Certainties Chapter 5, a rugrats/all grown up! fanfic

Certainties

an All Grown Up fan fiction story

by Lord Akiyama

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Chapter Five

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As much as the girls hated to admit it, Phil had a point when he repeated a joke he heard on television. The one about the key to a woman's heart was somewhere in the mall. Because if anything, the girls would take their minds off of any troubles or gossip about their situations while looking to restock their wardrobe, add to their shoe rack, or just get something to relieve their stress. On a typical Sunday Shopping Spree, clothing would usually be the answer.

"You're going out with Tommy?" Angelica cried in a state of shock, pealing her eyes away from the mirror just for a moment so that she could face Kimi. "Because of an accidental kiss? Man, if I had known that was the trick to dating a guy, I would've done that months ago."

"But that would've qualified as a staged kiss, Angelica," Susie pointed out, glancing over at Angelica while retaining her view on the mirror. "Kimi wasn't expecting to find herself kissing Tommy. That is how an accidental kiss comes about."

"What I'm surprised about is your saying Chuckie doesn't really have that big of a problem with his best friend dating you, his sister," Lil said, not turning away from analyzing how she looked in the current set of clothing she draped over her body. "I still remember the last time he caught a guy checking you out in an inappropriate manner. Do you think maybe he's a bit too acceptable of your dating Tommy?"

"Well, I kinda got the feeling this morning," Kimi replied, doing the same routine Lil was while the others regrouped themselves. "Because of his big mouth from last night, he told me could be developing second thoughts after dreaming about just how far my relationship with Tommy could go."

"And that just goes to show one thing, girls," Susie said with a grin. "When it comes to girls, all boys think about the same thing. S-E-X. They may not think about it all the time, but it is their predominant thought once they hit puberty."

"I so did not want to think about that," Kimi sighed with a hint of a groan. "Tommy and I just decided upon being a couple last night and already our brothers are foolishly making it tough for us to avoid having such visuals implanted in our heads. Tommy talked about his not being able to sleep well last night because Dil wouldn't shut up."

"Why am I not surprised?" Angelica said. "Wild child's brain is on such a far away planet that it makes it difficult to tell him something important without him blowing it out of proportion. How Tommy manages to live with him is beyond me."

"And Phil's not too far behind, either," Lil sighed. "I am gonna be so worried the minute I get a boyfriend."

"At least your brother isn't as open about his overprotective nature of you as Chuckie is over me," Kimi said. "Chuckie might look like he's having second thoughts, but he says that he's still okay with me and Tommy together. But he is one of my biggest concerns because I'm sure he'll snap if for some reason Tommy and I call it quits. He'll hound his best friend for answers as to why he couldn't make me happy enough so that we could stay together."

"Even if, under such a hypothetical situation, you were to split under extremely calm and friendly terms?" Susie asked. She glanced over to see Kimi nod. "Makes me glad my brothers moved out when they did."

"Oh, go ahead and keep flaunting it in our faces," Lil noted with a giggle. "As we've no doubt etched in stone, brothers will embarrass you to death whether they are accepting or against whomever you date."

"And under my circumstances, male cousins can also be included in that group," Angelica said with a bit of annoyance. "Tommy and Dil wouldn't get off my case when I finally got myself a boyfriend. Always wanting to rundown of what happened every time we got together, begging that I reveal every little detail. I even threatened Tommy that I would smash his precious camera if he even though about using that to document my personal business."

"I think it's pretty safe to say that boys are, and will always be, pathetic," Susie said with a laugh. "They pride themselves as the dominant gender and yet they are disturbingly clueless when it comes to dating."

"Um, guys," Kimi sheepishly said. "I really dunno if this is making me any less nervous about the whole thing. I mean, I really do like Tommy as a friend and more. It's just that we really dunno how far we can make this go. We've been friends since we were one and have never really considered each other an item, save for that time someone put that heart in my basement."

"You actually thought about the idea then?" Susie asked curiously.

"I dunno," Kimi sighed. "I guess I'm just worrying myself so much over this. Worried of how long this relationship can last. Worried that if it ends, how soon and how it effects our friendship. Worried how Chuckie really thinks and how the whole thing effects his friendship with Tommy. And I can't stop worrying myself over this."

"Sure are taking this whole dating thing more seriously than I did," Angelica noted.

"I'm sorry about letting it out on you guys," Kimi said. "I just never really thought the idea of this kind of relationship could end up actually coming true. I dunno about the rest of you, but not once did I imagine myself dating Tommy or even Phil or Dil."

"Way too old to even think about it," Angelica snorted.

"And having been the babysitter for these guys, it just would've been really weird for me," Susie laughed.

"Well, um..." Lil began to mutter sheepishly. "I, uh... did at one point had a minor crush on Tommy."

"Really?" Angelica said, verbally echoing what the others thought. Although Kimi began to look a bit unhappy.

"Somewhat," Lil replied, trying to cover herself in embarrassment. "A couple years back, I kinda started imagining myself with Tommy and all. But then I stopped thinking about it for some reason and forgot the whole thing."

"You don't even remember what stopped you?" Kimi asked, acting almost jealous of what she was hearing.

"I'm not really sure," Lil answered with a shrug. "I mean, I was working my butt off to make varsity on the soccer team since he started high school. Guess I never really thought much of it and kept going with what I was focusing on at the moment." She made an embarrassed glance over to Kimi, not really sure if she wanted to see if the other had a not so pleasant reaction to this bit of information. "Sorry if I, um... upset you with my mentioning that."

"Oh, that's okay," Kimi responded. She then sighed and fell to a sitting position. "I don't think I've been this obsessed over something since I went all out about my Japanese heritage." The others seconded that with nods to one another. "And I'm just really nervous about how the whole thing goes."

"Oh, don't go all damsel in distress on us, girl," Susie said, sitting down next to Kimi and placing a comforting left hand on the other's right shoulder. "You're over analyzing this whole thing. Slow down, relax, take a deep breath, and just concentrate on what's in front of you, not beyond it. Just be yourself and you'll do fine. Alright?"

Kimi took a deep breath and nodded before giving a reassuring smile. Be herself. She'll do fine.

---

The equivalent of a Sunday Shopping Spree for the guys was a trip to the arcade and a near endless round of skee ball. Highest score by the time they had to leave gets the bragging rights. And fifteen dollars richer. Tommy was in the lead, but Dil was banking on that lead getting cut down by heating up the pressure. Talking about what happened last night.

"So lemme get this straight," Phil said after he rolled another ball before facing the others. "You accidentally kissed Kimi, a girl you've been friends with since you guys were one, who happens to be your best friend's sister, started having feelings for her, waited a week to see if those feelings lasted, decided to hook up, discovered that Chuckie followed her, immediately get embarrassed at his mention of you two sleeping together, come home, have Dil further embarrass you with the same subject and more, scream so loud that you caught your parents' attention, and were left with no choice but to tell them everything that very same night. Geez, if that ain't the strangest hook up I've ever heard, I dunno what is."

"Thanks for the support," Tommy sighed before rolling another ball.

"Oh no, I think it's cool you guys are going out," Phil quickly responded. "I just think it's strange in a funny way that all of this happened practically within the span of a week. Normally it takes three of five before the whole getting embarrassed by family members thing kicks into effect."

"Perhaps we should be thankful that you're a friend and not a member of the family then," Chuckie sighed, rolling another ball of his own. "I really couldn't sleep last night because of the visual image of my best friend sleeping with my sister."

"That one is your own fault, Chuckie," Tommy said. "You opened your mouth on the subject, and now you're paying the consequences of your actions. Granted I didn't have much of a good night sleep either, thanks to you and Dil. Kimi and I have barely been a couple less than 24 hours and already I'm scared that the thought of us in bed could become real when we both are far from ready."

"Have you ever seen T this wound up before, Phil?" Dil chuckled before rolling his next ball. "Who would've thought that it would take his developing feelings for Kimi and actually going out with her to make him this much of a nervous wreck. Makes all my other attempts to embarrass him look like child's play."

"They were child's play, Dil," Tommy groaned, but shaking his head with a light smile. "The difference, Dil, is that what Kimi and I are developing is something that is much more than conventional friendship. We kinda do have to take things a bit more seriously than before because we're putting a lot of ourselves into this. We could end up hurting each other if things fall apart badly. And we're both pretty scared of doing that in addition to causing harm to our friendship."

"But you're seemingly willing to take the risk with my sister," Chuckie said. He didn't mean for it to sound bitter, although he honestly couldn't think of a better way to word it.

"Yeah, I really am," Tommy sighed. Even though Chuckie said he was okay with the two of them going out, he had the feeling that his true feelings over the whole thing were being held back. "I really like Kimi a lot and she the same for me. But everything is so strange because there is so much that kinda got placed on the pedestal with us. Not just our feelings for one another, but our friendship, my friendship with you, and a dozen or so other factors that we needed a week to think about before deciding on whether or not to move forward. And we believe we can make a go of it."

"Whoa, that's pretty heavy, man," Phil said. "Sounds like guys are as serious as can be about your relationship."

"Sorry if it seems like I'm a little paranoid over the whole thing," Tommy sighed.

"Hey, it's like I said," Phil chuckled. "I think you guys look pretty good together. Always thought about what it be like to date one of the girls. Although it's pretty weird thinking about Angelica and Susie, so Kimi always seemed like someone I could hang out with if I had to choose one."

"Wait, you thought about wanting to date my sister?" Chuckie cried, nearly dropping a ball on his foot.

"Not seriously," Phil said, not really paying attention to the fact that both Chuckie and Tommy were giving him hard glares. "I just imagined that if I were placed in a situation where I had to choose one of the girls to go on a date with it would be Kimi." After rolling another ball, he had a feeling he wasn't being looked at positively. "You guys know it was just a random thought... right?"

---

"My God," Kimi groaned, slumping in her seat and playing with the straw in her smoothie. "You think you know a person forever and then they suddenly confess that they had thoughts about wanting to date you, but never said a word about it."

"Sure does make things all that more complicated," Tommy sighed before taking a sip of his.

The two decided to have an impromptu hook up at The Java Lava. Usually there barely would be any customers towards closing hour. And since the others were going to be elsewhere, they figured now would be a good time to make sure they were still going forward with their relationship. Especially after the revelation dropped by Phil and Lil.

"Can I ask you something that I hope won't sound... I dunno... sound like I'm jealous or selfish..." Kimi began to say.

"Uh... sure," Tommy replied nervously. "What's on your mind?"

"It's about the twins, I'm sorry," Kimi sighed. "You said that Phil thought about wanting to date me if he had to chose one of us girls. Well... did you ever... um... think about that? Think about which one of us you wanted to date?"

He knew by mentioning what Phil had said she was going to question him about it. He took a deep breath. The thought of avoiding the question or lying crossed his mind. But they just decided to start dating. And the idea of not telling the truth to someone he's been friends with since they were babies. He just wasn't sure how she would react if he told her the truth. He looked into her worried eyes and sighed again.

"I... kinda did..." Tommy sheepishly said. "And, um... I actually thought about what it was like dating you at one point... and Lil at another. I even thought about Susie, but it didn't last." They both nervously laughed.

She knew that by asking him the question that she may not like him telling the truth. And at the same time did not want him to lie for her sake. This was one of the things they were unsure about when they decided to take that week to figure out if they really did want to pursue dating one another. It was at this moment that she realized that all the time in the world wouldn't have mattered. They would have needed to confront these issues any way.

"So you did think about wanting to date... Lil at one point?" Kimi pushed, though not intentionally.

"Yeah..." Tommy sighed. "I thought about it a few nights. Then I guess I just gave up on the thought, you know. Didn't really think much of it and just moved on to what was more important to me at the time. Getting a job."

She gave a light laugh at his explanation. "What about when you thought about me?" Kimi asked. "How long did you think about wanting to date me? Before that accidental kiss, that is."

He took a deep breath. No sense in lying. "A full week once," Tommy confessed. "Not when we saw that heart with our initials in your basement. When we were really young. I think maybe around seven or eight."

"Really?" Kimi asked in surprise. "While we were still kids?"

He nodded. "I think it was after your birthday, you know," Tommy continued. "I got you that jacket you always wanted, the red one that you could still wear although the bottom would now only go down to your hip." She laughed in recognition. "Yeah, that one. I remember seeing how really happy you were that you got that jacket. And I remember just how happy I was that you got that jacket. Feeling even more happy that I got to give it to you. That night, I started thinking about you and me really being more than just friends, you know."

He could see that she was in great awe at what he was telling her. A light smile came upon his lips, thinking back to such a fond memory and being able to tell her how he really felt then. He watched her form a light smile of her own.

"You know... I kinda thought about you the same way, too, back then," Kimi said rather sheepishly, trying to find bring her shoulders up and not blush. "I remember mom and dad talking about whether they should by that jacket, even though it was the one I really wanted. And to see it among my presents... I was just so happy. So happy that someone cared enough about me to give it to me for my birthday. I think I spent a week myself just thinking about what a wonderful person you were, Tommy. That you cared so much for me."

They stared into each other's eyes, having listened to everything they had to say about that wonderful moment in their lives. The thought of the twins having had crushes on them was the farthest thing they could think about. They practically forgot about having been embarrassed by their brothers last night. All they could think about was each other and the happiness they shared for one another.

When moments of endless staring ended, he leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. When he pulled back, he noticed that her smile widened. And there was that look in her eyes. Like she was filled with joy that they kissed.

"You know," Tommy began to say, "I think this is gonna work for us."

"Yeah," Kimi said, giving out a lovingly sigh. "I think so, too."

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Edited October 12, 2005

Thanks to crazyvi, acosta pérez josé ramiro and XxXCocoPuffXxX for the heads up on my bust.