Love me, love me not

by

Goosefire

A/N A twist to "Cindy Brady, Lady"

Chapter 1

It was after school, and Cindy Brady was standing there looking for her Secret Admirer; she didn't realise he wasn't that far away.

Bobby Brady stood there watching over her. When he heard Jan and Marcia calling her 'Child' and 'Baby' he decided to level the playing field. Cindy was his dearest and best friend, and the older girls were about to have some humility shoved down their throats.

After a while Bobby went over to join his sister. "Are you doing alright Cindy?" Cindy was clearly upset: her mystery man hadn't shown. She was on the verge of tears, but didn't know what to do. She looked up at Bobby; they were extremely close and always seemed willing to help each other but she had no idea what he thought he could do. Her eyes started to water when Bobby said, "Let's go get some ice cream; that will help."

Bobby took Cindy's books and let her lean on him so she could let loose. On the way they met some classmates; the brats teased them for being together. Then Bobby pointed out it was dangerous to tease his sister; afterwards he hurt all three of them proving bullies don't always get the last laugh.

Chapter 2

Having arrived at the ice cream parlor, Bobby told Cindy to order what she wanted; she chose the biggest dish of Chocolate ice cream they had while Bobby settled for a large Vanilla shake. Bobby enjoyed his shake but watched as Cindy just stirred her ice cream around and around in the bowl.

"Bobby, why are you doing this?" Bobby decided, after everything she deserved to know.

When I think of your face

and your awful cute dimples,

from head to toe

Cindy recognized the words and finished the poem with him:

I get goose pimples

"Bobby, how do you know those words?" Cindy had not shared them with anyone, so how could he know them? Bobby just sat there and scooped the ice cream from his shake, occasionally looking up at his sister.

"Bobby, are you?...did you?..." She couldn't seem to finish either thought.

"I called because I wanted to hear your voice. And you know what? It's as pretty as you are." That finally convinced Cindy that her 'Secret Admirer' sat right across the table from her.

"When you and Jan were discussing hair styles and she called you a 'Child' I was on the other side of the door; when Marcia called you a 'Baby' I was in the kitchen. You deserved better and I made sure you got it."

"Now what?" Cindy was worried about how the family would take it and all the teasing sure to come her way.

"Jan and Marcia are going to ask if he kissed me. What do I say?" Bobby could hear the bitterness. "That's easy and I'll tell you after we leave; for now just remember what color my eyes are."

After they both had finished their ice cream, Cindy felt somewhat better, because Bobby was loyal and always kept his word: If he said he had a plan, then he had a plan.

Outside Bobby looked for a private spot and, when he was certain no one was watching, kissed Cindy on each cheek and gave her two new hair ribbons. Oddly, she blushed at being kissed. "There! Now you can honestly say he kissed you." He then took the new ribbons and tied her hair up into new braids.

Chapter 3

That evening, at dinner, it went as expected: Marcia and Jan noticed the new ribbons and were told, politely but firmly, they were from 'him'. Mr. and Mrs. Brady looked nervous at the question of kissing but they relaxed when Cindy touched each cheek. Then the brothers asked what he looked like. That was when Bobby started talking, saying he wasn't that great looking, just some kid with sandy-colored hair but he was too far away to see his eyes. Cindy replied they were green. That was when Bobby sprang the last surprise on them:

"He gave Cindy some note. She acted so goofy, she dropped it." He opened a textbook and gave Cindy a folded sheet of paper. "Maybe you should read it." Taking the note, she read, for the first time

I'm sorry to tell you this way, but I was transferred to a new school.

To me you will always be Cindy Brady, Lady.

Epilogue

Cindy went looking for Bobby and when she found him asked, "Bobby, why did you do all of this for me?" Bobby looked at her calmly. "You deserved to have a special someone in your life; and getting presents every day gave your sisters a taste of jealousy. For once, you got the spotlight." "Is that the only reason?" Cindy couldn't explain it, even to herself, but she was certain Bobby was hiding something. "Are you my special someone?"

A/N Don't know the color of Mike Lookinland's eyes, so I made them green for contrast.