Hello everyone! I apologize that I haven't updated in almost three weeks but it's been hard to motivate myself to write for a fandom that seems to be dying out. However my love for Jimmy and Cindy never really dies, so I've finally got myself up to the task of completing this story!

Thank you to all who read and reviewed, I hope you will do so for this last chapter as well...I tried my best to do justice to the characters. I would appreciate feedback on the story as a whole!

Disclaimer: I do not own JN!

Now on to the story!

Cindy stared intently at the paisley pattern on her rug. It had been a long day. Besides forgetting her lunch money and her chemistry homework and only getting a freaking A minus on her French test (she knew Neutron would make some sophomoric crack about her less than impressive language skills if he found out), there was also the added misery of knowing Neutron would never figure out that she wanted to go with him to prom.

Of course, that would only be a valid desire for her to have if he cared about prom at all, which he clearly didn't. He'd continually pointed out to her this week that senior prom was inane and overpriced and tacky. And if Cindy was being honest with herself, why would he go with her when there were plenty of eligible candidates who didn't mock and deride him on a daily basis? He could go with his lab partner in Biology—Ella, or that sweet girl who had once been partnered with him on a Latin project…what was her name? Cindy couldn't remember. And the other day when the two had been stuck in detention together, he'd all but straight out told her that she wasn't exactly in high demand. And for good reason too, she supposed. She was perfectly capable of being overbearing, and sometimes flat out bitchy. The people who knew the parts of her that weren't tinged with bitterness or anger were few and far in between. The point was that she couldn't possibly be mad at him for not being able to figure her out. And yet that was what made her so mad. If he was such a goddamn genius, shouldn't he have worked out exactly how Cindy thought of him?

She knew she could be spiteful and grating, but at least she wasn't outright dense when it came to people. Neutron was hopeless when it came to reading people's emotions. He certainly hadn't been successful at decoding her. There were times when he seemed on the brink of an epiphany, and as customary, he would either back away in fear of falling, or turn and run in the opposite direction out of general obliviousness.

Cindy had been so sure that when he'd offered her the pearl on the island all those years ago, he had been on the verge of formally acknowledging their 'love hate thing' (or so Libby had christened it), but her hopes had waned as they went back to a meaningless continuum of bickering after returning to Retroville. Again, she'd allowed herself momentary optimism after he'd kissed her in the alleyway following the news broadcast when Libby had gone berserk and revealed to the whole town that perhaps the 'love hate thing' was turning into all love, all the time. She wouldn't have minded that being the case, but unfortunately, life rarely took into account what Cindy wanted. Like their previous more-than-friendly interactions, the kiss was soon brushed off with all of that eager tween awkwardness. Of course Cindy had never forgotten any of it, but she assumed it would be preposterous to expect a thick headed idiot like Nerdtron to remember just why it was so important that they held each other at bay.

In the end it all boiled down to failure. It was almost like a chemical reaction that almost hit the critical point, but didn't follow through. Put together two completely conflicting elements and not only would the resulting equation be less than satisfactory, it would also be half-hearted. Cindy had tried again and again over the years to understand why the damn 'love hate thing' had never come to fruition, but she stopped short when she realized they were just fundamentally different people. Cindy didn't delegate science to feelings like Jimmy did. She didn't try to see formulas and laws in everything, and above all, she didn't assign binary notation to a world that functioned in the gray.

Cindy shifted her focus to the stack of textbooks on her desk. Silently, she walked over and picked up the crumpled sheet that lay atop the heap. It was the poem she had read to her English class the other day. It was straightforward, but by no means superficial.

She didn't know why but she was possessed with an urge to read it aloud, to mull it over in the relative peace of her room. I want your laughter like the flower I was waiting for, the blue flower.

How heartbroken she had been all those years ago on the island when Libby and Sheen and Carl had washed ashore to rescue them. Jimmy had been so happy at the thought of returning home…and he'd assigned all of them tasks to complete and forgotten about her in the blink of an eye. She still recalled, with a lump rising in her throat, the way she'd trudged off into the wood, dismantling his blue hibiscus from her hair and letting it fall face down on the hot sand. That one moment seemed to characterize the whole thing—the love hate thing was governed first and foremost by a sense of disappointment.

She forced herself to continue reading the poem through the film of tears that had formed on her eyes. Laugh at the twisted streets of the island, laugh at this clumsy boy who loves you…when my steps go…when my steps return…

CRASH!

A mound of metal and fudge colored hair lay on the floor of Cindy's room. Cindy awoke with a start from her position on her bed. "What the hell Neutron?"

Jimmy groaned and took her outstretched hand. He was met with an expression of bewilderment and anger. "You know, normal people would just knock on the front door."

"Sorry...I've still got a few bugs to work out on my new jet pack. This one can go to new elevations and is supposed to-"

"Spare me the scientific yada yada and tell me why you were so kind as to drop by, Nerdtron." She took a very sarcastically kind tone of voice for this jab.

Neutron didn't seem deterred at all by her obvious frustration.

"See I had to tell you-"

Suddenly, Cindy noticed a streak of red running across his shirt. "Neutron, you're bleeding-"

"I'm fine, Cindy-" Cindy shook her head and ran to her bathroom to get him some tissues to clean off the wound with. "I don't know why you couldn't just come in through the front door-" She dabbed gently at his shoulder.

He waved his hand dismissively, slightly wincing in pain as he did so. "Not significant. See, Cindy, I came here because of a fresh sword."

Cindy looked at him like he was deranged. "Are you sure that little crash landing didn't just impact your giant head? Because I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Of course you know what I'm talking about, Vortex." His eyes caught the light and she found herself taking a sharp intake of breath. He was much too awe-inspiring for her not to marvel at his very being. As soon as she caught herself, she snapped back into her cross mood.

His gaze landed on the poem that she'd torn to pieces and thrown on her bedside table. He picked it up, noting the stains across the last few verses.

"Were you crying, Vortex?" He seemed surprised, and turned back to her. She blushed but then reminded herself to get a grip...

"What's it to you, Neutron?" Her words hung in the air with a caustic sort of implication.

Jimmy turned his attention back to the pieces of the poem. He cleared his throat. "Cindy, Neruda helped me - err come to an interesting conclusion."

"And what might that be?" She was growing impatient once more.

"Hear me out." His voice was calm but commanding. It was more serious than she'd ever heard it before. She quieted and nodded.

"I enjoy seeing you happy and Einstein knows why...but there's some sadistic part of me that's always thought of you...as..." He swallowed the lump of fear that had settled in his throat. "More than just a rival."

Cindy felt her cheeks redden despite her iron will to not react to his words. She couldn't help it.

He gently took her hands. "You've always been around y'know? I mean granted, you are always yelling at my friends and I, and making a big deal about the fact that some of my inventions-" He caught the glare in her eyes and corrected himself, "Okay, most of my inventions cause a minimal amount of havoc."

"Minimal? Neutron-" Jimmy held up a hand. "I'm not finished yet, Cindy."

"The thing is, we've always been arguing with each other and picking on each other and we've had our fair share of distress come of that-" He shot an accusing glance at her before he knotted his hands behind his neck and continued. "What I'm trying to say is-"

"Get to the point, Nerdtron!" She screeched.

"Jeez Cindy, I'm spilling my heart out to you here-"

"Sorry." Cindy muttered, grudgingly.

"As I was saying, I was thinking about that poem you read in class the other day and I realized it's not an isolated incident. I think about you a lot." He admitted, turning red himself. "You're smart...and you sure as heck have me beat with Shakespeare and Byron and all those old authors...and you don't...err- look-all that bad-" Her face fell by a fraction and he quickly amended himself, feeling terrible instantly. "I mean you're really pretty and you still smell nice and I just appreciate having someone on my level, y'know?"

She perked up immediately. "You think of me on your level?" She whispered.

"Of course Cindy. You're the only person in this whole town who can hold a candle to my genius."

"Way to be modest." She mocked, although inside, she was burning with joy.

"Okay scratch that. You're smart on your own terms. And although I hate to admit it..." He shuddered. "You really have a lot going for you. Me? I just do experiments and lab reports and create a bunch of explosive-prone stuff. But you can run, sing, write, do karate, and handle a test tube better than any girl I've ever met, Cindy."

"And all things considered...I think- I- I l-l-"

"Just say it, Neutron!"

"I love you okay, Vortex! For the love of Tesla..."

"You love me?" She was speechless, yet still skeptical. "Is this a trick?"

Jimmy looked hurt. "After all I've said you really think I was kidding?"

"Of course not...sorry..."She was unable to say anything much more...

"I just thought I'd let you know. It's not like I expected you to say it back. But I thought I should let you know because...it needed to be said. And-" His voice grew quiet. "And I would understand if I had to return the prom tickets I got for us-"

Her eyes grew wide with shock. "Oh Jimmy, you got us tickets to prom? I thought you said it was shallow and trite and-"

He held up a hand again. "I know what I said. But it obviously means a lot to you. And it would be an awfully good time to test my hypothesis about beer working as an aphrodisiac. I suppose it would be amusing to watch Brittney get with Bolbi under the influence-but that's really besides the point." He looked up at her shyly with his deep, probing eyes. "Cindy, will you go with me?"

Cindy threw her arms around the startled teen genius.

"Of course I'll go with you!" She was overjoyed. "Took long enough to come to your senses, you dork!" She remarked as she pulled away, smirking.

"Why can't girls just tell people what they want?" He shook his head in disbelief.

"Nothing worth having comes easy..." She remarked dryly. He snickered. "I guess we know that all too well, don't we?" He pulled her in by the waist and brushed his lips against hers gently. She cupped his cheek and kissed him back. It was a great feeling. This was true closure.

A/N: I hope you liked this story and the fluff in this last chapter! I'm not the best at fluff since I work better with brooding angst and anger. Like I said, I would really appreciate feedback on how I can better portray these characters in future stories! Thanks for reading :)