Buttercup didn't leave her house for a week. She just didn't feel like it, and it wasn't just because of the cancer. She was just sitting on her couch, looking at the newspaper laying on her table, the same words looking right back at her, almost taunting her.

Butch Sanders...New Woman.New woman. Butch Sanders with a new woman. Butch. Her Butch. With a new woman.

It had been a daily mantra, repeating those words in her head over and over. She felt like throwing up, again, not because of the cancer. The picture at the bottom of the headlines showed a woman with red hair being kissed by Butch. The same lips she kissed, the same ones she thought would be kissing her and only her, kissing a different woman. It was self-torture in its pure form.

She closed her eyes, feeling her mending heart suddenly breaking down to pieces again. She knew she shouldn't let it affect her, she knew, but she couldn't help it. She was still in love with him. That bastard of a cheater, that sinful devil, the man that hung up the stars in her world, at the same time, the one that burned her world down.

She needed to drink something. Preferably something bitter and strong. She stood up, but just before heading to the kitchen she heard a kmock on the door. For one, stupid, fleeting moment, she expected it to be Butch, but she shook off the mere thought.

He's with someone else. He won't come back to me. Stop thinking, stop hoping he'd come back. It's only going to hurt you even more.

Their was a second knock, and that was all she needed to snap out of it. She cautiously opened the door, and she was relieved to see who it was. Granted, they haven't seen each other in a while, but it felt good to see a familiar face.

"Hi, Mitch. Long time, no see."

o O o

Mitch immediately noticed how frail Buttercup was. She was wearing an ankle-length dress, something the old Buttercup would have destroyed if it were given to her, but he was glad she wore it. It was easier for him to see how much she really needed him, and even if it was a bad thing, he was glad. He could finally help her, just like how she helped him.

"Yeah, can I come in?"

She opened the door wider, welcoming him. He half expected there to be bottles everywhere, but he was surprised to see that the place was clean. Not something a usual broken person's place looked like, but then again, not everyone was like him before. He scanned the place, noticing that the pictures that was usually hung on the walls were now scarce, the only pictures left were the pictures of her kids.

"Can I get you anything? Water, coffee?" Buttercup asked, her voice softer than it usually was, and it was lacking the usual lively tone. God, how he missed that tone of her voice.

"Nah, I'm good, but to be honest, I thought I was going to enter a room full of bottles of beer."

She chuckled a bit, the same chuckle that made him want to hear it again. It was soft, tinkling sound, and it surprised him how a girl with so much spunk could sound so sweet and gentle. Then again, messy break-ups change people.

He sat on her couch, and she sat next to him, looking at him with a small smile on her face. It made him remember the good old days, when she used to have a huge cheeky smile. Now a man took away that cheeky grin. A man took away everything that made her her with just one betrayal. That thought made his heart fill with rage, how a man like Butch could ever leave a woman like her.

It's his lost. He thought. He decided to chase fool's gold when he already had a treasure people like me would kill for. I'm not going to make the same mistake. I'll guard the abandoned treasure and give her back her lustre and sparkle again.

"So, what exactly made you come all the way from Tokyo?" She asked, but he knew she knew why. Why he left his job after hearing the news. He didn't make much of an effort to hide how he felt about her, even though she once misunderstood and thought of him as another brother that loved her platonically.

"I heard."

That was all he needed to say, really. Those two words were met with an uncomfortable silence. She looked at him straight in the eye, before she sighed.

"Go ahead, say it."

He frowned, confused, so she continued, "Tell me you told me so, that he wouldn't really change for me. Tell me that it was all a mistake, and that you were right all along. Tell me-"

He didn't allow her to finish her sentence. He hugged her, getting her to stop blabbering. He smelt the salty tears that fell from her face. He rubbed her back, comforting her, as she tried to stop her tears. She took a few calming breaths, and she leaned on him.

"Why couldn't I have fallen in love with you instead?"

Those words...years ago it would have made him want to bury himself. She didn't love her, but she wanted to. It would have occupied his thoughts for years. Now he just wanted to bury that bastard alive. He took her, played with her, and made her into a shell of her former self before leaving her for some other girl to play with.

"I'll help you. If you want me to, I can help you learn to love me." He whispered in her ear.

She buried her face on his shoulders, fully leaning on him, and he took that as an answer. He leaned on the couch, pulling her to his chest, whispering sweet nothings in her ear, making known all the things he loved about her, everything he thought about her, and she laid on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. It beats for her. It was hers. She wanted to give him the same thing. She wanted to give him her heart, but the same doubts entered her mind.

Would he even want a heart that was already broken, battered and used?