"Buttercup?"

She looked across to the next pillow, to where the soft question had come from, "Hmm?",

"Do you think we'll ever go home?" Butch asked, frowning a little.

Buttercup's lips curved downwards in reply and she rolled onto her back to look at the ceiling, watching the spots of light that moved through the dim shadow, as the early morning wind stirred the tattered curtains they were cast through.

That was a difficult question.

She had never intended for them to be away for as long as they had been, or maybe she had. She didn't know. All she did know, was that she was angry. She had been furious back when they had first left, and now she was slightly less furious. Or something to that effect.

She missed her father, and she missed her sisters, although they had been the problem in the first place.

Well, Blossom had been the problem, and the others had perpetuated it.

Buttercup winced at the thought of Blossom, and how they had left their relationship last time they had seen each other. Blossom had cried, just bawled and spluttered, and she had screamed and sworn, unleashing twenty-two years of pent up rage.

Admittedly, she had chosen a bad day to do it. In retrospect, Blossom's wedding day probably wasn't the best time to let her know exactly what she thought, but it had been the redheads fault as far as Buttercup was concerned.

"I'm sorry" she said quietly, closing her eyes tightly,

"No" Butch replied, finding her arm under the bed covers and squeezing it gently, "Don't apologise",

"But you must miss your brothers, and instead of seeing them, you're stuck here with me",

She'd lost count of how many towns they had passed through in the last three and a half years, but this was one of the smaller and shabbier ones.

"Are you kidding?" he chuckled, "I shared a room with them for twelve years, and then continued to live with them for another ten after that. I'd had quite enough of them for a while" his smile then dropped a little, "It's you I'm worried about",

"I'm fine" Buttercup sighed, placing her own hand over his, "I just-" she paused and grimaced again, "-I miss dad I guess, and Bubbles",

"And Blossom?"

Her name sounded weird coming from him. It sounded weird being said period. Buttercup felt like she hadn't heard her sister's name at all since they had left Townsville,

She only shrugged in response.

Butch sighed and retracted his arm, sitting up in the bed, "I'll get something to eat" he said, before quickly getting up, putting on his underwear from the night before, along with some jeans and a hoodie, and leaving the small hotel room,

Buttercup bundled the blankets around her and curled up under them- she didn't care how hot the room was, she needed somewhere dark to think.

Butch was generally supportive of her, he had been for nine or so years. But that also meant that when he disagreed with her on a sensitive subject, he tended to keep his mouth shut and could instead act a little passive aggressively.

He was so different from the teenager she had known all those years ago.

She never really could tell why she had said yes him, but she was glad she had- she'd never doubted from the moment she had first said yes, that it was a good idea.

0o0o0

While she easily could've flown of course, Buttercup appreciated how easy it was to climb onto her high school's roof.

School bored her like it did most teenagers, but being a town hero, she figured they couldn't do anything about it if she found a way to elevate her boredom. The solution was skipping class.

Usually she wouldn't skip a whole lesson, unless she really had somewhere to be. She'd just sit on the roof smoking, and then turn up twenty minutes late, earning an unimpressed look from whatever teacher was taking the class.

Today, she was feeling even less motivated then usual however, and third period was quickly becoming fourth period as she wiled away the time, watching planes making long streams of exhaust fumes between the clouds.

Naturally, another moment of peace would be too much to ask for though, and soon she could hear someone rattling up the drainpipe to join her,

Buttercup sighed and slumped against the air-conditioning unit she was leaning against- she would just deal with the company for a few minutes and then make her way down to the last half hour of class.

"Oh, Butter-butt"

She winced and immediately regretted that decision.

Butch was approaching her from across the roof, an annoyingly satisfied smile on his face,

"What do you want?" Buttercup groaned, tilting her head to watch him,

"Please, like I came up here to spend time with you" he scoffed, "I'm up here the same reason you did",

She rose an eyebrow at him,

He laughed again, and sat opposite her, "To skip class and smoke?" he suggested, taking out a box of cigarettes from his pocket.

"Ahh" she nodded, looking back across the expanse of the school field that rolled out beneath them,

"Obviously" Butch added, lighting the cigarette now held between his lips, "You been up here long?", he asked, as he blew out a cloud of smoke,

"Yeah, almost a couple hours, didn't feel like getting an education today" she sighed.

Buttercup then looked down to what had been a lit cigarette in her own hand, but time had left it a burnt down butt and nothing else,

"Can I bum a cigarette?" she asked, sighing at the prospect of having to ask Butch of all people,

To her surprise he shrugged and obliged, handing her the one her had already started,

"Thanks" she nodded, taking it from him and bringing it to her own lips.

The other teen scooted across the gravel to sit next to her, making it easier to share the cigarette, and casting his gaze on the sports field too,

"How come you're skipping?" Buttercup asked, handing it back to him,

Butch shrugged, "I got bored, don't really care about chem'",

"Oh yeah" she nodded, "Don't get me started on how much I hate chemistry",

"Your dad's a chemist" he laughed,

"He's a biomolecular chemist" she said, correcting him,

"Yeah, that's worse" he replied, handing back the cigarette.

Buttercup smiled and shook her head,

Annoying as he may have been, when he wasn't trying to specifically aggravate her, or insight a fight, Butch wasn't actually the worst company in the world.

She released another thick puff of cigarette smoke and handed it back to him, revelling in the light feeling it gave her.

Smoking was a nasty habit and Buttercup knew it, but she'd picked it up so easily, and she found that easiest things to start, were usually the hardest to stop,

"You think a lot" Butch said after a few minutes, wincing a little,

"What?" she replied, looking at him,

"You think a lot" he repeated, "You always have this look on your face like you're talking to yourself in your head",

Buttercup shook her head, "Maybe I am" she then added a shrug, "And maybe if it bothers you, you should stop looking at me",

Butch huffed, but didn't say anything in response- he did keep looking at her however,

"Ends?" he finally asked, offering her the now stubby cigarette.

"Sure" she nodded, taking the almost burnt out thing,

She brought it to her lips and inhaled the last of the tobacco fumes, watching the defusing smoke as it left from her parted mouth,

Once it was done with, she stubbed the cigarette out on the gravel and threw it into an open air-conditioner.

Buttercup lifted her crossed legs and instead laid them out flat on the ground, before turning back to Butch and regarding him, "What?" she asked again.

He was still looking at her, his expression slightly curious, or slightly suspicious, she thought at the time,

"Can I kiss you?" he asked,

He didn't sound serious, but he didn't sound like he was joking either. If anything, the question came as though he was just genuinely wandering whether he could do as he had asked,

Buttercup blinked, "Sure".

Butch closed the gap between them quickly, and placed his lips on hers, his eyes closed and his hands coming to rest on her face and her arm,

Buttercup froze a little at first and blinked again.

His lips moved softly, almost tentatively she would be tempted to say, if she believed that Butch could be tentative; he tasted like tobacco and off-brand energy drinks, it was sweet, and a little earthy, and a little odd.

She closed her eyes after a few seconds, and reached out one hand to rest on his neck, while the other ground into the gravel, keeping her upright,

She swiped out her tongue briefly, and Butch responded quickly by licking back, slipping his tongue between her parted lips, and moving his hand to the small of her back. He tugged her to move slightly, and soon enough she was holding her body just a few inches off of the ground, as their lips continued to work against one another.

After half a minute they finally parted, and Butch looked down to Buttercup, who was now lying down on the gravel, looking up at him expectedly.

The kiss had been unexpected in many ways. She'd never expected that Butch would want to kiss her, let alone ask if he could. But most importantly, she'd never expected him to be such a good kisser. She'd never given any thought to kissing him at all.

He looked down at her, a little in disbelief, but mostly managing to hide it, "Do you want to-" he then shrugged and shook his head, "Do you wanna go to my place and have sex?"

Buttercup was less surprised by this question.

She sat up and he moved out of the way, watching her closely with silent patience,

She looked about briefly before she shrugged and slapped her legs decisively, "Yeah, okay"

0o0o0

She knew it seemed ridiculous to be so casual about something like sex.

But at the same time, she didn't see the point of making such a big deal about it.

Butch had simply asked her point blank if she wanted to sleep with him, and after weighing the pros and cons, she figured she didn't have too much to lose.

They flew from the school to his home quickly, and entered through the window.

Buttercup almost laughed at the amount of cigarette butts which were caught up in the bush beneath his window, but she was then left shocked when she saw just how many more were stacked up in dishes in his room,

It was a fairly standard room for a teenage boy she thought.

A semi-messy bed dressed in black and green covers, a desk with a laptop and a huge pile of videogames, a wardrobe and dresser, the tops of which played host to empty bowls, plates and glasses, and a scattering of dirty clothes, most of which were vaguely in the direction of a half full hamper in the corner.

Buttercup and Butch didn't bother with moving anything around however, and they immediately sat on the bed, resuming their kiss from earlier,

After some general shuffling about, undressing, and a vague conversation about protection, Butch was situated above Buttercup who now lay on the bed,

He looked bewildered, and his cheeks were flushed.

She rolled her eyes at him, and pulled him down for another kiss, her fingers filing through his thick hair, and tugging on it,

He sighed and kissed back, going instead to press his lips to her neck once she pulled away,

She preened against him and bent her legs about his hips,

"Are you sure?" Butch asked softly, pausing for a moment and resting his chin on her collar, his eyes closed tight,

Buttercup sighed and nodded softly, "Yeah, I'm sure" she replied.

0o0o0

That had been the moment Buttercup had entirely changed her mind about Butch.

He was so concerned with her comfort, her consent. He wasn't mocking her or trying to take advantage, he really did want her, and that made her want him in return.

Not long after they had finished, they had lain in the bed together, still and staring up at the ceiling,

Butch hadn't stayed quiet for long though, and he turned to Buttercup, saying her name softly to get her attention,

"Hmm?" she asked, turning to look at him, the blanket huddled up over her bare chest,

"I think we should do that again some time" he said, his eyes focused on hers,

She had sighed and looked back up at the ceiling,

"Yeah" she agreed, "Yeah we should"

And just like that, they started a long tradition of skipping class together.

Buttercup huffed from under the covers and resurfaced finally when she heard the hotel room door open again,

Butch was approaching the bed once more, a tray with two coffees in one hand and a paper bag in the other,

"Hey" she said, sitting up and gathering the duvet around her waist,

"Hey" he replied, smiling a little.

Butch put the food down on the bedside table, and clambered onto the mattress to regard her, "I'm sorry" he said resolutely, taking one of her free hands in his own,

Buttercup frowned, "Sorry for what?"

"I lost my temper" he said with a shrug, looking incredibly disappointed with himself,

"What?" she replied, "No you didn't, I did"

"Yeah, but then I lost my temper after you did, so technically I did still lose my temper"

She stared at him for a long moment, before laughing softly and shaking her head, "You're an idiot",

"I know, and I'm sorry" Butch replied, chuckling with her.

"No, no, I'm sorry, you big idiot" she insisted,

"Seriously, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought up-" he cut himself off and shook his head again, "I shouldn't have brought up that whole mess, and I promise that I won't do it again",

Buttercup frowned, she didn't deserve this man,

"Okay" she nodded, slightly begrudgingly, "It's okay" she then added.

She hadn't even noticed that her nose was starting to water, and she sniffed loudly, "What did you get for breakfast?" she asked, dabbing it with the back of her hand,

"Ahh-" Butch said, beaming again, "Coffee and bear claws" he said, tossing the bag to her,

Buttercup finally let a grin twist her lips up she opened the bag unceremoniously, quickly tucking into a pastry.