A/N: My first Jimmy Neutron fic. It feels nice to have written one since the show has held such a special place in my heart since childhood. Jimmy and Cindy were definitely one of my original OTPs. I hope I've done them justice here. Also, I'd like to thank The J.A.M. a.k.a. Numbuh i for beta reading this story.
"All my favorite conversations,
Always made in the A.M."
— A.M. by One Direction
The words of the book in front of her were beginning to blur. Cindy picked up the travel mug that sat beside her, throwing back a large swig of unsweetened coffee. She winced as it traveled over her tongue and down her throat. Typically, she preferred her energy drinks for late night sessions like this, but she'd been drinking too many of them lately. That level of caffeine was a necessary evil, but Cindy knew she needed less sugar in her diet. Hence the 'unsweetened' part of the coffee she was drinking. It wasn't pleasant, but it got the job done. That was all she cared about.
She glanced over at her laptop screen, checking one more time to see if anyone—namely, her boyfriend—had logged on since the last time she'd looked. As if Skype wouldn't alert her that he was calling the second he got on. She was just hopeful. They'd agreed to talk around midnight, and it was nearing two A.M.
There was plenty for Cindy to do, of course. The textbook and notes laid out on the desk in front of her were proof of that. If Cindy thought the first three years of college had been hectic, this year was a whole new level of busy. With her senior defense coming up in a week, she felt as if she was going to lose her mind at any second.
Plenty of people liked to point out that more sleep would help with that, but Cindy only snapped at them. She would sleep when she had time to sleep.
Of course, Cindy's late nights weren't precipitated only by a need to complete school work, even if that was always a component. They were also a result of her boyfriend spending all day in the lab, only leaving late at night. Or early in the morning depending on your perspective.
While many would disapprove of Cindy's late night studying sessions, Jimmy's need to handle dangerous chemicals or whatever else he messed with in the lab while running on a few hours of sleep had to be worse. It made her feel better about her own habits. Even if it did leave her annoyed that he had so little time to talk to her.
She did understand. Jimmy would graduate in May too, and his current research project was consuming every waking moment until then. Cindy got it. What had truly brought her and Jimmy together had been academics after all. They understood each other that way.
She almost thought that they understood each other too well. Back in high school, when it had come time to make a decision about what college they'd be attending, Cindy had been distraught.
Jimmy was going to MIT. That had always been his plan, and no one was surprised when he got in. Cindy applied to all of the Ivy Leagues, knowing that it was expected of her, but Harvard had been the one she was shooting for. Close to MIT, it would be the most convenient if she and Jimmy planned to make things work in the long run, but that wasn't the only reason why she strived for it. Harvard was the college. The oldest. The most prestigious. It was everything Cindy was supposed to want. The fact that her boyfriend would be close by was merely a bonus.
Then she'd been rejected, and Cindy's perfect future had come crashing down around her.
It was difficult in the immediate aftermath to determine whether Cindy or her mother was more disappointed. The one person who certainly wasn't upset was Jimmy. Cindy had grown increasingly frustrated as he showed little regret that she wouldn't be joining him in Cambridge until one day she'd exploded, demanding to know why he didn't want her in the same city as him.
"It's not that I don't want you in Cambridge," he'd replied with a remarkable sense of calm. Jimmy had grown competent at calming Cindy down over the years, no longer rising to the bait like he had when they were children. "What I do want is for you to be happy. You would have done fine at Harvard, but Yale's where you want to go. You know that. I know that. Harvard was where you thought you were meant to go, but Yale is for you. It fits, and they think so too."
He'd motioned to the Yale acceptance letter that Cindy had left lying on her desk since it had arrived, and she'd realized in that moment that he was right. Yale was where she'd always known she belonged. The campus visit had confirmed it, but she'd pushed the thoughts aside, thinking that giving up on Harvard would be a failure on her part.
But the rejection from Harvard and Jimmy's words were enough to convince her that going to Yale was what she was meant to do, and four years later, she couldn't regret it.
Even if she had grown tired of Jimmy taking so long to show up to the Skype dates that had become a quintessential part of their relationship over the last several years.
Cindy loved Jimmy. You didn't date the same person from elementary school on unless you were committed, but the long distance relationship thing had reached its peak level of annoyance. She wasn't sure how much longer she could take it, which made graduation being just around the corner of even greater importance.
The usual ringing erupted from Cindy's laptop, and despite hearing it nightly, Cindy was startled by the sound. Recovering quickly, she accepted the call, unable to stop herself from smiling once Jimmy's face appeared on the screen.
"It's nearly two," Cindy pointed out. Her voice managed to sound sharp even with the grin on her face, and Jimmy smiled a sheepish smile, giving a small shrug.
"There was a slight accident in the lab," he explained, cheeks turning pink at the admission. Cindy rolled her eyes, though with fondness. Jimmy and 'accidents in the lab' went together like PB&J. It made her wonder if he was qualified to graduate with a degree in any sort of science since he seemed to have failed to learn basic safety protocol. Or maybe he was excellent at safety protocol considering that he hadn't killed or seriously injured himself yet.
"Figures," Cindy muttered.
She moved the book and papers around on her desk, pushing them off to the side. There was little hope of accomplishing anything while she was talking to Jimmy.
"One of these days you're going to wind up in the hospital, Neutron, and you better believe that I'll be there to remind you that it's your own damn fault for not learning what not to do in a lab."
Jimmy smirked. "But of course you'd be there, Vortex."
Cindy rolled her eyes, feeling both amused and annoyed at the same time. It was an odd combination of feelings that only Jimmy managed to bring out in her.
"Not the point."
Jimmy shrugged. "Maybe I'll have managed to knock myself unconscious, so I won't even get to listen to your lovely words."
He was still smirking, and Cindy wished that her glares worked on him these days. She thought the blurriness of the webcam diminished the effect. Either that or the time and familiarity with each other had done it.
The Jimmy of the past, the one Cindy had known in childhood, had been quick to get a temper with her, but while Cindy's head hadn't completely cooled, Jimmy's largely had. Cindy couldn't get a rise out of him like she had in the past, and truthfully, she didn't want to. These days her complaints were to make herself feel better, and she didn't worry about Jimmy getting the brunt of them because he knew what she really meant.
Cindy could have complained for days straight, and Jimmy would have known it was her letting off steam, nothing to be concerned about. Although Cindy liked to think that she wasn't that bad.
"Jimmy," Cindy said almost bashfully. It was a sudden change in mood, which wasn't uncommon on these calls. A lack of sleep lead to Cindy's emotions being all over the place, and the large quantities of caffeine she consumed never helped her calm down.
"Yeah?" Jimmy asked. His smirk had disappeared to be replaced by a serious look.
"What would I have to do to piss you off?"
Jimmy's brow wrinkled in confusion.
"What do you mean? Where did that question come from?"
Cindy shrugged, looking off to the side of her computer instead of at the camera or Jimmy.
"Just wondering," she said vaguely before she felt compelled to expand upon her answer. "We used to fight all the time, and now we never do. Part of that's probably because of how little we see each other in person, but still, I complain all the time. You've been putting up with it for so many years. What would I have to do to finally make you fed up?"
It was quiet, and Cindy couldn't bring herself to look at the computer screen and see Jimmy's face. She'd been thinking about this for a long time, never feeling brave enough to voice her thoughts. Until now.
"Cindy," he whispered just loud enough for his computer's mic to pick it up. Her stomach fluttered at the sound of her name on his lips. She could feel the love in his voice, and she chanced a glance at him on the screen, seeing him watching her.
"I called you at two in the morning instead of going to bed," he pointed out. There was humor in his voice, and Cindy felt a smile work its way onto her lips.
She looked at him, really taking him in. There were dark circles under his eyes that Cindy knew would be reflected on her own face if she were to look into a mirror. They gave up a lot of precious sleep to talk to each other, and it wasn't even like those overzealous beginnings of relationships where you were infatuated and couldn't go more than an hour without talking to the other person.
She and Jimmy had been together for a decade, not an easy feat when you were merely twenty-two. That in and of itself said so much. She knew that.
"I got accepted to Harvard for law school," she blurted out.
Jimmy's eyes widened, and it took a few moments before his shock morphed into a smile.
"That's amazing, Cindy! I didn't know you were applying at Harvard. I thought Yale…"
Cindy shook her head, causing him to trail off.
"I did apply to Yale, but that was the backup plan. Harvard was my first choice, but after last time, I didn't want to jinx it by telling anyone. I thought, if I got in, I'd tell everyone then, and I did."
Jimmy was still smiling, but it was muted, his eyes showing hesitation.
"Are you sure that's what you want?" he asked cautiously. "You love Yale."
"I do," Cindy agreed with a short nod. "I've loved it a lot, but I've spent four years here. I think that's long enough to go to one school. It will be nice to have a change of pace. A new setting for law school. One that also happens to be closer to a particular person that I may or may not care about."
Jimmy's smile widened again, and Cindy could see the self-satisfaction in his eyes, causing her to roll her own.
Just as Jimmy had known that he was going to MIT for his undergraduate degree for years before they'd graduated high school, it had always been well-known that he'd stay for his master's, if not his Ph.D. too. He'd been vocal about it for all of the past four years, even as Cindy kept the exact details of her ideal law school under wraps.
"Plus," she continued, "I can't deny that the bragging rights of saying I graduated from Harvard Law School are a huge bonus."
"This is perfect timing," Jimmy continued in excitement. "I've been thinking about how I need to find a place to live next year. This apartment's lease is up in June, and Travon has gotten fed up with me coming home from the lab after various disasters."
"I think Travon was always fed up with that."
Jimmy offered a slight shrug but waved off Cindy's comment.
"Yeah, well, he's gotten fed up enough that he's refused to live with me anymore, so I was going to have to find a new roommate. And I knew that was going to be a hassle that I do not have time for. No one ever appreciates my continual efforts to improve the world through science."
"Well, you found yourself a roommate, but for the love of God, hold off on finding an apartment until I'm up there. I don't trust you with that important duty."
"We can live wherever you want."
"Not like you'll be there much anyway," Cindy muttered, more to herself than Jimmy, but she knew he could hear her. "You'll still spend far more time in the lab."
Jimmy offered her a strange half shrug, half shake of his head.
"I'll be spending more time there than I do in this place," he said, gesturing around the room that he sat in. "More incentive to spend less time in the lab."
"Like I manage to pull you out of the lab for these calls. I'm sure I'll manage to do it in person."
Jimmy frowned. "You do though. Cindy, I'd still be in the lab right now if it weren't for the fact that I needed to call you."
Her heart stuttered in her chest, but she brushed it off. She still didn't like showing Jimmy the full extent of the effect he often had on her. She knew that he was aware of it though. There had been too many times when she'd cracked over the years.
There wasn't much she could say, and it was becoming harder to keep her eyes open. She reached for her coffee, but after raising it to her lips, she discovered that she had finished the last of it. Groaning, she rested her head on her folded arms, struggling to glance up at Jimmy from the position.
"You okay?" Jimmy asked. There might have been a hint of concern in his voice, but this was a typical question once they reached this point in the morning.
Cindy tried to say something in response, to push off his concern, but it came out jumbled. She'd made a mistake by resting her eyes for a few seconds. She always realized that moments after closing them. Her mind had begun to struggle with basic speech, and she couldn't remember what she was supposed to say in the first place even though the thought was there.
Seconds later, she was snoring at her desk in a position that would leave her angry the next morning. She didn't get to see the gentle smile Jimmy gave her once he had ascertained that she was asleep, and she didn't get to hear the gentle, "Good night, Cindy," that came before he disconnected the call, leaving her to sleep in peace.
Or as much peace as she could achieve while slumped over a desk.
She really would be angry in the morning.