Holy MOTHER.

This was NOT supposed to take this long to update/finish. My sincere apologies to those I've kept waiting - work got crazy because people are quitting and all that jazz. I'm so sorry. So here's a big fat chapter for you. Thank you all for your eternal patience.

She hadn't spoken to him in days, and he allowed it.

After leaving her house in the early morning hours two days ago, he had opted to spend some time in his lab – specifically to blow stuff up and hurl a few choice profanities into the empty air. As the weekend had passed, his initial shock and disappointment had rapidly spiraled into a familiar pulsing anger.

Who in the actual hell did she think she was?

What right did she have to come to him in the middle of the night, terrified and alone, only to shit on him the next day after he had helped her? From where did she get the audacity to treat him like that?

Why the hell had he thought things were changing?

Against his better judgment, he hadn't spoken a word of what had transpired to either of his parents. He honestly feared a total breakdown on his part if he did, as the swirling vortex of emotions was rendering him pretty useless where control was concerned.

So she hadn't deigned to grace him with an explanatory email or a surprise visit or even a frickin' text message. Okay then. Let it be.

He supposed the silence spoke far louder than anything else she could have done.

Now, sitting in his last class Monday afternoon, he found himself quite restless for the day to end. She had avoided him completely the entire day, and he had done the same. Sheen and Carl hadn't noticed a thing, thank God, and so at least he hadn't had to deal with drama on that end. There had been a single moment when he'd entered his AP chemistry class that morning that their eyes had met and his heart sank into his stomach.

Why? He had asked with his eyes. What did I do to make you hate me so much?

But she had simply looked away, suddenly finding a compelling need to write something down in her notebook. Hurt and a fresh wave of fury had compounded in his head and stomach and he had had to force himself to not approach her.

What a load of shit.

The ringing of the bell startled him from his musings, and he tuned out the sound of Mrs. Borris' final instructions for the English assignment. In a daze, he wandered out from the classroom and purposely avoided his best friends in the hall.

He didn't want to deal with anyone right now. He was going to head straight to the lab and distract his mind with disproving Quantum Theory or something.

The sight of a familiar blonde leaning against his car when he entered the parking lot stopped him in his tracks. Her eyes were locked on him, as if she'd been watching his progress the entire time, and he distantly wondered how the hell she'd gotten out here before him without him noticing.

"Hi Jimmy," she said, softly. A million retorts flitted temptingly through his mind, but none of them made it to his mouth. He just stood there, gaping at her, and decided that silence was his best option.

If she had something to say, he wasn't going to help her get it out.

"I need to talk to you," she said. Her hair was down in gentle curls, framing her face perfectly. If he'd been in a better mood, he might have allowed his thoughts to wander into the "She looks amazing" territory, but the rock in his gut grounded his mind. He managed to maintain a blank expression as he eyed her, shifting his backpack strap higher onto his shoulder.

"I don't think that's really necessary," he spat, sounding far more venomous than he had originally intended. Cindy's expression didn't change, but her shoulders slumped ever so slightly.

"I owe you a lot of things, Jimmy," she said, "but an apology is at the top of the list."

"Save it." He surprised even himself at this response. "You've made your stance perfectly clear, Vortex. The last thing I need is insincere remorse."

"I'm not being insincere." Her voice shook now, but she stared him down. He shifted his focus to the ground, knowing her gaze could melt the angry ice surrounding his heart. "I'm sorry, Jimmy. I'm…I'm horrible, I know that. But before you cut me out I just wanted to give you an…an explanation. I –"

"Is what she said true?" he blurted out. So much for staying quiet. He found the courage to look at her again. "Is that really what you think of me?"

"No," she said frantically, sliding her book bag off of her shoulder and onto the ground. She came over and stood right before him, her eyes boring into his. "It's not, Jimmy. I swear it's not."

"Then why would you say those things?" She grimaced and he swallowed thickly.

"I'm not going to lie to you," she murmured. Her eyes trailed down his face and he couldn't help the resurgence of pain when he looked at the bruise on her face. "I did say those things. But they were isolated events, when I was really really pissed at you. After one of our stupid fights, or after my mother told me I hadn't tried hard enough when I got an A minus instead of an A plus." She ran a hand through her hair. "She was hungover and trying to get you to leave. So she took some horrible things I've said over the years and tried to make it seem like what I felt for you was fake, or a ploy of some kind and Jimmy, I swear, that isn't true."

He didn't miss the key words in her tangent felt for you. So. Past tense then?

"Cindy, I'm sorry," he whispered. She blinked at him and he shook his head. "I'm sorry you have to deal with all that shit. I really am. And ehm…" He shrugged. "I forgive you. But I think it's best if we…" He motioned between them, suddenly at a loss for words. "You know. Keep our distance." Her face fell and he almost flinched when her eyes filled with tears.

"Jimmy, don't do this." Then: "Please."

"It's obvious that I'm toxic to you and your mother's relationship," he said. "I can't do that to you, and I…I don't know what you want me to do here." Oh God...

"I want you to forget about all that. Oh Jimmy, don't you see? She's always been like that, but we were always friends, weren't we?" Her vivid green eyes burned a hole in his heart and he grimaced.

"Oh Cindy…" He stepped forward without thinking and wrapped her in a hug, closing his eyes as he inhaled the scent of her hair. He didn't know how to make her understand. He didn't know how to tell her how screwed up this really was, because she didn't seem to be seeing it. And he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that his involvement in her life would only serve to make things worse for her.

Right?

Begrudgingly, he pulled himself from her grasp and with a quick peck on the top of her head and a whispered, "I'm sorry," he turned and got into his car. He refused to look at her as he pulled out, not allowing himself to acknowledge the possibility that he was making a mistake.

It had been two days and Cindy hadn't come back to school.

Jimmy's initial resolve had wavered considerably in the nearly 48 hours since he'd last seen her. Literally: not a peep. She wasn't in school, he hadn't seen her coming or going from her house, hell, she hadn't even been on any social media. Knots of worry were constantly squirming in his gut and only grew as he didn't hear from her. Libby herself had no clue either – she claimed that she had actually gone to Cindy's the night before and no one had been home.

Was this his doing?

His rising apprehension was only compounded by the fact that her parents were so untrustworthy. Who was to say what they would do?

Or what they had done?

By the end of school on Wednesday, his anxiety was off the charts. When he made it home he looked desperately across the street for any sign of life, but the Vortex household was as quiet and dark as ever. With a sinking stomach, he pulled his phone out and stared at the blinking cursor for a good five minutes, trying to figure out what to say to her. After careful consideration, he typed out the best thing he could come up with:

Hey

And sent it.

She never responded.

It was not until that night, as he was preparing for bed, that he happened to notice the light in Cindy's bedroom suddenly flick on. The sight literally made him jump, and he ran to the window to double check. Yep – her light was definitely on, but he couldn't see her. It was the first sign of life he'd seen over there in two days, and the urge to go over there pounded relentlessly through his being. He glanced quickly at the clock, noting it was nearing 11:00, and his eyes slid over to Goddard who seemed to be reading his thoughts.

"What do you think, boy?" he whispered. "Should I go over there and make this right?" Goddard stayed silent, but his screen flipped open and displayed a simple message:

You know what to do.

Jimmy nodded. He strode across the room and opened his closet, yanking an old backpack turned jetpack from the front hook. He had perfected the design in his freshman year of high school, creating the world's first silent flying mechanism, but had stopped using it once he'd learned how to drive.

Right now, it would be perfect.

Pulling the straps onto his shoulders, he crept silently to his window and opened it. He cast a quick glance down at the yard, unable to believe that Cindy had been standing there only a few nights ago – it felt like it had been ages. He took a single moment to wonder if he was doing the right thing, then jumped, drifting slowly towards her house.

He couldn't believe, really, how stupid he had been. He had been hurt by her actions, yes, but they should have talked about it. He shouldn't have left her alone. God, how selfish was he?

Was she even going to talk to him now?

A horrible flutter had settled uncomfortably in his stomach in the seconds it took to reach her window. He peaked in slowly, trying to ensure no one inside could see him if it wasn't her.

And of course, she was the first thing he saw.

Cindy was moving around inside, and looked like she was trying to find something. Her back was turned to him, and she was digging around in her nightstand drawer. Without thinking, he tapped lightly on her window and she jumped, badly. He realized in that moment that she might have been getting ready for bed and he must have scared the crap out of her. She turned, quickly, and when she saw him her eyes widened in horror.

Horror?

In but a second, she was opening her window and hissing out a, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Cindy." He suddenly felt incredibly awkward just hanging there (literally), but they had to work this out. "I've been really worried about you. Where have you been? Why haven't you –"

"Would you keep it down, please?" Her eyes held that familiar fire, the one he had been so accustomed to prior to last weekend. "If my mom hears you, she'll kill me."

"Are you okay?" he whispered. Her hands were braced against the windowsill, but for a moment, it looked like she was going to slap him.

"I'm fine," she spat. Her animosity had been expected, but he would be damned if he'd let this deteriorate into a fight.

"Where have you been?" Her eyes darkened even more.

"Jimmy, I really have no interest in doing this with you right now. You need to go." She made to shut the window but he stopped her, placing his hands gently over hers.

"Cindy, I'm sorry." Her expression didn't change. "I was a real idiot, the way I dealt with all of this. I've been really worried that something had happened to you, and I know you're mad – you have every right to be. But since you're –"

"Okay, whatever, we'll talk about this tomorrow okay?" She yanked her hands from his touch. "Now go away. I've got a lot of shit to deal with right now." He was opening his mouth to respond when her eyes suddenly widened. She turned, quickly, to her bedroom door, then hissed a "Get out of here!" in his direction. It was the only warning he was given before her door slammed open and he ducked out of sight just in time.

"…getting real sick of this shit, Cynthia. How many times have I asked you to stop leaving your crap all over the counter? How many times?"

"I know." Cindy's voice sounded tired, and utterly devoid of emotion as she addressed her mother. "I'll get it."

"You had better. I'm not your servant. And why is your room so filthy?"

"Because I haven't been here to clean it."

"It was messy beforehand. You know what? You're not getting a free ride anymore. I'm tempted to start charging you rent."

"Mom, come on –"

"No. You don't get to call the shots anymore." A pause. "And why in the hell is your window open? Honestly!" Seconds later a particularly violent slam sounded above, and Jimmy had the feeling there was far more to that conversation than initially met the eye.

It didn't stop him, however, from nursing a strong sense of hatred towards Sasha Vortex.

He waited a few minutes in his precarious position, wondering what in the hell he should do now, before the sound of the window opening sounded above. "She went to bed," Cindy uttered tiredly and he looked up at her. She looked exhausted, he was finally noticing, and as he flew back up to eye level, she didn't seem to care.

"Come with me," he said. She looked at him, her face betraying nothing. "Come on. Let's go talk somewhere."

"No offense Jimmy," she mumbled against her hand, which was currently propping her face up. "But I think that's a pretty dumb idea."

"No you don't." She stared past him. "If you did, you wouldn't have opened the window again."

"Give me one good reason I should go with you." She still wasn't looking at him.

He shrugged, not knowing if she saw. "To spite your mother?" Cindy closed her eyes, and for a brief second, a smile flickered. She then straightened and turned, and Jimmy's heart fell as he watched her turn off her light.

But then she came back, grabbing a sweatshirt off the back of her chair and tied it around her waist. She let out a puff of breath as she began climbing out the window.

"Just get me down to the ground," she said, and he was more than happy to oblige. When he set her on her feet down on the sidewalk, it was in that moment he realized he hadn't planned on this getting to this point. She wasn't yelling at him, which was good, but she was staying rather…distant.

He couldn't blame her for that, but it stung nevertheless.

She began making her way across the street and he followed, realizing in a moment that she was headed towards his lab. Wordlessly, they both entered, and he honestly couldn't remember the last time they had been in here together. The awkward silence was growing between them as Cindy slumped onto his couch and he removed his jetpack nervously.

Now what?

"I hope you're not planning on apologizing," her voice sounded behind him, taking the initiative as always. "Considering how much you despise insincere remorse, and hypocrisy isn't really your forte." He flinched as he turned towards her, rubbing the back of his head.

"Cindy." She still wasn't looking at him, and the blank expression on her face was freaking him out. The last he'd seen her she'd been so distraught, and her lack of caring was a drastic change. "I was trying to…I didn't think…I…" Every planned response died on the way out and he stared at her bleakly. "I feel like shit, over what I did."

"Good for you."

"Was it because of me?" he blurted out. "Did you disappear because I freaked on you?" To his surprise, she barked out a bitter laugh.

And the look that she finally leveled him with was something akin to an unadulterated hatred.

"You know, not everything is about you, freak-brain." The childhood insult didn't really faze him, but her deadly tone certainly did. She stood, crossing her arms over her chest. "My dad disappeared the night of the fight. My mother and I decided to look for him, and finally found him in the next county, where he was being held in jail for assault. We made his bail and brought him home about 45 minutes ago."

"Assault on who?" Her expression darkened.

"Some guy in a bar."

"What about you?" he whispered.

"What about me, Neutron?" She threw her hands up. "Look, I'm sorry I dragged you into this, okay? I honest to God wish I hadn't let you know, because it's obviously too much for you to handle."

"That's not fair." He was fighting his rising anger once more – he didn't want to be mad at her. "That's not what this is. Cindy, I'm worried about you."

"Yeah, which you made abundantly clear in the school parking lot two days ago." She stared him down. "Make up your mind, Jimmy."

"I did make up my mind," he said, taking a step towards her. "That's why we're both here, right now."

"Glad you got that settled, then." She strode past him. "Nice talking with you, as always. Have a good night."

"Cindy, for God's sake – " He whirled around and grabbed ahold of her arm. She turned to him and her eyes flashed with dangerous fire.

"Let me go."

"No." They stared each other down and neither moved. "Why do you always have to turn everything into a fight, huh? Why?"

"Why do you always put the blame on me? You're the one currently holding me hostage in your lab."

"See, case in point!" He let go of her and she scowled. "I've felt like I swallowed a rock since Saturday night, and practically made myself sick when you disappeared –"

"I didn't ask you to be worried!" she snapped.

"…and now you're back and you're all pissed off at me again. I am sorry, okay, I just didn't know what to do because this is beyond fucked up, and tonight I wanted to make sure you were...okay."

"Well, I'm not. Happy now? Congratulations on toppling the Vortex wall." She gestured at herself. "Yet another outstanding accomplishment of Retroville's resident boy wonder."

"Is that what this is?" He took a step closer. "Are you still trying to maintain our childish rivalry?"

"And are you really that dense? In light of everything that's happened –"

"Then what is it?" He forced himself to not raise his voice. "Why are you pushing me away?"

"Stop it."

"No. Cindy, I care about you too much to just let this drop, okay?"

"Stop saying that." Her eyes were steely and harsh. "Don't try to play to my sentimentality with the 'I care about you' card."

"But it's the truth."

"Bullshit," she snapped. She suddenly shoved him, hard, and he stumbled a bit. "I'm a self-centered bitch, remember? A pretentious brat, an inferior who could not even hope to match your intellectual abilities. I'm below you, Jimmy Neutron."

"What?" Her chest was heaving with emotion, and he feared the true implication of her words. "Cindy, what are you talking about?" He reached out towards her and she flinched.

Oh, God.

"You know that I don't believe any of that," he said. "And none of it is true."

"Liar." What the actual hell? The anger he was trying so hard to repress was steadily swelling within because this was not fair. He had never said anything like that to her, he had never insinuated such with any action, so what –

"I'm not lying," he settled for. His fists clenched by his sides and she stared at them. "I want an explanation for what you just said."

"I'm not required to satisfy your demands, Neutron." Her voice was shaking.

"Then just answer my earlier question, please." He stared into her eyes, hoping he was getting his desperation across. "Why are you pushing me away?"

"Because I have to." She hadn't shouted it, but the words seemed to echo against the walls of his lab and he stared at her. "Okay? I have to." Her eyes were suddenly brimming with tears and she angrily wiped them away.

"Why?" he whispered.

"Because!" she finally shouted. "How can you not get this, you dumbass? I was so…so humiliated when my mother stood there and repeated those horrible horrible words to you. You know why? It wasn't just because of the way your face just fell – you had been so good to me, so kind and gentle the night before and I realized what a bitch I am. And after she drove you off we got into yet another fight and she said even more horrible things and then this –" She yanked the sweatshirt she had tied around her waist off and held it up. It was the one he had given her. "She saw I was wearing this, and assumed the worst. She wouldn't even listen to what I was trying to say and called me a slut. And then all this shit with my dad happened and I am tired, Jimmy, I am tired of being clobbered over and over again and the last thing I need is for you to eventually shove me away too." Tears streamed silently down her face, and her voice had gotten quieter and quieter as she spoke. "So please," she choked out, "just hate me like you always did and make this easier for everyone, okay?"

He had never seen Cindy so broken before. In mere seconds, he came to realize that her parents had so utterly devastated her own self-worth that she couldn't even comprehend the possibility that someone in this world would actually care about her with no strings attached.

Possibly even…love her.

Clashing emotions slammed insanely against his brain, but all he could say was, "Dammit, Cindy," before stepping forward and wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. The affection seemed to break her down completely and she began sobbing into his chest, repeating "I'm sorry," over and over and over again. He pressed his lips against her temple, placing gentle kisses into her hair, and couldn't stop the sting of tears in his own eyes.

He had played a part in this too. When he had stupidly turned her away in the parking lot, he had served to prove her own fears were true.

And he would be damned if he didn't try to fix it now.

They stood there, for a long time, rocking slowly back and forth. When her sobs began to abate, he let her pull herself from his grasp – but only a little bit. Her hands stayed on his chest and she hiccupped, her eyes downcast. He raised an arm from her waist and tucked that stubborn strand of hair behind her ear.

"I think I need to make something clear," he murmured. She sniffed, her face still downcast, but he needed her to look at him. He placed his hand beneath her chin and gently lifted her face until her shining eyes met his. "You are beautiful, Cindy Vortex." He placed a kiss on her forehead. "You are ridiculously brilliant." He kissed beside her left eye. "You are caring," he kissed her other eye, "you are kind," he kissed her nose, "and you are the only person on this earth who makes me forget how to breathe when you look at me." He cupped her face in both of his hands. "Do you understand what I am saying?" He leaned in close to her ear, half-wondering if she could feel his heart slamming against his ribs.

"I love you."

And before she could say anything in response, he pressed his lips to hers.

It was wonderfully sweet. He wanted to pour the core of his being into this kiss, and their mouths moved in perfect tandem with each other. It was passionate, but not hungry, and if something had shifted out of place in the course of their knowing each other, every single stray piece drifted back into perfection – because he was in love with her, dammit, and he had always known it.

When they broke apart, his lips tingled with her taste and he couldn't help but smile at her. When her eyes met his, she let out a laugh – a wonderful laugh – and shook her head.

"Well what can I possibly say without ruining this, hm?" Her voice was quiet and hoarse.

"No words needed." He rested his forehead against hers. "Well, okay, except for maybe three certain ones." She smiled and sniffed.

"I've always loved you, you doofus."

"Okay, well." He shrugged. "Six words. Technically seven if you count the contraction. I'll take it."

"I'm starting to see the appeal of no words." She gently nuzzled the side of his face, her eyes closed. "Oh Jimmy," she whispered. "This isn't going to be easy, you know."

"I do," he whispered back. "But you're worth it, Cindy. You are." And then she looked at him. He had thought, if only briefly, that the spark of hope in her eyes was going to disappear just as quickly as it had come – but it lingered as she searched his face. It was such a drastic and extremely welcome change from the utter despair he had seen in her eyes in the last week, and he couldn't help the rising hope in his chest that he was the one who was responsible for it.

And it would seem that he was. They spent the rest of the night just…talking, about everything and anything, and when she began to nod off somewhere around three in the morning, he pulled her into his arms and ordered Vox to hit the lights. He was dizzy with exhaustion, but his brain was in overdrive as he mulled over their hours-long discussion. She was right – this was going to be incredibly hard. Not only were her parents going to be against this relationship, but Cindy was, for lack of a better word, damaged. For years her parents had poisoned her own mind, making her think she wasn't good or smart enough in comparison to him, which was just sick and horrifying to think about. No wonder she had tormented him so much in their childhood.

Cindy shifted in his arms and he could just make out of the outline of her face from his various machine's dim lights. In that moment, the frenzied storm of his thoughts settled and vanished like vapor. The inevitability of their being caught, the anger, all the misfortunes the future held – none of that seemed to matter now. Whatever was coming next, they were going to do it together. If he had Cindy Vortex by his side, he was certain nothing could stop them.

Sleep slowly enveloped his senses, and right before he drifted off, the words of a long-forgotten song came unbidden to his mind. He finally succumbed to slumber, a smile lingering on his lips, and held her closer still.

If I could choose

I'd have you stay

But I gave my heart to you, and it's yours to break

Before my fears tear us apart

Won't you follow me...into the dark.

And that's a wrap, folks! To be perfectly honest with you, I kind of think this would have been better if I had just left it open-ended with the first chapter as a one-shot. I'm just not sure I'm entirely pleased with the direction I took with this. Anywho, thank you SO much for reading and putting up with my crappy updating. And keep an eye out - I will be posting more in the future. :)

The song lyrics are from James Blunt's Into the Dark. Please don't sue me.