Brick couldn't be any less interested in the show being put on before them. A number of naked girls danced on the stage in a raunchy manner. Butch was drooling, of course, despite the fact that he was engaged. Boomer, however, held his head in his hands, sobbing and whining about how Bubbles would never forgive him for what they were doing.
"Dude…" Butch sighed without taking an eye off the strippers. "It's your fucking bachelor party. She would understand. This is your last night as a free man anyway, Bro. Besides, her and the girls are probably doing the same thing."
This did nothing to relax Boomer, it only sent him further into his hysterics. Brick rolled his eyes vehemently as Boomer's paper crown was flung off his freshly trimmed blonde hair by his violent sobbing. As much as he hated to admit it, Brick was in the same boat as Boomer. He did not want to be here. He wanted to enjoy the show being put on, except he couldn't.
Three years and he still couldn't get her off his mind. Three fucking years. It made him sick to his stomach. Tomorrow he would have to see her for the first time since they broke up. Would she try to talk to him? What would he say if she did? For the past three years he had wanted nothing more than to speak with her, even if just for a moment, but now as the moment he had been wishing for was finally approaching, he shied away at the thought of it. He had come to the decision to not speak to her. He just wanted to get over her.
Brick stood up from his seat, ignoring the intrigued gaze from one of the dancers, and strolled over to the bar. He ordered a shot and downed it immediately. He ordered another, and another, and another. Before he knew it, a half hour passed and the room was spinning.
"Thaaat'll do," he slurred to the bartender and ran a hand through his hair. He felt a hand slap his shoulder.
"Time to go," Mitch laughed and Brick lolled his head around to look at him. Mitch glanced at the empty shot glasses the bartender was clearing. "Woah, how much did you drink?"
"Nooot that much, I s'pose…" Brick practically fell out of the stool and stumbled a few feet.
Mitch cackled at him and led him out of the stripclub. The groom and groomsmen were outside waiting for them. Boomer had seemed to relax now that he had escaped, but still adorned a guilty look on his face. Butch was lecturing him about something, Brick was too far away to hear, but he knew that the words exiting his mouth were most definitely stupid ones.
"...do you see me feeling guilty?" He heard Butch say when he came within earshot of their conversation. "I'm fucking engaged to Buttercup, and fuck if I'm going to waste all the time I have before committing to her!"
Brick felt anger rise within him. Trust Butch to not give a shit about his relationship. Brick zipped towards Butch and tackled him to the ground. Brick slammed a fist into Butch's jaw. "Be grrrateful for what you 'ave, asshole."
"What the fuck, Bro!" Butch grunted while he dodged Brick's sloppy punts. "Get off!"
Brick felt Boomer lift him off Butch and restrain him. He struggled against Boomer's grip. The Rowdyruff Boys were naturally violent drunks, but Brick was by far the worst. He was embarrassed of himself; he was the eldest and was always the most mature, and now here he was, a drunken mess trying to fight his little brothers for no reason.
"I swear, if I have a bruised jaw at the wedding tomorrow..." Butch grumbled as he brushed the dirt off his jeans. Brick grunted in response and shoved Boomer off him. He stumbled off away from them and shot off into the sky.
Flying drunk probably wasn't the best idea, but he was desperate to get home and go to sleep. He was dreading the next day, even if it was the happiest day of his little brother's life. Brick was surprised that Boomer was the first to get married. He always thought that it would be Blossom and him first, but that dream died years ago. It was no secret to everyone else that Brick was still pining over her, as hard as he tried to hide his feelings. His brothers had tried setting him up with girls numerous times and Brick had tried to move on, but he couldn't.
It made him angry. Brick was better than that, he knew it. Getting hung up over a girl, how pathetic could he get? Then again it wasn't just any girl, it was Blossom. She had probably forgotten all about him and was living it up with some sort of Adonis or something.
Brick eventually found his way back to his apartment. Instead of taking the elevator up, he decided to fly though what his drunken ass thought was an open window. He slammed into the glass like a bird would. The fuck is wrong with me? He thought. He was angry again. He threw his fist through the glass, smashed the window, and flew into his apartment. He stared carelessly at the broken glass on the carpet. That looked like tomorrow's problem. He stumbled drunkenly through his apartment, but not before puking up the contents of his stomach all over the floor. That was another problem for tomorrow.
He managed to walk six steps before he passed out for the night right there on the floor.
xXxXx
Blossom could feel his red eyes on her. Here his brother and her sister were, exchanging their vows, and Brick decided to stare at her instead of the ceremony. She felt her heart pounding hard in her chest. She wanted to give him a glance of warning, but she didn't want to make eye contact with him.
He was only several feet away. They hadn't been this close for three years. How had they avoided each other for that long? Yes, their breakup had been messy and yes, she had declared her hatred for him over and over after it had happened, but she didn't actually think they would be separated forever. She thought that they would somehow fall back into being friendly with each other.
She had been the one to break it off. Brick was absolutely heartbroken. She was too, obviously, but in those last few weeks, she had believed he didn't care. When she saw tears come out of his eyes, she had felt a large pang of guilt and even regret. But nonetheless, she left and they hadn't spoke since.
Now as he stood there staring at her, she felt the same emotions she had felt after the breakup come washing over her. She chastised herself as she remembered that if they hadn't broken up, she wouldn't have met her incredible fiancé, Ryan. She was happy with her life now, so she let go of her nostalgia. She let him watch her as she watched the ceremony with a warm smile on her face.
xXxXx
Brick only half-listened to Butch's best man speech. The crowd was in raucous laughter , but Brick could only give a half-assed smile at his jokes about Boomer. He tuned out mindlessly for a moment until his attention was ruthlessly grabbed by the mention of his and Blossom's names in the same sentence. He was telling a story about high school. Brick felt his face heat up. Why would he bring that up? He knows how sensitive he is about that topic. It was about the time they had defeated Mojo Jojo for good and how Bubbles and Boomer had made out afterwards...and how Blossom and Brick had shared their first kiss that night.
Butch smirked at him for a quick second and continued speaking. Brick growled and snuck a quick glimpse at Blossom. She was staring at her lap with a….smile on her face? Brick blushed even harder and looked away. He pulled his glass of champagne to his lips and downed it in one go. This was going to be one fucking long reception.
Butch wrapped up his speech and the guests applauded fervently. Brick only gave a small, spiritless clap. Blossom, who was the maid of honour, was up next. He filled his glass up with more champagne in preparation.
She walked up to the microphone with poise. Brick had noted during the ceremony how beautiful and elegant she looked. Her copper hair was styled in an updo, which must have taken a fucking long time considering how much hair she had. The dress looked a lot better on her than it did on Buttercup, Robin, or Julie, he'd noticed; however, that was just his biased opinion. Something he hadn't noticed earlier did catch his eye now. On her left ring finger sat a diamond ring that glimmered in the light.
Brick felt his heart drop to the bottom of his chest and he went numb. So she had moved on... seriously moved on. He had entertained the thought many times and barely batted an eye at it. Now that it was reality, he couldn't stand it. She started her speech and he downed the glass he had poured himself. As upset as he was, he listened. Not that he was interested in what she had to say about Bubbles, but because he wanted to listen to her voice. He mentally scolded himself, so much for getting over her.
She read off her palm cards naturally. It was so her to be so prepared. Butch, on the other hand, had completely winged his speech. She avoided telling any stories that involved Brick and he was glad. He would hate her mentioning his name. Or would you? A voice in his head snuck in. He shook off the thought and drank another glass of champagne.
He watched her intently as she spoke in her usual fashion; strong and concise. He smiled as he remembered the way she used to lead their team. He hadn't noticed the way he was staring at her until her eyes met his. He dropped his smile and averted his gaze to his drink and he heard her stumble on her words. She quickly apologised and continued. Did Blossom just get distracted from her speech because of him? It was so unlike her to screw up like that. He smirked at how reminiscent it was of when they were together.
xXxXx
"This will be us soon," Ryan smiled at Blossom as she watched Boomer and Bubbles dance.
"I can't wait," She grinned and kissed him on the cheek. She had lied. She could definitely wait. She loved her fiancé, she really did, but she felt...wrong about it. She had told herself repeatedly that it was just nerves, but now she wasn't so sure.
She peered over at the bar where her ex had been brooding for the past hour and a half. He still sat there, hunched over. Her heart ached for him. His hair was trimmed short now, and although it was not proper wedding attire, it touched her heart to see that he was still wearing that stupid hat. He had grown a stubble which very much suited him. His eyes had looked drained and tired, she had noticed during her speech when she made the mistake of catching his eye. She was still berating herself for stuffing up because of him.
"You alright, babe?" Ryan asked her, suddenly. "You seem a little distracted."
Blossom looked at Ryan for a moment and looked back to Brick only to see that he was gone.
"Yeah," she said distractedly. "I'm fine. I'm just going to go to the bathroom for a minute."
She kissed him on the cheek again and went off. She knew Brick would be outside, so that's where she went.
xXxXx
Brick wandered over to the edge of the balcony and pulled out a cigarette. He lit it absentmindedly and took a drag. It was ironic, he had told himself he was going out for some fresh air and here he was filling his lungs with this shit. Not that it could harm him anyway, what with the Chemical X coursing through his veins.
He held the cigarette between his thumb and forefinger and took another hasty drag. Tonight was becoming too much. He needed to go home. He was mad at himself. He was happy for his brother and now sister-in-law, but he was too preoccupied with his trivial little problem to show it. He heard the clicking of heels behind him.
"I wasn't aware you were a smoker," a familiar voice rung out and he froze mid-drag. He paled and steadied his gaze on the city view. He felt her creep up to the railing beside him. She kept her distance, but she was next to him nonetheless. His heart skipped several beats as he tried to think of what to say to her. He didn't think she actually wanted to speak to him.
"I wasn't aware you were engaged," he snapped accusingly. He looked at her, she seemed taken aback by his bluntness. She looked at her ring solemnly and then at him.
"I was going to tell you," Blossom mumbled.
Brick scoffed and gave her a dirty look, "When? After your wedding?"
A guilty look flashed across her face. She didn't respond, only averted her gaze to the ground. Brick sighed and flicked his cigarette lamely. Blossom cleared her throat as if she were going to say something, but she didn't. They stood there awkwardly for what seemed like forever. Who knew silence could be so loud, Brick thought.
"Sometimes I wonder where we would be if certain...events hadn't occurred." Blossom broke the silence in a melancholic voice. Brick didn't want to think about that right now. He knew that if he did he would find himself longing for it. He threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped on it. She flashed him a quick, sad smile and her eyes fell to the ground again.
"So do I," he murmured. "A lot."
"I'm sorry," she said swiftly, yet wholeheartedly. "About the breakup. About avoiding you. About not telling you about the engagement. About everything."
Their eyes met and this time neither of them looked away. Brick knew she was sincere. She never said anything unless she meant it. "Me too," he said quietly.
He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to feel her touch just one more time before she went off and got married to that prick he saw her laughing with earlier. He didn't though, with what little self-control he had left, he stopped himself.
"I better get back," she muttered after a while. "Ryan's waiting for me. It was nice talking to you"
Ryan. So that was his name. Brick laughed internally, how mundane. He nodded to her and she turned around to the door. "Blossy," he accidentally let his old pet name for her slip. She swung back around with a strange look on her face and he saw what looked like hope shimmering in her pink eyes. Brick mentally slapped himself in the face. "Sorry. Blossom - I-I meant Blossom."
"What is it, Brick?"
"Do you love him?" His voice was uncharacteristically soft.
"Yes," she responded, and he smiled despite the burning jealousy and rage in his heart. "But not nearly as much as I loved you."
And with that, she went back inside to her fiancé, leaving a dumbfounded Brick outside on his own, once again.
Author's Note
And it's up to y'all's imaginations to decide what happens next. Unless you're in desperate need of a second part, I'm gonna keep this as a oneshot for now. Thanks for reading or whatever.