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It isn’t Dad’s reputation at home slowly going sour, and it isn’t the sugary 12-pack of Pop Tarts mom has just bought that is sitting uneaten in the kitchen either. Something far more enjoyable than the both of these, Timmy has the pleasure to be in the presence of.
Jimmy Neutron. He tries the words on his tongue when he's alone in his bedroom while Cosmo and Wanda are asleep, no one around to hear his special name, his very special name that belonged to Jimmy and Timmy only. Ji. Mee. New. Tron. A swarm of butterflies swoop in and escort him to a whole new world after the first time he whispers it into the air, sharing his exhilarating secret with the world. This in itself is a reason why he knows he really likes Jimmy, because Aladdin took Jasmine to see the same exact thing! And Aladdin very clearly loved Jasmine very much. Anyway.
Timmy has finally gotten his first crush! well, boy crush in this case, However, he wants to really be sure of it before he goes to announce it to Cosmo and Wanda, and after that he can tell his parents (which is a really big thing, evidently), so he writes down a list of reasons why he's so sure in a super secret notebook, smashed between his mattresses.
Now, while Timmy is on his way to fulfill his Grand Master Plan (a name Cosmo responded enthusiastically to while Wanda shook her head), he maybe can’t remember every single thing he wrote down, “word-for-word”. But he remembers what counts, and it is all for Jimmy.
Timmy knows he likes Jimmy very much, first and foremost; because all of the movies practically tell him so outright. He didn’t know, at first, that a light switch was mysteriously flipped on his entire personality whenever he saw any tell-tale sign at all, let alone wanting to have what all the pretty couples had with Jimmy himself! It’s quite ridiculous, considering Timmy was never one for romance until recently, he often finds new things to hyperfixate over rarely, when Timmy finds out, he urges his parents to watch more Rom-Coms during family night, for ‘analytical purposes’ (and Cosmo and Wanda). It seems to only wedge the uneasy gap between his parents even further, that, and because he found cheesy movies quite boring and too mushy, but he will sacrifice the state of their relationship for Jimmy. (It will not seem like such a big deal to him as it will much later. Exactly how they are towards him anyways.)
This is another very obvious sign he likes Jimmy, he explains to Cosmo and Wanda (Wanda being abnormally quiet but with a proud look on her face, while Cosmo seemed excited yet distracted) He can and will do anything for Jimmy with his chest puffed out. In an even more abnormal act, Cosmo blurts out a question, demanding if Timmy would wish for a car and drive Jimmy all the way to Disney World if the boy asked him to.
Timmy goes silent. He didn't think that far. He could do that. He blushes very hard.
He nods anyway, because he means what he said.
Wanda sometimes spits out biting and venomous comments to an oblivious Timmy about the importance of loyalty in relationships, and Timmy absorbs it all with scrunched and attentive eyebrows.
He remembers a day where he, in some sort of miracle, got so good at tracking what days and times his fairy god mother would go on these rants that he sat and waited in his bedroom with a pen and notepad in hand, eager as ever. Timmy waited a long time before he called for them and found Cosmo and Wanda as fishes snuggling in their fish bowl, and he was too distracted to notice so, it's very rare seeing Timmy being so eager about something.
Boyfriends. “Boy. Friends.” . Every time he thinks of the word, it sends a whoosh of air that smells of gasoline and dead skunks on car rides into Timmy's tummy. He this is a new experience for him, he never knew boys could love each other, which intensifies his feelings, because he loves going against normal things.
Jimmy sounded confident about everything, with big words Timmy couldn't understand or comprehend. There wasn’t a lick of uncertainty of self to be found anywhere on his body, which only makes him more attractive. He even hears that Jimmy's real name is “James”. He imagines practicing that ‘new’ name instead, and it admittedly intimidates him, but only a little! After all, there is nothing he won’t do to prove his adoration to Jimmy—or should he say “ James ”?
How fancy . He wonders, very briefly, if Jimmy's parents are rich.
Timmy also knows he likes Jimmy, reason numbering becoming kind of obscure now, because he can imagine with full confidence a future of silly Comic-Like badass couple he saw in his latest action comic book and the sight of Jimmy being rescued by Timmy (or vice-versa, he wouldn't mind being carried by Jimmy every now and then…) and pushing him on swing sets at the park and—The bottom line is a relationship with Jimmy is totally feasible! They would get married and move in and love each other forever and ever, like the fantasy he made for Trixie that she never cared about. And Timmy would never end up like his parents. Or, they both wouldn’t, rather. He isn’t sure…it’s complicated.
But he is sure of one thing: he has to ask Jimmy to be his boyfriend.
Being around Jimmy makes him feel really happy; like, jumping-inside-a-gigantic-bouncy-house-happy. Ecstatic, euphoric, elated, and some other words Timmy finds in an unreasonably heavy dictionary. He is afraid this will muddle his mind when the moment of truth comes. Jimmy is cool, calm, and collected, and obviously very intelligent, and while Timmy is.. Timmy, but he can obviously act, but it’s like he said; being around Jimmy makes him act really wonky. Cosmo and Wanda say it's kind of cute. Timmy blushes and looks away.
And so, like the Amazing incredible big boy Timmy is, he tells Cosmo and Wanda all about his plan.
Well, first, he establishes his motive, very critical for these sorts of things: Timmy is in love with Jimmy and wants to go out with him.
Anyway. Next up is his “evidence” supporting his claim; that he could pull this off in the first place. Which happens to be every pre-teen love movie he's seen, like, ever. There was a common theme of chasing after boys in his tension-filled movie nights, so Timmy figures boys like that sort of thing. It never really occurs to him that he is a boy, so he could perhaps try and figure out what he would like. Whatever, this was about Jimmy Neutron anyway.
Maybe when they get married Jimmy can teach Timmy how to build cool stuff! He's not so sure his parents will like that, or even care, but they could adjust; everybody adjusted for love.
Another common theme was roses.
Timmy couldn't decide on the proper flowers for Jimmy, does he even like flowers? he can obviously wish for any type of roses he wants but even that would be too simple, so he comes up with an alternative: toys. They are growing older, though, Timmy thinks with uncertainty, and the last thing he wanted was for Jimmy to think of him as lame for showing up with one measly toy.
So, Timmy picks up all his toys!
Just kidding. He can only fit five into his
arms without them spilling over. Six, if he's careful.
He has to go above and beyond for Jimmy, of course, so before he sneaks out the door, he scoops up five of his best Lego collections his bed (and an action video game Dad got him from a thrift store that he frankly, didn’t really like) and makes sure he squeezes them tight.
Timmy will deliver the toys right to Jimmy's door! Isn’t that just unbelievably romantic and splendid? (Wanda was crying and muttered something about ‘young love’ that Timmy didn't catch.)
The last piece is the most important part, the execution. The words! What is he even going to say when he asks him out?!
(Timmy slaps his hands to his cheeks dramatically like from Home Alone in front of his fairy god parents for good measure. And then of course, he went on with his brilliant plan.)
Timmy had heard a lot about Prom, he obviously was there, but never participated. As no girl would agree to go out with him, so he didn't care… until now. In some Romance movies it was important. He even heard his mom and dad say they went to Prom together! So, what better to invite Jimmy as a romantic gesture and hopefully, not get rejected?
Lucky for them, though, Timmy wrote a whole speech in English Class for free-write just to Jimmy. Surprisingly, he's going all out.
Okay, and maybe another “most-important” thing he should have added before that was how to get to Jimmy's house.
It was hot, because of summer, so Timmy has no problem walking the sidewalks, not really registering that the polar opposite of cold winters might not be so gentle either. Timmy hates winters, though, and because every time he always ruined it.
Timmy doesn’t have a phone yet, in the fifth grade, so he makes a plan to steal his mother’s phone for its GPS while she’s sleeping. And after Timmy is through his agonizing crawl of death in hopes to not wake his mother and in desperation that
he can make his top-secret Grand Master Plan work, he handles Mom’s phone in the way he would handle a baby, until it is in his hand, he has it, he—!
Locked! It’s locked!
In his despair, Timmy accidentally groans aloud, but his Mom didn't wake up. Thank god, he quietly wished for the phone to get unlocked (never crossing his mind he can just teleport, to Jimmy's house, or even having his own phone.) and the loud ‘Ding!’ of the wish was loud and he saw his Mom do the same in his sleep. When his Mom starts to move, it terrifies the small latter, and he makes a run for it.
Alas, Timmy would have to make his journey without any directions. He's sure he can make his way through, they both lived in a pretty small town. On his way to the gorgeous, gorgeous boy’s house, he notices flowers! Red, bumpy-looking, long flowers in someone’s neighbor’s yard. Timmy feels so good he thinks he can just fly over and hover over the ground, plucking only the fullest, brightest plants from the dirt.
(Cosmo and Wanda looking unimpressed, again, as he can just wish for a bouquet of red roses that looked stunning, but love could make you forget the obvious things sometimes.)
But of course, he can’t—and he isn’t stupid (at least he thinks he isn't) , he knows he might get in trouble for messing in other peoples’ lawns. However, there was a pretty tall wall that stood behind the red flowers that morphed into their porch, that would shield Timmy from getting caught. From the owners, anyway.
In a disorienting chromatic flurry, disorienting to anybody who hopefully is not watching, the short child skips over and plants his feet in the layer of mulch, allowing himself to breathe in an aroma that reminded him of the strong perfumes… and allergies. He also caught a whiff of at school, only the natural version. Jimmy would love these!
Timmy leans over very carefully, like the teapot from Dad’s favorite nursery rhyme, and plucks one, two—four flowers. On his way to grab the last two, he stumbles a little, but nothing falls. The bucktoothed boy stops to think. He didn’t have a real bouquet, but because the flowers are so skinny, Timmy shrugged and took a few pieces that would fit in his tiny palm.
(It never really occurs to him until years later how he had never really gotten to know Jimmy while proclaiming he would fall in love with him through random acts, making him blush profusely with laughter at his boyfriend recounting the events.)
So anyway, he grabs about six more of the red things, and sets off before anybody can catch him. His heart pounds away in his chest as he departs from a poor couple’s front lawn.
Two people give Timmy strange looks, and another who Timmy thinks should be the face of Stranger Danger advertisements shouts profanities at him from across the road. Timmy goes bug-eyed and runs as fast as he can without dropping James’s gifts, which is pretty much akin to skipping.
He doesn’t know if he chases him or not, and the young boy doesn’t dare to look back and check. He does know, however, that the interaction sort of ends up being in his favor, because now Timmy is finally on Jimmy's block.
Timothy wipes a layer of sweaty moisture from his head, and rubs said hand on his sweatpants. How long has he been out here? It was a straight shot for quite a while, but after Timmy has started turning, he suddenly felt way more tired.
He curses the GPS that told him it was 5 minutes away. Wait a minute…a five minute drive . Oh Jeez , how could Timmy be so stupid?!
(Wanda and Cosmo just watched in amusement, they could've told Timmy he could just, y'know, WISH TO BE THERE. But honestly it was entertaining to say the least watching Timmy working so hard over something he truly wants, because that never happens… and both fairy parents are beyond proud.)
Never mind that. He is here, on Jimmy's block, and there is only a dozen or so cement squares standing between Timmy and a date with destiny…or Jimmy. Either one was fine with him.
Timmy inhales the summer air and closes his eyes briefly, reminding himself again of what to say.
Knock Knock.
The brunet stands, legs rigid and a little starstruck when a someone who's his height, with a red shirt answers the door, brown hair falling like a halo around his head.
He didn’t have his hair styled as usual (surprisingly; he always did at school). The appearance makes Timmy's eyes go wide.
He gets to speaking quickly.
(Maybe he does it before he can chicken out.)
“Hello,” the bucktoothed child’s greets, his voice rather timid, “My name’s Timmy.” He should fix that, Timmy decides.
Jimmy's eyes go wide, and her blue eyes immediately snap to the toys in his hand.
“These are for you,” Timmy cheeses, poking his chest out so that the toys could move closer. If the other brunet looked surprised before, it’s nothing compared to how he looks now. He seems kind of…he looks as though he'd never gotten a present before, or at least something so… innocent, so unharmful. And although it’s really bad, it gives Timmy a major ego boost, because Timmy has all sorts of toys he can give to him!
“Really?” Jimmy's eyes are wide with euphoria as Timmy nods proudly, but then they deflate, and he is suddenly analyzing everything about the child in front of him. Timmy figures he'd better speak to explain everything, or else it’ll be too late.
“These are flowers, too. ‘Cause I like, really wanna marry you.” James looks really, really , red now, and Timmy suddenly feels guilty for making him stay out in the sun to talk to him.
James doesn’t say anything, so once again, his soon-to-be-husband takes the lead. “It’s okay, I’ll take care of everything! I think we’re perfect for each other because you can teach me super cool stuff, and I can teach you too. See; I’ve had a crush on you for like, a really long time”—by a long time, Timmy means about four weeks, which is a super long time to him— “‘cause you’re super smart and pretty and I’d really, really love to be your boyfriend. If that’s okay with you.”
James’ grip on the door makes Timmy think the wood is going to crack any minute, and it sort of intimidates him. It also gives him another idea. Even though Jimmy's lips are parted, he is literally speechless.
“—And you’re really strong too!” Timmy adds. “I know what you’re thinking; Why should you marry me? But you don’t have to worry about that either, because I’ve made a long list of why you should!” It hits Timmy that Jimmy never took the toys he carried from miles and miles away that were meant for him, and his smile falters.
“Um—oh. Oh. I’m sorry,” Timothy mumbles, his voice finally cracking. What a stupid idea. What a stupid idea! He came all this way, to—
Two small hands were on his waist, bringing a stop to his intention to turn around and go home, and forcing Timmy to stare up at Jimmy.
“I’d love that. I’ve never had a Boyfriend before, so that might be a new experience for me. But…I’m not sure about marriage. Since we both aren't legal adults yet.” Jimmy has the most beautiful smile Timmy has ever seen. He's sure he's drooling then and there. Hopefully not. That would probably change Jimmy's mind about the whole boyfriend-thing.
“However, I'm totally up for it after we turn to adults,” Jimmy assures him, and Timmy smiles but his attention is soon drawn to a taller figure approaching from behind Jimmy like a cat to a laser.
“James Isaac Neutron? What did I tell you about opening the door for strangers?”
Timmy can’t read his tone very well, but he knows it’s either compassion or increasing annoyance. Uh-oh. This was supposed to be an adult-free plan.
Jimmy whips around almost instantly to what Timmy assumes to be his mom. “Mom! I was just—“
“Talking to a friend, I’m guessing?” Jimmy's mom looks over at the boy outside the door, and Jimmy's attention is slowly pulled back to him as well. Timmy gulps.
“…Yeah. A friend,” Jimmy says.
Jimmy's mom laughs, and starts speaking toward Timmy. “I’m so sorry for my son, he's a terrible host as you can see—“
Jimmy rolls his eyes. “Don’t keep the poor boy outside in the heat, let him in!“
“Alright!” Jimmy mumbles, and drags Timmy by the arm inside. Timmy goes wide-eyed at the sudden contact, but before she can say anything, Jimmy is closing and locking the door.
Jimmy's house looked different from Timmy's, but not in a bad way. He just always envisioned him living in a very high-tech mansion with teleportation staircases or something. Maybe Jimmy wasn’t as high-maintenance as he thought.
When Jimmy turns around, he looks nervous. That’s odd—Jimmy never looks nervous, Timmy thinks suspiciously. If the brunet looks to the side—which he does—he can see the older female version of Jimmy whispering into the ear of a man seated on the couch, perched right in front of a TV with a few ducks in his hands. Timmy squints and leans toward the scene because he thinks he recognizes the cartoon on the TV, but he thinks Jimmy must have misinterpreted it, because he starts trying to explain his parents to him.
“Apologies, my Dad is… he can be a bit too much sometimes, can’t even pick up after himself for company, but he's very nice to everyone. I can assure you.” Jimmy crosses his arms and glances away, but something tells Timmy the messy-very-rare-sighted child feels more self-conscious about his family than he lets on. Timmy just nods slightly, quiet, and not really wanting to disagree with his new boyfriend. His eyes trail back to his parents giggling to themselves and Jimmy's mom leading her husband out of the room.
Jimmy seems distressed that that is where Timmy's attention is focused. Timmy wants badly to explain to him that similar events had went down in his house too many times to count, even worse because his parents frankly… Never cared about him. And that he wasn’t judging, he was just clinging to what was familiar to him. But he does not. Instead, he twirls back around to Jimmy's eyes and leans forward to put his gifts for Jimmy on display.
“These are for you!” Timmy exclaimed. Jimmy looks relieved, and then excited.
“Let’s go put them up in my room,” Jimmy smiles, and the two young boys run past the living room to find a new home for their toys…and make wedding plans!.