Chapter 3

Blossom volleys Berserk

Time Skip: It's Summer!

Blossom knocked on Brick's hotel room door at one in the afternoon. Dressed in a pink bikini with red cherries on it, over which she wore a white short sleeved hoodie and blue jeans short-shorts, she was ready to soak up some sun beside her kind-of-boyfriend.

A few muffled curses later, Brick swung open his door. "What- Oh, it's you Pinkie."

"Ahola, to you too Brick. Let's go!" she beamed.

Brick looked at her like she'd sprouted two heads. "It's one in the afternoon; and it's summer. I wanna sleep- Go where?" he asked.

"The beach; we are in Hawaii, Brick." Blossom pointed out.

Brick scratched his head and nodded. "Give me ten. Make it five; girls in bikinis are waiting for me."

Blossom simmered as she followed Brick back in. As he grabbed some things from his suitcase. "Check out the TV." Brick suggested.

Blossom sighed and fell back on his bed. Flipping through the channel guide she saw nothing to watch. Ever since their band, Power Jam, (which consisted of Blossom on lead vocals, Brick on back-up vocals and lead guitar, Butch on drums, Boomer on keyboard, BC on bass and Bubbles on synthesizer) had made the semi finals, she'd spent more time with Brick and co. But mostly, she inwardly smiled, Brick.

She remembered their last gig before coming. It had been Las Vegas, Nevada, and the song they'd chosen had been "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)", which had gone great. And at the end of the song, BC had accidentally collided with Blossom as she'd been hugging Brick. They added push had made them lock lips and they'd been so shocked, Blossom was sure the kiss had later half a minute. Thirty seconds of heavenly bliss, she inwardly sighed.

She had hastened to make amends with him later, but sometime during her ramblings, she'd poured out her feelings in unadulterated, blunt words. And Brick had responded by pulling her into a make-out session to end all make-out sessions.

Even now, two days later, her lips still tingled.

Brick chose that moment to walk out and he noticed her red face. "Something wrong, Pinkie? Is my hot bod too much for ya?" he teased.

In retaliation, she launched a pillow at said bod. He easily caught it and stuck his tongue at her, which she promptly froze with her freeze breath.

"If you must know, I was thinking of that lead guitarist in Zinthos: Crow, Raven's brother." While Crow was hot, in a deep-and-artistic way, he couldn't turn her head. But it didn't hurt to let Brick know others were looking.

Brick frowned. "Emo boy? Your tastes surprise me, Pinkie. Well, let's jet. Hot chicks in bikinis are lounging in the sun-"

"Just waiting for you to make perverse comments about their assets." Blossom finished, stalking to the door.

"I don't just look at their assets, their chests are pretty fascinating too." Brick snickered.

XXXX

Brick watched as Blossom played beach volleyball with Raven, Gaz, Mandy and Crow- the members of Zinthos, the Emo-rock/punk/indie band that had been slotted to play as the opening and closing act to the contest- against Berserk's band, Berserk & the Banshees.

Crow assisted the ball high in the air and Blossom spiked it to score, making Berserk seethe.

Brick smiled coldly, realizing that she'd purposely used the arm Berserk had shattered to near-disarray a two years ago.

It had been the championship volleyball match: Pokey Oaks vs Vile Ville. Brick had caught Berserk locking lips with her team's assistant coach, and abruptly called it quits. She'd been so furious... And Blossom, captain of the opposing team and noted as his best friend, had made an easy target. She'd had purposely spiked a ball- a 70 ton weight with spikes hidden in a timer- at Blossom, who had returned it to a shocked Berserk at the cost of the use of her arm for three months.

"Game set; Blue team wins." The referee's call brought him back to the present. He saw Blossom hugging Raven, the blue-violet haired dark-magic user blushing and smiling faintly. When she did release Raven, she immediate embraced Crow's torso, and effectively trapped one of his arms between their bodies. Crow blushed sheepishly and ran a free hand through his violet tinted black hair, with was styled in messy spikes on his head.

Brick frowned, the unaccustomed feeling of jealousy settling in his stomach. Why was he jealous? Blossom was a friend.

His inner nice guy- the shitty voice that acted as his conscience, guide and real feelings using his own voice- kicked in. Yeah, she's just a friend... Except for that kiss in the last concert.

That was an accident, he reasoned. A totally awe-inspiring accident that last for thirty glorious seconds.

And the kiss afterwards? Nice-guy voice pipped up.

He'd tried to forget that one- the one he'd initiated as she'd stumbled through her feeling for him later, after they'd won second. It had been on the high of winning and hearing her feelings...

Feeling that you reciprocated, nice-guy chimed.

Knowing he'd held her heart- had always held it, even when he'd been evil- had made him deliriously happy for some reason.

He wasn't not attracted to Blossom. He knew she got more love confessions than she let on- a shit lot more now that Dexter had been shot down three moths ago after insulting Brick's intelligence where she could hear.

He knew she was gorgeous- he wasn't blind. He saw how her auburn hair caught fire in the sunlight, and framed her heart shaped face to perfection. He knew that her soft pink eyes, full of intelligence and reason, could harden in resistance and catch the infernos of hell when she was angry. He also admired her body, soft in all the ways it was supposed to be and kept fit training and fight bad guys. And her lips... He had wet dreams about them. Ones that made him wake up in the middle of the night and take a flying leap into Townsville lake, which hit 25 degrees at night.

And contrary to popular belief, he wasn't an idiot. His IQ was only slightly lower than Blossom's. So he knew that her dating him would only end badly. He knew his track record with girls. He loved them- until they got annoying or complicated, or just didn't mesh well with him. He didn't want Blossom to end up heartbroken, realizing her crush was foolish, that he was a horny beast and she shouldn't bother with him anymore. Blossom meant the world to him. He could endure her indifference, or worse watching her happy with a chump who was better than him. He endured it so far, because he hadn't known her feelings. But now? He'd be annihilated inside.

XXXXX

Blossom smiled at Raven, who sported blue-violet one-piece bathing suit with a gold and red circle belt slated on her hips. "Nice serve."

Raven smiled back, which was just a tilt of her lips up on side. "Nice spike. Though, I think Berserk disagrees."

Sure enough, Berserk was fuming and cursing out Brat, who had failed to save. "It was f***ing Blossom. The b**** of a Puff ball couldn't f***ing serve waffles in a f***ing IHOP!" Berserk fumed.

"I don't have f***ing beef with that b****. That's all you! I've got my eyes on the crybaby." Brat seethed.

Blossom sighed. "It's unbelievable how childish she is..."

"How is she your counterpart?" Crow remarked, eliciting a giggle from both Blossom and Raven. "Was there a freak accident and she came out with no class?"

Berserk must have heard because she slithered over in her red flames bikini and sneered. "I see our last volleyball match didn't leave you too broken up."

Blossom sobered and flexed her right hand self consciously. "I see they let you out of juvie," she shot back. By the look on Berserk's face, Brick would have been proud.

"Well, look who got catty while I was away... At least I'll have fun when Brick-y-poo and I take shots at your ego."

Blossom bristled. "Last time I checked he tossed you out like the trash you are."

Berserk tsked at her. "It was only a little vacation, b****. We'll be making out by sunset."

Blossom gave a snort of laughter. "Don't count on it."

Berserk hissed. "Listen, b****, don't think that I don't know your game. I know your in love with my man! Your basically the f***ing reason we split the f*** up."

"I thought the reason was he caught you in a lip lock with that Barry guy." Raven interjected.

"Shut it, Emo-b****!" Berserk snapped. "Unless you wanna go?!"

Raven's eyes were enveloped in a dark aura. "I'll knock you into another dimension," she vowed.

Blossom fisted he hands. "It's me you've got beef with, counterfeit copy."

Berserk recoiled and hissed. "I'll get you, prep school. You know as well as I do that being bad is what Brick tick. It's in his blood. He's too bad for you to handle. He's my guy. And no goodie-goodie in a prep school uniform is going to change that."

With that, Berserk ascended to the sky, leaving a dusty pink streak behind her.

"What a b****." Crow muttered. Silently, Blossom agreed. But what Berserk said stuck in her head. Bad is in his blood. Would he want a goodie-goodie?

XXXXX

A.K.: So, this is a little tie-in. Yeah, Berserk is there. And she has a hand. Cue in a song for her band if you have one, cuz I'm stumped as to what she'd sing. PS: nothing by Paramore, or Evanescence.