True Love

(Inspired by the song True Love by P!nk)

"Can you believe that ass? Of all the stupidest, jerkiest things to do." Buttercup muttered sourly into her milkshake as she watched the whip cream melt.

"What exactly was this 'thing' he did again?" Blossom asked from beside her, swirling around a milkshake of her own, only hers was strawberry flavored.

The girls were at their favorite ice cream parlor after a long day of boring classes and monotony. Buttercup would have been perfectly fine with that. But unfortunately that was not to be. Instead, the highlight of her day was more of a nightmare come to life and it was all thanks to that class A shithead Butch.

"Surely it couldn't have been that bad? Right?" Bubbles asked around her double scoop sundae.

Buttercup scoffed as she sat upright, an outraged look on her face. "Are you kidding me?! It was terrible! We were sitting out in the meadow behind the science building, eating lunch and talking about stupid shit like usual. It was all fine and stuff but then somehow we got onto phobias and I let it slip about my thing with spiders right?"

"Oh you didn't." Blossom groaned as she looked at with sympathy.

"Oh yeah I did. Stupid me. So I tell him about it and you know what that jackass does? He goes and puts and f-ing spider in my spaghetti while I went the bathroom! I flipped the fuck out when I sat back down and saw that horrible creature staring back at me on my spoon. That stupid bastard Butch nearly turned blue he was laughing so hard! Gah!" Buttercup slammed a fist on the counter as her cheeks burned with embarrassment.

It was not one of her finest moments, far from it. She had honestly thought she had gotten over her phobia long ago, she hadn't screamed at the sight of one in years, but seeing that stupid furry, eight legged arachnid less than two feet in front of her face had turned that assumption on its head. She was pretty sure all of Townsville had heard her squeal.

Bubbles shifted on her chair, adding her own sympathetic gaze to Blossom's and making Buttercup feel even more pathetic. "So, what'd you do?"

"I smacked him upside the head so hard he'll be seeing stars for the next three days. Then I called him an asshole, told him to stay the hell away from me, and stormed off."

"He deserved it. What a jerk thing to do. I mean, you told him you had a fear and he goes and uses it against you? Who does that?" Bubbles remarked as she took a bite from her sundae.

"I know! Thank you!" Setting her chin on her propped up hand, Buttercup morosely twirled her straw around with her free hand.

"…But…you didn't break up with him." The way Blossom said it made it sound like a mix between a statement and a question, like she was trying to get all the facts and find the correct answer.

With a hum, Buttercup shook her head and took a sip of her milkshake.

"Whoa, whoa, wait…What?!" Bubbles blinked and looked at her like she had some sort of mental disease. "You didn't break up with him? Why not?!"

"Isn't he always doing stuff like this to you? I mean, you seem to rant about him every time I speak to you Buttercup." Blossom added her two cents.

Her two sisters turned towards her, ice cream and milkshake forgotten. Buttercup was now boxed in between two curious sets of eyes and there was nowhere to hide. Oh boy, here came the inquisition.

"Yeah, don't you complain about how whenever you guys are together he's always flirting with other girls and checking them out?" Bubbles quipped.

"Or how he's never on time?" Leave it to Blossom to hit the punctuality point.

"Or how he uses ever opportunity to annoy you?"

"Or how he never pays for anything?"

"Or pulls stupid stunts like putting spiders in your lunch?"

Caught between the tag team duo, there was little Buttercup could do but sink lower on her stool and wait for the onslaught to stop. Unfortunately, they just seemed to keep on going and going.

"Or how he never pays attention in class?"

"And then cheats off of you?"

"Or about how he never keeps his promises?"

"Or about how he's just a jerk face in general?"

"Enough! Gah, just enough alright?! Geez you guys." Buttercup exploded, slapping both her hands on the counter to cut them off.

Her two sister's paused their assault and shared a look over top her head. Buttercup didn't see what they were silently communicating about because she was much too busy nursing a sudden headache.

Gah! She knew all the reasons she should have broken up with the douchebag okay? Trust her, she knew. They didn't need to lay it out in such a nicely abbreviated list okay?

A moment passed by and Blossom cleared her throat. Buttercup turned her head to look at her with a frown souring her face.

"Well?" The redhead asked.

"Well what?" She grumbled back in reply.

Blossom let out an aggravated sigh. "Buttercup, why haven't you broken up with him yet? If he's that horrible of a person, then you have every right to end your relationship. You shouldn't have to live with that kind of indignity."

Indignity, yeah that was a pretty damn good word for all the shit she had to put up with at his expense. Butch, he was such a jerk sometimes, no most of the times. She should break it off with him. Everything her sister's said was true. Any logical person would have already split things by now.

Except…

"You wouldn't understand." Buttercup muttered as she pushed her milkshake away and buried her head into her arms.

"What?" Blossom replied sharply. "Is he threatening you? He's not doing anything inappropriate is he? Cause if he is, so help me-"

"NO! He's not!" Buttercup shot up in her seat, a hot blush coloring her cheek.

"Is he blackmailing you then?" Bubbles piped up from her other side.

"No" She growled.

Once again her two sisters shared a glance that made her want to grind her teeth. Damn it! She could see them doing that stupid silent communication thing! It wasn't like they were keeping it a secret that they thought she was crazy. Why not just say it out loud and get it over with already?

Blossom leaned forward and caught her lime green eyes before she could look away. "Well Buttercup, if it isn't any of those things…then what is it?"

"I already told you, you wouldn't understand." The brunette muttered as she sunk lower in her seat.

How could they possibly understand? Hell! She didn't even understand it and it was her fucking relationship to begin with! If she didn't have a clue, there was no way they would. If she told them her reason, they'd look at her like she was crazy.

…maybe she was crazy. Or just stupid…probably a combination of the two.

A soft hand landed on her shoulder and caused Buttercup to glance up from her melted milkshake. Bubbles soft blue eyes shone with an understanding that just about crumbled all of her defenses.

"Why don't you try us?" The blonde asked kindly.

Dammit! That wasn't fair! Her sister knew those damn sympathy eyes could get her to spill her guts. Ugh.

…Fine! If they wanted to know so badly then consequences be damned! She'd tell them! And she'd take all the weird looks and questions that came her way afterward. They'd only prove her point to begin with.

The brunette took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. Both her sisters leaned in closer as they waited for their answer.

"Even with all the stupid shit Butch pulls, I can't, I-…" Buttercup sighed deeply and closed her eyes. "I can't help but love him."

A shocked silence fell over the three as her sisters tried to process the fact that she just used the word love in relation to Butch. She had never said the word before in a romantic sense, like ever…but it was the truth.

"Woah! Wait, wait, wait. Did you just say love? As in like, love love?" Blossom's eyes couldn't have grown any larger.

"Not that many types of love Bloss." Buttercup replied with a miserable sigh.

"Wh-but! But…how!?" Her leader cried. "He's terrible to you! How could you possibly love him?!"

The brunette faced her sister with a scowl on her lips. "I don't fucking clue okay?! I can't help what I feel Blossom. I couldn't change it even if I wanted too alright?!"

"Woah, woah. Calm down you two. People are starting to stare at us."

True enough, Bubbles was correct. The entire parlor, which consisted of a grand total of six people, were now staring at the trio of superheroes with uncertainty.

It made Buttercup want to melt in to the ground. Great, just fucking great. Not only had her sisters managed to get her to spill her guts but she did it in front of an audience to boot. Why not just put it in the damn paper too?!

Gah!

At least Blossom had the decency to blush at their rather loud display and go back to her ice cream. She still gave Buttercup a disbelieving look from the corner of her eye but the brunette ignored it in favor of sulking instead.

"Could this day get any worse?" She muttered sourly to herself.

A pat on her arm brought her eyes to her baby sister who sat there with an oddly mixed expression of bewilderment and compassion.

"Oh come on BC, love isn't anything to be ashamed of. I mean, your choice of partner is sorta…well, he leaves something to be desired but at least you're getting to experience such pure feelings. Not many people can say that they really love someone. And you must really love Butch, like true love because I don't think anything else could handle his um…insensitivities. You've been together what? Three years?"

Oh God, had it really been that long? Ugh, Bubbles must have been right. It had to be true love because she should have wrung his neck by now if it wasn't. Goodness knows she felt like it sometimes.

"That's no love, it's Stockholm syndrome." Blossom supplied with a frown as she play with her ice cream.

Leave it to Blossom to bring up the mentally unstable aspect of her relationship. That's it. She had had enough. She was through with all these questions and judgment, all she wanted right now was to be alone.

Pushing herself to her feet, the brunette threw a handful of money down on the counter. "I'm done. See ya."

"Wait! Where are you going?" Blossom called after her worriedly and bit down on her lip.

"For a walk. I'll be home before eleven." That was all Buttercup said before she pushed open the doors and walked out the parlor.

Sticking her hands in her pockets with a sigh, the brunette picked a random direction and started walking. Thoughts danced through her head as she passed by the crowds of people that made up the populous of Townsville. It was all a blur to her though, her mind was solely stuck on one thought.

This day sucked…like majorly sucked.

Stupid ass Butch.

Stupid ass feelings.

Stupid ass love!

She hated all of it! She should just go change her name and escape to a nunnery someplace and leave everything behind. Maybe then she wouldn't be plagued with this insane notion of completeness whenever she was with her jerky ass counterpart.

But that was the crutch of it wasn't it?

Without him around, she just didn't feel whole.

She wasn't sure when it happened, it could have started back when they were five for all she knew, but whenever he was around it just felt…right. Even with all the shit he pulled, all the times he pissed her off, made her wait for him, made her…cry.

Yes, he made her fucking cry! She was only human…well, sorta, but she was still a woman so there!

Bastard.

Bubbles was right, it had to be true love because no one could break her heart but still make her feel so complete. It was damn sappy but the truth.

No matter how many times he put her down, no matter how often he upset her, she'd come running back. It was sick but oh so right.

Hah, maybe Blossom had stumbled onto something with this whole Stockholm syndrome thing. There had to be something wrong with her to feel this way. Everything was so confusing.

Ugh! Feeeeeeelings! Why did they exist?!

The sun was casting long shadows across the pavement by the time Buttercup found a place to sit down. Her feet had carried her halfway through the city to the Townsville City Park. A lone bench sat between two low hanging trees with a perfect view of Mount Mojo.

It was a quiet semi-active volcano now that the monkey was behind bars and serving thirty seven life sentences. All his doomsday devices and machines had been melted down and destroyed. His once precious laboratory had been turned into a tourist stop now.

A museum dedicated solely to the Powerpuff Girls and all the villains they had taken down in their career. Every single low life had a special section dedicated to them and how they were defeated…all except three misfit truancy cases who had turned over a new leaf supposedly.

Buttercup frowned and took a seat on the time worn bench. Damn it all, why was it that all her thoughts somehow always came back to Butch?

What was it about that boy that enamored her so? Maybe he had some sort of machine that could control her thoughts or he was poisoning her with a love potion or something.

…no, Butch was way too much of an idiot for that. There were no external forces at work here, it was only him that kept her coming back. Again and again and again.

Letting out a sigh, the brunette closed her eyes and leaned her head back. She gave up on trying to think, instead she tried to focus on the sounds around her. The birds in air, the wind breeze sliding through the trees, the faint sounds of laughter and happiness from the other park goers.

She breathed all of it in and let her turbulent emotions settle into an almost peaceful lull. It might have full developed into a zen like state if it wasn't for the sound of something softly touching down on the ground in front of her.

Call it a sixth sense moment, but she could already tell who it was. Didn't mean she wanted to talk to him though, in fact, she would rather jump into that stupid volcano than do so. Forcing her eyes open with a growl, Buttercup was just about to tell him in the rudest fashion possible to leave her the hell alone but words died on lips as soon as she caught sight of him.

Standing there, with his hair actually combed for once, wearing an outfit that wasn't wrinkled and covered in random rips, holes, and stains, was Butch. And he was holding flowers…buttercups to be specific.

The look on his face would have put a puppy dog to shame. Shame coated those perfect forest green eyes of his and sadness, a bone deep sorrow that tugged right at her heart strings. He looked so pathetic, standing there uncomfortably, waiting for her to acknowledge him.

The sight was damn near enough to make her forget her previous anger and take him back right there and then. She could forgive him, it was only a spider right?

NO! No, no, no, no! Damn her and her weak will! She wasn't doing this! She wasn't caving in and forgiving him again. Not after the shit he'd pulled today. She wasn't giving in damn it!

"What do you want?" She muttered brusquely as she turned her head away from him.

"…Uh, can I um…have a seat?"

"No."

From the corner of her eye, she saw him flinch like she had dealt him a physical blow. It made her heart cringe but he had brought this on himself. She wasn't pandering to him this time.

"…Ah, um okay…" He replied pathetically, rubbing the back of his head.

An awkward minute passed by as they stood there in silence. Buttercup could feel his eyes on her but she refused to look at them. One look and it'd be all over, she'd give in and go crawling back into his arms.

The brunette refused to let that happen. She had to be strong. All she had to do was ignore him. Don't even acknowledge that he was there. Yes, that was what she had to do. No looking, no listening, just ignoring.

Maybe he'd take a hint for once in his life and leave her the fuck alone.

"I really messed up this time huh?" Butch said in a voice so quiet she almost missed it.

"Ya think?" She bit out and then mentally smacked herself.

Damn it! She was trying to ignore him remember? No more talking!

"…Yeah, that spider thing was too far, even for me."

She didn't reply this time. Instead, she kept her stony glare focused on the lone mountain across the trees.

The sound of movement caught her ears and then something was being set beside her on the bench. The flowers he had brought. Sneaking a peek at them from the corner of her eye, Buttercup couldn't help but feel a tiny crack in her armor of silence.

Buttercups were her favorite, go figure. They were beautiful too, a modest sized bouquet that was in full bloom. Their yellow leaves bright and cheery, heedless of the tension filling the air.

"Look, I'm sorry okay? Like really sorry. I-I wasn't thinking…" He paused and ran a hand through his combed hair with a sigh, messing it up to its normal unruly status. "…okay, that's a lie. I was thinking. I thought it was going to be funny, but it didn't turn out that way and now I just feel like an ass."

"Good." Buttercup couldn't help but mutter as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Butch sighed miserably and started pacing in front of her. "Look, I-…I know I do this kind of shit to you all the time. I know it pisses you off and you hate it. The constant pranks and the always being late and the looking at other chicks when we got out-"

"Then why do you do it?!" Buttercup exploded, unable to hold her silence any longer. "If you know it's so bad and it's hurting me, then why do you continue to do it?!"

Much to her chagrin, the brunette started to feel her eyes burn. Tears began to blur her vision as she hurried to wipe them away before Butch noticed. She was not going to be weak in front of him. She would not cry damn it!

Unfortunately, she did…and he noticed.

A pained look over took his face as he kneeled down in front of her and grabbed one of her hands. She wanted to rip it away, to slap him as hard as she could, but she was frozen, sitting there looking pathetically weak with tears leaking from her eyes.

Damn it all!

"You ask me that but the truth is that I don't know why!" He pleaded.

"Yeah right." The Green Puff said angrily, trying to tug her hand away.

He kept a firm grip as he looked up into her eyes. "No! Listen to me! I-I can't help the bad stuff I do okay? It's like there's this…thing inside of me that just has to do every bad idea that comes up in my brain. It's not that I want to, it's like I need too."

"Bullshit! You say you know what you're doing but you do it anyway Butch! That's a choice! Not a need!" The tears were flowing rapidly now, there was no way she could stem the tide as she pinned her heartbroken eyes on him.

"No it isn't! Seriously! I was bred to be evil Buttercup! I was raised to be evil! Hell! I've been evil for over half of my life! It's inside me, like-like some sort of sickness."

He swallowed hard and tightened his grip on her hand. "I'm trying to change, really trying, but…it's so fucking hard. You don't know what it's like Buttercup. You're good, you always have been. It's different for me."

She wanted to call him a liar, to scream that those were just excuses and he was a coward, but looking at his face…she couldn't say it. He looked so tormented, so tortured. This wasn't just some bullshit he was spouting to get back on her good side, this was the real him talking.

His real feelings.

Never before had he shared this side of himself with her. Butch was never one to get emotional or too involved. He kept her at arms distance and played things off like they didn't matter. It infuriated her to no end before. She always seemed to be so thoroughly taken with him but he never appeared the same way.

Not this time though. This time, she could see the truth shining in his eyes, could hear the absolute honesty in his words. And what she found there was shocking.

He was hurting too.

"Look," Butch continued. "All those times I've ever put you down, made you wait, pissed you off, that's the real me…but I don't want it to be. Not anymore."

He squeezed her hand tight. "You're gorgeous and kickass and amazing! And every time I look at you I can't help but think about all the ways that I'll never measure up. I'm not good enough for you. Period. And I realize now that I never will be."

A vice seemed to grip her heart as she watched him take a deep breath. He couldn't possibly be saying what she thought he was…was he?

"I-…I don't want to leave you, but if you want to end this thing, if you want me to go away and never bug you again, just say the word and I'm gone. I know I'm terrible and I always seem to mess things up, but this is one thing I can do right by you. I promise. "

The earnest expression on his stole her breath straight out from her lungs. He was dead serious about this. One word and he'd be gone from her life forever.

One simple word and she'd never have to see his annoying face again. Never be left to wait for two hours at a restaurant, never become jealous of other girls, never get angry over his laziness, never get freaking spiders planted in her food.

Never have to suffer another broken heart again.

…Except…by leaving, he'd be doing just that.

…

Swallowing back her emotions, Buttercup composed herself and made her face go blank. Slowly, she pulled her hand out of his and turned her head away so she wouldn't have to look in his eyes.

"…I want you go…" She said in a quiet voice.

Utter heartbreak flashed across his face before he mastered it and adopted a perfectly neutral expression. Sighing heavily, he gave her a slow nod and rose to his feet. The weight of the world seemed to fall upon his shoulders as he stood up.

But as he turned around to walk away, Buttercup reached out and took a hold of his hand again. The look of shock on his face was enough to break her stern countenance and let a smile rise upon her lips.

"I want you to go…and get me some more of that damn spaghetti you ruined, but this time with no fucking creepy ass spider in it got it?"

Butch stood there, frozen in astonishment for a good five seconds before his mind kicked back into gear and what she was saying finally registered in his brain. As soon as it did though, the most brilliant grin she had ever seen lit up his face.

"Really?" He asked with a disbelieving laugh.

Buttercup rose to her feet and pulled him towards her. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she returned his grin with one of her own.

"Really."

The Green Ruff still looked unconvinced as he stared down at her with wide eyes. "You're not gonna break it off with me? Even though I'm a major pain the ass?"

"Nope." Buttercup responded with a shake of her head. "You might be a class A jerkwad, but you're my jerkwad. And I think I can handle it, this is true love after all."

The uncertain look slid right off his face as Butch wrapped his arms around her waist and spun in her in a circle with a joyous laugh. Setting her back down, he leaned down and kissed her with a tenderness he had never shown before.

It was then that Buttercup knew she had made the right decision. Whatever may come, whatever crap he might pull in the future, they could work through it. Together this time.

Pulling away from the kiss, Buttercup fixed her most intense glare on her face and pointed a finger right at his nose. "But let's get one thing straight bub, we are going to fix this problem of yours. No ifs ands or buts about it. Clear?"

"Yes Ma'am. I'll try my hardest. Promise." He replied with a solemn nod.

"Good. But for now…" Buttercup smiled and placed another gentle kiss on his lips. "Let's go finish lunch."

A/N: So there you have it! Just a quick little one shot featuring everyone's favorite Green couple. When I first heard this song a last year, I immediately thought of the Greens. I couldn't help but think about how any sort of potential relationship between them would be like this. That's just my personal opinion though. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed it, I've had this idea floating around my head since like September but I finally stopped being lazy and decided to write it out for my two year anniversary for Misconceptions. Let me know what you thought of it with a review! I'll try and round out the crew by writing up a Reds one shot next. Thanks!