1-29-11
2:38am
Summary–There's never the fear of failure when you don't think things through before acting. But now all he can do is think, instead of…doing. Preventing him from even trying. Blossom/Brick
Disclaimer–I do not own The Powerpuff Girls, which belongs to its respective owner(s) and is only being used in a fan-made, fictional story.
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Title–Hesitate
By–Moon Prynces
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She turned to watch him staring down at the floor with a deep frown, hands stuffed in his pants' pockets.
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" she asked him with a raised brow and curious expression.
Brick looked up in surprise. (Did he just jump out of his skin? It's not like she snuck up on him.)
"Yeah..." he said, but after a moment his eyes veered off to the side and he still stood there.
Now her brows came together. "You must be having some pretty deep thoughts," Blossom finally said. "So I'm just gonna head into class." And she turned and left him in the hallway, looking startled once again.
That was strike one.
But she shrugged it off because it was Brick, and he was usually coming up with crazy plans all the time. Getting out of a test by starting a fist fight? Stealing the mall cop's Segway so he could get to the exit quicker? Calling her when he needed help with homework, which was usually late into the night? They were always spur of the moment, never fully-thought through decisions that ended in trouble.
The girl rolled her eyes when Brick sat down across from her with a grin.
"Hey," she greeted, looking back down at her chemistry book.
"You busy later?" he questioned quickly, and seemingly in a hurry.
Blossom kept her eyes on the page as she casually replied with, "Yeah. I have a study group after school and then there's that lab and paper I need to do when I get home and–"
When she glanced up, she saw Brick sigh heavily and get up before she even finished speaking. Her brows scrunched up in confusion as she watched him leave the table, looking less jovial than he did when arriving – and that had been less than a minute ago.
That was two.
Seriously, she understood they were kind of friends and he was a little off kilter with his crazy schemes and rambunctiousness, but who just left while someone was speaking? Especially when he had asked her a question!
In the two years she'd known him (which would be from the start of freshmen year after he pulled the fire alarm on the first day) he usually crashed into a group or scene (or house or classroom) and started talking as if he had been the center of attention from the beginning.
Still, he was good-natured and cheerful and all that – the kind of person whose spontaneity brought good times and a lot of laughter. He was lucky it was hard to dislike him.
Blossom looked around in suspicion as she sat in her living room...watching TV...and that was it.
There was no one ramming into the front door (always assuming they left it unlocked for said person). No one trying to start an impromptu pillow fight with the couch cushions. No one telling her to get up, they had to go see this movie or get something to eat or whatever.
Her eyes narrowed as she realized Brick hadn't been by, all day.
And it was a Saturday too!
She thought carefully over the week. He had been acting pretty strange. (Strange for him anyway.)
It kinda worried her actually. She liked to see him smiling, eyes alight with another idea he couldn't wait to present. It usually made her laugh.
Well, she decided to wait until Monday to try and figure this out. It could just be that he was caught up with his brothers, doing something illegal. Sixteen wasn't too young to start, right?
But it was noted that he didn't even call or text her with the details of his debauchery. Or at all.
Turned out she didn't have to confront him and wonder if he was doing okay.
Brick turned up at her locker and said flatly, "I need your help with deciphering this book from my literature class."
She smiled (in slight relief). "Sure. I'll see you at lunch."
He turned to leave with a solemn nod.
Then she called out, "And remember to actually bring the book!"
Blossom didn't need him to turn around to know he was grinning.
Lunch, as she found out, started out as a painful trial.
Brick sat across the table and only spoke about the book. Asking questions, suggesting things, looking focused.
He didn't talk about his weekend or even his previous classes of the day. This only put poor Blossom on edge, wondering if he would suddenly snap at the tender age of...too young.
Anyway, finally she realized she was rambling about foreshadowing and symbolism while Brick sat across the lunch table with his head in his palm, staring at her in deep contemplation. And it was pretty obvious this wasn't due to the book.
He was pretty much in his own world while his eyes bored into her. He didn't even know what he was doing because he was so out of it.
And this freaked her out more than anything.
Seriously, when was the last time Brick kept his thoughts to himself? Where was the running monologue that should have been spouting from his lips?
Blossom favored a completely disturbed and alarmed expression, which was what Brick saw when he blinked suddenly and was brought back to the real world.
"How are you so good at everything?" he asked her, either not noticing or not commenting on her face.
"Uh–" This was all she managed to say, surprised at how quickly he'd turned around (and also at the fact that he wasn't poking fun at her previous countenance, or the current one for that matter). After a minute she calmed down and looked at the book while saying, "I'm not good at everything. And the things I am good at...I work hard for it." She smiled wryly and looked back at him. "There's a lot of failure before you get things right, you know."
"Don't you ever get...don't you just want to give up then?" Brick asked, lifting his head up and placing both arms on the table to lean forward a bit.
Blossom looked at him blankly. So many memories sifted through her head before she responded. "Yeah," she finally decided on. "Of course."
"Sometimes things just seem too impossible to even attempt," he said with a frown.
There was a pause as Brick glanced down at the lunch table and Blossom looked at him, blinking curiously at this entire conversation. He couldn't possibly be talking about his literature class, right?
She smiled slowly. "But..." And he looked up as she began speaking again. "But it's better than not even trying. You should at least try," Blossom said confidently, hoping her words reached him.
Brick glanced off to the side with eyebrows lifted slightly, this revelation completely new to him. His daze didn't last long and his eyes were back on hers as he started speaking again. "When you don't think things through before acting, you never really feel that whole fear of failure thing, you know? But now all I can do is think instead of...doing."
"And it stops you from even trying," she replied, happy that his issues were being resolved.
And then...he grinned. It was so nice to see him with a positive expression. Blossom smiled back ecstatically.
She leaned forward, nudging the book between them. "Okay, so before you stopped paying attention I was saying th–"
Blossom stopped while blinking owlishly and wondering what the hell just happened. Did he...?
How atypical. Brick had caught her chin between his fingers, and landed a quick kiss on the very corner of her mouth (sly devil) before getting up from the table and grabbing his book.
His parting line was, "Thanks. I think I got it."
And clearly he didn't mean the book.
xo end xo
4:31am
This was inspired by the following lines from the book, "Along for the Ride" by Sarah Dessen (page 261). It's part of a conversation...
"So you never get discouraged."
"Of course I do," he said. "Failing sucks. But it's better than the alternative."
"Which is?"
"Not even trying."
I think this seems kind of drabble-ish. Not sure. It was short and I don't think we get a clear idea of Blossom's character, though I talk about Brick's a whole lot. Also, there isn't a whole lot of romance and although I did see Brick (in here anyway) as the type to just kiss her full on in the middle of the cafeteria...it's still just the beginning of something. He likes her but doesn't know how she feels. And her musings didn't give any inclination of her feelings.
Ah, if you don't know what a Segway is search for it.
Thanks for reading and tell me what you think. Toast to beginnings. They get you started, right? =]
11:54am