Me: Hello everyone! It's great to be back! Oh and also, good news. I found my friends :3

Bubbles: we're back!

Brick: we were trying to get out of this for good...

Me: but now you're stuck here! :D oh yay.

Buttercup&Butch: *rolling their eyes* whatever!

Blossom: I'm happy to be back!

Bubbles&Boomer: Me too!

*they giggle cuz they talked at the same time*

Me: oh, thanks! You guys always make me feel loved. :3

Butch: yeah, now that this story's actually getting good...

Me: I'm not sure if that was a compliment or...?

Boomer: I'm gonna say the disclaimer! Marisa doesn't own us, okay?

Bubbles: *giggling* and we're all about 16 and have normal features, fingers, noses, etc.

Me: This story has gotten almost 4k hits :3 that's a lot for me, so please enjoy this delicious pie that I baked for you all out of love.

*Boomer&Bubbles dig in to your pie*

Me: er, actually, I'll find another way to give you guys my thanks...

Me: in other news, for those people wondering what the heck happened to blues and greens, no worries fangirls! I've included quite a few suggestive parts in the next few chapters. But the huge really fluffy chapter is chapter 12. So prepare yourselves. Only five more chapters, people! Are you sad? :\

Buttercup: no.

Butch: no.

Me: -_- well, if you want to know about my contest that I'm gonna start having; see the end of this chapter for more details!

Blossom: enjoy the tenth chapter, everybody! :)

Me: ciao!

xoxo -ml

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Chapter 10

Blossom

After school, Brick approached me with a 'genius idea'.

"Bloss!" he called, weaving in between the people after the last bell of the day. I had luckily carried his entire backpack all day and had no need to stop at his locker or even attempt to open it, for that matter. I don't think he used mine, either.

But regardless, he shouldn't have been shouting my name out. People were giving him strange looks before he realized what he'd said. He smacked himself on my forehead and rolled my eyes.

"I mean Brick," he tried feebly. It was too late. He was already at my side. I glared at him, while everyone else stared curiously at us. It was not often that the two reds spoke to each other.

"What do you want, Blossom?" I sneered, shifting the weight of his backpack on my shoulder and making my way to the door. I tried to make it appear as though I loathed talking to him, but he was clearly not catching on.

"What's got you in a mood?" he asked cluelessly. He didn't even give me a chance to answer before he started talking again. "I've got this idea for us."

I rolled my eyes. He was so idiotic sometimes. We stepped outside into the crisp October air and I began walking in the direction of the RowdyRuff house. He followed.

"How was my test?" I asked quietly, completely ignoring his alleged 'idea'. I had no clue what it was, but something about seeing him after school that day acting like that made me feel crabby and snappy.

"I—oh, the test?" he gave me a funny look. We fell into step beside each other on the sidewalk for a moment and a few others walking home eyed us suspiciously. I quickly changed my pace. "The test was easy. I aced it, for sure. But that's not what I want to talk about." he shook his head and wheeled around in front of me, moving to put my hands on his shoulders, but hesitating and deciding on simply blocking my path. I was forced to stop walking and look at him.

"I have a plan." those words, coming out of Brick's (well, my) mouth sounded ridiculous. I couldn't help but smirk at him. He blinked at my attempted famous smirk. "Jeez, you're getting good at that."

I shrugged. "So what's your idea?"

He piped up, suddenly excited again. "Oh! Right, okay, so here's what we're gonna do. You guys" —he pointed to me— "are gonna ask us" —he pointed at himself— "out on a group date sort of thing." he waved his arms in a circle as if suggesting a group. "Again." he beamed as if this were the greatest idea in the history of the earth.

I stared at him with a blank expression. What the heck was he getting at? I squinted. "What are you talking about?"

"The plan!" he said, exasperated. "The boys will ask the girls on another date! It goes along with your plan! I mean, Boomer's plan. That way we can all hang out again, sort of, only it can be like a group dinner. We'll go someplace fancy—Butch can take his car—he found it in a dump, but it's still a pretty nice car, you know. And you guys can dress up, and we'll dress up, and— and..."

He paused, my arms held out in front of him as if he were searching for more to add to this idea. Nothing came. He still looked at me with the look of incredulity on my face. I just stared back.

"That's ridiculous."

He rolled my eyes. "Please, Bloss?" he pleaded. "It'll be great! What could go wrong?"

I unfolded Brick's arms from across his chest and sighed. The idea sounded stupid and mediocre. And I was confused as to why he had suggested it in the first place. "I don't know..." I glanced uneasily over my own shoulder in front of me and saw a group of people walking down the sidewalk in our direction. I recognized two of the girls from school. How had they gotten in front of us? And why were they looking at me like that...?

I suddenly realized that Brick was practically on his knees begging me to agree with his idea, and it no doubt looked completely crazy.

"Come on, please, Blossom?" he folded his hands together as if he were praying and shook them in front of me. I rolled Brick's eyes. Now he really was begging.

I wanted those girls to stop staring though. So I sighed.

"Fine," I agreed, "Just get up off the ground."

Apparently he didn't realize that he had been on his knees either. He snapped up and brushed himself off, looking sheepishly towards me with that stupid grin.

I scoffed. "You better get home," I mumbled. "Your family expects you to do homework above all other activities."

Now, it was his turn to moan. "But..."

"No buts. Go home." I glowered at him until he finally stuck my tongue out at me and took to the sky, my keychains jingling as he flew.

-o-

"Dude!"

Butch greeted me back home with a hearty slap on the back. I was not hesitant to drop Brick's backpack on the floor near the door and flop myself into his beanbag. Boomer was one step ahead of me and already had the TV on.

"What's up, Butch?" I asked half-heartedly, feeling much more confident than I had ever been in the RowdyRuff shack.

Butch took his usual spot next to me. "You're not supposed to make your relationship fucking public yet," he laughed. I wrinkled Brick's eyebrows on his forehead.

"What?" I asked, confused.

Butch just laughed. "Dude, everybody fucking knows about it now, you don't have to hide it from us."

I just stared at him cluelessly. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I knew it couldn't be good. He laughed again at the expression I gave.

"I heard the rumours, dumbass," Butch said, as if explaining everything. "You and Blossom... You're labeled officially as 'talking' now." he grinned slyly. "You motherfucking son of a bitch."

I felt Brick's face drain of all colour. Had Brick said something about us talking? I didn't know that word could get out this fast. What if someone saw us up on the Ferris wheel this weekend? Maybe that was how the rumour started... I figured I would have a talk with Brick about it later. But for now, I had to suggest his stupid idea. Because I'd promised.

"Yeah, well..." I shrugged indifferently in response to Butch's accusation. "I guess people just can't keep my name out of their mouths, can they?" after a hearty chortle from both Boomer and Butch, I tried out Brick's smirk again. They must have bought it, because they both stopped laughing and looked at me curiously.

"You got a plan?" Boomer asked shyly. I nodded and turned the smirk into a full-on grin.

"Sure I do," I said easily. The two leaned in to hear it. "Alright. So you two are gonna ask your girls on a date. A real one. For like, dinner and stuff. But we're all gonna go together, like in a group."

I gave it a moment for this idea to sink into their heads. Boomer had a huge grin on his face and was nodding eagerly, while the raven-haired boy was staring at me with a mixture of disgust and sick pleasure.

"So's that a yes?" I asked after a moment of silence. Boomer nodded still faster, ever eager, but waited for Butch's take on the subject.

Butch glanced at Boomer, who immediately stopped nodding and became serious. Butch shrugged his shoulders and sunk lower into the beanbag.

"Alright, fine," he said simply. I smirked again. I liked the feel of the expression on Brick's face. So that's why he did it so much.

"Awesome," I said, clapping my hands together twice. "You guys ask them however you want. I've already got a few ideas..." actually, I had more than a few ideas. I was a nerdy girl who had never gotten asked out in her life. Now there was a perfect opportunity for me to essentially ask myself out in any way I wanted? Too good.

Boomer beamed. "Me too!" he squealed—yes, squealed— before either me or Butch could utter a syllable. What an eager kid. Bubbles was lucky. At least... That is, of course, if he did not uphold his end of the bargain between the RowdyRuffs. All he had to do was snap when it came time to ambush the girls. I knew that out of the three boys, Boomer was an easy egg to crack. You had to be careful with him.

"I guess I could think of something," Butch mumbled. However I could practically see the ill-used gears of his brain turning inside his head. "She likes surprises, if you know what I mean." he winked.

I found myself glaring at him again. I couldn't help it! He was referring to my sister as if she were just some toy he could use and throw away just as easily. And she wasn't, of course. She was my sister. I still could not believe that I was basically giving him free will to do whatever he wanted with Buttercup. And that was not okay.

"What?" he smirked, nodding his head up at me.

I kept my cool. I kept it Brick. "So, how're your guys' relationships with the girls, anyways? Get any action?" I winked. I had been totally kidding, and Boomer seemed to understand this and laughed along with me, but Butch just threw his arms behind his head and sighed, a knowing smile on his face and a reminiscent twinkle in his eyes.

I squinted at this. Could this have been what had kept him the other night after the carnival? I wonder.

"Butch?" I raised an eyebrow, still keeping my cool. I didn't know for sure yet. I had to wait.

He just grinned, as if that answered my questioning look.

"Butch!" I exclaimed accusingly.

He smirked now. "What, you thought I was just gonna let that one go?"

I couldn't believe my ears. Was I really hearing this? "So..." I muttered. "What'd you do then?"

Butch shrugged. "We went back to her place for the night." her place? Meaning my house? With Bubbles and Brick in the other room? Which means that when I came over to study with Brick... and he went to check on Buttercup... and he returned with a smirk and a "Buttercup's fine" ...Wait a second.

"Her place, huh?" I repeated, my composure becoming harder and harder to keep up. "Did you guys... You know..." I couldn't bring myself to say the word. I still couldn't picture it.

Butch just nodded with that same stupid grin on his face. "Oh, we did everything."

I felt Brick's face pale. Everything? As in everything? I couldn't imagine. I couldn't breathe. I was furious. Butch was such a little player. He messed around with my sister one night and possibly even took her virginity after only a sort-of date? That bastard. That bastard.

"Dude, Brick, you okay man?" Butch said to me, waving a hand in front of Brick's face. But all I saw was red. Pure blood red.

In one swift move, I clasped Brick's hand around Butch's wrist and held it still. Butch looked at me questioningly.

"You did... everything...?" I grunted through gritted teeth. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Boomer shrink into his beanbag chair. I ignored him. I just prayed with the back of my mind that he'd have the sense to stay out of the way while I ferociously beat the living shit out of Butch.

"Hey, come on," Butch laughed uneasily as I stood up in front of him, still gripping his wrist. I pushed him backwards and got extremely close to his face.

The look of fear mixed with incredulity on his face was more than apparent as I whispered, "You bastard."

And I fully pushed back his wrist. It made a satisfying snap and he let out a yelp of pain. Boomer whimpered behind me. I had no idea what came over me then. I grinned at his pain. I wanted Butch to suffer. Hard.

"Brick!" he exclaimed, gripping his wrist with his other hand. "Goddammit, Brick, what the fuck did you do that for? I was kidding, jeez what the fuck kind of idiot do you take me for?"

He was... He had been kidding? The red faded before my eyes and I looked him full in the face. He was legitimately scared now. I backed up a little. How could he have done that? Pretended to have abused my sister like that... Scared me half to death...

"Then what the hell were you doing at her house when I went over there to study?" I choked out, not even sure if I should believe anything he said.

Butch shrugged. "I didn't take her, but that doesn't mean I didn't mess around with her." that stupid look came on his face once again and I couldn't help myself. I clenched Brick's heavy fist and earned Butch a hard punch to the face.

"That's for being an asshole," I muttered as he stumbled backward, still gripping his wrist and falling into a crumpled green-and-black heap on the floor. Then, before he could even stir, I turned around to face the blonde boy, cowering in his seat. He flinched when I looked at him. "You coming, Boom?" the frightened boy had no choice but to nod and follow me as I took off out the door.

He had sense enough not to ask me where we were going. I don't even think I knew. I had far too much on my mind to be concerned with that. But nonetheless, I found myself heading towards my own home out of habit. Boomer and I landed wordlessly on the front porch, and I turned to look at him. He flinched when my eyes met his. Crap. I didn't want to scare him. I realized that I was turning into Brick more and more as the time went on. I swear, if I didn't find a cure for this switch-thing...

"Okay, Boomer," I said to him quietly. He cowered before me. I sighed. "You don't have to be afraid, Boom, I'm not gonna hit you." he relaxed a tiny bit but I could tell he was still frightened. "Alright, so you've got an idea of how you're gonna ask out Bubbles?"

At this, Boomer grinned widely and nodded fiercely. I chuckled low.

"Good, I'll leave it a surprise. But I want you to do it now, okay?" he nodded some more and in a flash of deep blue light, he was gone. I figured that now was as good a time as ever to ask Brick (aka, ME) on a date. Good thing I've been dreaming up ways that I want a guy to ask me out for years now.

I floated casually up to my own bedroom window and rapped on it gently. I laughed inwardly knowing that I sure was creeping through this window a lot. Within seconds, Brick appeared in the window and a huge smile grew on my face when he saw me.

"I thought you'd never get here!" he cried, ushering me inside the room. I landed on my own soft white carpet and sighed contentedly. I wished I could just go and lie down in my own bed, and study for my own tests... But now was not the time for wishing.

"Come with me to the beach," I said quietly. It wasn't exactly how I had wanted it to be, but I said it anyways. He looked at me strangely.

"The beach?" he repeated, a questioning tone in my very own voice.

I nodded. "Yeah, I gotta ask you something." I felt Brick's face forming into that familiar smirk and he rolled his eyes.

"Can't you just ask me right now?" he whined.

"No," I sneered. "I'm not lazy like you."

"But...everyone thinks you're me!" he interceded. "So can't you just ask me here, like the real me would?"

I pretended to think about this suggestion for a moment. "Hmm... no." I grinned. "Beach."

He rolled my eyes. "Fine," he agreed. He didn't say 'let me get ready', like I would have. He just snatched my red jacket from off the back of my desk chair and threw it over my shoulders. He didn't change my clothes since school, but he looked different somehow. I shrugged it off and led us to the beach just off of Lake Townsville.

It was twilight, still a bit of sun visible and lighting the white sand and dark blue waters of the beach. We were the only ones there.

Brick put my hands on my hips. "Well? We're here, what do you want to ask me, Brick?"

Brick

Blossom smirked again. The more she did it, the better she got at doing it just like me. It was scary. "You wanna take a walk on the beach with me?" she asked. She held out my hand towards me expectantly. I stared at it for a long time. I wasn't sure if I could do this. I mean, the other night at the carnival was one thing. But could I hold my own hand when I was consciously aware that I was doing it?

I think I could.

I cautiously reached for my own hand with Blossom's. She held her own hand in mine as if they were puzzle pieces meant to fit together. We began walking down the shore.

We walked and we talked, mostly about my brothers and her sisters. My brother Butch had pulled another one of those 'I took the girl's virginity' tricks, and I laughed when she told me she thought she broke his wrist. He probably deserved it, the bastard. What a joke.

I told her that Bubbles had asked me to go to the mall with her after school tomorrow. I didn't know what to say. I've never gone to the mall for shopping. She laughed and told me I should go. It would be good for me, she said. Plus I'd need a new outfit for our date. I felt Blossom's face flush when she'd said that. She laughed again at my expression. But it was all in good fun.

The entire time we walked along the beach, we held hands. And I didn't flinch once. I felt comfortable so close to her. It was probably because she was me. Yes, that's what it was.

Eventually, the sun went down past the horizon, swallowed up by the lake in the distance. Blossom simply turned to me and asked, "So we're on for tomorrow night?" and winked. I laughed. That felt exactly like something I would ask. I agreed, but it had to be sometime after Bubbles and I went shopping.

God, I was turning into a girl.

The whole time, she was—it sounds strange but—such a gentleman. It kinda taught me how I was supposed to act. She even walked me back to her house. I think that was her plan all along, so that I would learn how to be a gentleman.

We both said our humble goodbyes and I went inside with a huge grin on my face. That little walk on the beach put me in the best mood I'd been in for a long time. And I had no idea why.

Marisa Lee's Word-a-Month One-Shot Contest

It's even got a cool name :3

So basically, I'm going to start doing this writing contest. On the 15th day of every month, I'll give you a specific word that your fics are to be centered on, like a theme. For example, this month's word is 'Dream'. And your one-shot that you write has to be based on that one word. It can be any pairing and any length unless I specify. You will have all month to submit your entries, but that's not a lot of time, so you better get writing! And each month there will be a winner with a predetermined prize from me!

There are full details on my profile. I wish you all the best of luck for this month! :)