Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own Rugrats or All Grown up. But one can wish, right...?

Author's Note: This is a sister piece to 'Tales from Grandpa Chuckie'. This will basically focus on all of the other characters and expand on their stories as such (as part of a series). This story, specifically, will focus on Susie and Angelica and their friendship before they both start high school, with cameos from the others. I hope you guys like it - I can't seem to find enough 'friendship' fics with Angelica in this fandom, so I thought maybe this would be a welcome addition?

Warning: This story will not explicitly go into details but does imply at non-consensual acts against a minor. Again, it will not be explicit but it will be implied or stated at times and will strive to deal with the aftermaths of the act.

Additionally, I would like to thank all those who reviewed, favourited or followed my story. Such support cannot but feed the muse. Thank you so much - I truly appreciate it.

And as always, criticism of any kind is welcome, particularly constructive. I hope you enjoy this story.

The End of the Rainbow

Part I

'It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.'

~ Mark Twain ~

'So what's going on?' After half an hour of casual chit chat, constant deflection and subtle avoidance of eye contact, Susie had had enough. Clearly, normal human interaction wouldn't work (but when did it ever with Angelica?), so she had resorted to firm bluntness, staring at Angelica with bullet eyes and arms crossed firmly. She meant business and she wasn't about to leave any doubt about it for her to pounce on.

Angelica, for her part, had finally looked up from her newly painted pink talons (that clashed horribly with her red top), widening her eyes in a show of innocence that did nothing but make Susie snort. 'What're you on about, Carmichael?'

'You heard me. What's going on with you?' Susie's fingers tapped an impatient tattoo and she could almost feel her eyebrow twitch. God, for a teenage girl, she sure felt middle aged right now. Sometimes, she wondered if Angelica's parents were on Prozac!

'I seriously have no idea what you're talking about.' Angelica's attention had returned to her nails and she was blowing gently across them.

'This,' Susie forewent her intimidating pose for wildly waving her arms in an attempt at emphasis. (She had a sneaking suspicion she might've resembled a headless chicken more than a very grown up fourteen year old making a point.) 'This might be normal for other people, but it is definitely not normal for you. You don't wear sweats, unless they're skin tight, you don't wear glasses, you don't have your hair in a casual ponytail unless you've spent an hour on it and I haven't seen you without make-up since we were like, eight.'

For a second, Susie thought that Angelica paused but the moment passed and it felt like Angelica was performing an elaborate play, the amused expression on her face almost convincingly sincere. As her mum would put it, she had a feeling in her bad knee that there was something wrong here, and because she didn't understand it (and it scared her just a teeny tiny bit), she would be totally brave about it and bug Angie until she found out what was wrong. She decided to move on to Plan...was it C by now? Maybe D or number 5? Either way, she decided to give up on the tough girl act – it was way more Angelica's thing anyway. 'C'mon Angie, I'm your friend. Why can't you tell me what's wrong?'

The change was obvious this time. The blonde stiffened, furrows between her brows as she clenched her hands so suddenly some nail polish splashed onto her skin. She didn't seem to notice. 'Don't call me that.' She didn't even try to keep her tone light or aim for nonchalance, Susie noted, anxiety filling her head with buzzing. Before she could speak, Angelica continued. 'Look, if you were really my friend,' her unpainted lips twisted around the words, 'you would drop this. Let it lie.' Her voice held the tiniest of shakes but when she looked up, there was anger enough for Susie to widen her eyes and clamp her mouth shut. 'What's your deal, anyway? So what if something is going on in my life? It's not like I'm hurting anyone, so why don't you back off?'

The dense silence felt palpable but the buzzing in Susie's head had settled as she looked straight into Angelica's unwavering eyes. This was a deciding moment and she knew what the right thing to do was. She also knew what she was going to do instead. The words tasted foreign on her lips, the guilt weighing her tongue down, and as she spoke, she felt like she was selling her soul. 'Okay.' Two syllables and it felt like her world had changed, like she had changed, matured as a person or perhaps become tainted, but seeing the intensity fade from Angelica's face, seeing her muscles relax – she hadn't noticed how taut they had been – well, maybe selling a soul was a small price to pay to keep a friendship that she didn't completely understand but valued as priceless.

'So what's your plan for the week?' Angelica patted the bed beside her invitingly and Susie obliged, pushing away her mess of intermingled feelings for now. The tension around her seemed to have evaporated completely, leaving a phantom Angelica that seemed normal in its wake.

'Oh you know, shopping. I'm meeting Tommy and company on Tuesday. I'm sure you're gonna refuse but wanna come with?' Again, Susie wondered if Angelica was purposely avoiding her gaze in favour of flipping through the latest Vogue magazine.

'I think I'm busy.'

'Doing what exactly?' Susie quirked an eyebrow.

'Oh you know, this and that,' she replied evasively, turning a blinding smile on. 'You know me – always Miss Popular.' Rolling her eyes at Susie's snort, she carried on, 'Besides, I keep worrying I'm going to kill Finster every time he sees me and hyperventilates. The kid's one anxiety-induced wheeze away from eternal rest in a coffin.' The smirk turned into a smile as Susie snorted with laughter this time.

'C'mon, Angelica,' Susie insisted. 'It's shopping – you love shopping. And I'll even let you tell me what to wear.'

'It's also for my super geeky cousins and his super geeky friends,' came back the tart reply.

'And let me guess,' Susie ploughed on. 'You're too cool to go to middle school parties now that you'll be starting high school in a few weeks.'

Angelica's eyes met hers for a pregnant pause, a message in them that Susie didn't understand, before she rolled her eyes and sighed so dramatically that Shakespeare would've been proud. 'Fine,' she huffed. 'I'll go shopping and grace you with my presence at the party. But,' she wagged a finger at her. 'I get to decide what you wear and your make-up and hair style.'

Ignoring the look of unholy glee on the little blonde's face, Susie summoned up a genuine grin, forcing some anxiety to slip away. It was easy to slip from chatting about the party to Dil's latest crazy idea to the plans for the summer. Things feel normal as they're talking about summer vacation but the tingle is still there in Susie's bad knee and Angelica isn't committing to any plans, even as she flits from one topic to another, smiling, grinning, rolling her eyes and making sarcastic comments throughout with the ease of practice.

She also hadn't mentioned the date with the high school boy ('High school, Susie, he's grown up and in high school and ready to treat me the way I deserve, and it'll set my status up in high school before I've even started!') she had been boasting about just last week. Susie wondered if maybe it was all hype or he'd cancelled but either way, she wasn't the kind of person to rub salt in anyone's wounds, least of all an Angelica who wasn't completely self-engrossed.

'So it's set,' Susie stood up, preparing to leave. 'I'll pick you up tomorrow morning and we'll go to the mall-'

'And I'll tell you what to wear.' She smirked.

'Yeah, yeah, but it better be tasteful. And you'll come on Sunday?' She grinned playfully, pausing by the doorway.

'Only because you're that desperate for my presence. Susie, I...' Words faded from her lips as dark blue eyes looked into warm brown ones. 'I'm glad you're going to be around next year,' were the words she finally settled on.

'You know you can tell me anything, Angelica, right?' She spoke softly, resigned to the improbability of getting a real answer today.

'I know. And maybe I will one day.' A smile twisted the face, morphing it into something Susie didn't recognise. 'See you tomorrow?'

'Sure thing, Angelica. Anytime.' Susie left, guilt still warring with the relief that no bridges had been burnt. At least she could work on getting her to open up over the summer holidays, with unlimited time and sunshine on their hands, she tried to rationalise. And she would be there for Angelica, to weather any storm, even if she didn't know what that storm was.