Red...Blossick/Blossom X Brick... By Dark Angel 91398

A/N: I got sick from school. Yay, illness! (Kind of..) WARNING: Blossom's nightmare ahead! Slightly based of the episode "Speed Demon".

Chapter Eight: Wake Me Up

It was dark. No, not exactly dark. There was muted light but it was not sufficient enough to be much help as Blossom wandered through the desolate, abandoned wonderland that sprawled across the area like a rather disgusting ogre that had slept for a thousand years through storms and disasters and whose clumsy hands, strong and large, clutched anything in reach greedily.

The wind howled wildly, a beast in a carnival cage ready to pounce, and the girl flinched as it presumably knocked down a pile of rusted, jagged pieces of metal like a spoiled child. She closed her eyes for a second and willed her heart to cease its panicked beating with a gently hand pressed against her collarbone.

She had to think rationally, had to keep her head clear and free of miscellaneous worries. It was just the wind.. That's all it was.. Nature was just sending a breeze... There weren't any boogie men creeping in the shattered shadows and certainly not any demons with their wicked grins and claws to snag her leg to drag her down to a place that many feared...

Something behind her crashed to the ground and broke into separate components. Heart pounding once again, Blossom spun around and saw an obtrusive shade of purple against the browned ground. Cautiously, she approached it and her heart hurt for a pang before her mind recognized it.

Bubbles' once beloved Octi stared back at her with blank eyes and she gingerly hug the stuffed animal to her chest, the scent of her sister relaxing her greatly. She felt a slip of paper tucked against her arm and promptly untangled it from the doll.

Can you find me? I've been waiting.

The pink Puff froze at the words. Her heart was a drum, keeping with the beat of terror, of full metal panic, of confusion. She dropped the toy and the paper like they had been radioactive.

Octi's blank look twisted into a devilishly smirk and she hadn't even blinked before a discolored claw-like hand popped up from under a forgotten car, dug into the toy, and pulled it under. Blossom backed away immediately.

"Don't turn away, Blossom... Don't turn off the lights.. Don't even close your eyes.."

The hollow voice that surely would have been sing-song if it wasn't a monotone echoed throughout Blossom's personal labyrinth and into the girl's ears. The voice.. Seemed familiar but no matter how hard she tried to remember, the memory slipped away like water through her fingers.

"Can't you hear me, Blossom? Can't you find your own sister?"

The ginger clenched her fists and tried to follow the voice.

"Look at you, you poor thing.. Our poor commander and leader."

The voice was getting louder with every step the pink-eyed girl took.

"You don't seem so sure now, do you?~"

Blossom guessed that the voice was just a mere eight feet away from where she now stood. The words floated on the wind and shoved themselves into her mind.

"You're not what everyone thinks!"

Seven feet away..

"You don't know what you're doing at all!"

Six feet away..

"You're not smart!"

Five feet away..

"You're not beautiful!"

Four feet away..

"You're a fleck of black in an all-white world!"

Three feet away..

"YOU'RE NOT PERFECT!"

Blossom was just a short two feet away from the voice of her supposed sister and she saw a sliver of a peachy skin colour from where she had stopped behind a heap of destroyed debris that rattled with a decidedly loud chatter. A concrete piece of the ruins rolled out and the Puff paused tensely as it finally stopped once it hit an old car hood.

The voice let out a scornful laugh and Blossom felt the earth trembling beneath her feet as something hissed near her ear. She shrieked, backing up with a spin, and a claw stretched out toward her - opening, closing, shredding at the air where she had previously stood- with a wide toothy smile.

She backed into something fleshy and the world felt like it was closing in as the towers of destruction - those foreboding skyscrapers of shredded metal and smashed sidewalks and shards of glass and the remains of a past modern city - came falling down, the ground shaking and cracking wide open like an egg into deep canyons of heat, and the voices of what used to be began to call out as the citizens - who looked nothing like humans and who looked more like zombies or walking skeletons that could crumble into dust at any point- crawled from under the shadows.

"You doomed us all.." Mitch Mitchelson garbled, pale faced and wide eyed.

"Why did you do it..?!" Robin Snyder sobbed as she buried her head in her unhealthy, talon-like hands.

"Why can't you be perfect?!" the Professor demanded, blue eyes blazing.

The zombies, creeping towards her like injured beasts, surrounded the ginger and though she tried to speak, tried to ask what she did not understand, tried to explain the mistakes, her voice shriveled up and faded till all she could do was scream.

Something Blossom deeply feared, something she knew she could not face alone lest she failed, something purely evil, rose from the tremor that raced toward her and a slimy feeling poured over her as the Thing reached for her and-...

Blossom jolted violently as she suddenly stopped in the middle of her walk through the tiny shopping square as if an invisible wall had blocked her way, breathing heavily with a heaving chest.

This was the first time a nightmare had followed her past the walls of her home, past the dark night, and into her rare, treasure daydreams and a first time in public.

Surprised that she hadn't sunken to her knees, Blossom shakily made her way into a nearby shop and couldn't help but want to vomit. The vile taste of horror rose up her throat and she slipped her way into an empty chair in the front of the store.

She found herself grateful that the shopping square was rather secluded and isolated from the other shopping places. The square was not popular by any means and the shops themselves always seemed empty with a haunted air of loneliness. It was a wonder that the quaint little stores hadn't been forced to shut down.

Working at one of these places most likely was an easy, simple job with how little business the square had..

Recollecting herself and forcing herself to focus on anything but the nightmare, Blossom covered her eyes and began to breath deeply. In.. Out.. In.. Out.. Slowly.. Carefully.. It was just a dream.. Nothing more than a little dream..

There weren't any half-dead citizens clambering towards her in a sick, clumsy manner. There weren't any earthquakes and fissues to swallow her. There were no towering stacks of wreckage. And there wasn't anything evil behind her-.

"Hey, you okay?" a voice asked as someone grabbed her shoulder.

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Blossom screamed loudly, jolting up out of her seat.

"Hey, hey, hey! Calm down!" the person snapped, turning the ginger around in her seat. "Look at me! Look at me now and calm down."

The girl couldn't though. She couldn't look up; she didn't want to. Though this was reality and not a warped imagination, the nightmare had its barbed hooks in her that refused to be shaken loose.

"Bossy Blossy!"

Blossom looked at the person's shirt instead, still hyperventilating. She couldn't trust herself to look up at the person and not panic or break down or anything.

It was a red plaid button-up shirt. Dark red, to be exact. Blossom blinked, hoping it wasn't who she thought it was, hoping that it was anyone but who she thought it was.

"Breathe slowly, okay?" he asked, gently brushing back a lock of her hair.

"Let me go." Blossom mumbled, cheeks powdering themselves light pink.

She preferred not being in such an intimate position with him as she remembered what had happened prior. His grip, if anything, tightened on her and he played with her hair cattily.

"You're still shaking and your breathing's not normal yet." he pointed out.

"I-I don't care. I don't want you touching me." the Puff replied.

"Why? I didn't hurt you or anything." he responded.

Blossom felt her cheeks heating with the memory of the, their, kiss and she glared up at him. Red eyes met pink and Brick felt like he couldn't think. He was used to the nightmares Boomer had and it was almost like second nature to react to someone who had horrid dreams.

Brick grinned, shaking a few stray hairs out of his eyes, and Blossom tensed as he tipped her head up.

"Why are you always trying to fight with me, Blossy?" Brick asked innocently.

"I did not. All I asked was for you to let go of me." Blossom retorted, twisting in a vain attempt of escaping her counterpart.

"And all I did was try to calm you down." he reminded her smugly.

"Well, I'm fine now, aren't I?" she sighed, crossing her arms in annoyance.

Brick pursed his lips and watched as the heroine blushed at the sight of his lips. His own cheeks grew red at the rather awkwardly adorable sight. He remembered a passage from the book he had stolen from her.

"Helena looked away from Greg as if embarrassed and Greg wondered if maybe she really DID like him despite what she had claimed. Greg grinned fiendishly, slung an arm around her shoulder, and whispered in her ear:'Hey, darlin'? You're being adorable and all but when are ya gonna let me take you out?' Helena squeaked loudly, red, and Greg kissed her cheek. 'I can play hard to get too if you want.' he piped up. 'I-I'm just..' the brunette started to protest. Greg cut her off with a kiss and smirked. 'Stop being the good girl for once, m'kay?'"

Brick frowned promptly and caught Blossom staring at him. She bashfully looked at the ground and he allowed her shoulders to slip away from his hand before he wondered if he could get away with kissing her.

"Look, it's not that I don't appreciate the help, it's just that I-." Blossom began.

"Hey, babe? Do us both a favor and stop playing hard to get." Brick interrupted wolfishly.

"What are you-?" she began in confusion.

Brick smirked and lifted the girl into his arms, ignoring her startled protests. Blossom clung to him nervously. She didn't exactly feel too comfortable nor safe with him holding her. He gently tipped her head up, still grinning, and her eyes widened.

"You wouldn't dare..." Blossom whispered, wide-eyed.

"You and I both know I would dare.~" Brick laughed huskily.

"Brick..." she hissed, turning away.

Brick rolled his eyes, a half-smile on his lips, and kissed the corner of the girl's lips before he put her down. Blossom felt herself burning up.

"You're adorable when you're embarrassed." the red-eyed Ruff chuckled, walking away.

"What are you doing here?" the Puff demanded, ignoring his comment.

".. I kind of work here.." he mumbled, shrugging carelessly. "I-it's a part time thing, okay?! I mean, I need the cash and shit without always being arrested all the damn time and I could rob a bank but I don't feel like it, you know, because the last time I did, Boomer dropped all the money into the laundry and..."

Brick's ramble trailed off temporarily and he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. Blossom let the information, the boy's reaction still in her mind, sink in and she blinked.

"I'm not going to tell anyone. Don't worry." Blossom smiled.

"Good. Butch and Boomer CANNOT know... They'd get a little.." the boy sighed, spinning his finger around his head near his temple. "Out of hand.. So this will just be our dirty little secret."

"Your secret is safe with me." she replied.

Brick sighed and Blossom looked around the store. The merchandise- DVDs, video games, junk food among other paraphernalia was tucked neatly on shelves by genre and alphabetical order. The white and red checkered tile shone the reflection of the posters that hung around the wall. It was so tidy and quiet.

Blossom wondered if that was why he had chosen to work here. Brick sighed, heading behind the cash register counter, and looked back at her.

"I get off of work in a few hours if you want to, you know.. Hang out or get a coffee or something..." Brick suggested bashfully.

".. Uh, yeah.. Sure.." Blossom agreed, shrugging. "I really don't have anything else to do except study."

"Great. I'll call you then, Blossy." he smirked.

"It's a date then." she laughed, walking out.

Brick grinned, shaking his head, and jumped into the rolling chair that sat behind the counter.

"A date it is then..~"

-End of Chapter-

A/N: Hey, guys~ I wanted them to kinda bond but I feel it was a little too quick. Maybe I should throw in a Mary Sue for you all to hate? You know what this needs? What? More Blossick. More Blossick?! You can't rush it! There's enough for now! No, no, not much. Just.. Two cubic tons. Two cubic tons?! Do you know how much that is?! Well, more drama?.. .Sure. Why not? Yhes! And romance, right?

… That's why I don't like it when my friends want to comment in my A/N section. Uh, I hope this was decent!~ Danke! Aloha, ya'll!~