Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron.

Chapter 15: Libby's Turn

"Look, she's had a long day. She's just not in the mood right now," Libby told James apologetically over the phone.

"You mean she won't listen even if I have proof?" James asked in disgust. "Well, you tell her that I'm fed up with—"

"Dude, chill out," Libby interrupted. She shook her head, although he couldn't see. "Her mind is spinnin'. Did Jimmy ever tell you his method o' convincin' her? Well, she's got that t' think about now, too."

James' eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. "What? I thought he just talked to her. But she still wouldn't listen."

"Oh, if that's all he told you, then I think that kid's got some explainin' t' do," Libby laughed.

"What do you mean?"

"I think he'd better tell you," she decided. "But he'll most likely feel uncomfortable sharin' around Cindy, so you might wanna get him alone."

"All right, I'll do that," James agreed, curiosity building. "But what does that have to do with Cynthia listening to that idiot Betty's confession?"

"You know I'm on yo' side," Libby sighed. "But I gotta stick by my girl. She's makin' some tough decisions, an' I'm helpin' her make the right ones. Just let me handle it for now. She'll listen to the CD in time...or, hopefully, she'll come around before then."

James took a deep breath. It was hard to sit back and let someone else take over the situation, especially with the threat of abortion on Cynthia's lips. But he felt that he could trust Libby. She had always been called "Cindy's voice of reason," and was against the twins' abortion just as much as he was. The hard part was waiting it out. However, he'd stuck it out for two months already; what was a little longer? He loved his wife enough to wait for her. He wouldn't let their marriage go down the tubes.

"OK, Libby," James gave in. "I'll see you at your wedding, then?"

"Yeah. I hope t' have this straightened out by then. I mean, my lease on this apartment's up the month after, givin' me just enough extra time to move all my stuff into Sheen's place. But I'm out o' here the day we get married, ya know? So Cynthia'll be on her own then and'll have t' be out not long after. Oh, and James?"

"Yes?"

"Tell Jimmy n' Cindy they can come to the weddin' if they want But I don't want Cindy blabbin' 'bout it to my younger self, got it?"

"I'll pass the message on," James assured her.

As soon as he hung up, Cindy sighed and her eyes filled with tears. "Let me guess. She won't listen to the CD. But you could even play it over the phone!" she cried out. "She wouldn't have to see you that way! Or I could play it for her! Or something!"

Jimmy gazed at her sympathetically and was about to say something to her in comfort when James cut him off.

"Oh, Cindy," he sighed, his expression matching Jimmy's. He rose from his seat and went over to kneel beside her, placing one hand on her shoulder. "It's not that. Libby wants to take this into her own hands for a while. She thinks she can gt through to Cynthia without the CD, and do it before the wedding. I thought I'd let her try."

While James was speaking, Jimmy's temper was rising. Why was it that he always interfered like that? Every time Jimmy felt like he was getting closer to Cindy! It drove him crazy. And it was time to put an end to it.

"James, we need to talk," Jimmy ordered through gritted teeth. "Now."

Cindy looked at him in surprise. "Why, Jimmy—"

"Actually, I did want to talk to you privately, Jimmy," James interrupted, eyebrows raised in surprise equal to Cindy's. "But could you hold on for one second? I need to finish explaining."

Jimmy reluctantly nodded and waited for James to continue, still a little angry. He was sure going to have it out with James once they did talk alone.

"Libby wanted me to tell you that you're both invited to her wedding this Friday," James went on. "The only catch is that you can't tell the younger Libby anything about it when you get back to your time, that's all. Would you two like to stay?"

Cindy's eyes grew big and she nodded eagerly. "Of course! I love weddings! And the Perfect Fit has formal clothing, too. Right, James?" she added hopefully. She'd give anything to see her "hunk muffin" in a tuxedo again...and James couldn't look too bad in one, either.

James smiled. "Yes. In fact, why don't you go look at some dresses while I talk to Jimmy?" he suggested.

Cindy immediately hopped up off of the couch. "That's a great idea!"

"We can eat dinner afterwards," he added, laughing on the inside. Why did clothes and shopping seem to have a magical effect on women? A mall could basically solve any problem for them, it appeared.

"Sounds good to me!" Cindy called over her shoulder as she dashed off towards the hallway.

"So, Jimmy, do you want to go first?" James rubbed his hands together and turned his attention on his younger self.

Jimmy shot him a glare. "Fine with me. Look, James, I'm tired of you...interrupting...," he began, a little unsure of how to explain.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that...well...every time Cindy and I are in the middle of a...a moment, you interrupt it. And I can't stand it anymore!" he complained.

A smile formed on James' lips. "Oh. You mean a romantic moment, right?" he snickered.

"Well...you might call it that! But even a minute ago, when I was going to comfort Cindy myself, you just had to butt in!" he exclaimed, infuriated at the memory alone.

James frowned. "But you didn't know what Libby told me. I was just explaining it to her so she wouldn't feel so bad."

"Yeah, but you could've let me at least say something nice to her," Jimmy huffed. "She loves you but she barely opens up to me. It's just recently been starting to get a little better. But when it does—boom! You're there and don't let me get anything in edgewise!"

"Ah. So you want to improve your relationship with Cindy? Tired of all the arguing?" James summed it up.

"Well...yeah... I mean, if I have to marry her..."

"If you have to?" James laughed. Jimmy blushed and was about to protest, but his older self cut him off. "No, no, I get it. You don't have to explain. So I'll try to back off a little, OK? If she gives us the opportunity to say something kind to her, I'll let you take over. Is that good?"

Jimmy nodded in submission. "Yeah, that's all I wanted. So...," he changed subjects, "what did you want to say?"

James pursed his lips together, deciding on how to begin. "Jimmy, Libby mentioned to me that you did...something—embarrassing, I'll guess, because she said you wouldn't want to share it with Cindy—"

Jimmy turned pale as a ghost. "Oh, no. You mean at her apartment? She didn't tell you, did she?"

"No, she didn't say exactly what...but I was wondering if you could?" James gave him a tentative smile. "It couldn't have been that bad...right? I mean, I can't imagine what she's talking about."

Jimmy bit his lip in hesitation. A big part of him was telling him not to...but this was himself he was talking to, no matter how weird that sounded... Surely James could find out if he really wanted to know, right?

"Will you tell Cindy?"

James laughed. "If I purposefully had her leave the room to talk to you, do you think I'd go and tell her?" he asked.

"No, I guess not," Jimmy sighed. "You see, when I was at Cynthia's, I was trying really hard to change her mind..."

"Right. What's so bad about that?"

"Well, um..." Jimmy tugged at the collar of his shirt uncomfortably. "She wanted me to convince her that you loved her..."

James rolled his eyes in impatience. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. So what's the big deal?"

"She told me to pretend she was the 11-year-old Cindy, and to tell her exactly how I felt about her," Jimmy went on.

"So you proclaimed her undying love for her and yadda, yadda, yadda," James interrupted. "I still don't get it."

"If you would let me finish, you'd understand!" Jimmy burst out, annoyed. "I couldn't tell her I liked her! I couldn't make the words come out! So I—accidentally, mind you—kissed her."

Jimmy didn't realize anyone's eyes could grow as wide as James' did. He almost expected the 20-year-old to faint from shock. Instead, a moment of silence went by, and then:

"You what?"

Jimmy wasn't sure how James had intended it to come out, but what he heard was barely a whisper. He gulped. "I...kissed her. Cynthia."

James took a deep breath, still not believing what he was hearing. "You kissed Cynthia? On the lips?"

Jimmy gulped. "Um, yeah. It was an accident."

"You kissed a 20-year-old? That's—that's—"

"It was an accident! She told me to imagine her as the 11-year-old! And then she leaned so close to my face... I couldn't help it!" Jimmy kept trying to explain.

"Look, I don't blame you," James sighed. "It's just...that's really...shocking is the only word I can think of. Now what Libby said makes sense. I guess Cynthia has a lot to think about now. A lot of decisions to make. She's gotta be really stressed out. I just hope Libby can come through for us."

"Yeah, me too."

A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I've posted a new chapter. Things have been pretty busy and I haven't had time to write. I've decided I'm going to reply to each of your reviews individually by hitting "reply" and I'm no longer going to post them at the bottom of the chapter. That way, you get your chapter faster. See? It's better for everyone this way. :)

If you haven't already, I'd like all of you to check out the newest story I've posted, Falling for Jimmy. Thanks to everyone who has. I really appreciate it. I've been sitting on that story for a while and finally decided to post it.

As for this story, the end is near. I'm visualizing one or two more chapters, and then I'll get to work on the prequel, which is no longer being called Far Away. Instead, I've settled on the name Sweet Revenge. I'm extremely excited about it, and I hope you'll like it as much as I do.

And one more thing before I sign out: TOMORROW IS MY FIFTEENTH BIRTHDAY!! YES:D