A/N: Hey guys soooo sorry that I haven't updated or posted anything in like months… High school and being in the IB program has a way of sucking the life out of a person. But I am still here… :D For all the people that are waiting for an update to Genuinely Happy do not fear, I have not forgotten it, it's just taking me a while to get my brain cells going on where I want the story to go.
This is a new story that popped into my head a while back. I kinda played around with the idea of Cindy's parents fighting after I read a couple of fics about it so... I've edited this so many times and out of all of them this is the best one. It's kinda on the longish side and it's kinda a way for me to make up for not writing in so long. So I hope you guys enjoy…
Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron… I wish I did but I don't. Trust me if I did, the show would've had more Jimmy and Cindy moments than it originally did.
He was lying in bed when he heard the knock coming from the botton floor. It was times like these that he hated being a light sleeper. He grunted in anger, already knowing that whoever was knocking wasn't in any immediate danger seeing as their knocks weren't rapid and came in a soft and steady time.
He groaned as he lifted himself off his bed and groggily walked out of his room and down the stairs; not even bothering to put clothes on over his pajamas of just plain boxers. He walked over to the door with a scowl on his tired face; angered at being woken at 1 in the morning.
He opened to door, ready to confront the person standing on his porch until his eyes met an emerald green gaze. Cindy stood on his front porch wearing a tank top that ended slightly above her waist and pajama pants that rested on her hips; her layered blond hair framing her face.
Her eyes were tinged with red; quiet sniffling coming from the girl. But despite her obvious sadness and troubles, when she saw him clad in nothing but boxers, she couldn't help but revert her gaze to the ground; face turning red.
Jimmy's anger and annoyance quickly faded away when he saw tear marks staining Cindy's face. He stepped on to the porch, the cool fall air hitting his bare upper body. He lifted her face with his finger, forcing her to look up into his questioning yet gentle sapphire eyes. He gave her a look of worry, remaining silent, unsure of what to say. After a moment's pause, she whispered to him, "Can I come in?"
Wordlessly he held her hand and gently pulled her inside. Jimmy closed the door behind him and continued to lead her to the living room couch, but neither of them sat. The first few moments were filled with a slightly tense silence until Cindy spoke, her voice barely rising above a whisper, "Jimmy, I know that this may seem pretty crazy for you and I didn't need to barge in like this. I was kind of hoping that you wouldn't hear me so that I could've just left. I'm sor-"
She was cut by his soft yet firm tone, "Don't you dare apologize for this Cindy. There's nothing to be sorry for. You needed a friend and I'm here for you." He gave her a small smile. "I mean, I'm no Libby but I'd like to think of myself as one of the few people that you could talk to."
Cindy couldn't help but smile in the innocence of his tone. She replied, "Of course you're one of those people Neutron. You're one of my best friends. I don't know what I'd do if you didn't live right across the street from me." She paused and said in an even softer tone, "And… um, you're definitely not Libby but I have to say, there are times when you're better."
Jimmy's smile widened but before long, his smile went away and he had to ask, "Cindy, what happened? It's not that I don't want you here or anything like that, but there's a reason as to why you are here at one o'clock in the morning."
Cindy looked away for a moment, and when she looked back to the boy, a film of tears appeared in her eyes. Jimmy moved closer to her, wrapping his muscular arms around the girl's smaller frame, her face in his chest. She tried hard, but her attempt at keeping the tears at bay was futile and it wasn't long before the tears spilled. The boy tried to whisper words of comfort but they did nothing to better the situation.
After a long moment, Cindy managed to get herself together. She pulled herself away from his grasp and sat on the couch, her legs pulled to her chest, arms wrapped around them. Finally she whispered, "I'm just fed up with it all Neutron. I'm so sick and tired of everything that's going on at home…"
She wiped the tears away from her eyes. She stole a glance at the still standing boy with a confused look on his troubled face.
"It all started with some stupid argument, something like how my dad wasn't dealing with his responsibilities in the house because he forgot to take out the garbage one day. After that, it wasn't long before things started to escalate. They started adding more serious issues into the arguments.
"For almost two weeks they've been at each other's throats, screaming at one another. And each time, they find new topics to argue about, worse insults to throw at each other. It's like they forget that there's one other person living in the house besides them because the two of them have their arguments at the bottom of the stairwell, in the middle of the night, yelling as if they want the whole neighborhood to hear their damn arguments! I haven't slept right for almost two weeks Neutron."
Cindy covered her face between her knees for a few moments, when she finally looked up, her face seemed defeated, tired. Her voice stayed quiet, if anything it had gotten softer, "Their fight tonight was one of the worse ones. If I rated it on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being minor and 10 being just flat out horrible, I'd rate it a 20." She turned away from him as tears continued to fall.
"I was standing in the upstairs hallway…the two of them woke me up with their yelling. From where I was standing I could see everything. As usual, my parents were at each other's faces, screaming as loud as they possibly could, trying to get their voice level to outmatch the other. It went on for what seemed like forever, but then before I knew it, my mom just stopped yelling.
"She stopped. She stopped yelling and walked away from my dad. At first, I thought that maybe she was going to make things right, work things out but…I was wrong. She, uh, she walked up the stairs grabbed a suitcase, went to her room and packed. When she came out, she gave me this tired, sorry look and walked out the door." Her voice broke, "Sh-She l-left. And I don't know if she's coming back."
Cindy took a deep breath, "After my mom left, it's like everything from the last two weeks just came crashing on me. I was so tired of it all. I was so fed up and I wasn't even the one in the fights.
"I just wanted to go take of my car, to drive off to who-knows-where, to cool off." She scoffed, anger underlying the sadness. "But… my mom was in such a rush to leave that she grabbed my car keys from the rack and took off with my car.
"My dad was still in the living room when I walked down. He looked as surprised as I was but I was just so angry at everything that happened that I took it out on him. I blamed him for making mom leave, for starting all this; essentially blaming him for everything that happened when it wasn't his entire fault.
"That's when I broke down. My dad tried to make things right but I wouldn't let him. I ran out the house and you were the first person I thought of to go to.
"And what bothers me more than me yelling at my father is that, I don't think that my mom's coming back. From what it looked like, the only way my mom is coming back is to bring divorce papers to my dad."
After recounting the events from home, Cindy's eyes filled with more tears. Jimmy sat next to her and turned her face to meet his. He said to her, his voice almost as soft as hers, "Listen Cindy, I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that I know exactly how you feel. I can't be the one to pretend to know just what you're going through. And I'm not the kind of person who'll give that false promise that things will be fine with your parents, that it'll all go back to normal soon." She freed her face from his hand and looked the other way, the water from her eyes still falling. He let out a small sigh and gently turned her face towards him again, his eyes begging her to listen.
He continued, "Please Cindy, listen to me… Whether we like it or not, things happen, and things change. All that I can tell you is you're lucky. You will always have a constant thing in your life.
"This thing with your parents, it happened and whatever change it brings, it'll bring. You adapt to the change because you're Cindy Vortex and you're the strong one. You take challenges head on and you go over those challenges. But I can promise you this, no matter how much you think things are going to change with this thing with your parents, you will always have one constant."
Cindy wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. Anger burned in her as she thought about what might happen in the near future. Then she said, "Oh really Neutron? And what's that one thing that'll stay the same? Hmmm? That I'll stay miserable and angry the rest of my life?"
Jimmy sighed and stood up. He placed himself in front of her and knelt down; his head only slightly lower than hers, the fabric of her pajama pants brushing against his chest. He took her hands which were resting on top of her knees and rubbed her calloused knuckles with his thumbs. He bit his lower lip before he whispered, "No… No. The one thing that I can promise you is that, no matter what you think, you'll be loved.
"Your parents, as much as they disagree with each other, their love for you is the one thing that I know they will agree on. And being a genius and all, I'd like to think that I know what I'm talking about."
He gave her a small smile that she couldn't help but return. He continued, "Your parents, they're not going to let their anger for one another get in the way of their love for you.
"Plus, you definitely know that Carl, Sheen, Danielle, and Libby are going to be there for you," he added on a lighter note. "You're their best friend; they'll have your back through whatever life decides to throw at you."
Cindy gave him a small smile, then she asked, her tone considerably lighter than before, "What about you Neutron? You didn't put your name on that list."
It was now Jimmy's turn to look away. After a few moments he took a deep breath and looked straight into the girl's emerald green eyes. He whispered, "What about me? Well… if you so choose, if you want me… I'll be there too." He looked at her with earnest eyes.
She couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth, her eyes wide. Jimmy didn't say much with his last sentence, but she could understand the underlying meaning that he was trying to get across.
She shifted her body to the edge of the couch, her legs uncurled from her body, her knees now touching the boy's lower body. The silence between the two of them seemed deafening but Cindy couldn't hear past the pounding of her heart. After a split second's hesitation, she collided her lips with his, her arms subconsciously winding themselves around his neck, one hand in his hair.
It wasn't long before he responded, his hands moved to her waist, pulling her closer to him. His lips moved against hers in the same urgency that she had for him. After what seemed like a blissful, trouble less forever, the need for air getting in the way, the two of them broke apart.
Their foreheads were leaned together; their breathings came in deep ragged breaths. It was then that Cindy realized, when their lips finally separated, that her troubles weren't as horrible as she initially thought they would be. He made things considerably better.
Their eyes locked and it was then that Jimmy whispered, almost shyly, "I'm one of those constants too. Because whatever happens, whatever involves you, I'll be there with you. Whether you like it or not, I will." He smiled slightly.
Cindy pressed her lips back to his once more before she stood up. She waited until he was standing in front of her before she melted herself into his body, her head resting perfectly over his chest, the beats of his heart slowly easing away what was left of her troubles.
The boy lowered himself to the couch, bringing the girl with him; the girl sitting on his lap, her head now tucked in his chest, her legs stretched out to the rest of the couch. Cindy's face held a small smile as she slept peacefully for the first time in 2 weeks, his arms wrapped tightly around her body.
Things would get better…He was the first step in that.
A/N: So what'd you guys think? Please read and review, comments really help me out with what to do.. Representin' All Day