"Urgh..." Vicky, eighteen year old babysitter of Timmy Turner(as well as roughly one-third of the population of kids in Dimmsdale), growled in annoyance as she gently poked at the large blue wad in the boy's hair. "I know you don't like me, but is it really that hard to believe that I might occasionally give you good advice?" Currently, she stood in the kitchen, just behind the chair he sat in, his back to her, and head bowed so she could get a look at the large hunk of cotton candy-flavored bubblegum stuck in his brunet locks.

"I didn't fall asleep on purpose!" Timmy whined out and crossed his arms. Even when he made an honest mistake that didn't hurt his babysitter in the slightest, Vicky still acted like he was the bad guy!

"No, but you did fall asleep with bubblegum in your mouth!" The red-head could feel a vein in her forehead throbbing with each beat of her heart, now going at a quickened pace due to anger, and concern over what might happen to her very lucrative paycheck if the Turners found out Timmy had gotten gum in his hair. "Bubblegum I got you, and specifically told you-and I feel the need to reiterate this for the Twerps in the audience-not to fall asleep with In. Your. Mouth!"

"I'm sorry!" Timmy flinched and sunk down into the kitchen chair.

"Dammit, Twerp..." Vicky sighed and leaned on the chair with both hands, then finally hung her head in silent reservation to the conundrum they both found themselves in. She couldn't do a thing about what had already happened, and yelling at a twelve year old for making a childish mistake certainly wasn't going to help either of them now. "Has the gum- That is the gum I got you yesterday, right?"

"Y-Yeah..." Timmy stammered out, relaxing somewhat upon hearing the red-head's voice take on a more subdued tone.

"So that means... You've-" Vicky pinched the bridge of her nose, almost afraid to ask her next question, even though she knew the stupid answer she'd receive. "You've had that gum in your hair since you fell asleep last night, haven't you?" She stared at the back of the boy's head for several seconds, before Timmy slowly nodded, confirming her suspicion.

"I woke up with it stuck in my hair this morning, and I... I tried pulling it out, but it's in there really good, felt like I was trying to rip the top of my head off, so then I tried washing my hair with soap and shampoo, but it still wouldn't come out..." Timmy rubbed at the back of his head, just below the offending hunk of gum. "Then I just... Since I couldn't get it out, I just threw my hat over it and went to school..."

"Hm..." The red-head again poked at the bluish, sticky blob. "Points for effort, I guess. But why not ask your parents to help you? They are here in the morning, right?"

"Yeah, but..." He turned away from her, shifting in his chair uncomfortably as he did. "But if I told them, they might ground me or... Or take away my video games..."

"Or probably just not let you have gum before bed." Vicky deadpanned, then tugged on the wad of gum and hair, eliciting a yelp from the younger almost-teen. "And you wore your hat over this? You probably just ended up grinding it deeper into your scalp!" Another tug, this one causing the gum to stretch, and Timmy to let out a pained-sounding yell.

"Ah-Ow! Stop! Please, Vicky!" Despite the pain in his scalp, Timmy wisely chose to stay in his chair, knowing that if he tried to get away, he'd only cause himself more pain.

The red-haired teenager released the gum in her charge's hair, leaving two indents in the rubber-like substance where her thumb and index finger had pinched it. "...Sorry, I-..." She paused, as she felt an odd emotion course through her. She didn't like hearing Timmy cry out in pain, it gave her a strange, unknown feeling in her chest. Evidently one strong enough to make her apologize, something she rarely(if ever) did. "I didn't mean to... Be so rough..."

And the apology seemed to be enough to surprise Timmy as well, making him look over his shoulder at his babysitter again, almost as if he was checking to make sure it was still Vicky behind him. "Just... Please help me get this out my hair? Please?"

"I will, I will..." Vicky spoke in as reassuring a tone as she could muster, lightly patting Timmy's left shoulder as she did. "Lemme just think for a few minutes..."

Roughly twenty-four hours earlier...

"What kind of weird promotion is that anyway?" Vicky laid on the couch in the Turners' living room, her left arm folded under her head as a makeshift pillow, while her right, positioned so her hand was above her, held a pack of gum in it, the packaging bright and flashy, indicating it as cotton candy flavored bubblegum. "Why would a company that makes gum team up with one that sells batteries?"

Just as the red-head sighed and let her arm drop to her side to hang off the side of the couch, she heard the front door open, signaling the arrival of the boy whose existence made her babysitting profits really take off.

"Mom! Dad? I'm home- Oh." The boy's bright blue eyes, so full of life when the front door swung open, quickly darkened as the relieved smile from finally being home after a hard day at school left his lips. "Hey... Vicky." Timmy awkwardly waved, hoping his babysitter wouldn't notice the very sudden change in his demeanor.

Unfortunately for Timmy, the eighteen year old was lazy, not naïve, and rolled her eyes at his more than obvious disappointment. "Jeez, Twerp. Don't sound so excited to see me... Anyway, your mom and dad are... I dunno, doing something that involves them, and not you..." The red-head yawned and slid backward to sit up against the arm of the couch. "I'll be honest, I just skimmed over the note they left me."

"O-kay...?" Timmy scratched at the back of his head, took a moment to look around the living room, then allowed his eyes to settle back onto Vicky, who simply stared in his direction disinterestedly. "So I- Um... I'm gonna head up to my room then...?"

"Well... Kid doesn't have any chores that need doing... And I don't really need him to do anything..." Vicky scratched at her chin with her left hand, using just her index finger. "Actually... C'mere real quick."

The brunet stood his ground, offering her a quizzical look.

"Come on~. Just humor me for a sec, then you can go play your video games and text my sister or whatever." She watched as the boy's eyes darted over to the stairs, then back to her. He repeated this action a few times before taking a reluctant step forward, which was followed by several more, though he only made it to the far end of the coffee table in front of the couch before stopping, still leaving him well out of reach of the older girl. "Do you seriously think you're out of my reach, Twerp? I could leap off this couch and catch you fast enough to make your head spin."

Timmy took a single step backward in response, audibly gulping as his mind was flooded with images of his babysitter chasing him around his house with various sharp objects, various blunt objects, or just simply catching him and forcing him to act like her personal ottoman to put her feet up on. "Th-That's why I-I'm-"

"Oh alright..." Not unlike what would be happening the next day, Vicky attempted to reassure the brunet and crossed both her legs to sit Indian-style. "There, happy? I'll have a pretty hard time getting up and chasing you now, so just come here like I'm asking." She really wouldn't, it'd take her less than a second to get up and catch Timmy if she really wanted to, but it didn't necessarily hurt her to at least try to be nice now and then, right? If this interaction backfired, at least she'd know she tried.

Against his better judgment, the brunet took another step forward, then hesitantly continued, weaving his way around the coffee table and between it and the couch, finally coming to a stop with just over a foot between himself and the red-head.

"See? Believe it or not, I don't bite... Hard..." Vicky grinned evilly as Timmy shot her a quick look of alarm, his eyes going wide as he tried to back away, only for the backs of his legs to bump into the table behind him.

"I don't- If... If you're gonna threaten me, or scare me, or... Or wh-whatever, can you just get it over with...?" Timmy fidgeted as he spoke, clearly on edge due to his babysitter's oddly neutral behavior.

The eighteen year old unconsciously tightened her grip on the nearly forgotten pack of gum in her hand. "Does he think I'm that predictable? The only reason I could possibly want him to come over here is to... Be mean to him...?" Vicky briefly blinked her eyes closed, realizing that she'd hit the nail on the head. Why would Timmy have any reason to think otherwise? "Don't always assume, Twerp." She raised her right hand up in front of the brunet's face, releasing her overly-tight grip on the pack of gum as she flattened her palm and bid that he take it. "Here. Got this from the store down the street as some sort of promotional thing for buying batteries, for some reason."

Timmy, genuinely surprised by the small gift, eyed the package with interest. There was a mild, but definitely noticeable scent of cotton candy coming from the rectangular pack of gum, and he certainly liked the idea of cotton candy and bubblegum...

His gaze soon darted back up to meet Vicky's, her pink eyes watching him, waiting for him to take the bait and- "What'd you do to it?"

"Huh?" The red-head raised an eyebrow at the boy, a hint of confusion evident on her face.

Timmy narrowed his eyes at the older girl, mistaking her confusion for surprise at his finding out her little trap. "You did something to it, right? Licked every piece of gum? Or dropped the pack in the toilet, then dried it off to give to me? Or... You put something in it to give me the runs, right?"

Vicky facepalmed with her free hand, then muttered a curse into it as she let out an aggravated breath. "Is this Twerp really doing this?! I'm trying to be nice here, and he thinks I'm gonna poison him?!" "Twerp, the packaging is still new! How exactly would I lick every piece of gum?! Or put laxatives in them?! That's insanely paranoid, even for you! Is it that hard to believe that I'm just giving you some gum to be nice?"

Timmy held his ground, but broke eye contact with the red-head and looked away as he jammed his hands into his pockets. "...Kind of, yeah."

"Oh my g- Y'know what? Fine. How 'bout if I have a piece? Will that be enough to prove I didn't booby trap gum?!" Rather than wait for an answer, Vicky viciously tore the package of gum in her hand open, then took out a single, rectangular block-shaped piece, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth, chewing it in such a way that Timmy couldn't help but feel sorry for the piece. "There. As you can see, gum. Being chewed. By me."

While she could admit that she didn't hate the taste of the bubblegum, it was, without a doubt, one of the sweetest things she'd ever put in her mouth. So much so that the first few bites had almost made her wince, due to the sugar hitting her teeth, unused to such sweet treats as they were.

As for the brunet, he was struck speechless for a few seconds. Either Vicky really was giving him something and being nice, or she was so dedicated to this plan that she was willing to subjugate herself to a little humiliation just to make sure he'd take the bait. "But would she really be that evil?" Timmy wondered to himself, and came to the conclusion that; while she'd done some pretty awful things to him in the past, she probably wouldn't risk hurting herself, or more importantly, her pride. With that in mind, he finally took the gum out of her hand, nodding in gratitude as he did. "Um... Thanks, Vicky."

"Well you're welcome... Timmy." Vicky crossed her arms and stretched her legs back out along the couch to get more comfortable. "That's all I wanted. So... Go on, go play video games or... Talk to your fish, whatever it is you do up there." "Don't make this awkward, kid..."

Despite her relaxed and comfortable posture, Vicky found she was anything but. For once, she didn't have any ulterior motives for being nice to the brunet in front of her, she'dsimply decided she'd try being nice to him, without wanting anything in return... Except now she felt... Weird. There was an oddly warm, yet not quite unpleasant, tingly feeling in her chest... Or maybe her spine, she wasn't sure which.

"So wait... You don't want me to do any chores? Nothing my parents left for you to make me do? I don't have to do your laundry or... Anything?" Timmy asked in cautious disbelief, his eyes widening slightly and becoming hopeful once more.

"No..." The eighteen year old shrugged her shoulders and grumbled, suddenly feeling an uncomfortable warmth on her cheeks. "I'm feeling... Generous today. No chores, you've got the day off." Her eyes drifted over to Timmy's, noticing the brightness that she'd seen in them when he first got home starting to return, along with the corners of his lips curling up slightly. "But... Don't think that this- That this'll be a regular thing! I'm... Just in a good mood today so..." She paused to clear her throat. "Ahm... Yeah."

"Oh-Okay then. Thank you again... I guess?" The brunet fiddled with the pack of gum in both hands, occasionally looking down at it to break eye contact with the older girl, who he noticed was apparently having similar trouble herself. "We... We don't have to hug now... Right?"

Vicky rolled her eyes in annoyance, sighing as she did. "...No Twerp, we don't have to hug." She shook her head, not surprised in the least that Timmy had turned a perfectly normal(and for once, nice) interaction between them into an awkward one. "Just go up to your room and enjoy your day... And don't ever mention this conversation to anyone."

"Right. Like what happened with that avalanche at the ski resort." Timmy spoke in a serious tone, though a small smile quickly formed on his lips as he finished.

"Yeah. Like that." The older girl deadpanned, instantly recognizing that the boy was more at ease, if he was cracking jokes about dangerous topics like their 'bonding' time at the infamous(to them) Dimmsdale ski lodge.

"Y'know... If you want..." Timmy began again, his own cheeks turning a light shade of pink as he scratched at his nose with his index finger. "We could maybe... Hang out? Play some video games together? I've got-"

"Don't push it, Twerp." Vicky closed her eyes as she brought her arms up behind her head and rested it on them, turning so she faced the ceiling.

"Eheh... Right. Sorry." With that, Timmy wove his way out from between the couch and table and made for the stairs, only to stop halfway up them and look down at his babysitter as he heard her call out.

"Hey, before I forget, don't have that gum before bed and fall asleep while chewing it. Trust me, or you're gonna have a bad time." The red-head stuck her tongue out, now covered by the chewed up piece of gum, and began blowing a bright blue bubble.

"I know~" Timmy drawled out childishly. "I think I'm old enough to not get gum in my hair, Vicky."

POP!

The girl frowned as her bubble popped prematurely, leaving a small sticky mess on her lips, one she was quick to clean up with her tongue. "Just covering my bases, Twerp." She watched as the brunet rolled his eyes at her, then ascended the rest of the way up the stairs and out of sight. "Well... For my first time being... Ugh, nice... I guess that could've gone worse." Vicky again stuck her tongue out, once more covered in the blue gum, and began blowing another bubble.

Back in the kitchen, in the present time...

Pop!

"Gah!" Vicky jumped, the sudden popping sound snapping her out of her remembering just how she and Timmy found themselves in the current situation. "Seriously Twerp? Didn't learn your lesson yet?" Her hands still resting on the back of the kitchen chair the boy sat in, she watched as Timmy looked over his shoulder at her again, blue bubblegum covering his mouth, though the dimples in his cheeks indicated that he was smiling innocently.

The brunet swept the gum off his mouth with his tongue, pulling it back in to begin chewing it once more. "It's not like I'm gonna fall asleep with this gum." Timmy stuck his tongue out, attempting to blow another bubble, but thought better of it as he noticed the glare his babysitter was giving him. "So... Did you... Figure out how to get this crud out of my hair?"

"Spit it out." Vicky pushed herself up off the chair to stand up straight, then crossed her arms authoritatively.

"But I just started chewing it!" Timmy argued back petulantly, nearly letting the gum fall out of his mouth mid-chew.

"Not my problem. Spit it out in the trash. I'm not helping you until you do, got it?"

In a final act of defiance, Timmy stuck his tongue out at the girl as he stood up, revealing that it was again covered by the overly sweet-smelling gum. He then walked over to the trash and spat the gum out, frowning in annoyance after he did. "Now what? Gonna make me throw out the rest of the pack too?"

The red-head rolled her eyes as she shook her head back and forth. "No, Twerp. I'm not that evil." She strode past Timmy, walking over to and stopping at one of the drawers in the counter. After opening it and digging around for a few seconds, the older girl grinned as she found her prize, pulling her hand out and spinning around to face Timmy, revealing a fairly large pair of scissors. "This-" Vicky loudly snipped the air between herself and Timmy with the scissors. "-Is my plan! A quick little snip-snip, and I'll have that gum outta your hair no problem!"

"Um-"

"I mean sure, you'll have a big spot on the back of your head with like, no hair at all..." Vicky waved the scissors back and forth in her hand as she spoke, clearly being much more comfortable around them than Timmy was. "And it'll probably take around a month for your hair to grow back and look even remotely normal, but hey! 'Least that nasty wad of blue crap'll be out of your hair, right?"

"Er..." Timmy took a step back, finding the idea of his babysitter being near him with any sort of sharp object very worrying. "I- Uh... Don't suppose there's a way to get the gum out of my hair that won't make me look like an idiot to everyone at school, is there?"

Snip

Vicky audibly pinched the pair of scissors closed again. "Should've known he wouldn't go for it..." "Hm..." She spun around again, returning the shears to the drawer from whence they came. "I do know of..."

Timmy listened as the older girl trailed off, crossing her arms again as she closed her eyes; her expression contemplative. A few seconds passed, and then she was moving again, this time over to one of the cabinets by the fridge. "Vicky? What are you-"

"I swear, if your parents only have chunky- Aha! Found it!" Vicky remarked triumphantly as she pulled a jar of peanut butter out of the cabinet, the label indicating it as 'creamy'. "This! Is what I was looking for!" She shoved the jar into Timmy's face, a wide grin on her lips.

"Um... Vicky? I don't see how making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is going to help get this gum out of my hair..." The brunet pushed the jar away, raising a quizzical eyebrow at the girl's happiness over something as mundane as a sandwich.

"No, Twerp! Don't you know you can get gum out of your hair with peanut butter? The oils and stuff help separate your hair from the gum..." Vicky pulled the jar back, scanning the label with her pink eyes, then shrugged. "Or something. My point is, with this, we can get that stupid gum out of your hair, which means I won't lose any money from your parents because you got gum in your hair, and you won't get in trouble for going to bed with gum!"

"Ohh! Really? Does that really work?" Forgetting just who he was talking to in favor of relief in finding a way to get the gum out of his hair, Timmy's eyes lit up with wonderment over this strangely simple trick.

"Well... I mean, I've only seen it the one time, when my mom had to get gum out of Tootie's hair when she was three because... I dunno, some little punk shoved a wad of gum into her hair... But that's what my mom did, and it worked, so..." She unscrewed the lid off the jar, checking to see how much was in it. "Jar's a little more than half-full, so I think there'll be enough... Unless you'd prefer to let me get some hairdressing practice in...?"

Timmy responded to the older girl's sly smile and wink by furiously shaking his head back and forth. "Nope! Peanut butter's fine, thanks!"

"I figured as much. Okay..." Setting the jar of peanut butter onto the table, Vicky motioned for Timmy to sit back down in the chair he'd been occupying. "Now, just sit there and... Try not to move, no matter how gross it feels. The less evidence we leave, the better." With her eyes firmly on the offending blue blob in the boy's hair, Vicky reached past Timmy for the jar, only to knock it over as her fingers blindly crashed into it. "Son of a-"

"Ack!" The brunet quickly leaned toward the rolling jar, catching it right as it fell off the table. "Phew... Mom would have a fit if this got spilled on her new tablecloth..."

"New...?" Vicky cautiously looked around the kitchen, starting at the aforementioned tablecloth, then at the jar as Timmy placed it back on the table, and finally at the kitchen's tile floor, which looked to have been scrubbed clean pretty recently. "Fuc- Shit."

"I'm... Pretty sure you're not supposed to use a bad word as a substitute for another bad word, Vicky..." Timmy looked at the girl with a flat expression, almost looking disappointed in his babysitter for her foul language.

"Wha? N-Nevermind that, Twerp. I just realized something..." The eighteen year old looked over at the clock on the wall, seeing that it was around three-thirty in the afternoon. "Well... Two somethings. For one, if we spill any peanut butter on the tablecloth or ourselves, it's gonna be a bitch-"

Timmy cleared his throat loudly, earning him a glare from Vicky.

"-A pain to clean it off. And secondly, I have no idea when your parents are gonna get home. Might be sometime tomorrow, might be in the next few minutes..." The red-head crossed her arms, raising her left arm up to cup her chin in her hand thoughtfully. "If anything... We should probably do this in the bathroom upstairs. Then we'd at least have a minute or two of warning when your parents get home, and if we do spill any peanut butter, it shouldn't be too hard to clean up."

The brunet looked down at his shirt, pinching a small section of it between his thumb and finger. "Are peanut butter stains that hard to get out of clothing?"

"They can be if they settle into the fabric... Probably. I've never had to wash peanut butter out of my clothes, and don't intend to have to today, either." Vicky again grabbed the jar and looked at it. "And I'll probably have to wash this out of his hair when the gum's out... Why is being a good babysitter so much damn work?!" "Uhm... Alright, you stay here a sec. I'm gonna go get things ready."

"Things like... What? A bath?" Timmy tilted his head slightly.

"Yeah, a bath." The red-head parroted back as she walked past Timmy and out of the kitchen, the door separating it from the living room swinging in her wake as she went through it. "Gonna have to wash your hair, unless you wanna smell like a peanut for the rest of the day."

The twelve year old listened as his babysitter made her way through the living room, then up the stairs to the second floor. "I don't get it."

There was a poofing sound as Timmy's fairy godmother, Wanda, suddenly appeared in the air in front of him. "Don't get what, Sport?"

"Vicky. Yesterday she gave me this gum without asking for anything in return and she gave me the day off from chores, and today, she's being... I dunno, strange. I doubt my parents would actually blame her for me getting gum in my hair, and she could just tell them I got it myself, but never told her about it, so..."

"So?" Wanda questioned, finally noticing the bright blue hunk of gum in her godchild's hair.

"So why is she being nicer to me lately? Why give me the gum? Why not make me do chores like usual? Why offer to help me get this gum out of my hair?" The boy moved to scratch at the offending wad of gum, then wisely chose to scratch just below it, knowing he'd only cause more discomfort if he touched the sticky mess in his hair again.

"I think I've got a better 'why' for you." The pink-haired fairy shot Timmy a flat look, disappointed that he'd hid his predicament from both her and Cosmo. "Why not just wish the gum out of your hair?"

"I- Er..." Timmy's cheeks turned a shade of pink similar to that of his hat. "Because I... Didn't think of it at the time..." He admitted sheepishly, eyes cast downward toward the floor.

"Well you certainly can't wish it out now. Vicky would be pre-tty suspicious if the gum was just magically poofed out of your hair." The two looked up at the ceiling as they heard the sound of the bathtub faucet turning on. "If anything, just try to keep this good mood of hers going." Wanda shrugged. After watching over Timmy whenever the older girl was around for about four years now, she'd come to the conclusion that, while Vicky did indeed have a mean streak, she wasn't the type to hurt people, especially Timmy. In fact, Wanda felt more comfortable with Timmy being around Vicky than she did him being around his own parents, though few could blame her. "No kids have ever lost their godparents just because one facet of their life has improved, so enjoy this new side of her while it lasts."

"Hm... I'm trying to, it's just... It's weird for her to be nice to me." The brunet, much like his babysitter was so fond of doing; crossed his arms and adopted a thoughtful expression as he closed his eyes, brow knitted in concentration. "When she's not being so mean to me, she's... Easier to be around, but I get this... Weird feeling in my stomach... I can't really explain it."

"Sounds like anxiety, Timmy. You're probably just subconsciously afraid she has ulterior motives for being nice, rather than genuine ones... I did see how paranoid you were being yesterday afternoon, when she gave you that gum..." Wanda echoed Vicky's earlier sentiment, displaying a knowing smirk as the boy became visibly flustered.

"H-Hey! There is such a thing as proper paranoia! It's not like Vicky's known for giving away free gum!"

"No, but it is kind of funny, when you think about it. 'Icky Vicky' went out of her way to be nice to you, and thanks to that, she passed some of her so-called 'icky-ness' on to you." The pink-haired fairy gestured toward the wad of gum in Timmy's hair with her wand. "So maybe you were properly paranoid after all." With one final shrug, Wanda poofed herself away, leaving Timmy alone in the kitchen again.

"And that's why I'm glad she can't know about you and Cosmo without me losing you. I bet you'd both team up just to mess with me!" Timmy shouted at no one in particular, since Wanda was evidently long gone.

"H-Hey Twerp! S-Stop yelling at your goldfish and get in here so I can get that damn gum outta your hair!"

Timmy flinched on hearing Vicky's voice call down from the bathroom. If her tone was anything to go by, her relatively amicable mood had already soured. She definitely sounded annoyed, at the very least, but there was something else that the boy noticed when she yelled. She sounded distressed, like she'd managed to stub her toe or something. "That, or she's embarrassed from finally realizing that she was nice to me, the 'Twerp'..." With a loud sigh that turned into an almost pained groan, Timmy left the kitchen and moved through the living room, then slowly made his way up the stairs to the second floor...

Meanwhile...

She could feel the vein in her forehead throbbing once more, as a wave of uncomfortable heat washed over her body. After turning on the water, Vicky soon came to the conclusion that, if she was going to help Timmy wash his hair, she was probably going to have to get him to just hop into the tub, though this wasn't what was bothering her. Not entirely, anyway.

"Dammit." The red-head muttered to herself as she grabbed a bright pink bottle of soap, then poured a more than generous amount of it into the tub, which quickly mixed with the water, forming a large mass of bubbles in the rapidly filling bathtub.

What was bothering the eighteen year old was the realization that, if she wanted to keep her clothes clean of peanut butter, dry of water, and free of any evidence of this bizarre, sticky situation... Then the easiest thing to do would be to take a bath herself.

Vicky reached for the faucet and shut it off, quickly submerging her hand into the water to make sure it was warm enough. "Gr... I need to calm down, it's just a bath." She pulled her hand out of the tub and shook the water off. It wasn't as hot as she preferred it, but she assumed that Timmy likely wasn't as fond of hot baths and showers as she was. "Phew..." The red-head took a few deep breaths, finding that, while the throbbing vein in her forehead had calmed down, it had moved somewhere further south, namely her heart, which was now beating like a drum. "It's just. A bath. It doesn't have to be weird, right?" "No weirder than I make it..."

Realizing that she was stalling, and thereby risking Timmy's parents coming home early to find gum in their son's hair, Vicky kicked off her shoes and slipped off her socks, taking a moment to wiggle her toes into the soft, shag bathmat. Several more seconds passed, and the red-head's socks and shoes were soon joined by her black jeans and green shirt, leaving her in just her underwear: a plain, black bra and matching panties.

With most of her clothing set aside, Vicky made her way over to the bathroom sink, catching sight of her reflection in the mirror. "Eheh, for someone who barely works out, you look pretty good!" An amused grin worked its way across her face as she winked at her reflection, then rolled her eyes and facepalmed at her own childishness. "What the Hell am I doing? Checking myself out?" She spun around to face the tub again, the small of her back pressing against the cold porcelain of the sink. "Maybe... He's still too young for something like-" Vicky looked down at herself, the way the lighting in the bathroom seemed to highlight her pale, currently untanned skin, and the way the shadows were cast to somehow make her curves just that much more noticeable... "Except he's still a guy, maybe a young guy, but a guy nonetheless. How could he not notice...?"

Pushing herself off the sink, the eighteen year old slowly paced back and forth between the sink and tub. A few times, she considered simply hopping into the water in her underwear, but then, of course, she'd still have to throw them into the dryer, which would require her to go 'commando' for at least a half hour. "Ah, screw it." Vicky reached back and unclasped her bra, then took it off completely and tossed it among the rest of her clothes. "There're plenty of bubbles. Long as I stay in up to my shoulders, it should be fine." She looked down at her modest, A-range chest, one of the few things she hadn't inherited from her mother, along with her red hair; with a lopsided grin. "For once, I'm glad you're too small to use as floatation devices."

Finally, she slipped the thumb and index finger of each hand into the waistband of her underwear and slipped them off, tossing the last piece of clothing onto the small pile now formed in the corner of the bathroom. With her task of undressing done, Vicky walked the short distance over to the tub and swung her right leg over the side and into it, followed by her left, and then the rest of her body up to her shoulders as she sank into the water, sighing in contented relief as the warm water instantly began to soothe her stress away. "Hah... I needed this! Lying on that couch all the time is gonna make me stiff as a board..."

The red-head began to close her eyes, intending to take a few minutes for herself to just relax, but they soon shot back open as she heard yelling from somewhere in the house. "Frickin' kid is the only person I know who can carry on an entire conversation with goldfish..." Vicky muttered to herself in annoyance, remembering just why she was in the bathtub in the first place. "Okay, just play it cool, you're just naked. In a bathtub. Which you're sharing with the Twerp. Who is also naked." She felt a familiar warmness in her cheeks, realizing it to be slightly warmer than the bathwater she was currently soaking in. "H-Hey Twerp! S-Stop yelling at your goldfish and get in here so I can get that damn gum outta your hair!" She yelled, quickly wishing she could try again as her voice reverberated off the bathroom walls, making her sound even more nervous than she already did(and was!).

"Smooth, Vicky. If he doesn't make fun of you for letting him see you naked, he definitely will if he figures out that you're nervous!" Vicky did her best to ignore her own chastising thoughts as she sat up and awkwardly bent her legs to sit Indian-style again, then slouched forward in the water and settled her hands onto her ankles, the posture allowing her arms to mostly cover up her breasts, though what her arms didn't cover, the bubbles from all the soap she poured into the water, would.

Her eyes darted over to the door as she heard a low knock at it, making it push open ever so slightly, since she hadn't bothered to close it all the way. "Yeah?"

"Um..." Timmy pushed the door open and stepped into the bathroom, briefly looking around as the warm, humid air hit his skin. "It kinda sounded like you hurt yourself or something... Everything o-" As he spoke, the brunet's eyes drifted across the room, first at the sink and fogged up mirror, then to the odd pile of dark clothing in the corner, and finally, to the red-head herself, sitting in the very bubbly bathtub, her cheeks tinged a bright pink. "...Kay?" Timmy squeaked out, instantly realizing his mistake and slapping his hand over his eyes. "I- Er... S-Sorry. I didn't- Um... I- I should probably go!"

"No!" Vicky shouted, only allowing Timmy to take a single step backward before freezing up at the sound of her voice. "I said I'd- Just... Get in here... And shut the door!"

Keeping his right hand over his eyes, Timmy stepped into the bathroom and did as she told him, though once finished, he remained by the door, his back pressing against it. "Um... Vicky?"

The red-head let out an aggravated huff, knowing exactly what the boy was about to ask her. "Yeah, Twerp?"

"Why are you..." Timmy peeked out from between his fingers with one eye. "Naked?"

"Because I'm taking a bath. Do you wear clothes when you take a bath? Because that's weird." Despite the awkwardness of the situation, and her own embarrassment, Vicky spoke with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Wha- N-No, I meant- Why tell me to come in while you're taking a bath? I thought we were getting the gum... Out..." Timmy quickly put two and two together, making his face turn beet-red. "Y-You want m-me to take a... A bath?! With you?!"

"Y'know, most guys wouldn't be so put-off by the idea of a nice, warm bath with a pretty girl..." Vicky deadpanned.

"W-Well I don't know! Most of my baths, and all of my showers, have been by myself! The only time I wasn't was when I was really young, then mom used to help me get clean and wash my hair! Wh-Why are you in there anyway?!"

"Because I told you I'd help you get that wad of gum outta your hair, remember?" The red-head narrowed her eyes at the brunet, she was very quickly growing impatient with his attempts to stall. "The easiest way to do that, without me getting soaked with water, or getting peanut butter on my clothes, is... This!" She nodded down at herself and the tub.

"O-Okay, but..." Timmy stumbled over his words, then sighed and hung his head slightly, letting his arm drop back to his side. "It's... Embarrassing... You, seeing me... Y'know..."

"What? Naked?" The eighteen year old asked in disbelief. "You do realize I'm literally in the same situation, right? Hello! Pile of clothes right over there! Hell, my underwear's right there on... Top..." She facepalmed, realizing she was practically advertising how naked she was. "The- Uh... The point is... I can easily wash the peanut butter out of your hair, and not leave any evidence behind this way, so..." Her eyes drifted back over to Timmy, who had yet to move from his spot by the door. "Um... Would it help if... I didn't look? I'll cover my eyes, you strip down and get in the tub?"

"I... I guess that'd work..." Timmy conceded with a nod.

"Okay then." The red-head withdrew her hand from the water and covered her eyes, fighting off the oddly strong urge to peek like Timmy had a minute earlier. "C'mon Timmy, make this quick. I'd rather not have to explain why there's gum in your hair and why we're taking a bath together..." After a few quiet, tense seconds, she heard the telltale shuffling of clothing, followed by it hitting the floor with a low thump, then felt the water in the tub shift toward her and rise.

"Ah... Alright, I'm in."

"Good. That wasn't so-" Vicky moved her hand away from her eyes, only to be met with Timmy's nervous blue orbs staring back at her, the tween sitting in a position that nearly mirrored her own, though the difference in their heights meant that the bubbles reached up to his chin, the rest of his body out of sight. "Yeah-heh, nice try." She chuckled at the boy, then moved her finger in a spinning motion. "Turn around, Timmy."

This in turn earned her little more than a quizzical look at first, along with a slight head tilt, but Timmy did as he was told, turning about in the bathtub so his back faced his babysitter. "Er... Now what?"

"Now? ...Don't turn around." Vicky watched Timmy for a moment, then leaned over the side of the tub to grab the nearby jar of peanut butter, exposing a fair bit of her upper torso.

And, being an inquisitive twelve year old boy, Timmy's interest in girls was not dissuaded just because this girl was Vicky, so as he heard her begin to move behind him, Timmy turned back toward his babysitter. Enough that he could get a good view of her from the waist up. Or he would have, were she not covered up to her shoulders by a shroud of whitish-pink foam.

Noticing the brunet's movement out of the corner of her eye, Vicky turned just her head back toward Timmy as the fingers of her right hand curled around the jar of peanut butter. For a few seconds, she did nothing but stay completely still, her eyes focused on the minute wanderings of his. "What." She snapped at him, realizing her assumption about the boy was wrong. Though Timmy was young, he wasn't that young, evidently.

Her tone, along with the knowledge that he'd been caught, made the Timmy flinch, his eyes going wide with a hint of fear as he spun back around to face away from the red-head again. "N-Nothing!"

"Yeah. I thought so." Shaking off the sudden urge she had to hold the boy's head under the water, Vicky took out a large scoop of peanut butter from the jar, then set the container aside before scooting forward so she was right behind him. "Remember what I said: No moving."

"Eh... R-Right, no m-moving-"

Smack!

Vicky cut him off as she slapped the handful of peanut butter into the back of his head, making an uncomfortable chill run up his spine as his face scrunched up in disgust. "Eww..."

"Oh, suck it up. You agreed to do it this way, remember? Too late to back out now..." The girl began kneading the tan mush into Timmy's hair, focusing her efforts on the offending blue wad in the middle of the back of his head. "Jeez this crap's in here really good... Did you have to wear your hat today?"

"If I didn't, everyone at school would've seen the gum instead." The brunet shrugged and leaned back a little, giving his babysitter somewhat easier access to his hair. Strange as the circumstances he found himself in were, he was beginning to relax a little, the warm water and pleasant smell of the soap working some of his nervousness and tension away. "Can I... Ask you something?"

Vicky's fingers stopped moving upon hearing Timmy's request. She eyed the back of his head cautiously for a few seconds, which soon turned into nearly a minute, before she started again, her fingers lightly massaging his scalp. "...I suppose."

"Okay... Um... Why are- Why have you been nicer to me the past couple days?" Timmy again felt his babysitter's fingers stop rubbing at his scalp, only to feel them start to gently pull on the gumwad in his hair.

"Let me know if I'm being too rough, alright?"

"Hm? O-Oh! You're um... You're not. It... Actually feels kind of... Nice..." The brunet cringed and pinched the bridge of his nose shortly after he finished speaking, realizing how dumb he probably sounded. "I uh- Is it too late to pretend I didn't say that?"

In response, Vicky let out a single, light chuckle. "Just a little." With one last tug, she pulled the gum(now a congealed mass of peanut butter and something that used to be gum) out of Timmy's hair, then tossed it into the toilet. "There! Pretty sure I got it all out." She leaned back to appreciate her work, a self-satisfied smirk on her lips.

"Really? You're sure you got it all?" Timmy asked hopefully as he reached back and patted the spot the gum had been occupying for nearly an entire day. "Eugh... It still feels... Nasty."

The red-head rolled her eyes, though her smirk remained. "Well duh. You still gotta wash the peanut butter out of your hair." Reaching for the back of Timmy's head again, she slid her hand through his hair, wiping a fair bit of the warm, nutty substance away. "Unless..." Vicky began, feeling that persistent warmth in her cheeks yet again. "I could do it for you... If ah... You'd prefer?"

"S-Sure, if you don't mind...?" Timmy chanced another look over his shoulder at the girl, finding that, while she wasn't giving him the annoyed look from earlier, she did have her arms crossed over her chest. Though whether it was because she favored that posture, or was trying to cover herself, he wasn't sure.

"No... I don't mind. I offered, didn't I?" Vicky shrugged, making sure to keep her arms across her chest. "Isn't it just my luck that he's the only one who has to take an interest in me...? Even if he's probably just trying to get some eye candy." Keeping her left arm across her chest, she reached over to the right side of the tub, grabbing the bottle of greenish shampoo. "Suppose you still want an answer, right?"

"...Huh?" Timmy looked up at Vicky, her voice breaking him out of the slight trance he appeared to be in. He was having trouble focusing, for some reason. A warm bath sometimes had that kind for effect on him, he knew that, but this seemed... Different. The naturally more curious side of him was beginning to win out over the side that preferred avoiding situations that could end badly for him.

Vicky shook her head back and forth with a sigh, an amused grin on her face. "Ah... Boys will be boys... Turn around so I can wash that gunk out of your hair." "And so you'll stop staring at me!" While she was certainly flattered to some degree that her Twerp had gone from thinking she was an evil witch to very clearly checking her out, there was still the matter of the leftover peanut butter in the boy's hair, so for now, she'd focus on that.

The brunet again followed his babysitter's order, no small amount of disappointment etched on his face as he turned away from her to face the far wall of the bathroom. "So... Why are-Ack!" He jumped as he felt a cool, viscous substance plop down into his hair, followed by a low giggle from the red-head. "W-Would you s-stop interrupting me like that?!"

"Nope. Too much fun." Vicky's mimicked her earlier actions, massaging the shampoo into Timmy's hair gently, this time making sure to get all of his brown locks. "And anyway, who asks someone why they're being nice? Y'ever heard that expression about not looking a gift horse in the mouth? It means you don't question a good thing... Basically."

"But... You aren't... Really all that nice to me..." Timmy felt the older girl's fingers stop moving again, pausing midway between scrubs as her nails rested against his scalp. "Usually! You usually aren't!"

"Ugh." Vicky resumed lathering his hair, making sure to wipe away any remaining peanut butter. "Calm down. Long as you let me know if I'm being too rough, I won't do anything to hurt you, trust me."

"I... I know..."

Raising an eyebrow at Timmy's almost apologetic-sounding response, Vicky reached for the shower head, happy that it had a hose neck. "What d'you mean by that? You know?"

"Well I mean... I know it's your job to take care-"

Fssh!

Timmy was interrupted by the sound of the shower turning on, dousing his soapy hair with warm water. "Really?" He hung his head and closed his eyes, letting the soapy water stream out of his hair.

"Sorry not sorry." Vicky remarked with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders, then used her free hand to sift through the brunet's hair, looking for any gum or peanut butter she might've missed, while her other held the shower head.

"What I was saying was... I know it's your job to take care of me, but there have been plenty of times when you could've- Er... Been a lot meaner to me, and blamed it on me not being careful around the house..."

"You mean if I hit you." Vicky replied curtly as she shut off the water, seeing that Timmy's hair was free of soap.

"R-Right, I guess... When I was younger, back when you first started babysitting me, I thought you might, but... You didn't, and I'm pretty sure you never would, so... Yeah..."

"Well... I did say I'm not that evil." Vicky hung the shower head back up, her gaze drifting to the back of Timmy's head again. "Hitting kids is something that a special kind of asshole does." "Dumb one too, since there are easier ways to get them to listen to you..."

"Then... I'm glad you're not a... Like that."

"Heh. Careful, that sounds dangerously close to a compliment... And to answer your question... I'm being nice because I can, Timmy." Seeing that he was beginning to turn around again, Vicky scooted forward, her feet just barely brushing against the boy's lower back. "Yeah I've been mean to you a lot, and we've been enemies off and on-Well, more on than off-for the past four years or so, but I've been thinking recently..." An idea flashed through the red-head's mind. "Crap. Should I? What if it just makes things... Weirder?"

Hesitantly, Vicky moved closer, noticing Timmy tense up slightly as she did. "Thinking...?" He squeaked out, wondering just what his babysitter could be planning as he felt slender arms loop around his midsection. A moment later, he was suddenly pulled flush against the girl, her chest pressing against his back.

A wide grin grew across her face as she felt the brunet's muscles tense up, followed by his back going rigid against her chest as he sat up straight. Letting her head come to rest on Timmy's shoulder, Vicky let out a warm, sultry breath that tickled his ear. "We don't have to be enemies, right?"

"...N-No?" Timmy's response came out as little more than a squeak, his face feeling like it was on fire due to the red-head's sudden closeness.

"Good~" Vicky drawled out huskily, making sure to blow another warm breath at Timmy's ear. "Here's to friendship then."

"Here's wha-" The buck-toothed boy again cut himself off, this time because he was struck speechless by his babysitter's soft, pink lips pecking him on the cheek.

Vicky hummed in amusement as she pulled away. "Alright... You're free to go... If you really want to...!"

Without even bothering to ask the older girl to cover her eyes, Timmy scrambled out of the tub, grabbing a towel to haphazardly cover himself as he raced over to his clothes(nearly wiping out in the process), then darted over to the bathroom door, whipped it open, and ran out, closing the door behind him with an unintentional slam.

By some miracle, Vicky managed to watch the whole scene with a completely straight face, but once she heard her Twerp's bedroom door shut- "Pfft-Haha!" The eighteen year old threw her head back, causing her legs to slip out form under her as she fell back into the soapy bathwater with a loud splash. "Heehee! Poor kid blushed with his whole body!" For the moment, the girl didn't even care that her hair was now soaked, being tat she was too busy trying to catch her breath. "Aha... I should've tried being nice from the start, would've been so much more fun!" Sliding up into a sitting position once more, Vicky settled herself against the back of the tub, releasing a contented sigh as she stretched out and got comfortable. "Maybe... I should give him gum more often..."