-Starting from where we left off-

Bubbles glares at the screen of her phone, it's been 2 hrs since she laid down and sleep wasn't happening now. It's like they were so immersed in their work that she wasn't part of them anymore. Now it was excuse after excuse of why they couldn't be there anymore. They weren't trying to see her anymore. She was angry and needed to let these emotions out, but how could she?... She didn't want to have this ruin the weekend. She wanted to turn to her usually solid method of emotional release, but she didn't want to disturb the others. She remembered that it was quieter when she put the top of the piano down, nobody would be disturbed and she can let this out before morning. This was her problem and she didn't want to burden her friends who were beyond happy right now. She tossed her blanket off and Zepher curled up in the mass, she smiled at least she had him.

She quietly heads past the door of the guest room. Brick was the last person she wanted to wake up right now, she heads downstairs keeping her footsteps quiet. Bubbles puts the piano top down and sits, grazing her hands on the keys. She felt a tear make it's way to the surface, she hardly cried anymore. It was like they were slowly forgetting about her each year. It ws like the closer she got to growing up, the more her parents pulled away. She was 19 years old now, how long until they completely forgot about her?

She loved her family, but what they were doing just didn't seem right. She hadn't talked to them in over 2 weeks, they only called on Wednesdays. The calls kept getting shorter and shorter. They only sent her money 5 times a month, it was enough for food, bills and pity gifts to keep her from getting too upset with them. She didn't want to have their money and gifts, she wanted their love and affection, their attention... She wanted something that wasn't this.

She was so full of mixed emotions... She was angry, sad, confused and absolutely terrified, but she also had her Brick issue to worry about. She was afraid to let new people closer to her, because they might leave her too. Brick probably didn't even like her that way, she probably wasn't even his type. She felt her fingers grip the keys of the piano. Non-coherent noise came from the piano. Her hands moved to cradle her head. Here she was sitting in her blue nightgown having an existential crisis in her mind. Her mind was like a cluster fuck of confusion.

That's when one song pops into her head, Hate by Lucas King. The song spoke for itself and she brought her fingers back to the keys and began to play. She hates how they're living without her, but even if she was there with them... They'd still be at the hospital, they'll never pay her and ounce of attention like they do to those patients. She felt her body hype itself to play something faster, Hate wasn't fast enough. She moved onto the 3rd Movement of Midnight Sonata by Beethoven, the 3rd Movement was angry like she was, it was also the one piece she didn't get to play for them because she didn't get it down until just last year. Her body moved with her hands and play the song. If only they saw her now and saw the pain they caused.

She felt all the negative energy wash away as she hit thoses final notes. She breathes heavily as she sat back down, her body almost exhausted from the amount of emotional and physical energy put into that. She sighs in relief and finally rests her mind, her hands gliding through her slightly damp hair. When she can feel her mind return, something catches her eye in the reflection of the picture frame glass on the wall. Someone was in the doorway watching her, she gasped and turned around. She was frozen in place, who was that?! She could only she a shadow in the dark living room.

"You played very well, but very angrily..." She knew who it was right away. Brick moves from the doorway to walk next to the piano, she saw he was shirtless and his hair messily unkempt. Bubbles blushed, she couldn't deny that he was more than attractive right now.

"I'm sorry I woke you..." She apologized to him, he lets out a soft chuckle.

"I haven't slept yet, I usually don't until a bit later than this..." Brick said sitting next to her.

"Oh..." Bubbles said and blushed more.

"Are you okay? The fact that you're up at 1:30 am, playing the most aggressive piano piece I've ever heard, tells me that something isn't right there..." Brick said and Bubbles frowns.

"I'm fine now... It was something a bit personal..." Bubbles said and he nods.

"You seem really shy, but there you weren't..." Brick said and Bubbles looks at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Bubbles asks her timidness returned.

"When you play you're an open book, that's why you only tell certain people... Am I on the money?..." Brick questions and she sighs heavily.

"Yes and no... I don't play for others, because they usually like it in the moment but after it's done they're gone... They're only proud until they find something shiny and new to be impressed with..." Bubbles didn't even know why talking to him about this was so simple.

"Fuck ain't that shit the truth..." Brick chuckles dryly. Bubbles thought, maybe he'd be a good person to vent to. Brick listened, he listened very well... Something very few people in her life did. "My parents just messaged me that they can't come home for Christmas... That would have been fine if they hadn't cancelled thanksgiving just before that... This also hasn't been the first time they've done it... They haven't been home for a year and a half... I just needed to clear my thoughts so I would be decent company in the morning..." Bubbles admitted and noticed concern behind his endlessly captivating gaze.

"That... Really sucks... Sorry that happened to ya... You don't need to hide in a dark living room alone though..." Brick said and Bubbles nods, to her surprise, he wrapped his arms around her and comforted her. "Oh!" Bubbles squeaked in surprise. "It's okay to be pissed off Blue... You don't have to hide anything here..." Brick still spoke neutrally, but she felt a unique kind of comfort from him.

"I was always told showing how you feel can hurt you more... There are definitely times where it has..." She was surprised that she wasn't freaking out about him touching her, but it felt like when she did when he had his arms around her at the party. Right now she felt safe, like he wasn't going to hurt her.

He spoke up, "That's a tough way to live... Trust me on that... It kills wwho you are as a person eventually..." She was only used to her friends doing this.

"Are we friends now?..." Bubbles asked timidly.

"I don't just hug people Blue... So what do you think?..." Brick asked his voice held his usual teasing tone, she noticed that he only teased her.

"Thank you for saving me those few times... And thank you for listening... Blossom and Buttercup do... I just don't want to bother them..." Bubbles only had two friends, so having him was definitely not unwelcome.

"People around here don't shut up long enough to hear about problems other than their own..." He sounded almost sounded... hurt...

"Are you okay too? You sounded uncomfortable earlier..." Bubbles wanted to crack his shell a bit.

"I'll live... Besides I'd rather be near people I actually care about..." Brick now sounded slightly darker in mood, she guessed something was hidden behind that statement.

"Oh... I guess that makes sense..." Bubbles blushed again, "Since we're friends now... D-do you want to get to know each other?..." She now asked, unsure if he'd actually say yes.

"If that tickles your fancy..." Brick shrugged. Bubbles gets up, but he still kept her in an embrace.

"You're still hugging me..." Bubbles smiled shyly.

"Should I stop or something? I was doing it to comfort you..." He asked with a raised brow.

"No! Um... I-I mean you don't have to..." Bubbles said in embarrassment.

She heard something she's never heard from him. Brick lets out a light laugh, she's never seen him laugh before. "You're a character Blue... I don't think I know anyone like you..." Brick smirked at her awkwardness.

"I could say the same about you..." Bubbles admitted.

"Touchè Blue... I'm not someone who likes people, you just happened to surpass that... Hell, you're the first person I have ever seen a point of hugging..." He sat down with her on the couch.

"Why me?..." She wanted to know.

"You find interest in the uncommon... I mean... Who the fuck do I know, that can play Beethoven when they're pissed off?..." She lets him lay back against the couch with him.

"I can do that when I'm happy too..." Bubbles blushed once more from him.

"That's besides the point... You're also so generous that it gets you into trouble..." Brick said that protectively again.

"Are you protective over me?" Bubbles asks in confusion. "You are they only person I have ever met, that needed saving 3 times in two days... Kinda difficult not to become concerned..." He was avoiding the question and she knew it.

"I was always told that I have an unusual habit of walking in to the bad..." She lays her head on him, she was finally tired.

"You could say that again..." Brick chuckles lightly.

"Why did you start painting?" She wanted to talk about him, not just herself.

"To give myself creative expression and freedom..." He answered and she nods. "Why did you start piano?" He asked her now.

"My parents wanted me to do something, i just liked it and continued doing it... By the why... How did you know that piece was Beethoven?" Bubbles was curious about that.

"My grandmother listened to classical music..." Brick then pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and covered her.

"Thank you..." She thanked him for the blanket.

"You feel like an ice cube..." His response was playful.

"I don't retain heat well..." Bubbles actually giggled.

"I can tell... Well... Unless it's your face... There's always heat there..." He was making fun of constant habit of blushing.

"I'm just really unsure a lot of the time..." Bubbles automatically blushed again.

"The colour suits you..." She felt him yawn without any noise behind it. This was actually really comforting, she wondered how long he'd hold her like this. This was almost too nice to her, but she couldn't care about it right now. She was more focused on hearing him breathing, soon that was all she heard from him. She closed her eyes, finally completely relaxed.

-Perfect place to end that! Thanks for the reviews guys! I know that mixed couples aren't really common but the few reviews help me know that some people do like this :)-