Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club. Never will. I've finally come to terms with it.

Yeah, I'll warn you: non-canon pairing coming up. If you haven't noticed that already, I'm telling you now.

Well, for those of you who will still read it, I didn't bring in all the characters, though they were mentioned. It was just a lot more tedious than it should have been, and I made this in first person.

Hope you enjoy. I'm going out on a limb here. Lol.

"Here you are, and you're a hundred thousand miles away." –Barenaked Ladies

Bloom POV

The sound of a door opening and closing was distant. It was the usual time for the rest of the family to return home, so it was nothing new. However, the next noise that was made was louder, and it was a door being thrown open. Since there was no stopper, it slammed against the wall, causing me to wince as my gaze shot up from the books in front of me. My eyes widened as my heart started racing at the sight of the boy in front of me.

His body was mostly muscular, but the muscles were lean enough to balance it all out and keep him from looking like a body-builder. His brown hair was cropped short in the back but had long bangs that favored the right side of his face, almost covering up his right eye, which was a shame because his chocolate brown eyes were usually shining and friendly. Like they were right now. His sharp features on his face were softened by the grin that curved his lips, and he looked happier than I'd ever seen him.

Which made sense to me as I glanced at the clock. Since he was here, it was obvious his date had gone well; otherwise, he would've been at home with his weights as he ridded himself of his stress in his quirky way.

Now that I knew why he was here, pain shot through me, but I smiled none-the-less. "Good night?" I teased, and I almost immediately regretted saying it because of how weak it was. He always knew how I was feeling when I spoke like that.

He wasn't glowing anymore, and his brows furrowed as he examined me. "What's wrong?" He sat down on the bed next to me, and I sighed, shaking my head.

"Nothing. I'm just sick of all this homework," I answered. I smiled at him again, hoping he would take that excuse.

"Didn't you have a date tonight?" the brunette asked instead, and I blinked. To be honest, I was shocked he'd remembered.

"The one with Andy?" I queried. He nodded. "Yeah, that didn't go so well. I cut out early with a lame excuse because he sat there most of the date and wrote in that notepad of his. You know, the one with the staffs?"

"He didn't," the male at the end of the bed groaned, sighing heavily. "What the hell's wrong with him?"

I laughed, shrugging. "It's not that big a deal. I know how much that means to him. He's trying to get a scholarship to go to that rigorous music school; it's really important, like a lawyer's Harvard." He didn't respond, scowling. "Brandon, really, I'm not under the impression Andy and I are going to end up married or anything." I rolled my eyes, just thinking about it. "Now, tell me all about your date."

His expression changed immediately, his eyes glazing over and a goofy smile spreading his lips. It was an expression I'd never seen on him before, and though I was glad he'd had such a good night, I couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed.

"It was great. I mean... Stella's amazing. She was gorgeous, and she didn't pretend to like anything, even if she hated it. She let me know immediately, and it was so new to me. I've never had a girl let me know just what she liked before; it was a relief, too, because I was so wanting to get out of that place. Last time I take Sky's advice on a romantic restaurant."

I burst out laughing, and Brandon's face changed back into his cute smile I knew so well. "And what is so funny?" he inquired, his brown eyes glinting.

"That you took Sky's advice, instead of asking me. I would've told you Stell's favorite restaurant, Brandon," I answered, shaking my head at him. "But of all people, you asked Sky." The idea was so funny I couldn't help but start laughing again.

Brandon feigned being hurt as he put a hand over his heart. "I can't believe you're laughing at me. I had no one else to ask, and I didn't want her to think I had to get her friend to tell me all this information about her."

Here I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Brandon, she would've loved having you come to me. It shows you're wanting to go out of your way to make it perfect for her. It's a gesture I wished Andy would make every once in a while, actually," I muttered, pushing my hair back from my face.

"Doesn't Andy know your favorite restaurant?" he asked, smirking.

"Bran, Andy doesn't even know my favorite food. He thinks it's tofu-burgers," I retorted.

Brandon frowned. "Then why the hell are you his girlfriend?"

I shook my head, knowing he wouldn't understand. "That's one question I can't answer."

He wasn't happy with that answer, but as he opened his mouth to say something else – he more than likely wanted to remonstrate me – there was another addition to our duo.

I looked up as I saw someone enter my room from my peripheral vision, and I choked back laughs at the sight of the blonde. He was cute in a pretty boy way; his hair was longer than the average boy's, hanging just above his shoulders, and his blue eyes were the most amazing shade of blue that either got lighter or darker depending on his mood. Right this moment they were fairly dark, but not as dark as I'd seen them. The only thing I knew was that he was angry.

"Uh-oh. Looks like someone else had as bad a night as I did," I commented, and the blonde scowled at me. "Hey, don't look at me like that. My night wasn't great, either." His mood didn't change, but he didn't shoot me another dark look, so I patted the other side of my bed, and he immediately joined Brandon and me. "So, what happened, Sky?"

"Everything," Sky replied, his expression stony. "It was horrible from the start; she was the sporty type and insisted on doing everything herself. She snapped at me when I held a door open for her, tried to push her chair in, offered to walk her up to her door..."

I winced. "Ouch. Sounds like a feminist."

"She was," he muttered darkly. "She made that bit obvious over dinner, but I can't help how I am. Those manners have been ingrained on me since I was little."

"Huh. Well, at least your date didn't ignore you."

Sky's eyes widened in surprise. "Andy ignored you? What the hell's wrong with him?"

Brandon gave me a look that I ignored, crossing my arms over my chest. "Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Everyone?" Sky blinked in confusion.

"Yeah, you, Bran, Helia, Tec, Riv, and Muse," I named off. "You all asked the same question." Brandon looked pointedly at me. "What?"

"You're really asking us 'why'?" the brunette repeated.

"Yes!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, my God," Sky sighed, looking like he wanted to strangle me for being so oblivious. "You have no idea what you do to guys, do you?"

I didn't answer him because it was definitely the weirdest question Sky had ever asked me. They seemed to be waiting for a response, though, so I gave them the only one I could, "... What?"

"Look... I'm not able to put this delicately, but you're my friend, and you deserve to know, so I'm going to say this bluntly." Sky then felt the need to add, "And don't slap me." He then took a deep breath and plowed on, "Your body practically screams sex. The way you walk, the way you look up at guys, how you smile so slowly... You're an enticing woman, and men notice you."

If he hadn't told me not to slap him, I would've—well, actually my hand still jerked because I wanted to slap him, but Brandon had known it would happen and had been ready to grab both my wrists to stop me from doing it.

"Hey, you asked for an explanation," Brandon reminded me.

"I would've appreciated one worded a lot more nicely!" I snapped, my narrowed eyes shifting to the brunette.

"At least it's truthful. And he did tell you he couldn't put it delicately. Believe me, if it had been me explaining, you would've tried to strangle me," Brandon replied calmly, refusing to relent under my furious gaze. "You can stop trying to shoot fire out of your eyes; it's not going to work."

I hated myself for smiling; I hated him for making it so hard not to. If it had been Sky, I never would've succumbed so easily.

As it were, the blonde sighed, "I really wish you'd tell me how to do that. I would've been on the run if you weren't here."

Brandon pretended to preen and answered smugly, "I just have that affect on girls."

I snorted and chucked a pillow at his face, causing Sky to grin. "Yes, Bran, you're just so charming," I replied sarcastically.

The only problem was that, to me, he was.

I breathed in the fresh air welcomingly, tilting my head back to let the sun's heat caress my face. After so long for studying for spring semester college exams, it was great to finally have them over and to have the summer off. Being outside during the day was a bonus, too, since I'd been mostly studying.

It hadn't been long after my final exam that I was sought out by Brandon, who wanted our whole group to go to the park and get some much-needed sunshine. Our whole group was basically four couples, and then Sky and me. It was really odd since most of the group hinted that the two of us needed to get together, but we'd tried it a little over a year ago, and it just hadn't worked. Most of that probably had to do with the fact that Sky and I just weren't attracted to each other. Sure, we'd flirt a little, but it was all friendly; there was no real physical awareness between us. So we just stuck to being friends, and the extra wheels to the group.

Which was why I was sitting alone in a chair a good ways away from the happy couples. Sky had been with me, but now he was walking around a couple of yards away, talking heatedly to the other person on the receiving end of his cell phone. I'd picked up bits and pieces when his voice had gotten louder, so I knew he was talking to one of his parents. The best bet was his father since he never rose his voice to his mother, though all of his friends wanted to kill her. Even me, though she actually liked me, which was saying something.

Samera didn't like anyone Sky was friends with, never had, so it had definitely been a surprise to me when she'd invited me out with her one weekend for some "Girl Time." Sky had fretted over it the whole time we were gone, calling me and sending me messages, none of which I answered since I hadn't wanted to anger Samera. We'd actually had a really nice weekend, cutting up and just being girly, which was something I didn't get to do often, as my two best friends were boys. It had been great until she finally revealed her true reasoning for taking me out: Sky. When she'd brought it up, I had thought she wanted the scoop on all he'd been doing at college, so I was ready to tell her firmly that I wasn't going to talk about him when she started to ask me personal questions about him, particularly how I felt toward him.

Needless to say, that had been the most awkward moment of my life because I hadn't known what she was wanting from me. When I had assured her the only intentions I had with her only son were friendly ones, she'd actually seemed slightly disappointed, but she didn't press the situation, and she'd never brought the topic up again.

But that one weekend couldn't eradicate all the irritation I'd felt toward her from all the hell she'd put one of my best friends through, and she'd had some bad times where Brandon and I had actually plotted out her death, though any plans made were verbally or burned to keep from getting into trouble. We didn't really want her dead, but it made us feel better to vent; she knew just what to do to piss people off, and she did it quite often.

Sky's dad, however, was a different story. He was just a fat, unhappy man in a marriage he couldn't be in control of, and he usually got the brunt of all the blame, even if it was his wife's fault. I actually felt bad for Erendor because he just took it all in stride and never even tried to get the truth out there. He let his temper get out of hand only rarely, but it usually happened when Sky was being difficult, like he was right now. That poor old man.

"Eww!" The loud squeal from Stella brought me from my thoughts, and I turned my head to look at all the couples. The blonde girl had jumped up and was running toward me, her eyes clenched shut. "Eww, eww, eww!" she repeated, shuddering.

"Stell, what is it?" I sighed, moving to stand.

Her mouth trembled, but she didn't answer me. Shaking my head, I headed to the group all seated around each other, knowing I'd have to investigate to get an answer. Most of them were laughing, though the brunette girl in our group refused to as she crossed her arms, frowning at Brandon. "Brandon, you should know not to do that. It's no mystery she's afraid of them."

"I should've known," I muttered sarcastically, and seven heads turned to look at me. "What'd you do this time, Bran? Flora only gives the death glare when it's bad."

The brunette boy sighed, standing up. "I didn't do anything but pick this up and show it to her," he answered innocently, holding out his right hand, which was curled into a slight fist.

I grew wary for a moment but continued, "And what is it?"

Brandon's grin warned me before he moved closer to me and slowly opened his hand. "It's just this little thing."

I yelped and screwed my eyes shut as I backed away quickly, putting my hands up. "Bran, that was so not fair! Put it down!"

"It's harmless," the boy protested, heaving a sigh. I slowly opened one eye, daring to peek at him, only to find he'd moved toward me with his outstretched hand.

"I don't care! It's gross, and it has all those legs and..." I shuddered, unable to finish that sentence. "Just set it down, Brandon!"

"Fine."

I should've known he would find a "loophole."

The next thing I knew my hand was grabbed, and the spider Brandon had been holding was deposited on my hand. "There you go. I put it down."

Shuddering again, I immediately crouched down and pushed the spider in the grass. I then glared at him and stalked back over to my chair I'd set up away from them.

"Aw, come on, don't be angry about a spider," Brandon whined, but I chose to ignore him.

"The spider's gone, Stell," I announced, sitting back down.

"Thank you," the blonde girl sighed in relief, heading back over to the group.

I glanced at Sky, who was still arguing with his father, and pulled out my iPod from my pocket. Plugging the earphones in, I set it on shuffle and stretched my legs out, getting comfortable in the chair and leaning my head back with my eyes closed. I was exhausted, and I knew I wouldn't get any type of rest with my friends creating a ruckus.

I didn't remember falling asleep, but I was being shaken awake less than a second later, and I blinked sleepily, trying to clear my vision. The first thing I saw was a pair of chocolate brown eyes glinting merrily, and my breathing became a bit difficult. I pulled my headphones from my ears, and muttered a sleepy, "Mng...what?"

"Good evening, sleeping beauty," he teased, and my blush had nothing to do with embarrassment. "Stella, Sky, and I are going to get dinner, Sky's treat. He's even driving. You wanna come?"

I answered the only way I could, "Do I ever decline a free meal, plus a chauffeur?"

Brandon grinned, moving back and holding his hand out to help me out of the chair. "I didn't think you would."

He knew just how disoriented I was when I'd just woken up, so I was thankful for the opportunity not to trip all over myself getting out of the chair, grasping onto his hand. He helped steady me, his free hand on my waist, and I became disoriented for a whole different reason. I cleared my throat and looked up at him. "I'm good."

"You sure?"

I nodded, and his hand released my waist. I then relaxed my grip on his hand, allowing him to pull free. I turned to start folding up the chair, but he waved me off, doing it for me. I scowled momentarily. "I could've done that."

Brandon laughed, tapping me underneath the chin. "Yeah, and you would've knocked yourself out and injured me in the process. And then we would be nowhere," he retorted lightly, winking.

I couldn't help the smile that responded in turn to his teasing. I wanted to continue scowling at him; my mind told me to continue scowling at him, to deny his statement. But my body refused as I walked alongside him.

After he put the chair in the trunk of his car, he looked over at me, smiling knowingly. "Don't start pouting on me because I wouldn't let you carry a chair."

My face flushed, and I retorted, "I am not pouting!"

"Right. You're sulking. There's a difference," he agreed, smirking.

I glared at him and opened my mouth to respond; there was no telling how long we would've continued arguing if Stella hadn't cut me off. "Brandon, Bloom, stop fighting and come on," she demanded.

Brandon snickered and took off to his girlfriend's side, his arm circling around her waist as he brushed a kiss against her cheek. She pushed him away but smiled slyly and headed to Sky's car.

I headed after them, moving around to the opposite side in time to see Stella climbing in the front of the car, which wasn't a surprise. She wasn't a fan of sitting in the back seat, even though that's where her boyfriend sat. She claimed she got tossed around too much because of the way the seats were situated, and no one had the heart to object.

I didn't care where I sat, to be entirely honest, but it didn't hurt that Brandon was in the back with me. Of course, the more I watched him, the more I realized it didn't matter where he was. He was always going to be unreachable.

And I was always going to sit back and watch because nothing made me happier than him being happy.

-Sighs.- Finally, I got this one out. I've been sitting on this for a while. I wanted to write something one-sided, but I never could get the storyline down, nor could I figure out who I wanted it to be. Then I stumbled on some stories where people had all the guys pining after Bloom (which bugged the hell out of me, I'll admit; sorry if one of you is reading this). And I've had a want for a BloomBrandon story... and well, this is what came of it. I don't know if it will attract anyone, but I don't care.

I'm debating on making this a story (a short one), but I don't know. Let me know if you want it? I took up only a couple of hours the past two days doing this, so the chapters are coming a lot easier than anything in Winxspray, which I literally take a whole week writing on.

So, tell me your opinions. ^-^

No flames on the coupling, though. This is a strict non-canon story idea, and if you don't like it, sorry.