II

"Alright, alright, gonna save the bullshit and get straight to it. Thanks for making this birthday every guy's dream and Kat," Ricky looked over at the game, which was paused for his speech. Kat was looking at him expectantly. "Thanks for the beer." Everyone hollered as Kat lazily waved off his compliment. "Here's to another year, see you fuckers when I'm 23!"

The entire house erupted in cheers and everyone downed their drinks. I watched from the loveseat and shook my head. Half these guys didn't need to drink for Ricky's toast; they were doing a fine job getting hammered all by themselves. Ricky bowed dramatically on the makeshift stage (which was really just two coffee tables stacked on top each other) and hopped down, his beer spilling out of his red cup.

He plopped down next to me and threw an arm over my shoulders. "Where ya' buddies at, girl?"

"Drunk, drunk, prolly dead."

Ricky laughed and patted my head. "Go have fun. Ya been sittin' here for a while."

"Two minutes just to listen to your pathetic excuse for a speech."

"I thought it was pretty good." A smooth voice interjected, leaning in between the two over the back of the loveseat. I gritted my teeth and kept my eyes on the flat screen TV, which resumed the basketball finals. "Hard to believe such a charismatic guy is only 22. You must be getting it good."

Ricky, ever the polite host, smiled back. "Thanks mate. Good to see somebody recognizes my talent." I scoffed.

"Ah, she's always been a little sourpuss. Ain't that right, BC?"

I scowled, "Don't call me that."

Ace clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Well, I only came to say goodbye. It was a helluva party." Of course Ricky reveled in that compliment. He puts a lot of effort into making sure his parties are bitching so of course he's going to appreciate anybody who "recognizes his talent."

I watched with a frown as they shook hands. "Here ya go. Little Arturo managed to snag this from the red cooler."

The red cooler was Kat's "do not fucking touch" cooler. She brought it for her and her frat boys and it was filled with the best alcohol Citiesville had to offer. She was so damn stingy with her beer; she wouldn't even let me get one. How a creep like Arturo managed to get one is beyond me.

Ace held the opened bottle out to me. I shot him an incredulous look. Was he serious?

Ricky sensed my discomfort and grabbed the bottle from Ace's hands. "I'm not even gonna ask how you got away with this, but thanks. I've always wondered what sweetness she hides from the rest of us."

"No problem." Ace patted his shoulder and turned to me. "See you later, Buttercup." I didn't miss the suggestiveness of his voice, nor did I miss the not so subtle wink he sent my way from over his annoying sunglasses.

He made me want to vomit.

Ace left us to our own after that and I watched him until he was out of sight. Turning back to Ricky, I noticed he was holding out the bottle to me. Scoffing, I pushed it back to his chest, "Get that away from me. If Kat sees us with it she'll flip. Besides, I don't know what that bastard's done to it."

"C'mon, BC! It's from Kat's cooler! It's the top of the line shit!"

"Then you drink it. It's your birthday."

"I want you to drink some to. Brandy this nice has gotta be shared with my best girl."

"One, it's not brandy. It's beer so stop being a pansy about it. Two, I'm not your girl."

"Yes you are, shut up and take a drink."

"I don't trust him."

Ricky rolled his eyes. "Look, if I take a drink, will you?"

I contemplated this for a second. Surely Ace isn't that much of douchebag where he'll spike something he knows somebody else is gonna take a drink from. Plus, I've seen them play pool—I'm starting to think Ricky might've found a friend in Ace and that's more than just a little bothersome.

I beckoned him to the bottle and he easily took a swig. He made a face, presumably from the aftertaste. "Damn, that's straight."

Now it was my turn. He basically shoved the drink into my hands and waited. With a shrug, I thought "fuck it" and downed the rest of it.

My face twisted again as the aftertaste hit me. It tasted faintly bitter, but it had me feeling a little high on life.

"Now it's a party."

I checked my phone for the time. It was the seventh time I did that since Ricky and I had our own special toast.

10:48.

Not too bad. I had enough time to fly back home before the Professor dragged himself out of his lab.

I drank an extra beer after sipping from Satan's bottle. Didn't want Kat to suddenly smell her special alcohol on me. Though I doubt she could do anything to a scientifically enhanced super hero, I knew the wrath of Kathryn Douglas and it was not pretty.

I don't know why I was being so paranoid. I checked my phone every minute; I kept looking over my shoulder for something to come get me. I could tell Mitch was starting to get annoyed by me. He met me three minutes after Ricky took off (something about needing the neighborhood to see his holiness?) and since then, he's been pushing me, snapping at me, doing anything to get my attention focused.

"Fucking hell," Mitch grumbled from above me.

When did I fall?

He grabbed my from under my arms and heaved me into standing position. I only slumped against his sturdy frame. "What the hell is with ya, Buttercup?"

"Dunno," I murmured, my head lolling to the side.

Then, I felt a cold splash against my face. I jerked away from Mitch, looking at the empty cup in his hands. I immediately sniffed the collar of my jacket and sighed in relief. Thank God it was only water. I hated the smell of alcohol on my clothes.

"What's your deal tonight?"

Now more awake, I shrugged. "I don't know."

"What have you been drinking?"

"Some of Kat's stuff."

Mitch stared at me for a long minute and chuckled. "Idiot. No wonder you're a stumbling fuck. Kat's stuff is for Kat. You haven't built yourself up for that shit."

He said that, but all I heard was a jumbled mess of the music and people around us. Mitch shook me roughly once my eyes started to get a little droopy. "Dammit. Go wash your face and wake the fuck up. If I hand you to Blossom like this then I'll never hear the end of it."

I nodded slowly and blinked tightly. He helped me stand straight and pointed me to the stairwell.

"You know where to go."

I patted his face, aiming for his shoulder, and he slapped my hand away. I grabbed the railing stiffly and hauled myself up each step. Now that my mind was beginning to clear somewhat, I was beginning to worry about how shaky I was. I never felt this way before. It couldn't have been the beer because I've drunken plenty other nights.

What was my deal?

With one hand planted firmly against the wall, I felt my way down the hall and to the left, where Ricky's bathroom was.

I stumbled inside and was immediately welcomed by the sight of a girl down on her knees giving head to a guy who was almost as out of it as I was. "Out." I growled. They didn't waste any time in leaving, though the girl had quite more dignity than her friend, who was struggling to pull his pants up while he rushed out.

I looked into the mirror and, in my haze, nearly cringed at what I saw. My makeup had smeared to the point of no rescue (bummer) and my hair was a wild mane. Or maybe it's always looked like that. Hell, I needed a drink.

No, I thought to myself. Drinking's what got you feeling like shit. Damn if God is my witness I'll never pick up another bottle again if it meant not ever feeling like this again.

Yeah, I didn't believe myself for a second there either.

I turned the faucet and didn't even wait for the water to get warm. I splashed my face messily; I was pretty sure Ricky's cleaning lady was going to have a ball mopping my shit up.

I heard the doorknob jingle. "I'll be out in a minute!" I hollered; still not ready to face the party yet.

I didn't feel any better. Well, I didn't feel uncomfortably warm anymore, but that's hardly anything to go by. My eyes were droopy and I looked (and felt) like I needed a serious nap. My head was pounding and I could swear I was beginning to see shit that's not there.

Like Ace in the mirror.

"Fuck you," I grumbled to the hallucination, clenching my fists over the marble counter. "I hate what you've done to me."

I wasn't expecting Ace to respond, so I continued, "You tore me up."

"Did I?"

"You did."

I swallowed a rather painful lump in my throat. The topic of Ace was always sore for me. Whether I was talking to Mitch or Blossom or to myself.

"You knew what I thought it was. You knew and you still used me."

"But Buttercup, I had no idea!" His snarky attitude, mirage or not, pissed me off.

"Bastard," I spat, raising my fist in an attempt to punch the image in the mirror.

By this time I'm pretty sure it wasn't just Kat's special liquor that had me acting up. I was almost certain I've been drugged. I came to that realization the second I figured I was hallucinating.

So imagine my surprise when the Ace in the mirror actually grabbed my arm.

If I was that girl I would've screamed, kicked and cried.

But I wasn't that girl.

I was Buttercup Utonium.

So I did what my natural instincts told me to do.

I fought.

Or tried to, at least.

I didn't have enough strength to retract my arm from his hold so I brought my free hand around with the intention to hit him. He only captured it within his other palm.

The groggy feeling hit me in waves and nausea began to pile up.

With my hands restrained, Ace pulled me hard against his body. It wasn't until he kissed me that I realized how really real this was getting. This wasn't a hallucination anymore.

I pushed down the fear that was slowly creeping in on me and tried once again to push him away. I squirmed against his hold and kicked his knees. He hissed against my lips and roughly threw me down.

I wish I could tell you I got back up and kicked his ass. I wish I could tell you I beat the living shit out of him and he had to be carried out on a stretcher. I wish I could tell you that Buttercup Utonium really lived up to her name.

But I was so tired.

I stayed down because it was the first time I got a chance to really lie down. The cold, tile floors was more comfortable than any bed at the moment. I was so intrigued by how relaxed I felt lying on Ricky's bathroom floor that I didn't even feel Ace climb on top of me. I didn't feel him roughly pull my pants down.

"Get the fuck off…" I mumbled, tossing my head side to side as if it would ward him off. He only laughed obnoxiously.

Then I heard it.

The unzip of his pants.

That's when it started becoming far too real for my liking. I stared wide-eyed at Ace as he aligned his member.

Then I screamed.

My reputation was thrown out the window along with all the fucks I gave. I screamed and kicked and I could feel ashamed tears begin to pool in the corners of my eyes.

"GET OFF! GET OFF ME!" Ace grunted when my boot made contact with his hip. I managed to successfully kick him off of me and I scrambled back closer to the toilet, hugging it like it was my safe haven.

Ace glared heatedly back at me and advanced, his eyes darkening with anger. "You're starting to be more trouble than you're worth, Buttercup."

He didn't get to come any closer before I started screaming again. "NO! NO!" Then the bathroom door slammed open, a hinge ricocheting off and hitting me square in my bare thigh. I didn't even feel it.

"What the hell is going on here?!" It was a guy. That's all I really paid attention to. That's all I needed to know.

Someone actually heard me. They're here to save the hero.

I drowned out the fight, but I watched from under hooded eyelids. Ace was clearly getting his ass handed to him. It didn't take long for him to be thrown out of the bathroom, his body surely sporting bruises and all. I tried to calm my breathing and keep my hands from shaking so erratically. This was the most aware I had been in the past twenty minutes.

I watched my hero (do you see how fucked up this is beginning to sound?) as he cautiously came closer. He was shirtless and only in his boxers. My guess was I interrupted a possible good time he was about to have. I almost felt bad. Almost.

He knelt down in front of me and lightly smacked my cheek. Had I not been so messed up, I would've smacked him back twice as hard. "Are you okay? You don't look so hot."

He sounds too familiar.

I desperately searched his face, but my vision was beginning to get blurry again and bile was rising fast. But then I saw it. His eyes.

Blue.

Like my sister's.

"Boomer?" His fingers went rigid against my face.

"B-Buttercup?"

I didn't respond.

I turned my face into the toilet bowl and purged.

I'm not sure what else happened after that.

Lucky me, I passed out before I could face the party.

Copyright © 2013 by scorpialin
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