AN:: Odd title, I know. Don't ask.

Anyway, this started out as a JN fic, and then changed into HA, then back to JN. Sooo, yeah, not sure how it came out, other than fluffy.

Dreams Running Under Nightly Kisses

By blondegirlshavefun

"Another margarita for you, Senorita?"

A young, blonde woman of just twenty-one smiled at the bartender. She eyed him approvingly, looking over his tanned skin and dark hair that fell just right onto his forehead. His brown eyes were black in the dim light of the club. Keeping her green eyes on his, she gave a quick wink. "Si, Signor."

Another young woman slid up beside the blonde as the bartender slipped away. "Did I just see you flirt with Marko Estevez?" she asked her best friend with a smirk.

The blonde laughed and tugged at her sparkly green camisole. "Oh, come off it, Libs! I'm allowed to flirt on my birthday. Besides," she added, "Marko is a very… muscular… specimen." She raised her eyebrows suggestively. "You'd never guess he was your boyfriend's cousin."

"Now, I know you didn't just insult my boyfriend." Libby gave her friend a playful push. "Anyway, I was just coming to say Sheen and I were calling it a night."

"But it's not even midnight!" Cindy protested.

"Cindy, it's late... I've got to get to work early tomorrow, and then I have class. I can't afford to have a hangover. And I was going to ask if you wanted to share a cab," at this she smirked, "but it seems you're not done flirting yet."

"Kay, Libs… I guess I'll see you later then."

"Totally. Have fun now." She said as the man came back with Cindy's margarita. With a wave, Libby disappeared into the crowd.

Cindy took her drink with a murmured thanks to Marko. "Some twenty-first birthday party this has turned out to been." She said as she walked onto the dance floor, slightly unsteady.

XxXxXx

By the time two o'clock rolled around, Cindy was more than ready to call it a night. After three margaritas, a pina colada, and one and a half strawberry daiquiris, it was a wonder she could even walk. But walk she did, and out of the club she stumbled, hair in much less of a perfect condition then it had been at eleven. She staggered down the sidewalk, heals in hand, because even drunk, she knew that she would have a harder time with them on then off.

Lurching down the street at a snail's pace, she walked down two of the six blocks to her apartment. That was when things started to get blurry.

XxXxXx

Jimmy was out late. He had stayed at the lab in the college longer than he ever expected, and boy, was he tired. He was almost to his building when he saw a familiar blonde head of hair swaggering in front of him. Glancing at his watch, he noticed the date. Oh, craphe thought, that's where I was supposed to be last night. It was Cindy's birthday.

"Hey, Cindy!" he yelled, trying to get her attention. The girl just kept swaggering down the sidewalk, ignoring him. Or so he thought until she turned and collapsed into the bushes in front of his apartment complex. Jimmy ran over to be greeted by the sounds of her heaving. Grimacing, he stepped up to her and pulled her hair back out of her way. He wondered how much she had drank, because she could usually hold her liquor fairly well. She could out-drink him, at least; she gave even Carl a run for his money, and he ended up being a frat-boy partier in college.

When Cindy finished, he held out a clean tissue that he fished from his jacket pocket. She glanced up at him with bright eyes, then took the tissue and wiped her mouth.

"Oh, look, it's the wondrous Jimmy, savior of neighborhoods and drunken damsels. Oh glorious day! Oh brilliant morrow!" Cindy slurred, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"Leave it to you to use big words when you're smashed." He muttered.

"What was that, Oh wizened one?"

"And sarcasm," He added. In a louder voice he said, "Cindy, I know you're mad at me. I'm sorry."

"What would I be mad at you for, Nerdtron? You did nothing to me tonight. I was left all alone with the cutest bartender Retroville has laid eyes on." She smiled with a grin that showed only malicious humor.

"Alone? The whole gang was supposed to be there."

"You know how Carl and Nick are now- can't leave the frat house without their brother's permission. An' Libs an' Sheen left before midnight. Libby has to have a job that she works for and… and… I can't even have a damn birthday party without being alone. That's the way it has to be, isn't it? The blonde is a slutty drunk who ends up with ten kids and lives off the state. I love the way my life is going." She pulled herself up off the ground, using Jimmy as a support. "You know what else I love? I love how I can't even get the one damn guy I actually like to realize that I like him! Any other guy would be like 'yeah baby, lemmie get into that chicks pants,' but no not him! He has to be an idiot and not even notice that I'm head over heels in love with him. Well, I give up. I was going to tell him tonight, but he didn't even take the time to show up tonight. I guess I'm not that important to him. Fine. Just fine." She stumbled away from him, taking her time so she could walk in as straight of a line as she could.

"Cindy!"

She held a hand over her shoulder in a casual wave. The move was ruined moments later, however, when she pitched forward. Cindy's eyes closed- she was rather dizzy, after all. Why else would the ground decide to change? Waiting for the indubitable feel of concrete on her face, she was surprised to feel instead two arms wrapped securely around her.

"Cindy, you're in no condition to go home alone." Jimmy said, straightening the girl. "You can barely walk."

"I'm fine, bucko. Let go of me." She started swatting at his hands around her waist.

"No, Cindy." He flinched as she slapped his arm decidedly hard. "In the state you're in, you'd get mugged or raped… Or worse!" Shaking his head, he continued, "I can't let that happen to you. Ouch! Cindy!" she had just punched his arm. "Are you taking boxing lessons or something?"

"None ya business, King Cranium." She retorted. Jimmy rolled his eyes. Being drunk certainly did nothing good to her temperament.

He let go. "Fine Cindy," he sighed. "If you can walk two buildings down, I'll let you go home."

Cindy laughed. Two buildings? What a cinch! She straightened herself and started to mince down the sidewalk. Or, rather, she attempted.

"Damn," she slurred, once more finding herself in Jimmy's arms.

"Is my point proved?" he asked, shaking his head. Jimmy couldn't believe Cindy was being so temperamental. Sure, she was mad at him, but she had never been this bad to him- he was James Isaac Neutron, after all. She had a crush on him when they were kids!

"Let go of me, Neutron…" she moaned.

He looked at her. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead, and her skin was paling. Not again! Cindy, just how much did you drink? He thought as he rushed her over to a trashcan on the side of the street. Searching his pockets, he found a rubber band. He pulled Cindy's hair through it, knowing he was going to catch hell for it later. He steadied her, looking up at the sky to help her save face. The clouds flitted across the sky, seemingly in time to the heaving shoulders beneath his hands. In the distance, a car alarm rang out, punctuated only by the sounds of Cindy's retching.

Finally, she stopped, and her breathing steadied. "Ah, tha's bettah." She sighed. Cindy looked over at Jimmy. Pupils dilated and glassy eyed, she smiled slightly. "Thanks Jimmy." Her eyes rolled back into her head, and her lids fluttered closed.

"Cindy! Cindy!" he watched her chest rise and fall as she breathed in and out. She had passed out.

Picking her up bridal style, he said, "Come on, let's get you inside."

XxXxXx

"Urgh." Cindy brought a hand to her aching head. She could hear something bumping outside, and with each thump, her head throbbed with increased pain. She sat up slowly, reaching out to grab the bottle of water that she always kept on her nightstand.

"That's the last time I drink tequila." She muttered. She opened her eyes a slit when she couldn't find the water.

"Oh, crap." She saw a poster of Einstein on the half-open bedroom door, and knew she could only be one place. "Neutron?" she called, wincing at the sound of her own voice.

Jimmy walked in, carrying a glass of water and something else in his cupped hand. "You're up, I see."

"Way to state the obvious, Neutron." Cindy grumbled, looking at the glass thirstily. He handed it to her, along with a large pill, a familiar atom symbol embedded in the light blue pill. "What's this?" she asked wearily.

"Neutron's hangover cure." He said. When she made no move to take it, he sighed. "Just take it, Cin. You'll feel better."

"I'm not taking it." She had never forgotten the 'sick patches' that he invented. And that had only been the first thing. By now, she knew better. She placed the pill back into his hand. "I'll get through my hangover like every other person." She took a sip of water, and grimaced.

"What the hell did you put in this?" she asked, gagging. The action only made her head pound worse.

"Licorice extract. It helps." He sat on the end of the bed, rolling the pill around in the palm of his hand.

She set the water down on the bedside table. Rubbing her temples to ease the pain, she asked, "Since when do you use herbal remedies?"

"I use what I need to to aid in my experiments. I discovered the licorice quite by accident." Jimmy glanced over at the girl still under the covers. He switched topics. "How are you feeling, anyway?"

Cindy glared at him. "How do you think I feel? I had three margaritas, damn it!" she winced and lowered her voice. "I swear I have the hangover of the century."

"Take the pill, Cindy." He said.

"No way. How am I supposed to know it won't turn my skin green or make me sick or-"

Jimmy cut her off. "I've taken it. I'm perfectly normal."

Cindy let out a great 'ha!' "Normal isn't what I'd describe you as, Neutron."

He rolled his eyes. He could see that trying to reason with her wasn't going to work. He stood and stretched, formulating a plan in his mind. There was something he needed to know, and he want to be on hundred percent sure that she was sober. Turning to face her, he said, "You're taking the pill."

She laughed again. "And who's going to make me- you?"

"And what if I am?"

She swallowed. There was something in his voice that scared her. "N-Neutron, I'm fine. I don't need that pill, or anything. I'm just going to go home and sleep it off." She flung the covers off herself.

Jimmy used the moments' pause to jump on the bed. With the hand that wasn't holding onto the pill, he started tickling the girl unmercifully. Cindy started laughing, even though she didn't want to. She felt oddly taken advantage of- he knew she was ticklish.

"Stop!" she got out between laughs. Her head was still throbbing, but that was at the back of her mind. Jimmy was tickling her! He was so close… She could smell his cologne- musky and woodsy and absolutely perfect. She took a deep breath to let out a scream, and found his hand covering her mouth. A bitter taste filled her mouth. She glared at him.

"Swallow it." He said. She stared daggers at him, but did as he said. He moved his hand.

"Bastard."

"That hurts, Cin. Because you should be feeling better right… about… now." He glanced at her. "And?"

She hated when he was right.

XxXxXx

"Cindy?"

"Hmm?"

They were lying together on Jimmy's bed. They weren't touching, and there wasn't anything utterly romantic about it. But Cindy could swear there was a current flowing between them.

"Do you love me?"

She sat up, shocked. Why would he ask her that? What did she say last night? Slowly, she turned to face him. His face was completely serious. "If this is some kind of joke, it isn't funny, Jimmy."

He sat up as well. "Does it look like I'm joking?"

She shook her head. Sighing, she decided it was time for the truth. "Jimmy, I think I always have."

"Good." He said, taking her hand. "Because I love you too." He bent over to her face, and gave her a sweet kiss. "And I'm extremely sorry for not being there last night."

Cindy's eyes narrowed. "Don't think you can get away with again, you jerk!" she said, punching his arm.

"OW! Cindy, you already punched me there!"

"You must have deserved it, then. And don't be such a wimp!"

"Don't call me a wimp!"

"I'll call you whatever I want, Neutron!"

XxXxXxXx

AN:: Ah, the sounds of love.

Review, please?