A/N Just to clarify, this takes place three weeks later, I don't know if I communicated that well.
Woo Hoo! Only three more reviews until I reach 100! I don't know why, but that excites me.
Anyway, enjoy! And don't forget to review! Constructive Criticism and feedback are my friends.
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Chapter Eighteen: Falling Apart
Kevin slammed the door behind him, donning sunglasses and a frown. What a way to spend the morning: fighting with the old man. His father came home around four o'clock totally drunk waking Kevin up from his restless slumber so he could nurse him back to sobriety. Harsh words and fists were passed a few times and Kevin was tired of it. Worse, his brother Vince had called the night before after almost three years without a word, asking for money. He longed for his mother and wished that his family could be whole again.
He was way too early for school, so he walked, taking the long way, passing by a small struggling community church. He looked up at the modest wooden cross on the building and stared at it for a while. For the last three weeks since he unexpectedly found himself praying to a God he didn't believe in when Buttercup was inches from death, Kevin had found himself soul searching. He was still unsure of what to believe. But at that moment, he was angry, at what he did not know. Life perhaps. Ever since his mother, a good strong Christian woman, died, his faith in life had almost died with her. He openly rejected his mother's God, and turned atheist.
The only person who saved him from killing himself the year of her death was Buttercup. She was the one who kept him strong, and kept him from falling on the path his father and brother took. She restored his faith in life. Thinking about her though made him realize why he was so angry at life, not because of his fight with his father, not because of the cold message his brother left on their machine, but because of Buttercup. Ever since she was attacked she pushed him, along with everyone else, away. Every day she drifted further and further away from him until it was as though they were mere acquaintances, not the best of friends. When she wasn't unhealthily quiet and withdrawn, she was becoming a mean, harsh person to be around. It was as though she no longer trusted him and he couldn't figure out why. What had he done to make her turn away from him? To make her reject his friendship? Did she resent that he had become overprotective? Did she hear him that night when he said he loved her?
Both of their lives were falling apart at the seams; he needed her more than ever and she needed him, why, why, why did she push him of all people, away? She was the only person he could count on to stand by him, and vice versa-- she made that clear-- and that too was falling apart. They needed to lean on each other. He vowed to stand by her no matter what, but it was getting harder and harder, because she only resisted more and more. The fact that he loved her only made it worse. She was breaking his heart. He felt as though he had no one, he had nothing else to turn to, but an old wooden cross on the side of a dying church of a faith he didn't believed in.
"God, if you exist," he said, shaking his head and kicking the dirt, "deliver us from this shit."
*****
Kevin didn't see Buttercup at all that day until lunch. She sat in her usual corner in the cafeteria, except for the cast on her arm all visible evidence of her attack was gone. She looked worn out though; her face was pale and her eyes had dark circles. While her sisters looked healthier each day, her progress was slower.
He sighed and sat down next to her, not saying anything. What was beautiful about their friendship was that they could sit for a long time in silence without feeling awkward, but lately Kevin felt as though Buttercup's silence was a hint for him to leave her alone. But he didn't give up. He needed her, and cared for her too much to abandon her. He wished she would just talk to him, someone, anyone. He knew she would feel better if she did.
She looked up at him, "What happened to you?" she motioned to his black eye.
"Guess," Kevin said, surprised at his tone of voice which sounded harsher than he intended. But he was frustrated, and tired.
"Your dad, right?" she guessed angrily, he nodded. "That stupid SOB, I'm going to kick his ass! He has no…"
"You'll do nothing of the sort," Kevin snapped, "it's none of your business."
"I know," Buttercup replied, raising her voice, "I just want to help. You don't need to be so rude about it."
"Sorry, I'm just having a bad day," he sighed, bringing his tone down.
Buttercup nodded sympathetically, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Kevin snorted, with a half grin on his face. He shook his head, frustrated that she would have the audacity to ask the question he had been asking yet she refused to answer, "No."
"What's with you today?" Buttercup muttered.
"What do you mean?" Kevin asked, "What's with you every day?"
Buttercup's jaw dropped, "What do I mean? What do you mean?"
Kevin was hurt, she sounded like she was attacking him, "You and your attitude! I mean, I've been trying so hard to be here for you, and you've been treating me like I'd blackmail you the moment I had the chance! Have I given you any reason not to trust me? Have I given you any reason to hate me?"
"You know I don't hate you," Buttercup rolled her eyes.
"Then why have you been acting like you do?" Kevin asked, "Why won't you talk to me?"
"We're talking now," Buttercup snorted.
"If you can call this talking," Kevin shook his head, "BC, don't you get it? I care for you. We've been through so much together, why do you reject me now? Like you, I just want to help."
"If you really cared and wanted to help or whatever," Buttercup said, "you would just leave me alone. I'm not rejecting you, I just want to be left alone, OK? It's nothing personal."
"Nothing personal?" Kevin couldn't believe what she was saying, "BC, listen to yourself! I can't help but to take this personally. Ever since we became friends we have stood by each other through good and bad, remember? We used to lean on each other for support when things get rough. You died in my friggin' arms! Remember?! You can't imagine how overcome with joy I was when you came back to me! You have no idea how much it is killing me right now to see you, because I am losing you again. I can see it; you're dying from the inside out. You are becoming nothing but an empty, hollow shell, void of life, void of joy. You are the only person in this world I can count on, the one I care for the most and you're telling me to leave you alone while I stand by and watch you wither away into nothing?"
"Oh what do you know?" Buttercup snapped, "You don't understand how I could possibly feel, no one does. Just leave me be! OK?"
"You know who you remind me of?" Kevin asked, "My father. You know why? Because my father is a coward. He wasn't always the jerk he is, remember? When my mother died, instead of facing his inner demons he became a coward and ran away from his problems, instead of properly mourning for his wife and moving on to care for his two sons, his only remaining family. His cowardice turned him into something he's not. He ran away to hide behind a bottle. When my brother… you remind me of him too because he literally ran away from his problems, when he left, you know what my father did?"
"What?" Buttercup snapped.
"Nothing," Kevin said, "He went to the bar and got himself drunk, came home and slapped me around, blaming me for Vince running off. He took it out on me. Remember that? Suddenly I have to take care of my father because he had to turn himself into a hollow nothing. I had to watch him become the cheating, abusive, alcoholic shell he is. You're so much like him, you're avoiding your problems, you're ignoring them, drowning them out by wallowing in self pity and taking them out on people, you're allowing them to eat away at you. You may not be a drunkard like my father, but what you're doing is just as destructive. Do you have any idea how much it kills me to see this happen again?"
"Whatever," Buttercup said blankly, her face was hard and cold.
"I never thought you would be this selfish," Kevin said quietly, shaking his head. He rose to his feet and walked away, ignoring the audience they attracted.
Buttercup watched him go, her eyes softened and she put her face in her hands, feeling terrible, physically and emotionally. She wanted to apologize, she wanted to go after him, but couldn't bring herself to do it. Her head was spinning and she was too angry to care, even though her anger was not directed at Kevin. Her anger was directed towards herself, Mojo Jojo, and life in general and the fact that Kevin was right.
Bubbles had entered the cafeteria at the tail end of Buttercup and Kevin's argument. She was surprised by it, and was about to join Buttercup but the look on her face warned Bubbles to leave her alone. Bubbles sighed and looked around for a place to sit. She smiled when she saw that there was a seat at Megan's table. "Hey guys, can I join you?"
Megan looked up at her and assessed her with her eyes, "Mmm, whatever." she replied. Bubbles sat down and Megan went on to talk to Jennifer and Sarah as though Bubbles wasn't there.
Bubbles had no idea what they were all talking about having joined them in the middle of a conversation. She tried to listen and possibly join in, but their body language was less than inviting. When there was a pause Bubbles asked, "So how is cheerleading going? I've hardly seen you guys since I quit." When her friends gave her no sign that they heard her she repeated her question.
"I'm sorry, were you talking?" Jennifer raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, how's cheerleading going?" Bubbles asked.
"Oh! Well Mandy's taken over for your part. Ugh, no wonder she was an alternate, she sucks," Megan said, "So anyway, as I was saying…"
Bubbles frowned as they continued with their conversation. She sat there with a sinking feeling that they were not going to acknowledge her any time soon. They had their backs turned away from her and gave no signs on letting her join in. "Are you excited about grad? It's hard to believe that it's only two weeks away. Time flies doesn't it?" Bubbles asked when she had the chance in a vain attempt at acknowledgement.
"Ugh, you're still here?" Megan rolled her eyes.
"Yeah," Bubbles said slowly, "What's wrong? Why are you guys acting as though I…"
"Bubbles honey," Jennifer shook her head with a smile, "Don't you get it?"
"Get what?"
"Are you dense?" Sarah asked.
"Bubbles, you no longer belong here. Go sit with your loser art club friends or whatever, if you still have any," Megan explained dismissing her with a wave of her hand.
"But…"
"Anyway, before I was interrupted…" Megan sighed haughtily.
Bubbles nodded slowly, "I see." she felt her eyes begin to water slightly. She quickly hurried off trying not to cry as she left the cafeteria but the tears came anyway. "Bubbles, are you OK?" Robyn asked as Bubbles bumped into her.
"I'm fine!" Bubbles sobbed, brushing past her. She ran around the corner and headed towards the bathroom, in obvious distress. Robyn followed but stopped when she saw Mike heading towards her. He stopped and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend.
"Bubbles? Baby what's wrong?" he asked.
She cried a moment into his shoulder; she couldn't believe her friends would shoot her down like that. She felt foolish. She should've known they would since they hardly spoke since she quit, and after hearing Buttercup's warnings and everything she noticed about them. She should have expected them to reject her sooner or later. Bubbles stopped crying for a moment as she thought of something that had been occasionally bothering her since Mike found out about antidote X.
"Do you love me?" she asked.
"Of course," he replied.
"Really?" she cried, "Even though I lost my powers and quit cheerleading?"
Mike nodded, "Who do you think I am? Some shallow jock or something, seeking the limelight? I fell in love with Bubbles, not a superhero or cheerleader." Bubbles smiled, allowing her tears to fall freely. He put his arms around her and asked, "Bubbles, what hap…"
Bubbles interrupted him by planting her lips on his. "Shh," she whispered, kissing him again. "Let's not…" she kissed his ear, "talk about this…" she kissed his cheek, "right now." She didn't know what came over her. She figured that she was so hurt by her friends and lonely and just so relieved that he loved her in spite of all that had happened, so grateful that he was remaining true. She pressed her lips against his and pushed him into the bathroom. He wrapped his arm around her and locked the door behind them as Robyn watched them disappear, bewildered.
Robyn shook her head and went back to the cafeteria, she too felt hurt and rejected.
*****
Blossom and Greg walked hand in hand down the hallway on their way to the main entrance where she would be picked up by the Professor. "I don't see why I can't drive you home," Greg sighed.
"Yeah, but he's been super paranoid lately, and last night we had a talk because it worries him when we're not there after school," she rolled her eyes, "I can understand why he's been overprotective lately, but I wish he'd give me some space."
"Why don't you call him and tell him you're going out with me?" Greg asked.
"I did," Blossom replied. "He still prefers that the three of us go home together. It's for the best though I suppose. I'm really busy, so I think it's wise that I do this. You're a distraction. A sexy distraction, but a distraction." she added with a sly smile.
"Blossom, you're always busy," Greg sighed, "You need to relax."
"What do you mean? I'm relaxed!" Blossom exclaimed, "I feel so content right now, being here with you."
Greg smiled and kissed her forehead, "I know, I can tell, but you know we hardly do this anymore. You're always too busy!"
"No I'm not," Blossom smiled, "I'm just as busy as I was before, but not as much because… well, because I'm not a Powerpuff girl anymore."
"Then why do you seem busier?" Greg asked.
Blossom shrugged, "Well, it is the end of the year, the Grad committee has to work in overdrive now and preparing for finals I guess is time consuming."
"Yeah but you're wearing yourself out," Greg said, "You look so tired Bloss when you shouldn't."
Blossom hesitated, "Yeah well… well I guess that's because… I really don't have as much energy and endurance as I did before." she sighed thoughtfully.
"You feeling OK?" Greg asked, "Are you still…"
"No, I'm fine. I've been feeling so much better since the drug the Professor invented started to take effect. The headaches and dizziness are gone. The problem is I still have to get used to the fact that now that my powers are gone, I don't have the stamina I did before. I'm normal now. I didn't think that my powers had such an effect on my everyday life," Blossom replied. She stopped for a moment and reflected on what she just said.
"You do too much," Greg commented, "You're in charge of, and do more activities than most people, even overachievers like you. It wouldn't hurt for you to cut back on activities."
"No," Blossom said quickly.
"Why?"
"I can't quit anything. I have to do them," Blossom shook her head, "I have to."
"Why?" Greg asked. "Didn't you say that you and what's her name, Janine have been having creative differences over Grad decorations or something? I don't think she'd mind if you quit and handed over leadership of the Grad committee to her since from the sound of things she's trying to take over anyway."
"So we could have tacky seventies colours and a stupid theme?" Blossom asked.
"Didn't you say that no one likes her ideas either, or yours for that matter and the creative differences are driving you crazy? Why don't you let Janine handle the stress of dealing with them? I doubt the committee would let her go through with her ideas." Greg suggested, "This way you could have lunch hour free to do as you will, which I know would help."
"I can't," Blossom said, even though secretly they had already asked her to step down since she wasn't doing a good job anymore because she didn't have the energy she used to and it affected the quality of her work.
"Why?"
"Because I need to prove to myself that I can do everything and that I'm not a failure," she blurted. She was surprised at herself. She didn't realize she felt that way until the words escaped her mouth.
"Bloss," Greg put his arm around her, "You're not a failure. I'm worried about you. We've hardly seen each other the past few weeks because you've been drowning yourself in work and it's starting to take its toll. I think you're working so hard to avoid your problems."
"No I'm not," Blossom replied defensively.
"Are you sure about that?" Greg asked.
Blossom sighed, "Can we talk about this later?"
They turned the corner and saw Buttercup with Mitch, Deuce and Cobra, the third member of their gang. Buttercup pushed Mitch against the locker, "Don't you freaks get it? I don't care about whatever it is you want, I'm not going to talk to you about anything!"
Mitch shook his head, "Fine," he frowned, putting his hand on her waist, "This is the last time we bother you."
Buttercup slapped his hand away, "You'd better back off."
"Let's go boys," Deuce said shaking his head.
Buttercup glared at them, out of breath as they slinked away. Cobra turned his head and gave her a menacing look.
"You OK sis?" Blossom asked. Buttercup looked as though she was about to fall over.
Buttercup nodded, putting her hand to her forehead, looking like she had a headache. "Those retards have been practically stalking me lately, wanting me to tell them what happened or whatever."
"What did they say?" Blossom asked.
"I don't know, and I don't care," Buttercup replied, "They say it's important, but they go about it is as though they just want to harass me just to get information out of me that's none of their business or something like that. But I'm fine."
"You can't trust those guys," Blossom nodded, putting her arm around Buttercup.
"You don't have to tell me that," Buttercup pulled away defensively. "After what they did…"
"I know," Blossom nodded. "I didn't know that they've been harassing you. You should tell someone the next time they try."
"I can handle myself," Buttercup hissed, walking a few paces ahead of them.
They joined up with Bubbles who looked upset but content at the same time and waited for the Professor. When they got home Buttercup went to her room and fell on her bed, exhausted, still feeling like crap. She wasn't taking to Antixium nearly as well as her sisters, it only helped slightly which bothered her even though the Professor assured her that it was because she had been so badly injured that it would take more time to take effect. He didn't seem too sure though.
Her biggest worry however was about Kevin, she never thought she'd see the day where they have a fight and stop talking. She looked at her favourite picture she took of him and felt a tear escape. "Buttercup you had better not cry now," she scolded herself, since she hadn't cried since she was seven.
She reached into her jacket pocket to see if she had a tissue or something. She was surprised when she felt a piece of paper that she knew shouldn't be there.
It was a note.
"Watch your back." it said, in Mitch's unmistakable printing. He must've planted it in her pocket.
Buttercup studied the note for a moment wondering, was that a threat, or a warning?
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A/N The action is going to pick up again soon, I promise.
To all you silent reviewers, please review! You don't have to say a lot, I just like to know if more than four people are still reading this.
Many Thanks!
Hairy Gregory: People are mean, what can I say? If that guy existed anywhere else but my imagination, I'd get all Tae Kwon Do on his butt! Not much to say but all your questions will be revealed (eventually). Thanks for the review!
Dooly: Yep, Mitch strikes me as someone who would join a gang of hooligans like the GGG some day. Buttercup definitely is not the type who would appreciate someone protecting her. She's too proud. Thanks for being a faithful reviewer.
Bubblebean022: Thanks for the compliments and the review!
PinkPuff514: Yeah, poor Bubbles. Like I said to Gregory, all will be revealed eventually. As for Buttercup's past, I've been revealing things randomly, but I won't reveal them completely, but I hope I provide enough information for the readers to piece together what happened. As always, thanks for the faithful reviewing!
