped in and join him beneath it, her arms finding their way back around his waist. "Heehee! I'd love to!"
While he'd heard her answer, for the moment, Timmy ignored the bespectacled girl and blushed furiously, now realizing she was wearing significantly less than when he last seen her. Instead of her plaid skirt, white dress shirt and black vest, Tootie wore little more than a pair of black sleeping shorts that barely covered a third of her thighs, and a thin, faded lavender tank-top; likely what she wore for pajamas. "Wh-Where'd your clothes go?!"
Vicky, meanwhile; quietly chuckled to herself and shook her head, opting to turn up the TV volume so she could watch the rest of her movie.
A/N2: Well, if you made it this far, good on you, I hope you enjoyed the fic. It occurred to me while I was sick that I've referenced on multiple occasions this event where Tootie was finally invited to sit with Timmy and his friends, but there was no fic that detailed it to the extent that I wanted to. This is, finally, that fic. I actually quite enjoyed writing this one, hence why it ended up being so long, and I hope it ended up being an enjoyable read. Thanks to everyone for being patient with my sick, sometimes lazy ass.