Brick died about a month after that night, not even managing to touch his expected third month of life. Within that one month Blossom spent with him, she saw him through the ups and downs of his ailment. At times, he would be really welcoming but other times, he would just mope in bed, ignoring everyone. But most of the days, he appreciated her presence around him.

Buttercup and Bubbles tagged along to the Ruff's house a couple of times as well. As time went on, their visit got more frequent as well. Aside from checking on Brick, they hung out with their counterparts as well. Bubbles helped Boomer out in the kitchen, coming up with different, yet amazingly delicious dishes. Buttercup and Butch would head to the court below and shoot hoops. Sometimes, Brick would sit by the living room window and watch the two greens play. Blossom could tell from his expression that he very much wanted to join them but his overprotective younger brothers never let him out of the house.

"Once upon a time, I would have trashed both of them," Brick once scoffed as Buttercup scored a goal.

Blossom just sat by him, knowing that for some strange reason, Brick seemed to enjoy her company even if she wasn't saying or doing anything.

"What about you?" he asked her. "Do you play?"

"Only in gym class but as a superhero, naturally I'd play well," Blossom replied. She moved beside him and pressed her palms against the glass, looking down at the two greens. "Not as good as them though."

Brick laughed, only to wince after that. He sighed and turned away, leaning against the window and sliding down till he was seated on the ground.

"Perfect... I can't even laugh," he muttered, rubbing his temples.

Blossom's smile faltered as she was reminded once again that Brick was dying.

During the short time she spent with him, she had grown fond of him and she actually enjoyed his company. On his extremely better days, he reverted partly to his old self even, just without the immense hatred for the Powerpuffs. Since Brick was not physically-able, their fights were just limited to battles of wit and petty arguments, lacking of ill intent towards each other- something that their siblings seemed to enjoy watching when they were around.

When night fell, Blossom would lie in bed with him, knowing that he felt comfort only when there was someone- her especially- lying beside him. Sex wasn't a daily thing for them. In fact, it was a rarity, but it was still there. Blossom would lie with him and sometimes, she would fly off only after he fell asleep. Initially, he minded her leaving but after a few days, he got over it. She came back everyday anyway.

It didn't matter to Blossom, no matter how tiresome it was to visit him everyday. But it was the summer break and she had nothing to do aside from fighting monsters, so why not? When she first told her sisters about her visits and brought them along, they had been defensive and suspicious as they sat in the Ruffs' house. But as time went on, they eased themselves and got along with the boys as well.

It was a wonder, how such a depressing situation ended up burying their animosity and made way for something warm to bloom.

Brick's last day was something that Blossom knew she would never forget. On that day, he showed no signs of it being his last at all. It turned out to be one of his better days. In fact, it seemed much better as for the three days prior to it, Brick was so weak that he couldn't get out of bed, not even to use the toilet or grab something to eat. For those three days, he stayed in bed, crying and groaning in pain, begging for someone to make the pain stop. But on his last day, he seemed much better and everyone else actually believed that he was going to live for a few more days, or weeks even.

The six decided to watch a movie together. After a long, heated argument, where furniture was thrown and blood was almost shed, they came to the decision to cuddle up in the living room couch and binge watch all The Scary Movie movies that Butch owned on DVD. The greens sat on the floor, legs crossed, as they fought over the bowl of popcorn, their eyes glued on the screen. The remaining four sat on the couch, watching as well.

Blossom leaned her head on Brick's shoulder after a long internal debate. For a moment, she found herself regretting her decision to do so as Brick remained still. But after a short while, he rested his head against hers and his arm snaked around her waist, pulling her close.

"Are you having fun?" he murmured, eyes still fixed on the screen. Blossom nodded and Brick chuckled softly, though Blossom was unsure if it was because of her or the movie.

"Guys, we should take a picture," Bubbles said a few hours later as Butch was changing the DVDs in the player.

"Yeah we never took one before," Boomer agreed.

Bubbles hopped up to her feet and moved to her bag. She rummaged through it before pulling out a square-ish white camera. "That's why it's good that I brought my polaroid camera!" she giggled. "We can take six different ones. One for the each of us to keep!"

"Oh, come on," Butch groaned, exchanging looks of slight annoyance with Buttercup.

"That would be a waste of film," Buttercup added.

"Don't be a spoilsport," Boomer snapped. "It's just a photo. You can carry it about in your wallet."

"Shut up. I'd rather carry a corpse."

"Just do it, Butch," Brick sighed. "Memories, ya' know?"

Blossom didn't know if it was because of Brick's authority over the other two boys or because he was dying but Butch obliged, scowling. As the six of them gathered around the camera, Bubbles raised her hands out, holding the camera in her hands as she began clicking.

In the midst of one of the photos, Blossom felt Brick pull her in for a kiss and she turned bright red. Brick and her had kissed countless times but they never did in front of their siblings and here he was, doing it right as Bubbles took a photo. Blossom didn't know if she could get any more embarrassed.

"I call dibs on that one," Brick said as Bubbles laid that photo out to dry.

By the time they were done with everything, it was night, way past their bedtime. Brick fixed her with a pleading look and Blossom decided that she would stay the night. She waved farewell to her sisters before she joined him in his room.

Brick was smiling.

She would never forget that sight. It had been engraved too deep into her mind.

She climbed onto bed with him and kissed his cheeks, right above his dimples. Brick twirled a strand of her hair around his fingers as he looked at her, his smile widening. Blossom knew he had something on his mind but what it was, she never knew and she never would know. The night was filled with kisses, cuddles and a lot of giggles and chuckles. Brick showed no traces of pain or weakness throughout and honestly, she really forgot about his cancer.

Blossom couldn't help but wonder. Was the Brick she knew now the same as the Brick she had known all along? If they weren't mortal enemies, would that have been the way he would treat her? Was this Brick the real Brick under that mask of coolness and authority he had all along?

One thing that stuck out about that particular night was that he held her. Normally, Brick would enter into a cycle of self-loathing and depression every night and Blossom would hold him close till he fell asleep. However, that night, Brick pulled her close to him, letting her lean against his chest as he held her tightly around the waist and rested his chin on the top of her head. He didn't say anything. All he did was hold her.

She believed that she fell asleep before him.

When she woke up, it was already morning, with sunlight streaming in from the slight slits between the blinds. Something felt off, like there was something missing, but Blossom had no idea what. She threw her legs off the bed, pulling herself easily out of Brick's grasp and opened the blinds. She looked out. It looked like a normal, ordinary day and there was nothing running around the place, destroying everything in its wake. She had decided that if Brick was feeling fine, maybe she'd bring him outside for an hour. Boomer and Butch could come along if they wanted to. She'd call her sisters as well.

Blossom got a little excited from the thought and she almost skipped to the bed. Something was really missing but she didn't know what. Shrugging the nagging thought off, she got into bed.

"Hey, Brick, wake up!" she called. "Let's go out."

Brick's eyes remained closed, with no movement whatsoever in response to her call. Blossom frowned slightly at the sight of his bluish lips and she touched him hesitantly, before shaking him hard. His body was stiff and cool to touch and although her mind was blank, Blossom could feel tears threatening to spill.

"Brick? Brick? Come on, it's time to wake up. It's morning," she said, smiling weakly. "Hey, let's go to the park, okay? I know you want to go out."

No response.

She flipped him to lie on his back and his arm flew back, hitting the bed and sprawling out limply. Something in her screamed at her to check for a pulse or to press her ears against his chest but she held back, just staring at him. She stared at him and realized that she couldn't see a rise and fall in his chest.

No, that couldn't be right.

"Brickie? Brickkkk, wake up!" she snapped, shaking him. Her tears were falling freely, blinding her momentarily until she wiped her eyes with her arm. His lips aside, everything looked normal. His face was still, as if in a peaceful slumber. The red strands of his bangs fell softly against his eyelids and Blossom reached over to push them out of his eyes. She rested her palm against his cheek.

He was so cold.

Her mind wandered over to the first time she had spent the night with him and woke up to find that he was running a fever. He was burning hot back then. Perhaps he wasn't feeling well again.

"Do you need medicine?" she asked, her voice cracking on top of being as loud as a whisper. "Just… Open your eyes…"

He didn't. He didn't move at all.

Blossom felt a slight anger in her. "Do you think this is funny? Is this your idea of a joke?" she squeaked, shaking him again. It had to be a joke! Brick still had a month.

Three months at most.

No, he didn't have one more month. He would only have it if he was lucky but Brick wasn't lucky. If he was lucky, he'd never have gotten that dreaded disease in the first place.

At that thought, the gears in her mind started to turn and reality started to fill her mind. She finally listened to the screaming voice in her head. Without a word, she pressed two fingers against his neck. No pulse. She moved the finger under his nose. No breath. She leaned forward and pressed her ear against his chest. No heartbeat.

No wonder something seemed to be missing. There was no trace of life in Brick at all.

Blossom sucked in her breath and she started shaking him again, this time harder and more desperately. She wanted to call out to me but when she opened her mouth, she felt something clog her throat.

Brick didn't respond. He was never going to respond.

She forced herself to swallow the lump in her throat. "Boomer! Butch!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, still shaking him hard.

She could hear his brothers fumble in their room and walk towards Brick's and she felt a tinge of annoyance at the slowness of their movements. Probably, like her, they didn't expect anything to happen to Brick after he seemed so well the previous day.

"What is it?" she heard Butch's annoyed, sleepy voice and her head snapped up to look at the two boys who were walking into the room. Blossom wanted to say something, she wanted to scream at the two brothers but her voice caught in her throat.

"Brick?" Boomer gasped as he rushed over, with Butch following behind quietly. Boomer climbed on the bed as well, shaking his brother and muttering and crying incoherently. Blossom saw the tears start to flow out of the blue Ruff's eyes.

"Brick is dead," she finally managed, though it was only a whisper. Still, Boomer and Butch clearly heard her. Boomer let out a choking scream, his fists bunched into his older brother's red t-shirt, and he slumped against Brick's cold body. A distance away, Butch dropped to his knees, his eyes wide and jaws hanging open. He didn't move. He didn't say anything. All he did was stare at his two brothers.

Blossom was somewhat caught in the middle. She was crying. Tears were streaming down her face. But she couldn't say anything or cry out as much as she wanted to. Brick's death came as a shock. Wasn't it just the previous night that he was smiling at her? How could he depart just like that?

How the fuck did he just die overnight?

Brick's funeral was arranged to be on the next day.

Dressed in a plain black dress that fell to her knees, Blossom curled up on her bed, holding the picture of all six of them in her hands. The one she had chosen- no, the one Brick had chosen for her- was in a mess. Boomer was pulling on Bubbles' pigtails and the blonde girl had her eyes closed, giggling along with him. Beside them, Buttercup and Butch were making faces that were honestly stupid and ugly. Behind the four of them, the two leaders were much calmer. Blossom was smiling, her hand out in a simple peace sign. Brick had an arm around her. He wasn't looking at the camera. Instead, he was looking at her. Blossom had been staring at that picture for quite some time but she hadn't actually figured out his expression.

His face spoke of a thousand emotions, more than she had ever seen on his face before. She could see the pain that he had been trying to conceal and Blossom knew that it wasn't just physical pain. She saw sadness. But she also saw joy, pure unadulterated joy…

There was something much deeper in his eyes but what it was, she didn't know.

She heard a knock on the door. "Bloss? Hey, we're late," she heard Buttercup call out from outside. "We have to go… It's time for the burial."

Blossom stayed where she was. She didn't want to go. She didn't want to seem him, all cold and dead. She especially didn't want to seem him in a black box, getting lowered six feet under.

Blossom's door flew open and Buttercup floated in, her arms crossed. She grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her up to her feet. Blossom obeyed silently. Her mind was blank and she was confused as to why her mind was even blank in the first place. Brick was an enemy. His death wasn't supposed to upset her to that extent.

But then again, after spending so much time with him, could she really still think of him as an enemy?

Blossom followed her sisters as they headed on to the cemetery. The place was filled with all the different villains of Townsville. HIM and Mojo had their arms around each other, bawling over the death of their eldest 'son'. Princess Morbucks was crying as well, sitting on the chair with hundreds of her bodyguards surrounding her, consoling her and passing her tissues after tissues. Blossom remembered vaguely that she had a major crush on Brick.

What kind of disgusted Blossom was the fact that no one made an effort to speak to Boomer and Butch. Boomer was still crying as hard as he was when they just found out about Brick's death. Butch was holding him close. No one approached them to offer condolences. Everyone stood a distance from them, eyeing the two boys. With her superhearing, she even managed to pick up their conversations.

"Great, the only chance anyone had against defeating the girls is gone."

Really? Was that all that mattered to them?

"Well, they're villains after all," she heard Bubbles murmured. Blossom turned to her sisters and saw her disgust reflected in them. Buttercup had her fists clenched as she shot murderous looks at everyone.

"The Powerpuff Girls?! What are you doing here?" Ace gasped, pointing an ugly green finger at them.

"Are you here to mock and gloat over the death of your greatest enemy?" Sedusa scowled. "Sorry to burst your bubble, you didn't defeat him."

"It was a lucky victory and you know it," HIM hissed.

"GO!" Fuzzy roared.

"This is only for people that mattered to him!" Princess huffed, wiping her tears and fixing the three girls with withering looks.

"Shut up!" Butch yelled. He flew over to the girls and flashed them a weak smile before turning to the rest. "Only people that mattered, huh? In all of Brick's life, the only people that mattered to him were his brothers and the girls. The rest of you can fuck off for all I care." He started flying back to Boomer and the three girls followed after him, ignoring the dirty looks the other villains were flashing them. Boomer looked at the girls and he wiped his tears roughly, forcing himself to smile.

"H-Hey g-g-girls… I'm glad you came…" he whispered.

"Yeah," Butch agreed. "Brick would be happy too."

"No worries," Buttercup replied. "Even though it was a short while, Brick was a cool friend."

Boomer wiped his face with his sleeve. "I'm sorry for looking like a wreck, really. I'm not like Butch… I'm not strong enough to hide my emotions," he sobbed.

Blossom looked at Butch's face. His eyes were red and puffy and she recalled that his voice was hoarse when he spoke earlier on. He was crying, though most probably in secret. Blossom noted that it was just like Butch to put up a strong front, even when he was dying on the inside, just like how Brick was.

"Sorry we didn't come earlier," Bubbles sighed. "Bloss was… She needed some time alone." Bubbles flashed Blossom a look and Blossom nodded weakly.

"Sorry…" she mumbled.

"It's alright," Boomer murmured. He reached into his suit and pulled out a white envelope, passing it to her. "A few days ago, Brick passed this to me. He asked me to pass it to you when the time came."

Blossom took the envelope silently and opened it. Inside, there was a piece of folded paper as well as a small piece of red metal- a thumbdrive. Blossom opened the paper.

Blossom, if you're reading this, it would mean that I am already dead. I don't know how long it was since I prepared this but all I hope is that when you receive this, nothing has changed between us. Inside the thumbdrive, there are two videos. The first one, although it was addressed to you when I created it, I want you to watch it with everyone else. Perhaps, I could say it has my dying wish in it. The other one, the one with me and a guitar as it's thumbnail, it's entirely for your eyes. Though if you are to watch it with my brothers and your sisters, it won't really matter since I'm dead anyway. But, well, I believe that if you feel the same way as I do, you'd want that to be a little private. Trust me, it's personal. Brick.

"Boomer, I need a laptop," Blossom said flatly as she finished reading the letter. Boomer blinked and he looked around the place. Blossom wanted to slap her forehead. Right, where was she going to find a laptop in a cemetery?

Butch floated up and looked around. "Hey, everyone!" he called out. "Anyone got a laptop to spare?"

Buzzing started among all the villains of Townsville before Princess raised her hand. "Oh! I do! It's under the seat of my limo!" she quipped. One of her men walked over to the long white limo that was parked a distance away and returned soon after with a silver laptop. Butch flew over and took it from him, before flying back to the girls and Boomer. He placed it on the ground and the five of them crowded around it, with Blossom in the middle.

Blossom inserted the thumbdrive into the laptop and opened it. As Brick had said in the letter, there were two videos and one of it seemed to show him holding a guitar.

"If I remember correctly, Brick was a pretty decent guitarist," Boomer admitted softly.

Blossom was well aware of the other villains crowding around as well but she paid no heed to them. She clicked on the video and played it. Brick's face came on and he was smiling widely.

"Hey… I'm guessing this is on," he said, tapping the screen with a slight laugh that was accompanied by a deep wince. He sighed and leaned back into the chair he was sitting on, running his hand through his hair. "Right, so… I dunno when you're going to see this but well, it's most probably going to be after I'm dead." He blinked at the camera and smiled sheepishly.

"Ah, this is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be," he sighed. "You see, I'm alone at home now and I filmed farewell messages to my baby brothers already so now it's just you… I'm guessing you're probably wondering 'Why me?' and to be honest, so am I. Why you?

"You see, Bloss, something's different… Between us… Between our own teams as well. I mean, just look around. Boomer and Bubbles look cute together, don't they? Butch and Buttercup might be a little tougher but they're great together as well… Yeah our siblings look great together."

And suddenly he grinned playfully. He looked up at the camera- looked up at her- and his eyes narrowed mischievously.

Blossom figured that Brick must have filmed it on one of his much much better days, just like his final day. Her hand ached to reach out to him all of a sudden and she realized that what she really wanted was for him to be there in person, to say it all to her in person rather than through a screen.

"Wanna play matchmaker?" he continued. "Well, you're going to have to do it because I'm dead. Yeah, take that as my dying wish. If you can and you agree with me, why don't you try and get our baby siblings patched up, eh? Kinda a good idea, don't you think?"

"You asshole…" Butch chuckled beside Blossom and she turned to look at the green Ruff. A stray tear was trickling down his cheek. Blossom turned back to the video.

Brick had gone silent and he was looking down at his hands. His hair fell forward, hiding his face. "I want to play matchmaker between us as well," he murmured. "If our siblings look good together, won't we too? There's something between us, right? I mean, it's been there since the night you saved me from killing myself."

Somewhere behind them, Blossom heard a gasp and she figured it was Princess. She ignored it and continued watching.

He looked up again and smiled. Tears were falling out of his eyes. Blossom wanted to reach out and wipe them off his face but she knew she couldn't. Brick wasn't there. That was just a video. Brick rubbed his hands together and sighed.

"Funny how you started being around me wanting to give me more happiness before I die. Well, you did that but do you know something? You also made me more depressed so fuck you," he laughed, trying his best not to wince. "I'm more depressed now actually. I really don't want to die. Do you know why?"

Blossom didn't even realize that she shook her head.

"Because now I realize that there are more things that I'm going to leave behind when I die. There are more people around me than before… You asshole," Brick sighed, leaning back into his chair, smiling. "My brothers. Your sisters. You. Yeah… Blossom, you gave me something I never had. You gave me friends and now, when I die, I'm going to leave behind my family and friends. Perfect."

Brick sat up straight, holding his finger out towards his camera. "No, that's not quite right… Bubbles and Buttercup are my friends, perhaps. I mean, on my part. I dunno how they feel," he said, shrugging. He opened his mouth to speak but he hesitated.

Blossom exchanged looks with her sisters and smiled, realizing that they felt the same way about him. She turned back to the video.

He was still reluctant. But after some time, he sighed, his cheeks reddening. "But you, Blossom, you're different. I know that on our first night together, I asked you to be my friend and you hesitated but still agreed. To tell you the truth, I wanted to ask for much more but I'm afraid… I'm such a coward, which I also why I'm telling you this through a video rather than in person… The truth is, Blossy, I like you… A lot."

Blossom gasped, slapping her hands on her mouth. Brick looked like he was about to say more but he turned his head away and frowned. He looked back. "I'd like to say more but it looks like Boomer's back… I'll ask him to pass this video to you somehow… Yeah… Remember my wish, alright? Think our siblings could use a little push…" He winked before reaching over and everything froze.

"That bastard," Butch muttered. "Like I'd need help confessing if I liked anyone."

"But… Well… He's not entirely wrong," Boomer admitted, turning red. "I think we look good together and I think that he was right about you and him as well, Blossom…"

Blossom realized she was crying and she tried to wipe her eyes, only for more tears to come out. She snatched the thumbdrive out of the laptop and held it in her hands.

Brick liked her… He liked her…

"Why didn't he say anything?" she sobbed. "That… Idiot…"

"That's absurd!" Blossom heard someone exclaim. Princess. "How can Brick like Blossom? She's a Powerpuff."

"How can you boysss hang out with them and betray usss?" Snake hissed.

"That's right," HIM agreed. "You've betrayed us."

Blossom clenched her fist, more tears streaming out of her eyes. How could these people talk about Brick like that? Who were they to judge him? And even if they did, how could they say stuff like that about him at his funeral?

But before she could do anything about it, HIM was thrown against a tree at the far end of the place. Butch flew up, hovering above everyone's heads. He fixed the people below him with a hard glare, his fist clenched tightly till his knuckles were turning white.

"You guys get this straight," he snarled. "Brick never wanted anything to do with any villain in Townsville. But we were created by Mojo and HIM so we couldn't honestly do anything about that. As for the rest of you, fucking get this straight. We're not one of you. We're better than all of you, including our so-called fathers. Without Brick, Boomer and I are no match for the girls. But we can- and we will- beat your asses up."

"Butch, calm down. Brick wouldn't want you fighting at his funeral," Boomer sighed, joining his brother's side and trying to pull him down.

"I know, Booms, and that's why I haven't incinerated everyone here," Butch said. "Everyone, get this in your thick heads. The Rowdyruffs are over. We are done. We're done with crime and we're done with being on the same side as you. You disgust me! How dare you come here and talk about Brick this way?"

"Butch, please, calm down," Boomer begged.

As the two boys wrestled in the sky, Buttercup and Bubbles flew over to everyone else. Blossom remained behind, watching everything silently.

"Everyone, I think you should leave," Buttercup said. "No one knows an angry Butch better than I do and trust me when I say, you don't want him to punch you in the face when he's like this."

"We thank you for coming on behalf of the boys," Bubbles murmured.

Buzzing started out again but since the Powerpuff Girls asked them to and they didn't want to get beaten up, they started leaving one by one. Princess was the last to leave. She flashed Blossom a dirty look and enter her car, huffing and raising her head upwards as one of her men slammed the door shut. Blossom watched her limo leave.

Her anger was somewhat justified. Anyone would think that Brick would choose Princess over Blossom but there he was, admitting that he liked his biggest enemy.

"We should leave too," Bubbles said. "You'll be fine, right, Boomer?"

Boomer nodded and smiled weakly. "Yeah… I… I'll be fine," he sighed. His lip quivered as he smiled at her and Blossom knew that he would be anything but fine. Butch was still fuming as Buttercup stood beside him, rubbing circles around his back.

"I can't believe it. I knew they were evil but I didn't know that they were insensitive," Butch muttered. "How can they just say those stuff about him?"

"They're villains. They only care about themselves," Buttercup murmured in response.

"But we used to be villains as well… We'd never do that!" Butch insisted. "I mean… Someone died… And if I've to be honest, he's the best villain Townsville's ever had. "

"Well, maybe it's because you guys aren't as evil as you think you are. Perhaps, you have a heart," Bubbles replied, holding onto Boomer's hands. Blossom thought back to the past few days she had spent with the Rowdyruffs and she realized that she had to agree with Bubbles.

The boys weren't pure evil. Perhaps, they had just been led astray by the story behind their births.

Blossom glanced down at the thumbdrive in her hand. Brick had more stuff for her ears and she knew that she wanted to hear them badly.

"Guys… I'm going home."

:)

That face was highly inappropriate, huh? So two chapters in one day. I'm on a roll. Honestly, this chapter was supposed to be the end but after typing out Brick's second video, it turned out to be much too long a chapter so I'm going to have to split. So there will be a chapter four, which brings me to another problem, more of a personal one actually.

Blame my OCD. Three is a nice number and so is five. I have no problems ending the story at a chapter three or a chapter five... But a chapter four? No way. But for people who really like this story, I guess it's good news eh?

And that's about it. I'll see you guys soon.

And yes, I'll continue with The Boys Are Back In Town Again the moment this is done. Seriously, this story was inspired by Brick's being in the hospital in that story... Haha...

Please do review :)