A/N: So, for my lovely readers and reviewers who didn't check my profile... And even those who did, allow me to apologize. This is far later than I wanted it to be, due to LibreOffice crashing into a brick wall while writing this chapter. Then doing it again the next day; erasing the whole thing the first time, and a substantial portion of it the second. Alas, it feels like I can never quite get the magic flowing with a chapter rewrite like I felt the first time, so I can only hope that you enjoy this moderately longer and mentally frustrating chapter. For me. I don't think it should frustrate any of you until about halfway. And don't you start. Legal age of consent is sixteen in both of our states.
Timmy sat on the couch in the living room, occasionally offering the still-on television a quick glance, followed by an equally quick glance at his phone, which now indicated the time as eleven-fifteen. 'Ten minutes', as Vicki had put it, was nearly a half an hour ago now, and while the brunet knew most of the Valentine household inside and out(barring Vicki's bedroom), there were precious few things he could actually do in the house by himself. Tootie owned a few game systems like him, and he'd almost gone up to her room to knock and see if she was done, but this idea was quickly put to rest with Timmy's realization that, if he went into Tootie's room while she was getting changed, and thereby wearing very little in the way of clothing... Leaving might be difficult, and that was putting it mildly.
And while he could go see if Vicki was ready yet, the brunet feared the possibilities that may be associated with that action. He'd likely get an earful from the red-head about being patient, or a loud threat of bodily harm for his impatience, or she might not even want to come by at all... Because he wasn't patient.
"Argh... Why do women have to take so long?" Timmy leaned backward into the couch, his head and neck coming to rest on the back of the couch, nearly giving him a full upside-down view of the front door. After several seconds, the brunet breathed out a sigh through his nose. "I'm hungry." He immediately shot to his feet and made for the kitchen, hoping Tootie still had some snacks lying around. He'd even settle for her ridiculously sweet cookies right now! "...Why does that sound dirty in my head?"
Shaking his head to rid himself of the odd thoughts, Timmy stepped over to the cupboard that he'd seen Tootie struggling with, and chuckled as he easily reached the handle and pulled it open. It was kind of odd, the girl wasn't all that much shorter than him, yet she had to climb up onto the counter to reach the cupboard, while he could reach it without any trouble at all. "Maybe... My arms are longer?" Shrugging his shoulders, Timmy grabbed one of the boxes of cookies and tore the top off, an action that immediately caused his nostrils to be assaulted by that familiar cloyingly sweet scent, this time in strawberry flavor.
The teen reached into the box, his right hand returning with a cookie that matched his favorite hat in color, though quite unlike his hat, the confection was covered in pinkish sugar crystals. After several seconds of staring at the definitely too-sweet treat, the brunet sighed and hung his head as his stomach growled at his inaction.
Hesitantly, Timmy brought the cookie to his mouth and tentatively bit into it, an action that was immediately followed by- "Blagh!" The teenaged brunet tossed the box of cookies onto the counter and dropped the one he'd been eating as he rushed over to the sink and turned it on, then stuck his tongue under the faucet, intending to wash the offending taste out of his mouth. His eyes briefly fell on a steel wool pad, but he opted against using it, knowing it would likely do more harm than good.
"Hey Timmy, everything... o...kay...?" Tootie's voice trailed off as she entered the kitchen and caught sight of her best friend, his head still under the faucet, and water pouring into his mouth amid a loud gargling sound.
Timmy gave her a sidelong glance and responded as best he could with water being blasted into his mouth. "Mm-mm!"
"Um... Okay... You know we have bottled water in the fridge, right?" To prove her point, the raven-haired girl opened the fridge door, showing off the twenty-four pack of water bottles in it.
Timmy; satisfied that the overly sweet taste was mostly off his tongue, turned off the faucet and spat water out of his mouth into the sink, then turned to face Tootie. "Hah... How can you stand those cookies?! They literally taste like Diabetes!"
"I had no idea you knew what Diabetes tasted like." Tootie deadpanned. "And who said you could eat my cookies, anyway?"
"Had I known they'd send me one step away from insulin shock, I wouldn't have tried them." It was at this point that Timmy noticed Tootie's chosen apparel; currently, his friend wore a pair of plain, black sandals, purplish shorts that were just a bit lengthier than the sleeping shorts Timmy had seen Vicki wearing earlier, and a faded t-shirt that had, at one time, likely been purple like the girl's shorts, but was now a bit closer to lavender. It appeared that purple was for Tootie what pink was for Timmy.
"Hey, I see those wanderin' eyes, Mister Turner. For someone who likes my sister, you seem to spend quite a good bit of time undressing me with those pretty blue eyes, y'know that?" Tootie chuckled at her friend who, upon hearing the girl's teasing little remark, quickly refocused his gaze on her eyes, a barely-there blush now adorning his cheeks.
However; after several seconds, Timmy glanced away with a pout, Tootie's words finally sinking in. "Except you take nearly every one of my glances in your direction as me checking you out, I don't see how that's fair..."
The raven-haired girl grinned at Timmy's flustered response, then adjusted her purple horn-rimmed glasses, creating a decidedly anime-style lens flash with them. "I never said anything about myself or my mannerisms being fair..."
The brunet sighed in defeat as his gaze returned to his best friend. "Point taken... You run into Vicki upstairs? The rate we're going here, we might as well stop somewhere for lunch."
"Your treat?" Tootie asked with a hopeful look on her face.
"Like you need to ask?" Timmy shot Tootie a rather flat look. She, at the very least, had to know that there weren't a great many things he wouldn't do for her, if she'd only ask... Then again, maybe she really didn't know, and that was probably for the best. The girl was becoming quite adept at manipulating him, much like Vicki was, except the red-head could do it with everybody.
Timmy stooped to pick up the fragment of pure sugar he'd tried and failed to eat and tossed it into the trash. "No, I'm gonna take two girls out to lunch, then make them pay, I'm that much of an ass." The brunet remarked sarcastically as he narrowed his eyes at Tootie, who was now clearly just trying to get a rise out of him.
"Ooh... Sarcasm, that's a new one." The bespectacled girl chuckled as she stepped toward Timmy, arms behind her back as she approached him disarmingly, much in the way someone might if they wanted to sneak in a sucker punch. "But I wonder..." Tootie smirked as she stopped in front of the brunet, her face mere inches from his. "What's got you so on edge?"
"I-I'm not on edge..." Timmy took a step backward, putting just a bit more distance between himself and the girl in front of him. "I'm just... Just nervous!" He nodded in agreement with his own justification. "Yeah! I'm nervous!"
"Really?" Tootie asked in a not-quite-believing tone. "So... Despite the fact that I'm your best friend, the reason you're steadily trying to escape into the cabinets-" She grinned as the boy in front of her backed into and bumped his head on the row of cabinet doors behind him. "-Is because you're nervous? Hm... What's got you so nervous then?" Tootie again stopped right in front of Timmy, another inch and her nose would've been brushing against his.
"...Can you give me a sec?" The brunet placed both hands on Tootie's shoulders, lightly pushing her back a few feet, then released her and brought his right hand up and over to his left arm to pinch it. "Ow. Okay, not some hormone-induced daydream... The fuck is going on?!"
"I don't know what you mean, Timmy. I'm just showing a little concern for my best friend..." Tootie replied much too innocently, visibly putting her best friend even further on edge. "So what's up? You excited to see Vicki in her swimsuit... Or is it me you're thinking of...?" She leaned forward a little, making her glasses slide down her nose and reveal her violet-colored eyes.
"Tootie... You can drop the teasing now..." Timmy gulped audibly as he felt a wave of heat wash over him, not only was he blushing a shade of pink bordering on red, but he was also beginning to sweat. Tootie acting like this... Was kind of a turn-on. Yes, she apparently got a lot of enjoyment out of hanging all over him in an affectionate(and platonic, he thought) manner, but this was quite a bit different. She hadn't so much as put a finger on him, and yet his heartbeat was starting to speed up.
Ignoring his request, the raven-haired girl continued. "Y'know... Every other time I went swimming in the pool at your house, I wore that one-piece swimsuit. You remember, right? The black one with the big purple flower on the left hip?" Tootie pointed to her own hip so as to further jog her friend's memory.
Yet she didn't need to. Odd as it was, Timmy could vividly recall the swimsuit Tootie wore last year, though he'd never paid enough attention for it to have any reason to stand out in his memories as much as it did now. "M-Maybe..." The brunet scratched at his nose and glanced over at the doorway separating the living room and kitchen. Like at his house, there was a door that cut one room off from the other, though it didn't latch, allowing it to swing either inward or outward from just a simple push. Which was in turn good news for the brunet, as it afforded him an easy escape route, something he was beginning to think he might desperately need.
"Maybe? Hmph! I thought I looked kinda cute in my bathing suit..." Tootie spoke in a mockingly hurt tone.
His attention being more focused on a clean escape, Timmy didn't notice the 'mocking' tone in his best friend's voice, only the 'hurt'. "No! ...I mean, I-I remember... You looked cute in it..." Timmy rubbed the back of his head nervously. He was treading in dangerous territory now, either Tootie was really trying to mess with him, or she actually still had feelings for him... And the teen was beginning to wonder if some part of his brain might have similar feelings for her. Possibly. Maybe. Just a slim chance, really.
"Really?" Tootie's eyes filled with hope and excitement, she looked like a kid whose parents had just told her they were taking her to Disneyland.
For a few brief seconds, Timmy couldn't respond, his mind overcome with uneasiness from how excited Tootie had become, and an odd feeling he wasn't able to decipher that seemed to appreciate how adorable his friend was when she was acting so cute. "Um... Y-Yes...?" Where this conversation was headed, the brunet couldn't even begin to imagine. He'd always thought Tootie was cute, in a sort of nerdy schoolgirl way... Though he'd never actually voiced his opinion, since it would almost definitely void the 'platonic' part of their friendship.
The girl chuckled at her friend's flustered response, quite enjoying that she could elicit this type of reaction in the brunet. "Well... As I'm sure you can imagine, that one was getting kind of small for me, a bit tight in places, y'know? So, a few weeks ago, I figured I'd go and buy a new one, since I knew the pool at your house would be opened soon."
"Um... O-okay?" Timmy leaned against the counter, still slightly on edge from how Tootie was acting. Her current behavior seemed so wildly different from how she normally was. Yes, she did seem to enjoy being overly affectionate with him, hugging him at random, occasionally going so far as to nuzzle her cheek against his... But this was different from those times... The lustful way she kept looking at him, the way she was speaking to him, in an almost sultry(?) tone... It did more than just put the brunet on edge, he was beginning to feel less like he was leaning away from Tootie, and more like he was bracing himself back from the girl.
"C'mon Timmy, I know that most of the time, those little glances my way don't really mean anything, that's simply part of interacting with someone and having a conversation with them. You pick up the subtle little hints in their body language, maybe your eyes happen to drift over certain areas... But you and I both know that you've checked me out on more than one occasion." Tootie grinned as Timmy's blush darkened a bit further, now being much closer to red than pink.
She was wrong, that's what Timmy told himself anyway. Much like he'd told himself that he didn't feel that way about Tootie. He and her were friends. Just. Friends... Except the thought of someone who was just your friend in her bathing suit wasn't supposed to be exciting. When he'd gotten up this morning, the brunet had every intention of talking to Tootie and Vicki's dad, getting his permission to date Vicki, and then... And then what? "Jeez, what was my plan?!" The teen came to the realization that Tootie's behavior had thrown him so far out of whack mentally, he couldn't even remember what his intentions were! He knew for a fact that he liked Vicki... So then what was he now feeling for Tootie?
"You wanna have a look at it?" It was now Tootie's turn to blush, though it wasn't nearly as obvious as Timmy's was. Intending to further pique her best friend's curiosity, the raven-haired girl brought her right hand up to her hip and ran her fingers back and forth over the frayed hem of her t-shirt.
"I-Wh-What?!" Timmy harshly whispered out at the girl. His assumption that this was all just another little teasing game by Tootie was becoming harder and harder to believe.
"My new swimsuit. I know you want to see how I look in it... So you want a sneak preview now? Or..." Tootie grinned. "Would you rather savor the moment and wait until we get to your house?"
Timmy; mouth slightly agape at Tootie's offer, watched as she tugged on the bottom of her shirt, stretching the waist of the shirt out, and lowering its neckline just a bit. Unfortunately for him, her attempts to pique his interest were working very well. Knowing Tootie, it probably wasn't anything all that revealing, but... Timmy wasn't the type to avert his gaze from free eye candy, nor was he the type to deny it when it was offered to him... Yet this was Tootie! She was his best friend! He couldn't ask this of her in good conscience, not while he had feelings for her older sister too! "I- um... I'd like to see it..." Timmy's eyes widened in shock as his mouth betrayed his brain, making the teen audibly slap his hands over his traitorous mouth.
"Hah!" Tootie couldn't suppress the quick laugh that escaped her lips at Timmy's actions. "Oh no you don't! I heard you loud and clear, Timmy!" Another giggle escaped the girl as the brunet in front of her lowered his hands from his mouth. "However..." Tootie began once more in a tone that made the brunet very uncomfortable as she took a few steps closer to him, putting her right back where she'd been a few minutes earlier, with her nose now just barely touching Timmy's. "You lost any hope of getting eye candy for backtracking."
"T-Tootie... Why... Why are you doing this?" Though he had to look down slightly to meet Tootie's gaze, Timmy couldn't help but feel like he was the smaller party here.
The raven-haired girl responded with little more than a grin, then wrapped the fingers of her right hand around Timmy's left wrist and pulled his now captured hand over to her, gently placing it on her hip, just below the waistline of the shorts she wore. "I think you mean 'we', Timmy." Tootie; assuming that her friend wasn't going to move his hand from where she placed it, now slid her right hand up the male teen's arm, letting it settle comfortably on his shoulder. "Besides-" The girl lowered her glasses with her free hand, just enough so that she could see over the frames and look into Timmy's eyes unimpeded. "Are you really gonna tell me you're not enjoying this, to some extent?"
And there was the problem. Under more normal circumstances, Timmy was sure that every fiber of his being would be telling him to yank his hand off Tootie's hip and ask that she stop. He wouldn't push her away roughly, just calmly ask that she give him some space. That he appreciated her friendship more than even Chester and AJ's, but he didn't like her... Like that.
Except normal had checked out about five minutes ago, and didn't seem very keen on returning anytime soon. With a sigh of resignation to the situation he found himself in, Timmy slowly slid his hand up to the waist of Tootie's shorts, and under the hem of her t-shirt, bringing his fingers into contact with the smooth and definitely bare skin of her waist. This action alone brought a small feeling of electricity with it, not like the static shock one received from sliding their socks on a carpet, it was deeper, like the nerves of his fingers themselves were electrified from touching Tootie's skin.
And it seemed to affect her too, as Timmy could feel little goosebumps breaking out across the area he'd grazed with his fingertips. The effect was surprising for both of them, with Timmy almost pulling his hand away from Tootie's hip, and the raven-haired girl herself just barely shuddering at his touch. Somehow, this was completely different from any of the other times they'd had physical contact with each other. The cheek nuzzling, the times they'd bumped against each other, purposefully or otherwise, the hugs... All of those actions paled in comparison to the feeling brought on by this less-than-innocent little touch.
A touch that Timmy found... Exciting. The almost instinctive compulsion to push Tootie away had been shoved far to the back of the brunet's mind. Right now, he wanted her right where she was, he wanted to see how far his hand could go before it hit the material of the bathing suit she claimed to be wearing, he wanted to bring his right hand; the one holding him up against the counter, over to her other hip, to see if he could get the same feeling though his right hand as he did his left... Yet he paused, fingertips lightly grazing the girl's skin as he felt a weak pressure against his chest.
"Y-you stopped. W-why'd you s-stop?" Tootie continued to stare up at him, close enough now that he could feel her warm breath on his lips. The look on her face best described as 'pleading'.
And said look made the brunet raise a curious eyebrow at his friend. She'd been the one to catch him off guard, and yet Timmy couldn't help but feel like he'd unintentionally exerted a measure of control over the situation. Evidently, he wasn't the only one turned on right now, if the look on her face, slight shuddering, and Tootie stumbling over her own words was anything to go by. Realizing he didn't have an answer to her question, Timmy shrugged as an odd thought came to mind."We've already gone this far... Couldn't hurt to..." The brunet slowly flattened his hand against Tootie's hip, letting his fingers spread out over her smooth skin, and making her breath audibly hitch in her throat. "You um... You are wearing a bathing suit... right?"
"K-keep that up... And you're- Heheh... You're b-bound to find out e-eventually..." Tootie's hand slipped off Timmy's shoulder, coming to rest on the counter behind the brunet.
At the same time, Timmy couldn't help but reminisce on all those times Tootie had hugged him, touched him, rubbed up against him... And wonder if there had been ulterior motives to her actions. Surely he would've noticed if she got... Like this, but had those seemingly innocent hugs been... Not as innocent as he'd thought?
Even if they had, the teen would have time to think on that later. For now, his mind was more preoccupied with the girl that was likely a step away from clinging to him. He slid his left hand further up her waist-
"Eep!" Tootie suddenly squeaked out as she jerked to his right, though not enough for his hand to leave her body.
"What?! What's wrong?!" The brunet whispered out, not wanting to risk drawing Vicki's attention to what he and her sister were doing.
"Nothing! It's just..." The raven-haired girl seemed to consider something for a few moments, then relaxed back into her previous position, allowing Timmy's hand to fully rest on the upper area of her hip once again. "I'm kinda... Ticklish..." Tootie's earlier blush returned, this time coming a bit closer to matching Timmy's.
"I'll have to remember that for later..." The brunet smirked as his hand glided further along her skin, again making Tootie shudder, before colliding with thin, string-like fabric. Tempted as he was to slip his finger under what he could only assume was a bikini not unlike the one he'd seen Vicki in last summer, Timmy instead slowly moved his index finger back and forth over the thin piece of material. "You steal one of the string bikinis Vicki likes to wear?"
This question was, at last, enough to make Tootie avert her gaze from the boy feeling her up, a more than obvious pinkish hue now evident on her cheeks. "I-I thought it l-looked cute, so I g-got it. Figured it was t-time to try s-something a bit sexier t-than a one-piece... And I'd s-say it's w-working, or do I need to... To remind you where your hand is-Ah!" The girl yelped as she felt Timmy's fingernails drag across the ticklish skin on her side.
"Nope. I know exactly where my hand is..." Timmy nearly surprised himself with how confident his voice sounded. He'd spent the better part of four years trying to get away from this girl and her obsessive advances, then another four years were spent with both of them figuring each other out and becoming friends... Yet all it took was a few heated minutes of caressing Tootie's skin for the brunet to find he enjoyed the fact that his best friend was putty in his hands, and, though she was making quite a bit of noise, she certainly wasn't complaining...
"S-stop tickling me-Ah!" The raven-haired girl cried out in surprise as she felt someone behind her tug on her pigtails.
"Alright, that's enough, Tootie. You can molest the Twerp at his house, but you're not screwing around here." The red-head the two teens had forgotten about grinned evilly as she watched Timmy's hand dart out from under her sister's shirt.
"Ah! Owowow! V-Vicki! Lemme go! I wasn't molesting anyone! Timmy was the one touching me-e-e!" The raven-haired girl flailed her arms about in a vain attempt to break free from her sister's iron grip.
Which seemed to be enough to make the pink-eyed woman take pause in her restraining of her sister and look up at Timmy, who in turn gave Tootie a look of genuine disbelief for throwing him under the bus. Yes, he had been feeling Tootie up pretty enthusiastically, but he hadn't been the one to instigate the feeling up!
"Pfft! Yeah right! Twerp-Derp doesn't have the balls to do anything like that! Or did you forget that I've seen you rubbing up on him with my own eyes?" Despite this, Vicki did indeed release her sister, then sidestepped the girl as she staggered back. "Nuh-uh, no way are you two getting your hormones all over the kitchen that mom just cleaned! Tootie, go wait outside by my car, I need to have a quick word with your boyfriend." She pointed at the door separating the living room from the kitchen, while keeping her attention on Timmy.
"W-well... I'm not finished with him!" Tootie declared rather childishly as she left the kitchen, now inhabited by only the brunet and his ex-babysitter.
Timmy turned his attention to Vicki, and her interesting choice of apparel... The red-head had apparently opted against wearing a shirt, instead wearing nothing but her familiar lime-green bathing suit top. The stringy one.
A glance further down revealed that the woman wore a pair of old, black jeans... Or what remained of them. It appeared that she had cut off the legs just below the pockets, allowing the white fabric of said pockets to slip out. And like Tootie, she completed the ensemble with a pair of sandals, green to match her bikini top.
Seeing the way Timmy seemed to be almost sizing her up, Vicki couldn't help but giggle at his roaming gaze. "I know, hard to look away, isn't it?"
The teenager's wandering blue eyes immediately shot up to meet Vicki's, her own eyes holding a clear measure of pride from knowing how good she looked. God did these two girls know how to distract him! "You're... Kind of not wearing a shirt..."
"How perceptive." The red-head deadpanned at him, then crossed her arms under her chest, further accentuating her somewhat modest bust. "Y'know, my plan was to ask you if you were alright after I got Tootie off you, but..." Vicki's lips curled into a sly smirk. "I got a pretty clear indication that that little moment between you two wasn't as one-sided as you'd want me to believe... Not to mention that roll of half-dollars in your pocket."
"Roll of half...?" Timmy looked down at his pockets, quickly catching on to what his ex-babysitter was suggesting upon seeing the fairly obvious outline of his erect member. "Um... M-maybe I'm just happy to see you?" A goofy grin spread across the brunet's face as he realized he'd likely just signed his own death warrant.
Yet, he couldn't help but be surprised as Vicki's eyes widened at how quickly he rolled with her verbal punch. "Hmph. Not bad, Timmy."
"Can't help but wonder if she's referring to my snappy comeback, or the size of my..." Despite his naughty thoughts, the brunet spun around to face the cabinets, pretending they were infinitely more interesting than the girl behind him.
Vicki laughed lightly at Timmy's far-too-late attempt to cover up. Not an evil cackle, not the laugh of some comic book super villain, just a light, genuine, normal girl's laugh. A laugh that Timmy could easily admit to liking quite a bit, this being the first time he'd heard it.
"Look..." Vicki stepped over next to Timmy and leaned against the counter. "You might as well just tell me you two are together. I'm not gonna make fun of either of you for it, I just want some kind of confirmatory response from one of you, and I think I might have better luck with you than my sister."
Timmy glanced out of the corner of his eye at Vicki. He could tell that she was looking right at him... But for the life of him, he couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze, and instead spun back around to face where she had been a few minutes earlier. "We aren't together though..."
"Well I'm afraid that the sight of your hand halfway up Tootie's shirt tells a different story." Seeing that Timmy had no intention of meeting her face-to-face, Vicki turned to face the same direction he was, letting her back rest against the kitchen counter. "Unless... Well, I could be wrong." She shrugged as another idea came to mind. "But if you don't have romantic feelings for my sister... Should I assume that means you're just trying to get laid?"
"What?! No!" Timmy finally turned his head to look at Vicki. He was somewhat disgusted, but mostly surprised that she apparently thought so little of him. "Tootie's my best friend. I wouldn't do something like that to her... You honestly think I'd be friends with her just to get in her pants?!"
The red-head; by and large unaffected by the brunet's forceful tone towards her, brought her index finger up to her chin in thought. "Hmm... No, I suppose not. Tootie's a bit too eager to give you a roll in the hay for that to be the case, isn't she? And... It makes no sense for you to be playing a long game, since, as I said, all you'd probably have to do is ask... So then may I ask why you were feeling her up?"
"Because she-! ...Ugh, I dunno..." Timmy lowered his voice, knowing that getting mad at his ex-babysitter definitely wasn't going to help the situation. "We've been friends for so long now, and that kind of stuff... Well... No, I've never touched her like that before, but the other stuff... Hugging, sometimes cuddling up on the couch... That stuff was- Is normal for us... And Tootie... She told me she liked Chester... I don't... I don't know why she was acting the way she was... Or why I couldn't..." Timmy brought his right hand up to his forehead, rubbing at it in confusion, then facepalmed. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize Tootie wasn't the only one at fault here. "I couldn't keep my hands off her. It was exciting to touch her, feel her skin against mine... I don't get it..." The brunet continued to lean against the counter, trying and failing to make sense of the absolutely insane day he was having.
Vicki, seeing how conflicted Timmy was, let out what she meant to be a sympathetic sigh. "Alright, first things first. That thing she said about... What'd you say his name was? Chester?" The red-head chuckled as she remembered the blond boy's face. "Right... Braces!" "Tootie doesn't have a thing for Chester. Tootie doesn't have a thing for any member of the male species except you. Y'ever hear the expression: 'Single Target Sexuality'? That fits Tootie to a 'T'. My little sis ain't heterosexual, she's Timmysexual. Only person in this whole world she has any interest in is you." Vicki chuckled humorlessly as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Maybe I shoulda just let you two fuck and get it out of your systems... How long you been dating my sister now? Goin' on four years or so?" She grinned as she finished, obviously just teasing, but unbeknownst to the red-head, Timmy was far past joking around.
"I-! We aren't dating!" The brunet shouted at the girl angrily, having grown completely exasperated with everyone's assumption that he and Tootie were together. "She caught me off guard and I... I couldn't stop myself... I liked how it felt to just... Just touch her without her smothering me with kisses, or suffocating me with a hug... It was nice..." He trailed off as he finished, beginning to feel ashamed of himself for his actions, and knowing that he had little to no chance with Vicki now.
"So you enjoy feeling up my sister, getting close enough to her to kiss her, and all the affectionate little gestures she gives you... But the two of you aren't dating?" The red-head crossed her arms, speaking in a tone that was clearly intended to make Timmy realize how ridiculous he sounded. "Then what are you doing?"
"I..." Timmy smiled at his babysitter, though the look on his face was more somber than happy."I don't know. I think... Maybe I do like Tootie..."
"Alright. That's a good first step, Twerp. So what's stopping you from telling her? We both know Tootie's still head over heels for you, and you at least think you like her, so what's the problem?" The pink-eyed woman stared expectantly at the boy whose well-being used to be her main source of income.
"Because there's... Someone else I like too. Someone I've liked before today..." Timmy opened his mouth to speak further, but found his nerve had left him, and closed it again. The other person was right here in front of him, and he hadn't the foggiest idea how she'd respond to a declaration of affection for her, especially after he'd just admitted to liking her little sister...
"Aw Hell, it's Trixie, ain't it? You still got a thing for that rich, air-headed moron? She's never gonna-"
"It's not Trixie." To his knowledge, Trixie was apparently dating Tad... Or Chad... Or maybe both, Timmy didn't really pay attention to his ex-crush's affairs anymore. "Believe it or not, it's someone you know pretty well..." He finished in a mildly coy tone, knowing Vicki still wouldn't figure it out with that little evidence.
Vicki sighed exasperatedly as she ran her hand through her hair and scratched at her scalp. "I guess it's none of my business what her name is... Or his-"
"I-It's a girl!" The brunet's face flushed bright red in embarrassment.
"Hahaha! Jeez, Timmy, calm your jets." The twenty-two year old spoke in a gleefully amused tone and lightly patted Timmy's shoulder.
"Guess we're back to the evil cackle..." Oddly enough, the teen found he didn't completely dislike said cackle like he did in his youth. It had somehow become part of the older woman's charm... Though he still much preferred the gentler laugh he'd heard a few minutes prior.
"Still, you've found yourself in quite the pickle, haven't ya?" Proving she had more in common with Tootie than one would think, Vicki leaned up against the brunet, balancing her elbow onto his shoulder as she hummed contemplatively. "Okay, I might be willing to help you, on... Two conditions."
"I think I might be better off on my own..." Timmy deadpanned and shot the woman a flat look.
Vicki responded with a grin as she hummed in an amused tone. "Ah... See? I always knew there was a spine in there somewhere!" She shifted her weight off her elbow, causing the side of her chest to collide lightly with the brunet's shoulder, then positioned her hand behind Timmy and pinched the skin of his lower back, causing him to jump in surprise. "C'mon though, the only person who'll know Tootie better than me is Tootie, and I seriously doubt you wanna ask her what excites her... Unless you're into getting tied to a bed while a girl does stuff to you...?"
"...After a bit of consideration, I think I will ask for your help, Vicki." The teen verbally backpedaled amid mental images of himself being naked, tied to a bed, while Tootie looked through a small assortment of what some might call sex toys, and most would call torture equipment. Imaginary Tootie was also singing 'Sticks and stones will break my bones, but chains and whips excite me!' ...For some reason.
"Hey!" Timmy's ex-babysitter snapped her fingers in front of Timmy's face several times, trying to bring him back from his trip to La La Land. "You can accept my help all you want, but I ain't doing shit until you meet those two conditions I mentioned."
The brunet shook his head a few times, permanently willing away(he hoped) the very disturbing mental images his brain had conjured up, and refocusing his attention on the red-haired woman still leaning up against him. "Sorry... Kinda... Drifted off there for a second..."
"You say that like it's the first time it's happened." Vicki stated matter-of-factly. "Anyway, first things first... I'm hungry. How 'bout you treat your hot babysitter to lunch?"
Much to the chagrin of the buck-toothed teen, Vicki somehow managed the same innocent stare Tootie absolutely loved to use on him. How both girls could make their eyes appear bigger and on the verge of tears, he had no idea, but he couldn't argue the effectiveness of the tactic, even if the red-head didn't need to use it in the first place. "I... Was kind of already going to. Tootie asked if we could go get lunch... We didn't settle on a place yet, but..." Timmy's blush returned as he stared at Vicki, it appeared that she too could be cute, when she wanted to be. Though her state of relative undress probably played a factor as well.
"Well shit. Wasted a perfectly good favor. I'll... Oh! I got it! Since you wanna take your beautiful, awesome, totally not-evil babysitter on a date-"
"But we're just getting lunch-!" Timmy's defense was silenced as a pale index finger came to rest on his lips.
"A date doesn't have to have romantic undertones."
"Can't it anyway, though?" The brunet realized a little too late that his denial of them going on a date was completely the opposite of what he actually wanted. "Mm-hm?"
"At some point today, I want to know who it is that's giving my little Sis competition for this-" Vicki poked the teen's chest, right in the spot where his heart was. "Agreed?"
"Of all the things it could be, why does it have to be that?!" Timmy mentally screamed, cursing how often his luck seemed to flip-flop between preternaturally good, and horrendously bad. When he'd asked the two sisters' father for permission to date Vicki earlier, he'd intended to take it slow, maybe a casual flirt here and there, give her a ride to work now and then, compliment her on her looks...
But now she was essentially forcing him to admit liking her if he wanted her help in figuring Tootie out! Help with something he wasn't even sure of! Granted, Vicki had no idea that the other girl he liked was the red-head herself, but... But what was even the point of refusing her help? It would give him an excuse to spend more time with her and Tootie, time he could use to figure his feelings for them out, and hopefully choose one without completely alienating the other... "A-" Timmy shifted his weight from one foot to the other nervously, then back again. "Agreed. By the end of- Of the day... I'll tell you."
"Alright then, we have a deal- ...Hm?" Vicki quirked an eyebrow up at Timmy in curiosity, moving her hand back to the space over his heart, though instead of tapping on it with her finger like she had before, this time she laid her palm flat on his chest, making a small noise of approval after several seconds. "Just the thought of this girl makes your heart do this, huh? You get this same feeling with Tootie?"
"...Not until... You came down and caught me touching her... I used to get this way just by thinking of..." Timmy's gaze roamed over the woman's fingers on his chest, following the path made by her arm over to the rest of her body, and eventually came to rest on her striking pink eyes, which were still looking down at her hand laying on his chest. "...T-The other one..."
"Hm. Gotta be honest, Twerp. I've never felt anything like... This, for someone. And you've got two of 'em. Two girls that make your heartbeat speed up and go a mile a minute..." She smiled a bit awkwardly as a wave of heat washed over her. She normally wasn't this affectionate and... And normal with Timmy. "I'm a little jealous... Tootie and this... Other girl, they must be pretty special to you, huh?"
"I'm... Not making it too obvious, am I?" The brunet asked in a sarcastic yet playful tone.
Vicki chuckled, genuinely happy that Timmy wasn't as fearful of her as he had been when he was ten. "Heh... Only a little... Y'know, last time I got a guy's heart to speed up, it was to send all his blood to his dick."
"...Ricky?" Timmy asked hesitantly, wondering if merely mentioning the red-haired man's name was enough to earn Vicki's ire.
"Yeah." She replied in a somber tone, at last pulling her hand away from Timmy's chest. "You hear about guys like him, have only one thing on their mind... Well, two, I suppose. Money, and fucking... He only got the money, just so you know."
"You still pissed about that?" Again, Timmy's voice was laced with hesitation and nervousness. He had technically been the one to introduce the two red-heads.
"I guess so... Or... I mean, not really. I've made back the money he stole from me ted-fold, and you couldn't see the future, no way for you to have known he'd be... How he was. I guess... What I'm trying to say is that I'm... Not mad at you, not at all." Vicki turned away from the brunet, starting to become uncomfortable with how emotional the conversation was making her.
"There's... a 'but' in there, right?"
Vicki responded with a mildly annoyed huff, then put her hands on her hips and looked down at the tile floor of the kitchen. "But... I haven't felt comfortable enough to let anyone else in, either. I don't want to think that he... Broke something inside, I'm just... Not sure if I want to risk getting hurt again, know what I mean?"
"I... Kind of..." Timmy admitted sheepishly. He really wished he could better empathize with the woman, but he'd never been in the situation that Vicki had. All his attempts to woo Trixie had failed miserably, and before the revelation that he had feelings for the red-head came, he simply hadn't tried dating anyone else. "Would... it be safe to say you're scared of getting hurt again? You thought you mattered to him, right?"
Vicki, her gaze still focused on the exit of the kitchen, reached behind her head and looped her fingers around her ponytail, pulling it over her right shoulder to play with some of the longer locks of hair. "...Maybe. I was a naïve sixteen year old girl who thought she finally met a guy with interests similar to her own..."
"Including torturing me." The brunet interjected in a flat tone, causing Vicki to look over her shoulder at him.
"I never said my interests were healthy. ...Or fair..." Vicki ran her hand through her fiery hair, fwipping her ponytail back behind her as she broke eye contact with the teen again. "For what little it's probably worth... I am sorry for treating you... How I did."
"Y-you are?" Timmy asked, no small amount of surprise in his voice. He hadn't necessarily forgiven the girl for her treatment of him when she was still his babysitter... Rather, he'd just decided not to hold it against her. It was a lot easier to like the pretty red-head without those lingering thoughts of her past cruelties eating at him. "To tell you the truth..." The teen took a few steps forward, each filled with hesitation, before stopping next to Vicki and looking to his right, the complete opposite direction the girl was in. "I kinda got over all that stuff you did a while ago." Timmy brought his right hand up to his nose, using his index finger to scratch at it; a mild nervous habit he had. "So... Would you maybe... I dunno... Wanna just bury the hatchet?"
Her interest well past being piqued, Vicki turned toward Timmy, finding he was still facing away from her. "And... What? Try to be friends?" Her tone was just shy of incredulous. "Is he serious? Just... Let bygones be bygones and... Forgive me...?"
"I..." The brunet-haired teen glanced to his left, meeting Vicki's eyes out of the corner of his own, and quickly turned his head away in embarrassment for having been caught peeking. "Couldn't hurt, right?"
"Aw..." The red-head, flashing a quick smile that she knew Timmy couldn't see, snaked her arm over the teen's shoulder and around his neck, putting him in a weak but firm headlock. "Aren't you sweet? You act all flustered and embarrassed around this other girl too? I don't see how she couldn't have a thing for you, cuz I know Tootie would love to see you all blushy like you are!" Vicki brought her free hand up to the top of Timmy's head and ground her knuckles into his hair.
"A-a-a-ah! Vicki! Lighten up!" The brunet whined as he felt Vicki knock his hat off his head, but almost instantly shut up as his cheek pressed against a certain part of his ex-babysitter's anatomy. Namely her string bikini-clad right breast. "I... I could get used to this type of torture..."
"Alright, Twerp!" Vicki shoved her victim away, leaving a mildly depressed look on the boy's face. She then picked his hat up off the floor and returned it to his head, giving it a slight adjustment as she backed away toward the exit of the kitchen. "Guess I could give being friends with you a shot, since you'll be my brother-in-law soon enough." She grinned evilly as she finished, then made her way out of the kitchen, calling over her shoulder upon seeing that Timmy wasn't following her. "Now c'mon! I distinctly remember you owing two beautiful women lunch at a restaurant of their choosing."
Timmy watched the girl leave, his eyes drifting down to her well-formed rear-end before it disappeared behind the door she went through. Currently, he was having a bit of trouble figuring out whether he should feel blessed or cursed. There was no doubt in the teenager's mind that his best friend of four years still had feelings for him. Tootie had made that crystal clear when she pressed herself against him and asked him to touch her...
And Vicki wanted to be friends? He'd normally be ecstatic about the idea, even if he didn't like the girl in the way that he did. Now though... Now he wasn't so sure if that was a good thing. He couldn't deny that he liked her, much like he couldn't deny that he felt... Something for Tootie. "Agh! This is so damn frustrating!" Timmy frantically scratched at his scalp with both hands, trying to will some sort of understanding into his head. "...Wish Cosmo and Wanda were around to give me some advice..."
Due to the so-called 'Timmy Turner Clause' written up by a certain muscle-bound fairy, along with some 'Fairy Council' that Timmy knew very little about, the teenaged brunet was not actually fairy-less. Cosmo and Wanda just usually had their hands full with Poof, and another baby on the way. The three fairies(well, four, but she hadn't been born yet) were on a vacation at the moment, one Timmy wished them on himself, since they deserved it. It was why he left 'I' out of the wish he made a few seconds earlier, he didn't want to bother them with something as trivial as figuring out his hormones. Yes, he was sure that they(or Wanda, at least) would help him figure things out, but he didn't want to seem completely helpless, his fairy godmother doted on him enough already.
With a final, heavy sigh(though he was positive there were many more to come), Timmy made his way out of the kitchen, then the living room, and finally out of the house. He almost immediately frowned at the two Valentine sisters, now seated in Vicki's bright red sports car. Both grinned at him excitedly, with Tootie throwing in a wink, probably just to make him feel more nervous than he already did. "Mission accomplished, Toots." "What are you two doing?"
"Waiting for you to get in the car so we can grab lunch!" Vicki punctuated the end of her sentence by honking her car's horn. "C'mon... I'm starving!"
The male teen jammed his hands into his pockets as he strode over to his ex-babysitter's car, his lips steadily curling up into a smug grin. "Then we'll have to take my car." Timmy jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at the old station wagon, wood paneling and all.
"That's a car?" The red-head stated in a disbelieving tone and squinted at the aforementioned vehicle. "Are... Are you sure? I thought it was some bizarre wood and metal work art project. That thing runs?"
"Shockingly enough, yes." Tootie answered in a helpful tone. "It's been in Timmy's family for over fifty generations!" The raven-haired girl began laughing at her own joke. Even she couldn't take Timmy's rust bucket of a car seriously.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, Vicki, but doesn't your car only seat two? Where exactly would you two like me to sit?" Timmy leaned his arm on the car and bent down to give both sisters a knowing look, ignoring Tootie's comment about his car.
"Well, there's the trunk... Oh! Wait a minute!" Vicki snapped her fingers as a light bulb turned on in her head. "You can sit up front with me, and Toots can sit in your lap!"
"Your idea works fine until we go over a bump in the road, Sis." Tootie deadpanned, having a pretty good idea about how the male human body worked.
"Yes, because I'm sure you don't want to sit on Timmy's lap..."
"I never said-! Wh-what makes you think wanna sit in his lap anyway?!"
"What did I get myself into...?" "Alright, I dunno about you two, but I'm going to get some food, anyone who's hungry better get in the car." With that, Timmy pushed himself up and away from Vicki's car, spinning around to face his hand-me-down vehicle as he did. After a few steps, he heard two car doors open and shut behind him.
"This metal deathtrap kills us, I'll kill you." The red-head's voice came from his left, its owner making a clear attempt to overtake the teen's pace, judging by the rapidity of her footsteps.
"Don't worry Vicki, I can vouch that Timmy's an excellent driver." As she finished, Tootie hugged Timmy's right arm affectionately, earning her a shy smile from the brunet.
"Really? What a fascinating-Shotgun!" Vicki yelled as she darted past both teens, nearly leaping into the front passenger seat of Timmy's old station wagon.
"H-Hey! I wanted... Grr... You suck!" The raven-haired girl pouted at her quick-thinking sister as she released her friend's arm and climbed into the backseat, choosing to sit behind where Timmy would sit, rather than her sister.
"Hah! I'm sure the Twerp wishes that were the case!" The red-head teased as she crossed her legs and kicked her feet up onto the car's dashboard.
"Must... resist... Perversion Impulse!" Timmy mentally chastised himself as he sat down in the driver's seat, his eyes drifting back and forth several times over Vicki's slender, pale-skinned legs. "You sure you don't wanna... Cover up?" Even with her modest breast size, Vicki's bikini top wasn't having the easiest time keeping the most interesting sight in the world in check.
Seemingly blowing off the brunet's question, the red-head leaned forward and grabbed a pair of sunglasses sitting on the dashboard. Timmy's sunglasses. "Why? Afraid I might distract you while you're driving?"
"Why, yes Vicki, I think you will." "N-no! I meant that... You being shirtless kinda narrows our options when it comes to where we're gonna eat, that's all!"
"Pfft." Vicki slipped Timmy's sunglasses onto her face, giving an approving nod to her reflection in the rear-view mirror. "Then I guess they'll learn to regret coming between me and my lunch, won't they?"
"This... May have been a bad idea..." With one final sigh(for this chapter anyway), Timmy stuck his key in the car's ignition and started his car, for once not having the energy to grin at the fact that it always started for him.