"What's that Timmy?"
"Nothing, just thinking out loud. You were right Vicky, this place is awesome!"
"I told you you'd like it! It's nice and spacious, there's a great view, got our own room to use as the bedroom, there's only one bathroom, but it's good sized."
"Yeah, you really hit the jackpot with this one."
"Got Heather to thank for that, y'know, for letting us have the place."
"Oh no, don't worry about it. I'm just glad that someone moved in, and that I was able to meet some interesting people. That... doesn't make me sound desperate for friends, does it?"
"Are you?"
"No!...Kind of... When I moved out here after my dad died, I decided to start fresh, but I'm not very good at making friends, so I've been pretty much on my own since then."
"What about the other tenants?"
"Most of them are... seniors, they either don't remember me, or think I'm their granddaughter or something... And after a bad experience in my hometown with someone... I tend to be distrustful of people that I don't know."
"And Vicky?"
"I dunno really, I got a different feeling from her than I do from most people, you too, if I'm being honest. You both seem pretty nice."
"Vicky's only nice to people she likes." he winced reflexively expecting a light hit from Vicky, but it never came. When he looked at her questioningly, she looked at him, then spoke.
"What? You're right on the money. And she might as well find out now, rather than later. On the other hand, watch out for Timmy here, he can be a bit of a perv." Timmy blushed at her statement. "But he's also the biggest prude I know, so you don't have to worry, he still gets all flustered when I do something even mildly flirty. Watch." Vicky began to lift her shirt.
"V-Vicky?!" Timmy slapped his hand over his eyes, though Vicky had only lifted her shirt enough to expose her navel.
"See?"
"Wow... intimacy between you two must be really awkward..."
Timmy really wished he could just disappear, but such a thing might make Heather suspicious. Instead he settled for going over to the windows and watching the storm.
"I think I may have embarrassed him..."
"So, he seems to like it, when do you two wanna move in?"
"Um... probably today, or at least, we'll move most of our things in today, then move in tomorrow."
"You guys gonna need some help?"
"Probably, you have a car?"
"Got an SUV, should be good for moving."
"Great! You don't mind?"
"Glad to help, mind if I torture your boyfriend?"
"What are friends for?"
"I can hear you two!"
"It's not like it matters if you can hear us, even if you get away from me, with Heather here, it's like there's two of me!"
Again, Timmy's mind tried to rationalize whether this fact was a good thing, or a bad thing, it was having sufficient difficulty doing so. Heather wasn't quite like Vicky, she was far more subdued and didn't have the predatory look that Vicky had, but she certainly seemed to have a lot in common with her.
"Should I be worried? About you two teaming up, I mean."
"I would be, were I in your shoes."
"As much as I'd love to stay up here and continue this conversation, I'm gonna go get changed so you two can get your stuff over here." Heather left Timmy and Vicky alone in the apartment.
"So..." Vicky casually walked up to Timmy. "What do you think of our new landlady-slash-friend?"
"She seems nice... a little like you, but nice. I think the bigger question is, what do you think of her?" Timmy had a smug grin on his face.
"What do you mean?" Vicky backed up slightly and had a pink dusting on her cheeks.
"Oh... I think you know what I mean..."
"Uh... no, no I don't. I think she's a nice person, she seems pretty cool..."
"And...?"
"And what? There's... nothing else..."
"Rather than play games all day, let me just spell it out for you. You like her."
"Well of course, she is nice, and we're already friends, don't you like your friends?"
"Oh I know you like her, the way any person likes their friends, what I'm saying is you like her."
"Did I mention that you're delusional?"
"It sounds familiar, but I'm not imagining this. You don't take an instant liking to someone like that, especially you. So unless you have something else up your sleeve, I'd say you like-"
"Like who?" Heather stood in the doorway of the loft. She wore her outfit from the day before, orange t-shirt, olive green short skirt.
"My... sister! Timmy thinks we have a rocky relationship, but I do like her, I just don't get to spend time with her very often!" "Shit! I need to remember to call her later..."
"Okay... Well if you two are done talking about Vicky's sister, we should probably get going, I have a lot of sleep to catch up on when we finish."
"You wanna follow my car or...?"
"Nah, let's all ride together in mine, I doubt your sports car is good for moving anyway, and riding together will allow us a chance to bond."
"Alright then, lead the way." They followed Heather out and behind the building to a small parking lot.
"You can park here or out front, I don't really care." they all got into Heather's truck, Vicky in the front passenger seat, Timmy in the rear seat.
"I'll give you directions to Timmy's house as we go."
"Cool. So... how did you two meet?"
"I'm his... babysitter, we met when I was fourteen, and he was eight. I happen to live relatively close by."
"Oh, a cradle robber, eh?"
Vicky blushed red at this. "Wha?! No! We've only been together for about a month!"
"Relax, I'm just fucking with you! So why is he moving in with you? His parents dead or something?"
Timmy spoke up now. "No, they're fine, they just don't pay attention to me much, the whole reason I met Vicky was because they were too busy to take care of me, and I'm tired of it, so rather than put up with it, I'm moving out of there and in with Vicky, at least she loves me." there was an unmistakeable sadness in his voice.
"C'mon, I'm sure your parents care about you in their own way..."
"Trust me Heather, they don't. I've taken better care of Timmy than they ever have, and I..."
"You?"
"I wasn't the nicest babysitter when I was younger, let's leave it at that."
"What about you Heather? How were your parents?"
"My mother... I don't remember her much, she was in a car accident when I was young, her wounds were too grave for them to save her. My father... he was a writer, when my mother passed, he did his best to take care of me, more than most people would, even for their daughter. One day I came home and found him..." Heather trailed off and looked distant.
"I'm sorry..." Vicky put her hand on Heather's shoulder, which brought her out of her trance.
"Don't worry about it, I've had more than enough time to grieve." she rubbed at the corner of her left eye.
"So how were you able to acquire the building?"
"My father left me quite a bit."
"So inheritance?"
"Yep."
Vicky glanced behind her at Timmy and smirked at him, remembering all the times he used that excuse to explain away how he acquired so many things. After several more minutes of driving, and some directional corrections by Vicky, they arrived at Timmy's house.
"This is where you live? Not bad, bigger than the house I lived in as a kid."
"My parents are well off, how else would they be able to go on vacation nearly every week?"
They all got out of the car and headed inside, except Heather who looked at the outside of the house for several seconds, then stopped and stood in the doorway.
Timmy glanced back at her as Vicky excitedly rushed upstairs, evidently wanting to move Timmy's things to the loft as soon as possible. "Are you a vampire? You can come in, I'm inviting you in. And you're gonna get soaked out there." The rain had not yet let up, and Timmy was beginning to wonder if he should un-wish it.
Heather walked in and shut the door behind her. "You never know, maybe I am a vampire." she flashed him a smile and followed Vicky upstairs.
"Under normal circumstances, the thought of two beautiful women in my room would be cause for celebration, but this could be bad..." Timmy stopped and thought for a few seconds. "Who the hell said that?" then ran upstairs.
He entered his room to find Heather looking at his fishbowl and Vicky looking over the bed. Seemingly trying to figure out how to take it apart so they could transport it.
"What kind of fish are these?" Heather looked over her shoulder at Timmy.
"Goldfish, the kind you see everywhere."
"That have green and pink eyes?"
"Do they? I never noticed, maybe they are a rare breed or something?"
"Hmph... yeah, that's probably it, could just be a genetic disorder for all we know." she left the fishbowl and looked at the various cardboard boxes. "This about everything?"
"Pretty much. There are a few bits of clothing I need to grab, but pretty much everything I own is in the boxes, except the bed, table, couch, and entertainment center."
"Hm... maybe we should've hired a moving van, I don't think all that will fit in my truck..."
"Eh, don't worry about it. Let's just take what will fit in your car, Twerp and I will take care of the rest."
"Twerp?"
"Ugh... I did it again, sorry Timmy."
"Don't worry about it, you said yourself that it's a term of endearment."
"I'll ask again, Twerp?"
"Vicky's pet name for me from back when she still babysat me, it's evolved from a derogatory name to... something else."
"Hm... you don't seem all that Twerpy..."
"I was much shorter than her when we first met, so it fit better back then."
"It's kinda cute, fits you rather well." she ruffled his hair, then walked toward the pile and grabbed a few boxes. "I'll bring these out to the car and open it up, you guys got the rest?"
"Yeah, Vicky and I will be down in a minute."
"'Kay, don't take too long, I need sleep." Heather left the room.
"She sure seems to like her sleep, huh?"
"Kinda like you, Vicky. While we're on the subject of what she likes, she sure seems to like me, huh?"
"You think so? I dunno, she's probably just being friendly."
"Oh, she's being friendly all right..."
"So?"
"It doesn't... bother you?"
"What? That she's trying to be friends with you? No, not really."
"I'd say she's being downright flirty with me."
"I'd say your over-thinking her actions."
"Maybe... eh, you're probably right."
The two stood in silence, Vicky fiddled with a lock of her hair. "Unless..." Vicky looked up at Timmy in response. "You do like her!"
"Wha? This again? She's pretty nice, that's all. I don't... like her, not the way you're suggesting." despite her attempts at reassurance, both to Timmy and herself, she was blushing slightly.
"Then why are you blushing?"
"Because you've put me in an awkward situation!"
"No... other reason?"
"Just help me grab these boxes!" she heard him snickering as he helped grab the boxes.
The ride back to the loft was unusually quiet, so much so that Heather was the one to break the silence. "So, have you thought about what you're gonna tell Timmy's parents? Better yet, what you're gonna tell your parents, Vicky?"
"Well... my parents don't care too much about me, Timmy and I have neglectful, uncaring parents in common. I likely won't have to explain myself much to my parents, maybe not at all. My sister? That's a different story."
"I'm starting to see what drew you two together, I can't imagine what it would have been like if my parents didn't care about me... I'm sorry, it sounds like the two of you have been through a lot."
"Yeah, but we have each other, that lessens the pain..."
"As incredibly corny as my boyfriend sounds, he's right. We've talked a lot about our families, you've been great Timmy, thank you."
There were several moments of silence before Heather spoke. "Are... are you guys gonna like, start making out right here?" there were several more seconds of silence before all three car occupants started laughing.
"Oh... oh god, I'm glad we met, you're funny!"
"Hey, I try."
They arrived back at the building and brought the various boxes up to the loft.
"Alright you two, that looks like everything that we could grab, let me know when you wanna grab the other stuff, I'll see if I can get a moving van or something..."
"Oh, don't worry about it, you've done more than enough, I think we can handle the rest, although... I still have to grab some things from my house, so if you aren't busy tomorrow..."
"Long as you don't call me too early..."
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." she watched Heather leave. "Shall we head back to your house then?"
"You sure you wanna leave your girlfriend here? We could bring her along, maybe have a sleepover? I could make pizza rolls? We could talk about boys."
"You're well on your way to getting your ass beat." Vicky wasn't enjoying this new, slightly bolder Timmy, it once again brought her off of her normal 'on top' position. "I. Don't. Like. Heather. Not like that anyway."
"The red on your face suggests otherwise..."
Vicky said nothing, opting to walk over to Timmy and flick him in the forehead instead. After which she walked out of the apartment, then looked over her shoulder, intending for him to follow her.