Chapter Twenty-Three

Part Two

The days seemed to pass me by, and before I knew it, it had officially been a week that Steven and I were together.

That first day of school that Steven and I walked through the halls together, hand in hand, gossip spread like a wildfire throughout the school. I began to see people staring at me again, like they were suddenly seeing me differently. We both still hadn't gotten used to the whispering, but I knew in a matter of weeks, it would die down.

After all, some bigger news had been washing through the school. The annual Homecoming dance was in a week.

Steven had already asked me, of course.

But all in all, I hadn't really focused on it as much as everyone else. I couldn't. I was much too distracted by something else.

I was distracted by that weird feeling again. It was the same, strange feeling that I had noticed a week earlier.

And it was always there. It was there when I woke up, there when I went to bed. It never faded.

And was bothered me the most was that I didn't know what it was. I didn't know where the feeling came from, or what caused it. I had no idea.

But once it really started getting on my nerves, I pushed it aside from my mind. There was no use letting something bother me if I couldn't do anything about it.

Buttercup and Bubbles were still weird about me and Steven being together, but by now, they stopped badgering me about it. I guess they finally realized that they couldn't change my mind.

Besides, with Steven, I felt good. I felt…different. And maybe it was a good different.

And sure, it would probably take a while for everyone to get used to it, even me…but I knew this was for the better. This was the way it was supposed to be.

And all change needs some getting used to, right?

Another school day was over, and once again, I was the first one to get home after school. Steven had to run a few errands for his mom, so he couldn't come over today. I was disappointed, but he promised that he would call me later.

So there I was, sitting on the couch and watching television by myself.

I wasn't sure what to watch, since it seemed like I hadn't watched T.V. in the longest time. I hardly recognized most of the names of the shows.

I stirred in discomfort against the couch cushions as I continued to click through the channels. The click of the remote was hardly helping me any, and the silence was starting to get to me.

Finally, to my relief, I found a sitcom that had been cancelled a few years ago. I had finally settled with a bag of organic corn chips when the front door burst open. I turned my head toward the door sluggishly.

I was greeted by both my sisters rushing through the door, exchanging rushed words. They hadn't noticed me yet. I peeked over the back of the couch and scowled in their direction.

"Hi."

They turned to face me in surprise.

"Oh, Bloss!" Bubbles seemed to disregard the expression on my face, because she beamed brightly at me. "I didn't see you."

Buttercup smiled slightly. "Yeah, sorry. We were just dropping our books off; we were just about to leave."

The scowl wiped off of my face, and instead, I felt my face scrunch in disappointment. "Leave? But you just got here. I haven't seen you all day."

It was true. They even sat somewhere else in lunch; I guess they figured that Steven and I wanted to be alone. That wasn't necessarily true, by the way. But, I decided I wouldn't bring it up. I didn't feel like arguing with them about it.

"Yeah," The cheer in Bubbles' voice hadn't faded a bit. "We were actually going over to the boys' place for once."

I held back a scoff. The boys.

"Sounds fun," I tried to sound convincing.

Buttercup read through my fake enthusiasm, I could tell by the way she eyed me. But she changed the subject. "Yeah, so, we'll be back after dinner. Can you tell Professor for us?"

"Sure."

And then they were gone.

-Buttercup's POV-

Mixed feelings overwhelmed me as Mojo's lair came into view in the windshield.

Part of me felt sourly against that volcano-bound building for many reasons. Growing up, Mojo had planned and attempted numerous times to destroy me and my sisters, and they originated there. So, I guess I just hated that place by default.

But I also remembered that it was the exact place Butch attempted suicide.

My stomach churned in reaction to that memory, and I shifted position in the black leather seat. I quickly changed my train of thought.

Despite what happened before that, that was also the exact place Butch and I got together.

That day was still imprinted in my mind, and I could still feel the rain pelting against my skin. We stood on the roof of the lair, holding each other and kissing each other until it felt like our lips would fall off. And even then, we didn't want to stop.

The memory calmed my stomach again, and I leaned back against the black leather interior of Butch's lime green and black Lamborghini.

I had to admit, when I first saw his car, my first reaction was to take over the wheel and take it from him for keeps. It was so badass, I was in love again. If only Professor would finally let us drive.

But then I remembered he was jobless and a former villain and nearly kicked his ass to the Pacific Ocean.

He was practically on his hands and knees, begging me to let him keep his -very much stolen- 'baby'.

"I thought I was your baby." I responded to that comment, folding my arms.

"You are," He clarified with a sly, sheepish smile. "But you can't reach a top speed of 222 miles per hour."

I scoffed challengingly. "Wanna bet?"

"Just get in the car, please."

Currently, we were driving to the lair, Bubbles and Boomer in his Audi behind us. A metal band blasted through the speakers, and I was too distracted to put a name to them, though I easily could if I wanted.

Though, the sudden sensation of Butch's warm hand on my upper thigh woke me from my distractions.

I glanced up at the cheeky expression on his face, dark emerald meshing with soft green. I copied his expression mockingly and attempted to swat his hand away. He caught my hand in his, as he always did, and held it.

"You're quiet." His eyebrows raised, and he turned his eyes to the road again.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

I looked at the road ahead again, and we were blocks away from the lair now. I stared it down, as if trying to force the bad memories to go away.

Butch squeezed my hand, and I dropped my concentration. He used the softer version of his voice that he only uses around me. "Hey, I know what you're thinking. And I know it bothers you."

When he paused to take a right-hand turn, I felt my face muscles tense. It was only then that I realized I was frowning. I tried to lighten my expression.

He looked at me again. "So stop thinking about it."

I gazed back at him silently.

After everything happened, we had never really talked about it. I wasn't completely sure, but I guess it was just because it bothered the both of us to remember it. I guess it was a non-verbal agreement to just avoid talk about it completely.

The car stopped, and I realized we were in a large garage. We were parked on the far right side, and on the far left side, I spotted a shiny, burgundy red BMW M6. I assumed it was Brick's, and I couldn't help but stare at it for a few prolonged seconds.

Then, the engine stopped, and Butch moved into my line of vision again. His verdant eyes melted into mine, and the passion in them overtook me again.

A slight smirk was on his lips as he murmured, "Get over here and kiss me."

After taking a quick glance at the empty driveway outside, I smothered a smile that threatened to twist my lips. No blue Audi. Bubbles and Boomer must have gotten stuck in traffic. I feigned stubbornness for a moment or two. "You can't make me do something I don't want to do."

His smirk grew, his white teeth making an appearance. He ran a hand through his hair. "But you do want to."

My eyebrows rose, and I decided to continue our little game for a while longer. "Really? And what makes you so sure?"

The smirk wiped off of his face, and for a moment, I thought I had ruined the moment. But then his bedroom eyes made an appearance, and he leaned so close to me, the tips our noses brushed. His breath smelled like irresistible peppermint. I felt my entire body slowly begin to heat up.

"Your body's screaming for me."

Oh my God.

I nearly jumped him, and our lips collided so hard, it might've hurt if I didn't want him so much.

My arms snaked around his neck, and he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me into his lap. When I was in place, he wrapped his arms around me completely, crushing me tightly to him. He ran them over my lower back, my shoulders, everywhere. One of my hands tangled themselves into his hair, and I grasped the strands and pulled them harshly. I caught his grunt in my mouth, and he caught my gasp in his when I felt his warm, strong hands under my skirt.

I kissed him hungrily, greedily, and my pulse increased every time I felt him return it with the same fervor.

And when you're…well, busy like this, a knock on the window has the effect of a sudden gunshot.

We both pulled away with a jump, and in the process, my butt hit the steering wheel. The car horn sounded loudly, and it ricocheted off of the solid walls.

Our eyes snapped to the window, and standing there was none other than our blonde siblings. Bubbles had her back turned to us, and even then I could hear her smothered snickers. Boomer did nothing to hide his laughs. They echoed throughout the garage. I felt my skin flush red from head to toe.

His voice traveled through the glass. "If you're done mackin' on each other," He paused to glance back at Bubbles when her giggles increased in volume. "We should probably go in."

Even after we flew all the way up to the front door at the top of the dormant volcano, they both still hadn't stopped laughing.

"Shut up already." I scowled at them, the blush in my cheeks still not completely gone.

Butch sounded so pissed off, I would have started laughing if I weren't so humiliated. "Yeah, it wasn't that funny."

"But, just the looks on your faces," Boomer erupted, taking out his house key. For a moment, I was surprised they even needed a key. "Holy crap. We should have recorded that."

Butch folded his arms, shaking his head. "Pervert."

Boomer ignored his brothers' comment and pushed the front door open. I can honestly say I wasn't prepared for what I saw, because my reaction was pretty much genuine.

"Holy shit!" I screamed this, throwing my hands into the air.

"Oh my God, disgusting!" Bubbles said at the same time as me, covering her eyes the next second.

My embarrassment was far from my mind at this point.

Now, before I describe what I saw, let me just say: No teenage boy should ever have their own house or apartment, under any circumstances. And even if they do, they should at least have some sort of form of housekeeping.

All kinds of clothes riddled the floor, and that I could understand if it were their bedrooms. My room pretty much looked like that too. But we were in the living room. Pizza box carcasses and empty Chinese food containers were scattered everywhere, and I could have sworn that a group of pizza boxes formed a pathway to the kitchen. A few ant colonies marched in-between the few carpet strands that were visible. There was a TV across from the beat-up couch, and in that area, uncovered CDs and unused DVD cases scattered around in places they shouldn't have.

Never in my life had I ever had such a strong urge to clean.

Before Bubbles and I could wake from our horrified state, the boys broke out in laughter.

I exchanged a bewildered glance with my sister. Were the fumes from the stale food driving them mad?

"I guess we should have warned you." Butch muttered when his laughter slowed.

Before I could reply with a sarcastic remark, someone spoke before me.

"I'm guessing this is their first time here?"

We all turned toward the staircase, and Brick stood towards the bottom, leaning against the banister. His smirk was a mix of amusement and sick enjoyment.

I felt a sudden spark of uneasiness between me and Bubbles. I didn't have to glance at her expression to know we were thinking the same thing.

Even though I was with his brother now, something still set me off about Brick. Maybe it was because he hadn't made things right with Blossom yet, therefore giving me no reason to trust him. None of us really knew why he was waiting so long to do so, but it was really starting to bug me. Was he going to make her wait forever? Why would he do that?

But I kept my silence. I felt Butch moved behind me and place his hands on my hips securely. He already knew how I felt about his brother, and he was prepared to keep me at bay.

But something told me that Butch and Boomer were slightly uncomfortable with the presence of their brother too.

"Yeah," Boomer answered surprisingly calm, and Bubbles grasped his hand. "It is."

Despite our subtlety, Brick seemed to notice. "Don't worry; I'm not going to hurt your little girlfriends. You don't have to protect them or anything." He spit out the word 'girlfriends' like it was a curse.

I clenched my jaw and glanced up at Butch. He met my eyes, and hostility was nearly sweltering off of him. However, he shook his head at me. My jaw clenched tighter as I looked back at the red Rowdyruff.

"Anyway, don't mind me." He strolled away from the foot of the stairs and into the kitchen. He kicked down a few stacks of pizza boxes in his path. "I was just hungry, so just ignore me like you always do."

My eyebrows rose higher, and I felt Butch's muscles tense. Brick had serious issues.

We all just stood there awkwardly for a moment, unsure of whether Brick's comment was a challenge or not. Finally, Boomer spoke up.

"Let's see if anything good's on TV."

His cheerful voice made everyone ease a little bit, so we began to walk towards the couch. Bubbles and I took longer to get there than it took Butch and Boomer, who plowed through the piles of trash and clothes with no problem. We gingerly stepped on the few patches of carpet that shone through the clutter.

When we finally settled and switched the television on, we had a hard time deciding on what to watch. In the end, we decided on a weird-sounding reality show. We only ended up half-watching it because conversation took over. We didn't talk about anything heavy, just light small talk.

"How's Blossom doing?" When Boomer asked this, it was completely out of the blue. None of us mentioned Blossom beforehand. Despite this, though, the conversation continued to flow smoothly.

"She's…" Bubbles hesitated. "…fine."

We had told them about her 'episode' a week earlier. I thought it was awesome how they genuinely cared about our lives and family and stuff.

"Yeah, I guess." I agreed, and I felt my forehead lift. "But she has been kind of distant lately."

"I noticed." Boomer nodded his head, his mouth forming a slant.

"But I can't believe she's dating that dude…what's his name…" Butch paused, his face going blank with concentration.

"Steven." I finished for him, and a smirk twisted my lips. "Seriously, though. That dude bugs the crap out of me."

"Me too," He scrunched his face up in disgust. "He's such a creep."

"I know!"

I felt Bubbles' big-eyed, disapproving stare penetrating through me, and I flinch. "Don't say that. He's a sweet boy."

I couldn't miss Boomer's quick, jealous glance at her. I took a breath to laugh when that same, irritatingly smug voice interrupted me from the kitchen.

"If by sweet, you mean a complete joke, then yes. He's sweet."

Everyone tensed for a moment, and then we all turned our heads to look at him. He sat on top of the filthy counter, legs crossed, with a cold piece of pizza. He also held a can of what looked like beer.

Underage drinking. I shouldn't have been surprised. My lip curled in repulsion.

Then, Bubbles said something that none of us expected. "No." She snapped. "He's sweet." Her eyes narrowed dangerously. Even her patience was waning with his antics.

"Whatever." He replied lazily and took a ginormous bite out of the pizza slice. Quite sloppily, I might add.

I eyed him for a moment, and he caught my gaze. He suddenly looked defensive and narrowed his eyes at me. I wasn't fazed.

"What?" He bit out.

I raised my eyebrows in challenge. I could beat his ass any day, any time, and he knew it. "Jealous?"

This time, his eyebrows narrowed too. "Of who?"

"Steven."

He nearly choked and gagged for an entire minute before we took three giant swigs from his can. Then, evidently, it was empty, so he crushed it with a simple flex of his fingers. He tossed it across the room as he glared at me again. "See what you did? I could have died!"

I rolled my eyes and stood up from the couch so I could see him better. "Please, prima donna." His glare darkened at this, and I smirked. "It was a simple question, are you gonna answer it or not?"

"Yes, I am going to answer it." His glance switched to Bubbles for a brief second when she stood and walked to my side. "And the answer is, don't make me gag. Please."

The smirk fell off my face, and I froze stone cold. What did he just say? I felt the beginnings of a fierce glare on my face. I took a quick glance at Bubbles, and her forehead was furrowed slightly. I asked, "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

He ripped the remains of the pizza apart with his teeth and chewed hastily. He looked at us with daunting eyes as he swallowed it and threw the crust to the ground. My nose wrinkled as I watched the disposed piece of bread land on a pile of clothes. "It means that I would be jealous of Steven when hell froze over."

My jaw dropped, and I didn't have to glance at Bubbles to know that she did the same exact thing.

"I mean, seriously. Maybe I would be jealous of him if she were even attractive, but damn. It takes a lot for me to not be attracted to someone, but she just takes the cake. And she's annoying too. I was in her face just last week, telling her to lay off. She's obsessed with me or something, I swea-"

I didn't even remember flying toward him, but before I knew it, my fist collided with his mouth cutting off his rant. I felt the flesh splitting open underneath the blow, but I wasn't satisfied yet.

I faintly heard Butch shouting at me to stop, but surprisingly, I ignored him.

I wrapped my fingers around his neck, grasped tightly, and a silent, surprised gasp whistled through his throat. I then flung him into an unused, dusty bookshelf across the room, and the wood cracked and splintered under the impact.

It all suddenly made sense. Blossom's weird, lonesome behavior, the sudden need for Steven, her sour behavior towards Butch and Boomer. It all fit together.

I soared after him, and I yanked him up by the collar and threw my fist repeatedly to his face. Brick's expression was pure bewilderment and shock, and I was loving it. I had already gotten at least five or six punches in before someone grasped my elbow from behind. I already knew who it was, and the arm that held Brick's collar wrenched him higher.

"Buttercup," Butch's solemn voice murmured, immediately calming me. "Stop."

I dropped Brick to the ground and my fist released. I lowered my arm slowly and glanced up at Butch, my jaw clenched. "But he deserves it."

A sudden, frustrated growl emitted from Bubbles, and by reaction, I glanced past Butch to look at her. Boomer was restraining her, and she struggled and wiggled against his hold. Her eyes were wild, staring at Brick, and I recognized the expression as one of her rare violent fits. Boomer was obviously winning, but he looked like he was struggling a little. I didn't blame him, seriously. Never screw with Bubbles when she's pissed off.

I turned my attention back to Butch, and his face was hard and stoic.

He finally responded. "I know. And believe me, if anyone should be kicking his ass, it should be Boomer and I." He paused, staring at Brick long and hard. "But he's not even worth it."

I quickly switched my gaze to the bleeding, broken Brick, and the blood running down his face wasn't nearly as crimson as his wide eyes. I had really lost it again. But this time, I wasn't ashamed of it.

He stared back at Butch, and the smug arrogance had cracked the moment I broke his nose. Now, I saw something else.

He finally realized he was being ganged up on. Not even his brothers were on his side anymore. He was vulnerable.

Now it was my turn.

I bent at the waist to look him in the eye. I kept my face as intimidating and menacing as I could possibly muster. He looked uneasy at being near me again, but there was no way he could move away. The remains of the bookshelf surrounded him. "Do not talk about our sister that way. I don't care what she did, or what she wore that day, or whatever. Never talk about her that way, or else I will find you. And the next time I beat the living shit out of you, I will make damn sure that Butch won't be here to stop me. Because I wasn't anywhere near finished with you."

Another, much fiercer growl came from Bubbles before she seethed, unhelpfully I might add, "Yeah, and me too, asshole!" She stopped for a moment and turned to Boomer. "Let go of me!" Her tone was so venomous, I nearly flinched. Somehow, though, Boomer didn't seem intimidated.

I continued, the anger radiating from from Bubbles sinking into my voice. "And, by the way, Blossom is beautiful! She is one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen. How dare you say that she is unattractive? You must be blind. She is gorgeous. She's gorgeous, and you know it!"

"Exactly! She's perfect, she really is! She's perfect and beautiful on the inside and out, and she's our sister and we love her," Bubbles added.

"She's ten times more gorgeous than your bed buddy. What's her name again, Katelyn? Yeah, Katelyn. Blossom's prettier than all of the chicks you've nailed. And ten years from now, they'll probably be waiting in the unemployment line with their seven kids from all different dads. But Blossom's pretty and she's a genius. Sure, she has superpowers, but she has a promising future. She's the only girl that I've ever known that will probably be a brain surgeon and find the cure for cancer at the same time.

"And you know what? You seriously screwed her up. You screwed her up bad. She's not the same Blossom she was, and I doubt she ever will be again. You broke her heart. Over and over and over again. All because of that idiotic 'plan'." Something flashed across Brick's eyes when I said that, but he remained in his stunned silence.

"Well, that plan was the stupidest thing you could've ever done. And yet, somehow after that, she still didn't give up on you. She still gave you a chance, all up until last week. You screwed it all up!" I was bellowing in his face by now, and Butch held my arms behind me. Brick shrank back from me, his face frozen in a variety of expressions that I was too pissed off to bother to read.

"You could have had an amazing girl. She could have belonged to you, and only you! But she's given up. She's moved on! Now she belongs to Steven, which by the way, I'm starting to like him tons more than you right now. You'll never have a chance with her again, and it's all your fault."

Brick's face was now dead.

Bubbles spoke up again, but her voice was much calmer. "I was so sure you guys were made for each other. Boomer and I are, and so are Butch and Buttercup. I was more sure than I've ever been about anything." She paused, her penetrating blue eyes narrowing. "But you don't deserve her."

I slowly stood upright again, and my back was stiff from being bent for so long. "Really, you don't. I hope you're satisfied, because now you've lost her forever."

Butch was still rigid, staring his brother down. Brick, on the other hand, was limp and lifeless. His face remained frozen, and it didn't look like he was going to respond any time soon. Satisfaction began to calm me.

"Guys," Boomer finally spoke up, his voice drenched in disappointment and shame. "Let's go somewhere else."

We all left for the garage and left behind the unresponsive Brick.

-Brick's POV-

The house was empty again, and the silence seemed blaringly loud.

I sat there, unable to move.

My raw wounds throbbed unnaturally, which meant they were in the sped-up process of healing. But the physical pain was nothing.

My entire being ached unbearably. And my wounds' sting was comparatively weak.

My soul ached.

I didn't know what to do. It felt as if any moment, I would shatter into a thousand pieces. And I knew that nobody would bother to pick them up.

I had been fighting this off for such a long time, and it was emotionally and mentally draining. I was exhausted in every sense of the word.

Every word that Buttercup said was true, and I couldn't deny it anymore. All of it was true. It was so true, I wondered if she read straight through me.

I was a fool. I was a coward.

I was completely hollow inside.

So, for once in my entire life, I didn't know exactly what to do. Whenever I had to lead my brothers through anything, I always knew what to do. They always looked to me for directions. But just then, as looking at them both, I realized.

They looked down on me now.

I begun to gain the feeling back in my muscles, and I looked down at the rubble around me.

Then, I threw the hood of my sweatshirt up and folded my arms over my face.

And the wall I had built of self-deceit, pride and selfishness finally broke.

-Blossom's POV-

The school was nearly bursting at the seams with the amount of excitement. It radiated from everyone I passed in the hallway.

Homecoming was tomorrow, a Saturday, and actually, it was an understatement to say that everyone was looking forward to it.

There had been a few last-minute, public 'proposals', as you could call them. I recalled seeing posters in one hallway put together to form the question, 'Shelby, will you go to Homecoming with me?'

Another one I had witnessed was a gangly freshman boy giving a bouquet of roses to a cute, small sophomore girl. I found it particularly cute, because the boy was as nervous as another boy that was my particular favorite.

Similar things had been happening the entire week, and as adorable as they were, it wasn't hard to grow sick of them.

Thankfully, though, the school day was over.

I had already said my goodbyes to Steven, who had to run errands again. He couldn't come over, but he promised to call me that night to talk about the next day. I couldn't find my sisters in the bustling, after-school crowd, so I just decided to leave early again.

As soon as I left the school building, I began to soar through the air. But, when I realized I was in no hurry, I decided to land on the sidewalk and walk for a little while.

I smiled to myself calmly. The air was cool and somewhat soothing.

I tilted my face upward to gaze at the sky. Though, instead of the cheerful, clear blue I was used to seeing, a deep, monotonous gray replaced it. My smile faded.

I looked ahead of me now, and the cityscape loomed above me. I walked past people, but even as long as I'd lived there, I didn't recognize one face in the crowd. Whether it was a mother pushing a baby stroller, or a businessman talking animatedly on a cell phone, they didn't seem familiar to me.

I walked past an ice cream stand. Normally, I would have bought some right away. But I looked at the rainbow-colored umbrella that shadowed the cart, and suddenly, it didn't appeal to me.

Why was everything so dull?

I decided I'd had enough walking for the time being, so I lifted from the ground and floated back to my home.

#

"What about this one?"

"Hmm…no, I think that one's too formal."

"Right. Well, what about this one?"

"Huh. I…don't really like it. Something about it bugs me."

"Okay, then. This one?"

"Ugh. Hell no."

As Bubbles and Crystal deliberated on Crystal's hairstyle, the rest of us waited patiently and half-watched some random makeover television show.

Crystal, Victoria and Aimee were over at our house, and we were all in the family room. We had decided a few days earlier to pile into our house for the preparation for Homecoming. We created somewhat of a hangout/makeover area, complete with bean bag chairs, food, blow dryers and a nearly ridiculous sized pile of makeup. Professor was on a small business trip, so we had the house to ourselves.

Bubbles turned a few more pages in the hairstyling magazine, looking slightly frustrated. "Crystal, there are not much more hairstyles in here for long hair. If you don't like any of these, I really don't know what to do."

Crystal's forehead furrowed slightly in thought. "Do you have any more magazines?"

Bubbles sighed and shut the one she held in a snapping motion. "Yeah, I do. If you want, you could look through them while I decide on hair for the other girls."

"Sure."

Bubbles led Crystal up the stairs, probably to show her the boxes of magazines I was sure she had. We sort of designated Bubbles as the official hairstylist, since she loved doing hair and she was good at it. I would be doing makeup for everyone, and Aimee was in charge of keeping the dresses and shoes away from the messy, dangerous food.

For now, though, we were lounging in sweats.

I broke the brief silence. "Hey, Aimee?"

She glanced at me soundlessly, her large brown eyes bright, as always.

I smiled down at her. "Where did you put the dresses?"

"In the kitchen, on the table. I figured that would be okay, since we weren't using it or anything."

I nodded and got up from my seat. "Right. Yeah, good idea." I made my way through the kitchen entryway. I didn't know why, but I really wanted to see them all again.

As soon as I stood in front of the pile of the elegant dresses, I lifted the few on top so I could look at mine. Excitement filled me.

It was a soft pink with a tulle, sparkly, sheer overlay, and spaghetti straps. It was short, but not too short. It hit exactly to my knees. It was an empire waist dress, and a wide, light pink bow was tied beneath the bust. As soon as I saw it in the store, I fell in love with it. I was impossibly attached to it already.

I took a quick glance at the other dresses as well. I saw Crystals' crème colored, strapless dress. I hadn't seen it on her, but I was sure it was stunning. Then I looked at Aimee's turquoise one. It had a perky, tutu-style skirt. It was cute, so completely Aimee. Then there was Bubbles' dress. It had spaghetti straps and a slightly low neckline, but it wasn't scandalous at all. The entire dress was covered in soft blue sparkles, and a white ribbon was tied around the small of the waist. It was girly and cute, yet, in a way, retro. I moved on to the next dress, and it was Victoria's deep mauve, mid-length dress. It was strapless and simple, but very elegant. It reminded me of something that a starlet would wear on a red carpet premiere.

I lifted the purple dress, fully expecting to find Buttercup's dress, but instead I was met by the wood of the table.

I blinked at it in confusion. Had Buttercup put her dress elsewhere?

"Buttercup," I turned my head towards the entryway, even though I knew she could hear me if I didn't.

"Yeah?"

"Where's your dress?"

There was a slight pause, and at first, I thought she hadn't heard me. I was about to repeat myself when she responded.

"I'm…not going."

I dropped the dresses back on the table and rushed to the entryway. I stared at her in disbelief. "…Excuse me?"

She looked back at me, shrugging casually. "I'm not going."

Even Aimee and Victoria gawked at her, jaws dropped. Buttercup didn't seem at all bothered, though.

"Why?" I asked.

She sighed, shrugging again. "Butch…didn't really ask me. So I think we're ditching."

My jaw dropped. Why wasn't she upset? I verbalized the thought aloud. "Why aren't you upset?"

"I would be really upset!" Aimee loudly exclaimed, throwing her small hands into the air dramatically. Victoria didn't speak, but she nodded her head with fervent enthusiasm.

Buttercup threw a hand in the air dismissively. "I'm just not. Whatever." She shook her head. "School dances are lame, anyway."

I opened my mouth to disagree with her, but at that moment, Bubbles and Crystal came down the stairs again. Well, Crystal did, but Bubbles levitated behind her, carrying a large box under each arm. I ran to the side of the stairs. "Bubbles!" I peered at her from under the side rail.

"What?" She glanced down at me, irritation on her face.

"Buttercup isn't going!"

Poor Crystal had to dart out of the way when the two big boxes fell from Bubbles' grasp. They nearly knocked her down the rest of the stairs, and magazines poured down the stairs like water.

"What?!" Bubbles screamed this, her voice high-pitched with anger. "Why?"

Aimee piped in. "Butch didn't ask her because they're ditching."

Bubbles stared at Buttercup as we all had, hands on her hips, and Crystal seemed just as shocked.

Buttercup shrunk back defensively. "Don't look at me like that."

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Bubbles rebutted.

"Well…cause, I kind of thought…you know, that he could have waited until the last moment to ask me, or something." She shook her head dismissively. "But, whatever. I don't care. We'll probably just hang here."

Bubbles and I exchanged a look. We both knew behind her casual front, she actually did care. It was probably bothering her to no end. But, we didn't say anything.

"Okay, whatever." My blonde sister decided to end it. "I have a job to start, anyway. We only have six hours left until the boys get here."

Apparently, Bubbles' job would take quite a while.

#

Four hours later, and the majority of our hairstyles had been completed.

She sat me down first, since my hair was the longest in length and would naturally take the longest amount of time. We both agreed on loose, voluminous waves with the top half loosely pulled back. Now I finally knew how she managed to look like a supermodel everyday.

I loved my hair. It looked so soft and angelic, so touchable.

But I knew better than to do that, because Bubbles told me that if I touched it, she would tie my hands behind my back. With the nearest object she could find, in fact, whether it was a scarf or the neck of the tall floor lamp we had in our living room. While she threatened me, she nearly used an entire container of Dove hairspray on my hair. The odor was so strong that we had to open a few windows.

After that, I decided to put on my dress, just so I could get used to the feeling of it and feel more comfortable. I kept it on.

Bubbles did Victoria's hair next, and she decided that since Victoria's dress was so beautiful and elegant, that slick-straight, shiny hair would go with it nicely. After she was finished flat ironing, she put a black rose clip on one side of her head.

After that, Aimee's hair was fixed. Bubbles thought that a cute, playful updo would suit her best, and she was completely right. After the hairstyle was in place, Bubbles put a few clips in with soft, white feathers on them.

She was now curling her own hair, and each curl turned away from her face.

As for Crystal, she was still sitting on the ground, buried up to her waist in hair and clothing magazines. If she didn't hurry up and choose, she would have to go to Homecoming as-is.

All had been going so pretty smoothly so far.

"Crap," Bubbles spat suddenly. We all turned our eyes to her, startled. "I just realized I'm out of hairspray."

Gee. I wonder how.

"Oh!" Crystal exclaimed excitedly, standing from the sea of magazines on the floor. "I have two cans at my house! I could run and go get it!"

Bubbles' face brightened. "Okay. Actually, I'll come with you. Your parents aren't home, right?"

"Right."

Aimee stood from her beanbag chair. "Can I come too?"

Victoria stood as well and added in a much more subdued voice, "And…me, too?"

Crystal smiled. "Sure. You guys haven't been over in a while, anyway."

They all headed out the door and across the lawn to Crystal's house and I took my place on the couch next to Buttercup. Evidently, the makeover show was having some sort of marathon, because it was still on. So, we watched it in silence. Except for the instances when Buttercup would make fun of the contestants, and I would defend them.

After twenty minutes, the other girls still weren't back. When I was about to ask Buttercup where she thought they were, she spoke up before me.

"Hey, Bloss."

I gave her a small smile. "Yeah?"

She returned the smile, but in some way, it looked different from the way mine felt. She turned so she could face me better. "Are…you okay?"

I wasn't sure how to answer that. It was a bit random for her to ask that. Was it a trick question? Or was it that type of question where you feel obligated to answer the same way every time?

But I decided to give her the easy answer. "Yeah, I am. Why?"

She looked at me for a moment, as if scrutinizing me. "Are you sure?"

I hesitated now. Why was she asking me this? "…Yes…I am." I paused. "Are you okay?"

She seemed to realize that she was confusing me, so her face relaxed slightly. "Yeah, I was just…never mind."

We continued to watch the show for another five minutes, and it had been silent until the doorbell suddenly rang. Buttercup and I turned our faces to look at the door in confusion. Was Bubbles ringing the doorbell?

"Why is she…do you think she forgot her house key?" I asked Buttercup, my eyes still locked on the door.

"I don't know," she replied, frowning. "But the door's not locked."

We continued to sit and stare at the door, completely befuddled, and after about a minute, it rang again.

"Well, maybe she just forgot it wasn't locked, or something." I stood, making my way around the end of the couch.

As I approached the door, Buttercup added, "Maybe it's someone else."

I turned the doorknob, still fully expecting my sister and our friends on the other side. I honestly didn't see a reason why anybody else would be at the door. It couldn't have been the guys; they weren't supposed to be there for another two hours. I didn't expect it to be anyone else. And that was my downfall.

Because Brick Jojo was on the other side of that door.

Slam.

I leaned against the closed, black wooden door. My eyes squeezed shut. The world swirled around me, and I swore I could feel the house tremble for a moment after I had thrown the door shut.

"Blossom?" Buttercup's startled voice came to me from the couch. "Who was it? Are you okay?"

I didn't answer her. Overwhelming dread hit me full force, and I as much as I tried to shake it off, it wasn't going away.

He was…here?

At my house?

Why?

I didn't know what to feel at first. I knew I was blisteringly angry. I was completely surprised and bewildered. I was…I didn't know. There was so much going on inside me, I could hardly account for the majority of it.

But I was completely and utterly, one-thousand percent sure that I was angry.

So why did I open that damn door again?

And he was still standing there in all of his Rowdyruff glory.

But he wasn't as I was used to seeing him. He was already dressed for Homecoming, complete with a classy, black suit with red pinstripes. The tie underneath matched the pinstripes, and everything was sharp and clean cut. Even his trademark red trucker hat was gone from his head, but that wasn't what shocked me.

His long hair was gone.

It wasn't completely shaved off, but it was shorter. It could have easily been said that the entire elbow-length, copper-y ponytail was chopped off. Now, all that was left was the remains, and it fell to just under his angular jaw line.

He looked glorious. And I hated myself for thinking so.

I tore my eyes away, fixing them to the nearly brown grass of the front lawn. I couldn't permit myself to look at him any longer. I just couldn't.

-Brick's POV-

I couldn't believe I was actually doing this.

I couldn't believe I was actually trying. I knew she would never in a million years take me back, or even forgive me.

She had absolutely no reason to whatsoever. And I knew that, there was no question that it was true.

So why even bother?

I froze on the walkway to her front door and just stood there. What was I doing?

I should just go home. I should just forget about even trying, I was a fool.

I fidgeted with the rose between my hands.

Yeah, I was a fool. But I had to try.

I rang the doorbell and waited. And waited. Nobody came to the door.

Was there anyone home? I could have sworn that I heard the TV on inside, so I was sure there was.

I decided to ring it once more, but as soon as I did, I lost my nerve. I turned and began to walk down the path again, but then I heard the doorknob turn.

I stopped and turned again, moving my hands behind my back. I thought I would feel better if someone answered the door, but instead, I nearly broke into a run into the street. I didn't, but for a moment, I honestly considered it. I didn't think I would be this terrified.

But the moment that the door opened to reveal the person, I suddenly felt like I would fall to my knees. Because there she was.

I was overwhelmed with everything. I was anxious, amazed, floored, and terrified all at once. I wasn't sure which emotion to bring out, and just as I had begun to think coherently again, the only thing I could see was the black paint of the door.

She slammed the door as soon as she saw me.

I stood there, rigid. I couldn't feel anything. My eyes stared ahead. She really did hated me. She refused to even see me.

So that was it. She was gone, gone forever.

My brothers hated me, and I had no family other than that. I had no friends. And the only person that gave my life purpose despised me, and it was my fault.

And when my thoughts had taken an even deeper, darker fall, the door opened, and she was there again.

She came back.

Now, at that moment, I could look at her. I mean, really, truly look at her. She was captivating.

She was in her Homecoming dress already, and the pale pink mingled flirtatiously against her milky, fair complexion. It fit her figure perfectly, and it made her look more soft and feminine then she already was. Her gleaming, cherubic red hair twisted in soft, cascading curls down her shoulders and back. She was staring back at me, her flawless face blank, and her rosy pink eyes were clouded.

Then she removed her eyes from me.

-Blossom's POV-

We both stood there in silence for at least another minute. When I finally found my voice again, I spoke.

"…Why are you here?"

My tone was blank, unfeeling. And that was exactly how I wanted it to be.

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw him shift and look downwards. It was then that I noticed he kept his hands behind his back, but I disregarded it. It shouldn't have mattered to me anyway.

Behind me, I head Buttercup shift on the couch, and I felt her eyes watching me. I ignored that too.

He finally replied. "I…don't know."

His answer made me look up at him again, in spite of myself. My face felt blank.

'I don't know'? That was his answer? What kind of idiot was he?

I blinked once and looked away again, and just as I spun on my heel to go back in the house, his voice sounded again.

-Brick's POV-

She kept her eyes glued to the grass in the lawn, seemingly unable to look at me.

My heart throbbed painfully, and I took in a shaky breath. But at least she was still here.

She spoke, and her delicate voice was monotonous. "…Why are you here?"

The tone of her voice stabbed into me, and I turned my eyes to focus on the classy, shiny black shoes I was wearing. The hands behind my back fidgeted again.

Why was I here? Not even I had the answer to that question.

"I…don't know."

I regretted it as soon as the words left my mouth, because I felt her look at me again. Her eyes penetrated into the side of my face brutally.

And then she turned towards the door again.

Desperation and apprehension washed through me. No. I couldn't let her leave. Not like that. I had to set things straight, at least. I lunged at her, and I almost grabbed her, but I decided against it at the last second. I uttered one word.

"Wait."

-Blossom's POV-

"Wait."

Why did I stop when he told me to? Why did I feel obligated to still listen to him? I still faced the opening of the house, and Buttercup stared at me, her eyes wide.

"I…I do know. I just…don't know where to start."

I stiffened immediately. "Start what?" I said cautiously.

His voice was so smooth and gentle. "Please turn around."

It was fake. It was all fake. I had to force the thought over and over again, so I wouldn't believe him, wouldn't listen to him. I couldn't let myself do that.

I still faced the house, ice in my veins. Why couldn't he just leave, and put me out of this misery?

"Please." He repeated.

My body responded to his command once more, and against my will, I was facing him again. My original plan was to avoid looking at him directly again, but when I noticed something held out in front of him, I had to look. But as soon as I did, I wished I hadn't.

It was a single red rose with small, delicate baby's breath around it. And a ribbon was tied around them. A red ribbon. It looked like it had been stained with something.

And it was my ribbon.

I could feel the dread rising in my stomach, coaxing the darkness and anguish to escape from the place where I though I shut it out for good. It was crawling out, making its way to the surface.

I had to escape again. I had to hide with the hopes of it never finding me again.

But it always did.

I attempted to shove the ache away with the anger buried in me. I stared at the flower wordlessly, and several long moments dragged on.

-Brick's POV-

She stared at my gift with angry, bitter eyes. Those weren't the eyes I remembered, the ones I'd seen every time I closed my eyes at night. My stomach wrenched, and I clenched my jaw.

I held the rose out further.

-Blossom's POV-

And then he lifted his arm further towards me, willing me to take it from his grasp.

I brought my hand out and slapped the plant out of his hand. It fell to the ground, directly in front of my bare feet. I slowly dragged my eyes to his face, and his burgundy red eyes forcibly took mine.

I clenched my teeth, I lifted my left foot from the cement walkway and slammed it onto the flower. The cement cracked, and my heel ground the plant into the crevices of it. The sharp edges and thorns scraped against my skin, but I disregarded the minor stings.

Brick's eyes had long left mine, and he watched my foot destroy his gift. His eyes lingered there for a moment, and then lifted to mine again.

I watched him back, and ferocity continued to flow through my veins. It made my skin itch, made my head throb, and made my face burn. I was so angry; I didn't know what I wanted to do to him first.

I wanted to strangle him. I wanted to squeeze every drop of life out of him.

Clearly, he was trying to woo me, for some reason. And with a rose. A rose. Completely weak.

I folded my arms, and my face formed the fiercest glower I could manage. Somehow, I was pretty sure both of us knew what was going on without really saying anything.

I broke the prolonged silence. "If that's your way of apologizing, I hope you enjoy disappointment."

He seemed slightly taken aback by my comment, and a few moments passed before he replied. "It's not."

My voice rose. "It's not what?"

"It's not an apology, because I know I don't deserve your forgiveness."

My answer was curt. "No. You don't. Now go back to your girlfriend." I turned and stomped a few steps into the doorway.

Her words rung in my ears, and they cut me like knives.

And as she turned to leave again, I felt the desperate need for her once more.

"She's not mine. And I am never going back to her."

I froze cold for a moment, and then spun around and stomped towards him again. I made myself look him in the eyes, made sure I looked menacing.

"Oh, aren't you? Why? Making room for another girl, are we? Getting tired of nailing dancer ass?"

He flinched at my words, backing away slightly. I followed his steps exactly. I wanted to intimidate him as much as possible.

"No. And I never slept with her, by the way. I never slept with any of those girls."

"Oh my God. You are so full of bullshit, Brick." His name stung my tongue.

"It's not bullshit." His voice was sharper than before.

"Yes, it is."

"No, Blossom!"

My throat began to burn when my name left his mouth. A thousand curses rushed through my head, trying to push the incoming tears away. I would not show him my weakness. He didn't deserve my tears.

Her face twisted in agony when I said this, and this nearly made me stop. But I kept going.

"It's not. Because I would never, ever do that to you."

Abruptly, something inside of me burst, and everything rushed out at once. It was too late to hide. It was too late to run away. There was no going back now.

My hand clenched into a fist and lifted, striking him across his cheek. A frustrated, tearless sob left my throat, and I knew the tears would come soon. I lunged toward him, shoving him away from me twice in a row.

She threw a punch at my face, and before I could react, she pushed me roughly. I staggered back for a moment, a bit too shocked and startled to do anything. But I let her. I deserved it.

She began to scream at me.

"'Because you would never do that to me'? Why the hell would you say that to me? That is the biggest, most impossible lie someone has ever said to my face. Why wouldn't you do that to me? You're a villain, you've always hated me, and you always will. You wanted to destroy me? Well, guess what. You got your wish."

I had never been so infuriated, so overwhelmed and helpless. He was trying to make a fool out of me again.

And now I was saying words I didn't want to. Telling him things that I never wanted him to know.

Her words tore into me, but as she began to cry, it increased tenfold. As I watched the tears roll down her face and tumble out of her eyes, I hated myself even more.

My throat constricted as I tried to force the words out at him through the sobs. "You destroyed me. Okay? You finally did it. You finally destroyed me. Just like you've always wanted, right? And it was in the worse way possible. You didn't even try to spare me. You did everything you could to bring me down, and you have, okay? You have."

I destroyed her. I ruined her.

And I knew that.

But hearing it come from her was worse than it could have ever sounded from someone else.

"Blossom!" He bellowed, and grabbed me by the forearms. "Stop!"

"Don't touch me!" I screamed so loud, I swore I could feel something in my throat tear. I yanked out of his grasp and pushed him away again. "Don't fucking touch me!"

"Listen to me!" His voice was equally as loud. "Dammit. Just listen to me!"

"Why should I?"

"Because that's why I'm here!"

I had to tell her why I did everything, make her understand. But I didn't expect it to make things any better, because I knew it wouldn't anyway.

I walked away from him and into the dry, dead grass. It tickled and itched my bare heels. I had to get away from him. The proximity was making the churning, searing pain eat me slowly from the inside out.

He continued to speak as he trailed after me. "That is not why I put you through this, Blossom, and you know that."

I spun on him. "Do not tell me what I do and don't know. And the only thing I know is that I'm completely right. You despise me, and you always will." The sobs made my throat convulse, making my voice crack on the word 'despise'.

His face lit with anger, his eyes burning and scorching me just by looking at them. "Shut up. Just stop it, okay?"

"Stop what?"

"Why the hell would I hate you? What would ever give me a reason to hate you?"

I can't believe she thought I hated her.

I knew my behavior a week ago could have told her that, but I couldn't believe she actually believed my act. Hell, I'd thought that it had been so badly acted that she would have dismissed it completely.

After what happened that incredible night, I could never speak to her like that and mean it.

And I thought she knew that.

I hooted a humorless laugh. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you're a villain and I'm a heroine? Isn't that enough of a reason?"

"First off, I'm not a villain anymore. And second, that never stopped me before!"

"What the hell do you mean; you're not a villain anymore?"

"It means exactly how it sounds! I'm not a damn villain, okay? I'm not going to steal any more, I'm not going to kill people or break the law…I'm not a villain!"

"You can't just decide so suddenly! Why would you stop being a villain? You've been like that your whole life! It's not logical!"

"It is logical, because it's because of you."

My eyes widened considerably at the nature of his comment, and then I snarled at again and threw my fist against his shoulder as hard as I could.

He held up his hands defensively, eyebrows raised. "Holy shit! Would you stop hitting me?"

My scream sounded nearly hysterical this time. But I didn't care. "I'll stop hitting you when you stop making up stupid, illogical lies!"

"Why would they be lies? My brothers did the exact thing for your sisters, so why the hell does that seem so unbelievable?"

I shook my head unyieldingly and turned my back to him, but he put his hand on my shoulder and turned me to face him again. I forced his hand away and turned my face away, hiding my tears from him. I was crumbling. I was falling apart, falling to pieces right at his feet.

Why was this happening again?

I thought everything was fine. I thought I had brought myself so far.

Why, when something in my life involved him, did it always get destroyed?

He continued, and I listened unwillingly. "Blossom, you have to know. I only went through with this plan because I felt like I had to protect you."

"Protect me from what? My heart getting broken?"

He didn't answer, and I lifted my eyes to his face again. He was the one to look away this time. I shook my head slowly. "You're kidding me. You've got to be kidding me, Brick. Don't tell me that was seriously the reason behind this whole thing."

"That's not just it." His voice was low and quiet.

"Oh, really? Well, please tell me why else, because I'm sure it will make this sound more reasonable."

"I was protecting you from me."

The ache that ate me up inside and tore me apart was surfacing, and I couldn't hide it anymore. I could feel it on my face, in my voice. It deepened in tone with the tears I smothered.

But the only thing at that moment that kept my heart beating was her, standing in front of me. Even if she hated me, I still needed her.

I stopped cold. His voice was so full of agony that the urge to yell and scream and throw insults at him just dwindled away.

"I'm just not good enough for you, Blossom. I knew I could never make you happy. I could never live up to your standard." He lifted his eyes to mine, and they were dull and detached. "I'm trash. I'm a lowlife. I'm a complete jackass. And even though I have no right to continue loving you so much, I could never stop. And I knew from the moment that I told you that I loved you that I would never be good enough. It was for your good."

And here I thought he would never have that power over me again. Here I thought that I was over him, and he was out of my life for good. I thought I had moved on. I thought I would be fine without him.

And yet, his words made my heart heavy and my stomach heave. Something tore through me again, and this time, I knew it wasn't just my pain that tore through me.

It was his.

"And so I kept pushing you away, trying to make you hate me. I wanted you to hate me with all that you had, because I thought you hating me would be easier than being with you and making you miserable."

"Stop it!" My words fumbled and tripped out of my mouth, constricted by sobs. "Just stop."

His words were making me miserable. And the misery wasn't from me. It came through his pain riddled, miserable eyes, into mine and pounded straight into my soul. Every part of me ached.

"Stop." I took a stop closer to him. "You're wrong."

I knew it. I knew she would never accept the truth.

She was stopping me again, and I knew that it was almost over. She was going to tell me to leave, walk into that house, close that door and never think anything of me again.

She would move on, and I would be stuck with myself again, wallowing in misery.

What would I do?

I couldn't just live my life without her completely. I couldn't even imagine a life like that.

His face was still an empty void. "Wrong about what?" The question was half-hearted.

"You're wrong." The words spilled out of me. "Because, the only thing that made me miserable was being away from you."

He looked at me for a moment, and then shook his head dismissively. "I don't believe that."

Of course I didn't believe it. It made no sense.

I was the source of all of her misery. So, why would being away from me make it worse? If anything, it would benefit her to stay away from me.

I felt a sudden tug at my soul, like a small thread on it was pulled tightly. It began to lead me forward, and I didn't feel in control. It pulled me cautiously and slowly toward him, and even when I stood right in front of him, the string continued to pull. But, it felt much looser.

Like the distance between the object it was tied to had been closed. Like the object was right in front of it.

She lifted off of her feet and drifted towards me gracefully. She watched me, and strands of hair blew in her face, but she didn't seem to notice.

As she came closer to me, I noticed her eyes weren't as dull as moments before.

I watched her back, bewitched.

I looked at him. I mean, really, really looked at him. It was as if I had been blinded in a nearly fatal accident, and by some miracle, I could see again. I saw everything with new, fresh eyes. I gazed up at his scar, then back into his eyes. Scars and darkness screamed at me from inside of them.

I wanted to fix it.

Then words began to tumble out, leaving me without any thought of them beforehand. "When you left, I died. I wasn't myself anymore. I was empty. I was suffering. It was single-handedly, the most awful thing I've ever been through. My world fell apart. I thought I would never make it. And I didn't. I'm still broken now."

Brick's face was still uncomprehending. "Why…but why? Why were you broken?"

My breathing was irregular, my heart pounded, and this time; I actually thought the words through before saying them aloud. And I realized I absolutely meant them.

"Because I needed you more than I thought I was capable of."

His eyes grew and his mouth opened to say more. I went on before he could.

"And I still need you. I need you right this very second. And I know that if you were to leave me right now, I wouldn't survive. I would never survive."

Maybe she was crazy. Or maybe she was sick, and she had a fever.

Those were the only logical explanations as to why she would ever say those things.

But maybe I was crazy too.

Because as much as I realized that her words shouldn't have made sense, hearing them was better than heaven. My heart thundered when I finally realized the chance I was so undeservingly being given.

And I grasped onto it.

Then his arms were around me, and I fell into him. His scent was better, much more heavenly than I had remembered.

He buried his face into my hair. "All I want is for you to be happy."

I pulled my face from his chest and looked him directly in the eyes. They weren't empty anymore, and they smoldered. I nearly held my breath, but I had to answer him first.

"Good, then stay with me. Because, I'm so in love with you, Brick. And even though you have the power to hurt me more than anyone else, you also make me happier than anything."

I felt something release inside of me as soon as the words left my mouth. Not only because of the power and meaning of them, but also because of the undeniable truth behind them.

It sounded truer than even the simplest truth, and I realized that maybe I'd known it all along.

He brought a hand to the left side of my face and grasped it, not softly, but not harshly either. "You love me?" His eyes incinerated and melted and penetrated into mine so mercilessly, I inhaled a small gasp.

My reply was fervent and desperate. "Yes, I love you. Okay? I love you."

Before I could comprehend what was happening, he was kissing me. His lips were on mine, capturing mine so gently, yet so longingly. I pulled myself closer to him, my hands grasping at his back. I then stood up on my toes to wrap my arms around his neck, and his arms pulled me even closer to him, lifting me off of the ground.

He pulled away slightly for a moment, only to whisper, his lips moving against mine, "I love you." His voice was saturated with so much undeniable adoration and emotion; and it sounded more beautiful than any music. And he kissed my mouth again.

I shook and trembled, and I felt his heart pounding with the same inhumanly fast pace as mine. And in that moment, I just knew.

I could try to fool myself and live my entire life without him. I could go on for the rest of my days, my numb and destroyed heart shuttering, but not fully beating. I could drag the disintegrated pieces of myself around, shoving them at different boys in hopes of them healing me.

But only Brick could put the pieces back together again.

Sure, it would take time.

It wouldn't be easy.

We would have bumps along the road, have awful fights.

I knew that sometimes he would annoy the hell out of me.

But I would go through it all willingly, as long as it was with him.

Because now, I understood. Real love was like that.

It was wonderful, incredible, all-consuming, life-changing, and sometimes it hurt like hell.

But it would be worth all of it.

His irresistible lips trailed up my cheekbone, pressed into my forehead, then down the bridge of my nose and kissed it also.

He kissed either cheek tenderly, then my lips again, and then he lifted my chin slowly with his hand as he kissed down my jaw line.

I tried to breathe evenly, but my breath hitched and my lungs shuddered.

He pulled away slowly. Once his face was level with mine again, though, I put my hands at the back of his head stubbornly and pulled his lips to mine once again. I lowered my hands, dragging my fingers through his locks, and cupped his beautiful, masculine face.

We finally pulled away, breathing heavy and labored, and then we just stood there, gazing at each other. I took every detail of his face in, re-memorizing everything.

However, the sound of sniffing and swooning from the next yard over interrupted our slight trance.

I tore my gaze from Brick- quite unwillingly, I have to add- and looked towards the source of the noise.

Sure enough, there Aimee, Bubbles, Buttercup, Victoria and Crystal all sat on Crystal's front lawn, watching us. A tissue box sat in front of Bubbles, and there wasn't one dry eye among them.

Well, except for maybe Buttercup, but I wasn't entirely sure. Her black hair covered her face, possibly with reason. She never did like crying in public.

And where they got the tissue box on such short notice, I had no clue.

Crystal, of course, was sobbing the loudest. "Oh my God! That was better than any movie!"

My jaw dropped, and I took a quick glance at Brick. His face was nothing shy of amusement. He set me down on the ground again, but his grip didn't loosen.

I tried to be angry and feel invaded and shocked all at the same time, because I knew I should have. But at a moment like that, I just couldn't.

We both burst out laughing.

#

After everyone settled down, we headed back into the house again, Brick included.

The relaxed atmosphere had disappeared, because unfortunately, everything we'd been through had set us quite behind in time. We only had one hour left.

Everyone was scrambling around the house, trying to find dresses, shoes, and an available mirror. I had to step up and work double time, applying makeup on each face as gorgeously and as quickly as I could.

And among all the insanity and craziness, I nearly forgot all about the dates.

The dates.

I was in the middle of fixing Crystal's eyeliner when I came upon this realization. I froze completely. She immediately sensed that something was wrong.

"What? What's wrong?"

I whispered, but the entire room fell quiet at Crystal's panicked question.

"Steven."

The following silence rang in my ears.

#

Everyone was finished getting ready, and we all looked stunning, but even then, I couldn't feel a sense of accomplishment.

I couldn't believe I had forgotten about Steven.

I was so caught up with Brick and I that he hadn't even crossed my mind.

I sat on the ground, my arms wrapped around my knees tightly. Bubbles sat beside me, her arms wrapped around my shoulders.

"Bloss," Her voice was gentle and consoling, but it didn't help me any. "You need to do this."

My throat tightened.

"I don't want to hurt him. He's going to hate me."

It was silent for a few moments, and then Brick sat on the other side of me. As if taking a wordless cue, Bubbles let go of me. Brick gazed into my eyes, and they were soft. But they were also slightly wounded.

"Blossom." He took my hand and planted a small kiss on it. I swallowed hard. "Don't feel like you have to do this. You don't have to."

I grasped his hand. "It's the only way I can have you."

He shook his head. "But if this is hard for you, I would rather you not do it. I'm not worth it."

I frowned at him. "Of course you're worth it. I'll always want you."

Suddenly, the doorbell sounded. I inhaled slowly and deeply and exhaled drudgingly. I squeezed Brick's hand, and he squeezed back.

Victoria slowly opened the door and invited the boys in. It was only Steven and Jack, Crystal's date, because Butch and Boomer hadn't arrived yet. I heard Steven's gentle voice thank Victoria, and then he stepped into the house. He looked very handsome, his suit white with black pinstripes, and the pink tie he wore fastened around his neck matched my dress exactly. Guilt wrenched through me.

He seemed to immediately sense the tension in the room, because he stiffened visibly. Then, his eyes found me. Found me sitting on the ground, looking upset and nervous, holding another guy's hand.

And the look on his face killed me.

He just stared at first, his eyes switching from my face, to his face, to our interlocked hands, to my face again. And then he spoke.

"…Why is he here?" His voice was strained and quiet.

My voice caught behind the lump in my throat, and I couldn't answer him. I just stared at him with wide eyes, jaw working, throat stinging, and feeling like scum.

I vaguely noticed everyone else, except for Brick; silently pile out the front door.

He only waited for a reply for a few moments, and when he got that I wasn't going to answer him, he nodded slowly and solemnly.

"I see."

I felt disgusting. I felt like some bitch that led him on and then cheated on him for no apparent reason, and I was. The hurt and emptiness in his eyes dug into me, and I felt lower than dirt.

When he turned to leave, I stood quickly and unsteadily, and the tears that brimmed my eyes began to spill onto my cheeks.

"Wait," I reached a hand out to him dumbly, knowing that he wouldn't take it. "Please wait, Steve."

He turned back to me slowly, his eyes so clouded and dark, I hardly recognized them.

"Yes?" His voice was flat.

"Please listen. I…" I couldn't look away from the empty depths of his eyes, they were like black holes. I sniffed and tried to swipe my tears away, knowing full well that I wasn't the one that deserved to be crying at that moment. "I never intended to do this to you. Ever."

He didn't answer me, and his eyes broke from mine.

"It's just that…it wouldn't be fair to you if I kept leading you on like this."

His face crumpled when I said 'leading you on'.

I spoke quicker, desperate to stop any flow of tears from him. I couldn't take it if I made him cry. "Don't get me wrong, Steve. I do love you."

He glanced up at me.

"Just not the way you love me. And I tried to. I really tried, but-" I cut my voice off, looking down at my fidgeting hands. "I…couldn't, because a while ago, I already gave myself…my whole self…to someone else."

I looked at Steven's face again, and he was eyeing Brick with an unreadable expression on his face.

I continued. "Please understand, Steve. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

He looked at me again, and his mouth formed a thin line. Then, he nodded slowly. This brewed a new, small hope inside of me. I waited a moment before I spoke again.

"Are we still friends?"

His face then became smooth, all stress lines gone. But as I watched his clouded eyes, nothing in them changed. And what he did next made my heart heavy in a whole new, different kind of way.

He shook his head. "No, Blossom, I don't believe we are."

I heard the words, but I didn't want to believe I heard them. But I should have expected them in the first place.

He looked past me to Brick and looked at him with the solemn, straight face that I didn't recognize. "Take care of her."

And then he walked out the door.

I watched and everyone else watched as his black truck backed out of the driveway, and I saw Steven through the windows. He didn't look back toward the house once as he sped away.

#

Needless to say, I wasn't much in the mood for partying, but Bubbles insisted it would make me feel better. So, I ended up going to Homecoming after all.

When we first showed up, I wasn't up to doing much. Brick was patient with me, and he stood with me while I sipped on punch. He didn't leave me once.

Even when hordes of other girls came up to ask him to dance, he denied them all. Each time, when they would ask why and eye me skeptically, he would wrap his arms around me from behind and plant a gentle kiss on my temple. After that he would glance at them, a smirk curving his lips.

"I'm no longer available."

The girls' jaws would drop, or they would scoff and roll their eyes while they stomped off in their stiletto, high-heeled shoes. Priceless.

And during most of the entire dance, Katelyn stood in a tight group with the rest of Princess's entourage and they would gawk with jealous glares at me.

Also priceless.

And I'm not going to lie; I got great enjoyment out of it. It had begun to lift my mood a little.

I tried to force Steven from my mind, but even when I would succeed, he would come back into my head within minutes.

That is, until Brick asked me if I wanted to dance. I was extremely hesitant at first.

It didn't help that practically everyone was watching us so closely already, but the current song wasn't a slow one. It was a fast paced, fast-moving kind of song. And that made me nervous.

Thoughts of that night at Electric Blue invaded my head again. Somehow, though, looking back on it now, that could have been the least of my worries.

I actually found it quite ridiculous now.

It was just dancing. It was a bit of a secret, sure, but not the monumental, change-your-life kind of secret.

So, the moment I came up with my answer, I was completely sure of it.

"Sure."

Evidently, dancing on a dance floor was more nerve-wracking then dancing by myself in my room.

I was petrified.

I stood there awkwardly in the sea of moving bodies around us, and for a moment I wanted to run off and go back to my punch corner. I glanced down at the familiar red ribbon tied around my wrist, and my fingers smoothed over the slick material.

Then, the song's beat picked up.

And my body began to move on its own.

And I didn't even realize it until I looked up at Brick's face, seeing his mixed expression of blatant surprise and astonishment. He stared down at me.

"You didn't tell me you could move like that."

I laughed, though it wasn't a real laugh, it was more of a nervous laugh. I was a little self-conscious that he was watching at me so intensely. But it didn't hinder my movements. "I didn't think you would care."

He shook his head, chuckling to himself.

Then, I got a tap on my shoulder. I turned to find Bubbles right behind me, but she wasn't with who I expected.

"Buttercup!" Genuine excitement was in my voice. "You're here?"

Sure enough, she was, and in a complete Homecoming outfit too. She wore a strapless black, lacy dress with a corset as the bodice, and black, ankle-length, leather boots were on her feet. She wore a deep green, cropped leather biker jacket over the dress. Black eye makeup was smeared on her eyes, the same amount as usual, and her hair was usual too.

She smiled at me, and it was a lot brighter than I would expect from Buttercup. "Yeah. I'm here."

I gave her an eager and quick hug, dancing bodies jostling into either of us. But, neither of us really cared. "How? I thought Butch didn't ask you?"

She shook her head. "He didn't, but then he showed up at our house, really late, going, 'Why aren't you ready?' And it turned out that he thought we could just show up, and he didn't buy tickets." She rolled her eyes.

Brick came up closer behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "I believe every word of that."

She chuckled slightly and gave Brick a hesitant, polite smile. Brick told me about their 'confrontation', and now I could tell it would take her quite a while to trust him. I didn't blame her. "Yeah, but you know." She shrugged nonchalantly. "We just snuck in."

Normally I would have scolded her for doing such a thing, but I didn't feel like it then. I just wanted to enjoy the moment.

Brick shook his head. "I'm pretty sure I even reminded him to buy the tickets."

Buttercup scoffed then, glancing to wherever Butch was. "He's such an idiot." But her gaze was lingering, and her face softened.

Soon after that, Brick went to talk to his brothers by the punch table, where Butch was trying to chug the punch straight from the bowl. My sisters and I danced together, and after a few songs, my sisters stared at me the exact way Brick had.

I stopped for a second, feeling slightly self conscious again. I watched them with wide eyes. "…What?"

My sisters exchanged a quick glance.

"Blossom!" Bubbles' voice was bewildered. She looked at me again, and she seemed kind of stunned. "How did you learn to dance like that?"

"Yeah, man." Buttercup nodded quickly. She looked at me like I had just won a national dance competition. "You're so good!"

I stopped to realize their words for a moment. I couldn't believe it. "Really?"

"Totally! You need to teach me how to dance like that." The way Bubbles said it, it didn't seem like a 'just to be nice' lie. She seemed truthful.

And happiness filled me.

My fears of ever being too weird, too out of the ordinary, and too apart from what people expected me to be were all wiped away. I didn't care anymore.

Because I knew that the people that meant most in my life would accept me anyway.

The rest of the night, Brick didn't leave my side once, and that night turned out to be much more amazing than I would have thought it would be. Not only was it because I had the best time with my friends and family around me, but I came to a realization that I would have never come to if I hadn't gone with them.

I felt like myself again.

#

After the dance, Professor returned from his business trip. He asked us how Homecoming went, and pretty much all we said was, "Fine."

And, "Fun!"

And, "Awesome!"

He seemed like he was under the impression that he didn't think we were telling him the whole truth, but we didn't elaborate further than that. We decided we would tell him the need-to-know things later on.

Then, that night, Brick snuck into my bedroom window.

Even with all of the time we'd spent together that day, it didn't feel like it was enough. I felt like even if I could spend the rest of eternity with him, it wouldn't be enough.

We talked about everything we could, trying our best to make up for lost time. He held me, and our lips touched every chance we got.

I watched his every move, marveled at them, and wondered to myself how I ever thought I could live without him.

And at one point, we fell asleep on my bed. I didn't remember what time we had fallen asleep or late into the night we stayed past, but I knew that even if I'd known, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that I was with him.

And I awoke early the next morning, and I wasn't sure what woke me. I just felt the sudden need to get up.

The moment I sat up though, I suddenly felt a twinge of panic and dread. I quickly looked to the bed again, my heart throbbing at even the smallest thought of him being gone again.

But he was still there.

I relaxed in relief, but only for a moment. I found myself transfixed on his sleeping figure.

His face, gentle and peaceful with sleep, was bathed in the orange, early morning sunlight. His hair gleamed in the light as well. It was almost comical to see such a strong-looking ex-villain sleeping on my fluffy pink comforter. I smiled to myself and reached a hand toward him to smooth the hair out of his face. Feather light, so that I wouldn't wake him up.

Something about this morning was just incredible.

The moment I was awake, I felt completely different. Everything was clearer. The sunlight that pierced through the window was brighter. Some breed of bird chirped on the other side of my closed window, and it sounded clearer than it normally would have.

It felt like I had gone somewhere for a long time. I felt that strange, kind of familiar sense of things, but it still felt a bit alien.

I got up from the bed and walked to the window, opening it as quietly as I could. A cool breeze blew past my face, and I sighed. The magenta-orange sunrise greeted my eyes, and I squinted at first. But then I watched it in peaceful wonder.

Even though things felt different, they felt right. Like things were how they were supposed to be.

And even though I knew things between Steven and I would never be the same again, I knew one day, I'd somehow be able to accept it.

A warmness rose inside of me, and I wanted to grasp it and hold it inside of me forever. I wanted it to last.

I wanted everything to last for as long as they were able.

But most of all, I needed to know what was going to happen. Because I knew that things couldn't stay the exact same, absolutely perfect way they were now.

But even if they changed, these days would be with me.

I would cherish them in my healing heart and keep them with me until my final days ran dry.

"Our soulmate is the one who makes life come to life."

-Richard Bach

The End

Sequel? :)