But if you were mine/I would've looked into those eyes
"So how are you finding staying at home with the kids?" Butch asked as he stretched out on the park bench tiredly.
"I suppose it's gotten easier. The first few days were… An adjustment. But, I feel like we're getting used to it now. It's better than work. Although I've got to admit this is the first time in a long time I've been looking forward to work." Brick answered, watching Rosalie play with her cousins in the park in the distance. "But then when I was back, I wanted to be home with the kids again. At least it's only two days a week. And they're happier with it this way than they were with the nanny."
"I'd do this any day over going back to work. Buttercup's been back for over a week now and she's loving it. I mean, she misses them of course." Butch said, looking over at his three girls lovingly and sighing a light but contented sigh. "But she deserves to go back to work if she wants to. I'm doing fine. It's just the girls that are a handful really. Jay's 14 now, he basically looks after himself."
"Yeah but, there's three of them. I only have two and I sometimes struggle. And Blake's at school 5 days a week so it's mostly only Rosie I have to look after. Rosalie is a year older than them and she's trouble enough on her own." Brick said, watching while Rosalie chatted and laughed with her cousins. "If Blossom and I had 4 kids, I'd be at work 5 days a week without a doubt, 6 if I could wangle it."
Butch laughed, knowing by the look on his brothers face that he wasn't joking around.
"Seriously, are you not finding it hard?" Brick asked, and Butch shrugged.
"Harder than I first thought it would be, better than work though. I like spending as much time with them as I can, Jay included. To be honest, if it keeps Buttercup happy, then I'm happy." He said with a shrug.
"Yeah, me too I guess. Blossom's happier being at work, although she does miss the kids as well. Only thing I miss is the extra money." Brick mused.
"Yeah, but these are the times you'll be longing for again when Rosalie is a teenager and she brings a boy home with her." Butch said, thinking of a similar scenario with his girls. "I'm gunna have that to deal with threefold."
Brick's face hardened at the thought. He felt sorry for the boy already.
"I guess so." Brick muttered.
There was a silence as the two brothers looked on at their daughters playing.
"Who'd have thought we'd have ended up like this a few years ago huh?" Butch commented. "Things have changed so much in so little time."
"Yeah. There was a time I could barely look at you without wanting to strangle you." Brick said flatly, still watching Rosalie play.
"Same." Butch added with a smirk.
"Well, at least it's all behind us now." Brick muttered.
"Long behind us." Butch confirmed. He looked at his brother now, thinking about how genuinely glad he was to see him happy, and to be happy himself. Again, it wasn't something he wished to see a few years ago, what with his jealousy towards him. "Hey, I know Buttercup and I are obviously done now, having four children together, but do you think Blossom and you will have anymore?"
Brick looked around at his brother, eyebrow cranked. "No way. Two is plenty for me. More than enough, in fact. I legitimately do not know how you do it with double that. And three of them being the same age. And the spawn of Buttercup. And you. I seriously salute you."
Butch laughed. "It's not as hard as you'd predict. It's fun, actually." Butch said, glancing back at the girls briefly, then doing a double take. "Hey, are we two kids down?"
Brick looked around sharply then too, eyes scanning the park for the kids.
Butch sighed. "It's probably two of mine. Where's Rosalie and Ivy? No wait, there's Ivy, and is that Emerald? Yeah, it's Olive missing. Damn they all look so similar."
Brick jumped into the air, automatically going into panic mode. "Fuck, where are they?! Rosie?! Rosalie!" He yelled, instantly frantic.
"Calm down, they'll be fine, the triplets pull this stunt all the time. I always find them eventually." Butch said coolly, scanning the park for his daughter and niece.
"Calm down? This is my first solo trip to the park, and I've only came with one of my kids while Blake is at school, we can't fucking lose half of what we came here with? Unlike you and Buttercup, I only have one daughter! I don't have two back ups!" Brick hollered.
"Relax! We'll find them! Em! Ivy! Help us find your sister and cousin, come on." Butch called to his two present daughters, who reluctantly flew over at their dad's command. "Chill out, they'll be here somewhere."
Brick looked anything but chilled.
Buttercup tossed the 100lb weight plates onto the rack like they were as light as pillows, going onto the 75lb ones after. She had only been back at work a week and had already done this task basically every day. She didn't mind though, it took her a lot less time than it did the other staff.
Once she got the 50lb and 25lbs all stacked up, she stood back, hands on her hips to admire her work. She'd taught a few classes that morning and was now on gym monitoring duties for the afternoon.
She turned to go check the state the equipment cupboard was in, and nearly walked straight into a man who'd been standing watching her. He was a fellow employee - which she only knew because he was wearing the male version of the uniform. He was tall, but then she was only 5 foot 2, and had mousey brown hair and brown eyes. She didn't recognise him though, this must have been the first time they had worked together.
The gym instructor looked Buttercup up and down, stopping at her ringless finger, then at her name badge. Buttercup rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest and staring at him expectantly.
"So you must be the new meat." He grinned, and Buttercup furrowed her brow.
"I don't think that's what my badge says." She said, looking down at it briefly, and he chuckled. "I'm not new meat, anyway. I used to work here, I started back a week ago. I'm old meat."
"Like a mature steak?" He muttered smoothly, and Buttercup cranked a brow at him.
"Did you just call me a mature steak?" Buttercup questioned, and he laughed again.
"No - sorry. I always get a bit flustered around attractive women." He excused himself playfully.
Buttercup blinked, smirking slightly. "Ohhkay."
"So," He continued, oozing into his set of lines. "You've come back to work here? I haven't long started, fate or what?"
"Listen, what's your name? Lonnie?" Buttercup asked, checking out his name badge. He nodded. "Lonnie, I have four kids, and a boyfriend big enough and scary enough to make you wish you never looked at me, let alone spoke to me. So why don't you save your best lines for someone who is remotely interested?"
The smile on Lonnie's face didn't change at all, he only gave her a smoother, surer look. "Hard to get huh? That's fine. I love a good chase."
Buttercup scoffed. "A good chase? What the hell are you talking about? Not hard to get. Four kids. Scary boyfriend. Not interested. The last reason should be reason enough."
He chuckled again, self assured and Buttercup sighed. She hated guys like this with a passion. And they kind of came with the territory with gyms.
"You know, I'm kind of forgetting something." Buttercup said, looking up as if to think.
"What?" Lonnie asked, confused slightly.
"I'm about 10 times scarier than my hulk of a boyfriend. Don't test me, I'll eat you for breakfast." Buttercup warned him, her expression threatening.
But Lonnie only sniggered, wiggling his eyebrows. "Game on, I appreciate a challenge."
"It's been 20 minutes now! Fuck!" Brick cried, as they landed again in the park, not far from where Rosalie and Olive had gone missing.
"Okay, I'm actually starting to worry a bit now." Butch mumbled, looking around.
Ivy and Emerald weren't too fazed, each time they landed again, they scurried towards the park again to play, Butch was careful to keep an eye on them while they searched.
"Olive!" Butch yelled. "This isn't funny anymore!"
"Rosalie, I swear to god when I get my hands on you -" Brick threatened fruitlessly to his missing daughter, when a familiar voice interrupted them, and they both looked in the direction it came from.
"So who's winning the Dad of the year award hmm?" Bubbles stood holding onto Olive and Bridget, Rosalie at her feet, and both Brick and Butch sighed loudly with relief.
"Oh thank god!" Brick cried, grabbing a hold of Rosalie, who squealed with annoyance. "You're okay," Brick said, checking her over. "You're okay, thank god - what the hell Rosalie?! I was so fucking worried!"
Butch had grabbed Olive too, holding her closely. "Jesus christ O, don't do that."
"Where the hell did you go? We've looked everywhere!" Brick asked his daughter, who only shrugged casually.
"We saw Aunty Bubbles and Bridget at the park across the road, so we went to go see them." Rosalie said, unperturbed.
"And you didn't think to let me know?! If you'd have just said we could have all gone together! You can't just go wandering off like that!" Brick scolded.
Rosalie shrugged again. "I figured Olive had told you."
"Rosie, Olive is 2 years old." Brick responded, unimpressed with her excuse.
"Yeah, she hardly knows how to use a toilet by herself." Butch added, and Olive gave her father an outraged look.
"Hey! I only pooped on the floor once this week!" She babbled.
"I know sweetie, and I'm so proud I could pee." Butch answered her sarcastically.
"Don't ever do that again Rosalie. Your mom would shit a kitten if she knew…" Brick said, suddenly looking to Bubbles with fear in his eyes. Would she tell her?
"So, are you two gunna buy us some ice cream or am I gunna have to tell Buttercup and Blossom about this?" Bubbles asked, her voice sweet as honey.
Butch and Brick froze, blinking nervously. "I'm guessing you're a chocolate with sprinkles kind of gal?" Butch said; Bubbles smiled at him sweetly.
"Do you have any further questions on your care here Hayley?" Blossom asked, looking down at Hayley Paxton's chart then glancing up at the woman in question.
"No," Hayley said, her voice delicate. "I think you covered everything. Thank you, Dr. Utonium."
"You're welcome. So, how are you feeling?" Blossom asked, perching on the end of her bed. She'd not seen Jeremy today, and it was just gone 6 in the evening, she was feeling like he wouldn't show today, so she was quite confident in coming to talk with Hayley.
"Erm, not great, to be perfectly honest with you. My hands feel so swollen." She muttered, clenching and unclenching her fists. Blossom took a look at them, they did look red and on the larger side.
"That's the oedema your kidney failure is causing. I'm sorry it's making you feel uncomfortable." Blossom said, examining her hand gently.
"It's okay, I'm pretty used to it by now. It's just feeling really swollen today. I was hoping my Mom would come see me today, but nobody has. Not even Jeremy and he's been to visit almost every day. I think he just feels guilty for leaving town for so long, but it's nice to have him back in my life. And back in town." Hayley said, looking at Blossom and raising her brow. "He's not being problematic for you, hanging around is he?"
Blossom's expression became guarded at the mention of her brother, but she shook her head softly, standing and fiddling with Hayley's IV. "No. He's here to see you, and that's lovely." She couldn't very well take away the only visitor she seemed to be having. Jeremy hadn't actually done anything wrong in the hospital to justify her having him banned and removed. Although she argued with herself that what he'd done already was bad enough.
Hayley smiled, but she wasn't sure Blossom was being honest. She didn't know the woman that well, but she had quickly noticed how closed off she went if Jeremy was mentioned. And her reaction to seeing him was just plain weird. Maybe she behaved like that around all her exes… Or maybe she did just feel uncomfortable, she was a professional in her place of work.
"Hey, are you feeling better today? You seemed off not long ago, when Jeremy was here?" Hayley pried, and Blossom forced a smile onto her face.
"Hayley, I'm not the patient here, you are! Trust me, I'm fine." Blossom assured her. "I better go check on my other patients. I'm on the late shift tonight so I'll see you in a little while. But don't hesitate to ring your buzzer if you need anything." Blossom got to her feet and headed for the door.
"Thanks again Dr. Utonium." Hayley called.
When Blossom rounded the corner she came face to face with Jeremy, who was obviously heading into his sisters room to visit.
"Oh, hello Blossom." Jeremy said, smiling that leery smile that seemed to attach itself to his face around her. Blossom took a step away, not answering him and walking quickly down the corridor towards the nurses station, where other people were sure to be.
Jeremy sighed, stalking after her. "Blossom." He hissed, but she kept on walking. "You keep ignoring me. Why aren't you talking to me?"
Blossom stopped abruptly, turning to face him sharply with an angered expression. "Why do you think? I'm treating your sister. That doesn't mean I have to talk to you. I don't need to talk to you. And I don't want to."
"I don't see what harm talking to me as well will do." Jeremy answered, clearly annoyed by the way she was acting.
"Well that really does speak volumes. I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to even look at you. If I were you, I'd keep your distance." Blossom said, her tone mildly threatening. She felt stronger talking to him this time, much more in control.
"Or what, you'll get your boyfriend on me? You've got a couple of kids now huh?" Jeremy said, and Blossom nodded cautiously.
"Yes." She snapped.
"Well I'm sure your kiddies wouldn't want to have to grow up with Daddy in prison now, would they?" Jeremy said, letting her know the threat of a beating from Brick or his brothers wasn't much of a threat to him anymore, and that he'd certainly go to the police.
"Just stop it. Visit your sister, not me. I don't need to have to deal with this when I come to work. So leave me alone." Blossom hissed at him, turning to leave.
But Jeremy carried on talking. "I am here to see my sister. I don't see why my presence bothers you so much."
Blossom stopped again, turning around and facing him once more. "If that is true you have more issues than I previously thought. You do know why it bothers me so much! It more than bothers me - you clearly have no idea what you've done to me! You have no idea how long it has taken me to pick myself back up!"
Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, I don't see why it's so traumatic to you, you weren't even with it, surely you don't remember a thing?! You're a doctor right, so you went to college, that can't have been your first blackout wasted fuck?"
Blossom was fuming as she glared at him. She glanced around quickly, typically no one was around. "You stay away from me!" She hissed at him, turning and walking away.
He strode after her, catching up. "Wow, someone found some balls since I last saw them. I like it, but let's see how quickly I can turn you back into that quiet little mouse in scrubs." He stepped closer to her, and she stopped, looking at him with wide eyes as he continued to walk towards her, backing her into an open supply closet.
The door behind him was open, and Blossom tried to reign in the strong voice she'd been using earlier. "I said stay away from me." She inwardly cursed herself for the wavering tone of her voice. He leaned in closer, and Blossom turned her head away, his face and breath so close, reminding her of things she tried so hard to forget.
"Shhh, don't get cocky, because I'm gunna guess that it will only take one touch to make you shrink back into yourself again." Jeremy grabbed her face, making her look his way again. She pushed his hand away rigidly. His touch was like ice. She felt like she was plunging into a nightmare.
Jeremy smiled at her wickedly. "I can do whatever I want." To demonstrate, Jeremy placed a hand onto one of Blossom's breasts and squeezed. "See!"
Blossom jumped at his touch, and suddenly found herself frozen in fear. She couldn't make herself move. Internally she was screaming at herself to send him flying; she was outraged by what he was doing and wanted it to stop, just like before. But she couldn't make herself move.
She felt totally powerless just like before. And suddenly, the same white ceiling came flashing into her mind. The pale blue lamp shade. The body, heavy on top of her, moving up and down.
He sniggered, and the sound almost plunged her deeper in. It was taking a huge amount of effort not to crumble into pieces. She managed to raise her arm, but it juddered slowly upwards. He squeezed her breast once more, and the action sparked an anger inside her. Who the hell did he think he was? How dare he come to her place of work and harass her like this!
With this newfound fury, she found the strength to grasp his arm, pulling it away from her and pushing him a step away from her.
He laughed as she looked up at him, her rose eyes furious. But the anger faltered as he loomed over her. "You've got no power, Blossom. Not anymore. My priorities have changed; I'm willing to take a beating from your boyfriend or one of his brothers - it's no skin off my nose if they end up in prison. You're not in charge here. You'd do well to remember that. If I wanna visit my sister I will. So I'll be seeing you." He turned, and was gone in seconds.
Blossom began to breathe rapidly and shakily, trembling all over. She crouched down on the floor, gripping at her head in fear and panic. She could hear her own heartbeat, fast and fleeting, and tears threatened to fall from her eyes as she tried to regain control.
She felt totally violated all over again. How could someone reduce her to this, make her feel so useless, so vulnerable? Why was he doing this to her? What was the point? He'd gotten what he'd wanted from her all along 6 years ago. Had he not done enough?
The sound of fast approaching footsteps shook her from her anxious trance, and she wiped at her face, turning slightly so it looked like she was reaching for something at the back of the supply closet on the bottom shelf.
When she glanced around there stood a young intern, in floods of tears.
"Stella, are you okay?" Blossom asked, getting shakily to her feet. Her own voice sounded foreign to her; she hoped the intern hadn't noticed and tried to compose herself.
"Oh! Dr. Utonium, I didn't see you there. I'm so sorry." She cried, wiping at her face hastily.
"What's wrong?" Blossom asked, and the young doctor sighed.
"It's my pancreatitis patient. He's been hospitalised for 4 days now, he's on IV and antibiotics and pain meds but he doesn't seem to be improving and I don't know what to tell him, he's on a feeding tube and I don't know if its an infection or what and I'm freaking out cos he's really, really mean and -" She burbled and Blossom interrupted her.
"Hey, hey, sweetie calm down. Take me to your patient, I'll take a look at him." Blossom said, and the girl's face lit up.
"Oh really?! Thank you Dr. Utonium!" She cried, relieved.
"This is a teaching hospital, it's what I'm here for." Blossom said as she followed her out. She was relieved too for the much needed distraction.
"Ahh," Boomer sighed blissfully as he cuddled up closely to his wife. "This is the best part of the day."
Bubbles giggled as she snuggled into him. "The end of the day is your favourite part of the day?"
"No, I just mean, you know, getting to cuddle up with you when I've been away from you all day." Boomer replied, nuzzling into her neck, and she giggled again. "Did you have a good day?"
"Yeah, it was nice. Bonnie and Blake enjoyed school today. And after I dropped Bonnie off I took Bridget to get some new shoes. She was really good letting them size her feet, so I said we could do whatever she wanted to do. She picked the park. And guess who happened to wander over to say hello?" Bubbles said.
Boomer thought about it for a second. "The old Mayor?"
"No. Rosalie and Olive. Just Rosalie and Olive. Not long after I found Brick and Butch just about going into meltdown looking for them." Bubbles laughed again at the memory.
Boomer sucked in air through his teeth. "Jeez! I'm guessing that will not go down well with Blossom and Buttercup."
"Well, I kinda gave them a second chance." Bubbles said, smiling innocently.
"How?" Boomer asked, confused.
"I promised my silence if they took me and the girls to the ice cream parlour and brought us ice cream sundaes." Bubbles grinned and Boomer gave her a mock look of shock.
"Bubbles Jojo! I never had you down as a partaker of blackmail!" Boomer said, kissing her neck and making her giggle again.
"I am when it comes to ice cream. I'm seriously craving it like mad at the moment. The girls are loving it. I honestly haven't wanted it this much since I was pregnant with - Oh!" Bubbles shot up in bed then, sending Boomer flying onto his stomach.
"Whoa, hey, what's up?!" Boomer cried, sitting up sharply, watching Bubbles disappear into their bathroom.
"I'll be five minutes!" She yelped, and Boomer furrowed his brow, sitting back in bed confusedly.
It took him that whole five minutes to piece it together, and he sat bolt upright quickly just as Bubbles slowly walked through from their en suite bathroom.
"So have you given the whole, having another baby thing much more thought?" Bubbles mumbled as she stood at the door that led to their bathroom from their bedroom.
"Really?!" Boomer asked, already knowing what she was going to say.
"Yeah…" She said quietly, trying to hide her joy, in case Boomer didn't match it. She moved her hands from behind her back, revealing the positive pregnancy test to him.
"Wow." Boomer said, pulling his hands through his blonde waves.
"I'm pregnant." Bubbles said, examining the stick, then looking over at Boomer cautiously.
He looked shocked, but then he smiled, and any worries Bubbles had had dissolved instantly.
"Damn my swimmers are like, Olympic or something?! You start getting broody and they get the job done! They get the job done!" Boomer exclaimed, and Bubbles giggled.
He opened his arms out to her and she fell into them. Boomer held her tightly.
"Are you okay with this?" She asked into his shoulder. "I know you wanted some time to decide if you were ready."
"What's not to be okay with? Yeah I wanted to think about it, but, what's done is done. It's not something to get upset about is it? I mean who knows," He said, pulling back a bit so he could look at her, and put his hand on her flat stomach. "There could be a little boy in here."
Butch kicked off his boxers and kicked them into the dirty laundry hamper, stretching as he did so. "Oooh I love getting into bed. I wish I never had to leave it. Even better when you're scantily clad under the covers."
Buttercup rolled her eyes, but she was smirking as Butch jumped into bed beside her. "I wear more clothes than you do to bed."
"It's natural! Man was not made to wear pyjamas in bed." Butch said, and Buttercup chuckled lightly.
"Yes, but man does scare the shit out of his son when he goes to the bathroom late at night, naked." Buttercup replied.
"I put underpants on before I go now!" Butch cried, and Buttercup laughed at him again.
The faint sound of heavy rock music resounded from one of the bedrooms and Buttercup tsked loudly.
"God dammit Jay. If he wakes the girls I swear to god he can get them back to sleep again." Buttercup said, getting to jump up to tell Jay off again, but Butch held her back.
"Don't worry about it, those girls could sleep through a fucking hurricane. They like rock music at bedtime anyway. If anything it'll soothe them." He replied.
Buttercup sat back, knowing he was probably right.
"Anyway, you have an okay day?" Butch said, distracting his girlfriend from the distressing thoughts of the triplets waking up.
She thought about her day momentarily, then clicked her head to the side. "It was all right. You?"
"Yeah, fine. Not much to report here. Took the girls to the park with Brick and Rosalie, then bumped into Bubbles and Bridget and ended up going for ice cream sundaes. Nobody went missing, not even for a little while, it was seamless."
Buttercup scoffed at him, eyeing him suspiciously. "Well that isn't suspect. Just as long as they all come home with all their fingers, toes, arms, legs etc, I don't want to know the details, I think my head will explode if I did. Ignorance is bliss and all that."
"That works well for me then." Butch muttered under his breath. "So, work was just 'all right'?"
Buttercup thought about it again then nodded. "Yup. It was fine."
"Working there suddenly becoming shit? You've gone from having a rad day to 'it was all right'. What gives?" Butch pressed.
"Nothing gives. Was just a normal day." There was a pause, and Butch watched her closely for a few seconds. She was looking up at the ceiling, her brow furrowed, until she noticed Butch watching her and looked round at him. "Did you get on with everyone at the gym?"
Butch shrugged. "I guess so, mostly yeah. Why, you not making fwends?"
He grabbed a hold of her waist, pulling her close to him as she whacked him in the stomach. "Shut up, I've made a couple of acquaintances. Or, at least speaking with a couple of seemingly decent people."
"Someone pissing you off then?" Butch guessed and Buttercup shrugged.
"Everyone pisses me off." She answered bluntly. Butch smirked. "You know a guy called Lonnie who works there?"
Butch thought about it. "Rings a bell. Think I remember him orienting as I was leaving. He was new. Why? He's causing you issues?"
"No, he's just kind of a jerk, that's all." Buttercup answered casually.
She decided not to go into any details about Lonnie hitting on her, she knew Butch would blow it out of proportion; and he hadn't actually done anything wrong yet, bar being very inappropriate. Buttercup just had a niggling feeling he was going to be irritatingly persistent. He hadn't stopped eyeing her up for the rest of the day after she shot him down, and the numerous death glares she sent his way did nothing to deter him.
"I don't remember much about him. I don't think he had been there that long when I left. But to be honest, most of the dudes there are cocky jerks. That must be why I fit in so well." Butch said with a grin.
"I fucking hope you didn't behave like even half the guys down there do." Buttercup said, and Butch angled his head to look at her.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, confused.
"Nothing." Buttercup mumbled, nuzzling against his strong chest.
"Good god I'm glad to be in bed." Brick said through a yawn. "What a day."
Blossom glanced over at him as he got comfy amongst the covers. What a day indeed. She noticed the red stubble around his face and how tired he looked and frowned. He had enough on his plate at the moment. The kids were hard work, she knew that herself. She shouldn't burden him with more.
"You've had a bad day?" Blossom asked, and Brick looked slightly nervous.
"No, no. It's been fine, just long that's all." Brick said, sidestepping the losing their daughter for almost half an hour that day, and the stress and panic it had induced.
"I guess it was easier with Blake being at school for a few hours?" Blossom questioned and Brick paused before answering.
He would have thought that would have been the case. "Yeah, one is definitely easier than two. Although Blake isn't always an issue, he spends the majority of his time with his nose in a book."
Blossom nodded knowingly. She wondered how bored he had been at school so far, he'd been reading since he was three years old.
"I'm just glad we didn't have triplets like Butch and Buttercup. Those kids are like a Jedi mind fuck." Brick added, and Blossom couldn't help but smirk.
"Butch seems to be doing well so far though." Blossom commented.
Brick smirked, but agreed.
"What did you do today?" Blossom said, putting the medical journal she'd been reading down on her bedside table.
"Well after taking Blake to school, Rosalie and I met up with Butch and the triplets at the park. Then we bumped into Bubbles and went for ice cream. It was fine. How was your day?" Brick had been wanting to know all evening but hadn't gotten the chance to ask what with sorting the kids and dinner, and Blossom hadn't been in too long. She'd seemed off lately, and even more so this evening. He was worried she was slipping again.
Blossom's face fell as she thought about the events of the day, and Brick furrowed his brow. "Bad day?"
"Oh," Blossom said, trying to stir the images of Jeremy out of her mind. "It was okay. I found an intern crying in a supply closet today. That took me back."
"Please, you were never that bad." Brick said, turning over in bed so he was facing her.
"Are you kidding? The first time a patient coded on me I freaked out big time. It's scary. Turns out she was getting all mixed up because her patient was a sexist, alcoholic ass who'd drank himself into pancreatitis which led to some other complications. Guy needs a stent, and sadly he won't be leaving us for a while now. He's the type who demands to see a male doctor. I hate that type. But I've got to admit I get the urge to treat them just to show them how brilliant a doctor I am and I'm female." Blossom said, remembering the ass demanding his doctor be 'a man who knew what he was doing'.
"Huh, I'd sooner have you looking after me than a man." Blossom rolled her eyes at him. "At least you have tomorrow off now." Brick said, still watching her.
"Yeah." Blossom mumbled, her features flattening as she remembered Jeremy. She wondered if he would be visiting Hayley tomorrow. At least she wouldn't be there to run into him.
She was on call tomorrow evening. And then she had a shift the day after. Would he be there then?
The redhead tried to push the thought of him to the back of her mind. But it was hard. He'd acted as though he felt he had power over her. And told her she had none. What terrified her about that was how much she felt like he was right. He only had to look at her and she was right back there again, feeling totally powerless and out of control.
He made her feel so small. What was she supposed to do now?
Brick felt his stomach drop as he watched her. She was spaced out, her face had that familiar apprehensive aspect to it that she tended to get when she was thinking about it again. He wondered why she was thinking about it again. It seemed like she was a lot lately. He felt so powerless to help her sometimes.
She noticed him watching her, so she forced a small smile onto her face. He tried to smile back but it didn't quite meet his eyes.
Blossom leant over and switched off the lamp on her bedside. "I'm beat." She muttered, before snuggling down amongst the covers, her back turned on Brick. "Goodnight."
Brick raised an eyebrow. Goodnight? That was it... Goodnight. Not even a quick hug, or a kiss? Normally he always got a kiss. He knew she was regressing again. He could feel it. It either happened slowly, or suddenly. In the past week or two, she'd gone from the best place she'd been in a long time mentally, to slowly beginning to take small steps backwards.
And it was frustrating for Brick. Frustrating to watch her slip back into the depression, anxiety and fear, and frustrating to feel her distance herself from him. He knew full well she was hardly aware she was doing it. But it didn't make it hurt any less.
Blossom had barely noticed she had turned away from him. Her mind was elsewhere, reliving the events of the day. Jeremy's face flashed in her mind, sneering at her, taunting her. Unbeknownst to her, she curled into herself a little, trying to rid the images from her head.
Brick slid over slightly, curling his arm around her and pulling her gently closer to him. His hand happened to land on her breast, at the same time she was remembering Jeremy grabbing her there, and Blossom jumped at his touch, sitting up instantly with her back to Brick.
He sighed, laying flat on his back and rubbed at his face. Blossom felt instantly guilty, but she couldn't bring herself to talk about any of it.
Instead, she turned, leaning forward and pecking him lightly on the lips. He half smiled at her, and she laid back down again, trying to focus on the fact that she had tomorrow off. After the two days she'd had she needed a break from the hospital. And she could cross her fingers and hope that when she went back to work Hayley had a new kidney and was on her way out of there...
Unfortunately, for more reasons than one, that didn't happen. Blossom enjoyed her day off with the kids, but when she'd gone back to work the following day, Jeremy had been there, and he'd followed her around once again. He'd stopped and chatted with nurses, and even tried to drag her into conversations he started with them. She'd been very blunt, or completely ignored him each time, which had confused her colleagues. On countless occasions she'd asked him to go away, but he'd just ignored her each time, continuing to float in and out of Hayley's room and follow her about when she was in between patients. That was all he had done, but it was enough to put Blossom on edge the entire day.
The rest of her week had been much the same. Everywhere she seemed to turn, he'd been there. Smiling at her, watching her. Getting chummy enough with the other nurses and even a couple of the doctors that they weren't questioning his reasons for being there. He was completely unnerving her.
He hadn't yet been as bold as he had been the week previous, which she was thankful for. But he was still there pretty much everyday.
Blossom had been at work since 6am that day, and it was now 11am. She hadn't yet seen Jeremy, and she'd been at work for five hours, so for once she was feeling quite positive about the day. Her patients were all stable, so she popped her pager on the waist of her scrubs and made her way to the cafeteria, getting some breakfast, (or was it lunch now?) and sitting down at a table.
She picked her sandwich up to eat it, and her phone began to ring in her pocket. It was Brick; she pressed the answer button, tucking the phone between her ear and shoulder. "Hey."
"Hey, you okay?" Brick asked on the other end.
"Yeah," Blossom said, taking a sip of her orange juice. "I'm just having some lunch. Or, breakfast, I can't really decide. It's hard to know when you've been up since 5am."
Brick chuckled briefly. "I guess so. I just called to see how you're doing, really."
"Me? I'm fine." Blossom said, becoming distracted by the chair next to her being pulled out. "W-why do you ask?"
It was Jeremy. He placed a tray down next to her own one, beginning to tuck into the sandwich he had bought.
Blossom's breathing quickened as she glanced at him repeatedly. She grabbed her cell phone as she nearly dropped it in her panic.
"You just seem a little off lately, that's all. I feel like you're slipping away again." Brick said, as Blossom tried to regain control of her breathing.
"I'm, I'm fine. Really. I am." Blossom stuttered as Jeremy casually ate his food next to her. "Just a bit stressed, that's all."
Brick paused. "Are you sure? Cos you really don't sound it."
Blossom swallowed, trying to swallow back some of the fear engulfing her. He was way too close for comfort. "I'm okay Brick. Like I said, stress. Look, I better eat while I've got the chance. I'll see you later, I get out at 2pm, so - so we'll have the afternoon together. Bye." She hung up quickly, pocketing her cell and looking at Jeremy wearily. "What are you doing?!"
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm eating my lunch. I didn't get the chance to grab anything to eat on my way here." Jeremy answered unconcernedly.
"Please sit somewhere else." Blossom bleated, her face twisted in distress.
"It's a free canteen. I can sit where I want to sit." Jeremy shrugged, a cheery smile still on his face as he ate.
Blossom looked down at her food. She suddenly had zero appetite. Jeremy began chatting as he finished his food, but Blossom couldn't hear what he was saying. It was idle chit chat about his day, but she was too busy having a mini meltdown next to him. Seeing him in the corridors, or chatting with a nurse at the nurse station was one thing. Having him sit beside her was another. His leg was resting against hers, she pulled it away quickly when she realised.
Blossom gripped at her lunch tray, deciding she would move instead. But as she went to stand, Ethan, a doctor friend of Blossom's, came and greeted her. She didn't respond, just stared at him with wide eyes. Ethan didn't pick up on her anxiety, he just pulled a chair up opposite her. After grabbing ahold of his sandwich, he looked over at Jeremy, then to Blossom, waiting for her to introduce him to him.
But Blossom couldn't bring herself to speak. Jeremy could though.
"Hi, I'm Jeremy Paxton. An old friend of Blossom's. My sister is here, she has kidney disease." She hated hearing him say her name. He reached his hand out to shake Ethan's.
"Nice to meet you. I'm sorry to hear that. Hayley Paxton - is that your sister?" Ethan asked, and Jeremy nodded. "I thought I recognised you, you've been here like, every day right?"
"Yeah, I have. My sister and I are really close. She deserves someone here to see her every day."
"That's so nice. She's a lovely woman." Ethan said as Jeremy smiled sincerely.
Blossom sat beside him, hoping and pleading he didn't say or do anything inappropriate, as Ethan and Jeremy began to talk about Hayley's condition. Then she felt Jeremy's hand land on her thigh and she nearly hit the ceiling. But Ethan and Jeremy didn't even notice her reaction. Jeremy squeezed her thigh, and his hand began to travel higher between her legs. Blossom stood up sharply.
Both Ethan and Jeremy stopped mid sentence, looking up at Blossom, confused.
"Blossom, are you okay?" Ethan asked, but Blossom couldn't respond, she was too flustered, too busy trying to calm herself down. She didn't answer him, she just stalked out of the cafeteria, abandoning her lunch.
Blossom managed to successfully avoid Jeremy for the rest of her shift, and her patient load was too high, so Ethan offered to take Hayley off her hands for the next couple of days, as Blossom had some time off - and she'd been eternally grateful. He'd also tried to find out what had happened at the cafeteria, but she'd brushed it off and avoided talking about it.
She was in the co-ed locker room now, waiting for it to empty out a little more so she could change before heading home. She had three missed calls from Brick, which gave her a stab of guilt. She was pretty blunt on the phone with him. She hoped he wasn't angry. He was right, she was slipping again. But she knew exactly why.
The locker room had emptied slightly, so Blossom proceeded to change, taking off her scrubs top and pulling off her long sleeve shirt she wore underneath it. She thought she had her non uniform t shirt ready to put on - she tended to get it ready to put on straight away so she wasn't ever stood in her underwear for too long, but it had gone missing. She hadn't noticed it had slipped down the side of the bench.
"I forgot how good you look without those scrubs on."
Blossom flinched at his voice, fear drenching her. She turned slowly; Jeremy was stood by the back wall lockers opposite her. The locker room was empty.
She clutched at her discarded scrubs top, shielding herself best she could. "You aren't allowed in here." She mumbled. It was pretty useless, but it was all she could muster. "Get out."
He glanced around casually, and shrugged. "There's no one else here to tattle on me. Your little staff room is empty too. I think we'll be okay." He had a confident smile on his face as he took a few steps closer. Blossom tried to take a few steps backwards, but bumped into the bench clumsily.
"Get out of here." Blossom said, forcing her voice to come out stronger. But it was still a little strained.
"Do people hook up in here often?" He asked, glancing around.
She swallowed hard. "I mean it Jeremy. You aren't allowed in here! Get out!" Her voice was definitely stronger this time.
"Don't you remember what I said before? You're not in charge! If anyone is in charge now it's me! And I say, let's have some fun. I think I deserve it, considering I've had to stay out of Townsville, where my friends and family are, and my job was because of you. The job I had to give up because of you, that I worked towards for years! All because of you, and your big, scary boyfriend. Well I'm not afraid anymore. The police aren't looking for me because they didn't believe you. I'm free to do whatever I want." He looked angry now as he filled the space between them and towered over her. "I had to uproot my entire life because of you. My sister is extremely ill, and there was no way I was going to let you keep me away from her. All of this, it's all because of you!"
Blossom trembled profusely as he sneered at her. She'd tried to stand strong as he'd gotten closer to her but with every venomous word that came out of his mouth she could feel herself wilting. He plucked the scrubs top she'd been holding against herself from her hand effortlessly, and that was when she realised she'd frozen again. She couldn't freeze up, she had to act now. But it was like her brain was shutting off, it couldn't cope with what was happening so had slammed on the brakes in order to survive.
Jeremy backed her up against a locker, pushing his body against hers, and she felt a whimper escape her lips that was beyond her control. "If you'd have just fucking slept with me when we dated, if you hadn't have been cheating on me with someone else the entire time, if you didn't think you were so much better than everyone else, none of this would have happened. Women like you are all the same." He pressed his forehead against hers aggressively. "So I say we do this with you awake this time, hmm?"
Blossom recoiled, another ungoverned whimper coming out of her. She was gripped by sheer terror at him being this close to her, and them being so alone. She couldn't move again. And she needed to. She needed to move, she needed to push him away. The reality of the situation was she could stop him. She could push him away with minimal effort but her brain would not make her arms move. She was frozen in fear. And if she didn't snap out of it soon things were going to escalate, to a point she couldn't cope with.
She felt his hands grabbing her breasts. "Come on, you owe me this."
It seemed to kickstart her brain once more. Blossom if you don't move now he'll do it again. If you don't do something now, he's going to do it again, while you're conscious and fully aware. You need to stop him now! You're letting him win! Do not dare give him the satisfaction of even touching you! You can do this. Stop this! Stop him!
Her hands moved shakily, but she was still afraid. What if I can't stop him?
"Imagine if your asshole boyfriend could see you now." He hissed, dipping his head lower as if to kiss her, and it was enough to make Blossom snap.
She glared at him, shoving his shoulders roughly. He fell into the lockers nearby, looking at her with wide shocked eyes.
"I said get out!" She yelled furiously. "Get the hell out of here and stay away from me! Don't you ever touch me again! You have no power over me, and I owe you nothing! If you don't stop harassing me like this, I will call the police. I mean it, I have had enough of being tormented by you! Believe me you have already done enough! Just leave me alone!"
Jeremy got to his feet, scowling at her. "You will regret this!" He hollered, dusting himself down and stalking out of the room.
It was half past three by the time Blossom got in from work. Her shift had finished over an hour ago. It wasn't uncommon for her to be a little late - something cropped up with a patient that couldn't wait, something along those lines. But after the strange phone call they'd had on her break, Brick had a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach.
He was in the kitchen tidying up, when he heard the front door open and close.
"Bloss?" He called, but there was no reply. He heard her zooming up the stairs, seconds later the shower was running.
He sighed, slinging the towel he'd been using to wipe down the sides over his shoulder.
She was in the shower for 25 minutes. This wasn't exactly unheard of for her - she had a lot of hair. But her whizzing straight in from work and getting into the shower without saying hello was out of the ordinary. Brick had sat down on their bed, waiting for her to come out of the ensuite.
When she did emerge, wrapped in a towel, she looked alarmed. "Where are the kids?"
"Rosie's taking a nap in her room. Blake's in his room reading. We've not long picked him up. Rosie fell asleep in my arms as we flew back. Are you okay?"
"Okay. Okay, I should get dressed. Okay. Yes, I'm fine, just really needed a shower, that's all." Blossom said, pulling the towel around her tighter. She'd needed to wash his touch off of her, one touch just made her feel like dirt.
"Okay.. So, are we going to talk about what happened earlier on the phone or...?" Brick said, but Blossom avoided his gaze.
"No." She said instantly as she padded through to their bedroom to put some clothes on. "I mean, nothing happened."
Brick sighed again. He hated this, even after 6 years he never knew what to say, he felt terrified he'd say the wrong thing.
"Bloss, do you think maybe you should get some help?" He said gingerly, and she froze, mid pulling her shirt on.
"Help? For what?" She asked, her voice feigning innocence. He knew she knew what he was referring to.
"Come on, you know what I'm talking about. I know it's been like, over 6 years, and probably 80 percent of the time you're okay but, you go through little phases where you're just - absent. Has something happened? Recurring trigger, or something?" Brick asked, and Blossom pulled her t shirt on, turning to look at him.
"Brick, sweetie, I'm fine." Blossom brushed it off, turning to find a fresh pair of jeans to put on.
"Blossom sweetie, when you constantly say you're fine, I know you're not. I know you, I know when you're not okay. Maybe it's time to talk to someone?" Brick suggested, and Blossom shook her head.
"I don't need to sit in front of someone and watch them pick me apart. I've met shrinks, most of them are crazier than their patients. Seriously Brick, I'm fine." Blossom assured him, but he looked at her flatly, not being fooled by any of it.
"I'd normally be the first to agree with you, you've done incredibly to deal with what happened without any therapy of any kind, but Blossom, I'm beginning to not know what to do anymore. I'm beginning to not know how to act around you." Brick said, and Blossom turned to look at him with wide eyes.
"...Why?" She asked in a small voice.
"I'm always worrying that I'll say the wrong thing. Or, I don't know, do something that'll make you feel off… I mean, think about the last time we were intimate -" Brick began, but Blossom cut him off.
"You're making this about sex?" She spat and Brick gave her an aggravated look.
"No I'm not - it's not even about sex. Yes, we haven't had sex in a couple of weeks now, which isn't normal for us, but I'm not even talking about sex, I'm talking about intimacy." Brick said softly, approaching her and taking her hands gently, but she pulled them away quickly. "I can't even touch you at the minute."
Blossom looked down at her hands in shock, realising he was right. She'd barely noticed she was doing it.
"Blossom I'm not trying to moan about it, you know that right? I just want you to be okay. It's perfectly normal to have the odd regression, you normally do around the end of January, the anniversary of it happening, but it's September... You've done so great so far, but there's no shame in admitting you maybe might need some help." Brick told her carefully.
Blossom knew he was saying all the right things. He wasn't being half as insensitive, brash or stung as he could have been, yet she still felt upset by what he was suggesting. The idea of having some counselling to her seemed like admitting she was a victim. Admitting she'd allowed this to happen to her and therefore needed treating like she was crazy. She knew she'd done well without any professional help, and she intended to carry on that way. Her latest relapse was because of Jeremy's presence and his sporadic harassment.
Brick was trying to help, but he was just making Blossom feel like a victim. Like someone to pity, someone who was vulnerable and weak.
"Stop treating me like I'm a victim. You don't know how I am feeling -" He cut her off.
"Then tell me! And I'm not treating you like a victim! I love you, I want my girlfriend back, I want my partner back. I want you to feel happy. Not victimised. I don't know what to fucking do next!" Brick cried in despair.
Blossom paused, looking at his desperate expression. "You and I both." She mumbled, turning and leaving the room, now fully dressed.
"Where are you going?" Brick hollered, not being able to hide the annoyance in his voice. This was so frustrating for him. He naturally felt the need to protect her. But he was powerless to help in all this, especially if she wouldn't let him.
"I'm going to pick Blake up from school." She called back.
"He's in his room, it's almost 4 o clock." He replied and heard her footsteps stop sharp.
"Well, then I'll cook dinner." She replied smartly.
Brick pulled his hands through his hair in despair as he slumped back onto the bed. "Fuck..."
As Boomer hovered along the sidewalk downtown in Townsville, he felt like there were more eyes on him than usual, and it was beginning to bug him. Him and his brothers had long cleared their names, but people still knew their story and carried a prejudice, regardless of their now innocent statuses and relationships with the city's saviours.
He had not long finished work, and was taking a detour through town to grab a tub of ice cream (Bubbles' pregnancy craving). He began to wonder if it was worth checking out the headlines in the paper today too, it may give him some insight on all the stare's he was receiving.
Boomer stopped at the nearest newsstand, doing a double take when he looked down at the headlines: POWERPUFF BLUFF?
The blonde cranked a brow, and proceeded to read the subheading underneath: EXCLUSIVE: Local man pleads innocence against life ruining rape accusations.
He began to hurriedly read through the snippet on the front page when someone cleared his throat loudly at him. "This ain't a library ya know."
Boomer glared at him, thrusting a dollar at him from his back pocket. He wandered aimlessly as he read the front page, dodging passersby as he did, who tutted at him irritably. This was why he was getting funny looks. Someone had gone to the press and told them about Blossom's rape ordeal, except they claimed it was falsified.
"UNCLE BOOMER!"
"Rosalie!"
Boomer looked up to see a baby pink bolt hit him in the stomach and send him toppling onto his ass. When he looked down with a huff, sure enough his niece sat on his stomach, cuddling up to him. "Uncle Boomer! Uncle Boomer! Is Bridget with you?" She cried, looking around excitedly.
"Rosie, hi - no, she's at home." Boomer muttered, looking around at the floor trying to grab the newspaper that had fallen from his hands.
"Is that Mommy on the front of that?" Rosie asked and Boomer snatched it up.
"No! No, I mean, erm, I don't think so." Boomer stammered, and Rosie gave him a confused look.
Blossom caught up to them then, looking at Rosalie in exasperation. Blake hovered behind her, looking bored.
"Rosalie! What have I told you about running off like that! It's dangerous! Boomer I'm so sorry!" Blossom cried, extending her hand to help him up.
Boomer looked up at his sister in law with an alarmed expression.
"Is something wrong?" Blossom commented, concern etched on her features.
"Nothing. Nothing! I was just err, going to the store to get Bubbles some ice cream, and I err, forgot! I forgot what flavour to get. So, how've you been?" He added lamely, and Blossom gave him a puzzled look.
"Ice cream?" She asked, with a cranked brow as Rosalie jumped and tried to snatch the paper from Boomer's hand.
"Mommy you're on the paper today!" She cried, and Boomer stuffed the paper against his chest, front page down so they couldn't see it.
"No she isn't." Boomer said quickly, and Blossom cocked her brow at him.
"She is, I saw her!" Rosalie giggled, jumping up to grab at it again. "Silly Uncle Boom Boom!"
"Urgh," Blossom grimaced. "Are you kidding? What garbage have they come up with now? Let me see."
"Erm, nope." Boomer mumbled, and Blossom frowned at him.
"No? What do you - why not? Boomer, let me see it!" She cried, reaching forward to grab it but Boomer stuffed it down his shirt.
"Nuh uh!" He cried, leaning back so he was out of her reach.
"Boomer! Don't make me go down there!" She threatened. Boomer gave her a challenging look and she sighed. "Fine, whatever - there's a newsstand down the block, I'll go and look myself. Rosie, Blake, come on. Say goodbye to Uncle Boomer, he needs to get Aunty Bubbles some ice cream..." Blossom said as she began to walk the direction Boomer had come from.
"Blossom, wait no! Please, just don't look at it!" Boomer exclaimed, hastily catching her up as she gasped loudly.
"Oh my god!" She hollered as Rosalie buzzed about her feet.
"Let me see, let me see!" Rosie said, trying to look at it.
"'POWERPUFF BLUFF: EXCLUSIVE: Local man pleads innocence against life ruining ra-'" Blake began to read aloud, as Blossom did her best to stand in front of the stand.
"No! No Blake don't read it!" Blossom yelped, as Blake's face crinkled in confusion.
"I told you not to read it." Boomer muttered uselessly as Blossom gave him a horrified expression. She extended her hand shakily, and slowly Boomer placed the paper into it.
He bent down and scooped Blake and Rosalie up. "Rosie, Blake, don't even look at it." He mumbled, and she gave him a confused look, but did as she was told, sensing the suddenly serious tone. Uncle Boomer wasn't often serious, so if he was it made her feel a bit odd.
Blossom read the front page speedily, her breathing shallow as she realised what had happened, what Jeremy had done. He'd gone to the papers. He told the press she had accused him of raping her, and that she was lying.
She looked up, noticing the people around her giving her curious, but ultimately haughty, judgmental looks as they passed. She wanted the ground to swallow her up there and then. She couldn't believe it, she was in shock.
Boomer gently tugging at her arm brought her to. "Come on Blossom, let's get out of here." He said softly, and she did as he said, nodding hollowly.
r&r :)
