Tasha and I see the clock on my dresser says three o'clock. We walk out of my room and down the hall to Buttercup's room. The door looks solemn, yet inviting. It reminds me of growing up. We used to have these little get-togethers once every week. It was a nice way for us to get to know each other well. Now, it seems like a way for us to get back in touch. Tasha has always been like a member of the family, and she's always been going to our gatherings.

We walk into Buttercup's room and take our usual spots. I sit in her black and blue bean bag, and Tasha sprawls out across the floor. Jake looks down on us from his spot on the bed, and I sigh because I forgot my pens. I always bring paper and pens to color with. I figure I don't need them this time. I shouldn't get too bored. I mean, we were going to find out about Jake.

Blossom walks in and sits down next to Tasha, and Tasha starts braiding Blossom's hair. I look up at Buttercup and Jake, who are next to each other on the bed. Buttercup's hair has lightened a lot since she was younger. It's a fairly light brown now. Her eyes have a new sparkle to them though. She's always had a sparkle, but this is different. I can't put my finger on it.

Jake looks slightly awkward amongst the four girls. I giggle out loud at the thought. The girls all look at me, and roll their eyes, like usual. They think I giggle for no reason, but I always have a reason. Life is just funny for me. I stick out my tongue at all of them, and then we all giggle - well, except Jake. He's still looking nervous. He looks quite different than Buttercup. His spiky, punk blonde hair is a sharp contrast to her smooth, athletic ponytail. They do seem quite similar though, in their personalities.

Blossom is the first to actually speak, "Okay, well, since no one is going to introduce us, I'm Blossom; you must be Jake. I've actually heard nothing about you, so why don't you tell us a little something about yourself?"

Jake stutters for a second before he can talk, "I... Well... I..." Buttercup jabs him with her elbow, and he continues "I'm Jake. I'm just Jake - nothing more to say."

"Well, then what is up with you two? Bubbles and Tasha find you two together in here, and you're not even going to spill the beans?" I can hear Blossom's impatience in every word. I want to know what's going on too, but I'm not mad at her. She must be hiding something. Otherwise why would she be talking like this?

Buttercup answers quickly, but still sounding unsure, "Jake and I are, well, together." He smiles at her, and she becomes slightly more confident, "We've been together since freshman year, and haven't told anyone. Soon we're going to leave. We won't have to worry about anyone telling us no. Once we graduate, we're just going to leave."

Blossom and I stare at her, in shock. I turn to Tasha, and she looks as if she's seen a ghost. Buttercup sees our reactions and asks if we're all okay. We all nod. We are fine after all - just surprised. "What are you going to tell Professor," I ask, truly concerned about how he'll take it.

"We're not going to tell him. He'll get over it. He doesn't really even like me. He likes you two, and puts up with me." I swear, Buttercup is crazy sometimes. When she says things like this, I just barely know how to respond.

"That is not true Buttercup! He loves us all. He's our dad! If it wasn't true, he wouldn't have taken care of us for so long, or put up with our crime fighting, or anything! He wouldn't specially buy you granola, or let you do sports that cost him extra money if he didn't like you." I argue with her. I know I'm right this time. I hate arguing and I hate when my sisters are sad. I'm starting to get sad. Tasha senses this and pats me on the shoulder.

Blossom sparks up, "Buttercup, you're lucky. You're happy. I haven't been happy in years. Just think about talking to the Professor about it. You know that he'd appreciate you telling him. He isn't heartless."

"Then why haven't you talked to him about your suicide attempts Blossom?" Buttercup never gets so defensive this early.

"Suicide attempts? Whoa, back up, please." Now Tasha has joined the conversation.

Tasha gasps as Blossom slowly rolls up her sleeves. "It was nothing, really, I was just upset one day."

I'm nearly in tears now. Jake looks at me and smiles. I don't know why, but this makes me happier. He seems like a good person. I'm usually a good judge of character, and I like him. "Buttercup, I like him. If he makes you happy, do what you need to do. Professor will understand either way. We have to be here to help each other, and hug each other! That's what we do! Duh!" Somehow, what I just said, struck a cord in my sisters and I. We looked at each other and smiled. I know now we'll all be okay.

Jake looks at his watch. He realizes he needs to go; his curfew is in twenty minutes. Now that Jake is gone, it's more like we're used to. Things seem more normal - more comfortable. We talk for a while about life, love, and everything else.

Professor knocks on the door, and we all jump. He opens the door, after we invite him in, and speaks slowly, "Ah, girls, just like old times! Hello, Tasha, did you save me any cupcakes?" Professor knows us all so well. Tasha nods a yes to him and he winks. "Okay girls, just try to keep it down, I'm going to bed after one of those cupcakes."

We all giggle hysterically, and Blossom brings up a good point, "Why is he just now going to bed? It's nearly five o'clock!" We all shake it off as another quirk of the Professor's and continue giggling.

Tasha brings us all to silence again though. "Why don't you guys fly anymore?" We all look at her. We look at each other. The tension in the room climbs. Do we tell her about our secret? Blossom and Buttercup nod at me and I grimace.

"Well, it's a long story, like I told you earlier, but here goes. It was a warm Sunday, the kind you don't forget. You know, when really bad things happen. We were seven years old. You had been over at our house that day, and you had just gone home. We were all cleaning the house, using our superpowers, and something happened. We were in the lab." I can barely speak, I've started sniffling. I'm going to cry. I cry a lot, but I haven't thought about this in nine years. This is especially traumatic.

"Bubbles, let me do it! You're such a baby!" Buttercup still acts like she's five. Well, so do I, but still. "Before I finish this story, let's get some snacks; I'm hungry!" We file out of her room and down to the kitchen. In the kitchen, Tasha snaps on the light, and everything has been ransacked. "What the hell is going on?" Buttercup's shout can probably be heard all over the downstairs of our house. We see a paper sitting on the table, we walk over to read it.