#cause im reading it now and im like wow this is the worst excerpt to pick! it's so boring! im sorry!!

[aclosetfan]

I saw something floating around called WIP Wednesday's and thought it sounded fun, so here’s a little excerpt from the new chapter (very much a wip) of my fanfic Another Buttercrush, which can be found on ffn! One day hopefully, I’ll have the courage to post something original, but for now this will do! Anyway, for context, the ppg and rrb are going (”being forced to go”) to a “party” thrown by Princess and Butch is suspicious that the girls (and Brick) are keeping something from him. This is pretty fluffy and silly, but it’s the drive to the party (Princess got them a limo) and it makes me smile :) 

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. . . .

Butch dug his heels in, blocking the exit, and Blossom whined, "Butch!"

"If it's not important, then why is it a secret?"

Blossom frowned, "I swear it's not important."

"Okay, sooo then tell me what it is."

"What's the holdup?" Buttercup asked from behind, and he felt another hand press up against his back, "Let's go."

Her palm laid flat against the middle of his back, and she gave a small push, but he held firm.

"What's the secret!" He huffed, looking over his shoulder at her, and one of her eyebrows shot up.

"What secret?"

"You three's secret!"

"Why Chemical X, Butch." The Professor chuckled, coming up behind the group, "But it's hardly a secret. Now, come on, you six, out the door. You'll be late."

"Yeah," Robin crossed her arms, "I hope you all have a horrible time without me."

"We can still sneak you in." Boomer tried, "How hard could it be?"

"You can have my invite." Brick sniffed, and Robin smirked.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not giving her the satisfaction."

Bubbles, nose and cheeks still tinged red, gave Robin a watery smile, "I wish you were coming though."

Robin gave Bubbles a reassuring hug, "You'll be fine, I promise. No one can tell."

Butch squinted his eyes at that, but Buttercup pressed in closer to him, both hands now resting on the small of his back, "Can we go now, please?"

Without an answer, she nudged him forward with more effort than last time. He glared at her over his shoulder, and she met his stare evenly. Dark eyelashes batted up at him, and she was just so lucky he had a thing for her. With another huff, he complied, acting as dead weight, but letting her push him along towards the obnoxious limo (he may have liked her, but it wasn't like he was going to make it easy).  

The limo was the standard size for a limo, which he never thought he would ever have to mentally clarify. But Princess's limos were typically bigger than the standard sized ones, so honestly, the car in front of him was kind of underwhelming. He had jacked a limo once, during a night of complete debauchery with his brothers when he had been around-fourteen. He didn't know if it was necessarily a good thing to have a favorite grand theft auto charge, but the limo had been one of his favorite grand theft auto charges, right after the Lamborghini. It didn't feel fair comparing the two charges, though, because the Lamborghini had been a god-tier event, and he'd cut off his left leg to do it all over again, but the limo had been pretty fucking fun too.

In fact, he was pretty sure if his memory was serving him correctly (he had ended up with a nasty concussion, so the event was a bit fuzzy), the girls had been called in to stop the limo incident. The City didn't often waste the girls' resources on grand theft auto unless the situation called for it, and, he thought with a grin, the limo situation had definitely called for it.  

The Professor followed them down with an arm around Bubbles, and he planted a kiss on the crown of her head as she hugged him goodbye.

"Now, regardless of the circumstances, have plenty of fun. Remember to stand up straight and if you need anything, call me!" The Professor lectured as his girls stood around him.

"Okay, Professor! Bye, Professor!" The girls sang together, swooping in to give their dad a final hug.

"Don't miss us too much, okay?" Bubbles mumbled, still pressing her face into his chest and hugging her father tight around the torso as Buttercup's arms encircled his neck from behind.

"Yeah," She laughed, squishing their cheeks together with a cheeky smile, "and no wild parties either, got it?"

"And call us if you need anything!" Blossom chimed in, hanging onto the Professor's arm.

Professor Utonium laughed along with them, as they squeezed together, "Oh girls, of course, of course. Don't worry about me. I'll just be fiddling in the lab."

 "Be safe!" The girls smiled as they detached themselves from the Professor and moved towards the limo, "We love you!"

"I love you too, girls." Professor cooed after them as Blossom made her way in first, followed by an overly excited Boomer.

"And Professor," Blossom said, sticking her head back through the door, "no chemical fires this time, alright?"

Professor gave her a guilty smile but nonetheless held his right hand up, "No chemical fires, I promise."

Blossom's concerned look faded quickly into a smile as she disappeared inside the car completely. He waited with Buttercup, Bubbles, and Robin as Brick climbed in after the other two. Robin pulled Bubbles away for another (stupid secret) pep talk that he had half a mind listening in on when a hand grabbed his own and pulled him towards the car door. Bubbles was instantly forgotten as he stared at Buttercup's hand linked with his own. It wasn't really like they were holding hands. More like she was just grasping his to pull him around, but her hand was still there, warm against his own, and it made his mind buzz.

"Bye, Professor!" Buttercup smiled, giving the Professor one last peck on the cheek before ducking into the car with him in tow. He ripped his eyes away from their linked hands to give the Professor one last nod, hoping the red on his cheeks wouldn't betray anything to her dad.  

"Bye." He mumbled, hyperconscious of the older man next to him, but the Professor didn't seem any different than before.

"Have fun!" The Professor smiled.

He nodded again and followed Buttercup into the limo.

"Oh, and Butch!" The Professor called, and he stopped in the doorway.

"Yeah?" He turned around, his heart doing some sort of funny palpitation. It was a weird feeling, like nerves, but slightly different. He didn't know. He had never felt it before.

"You make sure my little spice cake has a good time, alright?" The older man winked, and Butch would have been more embarrassed about the implication if—

"Wait—" he snorted "—spice cake?"

"Professor!" Buttercup pushed him aside so she could stick her head back out the door, "Oh my god!" 

"How have I never thought of that one?" He said mostly to himself, giving Buttercup a crooked grin, "Spice cake."

"Do not call me that!" She growled as a red hue began to pool into her cheeks.

"But you're our little spice cake!" The Professor protested, "It's cute!"

"Yeah, spice cake, it's cute." He laughed in agreement, "Our cute Lil' spice cake!"

Her eyes went wide before she shot a glare at her father, "I hope you're pleased with yourself."

The Professor laughed as well, as Buttercup ducked into the car with another growl. He winked at the Professor before following her in.

He hadn't seen the back of the limo he had jacked, but this one seemed like the standard limo interior he'd see in the movies. There was a divider that separated them from the driver, the left side of the limo was lined with wraparound seating, and the right side had an expansive minibar. Finally, there was a separated back seat that Brick had commandeered for himself, lounging so no one would sit next to him—probably still pissed at them all from earlier.  

Butch ducked his head low and climbed in, plopping down next to Buttercup, who was sitting at the end of the wrap around seat closest to the limo's door. Boomer was already seated towards the front near the driver, fiddling with the buttons that controlled the divider. Blossom sat next to him, fixing the buttons and controls as quickly as Boomer messed with them.

"Boomer, that's not a toy." She sighed, swatting at him.

Boomer pouted, cradling his hand, "I just wanna see what it does!"

Butch ignored them and leaned forward towards the minibar and dug around. "There's nothing but water," he sighed, pulling a bottle out, "lame."

Blossom tsked, "Now, what did you expect?"

He looked over at her blankly and leaned back in his chair, "Is that a trick question?"

Buttercup shot him an amused smile as Bubbles made her way into the limo. The fluff of her dress made it into the vehicle first, and after the rest of her followed it in, she cooed at the interior.

"It's so pretty!" She hummed, her spirits immediately rising as she looked at the glowing lights that had been set for ambiance and shuffled her way in, "Buttercup, scoot over."

Buttercup frowned, "go sit upfront; there's not enough—"

"Scoot over!" Bubbles smiled at her and she plopped down in the tiny space that Buttercup had left between her seat and the door.

"Hey!" Buttercup huffed as Bubbles' dress pushed her against him, and she gave him a long-suffering look, "Sorry."

He shrugged noncommittally and pretended he didn't notice much of any difference, moving only about an inch away to make it seem like he was making an effort at giving her more room. He pulled his arm out from where it was pinned between them and rested it on the back of the seat around her shoulders. He did the same with his other arm to make it seem casual, flicking Blossom on the shoulder to bug her.

Blossom stopped babysitting Boomer to glare at him before flipping her hair in his face and turning away once more.

"It's kind of like we're going to Prom!" Bubbles hummed.

"Better relish in it, Bubbles. It's the closest you'll ever get to the real deal." Boomer laughed, and Bubbles chucked a water bottle at his head.

“Hey!” Boomer cried out, holding his forehead. 

"Buttercup," Bubbles whined, turning away from Boomer's crying, "scooch, you're squishing my dress!"

Buttercup didn't say anything. Instead, the two sisters shared an intense look. He watched a whole conversation silently pass between them but had no fucking idea what any of it meant. It was like somewhere along the line, he had missed the memo about having secret languages with everyone else. He watched them from the corner of his eye, trying to decipher something until Brick spoke up.

"This is going to be pointless." Brick sighed, removing his elbow from his eyes and cracking one of the windows, "We should have taken shots, done something to make this more bearable. Ask the driver to pull over. We know a liquor store that doesn't card."

"Nah, they card now, dude. New management." Boomer reminded him, still overdramatically rubbing his head.

"Benny's cards now?" Brick shot up.

Butch nodded in agreement, "As of last month.

"Is nothing fucking sacred in this City?" Brick hissed, plopping back down in his seat, "Whatever. What about the store on 5th?"

Boomer winced, "We're definitely still not allowed in there."

"They're not over that yet?" Brick asked as he pulled out his vape.

Blossom's eyebrows furrowed, "Not in the limo, Brick."

He ignored her, taking a hit and blowing a stream of smoke out the window crack.

"I thought you quit?" Buttercup asked as she scooted closer to him, losing whatever odd argument she had just had with Bubbles. Her leg pressed against his, and she shot him another apologetic look that he again shrugged off.  

"Quitting. In the process of. It's all in the verb tenses, BC." His brother shot back.  

"That's definitely not how that works." Blossom deadpanned.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were an expert in quitting." Brick snapped, and Blossom rolled her eyes.

"Maybe not, but I'd think stopping a smoking addiction is more than just telling people you're going to quit. You actually have to stop smoking at one point."

"Well, where's the fun in that?" Brick said impassively, blowing another stream of smoke out the window.

The limo took a sharp left turn, and Butch braced himself, using his leverage on the back of the seat to stay put. No one else was so lucky. Brick slide down his seat, his vape tumbling out of his hands, as Blossom fell into Boomer, Bubbles into Buttercup, and Buttercup wonderfully into him.

"Is everyone all right?" Blossom asked as they stabilized.

Boomer sat up, cradling his head where it had knocked into a window, and slammed a hand onto the divider, "Eh, buddy, warn us next time!"

"I'm okay!" Bubbles called out.

"No duh, you're wearing a built-in airbag." Buttercup huffed, hitting against the fluff of Bubbles dress, as he helped her back up straight. "Thanks," she nodded at him and turned around to Bubbles, "now move over."

"No way!" her sister argued, "I finally have a place to actually sit. Just stay right there."

Buttercup looked back at him, then at her sister, "Uh, yeah, no. We're sitting on top of each—"

"Everyone shut up!" Brick yelled, panic in his eyes, "I dropped my Juul."

"Oh my god." Blossom sighed under her breath.

"Feet up!" His brother ordered, "Bubbles, lift up that stupid skirt, come on!"

"It's not stupid!" Bubbles argued but nonetheless complied, "It's pretty!"

"Pretty stupid." Boomer mumbled, but it was still loud enough to warrant a death glare from Bubbles.

"Where the fuck is my Juul!" Brick hissed, hopping up from the floor.

Butch shared a look with Blossom. 

"If this is what prom’s going to be like, I don’t want to go.” Blossom sighed and bent down to help Brick look around.

As the reds searched and Bubbles bickered with Boomer, Butch's eyes fell back on Buttercup. She was trying her best not to be swallowed up by the fluff of Bubbles' dress and invade his personal space at the same time, which was sweet but unnecessary.

"I don't bite." He pointed out.

She snorted and gave him a look.

"Most of the time." He conceded, "I don't bite most of the time."

A smile tugged on her lips, and she bit down on it—she did that, she bit her lips, and without fail, he'd watch.

"If you're cool with it," She shrugged a moment later and leaned into him. Any closer and she'd be forced to lay her head down on the crook of his neck. If she noticed how he brought his arm in closer around her, she didn't say anything. She sat stiffly, her hands folded as best she could in her lap. It was different from that one time at the movies where she seemed to melt right into him, but his heart hammered away loudly in his chest all the same. His fingers twitched with the memory, and he focused on their legs to distract himself.

"Buttercup, legs. Move." Brick ordered from somewhere in the fluff void.

"Where?" She huffed.

"Where." Brick mocked, "Up! Away! I don't care!"

She shook her head with an incredulous glare and lifted her feet up, but that wasn't enough for his brother, who popped up three seconds later.

"I said away."

"You said you didn't care." Buttercup corrected him, and Brick glowered, wrapping his hands around her legs and throwing them over Butch's lap.

"Away." Brick emphasized before returning to his search.

Sometimes, just sometimes, Butch remembered why he kept Brick around. With the convenient excuse of "I'm helping my brother," cocked and ready to roll off his tongue, Butch placed his free hand (the one not tentatively grazing her shoulder every other second on "accident") on her knee and kept her legs from slipping off his own. She quickly shot a look up at him, her mouth less than a foot from his own, but didn't say anything as her eyes left his face and looked past him at her sister.

"Ah-ha!" Brick's hand shot up triumphally from the fluff with his vape in hand, "Found—"

The limo hit a speed bump that sent them all into the air, knocking the vape from his brother's hand once again and causing him to cry out. His cries drowned and mixed with everyone else's. Instinctively, Butch brought his arms tighter around Buttercup as hers wounded around his neck. They landed hard back on the seat with breathless huffs.

"I said, warn us!" Boomer hit the divider again after they landed, but the Driver remained as silent as usual.

"Is death too much to ask for?" Brick sighed face down on the limo floor, no vape in sight.

Blossom toggled the divider button-down with a frown, "Sir," she started, "is everything—" she and Boomer froze, blocking the rest of their views of the driver seat, "—well, that's certainly ominous, wouldn't you say?" she asked, turning to Boomer, who nodded his head.

"Yeah, dude, way creepy."

"Oh brother," Buttercup mumbled, her breath pleasantly tickling the nape of his neck, as she blew loose hair out of her face, "that never means anything good."

He really honestly did not care about the front seat at all at that moment. He was more focused on the fact that Buttercup hadn't let go of him yet, so he was trying to keep very still and very quiet so she wouldn't remember to.

"What's wrong, Bloss?" Bubbles squeaked, latching onto Buttercup and coincidentally him.

Blossom moved a bit out of the way, so they could get a peek into the Driver's seat. The three of them hissed at the sight. It wasn't good.

"Describe it to me." Brick mumbled against the floor.

"Well," Bubbles hummed, playing along, "it's a robot…butler man."

"Based off of Carmichael, I presume?"

"You presume correctly," Blossom nodded, reaching a hand out to still the dysfunctional robot head that was spinning round and round on its axis, "though it is an insult to Mr. Carmichael." She let go when the head began to spark, and when it was free, the head continued to spin, its hands making robotic, jerky motions on the steering wheel.

"It's busted." He informed his brother, observing as Boomer leaned forward and poked the machine. Electricity buzzed through him, but his brother wasn't the least bit affected. Electricity was his thing.

"Defective for sure." Boomer continued, climbing through the little window to further mess with the robotic man.

"Neato." Brick sighed, propping up on his elbows, "Robots."

"Androids most likely. Boomer, please don't touch anything; I don't want you to get hurt." Blossom commanded as another spark of electricity coursed through Boomer.

Boomer popped his head through the divider, "Should we toss it? I can drive!"

"No!" He and Brick protested simultaneously.

"It isn't necessary anyway, Boomer. It seems to be getting us there just fin—"

The robot's hands jerked hard to the right, and the limo lurched dangerously on its tires before slamming back down on the road. Butch cringed as the limo's underbelly scrapped against the concrete pavement until the car settled itself.

"—But maybe, Butch, if you wouldn't mind, maybe you could drive just to be on the safe side?" Blossom amended as she attempted to pull Boomer back into the safety of the back seat.

He frowned and looked down at Buttercup, who was still warm against his side; she looked up at him expectantly. He sighed and, regretfully, untangled himself from her, "Fine."