Update: Hi bbys! I'm so sorry for having to reupload this chapter multiple times, I keep having trouble with formatting and the italics showing up properly so it should be fixed now. Thank you for all the love, it really means so much !

...

Without thinking, Buttercup felt her legs move under her, clumsily navigating over the piles of clothes that lay in heaps on the ground. She was a bit embarrassed at how desperate her movements were, but she couldn't help it. She fumbled with the lock on the window as her heart leapt in her chest. A wave of relief washed over her, seeing his face. His emerald eyes dazzled excitedly, the warm expression on his face indicating no trace of resentment towards her. Her eyes flickered quickly to the gash on his right cheek, and guilt washed over her. Butch immediately noticed her looking at his cheek. He pressed his hand against the glass and smiled reassuringly.

Pulling the window open, the cold air wrapped itself around her skin, her raven hair lapping over her cheeks as the breeze found its way in.

"Butch, I-" she began.

But he just laughed, cutting her off. "I forgot to tell you, I liked your dress tonight.'' Also," he continued, gesturing to the cut on his face, "Is this why you're so gloomy tonight?"

She said nothing, only looked at him with a small frown.

He leaned into her, "Then make up for it."

Buttercup gazed at him questionably as his eyes widened with anticipation.

"Let's go star roving."

Star roving. That's what he called it. The few moments that they felt truly breakable, a rare feeling as a super. There were times Buttercup had felt jealous of humans, but she recognized it was a petty feeling. The numerous times she could have been seriously harmed, no one really bat an eye. The numerous times she'd plummeted 500 feet into the ground after being struck by a monster, or the times she'd skid across the pavement covered in shattered glass after being thrown from miles away. She'd had lava engulf her body, and shards of metal thrown into her flesh. But still, there was not one time that someone had even looked at her with a speck of worry. But, the same applied for the other five. Still, when her brain was really bad, she'd fantasize about her flesh being human, and in those moments, being lost forever.

In their indestructible bodies, loss was a hard thought to imagine. But, what if for a split second, you could just pretend? What if we were human? Oh, to enjoy the thrill of fragility. What if we had something to lose?

It sounded absolutely absurd when he'd first told her about it. To be honest, to Buttercup, it sounded like he needed professional psychiatric attention.

We get as high as we can, switch our powers off, then we fall, he had explained to her. It must have been over a year and a half by now. She remembered the way she stood, staring at him, mouth agape.

That sounds stupid, she'd replied. In response, he just laughed.

It's amazing, the things you see. When you see the ground closing in, you think, 'fuck, am I going to die?' Then you close your eyes, and you can't help but think about the things you love. And it feels like you really, really love them.

What do you see? she'd asked him.

That's for me to know.

Then I won't tell you what I see

That's fair

It was a perfect night for it. There were only a few clouds in sight, and the stars were shining bright as if they had something to prove. The moonlight illuminated their bodies as they flew higher and higher. In the sky, surrounded by the night, they felt so small.

Butch was leading this time, flying erratically, hollering and laughing. Every time they saw a funny looking cloud, they'd point it out to each other. They called out to each other to warn each other of incoming planes. Buttercup trailed behind him, doing various loops and spins until she got dizzy, opening her eyes to see three of him. Occasionally, he looked over his shoulder at her, smiling widely. A crazed sparkle in his eye. Everytime he looked at her, Buttercup felt so warm.

Sometimes she'd close her eyes, enjoying the feeling of the cold air rushing into her. It was still summer, but as they ascended into the sky the temperature dropped further and further. Her nose and fingers were growing more and more pink as they continued forward.

"Still?" Buttercup laughed. She felt as if they'd been flying for a while and was starting to get a bit impatient.

"More!" he replied eagerly, picking up the pace. The shades of green trailed behind them, painting the sky.

Buttercup sped up in response. They continued for a few moments until Butch reached his hand behind him, holding three fingers, a sign he'd taught Buttercup the first time they'd went star roving. Buttercup knew exactly what to do, and sped up. Butch slowed down as Buttercup spun around to the front of him as she'd done a hundred times before. For that split second, they locked eyes.

Buttercup reached both her hands out to him, and he reached back out in response. His fingers curled around hers as he used Buttercup's momentum to also throw himself into orbit. "Now!" he called out.

The first time they went star roving, Buttercup hesitated. She turned to see the moon, the biggest she had ever seen, as the clouds circled around her. When she looked down at the tiny lights of the city, and realized how small she really, really was in this big, big world. It captured her heart with fear, and she had frozen up. But Butch had taken her face in his strong hands and shouted at her.

You need to trust me!

And so she did.

But now, there was no ounce of fear in her heart, only excitement, only happiness. So when he shouted out, she reacted immediately, on instinct. And with that, the both of them tapped out of their powers.

Up so high in the sky, they were nothing but tiny specks in the endless horizon. The air swallowed them whole as they fell together. Butch laughed hysterically as their clothes and hair whipped behind them as they plummeted back down to Earth. The moon and the stars grew smaller above them. They were smiling wildly, scrambling to keep hold of each other's hands. Because of the momentum Buttercup had started, they were spinning in circles. Buttercup woozily slipped from Butch's grasp, but he grabbed her back and pulled her closer. She looked, and his eyes were closed, a huge smile plastered across his face. She should have been doing the same, but she didn't have to close her eyes to see what she loved.

When his emerald eyes opened, She met him with the biggest smile, and the smile he returned grew even larger.

The city lights were growing alarmingly bigger, and faster too. A sign that they were nearing the ground. The sound of the wind drowned out their laughter, and Butch's hands gripped hers, pulsating three times, which was his way of saying there was ten seconds left for them to react, or they wouldn't be able to kick into their powers fast enough.

And with that, they tapped back in, and said their goodbyes to their momentary fragility. Immediately, the sounds of Townsville filled their super hearing ears. People's radios humming in their bedrooms, raccoons fumbling in and out of trash cans, baths running, tires screeching. Their sight brought back the dew drops on the blades of grass, the cracks in the walls, the ants in the pavement. Before they would get tangled in the phone lines, they clumsily slowed down, coming to a tumbling halt. They fell onto a random rooftop, skidding across the tiles. The impact of their bodies shook the entire home.

Butch and Buttercup lay together, breathing heavily, still laughing with a wondrous look in their eyes. The moon and stars shone down on them, tiny in the sky again. The yellow fluorescence of the street lights showered them in luminescence. They turned to look at each other, and Butch opened his mouth to speak.

But suddenly, the sound of the homeowner slamming their window open caused them to shoot up.

"What the fuck was that!" a hoarse voice yelled angrily from the window.

Buttercup stifled her laugh, and Butch laughed out loud without care.

"Ah shit," Butch muttered under his breath. Buttercup and Butch shared a knowing look before taking off at super speeds.

"Fucking green shits!" the voice called. They turned to see a small figure shaking its fist into the sky at them.

Butch laughed so hard he started to tear up.

...

Buttercup sat to the side of him with her knees pulled to her chest, her small body completely enveloped in the T-shirt he had handed her. Before they had climbed into bed, Buttercup had waddled around like a penguin in her oversized clothes. Butch had watched her, wholly amused as she moved about, completing small nighttime tasks like putting her earrings away and drinking a big cup of water. The two had ended up in Butch's room right before sunrise. After they had both showered and changed into pajamas, the yellow hue of dawn had begun to fill the room.

"You sure it doesn't hurt?" Buttercup asked, reaching out to touch his face.

Butch pulled away. He lay on his side, looking at her, resting his cheek on the hand of the arm that held him up. "It's fine, BC, I've told you a million times."

She didn't say anything, just frowned as she took her hand back. He saw that she wasn't convinced, and continued on.

"We're together 24/7, I'm bound to annoy the living fuck out of you every once in a while. I'm surprised we've gone this long without you trying to kill me." he teased. "So you leaving me with just this," he said, gesturing to his cheek, "I'd say I'm lucky."

Buttercup laughed, and he smiled, "I'm serious!" he pressed."Plus, super healing." Butch shrugged, "It'll be gone tomorrow morning. Bet."

"I'm broke, I'm not betting shit." Buttercup retorted. She took a deep sigh before moving to wriggle under the comforter.

Seeing her getting comfortable, Butch moved to switch the lamp on his nightstand off before getting under the covers himself. For a few minutes, there was silence. Nothing but the sound of crickets outside the window, the morning commuters driving by, and Boomer walking past his door to start his morning cup of joe. That's how Butch knew it was time to go to bed. Whenever he heard the soft padding of Boomer's slippers against the floorboards, he knew he'd been up for far too long. When Boomer got up from bed, Butch got into it. Butch felt his eyes getting heavy, and was about to close them before he felt the warmth of Buttercup's forehead press against his bicep.

"Sorry I'm a shithead." she murmured.

"I thought you were sleeping." he laughed softly before turning to look at her. The bit of light that was beginning to emerge into the sky was enough for him to see her eyes. "I'm serious, don't think about it anymore."

"I just feel bad."

"The only thing you should feel bad about is keeping me up with all that yappin'."

Buttercup snorted in response, "Jee I'll just shut the fuck up then," she snapped jokingly, before jabbing him with her elbow.

"Gah!" he exclaimed.

As she moved to clutch the comforter close to her face, he quickly pinched her side in retaliation.
She gasped, before sitting up and moving to smack his head. He watched, completely entertained while laughing hysterically. Butch caught her arm mid-air and tossed her to the side of him before moving over her, holding her down by her wrists.

"Can we save this brawl for tomorrow? I'm tired." he pleaded.

It took Buttercup a second to realize the position they were in, how close in proximity he was to her. She was thankful that the room was still dark because she was burning up. Pink cheeked and wide eyed, she hurriedly squeaked out a response, "Yeah." she mumbled dumbly. Her heartbeat hummed in her ears.

"Great!" she could see his stupid smirk, clear as day even in the dark, as he rolled off of her.

"The wall!" she complained, moving to roll back over him. "You know this."

"Yeah, yeah," he responded. As she clumsily moved over him, he placed his hands on her waist, pulling her to the other side. His hands felt nice against her, and again she began to burn up. Butch moved his hands off of her as she settled onto her side. She found herself too hot for the comforter so she lay on top of it.

He groaned in exhaustion, the tension leaving his body as he lay limply in the sheets, "Goodnight, Buttercup." he said groggily.

"Night, Butch." she responded, and within a few seconds, his muffled snores filled the room.

...

Blossom swung open the front door and was immediately enveloped by the warm smell of butter and cinnamon. The morning light filled the room with gold. Blossom closed the door behind her, relieved that the activities she had just endured were now over. It was quite a morning, and now home, the familiar sounds of the buzz of the television and the whir of the stove filled the air. She'd spent all morning on campus, trying to gather their school council's schedule for the first week of their senior year. Upon entering the school lot, as President of the Student Body, Blossom was immediately hammered with a multitude of requests from club administrators, fellow students, and the rest of the students that decided to show up. Thankfully, Sarah and Robin are also in the student body and were there to back her up and shadow her when needed.

"Morning," Blossom breathed tiredly as she pulled her pink cardigan off. She sauntered over to the table, seeing one extra blonde head than usual. Blossom draped her cardigan behind the kitchen chair before plopping down.

"Tough morning?" Bubbles asked sympathetically.

"Looks like it." Brick added, turning the corner. In his hand was a cinnamon sugar shaker, which he put to the side of Boomer. His long red hair was done neatly into a french braid today, thanks to Bubbles.

Blossom quickly glanced at the calendar on the wall. It was the 5th of August. Good thing she had come home in time, because the Professor would have scolded her. It was weird, she thought to herself, that she had forgotten and that she had not written it down in her daily planner. The 5th of the month was their monthly physical with the Professor.

Ever since they had morphed into more anatomically correct human forms, he'd never admit it, but the Professor had been in a state of underlying anxiety ever since. If this unexpected adaptation was possible, what else? Their yearly check ups had turned into monthly check ups, with an even bigger emphasis on tracking their levels of Chemical X.

Immediately a wide smile erupted on Boomer's face as he took it and shook it vigorously over his pancakes, calling Blossom out of her deep thoughts. Bubbles grabbed it impatiently from his hand before doing the same. The two sat munching loudly, crumbs falling onto their sketchbooks. Out of the corner of her eye, Blossom saw the oil of the crumbs begin to stain their paper and grimaced. However, the pancakes did look really good.

Brick grabbed the TV remote and switched it on as Blossom stood up to retrieve some pancakes for herself.

Brick cocked his head to the side in amusement, and the two blondes eyes snapped up, both their cheeks full like a pair of hamsters.

"Good morning Townsville," the news anchor sang, "Today we open up today's news with coverage on the local menace that has been disrupting our mornings for the past week and a half. The telephone pole hooligan is up to no good again, after several police calls. The phone service at Townsville High is now down."

Intrigued, Blossom stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder. Boomer and Bubbles' chewing came to a halt.

"What kind of idiot would do that?" Brick asked, taking a seat himself.

"Haha, I wish I thought of that," Boomer exclaimed, spewing particles of food onto the table. Bubbles swatted him in response.

He turned to her, cheeks stuffed like a hamster, "S-Sorry," he sputtered, doing it again.

All four of them turned just as the news camera turned to reveal the perpetrator. At first it was unclear who it was, as the camera was awkwardly far too zoomed in and the unnamed person was looking away. All you could see was disheveled black hair, but already by that point Brick was on the edge of his seat. Suddenly in one snappy movement, they looked straight into the lense.

"Hi!" dark green eyes and a devilish smile met the camera. As the camera panned out, Butch's form was seen dangling from the pole.

A collective groan filled the air, except for Boomer, who began to laugh hysterically.

"Oh God, it's our idiot." Brick sighed, crossing his arms. "Why didn't Buttercup stop him?" he asked, looking at Blossom.

Blossom turned to look back at him, "She's probably not there, because she definitely would have." Blossom said defensively. But she heard Boomer's laugh erupt the room once more, and looked back at the TV, which showed the green sister enthusiastically shooting Butch a thumbs-up from below.

"Shit, it's our idiots. As in plural." Blossom whined.

"What's going on?" The Professor exclaimed, hurrying into the room. "No, not my girl, Mayor. She would have stopped him." he said into the phone.

"Woohoo, Buttercup, check this out!" Butch's grainy voice called from the TV. The camera panned out to show Butch do a triple front flip off, landing on top of Buttercup and squashing her onto the ground on accident. The four teens looked at the TV, and then back at the Professor.

"Oh God, that's my girl." he groaned, squeezing his temples. "Okay, yeah, whatever he damages, just put it on my card… Yeah... Yeah… My apologies again, Mayor… Okay yeah… Okay b-bye now." The Professor hung up and sighed.

"T-that suck-ks," Boomer looked at the tired Professor, sputtering again, chewing a mouthful.

The Professor winced at the sight.

"I know right," Bubbles mouthed from behind Boomer.

"Anyways…" the Professor began, looking away from Boomer, "Brick, you're first."

...

Buttercup laughed loudly as Butch tumbled off of his skateboard, skidding across the pavement.

"What the fuck!" he exclaimed, laying on the ground. He stared vehemently at the crack in the road that sent him flying.

Buttercup stopped and kicked her board into her hand. She caught his skateboard as it rolled her way, and kicked it back in his direction. Butch was already up and running, and jumped back on.

"That was a mean one." she reassured him, still laughing.

The two of them had woken up that afternoon, and immediately had their day ruined by Brick informing them that school starts next Monday. Senior year. As Brick scolded them about maybe finally taking their academics seriously for their last year, Butch and Buttercup had slipped out the back door, skateboards in hand.

Buttercup skated past Butch, who took the opportunity to place his hands on her back, pushing her hard and giving her even more speed.

"Oh, fuck!" she exclaimed, as her board shook unsteadily under her. Her arms waved around wildly as she tried to recover from the speed wobbles. She turned and saw Butch laughing at her. She flipped him off and immediately turned to focus on staying on her board.

Within a few seconds, he zoomed past her with confidence, "Don't eat shit!" he warned.

"You're one to talk!" she sneered.

Butch turned, "There was a crack!" he whined.

The two soon rolled up to Love You Latte, where they both came to a stop and kicked their boards into their hands.

Buttercup opened the door to the coffee shop. Butch followed closley behind her but she quickly turned to face him with a mischievous smile on her face before slamming the door into him. The wooden edge of the door bonked him on the nose and Buttercup sprinted off, cackling with her board in hand.

Within the same second, Butch whipped the door open and threw his board to the side as her laughter bounced off the walls, "You better run faster!" he warned before chasing her inside, grabbing at her clothes. They resembled two children on the playground, laughing mindlessly and completely unaware of the people watching.

"Stop! I like this shirt!" Buttercup exclaimed, swatting at him with her free hand. She held up her board, threatening to hit him with it.

"Shoulda thought about that earlier!" he teased. "Oh, fuck," he laughed as she jokingly swung her deck at him.

"Hey! Shitheads!" a familiar voice called out. They both stopped in their tracks, with Butch still gripping the cloth of her top, and Buttercup still holding her skateboard overhead, mid-swing.

Mandy sat at the back of the shop, waving her fingers at them wryly. Her face always wore an expression of disdain and boredom, but Buttercup knew she was smiling in her own little way.

"Fuck," Butch mumbled. He wasn't exactly fond of Mandy, but Buttercup was really good friends with her, so he tolerated her at most. Mandy always had some gripe against him, and always shot him looks of unprovoked pure murderous intent. Nothing had really happened between them, they just didn't like each other. And Butch was still mad about the one time Mandy had flicked her cigarette butt onto him a year ago. Instead of apologizing, she'd laughed in his face.

Butch begrudgingly let get go of Buttercup as she moved forward.

"Mandy!" Buttercup greeted her excitedly.

From under the table, Mandy pushed the chair opposite of her with her boot, signaling Buttercup to sit down. Buttercup jumped in the chair as it moved out, placing her skateboard next to her. He watched as Mandy pushed over a cup of water to Buttercup, which she took gratefully.

They interacted excitedly, while Butch stood off to the side, thinking to himself whether or not he should join them. He really didn't want to, but he didn't want Mandy to steal Buttercup away for too long. As he was thinking, he heard a high-pitched voice filled with excitement from behind him. Suddenly, the weight of a body was thrown into his arms. Thoroughly confused, he caught the girl mid-air.

"Butch!" she called.

Buttercup and Mandy both froze up, and their heads immediately whipped in the direction of the sound of Butch's name.

Buttercup immediately felt the rush of blood red heat explode inside of her at the sight. A girl had run up and jumped into Butch's arms. They couldn't see Butch's expression, since his face was hidden in long locks of wavy pink hair. The worst part was, Buttercup noticed his arms around her in response. Suddenly, the glass cup in her hand shattered.

"Fuck, sorry." Buttercup mumbled to Mandy without looking away from the two.

Mandy awkwardly sucked the air into her mouth as her eyes flickered repeatedly from Butch to Buttercup, "Oooh shit," she sighed, exhaling. She finally decided she had seen enough and turned to Buttercup.

Buttercup felt a vein in her forehead start to bulge as she ripped her eyes off of them. "Mandy!" She hissed in a low voice. "What the fuck?"

Mandy leaned forward and opened her lips to speak, but suddenly moved away and awkwardly drew her coffee to her lips without taking a sip,"Oh shit, they're coming," she whispered harshly into her cup.

"What?"

"Hi! I'm Ami!" A voice called out, causing Buttercup to jump. In any other instance, Buttercup would have thought she had a sweet voice, but at this moment, it just sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

Buttercup fought the urge to flick the shards of glass from the table at her. In a pained motion, Buttercup forced herself to look into her face.

Fuck.

She was met with dazzling pink eyes, her face was supple and kind. And Buttercup wanted to punch it.

Butch approached from behind, an apologetic look on his face.

"You must be Buttercup!" she smiled at her sweetly before looking down at the table, "Oh, did you drop that?" Ami asked, gesturing to the shards. "Let me clean that up!"

"It's fine." Buttercup said in a small voice.

"Don't worry! I work here, it's my job." she piped, she turned and gave Butch a smile before hurrying behind the coffee bar.

Mandy and Buttercup both exhaled as she exited and leaned back into their chairs.

The air was thick with tension and Butch squinted at the both of them, confused at why their demeanor was so offensive. Buttercup sat with her head down, staring hard at the glass. Butch looked at Mandy and was met with a piercing glare and immediately looked away.

"Fuck, sorry, Buttercup," Butch began in a strained voice, "I met Ami at the show last night. I forgot I told her I'd teach her how to skate. Would you mind if she tagged along?"

Mandy audibly guffawed under her breath.

Buttercup felt the whole room around her slow. The sound of the grinders and the voices of those around them suddenly became unbearable. Buttercup tapped her fingers on the surface of the table.

"Um," she began, looking up at Mandy, who shot her back a look of acknowledgement. "I think I'll stick with Mandy today." Buttercup replied, looking at Butch. When their eyes met, it stung, so she immediately looked away.

He frowned in response, "I-"

"Don't worry," Mandy interrupted, "I'll take good care of her."

He ignored Mandy and began again, "Buttercup-"

"Here we go!" A melodic voice called enthusiastically, interrupting him once more. Ami had returned with a cloth and a bin and immediately began to carefully sweep away the shards of glass. As she was cleaning up the mess, Buttercup caught her attention. Ami's eyes hovered above the sage green beads that adorned her wrist. A small silver metal "B" charm dangled from it.

"I like your bracelet." Ami said with a smile.

Buttercup shifted her weight in her chair, "Thanks."

Suddenly, Ami's expression changed to one of sudden realization. She turned to look at Butch, "Isn't it just like yours?" she dropped the cloth onto the table before turning to take Butch's hand into hers. Buttercup's eyes stared hard as Ami's fingertips skimmed up Butch's hand before stopping at his wrist. She placed a finger on the silver "B" before looking at him again with curious eyes.

"They're our friendship bracelets. B for Butch," He said, pointing to hers, "and B for Buttercup," he finished, gesturing to his.

Buttercup stared hard at their hands touching one another.

Don't touch him

Ami released Butch's hands from her hold, although Buttercup had hoped Butch would be the one to pull away instead.

"You guys must be really good friends." Ami turned, looking at Buttercup with a gleam in her eye. Buttercup sat there, wondering if the emphasis on the word 'friends' was intentional or if she had heard it wrong. Ami returned to carefully cleaning the glass. For some reason, Buttercup found watching the process to be absolutely unbearable.

"Here," Buttercup took her bare hands and swept all the glass into the bin in one, hard motion.

Ami gasped, staring in disbelief.

"Superhuman." Buttercup explained with a limp shrug before abruptly standing up. She raised her hands, showing perfect, unscathed skin, and moved to grab her skateboard.

Mandy stifled a laugh as she collected her belongings, slugging her tote bag over her shoulder before following Buttercup's lead and standing up as well.

"I'll catch you around some time." Buttercup said as she turned to Ami. She glanced at Butch briefly before heading towards the door. "Later, skater."

Ami and Butch watched them walk out.

"She was nice." Ami said slowly. After a second she turned to Butch, "Wait, did they pay?"

...

Buttercup stuck her hand out of the car, feeling the wind against her palm. With all the windows down, strands of Buttercup and Mandy's hair flew wildly. The music blasting from the stereo vibrated the seats, causing looks of disapproval at stoplights from other drivers. In response, Mandy shot them death glares. Her deep black eyes were soul capturing, and not in an enchanting, mythical manner, but in a deadly, fear-inducing way. It left her victims writhing in their seats, wondering for the rest of the week if they'd been hexed.

Mandy offered Buttercup a drag of her cigarette, which she took without any hesitation. Buttercup blew the smoke out from her lips, flicking the ash out of the window.

Mandy caught her solemn expression in her side-view mirror as Buttercup passed the cigarette back to her.

"You have nothing to worry about." Mandy said, her words were accompanied by a small laugh.

Buttercup turned to face her, "I hate that I like him." she groaned, cocking her seat back.

"I hate it too." Mandy retorted, half-jokingly. She thought about teasing Buttercup about her choice of words, that Buttercup loved him, not liked him. But she decided against it.

Buttercup laughed in response, running her fingers through the tangled mess that was her hair. She looked out the window at the passing shops. Buttercup examined the people passing by. She tuned into their conversations, being shamelessly nosy. Someone's dog had a vet appointment that day, because he'd gotten a bit fat. Someone else got a C- on their math exam. And another person had apparently bought a tub of cottage cheese only to go home and find that it had expired. Nothing interesting.

She looked away and caught Mandy's eye.

"Anything?" she asked.

"Someone has a fat dog."

In an effort to salvage the day, Mandy had taken Buttercup out to town. They had stopped by a crystal shop, where Mandy flipped through various spell books and touched Buttercup's nose with an array of stones and gems in an attempt to improve her mood. For a few blocks, Buttercup held Mandy's hands as she guided her in a straight line on her skateboard. The girls ran through a few pastry shops, picked out a few outfits only to put them back on the racks, and bickered over which album was the best of their favorite bands.

It helped, but Buttercup still had that sickness spinning in her stomach.

"You have nothing to worry about," Mandy repeated, staring forward as she continued driving. Buttercup watched as Mandy's blonde hair whipped around her, her black-painted lips forever slanted in a permanent frown.

"The other night he told me we'd be best friends forever. " Buttercup began, and for a moment, Mandy took her eyes off the road to look back at her, "And then fist bumped me." Buttercup wailed.

Mandy laughed out loud in response before reverting her attention back to the road in front of her. "Best friends," Mandy repeated, cackling to herself as if it was funny, "Best friends don't sleep together, weirdo."

Buttercup felt her face get hot. "We don't do anything!" she exclaimed defensively, turning away. She felt the heat of embarrassment rising within her, and her palms began to feel a bit wet.

"Yeah, right." Mandy retorted, rolling her eyes, "Everyone in Townsville thinks you guys are fucking." Mandy teased.

"Mandy!" Buttercup cried out before swatting at her arm.

Mandy yelped, and the car jolted to the left, the sound of screeching tires pierced the air and the collection of items in the backseat rattled about as Mandy struggled to regain control of the steering wheel. "For fuck's sake, can you hold back a little? Holy shit."

Buttercup was laughing hysterically, absolutely unphased, "Shit, I forgot you're human, sorry."

"I'm not made out of steel like you and Butch, okay? I have a very soft, fleshy body."

"I forgot!" Buttercup repeated, shooting up.

"Shit," Mandy hissed, shoving Buttercup back down. They had rolled up to a stoplight, confused, Buttercup gave her a questionable look. In response, Mandy cocked her head towards the window. Buttercup turned and saw a familiar shade of pink hair dancing freely in the breeze. The girl's skirt twirled around her thighs as she moved about. A tall figure followed her carefully.

"Shit," Buttercup repeated, and slumped into her chair in an attempt to be as hidden as possible. Mandy quickly reached over and turned the volume of her stereo all the way down as they both lowered their heads and peered out the car window, listening intently. Mandy pushed up her sunglasses, as if it would make a difference.

Butch and Ami stood close to one another. Butch's board lay unused on the pavement nearby as he focused all his attention on Ami. His eyebrows were furrowed slightly, Buttercup noticed, which told her that he was deep in concentration. Ami stumbled off the board, landing safely on her feet. In response, Butch's eyesbrows unfurrowed and he looked up reassuringly.

"Wow you suck," Butch exclaimed jokingly, "but you're so close!"

The pink haired girl laughed, and being a good sport, immediately tried again. Butch retrieved her skateboard and placed it back in front of her. Ami took an exaggerated breath in before taking another step on the board, knees wobbling. After a moment of hesitation, she looked up at him with wide eyes. "It's scary!" she piped.

"That's pathetic." Buttercup grumbled under her breath.

"Yeah." Mandy agreed, despite knowing damn well that if she were to put a single foot on a skateboard, she would 100% slip and break all her bones.

"Here," Butch moved in front of her. Ami reached out and grabbed onto the forearms of Butch's shirt with a bright smile sprawled across her lips. Mandy exhaled sharply seeing her touch him again. Buttercup was getting more and more agitated by the second. The two watched as Butch tried to help her stabilize herself. For a second, it genuinely looked like she had it. But only for that second.

"Butch!" Ami cried as the board shot out from under her unexpectedly, he tried to catch her as she fell but they tumbled over ungracefully. They fell side by side, and were laughing loudly together.

The two girls held their breath as they looked on. Mandy looked at Buttercup, who stared outwards, wide-eyed.

The car behind them honked repeatedly. Not once, but maybe five or six times. Neither of them had realized that their light had turned green. At the sound, Butch and Ami had turned and looked straight at the both of them. Buttercup and Butch locked eyes and if she could have, Buttercup would have chosen to die right then and there.

"Fuck!" Buttercup wheezed before ducking.

"Oh, shit," Mandy grimaced before slamming on the gas pedal. The tires screeched against the pavement before they took off.

"Oh God, oh God," Buttercup repeated as she sunk into her seat, covering her face with her hands. Her cheeks felt as if they would burn through the skin of her palms.

In a desperate attempt to get away as fast as possible, Mandy drove like a maniac. She found herself swerving in and out of traffic, nearly fishtailing at every turn. A symphony of car horns filled the air, in addition to the ceremonious waving of middle fingers.

"Mandy!" Buttercup whined, kicking her feet. She had never been so embarrassed in her entire life.

"Who cares!" Mandy exclaimed, trying her best to be reassuring as she tugged at the steering wheel left-and-right. "Are you even sure they recognized us?"

The image of Butch's emerald eyes locking with hers played in her mind and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to rid of it.

"Mandy, of course they fucking did!"

Mandy sighed pessimistically, "You're right, I was just trying to make you feel better."

"God!" Buttercup groaned, having yet to remove her hands from her face.

"Mandy, I wanna die."

The blonde was about to respond, but only a gasp left her lips.

Mandy slammed on the breaks and the car screeched to a stop. Two hands slammed onto the hood of the car. The girls looked up to see a freckled face peering at them with a crazed grin, blue hair lit up by Mandy's headlights.

"Thanks for the invite, cunts!" Marie shouted into the windshield.

...

Marie sat, mouth agape. The Kanker trailer was surprisingly cozy. Homemade ceramics were displayed on every tabletop, and embroidered tapestries hung proudly on the walls. A candle that was reminiscent of sweet pumpkin pie sat ablaze on her desk. The three girls collected together, slumped into the bean bags that were piled in the corner of Marie's room. Her bed was covered in art supplies and clothes, so they resorted to the floor.

"I know, right." Mandy exclaimed, reading Marie's expression. After hearing the summary of the events that had taken place, all Marie could do was squeak out a laugh of disbelief.

As the girls talked, Buttercup lay with her head thrown back, peering out the window. The two voices sounded more like white noise than people. She pretended that the upside down clouds were the ocean water, and the black sky was the sandy shore. The stars in the sky were fish, and the moon was a big island. She blinked, completely detached from her surroundings.

"You better get Grim to take care of them." Marie joked darkly, finally closing her jaw.

"Oh trust me, I'm tempted." Mandy replied hastily, putting her cigarette out in the mushroom-shaped ceramic ashtray. The two looked over at Buttercup who had been uncharacteristically quiet. Her hair lay disheveled, strands were stuck to her cheeks and her eyes were wide like saucers as the moon reflected in her deep black pupils.

Buttercup moved her bangs out of her face, and when she did so, she noticed something missing. She drew her wrist back, and stared at it hard. Buttercup sat up to get a better look. She twisted and turned the green beads, again and again. She did it twice over, then three times over.

A small sadness bundled in her chest as she stared at the green beads, and the empty space where the "B" used to sit.