Well, here's the chapter for the boys side of the situation that happens during the same duration of time as the previous chapter. Please read to the end in the ending A/N note for some important information regarding this fanfic. Enjoy!

(Jimmy's POV)

This has been an infinitely strange morning… and also mildly unnerving.

I kept trying to fiddle around with a circuit board on my desk in my room since sleeping in this morning was not a possibility, but my hands keep shaking and I can't keep any of my tools steady.

Eventually I started spacing out at it until I felt Goddard nuzzle my leg to pet him. I smiled and pat him on the head, thinking this was as good of a distraction as any.

Well, until I saw something catch my eye out of my window.

Cindy.

She was in her front yard in her workout clothes, stretching… something I'm mildly ashamed to admit that I've watched her do from my bedroom window on several… okay, multiple occasions before this.

I kept looking at her until I heard smooth jazz saxophone music and looked over and saw Goddard was playing it as he wagged his tail with a playful look about him.

I gave him a slight look with a smirk initially.

Aside from my parents up until now and even before, Goddard pretty much always knew about how I felt about Cindy since elementary school.

Luckily though, since I programmed him with all the software of being the ultimate man's best friend, he maintained his loyalty to me to keep that knowledge a secret. Even though the rambunctious canine portion of his software personality attributes seem to come through at times like this since he's caught me and teased me in his own way whenever I looked at Cindy like this.

Which usually I'd playfully brush off with him, but this time wasn't the same.

"Sorry boy. I'm not in the mood for that today." I said, trying not to lose my self-control. Goddard complied and stopped the music as he tilted his head at me and I just gave him one last pat on the head as I said, "Thanks Goddard."

I looked back out of the window at Cindy again and honestly I was more just intrigued to see her leave her house after what happened in the lab. That and she's been texting me constantly about how she's freaking out. Not that I blame her since I'm pretty much there too.

Well, maybe I'm more paranoid than freaked out actually.

Maybe she's just trying to run to work off her stress?

But as for me... for once I have no idea what to think.

Last night was insane.

Particularly when Sheen and Libby caught us and Libby practically had a meltdown, which was rare to say the least about Libby when it comes to her getting angry.

Last time I saw her that angry was when all of us trashed her parent's house on accident on her 12th birthday when we were being chased by the copbot from the future. Which to me was understandable since that was my fault in particular and again we trashed her house.

Honestly, I think we mostly got off easy because of Sheen.

Considering Sheen profusely apologized to her and wrote her possibly the longest apology letter I've ever seen. After that though, all she had us do was clean her house and then it was like all was forgiven.

Ugh… Sheen…

I gripped my hands into my hair as I looked at the floor, just processing.

Well until I heard the doorbell and then heard my mom saying she was getting it. I was about to go back to my introspection when I heard mom call out, "Jimmy! Carl's here!"

I threw my head back for a second and groaned in frustration with my right hand over my face. I really didn't want to go downstairs, but… it's Carl. What's the worst that can happen?

"Coming!" I called back before getting out of my desk chair and speed walked down the stairs until I got to the front door that mom partially cracked shut.

I opened the door and sighed before starting, "Hey Carl, what's…"

"I'M SO SORRY, JIMMY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO!" Carl practically screamed out in apologetic mania as he was on his knees clutching the hem of my shirt.

I brushed his hands off me as I asked, part annoyed and part confused, "Carl, calm down. What are you talking about?"

He still looked like he was very apologetically upset as he started rambling on, "I-I… I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T KNOW! Oleander just asked me what was going on and then, and... I-I… I'M A TERRIBLE PERSON!"

"CARL!" I yelled over him, trying to get Carl under control. "Sorry…" Carl said, seeming like he was starting to get some of his emotional control back.

"Carl, what are you talking about?" I asked, trying to straighten out what was exactly going on.

"Well… Sheen came over last night and showed me a picture of you and Cindy and then I saw Oleander when dad asked me to go out to get the paper and then… and then… I DON'T KNOW?! It all just slipped out!" Carl exploded as I froze as I recalled something from last night.

"Look guys, here. I deleted the picture off my phone. See? Are we cool now?"

I immediately felt my eyebrows knit together as my fists clenched on reflex at my current revelation.

"Sheen…" I said under my breath.

I think Carl realized I wasn't listening to anything else he was saying as I heard him inquire, sounding unsure, "Um… Jimmy?"

"Carl, c'mon." I said, shutting the front door behind me and ran out to the shed I built several years ago next to the clubhouse to house my hover car and some of my other inventions, mainly since mom asked me if I could move them out of the garage since her and dad wanted to park both cars in the garage.

Well, it was getting ridiculous, considering I had to modify the hover car to double its size to make it look like more of an actual car since all of us got too tall to fit in it.

But, I keyed in the code and got the hover car out as I looked to Carl, knowing I looked as angry and determined as I appeared since he was giving me a weary look, "Let's go Carl."

Carl kept giving me a weary expression but climbed into the hover car anyway as he asked, "Um… where are we going?"

"We're finding Sheen." I said, very to the point as I stepped on it and took off as fast as I was able to as I swerved out of the backyard.

I knew I was violating all traffic laws, but I didn't care.

I was angry.

"Jimmy, can we slow down? I'm starting to feel a little…" But, then I stomped on the brakes when I got to the front of Sheen's house and saw him on the front porch.

He was sitting on the steps with a smirk on his face as he licked his finger tips before leafing through this sizable stack of cash in his hands, that I inferred immediately where the money came from.

I immediately felt my eyebrows knit together again as I hopped out of the hover car and immediately made my way toward Sheen. Though I had no plan and had no idea what I was going to do… I was just angry.

I stopped in front of Sheen and my shadow covering him brought his attention to me finally as he tried to hide the stack of cash behind his back and his facial expression changed entirely.

"Uh, h-hey Jimmy. Wha-What's up?" He stuttered, clearly not wanting to address anything. But, I wasn't trying to mess around. I got right to the point as I said through my teeth, clenching my fists, "You told everyone about me and Cindy?!"

He stumbled back, putting his hands out in front of him, as he defended, "NO I DIDN'T! The only one I told was Carl."

"Oh really?! Then what about the picture that you said you supposedly deleted off your phone. Liar!" I directed, getting in his face.

"BUT I DID! The picture isn't in my phone anymore." He said, until he looked down and let out a nervous laugh before admitting, "But, I maaayyyyy have not deleted it off of my cloud yet when I showed Carl."

I didn't know what was going on with me anymore.

All I felt was my anger fully take over me as I lost all control until I lunged at Sheen and tackled him into his front stoop. "JIMMY!" I vaguely heard Carl yell behind me and I was actually surprised when I felt Carl pull me off of Sheen right as I was about to throw a punch.

"Let go Carl!" I demanded, thrashing around as I was still fixated on Sheen. I was actually surprised that Carl was able to hold me back.

"Jimmy, seriously! I didn't go out and show anyone but Carl!" Sheen said defensively.

"OH REALLY?! Then where did all that money come from?! The tooth fairy?!" I retorted sarcastically, still beyond infuriated.

"Jimmy, I swear! I didn't!... Okay, I did show people when they came over to ask about it and wanted to see proof, BUT THAT'S BESIDES THE POINT!" He said defensively, crossing his arms.

"Oh you…" "STOP IT! STOP IT! IT WAS ME!" Carl yelled, letting go of me and totally started losing it.

Sheen even looked surprised and I froze as I turned around and both of us looked toward Carl.

"You what?" I asked, incredibly confused by what was going on.

Carl looked like he was about to fully lose it.

"I was trying to tell you! Sheen told me and showed me the picture and then I ran into Oleander and then Butch heard it and asked me about it from the other side of the street and then Ike found out and then… AH! IT'S ALL MY FAULT!" Carl yelled out, falling to his knees and looking toward the sky as he gripped his hands into his hair.

It was dead silent as I took in all that.

But, as I kept processing everything and as much as I wanted to go off on Carl for telling everyone about me and Cindy… ugh, deep down, I knew I couldn't.

I've been friends with Carl and Sheen since were little kids and I knew Carl could never keep any secret to save his life.

Especially since I know he doesn't do it purposely or out of any malicious intent… Carl just has a complete lack of self control when it comes to secrets.

Then there's also the fact that he is the worst liar I've ever met.

I was still processing everything until I heard Sheen say behind me, "Huh? I was wondering why Butch, Oleander, and Ike all showed up to my house asking to see the picture at 9 am?… and everyone else after them."

Then I remembered why I was angry in the first place as I pointed out/exasperated, "AND YOU JUST SHOWED THEM THE PICTURE?!"

Sheen just shrugged at me and said, "Well, yeah, they wouldn't give me any money without seeing proof. So I just showed them the picture on my phone."

I gave him a hard look and crossed my arms until Sheen responded, "What?"

I let out a hard sigh before saying, "Sheen, did it possibly occur to you that Cindy and I were in my lab to maybe keep things secret? How did you and Libby even get in my lab anyway?" Sheen just shrugged again before finally admitting, pulling the small bag with my hair in it out of his pocket, "The emergency hair you gave me and Carl."

My mouth fell open a bit before I shut my eyes tight, pursed my lips, and tilted my head up toward the sky in exasperation, totally forgetting how I gave Carl and Sheen some of my hair several years ago to get in my lab just in case they needed it if something happened to me.

"Jimmy, what's the big deal? It was just a picture. I didn't even post it on anything and I was gonna delete it anyway later after I got my money. Besides, I'm with Libby. You and Cindy really gotta get over it since it's not like we didn't know you guys had a thing. So what's the problem?"

I was about to turn to him and tell him exactly what the problem was, until we heard, "Hey guys."

We all turned to look and all of us collectively froze when we saw Cindy and Libby on the edge of Sheen's front lawn.

It was dead silent as we all kept looking at each other until I heard was sounded like running and a door slamming shut. I looked behind me and saw Sheen retreated into his house as we heard the front door lock, probably thinking Cindy came over here to beat him up.

Which wouldn't surprise me if she did since… and honestly she could probably do it quite easily with her skill set in martial arts.

As hard as it used to be for me as a kid, I can easily admit this now. I may be a little ahead of Cindy as top of our class in school, but she is and always will be way better than me at any form of athletics.

Right then I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked to see it was Libby as she asked, sounding a lot more like her usual calm and level headed self, "Jimmy, do you have anything that can unlock the door?"

I gave her a confused look and stuttered out a 'huh?' as she elaborated, "Just trust me. I got this."

I gave her a perplexed look and debated about how I felt about breaking into Sheen's house. Well, until it occurred to me again how Sheen got in my lab and took a picture of Cindy and I without asking… I didn't even say anything as I looked at my watch and scanned through the settings until I found the lock pick function and got the pick lined up just right with the lock.

Click.

I got the door opened and just let Libby go ahead with Cindy following her, her expression unreadable. But, I noticed Libby was holding something in her hand that made me do a double take.

A bag… of frozen corn?

But, I was intrigued as I kept following and I could feel Carl following too right behind me. We all got upstairs and saw Sheen hiding behind his bed.

Libby was standing right in front of Sheen.

(Sheen's POV)

I looked up and saw Libby standing there, just looking at me.

Uh… yeah…

I knew there wasn't any other way out as I got out from behind the bed and tried to stay cool as I started, "Uh… hey Libs, what's happening?"

She crossed her arms and just kept looking at me.

Yeah… I knew this was coming.

"Okay Sheen, Cindy and I were talking and she agreed to let everything be forgiven on a few conditions. You genuinely give her and Jimmy an apology, you return all the money to everyone from the bet, and you delete the picture… completely." Libby said and I immediately felt my stomach drop as I started, "Aw, but Libby! I've been working on that bet for 6 years! You can't possibly… OW! OW!"

She immediately grabbed my left ear and started twisting it and I eventually caved as I said, "OKAY! OKAY! FINE!"

She let go of my ear and immediately pushed me toward Jimmy and Cindy. Both of them were looking at me as they simultaneously crossed their arms.

I gulped before caving, hating it that I had to give up everything. But… man… I guess I did pretty much sell them out?

I sighed before saying, "I'm sorry guys. I get it. I took that picture and let everyone see it without asking. I'll get rid of the picture and I'll give all the money back, okay?"

It was quiet until Cindy said, "Apology accepted, but Libby forgot to mention my other term for there to be complete forgiveness about the whole situation. Particularly after being pointed at like a freak show and laughed at in town today."

I gave her a confused look as Libby walked over next to her. It wasn't until now that I noticed she was holding a bag of frozen corn that I tilted my head and pointed to it as I asked, totally confused, "What's the bag of frozen corn for? What? Are we gonna make a cream corn casserole or…"

Before I could even finish, Cindy grabbed my shoulders and then kneed me right in the crotch so hard that I immediately fell on the floor holding myself.

I almost felt like I couldn't breathe as I saw Cindy smirk a little before saying, "Okay, now all is forgiven."

She then just walked out and I just saw her immediately grab Jimmy's hand, who looked like he was still trying to figure out what just happened like I was as I felt like my life was flashing before my eyes by how much that hurt.

Carl looked like he just started following Jimmy and Cindy out of the room and kept asking for them to wait up. I was still on the ground until Libby got down to my level and helped me sit up and just handed me the bag of frozen corn.

Oh…

I took the bag and put it on my lap. It helped a little bit until I looked over and just saw Libby looking at me, and giving me that look again.

Oh… man…

Well, Cindy seemed to get her revenge on Sheen in just the sort of impulsive way we'd expect from the tough and feisty Cindy Vortex. Lol. But more importantly, I just wanted to elaborate on a couple things. I really love all the characters in this show for how human they all are. During multiple times in the show, all of them have made mistakes but learned and moved on from them to try and become better people. Now Sheen's kind of an obsessive and impulsive character who doesn't think things through, but that doesn't make him a bad person. I just wanted to show how he'd overlook things in this moment over a little greed and make some less than smart and conscientious decisions per say when it came to Jimmy and Cindy's relationship… more particularly how he made the decision to prioritize the bet he had going over his friends and has only now just recognized that. But, next chapter, let's just say all the characters will have their own revelations in their own situations. ;) Also, I just wanted to show how even Jimmy, a pretty even tempered guy, could even lose his temper if he was pushed enough. And also wanted to show how the secret got out due to both Sheen's moment of greed… and Carl's inability to keep any secret under wraps. Poor Carl! We know you can't help it! Haha. XD Anyway, next chapter will be the final chapter of Permutations; however, it will not be the end of this fanfic series since I completely intend on writing a sequel! :D I will elaborate more on it in A/N of the next chapter, but the planning for it is already in the works. ;) Anyway, thank you all for taking the time to read and as always, constructive reviews are always welcome and very much appreciated!

Stay safe, healthy, and classy!

Dexter1995