A/N: AWW! I just LOVE Danny and Sam together, don't you? It just makes me all dreamy-eyed and gives me such butterflies! There's hope about love after all…Well, here's Chapter 7 to bring me down to earth again! Darn! And darn! IDNOAC! But enjoy anyways!

Trueheart—Chapter 7-Uneasy Change

Tucker combed his hair for the fiftieth time and sprayed more cologne on. In fact, he didn't realize just how much cologne he had practically poured on himself until he could hear his father suddenly coughing as he approached his son's room. And he was just on the stairs!

"T-T-Tucker?" Mr. Foley managed to blurt out through another choking cough. "Did you spill the cologne bottle or something?" He finally came to the open door of his son's room.

"No, Dad, why?" Tucker replied, completely clueless of how much he reeked with the manly aroma.

His father coughed again and reflexively pinched his nose shut this time. His words buzzed as oddly as a fly's, "Because I think with as much of the stuff you have on you, we'll be able to save on the bug man's bill, since we won't need to call him this month at all!"

"Very funny, Dad," Tucker said with a smirk.

But his dad didn't smirk back. Instead, his face was lined with worry.

"Is it that bad?" Tucker finally asked.

"I'm afraid so, son," Mr. Foley said. "Do you really think that you need to impress Valerie that much? She seems so at ease with you."

"But that's just it, Dad," Tucker blurted out, throwing his arms up in the air, finally admitting his exasperation. "I think I'm getting more nervous around her."

"You do? Why?" his father asked calmly. Underneath, however, he was biting an imaginary lip. His son was serious.

Tucker hesitated. But he never had trouble talking to his father before, and didn't want to start having problems with that now. He started to talk, but then suddenly coughed on his cologne himself. He took a deep breath, coughed again, and continued, "I think I'm beginning to have, uhm, different feelings about her." He paused a moment, only to quickly add, "I kinda like them, too. But they're making me…uncomfortable."

Now his father paused. His son was very serious. More serious than he had ever been, well, except when it came to his techno gear. The man knew that Tucker was 'all ears' at this moment, and what he had to say would be taken to heart. "And how are they making you uncomfortable, son?" he finally softly said.

"Well, uhm, I'm not really sure, Dad," Tucker slowly began. "It's just that I'm beginning to want to be around her more, but I can't because she's so busy." But then, he unconsciously sped up as he finally blurted all that was on his mind out to his father, "And then, I'm kinda scared to let her know about that, too. I mean, what if she doesn't feel that way about me? What if she likes everything just the way it is now, which, really isn't that much, since she's so busy and we don't get to see each other much, anyways. I mean, we've hardly been able to be too much around each or anything like that, 'cause she's always having to dash off or something! Not that I blame her- I'm busy a lot, too. And we've had some great times together, but not many of those, so I'm not sure if I should even be feeling this way—but somehow I do! But how do I know if she feels the same way that I do—like she wants to be around me more, I mean—how will I react to that since I'm so busy?"

Mr. Foley blinked with confusion. He thought he knew what Tucker meant. And he was having a déjà vu kinda moment himself right now. That's exactly how he must have sounded to his father when he was starting to get serious about his high school sweetheart, who was now his wife and Tucker's mom.

He looked at his son again and for the first time in a long while, he realized that his son was not his little boy anymore. How did he miss his growing up so fast? Memories suddenly flooded his mind…

He'd been involved as much as he could when his only child was little, and even up to his middle school years. But that's when Tucker seemed to be awfully embarrassed to have him around. And for the past two years, his seemed more interested in being with his friends than with him. Not that that really bothered him. He trusted Danny and Sam and they were extremely loyal to Tucker. He couldn't have picked better friends for his son. And, so, it was natural for him to prefer their company over his, now.

And his son had been going gaga over girls for just as long. But now, the boy he saw in front of him was becoming a man. He seemed more mature within the past year. But Tucker wasn't that old, was he? Wouldn't he be turning sixteen this summer? Or maybe it was he who was getting old? And now Tucker was getting serious about only one girl? He had to say something to help. And he knew that Tucker could very well hang onto every word that he was going to say next.

Tucker was getting more nervous. Why didn't his dad say something?

Finally, his father uttered, "You know, Tucker, it's normal to have your feelings go all over the place while you're dating. It's exciting, fun and scary-especially when you're with someone special. But you don't have to rush it, son. After all, you're all still in high school, and high school is supposed to be fun. And, you know, scary..."

Tucker saw that familiar look that occasionally popped up when his father was serious about school. He laughed at what his father meant. He just knew that the 'grades' thing would get slipped in sometime.

But his dad smirked and continued, feeling more at ease on what he would say. "Just get to know Valerie as friends and then, let things develop slowly and naturally. Then, if it's meant to be more than friendship, you'll know."

"But that's just it, Dad," Tucker blurted out. "I'm not sure if you can say we were dating, really. Sure, we've hung out a lot and gone out to some places with just each other. But I think it was just as friends. Well, maybe a little more. But not much. But now, I'm not so sure about it all. We've been sorta friends for about a year now. In the beginning, I used to feel sorry for her, and wanted to help her as just a friend. But now, it's totally different. Dad, I think it's happening… And I don't just mean the 'more-than friendship' thing.' I mean like, happening, happening. Like, I really, really like her. And I can't help it! I'm thinking about her all the time! I want to be with her all that time! But I can't. So, I think it's already here, but how can I be sure and how can I be sure that she's feeling the same way?"

Now his father was getting a little nervous. He didn't want to say the wrong thing. "Now, at the risk of sounding corny, I'm going to tell you something. You know that your mother and I trust you without any doubts in our minds, right?"

Tucker nodded, and secretly didn't think his dad was sounding corny at all.

Encouraged by his son's response, Mr. Foley continued, "And we know you are very responsible and have always tried to do the right thing. You have picked great friends whom we also trust. We're proud of that, you know. And we know that you wouldn't want to lose our trust, as we yours. So, I'm sure your mother would agree with me to say that just say what comes to you at the moment with Valerie. Part of being in a good relationship is just to come out with how you exactly feel sometimes. Usually, the other person feels exactly the same way. I know that worked with your mom!"

Tucker smiled, happy that his father told him all this. Not that he didn't already know all that, but it was nice to hear again. But he still wasn't satisfied, and said, "But what if I screw up?"

"Well, if you mean: will you say it all 'hip and cool', I don't know," his father said with a smirk.

Tucker rolled his eyes but smiled back. Now he knew from where he got his kind of humor. "No seriously, Dad," he replied.

"OK. I think you should be yourself, no matter what," his father simply said. But then a thought hit him. "Oh, have you talked to Danny and Sam about it? I mean, they're dating, right? And you know I think they're great and trustful kids?"

"C'mon, Dad, I get the message!" Tucker said with another roll of his eyes. But he was secretly pleased that his dad approved of his friends and did trust them. "But, no, I haven't really talked to them about it To tell you the truth, I'm not sure if they would understand. Don't get me wrong. They're great and I can talk to them about anything, really. It's just that, their becoming a couple was almost a 'no-brainer' for them. It was more than natural for them to get together. I mean, they've been around each other since, like, kindergarten! So, I don't think it's the same with me and Valerie."

Mr. Foley responded, "You have a point, Tucker. But like you noticed, Danny and Sam are also very comfortable with each other and that's the question you should ask yourself about Valerie. Are you comfortable with her, and if so, you should tell her how you feel."

Tucker thought about what his father just said. He thought he was comfortable with Valerie. Wasn't he? Even when she was off in one of her frenzied tangents, he felt comfortable with her. After all, he had been used to Sam, and in some ways, Valerie and she were kinda alike: stubborn, strong and vocal. And both of them had pent-up frustrations, even anger, against a lot of things: their own situations in life, for instance. Valerie had been thrust into poverty and Sam constantly fought with her parents to be accepted as who she was. And both of them felt strongly about justice. They couldn't be sitting on the sidelines while injustice or bad things were happening around them. Not if they could do something about them.

He sighed. Maybe he could talk to Danny about it after all. He had to understand about girls like Sam and Valerie. Maybe.

Finally, after Tucker was silent for longer than his dad was comfortable with, Tucker said, "Uh, thanks, Dad! That really helped!"

"Whew!" his dad thought but said, "Sure, son. Anytime you want to talk, you know I'm here for you."

Tucker smiled. He knew that.

Mr. Foley smiled back, and said, "So, are you ready to go, son? We don't want to be late."

"Just a sec, Dad," Tucker replied just before he went into his bathroom.

He hurriedly wiped some of his cologne off.


Valerie rushed home on her hover board after having to fight three ghosts right after school. She looked at her watch again and groaned. She was going to be late—again!

Tucker would be there in less than fifteen minutes to pick her up to take her to dinner and then to a movie. And she looked ever bit the wreck!

"Darn it!" she muttered angrily at herself. "I don't want to disappoint him again! All I wanted was to have a nice, quiet evening with Tucker for a change. Can't we have just one normal date?" She jolted at the thought. She realized that she was very upset about this. More than usual. Suddenly, she was confused by her thoughts. Being late never upset Tucker before, she thought.

But, now, it all seemed so different. She didn't want to see the letdown that seemed obvious in his eyes lately when she was late. But he never said anything about it, so she started to brushed it off. But then, she realized that he must have been covering it up all this time so as not to upset her.

She jolted again at the next thought. He always tried to keep her from getting upset. He never once complained-until the other night when she told him about her birthday party. When she finally noticed the disappointment, even annoyance, in his face, she didn't like it that it was she who caused it, that it was she who may have gotten him upset. It's just that she was beginning to….somehow…care for him…

She flew into her room and quickly de-activated her battle suit. She rushed to the closet, instinctively dismissing the first dress that came forward toward her. It was the one her aunt had given her. She frowned as she looked at it again. Didn't her aunt have any fashion sense?

She grabbed the next dress and groaned when she realized that it was the one with the missing buttons and the one that she had still forgotten to sew. She searched and grunted in frustration. All her other dresses were still in the hamper. She had forgotten to wash them—again! Darn it! She would have to wear that dress—the, grrrhh, aunt's dress-after all. She quickly pulled it over her and straightened it out.

She hurried to check herself over in the mirror just as she heard the doorbell. "Oh, no!" she uttered frantically. No time for make-up! And no time to fix her hair! She moaned as she hurriedly fixed her hair in the mirror.

"So not good," she thought as she looked at her dowdy dress and disheveled look. She grabbed a pair of shoes; and without stopping, hopped on one foot while hurrying toward the downstairs and putting her one shoe on the foot that she wasn't hopping on.

"Come in, Maurice, Tucker," she heard her father say. And then, oddly, she heard her father cough.

"OW!" Valerie yelled as she stubbed her unshod toe. She had hit the corner when she had turned it too quickly. She grimaced when she still rammed that now sore foot into the remaining shoe.

Then when she got to the top of the stairs, she stopped to catch her breath. Even though their new townhouse was a little larger than their old apartment, from the way her toe was throbbing, she wished right now that there were no stairs.

"Valerie!" her father called.

"Coming!" she answered just before she quickly licked her hand and plastered her hair down. She took a deep breath, and slowly started down the stairs.

She had just gotten about all the way down when she both saw and smelled Tucker. She automatically covered her coughing with one hand and slammed her eyes closed from the overpowering odor. When she looked up, he was blinking at her in disbelief. But it wasn't a bad look at all. She narrowed her eyes in confusion. This was a very different kind of look.

She was so taken aback by his stare that she misstepped the last stair step with her throbbing foot and fell right to the ground, face first.

"Valerie!" all three of the males yelled at once, just as all three of them rushed to her side.

"I'm OK," she insisted, already blushing as all three of them helped her up.

Tucker swallowed hard as he backed up slightly away from her. He didn't have the chance to say it after all. He had thought she had looked stunning as he watched her come downstairs in that dress. But now he thought she wouldn't want to hear that now, so his voice, squeaking a little, blurted out, "Uh, are you all right?"

"Yeah, just feeling a bit stupid, that's all," she said with a nervous laugh. "Uh, are you ready to go?" She winced at how even more stupid that must have sounded. Of course, he was ready! That's why he was here! She stammered with an embarrassed smile, "I-I mean, I'm ready to go!"

Mr. Gray then said, "That's good, then, honey! So, I'll see you back at eleven then, right?" He squirted his eyes toward Tucker and shot him a much different look, one that made it extremely clear to Tucker that her father meant 'at eleven'!

"Uh, of course!" Valerie and Tucker both said with a nervous laugh. They looked at each other, each of them perplexed how each of their utterances conveyed a different meaning to her father.

"Don't worry, Damon," Mr. Foley began. "One thing about Tucker. He's dependable and responsible. I'm sure he'll have Valerie back no later than eleven."

At first, Mr. Gray said nothing, but then he finally nodded in agreement with Tucker's dad.

Tucker swallowed his gulp and unintentionally stuttered, "W-Well, we better be going or we'll be late!"

Valerie grabbed his hand and covered her mouth after coughing a little on his cologne again…..

In no time, Mr. Foley had dropped them off at the restaurant. Once inside and settled, their conversation stayed on a 'small talk' level and Tucker got cold feet about trying to change it into a more serious one. He silently grunted for not getting the opportunity of telling her how he felt, or how beautiful she looked tonight. But then, he started to talk about something they were both interested in.

Valerie, meanwhile, was more chatty than usual, mainly because she was trying to pump herself up into getting on a more serious topic. But Tucker just wouldn't stop talking! Still, why did he keep looking at her that way? But then, he changed the subject and she got interested in that new program on his PDA. Maybe she could interface it with her battle suit.

Finally, they were finished with dinner, their jittery hunger satisfied, but not their hearts. As they walked to the movie theater, Tucker slid her hand into his. He relaxed when she didn't seem to mind. Not that they hadn't done this before, but it was the first time he was totally nervous about doing it.

They walked silently for a while, both wrestling with their feelings, and then Valerie saw something ahead. Perfect. She instantly pulled Tucker across the street and headed to their new, unplanned destination.

Though Tucker didn't object at first, when he saw that they weren't headed toward the theater after all, he pointed the other way and uttered, "Uh, Valerie, the movies are that way."

"Yeah, I know. I just want to stop here for just a minute, OK?" she replied as she continued to lead him on.

He smiled weakly as they entered the park. She led him to the small bench right by the water fountain and sat down, pulling him right down beside her.

"Uh, you don't want to go the movies?" Tucker managed to blurt out.

"Well, not really," she admitted. "Whenever we come here, I fall asleep, or when we finally get to actually go on a date, it's dinner and a movie. Not that that's bad, you know. I really like that. But can't we just sit here for once and just take the time to enjoy each other's company, as if there's no one else on the planet?"

Tucker nervously squirmed a little, but smiled nevertheless. "Well, if that's what you want, sure. I want to do whatever you want!"

"But you always, do, Tucker, and that's my point! What do you want to do?"

Her words went to his heart. Now was the time. But he was still not sure. "Uhm, can we just sit here and enjoy the scenery a minute? I really love being outdoors, ya know, especially with you." He silently cringed. What a totally stupid thing to say! Especially when it was getting colder.

Valerie blinked in disbelief. Was that all he wanted? But she didn't say anything, and leaned back.

Tucker silently put his arm around her shoulder and tried to relax. Suddenly, the soft rhythm of the water playing hopscotch on the fountain's many shelves soothed his mind and he closed his eyes. He thought how nice this really did feel. To be outdoors, his arm around a girl he felt was becoming more special to him, and suddenly thinking that he could stay here forever. He jolted a little at the thought. And this time, he was gonna tell her!

"Valerie?" "Tucker?" they both said at once as they looked at each other at the same time.

"Uh, you first!" they both said at once—again!

They both chuckled and in his nervousness, Tucker said a little too forcefully, "Alright! I'm gonna say it!"

Valerie jumped a little, not expecting him to actually shout.

Tucker winced and said, "Sorry! I didn't mean to do that! But I want you to know something. Something that I've been wanting to tell you for a while now. But I was just not able to do it….Valerie, I think…I mean, I know that I want to be with you more and more now. And I know you can't and really I can't either. But I don't want you to think that I don't want to be with you. All the time. I mean, except when we can't, of course! But I think about you all the time! And I was afraid to tell you because I don't know what this all means, and I don't know how you feel about it, but I wanted to let you know how I feel. Ya know?" He winced again when he suddenly noticed that he was breathing rapidly from all the emotion, and could see his breath pouring out in the crisp air. He cringed. He was sure he looked like a steam engine.

But Valerie just sat looking at him, dumbfounded.

And he suddenly felt as if he could just dig a hole in the ground and cover himself back up. He had said too much! And he just knew he had blown it. His face fell.

But before he knew it, she had thrown herself into his arms and gave him a kiss. And this time, the kiss had a different meaning for them both.

A few moments later, they parted. Then Valerie said with a hush, "I think I know how you feel, Tucker. I feel the same way, too, ya know!"

This time, he pulled her closer and gave her another kiss. But before they could really enjoy the new thrill, it suddenly began to rain—hard. Their pounding hearts had not heard the pounding thunder that had been giving its warning to them several moments before.

Valerie groaned as they got totally drenched, and totally cold. Here they were, finally feeling the same for each other, finally in sync in such a wonderful way, and now this happened. What a terrible way to end this date!

But Tucker thought it was their best date yet.