Townsville High

~Hello all, I got this chapter up a little quicker for you all. Sorry I've taken a while recently, but I plan on updating more often again. I used to update every two days and now I'm lucky if I update per week haha! So, yeah, enjoy guys!~

Chapter 43 - Off The Rails

Last Chapter - Butch and Buttercup decided to get back to boxing, while Bubbles took an interest in dance. Maxine informed Brody on their baby. Blossom slowly started to get back to herself, with the help of Brick and Bubbles. And Sky was left disappointed when Tyler didn't return her feelings.

Disclaimer - (I do not own the Powerpuff Girls, or anything related. I also do not own the song and the movie that is mentioned in this chapter, the song belongs to Taylor Swift and the movie belongs to Suzzane Collins, well the book does.)

PLEASE READ; Guys, this chapter might not be my best. It's kind of rushed, I just really wanted to get the chapter up quickly for you all because a lot of people have mailed to ask why I take so long to update. So I'll make the next one better, I promise :)!


Maxine stared herself down in the mirror.

Her hair was down and perfectly straight and her make-up was dramatic yet soft. Black eyes and red lipstick made her stand out, made her look stunning without effort. She glanced down to check her outfit. A loose vintage white blouse with gold buttons that puffed out slightly, shielding the small bump on her once flat stomach, black school-style shorts with a glittery gold belt between the loops and gorgeous white heels that made her as tall as Brick.

She looked like a vintage queen. Which is exactly what she was going for.

A white ribbon hair band was in her hair, tied in a bow at one side of her head, pulling the loose stands of dark brunette hair away from her face. Her head tilted as both of her hands made her way to her stomach, which was hidden. She felt the curve of the bump as she cradled it in her hands.

Luckily she wasn't showing as much yet, but in a month, it would be far too noticable to hide. She had to tell Tyler and the others soon. Telling Brody and Brick was hard enough, but telling her brother, Blossom, her other best friend Bubbles and the rest of the boys, that was going to be tough. Mellisa wasn't happy when she found out, much to Maxine's annoyance.

"Maxine, honey," Mellisa's soulful voice bounced around the room. "Brody and Buttercup are here to pick you up."

School, oh the joy, Maxine thought.

The brunette smiled in thanks at Mellisa before fixing her hair vainly, waiting for her friends to come in. She and Brody decided to try and make the 'friendship' thing work, which would be hard considering she was carrying his child. Buttercup came for support. She knew how hard it was to be friends with someone who you have a complicated history with and unresolved feelings for - considering she went through the same thing with Butch Jojo.

"You look nice, Max." Buttercup said as she walked right in, Brody trailing behind her. Maxine's eyes met Brody's in the mirror before she spun around to face them, and smiled.

"Right back at you." She said, taking notice in Buttercup's outfit. Buttercup wore a white 'Hard Rock Cafe' shirt with green lettering - something that Maxine adored immediately - and black skinny jeans. Her hair was up in a high pony tail, and her shoes were green high-top's. Buttercup wore no make-up whatsoever, but still looked great.

Brody was instantly by her side, giving her a look of longing. "How are you feeling? Are you sick? Do you need anything?"

Maxine couldn't help but smile. "I'm okay, Brody. Thanks but I can look after myself."

They smiled at each other happily, glad to be over the awkward stage in their relationship/friendship. Maxine wondered if he would try to make them more, try to get her back, but she couldn't let herself fall back in love completely. Their relationship didn't work and this child was not an excuse for it to work. If there was just a moment where they both knew that they saw some sort of future and it would all be okay, she would make it work, and until then she would search for that moment.

Maxine cringed as she felt dizzy, like the wind had been pulled right out of her, forcing her to bite her lip to keep still. She used her hand to steady her as it pressed against the wall. Brody instantly took notice of her ache and ran over to her, throwing her arm over his shoulder and placing his hand on her waist.

"You okay?" He asked her in utter concern.

She nodded. "I'm fine." However, she did not pull away, she let him help her walk.

Buttercup walked with them as they headed out the door. They made their way down the stairs and said their good-bye's to Mellisa before heading out the front door to Brody's car. Buttercup didn't fail to notice the way that Brody looked at Maxine with adoration in his eyes, like he was glad she was back in his life, like he wasn't going to give up on them.

All the way to school, Brody and Buttercup chatted while Maxine remained quiet. She shot a couple glances at Brody every now and then. Being civil with him was weird considering how rocky they had been for the past few weeks. Neither really knew what to be with each other. They were so used to being in love with each other, that being anything else was confusing.

This whole situation just made it ten times harder to the both of them.

Finally, they had made it to school and Maxine could get away. She was the first to get out of the car, and she planned to run off, but Buttercup and Brody were by her side. She sighed and walked inside with them, wondering what all of these people in their school would think of her if they knew.

"Oh look, there's Tyler." Maxine said as she ran over to him, trying to get away from the awkwardness of just being around Brody. When she saw stopped in front of Tyler, he smiled at her. He didn't yet know about her situation and she planned for him to be the next to know.

"Hey, Max." Tyler said to her.

Maxine smiled back at him. "You seen Sky today?" She spoke softly, trying to hide the fact that she knew something he didn't. She knew that Sky was upset with him, confused that he didn't return what she had said. Confused on why he didn't love her when he acted like he had ever since he met her.

"Um..no, she hasn't been answering her phone." He responded.

Maxine nodded. "Maybe you should look for her. You have a lot to talk about."

"What do you mean?"

"Just talk to her." Maxine replied.

She wouldn't say it, but Maxine was worried what this meant for them. She didn't know the complications in their relationship, she didn't know about Sky's disorder or past, but she did know that Sky loved her brother more than anything, and that Tyler felt the same but wouldn't admit it.

Well, he was going to have to.


The music filled the room as Bubbles stood alone in the hall.

Her dance class had ended twenty minutes ago but Bubbles decided to stay behind. Her year had a free period, so rather than roaming about the school for an hour, she danced. Her iPod was blaring music through large blue speakers, letting the sound bounce around the room.

Bubbles could hear someone walk into the room and she instantly spun around. Her eyes met the electric blue eyes of Boomer, who stood by the door with his arms crossed and a tight smile on his face. She rolled her eyes and smiled back at him, thinking how they kept meeting like this. It was almost as if he wanted to watch her dance again.

"I've been looking for you," Boomer walked towards her silently. "I figured you would be in here."

He took a look at her, noticing how gorgeous she looked. Her soft blonde hair was tied up in a tight bun, letting a few strands of hair fall carelessly around her heart-shaped face. A light pink leotard clung to her body while a puffy pink skirt stuck out like a sore thumb. She also wore white tights and pink shoes.

Boomer had never really seen Bubbles wearing the colour pink before, he had only ever seen Blossom wear pink, and once Maxine. She did look pretty in pink, but it was not her colour. Blue was always her colour.

"You look nice, pretty girl." Boomer said to her.

Bubbles hid the rosy blush on her cheeks with her hand and let a small smile grace her face. She looked back up at him and tilted her head, wondering why he was still here. Why would he want to spend his free time in a dance hall, when he could be out with his friends, having fun.

"Thanks," Bubbles responded. "You should go find Tyler or something, I'm planning on staying here for the rest of the period." She half-expected him to try and convince her to come with him, but he stood tall and still, not uttering a word.

There was silence until Boomer finally spoke up.

"I'd rather be here, with you."

"You'll get bored."

Boomer shook his head slowly. "I couldn't get bored when I'm with you. There's never a dull moment when in the company of one of the Utonium girls." He smirked cutely, knowing that he was right.

Bubbles giggled and through her head back before crossing her arms and staring at him. "You make a good point, Boomer. But seriously, you should go have fun. I'll see you in Math."

"You really want me to go?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Well, no.."

"So I'll stay." He said stubbornly before perching himself on the ground with his legs crossed. Bubbles couldn't help but laugh as he looked up at her with cute eyes. She sighed in a dreamy style before wandering over to her iPod.

"If you stay, you'll have to sit through half an hour of me dancing. Can't be much fun on your end."

Boomer grinned boyishly. "I liked watching you dance. You were in your own little world and it was interesting to watch. So, go on. Dance."

"Whatever you say, boyfriend." She said with a small smile.

Bubbles snatched her iPod in her hand and began to find the perfect song. Eventually, she chose the song by Taylor Swift, called Safe and Sound. It was always her favorite song to dance to. She put the song on, and it began to play through the speakers.

She imagined that Boomer wasn't there, that she was alone in her bedroom, the only place she had ever danced before coming to the class. She shut her eyes tightly and let the music guide her. She spun around, twirled, jumped. Her arms were moving around elegantly. At one point she leaped and her foot was close to touching the back of her head. She could do perfect splits and spins. Boomer was amazed.

She was poised and calm. Each move flowed smoothly. Bubbles could feel Boomer's eyes on her, but she tried to not let it distract her. He had seen her dance before so she had no reason to be so nervous. Then again, no one in this world knew just how elegant and beautiful she could really be when she danced. In fact, no one knew she could dance like this, except for Boomer.

His eyes followed her around the room as she moved gracefully.

Bubbles lifted herself into the air before twirling. She felt a little dizzy but continued to move beautifully across the room. A small smile pressed her lips as a memory came to mind..

FLASHBACK;

"Again!" Proffesor Utonium yelled enthusiastically.

A tiny giggle escaped from his six year old daughters lips as she twirled around her bedroom like she was the most graceful thing to walk the earth. Blonde hair swayed around her face as little Bubbles leaped into the air, landing on her toes noiselessly. She spun around and danced.

Finally, she stopped. She ran over to her father, who had to bend down to be eye-level with his precious little girl. She broke out in a grin at the look of pride and adoration in John's eyes. He smiled back at her and nodded in appreciation.

"That was beautiful, Bubbles," John spoke softly. "Thank-you for showing me."

Bubbles couldn't help but smile wider. "Was it really that good?"

"Good? Good is not a word to describe that. You truely are special, my little girl. You're my angel and one day everyone is going to get to see you dance like that." John said as he took his daughters tiny hands in his own. The look on Bubbles' face made his day.

"I love you, my little angel." John said happily.

The little girl smiled in joy. "I love you too, daddy!"

Both of their faces lit up before John lifted her up and laughed.

"Again!"

Bubbles giggled once more before twirling around the room.

END FLASHBACK;

The memory brought a tear to Bubbles' eye, but she soon dismissed it and continued to spin and spin. She wondered if John was watching her from up there, smiling down at her in pride. She knew that if he was still around, he would pull up Boomer and tell him to watch over his little girl, and to never let anything bad happen to her. Of course, the car accident wasn't all his fault but John would have made him pay for that mistake.

He would tell Boomer that she meant the world to him and Boomer would say exactly the same thing back. She hoped that they could meet but that would never happen. Still, Boomer and her father were the two men she loved most in the world, and she knew that even if John wasn't around to say it, he did approve.

Bubbles danced with so much grace and dignity, the words of her father flowing through her mind.

That was beautiful, Bubbles.

She took a deep breath as she tried to push the words away. If she continued to dawn upon the memories she would surely fall to her feet in devastation. Dancing seemed to bring up all those memories of her father that no one knew about, and it was painful.

You're my angel and one day everyone is going to get to see you dance like that.

Boomer began to notice that something was off, because Bubbles' wasn't dancing the same as before. Her moves were sharp and forced, when usually she danced like it came naturally to her, like she had been dancing her whole life. Of course, Boomer didn't know that she had been dancing her entire life.

I love you, my little angel.

Bubbles immediately came to a halt as those words surrounded her mind. She closed her eyes tightly and cursed inside her head before turning around to face Boomer. He had a frown on his face. Bubbles knew this was because he could tell when she was in distress.

She made her way over to him and sat down in front of him, her legs crossed and her head bowed down in defeat. Boomer's finger lifted her chin and his eyes bore deep into her own.

"Are you okay? Why did you stop?" Boomer asked.

Bubbles sighed as his hand moved away from her chin onto her cheek. "I was just thinking about my dad. Before you and the rest of my class, he was the only one who had ever seen me dance. He used to say that he knew one day someone would see how special I was. He's not even alive to see me finally dance outside of my room. That just hurts, I guess." Her voice was quiet, but Boomer could hear her.

"I know I can't possibly make you feel any better about him being gone, but I'm here for you. He used to watch you dance and tell you how special you were, well, now I'll do that. Every day, what ever time of the day you feel like breaking into song, I'll be there." He said with a boyish grin.

Bubbles laughed sadly and nodded. "Thanks..I just wish he was here."

"He is," Boomer said comfortingly before pulling her forward into his arms. She snuggled her face into his dark blue short-sleeved shirt and sighed into it, clutching it with her clenched fist. Boomer rubbed her back gently and rested his chin on the top of her head. "People never really die, Bubbles. They're still here, we just can't see them."

Hearing that made Bubbles feel better. She didn't care if it wasn't true because they both believed it. She knew her father was always looking down on her in pride, glad that she turned out to be so perfect. She became the real glue of their household. She was helping Blossom along with Brick and it was thanks to her that Buttercup and Butch came to be. Everyone was proud of her. Everyone.

"God, it should be illegal how much I love you." Boomer blurted out.

Bubbles laughed into his shirt. "I love you too, boyfriend." She muttered happily with a tiny smile on her face.

"Don't forget that, angel."

I love you, my little angel.


Skylar made her way out of the school in a rush, trying to avoid Tyler at all costs. Her heels clicked along the ground as she headed for her beautiful blue car in the school parking lot. She was so close to the car that she was practically beaming at how she had managed to avoid Tyler for so long, then she heard a voice she really didn't want to hear.

"Skylar,"

She whipped around and saw Tyler standing before her. Sky tilted her head before looking left to right, trying to find means of escape. When she noticed that there was no way around talking to him, she waited for him to make the first move. He crossed his arms and sighed as she continued to look anywhere but his eyes.

"Sky, talk to me." Tyler pleaded.

The blue-haired girl rolled her eyes. "What do you want me to say, Ty? It took a lot for me to open up to you and tell you about myself. I told you I love you, and you didn't say it back! That hurt. I get it, but I just wanted to know, do you love me or not!?"

He looked at her intensely, and didn't answer her. Instead, he kissed her. Sky stood rigid in shock but returned the wonderful kiss. Tyler rested his hands on her back and deepened the kiss. Sky wrapped her arms around him, smiling against his soft lips blissfully.

"Does that answer your question?" He muttered against her lips.

Being brought back into reality, Sky pushed him away and narrowed her eyes. "You didn't say it back. Why?"

Tyler looked down at the ground and closed his eyes. Sky waited for his answer but noticed how uncomfortable he looked. She knew why he didn't say it, she just wanted to hear it. To understand. This was their thing, they decided to be honest with each other from now on, about everything, so the fact that he hadn't told her why had upset her.

"I was just shocked, Sky. No one's ever told me that they love me before. I was in love with Bubbles and she didn't say it back, so I know how you feel. She left me for my best friend so..the fact that you said you love me was surprising and new. But it was nice, to know that someone does."

Skylar looked down at the ground, one question was burning in her mind. She had been wanting to ask it for a while but stopped herself, until just now, when it finally came out. "Are you still in love with her?"

Tyler met her gaze, and shot her a surprised face. "What? No..I mean, I don't know." Tyler sighed. "Bubbles is the first girl I've ever been in love with, you don't get over something like that. I wouldn't take her back, even if she asked, I want to be with you now."

"That doesn't answer my question, Ty," She said with a frown. "Do you love me, or her?"

Tyler pulled her into him, his strong arms surrounding her small waist carefully. "You. Of course I do. Bubbles and I was a mistake. You're the one I want." He brought her in for a sweet kiss that knocked the wind right out of Sky.

Skylar smiled against his soft lips as she draped her arms around him. She felt herself being lifted into the air and twirled around like she was the most special thing in his world. A small uncharacteristic giggle escaped her lips before she could take it back. Sky pecked him on the lips before laying her head on the crook of his shoulder.

"I love you." She muttered quietly in a whisper.

But he did not reply.


As the night rolled in, Brody heard a knock on his door, which surprised him. He wondered who on earth would be at his door at eleven at night. He strolled over to the front door and opened it, to reveal Maxine. She looked upset, which immediately made Brody concerned.

She was still dressed in the same clothes from school, but now her hair and clothes were damp from the rain outside. Brody raised his eyebrow at her, wondering what she was doing here.

"Max?"

Maxine sighed. "This might sound wierd, but can I stay here tonight? I got in a fight with Mellisa and I really don't want to go over to Tyler's at this time. You live closer to mine." Maxine's excuse sounded sincere, but to be honest, she wouldn't have minded going to Tyler's at this time, she just wanted to spend time with him.

"Sure, of course you can stay. You used to live here remember." He smiled awkwardly.

Maxine looked away, the tension rising up. "Thank you."

She walked past him and into the living room that she used to tidy on a sunday morning, and sat on the couch that she and Brody used to cuddle up to on a Saturday afternoon. She missed this house so much. It was always home to her.

Brody soon joined her on the couch and grabbed the remote from the table, searching through the channels while Maxine twidled her thumbs. He eventually decided upon a show that they used to watch together every night, and then turned to her.

"So, want to talk about it? The fight, I mean."

"There isn't much to talk about," Maxine replied with a frown. "Mellisa isn't happy about me having a baby while I'm still in highschool. I told her that it's not her decision because she's not my real mother. The usual thing, really. I just..usually when me and Mellisa fought, I would run here and it would all be okay. When I realised I couldn't keep coming back here I got sad, but I came anyway because..well, you're the only person that can ever make me feel better."

Brody sat perfectly still as he digested her words. She still trusted him to help her. She didn't feel awkward enough to not come here when Mellisa and her fought. That meant a lot to Brody.

He nodded at her and looked in her eyes.

"You know I'm always here, Max."

"Have you told Faye yet?" Maxine asked slyly, her eyes glued to the floor. Faye was Faye McKane, the wife of Carter McKane and the mother of Brody and his little sister Tessa. She was a typical mother, always looking out for her children. Faye was a wonderful woman and also very understanding, which is why Maxine wasn't nervous at the thought of Faye knowing.

Brody nodded. "She wasn't too thrilled, but once she calmed down she just seemed happy. Do you know, she gave me such a hard time when we broke up. She was all, 'Why would you break up with Maxine? She's a lovely girl!'" Brody said, mimicking his mother's voice. Maxine broke out into laughter at his impression of Faye.

"Yeah, your parents treated me like a daughter. Tessa always hated me though." Maxine said with a smirk.

"She was just jealous that you stole all my time. You know how little sisters are."

Maxine laughed. "I missed this." She said, motioning between them. Brody nodded in agreement and beamed. All this talk about mother's was making Maxine uncomfortable, but when she was around Brody, everything just seemed pointless to worry about.

Since finding out about her adoption, Maxine always wished that Elizabeth was alive and she could meet her. That she could explain why she didn't want Maxine in her life. Why she wasn't good enough to be in the Cairns family, or good enough to be loved by her real mother. But now? She wanted nothing to do with her. She didn't want to be like her at all.

She was glad to have Tyler in her life, but that was the only part of Elizabeth that Maxine wanted in her life. She couldn't let her own child go through life thinking why it wasn't good enough or wondering if their parents even wanted them. Maxine wasn't sure how she felt about having a whole other life to look after, but she wasn't ready to let that life go. Right now, she had real family, and that meant everything to her.

Maxine wanted to watch her child grow up, to be there through everything like her parents weren't. Brody wanted that for her, so she was going to make that work, no matter how hard it would be. She would pull through, for the both of them.

"It's late, we should sleep." Brody said to her.

Maxine nodded in response and rose to her feet. They both walked up the stairs and to Brody's room. Maxine was getting ready to sleep on the floor but Brody stopped her, saying she shouldn't sleep on the floor in her condition. She said that he couldn't sleep on the floor either, and they argued. After a while, they decided to both sleep in the bed. They had before, it shouldn't be that weird, they thought.

When they were in the bed, Maxine suddenly felt uncomfortable.

Not because she was next to Brody, but because something was kicking her. Again, not Brody. She put her hand to her stomach and laughed shortly as her baby kicked and kicked like it's life depended on it. She thought about telling Brody but it seemed he had already noticed, because his arm was draped across her waist.

He held his hand to her stomach and smiled.

"I can feel it." He said in shock as the baby moved around.

Maxine brought her shaky hand to his and placed it over his own, dragging it to the bottom of her stomach where their child's little feet kicked his hand. He laughed along with her and the little thing inside of her went absolutely crazy. The feeling overwhelmed Brody, he had never felt anything like it.

"He's a fighter." Brody said.

"What makes you so sure it's a boy, McKane?"

His hand remained there even though the kicking stopped. "I just have a feeling it's a boy."

Maxine rolled her eyes but smiled. She soon found her fingers laced between his, which surprised her on why he hadn't moved his hand away. She heard Brody's breathing slow down as he drifted to sleep, his hand still on her stomach. Maxine frowned and looked down at his hand, missing the comfort.

She wondered what their child would look like. Would it have Brody's messy short brown hair, or Maxine's long dark brunette -almost red- hair. Would it have his pale green eyes or her soft blue-green ones. Would it be short or tall. Would it be smart and beautiful and fun like Maxine, or cheeky and handsome and courageous like Brody.

Only time would tell.


Buttercup's POV

Mine and Butch's eyes were glued to the television screen.

We were sat in my bedroom watching this movie where a bunch of kids must fight to the death in a huge arena, it was called The Hunger Games or something like that. Butch and I always enjoyed watching action movies together, it was our favourite thing to do together, besides argue and boxing of course.

Every time one of the characters did something impressive such as throw a spear all the way across the room or wield a sword like it weighed nothing, we would grin from ear to ear or stare at the screen in admiration. I had a feeling that this movie would probably become our favourite, maybe a ritual? We should watch it every year.

"Did you see that!?" Butch asked, gobsmacked.

I nodded beside him. "This movie is awesome."

We turned to each other and smiled. I leaned back more against the bed frame, feeling Butch's arm tighten around my waist. Most of the time, I disarmed all sorts of intimacy, but being in his arms was strangely nice. He was freakishly warm and I was cold, so it felt good. I let my head fall into the crook of his neck and my eyes didn't move from the television, but I could tell Butch was smiling.

We watched in silence for the next five minutes.

"She's so hot." Butch muttered with large eyes as the main girl ran around on the screen. I agreed that the main character was indeed attractive, but I am sitting right here. Idiot. My eyes narrowed dangerously at him, only then did he notice he had made a mistake. "I mean, she's hot, but not as hot as you obviously."

Nice save.

I rolled my eyes but still smiled and shook my head. Butch laughed nervously and before I could stop him, he pulled me into a kiss. I was stunned but kissed back anyway. Damn him, always knowing just how to calm me down. Sometimes I think he knows me better than my sisters, probably a counterpart thing, who knows. I wonder if this works on him. Next time he's mad, I'll kiss him to see what happens. Smart one, Buttercup.

When I pulled away from the kiss, his eyes lit up.

"Why do you look so happy?" I asked him.

Butch's usual smirk was once again replaced by a smile. "I'm with you."

"Who knew Butch Jojo could be sweet?" I said in a mocking way and smirked. "I'm a bad influence on you."

"Oh yes, you are, crazy girl." He drawled before kissing me again.

His hands met my face and his lips brushed across mine. Usually when we kissed, it was intense, fiery, like fireworks and lightning. Our hands would be tangled in each other's hair and we would be thrown against walls like we were taking our anger out on each other, but this kiss was different. It was soft and sort of..sweet, kind and gentle. I would remember it.

I eased into the kiss, trying to return the gentleness of it all. I melted into him and shut my eyes tight. Nothing could have ruined this moment, not even one of my sisters walking in. It was a perfect moment, which Butch and I didn't have often.

When we finally tore away, his hands didn't leave my face. I looked deep into his eyes, my own darting about, trying to find out what he was thinking. That was something I hated about Butch and I, neither ever knew what the other was thinking. We always had to say it out loud. But this time, I saw something new. It couldn't be love, it was more adoration or appreciation. Like the look Brick and Boomer get when they look at my sisters, or Brody when he looks at Maxine. No one had ever looked at me like that before.

I was touched.

"Come with me." Butch said as he grabbed my hand and lifted me to my feet. I raised my eyebrow in confusion. We weren't even finished watching the film and he wanted to leave. I decided I would wait to see what he wanted. He dragged me down the stairs where we ran into Blossom.

She was sat on the couch, she looked like she was getting ready for bed.

Blossom looked at us and smiled. "Where are you two off to?"

"I have no freaking idea!" I laughed as Butch opened the front door and pulled me outside. I gasped as the rain hit us when we got out the door. He wanted to come out into the rain, is he mad? Butch can be a right idiot sometimes. Still, I wonder what he wants..

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXo

Normal POV

"Butch, it's raining!" Buttercup laughed as she was pushed out of her house and into the coldness of the streets. The harsh rain poured around them thanks to the rain cloud hovering above them. Buttercup couldn't stop laughing as Butch spun her about. Her hair was damp and getting worse as the seconds dragged on, and her clothes were soaked, just like Butch, but neither seemed to care.

"I don't care," He laughed back. Buttercup looked up at Butch and saw a very handsome smile on his face which replaced the usual smirk. They were both shivering from the freezing droplets that surrounded them. Butch's hands cradled her face, pushing the strands of wet hair from Buttercup's cold face. He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips briefly. "I wanted to tell you something that I couldn't tell you in there."

Buttercup raised a brow at what he had just said. She wasn't sure where he was going with this. Usually she would get mad at him for bringing her out in the rain just to tell her something, but for some reason, she stayed perfectly calm and serene. She wanted to hear his voice, whatever he had to say, she wanted to hear it.

"Go on then," She drawled with a grin. "What do you want to tell me, Butchy boy?"

Butch grinned back at her and stood before her, a sparkle in his eyes that Buttercup had never seen before. He took a long breath and nodded, more to encourage himself to say what he wanted to say to her. Their eyes locked on each other's and it felt as though a spark had struck them right there.

"Buttercup," Butch laughed. "I really freaking love you." Buttercup took a step back with wide eyes. She tilted her head and her eyes locked with his. This didn't feel real. None of it. She couldn't even feel the rain anymore, it just seemed not important.

"You..what?"

"I really freaking love you," He repeated. "I joke about it all the time but I mean it, I love you. It's different and it's pretty messed up, but I do." He laughed again. Buttercup was about to smack him for laughing at such an important and intimate moment, but she didn't. She couldn't move a single muscle.

"With you, I'm off the rails, and it's amazing." Buttercup's face furrowed. It was no surprise that Butch was 'off the rails' around her, he changed for her, completely. He changed his whole direction. He wasn't himself, he was better, he was a man. He was the hero that got the girl, as Bubbles once said.

"You really love me?" Buttercup asked in shock. "No one's ever said that to me before."

Buttercup went her whole life without love, real love anyway. No one had said those three little words to her, then again neither did Butch, but he said it in his own way.

"Well I'm saying it now." Butch said with a grin. The rain made his spiky hair die down, and fall into a black mess on top of his head. His face and clothes were soaked but he still held her in his arms like he did when they were warm and dry back in her room. The rain didn't affect him, this moment was too special to ruin.

Buttercup didn't know what to say, but she noticed that a smile had creeped onto her face, and that did the talking for her.

"You love me too right?" Butch said with a raised eyebrow and a grin on his face, he wasn't worried at all, he already knew her answer.

Buttercup laughed and relaxed in his arms, bringing her lips to his. They kissed with so much affection that Buttercup felt like she was floating. The kiss knocked everything out of Buttercup. She was stunned by how passionate yet sweet it was.

"I guess you were wrong," Butch whispered against her cold lips. "You do believe in love after all."

Buttercup rolled her eyes and smirked. "Maybe I do."

They grinned and kissed once more.


That was one of the best things to write..ever! I tried so hard to keep them in character, please tell me if I did alright?! I have to say, the last scene and the one with Bubbles/Boomer are my favorites so far, I felt so much emotion writing them and I hope you felt just as much emotion reading them!

The scene with Sky/Tyler was really something, and there is some hidden meaning in there, if you have any ideas on what it was, tell me!

I should say one thing, that I'm starting to lose interest in this story, only slightly! I'm not sure where it's going so it will probably end soon, but hopefully I can think of some new twists that will keep it interesting, I'm just not sure if you all find it as interesting anymore, so..we'll see what happens!

Please review, it only takes a few seconds:)!

Allie Peirce