"Finally..." Timmy said with a sigh as he opened his front door.

It had been a long day of tests, quizzes, exams, and accusations of having fairies by Crocker, so Timmy was-

"I'm beat."

Well there ya go.

"Timmy! Great news!"

He was already doubting this claim as his mother burst into the living room from the kitchen. "What's that?" his voice was already monotone from fatigue.

"Your great aunt... Edna is sick, your father and I are going over to check up on her and the day spa she happens to live in!"

"Why is this great news?"

"Because you get to hang out with your favorite babysitter!" thin but strong arms wrapped around him from behind, pulling him into a stranglehold. Though it was more commonly known as a 'hug'.

Right. Vicky would save the strangling for when his parents were gone.

He looked up at her with bored eyes; he didn't even have the energy to be afraid at the moment. "Hey Vicky." he was too sapped of energy to even greet her with disdain.

"Don't worry about your Great Aunt Whatever-her-name-is, I'm sure she'll be just fine! In the meantime... we're going to have lots of fun! Just me and you, my favorite Twerp!"

Timmy inwardly sighed. It wasn't enough that she could do whatever she wanted to him when his parents weren't home, she had to convince them that 'Twerp' was a term of endearment. Now she could say it even in front of them and they were none the wiser.

"Well... bye, you two!" before Timmy realized it, his parents were already rushing out the door and into their car, leaving him at the mercy of the beast.

"Ugh..." Vicky untangled her arms from Timmy like he had some sort of disease and fell into the couch. "So how was school?"

Seriously? Was she really asking about his school life? Since when did she give a damn? Still... having someone to talk to about it was better than no one...

"Well Crocker-"

"Oh wait, I don't care. Do your chores." Vicky picked up the remote and turned on the TV. "That wasn't a request." she didn't look at him, but the dangerous edge in her voice suggested she meant business, much like every other day when she told him to do his chores.

As he walked to the kitchen and grabbed the mop from the closet, he thought about what he had been told. 'Growing up is great! No more babysitters, making your own decisions, being able to watch all those movies you were too young to...' Except whoever said that didn't have parents like Timmy did, or an evil babysitter like Vicky.

He was fourteen now, old enough to no longer need a babysitter by nearly anyone elses standards... But his parents weren't anyone else. The way things were going, Vicky would be a constant in his life for the rest of his life. It might not be so bad if it weren't for the fact that she made his life miserable and was pure evil. After all, she was(much as he hated to admit it) easy on the eyes. Her creamy white skin, her slightly thin figure with just the right amount of curves, the light dusting of freckles on her cheeks, her fiery hair, and, of course, the eyes. Eyes you could get lost in for days...

Timmy stopped and looked around. He was still in the kitchen and had been mopping the same spot for the last fifteen minutes now. With a dry mop no less.

"Here I am again, daydreaming about my babysitter... like some kind of... well, like most teenagers my age, actually..."

"Oh? And in what ways are you daydreaming about me?"

"Of course." he was still too tired to realize exactly how much trouble he was in, but his mind was slowly working to try and put the thought together. "What's that, Vicky?"

"Don't play dumb with me. I've been doing this long enough to know that you aren't dumb."

That sounded dangerously close to... a compliment?

Timmy's brain was now working at about half capacity, so it alerted him to what he had said. "Oh..." "I didn't say anything! N-nope! I- I- just... and the daydreaming... um..."

Vicky stepped forward and took the mop from Timmy, then threw it to her left, embedding it in the far wall. "I'm pretty sure you said something about daydreaming..." she came closer, causing Timmy to instinctively take a step back.

"You er... misheard?"

"Daydreaming about me, to be exact..." she was grinning now as she took another step forward. "Weren't you?"

Timmy took several more steps back, causing him to back into the cabinet behind him. "Er... no... I... I misspoke! I'm really tired today and-"

Vicky shot forward, pinning him between her and the cabinet. "I thought I misheard?"

Timmy looked down, hoping to avoid looking her in the eye. His eyes instead fell on her chest. After several seconds of distracted thought, Timmy opted for looking Vicky in the eyes.

"I saw that."

"How could you not?" "Saw what?" Timmy laughed nervously.

Vicky leaned in ever closer, their noses now brushed against each other lightly. "I thought I told you not to play dumb?"

"I-I-I... I'm not!" he tried to wriggle form her grasp to no avail. "How are you this strong?!"

"So... got a crush on your babysitter?" she turned his head with her finger so he was looking at her again, noses touching. She was evidently going to ignore his question. "But... do you like me for me?" she spoke in a sultry voice, her eyes half-lidded. "Or..."

Timmy felt Vicky grab his hand and place it on her hip.

"Are you just after a more... base need?"

"...What?!" Timmy pulled back his hand as if he had just been burned. "W-what are you doing?!"

"The question isn't 'What am I doing' the question is 'What aren't you doing?'" Vicky leaned in and brushed her lips against his. "This is what you want, isn't it?"

"I-"

"Don't answer that." Vicky leaned in again and brought their lips together.

They felt soft, softer than he would have imagined for someone like her. He thought they would've been chapped... or poisoned. After several tense seconds, Timmy relaxed and returned the kiss, eliciting a moan of contentment from Vicky, but something didn't feel right... it felt like... he was... falling?

THUMP

"Ow..." yep, he had fallen, faceplanted right onto the kitchen floor.

The door to the living room burst open, revealing Vicky, her hair slightly disheveled from... what? Sleeping perhaps? When did she sleep? They were both just in the kitchen, kissing and-

"The Hell was that- Oh. Just you. I expected you to clean the floor with a mop, not your body, but what-evs." Vicky went back into the living room.

Timmy looked around the kitchen, bewildered. "What happened?" Looking around the kitchen revealed that it was darker... Was it nighttime? A glance at the clock confirmed his suspicions, it was a quarter to nine. The mop he had been using laid on the floor next to him, still dry. "Did I... fall asleep?" that must've been it, he was so tired that he fell asleep leaning on the mop. He must've shifted slightly and caused both him and the mop to tip over. He recalled the dream he just had about Vicky. "I need help..."

"Twerp! Bed! Now!" the shout came from the living room.

"Fine..." not only had he failed to do his chores, but any free time he may have had was wasted too.

Walking through the living room and in front of the TV; eliciting an annoyed growl from Vicky, Timmy ascended the stairs and went into his room, not bothering to greet Cosmo and Wanda, who were likely asleep already anyway. He changed into clothes more fit for sleeping and crawled into bed. "At least Vicky is leaving me alone..." it was something he needed after today.

Timmy shut his bedside light and closed his eyes. It was quiet in his room, Cosmo's normally loud snoring being muffled by the water in the fishbowl. He could still barely hear the TV downstairs, Vicky must've lowered it so she could catch up on her sleep. Outside he could hear the occasional chirp from a cricket, though there were far less of them with the onset of the cold weather.

It was late October, just a few days before Halloween. Vicky had promised Timmy's parents that she would be watching him and his friends this year, much like every year, which basically meant that she'd pretend to watch them. Then, when their trick-or-treating was done, she'd take her 'babysitter's fee'(half their candy) as she called it, and send them home.

It wasn't that Timmy was okay with her doing this, much like he wasn't okay with doing her chores as well as his, or being tortured on a daily basis. It was merely something he had come to accept. Like the fact that his parents didn't care about him, or the fact that Vicky was evil... Or the fact that he had a crush on her, yet was too afraid to even think about it in her presence, nevermind act on it.

Timmy groaned and threw the covers off of himself. "Maybe... hm... worth a shot..." he got out of bed and went over to his closet.

Vicky's POV...

"I can't believe he fell asleep! ...I can't believe I fell asleep... and let him...!" in truth, she wasn't really mad. Whether he did his chores or not no longer affected how much she got paid. His parents just paid her up front and usually didn't care how the house looked when they got back. Though that didn't explain how the house always seemed to get repaired after she left...

"How did he even fall asleep? School can't be that hard... I know, I'm in college, that's hard. But high school? Cake."

THUMP-CLANG

"What now...? Twerp! I said to go to-" actually, she hadn't been up to his room in some time, she wondered if it had changed any? And going up to his room meant that she could show him that he wasn't safe from her anywhere... Vicky grinned evilly to herself and stood up, then climbed the stairs.

Knowing which room was his, she kicked the door in and looked around. "Meh... boring. Same bed, same TV, same computer and dresser, same stupid fish."

The two goldfish looked at her fearfully as she walked over to them.

"Hmph." the fish watched as she put her hand to the side of the fishbowl, expecting her to knock it onto the floor and blame that on Timmy as well. So they were understandably surprised when she instead sprinkled fish food into the bowl, eliciting a squeal of surprise from Cosmo, who began excitedly eating the food. "You two are probably the longest-lived goldfish I've ever seen... he must really care about you... or he's blessed with dumb luck." Vicky stood and looked around the room, Timmy clearly wasn't here... so where was he?

A creaking sound behind her drew her attention to the now ajar closet door. "You're in the closet? Well... I guess all that pink makes sense now... come out here and get to bed!"

No response.

"Fine. I'll come in there and get you!" Vicky moved to the closet door and flung it open.

There was no one inside, just numerous pairs of jeans and pink shirts. "What the?" Vicky looked around, shifting the clothes on the hangers as she did. "This is ridiculous. Come out!"

Again, no response.

It was then that Vicky felt a cold gust from above her. She looked up to find an attic door, hanging down ever so slightly. Pulling it; along with the step ladder, down, she saw that the light in the attic was on and that there was definitely a cold breeze coming in from somewhere up there.

"This is above and beyond the call of duty for a babysitter... and especially for me!" upon reaching the top of the ladder, she climbed into the attic space and looked around. There were several boxes marked 'Christmas' or 'Holiday' and the attic was dusty. Very dusty.

"Atchoo!" Vicky blushed at her own sneeze. If she thought her own sneezes sounded cute... the Twerp would never let her live it down... "Are you up here?!"

"Oh crap..." the voice came from further in the attic, yet it sounded... muffled?

"Thought so." Vicky looked to where the sound came from, one of the skylights was open, which also explained the cold air coming in. Vicky clambered over the various boxes and bins and over to the window. "Get in here!"

"Go away... can't I have some peace? Just for a little while?"

Timmy was answered by Vicky climbing through the skylight and onto the roof. "Where are you?!"

Timmy sighed in annoyance and defeat. "Up here..."

Vicky turned around but crouched when she almost lost her balance.

"Careful..." Timmy rolled his eyes at her lack of carefulness while being on a rooftop. "Last thing I want is for you to get hurt..."

"Huh?" Vicky looked at him, clearly confused at his almost-caring remark.

"...So you could blame your getting hurt on me... not... nevermind..." crushing on Trixie was easy, she always seemed to be so far away; an unattainable goal... Vicky... she was different. Certainly unattainable, but she was closer. He knew her, to an extent anyway, and she knew him. More than he would've liked.

Both POVs...

"What are you even doing up here?" she was right in front of his face now as they both straddled the roof of the house, causing Timmy to jump back in surprise. "What? I'm not that scary."

"Actually, that's exactly the problem..." "I- was just... surprised! That's all... Anyway... I was... stargazing, I guess."

Vicky made a noise that sounded of disbelief. "Since when do you stargaze?"

"Well... not often... I don't really get the chance to, since either you or my parents are here, and I can obviously only do it at night..."

"Obviously. I don't see a telescope though..." Vicky looked around, then craned her neck to see if she could get a look behind him.

"Don't got one." Timmy returned his attention toward the heavens. "Y'know..."

"Hm?" Vicky hadn't turned her attention from Timmy.

"The first few times I came up here, I was scared. Afraid of heights, y'know? And looking up when you're dizzy from it? A hundred times worse. Thought I'd fall the first few times, but I didn't."

"You were afraid of heights?"

"Still am." Timmy continued to look up, almost as if he was in a trance. "I don't think you ever really conquer your fears... just get the courage to deal with them... but they're always there..." he trailed off, the barest hints of a smile tugging at his lips. Vicky looked up at the stars as well now. "You can't see many of them when you're close to the city; the stars, I mean. Even around here, you can't see too many of them; all the lights from the street lamps, headlights from cars, billboards... they drown out the starlight with their own garish luminescence. It's only when you're away from the cities, in the wilderness... or when there's a blackout that you can see them. There are so many of them out there... I wish I could show you..."

Vicky lowered her gaze back to being level with Timmy's. He looked at her after a second, realizing his mistake and blushing. "That- that came out wrong..."

"Hmph. So why do you come up here and look at the stars? I know you never used to do that."

"How do you know? Did you know my closet led up to the attic? Did you know we had an attic? Or skylights for that matter?"

"No. But I know you, better than you'd like I'd wager. So why the sudden stargazing habit? I know you started recently, couldn't have been more than a year ago that you started."

"Hm... last year, right around summertime. Things have been... tough recently. Tests, exams, AJ going to college across the country, Chester moving in with his mom in Washington since his dad died..."

"Trixie kicking you to the curb."

"Of course you'd know about that..."

"She let everyone who was anyone know. You lasted one week, two days, three hours and twenty-eight minutes, according to her profile."

Timmy sighed sadly. "Yeah..." Timmy returned his gaze toward the stars. "Anyway, I was kinda depressed, so I came up here one day-"

"You were gonna jump off the roof."

"No... why would you immediately jump to that?"

"I dunno, you seem the type."

"I seem like the type of person who would attempt suicide?"

"Yep."

"...I actually don't have a proper response for that. But no, I had heard that looking at the stars can be helpful for calming down, so I thought I'd try it. Now everytime I get stressed out or depressed, I come up here for a while... sometimes I just come up here because I can't sleep..."

"You know any constellations?"

"Heh... just a couple... it's never been about learning or science. I just look at them because... I don't know, they give me hope maybe? Or maybe it's like I said, it's calming to just look at the stars?"

"Well..." Vicky scooted closer to Timmy.

"W-what are you doing?" Timmy scooted away from her.

"It's frickin' October! I'm cold up here!" she scooted closer and grabbed the blanket he had wrapped around himself, then pulled him closer; blanket and all. Satisfied, she wrapped the blanket around herself, making sure to leave some for Timmy, but only if he sat right next to her.

Naturally, he opted for freezing to death; untangling himself from the blanket and sitting a foot away, which Vicky took notice of immediately. "What are you doing now?"

"Just... y'know... sitting here... shivering." he was only wearing a t-shirt and shorts now.

"You do know that I'm attempting to share a blanket with you, right?"

"I'm... aware, yes." Timmy continued shivering as a cold gust blew over the house.

"You're gonna get sick if you keep that up..."

"Think I could have my blanket back then?"

"Then I'd get cold and possibly sick. You don't want that, do you? Besides, the blanket is more than big enough for two people to share."

"..."

"Unless you don't want to share it with your attractive babysitter... most guys would kill for this chance..."

"I'm not most guys." Timmy shot back defiantly.

"You didn't deny that I said I was attractive..."

"..."

"I wonder why?"

"..."

"Cat got your tongue?"

Timmy grumbled something into his forearm which now rested on his knees, both of which were up near his chest to try and keep warm.

"Hm? Couldn't hear you over all that mumbling..."

"I said that I'm trying not to get close to you..."

"Oh? Why's that?" Vicky scooted closer.

Timmy moved farther away in response. "Because I don't want to."

"Am I that bad?" Vicky moved even closer.

"In a word, yes." Timmy moved away until he was pushing up against the house's chimney.

"If I was so bad, you wouldn't have told me you were afraid of heights, or that you like to stargaze, and you definitely wouldn't have let me take this." she fluttered the blanket at him as she moved closer.

"It was a weak moment on my part. Better to have someone to talk to than no one at all..." he looked over at Vicky only to come face to face with her. "Gah! You want me to fall off the roof?!" Timmy wobbled slightly, but froze when Vicky wrapped the blanket(and her arm) around him and leaned into him, pushing him up against the chimney.

"No, I don't. Who would pay me if you got hurt? Your parents certainly wouldn't."

Timmy looked over at Vicky, who was now looking at the city in the distance... or was she looking at the stars? He couldn't tell. "What do you want?"

"Huh?" Vicky was shaken from her own stargazing and looked at Timmy, again, her face was far closer than he would've liked. "What do you mean 'What do I want'?"

"You torture me, make my parents think I'm terrible, make fun of me for Trixie dumping me, force me to do your homework, steal my candy on Halloween, keep me from seeing my friends... Then you turn right around and save me from Francis, help me with my homework, let me go without doing chores, that... time in the avalanche..."

"We said we weren't going to bring that up again..." Vicky spoke dangerously.

"Whatever... the point is... I can't figure you out... even more so lately..."

"What do you mean by that? Lately? I haven't changed... if anything, you're the one who's- You've changed." realization began to worm it's way through all of Vicky's thoughts. "The reason you haven't pushed me away as much... Do you... like me?"

Timmy shifted uncomfortably in her grasp.

"Twe- ...Timmy?" she looked at him.

He looked away, finding the chimney to his right far more interesting.

"Hey." she poked his side, causing him to jump slightly.

"Since when do you call me Timmy?" his gaze didn't leave the eroded bricks of the chimney.

"Answer my question first."

"I'd prefer you just forget about it."

"Well too bad. Tell me. Now." she tried intimidating him into confessing, making him press even harder into the chimney and clam up. "Maybe that tactic isn't wise here..." "I won't make fun of you."

No response once again.

"I promise." "Little as I'm sure that means..."

"I don't know. Not for sure..."

"How can you not be sure if you like someone? You either do, or you don't."

"Yeah, if only it was that easy with you." Timmy laughed humorlessly as he looked back to the stars. "Liking you is like... it's like liking being too close to the sun. Or handling poisonous snakes... Or torture. You're a sadist. I'm not a masochist."

"Yet you still put up with me. You've had your chances to get rid of me, the avalanche, Ricky, the time I almost got crushed by the steamroller. If I'm so bad for you, why save me?"

A single drop of rain fell onto Timmy's forehead. "It's starting to rain..."

"Stop being so evasive! I want answers and I want 'em now!"

Timmy jumped slightly, but didn't shrink back this time. "You think I'm the type of person that would let harm come to another? When a disaster happens and you see all those people running away, trampling each other so they can save themselves, you know where I am?"

"Nowhere near the disaster?"

"Hah. Under normal circumstances, yes. But if I'm right there, in the heat of the moment, I try my best to help people, it's what more people need to do."

"You didn't just save me because I'm a fellow human being-"

"I did at first." he interrupted her. "You want answers, yet you keep interrupting me and asking more questions!" "The avalanche, the car that almost hit you-"

She had forgotten about that. It was last year, some drunk driver nearly creamed her around Christmastime in the Dimmsdale Mall parking lot, she was alone that day, but Timmy's parents had driven him up there to help with getting their Christmas tree.

He noticed it before she did and yelled to her, but she was listening to music that was far too loud and couldn't hear him. Thinking quickly(and possibly recklessly) Timmy ran at her and tackled her, the car missing them both by mere inches and crashing into several parked cars.

He asked if she was okay.

She yelled at him for getting slush all over her coat.

Ha offered his own, just her size, despite being a boys coat.

She greedily snatched it away and threw her now soggy coat at him. "Thanks Twerp."

He watched her walk off. "I don't know what I expected..."

Another droplet fell, landing on Vicky's head and stirring her from her thoughts. "Were you... saying something? I wasn't listening... er... sorry."

Timmy sighed. "You know how hormones are... I wanted to get your attention, give you some reason to like me... I found myself hoping that I'd get the chance again; the chance to save you from... something..."

"You were hoping I'd get hurt?!" Vicky narrowed her eyes at him.

"No! Not... not like that... I already told you I don't want any harm to come to you... I- I wouldn't have let you get hurt... I just hoped I'd get the chance to keep you from getting hurt..."

"I don't need a knight in shining armor, Timmy. You know that's not my style."

"Didn't stop me from trying. Anyway... it doesn't really matter, we're too... different. I give, you take. I'm cold, your hot. I love, you hate. I save, you don't wanna be saved..."

"I don't need saving."

"So, when the car almost hit you, you didn't need me to save you? The steamroller almost crushed you, still didn't need me? When you were in the avalanche, you would've been fine without me? If we had never met, would your babysitting gig be as good as it is today?"

She felt a hand on her shoulder; firm, yet shaking slightly as it pushed her back, though just a little. "I-"

"Admit it. You need me just as much as I need you."

"First of all, I don't need anyone but myself. Second... what do you mean you need me?"

"Damn." That coin had two sides. He needed her because she was the catalyst that brought Cosmo and Wanda into his life. Without her, he wouldn't have them, without her, he couldn't keep them. Yet... on the other side of the coin was the growing affection he felt, it didn't belong, it was wrong to even think. But some part of him had grown attached to this self-proclaimed evil babysitter. It wasn't love, God it wasn't love... but he did like her. It could certainly become love... spending time with her everyday... "I... don't know what I'd do if you stopped being a part of my life." he practically forced the words out due to his nervousness.

Vicky waited for him to say more, but he clearly wasn't going to unless she said something in response. Sucking in a breath that was just barely shaky, she spoke. "Even... even with everything I've done, you still feel that way?"

"Wouldn't have said it if I didn't..." his cheeks turned pinker... From the cold? Or was he embarrassed?

"Then tell me. Tell me how you feel."

"What? Like... right here? On my roof?"

"Right here, right now."

The sky opened up and it began to rain heavily, though the thick blanket kept them relatively dry.

"I- I like you Vicky. I have for a while now."

"Hm... for a confession... I'd give you a B... plus. But mostly because of all that stuff you said earlier." she leaned in and her nose touched his, slightly cold and damp from the rain.

He leaned in a bit closer and brushed his lips against hers, like in the dream, but this was very, very real.

Vicky pulled back and put her index finger on his lips to silence him before he even had enough conscious thought to speak. "Don't think your first kiss will be that easy. Maybe Trixie gives 'em away like candy, but with me, you'll have to earn it."

"A-alright..."

"First things first. How do you propose we get down from here?" the rain intensified slightly.

"Easy." Timmy untangled himself from the blanket and Vicky's arms, then slid down next to the open skylight. "See?"

Vicky tossed the blanket at him, hitting him in the face. "Show off. I'm doubting that little speech about being afraid of heights..." she began tentatively sliding down the roof, but the dampness caused her to slide farther than she would've liked and she kept going over the edge of the roof. "AH!" Vicky closed her eyes, waiting for the impact and possible crunching sound, but there was only the sound of the wind and rain. She opened her eyes and looked around. Timmy had caught her right hand and was holding her up.

"Yeah, first time I tried that, I over shot the window and fell into my mom's flowers... her uh... rosebushes."

Vicky looked down to see that there were, in fact, rosebushes below her. Though they were brown and skeletal. "That must've been fun."

"Oh yeah. So much fun that I just can't bear to repeat the incident." Timmy pulled her back onto the roof and into the skylight. "You okay- mmf!"

Vicky had chosen to interrupt him with her lips. Against his. She quickly pulled away and clambered over the boxes nearby, heading for the attic door. "Maybe I do need saving... sometimes."

Timmy gazed once more at the stars, quickly being blocked out by the rainclouds and smiled.


A/N: Muse is back, demanding more oneshots. We'll see.