A/N: So here we are again, rather than finish a story, my muse has dropped an idea into my head for a new one instead, so to those who hoped I would actually finish a story... sorry. For those who wanted to read a new story, well here it is, believe it or not, The Price You Pay was originally going to be a one shot, but... yeah. Hopefully I can complete it by the end of the week, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
Timmy sat with his friends in the food court of the Dimmsdale mall, absently eating the fries he got with his burger, his mind was not on his food, or his friends, or even remotely nearby. His mind was contemplating a certain girl in his life, one who he knew since he was young, one he was sure he was in love with.
"Dude? Hey man, what's up?"
He was snapped out of his reverie by AJ. "Huh? What? Sorry I was... somewhere else..."
"Yeah obviously. Whatcha thinking about?"
"Er... nothing."
"So something then." Chester spoke up next.
"Someone more like, Trixie I bet."
"What! No... You're definitely wrong about that..." he knew how to lie, to anyone else, this seemed to be an anime style denial-confession, where someone denied their love of someone so strongly that everyone immediately knew that the person denying the accusation must, in fact, be in love. It was working, thankfully.
"Pfft, why do you even try Timmy? When you deny that strongly, you make it way too obvious."
"No way! You guys are imagining it! I don't have a crush on anyone, especially not someone as beautiful and gorgeous as Trixie Tang..." Oh yeah, he was getting real good at this.
"Dude come on! You're laughably obvious..."
"I have to agree with AJ, you obviously like Trixie."
"If I tell you, will you drop the issue?"
"Not likely."
"Fine, I like Trixie, but I don't have a chance with someone like her, she's so popular and I'm..."
"A loser?"
"Poor?"
"Cute?"
"Yeah all those- Wait what?!"
Tootie had appeared at their table and had her arm around Timmy's waist.
"Tootie, I don't know how you do that but stop." he pushed her away from him.
He was beginning to wonder if he had brain damage for a while when he told her to come hang out with him, Chester, and AJ. She looked so sad when he saw her sitting alone at lunch, and in several group activities in classes, that he couldn't help but go over and ask her if she wanted to come sit with them at lunch, on the condition that she calm down a little and stop trying to molest him. She begrudgingly agreed and that was that, she had become a part of their little group, she could now count on their help if she ever needed it. Timmy was surprised that she held up her end of the bargain, at least to the best of her abilities.
"Doesn't it bother you Tootie, that he is crushing on another girl, literally right in front of you?"
"Well yeah, but... I can't force him to like me, he needs to make the choice for himself."
"Looks like she really is trying at least."
"Guys, just drop it, I'm out of her league..."
"Wouldn't hurt to try..."
They weren't going to drop this, and it would help divert attention from his actual feelings.
"Fine. You just watch, I'll go over there, and get shot down like every other boy in school, then come back here and you can all laugh at me." Timmy stood up and walked over to the popular kids' table, noticing that a blonde girl at the table was staring dreamy eyed at him. "Veronica..." "Hey Trixie, hey Veronica." He hoped knowing Trixie's and her friend's names would give him a leg up in the conversation.
Trixie responded as he expected. "Who are you? And why are you talking to me?"
Veronica reacted slightly differently, to say the least. "Eep!" she then quickly turned away so he couldn't see her face.
"That was... weird..." "Uh... I'm Timmy Turner, we're in the same classes together, I was just wondering if-"
"Security!" a large hulking individual walked over and picked him up in a hand the size of a small recliner chair, then threw him through the air so he landed perfectly back in his seat at his own lunch table. He was surprised that he landed unharmed.
"Timmy! Are you okay?!" Tootie launched herself at him and began checking him for wounds.
"Tootie."
"Just wait! I'll get her for this!"
"Tootie."
"That bodyguard of hers too!"
"Tootie!"
"What?"
Her arms stopped, wrapped around him. "I'm fine, you can let go of me... Thanks though."
"Oh... sorry." Tootie returned to her position next to him, though she maintained a respectable distance.
There was silence at the table for several seconds, then Chester and AJ burst out laughing, then collapsed to the floor and rolled around, still laughing their asses off.
"Yeah yeah, laugh it up, I'm really frickin' funny..."
"Sorry dude, that was just... too much!" AJ then fell into another fit of laughter.
"Timmy, don't let it bother you, these two may say she's out of your league, but I say you're out of her league."
"Thanks Tootie." he felt bad for Tootie, she seemed to genuinely care for him, albeit in a strange way. He wished she didn't though, if she didn't like him, it wouldn't be so hard to be around her, to constantly rebuff her feelings. He knew it was selfish, in a way, but he didn't want to deal with the guilt he felt from denying Tootie.
Timmy received a text message from his mother then.
Timmy, head home now. We need to talk to you.
He didn't know why his parents sent him texts that made them sound so angry at him, they rarely cared enough to be angry at him, even when Vicky broke things in the house and she blamed him for it, they didn't seem to care. It was good for him, he didn't have to worry about ever being in trouble with his parents, and the lack of attention and affection they showed him was a small price to pay, at least that's what he told himself. Deep down their lack of attention towards him was slowly crushing him, but he kept those feelings in the dark, away from the prying eyes of everyone he knew.
"Well guys, I should head out, my parents want to talk to me about something."
"Okay dude, we'll talk to... you... later... Pahaha!"
AJ and Chester once more fell into fits of laughter.
"Bye Timmy, see you in school."
"Bye Tootie, bye-"
"Pahaha!"
"Yeah."
He started off toward the exit of the mall when he heard footsteps behind him.
"Timmy wait!" it was Tootie.
Timmy instinctively reached for the restraining order in his pocket, then pulled his hand from his pocket and waved towards Tootie, against his better judgment.
"Hey Tootie, everything alright?"
"Is it okay if I um... walk home with you... maybe?"
A voice in his head screamed at him to say no, and with some struggling, he ignored it.
"Uh... sure, I guess..."
She squealed in delight and launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around him.
"You really need to learn some self control..."
"Oh! Sorry!" she detached herself from Timmy and blushed slightly.
"Shall we head out?"
"Um... Yeah."
They boarded the bus and Tootie opted to sit next to Timmy, a bit closer than he would've liked. He decided against telling her to move over a bit, he was beginning to think he was too nice for his own good, and one day it would come to bite him in the ass.
They left the bus and began walking towards his house when Tootie spoke up again.
"Do you mind... walking me to my house?"
"Where Vicky lives? Do you think I have a deathwish? Besides, my parents really wanted me to get home quickly..."
Tootie stared at him with a pathetic expression on her face.
"Why are women so good at swaying my actions?"
"Fine, let's go."
"Yay!" Tootie almost launched herself again, then stopped herself at the last second.
Timmy braced himself, then relaxed when there was no impact.
Tootie instead grabbed his hand and linked her fingers with his. Timmy looked down at his hand and sighed.
"She really isn't going to make this easy..."
"Tootie, you can't just... Ugh... nevermind, just lead the way..."
They walked in surprisingly companionable silence for several minutes before arriving at Tootie's house, sidelong glances at Tootie revealed she was apparently on cloud nine the entire time, she stared straight ahead but had a dreamy expression on her face and was not really looking at anything.
When they made it to her house, they stood on her front porch for several uncomfortable seconds when the front door suddenly opened, revealing Vicky standing in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest.
"So, you two Twerps going steady, or did you just spill glue on your hands?"
"Vicky, you don't have to be so mean all the time..."
"I'm pretty sure I do."
"Well I know you aren't mean all the time, I live with you, remember?" there was a grin on Tootie's face now.
"Yeah, whatever. Move aside, I have to head out, got work to do."
Timmy and Tootie let Vicky go past them, she got into her car, backed it out of the driveway, and sped off down the road. He watched her leave then looked at his hand, still held in Tootie's.
"You can let go of my hand now..."
"Hm? Oh. Right." she released his hand and Timmy absently realized he missed the heat her hand brought.
"Well bye Tootie, I'll see you at school."
"Bye Timmy! Thanks for walking me home!" she quickly scurried inside.
Timmy sighed loudly as he turned to walk toward his house, all the work he had put into getting Tootie to calm down and stop being so obsessive towards him had probably just gone down the drain...
"The price I pay for being too nice..." he always had a hard time bringing himself to be mean, his conscience usually got in the way.
Upon returning to his house, he was met with his parents running back and forth around the house, gathering up clothing for... something.
"Mom?"
"Oh! Timmy you're home! Your dad and I are going out for the weekend. The Dinkleburgs are planning an adults only party and well, you know how your father is when it comes to the Dinkleburgs and anything mildly competitive..."
"Yeah, I know..."
"Oh, don't worry honey, we'll be back in a few days... probably."
That's how it usually was when it came to Timmy's parents, leaving him alone with Vicky and saying they'd be back in a few days, or eventually, or probably.
"So I assume Vicky will be over shortly...?"
"Oh! Thanks for reminding me! I need to call her and ask her to babysit!" his mother then ran off to find her phone, Timmy merely facepalmed.
"They almost left without there being someone here to take care of me?"
In the other room...
Timmy's mother dialed Vicky's number. Vicky was in the middle of shopping at the Dimmsdale mall when her phone rang.
"Grr... always when I'm busy..." she cleared the anger from her voice and answered the phone in her Diabetes inducing voice. "Hello?"
"Vicky, we need you to watch Timmy for the weekend, the Dinkleburgs are throwing a party and my husband and I can't miss it!"
"Doesn't your husband hate the Dinkleburgs?"
"Yes."
"Then why are you-"
"Too many questions! Can you do it?"
"I'm kind of in the middle of something..."
"Oh please Vicky, we really need your help, and surely whatever you're doing isn't that important..."
"Yes. Surely I couldn't possibly be doing anything important, I live to babysit your Twerp!" her own mind was shouting sarcastically.
"I don't know, this is kind of short notice..."
"Vicky-"
"And I normally charge extra for such short notice appointments..."
"Money is no object."
"I'll be right over." at least they were smart enough to use money to attract her over. They still weren't very smart though, they never attempted to haggle or work out a deal, they were all too happy to give her whatever she asked.
Vicky walked her shopping cart out to the parking lot and to her car, she didn't get to finish shopping, so she wasn't going to pay for what she did get.
Back at the Turner house...
"Alright Timmy, I called Vicky, she should be here pretty soon."
"Can't you guys ever trust me to be alone?"
"No, we can't!" his mother said that much too whimsically.
"Ugh... fine. I'd bring up the whole 'evil babysitter' thing, but I don't think it works anyway..."
"Hm? What was that? I was daydreaming about what a great and not evil babysitter Vicky is!"
"I rest my case..." it was fine though, he had a plan for dealing with Vicky, one that was sure to work.
There was a knock at the front door. "Oh! That must be Vicky! She's so fast and punctual! You really are lucky to have her as a babysitter!"
"Yeah, I sure am..."
Mrs. Turner opened the front door and greeted Vicky.
"Vicky, thank you so much for coming out on such short notice. I really hope you weren't busy..."
"Well I was in the middle of-"
"Oh, who am I kidding? You likely didn't have anything important to do anyway!"
"Grr..." Vicky could feel her facade breaking.
"Well, we really should be going, bye Timmy, bye Vicky! We'll see you two in a few days!"
Vicky and Timmy stood in the doorway, waving bye to Timmy's parents, before Vicky closed the door and looked over at Timmy with a predatory smile, her head swimming with thoughts of how she could torture him in retribution for his parents not caring that she had a life. He stared at her with a smile of his own, a dreamy expression on his face.
"T-twerp?" her voice betrayed her, she practically squeaked.
Timmy merely continued staring at her, his expression unchanging.
"It's kinda creepy, he looks just like Tootie does when she looks... at... him..." Realization dawned on Vicky. "Oh no. No no no no no! It's just my imagination, just my imagination! He can't- He likes Tootie... or Tootie likes him! Not- not this!"
"Timmy?" she didn't even realize she used his real name and not Twerp until the words had already left.
Timmy took her using his real name the wrong way and lunged forward, pulling her into a hug not unlike the ones he had become familiar with thanks to Tootie.
"What the-!" she froze as his arms wrapped around her, she couldn't even bring herself to say anything, too stunned to do anything but stare down at the boy who had her encased in an almost vise-like grip.
"Hm... maybe I'm being a little too... Tootie here..." Timmy thought to himself. He reached behind himself and produced a large bouquet of red roses. "Good thing I paid attention to all those magicians on TV..." "Here Vicky, for you."
Vicky took the roses from him and looked them over, giving them a quick sniff that she hoped he wouldn't notice, then took a deep breath.
"What the hell is going on here?!"