A/N: I had to split this chapter into two. It was so long. After the next chapter is the super long season finally!
Special shout out to FadedIllusion101 for being my 500th reviewer! As your special gift, you will get to read the next chapter before everyone else and decide when I post it. Will you use your powers for good and let me update tomorrow, or for evil and make everyone wait?
Thanks so much everyone! I never thought I'd reach a milestone like this. Over 500 reviews is amazing! I feel like the hug wolf from Adventure Time. I just want to hug everyone who supported my story. But since that's impossible (and a little creepy), I'll just have to make to best season finally ever!
Boomer was awoken from his sleep by his phone buzzing on the cheap hotel dresser. He had gone back to the club after firing Bubbles and found his girls practically where he left them. He liked their obedience, always where he could find them, although he never seemed to remember their names.
They were sleeping on either side of him, their arms flung carelessly across his bare chest. He shifted their arms off him, hot and sweaty from their body heat. He leaned over the one of his right for his phone. Boomer groaned as this action caused him to become painfully aware of his hangover.
He put the phone to his ear, trying to avoid the bright flashing screen. He knew it would be his brother telling him something along the lines of 'get your ass home.'
"Brick, I'm coming now."
"It's Bubbles silly."
Boomer sat up in the bed. He had completely forgotten that he had given Bubbles the phone. Now that he was mostly sober, he realized what a horrible idea it was to tell Bubbles the news in the middle of the night, but for some reason she sounded so… cheery.
"Bubbles? Why aren't you sleeping?"
"Sleeping? Most people who have school are up at this time. It's 7am," Bubbles answered, wondering what time Boomer normally woke up for school.
Boomer's eyes widened at the time. "Crap! I should have been home hours ago. Sorry Bubbles, I'll call you back later." Boomer hung up before she had time to respond.
…
Bubbles assumed the sudden loud beep was Boomer hanging up the phone. She knew she really shouldn't be thinking about these things, but she couldn't help but wonder why he wasn't at home. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.
Blossom usually answered the door, but she had already left for school. Buttercup was in the living room and answered instead. Bubbles finished tying her light blue sneakers and went into the family room to see who had come to visit. She found Buttercup sitting on the couch next to a large box.
"What is that?" Bubbles asked her sister, who was already opening the box.
Buttercup cleared away the packing to reveal a green party dress. She immediately recognized it as one of the dresses Butch had made her try on a few days ago. It was short and strapless. The top was fitted and lime green. The color slowly changed into a deep forest green at the bottom with a ruffled skirt.
"What a cute dress," Bubbles squealed, picking up the garment and holding it against her body. Under the dress was a letter addressed to BC.
Buttercup quickly snatched up the letter and read it.
Wear whichever you feel comfortable in.
-Butch
Buttercup looked in the box to see a suit with a dark green shirt.
"What does he mean?" Bubbles asked Buttercup, reading over her shoulder.
Buttercup folded the letter and threw it back into the box. "I don't know."
"He asked you to the dance, didn't he?" Bubbles goaded, smirking at her sister. Of course, there was no way that could be true. Butch thought Buttercup was a boy.
"So what if he did?"
Bubbles jaw nearly hit the floor. "You…you told him you're a girl? After the big deal you made about hiding it the other day?"
Buttercup couldn't look at her sister. She hadn't really planned on telling her anything, but now she had gone too far to turn back. "He doesn't know I'm a girl."
"What!?" Bubbles stumbled back, dropping the dress in the process. "Butch is gay?"
"He's not gay. He just…doesn't mind that I'm a boy."
"But Buttercup, you're not a boy. If he likes you, why haven't you told him?"
"He'll fire me if he finds out and let's face it, we need the money. I make enough to support our whole family by myself."
Bubbles frowned. "Money isn't that important."
The green eyed sister only crossed her arms. "Who are you kidding? You did who-knows-what just to get enough to buy Blossom's school uniform. The only people who actually believe that money isn't that important are the ones who have more than they know what to do with."
Bubbles knew she was right. Buttercup's job was really the only reason they could still to afford to live in this house, as small and cheap as it was. "Still, it doesn't seem right."
"Right? Like sneaking out the window to see your boss last night or should I say this morning?" Buttercup quickly changed the subject. She felt bad enough about lying to Butch without Bubbles reminding her how immoral she was being.
"I didn't sneak out through the window," Bubbles whispered harshly at her sister so her father wouldn't hear.
"So it was your boss," Buttercup smirked. Bubbles was so easily caught by these verbal traps.
"Not a conversation I want to have in the house. We should start walking to school." Bubbles grabbed Buttercup's hand and pulled her out into the crisp wind.
Buttercup resumed the talk immediately. "So what's going on between you and boss man? I know he's taken you home once or twice from work."
"Nothing is going on. He's not even my boss anymore," Bubbles answered, trying to hide the pain in her voice.
"Is that why he came last night? To fire you? That jerk!" Buttercup balled her fists. She'd have to pay a visit to that restaurant.
"He's not a jerk. He had to do it."
Buttercup looked at her sister in disbelief. "He's not a jerk? You must be crushing hard."
"I don't have a crush on him," Bubbles said, turning bright red.
"The truth is in the blush," Buttercup laughed back. "I get it. There's something alluring about dating your boss. " Buttercup smiled to herself, thinking about Butch. "So you two have been dating this whole time?"
"That's not it," Bubbles said with a sigh.
"So you haven't told him how you feel yet?"
"He knows…Let's talk about something else." The subject was depressing.
"Maybe he didn't understand."
"I was pretty clear…anyway, let's talk about art, or school, or bugs, or anything else."
"So he's too afraid to admit that he likes you?" Buttercup pressed on.
"That's not it, Buttercup." Bubbles was beginning to get annoyed. Why wouldn't Buttercup just drop it?
"Then he doesn't want to be with you because you're not rich?"
"He likes someone else, ok?"
Buttercup stared at her sister for a moment. She could see how much this was hurting her. "It's ok, Bubbles," she said in a soothing voice. "He just doesn't realize how great you are. You just need to spend more time talking to him. Once he sees what an awesome girl you are, the other girl will be ancient history."
"Maybe you're right."
Buttercup smiled and playfully elbowed her sister. "Of course I'm right."
When they arrived at school, Bubbles separated from Buttercup so she could make a phone call.
"Hello?" Boomer answered, sounding much more awake than he had earlier this morning.
"Hey Boomer, you sound lively."
"Thanks to your call I'll make it to school on time," Boomer said, clearly in a good mood.
"Glad to help," Bubbles giggled. She avoided asking him the question that was really on her mind. Where was he this morning?
…
"Nope, not convinced," Brick said once again to Butch. He was sitting at his desk in the observatory. He and Butch were skipping first period to work together.
"That's the last one I had," Butch said, closing the laptop in anger. He had created three PowerPoint presentations. He had never worked so hard on any project before. He had gone to Pete's Gym himself to do the research for it. His first presentation was about the state of the building. It was so run down it would cost more to fix it than to build a whole new building, but Brick shot that down right away. Apparently, they had already inspected the building and found that the repairs to be done were all minor. His second idea had been the location. Pete's Gym was located in the oldest part of Townsville; all the surrounding buildings were worn with age. Brick immediately rebutted, saying that it was also the busiest part of Townsville and the location would bring in a lot of customers. Butch's last try was the competition. There were at least three other gyms in the area. He knew it wasn't a very strong argument and Brick shot it down right away.
"What am I doing wrong?" Butch asked in frustration.
Brick pursed his lips, a move he always did when he was about to say something he thought the other person should already know. "All of your research could have easily been done by any of the board members. In fact, most of was. If you want to convince us not to buy the gym, you can't give us reasons that we could have easily come up with ourselves. No matter how convincing you are, we would look stupid for considering the gym in the first place without having done this research."
"Then it's hopeless. Thanks for all your help," Butch said bitterly. The meeting was tomorrow. How is he going to make a presentation good enough to convince them by then?
Brick sighed at his brother's impatience. "Look, all you have to do is tell us something we don't already know. Find out something about Pete, something so bad that it would make us think twice about working with him."
"How am I supposed to do that?"
"Do I have to tell you everything? Ask BC. You said they were close. I'm sure he knows something or he could easily find out."
"You expect me to ask BC to do that?"
"He does want to save the gym, doesn't he?"
Butch looked unsure about this. BC said Pete was his mentor. Would BC really tell him something incriminating about the man?
"Well if you can't…"
"I can," Butch said, positive he would find a way to make BC help.
"Good…" Brick straightened in his seat. "Now I believe you owe me some information."
Butch had almost forgotten about that. He found it weird that his brothers were in this situation in the first place. Brick was supposed to end up with some rich pretty girl who happened to have a brain. As much as he hated it, everyone expected him to end up with Princess. Boomer was supposed to end up with some blonde, air-headed heiress. How did they both end up liking the same girl and how could that girl be Blossom? "Not that there's anything you can do about it now, but Boomer is taking Blossom to the dance tomorrow."
A look of anger crossed Brick's face so fast a blink would have missed it. "He asked her? She knows he was the one on the roof?"
"Technically, the boy on the roof asked her. He's planning to tell her who he is at the dance."
Before Butch had finished his sentence, Brick was halfway to the door.
"Where are you going?"
Brick answered, not pausing to look at Butch. "Its five minutes before class gets out. I'm going to talk to Blossom."
"I don't think she'll be in the mood to talk."
Brick ignored his brother and left the room
…
Boomer had barely stepped out of his first class when he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. He looked at the screen to see Bubbles' name blinking at him.
"Hi Bubbles."
"You knew it was me?" Bubbles asked.
"I have your number saved in my phone. Your name pops up when you call."
"Is that how it works?"
He found it cute that she didn't know much about phones.
"I just got out of class, you probably did too. I hope I'm not bothering you."
"Not at all. I was walking to my next class, we can talk until I get there."
Boomer heard a very high pitched squeak on the other line. He could almost see Bubbles trying to calm herself down. He smiled despite himself. It felt nice that she was so excited to talk to him, even if it was just for a few minutes.
…
Brick waited outside Blossom's class for her. She usually left after everyone had gone. It was best to avoid crowds when so many people disliked you. Brick noticed a few of her classmates also waiting for Blossom, probably to trip or push her down. He effectively glared them away before Blossom could appear at the door. She walked right past him, paying more attention to the floor that to her surroundings.
"Hi Blossom," Brick said to get her attention.
Blossom quickly glared at him before walking away.
"How is your day going?" Brick asked, ignoring the glare and catching up to her.
"Considering I was hoping to go the whole day without seeing you, not so great." Blossom sped up, hoping Brick would give up on talking to her.
Her words stung. She wouldn't forgive him so easily. Brick matched her pace and tried again. "I think we should talk."
"We have nothing to talk about," Blossom retorted, avoiding eye contact.
Brick grabbed her arm, stopping Blossom in her tracks. She hated the way her heart reacted at his touch, as if she didn't hate him. "I have to talk to you," he repeated, looking into her eyes. He ignored the bewildered looks of their classmates and dragged her toward the observatory.
"Wait," Blossom said after a while, getting over the shock of Brick suddenly dragging her somewhere. "Where are we going? I have class."
Brick slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He put it on speaker so Blossom could hear.
"Hello?" a familiar voice said on the other end.
"It's me."
"Mr. Jojo, it's always a pleasure."
"I need you to excuse Blossom from class today."
Blossom's eyes widened as she realized who Brick was talking to. His mother may own the school, but he didn't have that kind of power, did he?
"Of Course Mr. Jojo."
Apparently he did. Brick thanked the teacher and pushed his phone back into his pocket.
"You can't do that," Blossom said while struggling to be free from his hold. "There are consequences for your actions you know."
Blossom's struggles barely bothered Brick. When he got to the observatory he quickly pushed her in and locked the door behind him. He could just imagine the rumors that would circulate because of this, but for the first time he found he didn't care.
Blossom sat on the couch with her arms crossed. "So what's so important that you had to call me out of class for?"
Brick froze. Had he really called Blossom out of class to discuss her date to the dance? Not only that, but he had dragged her to the other side of the school and locked them in this room alone together. He stared at Blossom as she sat there, staring at the floor. Her hair was still damp from washing it after everyone had thrown mud at her.
He walked behind the couch and stood there a moment. He could smell the light scent coming from her hair, but he couldn't quite make out what it was. He picked up a piece of her hair and put it to his nose. Strawberries.
"What are you doing?" Blossom practically flew to the other side of the room. She looked at Brick like he had gone crazy, perhaps he had.
"Tomorrow you're going to that dance with the guy you've been talking to on the roof," Brick said as if he hadn't just smelled her hair.
"So you're going to try to stop me from going?"
"No, but will you still want to go when you know who the boy is?"
"Honestly, now that I know it's not you, he could literally be anyone one else and I'd be fine with that."
"Even if he was my brother?"
"Especially if he's your brother."
Brick stared at her and realized that she already knew who it was. "How long have you known it was Boomer?"
"Since the second I realized it wasn't you." Truthfully, Blossom wasn't a hundred percent sure until Brick told her.
"If you knew, then why did you agree to go? You really think he asked you because he likes you?"
Blossom was silent. She had been tricked before, but Boomer was different from his brother. He just didn't seem capable of the same kind of evil.
Brick continued. "What would you do if a strange boy suddenly kicked one of your sisters in the face?"
She had to admit, she wouldn't be too happy if anyone hurt one of her sisters.
"Boomer is my brother. You think he'd choose you over me? He's going to crush you in the worst way possible. He may look sweet and innocent, but no one is better at breaking hearts than he is."
Blossom withered a bit. He was right; Boomer could be doing this to get revenge for his brother. She slumped to the floor. Why was she always falling for this? "Why did you tell me?" Blossom wondered.
Brick was surprised by her question. "What?" He stammered out.
Blossom looked up when she noticed his hesitation. "If you hate me so much, why did you tell me this? Why didn't you just let him hurt me? Isn't that what you want?"
"A guy can't do one nice thing?"
"You're lying," Blossom said, gaining confidence. "You don't want me to go to the dance with Boomer because he does like me."
"Don't be ridiculous."
Blossom smiled, knowing she was right. "That's why you dragged me here. You can't stand the fact that your brother actually likes me. You're trying to stop it from happening. It's probably why you replaced him on the roof too."
Brick frowned, about to reply when the door suddenly burst open. Boomer stood in the doorway looking as if he'd just run all the way there. He stared at the both of them. Blossom and Brick were on opposite sides of the room. Blossom was sitting on the floor and Brick was standing behind the couch. She didn't look hurt or upset, causing Boomer to calm down considerably.
"What's going on? Why am I hearing that Blossom hasn't been to class because she was dragged away by you?" Boomer addressed Brick.
"Why do you care?" Brick asked, knowing that if Boomer wanted to keep his little secret, this would be hard to explain.
Boomer looked at Blossom, realizing why Brick had asked him a question he already knew the answer to. "Blossom, I don't think there's any reason for you to miss anymore class because of Brick."
Blossom took the hint and left the brothers alone.
Boomer scowled at Brick. "I can't decide if you're doing this because you hate Blossom or because you hate me."
"You're my brother Boomer," replied Brick as if this was an answer to the question.
"That's great, but I didn't ask you if we were related."
Brick walked around to the front of the couch and sat down. He didn't hate Boomer. Sure he was annoying sometimes and there was the whole liking-the-same-girl thing, but he cared a lot for his little brother. He just also cared for Blossom and he knows what kind of guy Boomer is.
"Technically, you didn't ask me a question."
Boomer sighed. "Fine, then tell me why this is such a big deal to you. It's not like Blossom is the first girl to insult you. I've never seen you get so involved with the red cards before."
"This is different."
"How?"
Before Brick could reply Boomer's phone buzzed in his pocket. He looked down at the phone to see Bubbles' name appear.
"Why don't you answer that," Brick said walking toward the door. "I've got to get to my next class anyway."
He walked through the door, leaving Boomer very unsatisfied with their conversation.
"Hello," Boomer answered grumpily.
"Hi Boomer!" Bubbles squealed. Her excitement lightened Boomer's mood a bit. "How was class?"
"I only went to half of it. I left when I heard Brick was harassing Blossom."
"What did he do?"
"Don't know. Blossom didn't look hurt or anything, but I'll ask her about it later." He failed to mention that she sort of interrupted his chance to ask Brick about it. He didn't want to make Bubbles feel like she was bothering him by calling. He decided to keep the rest of the conversation light.
…
Blossom walked up the steps to the roof slowly. As much as she had protested earlier, she was concerned with what Brick had told her. He lied about a lot of things, but for reasons she couldn't fathom, it felt like he was telling the truth about Boomer. It worried her.
Blossom opened the door to the roof to see Boomer leaning against the rails waiting for her. He was facing away from her, the breeze playing with his blonde hair.
"B-B-Boomer?" Blossom stuttered in surprise. "I can see all of you?"
Boomer turned to face Blossom, a smile on his face. "I couldn't wait until tomorrow," he declared. Boomer's smile slowly turned into a frown. "Especially since I can't be sure if you still want to go."
Blossom joined him on the rails. "Why wouldn't I want to go?"
"What did you and Brick talk about before I got there?"
Blossom hesitated. She looked out past the school grounds to the surrounding town. "He told me that you would hurt me in the worst way possible."
"You don't believe him do you?" Boomer's voice sounded desperate.
"No, of course not, but he did have a good point." Blossom looked at Boomer again, wanting to make sure he didn't lie to her. "Why did you ask me to the dance if you knew Brick would be upset about it?"
"Brick is my brother and I love him, but he can't tell me who to like."
"If anyone had hurt or embarrassed either of my sisters, I'd probably hate them forever. Why is it different with you and Brick?"
Boomer sat down against the rails. "Brick and I aren't exactly the closest of siblings."
-Flashback-
It was vegetables. Boomer hated vegetables, almost as much as wearing ties. He pushed them around on his plate; hoping dinner would end before anyone noticed he wasn't eating them. He looked up at his dad, who smiled at him. He always sat to the left of his father, a spot usually reserved for the eldest son, but Boomer had always received special treatment from his father. Brick sat to his mother's right and Butch sat next to Boomer.
"How was school today, boys?" Pricilla said after a while.
"We had a physical fitness test," Butch answered right away. "We got to run around the whole school. I came in second of all the boys," Butch said proudly.
"Oh, who came in first?"
Boomer knew she would ask. His mother never cared about anything, but being the best. Butch pouted and looked at Brick.
"I did, mother," Brick answered. Pricilla smiled at her son and pat him on the head as if she expected no less.
"And what place did you come in Boomer?"
Boomer's face turned a bright scarlet. He had nearly come in last of the boys, even a couple girls had passed him. Mojo put a hand on Boomer's shoulder.
"It doesn't matter what place he came in. Did you pass the fitness test?" He asked instead.
"Yes!" Boomer shouted proudly. Mojo smiled and ruffled his hair. "Then I'm proud of you."
Brick's frown was identical to his mother's. He loved his father more than anything. It was he who would inherit the company, he who was born first, and he who was the perfect son. Why did his father prefer Boomer to him?
"You need to stop babying the child," Pricilla said coldly. "That's not how the world works. This world is filled with winners and losers." Pricilla stood up from her seat. "If you're not a winner then…" She tapered off. "The sooner you acknowledge that, the better." She walked away from the table, taking Brick with her.
Butch looked at his father, unsure of what to do. Mojo nodded at his son. Butch pushed away from the table and followed his mother and brother.
Mojo sighed, his wife was always trying to get the boys to compete against each other when they should be working together. There was an innocence about Boomer that reminded him of his ex-girlfriend, the only woman he had ever truly loved.
"Why do you always do that?" Boomer asked his father, when he was sure they were alone.
"Do what?" Mojo asked in return.
"You take my side even though Brick and Butch are better than me at everything."
Mojo picked up little Boomer and placed him in his lap. "You, my son, have more love in you than all three of them combined. The world is full of lovers and haters. You are a lover." Mojo ruffled his hair, causing Boomer to laugh. "That's what is most important."
-End flashback-
Boomer stared into Blossom's pink eyes. He hadn't realized how close they had moved to each other during his story. "Brick isn't very good at loving. That's why he can't understand this." Boomer pressed a bit closer to Blossom. She was surprised at first when their lips touched, but relaxed after a while. It felt so natural to kiss him.
In the corner of the building at the very top, Blossom had failed to notice a small black addition to the rooftop.
A/N: They kissed! I love writing BrickxBlossomxBoomer because no matter how sweet, kind, and honest Boomer is (not that he's any of those things in my story), most everyone wants Blossom to end up with Brick, even if he's a jerk. I'm guilty of it too. Brick could be the Gaston to Blossom's Belle and I'd still want them to be together.
If you haven't noticed by now, Boomer and Bubbles are heavy flashback characters. Most of their story happened before my actual story started, although it won't all be revealed until season 2.