Summary: When Boomer told her they'd go on the 'best ride' for their first date, Bubbles expected more than this. However, the thing that usually happens when you realize someone is more frightened than you are… happened. Boomer/Bubbles

A/N: Consider this an apologetic story. I won't be writing many stories in a while. I might quit fanfiction, but not completely. Anyhow, I'll satisfy myself with oneshots for now.

In the Elevator by Sinshana

The blonde stood before the mirror and examined the condition of her pigtails. She turned a bit to the side, then gave herself a satisfactory sigh and fell back against her rainbow-colored beanbag chair, only to shoot her head up and check herself out again. She then stood up slowly and smoothed her blue checkered skirt for the billionth time. She adjusted her tucked in blouse looked down at her socks.

Her cuffs, skirt hem, sock band and blouse hem all had laces on them. Her pigtails were also curled and tied with silky blue ribbons for the special occasion. She wanted a super special outfit that was casual and outstanding at the same time.

"Bubs, I think you're being paranoid," her green sister commented as she played Tetris on her game boy. "On my first date, I didn't even take a bath." She eyed her sister. "Whereas you took four baths."

Bubbles turned and faced her older sister with a pout. "Well—it was Mitch you had your date with, and he didn't take a bath for a week!"

"Yeah, he got splattered in mud before the date, too."

"Oh, leave her alone, Buttercup," the redhead who had suddenly entered the room scolded. "When I went on my first date, I didn't like him very much, but I brushed my hair many times—"

"Fifteen thousand times," Buttercup interjected with a mocking tone in her voice.

Blossom blushed slightly and muttered inwardly, "Twenty thousand."

"Humph!" Buttercup huffed. "Who were you dating that time, anyway? Dorkster?"

"Dexter."

"Well, this is Boomer we're talking about," Bubbles said suddenly, speaking for the first time since her oldest sister entered the room. "He's my counterpart, and even though he's dumb at times, he'd be really clean for the date, won't he? Then he should expect me to be the same way…" However, despite what she said, she hoped from the bottom of her heart that Boomer wouldn't be a dork on this date. She looked away so her sisters wouldn't see the uncertain look on her face.

Apparently, she did a good job hiding. Blossom grinned. "Smart thinking, Bubbles."

--

Not smart enough, however. When Bubbles clutched her blue Pearl purse at the meeting place, parking lot of a mall, she had to wait for quite a few minutes before Boomer came running up in clothes that clearly weren't ironed.

Well, it doesn't seem that the Ruffs have an iron anyway, she thought to herself as her date panted, hands on his knees. He straightened himself uneasily, giving Bubbles the chance to examine his outfit. He had dark pants on, a bit long at the ends, causing him to fold them up a bit. He wore a blue checkered button-up polo shirt over a white tee and on his feet wore white sneakers that he had clearly been running in.

Nike, thought Bubbles fondly as she took in his style. Hmm, not bad. Not bad at all.

"Hope you weren't waiting too long," he panted.

She grinned radiantly at him. "Nope. Not at all."

Boomer blushed at the warm expression on her face. His blue eyes ate her figure up and down, finally reaching her slender legs, where his gaze settled. He didn't know if the skirt was short or if her legs were long, so he made up his mind that it was both.

"Boomer?"

His head shot up, hopeful that she hadn't seen what he was doing. "Uh… yeah?"

"Shall we go?"

A smile grew on his face. "Yeah," he said, excited suddenly. "I promise you, we're going to get on the best ride on this date! You're gonna love it!" He held his elbow out to her, waiting for her to chain her arm with his. But she gave it a wary glance before grinning and doing so. She much preferred it if they held hands, but it was a start.

"I hope it isn't too exciting, like a roller coaster," she told him as they walked arm-in-arm in the mall. "They make me, uh, uneasy." Why did she have to add in that second sentence? She nearly said 'throw up'!

"Oh, no way," replied Boomer. "They make me barf."

Well, he said it. She grinned at him, not minding the crudeness of the word, because she felt the same way. The walked silently for a while, Bubbles looking at her counterpart every once in a while to blush and look away. Finally, she broke the silence. "So, what is it?"

"You'll see," he told her before crying, "Here we are!"

Bubbles looked up and her mouth dropped. It was what Boomer was grinning at, being so excited for. It was an elevator. A freaking elevator. This was his definition of 'the best ride'?

But a ray of hope suddenly dawned upon Bubbles. Rides were usually under the mall, but what if he was using the elevator to get there? That was it! She knew Boomer wouldn't be a dork this time!

She hoped…

Boomer grabbed her hand and Bubbles flushed. Yes! This was it! This was heaven! He tugged at it and they made their way to the front of the small crowd gathered at the entrance of the descending elevator. Finally the silver doors opened, and Boomer gave the crowd a glare so that only he and Bubbles were inside.

"So how is it?" he asked her, leaning against the rail in the elevator.

"H-huh?" she stuttered. Please don't let this be the ride, she prayed.

He looked slightly surprised. "The ride, this ride," he said. "How is it?"

There was a silence, Bubbles staring dumbstruck at first, and then slowly moved her gaze onto her knees. "B-Bubbles?" he started to say, but a voice in the back of his head spoke: She doesn't like this ride. She thinks it's dorky, Boomer. She must think you're dorky. You messed up.

Horrified, he looked at his counterpart in the corner with a hollow-eyed look on his face. How could he have managed to disappoint such a pretty girl? And on his first date, too. There was a big lump in his throat, and he struggled to swallow it down. "B-Bubbles," he finally managed to croak. "I'm—"

His apology was cut off when the elevator screeched to a halt and the lights flickered off. Bubbles gave a squeak simultaneous with the sudden event. "What's happening?" she cried.

"T-there must've been a blackout," he said in a quaky voice, more to himself than to his companion.

"O-oh." She looked around a bit in the darkness, deciding what to do. Finally, she yanked a handkerchief from her skirt pocket and spread it on the floor. The shuffle of movement seemed to awaken Boomer from his trance. He fumbled clumsily around and finally took out a small flashlight. It wasn't very much, but at least he could see Bubbles now.

Slowly, he sat in the corner.

"Hey," Bubbles called his attention and patted the space on her hanky. "It's dirty if you just sit there. You can sit next to me."

The latter hesitated before slowly making his way over to her. There was a silence. Bubbles thought that they're contact would rise sparks like they usually did in romance movies, but the cold and dark surroundings were slowly enveloping them. Bubbles hugged her knees. This was definitely not what she was expecting.

The softest of soft whimpers caught her attention, and she moved her head in the direction of her companion. She saw a surprising sight. She always knew a majority of boys were braver than girls, but here was one, sitting like it was the end of the world. She realized, right here and then, that he was scared. Scared of the dark. And once more, more frightened than she was.

Now, most girls would drop boys who were 'wimpy'. But Bubbles wasn't like that. She understood how it was to be scared, and always wanted to be in a situation wherein she had to do the comforting. Now was the time.

She looked at him with eyes filled with concern and astonishment. His innocent eyes, his quivering lip; both showed signs of fear.

"It's okay."

"Huh?" he looked at her, eyes now filled with curiosity. She took his hand and he blushed. She held it close to her face and inched towards him.

"It's all right. I'm here."

Not long after those words left her mouth, a rumbling movement in the elevator prevented her from doing anything else. It shook them back and forth, banging their blond heads against the walls of the elevator. Finally the rumbling stopped, and the two of them collected themselves and slowly inched back closer together.

"What was that?"

It seemed that even when only few words left the mouth of one of them, their surroundings would lurch. This time, the elevator fell, and Bubbles could feel her stomach reaching for the sky. Her blouse flapped in and out, but this time, she held tightly on to her counterpart, screaming for dear life.

When it finally stopped, the two did not move for several seconds, their eyes squeezed shut. Finally, they opened, and looked at each other.

They were in an awkward position, them facing each other, Bubbles sitting with her legs on either side of her date's hips. His hands were on her waist, which was bare against his hands. Neither spoke, for fear that the sudden movement in their surroundings would start again. But as Bubbles looked at Boomer, it seemed to her that she didn't care. She leaned forward, her eyes suddenly closing, and he followed suit.

They fell back, Bubbles on top, their lips crushing passionately together, and Bubbles felt that they were swooping down again, but she couldn't make up her mind for if it were real or if it was just the illusion caused by what she was feeling just then.

It was a great feeling, almost like a ride she wanted to ride over and over again…

--

"You two okay in here?!"

"Ah!" blushing a deep shade of scarlet, she tore her lips off of Boomer's, which made a sound close to a plug being sucked out of the sink. She looked up at the man standing before them at the entrance of the elevator. It didn't look like he'd seen them, but there was a peculiar look on his face. What was he looking at?

Bubbles slowly followed his gaze and her jaw dropped at the sight of the boy she was sitting on top of. He had a dazed, love struck look on his face. His blue eyes lolled dully and a goofy grin was plastered over his mouth. She jumped off of him at once.

"Ah—I'm sorry Boomer," she lowered her voice and pulled him up. He lost his balance and she caught him. She turned back to the men. "Thank you for saving us," she said, not completely meaning it. She then walked out of the mall with the limping Boomer and finally exited. She pulled him into a corner where no one could easily see them and stabled him against the brick wall, holding him by the shoulders.

"Boomer… Boomer!"

Finally he was able to stop mumbling incomprehensibly and gave her an unsteady yet somber gaze. "I'm sorry," he croaked, still moving like a drunken man.

"Are you kidding?" she cried. "That was the best date I ever had!" she crushed her face with his for another kiss.

That really was the best ride.