Cree snuggled beside Maurice in a booth at the Romantic Burger. True, the place brought back unpleasant memories of "Hank," but it was the best place in town for a romantic date. Plus they had really good burgers.

Cree's cell phone rang. She answered it after a brief apology to Maurice.

"Talk to me. Oh, it's you. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So what's in it for me? Hm. I'll have to get back to you on that one."

She turned off her phone. "That was Father," she informed.

Maurice's eyes widened in horror before he realized that he wasn't supposed to remember who Father was. He hoped Cree didn't notice.

"Father…?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

"Oh, that's right, you don't--. Father is a guy who wants the Kids Next Door destroyed almost as much as we do," she explained with a smile. "We used to work together more closely, but, well, Father likes bossing people around, and that gets old fast. The Teens and Father have had something of a falling out, so while we might work together sometimes, it's on strictly case-by-case terms."

"Oh, good," answered Maurice, feeling rather relieved that he wouldn't be working with Father regularly. Then realizing that his response was a rather odd one, added, "I don't like taking orders."

"Exactly," Cree agreed. "Of course, you'll be taking orders from me," she grinned slyly.

"Right."

"And I'm thinking I haven't been taking advantage of the situation," she continued playfully, moving closer to Maurice.

"Is that the time?" Maurice blurted. "I'm sorry, honey, but I gotta go. I've got…judo lessons. I'll call you." He got up and made a hasty retreat.

"But your food hasn't even arrived—" Cree called after him.

A waiter came up and looked at her questioningly.

"I'm sorry, but can I make my order to go?" she sighed.

"Of course, Miss, I'll tell the kitchen now."

Cree frowned. She didn't like the way the waiter had looked at her—full of pity. It's not as if Maurice ditched me, he had a judo lesson, is all. She wondered how long he had been taking judo lessons, and why she wasn't aware of them before.

She propped her head up in her hands, elbows on the table. Strange…I've been wanting to be with Maurice all these years, and now that I finally am, I still feel…alone. She tried to drive those thoughts from her mind. She was just over-thinking things. Maurice was her first serious boyfriend, of course their relationship wasn't going to be exactly the way she imagined it would be. Even so…whenever she tried to spend time alone with him, he seemed to suddenly remember something and run off. They hadn't even kissed yet….

She was still lost in her thoughts when the waiter returned with a bag.

"I've included a piece of our delicious chocolate cake, no charge," he smiled sympathetically at her.

"Oh, that's sweet of you, but you didn't have to—"

"A beautiful young lady such as yourself deserves a boy who appreciates her." He gave her another infuriatingly supportive look and turned to leave.

"Maurice appreciates me," she called after him. "I don't need cake! Ugh…." She took her doggy bag and plodded out.

---

Numbuh Five lounged in her room in Sector V's Treehouse. She glanced at her watch. She should leave for home soon.

"Numbuh Five," she heard a low voice from the window. "Hey, over here,"

She turned and stared. "Maurice?" she asked in a hushed voice. "You shouldn't be here! Even if you are covert KND, you're still a teen, and if the Teen Alert signal goes off, the rest of my team will be here to kick your butt."

"It's okay, I made a signal jammer." He climbed into the window and held up a small device. "As long as it's on, the security grid won't be able to detect me."

Numbuh Five walked up to him and stared at the small module in wonder. "Did you make that yourself? Pretty impressive. But you'd better make sure Cree or any of the teens don't get a hold of that thing."

"Right, I won't. Listen, Numbuh Five. Abby."

She looked up at him, surprised. He never called her Abby.

"I was hoping you could, uh, do me a favor." He nervously fiddled with the device in his hands.

"What favor?" she questioned.

"Well, you know that my latest assignment requires that I pose as Numbuh Ele—I mean, Cree's boyfriend."

"Yeah," she said aloud, mentally adding, of course I do, you idiot.

"It's not an easy job. I've got to gain her trust, and pretend that I like her."

Numbuh Five watched him, poker-faced. She wasn't about to reveal how she felt about the situation.

"I must be doing pretty well, because Cree doesn't seem to know. And she…seems to like me…and…well, lately, she keeps trying to kiss me."

"This is all very fascinating, Maurice, but I don't see—"

"The problem is," Maurice continued with growing difficulty, "that I've never kissed anyone before. And I don't want my first kiss to be a fake one with someone I don't even like."

Abby stared. Is he asking what I think he's asking?

Maurice gazed at her steadily. "So I was hoping…that my first kiss…could be with you?"

She saw it coming, but she still wasn't prepared for it. "I…." She felt her cheeks grow hot and prayed that her entire face hadn't turned bright red. "I don't…. Okay."

He seemed almost surprised at her answer. Then he smiled uncertainly. "Thanks."

Abby nodded. "So…now?"

"I guess." He continued to turn the signal jammer in his hands.

Numbuh Five suddenly became very self-conscious about how she looked. She took off her hat and pushed some loose strands of hair from her face.

Maurice took a hesitant step towards her then another. He paused and almost asked, "Are you ready," but realized it was a ridiculous question. He leaned forward, wondering if he should go fast to get the whole damn thing over with, but realized it would hardly be a real kiss if he did so. He inched closer to her, half-closing his eyes, fervently hoping that he didn't look like he was grimacing.

Abby's eyes remained wide open, watching him apprehensively as he approached. It seemed to take an eternity for him to reach her and she wished he would move faster. She would have bent forward to meet him halfway, but she felt frozen stiff. Even her lungs refused to take in air.

Finally he pressed his lips to hers. His eyes were closed. Abby kept hers open, staring. It almost felt like an out-of body experience, as if her soul had floated out of her and was hovering above them, wondering, now how did this happen? It wasn't romantic at all. It was one of those "soccer kisses" she had heard about, no hands, no touching at all except for the lips which were pressed firmly together.

It probably lasted only a few seconds, but it seemed to drag on for an eternity. She didn't understand. She liked Maurice. She liked him. Why was this such a miserable experience?

At last he pulled away and Abby exhaled, relieved.

Maurice's face was flushed and he had trouble meeting her eyes. He then realized that he had been clutching onto the jammer device the entire time. It really hadn't gone exactly as he had hoped, but it was a first kiss, after all. More importantly, it was a first kiss with Abby.

"Thanks." He tried to smile in an easy-going manner in spite of his red cheeks.

Abby noticed him peering at her and plastered a smile on herself. "Yeah, well…no problem," she half-shrugged.

"I guess I'll see you around." Maurice headed for the window by which he entered.

"Couldn't avoid you if I wanted to," Numbuh Five replied in a voice low enough that he couldn't be sure what she said.

A final wave and Maurice was gone.

Abby sighed and sat on the couch. Her first kiss. With Maurice. And it was completely lame. After a few moments of wallowing in self-pity, she stood to go home.

---

Abby entered the kitchen to find Cree sitting at the table, dejectedly eating chocolate cake out of a carryout container. The older sister looked up when she entered.

"I'm not depressed!" she protested defensively, mouth full.

"Well good for you." Abby answered as she dropped herself heavily in the chair beside Cree. "I am—so I need this cake more than you." She snatched the fork from her sister's hands and helped herself to a large bite.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No," Abby said between mouthfuls.

"Neither do I." Cree grabbed another fork.

---
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author's note: Cree is depressed because Maurice won't kiss her, and Abby is depressed because he did. ah, what a tangled web... :P
a mysteriously Chad-less chapter. that probably won't happen very often.