'Why was this the first thing I thought about...?'
she muttered to herself.
The sun was shining high above her head, it was just after noon. The sand felt smooth under her body compared to the one on the beaches she had visited with her sisters.
She shifted uncomfortably, Brick had accidentally gotten her a way too small two piece and the straps dug into her skin.
She didn't want to think where he got it from, it looked luxurious and the tags were still on, she didn't dare to ask for another one.
Blossom had a sip of water as her throat was parched. A whole bar was available to them, but she felt uneasy using their services. Who knows how Brick had managed to convince them to have all the beach for themselves.
She noticed Boomer carrying a fancy iced cocktail as he sat next to her on sand.
'Do you want a sip? It's pretty good.' he motioned towards the drink.
'No, thanks. I'm good with the water.'
'Suit yourself. he said absentmindedly.
Blossom took a peek at him. He had Brick's built, although slightly lankier. His hair was a short dirty-blonde, and the sea water had given it a rough texture. His expression seemed calm, content and the redhead was shocked how much his eyes reminded her of her sister's. He cocked his head backwards and closed his eyes:
'You know, he's not stupid.' he said, his tone unreadable.
'...What?'
'Brick. He knows you're cooking something up. Don't underestimate him.'
His eyes lazily opened, revealing a dark blue as he gave her a sideways glance:
'I wouldn't if I were you, anyway.'
'I'm not.' Blossom replied, trying to keep her voice cool.
'Good.' he continued sipping on his drink.
'Has Brick told him anything or is this just sibling intuition?'
For some reason Blossom couldn't imagine Brick having this sort of discussion with his blonde brother.
'...because I wouldn't with Bubbles. Well, unless cornered.'
The redhead felt an unpleasant sensation in her stomach. '
Why would you think that? It would imply some sort of mirroring, similitude between you two.'
She looked back over at the blonde, still enjoying his drink. It did look awfully tasty and refreshing, some bits of lime scattered throughout. Blossom swallowed some saliva that had pooled in her mouth.
Suddenly, a yell distracted her, it was Butch flying over from the sea, spraying around water like a wet dog.
'Well, well. Don't you clean up nicely, pinky? That swimsuit is awfully tight though, your tits are flowing over.' 'Not that it's a bad thing.' his eyes lit up with mischievous glee.
Blossom blushed furiously, trying to cover up her exposed cleavage. She wanted to wipe that look of his face with a well-deserved punch.
His red brother managed to do it before him with a strong blow behind his neck, sending him face down into the sand.
'You're making her uncomfortable, Butch.' Brick reprimanded him, his voice carrying the promise of a threat.
'What the fuck, man?' Butch moaned, looking annoyed.
Blossom took a look at her counterpart and had a flashback to the day when she last saw him train. His hair was now caught in a loose bun, and he somehow had found some time to shave.
He sat next to her, Blossom finding his proximity disconcerting.
'Fine. Fuck you guys, watch out for me.' Butch threatened, taking a suf board and flying back towards the water.
Boomer snickered and Brick imperceptibly shrug his shoulders.
'Boomer.' The red ruff made a slight motion with his head at him, the blonde complied and went back to the bar.
They were now alone on the sand, and Blossom suddenly felt hotter as he drew slightly closer to her.
'I was surprised you'd want to go to an Italian beach. They were never my favourite.'
'Beaches or italian beaches?'
'Beaches in general.' he chuckled. 'I figured you'd want to see more interesting places. Like the artic ice caps, the oceans themselves or...maybe Mars? I got you wrong.You're a beach kinda girl.' he said, slightly amused.
'Mars?'
Mars had never crossed her mind before, even if it was theoretically possible to go there for them.
'Why have I never thought of Mars before? Could really be interesting.'
'Italian beaches was the first thing that came into my mind. I've never been to one.'
'And yet you're not doing anything to enjoy yourself. What is this, water?' he picked up the bottle derisively.
'What do you want me to do?' anger inadvertently slipped in her voice.
'I just want you to enjoy italian beaches.' he gave her an amused glance.
'Maybe this is my way of enjoying them.' she snapped at him, trying to ignore his searching gaze.
'Oh, is it?'
He got closer to her, his right hand tilting her chin. Before she could react, his lips grabbed hers in a hungry kiss. Blossom then felt a hand on her thinly clad breast and she gasped, Brick taking this opportunity to snake his tongue into her mouth and explore it.
Blossom felt a mix of anger, fear and excitement building up in her chest. 'What did you expect? This was bound to happen sooner or later.'
Blossom found herself responding to his kiss, and felt him smiling against her mouth. As the kiss continued Blossom started seeing flashes of Alex's bloodied corpse in his hands, his bones snapping at every hit. She shuddered and her lips went numb.
Brick stopped the kiss and looked her in the eyes:
'You're scared of me now.'
Blossom fought the urge to yell at him, to launch at him and beat him senseless for all the pain that Alex had felt. Instead she covered her face with her arms, trying to contain it all in.
'I see.' he said, cupping his chin, adopting a thinking pose.
The waves crashed rhythmically into the shore, filling the uncomfortable silence.
'I don't want a blow-up doll, you know.' he muttered against his palm. 'You can tell me what you're thinking, we can argue. I.. enjoy it. I want it all.'
As Blossom attempted to open her mouth, they were interrupted by the sound of a huge wave coming their way. Wave was an understatement, this was a small-scale tsunami. Riding it was Butch on his surfboard, yelling like a maniac.
'FUCK YOU, BITCHES! SUCK ON THIS!'
Blossom was preparing to fly to escape the wave, but she felt Brick's hand catching hers.
'Let it crash on us, might be fun.' he gave her a devilish smile.
Soon she felt the wall of water crashing against her, bubbling against her skin. Brick's hand struggled to keep them close, she could feel herself getting swooped up, excitement rose up in her as she waded against the wave. She unknowingly dragged Brick along further into the ocean, and she could feel his arms coiling around her body as they swam. Eventually they came up for air, Brick still holding her close.
'Fight me. Yell at me. Tell me you hate me.' he whispered softly in her ear. 'Let it all out. No point in hiding it.'
In an act of rebellion, Blossom pushed him away and made it back to the beach. Her heart was booming, and she liked to think it was because of the wave riding adrenaline.
'He really gets some sick joy out of seeing me distraught. That's some distrurbing power play.'
She started taking a walk along the seashore to clear her head. Blossom hoped Brick wouldn't follow her, and felt a wave of relief when she looked back and saw him on the towel with a book in his hand.
As she strolled around the beach she noticed how clear the water was, and how beautiful the seashells glistened under it.
'This really is quite nice. I should really do this with the girls when I return.'Blossom could feel a pang of hurt in her chest, she hoped they were fine, Buttercup was so easily taken down by Butch's shield...
At least Boomer suggested that Bubbles had gotten back to Townsville in one piece.
'I'm doing this for them. For everyone.'As she got back to the boys, she noticed an addition to the group: two girls playfully massaging Butch's back. They were slender and beautiful, and they animatedly giggled amongst themselves in high pitched Italian.
'Yesssss, girls. Work at those muscles.' he moaned, closing his eyes in pleasure.
This further increased their giggling.
'What are they saying?' Boomer inquired.
'Who the fuck cares? I only know I'm getting my dick wet tonight.' his light-hearted tone didn't match his words as he caressed one of the girl's thighs.
'Butch, take it somewhere else, please.' Brick suggested, turning the page.
'Ugh, fine. Scared your girl might get jealous?' he teased, winking at Blossom.
Brick didn't bother to answer, and continued his lecture as Butch flew away with one girl at each side.
A feast was laid out at their feet and an umbrella had materialised over them while she was gone.
Several types of cheese, wine, meat and different types of fruit. Blossom's stomach growled, and Brick looked up from his book, motioning towards the food.
'Eat.' he commanded. 'I know you're hungry.'
Boomer also gave her an inviting smile, passing her an empty plate.
'I guess I have to avoid starvation, it can't he helped.'
She chose two types of cheese and some white grapes, she didn't dare touch the wine. An explosion of flavour took hold in her mouth as she chewed on the first morsel of cheese.
'Oh God, cheese shouldn't be allowed to be this good.'It was done too soon, so she piled more on her plate. Boomer laughed at her newfound enthusiasm.
'It goes really well with the wine, you know?'
'Not today.'she replied, popping a grape in her mouth. 'Not ever.'The rest of the afternoon flew by in a haze as she resumed her activity of staring at the waves. Boomer had fallen asleep, and Brick was steadily going though his book.
She took a closer look at it: The Stranger by Albert Camus. She had heard of it before, but never found the time herself to read it. It wasn't the easiest lecture. Somehow she didn't imagine him to be the bookish type when he dropped by all those late nights. Blossom expected him to mock all fruit of human labor, by the way he had talked.
'Maybe I could borrow it after he's done. Would be nice to catch up on my reading.''We should head off, find somewhere to spend the night.' Brick said, breaking off her reverie and closing his book 'Let's find Butch first,the idiot forgot his phone here. Again.' the redhead groaned.
They all went after him, and Boomer started calling out his name.
'Yeah, here.' a rough voice responded.
They followed it, and behind some boulders they could see Butch's spiky hair appearing.
'I'm done, let's go.'
As she drew closer and peeked behind the boulders, Blossom saw a sight that made her gasp in utter mortification.
There laid the two girls,now ruined, their charred remains being rhythmically hit by the waves.
'Y-You..'
'I-I..'Butch's tone matched hers mockingly.
'I fucked them. Game over.'
Blossom's memory brought back Alex, she couldn't hold it in anymore and puked in the sea, feeling the guilt overwhelming her.
'Get over it, puff. A man has needs.' Butch spat in the sand.
Blossom could barely register anything as Brick grabbed her hand and carried her away.