Trixie closed her eyes and lay back on bed. She thought back to the first time she had seen Jim all dressed up. It would have been that summer night, about a week after his adoption had become final. The Wheelers had decided to throw party celebrating his adoption, and Trixie remembered being disgusted because she would have to wear a dress, or at the very least a skirt. But then her breath caught as she remembered how Jim had looked….

"Hey, Trix. Did you just get here?" Jim asked her, pushing through the crowd to where she was standing on Wheelers' balcony.

Trixie swallowed to keep herself from gasping out loud. Wearing a black suit, his emerald eyes looked down at her. He looked so….handsome. Dashing. Incredible. "Um…yeah. Yeah, we just got here."

Jim cocked his head. "Really? I didn't see your parents or brothers. Were they right behind you?"

Trixie took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "I think so. They might have run into some guests or something. Maybe the Lynches."

Jim nodded. "Yeah, I can see that." He hesitated, and then offered her his arm. "Do you want to dance?"

Trixie nodded, unable to think of anything else to say. He took her arm and pulled her onto the dance floor.

And then a few months later, Jim gave her the ID bracelet. The two approached their parents about going steady. The Wheelers had been fine with it, but Trixie's father had put his foot down. It was no use trying to change his mind – they could see it was made up.

"I'm sorry, Jim," Trixie said, trying in vain to stop herself from crying from her spot on the Wheelers' stairs. "Please…please don't leave."

Jim crouched down in front of her and cupped her chin in his palm. "Why on earth would I do that, Trix? Even if we can't be together right now, I'll never stop being your friend."

"Do…do you think that we could maybe….maybe see each other….well, by ourselves?" Trixie asked, looking at him with tear-stained cheeks.

Jim looked into her big blue eyes and found himself nodding. "Yes, we could do that." He paused. "But what if we get caught? We would be in huge trouble of anyone found out."

She got a determined look on her face. "We'll just have to make sure that no one ever finds out, then won't we?"

Jim couldn't help smiling. "I guess so," he agreed.

Later that week, Trixie waited until she was positive that her family was asleep, and then snuck out the back door. At Manor House, Jim did the same. When they met at the clubhouse, they fell into an embrace, holding each other close like they would never let go.

One night, more than a year after they started meeting each other, they held each other tighter than normal. Jim and Brian would be heading off to college the next morning.

"Trixie…" Jim murmured into her blond curls. "I love you."

Trixie looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "I love you, too, Jim."

Jim was unable to resist those sad blue eyes. He slowly lowered his face to hers until their lips met for the first time in all of their secret dating. It was beautiful.

"Do you really have to go, Jim?" Trixie whispered the following day as Jim was preparing to leave.

Looking into her sapphire blue eyes, he had a hard time resisting. But he knew that he had to go to college, and, besides, she would be joining him at NYU the following year. "Yes…I'm sorry, Shamus. I wish I didn't have to, either." They held each other tight, neither wanting to be the first to let go.

For days after Jim left, Trixie cried herself to sleep, even though it wasn't anything like her to. It just hurt so bad.

Trixie's friends tried to console her. They didn't know about the secret dating, but they knew how special Jim was to Trixie and vice versa.

"Trixie," Mart finally exclaimed on afternoon, so frustrated that he forgot to use big words, "I think you need to just let Jim go. It's not like he's your boyfriend or anything. And we're all getting sick of your moping. I really don't get it – it's not like he's across the country or something."

Trixie pursed her lips, nearly telling him that Jim was her boyfriend. But if she told him that, then the cat would be out of the bag. She settled for, "Maybe he's not my boyfriend. But he is a good friend, and I miss him when he's not around." She debated with herself, and then said, "But I guess if I'm bothering you guys, then I can try to stop."

Mart was surprised at her response. He'd thought that she would argue with him, or get mad at him, or something else. He struggled, trying to come up with something to say. "Well, okay. You do that," he finally replied.

Through many emails and phone calls from Jim, Trixie was able to get through her senior year. She barely went out, except for the occasional sleepover at Honey's or Di's house, and she did more housework that year than all of the rest of her life combined. Her father noticed how she was acting, and began thinking that maybe he was wrong to keep the two apart.

One summer night, after she had graduated from high school, she was waiting for Jim by the clubhouse again. He was unusually late….she started thinking that maybe she had gotten the time or date wrong.

Just as Trixie was about to give up and head back to her house, Jim showed up, breathless.

"Where were you, Jim? You're almost an hour late! I almost fell asleep waiting for you, and then where would we have been? If I hadn't been in the house in the morning, we would have gotten into extreme trouble!" Trixie burst out, annoyed.

"Relax, Trix."

Trixie was about to respond hotly, when Jim took her hands in his and knelt to the ground. "Trixie, I love you. Will you marry me?"

Trixie's jaw dropped, stunned. "But – but – what about my dad?" she choked out.

"I talked to him earlier today. He gave us his and your mother's blessing, since you're now officially an adult and able to make your own choices. They approve of us being together now, Trix!"

Trixie felt tears come to her eyes. "Jim….yes. Yes, I will marry you." She threw her arms around him and pressed up against him. He stood up and wrapped his arms around, holding her close to his heart. He could feel her muffled sobs. He drew back and placed his hands on the sides of her cheeks. He leaned in until their lips met, and then the two of them were only aware of each other and the love they felt.

Author's Notes

I don't own these characters, nor am I making a profit off of this! This was inspired by Taylor Swift's "Love Story," which, like the characters, I don't own and am not making a profit off of.

This was originally a songfic; however, I deleted the lyrics to comply with the site's rules. The line breaks are where the lyrics used to be.

This was my first attempt at Trixie fanfic, so I hope it wasn't too bad and that you liked it! Thanks for reading!

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