Okay...sorry it took so long, but here it is - the big Tommy and Kimi moment!

Once again, I have nothing witty to say in regards to a disclaimer, so I'll just say that I don't own Rugats or All Grown Up.

Chapter 10

This Thing

There were bulletin boards all throughout Lifton High School, but the only one Dil cared about was in the A-Wing. It had information about upcoming plays, auditions, concerts, and most importantly, the film contest. Dil walked by almost everyday to check for updates.

"Hmm, chorus...band...don't care...blah, blah...WHAT!? One week? Entrees are due in a week? Damn. We have a lot to do. How are we gonna get this done?" Dil tore off to lunch hopefully to find Kimi and Lillian.

When Kimi got to her lunch table, Lillian was already there. She was drumming the table and her eyes kept shifting back and forth. Kimi knew she was hiding something. "Okay, what's up?"

Lillian snapped to attention when she heard Kimi's voice. "Hmm? Um, nothing. Ha, nothing at all."

"Just tell me. You know you hate secrets. Oh wait a sec, you know Chuckie comes back today, right? His time is up," Kimi smiled briefly, "He's in so much trouble at home, he's only allowed out of the house 20 minutes per week. It's kinda funny actually."

"Yeah...about that...how would you feel if someone else came to sit with us today?"

"That's it? That's your big secret? Sure, fine-wait. Who is it?" Kimi eyed Lilllian.

Lillian took a deep breath. "Well, it's-"

At that exact moment, Chuckie appeared behind Lillian and tapped her on the shoulder. "Yes, or no?"

Kimi's jaw dropped. "It's Chuckie? What's going on?"

"Well, after the whole gym thing, I just didn't realize...I really like him. And, um, he likes me too. We're kind of...together now," Lillian smiled weakly.

"Oh, wow. Wasn't expecting that one," Kimi thought about it for a mintute, "What the heck? Grab a chair," Kimi smiled at her brother.

Lillian's face lit up. "Yes! You rock Kimi!"

"Guys! We have a problem. Films are due in a week-Hey Chuckie. One week! How are we gonna get this done? Since when do you sit here?" Dil was clearly in a panic, but he still found time to make small talk. Either that or he had an incredibly short attention span.

"So? We have all the footage. We just have to put it all together, right? Can we go to your house after school and work on it?" Kimi had a solution for everything.

"You have no idea how long it takes to edit a video. We're gonna have to be working for hours if we even want to come close to getting it done. But I guess my house today will be a good start," Dil was beginning to calm down.

"Sorry, I can't. I have a huge project due in history," Lillian felt terrible, but Kimi had another resolution.

"No problem. Dil and I will work; we'll fill you in tomorrow." After that, the four friends relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. However, things at the jock table were not so mellow.

"I'm so friggin' ticked! I wanna punch something!" Phil's nostril's flared.

"Pfft, how 'bout Chuck Finster." Sean was as angry as Phil was about the gym.

"Who does that jerk think he is? Trashing the gym like he's, I dunno, the trash dude or something."

"Dude, where's he sitting? I wanna break that guy's face," Sean sneered.

Since Chcukie left, Tommy took over his job, eye-rolling. "Come on guys, chill. Chuckie quit the team, you don't have to be around him anymore.

Phil shook his head, and Tommy swore he heard a growl. "That doesn't cut it, man. I can still see him in my mind; I can still smell that Finster smell, friggin' stinks.

"Look guys, just take a couple days to calm down. It'll all work out," Tommy was trying his hardest to keep the peace.

Sean nodded. "Yeah, man, we're cool, we're chill, dude."

"I gotta go take care of something. Be right back," Tommy left without waiting for a response from the jock tag team he was stuck sitting with. Tommy expected to find Chuckie with Lillian, he could tell he liked her just from the few times he'd seen them together. What he didn't expect was that where he'd find the young lovebirds, he'd also find Kimi. Tommy awkwardly made his way over to where Chuckie was sitting, he was so used to having this confident glow about him, it was a new experience. When he arrived at the table he cleared his throat, also rather awkwardly, and tapped Chuckie on the shoulder. "Uh, hey Chuckie. I just wanted to let you know that"-and then he saw Kimi. They immediately locked eyes; Kimi titled her head to one side exposing her long neck. Tommy thought he was going to melt, but he managed to choke out a hello. "Hi...Kimi," Tommy then realized that he had yet to acknowledge Lillian's presence. Oh, shoot. Now I probably look like a jerk. Saying hi to her now would just seem like an afterthought. Is it better not to say anything? "And Lillian. Hi Kimi and Lillian, oh, and Dil too...yeah."

Their reactions, much like their opinions of the person saying hello, were all very different. Dil snickered at his fumbling brother and quickly returned to his sandwich. Lillian raised one eyebrow at the nervous jock and left the table. Kimi, on the other hand, responded verbally. "Hi."

Of course, she sounds so cool and calm, why am I such a friggin' wreck? "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that Phil and Sean are going to kill you. So, I'd steer clear of them if I were you. See ya." Tommy attempted to do that nodding motion lots of guys who think they're cool do in Kimi's direction, but he brought his head down too fast and it ended up looking like he was head banging.

Kimi laughed. "He's an interesting one."

Dil responded mid-chew. "And an obsessed one," He looked at Kimi and smirked with his eyes.

Kimi shook her head. "Hardly. I'll talk to you guys later."

Kimi arrived at the Pickles' house shortly after school ended. Wow I haven't been inside this house in at least 10 years. I never thought I'd be going back in... Kimi rung the doorbell several times before someone answered, giving more time to think. Is that...barking...Spike, I bet. Wow, I can't believe he's still alive.

Didi Pickles answered the door. "Hel - wow, I haven't seen you in ages. Come on in. How are you?

Kimi smiled sheepishly, "I'm fine, thanks."

Didi nodded as if hearing that Kimi was doing fine was the best news she'd heard all day. "Well, Dil told me all about the project, sounds exciting. He's in his room."

Kimi slipped past Mrs. Pickles without another word. She quickly made her way to Dil's room; fortunately, she still remembered where it was. "Hey."

Dil spun around. "Oh, hi Kimi. Grab a chair. I was just loading everything. All our footage is in the program, now we just have to edit it."

Kimi glanced around the room for a moment. There were posters of all different musicians around the room, a goldfish on his nightstand, and a pair of drumsticks discreetly placed on top of a pile of clothes. "Drums, cool. You play?"

Dil smiled briefly, "Yeah, my set's in the closet. I got into it a few years ago."

Kimi pulled open the closet doors. "Wow...why didn't you ever tell us?"

"It never came up...you guys never asked...anyway, let's finish the video," Dil closed his closet and resumed his work on the film.

"Uh, great. Let's get started," If Kimi had known anything about video editing, she wouldn't have been nearly as optimistic. It can take anywhere from several hours, to several days to perfect a video. After about 3 hours, Kimi decided it was time for a break. "I need nourishment. Be back in a few."

Dil waved in acknowledgement. "Yeah, I'll be here. Oh, Kimi! Can you get me some chips while you're down there?"

Kimi heard what she thought was the faint sound of Dil's voice, but she was already at the stairs; she didn't feel like turning around. Kimi simply began walking backwards so she could hear better. "Dil? What did you sa-Woah!" While talking, Kimi had started walking down the steps backwards, of course, she was bound to fall. Luckily, someone was there to catch her.

"Have a nice trip?"

Kimi immediately knew the voice belonged to Tommy. "I always do," She chuckled softly.

"Uh, I don't want to sound like a jerk, but what are you doing in my house?"

A smile spread across Kimi's face as she turned around to talk to Tommy face to face. "You've never noticed me here before? I come here everyday. Your parents rented out the staircase to me."

"Believe me. I think I would have noticed you here.

"I have to get back to work with Dil...film contest," Kimi turned around and continued her trek down the stairs.

You idiot! Do something! You can't blow this! "Uh, Kimi, wait! What about after you guys are done?"

"What about it?"

"Do you want to do something...?"

"Like what?" Tommy noticed a sarcastic smile on Kimi's face.

Oh my God! This is torture! "I dunno; go for a walk...or something..." Go for a walk? Nothing sounds lamer. Great, just great.

"Sure, why not?" The 2 went their separate ways; Kimi continued downstairs, and Tommy headed for his room upstairs. The last thing he expected was to almost, kind of, sort of, ask Kimi Finster out. The last thing he expected after that was for his little brother to watch the whole scene.

Dil called out to Tommy as he passed by his door. "Interesting."

"What?"

"What happened to only dating popular cheerleaders? You'd probably see me with pom-poms before you'd ever see Kimi with them, unless they were razor-sharp and she was throwing them at Angelica or something...no that'd probably be Lillian...never mind."

"So, what's your point?"

Dil sighed. "Why'd you ask her out?"

Tommy squirmed in his sneakers; he was becoming uncomfortable with the subject matter of the conversation. "Cause...I like her."

"Kimi's nice. She doesn't need someone like you screwing with her head."

"Whatever. I'll be in my room," Tommy ended the confrontation there and left. Kimi and Dil worked for another hour or so until they both wanted to take an extended break. Kimi knew Tommy would be outside waiting for her. She was getting a little nervous; while they were working, Dil asked Kimi why Tommy liked her so much, and she didn't have an answer. It really was a valid question. He always went for the popular girls, never the offbeat theater geeks. Kimi was beginning to wonder.

Tommy waved casually when Kimi stepped outside. "Hi."

Kimi smiled. "Hey. So...where are we going on this walk you spoke of?"

"Come on. It used to be one of our favorite places."

"Our? Whatever," Kimi followed Tommy down his street and the next. They talked about friends, school, the nature around them, almost anything you could think of. But when they reached their destination, Kimi was speechless. "It's the park."

"Yeah, actually, I've been coming here a lot lately."

Kimi raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah, just to think and stuff. Come on," Tommy led Kimi to a nearby bench where the pair relaxed. They sat in silence for a few minutes, until Kimi knew she had to break the silence.

"Why do you like me?" Kimi blurted and immediately turned away to hide her blushing face.

Tommy seemed taken back by Kimi frankness, but answered anyway. "Uh, well, I dunno. You're smart...and funny. You, um, know who you are and you don't care what anyone thinks of you...and you're, um, beautiful...oh wow, lame."

"No. I just...was curious cause...you're popular and you pretty much run the school and everything, and I just don't get why you, being you, would like someone like me."

"That's funny. If someone would have told me a month ago that I would be in a park with you talking about why I like you, I would probably have punched them."

Kimi snickered. "Ditto. But that's what's so cool about this whole thing."

Tommy tried to hide his smile. "This thing? Are you admitting we have a thing?" Tommy moved a little closer to Kimi.

Kimi sprang up off the bench and moved away. "N-no. Pfft, no."

Tommy shook his head and moved towards Kimi again, this time taking her hand. "Kimi I only have about 30 seconds of boldness left in me, so I'm gonna talk fast. I know I've been a jerk for awhile, but that doesn't mean I always will be. People change. And I like to think maybe I have."

Kimi couldn't do anything but sigh. Once again, Tommy Pickles left her at a loss for words. She led Tommy back over to the benches. She needed to sit down and take everything in. People change...people change. Yeah, I guess they do. But has he really changed? Can he change? Only one way to find out... Kimi let her actions do the talking for her. She turned to Tommy and hugged him. She had no idea what he did to warrant a hug, but she wanted to hug him anyway. Before breaking the embrace, Kimi whispered into Tommy's ear. "People don't change...the world around them does."

The world around them...oh man...this girl's amazing. That's it. Tommy gently placed his hand on Kimi's cheek. He mimicked Kimi's whispering. "No, I'm pretty sure it's the people," Without hesitating or thinking twice, Tommy kissed Kimi. She was surprised at first, but she couldn't say she wasn't ecstatic. The pair melted into the kiss and stayed that way for quite some time. It was that same spring evening that another high school couple decided to go for a walk in the park. What they didn't expect to find were 2 front row seats to each of their best friends kissing on a park bench.

Lillian was walking arm in arm with Chuckie. "Ugh, it's Tommy Pickles and his latest slut. Why can't he just rent a room, or a whole hotel, either works really."

Chuckie sighed, but smiled. "Come on, be nice," He shoved Lillian playfully.

Lillian stopped dead in her tracks. Her nostrils flared with anger. "Kimi?!"

How was it? I know the ending is a little "What a chance meeting this is," if you know what I mean, but Lillian would've had to find out eventually, why not sooner than later?