Thank you all for the wonderful reviews. It really means a lot to me that you review. Anyway, away from the sappy stuff, here's the next chapter.

HOURS THREE THROUGH FIVE

Jimmy wished that he had the ability to read minds. Sure, he had the technology to do that, but he also knew what had happened the last time that he experimented with that branch of science. Still, he wished more than anything that he could tell what was going through Cindy's head. Jimmy had to admit it, he had fun at Retroland. He had enjoyed all of the rides, and knew that the visit to the amusement park was only made better by Cindy.

It surprized him greatly that he was getting along with her so well. It was as if something had changed, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. It was as if Cindy knew some deep dark secret, but was refusing to share it with him. That didn't really hurt his feelings one bit. After all, they had never been that close before, and he wasn't going to ruin it by asking questions.

"Where are we going now, Vortex?" he asked, as they walked down the street. Calling her by her last name seemed a little strange to him, foreign to his mouth. It hit him how rude it must sound. But, he was a guy, he was allowed to be that way.

Many places stuck out in Cindy's mind. All of them held a special meaning to her. First of all, there was the school. That was where they spent most of their time together, and that was where they had their best arguments. But, what could they do there? How would Cindy explain to Jimmy why they were at the school? The most dominant place in her mind, though, was the Candy Bar. That was a very special place to both of them.

They'd had many of their best arguments there-most about stuff Cindy didn't even remember. That made her smile. But, it also made her sad to think about all of the time they'd wasted by arguing. There were a few other memories that stuck out in her mind that occured in the Candy Bar. There was the time when she had been sitting there with Libby, discussing the perfect guy, when Jimmy had burst in and professed his love for her. Of course, that had only been because of the effects of a love potion. That didn't mean that Cindy hadn't enjoyed that day. She had loved every minute of it. Because, just for a little time, she thought that Jimmy actually cared about her.

Then, there was the time when they'd almost kissed. When they'd returned from competing on an intergalactic gameshow. She'd really wanted to kiss him then, and she was sure that he had wanted to kiss her too. But, it never happened. It was strange how her life seemed to work out that way. Everytime that she and Jimmy got close to one another, something would pull them apart.

To the Candy Bar they went. It was closed. Cindy had expected that. But, they'd already preformed one act of breaking and entering that morning, so another was no problem.

"Cindy, are you completely nuts?" asked Jimmy, fighting back a yawn. He knew it had to be at least two thirty in the morning.

"There's a reason for my madness. . ." said Cindy, rolling her eyes. She felt around frantically to find the light switch, because it was completely dark in the Candy Bar.

"We can't turn on the lights, someone will find us." said Jimmy, wondering why he didn't want to be found.

Cindy knew he was right. But, what would they do? Just sit in the darkness? That's exactly what they did. Cindy and Jimmy took their usual seats and sat in silence.

"What are we doing here?" asked Jimmy, in a whisper.

"I don't know, I just thought we could come in and sit a little while." replied Cindy.

"Okay. . ." said Jimmy, sceptically. He shifted in his seat, and a sharp pain shot through him. He winced, and Cindy noticed. She had to admit that it worried her. The angel had told her that Jimmy would be taken from her no matter what. It didn't matter where they were. At twelve, he was gone. What if it would be a slow process? Instead of dying in a hospital bed, as he were supposed to, what if Jimmy slowly faded throughout the day. Cindy knew she was probably being paranoid.

Jimmy didn't know what was the matter with him. Perhaps it was just the fact that he was very tired. He found it hard to breath, and it hurt when he moved. But, then it would pass over. It came in waves. Jimmy just brushed it off and acreditted it to lack of sleep.

"You know, this place brings back alot of memories." said Cindy.

"I guess so."

"Like that after we were on Intergalactic Showdown. When, we were in the booth, and then. . . you know what, nevermind." said Cindy, glancing down.

"Go on." said Jimmy.

"That day, I just want you to know that, I really wanted to kiss you." she said. It took all of the guts that she had, but she had at least taken a small step.

Jimmy didn't know what to say. They sat there for a long time in silence.

After a while, Jimmy knew what he needed to say.

"The truth is, Cindy," he said, carefully, "I really wanted to kiss you too."

But, when he looked over, Cindy was already asleep, head resting on the table. Jimmy shrugged and sighed. Maybe it was better that she hadn't heard. He knew that he couldn't just leave her there and go home, and he knew that it would be a pain to wake her up. Instead, he just told himself that he would rest his eyes for few moments, and wait for Cindy to wake up.

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Cindy had tried her best to stay awake. One moment she was pouring her heart out to Jimmy and the next she was waking up to sunlight coming through the window. She opened her eyes and realised that she had fell asleep in the Candy Bar. She sat up quickly and realised that she had been resting her head on Jimmy's shoulder. It was a good thing that he hadn't awoke yet, or that would have been embarrasing.

"Cindy, you're such and idiot. . ." she told herself. She glanced at her watch. It was seven-o-clock! She had wasted her precious hours. She began to prod Jimmy awake, but was stopped by a light flooding the room. She could tell, even before she could see him, that the angel was paying her another visit.

"Cindy, you are doing a good job at spending your last day with Jimmy." said the angel, stepping out of the light. "But, I must warn you, your time is running out. As I said before, at midnight he will be taken from you. If there is anything that you wish to do before the end of the day, I advise you to do it as soon as possible. That may be hard for you, I know, but you've had a long time to tell Jimmy what you need to. Now, a time limit has been set."

"But why? Why does he have to go? What did he ever do to deserve this?" she asked.

"You may come to find in your lifetime that no one ever deserves the pain that they must endure. Then again, if not for the hardships and pains that this world has to offer, you would not enjoy the better times as much." said the angel.

Cindy was about to ask the angel more of the questions that were flooding her mind, but before she could speak, the angel stepped back into the light and dissapeared.

She knew he was right. If she hadn't been given a deadline to tell Jimmy how she felt, then she would have never gotten up the courage to do it.

"Jimmy, wake up." she said, gently shaking him.

She was going to tell him before the day was over. That was what she swore to herself as they left the Candy Bar, and headed down the street to their next destination.

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