I do not own any of the characters from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy!

A/N: A little teasing between the two cousins. Nothing serious.

The Other Side of Mandy

Chapter 3: The Mission

With Mandy safely tucked away under my arm, I can finally get to sleep. I won't need to have a wonderful dream tonight . . . she's already here beside me. I shifted slightly, then threw another arm over her.

"You're not really asleep, are you?" she whispered.

"Shhh," I whispered back, "I'm enjoying this, and you're ruining the moment."

"G'nite Max." she said, then snuggled up against me.

"Good night . . . 'love'."

The next morning I got up before Mandy. It was 7:30, and she was still fast asleep. I picked her up, and put her back on the bed. She was definitely a lot heavier than I remembered. Not like the old days! She murmured my name as I brushed the hair out of her face.

I headed downstairs to fix breakfast. First thing: brew some coffee. She drank coffee since she was eight. Black, no cream, no sugar. She started out quite the opposite while tasting her mom's coffee. My aunt liked her's sweet and creamy, and that's what originally got Mandy hooked. I worried that it would stunt her growth, but my mom assured me it was an old wives tale, and that Mandy would be fine.

The fridge seemed well stocked, so I was just beginning to plan what we were going to eat, when I heard her scream from upstairs. "Max!" she cried out, and I ran back up the stairs to her room as fast as I could.

"Where were you?" She was rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"I was in the kitchen . . . trying to make us breakfast!" I panted.

Mandy flipped over on her bed, "In the kitchen, huh? . . . ," then looked at her stopwatch. "Four seconds. Not bad!" I crossed my arms, and gave her a baleful glare. I wasn't really mad . . . she just scared me, and she knew it.

"I'm sorry!" she said meekly, but obviously with some amusement. I sat down next to her on the bed.

"Don't scare me like that! Your folks are gonna come home tomorrow, and I'd like for us to have as great a time today as we had yesterday!" Her face lit up.

"Really?"

"Really!" Then I pulled off her black hair band, and mussed up her hair. "That's for last night!"

She sat there stunned for a few moments before realizing what I had done. Then her angry eyes came out. "Maaxx! You moron!"

I bolted back down the stairs to the kitchen with Mandy hot on my tail. If there's one thing she didn't like, it was for someone to mess up her "horns!" Mess with the horns, you get the bull! Heh heh!

The Day Trip

We took a drive along the coast. It was someplace she hadn't seen for a while, and far enough out of Endsville so that no one was likely to recognize us. Quaint little artist colonies popped up here and there along the way. We spent some time wandering in and out of curio and antique shops, munching on hotdogs and snowcones. A rock shop called out to me, and we went in. There, on a counter, sat a wonderful, polished piece of a very deep pink, rose quartz.

"Wow! I think this would be perfect for your room!" I told her. In the center of the otherwise perfect stone, was an inclusion, a solid bit of foreign matter surrounded by the quartz matrix. It looked exactly like Mandy's bed!

"I gotta get this for you, Mandy! This is sooo cool!" She smiled to see how excited I was. The shop owner was more than happy to see it go.

"We've had that for years!" he said, "We thought we could sell it as a novelty item, but no one was really interested in it, and if you like, I'll throw in this heart pendant! It's cut from the same stone, and there's another inclusion in it that looks like a guy with a towel wrapped around his waist!" I thought Mandy was going to keel over on the floor, and die laughing. I was beginning to turn red myself.

"They're perfect. I'll take 'em both." The owner smiled as he wrapped the two pieces in paper, and put them in a bag. Before we even left the shop, Mandy was putting that pendant on.

"I'm never taking it off! It'll always remind me of the other night when you were playing 'Rock Star Wannabee', and your towel almost fell off twice!" My eyebrows flew upwards.

"Wait. What? You saw that?!"

"Yeah! Can't wait to see that tattoo up close!" she smiled smugly.

"Y-you saw my tattoo?!" My jaw dropped.

"Why is it so far down?" She took some perverse delight in her discovery.

"Urrgghh!" I groaned. Pre-teens can be so irritating at times, and I wondered if I was like that to my fellow wizards of the Order. I must have pissed them off at times, too. Payback is a bitch.

She spyed a photo booth, and pulled me in. She just wanted to preserve the moment, and we did the usual goofy antics that everone does in them, but she also wanted a picture of me and her, . . . cheek-to-cheek, as a rememberance of this day.

Sleepover: Second Night

Her folks are returning tomorrow afternoon, and she wants me to sleep over one more night, but first I need to stop over at my place to pick up some fresh clothes. I am not gonna be caught wearing a towel like last night!

"Make yourself at home, Mandy. There's drinks and snacks in the kitchen, and you can check out my seventy-two inch flat screen!" I kicked off my shoes as we entered. She looked around in amazement at the size of my place.

"This is an apartment? It's huge! Looks more like a mansion!"

"Yeah, well, it's really a condominium. I own the entire complex!"

"How'd you manage that?"

"Can you keep a secret?" I was grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

"Sure! What is it?" she pulled up close, and I whispered into her ear.

"I know how to turn lead into gold."

"Through your alchemy? Cool!"

"I'm gonna take a shower now. There's a bunch of dvds next to the TV. You can watch whatever you want."

"Can I watch you take a shower?" she grinned.

"No." I said flatly.

"But you said . . . !" she giggled.

"No!" I locked the door just to be sure she wouldn't sneak a peek, but inside I was laughing to myself. Those hormones are really starting to hit her hard!

As I showered, I thought about my mission. The time was drawing near, and the signs were all beginning to fall into place, just as I had foreseen them, starting with Mandy's phone call. I'll need to be on my toes in order for this to work. I've made all my plans and preparations, now all I have left to do is wait.

I feel nice and refreshed as I rub my hair dry. I smile into the mirror, checking to see if there's any bits of hotdog or relish stuck in there somewhere. I'd better brush just in case. We really don't look much like each other. She's blonde-haired, blue-eyed, while I've got brown eyes and black hair. I stick a little gel on my hair to spike it a bit.

"Hey Mandy?" I yell through the bathroom door, "Do you wanna take a shower, too?"

"Only if you're going to scrub my back." she says, trying to sound as sexy as a twelve year-old possibly could. I put on a pair of swim trunks and opened the door.

"Boy, you're pretty frisky today, aren't you?"

"Only with you Max, . . . only with you!" she laughed. Her constant teasing was starting to wear on me, so I took her into my arms, and looked deep into her eyes.

"Look, I have my mission to complete, and if I'm successful, I can spend more time with you, if you like." She looked back into my eyes.

"Promises, promises! Better be careful what you say, mister! I may take you up on it! Nice abs by the way!" I didn't have my shirt on.

"Wanna take a swing at 'em?" I smiled smugly.

"Don't mind if I do!" Mandy wound up, and hit me hard in the stomach. "Ouch!" she yelped.

"Like I told you before," I laughed, ". . . we wizards are really hard to kill!" Mandy shook her hand.

"And why is that?"

"Because in the old days, wizards were often called upon to fight demons and dragons. Being a wizard was a dangerous occupation back then, so they learned how to enhance their life-force, quadrupling them over ordinary humans. It acted like a built-in armor!"

"And you let me hit you knowing all this? You are such a jerk, you know!" she frowned.

"You're being too forward," I smiled apologetically, ". . . and it's getting to me. I'm sorry, but I needed to do something to cool you off . . . and myself, too!" I sighed. Her frown slowly grew into a smile.

"Am I affecting you that much?"

"Yes! We haven't seen each other for a couple of years, and suddenly we're together again . . . alone . . . for two whole days! You've changed, Mandy, you're no longer the short, pudgy little girl you were when I last saw you. In case you haven't realized it, you've become quite attractive!"

"Uh . . . 'pudgy'?"

I took her sore hand, and held it between mine's as I recited a healing spell, then kissed her fingertips, one . . . by . . . one.

"There, booboo all gone!" She gulped, then wiggled her fingers and looked up at me, seeming somewhat uncomfortable.

"I-I think I'll be needing that shower now." she said. I smiled as I threw her a fresh towel, and got her a bathrobe.

She came out of the bathroom wearing the T-shirt that I'd been wearing since yesterday.

"Why didn't you use the bathrobe I gave you?"

"I saw your shirt hanging there, and wanted to try it on." she said as she rubbed her hair with the towel.

"But . . . I've been wearing it all day . . ."

"I know. It has your scent. Mmmm." She brought the shirt up to her face, and inhaled deeply, all the while not taking her eyes off of my expression. Oh boy. She's sharp, this one. She was throwing my own game back in my face! I gulped, and told myself, Calm down . . . calm down . . . breathe slowly . . . inhale . . . hold . . . exhale.

She's testing me. She's inexperienced at this sort of thing, but I've been feeding her ego all weekend, and she wants to find out if she's as desirable as I say she is, or am I just flirting with her. The truth is I'm just as inexperienced as she is. Nearly twenty, and still a virgin, but I have an advantage . . . I'm an intuitive psychic, and I can read people very well. Mandy is very insecure, plus she's also very cynical. She trusts me implicitly, but she's forcing me to walk that fine line between hurting her feelings, or jeopardizing my mission. If my mission fails, there may not be a future for either of us. Maybe I should just give her a potion to put her to sleep. Bad idea. She might find out. Then she'd really be pissed.

She put her hands on my knees as I sat on the sofa.

"Dry my hair?" she asks.

"Uh . . . sure." I go get a brush and blow-dryer from the bathroom. Mandy plays a video game as I begin to dry her hair, but puts it down after a few minutes. She sits silently as we listen to the whine of the blow-dryer.

"Max?"

"Yeeesss?" I replied a bit cautiously.

"Thanks." she said softly.

"For drying your hair?" I laughed.

"No, dummy! For treating me like a queen this weekend!"

"I am but your humble servant, your highness." She smiled as I put away the blow-dryer. "I don't know about 'queen', but you'll always be my little princess!" I gave her a big squeeze from behind, and placed my chin on the top of her head. She clung to my arms.

"What's for dinner, 'humble servant'?"

"What would you like?"

"Nothing heavy. I expect to do some more cuddling with my 'love' tonight!"

"Oooo! And what makes you think we'll be cuddling tonight?" I teased. She turned around.

"Because I own you!" and poked her finger into my chest for emphasis. We smiled at each other. She's right. I'd do anything for her. Die even. Hope it doesn't come to that!

"I've got cold cuts in the fridge. Bread, cheese, lettuce, pickles, chips and soft drinks. Light enough for you?"

"Sounds perfect!"

"Wanna spend the night here instead of going back home? At least my bed is big enough so no one has to sleep on the floor!"

"But I don't have anything to wear!"

"I'll lend you a fresh T-shirt . . . or a towel. Take your pick!" I grinned.

"T-shirt. Got one in pink?"

"Mebbe. I got one from you a couple of years ago for Christmas. It was way too small for me, but may fit you just right!"

We ate our sandwiches, then played video games. She kicked the holy crap out of me! Watched a movie and a half. We were trying to squeeze every last second out of our weekend together, but I watched as her eyelids slowly grew heavier, and heavier, until she finally conked out on the sofa. I picked her up and carried her to my bed. Somehow she didn't seem quite so heavy anymore. I knelt down by her side, and just watched her for a few minutes.

The light from the street faintly illuminated her features, and I put my face down close to her's, just inches away, folding my arms up under my chin. I listened to her softly breathing, and wondered if we would ever be together like this again. She looked so peaceful, my little hellion, and I was sorely tempted to plant a kiss on her lips. Who knows if I'll ever have another chance. But my mission is paramount, and I must keep to my vows. A tear slowly crept its way down across my cheek. I closed my eyes, and fell asleep, but soon felt her fingers in my hair.

"Get up here," she whispered, "you owe me a cuddle."

The next morning I took her to the local pancake house for breakfast, then headed back to her place. Billy and Grim had just come back from camping, and Billy jumped all over Mandy as soon as he saw her. Mandy, being Mandy, threw him over the fence, and into Mr. Skarr's petunia bed. Grim and I stared at each other from a distance before we finally waved hello. He seemed quite disturbed at seeing me again. I already knew why.

End Chapter 3

A/N: Okay, okay. When Max kissed her fingertips, he made her "moist." (It's called "transudation" or "exudation!" Betcha didn't know there was a word for it!). So now she has to shower.

"Rock Star Wannabee" is obviously a reference to Guitar Hero!

That's all for Max's POV. Grim is next.

(I don't want to rush through this, but I am going on a trip soon, so I wanted to get Max's POV out of the way quickly.)