Timmy's parents were arguing again. After Vicky left, they weren't able to go out on weekends anymore and had begun fighting. It seems that the love and care had gone out before that and they were simply trying to keep it together by going on endless vacations. Timmy had begun crying when he decided to leave. He picked up his toothbrush and left a note explaining he was heading over to his friend's house. He was barely twelve and it was getting close to nighttime, but he could care less. The only question that remained was: "where the hell do I go?"

Timmy considered his options; A.J. was farthest away and Chester was closest. But Timmy began remembering her; the person who was cruelest to him for his childhood, Vicky. She was the most vicious person he ever knew. She made everyone's life around her a living hell and took the greatest joy in the misery she caused. What's worse, she was harshest on Timmy himself. But whenever Timmy thought of her, he couldn't get angry. Of all the cruel things she did to him and his friends, he didn't think back on them with rage or fear.

He now knew where he was going while his parents duked it out, but before he did he had to get something. Something important. He slipped it into a box and set out to Vicky's house. It was a fairly long walk from home and by the time he arrived he was already tired. He approached and knocked, and Vicky and Tootie's mother opened the door.

"Uh, hello Mrs. Valentine. I'm here for the sleepover with Tootie."

"…A boy? I don't think that's very appropriate."

"Don't worry, I'm gay."

The lady looked over the young kid, and luckily he still wore his girlish pink shirt and hat.

"Oh… okay then. Come in! You're always welcome here; we don't judge in this household."

"Ok" Timmy let out a sigh of relief.

He had only been in the house a few times before. As he entered, he could hear a girlish shriek from the living room.

"TIMMY! Timmy, Timmy, Timmy what brings you here!?"

"Hey Tootie. I'm here for the sleepover we planned. Remember?" Timmy winked at her.

"Yes! The sleepover! I almost forgot! We had such big plans! Watching rom-coms, telling scary stories, practicing ki... kickboxing! Yeah!"

Mrs. Valentine spoke up "I don't think you should be practicing anything violent like that, kids. You should stick to the safer stuff!"

Suddenly a timer went off in the house.

"Ooh, dinners ready. Good thing I made extra."

Several minutes later

The table was set but there were only four spots prepared. Timmy wondered aloud "Where am I gonna sit?"

Tootie's dad was the one to respond "Right here, of course!" He patted one of the seats.

"But what about Vicky?" The mere mention of her name seemed to induce stress in everyone around.

"Uh, she doesn't like to eat with the family. She just comes down to get some food before going back up to her room" Tootie's dad seemed to be afraid of Vicky. "But that doesn't matter right now. So tell us about yourself!"

"Well, me and Tootie have been friends at school for a while. I don't…" he paused

Everyone turned to see her come into the kitchen. She bore a perpetual frown, a sort of animalistic snarl that would always bring out everyone's flight-or-fight instincts. Yet when she saw Timmy, her expression changed for a split second. Most people wouldn't have been able to notice it, but Timmy did. It was a mixture of surprise and pain. He's seen her with that face before; it's always when they're together. Timmy tried to return to the conversation at hand.

"As… as I was saying, me and Tootie usually hang out at school and I thought-"

SHREEEEEEEEEEEEEK

It sounded like something between nails on a chalkboard and a dying banshee. Everyone turned towards where the sound was coming from. They were shocked; Vicky was pulling a chair to the table, being deliberately slow to make sure the obnoxious sound lasted as long as possible. Vicky then took her seat on the opposite side of the table from Timmy. The room was silent for a few moments. Then Vicky spoke

"Hey mom, hey dad, hey sis', hey twerp."

Mrs. Valentine was the first to speak up "Uh, Vicky how nice of you to join us." Her voice was shaking.

"Isn't this what families do? We eat together, play together, laugh together, die together." She made sure to put a hint of menace in that last one. The room had gone completely silent.

All Timmy could think was "at least I don't have to talk about my life now."

The living room

The dinner conversation had died once Vicky joined the table with only an occasional "pass the salt." While everyone else was filled with fear of Vicky as if she might snap and kill them at any time, Timmy couldn't help but feel at ease with her there. Over the months as he had stopped caring about his old crush Trixie, he began feeling something for Vicky. But it was different; it was so much better than what he felt earlier. And when she simply decided to stop babysitting him, he couldn't help but feel torn up.

Timmy and Tootie helped clean up before they set up sleeping bags in the living room while Vicky retreated to her room. Most of the movies they watched were silly and sappy, but enjoyable. The last one they watched had been a horror movie about a deranged babysitter hunting her victims. Luckily Tootie's parents had already gone to bed by then.

"How appropriate," Tootie said as the credits began to role.

Timmy saw that Tootie was getting angry.

"Why did Vicky have to come and ruin dinner. We were having the nicest time introducing you to my family, but then she has to come and sit at the table."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure she had her reasons."

"Yeah, she wanted to ruin our time together. If you weren't here, she would have gone back up to her room. But she couldn't pass up a chance at ruining my happiness could she?"

As Timmy was thinking about a response, he noticed Tootie point at his jacket on a chair.

"What's that?" she asked. She was pointing towards the small box in the inner pocket. This was a question that Timmy did not want to answer. The item in the box was something he was planning to give to Vicky when he had the chance, but if Tootie found it she would get the wrong idea. Timmy had to think of something to tell her.

"Its… nothing important. Just something I left in my jacket from earlier."

"Then you don't mind if I take a peak, do you?" She grinned mischievously.

"Wait, no! It's actually something… I was… I'm not... just drop it Tootie, please."

"Oh dear, Timmy has a secret. I wonder what it could be!" She teased.

"Can you please just drop it. And don't go peaking in the night either!"

"Ok."

"Promise?"

"Ok, I won't look."

"Thanks" Timmy yawned. It was well past his usual bed time and although it was the beginning of the weekend he felt he needed to get some sleep. But he didn't fully trust Tootie and he wasn't sure when he would get a chance to give Vicky her present. He walked over to his jacket and took the box, sliding it into the side of his pants before returning to his sleeping bag.

"Timmy doesn't trust me; How rude." She threw him a Cheshire grin. Now all Timmy needed was a way to sneak up to Vicky's room.

Ugh, I wish something could give me an excuse to go up and see her.

"ARE YOU READY TO ROCK!"

Timmy jumped as loud music began blaring throughout the house.

"What the hell?"

"Damn it, Vicky! She won't even let us sleep! This is the worst sleepover ever!"

"Well your mom and dad are going to make her turn it down eventually, right?"

Tootie shook her head. "They're afraid of her, and she'd probably just laugh at me if I try to make her stop."

This was the best chance Timmy was going to get that didn't involve trying to stay up until one o'clock and hoping Vicky was still up.

"I'll… I'll go up and try to get her to turn it down."

"Are you nuts?! She's like a wolf! She'll eat you alive!"

"Hey, I'm going to need some sleep so I might as well try." Timmy got up and walked up the stairs. He heard Tootie say "my knight in shining armor" dreamily, thinking he couldn't hear it over the screams of whoever was singing. More like a suicidal lamb trying to ask a lion out on a date.

Timmy approached Vicky's door and began to tense up. This is probably the stupidest idea I've ever had. Still, you only live once. He gulped and knocked on the door. No answer, so he knocked harder and tried to shout over the music. This is never going to work. She probably doesn't like you. She's probably going to laugh in your face for even thinking she was willing to be with you. Timmy was contemplating heading back downstairs and shoving lint in his ears for the night when the music volume lowered and Vicky's door opened. Well, no time like the present.

"The hell do you want, twerp?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"No," she replied while slamming the door. However, Timmy had shoved his foot in to keep it open. Ouch.

"Sorry but I really need to speak with you." Vicky was getting irritated as Timmy forced himself into the room. "I've been thinking a lot about you… and me. And I-"

"I told you no, twerp!" Vicky was getting angry.

"Vicky please listen to me for just a minute!" Vicky rushed past Timmy and opened up her closet. She took out an ax and laughed her usual maniacal laugh, but Timmy could see it was forced. "I'm not leaving, Vicky" Just then, she took a swing at him. He just stood there and took the blow and crumpled to the floor.

"Ow"

"Why didn't you dodge or run?!" Vicky shouted with regret in her voice.

"Because I know that ax isn't real. Well, it's real metal, at least part of it, but it isn't going to kill anyone. All your medieval weapons are fake; I noticed about a year ago."

"Wh-what do you… why are you here? You want me to turn the music off?"

"Well yes, but there has been something else I've been needing to tell you" Timmy closed the door to Vicky's bedroom and locked it. Locked in with her. Timmy then walked over to Vicky's bed and sat down.

"I've… let's just start at the beginning. I used to think you were the most horrible person on the planet. I was scared of you like everyone else. I was terrified. But… remember when we were stuck in the cave? When we were surrounded by snow and sure we were going to die? I noticed something about you then…"

"Get to the point twerp."

"I'm getting there, just… When we were saved and promised not to tell anyone about being stuck in there, that's when I stopped hating you. I saw that even though you can act vicious and mean, you're still human. But I also started noticing other things. I realized that the weapons you threatened me and the other kids with were fake. I noticed that even when you got the angriest with us you still wouldn't beat us up, and, heck, you'd actually save us from bullies who wouldn't mind hitting a kid."

Vicky was breathing heavily. The shell she used to protect herself was faltering. Timmy could see this and continued.

"I realized I wasn't in danger of any permanent damage, and I started to… enjoy our time together, or at least the times I wasn't scrubbing dishes or cleaning the floor with my own toothbrush. I also noticed things about you, Vicky. Even though I always had the worst of it, it always seemed like it hurt you, too. Like you were hurting me so I couldn't get close."

"T-Timmy, please go" Vicky's voice was wavering, but Timmy wasn't finished. He pulled out the box he had hidden under his shirt.

"I wanted to give this to you," he said as he opened the box

"A… rose?" Vicky's voice was as small as a mouse now.

"About a week ago when I was cutting the grass, I tripped and fell on my mom's flowers. I landed right on the rosebush. Later that day I was laying in the bed and I thought about how roses are thorny and can hurt you if you aren't careful around them, but that doesn't mean they aren't beautiful. Just like you, Vicky. So all this, I'm trying to say I like you. A lot."

Timmy was out of breath by the time he finished. Then he felt arms wrap around him. He could feel Vicky's heartbeat racing and hear her begin crying.

"Dumb kid. You don't know what you're talking about." They stayed like that for what seemed like forever before Vicky finally let go and stood up, her eyes red.

"Timmy, you should go back downstairs. I'll… I'll see you tomorrow." Timmy had a feeling he shouldn't press Vicky any further and decided to leave. As he was heading down the stairs he heard the music turn off.

Timmy slipped back into his sleeping bag when Tootie turned to face him.

"Timmy, how did you get her to turn the music off?"

"I just tried being nice and it seemed to work."

"That never works. My mom and dad would try being nice, or grounding her, or anything before they became too afraid to even look at her and nothing ever worked. Why would she care what you said?"

"I have no idea. I guess she was having an off day."

"I guess so. Anyways, I'm exhausted. Goodnight Timmy."

"Goodnight Tootie."

Saturday

Timmy had slept peacefully through the night, a heavy burden finally lifted off his shoulders as he confessed his feelings. Hopefully Vicky will lighten up a bit now.

"WAKE UP TWERPS!" Timmy and Tootie were jolted out of their sleep by the sound of Vicky's voice. Vicky seemed to be back to her old ways with a renewed vigor in her voice. Tootie squealed in fear while Timmy simply let out a disappointed sigh. She's not going to make this easy, is she?

"Now then, kids. Mom and Dad have decided to go on a little weekend getaway on account of last night's dinner going so well." She was using her sickly sweet voice again. I guess she thinks I'm a dumb kid trying to be friendly. She doesn't realize I want what she wants.

"So that means I get to watch you two while they regain the courage to come back. We're going to have so much fun together! And by fun I mean you get to paint the shed, Timmy, and Tootie gets to clean the kitchen with her toothbrush!" If a voice could give someone diabetes, this would be it. Quick; how do I switch me and Tootie around?

Timmy then let out a sigh of relief. "At least I won't be in the house."

"Oh good, while in that case Tootie can go outside and you can scrub the bathroom." Normally Vicky would have caught on that Timmy was trying to change things around, but she was still unbalanced from the night before. Tootie was given a bucket of paint and the smallest of brushes and pushed out the door while Vicky jumped on the couch and turned on the T.V. Timmy could spot an uneasiness behind her eyes. The night before had shaken her up, but she still wasn't going to admit her feelings. What do I do to convince her that I love her? What the hell do I do? And then it hit him. He gulped and then started going up the stairs.

"Where the hell do you think you're going, twerp?"

"I'm going to get my toothbrush from the bathroom."

Timmy hurried up then turned to Vicky's room and opened the door.

Now this is definitely the stupidest idea I've ever had. Timmy looked around the room, and spotted the rose on Vicky's dresser. He smiled for a second before realizing he wouldn't have long before Vicky got irritated and came looking for him. Where would she keep it? In her dresser somewhere? No, that's too obvious. No one in their right mind would come in here, but she still wouldn't risk it. Timmy then remembered that she took an ax out of a bag in her closet. He opened the closet door and began digging frantically through a black bag carrying Vicky's favorite torture instruments. Mace. Ax. Pepper Spray. Bottle of poison. Creepy clown doll. Ah ha! There it is! Timmy looked in the mirror in Vicky's room.

"Well, time to get started."

Back in the living room

Vicky had been slouching on the couch flipping through the channels when she landed on a nature documentary. The show was exploring the lives of animals in Alaska.

"The arctic hare lives in the northern reaches of the world, where few humans call home."

By this time Timmy had walked down the stairs. When Vicky spotted him, her jaw dropped.

Timmy was wearing his old maid outfit that Vicky used to torture him. By now, though, it was a size too small and left little to the imagination. Timmy walked in front of Vicky, carrying his toothbrush into the kitchen.

"However, the arctic hare faces many hazards in its' little existence. Among them is the arctic wolf; one of the most cunning and dangerous predators in this cold environment."

Timmy then sat down and began to scrub the kitchen floor as Vicky watched. Timmy made sure he was scrubbing in a way that showed him off.

"In this harsh land, the arctic wolf cannot let a meal go to waste. Its hunger is only matched by its ferocity."

Vicky licked her lips. Her face was turning bright red and her breathing had become heavy. Timmy faced away from Vicky.

"The arctic hare is oblivious to the danger approaching from behind."

Timmy then positioned himself on all fours, showing off his poor fitting clothes.

"The wolf closes in, its instincts honed to perfection."

Timmy was sensually scrubbing the floor when he lifted up his skirt and pulled his underwear upwards into a thong shape.

"The wolf strikes. The hare is helpless against what comes nex-"

Timmy heard the T.V. turn off and turned to face the living room. Before he could react or stand up Vicky had picked him up by the waist. She carried him to the couch and threw him into it. Timmy looked up into her eyes. Those beautiful pink irises. Vicky had a ravenous look in her eyes, and she bore a vicious grin. His heart was racing.

"Scared yet, my little twerp?"

"A little."

"Good."

Vicky then kissed Timmy, or rather she forced her mouth onto his. She was kissing and shoving her tongue into his mouth and caressing his neck. Timmy responded by pulling her into a hug and kissing her back. Vicky broke off their kiss and started nibbling on Timmy's ear. He moaned and began putting kissing Vicky's neck.

"I love you, Vicky!" Goaded by his words, Vicky pulled back and looked at him, so much smaller than her. She proceeded to rip open his shirt and expose his chest.

"Damn it, Vicky! I'm not taking this shit from you anymore!" Tootie screamed into the house.

For a second, Timmy felt pain, sadness, and terror all at once. What if Tootie sees? What if she tells my parents? What if they take Vicky away? Then he heard Vicky roar. It was bestial and inhuman; a sound he had never heard from her before. It was enough for Timmy to remember the fear he used to have for her. Vicky was swift; she stood up, leaving Timmy hiding on the couch as she marched towards the door. Tootie began shaking in place as Vicky moved in front of Tootie, making sure to block her sight into the living room.

"V-V-ick-icky?" Tootie was like a mouse before a tiger and Vicky's sheer aura was enough to make Tootie back up towards the door.

"Tootie, get out" Vicky whispered.

Tootie had stumbled back outside and ran, leaving an angry Vicky standing in the doorway. She slammed the door and locked it before returning to the living room. Vicky took her seat on the couch and pulled Timmy into an embrace.

"Damn it, that was too close." Vicky said as she hugged Timmy possessively.

"Yeah…. Let's stop for now." They stayed on the couch trying to steady their breath and calm down. After a couple minutes, Timmy spoke

"I was thinking if maybe you could start babysitting again? My parents can't wait to get out of the house, but they still think I'm too young to be on my own and me running away like an idiot will probably scare them enough to ask you again. Then we could spend time together without anyone knowing."

"Sounds good. I'd like that." Vicky smiled and held him closer.

"We should probably go get Tootie. I don't want her to get hurt out there. "

"…yeah, and we don't need her telling all your friends about how we spent the day alone after making her leave. Go get dressed, my lil' twerp." Vicky was disappointed that their time was cut short.

Timmy stood up and went upstairs. After going back into Vicky's room he changed back into his regular clothes. He looked at himself in the mirror and couldn't help but grin.

"Best sleepover ever."