-Epilouge - In other words... what happened at that wedding...

-l-l-l-

It had been one of the single… most insane things Brick had ever done. And this was coming from someone who had hot wired a plane and shot missiles willy nilly at his brothers in a tank and battleship… at five.

…. Brick didn't judge anyone on the stupid things they might have done in their youth so Brick expected the same courtesy.

But no. He had… been out of his mind. Utterly mad. The Red Rowdyruff had left the building so to speak. He'd performed his duties admirably- even given a great toast- albeit distracted: The maid of honor had danced with him once and gone back to her beau shortly after. The bridesmaid however… would not go away.

She'd seen far too many romantic comedies about this scenario. Hot single member of the groom's party falls in love with pretty dreamy eyed hopeless romantic member of the bridal party. Hot sex ensues and then declaration of love atop a rooftop to some cheesy 80's soundtrack.

This was not happening. Go away.

The only thing Brick was interested in was this bottle. And the contents of said bottle.

Not simpering foolish bridesmaids. No other ogling female single guests. His brother was right there. Go bug him. Leave Brick alone.

Open Bar. Wonderful idea. So glad Jerry had thought ahead for the comfort of his guests. Brick however wished he had better timing.

The pink eyed girl with the mysterious tattoo had fallen asleep shortly after his pleasant good morning greetings- and Brick had been prepared to join her like the lunatic he was. And then his phone had rung.

Screaming Groom beckoned. Angry Bridezilla threatened. Pretty Puff… abandoned.

…No. No no. Brick had kissed her goodbye. He had every intention of calling her and-… he didn't get her number.

Oh fuck his life. He'd had a jolly good time with her but had completely forgotten to get her number!? Oh… brilliant Jojo. Brilliant.

Where was the booze? Brick was an idiot.

…No. Brick was smart. He had a set plan in life that did not involve… Pretty Puffs… and that was that! Brick was going to get a job at a firm. Move his way up. Become a partner. Then when he was… thirty… five or so- maybe older he'd settle down: find a nice trophy wife to show off and that was that.

Simple.

Pretty Pink Powerpuffs that made Brick feel very very bad things were not part of the deal! They were not a good idea. Thus they were not to be thought about again.

Nope. It was a one night stand. A stupid one night stand. He'd never gotten the story of that tattoo. Damn it. Oh well: Brick was an asshole- he was a player. He knew that. He'd more than earned his play boy rep in college and-.

… He'd left his hat there.

Oh… fuck his life why had he left his hat there!? He'd gone through all the trouble of finding it and then he'd gone and forgotten it!? He'd had that hat since birth! He couldn't leave it behind!

Booze. He needed booze. Now. Lots of it. Go away simpering puppy! He had no intentions of dancing. He hated dancing. It was stupid. Now Booze. Booze wasn't stupid.

His brother gave him an odd look. The smart one. Not the blonde dumb ass who had brought her here. Ugh. The one chick Brick did not need to see. Apparently Boomer had decided a friend's wedding was the perfect place to debut his new girlfriend.

A puff.

Her… sister.

Hey… bet she'd have her number… wait… NO! Bad Brick! Bad… just… Ugh… uggghh….. ugggghhhhh…

Beer. Vodka. Something. Oh hey this was sparkly and smelled like booze. Good enough. Butch didn't need booze. He was smart and the chicks he fucked he felt nothing for. Brick was dumb.

Brick couldn't stop thinking of her. He ignored everyone else. Butch was concerned for his well being: He had attempted to introduce Brick to one of the female guests. Brick had told him to fuck off and leave him alone.

She was first a redhead. Brick. Didn't. Fuck. Redheads.

Ever.

Bad things happened when Brick had happy fun times with a redhead. Very bad things involving gooey sap shit that didn't belong in Brick's life.

Law firm. Partner. Trophy Wife. Thirty Five and up.

Good plan.

Very good plan.

This redhead had green eyes. Redheads weren't supposed to have green eyes. They were supposed to have pink eyes. Lovely shining bubble gum irises to go along with the full kissable candy lips that…

Bad Brick. Bad. Booze.

And this chick had a rack. Of course that's what Butch had zoned in on. A rack that she had no problem showing off and that Brick ought to get a closer look.

They looked fake. Were they pointy? They were probably pointy. Brick preferred rounded natural ones attached to pretty pink eyed redheads with douchebag exes who Brick was gonna find and punch in the face for ever making her cry and-.

BAD. BRICK. BOOZE. NOW!

There was a reason Brick did not fuck redheads.

He had avoided them like the plague. He'd had blondes, he'd had brunettes, he'd had dark haired, he'd had fair haired, he'd had every color of the rainbow thanks to the wonders of hair dye, but never… ever… ever red.

Nope. Nuh uh. When he'd discovered the hidden wonders of the female anatomy back when he was a teen sex God who ran the school with a casual indifference that made the girls practically throw themselves- and their clothes at him.

Oh no. One infuriating red head had been immune to his charms. Supposedly. Now he knew otherwise and-. Bad. Booze.

That infuriating redhead who had ignored him- seen past his very existence- had had the audacity to prefer other males to him-. For the love of- BOOZE! NOW! LOTS!

Where was he? Oh yeah- wow world kind of getting fuzzy. Must have been the rain going on outside: Right… Redheads. Evil… sexy… no touchy redheads who drove him insane and every time he'd even tried for another redhead they'd inevitably suddenly had pink eyes or annoying attitudes or grandma clothes that kept him away and-.

Aw who was he kidding!?

He was an idiot. This was so stupid. He was so stupid. Dumb ass. Idiot.

He'd seen her at that bar- in that dress from something out of his wildest teenage fantasies: He'd made her laugh. He'd made her smile. He'd made her look at him with goopy romantic eyes that like a dope he'd returned. He'd kissed her. He'd held her.

He'd left her. He'd lost her.

AGAIN.

It had been his wildest high school dreams come to life like anything out of one of those shitty romance movies that ended with love confessions on a roof with those cheesy soundtracks.

But this wasn't a bad eighties flick. No. This was real life.

He'd had a chance. And he'd blown it.

He lost his chance. He lost the girl. And he'd lost his hat.

Brilliant Brick. Good fucking Job.

Where was the damn booze…

It wasn't every day the fates threw a guy a bone and shoved the girl of his dreams at his face. Gave him a second chance to fix what he'd fucked up so badly back when he was a tool and a douchebag worthy of the worst high school villain.

And her ex. Maybe he'd get the info out of the Blue Puff somehow. Name. Address. He wasn't gonna do nothing bad. He just wanted to punch him in the face! Seriously, he gets the prettiest… smartest… and overall awesomemest girl in the whole world and then cheats on her with some floozy!

Seriously! That called for a punching in the face! Brick was gonna punch him in the face! Guys don't cheat on girls like Bloss-. No. Bad. No thinking of name. No thinking of her.

He wanted to see her. He had a reason to go back. His hat.

She'd slam the door in his face.

He couldn't blame her. He should have woken her up. He should have told her to get dressed and be his plus one… wait… no that wouldn't have gone over well. RSVP and shit… Jerry would have done it sure but… she'd have felt real awkward and then the awkward as shit questions and…

He should have done a lot of things. He should not have brushed her hair back as she was sleeping like some kind of creep and kissed her like an even bigger creep before leaving her place without a word like the biggest creep.

Brick was a creep. Brick was a moron. Brick was hatless.

Booze. Just… lots of booze.

A commotion ensued. All the ladies jumped up and hurried to Tina who was perched atop a chair: including the annoying one who kept batting her eyes and trying to claim some bridesmaid privilege or some shit to dance with the best man. To flirt with the best man. To have a one night stand with the best man and-… uggggh

The cheering and squealing was loud. Ugh. Booze.

-l-

All right ladies! Here's the moment you've all been waiting for!

-l-

He'd had his chance… and he'd ruined it.

-l-

Three!

-l-

Then again… it wasn't like Brick was good enough for her either. He was an asshole playboy whose only goal in life was to get rich and do it quick- if he ever got lonely he had planned on nailing a trophy wife by the time he was middle aged and… ugh he was such an asshole.

-l-

Two!

-l-

She'd be fine. After she destroyed that god awful dress- seriously thank God she would never be seen in it- and probably any and all traces of him left in her apartment… she'd probably burn his hat. Again… didn't blame her. Before she found another hot dress, went to some other bar, found a decent guy this time, rocked his world- accepted his proposal- got married- and lived happily ever after in her dream life.

Point was she'd be just fine.

He'd be miserable. He'd still be pining after the one who got away even after he made partner and landed his traditional trophy wife at the country club and… Brick hated golf. Brick was not going to be a traditional lawyer type who played golf- fuck no- he was going to be a kick ass lawyer, regrow his hair out and kick ass and take names! Yeah!

What was he doing wasting time at this stupid job of his!? He had a career to start damn it! A legacy! And this was just the wake up call Brick had apparently needed. Life wasn't going to fall in his lap like cherries- oh no. Life threw stuff at him at any time and he had to be ready to catch it! He'd lost the most beautiful girl in the world to his own sense of stupid pride and lack of understanding. Well lesson learned.

-l-

Alright Ladies! get ready!

-l-

He would quit that stupid dead end job! He would find a law firm that would take him. He would become partner. He would… well maybe someday he'd run into her and her kids at the park or something.

Maybe he'd thank her. Yeah. He'd have to. She wouldn't have any idea why- she'd probably punch him in the face. Or maybe her husband would. Yeah… probably. Whatever serves him right.

Right. Quit the job. Law Firm. Grow back out the mane. Make Partner. Kick ass.

That would be his life… As soon as he finished this bottle. Yeah. Finish the booze first than begin the rest of his life.

Just… no having sex with redheads… Ever again.

Beautiful Redheads… with bright pink eyes and gorgeous smiles and…

Booze. Just… finish the booze.

Maybe if he got drunk enough... he'd be able to forget...

-l-

ONE!

-l-

Something bounced on his head and then fell over the champagne bottle drenching Brick in champagne. The hell man this tux was rented! He blinked as the squeals grew louder and closer. That hurt. The laughter was obnoxious. Shit... were there any wipes or anything- maybe he could get the stain out or- the fuck what was this?

The annoying redhead who didn't have pink eyes- Heather? Was that her name? Whatever one of Tina's sorority sisters or something- came bounding over with an even more obnoxious squeal while Jerry was laughing his ass off next to Tina who looked… mortified?

In fact… Heather… Helen… whatever her name was grabbed his shoulders and with the help of some other crazy chick pulled him out of his seat. The bunch of flowers in his hand-. Wait…

Flowers… Bouquet!?

Had he caught-!?

Indeed he had. His brothers were dying of laughter. Boomer's camera was fixed on him and the young ladies advancing on him were like deadly lionesses advancing upon some helpless gazelle.

Apparently a man had caught the bouquet. Heather preened like an overdone peacock. Apparently then this lucky man would have to pick which lovely lady he gave it to. She flipped her hair and pulled down her dress slightly.

He blinked. Ugh. Seriously- Brick had had a bad enough day. He'd lost the one chance with the prettiest girl in the world he'd ever have. He was drunk at his best friend's wedding. He was being filmed and would likely be blackmailed by his hysterically laughing dumb ass of a youngest brother and he now owed a good chunk of change to Gentleman's Outfitters and…

He brought the bouquet closer to his face. It was… pretty. White roses, little white flowers he couldn't remember the name of right now, more pretty smelling flowers and… his eyes widened.

Tina had studied abroad in Japan for a year. She had come home in love with the culture, the food and put in a Japanese sort of theme to this whole wedding.

Brick wasn't a fan of sushi. Brick was hungry. Brick was however now holding a cherry blossom wedding bouquet in his hands.

... ... ...

Hello Life. Thanks for the freebie. Message received loud and clear. He will not mess up this time.

Heather reached out for it like she totally deserved it or something because she was trying to discreetly flash him in exchange for dried flowers. He pulled it back. Then grabbed another bottle off the table. He stumbled. But he wasn't that drunk. No. No he wasn't! Not yet! He was perfectly sober. Just a little buzzed is all!

He was thinking clearly! Oh no! Life had just kicked him in the butt but taken pity on him. Thrown him one last bone. He was not fucking up again! Nuh uh! Nope!

-l-

"Jerry! Tina! Congrats on your weddings! Happy lifes and honeymoons!"

-l-

Brick… are you okay?

Brick… are you… drunk? Jerry I think he's drunk.

-l-

They were looking at him weird for some reason. Oh well. Why was Boomer laughing so hard?

-l-

"I gots to go though! I haves somewhere I needs to be! Life's threw me for a loop but nows I knows what I haves to do! Wish me luck man!"

-l-

Uh… Good…luck?

Oh dear God he's wasted.

-l-

Again Boomer was in hysterics. The blue Puff was looking at him with wide eyes. The Bride and Groom for some reason continued to look at Brick like he had grown two heads.

Heather looked ready to kill. Her angry lionesses seemed just as bloodthirsty. Oh well.

There was only one lioness in Brick's pride. Uh huh! … That was dumb. Don't open with that. Find another animal metaphor.

Right. Time to go!

-l-

Brick where the hell are you-!?

Brick should you really fly in this weather-!?

-l-

"I'm gonna go gets me a real Cherry Blossom! Thanks Tina! BLOSSOM! I'M COMING BABY!"

-l-

What…the…?

…You're…welcome…?

Who the hell is Blossom…?

I dunno.

-I-

… Right. Time to… aw fuck… where did she live again?

… fuck it. There couldn't be that many apartment buildings in the city!

...Right?

-l-l-l-

"Yeah… Daddy was dumb. Daddy had to go through a lot of apartments... but he found Mommy! ... Eventually after that nice lady pointed him in the right direction... . But all's well that ends well Rosie because Daddy got you out of it baby girl. Now gimme a smile little flower."

-l-

He didn't give a shit that apparently it was impossible for an infant to smile because damn it if his little flower wasn't smiling now!

Mommy was taking a long well deserved nap. He was going to join her soon obviously- but for now... he let those tiny hands wrap around his index finger- she was so small so… little. Hell even White Fang had never been so puny…

… what was he saying- wolves were never little in the first place: horrible example- Brick really did need to sleep.

Little coos escaped her- his tiny flower and she had apparently made a game a of turning his finger into a rattle.

Shake. Shake. Shake.

He clicked his tongue- and the sound made his daughter only increase her shaking- sheer delight evident in those huge pink irises that were as breathtaking as Mommy's. She'd laugh soon. No question.

When he was chasing White Fang for her bath this afternoon and this little flower was in his cherry Blossom's arms out in the yard- she'd wanted to laugh. When Mommy had had to set her down in her little bassinet and rescue Daddy from the bath he apparently had had no idea he'd needed according to the wolf dog obviously the urge to laugh would have been incredible.

Dumb Beast. She'd taken her bath alright. Whine and cry all you like! No mucking up Brick's nice clean house with those monster paws of hers!

More little gurgles, coos and reaching out for his hair.

.. Yes there was no question this was their daughter.

She was just as obsessed with his pretty hair as Mommy- soon Mommy would no doubt have to learn to share. His smile grew though soon enough a tiny yawn escaped her and he chuckled- patting her back as a little burp escaped her before another yawn, bigger this time and those pink eyes began to grow heavy.

He stood up from the rocker and walked her to her little bassinet- spun the mobile above it listlessly- her eyes fixed on it – following it and a little hand reached up for it.

-l-

Go to sleep baby girl. Your aunties and uncles are comin' you want to be up and bright eyed when Uncle Butch throws you in the air again eh? Shh… don't tell Mommy.

Don't tell Mommy what?

-l-

Whoops. Busted.

Her eyebrow raised- and her hand went on her hip challengingly. White Fang peeked from behind her- before scampering in and settling herself under the bassinet like any good guard wolf. Mommy leaned over and caressed their baby's face and leaned into his chest when he went to stand behind her.

-l-

Hard to believe.

What is?

This isn't how she ever expected her life would be.

….Is that a good thing?

-l-

She turned her head and her smile was dazzling.

-l-

What does he think?

-l-

His grip on her waist tightened.

-l-

He walked into that bar under the impression it was gonna be an ordinary night.

And she walked in to drown her sorrows away.

He never expected to see the girl he'd hated for so long.

And she never expected to see the man she had loathed with all her being.

He never expected her to give him a second look.

She never expected him to see her.

-l-

She turned and their brows touched.

-l-

He never expected to get that second chance…

And she never expected him to want it…

He'd never hated her she should know.

She'd never loathed him he really ought to know.

He was pretty sure he'd not hated her first.

Mmm…. No… she was almost certain… she'd been born not to loath him.

-l-

Giggle.

He blinked and she mirrored him.

Giggle.

Arms in the air.

Laughing.

And it didn't take long… for them to join her.

-l-l-l-

This had been in my drabble folder for a while- I have an outline for a sequel to this with a new pairing and point of view as its focus but who knows if it will ever come to fruition. This was an interesting experiment of mine: No dialogue... is strangely fun to write with. Highly recommend playing around with it it makes one's writing process act different than normal which can be a refreshing break.

Thanks for reading my lovelies: The delay on As Time Goes By is almost at an end: I'm near the end of the third act at last: fingers crossed the muse remains satisfied and doesn't head back to Vegas like she almost always does. Blahh...

As always thanks for reading my lovelies!

- Carrie