"Well, you can cook after all!"

"You doubted me?"

"A little, there was no evidence to back up your claims, but I see now I was wrong to doubt you, this was really nice, right Heather?"

"Yeah! Great job Timmy! I gotta ask though, where did you get all the things you needed? There wasn't any food here, you guys just moved in."

"I brought some in when we got here..." he was nervous now, he did wish the food here after all.

"Hm... I must not have noticed it, I was pretty tired when you guys got here..."

Timmy breathed a sigh of relief. "So... what did you guys talk about? I noticed that the TV and computer were both off so..."

"Not much, girl talk." Vicky quickly interjected.

"Oh, really? Sounds boring." he knew she was hiding something, she spoke far too quickly. "So, Heather, still up for helping us get the rest of Vicky's things tomorrow?"

"Sure, and as a bonus, I'll get to see what Vicky's house looks like!"

"On another note, I wanted to ask, how many people would you allow to stay here?"

"Why? You got more people coming?"

"Eh, just one, and I'm not even sure, it's Vicky's sister after all."

"I was gonna bring it up, but it doesn't matter right now, my parents have to be okay with it, and since she's the little princess... well, I doubt they'd be keen on the idea."

"Well, let me know how that goes, I don't have a problem with it, long as she isn't too loud..."

"Don't worry about that, she's pretty reserved, most of the time..."

"Most of the time?"

Vicky spoke before Timmy could. "My sister Tootie has had a crush on him for years now, since they met really, she recently found out about... us."

"I assume she didn't take it well?"

"Not at first, she was pretty pissed, but... we've made up, on the condition that if I screw things up with him, she'll be on him like flies on... well, you know."

"She also told me to be nice to her sister."

"Sounds like you're both stuck in a pretty binding contract, good thing you're in love, eh?"

"She means well, but once she heard about me moving out... she suddenly decided that she wanted to move out too, and come with me..."

"And?"

"She wants to move here."

"And?"

"She doesn't know that Vicky and I live together." Vicky glared at him. "What? You wanna sit here all night and play some silly guessing games?"

"Well you all made up. What's the issue?"

"I'm just not sure how she'll take... all this..."

"Probably not well, and her being around you two all the time, especially when you want to get... intimate? Recipe for disaster."

"Which is why I want to ask you a maybe favor..."

"Maybe favor?"

"Since I don't know if she'll be able to move in with us or not, my parents have to be okay with it."

"Well... I suppose I can do you a favor..."

"If she does end up moving in here... I was wondering if you might..."

"You wanna ask me if it's okay if she lives with me."

"Kind of a big request..."

"That's an understatement. I'm not opposed to the idea, but I'd wanna meet her first. My place is about the same as this one in terms of size, but most of it is unused, I don't have a lot of things..."

"So you don't mind? You're really okay with it? I mean, assuming it even goes down. You would be willing to let my sister move in here, with you?"

"Sure, there's plenty of room, and I'm not using it."

"Well, if it does go down, I'll be in your debt, I really appreciate this, I don't know how I can repay you..."

"I'll think of something..." that sly smile was back on Heather's face. Vicky didn't like the sound of that.

"Ladies, if you'll hand me your dishes, I'll take care of them."

"Such a gentleman!" Heather handed her plate to Timmy.

Vicky handed hers to Timmy as well, as he went to take it, she held on to it and gave him a pleading look, one that said: "Don't leave me here!" he saw this, but only winked at her and took her plate. "Damn."

Timmy snickered to himself as he washed the dishes, he prided himself on being able to pull the more shy Vicky out of the hard shell she wore, now it seemed someone else was learning to do this. He wasn't bothered much, it was kind of funny to watch, Vicky hadn't been flustered in what seemed like quite a while. "God damnit, maybe I am a perv..." his mind was filled with thoughts of Vicky and Heather, somewhat confirming his statement. He slammed his head down on the counter to clear his thoughts.

"You okay in there?"

"I'm fine Vicky... just slipped!" he heard footsteps quickly approaching from the main loft area. "I told you, I'm fine..."

"I'm not in here to check up on you! I needed to get away from her!" she was whispering.

"Why?" now, Timmy was too.

"She's out there putting the moves on me! How about that?"

"You sure you aren't exaggerating a bit? Y'know, like you thought I was when I said she was flirty with me?"

"Alright fine! You made your point, apparently she's playing both of us then. Because while you were making dinner, she was pinning me to the floor!"

"Figures that whenever anything interesting happens, I happen to miss it!"

"Perv."

"I won't deny it."

"So what are we gonna do about it?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"I mean how do we get rid of her?"

"Get rid of her? That seems kind of extreme, don't ya think?"

"She's trying to break us up!"

"Now there I have to disagree, there are easier ways to go about breaking people up than what she's doing..."

"But-"

"Say for arguments sake that she is indeed trying to flirt with us, and it isn't a strange way to show friendship like we thought, first of all, she's the owner of the building, and she gave us a great deal, and she has helped us a few times, this isn't even mentioning that she has been far more friendly than any of the friends either of us have had."

"Alright..."

"Second, much as you hate to have it brought up, you don't really have any friends, and this girl genuinely wants to be your friend, nevermind for the moment that she may want to sleep with you."

"Wha-?!"

"Third, if Tootie does end up moving here, Heather offered to let her move in with her, how many people do you know that would actually be willing to help out as much as she does?"

"Not many, I guess... Aren't you... bothered by her... forwardness?"

"So she likes you, big deal. You can't help that you're really attractive, and you haven't been mean to her like you would with most other people, so you must like her to some extent, right?"

"Damn, I hate it when you're right..."

"You're not going to leave me for her, are you?"

"What? No! Don't be ridiculous! I love you, I don't... love her, I'm just... confused about what I feel for her..."

"Man, we have a fucked up relationship, huh?"

"I wouldn't go that far... just more open than some... but! That doesn't mean you can go around sleeping with anyone you want!"

"I... hadn't really planned on it."

"Good! Me... me neither..."

"...So is she a good kisser?"

"We're NOT having this conversation."

"Sure sounds like we are..."

"She didn't kiss me! You interrupted her when you said dinner was ready."

"Ah, poor timing on my part..."

"Would you stop?!" she shoved his shoulder with her hand, but was smiling now, she seemed to be calming down.

"And now it makes sense why the TV and computer weren't turned on out there... something else was turned on apparently..."

"Seriously, shut up."

"You think you like her because she's kind of like a blonde version of you?"

"That makes me sound like a narcissist..."

"Before we got together, that was a fairly accurate description, no offense."

"You don't wanna live long, do you?"

"I think our relationship should be built on honesty, sometimes honesty has to be of the brutal variety, you would prefer I lie to you?"

"...No..."

"Alright then. Now, either help me in here, or keep our guest entertained..." he thought about what he said and was reminded of something Wanda had said to him. "But not too entertained."

"Pfft. You can't hide that you'd like that!"

"Once again, I plead the fifth."

Vicky waved at Timmy dismissively as she left the kitchen.

"She better not try to steal my girlfriend..." talking to Vicky had brought doubt into his mind, what if she was right? What if this girl was trying to split them up? "Well... it doesn't matter, we both know about it now, if she is trying that, it won't work... hopefully."

He finished cleaning the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, then headed into the living room. "So what do you guys-"

He was interrupted by a pillow colliding with his face. The pillow fell away into his hands and he glared at Vicky.

"What? She's trying to sleep!" she was whispering again.

He looked over at the space next to where Vicky sat to see Heather sleeping rather peacefully. "Shouldn't be surprised, we did wake her up a few times today, and she helped us move, but this girl sure does sleep a lot, what does she have, narcolepsy?"

"She didn't tell me. What should we do? I'd rather not wake her up..."

"We could go in the bedroom."

"There's no TV in there..."

"I can think of something..." he smirked at Vicky.

"Nope. Sorry, no sex for you, punishment for being an ass today."

"Wha? Sex?!" He blushed red. "I was gonna suggest bringing the computer in the room and looking at funny pictures of cats... Not that. What do you think? Because I'm male I must think of sex all the time?"

"Yes."

"Well I don't. More like... twenty-five percent of my thoughts."

"What was the sly smirk for?"

"I can't smile at my girlfriend?"

Vicky scooped up her laptop and headed for the bedroom. "I don't feel like getting into a debate right now, c'mon."

He followed her into the bedroom to find it wasn't as cramped as he thought it would be, though both beds were in the room. Vicky's assortment of weapons were hung on a wall at the far side of the room, thought they were no longer hidden, he might have to wish for a flippable wall like Vicky had in her room... "Well, I'd suggest we push the beds together but..."

Vicky sighed loudly. "I wish my bed was back at my house." the bed disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"You sure?"

"Your bed is more comfortable anyway, though that may be because you're in it... Where are Cosmo and Wanda?"

"Ah, I left them in the kitchen, I'll go get them." Timmy left the bedroom and his eyes fell on Heather's sleeping form. "Hmm..." he walked over and stood in front of her then leaned down. "Reminds me of when I found Vicky asleep..." he snapped his fingers in front of her face several times, but she did not wake up. "Heavy sleeper... Cosmo, Wanda!"

"What's up, sport?" Wanda whispered, just in case.

"I figured you guys could use an upgrade, since I got one where I live. I wish you had a big aquarium." a large fish tank appeared in front of the couch, an empty fish tank. "I kinda figured you would want to put water, gravel, fish things?"

"Oh, right..." the tank filled with water, then gravel, then the little castle that was previously in the fishbowl appeared.

"That it?"

Cosmo appeared and waved his own wand, causing a goldfish sized flat screen to appear, along with a couch. He then appeared in the tank on the couch in fish form with a remote.

"Not exactly what I meant..."

"Why the sudden change Timmy? You always kept us in your room before... Are you mad at us?"

"No, nothing like that... It's just... well, I might want... privacy now and then? But I want you guys to have more room to swim around and stuff."

"Oh... alright. I see where you're coming from... Just make sure you're both safe." she quickly poofed herself into the fishbowl and swam into the castle.

"Yeah, I'll remember... Jeez, all everyone around here thinks about is sex..."

Heather mumbled something unintelligible in her sleep.

"Your case is still pending, I haven't had enough time to figure you out yet."

He returned to the bedroom and found Vicky in her sleepwear. "You sure do have a lot of green tank tops and black shorts..."

"Says the guy who has a wardrobe consisting almost entirely of pink hats, pink shirts, and blue jeans."

"Fair enough." he kicked off his shoes and laid down next to Vicky. "You want me to send Heather home?"

"Eh... nah, she should be fine out there, that couch is pretty comfortable."

"But are you comfortable with her being here? After what happened between you two?"

"It... should be fine. I don't expect her to wake up 'til tomorrow, and it's not like I'm scared of her, she just caught me off guard..."

Timmy turned over to lie on his back. "Wish I could get caught off guard like that more often..."

Vicky took the opportunity to pounce on top of him and lean in close so their foreheads were touching. "I don't need Cosmo and Wanda to catch you off guard..."

Timmy blushed slightly at their sudden closeness. "No, I suppose you don't..."

Vicky's phone rang as she began to close the distance between them. "Gah! Every frickin' time!"

"Maybe you should do what most people do when they don't wish to be bothered: turn your phone off."

"Yeah, but what if there's an emergency? I have to keep it on just in case..."

"Then get used to being interrupted."

"Hello?"

"Vicky, it's me."

"Tootie? Isn't it kinda late? What's up?"

"I talked to mom and dad."

"Okay...?"

"Dad... wants to talk to you..."

"You think maybe I don't want to talk to either of them? I'm just Vincent or some other to them."

"Please? It's important."

"Fine. No promises on how nice I'll be to him though."

"Vicky?"

Vicky froze at hearing her own name, especially from her father. "D-Dad?"

"Hey... um... how-how are you doing?"

"Fine. How's mom?"

"Oh, good, she's good... So you... you moved out huh?"

"I did, figured it was about time for it." she was dong her best to remain uncaring, she wouldn't let her feelings out now, not after all she had been through.

"And Tootie tells us she wants to move in with you..."

"Yep."

"Ah... if you promise to take care of her... Dammit! I'm not doing this! Vicky why can't you just come home?! I know your mother and I haven't been the best parents around, but we haven't been that bad!"

"Stop. You have no right to say that! As soon as Tootie was born, I was forgotten! By both of you! And before that, you... the things you did to mom... and to me..."

"Vicky I... I did terrible things, but I was... t wasn't me when I drank, I lost myself..."

"Yeah you did, had you tried to apologize years ago, I might have forgiven you. But it's been fourteen years! Fourteen! All those years you both barely raised me! Barely acknowledged me! Do you have any idea what that does to a child?! Do you even care?!"

"I-"

"You don't! For awhile I blamed Tootie, thought it was her fault that I was abandoned, but I was wrong, it was you and mom. You had plenty of chances to love me, but you didn't! Maybe you never cared about me..." the emotions came pouring out now, the floodgate she had so carefully built up was breached and came tumbling down.

"Vicky that isn't true! Your mother and I-"

"I'm not finished! You're going to listen to what I have to say to the end! I know what you were like at my age, you were a babysitter too. You made kids' lives miserable, right? Well so did I! It was only recently that I figured out that you won't define the person I am! No matter how closely I may have followed in your footsteps, I refuse to be like you! What would happen if you had another kid? Would you have abandoned Tootie the way you abandoned me?!"

"Vicky! I am your father! You will show me some respect!"

"No. I won't, as far as I'm concerned, I have no father. A father wouldn't have done what you did, a father wouldn't have hit his child in a drunken stupor, a father wouldn't abandon his own daughter! I'm surprised you even remember my name... or did Tootie have to tell you?"

"Wha? Of course not! Don't be ridiculous!" his voice wavered as he spoke, and Vicky knew the truth.

"I should've known from the start..."

"Look, whatever you may think of your mother and I, we love you and Tootie..."

"You might love Tootie, but save your breath, mom may have loved me once, but you never did."

"Tootie is threatening to go to court and become an emancipated minor, some loophole she found... I want to ask that you take care of her since she is so adamant about going to live with you."

"I'll take care of her, do a far better job than you could ever hope to."

"That's all I can ask... Do you want to talk to your mother?"

"No, but I will..."

"Vicky? Is everything alright? Your father seemed upset..."

"He should be... Why did you stay with him? All those years, the drinking, the beatings... Why?"

"If I hadn't, we wouldn't have Tootie..."

"But you couldn't have known she would be born, why did you stay with him?"

"I-I didn't know what else to do... he brought in most of the money, if I left him, we would've been out on the street... I couldn't do that to you... I thought I was protecting you."

"Then what about when Tootie was born? I was quickly tossed aside, like you never cared at all, what about that?!"

"I don't know what to say... I can't expect you to forgive me, I've been an awful mother..."

"At least you were there for me, if only at first. He can't claim that..."

"You won't forgive him?"

"No, I won't. Not ever."

"You'll take care of Tootie?"

"You don't trust me with my own sister?"

"I didn't mean it like that. I know you care about her..."

"Mom... you can always come visit her, whenever you want, and me."

"What about-"

"No, if he shows up here, I'll call the cops on him, and trust me, I know people who know how to hurt."

"Vicky, I know this probably doesn't mean much to you now but... You're my daughter, I know I could've done better, and I think I'll regret not having done better for the rest of my life, but... I love you."

It was more than she expected to hear from her mother, after everything that happened, she thought her mother was just like him. But Vick had never told her he loved her, not once. Vicky felt her eyes begin to water. "I love you too, mom."

"Oh, Tootie wants to speak to you... I'll talk to you later." she could tell from her mother's voice that she was crying, but what did she expect? She was tearing her own family apart.

"Vicky? Is everything alright?"

Vicky sniffled and wiped her eyes. "I don't think so Tootie. But I guess you're coming to live with me, huh?"

"Yeah! I'm actually leaving... tomorrow. I've got a pretty bad sunburn, so I think it's for the best, and mom and dad need some time to themselves, I think."

"That was pretty clever, the whole 'emancipated minor' thing..."

"I learned from the best."

"Heh. I taught you well..."

"So you think you can pick me up from the airport tomorrow then?"

"I'll be there, we... have some things to discuss..."

"Like what?"

"I'll tell you when you get here, I don't want you losing sleep over some silly technicalities."

"Okay... I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Count on it." she hung up the phone and turned it off. Then walked over to the bed and sat down next to Timmy. She felt him wrap his arm around her waist and pull her next to him, then rested her head on his shoulder.

"You look like you need a hug, and you're crying..."

"I'll be fine... I didn't expect to talk to my father or my mother, for that matter."

"Nice to get those feelings off your chest, huh?"

"Yeah, I can't imagine how your parents are going to take the news, if mine were like that."

"I told you, they probably won't even care."

"Hm... maybe."

"But... that's what I'm afraid of too..."

"Hm?"

"I don't want to worry you, you've had a shitty enough day, don't mind me."

"Tell me."

Timmy sighed. "With you, your parents got mad at you, anger may not be what you want from them, but it's still something. My parents... they've dumped me off on you so many times, what if it's because they don't care? What if when I tell them that I'm moving out, they don't care at all? No emotions, or just that facade they put on when I talk to them?"

It was Vicky's turn to hug Timmy, she wrapped both arms around him and put rested her chin on top of his head. "They wouldn't do that..."

"And if they do?"

"If they do... you have me, and Tootie... and maybe Heather?"

"I don't know if I'd count her as a part of our dysfunctional family yet..."

"We should probably get some sleep, seems like we'll have a big day tomorrow, I have to grab the rest of my things from my house, and then... we have to pick up Tootie at the airport."

"What now?"

"Tootie was able to convince my parents to let her live with me, she threatened to become an emancipated minor if they didn't allow it."

"Wonder where she learned to be so devious..."

"I... may have influenced her a bit growing up."

"So she's gonna live here?"

"Yep, starting later on tomorrow."

"You know we have to get her things from your house too now?"

"Ah, right... shit. That's gonna be a pain..."

"Well, let's worry about it tomorrow."

"Good call."

Timmy crawled across the bed and under the comforter, then lifted it for Vicky to crawl in. "Good thing Cosmo and Wanda installed the air conditioner, it'd be kinda hot under the covers otherwise."

"Great, so I get to be cold when I get out of the shower here too?"

"Well, not as long as I'm here, not to mention I brought your favorite blanket, you should be plenty warm."

Vicky responded by rubbing her nose against his.

"Eskimo kisses? It's not that cold..."

Some time later...

Vicky wasn't sure when she fell asleep, but she was awoken by the bedroom door opening, rather than question who it was, since she had a feeling she knew, she feigned being asleep. She still felt tired, but was jolted near fully awake when the person who came into the room settled themselves behind Vicky on the bed and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Hmm... much more comfy than the couch..."

Vicky rolled her eyes at no one in particular. "What the hell..."