*I own nothing!*

I looked down at my ensemble of several unflattering layers of wool as I pulled my, you guessed it, wool scarf closer to my chest. A sharp shiver ran down my spine as the freakish cold proceeded to make my teeth chatter. There was only one desire running through my mind and that was to make it home so I could soak in a warm bath with rose scented bubbles and a tall glass of wine. It had been a long week, what with Bubbles coming home with a ring on her finger saying that she was marrying, and I quote, "A gorgeous blue eyed blonde" that she has only known for three weeks and Buttercup running in with tears streaming down her face as she showed me a positive pregnancy test while freaking out about how she was going to tell her boyfriend of a year that no one in my family has even meet. Needless to say my life is chaotic at the moment.

I was jolted from my own little world of thought when I noticed a young man slip on the newly formed ice with arms full of grocery bags that went flying into the air only to land... everywhere. I felt bad for the poor guy so I decided to rescue some fruit loops he dropped by the curb and jogged over to help him up. As I offered him my hand I noticed his eyes where a beautiful shade of red that shined with laughter and embarrassment. He was wearing a red baseball cap and had his long red hair pulled back into a ponytail. I usually didn't like the look on most guys but, for some strange reason, it suited him. As he stood up I noted that he was at least a head taller than me.

His nose and cheeks were red from the cold as he looked into my pink eyes while keeping a strong grip on the hand I had offered him.

He was still looking at me when he suddenly asked me, "How is a door a jar?"

"What?" I asked confused.

"I have to redeem my pride after falling on my ass in front of such a beautiful women so I'm asking you, What makes a door a jar?"

"I don't know, how?" I said still confused about how asking me about a door would redeem his pride.

"When it's opened." He said with a goofy grin spreading across his face.

A smile slowly graced my features as I realized that it was a joke and I started to laugh while shaking my head at how idiotic and cute this guy was.

"Your smile is amazing." He said with a look of pure sincerity on his face.

I giggled some more as I handed him his fruit loops, but I knew that he was probably just being a flirt. No guy has been truly interested in me since last year and I was not in the mood for a one night stand, so I turned and started to walk off when he grabbed my hand in an effort to stop me from leaving.

He looked at me with curiosity before asking, "Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?"

"I don't know." I said as I offered him a small smile.

"Well since you don't really know what you're doing tomorrow I thought I'd just let you know that'd I'll be here at the corner of Bleaker and Mercer tomorrow at seven. If you wanna meet up, I'll be waiting right here. And in case there are two amazingly handsome gingers who are hooked on your smile waiting for you my name's Brick." He waved and then he was gone.

I shoved my freezing cold fingers into my jacket pockets as I walked back to the corner where I first meet Brick. Needless to say I was going back there to meet him, mostly to see if he'd show. My heels made these obnoxious clicking noises as I walked down the street in the freezing cold. Why I was doing this I didn't know but as I got closer to the corner where we were supposed to meet I saw him out in the cold with his jacket pulled tight. I tried not to blush as I bit my lip while walking up to him. When he saw me he smiled and his eyes lite up with relief and happiness. I awkwardly held out my hand and instead of shaking it he pulled me into a tight hug and whispered that I looked beautiful in my ear. As he pulled away and started to practically drag me to some Chinese restaurant I made a mental note to myself. I had a feeling that I was going to need to remember today's date.

September 1, 1999

The day I feel in love for the first time.

I can't believe that it's been eight and a half months since I started dating Brick. The first night we went out he joked his way through dinner and after that we took a walk through the park where he asked question after question about my life and my dreams, my political views, things I like and things I don't like, and any other random topic that could pop up in a person' mind. He walked me home after that and kissed me goodnight. I knew the moment his lips meet mine that this was going to be love.

And I was right.

The week after we first went out he took me to this awful play that he held my hand through and the week after that we drank hot chocolate all day and now we're here. We're here sitting on his couch watching some cheesy romantic movie that I am not even watching due to the fact that Brick is kissing his way up and down my neck while making sarcastic comments about how stupid romantic comedies are.

"Why do we need to watch them all the time when we already live in one?" Brick asked as he started to nibble on my left ear.

"And what in the world makes you think that we are a romantic comedy in the making?" I asked sarcastically raising my eyebrows and pinching his arm. He let out a whiny Ow when I pinched him and continued to shift our position so that I was under him and he was in top of me with a smirk plastered on his adorable face.

"The fact that all of our siblings seem to be dating each other is one thing. But I think the important thing is that I'm a sarcastic hunk of a man who will do anything to keep the gorgeous girl of his dreams in his arms forever." He looked triumphant as he gave my nose a chaste kiss. I smiled up at him when he suddenly started to tickle my ribs causing me to giggle and squirm under him as he laughed at how red I was getting. He stopped after several long minutes of torture before getting off of me and sitting at the opposite end of the couch. I was slightly confused but didn't have time to ask why he had moved because he was already blabbering away.

"Hey, whatcha doing the rest of your life? Cause I'll be here right beside you as long as you want me to be. There's no question. There is nothing I've wanted so much in my life. This might sound immature but I'm totally sure you're the one. And I know it might be too soon and I know that we haven't even known each other for a year yet but I also know that this... what we have... it's love. There is no denying that this is love and I don't think that love is defined by how long you've known someone. It's defined by how much you care about that person, or how every day you wake up loving them more than the last. Being in love means doing anything for the one you love no matter how scary or painful it might be. And I'm terrified out of my mind right now Bloss, I really am, because I've never been so nervous abut rejection until now. So I'm just going to say it, Will you marry me?"

I sat shocked for a few moments before my brain finally registered what just happened. I laughed as I looked into his fear stricken eyes and nodded before attacking him with my lips. We stayed in that position for minutes before he pulled away.

"So is that a yes?" He asked laughing.

I sighed dramatically, "I guess so."

He laughed before pulling me into his chest and mumbling the words, "Not a romantic comedy my ass."

I smiled as I thought that this was the beginning of our forever.

We go hitched in September, our favorite month. Buttercup and Bubbles split the role of maid of Honor as did Butch and Boomer for the role of groomsmen. Buttercup and Butch's two year old daughter, Emerald, was the flower girl while Bubbles and Boomer's one year old son, Augustus, was the ring bearer. It was a small ceremony with only our close family and friends as guests, but it was perfect. The way he looked at me as I walked down the aisle made my spine tingle like it did from the cold on the first day I meet him.

"I can't believe that I got so lucky." He whispered into my ear as we walked down the aisle for the first time as Mr and Mrs Brick Jojo.

I smiled and shook my head, "No I can't believe that I got so lucky. You are the person that I had wished for every day of my life and suddenly you appeared one day, out of the blue, with fruit loops and cheesy jokes in store. I love you Brick. I always will."

"I love you too Pinky, always have always will."

"I told you not to call me that." I said as I shoved him playfully. He took my hand and we ran to the car off to start our new life together.

Soon after our wedding we bought an apartment on West seventeenth street that I had fallen in love with and convinced him to get. We moved in and were starting to talk about children and getting dog when our first anniversary rapidly came around. I couldn't believe that our first anniversary came in such a flash. The time had slipped out from under us in a tangle of bliss, happiness, and love. I felt like my life was in this perfect place.

We had both decided to take our anniversary off in order to celebrate but Brick had to stop into his office to drop off some paperwork. I understood and we both agreed to be back in about an hour. Since I had time to spare I decided to walk uptown to this bakery I loved.

It wasn't until I made it to the bakery door when I began to hear rumors on the street about a plane crash. At first I thought it was some sick joke till I saw all the sirens and noticed the smoke. It hit me all of the sudden that there was a reason why those buildings seemed familiar. That was his office. He was there.

And with that realization I dropped the cupcakes I got for that night and I ran. I ran until I couldn't breathe but I kept running because when you love someone you do anything for them no matter how scary or painful it might be. So I ran all the way to our beautiful and empty apartment building with tears streaming down my face. I yelled his name hoping that he was just pulling some sick twisted joke. And then I saw the red light on the answering machine that indicates a voice message.

I fell to the ground as I pressed play to the voice mail he left, with the last words he said.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I don't mean to ruin our evening by bringing up all of this stuff. You're probably wondering why the hell I called you at eleven o'clock at night and asked you to meet me downtown. But you've known for a long time now that I'm kind of crazy. Anyway I wanted to meet you here because today something happened that spooked me. I saw this storm cloud of papers fall down from the sky and I thought of that day and I started to cry. When sure as I breathe I heard Brick's voice clear as day."I stopped unable to speack with out my voice cracking and tears spilling out of my eyes

I looked at the man in front of me as he gave my hand a quick squeeze as if to say go on.

"He said, Hey your're allowed to move on. It's O.K. Because I'll be here even if you decide to get rid of my favorite baseball cap. If you even go out on my birthday this year instead of sitting at home watching all of life's moments pass by. You don't have to cry, because I'll be here when you start going back to the places we went to together. When you take off my ring and you let yourself smile I'll be here. I won't let you cry any longer Bloss. I can't let you."

I kept on talking allowing no room for the redheaded man with glasses to intervine, "It infuriated me that I could hear his voice perfectly but I couldn't see him or touch him. I didn't know where to look when I pathetically whispered that I missed him. But he knew where I was and I know it was definitely him because I felt a light kiss on my nose before he began to talk again."

This was the hard part in my mind, telling Dexter what he said. It was so private but I knew that he needed to know.

I went on in a shaky voice, "Brick said,"When you meet someone handsome and patient and true. And he says that he wants to be married to you. I'll be there and I will smile because I'll know that you, my love, are happy. Bloss you deserve to be so happy." And then I felt something cup my cheek and felt a light pressure on my lips before I heard him say five simple words that shattered my heart for the better."

"Goodbye love. I'll be here."

"And I could feel that he wasn't there with me anymore and I cried, but then I though about you and how much I loved you and how amazing you are. You didn't see me as this broken creature you just saw me as me and I will never be able to express how much that meant to me. I can't explain how much you mean to me Dexter but I'm not here to do that I'm here to answer the question you asked me the other day. I called you to tell you yes. Yes Dexter I will marry you. I will give you my heart. It has taken so long but I'm ready to start. I want you to know that I will be here."

With that Dexter scooped me up into his arms and kissed all the tears away before setting me down and kissing me on the mouth. We smiled at each other before he told me to stay where I was so he could go and get the ring.

While he was gone I felt Brick there. And right before Dexter came back into the room I heard Brick say congrats in my ear.

"I'm proud of you." Brick said before kissing my cheek and disappearing into the unknown with one final goodbye.

*Thanks for reading! This fic was completely inspired by a song sung by Audra McDonald called I'll be Here. YouTube it if you're interested. It's an incredible song.*

*For any readers who are currently reading my other story CATCH ME IF YOU CAN I plan on updating next Monday. Sorry for the inconsistent updating but I have a crazy schedule. Thanks for the support and for reading my one-shot!*