I do not own the Power Puff Girls or the Rowdy Ruff Boys.

Chapter Ten: Finding Our Way Back

Boomer sniffled loudly from his place wrapped in Bubbles' blankets on her bed within her dorm room. "Ugh, I never thought I'd get sick like this." He shivered violently as Bubbles walked in with a mug of tea that she prepared in the dorm's kitchen.

"Here."

Boomer glanced in Bubbles' direction before noticing the tea in her hand. "No thanks."

"Drink it." His caring girlfriend told him as she sat on the bed beside him. "It'll warm you from the inside out."

His nose was too clogged for him to smell the contents, but he knew that he never really liked tea. Butch preferred coffee. Brick could at least appreciate its taste, but wasn't an avid tootler. He pulled the blanket over his face and groaned. "I hate tea."

"Boomer." Bubbles set the mug down on the nightstand and pulled the blanket off Boomer's head. "How do you expect to get better if you won't let me help you?"

He looked at her with tired and dull blue eyes. "You can help me by any means, just don't make me drink that."

Bubbles sighed and kissed Boomer's forehead. "Why is it why men get sick, the whole world it's as if they have terminal disease?"

"Because we want to be taken cared of." Boomer told her with a smirk. He then noticed the slight gap between the buttons on Bubbles' shirt and the swell of her breast. "Besides there are other ways to warm me up besides making me drink tea."

Before Bubbles could make a rebuttal there was a knock at the door. She wasn't sure if one of her roommates were there, but Boomer stopped her from leaving by placing a hand over her waist. "We're not having sex while you're sick."

"I'm no—not…not…ACHOO!" he sneezed, managing to turn his head away from Bubbles in time to not catch her in the face with a gross spray of germs and snot. Bubbles backed away and tucked Boomer under her covers.

"Drink the tea." Bubbles said, before getting up and washing her hands. Another round of knocks came to the door, and Bubbles checked it without looking to see who it was. That being said, she was more than a little surprised to see Jamie. "Hey! What are your doing here?"

Jamie held up his backpack. "Umm, we have a quiz and then a test coming up soon. I thought we might study. Like we…planned."

The memory that she remembered agreeing to studying with Jamie came to mind and she banged her head gently against the door. "Oh Jamie. I'm sorry, I forgot. Yesterday got crazy and Boomer is—"

Her classmate's face fell just a bit before he shrugged. "Oh, it's okay. We can study together another time."

"No, no, no. Come in." She opened the door wider and let him in. "You can sit in the living room, and I'll get my things so we can study."

"Okay." He said while shyly stepping into her dorm. He sat on the couch making himself as comfortable as could be. Once he was he got his notebook, index cards, and text book out so that they could start studying. He waited patiently for Bubbles to return.

In her room, she gathered the needed materials for her study session. Boomer watched her in silence as he sat up. "Who was at the door?"

"Jamie." She answered before opening the door to her room. "We have a quiz on Monday and a test that Friday."

The mention of his self-determined rival had Boomer sitting up all the way in Bubbles' bed. "Are you leaving to go meet him now?"

"No."

Boomer relaxed against the cushions. "He's in the living room."

Boomer stuttered trying to find the words before a sneeze left him. Bubbles turned to him and set her things on the bed. "Just rest here. I'll be in the next room if you need me." She kissed his cheek and grabbed her things to leave him. "Drink your tea."

Boomer was unable to find the words when she left. He sneezed a few more times before he stopped and rested against the pillows. Boomer held a hand to his head and groaned.

In the next room, Bubbles set her things down and sat beside Jamie. "Okay, where should we start?"

"Let's work our way from the earliest to now." Jamie suggested. "Thankfully there are only three chapters on the test."

"Yeah." Bubbles said as she and Jaime started their review. The two students sat for almost two hours lost in the world of veterinary science. It was filled with a lot of animal classifications and anatomy.

In the other room, Boomer went in and out of sleep trying to listen, but the science talk kept lulling him back to slumber. None of this was helped by his cold that also worked to exhaust him. Part of him knew he was being stupid, but something told him that the dweeb sitting with Bubbles in the next room liked her. He caught how Jamie stared at her at the party and how they hugged. Despite how unbecoming jealousy was, he couldn't help it. Bubbles was a sweet and beautiful girl. He'd be an idiot to think he was the only one who saw her as such. Add that to how this guy also went to high school with her—it just left a bad taste in Boomer's mouth. It was that or either the tea, mucous, or some bizarre combination of all three. Trying to decipher that taste was the last thought he had before slipping into a deeper involuntary sleep.

Asleep was hope Bubbles found him when she came to check on him while taking a small break. She sighed at his half full cup of tea that was now cold. She pulled the blanket back over him and listened to his clogged breathing. Thankfully he didn't sound worse, but he also wasn't any better. She could be mad at Blossom for getting him sick, but it was a necessary action. Bubbles could've taken one of the boys in a fight, but not both of them—and with how angry they both were someone was definitely going to get hurt. It was only after Bubbles got Boomer out of the ice, that he explained to her what had him so angry with Brick. He'd hit their father. Their father! To make things worse, he didn't even seem to care that he did. Boomer had explained how it just never happened, because if they were not careful they could seriously hurt him. Hurting someone you love physically was something Bubbles and her sisters knew about as well.

Unfortunately it wasn't just one someone, it was a lot of someones—all under the influence of H.I.M's hate spell. The girls were left with no choice but to fight. However, she knew that this was different. Mojo wasn't under any external influence to hate. Brick wasn't forced to fight. What happened was instinctual. The Rowdy Ruff Boy leader didn't think at all as he knocked Mojo across the room.

Bubbles didn't realize how lost in thought she was until Jamie tapped her gently on the forehead with his highlighter. "You still there?"

"Sorry." Bubbles said as she brushed some on her hair loose from the twin braids. "Just a lot on my mind."

"More than the bone structure of domesticated animals?" He joked, hoping to get a smile out of her.

A small smile did cross her face before she set her pen down and closed her book. "Yeah."

"Does it have anything to do with your boyfriend?" Jamie hedged.

"Yeah, sort of."

"Was he mad you had to cancel on him or—?"

Bubbles glanced at Jamie with a confused brow, before understanding of the slight misunderstanding dawned on her. "Oh, I didn't cancel on him. He's in my room asleep." When Jamie's eyes looked over Bubbles and his face flushed with heat, her own face did the same and she hurried to explain herself. "No, no, we weren't ha—having sex! He's sick in bed. He got sick—yesterday. B-blossom froze him in a block of ice."

The red in Jamie's face hadn't receded. If anything it only got worse, especially when he started gathering his things. "Umm, the study session went great. I feel I— we—we'll ace that quiz and then the test."

He then stood with his things hastily shoved into his bag and made to leave the room. Bubbles followed after him. "Jamie, wait." They'd just step foot into the hallway, when she took his arm. "Jamie."

"Bubbles, I-I-I don't want to get pounded." He blurted.

His statement more than confused Bubbles. When she stepped back to look at him, she watched as he took a deep breath and tugged on his ear. "What do you mean pounded? By who?"

"By…Boomer." The shy boy answered. "He hasn't said anything…it's—it's just…just—."

"Just what Jamie?" Bubbles asked, concerned about what could be troubling him.

"I know Boomer doesn't like me." He admitted. When her blue eyes widened, Jamie reached forward and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Like I said, he hasn't said or really done anything to me…it's just a feeling I have."

Bubbles wasn't sure what to make of that. Sure, she got a glimpse of Boomer being jealous, but she didn't think he'd been so aggressive so soon. "Boomer can be the jealous type, but he's nothing to be afraid of."

Jamie's laugh was wry as he pulled back from Bubbles. "He could give me a concussion by flicking my in the forehead."

Bubbles frowned and stepped up to Jamie, so she could place her delicate hand on his waist. She then proceeded to lift him off the ground until her arms were fully extended over her head. "I can handle Boomer."

The blush that filled Jamie's face made a soft laugh spill from Bubbles. When she set him down, she'd placed him unintentionally closer to her. Their eyes locked for a brief moment before she dropped her look and stepped back. "Right. Power Puff Girl."

"Exactly."

"I should still get going though." Jamie said with a small smile. "See you in class."

"See you."

Jamie turned and walked down the hall before turning the corner. Bubbles retreated into the room just to catch the sound of the toilet flushing from her side of the dorm. Moving from the door, she came to see Boomer leaving her bathroom with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. "Hey." He sniffled.

"You shouldn't be up."

"I wouldn't if I didn't have to pee and Alice wouldn't have called."

"Alice?"

"My lead at work." Boomer said while moving around Bubbles to go lay back down. "She was calling about some trip to the lake I missed out on. I told her I was spending the weekend with you."

Bubbles stared wide eyes at Boomer as he talked so nonchalantly about another woman asking him out. "That's bold."

"What's bold?" he asked as he got himself settled on the bed.

Bubbles stood in the doorway of her room and folded her arms over her chest. "Her calling you about a trip after you mentioned you have a girlfriend."

Boomer thought about it before shrugging. "Yeah, I guess."

"You guess? Boomer that's so not okay!" She vented.

Her sudden anger startled Boomer and he looked up to see her fuming. "What did I do?"

Hearing him ask that question made her close her eyes and count backwards as she came to the conclusion that Boomer wasn't who she was irritated with. It was this Alice person. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Seeing Boomer be so oblivious made her remember that he was but a clueless little puppy. Once her anger was doused, she sat on the bed. She snuggled into Boomer's side and wrapped her arms around him.

Boomer wrapped his own arms around Bubbles and sighed contently. In the silence the two of them just reveled in their closeness. Boomer's clogged nose caused him to sniffle a few times, but the silence was mostly there. It was also in that silence that a sudden thought occurred to Boomer and it couldn't stop him from laughing aloud. "You're jealous."

The stiffening of Bubbles' body confirmed it and he laughed harder. It was only cut off when Bubbles managed to pull a pillow out from under him and whack him in the face with it. "Maybe but you're jealous of Jamie."

"I never said I wasn't." he told her.

Bubbles propped her head on her hand and sighed heavily as she and Boomer just lied beside one another. "I think we look better in blue than in green."

"I actually like you in white Angel."

With Boomer sick, she couldn't kiss him on the lips, but she did press her lips to his cheek. "I still have that dress."

"I'd hope so. It's my favorite." Boomer told her, thinking back to the day he first saw her in that white dress. "I first saw and fell in love with you in that dress."

Bubbles smiled and ran her hand through Boomer's hair. "I think when we were working on Homecoming decorations. We got to talking and I got to see the real Boomer."

This time Boomer kissed Bubbles' forehead.

Buttercup paced back and forth on the wooden floors of their cabin. After their dip in the volcano, Buttercup retrieved her phone and listened to the voice message left by the professor. It was that moment that she knew he knew about her being married. When Butch asked her how she was sure when his brothers told him that they had their marriage license. She told him the professor only called her "young lady" when she was in serious trouble.

That brought her and Butch to now, with her pacing the floors of their cabin. Butch had texted his brothers that they were back and threatened he'd teach Brick's baby their secret special superpower when he was old enough. Boomer complained that it wasn't right since that was their secret special superpower and no one else's. Brick retorted that if anyone was going to teach his son that move then it was going to be him. Butch's adamancy that he would had sworn them to secrecy. Now all he had to worry about was getting Buttercup to calm down. It wasn't exactly easy since she was more worried about what the professor would do to Butch.

"He's not going to do anything…permanent to me." He reassured. He knew and accepted the fact that he was going to be maced with Antidote X. That was a given. What wasn't was how Mojo would react. His brothers' lack of massive text messages told him that Mojo was still alive and kicking. It was either he knew and already had his heart attack or he didn't and was building up to something bigger. Either way, he hadn't heard anything from his simian father made him anxious. "The chimp is too quiet."

That statement made Buttercup pause in her pacing. "That is worrying. Think he's going to build something to destroy something. He was known for that."

"Past tense. Was." Butch got up from the couch and stopped Buttercup from pacing again. "Look, we can't hide out in the cabin for long. They know we're expected back."

"I know." She took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "Fine. Let's go."

Butch was kissed by Buttercup, internally hating that it was brief and fleeting. He took her hand and entwined their fingers. "Four more days."

"What?"

"Four more days until I can lose myself in you." Butch leaned down and buried his nose in Buttercup's hair. "I really hate that we haven't been…us since Vegas."

Buttercup cupped Butch's cheek and ran her thumb over the curve of his face. "I wish I could say we'll okay."

"We will be okay." Butch said taking her hand in his own.

Buttercup shook her head. "You can't possibly know that now."

"I do." He said while staring into her jade eyes.

The two decided to go their separate homes so that they could talk their designated parent down. Buttercup stood on the porch of her home and took a deep breath. "All right."

Walking in, she felt like a thief in the night as she carefully looked around the corners for any sign of the professor. She checked the kitchen first, remembering how he'd confronted her there the last time he'd had to have a hard talk with her. When he wasn't there, she looked else where only for her to jump out of her skin and bolt into the air with a green streak when she heard a loud throat clearing. Spinning around in the air, she saw the professor standing on the ledge by the stairs from the second floor. He was leaning on the banister with his hands clasped in front of her.

"Hello Buttercup."

"Hi Daddy." She floated down to where he was and hovered in the air, unsure of what he was going to start with.

There was a strained silence as he looked her over. She for the most part looked uninjured, but all the stress was in her face as she waited for judgement. "Let's go down to the lab."

"Why?" she asked in a voice that rose a few octaves. She could not let him run tests on her. She wasn't sure what her blood would reveal. She nervously brought her hand up to rub the back of her neck as she dropped her eyes.

The professor was about to answer her when he saw the black and green ink that adorned her inner left arm. "What in the hell is that?"

"Huh? What?"

"Your arm." He said, his wide eyes not once leaving the what was once clear skin.

Buttercup's eyes closed as she remembered she had a tattoo now, along with a ring. Her arm on her neck dropped as she brough her other to cover the space. "I—it's…it's a tattoo. Butch and I got tattoos while in Las Vegas."

"Before or after you got married?" he questioned with a bit of a bite. When Buttercup flinched at his tone, he forced himself to regain his composure. "To the lab, Buttercup."

The lump in her throat got larger and she couldn't seem to get past it, no matter the amount of swallowing she did. She sunk to the floor and waited for her father to get to the ground floor, before walking to the lab. Here she was, Power Puff Girl who's faced monsters and demons and robbers and villain masterminds was afraid of her father's words. His opinion her weighed more than any other person in the world—Butch making a very close second. She felt ready to burst into tears at any given moment, and she was so tired of crying. She felt like she's done nothing but cry since Las Vegas.

The green Power Puff girl sat on one of the stools in the lab. Her shoulders were hunched and her eyes were down cast. The professor came around to sit on his one stool across from Buttercup. "Start with Vegas. What happened there?"

"Do I—?"

"Yes." He told her not wavering in his authority. "After not hearing from you for more than a few weeks and finding out that you're now married, most definitely yes."

Buttercup covered her face as she groaned. "We got invited to a wedding when we were at the casino and the couple gave us drinks with ecstasy and while we were high Butch proposed and I said yes and we got married and spent the night drinking and having sex. The next day we flew to Hawaii so Butch wouldn't destroy Las Vegas or kill the couple that drugged us."

Even with her words spewing from her mouth at hyper speed, the professor caught and understood everything she said. His eyes were wide as he stared at his rebel daughter. The blood had all but drained from his face as got to his feet and placed his clenched fists on the work desk. "I'm going to kill that boy."

Buttercup peeked through her fingers and dropped them to reach over to grab her father's hands. "Dad!"

"What the hell was he thinking? What were you thinking?" He pulled his hands back from Buttercup and ran them down his face. "You know better."

She couldn't do anything save for nod her head and brace her face in her hands. "I know."

"Do you?" He turned to look back at Buttercup and took in her own devastated face. He turned away from his daughter to try to regain his composure. When he asked her to tell him about what happened, being drugged and drinking was not what he expected. The drugged part he was something he was still dealing with from when it happened to Brick and Blossom. However, for Buttercup to go into this with eyes open… "I cannot express how severely disappointed I am in you, Buttercup. On top of you being married, you also tried to have your marriage concealed from us. What did you think that would accomplish?"

"We weren't going to keep it from you or Mojo for long. Butch and I just needed time to figure out our next move." Buttercup explained, sensing the lameness of the statement even as she said it—despite it being true.

The professor braced his hands on the table and leveled Buttercup with a hard stare. "And what have you to decided will be your next step?"

"We're going to be separated." Buttercup told him. "Butch will stay at his house and I'll stay at mine." She further explained when she saw the professor's questioning look.

"But you're going to remain legally bound in marriage?"

Embarrassment expressed itself in the form of red tinging Buttercup's cheeks. "Butch doesn't want to get divorced."

"Did you?" he asked her, wondering if he should still kill Butch; or at least attempt to.

Buttercup shrugged a shoulder. "I didn't want to stay married, considering how we got married. But I do know I love him, and…I would want to be married to him. Even after all this."

Now the professor was looking at Buttercup with a critical eye. "You want to be married to Butch?"

"Is that so hard to believe? That I want what other girls want?" She snapped defensively. "Granted I don't want my wedding and marriage to be remembered as the clusterfuck—."

"Language Buttercup."

"There's really no other way to describe what Vegas was." She told him.

"So you would be Butch's wife?" The statement came out as a question, because he knew from observing that their relationship was…delicate. Each of his daughters' relationships were different. Bubbles and Boomer's was the epitome of puppy love. They were completely ingot each other and only had eyes for each other. Brick and Blossom's was complicated, but he saw them working through their complications together. The one that he worried the most about was his little softhearted rebel. Many would think that Bubbles was the more tenderhearted one of the three, but it was in fact Buttercup. She kept her true feelings bottled down and tended to be abrasive in order to hide those feelings. When they did come out, she didn't relish being so vulnerable.

"Yes, though I wish it would've happened under better circumstances." She laughed wryly and dropped her eyes as tears welled up. "Butch doesn't care about the how. He's just glad to have me."

The professor looked Buttercup over once more before letting out a long suffering sigh. He sat back down and ran a hand through his hair. He didn't say this out loud, but he certainly knew that his hair has grown another grey streak from all the stress from the past year. He didn't bother to dye it as he found that to be an utter waste of time. When he turned back to Buttercup, he caught her swiping away the tears that ran from her eyes. "'Glad to have you?' What is that supposed to mean? He wanted to marry you?"

"Yeah."

The professor's brow rose in shock before an incredulous scoff escaped him. "Huh. I never would've pictured him as the marrying type."

A small smile crossed Buttercup's face. "Me neither."

"And you still said yes."

"Yeah." She said wiping more tears with her left hand.

The motion caught the professor's attention as his eyes homed in on the ring that adorned her left ring finger. "Is that your ring?"

Buttercup sighed and brought her hand down to show her father the ring. He took her hand as he examined the fine and expensive piece.

"Let me guess, this cost ten grand." The professor rose a brow.

Buttercup pulled her hand back as she sighed. "We weren't worried about the cost."

"I can't imagine you were when you were high." He retorted,

Buttercup winced but she knew he was right to be mad. This adventure was the worse trouble she's ever gotten into and she still hadn't told him—nor did she plan to—about their visit to the clinic. That reminded her to plan a visit to her gynecologist. She just wanted to double check that she was clear of anything before she decided to have sex with Butch.

"You know it's expected you both pay back the money spent on that ring." He told her as he propped his chin in his hand.

"If we sell it, how much do you think we can get for it?" Buttercup asked.

"Go to a jeweler, you might salvage a decent chunk of the money. Don't bank on all of it." He said just as the house shook violently.

Normally the house shaking wouldn't bother him or anyone else who lived there, but that was usually because one of its residents were the cause. Since Bubbles and Blossom had classes and the professor was not experimenting, it had to be something else. The two of them quickly exited the lab, to find Butch stomping into the living room with his duffle bag thrown over his shoulder. He dropped his bag and then slumped onto the couch. He put his feet up on the arm of one end and reclined his head on the other.

"Butch, what are you—?"

"I just fixed that door a month ago!" The professor yelled, noticing it was wide open due to the massive crack in the door. When he turned back to Butch, he swore he felt his eye twitch. "You couldn't knock like a normal person?"

"I did knock." Butch grumbled out. "Just maybe a little too hard."

"You broke the damn door, jackass!" the professor yelled, his anger coming back full force now directed at Butch.

"Professor." Buttercup held up her hand, only to have him step around her so that he could stand over the Rowdy Ruff Boy. The same Rowdy Ruff Boy that was looking anywhere but at him. "Butch, what are you doing here?"

"I can't come visit my wife?" He asked, with a bite to his tone.

The professor's eye twitching intensified. "Your wife told me you two were supposed to be separated, so shouldn't you be at your own house?"

"I've changed my mind. I want to be with my wife." He said closing his eyes and making himself comfortable.

The professor's anger stopped him from noticing the tenseness around Butch's eyes. It didn't go unnoticed by Buttercup. "How'd your talk go with Mojo?"

"Fine. Great." He said. "You know how Mojo is. Throwing fits. Screaming. Yelling. Officiator of banning people from his stupid volcano tower."

"Officiator of banning—wait a minute! Did Mojo kick you out?" Buttercup asked.

The professor growled under his breath. "Couldn't you have gone to your brother's house?"

"Like I said, I want to be with my wife." Butch snapped.

Buttercup gently placed her hand on the professor and guided him away from Butch. "Buttercup!"

"Professor, please." She asked as she looked to Butch's tense form on their couch.

"He's not staying here. Husband or not." The professor declared.

Buttercup pushed the professor into the kitchen. "No eavesdropping."

The professor gave Buttercup a look. The trust he had in her was momentarily cracked if not completely shattered. Buttercup's chin dropped as she saw the stern look turned her way. "You two both stay downstairs."

"We're not fucking if that's what you're worried about. At least not for another few days." Butch said from his place on the couch.

"Butch!" She spun with her face red with embarrassment.

When he looked over the arm at her and she shook her head, he shrugged. "What? He should be glad that we don't have plans to have sex."

"Butch, not helping." She turned back to the professor. "Can we have five minutes?"

He didn't say anything as he left the room, but not without a parting glare at Butch's head. As soon as he gave them the illusion of privacy, Buttercup went to sit in the chair across from Butch.

"What happened?"

Butch's brow furrowed as his hands clenched behind his head. "What the fuck do you think happened, and are you really surprised? Stupid, stubborn, fucking monkey."

"We knew Mojo was going to be the more difficult of the two." Buttercup said. "The professor isn't taking this well either. He's really upset about the drinking and the drugs."

Emerald green eyes turned toward Buttercup with a look of shock. "You told him about that?"

"I couldn't find it in me to lie." She admitted rubbing the back of neck. "What did you tell Mojo?"

"I told him not to expect a divorce, but expect an invitation for our actual wedding. He said over his dead body. I told him if he'd have a heart attack that could be arranged and I'd get the money to pay for it, then he told me to get out and stay out until I got a divorce." Butch summarized, agitatedly.

"YOU ARE NOT STAYING HERE!" The professor yelled from the kitchen, before storming in and grabbing Butch's bag. "I am well within my rights to kick your ass, but it think helping you two abide by your separation will do you some good. You've gotten into enough trouble together."

"Dad!" Buttercup groused as she stood up to take Butch's bag. "Please let him stay. He can stay on the couch if it makes you feel better."

"He can stay on the couch, after he gets a job and starts paying back that ten-thousand-dollar ring that's on your finger." The professor said before turning to his daughter. "I also expect you to get a job too. Marriage is a partnership, so you will weather through this financial storm together."

He then turned back to Butch and gestured with his hand for him to get up. Butch's brow rose in disbelief as he shifted into a sitting position. "You're seriously going to kick me out too?"

The professor handed him his bag and put a hand on this son in law's shoulder. "Without a doubt. I would say it's nothing personal, but it is." He grabbed the edge of his shirt and pulled with all his strength, growing angrier when Butch used his superior strength to resist. "I can and will get my power suit to remove you from my house."

Butch smacked the professor's hand away and stood up, smirking just the smallest bit when he saw him wince. He didn't break anything, but he was sure to have bruised something. "Fine. I'll call Brick and see if I can stay at his place."

As he grabbed his bag and walked to the front door, Buttercup looked between him and the professor. When the professor gave her leave to go after him, she caught Butch's hand and pulled him to a stop. "Wait."

"What?"

Buttercup leaned up on her toes and kissed Butch. "Okay now?"

"I will be after I get settled in." He leaned down to kiss Buttercup and pressed his forehead to hers. "Come see me at the cabin later tonight. After your spartan of a father goes to sleep." He whispered against her face.

"We can't have sex. You know that." She whispered back.

The snort of laughter sent a flush of heat rising to Buttercup's cheeks. "There are other ways to get you off."

The reaction that ignited wasn't something she could control even if she wanted to; her core clenched and she knew that Butch knew she was now wet. Rather than say anything, she pushed him out the door and closed it behind him and sunk to the floor. She groaned and rubbed the heels of her hands over her eyes.

"Sneak out to go meet him, and I will definitely kick his ass." The professor promised when he came around the corner and noticed his daughter sitting on the floor. "I mean it, Buttercup."

As much as she wanted to go to Butch and see if he could—who was she kidding, she knew he could—she didn't want to incite more ire from her father. "Right."

Textbooks, notebooks, highlighters, and two empty bowls of what was chili were on the floor with the two students studying for their classes. Brick was lying on his stomach while Blossom sat reclined against their couch, her hand on her belly rubbing mindless circles as she read and took notes. Suddenly, she felt pain in her back and moaned softly. Brick looked her way in concern.

"You okay?"

Blossom waited for the pain to subside before she answered. "Yeah, it's just my back. I think I need to move to the couch to cushion the extra weight." She scooted forward and braced herself on the couch. Her flight powers enabled her to get up without much difficultly. When she sat back, she sighed heavily. "That's better."

"Your back? It's not a contraction, is it?" Brick asked growing anxious. "Do we need to go to the hospital? Call someone? Your dad?"

Blossom rolled her eyes and blew a breath of ice toward Brick teasingly. "Cool it. I just said my back hurts. Also, I'm not due for another month."

"Since when do babies arrive when they're 'supposed' to arrive?" Brick asked as he shifted onto his knees and shuffled over to her and placed his hands on her belly. "He'll come when he's ready to come. Hopefully after midterms."

"Yeah, after midterms would be great." Blossom laughed while soothing her belly from the kick she received after using her ice powers.

Brick kissed her belly and rubbed his own hands over her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

His girlfriend shrugged as she looked toward her notes on the floor. "If I were to complain, it would have to be about the 'B' I'm getting in Child Development, but I blame that on baby brain."

"If baby brain is resulting in you only getting a 'B' then it's not much to complain about." Brick chuckled as he leaned up to kiss her, only for her to turn her face away from him. "What?"

"If I recall, I was salutatorian." Blossom told his with a raised brow.

"Yes, but only by a technicality. I'm sure I would've been valedictorian if I hadn't missed two more days than you." Brick said, moving his kisses to her neck.

Blossom moaned softly under Brick's ministrations. "It's cute that you think that. We both know I had the higher GPA."

"It was by a hundredth of a point." Brick murmured near her ear. "Also, you're getting a 'B' so I think my GPA is the higher one."

"Keep talking like that, and you'll be on the couch." She threatened halfheartedly.

"Uh-huh." The two laughed as Brick and Blossom kissed. He soon pulled back when his knees crumpled the notebook underneath him. "Maybe we should get back to studying. We've only been at it for two hours."

Before Blossom could answer, there was a rough set of knocks on their front door. "Don't pretend you're not their or are having sex. I can see you with my x-ray vision." Butch's gruff voice came through the door.

Brick looked to the front door of their apartment and groaned. Standing up and walking around their notes, he went to answer the door. Sure enough was his younger brother, looking a little soul exhausted. "What are you doing here?"

"Yeah, shouldn't you have gone home to talk to Mojo?" Blossom asked as she struggled a bit to get up.

Butch let himself in, knowing to avoid stepping on their homework. He did it once when Mojo was homeschooling them and Brick went into a bonafide tirade. He was sure Brick and a pregnant Blossom would rip him a third asshole. "I did and I'm now not welcome. Don't get up on my account, Blossom. Don't want the secretly named baby to tip you over."

The comment had Brick placing a burning hand on Butch's chest. "First, watch your mouth. Second, did Mojo kick you out?"

"What do you think?" he asked as he dropped his bag on the floor and headed toward the kitchen. "Also, before you ask, Professor Butthead told me I couldn't stay at his house until I got a job."

"What makes you think I won't make you get a job, if you stay here?" Brick asked.

"Because you're my brother and you're supposed to love me." Butch told him as he lifted the lid off the chili. "Can I grab a bowl of this? I'm starved."

As he helped himself without waiting for a response, Brick felt Blossom put a hand on his shoulder. "Butch, we have no problem with you staying with us—."

"BLOSSOM?!"

"But only if you clean, get groceries as we need them, and babysit for us on ten separate occasions." Blossom said as she leveled Butch with an unwavering stare.

Butch's eyes widened in shock at the ultimatum thrown before him. "What?"

"And, if you're still here when Fireball drops, you will be helping with the late nights and will change him." Brick threw in.

"Fuck no. I am NOT changing any diapers." Butch said as he took his bowl to the dining table and sat down. Brick followed after him and pulled his bowl of chili away from him. "Brick."

"If you're going to stay in my house, you're going to pull your weight around. Which means, if my son needs his diaper changed and you're the only one around to do it, you'll do it." Brick said as he got in his brother's face.

Butch tried to take his meal back when Brick moved it further out of his way. "BRICK!"

"Diaper duty or you're out on your ass." Brick snapped at him.

Butch's grip on the spoon tightened to the point of breaking it. When he saw that Brick wouldn't relent, he dropped his head back and groaned loudly. "Fine. I'll change his diapers, but ONLY if neither you or Blossom can do it."

Brick slid his brother's bowl back toward him and crossed his arms over his chest. "Don't choke on it."

Blossom came to sit beside Butch at the table as he began to eat. "So, both our dads kicked you out?"

"One kicked me out. The other just denied access until employment." Butch said around a mouth full of chili.

"I guess that means Buttercup is home too. How mad is the professor?"

Butch looked to Blossom and toned down his irritation. Being mad unreasonably at his brother was one thing, but Blossom while she was pregnant was something he didn't want to encounter. He was sure he still had the lump on his head from when she threw a wishing fountain at him. "He's pretty pissed. Buttercup told him all about our Vegas adventure."

"We still haven't heard all that happened." Blossom said with a pointed look, before another pang of pain shot up her back. She held her stomach and breathed through the pain.

The two brothers tensed up as they turned to Blossom. "Don't tell me she's going to give birth now."

"It's…it's…Braxton Hicks." She breathed through the pang of pain. "It's nothing."

"Doesn't seem like nothing." Butch commented as he relaxed.

Blossom's fake contractions eased, and she sighed. "It's just my body preparing for birth next month. If you were to take me to the hospital now, they'd say the same thing."

Butch was skeptical while Brick looked ashen—and dare anyone say, terrified. When the green Rowdy Ruff boy looked to say something, Brick hit his bowl of chili when enough force to send it flying into his face. The spiciness of chili managed to not only get into his nose, but into his eyes. He instinctually rubbed his eyes, which only served to irritate them more. "AHH, Brick!"

The elder Rowdy Ruff boy grabbed his brother by the collar of his shirt and dragged him to the bathroom. After turning the tap on, he guided Butch to it, so he could cup the water and rinse his eyes out. Brick leaned against the counter and folded his arms. The only sounds were Butch's sputtering as he forced meat, sauce, and beans out of his nose.

When Butch was as chili free as could be without a shower, Brick handed him a towel. Snatching it from his brother, he wiped his face and then threw it back at him. "What the hell was that asshole?"

"Be sure to wear shorts or something over your boxer while sleeping on the couch. Blossom doesn't need to see your morning wood." With that, he left the bathroom leaving Butch fuming.

Ten minutes. For ten minutes, Robin, Sam, Tabitha, Deedee, Blossom, and Bubbles admired Buttercup's ring.

"It's even more sparkly in person." Sam said as she twisted Buttercup's finger back and forth so that she could see the light refract off the diamonds. "Wow!"

"Did Butch really spend ten grand on this?" Tabitha asked looking up at Buttercup's exasperated face. When she nodded Tabitha whistled under her breath.

Buttercup pulled her hand back to finally release it from scrutiny. "I'm not keeping it."

"You don't like it?" Deedee asked, almost incredulous that she didn't like her ring.

Buttercup shook her head as she took a sip form her drink. "We have to pay the money back, so that means selling the ring."

"Sell it to Princess." Tabitha says. "Tell her it cost twenty grand. You'll pay Mojo pack and get to keep ten grand." She shrugged at the simple solution.

Deedee rose a brow as she thought over the simplicity of that plan. "Will that work on her?"

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't the bourgeoise going to be extra critical of the jewelry she purchases?" Deedee explained while picking up her menu. "I mean, she's a snob, right? Snobs know their jewelry."

Blossom snorted a laugh at the comment, eyes never leaving the menu. "True, but Princess isn't the smartest snob. I'm sure Buttercup can find a way to hustle Princess."

The girls looked to the typically high morality oriented Power Puff girl with raised brows. "Why is it that every time Princess is mentioned, you become…evil?" Sam asked.

Blossom looked up to see the other girls staring at her and she couldn't help the blush that crossed her face. "Are we going to order or what?"

There was a ripple of laughter before their waiter came and froggy voice cut through. "Welcome to Italian Slice, what can I— Ugh, I have to serve you guys?"

"Mitch Mitchelson." Buttercup sighed. "You work at here."

"Rent went up. Got to pay the bills." Mitch sighed. He then flicked his notepad and flicked it with his pen. "Now, what do you want?"

"A little sugar in the lemonade if you want a tip." Tabitha snarked at him.

Mitch scowled at her before taking down each of the girls' orders. When he turned to Buttercup, his eyes zeroed in on the impressive jewelry she wore. "Nice bling. Did your boyfriend pinch it from some sidewalk peddler?"

Buttercup chose not to dignify that with a response. Mitch was the last person she wanted to have know that she was married. His words regarding the Puffs relationship with the Ruffs was almost on par with Mojo's, only he pointedly antagonized Buttercup and Butch. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he was definitely a would be lover scorned. The spice Puff couldn't care less, what Mitch thought anymore. She'd tried to still be friends with him, but he'd pissed on that as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

Unfortunately, Sam didn't have those same inhibitions. "If you must know, he paid for it, and it's worth more than you'd ever hope to make in a year." The kick to her chair was none too subtle as Buttercup shook her head, eyes blazing.

"He actually paid for it," Mitch started to laugh. "It must not have cost that much."

"How much it costs is none of your fucking business Mitch. Just like everything that else in my relationship with Butch. It's none of your fucking business." Buttercup said turning her glare onto Mitch. "Also, we're hungry. You mind putting order in?"

Mitch ground his teeth before storming off to put their order in. At the table the girls were rendered silent by the brief confrontation with Mitch. Bubbles then blew out a breath and ran her hands through her hair. "So are we supposed to be mum about the—?"

"Don't even say it." Buttercup grumbled. "It's my shame and mine alone."

"I don't think eloping is such a huge offense." Blossom told her.

"We didn't elope." Buttercup snapped at her. "We…we got caught up in the city of lights and all it's glamor."

Blossom eyed her sister critically before a pain shot up her back. She moaned low in her throat and shifted in her place. This drew all the girls' attention as she breathed through the pain.

"Are you having contractions?"

"No, just Braxton Hicks." The soon to be mom answered. When she relaxed, she sighed and rubbed a hand over her belly. "He's also not due to another month."

"Another month is midterms." Bubbles told her worried. "You think the baby will stay in the oven until then?"

"He'd better." Blossom laughed. "His room isn't ready yet."

The lightheartedness returned to the group as they went into talk about the baby's room and pending arrival. While it was very real for the others, Blossom's laughter and smile didn't reach her eyes. She didn't want them to know that she was in fact very worried about having the baby. Sure she had all the support she could hope for, but she was sure the baby itself was still a vague idea for them all. Yeah, everyone could see her protruding belly and feel the baby's kicking, but it wasn't enough to make everyone realize that she was having an actual baby.

Maybe they'd realize when she gave birth that the baby was an actual being, and not just a figment of anyone's imagination.

Hi my lovelies. First chapter of the new year! I hope everyone's Christmas and New Year's was amazing. Also, I noticed something about my writing. Not a lot has been mentioned about Blossom and how she's feeling. Sure we've gotten Brick and his drama with Mojo. The greens and their marriage troubles. The blues with their. Even Mojo and the professor and their spats. But no Blossom. We've only gotten the bits of Blossom from when she's hanging out with her friends, sisters, and Brick. I think she needs a solo chapter. Don't you?