Hello all! I'm going to make my opening extremely brief but I just want to personally thank all of you again for joining me in his 5 year long ride with this fanfic, but this is not the end! :) I'll explain more in my ending A/N about the sequel. For right now, sit back and relax with the final chapter of Permutations. Hope you all enjoy!

(Carl's POV)

We were all riding back in the hover car.

Well, I was going back with Jimmy and Cindy.

All I kept saying was sorry and they kept saying it was okay, but… I JUST FEEL BAD! I was going to say sorry again until we got back to Jimmy's backyard and he parked back in the shed.

We all climbed out of the hover car and I just kept following them as they started going toward the lab.

"I mean it guys. I'm SO sorry! I didn't mean to..." Before I could finish Cindy just turned around, looking really annoyed as she yelled, "CARL! For the last freaking time! We forgive you! Just shut up already!"

I froze up as she turned back to go to the clubhouse before Jimmy walked up to me as he put a hand on my shoulder and let out a sigh before saying, "Sorry, but Cindy's kinda right, Carl. It's done now so just try to forget about it. Look, I'll see you later, okay?"

After that Jimmy caught up with Cindy as they walked into the clubhouse, holding hands again. I just stood there, looking around, trying to figure out what to do?

Guess I could walk to the petting zoo and see the llamas?

20 minutes later

(Jimmy's POV)

After we got into the lab, Cindy told me about everything that happened after she went on her jog this morning.

Everything from what happened with Butch, Nick, and Wendall at the park to running into a lot of other people from school downtown to talking everything out with Libby. Also, about the idea that Libby had.

"Wait, she said all she wants us to do is just… what?" I asked, still not comprehending what she wants us to do or how that would even help.

"I know, it sounds way too simple. But… What choice do we have?! Since everyone in the school knows, I… I don't know? But, right now, what Libby told me is all I got." She said, leaning against one of my lab tables and resting her forehead in her right hand with her left hand almost cradling her left elbow, looking very deep in thought and still pretty freaked out.

I mean… not that I blame her since I'm still there too.

Even though I don't know why? It's not like I haven't been made fun of or ridiculed before on a large scale… multiple times.

But, I don't know?

This is just different.

Libby was right about a lot of the things she said and maybe she's even right about using this particular strategy, but it's just confusing.

This wasn't how I wanted any of this to happen, and neither did Cindy for sure. It's just… I feel like nothing about my life has ever been uncomplicated and this current situation only proves it.

I mean, just look at this!

Cindy and I just became boyfriend and girlfriend last night and yet we're just freaking out in my lab right now trying to brace for the inevitable onslaught of teasing we are sure to endure tomorrow at school.

But… that didn't mean I regret anything we've done up until now.

This past month has honestly been one of the greatest months of my life so far. Mostly because I finally knew where Cindy and I stood with each other now rather than going to school everyday and have us just fight for no reason at all. Sure, we still did it to keep up appearances, but we both knew it was just an act to keep up, which made it kind of fun in a way. That was all over now though.

Cindy looked like she was still thinking and also looking like she was trying to chew off her bottom lip simultaneously.

I just went on instinct and walked over to her and leaned against the lab table too as I started, "Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt? At this point, everyone knows, right? We might as well see this as some sort of social experiment to see if this will work. Or at least help with damage control."

I slid closer next to her and waited until I saw her look at me and give me a confused look as she asked, "Seriously, how are you able to be so calm about this right now and all I feel like I want to do is crawl in a hole or spontaneously combust, especially after this morning? Yeah, I agree that it needs to be done, but… ugh! I just hate this!"

I gave her a confused look back as I responded, "What? You think I'm not freaking out either? Because if you think I'm not then… I don't know what you think then? All I've done from the moment Libby and Sheen caught us has been freaking out. I may not be showing it, but since last night I couldn't sleep, relax, or even work on anything to take my mind off it. Every time I picked up any of my tools and tried to work on something, my hands just wouldn't stop shaking and I'd immediately have to put them back down. All I keep doing is trying to distract myself. Sure, so far I've accomplished nothing with it, but what else can I do?!"

It was silent until Cindy finally said, sounding a little guilty, "And having me text you out of paranoia like an insane person also probably wasn't helping… sorry."

I looked down saw she put her hand over mine that was closest to her on the lab table. As much as this probably would have surprised me to have her say sorry like this back when we were kids, this was what I meant before.

After getting to know Cindy personally when we're alone, I realized she's actually a genuinely nice person… well, until you push her buttons like we both used to do to each other as kids.

Then again, what else would you expect from two kids that are stubborn, intelligent, and competitive in a school setting?

I smiled and turned my hand over to hold hers as I responded, "It's okay. Like I said, I was freaking out too, but I just deal with it differently. Honestly, I'm still pretty freaked out."

I rubbed the back of my neck with my other hand as Cindy admitted, "Yeah, same here… but you're right. And Libby's right. Both of us just staying down here and freaking out isn't going to do anything. Tomorrow… we just gotta rip off the band aid and take it."

I smiled at her again and nodded in a agreement until I thought about something and then asked, "By the way, why didn't Libby come along to talk to us about this together and stayed back with Sheen?"

Cindy smirked after awhile before saying, "Oh trust me, after everything we talked about, let's just say we had a little plan in mind for that too. Well, Libby did anyway."

She chuckled a little to herself as I tilted my head at what she was alluding to.

Across town at the Candy Bar

(Sheen's POV)

Ugh… I was so close! But… ugh, dang it! I kinda knew I had it coming though.

I kept looking at everyone standing in front of me at the Candy Bar, lined up to get their money back after Libby put out a post about.

But, it was almost over. I was down to the last 5.

Even though giving back all the money felt like it was ripping me apart. This was one of the first bets I ever made and cashed out big time on. I got almost 500 bucks by the end of it!

But, now that I think about it… man…

Finally I got to the last one in line as Libby pushed over the last of the cash.

Nick.

He was giving me a smirk as he held out his hand, waiting for the 50 bucks back he had staked on the bet. But, I decided to have fun with this one as I gave him a smirk and look back as I took out 20 and just gave him back 30.

Nick looked kinda pissed as he said, almost getting in my face, "Hey! What the hell, Sheen?! I gave you 50!"

I leaned forward and said, still having fun with it, "Yeah, ya did. But you owed me 20 from the past 2 times."

Hey, just because I was forced into giving money back doesn't mean I was gonna give all of it back. Especially back to rats like Nick who owe me money… and I'm also still pissed about him interrupting what Libby and I had going on in the van at the drive-in.

Nick looked over at Libby and I did too, but she just kept filing her nails like she's been doing the whole time while listening to music with her earbuds in.

She looked up at us for a second, knowing she got the gist, as she shrugged and said, "I'm stayin' outta this one."

I smirked and kicked back a little in the booth as Nick gave me one last scowl before snatching up the $30 and stomped off.

I looked down at the 20 bucks in my hand as I said to myself, "Heh! Sucker."

I was gonna reach in my back pocket to put the $20 in my wallet until Libby took out one of her earbuds and said, looking at the empty table, "Well, that's it."

I looked back at the table before throwing my head back and groaning, "Why is life so cruel?!"

"Sheen, look, I get it. But, this was the only way I could think of to get Cindy to forgive you… and me. That and I knew it was the right thing anyway. You deleted the picture too right?" She asked.

I lifted up my phone without even looking at her as I said, still feeling like I was robbed, "Yup... Erased off everything I got."

It was quiet until I looked down and saw her hand on mine that was resting on the table.

I looked over at her as she smiled a little and said, "Thanks Sheen. Also, sorry about what happened earlier with Cindy getting you. I tried to hope she wasn't gonna do it, but… somehow I'm not surprised."

I knew she was talking about Cindy hitting me where it hurts… man, even right now I can still feel it.

But, I tried to brush it off as I said, "Yeah, that makes two of us… but, no problem, Libby." We both smiled for a second until Sam came over and yelled, "Hey! Are you kids just gonna free load or are you gonna order somethin' before I tell you to beat it, yeh!"

Eh… might as well?

"Yeah, whatever. I'll take a chocolate shake and a burger. You want anything, Libs? I got this." I offered. "Well… I gotta get home soon, but sure. Why not? I'll take a chocolate shake too."

Sam gave a us a look before grumbling something as he walked away.

"Is it just me, or is Sam becoming such a crotchety old coot… you know, more than he was before?" I asked until I winced as I heard Sam call out, "I heard that, yeh!"

Libby just laughed and that made me smile a little bit.

Sam brought over our order and Libby left to go home after finishing her shake and gave me a kiss on the cheek but… I just kept sitting there.

I looked at the clock and just put some cash to cover the bill before walking out to the van, knowing what I had to do.

20 minutes later at the Neutron residence

(Jimmy's POV)

I opened up the hood on the hover car and decided to take the opportunity to do some routine maintenance.

Cindy had to go home for dinner and I had to go in for dinner too, so… my evening was free and I didn't have anything better to do at the moment.

So, why not take the extra time to be constructive?

Besides, the hover car is going to technically be an addition to the plan for tomorrow.

I tried to just shake it out of my head as I started looking around. I'd rather just cross that bridge once I come to it tomorrow.

I decided to top off the tank with more F.U.N. fuel and then take a look at the engine.

After a quick glance, I grabbed a monkey wrench before looking under the hood.

At least my hands weren't shaking uncontrollably anymore now. So that's something, right?

I was about to dive in and get to work when I heard, "Uh… hey."

I whipped my head behind me to see Sheen, standing in the doorway rubbing the back of his neck and giving me a slightly awkward smirk.

I stood up and faced Sheen as I returned, sounding hesitant, "Hey."

We both just stood there in awkward silence, but after everything that happened and especially after I almost tried to beat up Sheen earlier… that's to be expected at this point.

Sheen looked down and his eyes went wide as he said while pointing, almost like he was elaborating on my thoughts, "Are you gonna hit me with that?"

I looked down when I realized he was pointing to the monkey wrench.

I lifted it up a little to look at it before looking back at Sheen after pondering for a few moments before saying, "Earlier maybe, but after what Cindy did this morning?... yeah, hitting you with this would be overkill in my opinion."

Sheen let out a nervous laugh, but I didn't.

We just stood there before I decided to try to distract myself as I started working on the hover car.

I was tooling around with the engine until I saw Sheen lean on the right side of the hover car with his hands partially inside the hood.

"Hey Jimmy… I'm sorry."

I whipped my head over and saw Sheen looking at the ground and rubbing the back of his neck as he kept going, "You were right. I let the bet go to my head with all the money I was going to make from it…"

He stopped when he noticed me giving him a look as he said, sounding defensive, "What? I gave it all back! But, hey that's not the point!"

"Then what Sheen?" I asked pointedly, not seeing what exactly he was trying to get at.

"That taking that picture was low and I'm sorry!" He yelled at me in his usual manic exasperation.

We were quiet for a few seconds before I looked over and just asked straight out, "Then why did you even do it?"

Sheen pursed his lips for a second before rubbing the back of his neck and saying, "Look Jimmy… it's like Libby keeps saying about you guys. All you and Cindy did was be in big time denial about you guys even though it was totally obvious. And the only reason why I even started that bet wasn't even on purpose. I just said it as a joke once to Carl in the hall after you and Cindy had another one of your love-hate fights again with each other and then everyone around us just started betting and… it just kept growing. It was insane! Everyone wanted in on it even though I thought nothing was gonna happen. But… then I saw you guys last night and then I started thinking about the money and… I don't know? Well, I do. I messed up."

I looked back at the engine and started contemplating everything I just heard as I unconsciously just shut the hood before hearing Sheen let out a yelp.

He was biting his bottom lip and his fingers on both hands were slammed under the hood.

My eyes widened on reflex as I managed, "Sorry!" I frantically opened the hood of the car as Sheen pulled out his hands. He slowly started moving around his fingers and still looked like he was holding back from uncontrollably yelling in pain. After a second of clenching and unclenching his fingers as he said, his voice sounding so high it was like he was in a state of perpetual inhalation, "It's cool… Had it coming." After Sheen figured out his hands were okay and he could finally talk again, we both ended up sitting on the hood of the hover car in silence.

After a while I heard Sheen start, "So… why didn't you say anything about you and Cindy?"

I gave him a slight look and just asked, "Are you serious?"

Sheen put his hands up before responding defensively, "Hey man. I'm just saying. I get it, but I'm with Libby when she said that you guys really need to get over yourselves and stuff. Besides, what's the big deal? Yeah everyone is gonna be on you guys a little bit? Yeah. Is it probably going to suck a little bit. Yeah, probably…"

"Sheen, what point are you trying to make right now?" I asked, confused about where exactly he was trying to go with this.

He thought for a second before looking at me and shrugging and saying, "I don't know? But, either way, who cares? You and Cindy like each other, what's the big deal? You both are a bunch of type A, overachieving brainiacs so… yeah, duh. Yeah, Cindy kinda freaks me out sometimes, but that doesn't mean I care if you guys hooked up or anything? Me or Carl. So I guess, what I'm really trying to get at is… are we cool?"

He held out a hand to me and I looked at it for a second before I smirked and responded, "Yeah, we're good."

He smirked back as we grabbed each other's hands and pulled each other in for a quick hug and then clapped each other on the back.

Honestly, as much as I was mad earlier, I knew I couldn't completely deny the truth about the whole situation going on right now.

Especially after what Cindy told me about what Libby said with us creating our own beast basically and… in all honesty, she isn't wrong.

Even Sheen was right about a lot of the stuff he said. Besides, no matter what, Sheen's one of my best friends and he and Carl always had my back when no one else did, just like I always had their backs when they needed it.

Also, after what Cindy did to Sheen this morning... I think he learned his lesson.

We separated as Sheen said, "So… what are you and Cindy going to do at school tomorrow? It's not like I'm gonna know since I'm suspended until next Monday."

"Well… about that…" I started.

The next morning

(Cindy's POV)

Jimmy and I just pulled into the parking lot at school in the hover car.

All I kept doing this morning was almost doing these tai chi based breathing exercises.

Ugh this is so ridiculous!

All we're doing is going to school and I feel like I'm a soldier in world war 2 preparing to storm the beaches of Normandy for crying out loud!

I was so lost in thought that I almost didn't realize Jimmy even parked as I heard him say, "Ready?"

I looked over at him and sighed before saying, "Not really, but I guess I'll have to be, right?"

After that Jimmy hopped out of the hover car and opened up my side door and held a hand out to me.

I looked up at him a little and was surprised to see a slight smile on his face as he admitted, "That's okay. If it's all the same to you, I'm not really ready either. So… shall we?"

After a second, I smiled back and took the offer as I grabbed his hand and responded, "Let's."

Hey, it may be public humiliation, but at least we'll be equally humiliated together, right?

All this just seemed too simple though.

Ugh, why did Libby actually think this was going to work? And why did I agree?!

All she told us to do was come to school together and hold hands while we're coming into the school.

Then she was just really cryptic about the rest of it.

She just said she'd take it from there.

I wish she'd just tell me so I didn't feel like I was going to vomit out of nerves right now.

We both stopped in front of the front entrance for a moment after getting through the parking lot unscathed.

We both gave each other a nervous look for a split second before I felt Jimmy squeeze my hand, whether it was from nerves or reassurance… I decided to go with the latter as I squeezed his hand back.

I let out a sigh before reaching for the door and saying, "Okay, let's get this over with."

We walked through the doors together and surprisingly a lot of people didn't notice… well, at first.

Right after we would walk by, we noticed a lot of people going quiet and we could already feel stares.

We both tried to keep walking on, but as we kept walking all I could feel like I wanted to do was run away and have a nervous breakdown.

But, considering the amount of sweat I can feel coming off Jimmy's hand right now and his fingers tensing up around my hand.

Well, at least both of us feel like we're having a breakdown right now.

Right as I felt like I was going to lose it, "Hey guys. You guys still up for a double date with me and Sheen this Friday at Retroland? You know, since his suspension will be over by then."

Jimmy and I both froze up.

We both looked at each other, trying to figure out what exactly to do or what was going on until… "Wait, what? How long has this been going on?"

I looked over and saw Courtney Tyler looking at us confused. Finally I got the ability to speak as I responded, "Why? Does it matter?"

Look, I may be subjecting myself to intentional public humiliation, but dammit I was not about to be cross examined right now by the the editor of the school paper and to have her make a stupid editorial piece about me and Jimmy.

Right then Libby jumped in and said, "Yeah, what? You didn't know until just now? Anyway, so, you guys in?"

All I could feel were all eyes on us in the atrium, but I just sucked it up and said, trying to sound as normal as possible, "Sounds good."

"Count us in." I heard Jimmy say after being nothing but silent this whole time.

Even though I could still tell he was just as freaked out inside as I was right now.

"Great! Hey, I'll see you guys next period." Libby said and walked by, giving me a subtle wink.

After a while I saw this group of sophomore girls huddled up and snickering and looking at me and Jimmy as we passed by.

At that moment I felt something in me snap as I directed, "What?" They all stopped and just stared, and I realized everyone else around us was also staring or snickering at us until finally I just snapped at everyone, "Why don't you all just take a picture? It'll last longer."

After that I involuntarily walked into an adjacent hallway after realizing the irony of my previous comeback, practically dragging Jimmy with me, and happened to run into Wendall of all freaking people.

He stopped dead in front of me and nervously fixed his glasses, probably still remembering when I knocked the wind out of him at the park and knocked him on his butt.

He put up his hands and said, stuttering out of nervous fear, "He-hey guys. Um… I'll… I'll just go, uh… this way!"

After that he started to run and ended up almost falling over a trash can in the hallway before continuing to sprint, getting yelled at by a teacher along the way.

Eventually Jimmy and I both exchanged a look together before continuing to walk as I heard Jimmy say, "Well… that actually could've gone worse."

"Yeah," was all I was able to say as we both kept walking together to our lockers in the junior class hallway.

I mean, Jimmy wasn't wrong and I'd have to be an idiot to think all of this was just going to disappear, but now I finally understood what Libby was getting at.

She wanted me, and even Jimmy, to just stop lying to ourselves and to just give us a push.

After all, if what happened just now proved anything to me and even though I'm still freaked out about us just going public like this, I wasn't going to let this stop me from doing what I wanted.

And I really want to be with Jimmy.

Sure, it's probably going to be like this for us at school for a while… but, I've been through weirder situations with Jimmy.

Why should this be any different, right?

Okay, I know this may not seem like much, but that's because I really wanted to make sure I started the first several chapters of the sequel off on a bang. :D But, I hope you enjoyed the SheenxLibby interaction as well as Jimmy and Sheen talking things out. Also, it seems that Cindy and Jimmy realized Libby's plan was just the push they needed to not be afraid to face their 'problems' head on and not care what anyone else thinks. Even if the acquired results may not be instantaneous. Haha. But, this was just the beginning! Now that all the pairings are established, I have now gotten to the point of getting to do what I've been wanting to do for years! In the sequel, I plan to expand on all the characters and their relationships as they encounter adventures, conflict, and villains who will put all of them to the test. Think of it as a more elaborate and aged up version of the show with my more 'slice of life' style thrown in. Although, I need your guy's help! Depending on what you guys think will help me shape the story. I wanted to ask if you guys would like the sequel to either contain some more mature content/issues to bump it up to a M-rating… or if you guys would prefer me to continue keeping it at more of a T-rating level? Either way, I want to give all of you guys the say in how you feel about this since I want to give you guys something you would enjoy reading, especially after all the hiatuses I've forced some of you to endure. I apologize. Lol. Just let me know in the reviews or a PM if that makes you more comfortable. Either way, be on the lookout for the sequel Catalyst in the very near future! :D Thanks as always for reading and hope you enjoyed the fanfic!

Thank you all so much and stay safe and classy!

Dexter1995