Sleeping in a real bed was bliss. At least, it was after a week of sleeping on an uncomfortable couch.

Blossom woke up smiling that morning, she felt well rested and ready for the day. The first thing she did when she got up, besides make the bed, was to start a pot of coffee. She didn't know whether or not she liked coffee before, but Brick loved it. He drank it everyday without fail, filling the house with it's strong aroma, so naturally Blossom had tried it. Needless to say she was definitely a fan, although skeptical at first.

Brick was still lying on the sofa, having just woken up, when Blossom sat a steaming mug on the table beside him.

"Good morning." She smiled warmly at him, before traipsing back into the kitchen to start breakfast. Boomer and Butch were still in their rooms, likely asleep, but they wouldn't be for long. She didn't cook every meal, she wasn't a saint.. but she always made dinner and sometimes made breakfast.

The coffee got Brick up in an instant. It was his fuel, and after the sleep he'd gotten.. or lack thereof… He definitely needed it.

After two cups of perfect coffee, made just the way he liked it, possibly better.. It was time to eat. The three boys were starving, like usual.

After everyone had their fill of breakfast burritos, Brick started cleaning up the kitchen and was joined by Blossom.

"You already cooked, you don't have to clean too." He chuckled at Blossom for being such a busy body. She had always been that way, even before, but now she was a thousand times more laid back.

"Don't worry, I have ulterior motives." She smiled the most devious smile she could manage.

He raised an eyebrow, curious as to what she could possibly be referring to. "Fine, lay 'em on me then." He stopped loading the dishwasher and folded his arms over his chest for show.

There was already a hint of laughter to her tone. "The sooner we finish here, the sooner we can go do something?" She asked him hopefully.

With all signs of sass replaced by a pleasing smile, all Brick could do was roll his eyes. "You need to go shopping again or something?"

"Not exactly." She lifted herself onto the counter. "I just thought we could get out of the house for a while."

There was that lip biting thing again. He was such a sucker.

Honestly, he was surprised that she hadn't mentioned being bored out of her mind sooner. She sat out in the yard a lot, but aside from doing some occasional shopping, she hadn't tried to go anywhere before. It's not like she was a prisoner or anything, she could do whatever she wanted. The boys weren't used to being cooped up in the house that much either, least of all Brick. They were usually out doing odd jobs for some extra cash. Since Blossom had been staying with them, they hadn't tried anything like that, but Brick was starting to get restless.

"What'd you have in mind?" He asked.

"Well, nothing in particular bu-"

"Ohh the beach, the beach!" Boomer ran in with a huge grin on his face.

Butch followed shortly behind, "What about the beach?"

Brick and Blossom exchanged a glance.

"The beach?" Blossom hopped down from the counter, she couldn't remember if she liked the water or not, but it sounded interesting and it was a really nice day.

"Yeah it'll be great!" Boomer exclaimed. The beach was one of his favorite places and he had hardly been that summer at all.

"Babes in bikinis… running down the beach… splashing around in the water…" Butch was already in his own little world.

"We get it." Brick pushed him playfully. He had never been a big fan of nature himself. Especially the beach. It was crowded and hot and don't even get him started on the fucking sand. Fuck that. There was no way he was going.

"I think it sounds fun." Blossom finally said.

Well shit.

Butch and Boomer had been his brothers their wholes lives, they knew how much Brick hated the beach. Sure the sand got stuck in your ass crack for a week and the water made your hair feel gross, but the pros had to outweigh the cons right? While they were both interested in doing something fun and hopefully meeting some cute girls, they were doing this for their dear brother. As soon as Blossom stepped foot into their lives, they were convinced that Brick had a thing for her. And he rarely, if ever, truly liked someone. So, like the awesome, loving brothers they were.. they had intervened.

"It does?" Brick was a little surprised. He thought that Blossom, being his counterpart, would also hate the beach. Of course they didn't have everything in common but he hadn't expected her to be so willing.

The old Blossom probably would have hated the beach, but she had a second chance and a new outlook on life. Just from what she gathered from her old self on Instajam and from what the boys had told her, it was obvious that the old her never had any fun. She was a boring, killjoy of a girl, too responsible for her own good. The hassle of being the hero to an entire town of citizens, had seemingly taken over her entire life, stopping her from being able to ever enjoy anything. At least, that's what she presumed in her mind. The new Blossom, free of her old identity and responsibilities, wanted things to be different. She wanted to try all sorts of things, to determine what she liked and didn't like. Things would be different this time, they already were. The old her would have never got along so well with the Rowdyruff boys, a name which she found hilarious, by the way. If her former self had been so insanely wrong about Brick, Boomer and Butch then she was sure that she was wrong about a lot.

"Well, this is something I don't remember, so I need to find out if it's something I like again.. right?" She smiled, starting to get excited. But the look on Brick's face told her that he probably wasn't interested in going, and she felt her own happiness begin to falter too. "Oh, do you not like the beach?"

"If you don't want to go.." Boomer threw his arm around Blossom's shoulder and sent a pointed look at his red brother. "Me and Butch will look after her. We'll have all sorts of fun."

"Yeah, don't worry. We'll make sure no guys try to cop a feel, Bloss." While it sounded like Butch was talking to her, he was actually speaking directly to Brick, and all the boys knew it. "Oh and don't worry about a bikini, lots of girls swim in their underwear." He positioned himself in a way where Blossom couldn't see his face, before winking at his hopeless brother.

How subtle of them.

"Don't worry about me, I have a swimsuit." She laughed. "It's not a bikini, but at least I won't have to go in my underwear." She reached for a dish, wanting to leave as soon as possible.

"We'll take care of the kitchen. You start getting ready." Boomer offered, taking the plate.

Blossom smiled her thank you. When she got to the doorway, she turned back to Brick. "I'm sure it wouldn't be as much fun without you.." She paused, "But don't let these idiots pressure you into coming if you don't want to."

Oh he was going alright.

By the time they had flown to the nearest beach and relaxed in the hot sun for a while, the four of them were dreadfully hot and more than ready to get in the water. Brick had been sweating extra, from the anticipation of seeing Blossom in her swimsuit. As much as he had fought with the idea in his own mind, he couldn't deny that he felt a certain attraction to her.

The whole time they sat, sprawled out on the blanket, Blossom had been covered up by a little yellow dress. A dress that she looked amazing in. If she could look that god damn good with her clothes on… He was fucked.

Her bathing suit was technically not a bikini, being only one piece. But.. Jesus Christ. When Blossom finally stepped out of her dress, the big reveal nearly sent the boys to an early grave. If this was an anime, there would have been major nosebleeds. She didn't notice Butch's gaping jaw, or Boomer's wide eyes, since she was busy tying her hair in a giant copper messy bun on top of her head.

She did notice, however, that Brick started avoiding her like the plague. She just didn't know why..

Brick was fucked. That's all there was to it. He couldn't be near her in that. Especially around his brothers. They would never stop teasing him. When she said it was a one piece, he thought he would be able to manage. But that was not a one piece. Sure, the top and the bottom pieces were connected.. but hardly. The whole stomach was cut out.. In fact, he was almost positive that there was even less fabric than a regular bikini. The top was the part that sent him practically bolting to the other end of the beach, after one glance. Under boob spilled out of the fabric in such an unfair way.. He liked to consider himself a fairly strong guy, but he definitely had weaknesses.

"Where's he going?" Boomer asked, watching Brick speed off from the group, without a word.

For the next hour or so, he was nowhere to be found. She had fun playing around in the water with the other two, but the initial excitement that she felt, died out when she realized that Brick wasn't coming back. She was disappointed, but it wasn't his fault, he made it pretty obvious that he didn't wanna come in the first place. Without Brick, she had to ask one of the other ruffs to help her put on sunscreen. She didn't know why, she just would have been more comfortable with Brick doing it.. not that there was anything wrong with Boomer, who she had chosen to ask, for obvious reasons.

When she went into the bathroom and got a good look at herself in the full length mirror, she started to overthink things. As illogical as it was, the more she stared at her body, the easier it was for her to convince herself that she might've been the reason that Brick left. He seemed fine until she took her dress off.. Maybe she shouldn't have picked such a revealing swimsuit. Had she put on some extra weight? She had been cooking a lot.. She'd been joining Butch during some of his basement workouts, but maybe her body needed more than that. She was used to fighting crime, after all, and that was probably quite the workout. She turned to the side, finding anything she could that was "wrong" with her reflection. Brick was very fit, she could tell that he had an amazing body, even though she hadn't seen it. She had seen him in a form fitting white t-shirt.. She sighed, pinching at the "fat" around her stomach. But she didn't feel fat, actually, she quite liked her body. If she didn't then she wouldn't have picked that particular bathing suit in the first place. She didn't have the biggest boobs.. maybe he was disappointed that they weren't bigger? They were small C cups, but once again, she liked them.. Though, that didn't mean that Brick did.. People had their own preferences.

She was getting nowhere fast, so she returned to the blanket that they had set up in the sand. Boomer and Butch were wrestling in the water, but she was already dry and didn't feel like getting back in, so she sat there alone and watched them. Then another thought occurred to her.. Maybe Brick didn't like girls who showed so much skin.. she was comfortable with her body and had been so determined to be the opposite of her old self, but maybe she had gone too far. Her choice of bathing suit was pretty revealing, though she didn't think it was much worse than any other two piece.. Maybe he thought it was unladylike..

She didn't know how to feel. Was she betraying herself if she stopped doing something that she was okay with just because a guy might not like it? Either way, she found herself pulling her dress back over her head.

Brick was on the other side of the beach for a long time, he didn't want to leave without saying anything, and it's not like he could just avoid her forever.. But how was he supposed to look her in the eye and pretend like he didn't notice how drop dead gorgeous she was? They were friends, and roommates, he didn't want to make things weird between them, when he had no clue how she felt about him.. The best option was definitely to distance himself. That way he could contain his flushed cheeks, and anything else that might suddenly appear.

End Day 8Beach filler chapter? (: lolol