Title: A Memory Worth Smiling About
By: Bridget McKennitt
Character: Neal
Rating: G
Word Count: 386
Prompt: his first theft - in first grade from james at fic_promptly.
Contains: No warnings in as far I know that can't be extrapolated from the header itself.
Disclaimer: White Collar is owned by other companies. They are used here without permission, and for entertainment purposes only. No challenge or infringement upon the copyright is intended, nor should any be inferred.
When Peter asked, out of the blue, what was Neal's first theft, Neal spun a story about all sorts of things. How when he was a baby, he stole a pretty necklace from a neighbor who peered into his crib. Or how he was in fifth grade and stole the answers for his teacher's tests.
But the truth was, his first theft was in first grade and Neal did it because he wanted to knock his classmate down a peg or two.
Paul was a snot nosed brat who looked down on Neal because Paul's father was rich and did "important things" while that wasn't the same with Neal's father. It was the day after Paul's birthday and he'd had a party both at school and at his mansion. While everyone was waiting for class to begin, Paul was surrounded by his cronies showing off what his father bought for him.
It was a gold watch, high end from what Neal could see from the back of the room, and it was Paul's pride and joy. It was something that caught Neal's eye and he instinctively knew what would happen if Paul 'lost' it.
It took Neal a couple of days to plan and when he put his plan into motion, it was easy. The watch was his and no one was the wiser.
When everyone came back from lunch, Clayton asked Paul to see the gold watch again. Neal may have had Debra slip Clayton some money to ask Paul about it. Paul was only too pleased to show off once more and dug into his backpack to get it. Continued digging. Started to frantically pull his notebooks out in search.
"What's wrong, Paul? Don't tell me you already lost your dad's really expensive gift?" Neal asked. He couldn't help but needle Paul.
Paul never found the watch, or found out what happened to it. Paul's father though found out about the missing watch and Neal hid behind some bushes to watch as Paul's father scolded him. He overheard Paul's father ground Paul and take away most of his privileges.
Even though many years had gone by, Neal still had the gold watch tucked away in a safety deposit box under an assumed name. It was his first theft and it still made him smile.
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