I do not own the Fairly Odd Parents.

Love Stinks

Cupid stretched his arms and grinned in satisfaction. "Ah, Valentine's Day. The best day of the year! The world is practically glowing with love!"

It had been an eventful day for the holiday fairy. He had gone to the farthest corners of the globe, spreading the purest magic that existed-love. He had never felt so alive! His cherubs were celebrating, and they certainly deserved to.

"Excuse me, sir?"

Cupid turned and stared at the nervous looking fairy in front of him. He was twisting his blue uniform between his hands, casting uncertain glances over his shoulder.

"Yes?"

"I think there's something you need to see."

Cupid floated down the white hall and into the vast control room. The room was filled with the sound of blips, bleeps, and clacking keyboard keys. At the very front of the room was a big screen, and it showed quite the depressing picture.

Timmy Turner was lying in the middle of his bed in a pitch black room. He was curled in what seemed to be the fetal position, rocking slowly back and forth, head facing the wall. Cupid stared at the screen for a moment, his brow furrowed.

"I thought you hit Dimmsdale," a confused cherub asked, glancing at the screen and sipping from a cup of coffee. Cupid eyed the cup of java and poofed himself one up. He had a feeling he would need it.

"I did. Turn that off," he ordered. The screen instantly went black, and Cupid disappeared in a puff of pink smoke.

...

Timmy stared at his blue wall, hugging his knees to his chest and blinking hard. Valentine's Day. What a joke. It was just as depressing as it always had been, even more so this year than the last. At least last year he had a Valentine...even if it was Tootie. But this year, he wanted one girl and one girl only.

And that girl had insulted him close to tears. His heart had been ripped out of his chest and stomped on in front of the whole school cafeteria.

Someone poofed into the room and Timmy tensed. Cosmo and Wanda were on a date and weren't supposed to be back until much later. He had been too depressed to babysit, so he faked sick and Wanda sent Poof to Mama Cosma's. She really didn't want to leave him alone feeling unwell, but Timmy urged her to go. He needed his alone time.

Although it seemed to be interrupted now.

"You love to make my job tough, don't you, kid?"

Timmy groaned. He hadn't expected him of all people to show up. Burrowing his head in his pillow, Timmy grunted. "Go away. I need to be alone."

Cupid watched the depressed eleven-year-old cover his face with a pillow. He sipped his hot coffee and floated in place for a moment. "I'm pretty sure this isn't healthy."

Timmy managed to push himself upwards, his hollow blue eyes staring into Cupid's appraising ice blue gaze. "I don't care, ok? I don't care anymore! Why don't you just go back and spread more love, since you obviously chose to skip me this year. Payback for almost killing you, huh?"

The disappointment flashed through Cupid's eyes, and Timmy glared at his blankets. It was a cheap shot, and he knew it. But he was just so tired of the rejection, and it killed him that the Love Guru himself was passing him over. Like he just wasn't worth it anymore.

"How do you expect me to give you your chance at Valentine's love when you lock yourself in your room?" Cupid asked, downing the rest of his coffee and poofing the purple mug away.

"Considering the Friday I had yesterday, you probably would too."

Cupid rolled his eyes. "So the girl of your dreams insults you again. Did you really expect things to be different this year?"

Timmy stared at Cupid in shock. "How'd you know?"

Cupid sighed. "It's the same thing, Timmy. Every year, every day, Trixie Tang insults you and bullies you until you finally give up for a bit. Then you're right back at it, trying to win her affection."

Timmy twisted the sheets, head ducked down. "I just have to get her to see that I'm the one for her. That my social status doesn't matter."

"Bub, for the rest of her life, the only thing that will matter to her is her social life and how high she can climb the social ladder."

Timmy glanced up. "People change! I'm sure she can, too!" A flicker of hope lit up inside him. "Hey, do you think I can have my arrow? I mean, since you didn't use it, you still have it."

Cupid regarded the boy with critical eyes. "No."

Timmy's jaw dropped in shock. "Wh-why not?"

"You're going to use it on Trixie."

Timmy scowled and sat up a bit. "So what? It's my arrow. I should decide which girl I choose!"

Cupid rubbed his temples and shook his head. The boy was indeed love sick. Just with a girl who didn't really appreciate him, and probably never would. "Listen to me, Timmy. That arrow only lasts for one day. Valentine's Day. Once Valentine's Day is over, the arrow's effects wear off and, if it is true love, then the person will never know they were struck by Cupid's arrow. You will be setting yourself up for disappointment, and I'm not going to allow you to waste your arrow on someone who will only love you for a day."

"You don't know that!" Timmy cried.

"I do." Cupid crossed his arms and glared. "If you should be using your arrow on anyone, it should be Tootie. It worked out last year didn't it?"

Timmy picked up his pillow and chucked it at Cupid angrily. "I don't want Tootie as my Valentine! I want Trixie!"

Cupid dodged the pillow, and quickly zipped over to Timmy and grabbed him by the arm. "All right. You want Trixie? Then let's go see her."

Poof!

...

Timmy winced as Cupid tightened his grip on his arm. They were on the top balcony that overlooked the Tang's vast property, and in the middle of the large heated pool floated Trixie. Timmy smiled goofily, and elation rose in him when Trixie pulled his Valentine from her waterproof bag, which was bulging with cards.

He had slipped it in her locker before the weekend. Valentine's Day was on a Saturday this year, and he didn't really have the nerve to give it to her in person after the embarrassing display in the cafeteria.

Trixie stared at the card for a moment, looking at the lopsided hearts and sparkles. Veronica poked her head out of the open sliding glass door. "Hey, Trixie, are you like, coming to Tad's yacht party or what?"

Trixie quickly tore the card in half and tossed it to the wind. Timmy could feel what was left of his heart snap into pieces. His body sagged, and the grip on his arm loosened. Cupid turned and watched Timmy's blue eyes fill with sadness and despair.

"Her life will always revolve around her friends and her social status. Do you really want someone like her to be your Valentine?"

"I-I don't know. I wanted her to be mine for so long..."

Cupid rested his hand on his shoulder. "Is it because of what's inside her, or what's on the outside?"

Timmy struggled to think. But the only thought that crossed his mind was because she was beautiful. She certainly didn't treat him like a human being. And if she was going to treat him like crap around her friends (which was most of the time), than Cupid was right. It just wasn't worth it.

"What's on the outside," Timmy whispered.

Cupid smiled, and gently lifted the boy up so they were floating in the air. "I think this time, we'll fly."

...

They floated back to Timmy's house, and the young boy slouched back on his bed. Cupid turned the lights on, and Timmy squeezed his eyes shut against the brightness and groaned. Cupid floated over and sat on the bed beside Timmy.

"Now do you understand? My Valentine's Day love can only go so far. It's up to you to make that into true love. You will find that girl that will be a complete...witch, and she won't be for you. You cannot just fall into a depression every time someone turns you down."

Timmy opened his eyes and stared at the floor. "Easy for you to say. You're Cupid! The girl you fall for won't stand a chance."

Cupid smirked. "Even I have love trouble, kid. But it doesn't get me down, does it?"

"That's because you have people that care about you. You're loved, and you can be loved."

Cupid arched an eyebrow high and he stared at the young boy in disbelief. "Please tell me you're not serious."

Timmy glared at his headboard, the tears welling up and threatening to spill over onto his cheeks. "Just never mind."

"Hold on, bub. I think that's what this is really about. You're afraid that you aren't loved."

"I'm not!" Timmy snapped, sinking low onto his bed. "My babysitter wants to kill me, my teacher stalks me, I got a league of Anti-Fairies and Pixies that would love to have my butt on a wall, a genie that wants destroy me and a space dork that wants revenge because I blew up his Death Ball!"

Cupid pulled Timmy up so he was facing him and firmly held his arms so he couldn't turn away. "Kid, you're listing all your enemies. They wanted to destroy or take over the world, and you stopped them. Of course they're going to hate you for that. But you have earned something they will never admit to."

"What?" Timmy asked, sniffling.

"Respect."

Timmy's blue eyes widened. "You're kidding. No way. I don't believe it."

"Believe it, kiddo. Take Anti-Cosmo, for example. The greatest Anti-Fairy ever, and you defeated him three times! Maybe even more than that. And there's Norm. He's the greatest con-genie I have ever heard off, and you outsmarted him, what, twice? Heck, you even managed to earn Big Daddy's respect! Do you have any idea how near impossible that is?"

Timmy smiled softly. "Yeah, but respect is a whole lot different from love."

Cupid smirked. "I was getting to that. Your godparents love you, and your parents love you, don't they?"

Timmy thought a bit. "Yeah, they do. They're a bit neglectful, but they do love me. Yeah...they do."

"And I'm gonna let you in on a little secret...I think Jorgen has a bit of a soft spot for you."

Timmy gaped at the pink-clad fairy. "No way!"

Cupid smiled, slinging and arm around Timmy's shoulders and twirling his wand. "Yup. He'll never admit it though. He could have taken your fairies away countless times, but he didn't. He appreciates what you have done for Fairy World and himself too much."

Timmy thought this over. "Well, that is love. But what about..."

"Tootie?" Cupid asked, a sly twinkle in his blue eyes.

Timmy rolled his eyes and flopped backwards on his bed. "But she's so...weird!"

"And devoted to you," Cupid pointed out.

Timmy bit his lip and sighed. "Well...at least one girl likes me. Oh, and Veronica. But she's no better than Trixie."

"Please. She's crazy."

Timmy laughed. "Yeah, she is. Good luck with her Valentine love."

Cupid snorted. "That'll be fun." He paused. "So, Timmy. What have you learned today?"

"Valentine's love can only get you so far, you have to work at finding true love, and even though there will be girls that will turn me down, don't let it get to me. Oh, and there are people that love me, and you totally don't hold a grudge over the whole Christmas thing."

Cupid snorted, amused. "I was wondering when that would come up. That little item of the past is in the books, kid." His watched beeped and he ruffled Timmy's hair and floated up. "It's still Valentine's Day, and I still got a job to do. See ya later kid. And remember what I told you."

"I will. Say hi to Juandissimo for me. And thanks." Timmy smiled, and Cupid winked before poofing out of the room.

Timmy settled back in his pillow, the knot in his gut loosening. He frowned when he felt something lumpy under his pillow and he reached a hand underneath and pulled the object out. In his hand was a pink arrow, lightweight and in golden letters on the side, it read:

Timmy Turner.