I don't love you/But I always will/I don't love you/But I always will

"Here, this is your next patient." Dr Mathers said, handing Blossom a chart. She examined it, her heart suddenly increasing in speed and pounding loudly as she read out the name. "Appendicitis. Her appendix burst but it wasn't too bad. She's over the worst of it, she came back from the OR yesterday, she just needs observing now, she's on pain meds and antibiotics. Okay?"

Blossom was still staring at her patients' name; it had made her mind go blank.

"Dr Utonium? Are you listening to me?" Dr Mathers asked, his tone snapping Blossom from her reverie.

"Oh, yes, sorry Dr Mathers, it's just - Carla Martins? Erm, I know this is unlike me to be so unprofessional but do you mind if I -" Blossom began to babble, her mind still mushed. She looked up at Dr Mathers, who was one of her superiors, and decided it was best she stopped talking. She could already see he wasn't happy with her response.

"Is there a problem?" He asked, crossing his arms in irritation. "Or are you going to be the professional that you've been trained to be, and go and treat your patient?"

Blossom sighed, nodding curtly. "No, there's no problem Dr Mathers. Sorry, I'll go see her now and check her obs."

"Good." Dr Mathers said sharply, watching her walk away towards the room Carla Martins was in.

The pink puff mentally chastised herself for even attempting to bump her patient to another doctor, especially in front of Dr Mathers. He was an asshole, and barely listened to a word anyone else said. She was a doctor; she couldn't pick or choose her patients, no matter what they'd done to her personally, she reminded herself as she found herself outside Carla's door.

Please let her look like crap, Blossom thought as she took a deep breath and entered the room. That would at least make the situation a little easier.

But of course she didn't look like crap. She looked how she'd always looked; stunning, and effortlessly so. She'd always been a very pretty woman. Her appendix burst and she somehow managed to look like she'd just walked straight off a makeup ad.

"Hello Ms. Martins. I'm Dr Utonium, and I'll be looking after you today." Blossom managed, not looking her in the eye as she examined the chart she was holding.

Carla was a bit bleary eyed and sleepy, but she perked up slightly at the mention of her doctors' name. "Dr Utonium? As in Blossom Utonium?" She reiterated.

Blossom cleared her throat uncomfortably, trying to remain professional. She was just an ordinary patient. Not the woman she'd walked in on having sex with her fiance. "Oh yes, that's right. So you had appendicitis, and unfortunately your appendix ruptured. That's why emergency surgery was performed; an appendectomy. It went well though, it appears you got here yesterday in the nick of time."

"I still can't believe my appendix burst.. The stomach pain was unreal. I thought it was something I ate." She said, scratching her head sleepily.

Blossom nodded. "Yes, appendicitis can be hard to diagnose. But you came in promptly enough, and the surgery was pretty simple. You'll be here for a day or two to recover; you should be fine to go home after that. Do you have any questions?" She asked, as she gingerly fiddled with her IV.

"You must hate my guts, huh?"

Blossom blinked, not replying straight away; she didn't want to say something she'd regret. "Any questions to do with your treatment? Are you managing okay on the pain medication we have you on?"

"I bet you were cheering on my appendix when you came in." She groaned, sinking into the hospital bed.

"Ms. Martins, as much as we have our differences personally, I'm a doctor. And I look after my patients." Unfortunately, she added in her head.

Carla shook her head gently. "You're more professional than I am."

"We both knew that already." Blossom said, clicking the top of her pen down, and giving Carla an unimpressed stare. "I've managed to not sleep with anywhere I work with here, so."

"Or maybe not." Carla said, looking into her lap guiltily.

Blossom closed her eyes momentarily and sighed, urging herself not to lose it. Carla Martins was not worth losing her job over.

"Just push the red button by your bedside if you need anything." Blossom said, turning to leave.

"If it helps, which I doubt it does, I am sorry. I didn't ever plan to hurt you. Or get in the way." Carla mumbled, stopping Blossom in her tracks.

Blossom told herself to walk out of the room. She really wasn't worth even a disciplinary over. But that was easier said than done. "Then what was exactly your plan, Carla? I mean, how did you think sleeping with my fiance wasn't going to involve 'getting in the way?'"

She sighed and shrugged. "I don't know... I had a soft spot for him. He always seemed so lonely. Look, I know I can't justify it. I won't even try to. But I am sorry, Blossom. I knew what I'd done. I knew I'd messed everything up. I quit the very next day. It wasn't planned, and it wasn't anything more then what happened that one night. You two had had a fight, he thought you were broke up... We just got lost in the moment I guess…"

Blossom shuddered, closing her eyes tight to calm herself, her blood beginning to boil at the conversation she was having. "I don't want to or need to hear the ins and outs of it, okay? Brick and I are no longer an item. And that is because of what you and him did. It was 3 years ago, okay? It's done."

Carla looked surprised. "But, you were together for 10 years! That one night ruined it?!"

"Of course it did!" Blossom cried, then immediately tried to calm herself. "Of course it did. Now please Ms. Martins, this is really inappropriate conversation. If you need me or a nurse, press the red button."

Boomer slumped on the sofa with a contented sigh. "Ahh, it sure does feel good to be home!"

Bubbles' sigh in response was far from contented as she landed on the sofa next to him. "I don't want to be home, I want to be back on the beach!" She whimpered, snuggling up to her husband.

He slung an arm around her. "Holiday blues already? Be happy, Mrs Jojo."

She glowed at her new name, and smiled up at Boomer. "Ooh, it sounds so good out loud."

When the doorbell went, Bubbles jumped up to answer it. Anything to take her mind off the fact that she was no longer in Barbados, but Townsville, and she had work on Monday…

"Hi Buttercup!" Bubbles cried, rushing her sister into a hug on the doorstep. "How are you?"

"Whoa, hey. I'm fine, how are you? Damn, you're brown! I gotta get me some Barbadian sun!" She commented, as Bubbles guided her inside.

"I know right! It was beautifully hot! I wore kimonos and bikinis like everyday!" Bubbles gushed.

"It was awesome." Boomer added from the living room, to which Buttercup rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Oh I'm sure it was." She chuckled.

"We've not been in long. So what's up?" Bubbles said, wandering through to her kitchen and sitting down at their breakfast bar. Though Bubbles only worked as a dancer at a theatre company based downtown, Boomer worked as a sous chef at a popular restaurant also downtown, and they had a beautiful home together.

Buttercup sat down beside her, glad her sister was home, though she'd never admit it out loud. "Not much, same old same old from me I'm afraid. I thought I'd just pop over and see how the honeymoon was."

"Aww, did you miss me?" Bubbles cooed, giggling.

"Oh so much." Buttercup replied sarcastically, but smiled. "So was the honeymoon good?"

"It was amazing! Our villa was beautiful, right on the beach - and to be honest, we barely left the bedroom!" Bubbles said, waggling her eyebrows.

Buttercup laughed. "Well what more can you expect from a honeymoon. That's how it should be."

"I know. It was just soo romantic - and we had loads of deep and meaningful conversations too -"

"Really?!" Buttercup interrupted, and Bubbles playfully smacked her arm.

"Buttercup! Yes really! Anyway, we talked and we talked and, okay don't tell anyone yet but - we're going to start trying for a baby! Can you believe it?" Bubbles practically squealed.

"Hey that's great! God, it's about time!" Buttercup cried, giving her blonde sister a brief hug.

"I know! We decided we're just gunna go for it and start trying! Ooh you and Mitch should have another!" Bubbles enthused, gripping her sister's arm excitedly.

Buttercups expression changed drastically. "Erm, no thank you. You wait till you've had one, then we'll see what you think about a second."

Bubbles only laughed in reply. "How is everyone? How's Blossom? I was going to call her, but we've literally only just got in."

"Oh, she's okay. I think - to be honest I haven't seen much of her. If at all since the wedding." Buttercup said, remembering one of the things she wanted to speak to her blonde sister about.

"Ohh. Work stuff?" Bubbles queried, and Buttercup nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much. I called her the other day and invited her over, but she sounded pretty busy."

"Busy? What, she was working or something?" The blonde questioned.

"No, she was at home. But this is what I mean. She sounded busy." Buttercup said, trying to reiterate her point without having to say it, much like her chat with Mitch.

"I don't get it?" Bubbles blinked.

"Well, when she picked up the phone she sounded all out of breath, and you know flushed... I don't think she was alone." Buttercup said, getting up and helping herself to a drink. There wasn't much in Bubbles' cupboards; they needed to go grocery shopping.

"Really? You think she's got a boyfriend? I can't believe she hasn't told us!" Bubbles cried in outrage, grabbing a glass down too.

"I don't know, I don't know. I haven't tried to contact her since. But surely if she had a boyfriend we would know? She'd have at least told me, seeing as I was in the country and all." The brunette reasoned.

"I wonder who it could be… Do you think it's Jeremy?" Bubbles pondered.

"Could be. But maybe not - she really wasn't into him. I'd be surprised if she is with him. Why wouldn't she tell us?" Buttercup asked, frustrated.

"Maybe it isn't a boyfriend. Maybe she's just, you know.. - finally feeling lonely." Bubbles said, feeling sad at the thought of her sister feeling so low.

"That's what Mitch said. Well, not as eloquently put - he said she's probably got a booty call. We gotta catch up with that girl though. She's like a whirlwind. She never stops."

Blossom tapped on the door to Butch and Brick's apartment quietly. It was a few minutes past 9pm and she'd just left work. She hadn't met with Butch in four days - which she was quite proud of. She'd kept herself busy in other ways; gone to the gym (not the one Butch worked at…), stayed in and read, even gone out with a few coworkers one evening - which she never did.

But today had been particularly troublesome. She'd had to look after Carla her whole shift. It hadn't exactly been easy, what with Carla constantly trying to talk about it all. Blossom did not want to talk about it. Which was exactly why she'd ended up knocking for Butch. She was in dire need of a pick me up. She'd tried to call to get him to come to her - going to theirs always made her feel extra nervous. But he'd not picked up. So, here she was, at his doorstep.

When no one answered, she tapped lightly again. Where was he? The door finally swung open, and Blossom's face froze when she realised who had answered it.

"Oh, Brick. Hi." She mumbled. Normally, she would think on her feet, and come up with a good reason to why she was there. But her train of thought disappeared. First Carla. Now Brick. She glanced passed Brick's confused look, to the sofa in the lounge. It was the same sofa. Just in a different position in the apartment.

There it was in her mind again. Him and her. Together.

"Blossom, hi. What are you doing here?" Brick asked, still looking perplexed.

"I, I." She burbled, looking him up and down and attempting to un-muddle her thoughts. He had on old sweatpants and t shirt; she could see a film playing on the TV in the apartment. "I, I don't know why I'm here. Sorry, I should go." Blossom said, turning to leave.

"Did you want to speak to Butch again? He's not here, he's out with friends." Brick said, making Blossom's heart thump loudly. There was an edge of irritation to his voice.

"Oh, no - no don't worry. I don't know why I'm here, to be honest. I just - I had a really bad day at work. I guess I just wanted to see a familiar face. I feel bad butting in on my sister's this late so.. Sorry, I'll go." Blossom murmured.

"What happened?" Brick asked, hoping she would stop and chat.

She turned and looked at him, tossing her head to the side and shaking it slightly. "Don't worry. You wouldn't wanna know."

"Then why'd I ask? Come on. Come in, have a coffee. Remember what I said, talk to me. Maybe I can help?" Brick asked, attempting a smile.

Blossom couldn't help but smile back, which felt weird; she wasn't used to smiling around him anymore. It felt off.

"To be honest Brick, you're the last person that would want to hear why I had such a terrible day." Blossom said, the false feeling smile fading from her lips as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Well now you have to tell me. Come on. In." He cocked his head inwards.

Against her better judgment, she followed him inside.

Blossom sat on the sofa, that damn sofa she hated so much, fiddling with her hair in its ponytail uncomfortably, while Brick made her a coffee in the kitchen. She had liked living here. It was a nice apartment, in a nice end of town.

And she had so many memories with Brick here. But the last few were far from good memories.

"So," Brick said, as he sat down opposite her and placed the mugs on the coffee table. "What happened?"

Blossom let go of her hair and looked at him, sighing. "It was just a particular patient that came in today who was passed over to me to look after."

"Pervy old man? Pervy young man?" Brick asked, trying to lighten the mood a bit. He wanted him and Blossom to feel a little more comfortable around each other. Surely it was about time?

"It was Carla. Carla Martins." Blossom said, looking at Brick with a frosty expression.

Brick also froze. "Carla was your patient today?"

"Yeah. She had a burst appendix. I had to look after her all day. I couldn't get out of it either. She's okay, if you wondered. Appendectomy, all pretty straight forward. She'll be discharged in a day or so."

"I didn't wonder." Brick said flatly, before pausing. "Shit, Bloss. That must have been awful. I'm so sorry. Did she say much?" He had no idea what to say.

"Oh yes, she had a lot to say. A lot of it I really did not want to hear, too. It would have been unprofessional of me to talk about what happened too much, though."

Brick was silent, sipping at his coffee.

"She apologised. Quite a few times. She seemed surprised that it split us up." Blossom spoke steadily, not looking him in the eye.

"She quit the very next day." Brick murmured.

"She told me." Blossom paused. "It was just horrible seeing her. Just horrible. She looked so good too, even with a damn burst appendix. It was just like a big fat reminder of why I am where I am right now. Of why I have nothing. Because of her. And," Blossom hesitated. "And because of you." She mumbled, concentrating on her coffee.

Brick looked into his lap uncomfortably, mentally kicking himself as hard as he could. "And I thought I had a bad day." He muttered, not really sure what to say.

"Why, did someone who destroyed your relationship come into your place of work today?" Blossom replied flatly.

"I'm sorry. I just don't know what to say. There's nothing I can say. I understand why talking to me won't make it any better. You can go if you want." Brick said, his mood completely changed.

Why did he bother? He was never going to win her back, not even as a friend. He'd completely fucked everything up. And he was kicking himself at just how much he wanted her back. There was no going back from it, regardless of how much time had passed. She wasn't even there to see him either. She had quite clearly wanted to speak to his brother. Which bothered him enough as it was. It took everything in him not to demand why she was here to see Butch, and so often? What the hell had sparked this friendship they had out of the blue?

When him and Blossom were together she tolerated Butch at best. He got on her nerves a lot and she detested the on and off nature of his and Buttercup's relationship. To put it quite simply she wasn't a fan of Butch before. Why was he suddenly her go to?

He worried if he asked her that outright she'd give him an answer he really didn't want to hear.

But Blossom sighed, sitting deeper into the sofa she was on, making it apparent she wasn't going anywhere just yet. "Were we just a wrong fit from the start?"

Brick looked up at her, blinking. She was talking about them.

"What makes you say that?" He almost gulped.

"Us. Did we just never fit properly? Bubbles and Boomer, they never argue like we did. Not really, not proper arguments. Silly, trivial ones that they seem to reconcile over in a matter of minutes. Butch and Buttercup argued a lot but, they'd always make up. I used to swear they'd argue just to enjoy the making up bit. I mean, I know in hindsight they didn't last very long together but, they're civil now - well, sort of. They're their own kind of weird, sneering, sarcastic kind of civil with each other. Why is it so different for us? Why is it all so hard?" Blossom asked, her brow wrinkled as she tried to make sense of it all.

"Butch didn't cheat on Buttercup. They both just gave up. They could have been something, if they'd fought a little bit for each other. They presumed the worst of each other all the time and just called it quits. Obviously it's worked out for them. They're both relatively happy and completely moved on with their lives. We weren't a wrong fit." Brick said, and his voice sounded so sure of his words.

Blossom, who had been gazing into her mug as she listened to Brick speak, looked up at him then. "We weren't?"

"No. Because, well I can only speak for myself when I say this but, I'm not in the least moved on from you, or happy with my life. And I believe it's because we were such a right fit for each other. That's why it's so difficult now. Everything feels so pointless now - and it's because there is no point. And it's all because I completely ruined it. We were right for each other, but I fucked it all up." He sounded so distraught, it made her chest tighten.

The pink puff breathed in heavily at what he just said. She really looked at him then. He looked tired. He looked beat. His crimson eyes had no shine to them. The magnetic, intense glint was gone. He wasn't him. Just like she wasn't her.

But she knew that didn't erase everything. It didn't make what he did okay. It just made her heart break into more and more little pieces. She wanted to hold him, make it all better. But he was the very reason they were in this mess. It was all just so screwed up. And they were supposed to be the sensible, together ones.

"Whilst I'm not going to downplay what you did and the massive effect it had on our relationship, and on us as people, you aren't solely to blame. I neglected us; I neglected you. My career is important to me, it always has been. But you were important too, and I should have made more time for us. I could have done things differently. I should have done things differently." Blossom admitted, and Brick pursed his lips together.

"You never slept with a colleague though." He added, and she sighed.

"I honestly don't know what to say." She murmured. Should she tell him she felt the same way? "I don't know what I want anymore, I really don't. I don't know who I am. I don't know why I am even here giving you the time of day."

"Do I want to know why you're really here? And I mean why you're really here." Brick said, his voice quiet and almost accusing.

Blossom froze, her grip tightening on her mug so much she nearly broke it.

"What does that matter? I'm here talking to you aren't I?" She mumbled, putting the mug down on the coffee table carefully.

Brick sighed, leaning back on the chair. "I guess so. Not the reason you actually came though, right?"

"No." She agreed. "You were the last person I wanted to see."

He inhaled, her words stinging. Then he got to his feet, rapidly whipping the still half full mug of coffee Blossom had just placed down out of her reach. She guessed she was done with it…

"You know, I don't know why I'm bothering. I sometimes wish my stupid head, heart, whatever it is in control, would just give up. I fucked up, big time - and now I'm paying for it. And I'll probably continue to pay for it for the rest of my existence. I don't know why I'm expecting you to give me 5 minutes of your time." The red ruff ranted as he stomped through to the kitchen. "I don't know why I am expecting you to let me talk to you, and be around you and spend time with you. It's not like we ever spent any fucking time together the last few months of our relationship anyway, unless it was through your beeper! This is fucking pointless. Butch isn't here, okay? So go." He barked as he threw the mugs in the sink, shattering them then stormed back into the lounge.

Blossom glared at him, getting to her feet as well. "You think you deserve 5 minutes of my time? You think one day I am just gunna wake up and forget? It's been 3 years Brick, and it still hurts the same! I am not an OUNCE over you, not one bit! And it hurts me every single day to know that by now, we could have had so much together! We could be married, we could have maybe had kids, or at least one. It even kills me to know that you're the reason that none of that has happened. I wish so bad it didn't happen. I miss you so bad! I wish I could turn back the clocks and make sure you didn't do something so intangibly stupid! But there's nothing I can do, and there's absolutely no way I can change it, I can't change how I feel and I can't change what you did. And if for one second I could make everything else go away and make us together again then I -" As she'd been talking, Brick had stalked towards her and promptly interrupted her by sweeping her into his arms, holding her as close as he could and pressing his lips to hers firmly.

Blossom barely even struggled. She fit in his hold like he was a mould made just for her, and although her brain was going haywire, her heart was in no position to put a stop to any of this. She'd not been held by him in such a long time, and it almost hurt to feel him up against her right now - to the point she felt she never wanted to let him go. Everything would be okay if he was just there, indefinitely.

They kiss became increasingly passionate - god, she'd forgot how amazing it was kissing him - until Blossom gently pushed him away to catch her breath and to ask him: "What are you doing? What are we doing?"

"I don't know, and I don't care." Brick replied huskily, pulling her close again. Blossom melted against him, and let herself go. Her fingers were in his hair, and pulling at his shirt. His hands were already up hers and fiddling with the straps to her bra.

Slowly, they kissed all the way into Brick's bedroom; their old bedroom, and threw themselves onto the bed. And Blossom forgot absolutely everything - everything, all that stuff between them, with anything else going on in her life, none of it mattered right now.

There was only him and her, both completely lost in each other.

r&r (: