Guest: Yeah, I always found the Blues to be too saccharine. If you're feeling the tension then good.
ROCuevas: Quite appreciated your review, thanks.
Chapter 6
Diffusion
By the time Butch woke up the apartment was deserted. He hadn't the faintest clue where any of them had gone but he didn't mind waking up alone.
He quickly showered and dressed, figuring that since he had so much downtime now he could make use of it exercising.
If everything went well then soon he'd be having more and more free time for himself. He'd already resent his documents to NYU and had been accepted. All he had left to do was register for classes and send in the check.
The only thing holding him back was the 5 people who'd cleared the apartment while he slept in. Butch thought he should hold off for as long as possible to just make sure they're all okay with whatever it is that'll happen.
He was preparing a protein shake when Buttercup slumped out the elevator looking like she'd just dragged herself out of bed.
"Are you okay?" he put the mini bullet to the side and crossed around the island to stand by her. "You look like hell, Butterfly."
"I feel like it. I got a call this morning, Ace wanted to meet for coffee."
"And you didn't wake me up? What does he want?" Butch wanted to be offended but he was more interested in why Ace wanted to meet her than why his friend didn't think to tell him.
"He likes me more than you, you're ugly." She gave a weak smile. "He, uh, he wanted to talk about Sanford."
"Great, what did he have to say?"
Butch had only ever met Snake a handful of times before Buttercup started dating him but he could tell that Ace and Snake were as thick as thieves. He hoped whatever Ace had had to tell Buttercup was good.
"Hey, is there enough in that thing for two?"
"Ah, you'd rather hang out than talk about your problems."
"Oh you know me so well. I swoon." He pressed his lips together tightly and chuckled gruffly, dropping the subject for now.
Buttercup had already hopped up on the barstool and started planning their entire day. Butch was only half listening. He nodded along and smiled when appropriate.
He had to tell her soon. If he didn't do it soon then he never would and he'd be left in a void of perpetual what-ifs.
The show was over for the two of them and would be over for their siblings any time now.
That meant the only thing binding them together would be their friendship, not having to see each other12 hours a day daily for work.
But what would their friendship even be if he was staying here and she was going off god knows where to pursue the next thing.
He knew she wanted to take a break from everything but he was thinking about when that break was over.
"You haven't heard a word I've said." He slowly dragged his eyes to meet hers.
"Have so."
"Have not. I asked if you were okay with me making a pass at Brick and you just nodded along. No reaction whatsoever."
"Gross." He grimaced, screwing his face up for maximum effect. "There. There's your reaction."
She didn't look satisfied.
"Look, maybe I'd actually listen to you if I wasn't stewing over what Ace had to say. Or if you took your top off. I mean, your pick. Whichever."
"Ass. If you must know he just wanted to make sure I was okay. He looked almost as bent up as you were." Butch doubted that. "He said he'd try to get him to take it back."
"Even if he does take it back-"
"I know. The whole things stupid. I called the Tonight Show, I'm replacing some cooking host tomorrow night."
"That's really last minute."Butch screwed their shakes shut and crossed the kitchen to the fridge.
Plain greek yogurt with a half cup granola and a spattering of strawberries, banana, and blueberries sounded killer right then. If she was intent on drawing out their workout they would need a lot more than a shake to keep them going.
"I know, but we're all a hot topic right now. Wasn't all that hard." She shrugged. Butch slid the bowl of yogurt her way and she gladly accepted it. "Hey will you come?"
Butch nodded. Talk shows were always fun. He was happy to keep her company backstage.
The behind the scenes had always energized him. Everyone catering to a million things at once, an unseen fuster cluck of a well oiled machine.
It almost went unsaid that Butch would tag along to support her or at the very least to watch. Buttercup on live tv was always a spectacle to behold.
They went for a warm up run through Central Park then hit the nearest private gym to work their routine.
In Buttercup's opinion they did minimal damage. With all the stress they had been under lately she felt they should have, could have, and would have worked twice as hard as they did if they didn't have to stop with enough time to shower and grab a bite to eat before they were due backstage.
When they got to the studio they felt more than a little out of place. Normally they were in their element but this was starting to feel like a shoe that didn't fit.
Buttercup got agitated quicker than usual and pulled Butch into their dressing room. If she was going to have a chance in hell of being remotely pleasant she needed a break.
The service in the building was crap and eventually Buttercup had to be subjected to hair and makeup.
She didn't mind, she actually liked the small bit of pampering. There was nothing like professional hands styling her lob or dusting highlighter along her cheeks.
Butch munched on a stick of jerky while he watched. Buttercup had completely forgone going over the hastily prepared talking points that one of the assistants here had undoubtedly done very painstakingly.
He didn't care much for preprepared talking points anyway. They made these things rather stiff and when they were stiff they dragged and when they dragged he could hardly stand it. They were both strong advocates for organic conversation.
"Ms. Utionium we're ready for you." some producer had walked into the room, clipboard and headset equipped.
Buttercup mumbled her assent and got up to follow the woman but her makeup artist made an affronted noise.
He was rolling his eyes at her. Something along the lines of 'fine, go out on live tv with unblended eyeshadow. Have fun.' He came with her to the side stage and finished up.
"Okay, okay. Our next guest is someone who's been in the news a lot lately, she and her sisters, they've got a lot of attention—eyes on them right now. Please give a warm New York welcome to actress and fitness model Buttercup Utonium!"
Butch watched her strut to her seat from the television in the dressing room. She looked great from where he was sitting.
She'd worn a sleek black romper with matching thigh high boots and her 'glam squad' had taken her post-workout hair and done wonders.
Surely she couldn't see a thing past the bright stage lights but she waved and smiled at the audience gracefully.
"Hi guys!" Buttercup smiled some more, simultaneously blinking her eyes to clear her vision.
"Wow!" The host exaggeratedly looked from her to the audience. "You look amazing—doesn't she look amazing folks?"
"Thank you." Buttercup nodded to acknowledge the roar of applause.
"You're welcome. Good evening, we're happy to have you."
"Happy to be here. I love New York." More deafening applause.
"New York loves you, look at you! So, on to what we're all actually here for." Buttercup nodded and grimaced sarcastically. "So from what I understand what we've all seen about you and your sisters, Blossom and Bubbles, right, you guys have been giving the Kardashian's a run for their money."
"I don't resent that comparison. Who wouldn't want to turn negativity into an empire? I know I would with everything being thrown at my family lately."
"Tell us about it! You have a chance to set the record straight."
"All I have to say is that I've always believed very strongly in living a healthy lifestyle. The most I've ever actually had is like a pot brownie."
"Yes, but your ex is saying you not only participated but that you encouraged him to use molly, x, coke, and liquor to excess. I'm paraphrasing."
"So I'm the only one here with a vindictive lying ex? Okay." She was rolling her eyes jokingly now, earning robust laughter from the host.
"That's true! She's not wrong folks, my ex wife is vicious!"
"Exactly!" Buttercup straightened in her seat. "Honestly when I heard he was making all these wild accusations I thought it was funny until, like, people actually started to believe it! It's so crazy that I'm still not even mad, I'm just really amazed."
"Now, why do you think this has been such a big deal? Because rumors like this flying around, it's common!"
"I think it's because the six of us are in the spotlight and I think we're all so different that the range for possible inspiration to kids is so wide that we've got a larger group of people to cater to in the press we have to be the perfect role models. Parents are so sensitive after Lohan and Miley."
"Speaking on the six of you, how do you feel about the other rumors?" There he was, digging for the classic unfiltered Buttercup scoop.
"Oh god, the ones about my sisters?" She waved a hand dismissively. "Bubbles and Boomer are fine. Even if they do or have broken up they'd always be the best of friends.
And as for Blossom, she's had her whole life planned out since she was like 10. Trust me I've seen the pink binder, okay. Her life is going according to plan and a baby isn't part of it until she's been married 2 years and has a mortgage. Like my sister is so conventional."
"So you're saying she's looking for the ring and house on the hill first?"
"I'm saying there's no moving in, no ring, no babies." Buttercup enunciated each word to make it very clear. She wanted to leave no room for misinterpretation.
"And how do you feel about Butch?" the host flipped to the next card in his deck.
Buttercup froze. What kind of a question was that? What was he doing?
She was here to address gossip and then offer a few blurbs about their show. Why did he care how she felt about Butch specifically?
She loves him. He's her best friend or frenemy, depending on how you look at it.
Was he still waiting for an answer? How long had she just sat there, quiet?
"He's one of my best friends."
"Exactly! Shouldn't you feel all the more offended by recent developments surrounding him?" he gently touched his earpiece. "Wait a minute! We're told he's here with you tonight!"
Buttercup's lips parted to give an affirmation but all she could do was nod. She felt disoriented as she twisted in her seat to find that Butch was already being hooked up to a mic and shooed onstage.
He waved briefly at the fans but Buttercup saw how disconnected he was. She tried to catch his eyes but the fact that she couldn't let her know that none of what was to follow would be pretty.
"Butch, what do you have to say for what's been said about you?"
"All I have to say for these rumors is, well, f-ck them. Love is f-cking love." With that he tore his mic off and stormed off stage.
There was a chorus of reactionary sounds from the audience. The host addressed them directly but Buttercup sat on her hands in an attempt to quell her urge to go after him.
They wrapped things up, he asked her a bunch of questions about their show and she was on autopilot for all the answer by what she was allowed to reveal.
Buttercup ran off stage the first chance she got.
Normally at the end of appearances she liked to bombard the audience with a barrage of selfies and autographs but she couldn't bring herself to focus on anything but Butch.
He'd been so upset. What were people saying about him? STD, baby mama drama, cross dresser, adopted? The possibilities are endless.
She tried to source the cause on her social media when finding him seemed to be fruitless.
Butch Jojo's refusal to address gay rumors leads to belief that he hates gays, read more on our website!
Buttercup almost threw up in her mouth. Outrageous.
Eventually she found him in the parking lot by a town car. He was on the phone but had apparently been waiting for her. He had her bag and when she got close enough he opened the door for her.
She reached around him and slammed it shut. He glared down at her but didn't end his phone call.
For the few minutes he was on the phone she had to shift her weight from foot to foot impatiently. She supposed that's why he'd wanted her to get in the car, her boots were fashionable not functional.
When he did hang up he hardly looked at her, instead opting to open the car door again. This time she climbed in without question.
"Who was that?" Still no eye contact.
"Brick. He hadn't heard either." He whipped out his phone.
"Are you okay?" Furious tapping words a mile a minute.
"No." Her phone buzzed.
"Why?" she only skimmed his twitter rant.
"I never address gay rumors because why defend myself against something that's not offensive?" John Galecki
If I looked mad GOOD.
I'm not mad because people think I'm gay. I'm mad because people think I'm homophobic.
Even if I WAS gay I wouldn't be on the DL. LGBT isn't something to be ashamed of.
"Because how else can I make sure my words aren't twisted?"
She didn't know what to say to that so she just didn't reply. Buttercup had been very overwhelmed very quickly. She felt so drained. But Butch had more energy than he'd had all day. He was a boiling cauldron of rage.
They rode the rest of the way back to the penthouse in relative silence, only speaking to make sure the other was okay.
