I can't love a bad boy, can I?

Chapter 12

When Brick had stormed off, he had no idea where to go. He just walked away from his brothers and their friends with no plan in his head. After a while, he realized he had walked right into the middle of the wood, to the big tree. He sighed and clenched his fist.

Why did I go here? He thought. This is the one place in the city I don't want to be, and I still go here. 

Brick raised his fist and punched the tree, but quickly stopped and sat down. He threw off his cap and ripped out his tie from is hair, letting it fall down. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He showed his hand into his pocket and closed his hand around the piece of fabric. 

He breathed slowly, calming himself down and pulled the ribbon out and held it up. It was slightly crumbled from lying in his pocket, but it still looked good. Brick dragged his thumb over it and breathed in the scent that radiated of the ribbon, the smell reminding him of the event. Strawberry, candy, and smoke. 

Just as he was about to do what he always does when he takes out the ribbon, his brothers ran over to him from the bushes. "Brick. Where did you get that?" Brick got up from the ground and snatched his hat. "What are you guys doing here?" He asked as he adjusted the cap. "We came to ask you why you need to find Blossom, and then we saw you with that ribbon. Is it Blossom's?" 

Brick held it tightly in his hand. "None of your business." He snapped. "Briiick!!!" Boomer whined like a child and grabbed for the ribbon. "I wanna know. Just tell us. Is that ribbon from Blossom?" Brick nodded slowly. "Why do you have it?" Kaoru said suddenly, as she came out from the bush. Brick groaned. Miyako followed her. "You all came?" He asked. Momoko got up from the bush and they nodded. 

"With the truth serum in you, you have to answer every question. So we want to know why you need to find Blossom so badly." Miyako said in a calm voice. Brick sighed. "Fine. Might as well tell you. But you," He said and pointed to Momoko. "Already know this, so you can just go." Butch waved at Brick. "Let it go, man. She's not Blossom, so just forget it." 

Kaoru sighed and sat right down in the grass, her legs crossed. "Just get on with it already. Tell us why you have that ribbon, and why you need to find Blossom so badly." Butch sat down beside her, and Boomer threw off his jacket for Miyako before he sat down beside her. Momoko sat opposite of Brick, who had leaned against the tree again. 

FLASHBACK: Two months ago.

Brick was having a bad month. Three times had he been stopped by the power puffs in attempts at having some fun and stealing money. He was furious with himself for letting himself get beaten by Blossom everytime. And he was tired. With the three of them getting beaten so much, then didn't have a lot of food. So Brick had to work a lot more when his brothers were asleep so he could give them enough food. 

He barely ate any of it and gave it all to Boomer and Butch. Then Boomer fell ill, and Butch had to stay in to take care of him. Brick was forced to go do something extreme in order to get some money. 

So in the middle of the night, without telling either Butch or Boomer, he went to a store and stole the medicine he needed, and a bag of food. And just as his foot stepped outside the store, he was tripped by a Jojo, making him drop his bag with the food and medicine. Above him, Blossom had a mad expression. 

"What are you doing Brick? Don't you know what time it is? It's freaking 02:35! Do you even have a brain? I need my beauty sleep, and you just had to go rob a store." Her cheeks were puffed out, and her eyes were halfway closed. But her voice was fully awake and loud, making Brick groan from his spot on the ground. 

"Fine. I'll go home. Don't throw a fit over it alright?" He said lazily and got up. He started walking, but he didn't want to go home and wake his brothers, so he went to the woods. Over the last days, Brick had found a good spot to be at when he needed peace. A huge tree with the perfect roots to chill out by. 

But today he didn't feel like going to the tree, so he walked a little further, collecting some wood for a small fire on the way. He then sat down on the ground and made the fire. He sighed and stared into the fire, wishing he could make all his problems go away. He was just tired. Tired of having to steal everything. Not that he enjoyed it, because he did, but his brothers needed real food, and medicine. 

Brick was tired of getting his ass beaten by Blossom daily, and always losing, even when she was half asleep. Tired of having to take care of his brothers by sleeping out in the wood to not get sick with them or wake them up. He just wanted to disappear and not be found. 

The fire in front of him grew in power and the orange color light up the night. Brick didn't realize how big it was until the heat got his nose. "Aaahh!" Was the noise that came out of him. His head jerked back, and his red eyes saw that the fire was a bit bigger than he thought. 

Brick wanted to get some water to take the fire out, but he didn't find anything. The fire only got bigger and was not starting to go for the trees around it. Brick backed away but was soon trapped inside a circle. The hot fire was everywhere, and Brick saw no way out. His breathing was getting slower, and his lungs needed fresh air. All he smelled was burnt wood and smoke. He started to cough, and his legs gave up because of the heat, making him land on his knees and hands. 

Bricks red eyes were closing, and his body was shutting down. He had no way out, and the fire was just about to get to him. As his eyes were closing, the last thing he saw was a person landing right outside the ring of fire. Brick tried to call out to the person, but his body shut down, making him pass out.