Disclaimer: I only own the plot, I'm just borrowing the characters.

The smell of cigarette smoke clung to his jacket and shirt like a second skin, a smell she had come to associate with him even when she couldn't see him standing behind her. Just his presence alone soothed her frazzled nerves in a way he would never fully understand.

"I thought you weren't going to make it."

She said it simply, no malice or venom in her words, but a sense of disappointment that had lurked and was now ebbing away. He caught on to it and emitted a soft sigh before responding to her light accusation.

"I wasn't, but it's your birthday. I couldn't miss that now could I?"

She laughed lightly, trying to ease the tension from her shoulders at the same time. He had come up behind her now and his scent seemed to engulf her, it was all she could do not to lean into his warmth.

"I half expected you not to come though, I didn't want to get my hopes up."

He placed a hand on her side, turning her to face him so he could look into her green eyes. He became lost in them for a moment before pushing a stray strand of hair back behind her ear.

"I'm sorry I've let you down in the past. I've been a real jerk these last few weeks."

"You've always been a jerk, it only recently started to hurt."

He seemed surprised at her sudden burst of honesty, a weakness she had never shown to anyone.

"Buttercup Utonium, actually hurt?"

He had hoped by joking about it she would resume her usual fiery sense of pride and the shield that she kept up to protect herself from her feelings but for some reason it seemed to sting her more.

"Butch…I don't think I can keep this up anymore. I'm done with the fighting, the constant jabs, the bickering, I just want…"

She trailed off into silence, hoping he would understand without her having to go further. Buttercup truly felt like she was at her weakest point. She just wanted him to understand what she was feeling without losing what little dignity she had left.

"You know I can't."

She looked into his own green eyes, forgetting how similar they truly were to her own except for the glint of mischievousness hidden in the core.

"Why can't you?"

"Because this is just a dream in your head. I never showed up."

Suddenly she was standing alone in the snow, no trace of the boy she was in love with having ever been there and she knew he never would be deep down.

Buttercup woke with a start, her face wet with the tears she had been crying as she slept. Thankfully her sisters were still asleep in their own beds, none the wiser of the pain she was going through as she watched the clock on her nightstand kick over to midnight. It was no longer her birthday and sure enough Butch had not come.