Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron; never have, never will.

A.N. I got sick of waiting for my beta to read through this, so if there's any grammatical errors feel free to let me know!


The Night Before….

They had gone to Vegas to celebrate the end of their junior year of college, and the upcoming nuptials of their best friends, Sheen and Libby. It had been Sheen's "brilliant idea" to come to Vegas, no surprise there. In fact it was a direct result of his "brilliant" planning that all three boys were staying in one cheap motel room, one that still used actual keys instead of newer keycards. Cindy, not wanting to take a chance with her friend's sketchy organizational skills, took charge of the girls' accommodations, finding a hotel not far from the main strip, but inexpensive enough to not break the bank. She'd even managed to find herself and Libby separate hotel rooms for significantly cheaper than the boys' stay. Somehow, on a budget of next to nothing, Sheen managed to get them a limo to "ride in style" as he put it.

The two girls were in Libby's hotel room, putting the finishing touches on their appearance. Libby attempted to make Cindy seem older than her true age in the hopes that whatever bartenders happened to take her order throughout the night would be too busy checking her out to remember to ask for ID. As the youngest of the bunch, Cindy still couldn't legally consume alcohol during this mid-May adventure, but all vehemently agreed; no one wanted to leave her behind. Someone's impatience had worn thin, not wanting to wait the necessary two weeks for Cindy's birthday. Jimmy, taking it upon himself as the genius of the gang, had crafted an authentic looking fake driver's license for her, but neither of the two young women wanted to chance Cindy getting carded and the forgery caught.

Cindy's pink sparkly cell phone buzzed once before launching into its custom ringtone. 'I am everything you want. I am everything you need. I am everything inside of you that you wish you could be.'

"Hey Jimmy!" Cindy answered the phone excitedly without having to look at the caller ID to know who was calling and blatantly ignoring the looks Libby kept sending her as she listened to him. "We'll be right down."

Hanging up the phone, Cindy turned to relay Jimmy's message to her best friend. Unfortunately Libby cut her off before she could say anything asking, "Why is Jimmy's ringtone 'Everything You Want' by Vertical Horizon?"

"I-I-I just like the song. Ok?" Cindy replied almost too quickly. "It's not like it has any meaning or anything."

Libby just rolled her eyes dubiously at Cindy, murmuring a low, "Mm-hmm."

"The boys are here by the way. They're waiting for us downstairs in the lobby."

Giving her one last significant eye-roll, Libby ran to the bathroom to retrieve her jacket. Cindy grabbed her purse and headed out the door to the elevator.

"Sometimes I don't understand why the two smartest people I know are so completely clueless," Libby muttered under her breath as she shut the door behind her.

Libby raced to beat the already closing elevator doors and just made it in time to slip in. She glanced at her best friend out of the corner of her eye. To an innocent bystander, Cindy appeared to be calm, cool, and collected, but Libby knew, from years of having to peel back the many layers of emotional facades, that Cindy was nervous.

"Calm down. Jimmy's gonna think you're smokin'. Would you stop worryin'?" she assured her blonde friend, and before Cindy could come up with a reply the elevator door opened, revealing the three young men.

Like the ladies, they had shed their everyday gear for a nicer set of clothes. Carl faced the exit, staring, leering really, at some girl in the driveway outside the hotel. Sheen paced back and forth in front of the entryway, impatiently alternating between running his hand through his hair and absently straightening his teal dress shirt. His excitement kept him from standing still. In stark contrast to his hyperactive best friend, an aura of cool confidence oozed from Jimmy's languid pose. Hands in the pockets of his dark washed denim jeans, he leaned his lanky body against a pillar at the center of the double doors. While his outward appearance came across as nonplussed, almost bordering on apathetic looking, internally he too was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown.

'I'm going to tell her,' he thought. 'Tonight? No tomorrow? The plane ride home? Pukin' Pluto! What the hell am I going to do?'

Jimmy had been thinking for months how to broach the subject of his intense feelings for his childhood friend and rival. There had been plenty of opportunities for his confession. It wasn't like they didn't share half of their classes together at the university or spend every other night in one another's dorm rooms studying, but the timing didn't seem to be right each time it came up. It'd been building to a boiling point though, and the trip to Vegas seemed the perfect time, in Jimmy's mind's eye, to tell Cindy he loved her.

When Sheen had asked him to give the girls a call to let them know that they were waiting in the lobby, his heart rate nearly doubled. He whipped out his cell phone and promptly called Cindy, not hesitating to press her number, Speed Dial #6. Though he'd never tell his two best friends this, that her number ranked above theirs on his speed dial list right under Goddard's private number and his parent's cell phones, lest he have to endure endless torturous comments from Sheen and Carl about making "booty calls."

Now he battled to keep himself calm, from blurting out his secret in the middle of the foyer to his two best friends. They probably already knew, but Jimmy still hadn't verbally confirmed their suspicions.

The bell on the elevator dinged, heralding the arrival of the rest of their party. As the doors opened, Jimmy pushed himself off the column and brushed invisible dirt off the sleeve of his white button down shirt. He quickly checked that the collar was still popped, not really paying attention to his actions while he stared at the beautiful young women walking towards him. So focused on staying calm, Sheen didn't hear the soft bell. His only cue to the entrance of their female counterparts was Jimmy's movements. Sheen stopped his frantic pacing and turned to the girls. Without missing a beat, he let out a loud wolf whistle that caused color to rise to his fiancée's cheeks.

Cindy shot him a dark look and then met Jimmy's gaze. Bland faced still, he held his index finger in the air and spun it, indicating that Cindy should turn around and give the guys the full effect of her outfit. Cindy rolled her eyes, shaking her head slightly, but acquiesced nonetheless. Stopping about halfway between the boys and the elevator she held out her arms, multicolored bangles jingling, in mock resignation and twirled, showing off the black thigh-length cowl necked sweater. Bright purple tights and a hot pink wife beater popped from underneath and the slim neon green belt wrapped snugly around her waist only accented its narrowness. When she finished her revolution, she glanced up to meet his eyes. The look on Jimmy's face was priceless. The indifferent expression vanished faster than a plate of his mother's cookies when Carl was over. His eyebrows jumped to the middle of his forehead, and his mouth curved into a smooth approving smirk.

"Well?" she demanded, forcefully, albeit a little self-consciously as well, as she strode towards the exit.

"I'm just shocked," Jimmy shrugged, "After all these years… You really are a girl."

He causally swung an arm around Cindy's shoulder; a testament to how close the two of them had grown over time. Cindy snorted, and teasingly pushed his arm off her shoulder. She remained close however; their sleeves still near enough to brush one another.

"Let me amend that. You look good tonight, Vortex," he told her, honestly.

"Wow, have you been drinking already?" Cindy quipped, stopping to smirk at the genius.

Jimmy's face fell into a small frown; slightly offended she would assume he only complimented her under the influence of something alcoholic. Seeing the change in his expression, Cindy rolled her eyes and latched onto his arm.

She tugged him out of the building saying, "Come on, Neutron. It's 80's ladies night, and it looks like I've got a long way to go if I'm going to catch up with you."

As if that was their cue to follow, a shell-shocked Sheen, Libby, and Carl tripped lightly behind them.

"I don't see why they don't…" Sheen started to say, holding open the door for Libby.

"Me neither," Libby interrupted, correctly interpreting his reaction. "I don't understand it, but something tells me tonight's gonna change that."

They stepped out into the light of the fading sun. It danced on the oversized sparkles of Libby's shirt, catching Sheen's eye and snapping him out of his moment's preoccupation with his star-crossed friends.

"Libbylicious, you look so… so…" he stopped and attempted to think of a way to best bestow praise upon his fiancée.

"Hot," Carl finished for him, scooting next to Jimmy and Cindy in the back of the limousine.

Sheen gave the redhead a dirty look and then admitted, "I was gonna say shiny."

Libby smiled and looked down at her top. Covered in quarter-sized sequins, the waning light refracted off the asymmetrical silver shirt, sending small circles onto Sheen's face.

"Thanks Sheen. I figured I had to find somethin' to wear that would keep your attention tonight," Libby smirked as she climbed into the limo.

"Hey!" he cried indignantly, "You know I've been getting better at paying attention. The med's my doctor's prescribed…."

"Chillax! I was just givin' you a hard time," she shook her head and patted the seat next to her. "I know you've been workin' at it. 'specially since you asked me to marry you. Now come on. We're gonna tear up the town!"

Sheen flashed her a sheepish smile and jumped into the limo with great gusto. Slamming the door shut with one hand, he pulled Libby closer to him, until she sat almost in his lap. She giggled and leaned her head back to look at him upside down.

"Mmm upside down kisses," Sheen murmured as he leaned closer to her face, "My favorite."

"Oh gross!" Cindy exclaimed in faux disgust, hiding her face in Jimmy's shoulder, "They're going at it again! Jimmy, make them stop!"

"There's a reason I flee to your place to study when the two of them are over," he sighed, playing along with her charade. "Do you know how many time's I've tried?"

"No, but I'm sure if I asked Goddard he'd be able to tell me," she said laughing.

"As if he would tell you anything!" he scoffed

"Yeah he would. All I have to do is bribe him with a few soda cans and he's putty in my hands. How do you think I managed to short sheet your bed and dye all your tidy-whities pink last week?" she replied in a singsong voice.

"That was you?!" He pretended to be incredulous. He knew it had been her to pull the prank. It was always her, but this time she left a note, 'Knew you were busy. Did your laundry for you. Love, Cindy.' At the bottom she drew a large winking smiley face and even dotted her "i's" with little hearts.

"I didn't know you knew any other Cindy's…"

The two continued to bicker lightheartedly until Carl, speaking up for the first time since making comment on Libby's outfit, held up an already opened bottle of champagne, "Drinks anyone?"

Four heads turned towards him. Jimmy, Sheen, and Libby nodded and thanked Carl as he passed out the beverage. Cindy, however, declined.

Mildly surprised, Jimmy turned to her, "You don't want one?"

"I don't like the taste," she shrugged her shoulders.

He cocked an eyebrow at her and asked in disbelief, "You don't like the taste of what? The alcohol? Holy Heisenberg Cin, why'd I even go to all the trouble of making you that fake ID?"

"Relax, moron. I just like my drinks with a fruitier flavor."

With this comment, Jimmy saw the perfect opportunity to enact the first part of his plan, the one to give Cindy (and all of his friends) a relaxing weekend away from home and the pressures of college life. He had consulted Libby on the sly to help him concoct the plan for finding ways to relax the over-worked and over-tired blonde. This school year had been particularly hard on all of them academically, but the increasingly difficult schoolwork took its toll Cindy's nerves, especially at the end of the year right before finals when he found her sitting in the library near tears as she worked herself into a state over the notes that Jimmy was three minutes late in delivering. A sleepless night later, both had taken the final and passed with no less than flying colors, but it didn't save Jimmy the thirty dollars in Starbucks she forced him to shell out to help them stay up as retribution for his tardiness.

If he was going to use this weekend in an attempt to alter the status of their relationship then, logic told him, his admission of fervid adoration would best go over if she were truly relaxed, and not the "relaxed" Cindy she showed most people. Jimmy learned by now how to read her moods, well at least the ones that could possibly lead to bodily harm, and could tell the difference between the two. Getting her to unwind would be easy with the events he had convinced Sheen to plan for the next couple nights (not to mention the alcohol the group was bound to consume during this time).

Then, he told himself, then he would tell Cindy he loved her. He knew he was taking a big gamble on all of this, but hey when in Vegas, right?

Going out tonight, for drinks and dancing, would be the first of many steps Jimmy had conveniently arranged, but if Cindy wasn't willing to do her unknowing part in the plan, Jimmy's thoughtful scheming would all be for naught. There had to be some way to get her to start to legitimately loosen up, and her words gave him the perfect window for success.

Knowing that Cindy would never willingly back down from a challenge, much less so a challenge issued by the once 'boy genius', he taunted, "Fruitier flavor? What's wrong, Vortex? You can't handle the stronger stuff?"

"Uh oh," Sheen leaned over and whispered to Carl, "I smell trouble."

Carl nodded and responded, "Them's fighin' words."

Cindy's mouth bent into a malicious grin that made Libby look up worriedly at Sheen and murmur, "This cannot be good."

"You're the one who showed up at my door at two o'clock in the morning singing ridiculous ballads and quoting Shakespeare on your 21st birthday after you'd been out with Carl and Sheen." Cindy replied coolly and the three friends exchanged dumbfounded glances. None of them had heard the story before, and all were eager to hear it in detail. "Oh and who had to 'escort' you back to your place? That's right, it was campus security."

"Cindy!" Jimmy hissed, completely mortified, "You said wouldn't tell anyone that!"

She tilted her head and rocked her shoulders back and forth in a mocking motion, smiling pertly. "You're the one who said I couldn't handle my liquor."

"But me being drunk has nothing to do with…"

"I was merely stating there's no use in the pot calling the kettle black. Anyway," she boasted with a casual toss of her hair, "I bet I could out drink you any day of the week."

Fully recovered from her earlier jibe, Jimmy could barely contain his glee. She was playing right into his hands and she didn't even know it. He struggled to keep his voice from revealing anything that would make Cindy suspicious, "Really what would you bet then?"

Taken aback for a moment, she paused and then with an unruffled tone, that almost sounded like she too had been thinking along the same lines for a while, responded, "The usual; public humiliation in the form of the winner's choosing. I already have a notebook filled with ideas just waiting."

Jimmy scoffed again, "The usual? Again? That's fine, but how about we up the ante this time?"

"What do you have in mind? Cause this time I was thinking singing the Star-Spangled Banner in the middle of the Candy Bar in your underwear. You know, the ones I dyed pink," she threatened, making Jimmy chuckle.

"Yeah that's so going to happen," he retorted and then added, "Actually personal slave for a month sounds like a great addition to that."

Cindy's jaw dropped open at the same moment the limo glided to a stop outside the club. No one made a move to open the door and the driver, concerned, rolled down the window that separated him from the passengers. The whirring noise startled Libby out of her horrified awe. She quickly recovered and nudged Sheen. He then realized they had arrived at their destination. Sheen threw wide the door and drew himself from the car. Libby tweaked the sleeve of Carl's yellow polo shirt before she too exited the vehicle. He turned to her and slipped from the limo, leaving Jimmy and Cindy to settle their debate alone.

"What's wrong Vortex? Scared of losing?"

"You wish, Nerdtron!" she countered, cocking her head and scowling at him. "I just think a month is a little steep don't you?"

"Pffft! Shut up and put your money where your mouth is," he jeered, holding a hand out to seal the deal.

"Fine," she clasped his hand in her own, relishing the tingly feeling that always ran down her spine when her skin came into contact with Jimmy's. "But you're buying."

With a quick flirtatious wink, she leapt from the car to join her three friends.