Townsville High

~Good day, readers! How are all of my amazing followers doing? Thanks to everyone who read, followed, reviewed and favourited. As you all know, this story is coming to it's end. The final chapter is soon but once it is finished, my brand new story will be out! This new story, I have been planning for many months now. So I can't wait to start writing it soon, and I hope that all of you will read it once this story is over. Anyway, that is all I have to say. Enjoy, lovelies!~

Chapter 55 - Goodbye To Everything

Last Chapter - Bubbles got an early acceptance to the college of her dreams. Mitch made a plan to secure his family's safety as well as his own. Buttercup continued to plan the last party before exams. And Maxine learned of Boomer's secret health scare.

Disclaimer: Of course, I own nothing except for Maxine Slater, Brody McKane, Tyler-Jay Cairns and Hailey Cloud. I also do not own the song that is included in this chapter, the song is called "Out of the blue," And it is sung by Sub Focus ft. Alice Gold. (I'd listen to it during the section that it is featured in. I don't know why but it makes it funner to read.)

AN; A special thank you goes out to Meleex (Andie, my soul sister!), Jeanette (Such an angel), Pink Powerpuff Blossom, River Wolfgirl, MusicalAnimeFreak and tomboygreengurl. (I adore every single one of you. Thanks so much for the lovely comments. Enjoy the chapter, angels!)

Sorry for the wait, but as you will see, this is a long chapter! There is also a lot of Buttercup/Butch in this chapter considering I haven't given them enough moments lately.


Previously;

"Boomer.." Maxine read aloud, skimming through the paragraph. "..Accident...Anti-Inflammatory drugs...Sickness..Stomach Ulc-" Maxine stopped reading abruptly.

She stared down at the pages with wide, unblinking eyes. None of this seemed to make sense to the pregnant teenager. Of all things that she had expected to read, this was not one of them. Maxine let out a surprised laugh. This had to have been wrong.

"It's a joke," Maxine told herself. "A sick..joke." She laughed shakily trying to convince herself of what she was saying. Just as she finally began to believe her desperate attempt, she turned the page and noticed a picture stuck under another statement. It appeared to be an X-Ray of Boomer. None of it looked right.

Maxine had had her share of X-Rays before. More specifically when she went to this hospital many months before and was told that she was carrying a child. She had seen her X-Ray, and this was not how they were supposed to look. Something honestly was wrong with her blonde friend.

The brunette let out a massive, breath-tearing gasp as the document fell right from her finger tips and landed on the ground beneath her. For just a moment she stood frozen on the spot, staring at the bland white walls, unable to move or breath.

As the situation began to dawn on her, Maxine's thoughts drifted to Boomer. The sweet little boy that she met when she was just a little kid. The boy that always brought an extra pencil to English because he knew that she was forgetful. The boy that bought her a bouquet of pink Poinsettia flowers -her favourite flowers- when she was ill in the third grade. The boy that helped her home when she had her first drink of alcohol when they were fourteen.

"He's dying," Maxine finally whispered. All of these unbridled emotions came crashing at her all at once and for the first time in a long time she was terrified for her friend. "He can't- He can't be.." The brunette stuttered, staring into space with glassy blue-green eyes.

Maxine sucked in a sharp, painful breath. "No, no, no.."

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXo

As the sun hit Townsville alerting the associates of a brand new day, Buttercup Utonium's eyes rolled open prepared for what would soon be classed as one of the wildest nights of her entire life. Her green orbs hastily closed as they attempted to adjust themselves to the bright, piercing light shooting through her open curtains. A soft groan echoed throughout her small bedroom as she rolled onto her side, opening her eyes once more. The red digits of her alarm clock lit up indicated that it was six o'clock in the morning. She shut her eyes hoping that she could perhaps catch another half hour of peaceful, undisturbed sleep before getting up for another dull day at school. Unfortunately, luck was not on Buttercup's side this morning.

A sudden loud noise caused Buttercup to bolt up from her comfortable sleeping position, feeling more alert than usual. She kept her ears wide open and her gaze narrowed. Someone was making an absolute racket downstairs. Realising that sleep was avoiding her, Buttercup leapt out of her warm silk green sheets and placed both feet on her carpeted floor. She rose out of her bed and took a quick glance at herself in the full body mirror on the opposite wall. Horrendous bags sat underneath her usually full of life green eyes. Most likely thanks to her all-nighter. It was finally the day of the final party and Buttercup found she had far too much to do.

She began to walk towards her door, deciding to investigate the sudden noise from downstairs. As she made her way into the cold hall she noticed her auburn haired sister struggling to move both feet at the same time. Blossom began to rub her sleepy eyes, practically tripping over her own two feet as attempted to make her way out of her bedroom.

"What's that noise?" Buttercup spoke up.

Blossom took notice of Buttercup's sudden appearance. She finally managed to open her drowsy pink orbs wide enough to seem almost responsive. With a slight shrug of her shoulders, Blossom stood before her sister, prepared to inspect the case of the loud noise that woke both Utonium's up. Buttercup was silently praying that it was not one of the Jojo brothers. They seemed to come over more than usual ever since Blossom slept in the week before, causing not a single Utonium to wake up and resulting in an absence from school. Being as close to graduation as they were, no one was taking any risks.

"I think it is coming from the kitchen." Blossom responded followed by a prolonged yawn.

Buttercup nodded in agreement as she listened more intuitively. Another loud sound graced their ears, resembling the noise of something banging, or perhaps falling. Both Utonium's sent each other a cautious glance. They each took a singular step forward, both of their heads tilted to the side as the listened for something suspicious. Buttercup's long forgotten superhero senses were kicking into overdrive. Another large noise was heard and instantly Buttercup found herself standing in a fighting stance.

Blossom gasped melodramatically. "Oh my days, we're being burglarized!"

"Calm down," Buttercup consoled in a harsh whisper. "I doubt someone would burgle our house at six in the freaking morning. Plus, even if someone is, I'm pretty sure we can take care of them." She finished, giving her knuckles a loud crack.

She strolled past her auburn haired sister and continued towards the staircase, keeping her eyes wide open and her steps light. Both Utonium's began to quietly walk down the stairs, the sounds of something clicking inside of the kitchen becoming clearer. Just as they reached the kitchen Blossom stepped forward to wander inside, only to be held back by Buttercup's extended arm. Blossom glanced at her sister to see Buttercup's face furrowed in concentration, ready to strike whomever was making all of this commotion inside of their home.

"Aha!" Buttercup yelled dramatically as she bounced into the kitchen, only to freeze on the spot with a confused look covering her now pale face.

Blossom poked her head inside and did a double-take. "Huh?"

Both girls stared in shock at something neither had expected, and neither had seen in a very long time. Their blonde haired, blue eyed sister with surprisingly joyful smile on her face, dancing around the kitchen with a sizzling frying pan in her hand and a spatula in the other. Blossom's eyes fell onto the kitchen table, noticing that it had been perfectly set out for three people. She recognised the set of cutlery as the fine china that once belongs to John Utonium, only to be used for special occasions. The weight would explain the clacking noises. Blossom soon realised that she and her sister had been quick to jump to conclusions.

The very confused girls continued to examine the table. It looked as though Bubbles had spent at least half an hour polishing to perfection. There was even a large, vintage crystal vase holding a bouquet of deep maroon Roselia's centered on the table. As they turned their attention to Bubbles -whom apparently had not noticing their loud arrival thanks to the sputtering of the frying pan- they noticed the small radio sat beside the sink, strumming soft jazz music quietly.

Buttercup and Blossom glanced at each other in unison. Both raised their eyebrows, unsure of what was happening. For a second Buttercup believed she had still been asleep although a quick, painful pinch to the arm was enough to ensure her that this was real. Neither girls had seen Bubbles smiling in quite a long time, especially ever since she realised that no one supported her move to New York because of how soon it was. But here she was. Smiling brightly, cooking for presumably her sisters, and dancing around the room. Three things she had not done in what seemed like an eternity.

"Um..Bubbs?" Buttercup spoke up slowly. "What is all of this?"

At the sound of her voice, Bubbles spun herself around, finally taking notice of her company. Her smile only seemed to raise higher to the point where she began to freak both of her siblings out. The small blonde stepped forwards and extended her hand, revealing a frying pan with a delicious looking pancake inside. Buttercup's favourite.

"We haven't had a family breakfast in such a long time. I just thought it would be fun."

Buttercup and Blossom looked down at the pancake, both of their stomachs grumbling at the sight of freshly cooked breakfast. It looked fantastic as opposed to the bland, tasteless cereal that the Utonium's had been consuming every single morning for the past two weeks. Although Blossom -being as bright as she was- had the feeling that this gesture had an ulterior motive to it. She was aware that in this family, doing something nice either always came with a price, or an obligation.

"Is this because of last night?"

Bubbles tensed at Blossom's question. "Look, I really am sorry. I sort of dropped a bomb on everyone. And I have to go tell Maxine today because she didn't show up last night, so it would really help if you both supported this decision."

Although reasonable, Blossom still crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the wall with a conflicted expression painted on her face.

"I see what you're doing," Buttercup spoke with narrow eyes. "You think that if you cook us breakfast and try to make us feel sympathetic for you that we'll forget all about your insane idea to move to New Y- Is that bacon?"

Bubbles smiled in success as her sister stared at the plate of bacon sat beside the oven with stars in her eyes. Without another word, Buttercup pushed past Bubbles and took hold of the large white plate. She rushed over to the table and sat down at her usual seat, digging into the thin strips of bacon. Blossom rolled her eyes at Buttercup's behaviour. However she admired Bubbles' genius. Of course Buttercup could not finish an argument, or even pay much attention, when there was a ready stack of bacon sitting near by.

"This isn't over. We're still not happy about this, right Buttercup?"

Rather than reply, the dark-haired Utonium mumbled something short of a response with a mouth-full of food. Bubbles looked back over at Blossom with a victorious grin, her eyes sparkling in joy of that fact that her plan had worked.

"Well, I suppose this conversation is over," Bubbles beamed. "Blossom, would you like breakfast?"

Blossom sighed. "You may as well give me something. There's no way I'm getting back to sleep now."

The auburn-haired girl strode past her sister and strolled over to the kitchen table whilst rubbing the sleep out of her eyes once more. She took a seat opposite from Buttercup whom had finally devoured her fourth strip of slightly burnt bacon -the way she liked it- after savouring the taste as much as she could. Blossom watched silently as Buttercup moved on to her fifth slice. She scrunched her nose in distaste as Buttercup's crude table manners.

As she reached forward to pour herself a glass of the freshly squeezed orange juice, Bubbles flipped a well-cooked pancake onto her lonely plate. Blossom wanted to protest however her grumbling stomach would not allow it. Hastily digging into her breakfast, Blossom glanced up to notice Bubbles now sat at the right end of the table, picking from the bowl of fruit she had washed and prepared prior to the meal.

"Well, this is nice, isn't it?" Bubbles asked casually as she popped a plump green grape into her mouth. Realising that silence was building up, Bubbles glanced around the table to notice that only Blossom appeared to have heard her. However rather than replying, Blossom was staring down at her plate in muteness, a blank expression cowering. "Blossom? Don't you think that this is nice?"

"Sure," Blossom spoke halfheartedly, ending the awkward silence that fell upon them. "If only we could do this every single morning!" She chirped with utterly fake enthusiasm before her counterfeit expression dropped. "Oh, wait.."

Bubbles' lips curved down into a crooked frown. "You told me that you would support whatever I decided to do. You also said that you wouldn't resent me for being the first to go."

"I do not resent you, Bubbles. I'm just upset, it's understandable. We were supposed to have more time together before any of this..change happened. There isn't enough time to do this," Blossom's hand motioned around the table. "You know, be a family."

For the first time in the last five minutes, Buttercup had finally taken an interest in the conversing going on between the table -mainly because she had ran out of bacon- and began to glance between her sisters whom both wore conflicted looks on their faces. Buttercup began to feel slightly claustrophobic as she caught on to the thick tension that filled the kitchen. She put her fork down beside her plate and coughed loudly, causing both of her sisters to drop their staring match and turn their attention towards her.

"Does anyone want to hear my opinion in all of this?" She asked causally, leaning back into her chair.

"Buttercup, I don't think that yelling at Bubbles is going to achieve anything right now."

The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh. "For your information, I wasn't going to yell. Sure, I'm not in the least pleased about my sister moving out of country and not being able to see her every day but you know, this is her decision to make. If she wants to follow her dream we should at least let her," Buttercup pushed, her eyes blinking rapidly as though she hated to admit her own words. "Don't you think that she's old enough..to be her own person."

Buttercup looked down at her empty plate, ignoring the looks of shock frozen on Blossom and Bubbles' faces. She could barely believe that she was conceding an argument. However Buttercup realised that there was some things that she couldn't control, and if she had been in Bubbles' place, she wouldn't want the tension to become them all because of her. As the thick silence continued, Bubbles' lips curved into a small, adoring smile. Her icy-blue eyes met with Buttercup's from across the table.

"You mean it?" Bubbles asked in a stunned voice.

"Yeah," Buttercup shrugged reluctantly. "It's not like I can tie you to a chair to stop you from leaving home."

"Unless-"

"Blossom, we're not doing that. Will you please just drop this? She wants to go to her dream college, why would you want to hold her back from that?" Buttercup challenged, her eyes boring deep into Blossom's.

Instantly Bubbles shot out of her chair with great speed and rushed over to Buttercup. The blonde tackled her sister and wrapped her arms around her. She hugged Buttercup so tightly that the green-eyed Utonium lost all ability to breath properly. Uncomfortable with the display of affection, Buttercup's hands rested on Bubbles' shoulders. She pushed Bubbles away from her with great force, sending her almost flying into the tall standing fridge behind her.

"Thank you, Buttercup! Do you know how much I love you?"

Buttercup's eyebrow raised as a smile lit up her face. "Just buy me a brand new leather jacket and we'll call it even."

"Deal."

As Blossom watched her sisters laugh together, she felt her left eye twitch uncontrollably. No matter how hard she wanted to speak up and scream that Buttercup was being unreasonable she couldn't help but feel like it was her that was acting irrational. For a moment she felt as though she couldn't control her problems. Not that she wanted to control her sister's life, she just didn't enjoy feeling like she couldn't do anything to ensure things worked out the way she saw fit.

"Buttercup, although I hate to admit it, you have a point," Blossom muttered in defeat. "I won't say another word on the subject." She conceded softly, staring up at her sisters.

"Really?"

Blossom smiled hesitantly at Bubbles and nodded. She didn't know what else she could say. She barely believed her own words. But nevertheless, Blossom allowed Bubbles to believe them. She braced herself as Bubbles came rushing towards her. The short blonde tackled Blossom in a bone-crushing hug followed by a long course of "Thank you,"-s. Once she was finished cutting off her sister's air supply, Bubbles sat back in her seat and turned to Buttercup.

Buttercup beamed. "So. Let's talk about this jacket that you're going to buy me. I think it should be cropped. I mean, I don't have a cropped leather jacket yet. And buttons! Just like the ones on Butch's, you know, gold and spark-"

Despite how loud Buttercup was talking, Blossom managed to drown out her words. She simply stared at her sisters with a blank expression on her face. All of that speech about following dreams, it got her thinking about her own future and her dream of becoming a teacher. Blossom understood that by deciding to stay in Townsville, she had given up all pretense of seeing that through. And while she would be sulking over missing her chance, Bubbles would be living it up in New York, dancing in real shows with real crowds, making a new group of friends that consisted of other dancers and singers and actors, and she would be happy. Blossom couldn't help but feel jealous. Not that she wanted to move to New York -she would never do that considering her dislike of overly populated places- but that Bubbles got to do what she wanted. Jealousy was becoming her again. She couldn't let it.

As the two girls continued to converse about coats Blossom remained perfectly silent and just watched them talk, taking in their smiling faces and chipper demeanors, all the while thinking, "She's really leaving. And there is nothing I can do."

Blossom sighed to herself.


"You missed a spot."

Hailey Cloud's face dropped.

She took a glance to her right side to find Mitch Mitchelson pointing his finger towards the bar she was currently scrubbing down. Just as he had said, her light blue eyes landed on a circular stain of what she hoped was coffee. Coffee was always easier to clean. Ignoring the spot she was currently cleaning, Hailey began to scrub the dirty patch, all the while shooting Mitch a cold glare. She wished that for once he would take up the job of cleaning.

Lately all that Mitch had been doing was working the register, while Hailey had to do just about everything else. She was beginning to feel even more curious as to why her fellow waiter friend seemed only interested in mediocre jobs like standing beside the cash register all evening. He wouldn't even allow her to take the till for an hour. Hailey wasn't usually a suspicious or paranoid person, but Mitch was acting different lately, and she was starting to see a pattern.

Mitch absentmindedly counted the bills that he had just collected from the small jar in front of the register labeled "Tips!", which was beginning to seem more packed lately. He and Hailey received many tips every day, all thanks to Mitch's quick skill at making an amazing cup of coffee and Hailey's general kind attitude towards her customers. Each week they would count all of their tips and each take half of the amount. Of course they deserved it. They ran the place. Their boss, Chuck, was never around and as for the other waiters, they never seemed to notice that they had shifts to be at.

Working as a team, Hailey had made enough money to start looking for a gorgeous new home with a spacious back yard as opposed to the studio apartment she had been subject to living in ever since she dropped out of high school. She had told Mitch about her quest to find the perfect home where she could buy a dog and sit out in the yard on warm summer days. He came with her to view a couple of decent appartements close to The Cove. Of course, this didn't mean anything. They continued to insist that they were simply friends with benefits, nothing more, nothing less.

"Hey, here's your cut for this week." Mitch interrupted Hailey's scrubbing.

He extended his hand towards his blonde friend, passing her the tips that they had collected all week. With each week, Hailey came just that little bit closer to her dream house, and Mitch came closer to setting his plan into motion. But that was a story for another time. The grand total had came to a whopping sixty-four dollars. They had their favourite customers 'The Suit's,' to thank for that. Three men, all in trim Armani suits, always stopping by after and in between business hours. They always tipped much more than the casual five dollars that the stressed-looking college students would give them before taking their cups-to-go and rushing out of the cafe with their shirts untucked.

Smiling graciously, Hailey said, "Thank you. A couple of more weeks and I'll be living it up in that house we saw on Monday. You'll be coming over to help me unpack, right?"

"Yeah, of course I will, Hayles."

Although she detected a little bit of uncertainty to his voice, Hailey ignored her mind screaming at her that something was off about his answer and accepted the bills from Mitch's waiting hand. She pushed her apron and stuck the money into the right pocket of her navy blue shorts.

"So. Did you find a way to sort out those money problems?" She asked curiously, referring to the time she and Mitch had been on one of their no-strings-attatched dates and he had mentioned his reasons for working at The Cove, that his family had been having money issues for a while.

Mitch nodded distantly. "Yeah. It's sorted."

"Really? Oh, I'm so proud of you," Hailey beamed brightly. She leaned closer towards him and placed a heavenly, chaste kiss on his cheek. She pulled back and her blue eyes met with his. "You're a good person, looking out for your family." She breathed dreamily, nothing less than pride shining in her orbs.

For a moment Mitch tensed uncontrollably. Having his friend compliment and praise him when he certainly did not deserve any of it made him feel a small shed of unbridled guilt. It suddenly occurred to him that when Hailey caught on with what he was planning -and being as smart and perceptive as she was, he knew she would- he would lose all of the respect that Hailey felt for him. Mitch had never been truly respected before, especially not by someone who he had been casually seeing for a short time. Most girls could never respect someone whom only saw them as a fling but Hailey, she wasn't like that. She understood Mitch's reasons for not wanting to commit to anyone. She knew first hand just how relationships could be when not given time to allow real feelings to develop.

"Thanks," Mitch muttered, struggling to get the words past his guilt. "That means a lot to me."

Shooting him one final heart-melting smile, Hailey spun on her white sling-backs and stalked away towards the back room of The Cove to fetch some more cleaning supplies. Mitch watched her go, imagining how she would act if she found out the truth. She wouldn't smile at him, she wouldn't call him every night just to talk for hours as they always did, she wouldn't invite him out to come view apartments with her and grab a quick lunch afterwards. She would just leave and everything that Mitch had taken for granted would be gone.

Sighing, Mitch ran a hand through his rough hazel hair. Seeing this as his only chance to have a moment in solitude Mitch reached into his skin-tight midnight jeans and dug around for his mobile phone. Once finding it, Mitch pulled the small cell-phone out and watched as the screen lit back to life. He began to scroll down in search for Nick's number in his long list of phone contacts; Butch. Buttercup. Freddie. Hailey. Lisa. Matthew. Mom. Nick. "Bingo."

Mitch pressed the call button before pressing the phone to his ear, his eyes bouncing around every inch of the room in anticipation for his eldest brother to answer. After three rings that to Mitch seemed to go on forever, Nick Mitchelson's deep, husky voice appeared on the other end of the phone.

"Hello?"

"Nick, tell Freds to call off the job search. I've got the money that we need to pay off the debt."

There was a swift silence until Nick's confused voice responded. "What? How in the hell did you come up with that kind of money?"

"I've been saving up all of my wages and tips ever since I started working here. With all of the extra shifts I've been picking up, Chuck has been really generous to me. It's all sorted."

"Mitchel, you are amazing. Don't worry, I'll pay you back every single cent."

Mitch smiled at his brother's rushed words. "Not necessary."

"It's not optional. I'll go call Freddie and mom. Seriously, good job Mitch. We were starting to get threatening letters from the bank."

"Really?" Mitch chuckled to himself. "I'll see you tonight, Nick."

With that said, done and out of the way, the brunette hung up on his brother. The cheerful smile that had previously been plastered onto Mitch's youthful face dropped as though it had never been there in the first place. He stood there rigid, devoid of all emotion and feeling. Although he knew that he should be feeling happy, glad that for once Nick was the one praising Mitch rather than treating him like a doormat and a child, yet he couldn't accept the pride. He couldn't stand there and feel superior and worthy when he felt as though he didn't deserve it. He had stolen and lied. That was not something to be rewarded. But he couldn't back out now. Maxine Slater was right, Mitch realised, it was too late.

Mitch turned himself around and set his phone down onto the counter. His eyes fell onto the medium sized laptop that had been placed beside the till. He had borrowed it from his second eldest brother, Freddie, whom didn't think twice about it. He never used it anyway. However Mitch, he had a reason for needing it on this particular day. Because on this day was when Mitch began to set his plan into motion. A plan that, if all worked out perfectly, would secure that once someone found out about where Mitch got this money from, no one would be able to do anything about it. His families debt would be out of the way for good, and Mitch would be in the clear.

He stared down at the laptop, his eyes lingering. When asked by Hailey why he had been on this laptop for most of the morning -except for when someone ordered something- Mitch had replied that he had an assignment on The Ozarks for Geography class, however that had been far from the case. All day he had been sheiding Hailey's sight from his laptop, making sure that she could not see what he was really researching as that would only bring up so many questions that Mitch couldn't afford to deliver the answers to.

Taking a glance towards Hailey, he noticed her scrubbing one of the empty tables stood near the back of The Cove. Once he was sure that he would be undisturbed, Mitch turned his attention back to the deep grey laptop sat before him. His eyes hardened with intensity as he took in what he was reading. Swallowing the harsh lump in his throat, Mitch clicked on the page that he had hidden once Hailey began to clean the counter.

Written in large, bold black letters before his eyes were the words, "Jetsket Flights." And just like that, Mitch's whole plan fell right into place as his hand hovered over the touchpad.

His gorgeous coffee coloured eyes dilated as he scanned the page. His heart began to accelerate and his hands clammed up. Mitch would never admit it to even himself, but he was scared. Frightened of what might happen to him once he pressed that button. Terrified of what he was going to have to do to keep himself out of jail the moment he turned eighteen, which unfortunately was just around the corner, and he was running out of time.

So holding his breath, Mitch clicked the button.

He quickly tore his hand away from the touchpad as if it were about to bite him. For a couple of seconds he stood there as still as a statue, nodding slowly to himself. Mitch was desperate. For weeks he had been plagued with nightmares of his family losing their beautiful new home in Townsville. He dreamed of his younger brother, Matthew, living his life without the luxuries that other families take for granted. He dreamed of Nick losing his job and being unable to look after his brothers and his mother. He dreamed of Freddie hating himself for not being able to do anything. And he dreamed of his mother. The same mother that would always break into her children's piggy banks when they were little so that she could fuel her almost forgotten alcohol problem that occurred after David Mitchelson -her husband and children's father- died of a heart attack.

He continued to have these dreams of his family's lives being torn apart all because his mother was impulsive and constantly let her family down, although they always forgave her. And then one night after waking up from another one of his dreadful nightmares, Mitch decided that for once he had to do something. So he made a plan. And after that night, the nightmares stopped, because he knew that it would soon be just a memory.

Mitch closed his eyes and let himself fall prey to his thoughts. Both of his hands covered his face, shielding all vision of what he had just done. He groaned softly into his hands hoping that he wouldn't regret it. He began to drown out the soft jazz music that was strumming throughout The Cove, too occupied in his own personal thoughts to comprehend everything that was going on around him.

Well, that was until a voice coming from behind him tore him away from those thoughts.

"Did you just book a one-way ticked to Mexico?"

Mitch's eyes widened.

Hailey Cloud.


Brick Jojo's POV

As the party neared, I was subject to turning my once well decorated home into what would soon resemble a trashy nightclub from an 80's movie. There was something seriously cruel about the fact that I had done most of the work although I didn't even want the celebration hosted in my home in the first place. During the hour I had spare before heading off to school I had cleaned the entire house - Without Butch's help might I add. Once I had gotten back from school I had began setting up. Sure, I didn't even have to do any of the work. I could have easily left everything to my brother and his psychotic girlfriend -considering this whole thing was their idea- yet I couldn't help but feel like if I didn't help make this party by any definition of perfect, Buttercup would find some way to make my life miserable. For some reason this final party was the only thing that was replacing Buttercup's usual scowl into a smile.

After spending the last half hour hanging my red bed sheets on the wall -for a reason that Buttercup has not yet disclosed- I was now on the task of helping Buttercup set up the vastly large sound system that I'm sure she stole from the music store three blocks away. The system took up an entire corner of the living room and was almost as tall as the fireplace it was stood beside. Just by the quality of the bulky speakers I could tell that the music would be playing louder than usual tonight. Luckily I had heard that our neighbours -an old Welsh married couple by the name of Mr and Mrs Branson, who seemed to dislike my brothers and I ever since Butch stumbled into their home one night when under the influence of alcohol at the age of fourteen- were out of town for the weekend. So long as they don't come back, I'm sure that we won't have any noise complaints.

My hands began to sting as I finally placed the speakers onto the ground, prying my fingers away before they could be crushed under the weight. I let out a relieved breath and stretched my back a little. If this continued any longer, I would be hunched over all night. Before I could sneak past Buttercup to grab a glass of water and a five minute break, she stepped in front of me, blocking all escape. Our eyes met and I felt this queasy, anxious vibe that I might not be finished just yet.

"I think it needs to be more to the left." She said thoughtfully.

If she wasn't my girlfriend's sister -or my brother's girlfriend for that matter- I would have yelled Buttercup's head off. But luckily I am a civil person, and I can stand a couple of orders from someone who relatively gets on my nerves on a daily basis. However, if she orders me around once more, I might just have to throw my last shred of civility out of the metaphorical window.

I attempted to hide the look of discontent painted all over my face, however I soon realised that I wasn't the best at masking my feelings as Buttercup shot a snide sneer my way, almost as though she could read my mind and knew all of the awful names that I was wishing to call her, one of which being 'Control freak,' because let's face it, Buttercup might be more laid-back than Blossom, but she beats her by far in the controlling department.

Suppressing a groan I stuck both of my hands underneath the speakers and lifted the music system as far as my arms could carry them. Okay, I'll admit, I'm not exactly spineless. There's visable muscles on both my arms and legs. I've once carried Butch over my shoulder -in fact, it was when I had to come and collect him from Mr and Mrs' Branson's home the night he had stumbled inside by accident- and carried him all the way home. Yet I found myself feeling faint just from moving the sound system. In my defense, I had been moving it all over the living room, silently praying that Buttercup would just pick a spot that she liked.

I shifted the speakers a little to the left, finally relieving my hands from the ache of continuously hauling it over and over. I did it. I moved it to the left, just as she had asked of me to do. Although I honestly didn't see any reason of why a set of black speakers -that no one is going to be paying attention to- needed to be moved at all. If I had it my way, I would have just stuck them anywhere and moved on to my next task.

Just when I believed that my nightmare was over, Buttercup said, "No, that's too much! More to the right."

In that moment I could practically feel the pulsating vein on my forehead preparing to explode. All of those disrespectful, mean words -and there was a lot of them- that I had wanted to say a moment earlier were attempting to shoot right out of my pursed lips. It took every single ounce of will-power that I had to stop myself from saying something that could easily result in being attacked. Trust me to be scared of Buttercup Utonium. Then again, I don't think I have met a person on this earth that isn't scared of her. I think it's those eyes of hers. Deadly, threatening, terrifying green eyes.

"Buttercup, the speakers look fine," I insisted, however not as convincing as I had hoped. "Plus, I'm pretty sure that you're slightly stronger than I am. So. If you want the speakers more to the right, do it yourself."

That feeling of bravado I had succumbed to after speaking my mind soon faded once I caught a glimpse of Buttercup's expression. Apparently the words that were not meant to sound demanding or rude, struck a different vibe to her, because she looked ready to claw my eyes out like she was a cat and I stepped on her tail.

"Excuse me?" Buttercup spoke, her voice deadly low.

As I stared into the unblinking eyes of Buttercup, I was sure that I was about to die. Goodbye future, so long girlfriend, I'll miss you life. Just then, my luck turned, and a noise from behind us managed to distract Buttercup long enough for her to momentarily forget her anger. As I spun around to inspect who had just walked inside the living room and most likely saved my skin, I came face to face with my brother. Butch's eyes were not on myself, however, he was staring directly at Buttercup, that goofy grin of his tugging at his lips. Neither of us had heard Butch come home, but apparently he had been home for quite a while considering he had changed from the track trousers and pull-over he had worn to school into a pair of olive green jeans, a white muscle shirt and an over-shirt that was styled in a squared pattern of green and white.

In his hand was a plastic bag, the logo "Townsville Mart," sprawled across the see-through carrier. Inside of the bag, I noticed, was what appeared to be a bottle containing alcohol. More? I already thought that we had enough. Although, I suppose you can never have enough beverages for our group, especially all nine of us, including Mitch now, which makes ten. And I've heard from Buttercup that he can drink his entire body weight in Whiskey. Reminds me of Skylar, come to think of it. Also inside of the carrier was some of the items on Buttercup's list of necessities.

"Hmm," Butch mused to himself as he studied our surroundings. His eyes examined every single inch of the living room, amusement filling his orbs. He finally gave Buttercup and I his attention once more and chuckled at us. "I can barely recognise the place. You two really have been busy."

As I glanced around the room myself, I nodded in agreement. When I was first told of this party -and that Buttercup and Butch were the ones planning it, rather than Brody and Maxine, who always hosted the parties- I just assumed that it would be terrible. I mean, I don't know about Buttercup, but Butch had only ever thrown one party in all of his life. Tyler's fourteenth birthday party. It was a surprise party which Tyler honestly had not expected considering he had mentioned -more than once- that he didn't want a party. It didn't end well. In fact, it ended with me dragging a drunk Maxine home, who had gotten into an argument with Tyler, of course this was before they had known about being related. I also had to stop Boomer and Brody from sneaking into the local zoo, because they wanted to "Pet the penguins," and to top of the worst party of my life, I had to carry Butch home after he unintentionally broke into our neighbours house.

However, as I looked around my living room, I had the feeling that maybe this could be different. It had been planned right down to the music playlist. Perhaps for once, Butch could pull something off. Although I had done most of the work and heavy lifting, it all went down to my brother and his girlfriend. Sometimes it shocks me how they are such a good team. Two people that are so alike yet so different, and that seem to despise each other, make a good team.

My eyes studied mine and Buttercup's efforts, and I couldn't help but admit, the place did look very bizarre in a good way. Buttercup decided to go for the classic 80's house party style because apparently my idea of just putting on some music and having a couple cases of beer was not creative enough. For the last two hours I had helped Buttercup decorate almost every room in the house. The main attraction, of course, was the living room. All of the lights had been turned off although we could still see clear enough thanks to the bright neon-stripe light hanging above the lit fireplace. Hung above us in the centre of the room was a large, shining disco ball which Buttercup had of course made me put up -I almost snapped my neck when she refused to hold the ladder for me. Luckily I have the reflexes of a cat and landed on my feet when I stumbled on my way down- Both of the large leather couches had been pushed up against the wall, leaving a lot of room for mingling.

It was like an entirely different house. A house that would soon be filled with drunk teenagers. If Butch and Buttercup had not beforehand agreed to clean the remains of our home tomorrow morning, I never would have agreed to let them host the celebration here. I had a feeling that someone -and by someone, I mean Butch- would get so drunk that they would destroy the entire house.

My thoughts were disturbed when Buttercup spoke up, her voice raised drastically, "Yes, we have been busy. You," She pointed an accusatory finger in Butch's direction. "-have not helped at all."

"I have helped," Butch defended. Both Buttercup and I raised our eyebrows in disbelief. Sure, he went to the store. I don't see that as helping. "I..put that neon-stripe light thingy up!"

Buttercup crossed her arms. "Brick did that."

"Oh, well..I.."

"Did nothing." I finished for him.

Butch glared right at me with his famous threatening look that did nothing to intimidate me. I simply smirked back at him, watching as his face hardened even more so than before. It's not like I didn't have a point. I did most of the work and Buttercup helped me with some of the harder tasks, while Butch went to the store and picked up some items from Buttercup's shopping list. I could have asked Mitch to do that on his way home from work. It wasn't exactly a big deal.

Ignoring Butch's silent threats, I strolled straight past him and headed towards the kitchen. So far the kitchen was the only room that Buttercup had not put any decorations in. It was the only room in the house that didn't look like something out of an 80's sitcom. Of course Buttercup still had another hour or so to change that.

As I wandered into the kitchen I could hear the faint sounds of Butch and Buttercup arguing about how Butch was incompetent and that he needed to start helping Buttercup and I out. Typical, really. I should have realised that if I left them alone for even a couple of seconds that they would start fighting. Although now that they are a couple, their arguments usually only lasted a minute or two. I was thankful for that.

Sitting on the top of the kitchen counter before me was a cardboard box filled with assorted alcoholic beverages. The containment of the box ranging from cheap beer, fruit wine, a small bottle of Tequila, Whiskey and some sort of Champagne that Mitch had brought over earlier when on his break, apparently stolen from his late father's liquor cabinet inside of his wine cellar. It occurred to me that this amount of alcohol was surely going to lead to disaster. However, the more drinks people have, the less depressing this party will be. At least I hope that will be the case.

I turned on my heel and strolled back into the living room to find that Butch and Buttercup had stopped arguing and were now wrapped up in each other. I'll never understand how they can go from yelling to kissing in a matter of seconds. If only Blossom and I could do that, it would make things so much easier.

Butch and Buttercup tore apart as I made my presence known by coughing loudly.

"Have either of you spoken to Boomer in that last hour?" I asked curiously, noticing the lack of blue inside of the living room. When I thought about it, I realised that Boomer had been absent all day. "Didn't he promise that he would help us out?"

Butch shrugged. "I heard him moving around in his room when I was getting dressed. He's probably just hiding up there to avoid helping."

"You're one to talk." Buttercup muttered underneath her breath, still loud enough for myself and Butch to hear.

I suppressed a laugh at her comment. "I'll go see what he's doing up there."

With that I turned around and began walking towards the staircase. I assumed that Boomer would just be sitting on his bed, flipping through the channels on his television and trying to be as quiet as possible. He always did hate helping out, when it came to these types of situations anyway. I continued up the stairs, heading for Boomer's bedroom. I made my way past my own room and knocked on Boomer's door.

Silence.

I sighed and pushed my way in, not bothering to wait any longer for Boomer to give me the all-clear. Once I was inside I found Boomer standing in front of his bed, staring down at two different outfits laid on said bed. He seemed to be silently debating between the two. Was this what took him so long? Seriously?

"Boomer?" I called out, gaining his attention.

"Oh, Brick," He muttered. "Hey."

As I took a good look at Boomer, I noticed that something was different. It was hard to pin-point. His entire demeanor seemed off. His usual happy-go-lucky expression was replaced by a solemn countenance. However I decided not to dig deeper into this as I realised that asking Boomer what was wrong would surely be fruitless. Over the past couple of weeks, he's been more kept to himself than usual. If I wanted to get an answer on why Boomer seemed so odd lately, I'd have to figure it out for myself. Luckily, I didn't doubt that I could not do so. If anyone was going to find out, it would be me.

"You know, we could use your help setting up downstairs," I spoke up, taking a step deeper into Boomer's room. "If it's not finished soon, Buttercup said she's going to stab us all with blunt pencils."

Boomer smiled slightly assuming that I was joking. I wish I was joking.

"Sorry. I was just trying to decide what to wear. Bubbles always used to chose my outfits for me whenever we had a party to go to." Boomer sighed to himself, turning his attention back to the two similar outfits sat on his bed before him.

For a moment I debated whether I should tell Boomer about what I learned a couple of days before. I understood that Bubbles was planning on telling Boomer that she had gotten into St. Valentines at the party, but I realised that it might ruin the entire party for him. It would also be an awkward first thing to say after a break up, "Oh, hey, Boomer. You look great. By the way I'm moving to New York in a couple of weeks." That would be like hitting someone when they're down. Plus Bubbles would probably prefer him hearing it from either myself or one of her sisters. But then again, I didn't want to pry.

The thing that struck me most about Boomer's break up was how sudden it all was. I understand that every relationship has problems -Blossom and I have had our fair share- however when I try to think about Boomer and Bubbles, I can't detect a single problem. They never argued, they always spent their spare time with one another and they genuinely seemed happy together. Boomer had feelings for her from the moment that she stepped back into our lives.

It wasn't like that for Blossom and I, and yet we're fine and Boomer is single.

With Blossom, when I had seen her walk into the Gym hall on her first day back, I'll admit, it wasn't exactly love at first -or in our case, seventh- sight. To be honest I was too surprised to notice the way she looked. However I did take notice of her hair, which I had previously found absurdly long, quite fitting for her. It wasn't until we started to become friends that I began to realise how attractive she was. It came in stages, really. On the first day of our truce, I noticed that she had pretty eyes. On the fourth day of us being friends, I realised that she had freckles that seemed to suit her. It was on the day of Brody's Halloween party that I noticed she looked good in just about anything, even dressed as a witch she managed to look like an angel.

Even to this day I'm still realising new things about her. I suppose the more you get to know a person, you get to see things that others might not notice at first glance. Then again, this didn't come as a surprise to me, I've never believed in love at first sight. You can't love someone just by their appearance, you can like them, sure, but if you fall in love with someone because of what they look like, you'll find that their personality might not be as attractive.

So what I cannot understand is how Boomer and Bubbles -who's relationship developed from the first moment they fell back into each other's lives- are now broken up. I mean, there had to have been a reason. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention to them. It's always the closest couples that end up having the most problems behind closed doors, just like with Maxine and Brody.

"Boomer," I began slowly, silently rehearsing my choice of words. "I think there's something you should know about Bubbles."

His brows furrowed. "You sound serious. Then again, you always sound serious. What, did she dye her hair or something?"

I fought the urge to roll my eyes at Boomer's attempt at being witty. Shaking my head, I let out a soft sigh, staring down at the silk blue sheets of Boomer's bed. I could practically feel his gaze growing more intense as the seconds passed and I remained perfectly silent. Once I finally found my voice, I didn't look up. I prefered to tell him without seeing his reaction.

"No. She did not dye her hair. Look, she got into this college. St. Valentines, her dream college, actually. It was an early admission, which doesn't happen often. In fact, it barely happens at all. We were all really surprised." I closed my mouth finally after realising that I was beginning to ramble.

"Well, that's good news, isn't it?" Even staring down at his sheets, I could tell that Boomer wasn't fighting back his smile. His voice had a sense of pride to it. Which only made what I had to say next all the more painful. Luckily I wouldn't be able to see the smile drop.

"Of course it is but there is more to it. This college, it's not in Townsville. It's in New York. She's moving there."

I felt myself ease as soon as the words escaped. It was as though I was ripping of the metaphorical band-aid. Quick and painful. Silence passed, the tension thick in the air. After a couple of seconds had passed and I had allowed Boomer to let the news sink in, I raised my head to look at him. And I wished I hadn't.

"Bubbles is moving to New York?" He whispered sullenly.

When I stared back into his eyes, I expected to see at least a touch of sadness, or regret. But there was nothing there. It was like he didn't even believe me, either that or he didn't want to believe. I didn't answer his question though. I didn't need to. Just from my silence he could get the answer he needed. For the longest time we just stood there, staring at each other, neither saying a thing. And for a moment he almost seemed in a trance.

"I like the second one," I spoke all of a sudden, my voice low. "It'll suit you."

With that said, I turned around and headed for the door. There was nothing I could do. No words could make Boomer feel any better about what I had just told him, and there would be no clarity. And as much as it hurt that no matter what I did, nothing could tear that look off of his face, I had to leave. The only thing that lifted my spirits was knowing that he wouldn't have to hear it from Bubbles herself.

As I reached the door, I turned back to take a glance at Boomer. He was just standing there, so devoid of emotion. I watched as he reached out and picked up the icy-blue jumper that I had picked. I didn't say it but I knew that Bubbles always hated that jumper. She never said why, but she did. And I realised that maybe it was time for Boomer to wear something that Bubbles would not have approved. So he wore the second choice, and I left. And I did not see him again for an hour.

It only took the ten seconds it had taken to get down the stairs to realise that telling Boomer might not have been the best thing. But by that time, it would be too late either way.


Normal POV

As the evening rolled forward and the sky turned to black and the cold air sunk in, Blossom Utonium instinctively tugged the sides of her cropped, cotton white cardigan which she had bought specially for the occasion. Earlier that morning she had decided upon wearing the most casual outfit she had inside of her wardrobe. However after seeing what Bubbles had chosen to wear made her think twice about her clothing choice. Opposed to her shirt and jeans, Bubbles and the rest of the group had chosen to dress up nicely. After all, it was a special occasion.

Blossom did not enjoy feeling left out. So she decided to up the ante.

As soon as school had finished for the day, she made her way over to the best clothing store in Townsville -also, unfortunately, the most expensive- and picked out a much fancier selection of attire. Only had she realised how cold this night would progress, she would have swapped out her designer cardigan for a bland but cozy, lengthy jacket.

As her thin, sleek heels clicked along the concrete ground she glanced up ahead to notice Brick's house in her line of sight. Blossom's eyes squinted slightly as she gazed upon the living room window. She detected a bright neon green light and what looked like a spinning disco ball. A small laugh escaped from her cold, glossed lips.

"What on earth has Buttercup done to his house?" Blossom whispered to herself, shaking her head in amusement.

She found herself much more eager to find out what she was about to walk into. Her steps became larger, long creamy legs hurrying towards her boyfriend's once quaint home. Blossom could only imagine the things that Buttercup had done to Brick's home. Although she had a feeling that no matter how disastrous, she was in for a good laugh. Finally reaching her destination, Blossom stood before Brick's door. She bit her lower lip in agitation.

Blossom reached into the salmon coloured purse which was hanging loosely around her left shoulder on a thick spaghetti strap. She pushed aside the assorted items inside of her purse, consisting of emergency medicine -Blossom always did say that it was better to be safe than sorry- and some items of make-up. She hunted around for the spare set of keys to Brick's home that he had given her a couple of months before. Blossom finally found the keys stashed behind her cell-phone and pulled them out. She turned back to face the door and zealously stuck the front door key into the key-hole, turning it with an excited expression itching on her face.

As the door slid open -the sound drowned out by the pulsating music coming from inside the living room- Blossom stepped inside and shut the door behind her. Rare pink eyes feasted upon the hallway, fluttering in awe as they examined the entrance to the party. Blossom strolled along the hall slowly, reaching her hand forward, her fingers delicately grazing the blood red sheets hanging on the wall as she walked. She recognised them as Brick's bed sheets. In fact, she had picked them out for him after forcing him to throw out his old ones thanks to a freshly brewed cup of coffee staining them. She moaned at him for a full week before he finally gave in and allowed her to fetch him some new sheets.

Written on the bed sheets in green glow-in-the-dark paint were the words, "Welcome to our last party as teenage delinquents!"

A hearty laugh echoed throughout the hall as Blossom read the words. She couldn't help but giggle at Buttercup's -or Butch's, judging by the messy handwritting- choice of words. She had never classed them as delinquents, although she did agree that they got into a decent amount of trouble for such a harmless group. Blossom stalked forward staring at the colourful flashing lights tied around the staircase banister. She prepared herself for what more there was to see, because if she knew Buttercup, and she did, this party would be as over-the-top as possible.

Blossom slowly stepped into the living room, casting a glance around the room where she would sit and watch movies with Brick and his brothers on Saturday nights, and where she would wait for her boyfriend to get ready for school on Monday mornings. However, she noticed, this room looked nothing like that living room. A shocked smile lit up her face just from the sight. It looked as bizarre as a party could possibly get.

She glanced towards the left side of the living room and instantly caught sight of her boyfriend. Blossom found herself grinning uncontrollably. She hadn't seen him all day. Sure, they had one class together in school, but that had been it. Brick had been so busy with helping her sister set up that Blossom couldn't catch a moment alone to just talk to him. And now there he was, Butch Jojo at his side, sticking different, brightly coloured glow sticks onto the wall with what looked like clear tape. Finally tearing her gaze from the auburn-haired boy, Blossom looked over to the right. Standing there was Buttercup, writing something down onto that lime green notepad of hers.

No one seemed to take notice of Blossom's presence and she didn't mind. It gave her a little moment to just look around and bask in her own shock. She had never realised what a good team that Buttercup and Butch made. To say the least she was surprised. As she stared at Buttercup, watching as green eyes finally met pink, she smiled brightly.

"Blossom!" The tall red-head laughed as Buttercup exclaimed her name. "You're just in time."

Hearing his girlfriend's name being called, Brick abandoned all pretense of sticking glow sticks to the wall so that he could turn himself around and take a good look at her. A boyish smile spread across his lips as he took her in. Without wasting any time Brick rushed towards her, almost tripping over the box filled with glow sticks in front of him. Blossom grinned from ear-to-ear as Brick's arms suddenly made their way around her small waist, pulling her in for a hug of greeting.

"Hello." Blossom muttered breathlessly.

"Hi."

Brick's grip remained around her waist as he dragged her closer into him if it were even possible. Within one moment of pure innocence, his lips were pressed softly against her's. He pulled her into a sweet kiss which Blossom happily obliged. Although it was considered a gentle kiss it still sent shivers down Blossom's spine. He always did. The second that her arms snaked loosely around Brick's neck, Blossom felt that usual bolt of sparks run up and down her body, all the way down to her toes. Brick pecked her twice on the lips before retracting his face, smiling down at her.

"You look so beautiful." Brick breathed, although he did not sound surprised in the slightest.

Blossom took a glance down at her outfit. A couple of hours earlier she had purchased a dress that she soon came to realise was well worth the thirty dollars she had paid for it. It was a strapless gown allowing Blossom to show off her perfect collar bones and petite shoulders. The dress flowed down to reach her feet in an hour glass shape, the chiffon material resembling fine, thin silk. Complimenting the dress, a sparkling golden belt hugged her waist contrasting well with the champagne-pink colour of the dress. Although standing there in almost pitch dark, the gown seemed to gleam underneath the dimmed lights of the house.

She looked back up to reach Brick's eyes. "Thank you."

Blossom began to observe her boyfriend's choice of attire, taking less than ten seconds to realise that of course he would not dress up fancy for a party held in his own home. However he had still shown to make a decent effort. A maroon dress shirt covered his toned physique, being almost drowned out by the black suit-like jacket draped around it. Finishing the outfit was a pair of skin-tight black jeans and blood red high-top sneakers. Blossom was pleased to see that he had at least tried to dress up although she felt slightly over-dressed standing before him.

"You look rather nice yourself," Blossom teased. "I almost forgot how handsome you are."

"Oh, is that right?"

Before Blossom could lean forward and pull Brick into another heart-warming kiss, Buttercup suddenly popped up in between them. The dark-haired girl pushed Brick away with both of her hands pressed against his dress shirt. "Yeah, yeah. You can compliment each other and be all disgustingly mushy later. Blossom, I need to show you something."

Buttercup spun around and instantly her hand made contact with Blossom's thin wrist. Without giving her time to object, she tore Blossom away from Brick, dragging her all the way over to the other end of the living room. She stopped as soon as they reached the glass coffee table that had been pushed up against the wall between the fireplace, not too far off from the music system on the other side. As her arm was released, Blossom glanced down at the table to see ten small, individual boxes. Stuck on the back's of every single box was a piece of paper with everyone's names written on them in fancy black writing. Small triangular pieces of cards were stacked at the end of the coffee table with a pen sat beside the pile.

Confused, Blossom furrowed her brows. "What is all of this?"

"I got this amazing idea," Buttercup began excitedly. "Considering that the theme of this party is 'goodbye' I thought, how about people take a piece of care and write a small goodbye message for everyone in the group and put them inside of the individual boxes. It will save a lot of crying and other emotional blubbering that you know I hate."

Blossom looked at her sister, a small laugh escaping from her pried lips. "This is actually an amazing idea, Buttercup."

"You sound surprised."

"Well," The statuesque red-head drawled. "I just didn't think that you would be able to come up with something this creative after all the work you have done already. I'm very proud. You really are working hard to make this party great."

Blossom could have sworn she saw Buttercup blush at the praise she was receiving. Although it was missing from the moment it had arrived.

"Great? Bloss, this party is going to be brilliant."

Rolling her eyes and smiling, Blossom responded, "Well, on that note, I think I will go help Brick with the glow sticks."

With that said Blossom turned herself around and began to stroll over to Brick, whom was ducking as his brother began to throw glow sticks at his face. She suppressed a laugh at Butch's immaturity. Just as she was preparing to help Brick out with his little dilemma, she heard Buttercup's voice call out to her.

"Wait, where's Bubbles? I thought she was leaving with you?"

"You know how long she takes to get ready," Blossom deadpanned, not turning herself around but instead continuing to wander over to the two-out-of-three Jojo brothers. "She said she'll be here as soon as she can."

Buttercup raised her eyebrow in question, but decided to leave the conversation there. She shrugged her shoulders before spinning around to continue working on her boyfriend's home, all the while casting a glance to the clock. Everyone would be here in an hour, and Buttercup had a feeling that this would be a night to be remembered. Oh, how right she was.


Maxine added the finishing touches to her maternity-style vintage cream and black polka dot wiggle dress -small, black diamond earings gifted to her from her boyfriend, skin-colour tights and comfortable cream flat shoes- before she began to apply her makeup, focusing on bringing out the striking blue-green of her pupils. She made sure to apply a generous amount of her deep red, lip-smacker lip gloss. However she ended up wiping most of the sticky gloss off with the back of her hand less than three seconds later considering the taste of the makeup made her stomach lurch. Most tastes that she once loved seemed to bother her recently.

She stared into her own eyes reflecting in the mirror, barely able to recognise the girl she was seeing. Her once flat, athletic stomach was absent, replaced with a bump so large that she couldn't see her own feet. Those mysterious eyes that once held joy and mischief now held dullness. And her brunette hair, once long enough to reach her back when held up, had been cut short. This decision came to her two nights before when she was lying on her bed, Brody snoring lightly beside her. She wanted a change, something that she herself could decide. All week she had mused over how everything was going to change and no one could control it. That was when she decided to change something that she could control. She cut off her luscious long locks. And strangely enough, she didn't regret it.

As she took once final glance into the mirror to study her appearance, she could hear the sound of Brody's voice shouting at her from downstairs. "Maxy, come on! We're already late."

She rolled her eyes. Brody always did hate being late.

Pulling her now shoulder-length hair to one side, Maxine tore her eyes away from her reflection. She spun around and slowly walked towards her bedroom door, listening to the sounds of her boyfriend and adoptive mother conversing downstairs. It amazed her how much Mellisa and Brody got on, when she herself, didn't get on with Brody's mother, Faye. Of course Brody was oblivious to this, but Maxine didn't like her. Faye had been extra tiresome since finding out that her eldest child was going to be a father. Most mothers yell at their children when finding out such a thing, but not Faye, she couldn't be any happier that there would be another McKane in the world.

Once she had made it to the front door she found Brody standing there, holding it wide open for her. She couldn't help but grin at his chivalry. Standing there in an outfit that matched Maxine's -tight black jeans, a cream coloured dress sweater and black loafers- Brody held his hand out for his girlfriend to take. The couple bid their goodbye's to Mellisa before finally leaving the Slater household, a good fifteen minutes later than they should have. They wasted no time in getting into Brody's brand new Dacia Sandero -A fabulous present that his uncle awarded him with after getting his licence three weeks before- and headed off to Brick's home.

The ride to the party was almost completely silent. Brody constantly asked his girlfriend if she was doing alright and she would nod in return. He could tell that something was bothering her and even began to think that it might have been something that he had done. The truth was that ever since their last trip to the doctor's, Maxine had not been acting like herself. Her usual sarcastic, bright attitude had been replaced. Of course she wouldn't tell Brody why she was acting this way. In fact, she was planning on telling one certain person why she was acting that way tonight. Her best friend. If only Brody had realised that this secret was just one in a trio of secrets that she had been keeping, the other two shared with the newest arrival to the group.

Brody and Maxine made it to Brick's house twenty-five minutes late, much to Brody's annoyance. He didn't like being late to anything. He always made it to school either ten minutes early or just on time, the same with doctors appointments or lunch dates. Nevertheless, Brody parked his car right outside of the Jojo household, right in front of Butch's dark green Skoda Rapid. They stepped out of the vehicle and began to walk towards the thick red door side by side. Before entering, Maxine turned to Brody and spoke, her customary sarcasm finally present again.

"So. How depressing do you think this party is going to be?"

Brody chuckled softly. "It will be fun. You're just assuming that it will be bad because for once, you didn't plan it."

She wanted to protest his statement, but Maxine found herself admitting that he had a point. For years, before and even after the Utonium's moved back to town, she was always hosting the parties. She would plan every last detail, she would set up either her's or Brody's home in preparation, she would invite only the most demotic members of Townsville High, and she would receive compliments of how fabulous her parties were. Once she even considered a career in party planning but soon crushed that idea when she found out how much party planners make each year.

"Tread carefully, sweetheart." Maxine warned with narrow, unblinking eyes.

"I promise you that tonight will be fun."

"Okay," Maxine drawled. Her lips curved into a trusting smile. "I'll take your word for it."

Brody pouted at her. "Because you love me?"

"Because I love you."

As he returned her smile, Brody took a step closer to his pregnant girlfriend. He pressed his lips against hers lightly and affectionately. Maxine's hands rested on his sweater, fingers gripping the soft fabric, wishing that she could pull him closer into her, however the bump in between them was stopping them from being any closer than they already were. She felt Brody's hand caress her cheek, slowly dragging stands of short brown hair behind her left ear. Maxine was the first to pull away, enjoying a moment of being alone with Brody before they stepped inside. She wasn't really sure what they were about to step inside to. She could only assume that it would be, as Brody said, fun.

"Shall we?" Maxine drawled.

The tall brunette turned to face the door, raising his fist to knock on the door. Usually Maxine would just let herself inside because of the fact that she and Brick were best friends, although Brody prefered to be courteous. The couple waited patiently, hoping that someone would be able to hear them knock over the music coming from inside. Luckily, just as Brody raised his hand to knock once more, the door swung open. Brody stood there, hand still in the air, and smiled as he stared back into the searing red eyes that belonged to Brick Jojo.

He stood in the doorway, observing the latest arrivals. "You're late."

Maxine rolled her perfectly made-up eyes. "Yes, by like twenty five minutes. And I know for a fact that we're not even the last to arrive because Tyler just texted me saying that he just picked up Mitch and they are on their way."

The two best friends stared at each other, neither speaking a word. Brick opened his mouth to speak and Maxine assumed that he was about to begin an argument with her, however, he simply changed the subject.

"You cut your hair short."

Maxine raised a hand to her hair, running her fingers through the soft, strait brunette strands. She still found the feeling foreign to her fingers considering her hair had been particularly long ever since she was little. Of course she always found that odd because of Mellisa's naturally short, curled blonde locks. Maybe that was a part of the reason that she felt the need to finally cut it. Her long hair resembled Elizabeth Cairns' to a ten.

She smiled lightly. "What do you think?"

"I like it," Brick nodded. "It suits you."

Brick took a step back, opening the door further for his friends to come inside of the house. Brody strolled past the red clad boy followed by Maxine, not even waiting for him to close the door before entering the living room. From the moment that the couple stepped foot into the living area, both of their eyes widened at the sight. Neon lights, glowing sticks, loud music and an over-the-top disco ball randomly adding class to the room. Maxine felt herself shrink in embarrassment. She had never put this much work into one of her parties before. Her blue-green eyes searched the room for the hostess. However Buttercup did not realise that she was even here yet, considering she was perched on top of the large music speakers, Butch standing in front of her. Laughter was echoing around the green clad pair.

Next she noticed Blossom standing in the middle of the room, staring back at her with a beautiful smile gracing her lips. She was glad to see that Blossom was wearing a dress and that she and Bubbles would not be the only ones dressed as such. Maxine felt as though she fit in rather well, surrounded by 80's themed while wearing her usual vintage attire.

She was about to walk over to her friend when a mop of messy blonde hair caught her eye. Maxine tensed uncontrollably as her orbs fixed onto Boomer Jojo. The blonde was sitting on one of the leather couches, his eyes staring down at the phone in his hand, completely oblivious to the fact that Maxine was staring at him for longer than she cared to remember. It was as though she couldn't look away. She just stared, noting every little movement that he made. It was only when Boomer finally glanced back up, meeting her gaze, that she looked away.

Leaving her best friend and boyfriend to converse, Maxine began to make her way over to Blossom, ignoring the confused stare that she could see Boomer giving her from the corner of her eye. An award-winning fake smile was stuck onto Maxine's face as she stood before Blossom, giving her a once-over in adoration of the dress that she was wearing.

"Oh, wow. You look gorgeous, honey!"

Blossom smiled at the compliment. "Thank you." A thick silence passed as Maxine cast a glance back over towards the largest leather couch sitting against the wall, her eyes shamelessly landing on Boomer's figure. "Are you alright?"

Maxine could barely hear her friend speaking to her. She was so intent on staring at Boomer that the whole world around her seemed to disappear. If she wasn't so great at holding herself together, she would have started crying right there and then. The brunette couldn't even focus her vision on Boomer because all she could see was the pages of that document she had found on Doctor Russell's desk floating around him. It was true that over the years Maxine and Boomer could have been better friends, they could have even been best friends if she had made more of an effort to get to know the real boy behind the facade of who she thought he was. Maxine felt physically sick that she hadn't told anyone yet. She wanted to. But when she thought about seeing Brick and Butch's faces when she told them, it made her stomach do turns.

"Hello? Maxine?"

She turned to look at Blossom, whom was staring at her with her head tilted slightly downwards and a confused look cowering inside of her pink eyes. Maxine collected her bearings and blinked, bringing her vision back to reality. She sneaked another glance towards Boomer, thankful that he was looking down at his phone and had not noticed that she had once again been staring at him.

Maxine swallowed the harsh lump in her throat. "I'm sorry about that. I was just, um, thinking about that thing that Buttercup said a couple of weeks ago. That..she didn't think we would all be standing by graduation."

"That was just Buttercup being..well, Buttercup." Blossom chuckled softly. "Look around. We are all still standing."

"Yes. Yes we are."

Maxine smiled once more, hoping that Blossom would not see the forgery behind it.


Bubbles Utonium's POV

To be honest, I wasn't sure how I should be feeling. There I was, walking in my best pair of high heels, towards Boomer's house. In just a couple of short minutes I would be standing in front of the boy that I can't seem to stop thinking about. Sometimes I think back to when I first came here, when Boomer and I decided to become friends from the first day we fell back into each other's lives. It was so easy for us to forget the past and move on. It was as though we knew, just knew, that someday we would mean something to each other. Now I just wish that we would have known how complicated it would all get. But that's the price, isn't it? Love comes with it's baggage.

For some reason I felt conflicted. On one hand I should be terrified of walking into that house and seeing Boomer. Yet on the other I was just excited to be able to stare back into his deep blue eyes and hear his voice in person rather than on his answering machine. The other week I would have done just about anything to know how he was doing. I asked Brick once or twice. Alright, five times. I always received the same answer, "He's not great." Of course I wouldn't accept that answer. The last time I had asked, he also mentioned, "He's been gong out of his mind without you." That, sure, was expected but Brick should have known better than to use those words considering Boomer did actually go temporarily insane once.

Realising that I wasn't going to get an answer that would ease my mind, I stopped asking Brick about how Boomer was doing. I stopped talking about him all together. But that doesn't mean that I don't still care. Of course I do. It's horrible, caring about someone as much as I care about him. It's like this overwhelming, crushing fear. Every single moment of every single day I'm afraid that something bad might happen to him. And it makes me realise why Buttercup was so terrified of falling in love. Because being in love is supposed to be beautiful and magical, but once you really let yourself fall, you can't climb back up. You can't stop caring or fearing the worst. The truth is that I used to be strong, but he has made me weak. And yet I still care about him and love him.

I think I'll always love him. That's the problem.

My heeled feet began to pace nervously as I caught sight of Boomer's house in the distance. I could practically feel my entire body growing rigid. Considering how long it had taken me to get ready I assumed that I would be the last to enter. Being late to a party is always bad, but being the last to show up? That was just plain awful. My steps, already small, became even smaller and I could feel myself trying to take a step back rather than a step forward. However I willed myself to keep going. This night, I noticed, was really important to Buttercup, and after what she did for me that morning, talking Blossom into dropping our argument, I couldn't not go. More importantly, I couldn't let my feelings for Boomer hold me back from enjoying myself.

I was so close to the house that I could see a hint of auburn hair through the window, followed by a lovely pink dress. Seeing who Blossom was talking to only made me more nervous. Excellent. Blossom was chatting with Boomer. I looked from left to right, hoping to find a lonely bush that I could throw up in. I'm not so good with nerves. Whenever I get nervous, I feel like my stomach is about to explode. It's not a great feeling to be honest.

The more steps I took, the more Boomer's face became clearer. My mind was racing thinking of what I would say to him. I mean, we hadn't yet talked since the break up except for two texts. How could anyone possibly know the perfect first words to say to someone after a break up, especially if you are still hopelessly in love with that person? No words would ever be good enough. I continued to walk towards the large house, blinking uncontrollably and feeling nothing but the ache of my heart pounding against my chest in rapid succession.

Just when I was at least a mere twenty steps away from the house, I heard a familiar voice calling out from behind me.

"Bubbles!" I sighed in relief at the sound of a friendly face. "Wait up."

Spinning myself around I stared at the figures of my self-proclaimed brother, Mitch and my ex boyfriend, Tyler, running along side each other and heading towards me. I was surprised to say the least. Since moving back to town Mitch had formed a friendship with everyone except for Tyler. I had never seen them together -without the rest of the group present- until this moment. However surprised, it made sence that they would become friends at some point. Mitch and Tyler, I had noticed, are very much alike. Yet they weren't so alike that it would feel as though there would only be room for one of them. Both of them are self-centred -luckily not in the annoying way, more of the hilarious, cocky sense- and charming.

Mitch, being the one who called out my name, was the first to return the smile that I bestowed upon the two boys. I must admit he did make a nice effort to dress for the occasion, which was surprising because he had never been to one of our parties before. Perhaps Tyler told him that we always made a big deal about our parties. He wore that lovely checkered black and blue shirt that I've seen him wear to school a couple of times, paired with skin-tight black jeans and white sneakers. What really made the outfit look as though he had tried to dress fancy was the plain black tie around his neck, pulled loose but still fitting. It was strange to see him like this considering I had barely seen Mitch wear anything but his customary work clothes for the past couple of weeks.

Tyler, however, was standing before me in a pair of faded blue jeans and a white muscle shirt. I could tell instantly that he didn't see the point in making an effort at all. But that was alright. The party was being held in Boomer's living room after all. And he is a boy. Only Maxine and I were the ones to get overly excited by picking out dresses that we would show-case in a living room. To be perfectly honest, if Boomer wasn't going to be at the party, I would have shown up in a long-sleeved shirt and jeans as opposed to the medium length, icy-blue sundress and pure white heels that I was wearing. And my hair? It would have been stuck up in a messy, boring bun rather than the perfect curls that it had been styled in.

From the moment of seeing their faces I found that I could not stop smiling. I wouldn't be the last person to arrive. The relief washed over me, easing my once panic-stricken mind and soothing the ache in my stomach brought on by my nervousness. I honestly had to hold myself back from doing a dance expressing my joy that would have been the cause for years of ridicule from the two boys standing in front of me.

"See, Ty. I told you that we wouldn't be the last ones here." Mitch said while casting a glance towards Tyler.

"Since when did you two become such great friends?"

Smiling, Tyler answered my question. "Any friend of a Utonium is a friend of mine. Plus, Mitch gives me free coffee every time I walk into The Cove."

Mitch held a hand to his shirt, hovering just above his heart. "Is that all I am good for?"

At that, I laughed. And the sound was so foreign. For once I could not remember the last time I had laughed, like, really laughed. I should have known that all I needed to cheer myself up and ease my nervousness was Mitch Mitchelson. How I got through all of these years without him in my life, I'll never know.

"Come on," I spoke softly, my eyes rolling. "We should get inside. Wouldn't want to miss out on all of the fun, right?"

A boyish grin lit up Mitch's face. "You're in a better mood."

"I am now that you guys are here. I was dreading the moment where I walk into the house alone and all eyes are on me."

Tyler, raising his eyebrow, replied, "Including Boomer's?"

I bit my lower lip, tasting the light pink gloss against my tongue. For a couple of seconds I did not reply to his question. Not because I found it awkward to talk to an ex boyfriend about another ex boyfriend whom is actually said ex boyfriend's best friend, of course, but because I'm not the type of person that likes to share. Possessions, yes. But feelings? It takes a lot for me to open up to people. So, rather than pouring my heart out and telling Tyler how I really felt about seeing Boomer, I kept my answer short and precise.

"Tonight," I began. "Is the first time he'll be seeing me since the break up. I've been trying to talk to him but he keeps ignoring my calls."

Mitch instantly slung his arm around my shoulders. If I had not been wearing heels, it would have been impossible for him to do so without crouching. Mitch is taller than Butch, which is saying something because Butch, before Mitch came along, was the tallest in our entire group. "Well, let's see how he's going to ignore you when you are standing in the same room as him, right?"

I smiled slightly as Tyler stood by Mitch's other side, nodding in agreement. "Good point. Let's do this."

With that said, we began to walk the last couple of steps towards the house. As soon as Tyler's hand grasped the doorknob, I could feel that ache in the pit of my stomach again. Nervousness. Anxiousness. Whatever you would like to call it, I felt it. I tried to think about what Mitch had said, that Boomer can no longer ignore me. Sure, all of those times that I had called him, I didn't plan what I was going to say because I knew wouldn't answer the call. I just wanted to hear his beautiful voice. Of course there was a small part of me that hoped he would pick up the phone though, so that he could hear my voice too. Not that he would have wanted to. I was 99 percent sure that he hated me. The other 1 percent was just hope.

The door opened, and I couldn't move my legs. It wasn't until Mitch took a step inside that I was dragged forwards thanks to his arm still being placed around my shoulders. Once my foot was one step inside of the house I realised that there was no going back. Well, first I tried to take a step back out so I could make a break for it, but Mitch made sure to pull me back inside. He knows me far too well. Sighing in defeat, I shrugged his arm off of my shoulders and took another bold step.

"I better not regret this." I said quietly before taking off towards the door leading to the living room.

Mitch, Tyler and I walked inside of the room to find everyone else either standing, dancing, or sitting on the couch. I made sure that Tyler walked in before myself and that Mitch walked inside afterwards, so that I was not the first nor last person to enter the room. Smart, aren't I? The sounds of our footsteps triumphed over the music, causing as I had worried, all eyes to fall onto us. I immediately gazed right at Buttercup, avoiding Boomer's eyes. Although I was not looking directly at him, I could tell that he was looking at me. And it was so hard not to look back.

I sucked in a sharp breath before making my way over to Buttercup, walking right past Boomer as I did so. It took every single ounce of my self control not to just stop when I was directly in front of him and say something. But if we were going to talk tonight, I wanted him to make the first move. Not because I was scared to do so, but because I still wasn't sure if he even wanted to talk to me. I guess I would find out soon enough.

"Bubbs," Buttercup said as I stood before her. "What took you so long?"

"I just couldn't decide what to wear." I answered lamely, but I wasn't exactly lying. I had actually picked out a dress the second that Buttercup told me about the party. That was over two weeks ago, also when Boomer and I were still dating. I had planned to wear this gorgeous, custom made dress that Boomer always said I looked like an angel in. So that morning, when I took the dress out of my wardrobe, I realised that I couldn't wear it. Because I'm not his angel anymore. The dress now sits in the back of my closet, hidden by a pile of coats.

"That's a first." I heard Butch muttered under his breath.

Had I not minded making a scene, I would have pushed him for that. Yes, pushed, not hit. I don't enjoy hitting people no matter how much they deserve it.

"Buttercup," Butch spoke more clearly. "I'm going to go chat to Mitch for a bit. I'll come back over soon, okay?"

What happened next shocked me to my very core. Buttercup, strangely enough making the first move, grabbed Butch by his shirt and placed a small, gone before it had even arrived kiss. But nevertheless, she had kissed him. On the lips. In front of a room full of people. That was, like, the biggest form of PDA -personal display of affection- that Buttercup had ever done. Butch didn't seem as shocked as I for some reason. He just returned the brief kiss before turning around and stalking away, towards Mitch. A smile was breaking out on my face.

"What was that?" I asked as soon as Buttercup and I were alone. She simply cocked her head a little to the side, green eyes staring back at me in amusement. "You just kissed Butch. In front of everyone."

Buttercup laughed a little. "He's my boyfriend. That's what girlfriends and boyfriends do."

"Yes, but-" I paused, shaking my head slightly. "Who are you and what have you done with my sister?"

She instantly looked down at her feet, dangling off of the music system that she was sitting on. She herself, I noticed, looked surprised at her own actions as well. My eyes immediately scanned her surroundings for some form of alcohol, just anything that would have taken her out of her comfort zone. However all I found was a single practically full cup sitting on the edge of the fireplace, close to Buttercup's reach. I know that it would take a lot more than a couple of sips to make Buttercup abandon her views. She enjoyed being in a relationship with Butch, she loved it, even, but she always forbid personal displays of affection. She didn't like throwing her love into other people's faces. That was one of the things that made her so different from Blossom and I.

"Maybe I just wanted to act normal with him. For one night." Buttercup answered, her voice low in embarrassment.

I couldn't, even if I wanted to, stop the grin that was tugging at my lips. "You really love Butch, don't you?"

Buttercup nodded slowly. "Of course I do. He's Butch."

Sure enough it made sense. He was Butch and she was Buttercup. I mean, most people think about it, wishing that they could meet the male/female versions of themselves, just for the sheer amusement. Yet my sisters and I were lucky enough to have three boys, all exactly like ourselves, living just across the street. So when Buttercup replied, "He's Butch." I understood one hundred percent. It's like she didn't have a choice in the matter. She was always supposed to be with Butch. And Blossom was always supposed to be with Brick. And I was always supposed to be with..

Never mind.

"This place looks stunning." I changed the subject slyly.

"I know, right? I really out-did myself."

I found myself laughing softly at her reply. Just when I was about to ask her how long it took to decorate the place, you know, small talk, her eyes gazed directly behind me. She began to stare back and forth from my eyes to behind me, as if she was trying to signal something. Unfortunately for me, she was. I cocked my head around and found myself staring right at Boomer. And oh my days. He looked so handsome. Although he was wearing that blue jumper that I had always hated. Still, he cleaned up nice. Anyway, back to the subject, there I was, looking at my ex boyfriend. It had been so long that I had seen those eyes, I found myself lost in them. His eyes, pools of blue, were fathomless like I could dive right into them and never make it to the bottom.

"Oh. Look at that," Buttercup suddenly spoke awkwardly as she jumped off of the speakers and landed on the ground beside me. "Tyler is signaling for me to come over and talk to him."

I looked behind Boomer to where everyone else was, raising my eyebrow. He wasn't there. Assuming that he had snuck into the kitchen for a drink, I said, "Tyler isn't even in the room."

"Uh, sure he is. Look!"

Just as I took a second glance, I felt Buttercup zoom right past me. She was gone in the blink of an eye. Then I realised, she was trying to get away from Boomer and I. Not that I could blame her. It must have been the most awkward five seconds of my entire life. I made a mental note to yell at Buttercup later for leaving us alone together. Well. This was it. Boomer had come up to me, and I had promised myself that if he made the first move I would talk to him.

Staring into his eyes, I tried to fight off the smile that was begging to come to surface. He looked so much better than the last time I had seen him. When I thought about the last time I had seen him, it made me remember the reason we broke up. Then again I didn't honestly know the reason we broke up because Boomer had yet to tell me this secret of his that was so important to keep that it tore apart our relationship. Still, when I did think about that day, I began to think less about the reason and more about how I had ended it. His eyes had closed because I didn't want him to see me walk out of the door. Before I did, I kissed him goodbye, and in my opinion, it was the most heart-melting kiss out of all of the many kisses we had shared.

However he looked better now. He looked almost happy to see me. At least, that was what I was hoping.

"Do you want a drink?" He asked, breaking the silence. "It's Gin. Your favourite."

It was only then that I noticed not one, but two drinks in his hand. And sure enough both were filled with Citadelle, mine and Boomer's favourite brand of Gin. It's rare to find in Townsville considering it's more popular in France than anywhere else. It occurred to me that perhaps someone had went to extreme measures to make sure there would be some Citadelle at the party, and considering Butch had done the shopping and I knew that he wouldn't bother trying to get my favourite Gin, it must have been Boomer.

Obviously that was his ice-breaker. He wanted to talk to me, I'm assuming, so he brought a drink so that he would have something to start our conversation with. Still, it was not the first words that I had expected. I suppose it's better than him lamely saying, "Hello." or "What have you been up to?" If he had said either of those, I would have face-palmed.

"Sure. Thank you."

I forced a sweet, polite smile as I reached out to take the cup from his now extended hand. As my hand wrapped around the plastic cup, I felt a jolt of electricity dance up my arm the second that our fingers accidentally brushed. My eyes shot up to meet his. We stood rigid for a moment, both of us holding onto the cup, still in a mild shock at the feeling of electricity. I took the cup out of his hand before it could get anymore intense than it already was.

To be honest, I would much rather be sat in the comfort of my own home -as opposed to my ex boyfriend's home- wearing my bright blue pyjamas, the ones with the little rain clouds on them, and drinking a hot cup of Carte Noire coffee. However here I was, stood in Boomer's living room, dressed in a fancy gown rather than my comfortable pyjamas, drinking Cidatelle. I began to wonder if I could pretend that I caught the flu from Samantha Bradshaw -A tall, blonde girl from my English class that just happened to be off of school that day with the flu- and be able to get out without anyone asking any questions. That's all I need, someone thinking that the only reason I want to leave is because of Boomer. They would be right but still, I have my pride.

I realised that I had to say something to stop the awkward tension. However, had I known how lame my words would be, I would have just walked away from him without saying a thing.

"So. How are you doing? I haven't spoken to you in a while."

"Me? I'm great," He nodded. Just then his obviously counterfeit smile dropped from his face. "Okay, so I'm not doing great. This week has been.." Boomer paused.

Sighing, I said, "Yeah. I know. To be honest, I would be pretty offended if you were doing great."

Boomer began to chuckle pleasantly. It sounded so foreign to my ears. I missed hearing it to be honest, his laugh is so adorable. When he laughs, it's like the whole words just stops and all I can see and hear is him. Even the smallest things make me so attached to him. I'd give anything to still be able to hear that chuckle every single day. I could feel the smile stretching across my lips causing him to do the same.

I stared down at the full cup of Gin in my hands and suddenly found myself drawn to the elixir. It was almost as if it were calling me like a siren. The little voices inside of my head were screaming at me to take comfort in the liquid, saying that it would make everything hunky-dory. But I knew better. No amount of alcohol was going to help me feel more comfortable standing so close to the boy that I broke up with. In fact, it would only make things worse, because if I was drunk enough, I would end up making a fool of myself.

"This is nice," He said. "Being able to talk normally again, I never thought that it would be this easy. It's nice. Awkward, but nice."

I smiled sweetly. "We may have our differences but this night isn't about us. For once I just want to aside all of the drama so that we can have an amazing night," I watched as Boomer's face lit up. "So. Friends?"

"Friends." He repeated without any hesitation.

In that moment the awkward tension seemed to dial down. It was still there, sure, but it was fading before our blue eyes. I began to feel foolish for how nervous I had been before stepping inside of the house because talking to Boomer just seemed naturally easy again. I wasn't sure how that was even possible. I mean, whenever my eyes would carelessly fall onto his lips I would remember how blissful I felt whenever we kissed. And when he smiled, my heart would skip a beat, literally. Yet the words were coming out so effortlessly.

"Good," I nodded. "But if we are going to be friends again, I'd rather we cleared the air first. So. There's something I should tell you." Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself to tell Boomer all about how in just two months, I would be leaving Townsville and following mine and my father's dream of dancing in the big city. Only, when I opened my mouth to deliver the news, Boomer beat me to the chase.

"You're moving to New York. I know."

My brows furrowed in confusion. "How do you-"

"Brick told me earlier."

I closed my mouth instantly, swallowing the harsh lump in my throat. My eyes wandered towards Brick who, I noticed, was glancing in our direction. Strangely enough I was not mad. I understood why Brick would rather Boomer hear it from him than myself, and I was grateful that he did. Brick has always looked out for both of his brothers, they seem like an even tighter family than my sisters and I in that department.

Turning back towards Boomer, I boldly looked him in the eye, catching a hint of regret. I could have been mistaken. I mean, what would Boomer have to feel regretful about? Well, he lied to me. But that's not why I'm leaving Townsville. I'm sure even if Boomer and I were still fighting for each other, I'd still move to New York. It might not be the best place to live but it seems perfect for me. I can shop until I literally drop, I can meet an interesting new group of friends, I can walk down to Vandam street and go see a play at the Soho Playhouse on weekends instead of sitting home with Buttercup watching Law and Order. As of this moment, I can't find a single thing wrong with New York.

Well, except for the fact that my sisters won't be there.

"Oh." I glanced down, suddenly taking an interest in my feet.

"I think it's great," Boomer spoke up all of a sudden. I looked back up at him, raising one of my thin eyebrows. "I mean, uh, it's not great that you're leaving the country. I just mean that I'm happy for you. Who knew that you would be the first one to get into college, huh?"

Slightly offended, my lips curved into an amused half-smile. "I'm going to pretend that you didn't just say that."

For a couple of seconds I just stared at him. I took him all in, remembering just how much I had missed all of the little things that make him who he is. You would never find another boy with the same smile as him or the same air of Joie de vivre that surrounded him when he laughed. I watched as his lips pried open, ready to respond to what I had just said, when we were interrupted. Now, stood before us, was Maxine. Her eyes were fixed on mine however she looked a million miles away. There was something, this look, in her blue-green orbs. I couldn't tell what it was exactly. She just seemed distant, absentminded almost, like there was something she had to get off of her chest.

Maxine smiled politely at me as she placed her hand on Boomer's left shoulder.

"Bubbles, could I borrow Boomer for a second?"

I found myself nodding before I could even register her question. To be honest I was slightly disappointed. As much as it hurt, I enjoyed being able to just look at Boomer. I didn't have to assure myself that he was alright like all of those times that I had asked Brick how he was doing, because I could see it. Still, I nodded nonchalantly and smiled back.

"Of course. Borrow him for as long as you like."

Before I could seem like anymore of a love-sick fool in front of my best friend, I turned myself around. I stood there for a second, collecting my bearings, before boldly walking away from them. And I was sure that they were both staring at me but I didn't turn back to check. As I walked towards Mitch -who was, I noticed, dancing idiotically with my very, very drunk sister, Buttercup- I couldn't stop wondering why Maxine wanted to talk to Boomer in private. What would they have to talk about? It didn't add up. But I couldn't stress myself over that now. For all I knew, whatever she wanted to say was harmless.

Just when I was a mere fifteen-or-so steps away from Mitch, I felt my legs freeze on spot. My eyes fell onto the table pushed against the fourth wall. Buttercup had mentioned this idea, I just didn't think that she would go through with it. Sitting there was ten individual boxes. And on the third box, in big letters, was my name. I glanced inside my box to find that someone had already placed a goodbye-card message inside. I was surprised. No one else had written one yet, but apparently, someone had already written one for me. To say the least I was intrigued.

I reached inside of the small box and picked up the card. My eyes instantly glanced around the room, looking around to see if anyone was glancing in my direction. But all I saw was my friends dancing, Boomer and Maxine making their way out of the house and Buttercup, you guessed it, drinking. I looked back down at the card and began to read.

Bubbles. I wanted to say goodbye to you in person tonight. I had this whole speech planned out and everything. Then I realised that no speech was ever going to be good enough. If I'm honest, I don't think I'll ever be ready to say goodbye to you, not in person anyway. I just wanted to wish you luck in New York. It's not where I imagined you starting your life but I know that you'll fit in perfectly over there. Townsville isn't going to be the same without you. You know, it's funny, I really though that we could have made things work between us. Wished, more like. But I guess there's too much damage to even try, and we'll never find out.

I blinked.

My eyes, filled with unbridled tears, scanned the card for a signature. I knew that I wouldn't be at ease until I found Boomer's name somewhere on the paper. However I could not find it. I spun the card around, desperately searching for his name. To be honest, I wasn't sure why I was so reluctant to see his name. Unless we sat down and worked things out -and more importantly, he told me what he had been hiding for all of this time- we could not get back together. So why I was so determined to know that this message was from Boomer, I didn't know.

Only then did something else occur to me. He was not the only ex boyfriend of mine in this house. I glanced up to see Tyler standing on the other end of the room, a drink in his hand, talking to his new friend Mitch. He wasn't looking at me though. And if he had been looking at me whilst I had read the message, I wouldn't ever know. But what if it was him. What if this note, that I so wanted Boomer to have written, was really from Tyler, and he still loved me. What if, even when I was single, I was still stuck in between two best friends?

"Oh, my days." I muttered.


Blossom Utonium's POV

So far so good, I told myself.

I will admit that I had my doubts about whether Buttercup and Butch could pull this off. Not because I didn't believe that they would make a good team or anything, but because neither of my sisters nor I had ever thrown a party before. Of course there was a little part of me that thought that this party might have took a turn for the worst. But I came to realise that it was no different than the usual shindigs that Maxine had thrown.

There was music playing constantly. There were more drinks than any of us could count. The place loved marvelous. All in all everyone was having a good time. I believe that Buttercup and Tyler were having more fun than any of us though. Buttercup was dancing on top of the speakers -even though I had warned her four times of how dangerous that was- and Tyler was handing people drinks, to be more specific, a drink that he had invented ten minutes prior. He called it, "The Cairns Special." Not a very original name, I must admit.

Bubbles, I had noticed, was stood beside the kitchen, talking to Mitch. To be honest I had been hoping that she would spend more time with Boomer. I understand that I might not know the reason that they broke up but I still believe that they could make it work. However I had yet to see Boomer since he and Maxine headed outside ten minutes earlier. I had not a single clue what they would have to talk about for so long, but whatever it was must have been important for Maxine to tear him away from Bubbles. After all, a week before she was the one who told Buttercup and I to make sure that they had some time alone together tonight.

My eyes scanned the living room for Brick. And sure enough, there he was, laughing with Butch as my sister made a fool of herself. I had began to count how many drinks Buttercup was having after the first time she fell. That's right, the first time. There had been many more after that. Since I began counting, she had had thirteen drinks. I was worried for her. She never usually drank this much which of course meant that something was bugging her. I wanted her to stop drinking so I decided to be sneaky. I replaced her large glass of white Champagne with water. Unfortunately, Butch stole a sip and pointed out that it was water so Buttercup got another glass that they could share. It should have occurred to me that Butch would ruin my plan. He and Buttercup hadn't left each other's side all night.

Just as I began to storm over, ready to rip Buttercup off of the speakers, Tyler stepped in front of me. He practically pushed a cup into my hands. I could feel my stomach begin to protest. I hadn't planned on drinking much tonight, it would only mean I would become overly emotional. But apparently, Tyler would not take no for an answer. He rushed off towards Mitch, whom he had became very good friends with as the night drew on, and left me to stare down at The Cairns Special.

I shrugged my shoulders slightly. Sure, this is a party, right? One drink couldn't hurt.

Slowly I took a sip of that concoction that Tyler had invented. The first taste was bitter, although as I attempted a second sip I found that it had more of a bland, sour feel to it. In fact, it tasted rather pleasant. I suddenly found myself tipping the glass to my mouth and devouring all of the liquid in two large gulps. Although I wasn't quite sure what was in the cup, whatever it was trying to do was working. My mind eased instantly allowing me to loosen up a little. And by the time I had looked back towards my sister, she was safely off of the speakers and into Butch's arms, laughing along with him and my boyfriend.

I decided to go over and join them, mostly to keep an eye on Buttercup but also because I wanted to spend some quality time with Brick tonight. I abandoned my now empty plastic cup onto the side table nearby, leaving it for Buttercup to clean up the next morning. Well, she will most likely be too hung over to follow through with cleaning the house. She'll ask Butch to do it, and considering he has proved more than once that he would do just about anything for my sister, he will. My dress began to trail behind me as I strolled towards them, making me realise that although it was beautiful, I should have found a dress with a shorter train.

From the moment I had joined the trio, my eyes were met with those of blood red. Brick was the first to take notice of my presence considering that Buttercup was busy being wrapped up in Butch. Not literally, I mean that she looked far too interested in whatever he was saying to notice me standing in front of her. Oddly enough, Buttercup and Butch kissing in front of us all was not the strangest thing that they had done tonight. They had also been sharing drinks all night, just doing cute little acts that none of us had seen them do with anyone before. They even said "I love you," in front of myself and Tyler. And as of the moment that I had approached them, they were just staring into each other's eyes like two love-sick teenagers. I, personally, found it refreshing to see them acting so normally and comfortably with each other but it was also strange to see. There was clearly something going on in Buttercup's head and I planned to find out just what it was.

However from the second that my attention switched from my sister and her boyfriend to Brick, I forgot all about my worries for Buttercup. He did look handsome. But it wasn't the obvious type of handsome, like something you would find in an Abercrombie and Fitch catalogue. No, it was the rare type. You know, when he smiles and you just think, "There is no one in this world more handsome than you are." I don't know if many people think that when they see someone smile but I certainly do. I think it's something about Brick's smile. The way only ever on side of his lips curve upwards, allowing a small hint of an innocent dimple to show. And his eyes always seem to lighten up when he smiles, turning from piercing blood red to an almost shining maroon. However the best part wasn't the way that he looked. It was the way he was looking back at me.

"There you are," Brick said thankfully as I smiled back at him. He took a step forward and leaned in towards me, his lips hovering just above my ear, and then he softly whispered, "As much as I love my brother, this sight is making me feel slightly nauseated. Please help me get away from them."

I held back the urge to chuckle at Brick's adorable plea. He genuinely looked mortified. Of course it occurred to me that Brick must not have seen his brother like this before. He must be used to seeing Boomer acting all sweet and, well, couple-like. But Butch? Before my sister came into the picture, he had never had a real girlfriend before. Well, that is what Brody told me, and considering that he is Butch's best friend, I had no reason not to believe it. Brick was obviously just as disturbed as Bubbles and I were to see Butch and Buttercup acting like this.

As much as I wanted to watch in amusement as our siblings tortured him with their personal displays of affection, I decided to save him from his personal misery. My hand slid into his own and I curled my fingers around his. Before Buttercup and Butch could tear themselves away from each other to notice me, I tugged at his hand and pulled him away discreetly. We made our way over to the other end of the living room where we could be alone. As we came to a stop, I smiled up at Brick, not bothering to break our intertwined fingers.

The music changed from an up-tempo beat to a soft melody. The song, I noticed, was a song that I had heard Bubbles play around the house a couple of times. The singer was Gabrielle Aplin, a personal favourite of my sister's. It was a slow song as opposed to the blasting tune that had been playing before.

"Blossom Utonium, may I have this dance?" Brick asked me with a counterfeit tone of chivalry.

"You may." I replied smiling.

I placed my free arm around Brick's neck loosely as he wrapped his arm around my waist. I found myself eager to see where this would lead. Brick and I had never danced. Not like this. We had danced in the fun, fresh type of way, but never intimately. It felt nice to glide in and out of his arms, I must admit. Our feet moved in perfect sync and our eyes didn't leave each other's for a single second. I couldn't keep my smile at bay as I stared into those eyes. When I looked into them, and I know this will sound as cliché as anyone could possibly get, I saw everything that I've ever wanted. It's that feeling when you're looking at someone and you just know that you want to be around them as much as you can. I had never felt it before. But Brick was that person for me, the one, you could say.

An excited giggle escaped from my lips as I was spun around. When I stopped spinning, I crashed back into Brick's arms. He took the lead, surprisingly, and continued to guide me around his steps. I couldn't believe how good he was at dancing like this. If I had known better I would have asked if he had been taking private lessons with Bubbles. We swayed in unison with the music and my floor-length gown began to twirl gracefully around my feet.

"You're a good dancer," I told him slowly as he spun me around once more. "Why have we never danced like this before?"

"Tonight is supposed to be special, remember?" Brick said smiling, dragging me effortlessly back into his arms.

"It doesn't matter what you do. Just being with you is special enough for me."

"Good because I'm not going anywhere."

While that response should have made me feel happy, it didn't. What I had realised tonight was that not only was there something odd going on inside Buttercup's head but the same thing was happening to me. It all began after breakfast. It was like when you have a conversation and the words seem to stick inside your mind all day long. And all day I continued to hear Buttercup's speech about how she and I should let Bubbles be her own person. I wanted that speech, I didn't deserve it after the way I had acted, but I wanted to be my own person. I wanted to follow my dreams. I wanted to have a reason to wake up after graduation. Yet I didn't. Bubbles got to have all of that while all I had was regret.

I felt my entire body tense and judging by the way Brick slowed his steps, he noticed it too.

"Is everything alright?" Brick asked, concern filling his husky voice.

"It was."

He raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

Brick's feet stopped moving all together, but his hand didn't leave mine for a single second. He lowered his head attempting to get a glimpse of my eyes. For a moment I just stood there rigid, unsure of what to say or what to do. I had this speech, you see, of what I would say to Brick when I finally figured out what I wanted to do with my life. I would begin by telling him of my decision, then I would ask him of his, and then it would always end with us being together. But lately I began to find holes in that perfect conversation.

I nervously licked my lips, tasting the gloss covering my lower lip that resembled dark cherries. I hastily took a glance around the room to check that I could talk freely without being disturbed. Luckily I found Mitch, Brody and Tyler heading into the kitchen while Buttercup and Butch talked amongst themselves.

My eyes returned to Brick's. He still had that confused look etched onto his well-structured face. I tightened my hold on his hand as though I might fall had I not been holding it.

"Brick, I need to tell you something."

He swallowed. "That's never a good thing to hear. Are you breaking up with me?"

"What!?" I exclaimed like the thought of us breaking up was absolutely absurd. Which it was. "Of course not. No. I just want to talk to you about graduation, that's all."

A breathy, relieved sigh escaped from his pried lips. "Okay. Go on."

"Well, I've been thinking about the future. Even more so since I found out that Bubbles is moving to New York. I know I said that I had made up my mind about staying in Townsville, but that was so long ago, and I'm seeing things much clearer now. I just think that maybe I've been..holding back."

"Holding back from what?" Brick spoke softly, although I could hear the panic hidden in his tone.

"My dream," I smiled slightly. "I chose to stay in Townsville because I didn't want to leave anyone behind, and I realised that although I can stop myself from leaving, I can't stop everyone else from leaving. So I decided something today, when I was listening to my sister talk about her own dream, that for once I also need to do something that I want to do. Brick, I need to go to my dream college. And I need to go before I can get the chance to change my mind."

Brick blinked. "Blossom..your dream school is in Florida."

"I know it is."

I looked down at my feet, unable to meet Brick's eyes. There was this tight, gasping feeling inside of my stomach and it was only growing larger by the minute. I honestly felt horrible for what I was putting Brick through. For the first time since my eating disorder, I felt selfish. And of course I should. I was chosing Bridgewood Florida State University over my life in Townsville. More importantly, I would be leaving both Buttercup and Brick behind. How could I possibly feel good about myself?

When I think about how much this could effect my relationship with Brick, it physically hurts me. But when I think about never being able to do the one thing that I have dreamed about since I was a child, well, I don't like to think about that. I believe that I could be a good teacher. I could relate to teenagers going through insecurity, and I could teach kids about the important things. I wouldn't just tell them what twenty five times seven is, I would help them be the best that they could possibly be. And I think that kids need that. They need a friend just as much as they need a teacher, and I would be that friend.

"You..want to.." Brick sucked in a sharp breath. "You want to leave Townsville?"

I shook my head frantically. "No! I don't ever want to leave here. I adore my life in this town. It's just time to look towards the big picture, you know?"

Brick was silent for a moment. By the way that his lips pried ever so slightly before shutting again, I could tell he wanted to say something, most likely for me not to do this, but he was holding himself back from saying it. The moment began to thicken but I didn't encourage him to talk. I think he needed that minute or pure, thoughtful muteness. And as that minute passed, I began to realise something. If it was this hard to tell Brick about my plans, it would only be ten times harder to tell Buttercup. It will be easy to tell Bubbles, she is already leaving. However Buttercup showed a great excitement over my earlier decision to stay in Townsville. I think this might crush her, really crush her.

I couldn't take the silence any longer, and I think Brick may have realised that, because he finally answered me.

"So. You're going to apply to Bridgewood after exams next week. And it's you, so obviously they're going to accept," Brick muttered. He wasn't even looking at me anymore, it was almost like he couldn't. Instead his eyes bounced around the space between us as he stumbled over his own words. "Then you..you'll move to Florida and you'll be..there. Oh god."

My hands shot upwards instantly, resting onto his cheeks in a comforting action. I forced him to look at me however I wished that I hadn't. His eyes, slightly glassy and filled with panic, stared back into my own. And for a second I couldn't even recognise him. The ball of guilt inside of my stomach grew three times larger at the sight of him, causing my breathing to become slightly unstable. I boldly looked him in the eye.

"In the future we're only going to regret the chances that we didn't take. I don't want any regrets, Brick. If I have the chance to get accepted into my dream school, why should I not take it?" Judging by the look he was shooting me, he wasn't absorbing anything that I was saying. So, brazenly, I continued, "This morning Buttercup said that we should let Bubbles be her own person. Well she was right. And I might not deserve it but I need your support."

Brick did not look convinced. If anything he just looked more against the idea than he was ten seconds before.

"How can I possibly support you leaving the country? Blossom, you're my girlfriend."

"And you are my boyfriend," I smiled weakly as my thumbs softly grazed his cheeks. I could feel his jaw clenching uncontrollably beneath my palms. I don't think that it was because he was angry. No, he was many things but angered was not one of them. "College isn't going to change that. You and I are going to be together for as long as we want. Honestly, I don't doubt for a single second that we can make this work."

Much to my surprise, Brick's hands met mine. He placed both palms over mine, still resting on either side of his face. Our fingers laced into each other's and I could swear that my heart skipped a beat, or at least it didn't but I couldn't feel the beat because of how everything else seemed to freeze around me. I couldn't see my siblings and friends around me. I couldn't hear the music blaring through Buttercup's ridiculously large music system. All I could do was be there, in the moment.

His grip on my hands tightened almost crushingly. "I understand what you are saying. I'm just..worried. I mean, what happens if you're living in Florida and you meet someone else because I won't be around."

I fought back an eye roll at his response. Of course, I'm making a life-changing decision and all Brick can think about is the possibility of me finding comfort in another boy's arms. You know, I think that's one of the things that I love about him. He's known for being so serious, yet when it comes down to it, he cares more about what is important to him rather than what should really matter. How could you not love someone like that? He has such a huge heart. I guess that's why it took me so long to realise that I don't want to stay in Townsville.

"Trust me, that is not going to happen. Even if we didn't speak for months I would still love and be faithful to you because..I can't even imagine a life without you in it." I whispered softly, watching as the corner of his lips turned upwards into a small smile.

"You mean that?"

"Of course I mean it. Brick, there is no one else on this earth that I would rather be with. I want you today, tomorrow, next week, and for the rest of my life."

Without giving him time to respond, I crashed my lips onto his. My hands slid away from his face and settled around his neck. I could feel him smiling against my lips as my words fully sunk in and it was so hard not to grin and ruin the moment. Our bodies molded into each other's. I was sure that I could hear Buttercup, all the way from across the room, making a sort of gagging sound. However she was one talk. She had been stuck like glue to Butch all night.

Mine and Brick's lips parted for only a second as he took the chance to look into my eyes. It was romantic, like nothing I had ever experienced. We just stared at each other. And it made me feel lucky. I got to look at those blood red orbs as much as I wanted to while standing in his arms. Luck must have been on my side when I found him again, because in that moment I just couldn't believe that I got to be with the most wonderful boy I had ever had the pleasure of spending time with. His eyes never left my gaze until his lips connected with mine once more.

His lips tasted like mint, as usual. That was another quirk of his. He brushed his teeth three times a day, including minty green mouthwash and dental floss. He also occasionally showered twice a day. But his quirks are what make me love him even more. We all have them, and they make us who we are. And his made me fall for him over and over again.

Brick broke the kiss, which upset me because I was rather glad to be kissing rather than talking. That smile was still etched onto his face like a tattoo. He looked away from me, his brows furrowed in thought. I could see in his eyes that he still didn't want me to apply to Bridgewood. However I think he had finally realised that he shouldn't hold me back from what I wanted to do.

There was more unbearable silence before Brick finally spoke.

"I really wish-" He paused abruptly. I was hanging on the edge, wondering what he was about to say, eager to find out. The smile had dropped completely from his face and now he just looked blank. He ran his hand over his face before letting out a sigh of exasperation. "I really wish that we weren't graduating," My brows furrowed in confusion. As I searched his eyes for an explanation, he continued, "There isn't enough time. I've had months. All of these amazing months with you, and it's not enough. I feel like I only just got you back, and now I have to let you go."

His words hit me like a bucket of bricks. I wasn't sure how to respond to that. What could I say to make him feel any better? I couldn't think of anything. I knew that he was right, what he said, there was so many things that we had yet to do together. In all of these many, many months we have just been going through the motions. And there is so much more that we need to do. I'll be in Florida, he'll be in Townsville. We won't be able to do all of those things, not any time soon anyway.

"I don't want to leave you, Brick. I just want to leave. Townsville is and always will be my home, but all kids are supposed to leave home one day, right? I need to do this." I breathed out the last couple of words, the sound of my own voice making me cringe. I sounded so weak and exhausted.

Brick looked down, taking a sudden interest in his feet. "Then you should do it."

"What?"

"Send in your application," He muttered. "Next week. After exams. I'll help you with it."

I blinked. "You really don't mind me going?"

Brick's head shot up immediately. I almost took a step back once seeing his face. He looked like he wanted to punch something, like a wall or a door. And it horrified me. I hadn't seen that look since we were both little kids and I would always beat him in our fights. I remembered the look easily, it was a hard face to forget. There was so much livid emotion building up on his face, so strong, so visible. His already piercing red eyes seethed darker like a flash of fire cowering inside. It was heartbreaking. Like someone had punched me in the stomach when I was already down.

"Of course I mind you going," Brick said in a strangely calm tone. "But like you said, you need to go. I can't stop you. Your sisters can't stop you. So I guess I just have to accept it, right?"

There it is again. That feeling of being physically punched in the stomach.

"I'm sorry that I mislead you into thinking that I would stay. Please just..stop being angry at me. I can't stand the thought of you being angry with me for one single second. You know that I would stay if I could, I just can't, not right now. It doesn't change anything though. Between us."

He closed his eyes, shielding himself from seeing the tears building up in my own. I took a firm hold of his hands and pulled them closer to me. I watched as one eye blinked open and his gaze fell onto his hands in mine. That look was still on his face, clearer than ever. And I couldn't stand it anymore.

"I love you," I whispered, but he still wouldn't look at me. I was still in shock from his sudden mood changes. One minute he was sad, then he was blissfully happy and then he was enraged. I didn't know what else I could say to calm him down anymore, other than, "I love you, Brick." I repeated.

I watched with glassy eyes as Brick nodded and took a deep, calming breath. "I love you too."

Without wasting any time I sprang forward and wrapped my arms around him, almost protectively. I couldn't understand how seeing Brick in so much pain made me feel ten times worse. Love isn't supposed to do that, not in my opinion anyway. He wasn't supposed to mean this much to me. I was never supposed to fall so hard for him. But that's what happened and now that it had, it hurt so much. Even the thought of Brick not loving me anymore was like someone was cutting off my air supply.

My hands tightened around Brick and I could feel him doing the same to me. I didn't even care that we were in a room full of people or that we had just had our first fight in a long time. All I cared about in that moment was him. I pressed my lips against his cheek and placed a small, chaste kiss there before burying my head in his shoulder again.

"We're going to make this work," I whispered softly. "I promise."

Brick nodded against my shoulder. "I hope so."


Normal POV

Boomer flinched slightly as he stepped out of the front door to his home. The cold air hit him like a ton of bricks, sending goosebumps shooting up his arms. He stared out into the world watching as the misty clouds swayed in the moonlight and stars spread out above him. From behind him he could hear Maxine's feet scuffle as she spun around the close the front door but he didn't pay much attention. For some reason he found himself drawn to the sky, something that he once took for granted but now found so much beauty in.

He tried to trick his mind into forgetting just how chilly it was. He already wasn't feeling too great after Tyler had forced one of his concoctions down his throat while he and Maxine where making their way out of the house. Being the first to try it, Boomer didn't mind the taste, but he did mind the drowsy feeling that came with it. The cold temperature only added to his list of reasons to lock himself in his room until the next morning. Panic continued to fill his mind. He didn't want anyone to see him looking unwell. It would only lead to questions that Boomer could not answer.

Turning himself around, Boomer's eyes met with Maxine.

She was stood firmly in front of the closed door, looking completely unaffected by the chilled breeze surrounding her. Boomer's icy-blue eyes narrowed. He wasn't quite sure what brought them to this moment. Normally Boomer would have just dismissed her assuming that whatever she wanted to say was unimportant. However he had noticed the serious expression clouding her face when she asked him to come outside, and he couldn't turn it down. At first he figured that she was just going to chat with him about Bubbles, but from the look on Maxine's face, he knew his ex girlfriend was the last thing on her mind.

"What is this about?" Boomer asked impatiently, sick of hearing nothing but dead air and silence.

"I need to-" Maxine paused as her tough exterior began to break. She tried to remain bold and serious but her eyes were telling a different story. She licked her lips nervously before struggling to continue, "I need to ask you something," She didn't look at him. She could barely speak, never mind look at him. "It's important."

Boomer's entire face furrowed in confusion. He watched as Maxine looked behind him, her eyes flickering from one star to another. She was afraid to look at him. In all of her years of knowing Boomer, she had never been so terrified of looking at him but this was different. She knew that now that they were somewhat in the light, she would be able to notice his features. When you know that someone is unwell, it's hard not to notice the tiredness in their eyes or the pale, queasy expressions on their faces. And if Maxine was sure of anything, it was that she didn't want to ever see that on someone she held dear.

"Alright," Boomer drawled in uncertainty. "What do you need to ask me, Max?"

The statuesque brunette looked up to meet Boomer's eyes ever so slowly. Tucking a strand of short mahogany hair behind her left ear, she shuffled her feet nervously. She didn't speak at first. Instead she prepared, even rehearsed her choice of words. All her life, Maxine was always so straight-forward. She didn't dance around subjects or waste time, she attacked. She spoke her mind and sometimes that only made things worse. But it was the only way she knew how to act. So she told things straight, she got her point across.

And that was exactly how Maxine was going to go about this situation.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe the rest of us wanted to know that you're dying?" She spat out, her anger taking over all worry that she had felt before.

Boomer shrank back slightly as his blue eyes grew painfully wide. He wanted to convince himself that he had heard wrong but even then he knew exactly what he had heard, there was no denying that. Of all things he had expected to come out of Maxine's mouth that was not one of them. The reality began to sink in that she, one of his best friends, knew of his secret, and he could no longer feel the cold. Maxine obviously didn't know the full story but she knew more than Boomer ever wanted her to. His pulse began to drastically slow down turning weak and rapid against his paled skin. Everything around him was in fast-forward while he was motionless in the middle of it all, wondering how she knew.

"How-" He tried to ask only to notice that his voice barely reached the surface. The sound was like nails scraping down a blackboard. However no matter how hoarse and weak he sounded, Boomer could not stop talking even if he wanted to. "How do you know?"

Maxine's anger soon faded and her face softened once she heard Boomer's voice. He was barely whispering but she could still hear how fragile and scared he sounded. She took a calming breath in and out, a stream of condensation resembling smoke following her actions. Bold bravery replaced her once nervous countenance, but that was all for show, inside she was still terrified of saying the wrong thing or finding out that her friend was worse off than she realised. But still, she masked herself with a sence of bravery for Boomer's sake.

"It doesn't matter how I know. The point is that I do know and you weren't the one to tell me," She said. "You haven't told anyone, have you?"

Boomer's face cowered in guilt, giving her all of the answer that she needed.

"Believe me, I wanted to tell you all."

"So why didn't you?"

"It's not that simple," Boomer declared softly. He ran one of his shivering hands over his face and through his hair before looking at Maxine once more, shaking his head at her. "None of this is simple. I've tried to assure myself that I could tell you guys and it would make things better. But in no scenario did me telling anyone make things easier."

Maxine's eyes tore away from Boomer's and settled their gaze onto the ground beside her. She stared down at the damp, tall spades of grass surrounding her feet. Everything seemed so fragile. She thought about how her friend could be wiped from the world just as easily as it would be to destroy a strand of grass just by standing on it. And what seemed even more unfair was the fact that just when everything was put behind them and it seemed like everything might be alright from now on, this was happening.

She raised her right hand and grasped the fabric of her dress collar between her fingers, yanking it further from her neck as she felt a wave of claustrophobia cloud over her even standing in the vast outside. Her eyes traveled past the grass and the jeans Boomer's was wearing up to his eyes. A frown took over Maxine's lips as she just stared at him. And for once in her life, she didn't like being the only one to know a secret. It no longer made her feel special.

"Of course it won't make things easier, Boomer, but it's the right thing to do. People need to know that you're sick. Your brothers need to find out sooner or later."

Boomer flinched at the very mention of his brothers. "I can't do that. You were in the room when I woke up after the crash, you heard Brick's speech. Maxine, you are his best friend, do you really want to hear him have to say that speech again?"

"No," She whispered. "I don't. But that's no excuse. What about Bubbles? She still loves you. She's always admired your honesty. So why haven't you at least told her the truth?"

"Because she matters more to me than the truth does."

"Right now, the truth is the only thing that is going to make things better," Her eyes stung with unbridled tears and her voice sounded exhausted. "You and Bubbles are supposed to be together. I know that I was mad when Bubbles cheated on my brother, but over time I learned that deceit in relationships is sometimes alright, because sometimes if you finally let go of the past, something better comes along. You can't let go of Bubbles because we both know that nothing better is ever going to come along."

Boomer crossed his arms, looking back up towards the beautiful sky. "You don't understand, Maxine. Love is complicated."

"No," She shook her head. "Love isn't complicated. People are."

As the stars aligned above them, Maxine took a good look at Boomer. She began to notice how unwell he looked in the light. His face had paled further. His hands were shaking as a result of the cold temperature. Even his once big, youthful blue eyes dulled. Her heart broke watching him.

"I can't tell her. You understand what it's like to be in love with someone. You don't want to hide anything from them, but you want to protect them, so you end up hiding things anyway. Because if you don't, it'll only hurt them. And that's not what you want, you know?"

Maxine nodded, her left eye twitching noticeably. "Yeah. I get that. I'll admit that I've hid things from Brody, things that would hurt him. But it's nothing compared to what you're hiding," She paused to gather her bearings. After pushing aside her guilt ridden feelings, Maxine continued, her voice much softer, "Boomer you could..you could.."

"Die," Boomer finished for her, his voice cracking. "I could die."

Closing her eyes, Maxine took a long breath. "Bubbles deserves to know the reason she broke up with you," Her eyes slid open and she noticed Boomer's lower lip tremble at the mention of his ex girlfriend. "Do you really want her to move to New York and always be wondering if she could have made your relationship work? Do you honestly want to put her through that?"

She was looking at him with an unfamiliar expression cowering inside of her orbs. For just a second she watched him, realising how stuck he was. He had lied over and over, and he had backed himself into a corner. Maxine struggled to come to terms with the fact that this was happening to such a sweet, thoughtful person.

"I don't know what to do, Maxine," He whispered desperately. "I'm scared of telling my brothers and Bubbles. But most of all, I'm just scared. I..I don't want to die."

In an instant Maxine had shred the distance between herself and Boomer. Her arms draped around his neck, pulling him into a comforting hug. She could feel Boomer easing slightly as he hugged her back, tightly wrapping his arms around her upper stomach, as far as he could. Maxine sucked in a sharp, gasping breath, trying to stop herself from sobbing all over his back.

Pulling her head back slightly, she whispered, "I'm here for you. You don't have to be alone in this anymore."


Butch Jojo's POV

Raising my glass to my lips, I watched in amusement as Buttercup danced around the living room, dragging Bubbles and Mitch along with her. I can't tell if it's because of the alcohol or she just decided to be fun for once, but either way it's hilarious. While Blossom had been trying to calm Buttercup down I just stood back and watched. I mean, she seems happy, and that's what I want. I don't see why Blossom has to be all up-tight about Buttercup having a little fun. This is our last party after all.

I took the last gulp of my beer, savouring the taste. It's not often I get to drink in the house without Brick knocking the cup out of my hands and then making me clean it up. Not that I ever do, of course. The night, I noticed, was a success. Nothing had went wrong. The music system didn't malfunction and break. We hadn't yet run out of drinks. No one had mentioned a noise complaint even though the music was so loud that I couldn't hear myself think. Those were just three out of a whole list of things I had expected to go wrong at some point during the night.

My eyes shifted from the cup in my hand to Buttercup. She was dancing along with her sister and laughing so loud that I could hear her as clear as if she was standing beside me. I looked her up and down, a small smile crossing my lips as she continued to laugh at her own foolish acts. She was wearing this long-sleeved green shirt, however she had rolled the sleeves up half-way an hour earlier, and a pair of black shorts covered in silver triangular spikes. Buttercup hadn't worn shorts in a long time, even since the customary hot Townsville weather switched to an unusual amount of black clouds and rain. I had to admit though, she looked gorgeous. There wasn't any makeup covering her face, and her short black hair was down to her shoulders, barely straightened. She was still a sight to be remembered.

She looked at right at me and suddenly whatever Bubbles was saying to her didn't seem to matter. I don't think she was listening anymore. A smile broke out on her face as she danced slowly along with the music, staring into my eyes and saying nothing. I smiled crookedly back at her, tilting my head as I watched her dance. Damn, that girl could dance. Even swaying next to Bubbles -who was apparently going to be a professional dancer, or whatever- she looked as though she knew exactly what she was doing.

As soon as the song changed, both myself and Buttercup grinned at each other.

Buttercup instantly waved me over, causing both her sister and Mitch to realise that she was no longer in the same world as they were. Bubbles pouted as she realised that while she had been talking to Buttercup, she was more interested in me. The short blonde slipped her hand into Mitch's and dragged him towards Blossom. I abandoned my cup onto the top of the fireplace and began to stalk over to her, my footsteps being completely drown out by the music that was playing. The song playing happened to be a song that Buttercup and I both favoured. Which was of course why she was so interested in forcing me to dance with her.

"It's our favourite song," I pointed out when I finally made it over to Buttercup. She nodded slowly, wasting no time in wrapping her arms around my neck. I chuckled down at her, wondering just what had gotten into her. "How many drinks have you actually had?" I asked curiously.

"Not enough in my opinion." She raised her voice over the music.

I shook my head in amusement. "Why are you acting so strange tonight?"

"I told you this, Butch. Tonight is the last night we have to be reckless, fun teenagers. I plan on stretching that out as far as I can."

"Good. I like you better this way."

Buttercup smirked up at me. "Oh really? Well don't get used to it."

With that said, she began to dance. I might not have wanted to but nothing was in my control anymore. She danced and managed to pull me into it. I always felt like everything was beyond my control whenever Buttercup was around. She had a knack for manipulating everyone around her without even trying. She laced her hands tighter around my neck and as though I was under her spell, I began to sway in unison with her. Buttercup danced in perfect time with the music. But I wasn't surprised, she knew the song as well as I did.

Love is a potion mixed up by careless fools,
And it takes two, and it takes two. Love isn't certain, it comes right out the blue,
And when she casts her spell, there's nothing you can do.

Love is a potion mixed up by careless fools.
And it takes two, and it takes two.

Don't let me down, love.

Her hips swayed from side to side, taking my hands with them. As our bodies molded into each other's our eyes met. She looked amazing under the neon green lights. All I could make out in the dark was her sparkling eyes and her lips curving into an enchanting smirk. My hand tightened around her waist, pulling her into me as much as I could, yet still allowing a sliver of space in between us for movement.

Buttercup's hands slid from my neck and onto my chest, gripping my shirt in her palms. Every now and then I wanted to scan the room, just to see what was going on around us, but for some reason I couldn't pry my eyes from hers. I don't know if it was because they looked so beautiful in the almost darkness of the room or because she was somehow hypnotizing me with her famous manipulation, but either way I couldn't tear myself away. I was so wrapped up in the moment, wrapped up in her, that nothing else seemed to matter or even exist.

Slowly, she leaned into me, and whispered into my ear, "I love you, Butchy Boy."

That was it. There was no way I was looking anywhere else now.

I will stand up for you.
When you hold me like you do.
I'm right here next to you,
But I don't want to stay if you carelessly play with my heart.

Love is a potion mixed up by careless fools,
And it takes two, and it takes two.
Love isn't certain, it comes right out the blue,
And when she casts her spell, there's nothing you can do.

The pulsing base of the song dropped and before I could comprehend what was going on, Buttercup's lips crashed onto mine. She gave me no time for preparation. Although I wasn't complaining. She tugged at my shirt, shredding whatever space we had between us. I could practically feel the grin forming on her face as I returned the kiss and my hands tightened even more around her waist.

Our lips moved in sync, almost hungrily. It took me a good eleven seconds to get over the shock that I was standing in the middle of the living room, practically surrounded by my closest friends, kissing Buttercup. She really had come out of her shell. I almost felt upset that it was only for one night, but that feeling didn't last long. To be honest I was just too damn happy that I could kiss her without sneaking up to my bedroom first.

"God," I muttered against her lips. "I love you." My voice came out as barely a muffled, breathless whisper but judging by the way that Buttercup gripped my shirt harder, I assumed that she had heard me.

She broke the kiss slowly, moving her head back a little to glance at me. There was nothing short of adoration showing in her features. I had never seen it before, it was almost as rare as her genuine, loving smile that was only ever shown to me. I removed a couple strands of straight black hair away from her left eye that had fallen during our dance. She stared at my lips and the moment seemed to go on forever. Once again, she thrust forward and attached her lips to mine. Only this time she pecked my lips twice before leaning her head onto my shoulder.

I couldn't stop the grin that fighting it's way onto my face. For once everything just seemed to unbelievably, unexplainably perfect. Which was why I was still having a hard time believing that this was really happening. But of course, I still wasn't complaining.

I will stand up for you.
When you hold me like you do.
I'm right here next to you,
But I don't want to stay if you carelessly play with my heart.

Love is a potion mixed up by careless fools,
And it takes two, and it takes two.
Love isn't certain, it comes right out the blue,
And when she casts her spell, there's nothing you can do.

The song ended as did our dance.

Buttercup carefully tore away from me, slipping her hands away from my shirt to rest at her sides. I looked down at her and caught her smiling back up at me. God, that smile. There's something so beautiful about it. Maybe it's because she's always either scowling or smirking, and it's rare to see her genuinely smile, or maybe it's because when she does smile, she looks so free. You know, like she doesn't have a care in the world. It might sound mushy and romantic but I totally love that smile.

"Let's go get me a drink." Buttercup said as she grabbed a hold of my arm.

Before I could protest, I was being pulled towards the kitchen. I fumbled and almost tripped over my own two feet but luckily, I made it into the kitchen perfectly safe. Once we were inside my eyes fell onto the spot near the fridge. There stood Tyler and Mitch. I still wasn't used to seeing Mitch Mitchelson at one of our parties. But I suppose it's good that he was considering this would be the last legendary party that our group would attend. He came back just in time.

Tyler was busy making one of the weird drinks he had invented at the beginning of the party. Although it tasted funky, I've got to admit it was good once you had gotten over the first sip. Mitch's face lit up in a smile once he noticed Buttercup and I walk in. He took a step towards us and looked at Buttercup, his eyes filling up with amusement.

"You are so drunk, lovely." He commented.

"Oh yeah?" Buttercup said. "Well you're not drunk enough."

I couldn't help but smile at her slightly slurred words. She seemed almost fine when we were dancing just before. I guess it was hard to notice just how drunk she was when we were dancing in the dark living room. She reached forward and grabbed a bottle of Citadelle and poured herself a plastic cup, filled to the brim.

"So. Mitch," I began. "What do you think? Are our parties just as amazing as Buttercup said?"

He chuckled. "Even better. I went to tons of parties when I lived in Spain but they were always so dull. You can't just buy a box of beer and call it a party, you know?"

"Exactly." I agreed.

Sometimes I envied Mitch for living in Spain after he left Townsville. It's just one place on a list of places that I've always wanted to go. It's like I have this desire to escape and travel the world. I doubt I'll ever actually do it, but it's still nice to dream. Buttercup is the same. She has told me before that she strives for adventure. Maybe once graduation is over and done with, we'll follow through that dream and travel the world, going places that we've always dreamed about visiting. That is, if she doesn't find anything else she wants to do. There's still a couple of weeks until graduation. Who knows what could change in that short amount of time.

"Buttercup, you might want to slow down." Tyler spoke up from behind Mitch.

I turned to look at Buttercup and found that she had already finished the cup of Citadelle and was now moving on to another. She didn't even hesitate before downing that one aswell. Her actions had been confusing me all night. I mean, I didn't mind that she was being overly affectionate towards me, but the excessive drinking was another thing.

"Who are you? My father?" She asked with a raised brow.

"Come on, Crazy Girl," I said while prying the bottle out of her hands. "I don't want to have to carry you home tonight."

She smiled. "Then I'll stay here."

"Fine, but you still can't have anymore."

Buttercup pouted at me and I swear it took all of my will-power not to give into her charms. But I pulled through and handed the bottle to Mitch. As much as she amused me when she was drunk, I didn't want her to be feeling extremely unwell all night and tomorrow morning. I've seen her like that before, once during the time when Boomer and Bubbles were in hospital after the accident, and I never wanted to see it again.

"You're so mean." She muttered.

I took a firm hold of her arm and began to walk out of the kitchen, leaving Mitch and Tyler to continue chatting amongst themselves. Buttercup protested slightly by yanking her arm out of my hand but she still followed me back into the living room. I decided to watch her every minute I could to make sure that she didn't have another drink, but even so, I knew that she had already had enough to do something stupid tonight. And I was sure that she was going to say or do something that she might regret in the morning.

Even as I strolled back into the living room, Buttercup in tow, and I looked around to notice everyone was having fun, I still couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go wrong. Whether it be the music system, the shortage of drinks or a noise complaint. Something, I believed, was going to mess up bad. The only question was; When?


Normal POV

As she changed the song on her music system, Buttercup's eyes wandered over to the coffee table. She had seen a couple of people writing messages to others and placing them into the individual boxes during the past hour. A small part of her continued to wonder if someone had written her a message yet. When she had thought up the idea, she hadn't considered how upsetting it might be for her to read someone's goodbye to her. Even if they weren't saying it to her face she still knew that it would hurt.

Once she had found a song that she liked Buttercup rose up from her crouched position in front of the speakers. Although as soon as she did, a wave of dizziness hit her. She clutched her head for a moment, blinking the stars in her eyes away. Buttercup found that once she composed herself her eyes traveled back over to the table beside her. She shrugged, realising that it couldn't hurt to take a glance.

"Hmm." She muttered to herself, noticing that she had one card sitting in her box.

Buttercup reached forwards, diving her hand into the box with her name sitting above it. As she pulled her arm back and caught a quick glance of the rectangular card, she noticed that whatever the message was, it was small. She held it in front of her and focused her eyes, trying to see past her blurred vision. Soon enough, the letters became clearer to her, and she instantly knew who it was from just by the handwriting.

I love you..

Her brows furrowed at Butch's message for her. "This is supposed to be a message saying goodbye." She mumbled.

She stared at it for a few seconds as her mind registered why Butch had written this. Her eyes cast a glance towards him, all the way across the room. He was standing beside the kitchen and in the middle of a conversation with Brick and Blossom. However his eyes met hers as soon as she spotted him there, almost like he could instantly feel that she was watching him. Butch's gaze fell onto the card in her left hand. A smile lit up his face as he looked back up at his girlfriend.

Buttercup's face only grew more confused. Staring at the words, she once more tried to figure out why he had written them. It didn't take her that long to find out. Even in her drunken mind, she could still see past her confusion. And when she did figure out what the words meant, she couldn't fight the grin on her face.

He wasn't going to say goodbye. He was never planning to.

Her eyes met Butch's again, and she nodded. She didn't do anything else. She just nodded and watched him until he resumed his conversation with Brick and Blossom. Placing the card into the pocket of her shorts, Buttercup crossed her arms and chewed on her lower lip. All she wanted to do was find something to drink, something to help keep her emotions in check all night. Unfortunately, Butch had forbidden her from doing so.

She almost laughed. Butch had forbidden her from doing something and she was actually going along with it. Buttercup wasn't sure what was going on with her tonight. It was like someone had replaced her with a much more pleasant, less violent, docile person. However the excessive drinking, she wasn't sure how to explain that. She just had this sudden urge to drink everything in sight until she could no longer remember her own name or the fact that this was the last party she would share with the people she had grew so fond of. But maybe that was the reason. Maybe she just wanted to forget.

Buttercup, realising how much she needed some decent conversation, scanned the room for someone to talk to. She wanted desperately to walk over to Mitch and engage him in some playful banter but she couldn't see him. It would have been impossible to pry him away from his new best buddy anyway, she noted. Her feet began to pace towards the door leading into the hall. She walked through the door, hoping to at least have a moment away from the eye-blinding neon lights that were giving her a migraine.

As she began to make her way up the well-lit stairs, she passed Maxine, giving her a brief smile before gliding past. Buttercup would have prefered talking to her over anyone else, however she noticed that Maxine had been acting distressed all night. She didn't want to be having any heart-to-hearts, not tonight.

The first room she had come across was Boomer's. Once she poked her head inside and noticed that it was empty, she moved on to Brick's room. Empty. Buttercup sighed to herself, wondering where everyone was. Finally she checked Butch's bed room, and there she found Brody, pressing buttons on his phone. Hearing her footsteps, Brody glanced up at her, and a friendly smile crossed his lips.

"Hello," He stuffed his phone back into the pocket of his jeans. "What are you doing up here?"

"Could ask the same of you."

"Oh, my sister called me and I couldn't hear her past the music so I came up here."

Buttercup was about to reply when another wave of dizziness possessed her. She pressed two fingers to the temples on either side of her head and clutched them while closing her eyes. Brody, noticing her discomfort, stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright, Buttercup?"

She let out a groan. "Not really. I think I might have drank too much."

Brody raised his eyebrow. "You think? Buttercup, you drank more than Butch and Tyler put together," He chuckled. "Here, sit on Butch's bed for a minute. You probably just need to get off your feet."

"Okay-dokey."

Trying not to laugh at her as she stumbled, Brody placed Buttercup onto the bed. Once he was sure that she wasn't going to fall off or throw up somewhere, he leaned against Butch's set of drawers filled with his clothes. He crossed his arms over his chest and just stood there, listening to the sound of Buttercup groaning. He would have much rather been downstairs spending some time with his pregnant girlfriend, however he also wanted to make sure that his best friend's girlfriend was alright. He knew that Butch would do the same for him.

"Hey," Buttercup barely whispered while looking up at her brunette friend. "Can I tell you a secret?" She slurred.

Brody raised his eyebrow, smiling at her. "Sure. Why not."

Her humorous face turned serious. However in the state that she was in, it was hard for anyone to take her seriously. She could barely talk without slurring her words and every single step she took was almost forced. Buttercup cleared her throat melodramatically, watching as Brody stared at her with nothing short of amusement in his eyes.

"I have a feeling that I might do something stupid tonight." She muttered, her light green eyes batting in seriousness.

"Stupid, huh?" Brody spoke with no surprise evident in his voice. In the state that Buttercup was in, he wouldn't be shocked in the slightest if she did something silly. It was expected. "Well I'll promise you this. If I see you about to do something stupid, I'll swoop in and stop you before you can."

Buttercup's face lit up. She jumped up to a sitting position, a grin etched across her face. "Really? You know, you're awesome," She drawled, barely able to string a regular conversation together. "You are one of the nicest people I have met, like, ever."

"Is that so?" Brody chuckled. "Well it's no problem. It's sort of my obligation to help you out. Best friend's girlfriend and all."

"I mean it! You don't deserve some of the crap that you put up with. I mean, that thing with Maxine..I still can't believe she would lie to you like that. That was just mean."

"What thing with Maxine?" Brody asked her slowly. His thin eyebrows knit together in confusion as he watched Buttercup tense up like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. For a second he thought that Buttercup was just drunken rambling. He wouldn't have been surprised, people do say strange things when under the influence of alcohol. But yet there was something about her tone that stuck out.

She sounded guilty.

"Forget I said anything." Buttercup muttered while closing her sensitive eyes, shielding them from the light.

The brunette pulled himself forward from his leaning position. He took a step towards the bed, his confused countenance had dropped and been replaced with sheer curiosity. Slowly, he called out Buttercup's name. When she didn't immediately respond he put his hand on her shoulder, giving her a slight nudge. Buttercup's eyes rolled open, a blank, almost vacant expression cowering inside of the fathomless pools of green.

Buttercup swallowed the large lump in her throat. Although in the state she was in, she knew that she had said something wrong. It wasn't just the alcohol that powered her actions, her guilt was forcing the truth out of her. And she was too weak to stop herself from going on. She wanted to rise to her feet and rush off before she could say anything more but she couldn't move herself. Buttercup knew that the second she added pressure to her legs that she would fall flat on her face.

His eyes pleading, Brody said, "Buttercup. As your friend I need you to promise me that Maxine is not hiding anything from me."

"I promi-" Buttercup paused abruptly. She pried her lips, trying to finish but the pang of guilt in her stomach was protesting. It was almost like on this night, it was impossible for her to tell a lie. She could hardly think straight. Her thoughts were ever changing and paced, she couldn't keep up with them. She wasn't even in control of what she was saying anymore. Buttercup stared into Brody's big, friendly blue eyes. She could barely see him past her blurred vision, but she saw his eyes. And for once, Buttercup wouldn't stand the mere though of lying to someone's face.

She looked down at the jade green carpet beneath her feet, desperate to look anywhere but Brody's eyes. Her head was still spinning and she could hear the music pounding from downstairs but she was no longer in the mood to party. Buttercup raised her head back up, holding it high, and before she could stop herself, the words slipped out.

"She..she kissed Mitch." Buttercup whispered so quietly that she could barely hear herself. But she knew that Brody had heard. His wide eyes confirmed it.

Brody's lips pried apart but he found that no words would come out. His eyes bounced around the room in confusion. In the past couple of weeks, he had watched Maxine become friends with Mitch. He noticed that they usually talked to each other in hushed tones, and that Maxine seemed to be uncomfortable whenever left alone with him. But never did Brody think that something had ever happened between them. Maxine knew better than to go for someone like Mitch Mitchelson. At least, that was what Brody had though.

His eyes fell onto Buttercup's, noticing that she was fiddling with her fingers like a guilty accomplice. She was breathing hard, as though a weight had been lift off of her chest, and Brody began to wonder just how long his friend had known about this. Clearing his throat, Brody finally found his voice.

"W-What?" He asked, his voice sounding particularly loud in the silence.

"It wasn't recently," Buttercup spoke up urgently. "Maxine would never cheat on you. It was so long ago, just after you broke up with her. She regrets it so much, and she knew that she never should have done it."

Brody's face hardened. "How long after?"

"What?"

"How long after we broke up did she kiss Mitch?"

Prying her lips closed, Buttercup stared up at the brunette with an unreadible expression. Although she could tell that there was no getting out of this, she was still calculating a way out. She thought about flopping back onto the bed and giving Brody the impression that she had passed out. Then she thought that maybe she could just burst out laughing and say, "I got you! You should have seen the look on your face!" But as she pondered over all of the scenarios, she couldn't seem to go through with any of them. Her guilty conscience was eating away at her, and the alcohol she had consumed wasn't helping.

"A couple of.."

"Weeks?"

Buttercup blinked. "Hours. It was a couple of hours after."

She watched as Brody let out a breath he had been holding. The brunette parked himself beside Buttercup on the bed, feeling the sudden urge to sit down. He could feel Buttercup's eyes burning holes into the side of his head but he refused to meet her gaze. His eyes were blinking rapidly, and his mind was going into over-drive.

"Brody," Buttercup whispered. "Are you alright?" She knew it was a stupid question to ask, but a little part of her hoped that this was it. That Brody sitting there in shock was the worst it would go, that he wouldn't get upset or angry. And she held that hope up until he finally met her gaze, and the hope was shattered. He looked devastated.

He was looking at her, but Buttercup got the feeling that he wasn't really seeing her.

"Maxine and..Mitch." He muttered to himself, unable to believe.

"Look, we only didn't tell you because she didn't want to bring up something that doesn't mean anything. It's not like she has feelings for Mitch, it was just one drunken kiss."

Brody shook his head frantically, anger seeping out from his eyes. "You don't get it, Buttercup. We promised that we wouldn't keep secrets from each other. I'm obviously not thrilled that she managed to move on the space of a couple of hours but if she had just told me, we could have worked it all out. But she's been keeping this secret for months! How am I supposed to..I need to think about this."

Just as he shot up from his seat, Buttercup did the same. She curled her fingers around Brody's wrist and held him still with an iron tight grip. Brody turned his head back and looked at Buttercup before shaking his head at her. He attempted to pull his arm out of her reach but that only made her grip harder.

"You can't storm off like that. We need to talk about this!" She basically barked, the real Buttercup Utonium that had been suspiciously absent all night finally coming to surface.

"I don't want to talk. I just want to..not be in this house."

Admitting defeat, Buttercup let go of Brody's wrist and watched as he walked out of the door. Buttercup held her hand to the side of her face as another wave of dizziness struck her like lightning. She groaned once more and closed her eyes, trying to fight of the headache that she knew was coming.

"Shit."


Mitch's eyes hardened onto the plastic cup in front of him. He watched closely as it slightly crumpled and cracked in his hand once adding pressure, and raised his eyebrow like it was the most amusing thing he had ever seen. Whatever it was that he had just drank, he could feel it, all throughout his body. His head was spinning beautifully and everything just seemed brighter in his eyes. The music sounded more pulsing, more deafening. With every blink of his hazel orbs came pictures of stars floating around him. Mitch smiled that customary half-smile that made most females knee's go weak as he focused all of his attention towards the cup he was holding.

He raised the cup to his lips, devouring the last tiny puddle of whatever was inside. As he slammed the container back onto the kitchen table, his mind began to flash to something else. Someone else. He closed his eyes as images of Hailey danced around his vision. Mitch cursed himself silently while attempting to blink her out of his head. He had done so well not thinking about her and now he couldn't seem to stop.

There was this moment, a week before, when he actually thought something could happen with them. At least something real as opposed to what they had been doing before. They were on one of their no-strings-attached dates. The sun was shining as they walked through the beach, sand crumpling beneath their shoes. Hailey had looked up at him, and he realised just how short she was. He had never noticed before considering she always wore heels rather than the sandals she had been wearing on that day. She told Mitch more about herself, like the fact that she loved to read Rachel Hawkins novels by her fireplace and that her favourite movie was Marley because she loved dogs. And usually that wouldn't have seemed appealing to Mitch, but when it came to Hailey, he found it interesting. He even picked up a Rachel Hawkins book at the local library the next day just so that they would have more to talk about on their next date.

And now she hated him. And there would be no next date.

"Mitch, do you want another one?"

The brunette snapped out of his Hailey-enduced daydream. His eyes finally tore away from the empty plastic cup sat on the table before him, glancing to his right side. Mitch hadn't heard much of what Tyler had said thanks to the spinning in his head and the loud music in his ears, but he understood once he saw Tyler hold up a bottle of Gin, watching him as he waited for an answer. He contemplated it for a second, wondering if another drink would rid his bad thoughts.

In the end, he simply shook his head, deciding that any more would just be a waste as nothing could ease his mind.

"No thanks, man," Mitch said. "I think I've had enough of your weird invention for one night."

"Hey, it's not weird, alright? It's brilliant." Tyler defended as he fixed himself a drink all the while shooting Mitch a narrow-eyed glare.

Mitch cracked a smile. "You're right. It's actually good. So, do you guys throw these parties often?"

After pouring himself a drink of Whiskey and cranberry, Tyler strode towards the table that Mitch was sat at. His fingers curled around the back of the hard-wood, oak brown chair opposite to Mitch. He sat down, taking a short sip of his drink and forcing it down despite the feeling of fire rushing down his throat.

"Well we have had quite a few parties but none like this. Usually it's Maxine who plans them. I guess this one is less of a casual party and more of a source of clarity," Tyler explained. "I get why Buttercup wanted to do this though. I was dreading graduation for only one reason, the goodbyes. Other than this our gatherings were just for fun."

"Fun," Mitch repeated as he continued to crush his cup for entertainment. "All of you are pretty close, huh?"

Tyler nodded. "We sure are," He took another gulp of his drink, this time enjoying the burning sensation, and thought of his friends. When he was fifteen going on sixteen, he never imagined feeling anymore close to his friends than he already did. He didn't think he could ever get along with Maxine. He didn't want anyone else to join the group and he never wanted a girlfriend. Tyler wasn't sure how three sisters moving back to Townsville could change all of that. "We're like one big, dysfunctional family. Sure, we've all fallen out once or twice and there's been too much secretively and drama to count, but in the end, we all have each other's backs."

"That's nice," Mitch said. "I've never really had any friends that I could consider family."

"Well now, you do."

The brunette looked up from his semi-crushed cup. His lips curved into a grateful smile. Reaching forwards, he picked up a rather heavy bottle of Champagne. Mitch had brought it over earlier. He had stolen it from his late father's liquor cabinet, where all of his best bottles of Champagne and wine stood. However it could not be considered stolen considering David Mitchelson wasn't exactly around to drink it himself. Having never been opened, it weighed around three and a half pounds. From what he could remember Mitch knew that the bottle was very old, perhaps twenty five years or so, which only meant that the taste would be richer.

"On second though," Mitch began. He snatched up two plastic cups and placed one in front of himself and the other in front of Tyler. "I will have a drink. What do you say? Should we toast to goodbye's and all of that noise?"

"Great idea. But instead of goodbye's, how about we toast to new beginnings? And new friendships?"

Mitch looked over at Tyler, his lips stretching into a small grin. "Let's do it."

Grasping the bottle by it's neck, he began to tear the golden foil wrapped around the cork, discarding it beside it the bottle. He carefully twisted the metal loop to loosen the metal cage around the cork. Then, eagerly, he supported the neck, twisting the bottle around in his hand, watching as the cork began to turn. As soon as it popped off, both Mitch and Tyler jerked their heads back at the sudden large noise, but luckily the cork flew off in the opposite direction of Mitch's face, hitting the wall and falling to the floor.

Mitch tipped the steaming bottle towards Tyler pouring him a cup full before pouring himself one. Considering his family wasn't exactly the picture of wealth and his father never allowed him to go near his liquor cabinet when he was alive, Mitch was excited to finally try Champagne. He never had before and he was sure that Tyler hadn't, judging by the way he was giving his cup a cursory glance.

"Alright," Tyler said as he picked up his cup, raising it in front of him. "To new beginnings!"

Lifting his cup also, Mitch said, "To new friendships!"

With that said they clinked their plastic cups together. Mitch took a sip first, noticing that the liquid tasted sweet at first, and very dry. The second sip tasted a little sourish causing him to scrunch his nose in protest. He looked over at Tyler, watching as he did the same, but still continued to drink the rest of his in one quick gulp. Mitch did the same before slamming his cup back onto the table all the while coughing at the bitter aftertaste.

"Oh god. That was horrible." Mitch commented while staring at the bottle of Champagne, wondering how his father managed to drink so much of it.

"It's wasn't so bad. It has a kind of..yeah, you're right."

Mitch picked up the Champagne bottle, pointing it towards Tyler. "Do you want another?"

"Sure. Why not. I doubt I'll care how it tastes in like twenty seconds anyway."

Tyler and Mitch laughed along with each other. Mitch began to pour more bubbling, slightly golden-esque liquid into Tyler's cup and then his own. They clinked their cups together once more before bringing them to their lips and taking hesitating gulps. Before Mitch could make another comment about how ghastly the alcohol tasted, he felt a soft, buzzing vibration in his trouser pocket. He hastily dug his free hand into the pocket and pulled his phone out. It took a couple of seconds to make out the name flashing across the screen considering his vision was blurring, but when he did, his face froze.

Hailey Cloud calling..

For a moment, he just stared at the screen, oblivious to the fact that Tyler was watching him with a raised brow. He slammed his thumb onto the reject button before he could change his mind. Mitch wasn't ready to face Hailey yet, not after what she saw earlier that day. He put his phone onto the table in front of him, glaring at it with narrowed eyes. Tyler followed his gaze and stared down at the phone. He cast a glance at Mitch and noticed the stressed-out expression written all over his face.

"Hey, that's the fourth time that someone has called you in the last half hour," The British boy pointed out. "Who on earth keeps calling you, mate?"

"It's nothing," Mitch dismissed immediately. "Just forget about it, alright."

Tyler's sight remained on the phone. His eyebrow raised again as he pondered over Mitch's strange behaviour. Of course he wasn't sure what would be considered strange behaviour with Mitch having only been friends with him for four days, but he knew that something had to be up. He looked up at Mitch once more and noticed the vacant, panicked expressions running through his distant hazel eyes.

"Whatever you say, man." Tyler mumbled, watching as Mitch watched his phone.


Wrapping Butch's leather jacket tight around her, Buttercup stepped outside of the house. Light drops of rain began to fall carelessly around her but she didn't mind. She just needed to get out of the house for a couple of minutes. Buttercup's laced up, combat boots trudged on the wet concrete as she took a couple of steps into the darkness. All that she could make out in the dark was Butch's dark green Skoda Rapid parked in front of the lawn and some lights still shining through the windows of the homes sat on the opposite road. She hugged the unforgiving leather around her, resting her chin at the very top of her chest and staring down at the ground.

She had spent the last hour in the company of her friends, just having some mindless fun and making sure that she didn't drink anything more. While her head was still dreamily spinning and she found herself giddy at random times, the worst had passed, and she was sure that she wouldn't be spilling anymore secrets tonight. Of course she was still in a state of guilt from the last secret she had shared. Buttercup wished that Maxine would never find out that she had been the one to inform Brody of her secret however she was aware that in this group the truth always came out eventually. She just hoped that when Maxine did find out that she would forgive her.

Buttercup was about to head back inside the house when she heard movement behind her. Whirling around, she found herself standing in front of a very sober looking Butch. He had his reasons for not drinking though, the main one being the fact that he only had one kidney, and couldn't handle much alcohol. The other reason had been that he was determined to look after Buttercup, and he couldn't do that if he was throwing up or stumbling about the house.

Buttercup could see Butch clearly thanks to the light coming from the open door behind him. She didn't say anything, she just smiled at him. Butch smiled back easily and just like Buttercup he didn't seem to mind the mildly light rain sliding down his face and green shirt.

"What are you doing out here, Crazy girl?"

"Oh, you know," Buttercup shrugged her shoulders playfully. "Just trying to get away from you is all."

A small smirk crossed Butch's lips. "Ouch, that one hurt. What happened to the sweet, non sarcastic Buttercup that I was dancing with a couple of hours ago?"

"I told you not to get used to it."

Buttercup shot a smirk Butch's way before turning herself back around to face the street. Her eyes scanned the surroundings, taking peace in the chilled weather and the quiet sounds of people walking on the pavements. She could hear Butch's footsteps closing in on her. Buttercup cocked her head to the side and found Butch now stood beside her, staring straight ahead.

"We did it," Butch said. "We managed to throw a party for ten people and nothing went wrong. Absolutely nothing."

Smiling, Buttercup replied, "I'm proud of us."

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

Buttercup tore her eyes away from the passing cars and faced Butch. She tugged at the ends of her leather jacket, attempting to shield herself from the rain. However it was fruitless, she could already feel the small droplets of rain sliding down her hands.

"Why have you been drinking so much tonight?"

"It's a party." Buttercup answered softly.

Butch sighed. "You never drink this much. Is everything alright? I mean, I get that goodbyes are hard and all but-"

"Just drop it, Butch. I'm fine."

Buttercup crossed her arms over her chest. She looked into Butch's eyes, noticing that he didn't look that pleased with her answer. She could tell that Butch just wanted to help her, and she appreciated that, but she also didn't want to let him know what was going on inside of her head. She didn't want Butch to know that she was terrified of saying goodbye to everyone. And of all people she had to let go, he was the one that she was dreading most. Buttercup had became attached to the intimacy. She had finally found someone that she could be emotional around and that she could fall in love with over and over again, and while she didn't want to admit it, letting go of Butch would destroy her.

Reaching forward, Butch took both of Buttercup's cold, wet hands in his own. She instantly looked down at them, craving the subtle warmth that he exuded. She raised her head and glanced into Butch's dark green eyes. He looked full of concern for her which she didn't get to see often. Butch was always so sheltered, always trying to hide his deepest emotions and failing.

"You can talk to me, you know?"

Buttercup chewed on her bottom lip as her gaze fell back onto her hands. She hated when Butch did this. He always tried to break through her ultra tough exterior and let the insecure girl inside out to play. Buttercup hated that there was a part of her that was weak and emotional and scared, but it was getting harder to hide it. It was almost impossible when she was around Butch. He brought everything out of her, all of her various sides and emotions, and he did it without even trying.

She pulled her hands away from Butch's and turned to face the street again, fully aware that Butch was still staring at the side of her face and waiting for her response. A breathy sigh escaped her lips, followed by a cloud of white smokey condensation. When she finally did respond, she cringed at how broken her voice sounded.

"I've been drinking so much because..I don't want this to be the last party."

Butch's face contorted in confusion. "What? This whole thing was your idea."

"I thought that I could handle it. I really did. But when I was looking around and it hit me that we're never going to do this again, something inside of me just snapped. And I realised that I've taken so much for granted. I never actually worried about things changing because I didn't think that they ever would.

Buttercup turned her head to look at Butch, and she noticed his expression was no longer confused. He was hanging on her every word. A small frown graced Buttercup's lips as she fought of the urge to run away before she could, god forbid, start tearing up. She didn't feel like she wanted to cry, but every time she looked at Butch, she couldn't stop the overwhelming emotions. She had taken him for granted.

"I can promise you that things aren't going to change that much." Butch said, and for a second he sounded convincing, but his face gave it all away.

"Of course they are," Buttercup said in a sulky manner. "Bubbles is moving to New York. I won't see her for so long. And it's not just her, they're all going to leave," She pointed to the open door, breathing heavily. "Graduation is going to tear us all apart, one by one, until there's no one left in this town. I don't want that to happen. I don't want tonight to be the last night where all of us are just normal teenagers. I don't want to grow up, Butch. I want this," She waved her arms around. "I want this forever."

"Buttercup, I know. Believe me I know. Having you back in Townsville has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. It's been the best time of my life. But we can't go to Townsville High forever." Butch said halfheartedly. His left eye was twitching uncontrollably and his lips were fighting between showing a smile or a frown.

Buttercup tore her gaze from Butch. She let out a short sigh as she looked down at the ground beneath her.

"I would do it all again, you know? The good and the bad. The drama, the lies, the pain. I would do it all over again if it meant that things didn't have to change."

Stepping forward, Butch raised his hand and tucked a strand of ink black hair behind Buttercup's ear. His hand remained there as he stared at her. His heart broke listening to her speak. Butch wished that she could go back to being the excited, joyful girl that he had danced with earlier. Just seeing her so upset made his blood boil.

"No matter what happens after graduation, you won't be alone. I don't care if I get offered a job as the freaking Mayor of London. I'd turn it down just so that I could be with you," He smiled as a short laugh escaped from Buttercup's lips. "I'll live out the rest of my years in this shitty town so long as you're here with me."

As her frown curved into a smile, Buttercup wasted no time in pressing her lips onto Butch's. It only lasted a brief second but the action alone was enough to reassure Butch that she was feeling better. Buttercup took a single step forward, shredding all distance they once had.

"So even if you got you're dream job, you would turn it down? For me?" She whispered the last two words, her smile stretching further.

"I would do absolutely anything for you," Butch replied. "I mean, I think I've proved that by now. I only have one kidney and I made myself look like a mediocre boxer in front of Mr Kelly at the Training centre."

Buttercup grinned as she remembered her days at the Training centre. When she was first told of the opportunity, she wanted nothing more than to turn it down. And she was so glad that she didn't. If it hadn't been for that weekend, she and Butch never would have become friends, which meant that there was a chance - a very small chance - that they never would have gotten together. She remembered how grateful she was when Butch sabotaged the match so that she would win.

"Okay. So you'd do anything for me. That's good to know."

Butch smirked. "Unfortunately. You're stuck with me, Utonium."

"Hmm. I like the sound of that."

Sliding her hands onto his shoulders, Buttercup sighed in content. She looked at Butch, watching as rain continued to slide down his well structured face. The rain always did soothe her. It made her think of Butch. Not only because he always seemed to smell like leather and rain for some reason, but because he told her that he loved her in the rain. Buttercup used to hate the rain, more than anything, but now she adored it. So many memories struck.

"What is it that you like about me?" Buttercup suddenly asked Butch. He raised a brow, wondering what prompted that particular question. "I'm just curious to know. Plus, I love compliments."

"Hmm. Well, I like you're sense of humour. And that you're fluent in sarcasm," Butch smirked. "I like that you have all of these different sides to you. Most of all though, I like the feeling that I get when I'm with you."

"The feeling?" Buttercup repeated as she placed her hands on his chest, sitting comfortably on his shirt. She tilted her head at him, green eyes batting in curiosity.

"Yeah. It's like this..adrenaline rush. I feel like I could do absolutely anything. I don't know how to explain it. When I'm around you, I just feel stronger."

"Wow," Buttercup spoke. "Gee, who replaced my cocky, arrogant boyfriend with this mushy, romantic guy?"

"Like I said. You've got all of these different sides to you. So do I."

She rolled her eyes but smiled. Her hands slid back around his neck, her boots giving her just enough height to hold her there. "Thank you for making me feel better," She smiled crookedly. "I love you, Butchy boy."

"I love you too. And I'm not going anywhere."

"Good."

Buttercup grinned.


Boomer Jojo's POV

I pushed through the crowed living room and made my way for the hall. Everyone -and I mean, everyone- was in the living room, dancing, chatting, drinking. I couldn't take the commotion anymore. Especially after my chat with Maxine. I wasn't feeling the party mood anymore. Every single time I so much as looked in her way, Maxine would sent me that look. You know, the sympathetic look that people give you when they know that something is wrong. I hate that look. I don't need Maxine's pity. I'm not really sure what I need, but according to her, I need to tell my brothers and Bubbles about my ulcer soon.

Charging up the stairs, I headed for my bedroom. I know that Butch would moan at me for hours if he realised that I had snuck away from an insanely good party just so that I could lie down on my crisp, silk blue sheets and attempt to drown out the head-splitting music from downstairs, but as of then, I just couldn't give a damn. I used to love parties. Bubbles would pick out my outfit and then we would dance all night and share glasses of Citadelle and we would mingle with our siblings and friends. But none of that seemed fun to me anymore. You want to know what seems fun to me now? Wrapping up in a blanket, sitting in my bed with a cup of hot chocolate and watching an easy, quiet television show. Yes, being sick officially had turned me into an old man.

From the second that I closed my bedroom door a sigh escaped from my lips. I could still hear the music coming from the living room but it was much quieter and less migraine-esque. My feet shuffled painfully across the floor as I headed towards my comfortable bed. When I was half-way there, I felt like I was about to faint. My sight was turning black and I could see spots growing larger, blocking out the view of my bed. It must have been heat exhaustion, I though. Rather than softly lowering myself onto my bed and lying down like I had planned, I flopped right onto it. Face first.

I groaned into my silk covers before rolling myself onto my back. From the second that my head landed onto the sheets of my bed, my eyes closed and I was so relieved I could have fallen asleep. I wanted to sleep, to be honest, but that wasn't going to happen. Just when I began to feel my breathing slow down, there was a knock at my door.

My eyes snapped back open and I could practically feel the vein on my forehead about to pop.

"Come in." I muttered whilst dragging myself into a sitting position.

The door opened slightly, revealing a mop of curled blonde hair and a blue sundress. I was practically gaping at her in surprise. I just figured that it would be Butch coming to drag me back down to the party, however Bubbles had turned up instead. She was smiling at me. And she looked so beautiful. Damn.

"What are you doing up here?"

Bubbles took another step inside, closing the door behind her. "I was going to ask you the same. I saw you sneak out a minute ago. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," I spoke only to realise that my voice croaked the word out. I cleared my throat before continuing more clearly. "Yes, I'm fine."

"It's just, you look a little pale." Bubbles replied. I could swear there was a subtle hint of concern in her voice, however she was attempting to mask it in her usual casual tone.

I swallowed, trying to think of a plausible excuse as to why I looked the way I did. Of course it was only a matter of time before she noticed that I wasn't well. Maxine had so graciously pointed out that I looked, and I quote, "Like I had been run over by a truck and taken a ride down the Mississippi River." She could have just said that I looked rough, but no, she had to be graphic about it. I hoped that Bubbles hadn't taken notice of my shaking hands, my sweating forehead or my over-all queasy demeanor. However judging by the way she was staring at me with that look in her eyes, she already had.

"I think I just had a little too much to drink tonight. I'll be alright if I just lie down for a couple of minutes," I said as I pushed myself up, pressing my back against the headboard. I glanced over at Bubbles and noticed her still standing there, her lips held tight together like she wanted to say something. "Don't stay on my account. Go, have fun, I'll be okay."

Bubbles took another step forward. She was so close that I could actually smell her perfume and see the ring sitting on her middle finger. Her ring, that ring. I narrowed my eyes as I not-so-subtly stared at it. It was the very same blue crystal, two carat ring that I had bought her for our five month anniversary. And she was still wearing it, even though we had broken up. She must have noticed my gawking because she covered her ring-hand with her other hand, two fingers sliding over my view of the ring.

"I wanted to talk to you. We barely got to chat before Max pulled you away earlier."

"Oh," I said lamely. "Well, by all means, talk."

Bubbles' heels clicked along my floor as she took another two steps. She lowered herself onto my bed, sitting uncomfortably on the edge. I watched her curiously, and cautiously. What on earth would Bubbles want to talk about? Our little chat earlier had been the most awkward moment of my life and yet she wanted to do it again? I sat up straighter, eyeing her warily. When she finally looked up at me, all the while twiddling her thumbs, she sighed.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Was it you that left me that goodbye message? The one about wishing we could make things work? I mean, it could have only been either you or Tyler."

I was taken aback by her question. That wasn't what I had been expecting. To be honest, I was expecting her to ask if we could really be friends, or maybe she would ask about the reason we broke up again, the reason she still didn't know. I raised my eyebrow and no matter how surprised I was, I replied.

"Who do you want it to be from?"

Bubbles blinked.

I could practically see her heart pounding by the way her chest was heavily rising and falling. For a second I watched silently as she played nervously with her hands, something that I still found adorable. Her eyes met mine and I realised that she had never looked more beautiful. Her hair was down to her shoulders and had been left straight at the top, while the bottom had been curled all the way down. Her eyes, covered by long, black lashes, were sparkling, the lids covered in blue and white eye-shadow. And her dress. While I agreed that the other girls did look amazing, Bubbles had managed to bring them all to shame in just a freaking sundress. It was held up by thin spaghetti straps, showing off her smooth shoulders. The dress sucked in around her waist and as it went down, it highlighted just how short she was. However the strappy white heels she wore raised her to the same size as Buttercup.

It was so hard to be this close to her. Especially when she looked this beautiful, and only one word could spring to mind, "Angel." But I couldn't call her that anymore. It would just be weird. Just like she couldn't call me, "Boyfriend." And I think that hurt even more. I loved when she called me her boyfriend. It made me feel special, in a way. I always came third best to my brothers. Not even second best, third. Girls loved Brick for his brain, his wit and his romantic side. Girls liked Butch because..well, I never understood that. I'll have to ask Buttercup what it is that makes my brother so special one day. So compared to them, I was just the guy that people just wanted to be friends with. Sure, some girls liked me, but more girls liked my brothers. And when Bubbles chose me over Tyler -the only boy in the entire school to get more female attention than both of my brothers- I felt like for once someone saw the real me, and they liked that person. Now she just called me 'Boomer,' and I missed being more than that to her.

She hesitated for a moment before finally giving in and responding. "Well, on some level I know that if it was Tyler, that would make things easier. I could just talk to him and explain that we really can't work. But if it was you.."

"It was," I admitted. For just a second she almost looked happy. Her lips curved into a tiny, insignificant smile and her shiny blue eyes seemed to shine brighter. But then the look was gone. "You were completely right. We weren't the perfect couple. And I still can't forgive myself for lying to you about so much. But I do still wish that things could have ended differently."

Bubbles nodded, slightly itching herself closer to me, I noticed. Either that or she was uncomfortable sitting on the edge of the bed. "I do too. Look, I understand that there are some things that you can't tell me. I just don't know how we could make us work if we're keeping secrets from each other," She sighed. "But if I'm being honest, I can't say that I wasn't relieved when I read that card and I believed that it was from you."

Everything went silent again. I cursed myself for putting Bubbles through this. If I just told her about my health then maybe she would understand why I kept it a secret and we could get back together. But that would be selfish of me. She would be so upset. And she would make me tell my brothers. It was all just too much to deal with. Suddenly I could hear Maxine's voice in my head, shouting at me in that usual snarky manner of hers, "Tell her! Go on and explain yourself. You can't keep lying to her anymore. You need to come clean and tell her the truth!" Pushing Maxine's voice out of my head, I smiled at Bubbles.

"Well I meant every word."

Bubbles smiled back at me, and strangely enough, it wasn't awkward. I mean apart from the fact that my hands were sweating, Bubbles' heart was pounding and I could hear one of my best friends screaming inside of my head. Apart from all of that, it was perfectly stable. Bubbles instantly relaxed and crossed her legs, sitting opposite me. I mimicked her actions and crossed my legs, watching as she smiled contiguously at me. She looked so happy that we weren't arguing and there wasn't any weird tension. I was happy as well. However I couldn't revel in the fact that the awkwardness had subsided considering I still continued to feel the immense guilt that came with keeping a big secret.

"You still look really unwell," Bubbles spoke softly, soothing the ache in my head. She raised her hand forward and placed it on my forehead. I almost jerked my head back but instead I just sat there practically frozen. "Boomer, you're burning up."

"I feel fine." I protested as I shot my hand up and placed it over her own.

I was about to pull her hand away from my forehead but for some reason I was unable to move again. I could feel that unexplainable surge of electricity running up my arm as our fingers touched. Bubbles looked into my eyes, a startled expression painted all over her face. As I got lost in the moment my fingers laced through her's, intertwining before I could stop myself. We stared at each other for what seemed like hours when in general it was around ten seconds. Eventually I pulled my hand away and Bubbles did the same. She looked down at my blue sheets, refusing to meet my eyes, and just like that, all of the awkwardness that had once passed was back.

"I think we need to talk about the break up." I declared suddenly.

Bubbles tore her gaze away from my sheets and looked at me. She bit her lower lip, nodding her head in agreement.

"Yeah. I think we do."

I shifted uncomfortably on my seat. It was obvious that we needed to talk about our break up. It felt like there was no clarity. We still acted somewhat like a couple, with the way that we were looking at each other and the look in Bubbles' eye when she noticed I didn't look well. If we didn't get everything out in the open then we would continue to act like this because we haven't had any clear discussion about us not being together anymore. Of course it was going to be hard for me considering she didn't know the reason that we broke up, yet I did. I wasn't sure if she could ever get her clarity if I didn't tell her the truth.

"So, um, are you..do you think that we can really be friends?" I asked slowly. "With our history, it seems like it will take a while for us to be normal around each other again."

Bubbles smiled softly. "We have all the time in the world to get used to this."

I could feel my heart sink deeper into my chest. How was I supposed to tell her that we might not have that much time? I might not have that much time. Looking her boldly in the eye, I said, "I'm sorry that you fell in love with someone with so many problems."

"I'm not."

When I didn't instantly reply, she carried on. "Boomer, I know that there is something wrong with you. Whatever it was that you were keeping from me while we were dating, it doesn't matter anymore. Sure, I'm still a little mad that you lied to me and that you were hiding something from me but I will never regret being with you. You meant so much to me. You still do."

There it was again. Maxine's voice inside of my head, re-playing her words over and over. You know, when I was younger, Brick said that I was the bravest person he had ever met. I didn't shy away from things or from people. I spoke my mind, I never gave up and I faced all challenges head on. But as I sat there, facing the girl that I was so hopelessly in love with, I didn't feel brave anymore. The thought of telling Bubbles that I might die seemed like the only challenge I couldn't face. Even telling Brick and Butch would be easier. They would try to keep my spirits up, they would understand why I couldn't tell them at first. Yet with Bubbles, I just knew that she would act differently. She would attempt to act like everything would be alright, but I would always see that look in her eyes. The look of absolute fear that she might lose someone else close to her. That look would be worse than anything that this ulcer can throw at me.

"I'm not sure how to act around you," I admitted uncomfortably. "It just seems like there's so much left unsaid."

Bubbles nodded slowly. "So let's say it. Let's get everything out in the open."

"You go first."

She closed her eyes and I could just tell that there was something she wanted to say, something painful. It took every single ounce of will-power I had to stop myself from leaning forward and grabbing her hand. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes.

"I still love you," She whispered solemnly. "And I would have done anything for you, to show you just how much and how deeply I mean it," I felt myself draw in a breath as I watched her eyes tear up. Her voice was shaking, so much that I knew she had been waiting to say this for so long. "That's my problem, Boomer. We're broken up and I still find myself wanting to show you how much I love you."

For a moment I couldn't so much as breath. I should have felt relieved that she still cared enough to love me, yet I didn't. Instead I just left sick to my stomach. I made her like this, sad and full of regret. And I couldn't take that away because I was too terrified to just tell her the truth. She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, staring at my shirt rather than me. She was either silently making fun of my shirt or she just couldn't look at me.

Then she said something that made my stomach feel even worse.

"I hate that you hate me."

"Don't say that," I immediately answered, my tone urgent. "You know I could never hate you."

"Really? Because you're sure acting like you do. When I moved back here, we were best friends, yet you can't even say hello to me in the hallway, or sit beside me in Art class. You can barely even look at me. We don't have to look at this break up in black and white, you know? We don't have to either be dating or nothing at all."

I sighed. "Do you understand how hard it is to be just friends with someone you're in love with?"

"Of course I do, Boomer. But I'm trying here. I don't want to be nothing to you."

"Then what do you want?"

"I want.." Bubbles stared into my eyes, and everything around us suddenly just froze. I couldn't hear the music from downstairs and all I could see was her. It was like that moment, that drumroll, when someone is about to kiss you. Everything just stood still and before I knew it, Bubbles had made a bold move forward and crashed her lips onto mine.

I was shocked at first. In fact I could barely move or comprehend what she was doing. Once the initial shock had passed, I could feel myself kissing her back. And once I had started, there was no stopping either of us. It was like before, when our fingers touched and that electricity ran through us, but this time it was stronger, because we weren't just brushing each other's fingers. I raised myself slightly off of the headboard, pushing myself closer to Bubbles. Her arms snaked around my neck, dragging me into her as much as she could. The kiss was so desperate and passionate that it made my head spin.

Bubbles' hands dug into my shoulders, making me feel numb beyond repair. As we kissed all I could think about was what she had said. I couldn't take it anymore. She loved me. Bubbles still loved me after I lied to her. And I was still lying, over and over. Maxine's voice in my head was absent now but I was still thinking about her words, her plea that I tell Bubbles what was happening to me. And while I was kissing her, that's all I wanted to do. Because if I told her, then we wouldn't stop this, we would be together again and everything would be fine. Well, unless the ulcer did it's job and destroyed everything.

"Bubbles," I spoke against her lips as I tried to break apart. Her hands were digging harder into my shoulders so that I wouldn't stop. She desperately tried to keep me there but I pulled away, watching as she frowned. "Stop. We can't do this."

"I don't want to stop," She whispered. "I can't stop feeling this way. I've tried so hard, Boomer. I need you." There were tears building up in her eyes as she sat there, breathing heavily.

"There's something I need to tell you," I forced myself to say. As I looked into her glassy blue eyes, I hoped that I was doing the right thing. I hoped that she would be fine once I told her the truth, that she wouldn't be this stuck anymore. However I was aware that telling her the truth would most likely make everything worse. I still couldn't stop myself. I couldn't take this anymore. "And I don't think that anything is going to be the same after I do."

Bubbles blinked rapidly. "Boomer, you're scaring me. What's wrong?"

I sighed. "It's time to tell you the reason that we broke up.."

To be continued..


Oh my days. That has to be my longest chapter ever - and not just on this story. Well I'm so sorry that this took so long, I just hope that the long chapter makes up for it. So. What do you guys think, huh? Did you enjoy the Buttercup/Butch moments and all of the beautiful drama?

Thanks to everyone who read this chapter. And also I want to say thanks for all of the lovely feedback, not just from this chapter, but from all of them! Oh, I'm getting all emotional that this story is ending soon haha! Sorry, guys!

Next Chapter - Pressure mounts on the group as they head into their exams. Boomer has to deal with repercussions of the night before. Mitch's plan begins to fall apart once Hailey Cloud gets involved. And Blossom and Brick's relationship is hanging in the balance as Brick makes a decision for his own future.

Please review, it only takes seconds :)

Allie