Okay, so maybe she had ended up staying the night again.. but by the time they remembered that they needed to take her home, it was already so late. So for the second time she had slept on their couch, woken up and cooked them the rest of the food they'd bought the day before. Mostly a towering stack of pancakes.

So it was day three of Blossom hanging out with the Rowdyruff Boys. They were getting along better than they would've imagined, of course she couldn't remember them from before, so the past few days were all she had to go on. And based on that alone, she definitely liked them. They had a strong bond with each other and had welcomed her in openly, which she did find a little surprising after Brick told her that they spend most of their lives as enemies. She might not be able to remember them, but they remembered her. So why were they being so.. nice? Whatever the reason, she was beyond grateful.

It was late afternoon, Brick had hinted about taking her home and again she found a way to avoid the conversation. He was starting to notice a theme..

It's not like he wanted her to leave. He kind of liked having her around.. She was cool. Funny, a great cook, and obviously hot.. which he had been trying his best to ignore. The realization that the girl he always thought he despised, was actually fun.. was perplexing but oddly easy to accept.

Blossom sat in between Boomer and Butch on the couch. There was another entirely empty sofa, but it was easier for them to teach her the controls this way.

She had concluded that playing video games must not have been something she'd done before, because it wasn't familiar at all, though she knew what they were.

Her character hit a log and just kept running into it.

"Triangle is jump." Boomer said, trying to hold back his laughter.

She pushed the triangle button, making her character jump in place.

"You have to hold the analog stick at the same time Bloss." Butch pressed his finger tips into his forehead, to show his mock stress. But watching her learn the game was actually really entertaining. She was just such a noob.

"Oh." She giggled.

"Okay, good. Now, the right trigger shoots. Left trigger to zoom while you shoot." Boomer explained.

Blossom looked away from the tv screen and stared confusedly at the controller. "Trigger? Which ones are those? Oh, these?!" She pressed the right one before they could answer and shot a single bullet into the air.

"Run, jump, shoot. Those are the basics. There's probably more, but we'll show you when the time comes." Butch told her.

"I'm surprised you haven't run into anyone yet.." Boomer furrowed his brows, watching the screen closely.

Blossom's character ran in a straight line, gun swaying from side to side. "Ooh there's somebody!" She practically screamed, staring down her scope and firing rapidly.

"That's your teammate." Boomer said, him and Butch were dying laughing, as they watched her play. It was like teaching a child.. except kids these days were usually pretty good at games.

Blossom laughed too, biting her lip. "Oops. Good thing I couldn't kill him, that would suck."

Brick walked through the front door, startling her and she accidentally fired her gun again. He plopped down on the other couch, already smirking.

Her character wandered around, through a building and then outside. She saw someone, this time she was pretty sure it was an enemy. His back was to her, oblivious to her presence. That is until she loudly ran up, spraying bullets all over the place. She hit him a couple times by random chance, but it wasn't enough to kill him. It only took him one head shot to kill her.

"Oh come on, you guys didn't teach her how to sneak?" Brick threw his arms up.

"Forgot." They both said in unison, cracking up.

Brick walked over, leaning over the back of the couch, closer to Blossom. He gestured to the controller. "If you push the right analog you can crouch, if someone has their back to you you can sneak up on them to get a better shot." She practiced crouching a few times.

He was distractingly close. His hot breath on her ear sent goosebumps across her body and she died again, right after respawning. She practically felt him smirk, before he backed away from her, returning to the empty couch.

With Butch and Boomer watching, she hadn't felt any pressure. But with Brick in the room, she was suddenly determined to do better. At least get a kill.

When she respawned this time she noticed a tiny map in the corner of the screen, there was a blinking red dot in the center. Thinking it might be another player, she ran towards it. Slowing down before she got there, to look around carefully. When she spotted the enemy, they started firing at each other at the same time, but she hit the crouch button and ducked just before she could die. One last shot and he was dead. "I got someone!" She jumped off the couch, getting killed in the process by another enemy. "Damn!" Well that was short lived.

"Well at least you got a kill!" Boomer offered, sending her an apologetic smile.

The match ended, and she handed the controller over to Butch so he could play his turn. Wanting to give him some space to play, she moved to join Brick on the other sofa.

"Oh, I see how it is!" Butch teased, not taking his eyes away from the action on screen. "You'd rather sit next to Brick, huh?"

Boomer wiggled his brow suggestively at her and Brick sent her a playful, curious glance.

"No. It's not like that!" She protested, cheeks turning red at their teasing. "I just- there's more room over here."

"Mmhmm." Boomer sang.

Blossom scoffed, ignoring them and tuned into Butch's ongoing match. Watching what he did to learn more about the game. He was really good, 12/1 KD by the end of his game. She wanted to get that good too. Well.. maybe not that good. But better at least. Which shouldn't be hard since she was horrible.

The two of them watched Boomer and Butch take turns, fighting over who was better, for a while.

"Hey Blossom, can we talk?" Brick kept his voice low, trying not to draw the attention of his brothers.

She nodded, following him out of the living room. When they reached his bedroom, she was surprised. She actually hadn't been in there, or even seen his room yet. His door was always closed, and he had really only been in there to sleep.

When he opened the door, she noticed a stark difference between his room and the rest of the house. It was very neat and tidy. Not that the rest of the house was particularly dirty, but it was definitely messy. As you could imagine in a house with three teenage boys and no rules. His bed wasn't made, but she couldn't fault him for that. As with most guys, there weren't many decorations. The walls were mostly bare, but his bookshelf was packed. He had obviously run out of room, which was made evident by the books crammed horizontally on top of the rest of the otherwise neat row. He had a simple desk, with a closed laptop, a bed, and a closet. It smelled like febreeze, and she wondered if he had sprayed it before bringing her inside, or if it always smelled that nice.

Brick held the door for her, shutting it behind them. He gestured letting her know that she could take a seat, and she chose to sit at his desk. He stood in the middle of the room,

"So, is there a reason you don't want to go home?" He came right out with it.

She looked startled for a moment, though it had crossed her mind that this could be what he wanted to discuss.. It wasn't the first time he'd brought it up. "It's not that I don't want to go home.." She started, shifting her gaze from him to the floor. "It's just, well.. it's not really my home if I can't remember it."

"I guess, but don't you at least want to try to see your family?"

When she didn't immediately respond, he looked confused. "Idunno. Not really. It's hard to explain."

He knew she was nervous, but her answer came as a surprise.

"You know, you can't just stay here forever." He didn't mean for it to come out so harsh, and felt like shit when he watched her face fall.

A heavy silence fell over them.

"I know." Her voice cracked and he felt his chest tighten. She was silent for a long minute, thinking to herself, before her expression finally changed to a happier one. "I can't just sleep on your couch forever. I appreciate it, but.. my back is starting to hurt anyway." She forced a laugh, standing up and heading for the door.

Shit.

"Blossom, that's not really- I didn't mean-"

She stopped with her hand on the doorknob, and looked over her shoulder towards him, but not really at him. "Brick, I really do appreciate you helping me. I like it here. It's been… nice." Her smile was genuine but shrouded in a sadness that was hard to miss.

He didn't know what else to say, so he stood there and said nothing. Thinking about how he needed to work on his communication skills. He was a leader, practically a genius, yet he had completely botched what he was trying to tell her.

When Blossom got to the living room, she grabbed her purse and began putting on her shoes. Boomer and Butch stopped paying attention to the game when they noticed her.

"What's going on Bloss?" Boomer asked. Butch was waiting for her answer too and Brick stood awkwardly in the hall.

"It's about time I get home, don't you think?" She smiled reassuringly at them.

"You're leaving?" Butch jumped to his feet, eyes darting from her to Brick, who looked away as soon as their eyes met.

She bit her bottom lip, thinking about how much she hated having to say goodbye. She was clearly no good at it. "I'm sure our paths will cross again someday." She laughed.

"You sound like a fortune cookie." Butch rolled his eyes playfully.

They all knew she had to leave eventually, but eventually came sooner than they thought.

"I'll take you home." Brick said as he and Blossom stepped outside.

"Don't worry about it, I can take the train."

Damn, he really screwed up. Curse him for not being better with words. This was the opposite of how he wanted the mood to be when she left..

"Are you sure? We're a couple towns away." He explained. She nodded. "At least let me take you to the train station."

She hesitated but ultimately agreed. It would be easier than finding the way there on her own. Besides, it was her last chance to hang out with him.. Who knows how long it'd be before she saw him again. Possibly years.

When they got to the train station, Brick offered to buy her a ticket, which she declined. "I couldn't, really, you've already done so much."

He didn't like the idea of sending her back alone, to a place she didn't know, filled with people she couldn't remember.. But he wasn't her keeper. Hell, they barely knew each other and up until three days ago, they were about as far from friends as two people could be.

Hugging him when she was scared that first night, had come so natural.. but now that she knew him a little better, she couldn't bring herself to initiate it. She also knew that Brick never would. He had been nice to her, all the boys had, but that didn't mean they were suddenly close. "Thanks again, for everything." She smiled her goodbye, after a somewhat awkward moment, where neither of them spoke.

As she walked up to the front desk, to buy her ticket, he felt a strange feeling twisting in his gut. He wanted to get home, maybe take a hot shower and go to bed early. He flew away, eager to be away from there. Maybe he didn't want to watch her leave.

But it was his fault she was going..

Once Blossom was sure he was gone, she left the counter. She didn't exactly have a plan, but one thing was for sure.. she wasn't going "home."

End Ch 3.Where is Blossom going?