A/n: I hate this and I love it. Not sure what to go with yet, but I couldn't bear not writing about these two. This isn't the first piece of fanfiction I've written, and it certainly won't be the last. I haven't written in a while, and it's probably not very good, but then again, it was something to write about. Inspiration from the two songs "The Ocean" by Dar Williams and "Far Away" by Ingrid Michaelson.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Powerpuff Girls. They belong to Craig McCracken and Cartoon Network.

The docks at Townsville aren't very impressive, and the boats sat there rusted and bobbing in oily looking water. This side of Townsville has seen better days, and even the seagulls have found better piers to solicit at, but at least Buttercup could sit here each day.

Sit here and be away from Blossom's endless tirades about leadership and teamwork and Bubble's endless inquiries about how come she doesn't date more or wear shorter skirts. Buttercup fingered her knee-length shorts and snorted. Better dressing comfortably than a dressing like a hussy.

She reached into her canvas bag and pulled out the latest issue of video game cheats and techniques. The salt air was calm, and so was she, ready to read and relax for the first time in--

"Hey Buttercup!"

Oh.

"Hey Butch." Buttercup sighed, and stuffed the magazine under her legs so it wouldn't fly away. She turned to the boy sitting beside her, and nearly cringed; his left eye had a nasty black and green bruise with a few scratches on the right side of his face. "Brick again?"

"Eh...that bastard just can't handle the fact that he can't control me." He grinned in his usual deranged fashion and Buttercup rolled her minty green eyes. "So...given any thought to my offer? I can promise that I will not let you win at mini-golf and--"

"No."

His face went out like a light. Shot down again. This isn't entirely surprising though, as Butch had been asking out Buttercup for days now. He didn't quite get why; compared to his brothers, he was quite mature (so he'd like to think), albeit a tad eccentric when it came to challenges. And Buttercup was his biggest challenge yet.

"Awwww...come on!" His whine dragged on at the end, ending in a high pitch entirely too unnatural for a boy of his age. Buttercup took a look at the boy beside her; his face still held a bit of baby fat, and his eyes were large and limpid-looking. He had not changed much in 9 years besides in height, and Buttercup still towered over him by 2 inches.

"No Butch." Buttercup cracked her knuckles, ignoring the puppy look the boy was giving her now. He was too childish, and while Buttercup had started to notice that little boys were no longer little boys, she had a reputation to maintain, and that meant kicking the sorry ass of every boy who dared to ask her out.

Butch was the rare exception. Why? Because he seemed too much like a brother, yet a little like a best friend, and mostly like a rival. As much as Buttercup would love to punch that irritating little smirk off his face when he bested her at sports or at video games, she could not bring herself to hit him.

Exactly the reason why she was letting off the kid with a simple 'no.'

"Buttercup, I'm just asking you out! It's not like I'm asking you to be my girlfriend..." He trailed off, his serious eyes offset by the light blush softening his face.

"Butch..." She started off, then snapped her head to stare out at the horizon, golden rays peaking off the molten coin dipping in the water. "Look...you're cute and everything...I guess..." She scratched at her scalp; lord, this was horribly awkward. "I guess...I don't know."

Yeah, let's just settle with that.

"You don't know." He repeated dumbly, and gave her a skeptical look. They stared each other down for a few seconds, and then he sighed in defeat and stood up. He stretched his limbs and reached into his jacket pocket. "At least...just take these."

A tattered bunch of bluish-purple blossoms were clenched in his fist, and his darker green eyes were averted, staring at the sunset. Buttercup took them in her head, examining the stems and grunted in displeasure.

"Belladonna, Butch? These are poisonous." Leave it to a Rowdyruff Boy to pick bad flowers for a girl.

"Shaddup." He leaned towards her and Buttercup smirked slightly; as least the atmosphere wasn't as awkward. "The drug is mainly made out of the roots, and it doesn't matter anyway; you're indestructible, and the poison couldn't affect your system anyway."

"So I can eat them and not die? Why don't we test this out?" She winked and held the plant right above her mouth. Butch started and swatted her hand, Buttercup snickering. "Idiot."

"At least I wasn't trying to poison myself!"

"Can't die, 'member?"

"Not the point." He chuckled a bit, and then gave her a steady look, his forest eyes looking darker and older than he was. "Go out with me."

Kid didn't know when to quit.

"Heh...you know..." Buttercup held her face in a stern frown; this was going to be good. "If you keep this up, people are going to think you have a thing for me."

"And this is untrue...?" He replied innocently. Buttercup held a hand to her eyes.

"I could give you cooties."

"Cooties haven't worked on me since kindergarten, moron."

Quiet for about a minute. Then Buttercup stood up and faced Butch, tilting her head to look at him (2 inches is still 2 inches!). With the sun's last rays hitting him at this angle, and with his eyes looking so serious, his entire person radiated promise.

But she could still mess with his head a little before she gave him her 'yes.'

She grabbed his chin with two fingers and kissed him, quick and swift on his lips. Before he even blinked, Buttercup was already in the air, the belladonna tucked into her pocket.

"Get a bit taller than me, and mature a bit, and then we'll talk. But for now, just settle for kicking my ass at Mortal Kombat." She flipped him off and sped away towards the other side of Townsville while he stood there dumbfounded.

Butch finally snapped out of his reverie, muttering 'bitch' and 'messing with my stupid feelings...' under his breath as he floated home, but not before promising himself that he would drink more milk so he could get taller.