Hello everyone! I'm back with a multi-chapter fic filled with angst for my favorite trio! I'm really excited about this story and the ensuing drama. Please note that the rating may change due to violence (it is Pokemon Special) and some hinted adult themes. I do not own Pokemon Special/Adventure, credit goes to Hidenori Kusaka and Satoshi Yamamoto. I hope you enjoy!

I'm not sure when I noticed everything changing between the three of us. I mean, one minute we were Crystal, Gold, and Silver. Best friends. So close I used to endure playful arguments about who would get to walk me down the aisle.

I never thought it would turn into a tear-filled heartbreak over who would be waiting for me at the end of it.

I recall a building tension between us for sometime, but thought nothing of it; men being men, right? I wish I had been right.

It must've exploded the day Red and Yellow announced their engagement.

#

"Pass the chips, will ya Silv?" Gold asked from beside me on Yellow's tiny love seat. He and Silver had squashed me between them as we waited for Red and Yellow to arrive. They'd invited the Dexholders over for a party, and according to Blue, it was an announcement of sorts.

"You've had enough chips," Silver told Gold, interrupting what I was about to say. "I'm pretty sure the couch is slanting to your side."

"No way, I'm in top physical condition. Right, Green?" Gold shouted across the room, patting his stomach. Green rolled his eyes and looped an arm around his "pesky wife's" shoulder.

Gold waved a hand dismissively and winked at me.

"You know I've still got it, right Crys?"

Always seeking approval—that was Gold for you.

I rubbed his flat stomach and pretended not to notice how his muscles tensed under my touch.

"In shape as ever; stay away from the chips," I answered.

"Jeez, fine Mom."

I reached up and backhanded him on the head.

"Just like old times!" Gold replied cheerfully. Silver chuckled under his breath.

"There won't be any chips left if Sapph keeps it up," Ruby interjected, glaring at the brunette (who glared right back).

"Leave me alone, I'm hungry!"

"You were hungry eight slices of pizza ago. I don't have time to take new measurements for my next line of clothes for you to test!"

"You callin' me fat?"

"Ooh, you've stepped in it now," Black teased from his seat on the floor. He dealt out another set of cards to White, who grinned devilishly.

"You are so screwed," she snickered, laying her hand flat. "Three pair."

"What? No way!"

"Way!"

"She's serious," Hugh said solemnly from White's side. The young CEO threw her hands up and cheered. Across from them and behind Black, Blake and Yancy groaned.

"Bad luck, man," Blake chuckled, clapping Black's shoulder. Black's eyebrows furrowed and he grumbled to himself.

X and Y chattered away in rapid French, Y gesticulating wildly. Whitley watched them, fascinated. She was trying to comprehend what they were saying, her eyes flickering between them. Hugh murmured something to her, catching the young brunette's attention. Whitley answered just as softly and waved him quiet.

Dia bustled out of the kitchen in an apron, covered head to toe in flour. He was breathing heavily.

"What happened?" I asked, and he turned to me.

"Pearl. And Lady."

I tried to suppress a laugh, but I'm pretty sure he heard it because he sighed.

"No cookies today, the flour's all gone."

From inside the kitchen, I could hear Platina's shrieks and the way Pearl's laughter abruptly changed to "No, no, I'm sorry!"

Blue burst out laughing; Dia took a deep breath and charged back into the kitchen.

"Crystal!" Emerald cried, appearing in front of the three of us on the couch. He glared at Gold and then nodded at Silver. Gold smirked.

"So Crys, about our date..." He said loudly, grinning at me lasciviously. I saw Silver's eyes narrow and Emerald physically blanch at the words, his expression changing quickly to rage.

"No way are you taking Crystal on a date, you big pervert!" Emerald snarled. Ruby and Sapphire leapt up in sync to try to restrain the shortest dexholder, but he struggled in their hold.

"Let—me—go! I have to kill him for going after Nee-chan!"

"Rald, please." I gave him a glance that had him settling down before standing and turning my fury onto Gold.

"One, it is not a date! I agreed to go get a milkshake with you, you big bumbling buffoon! And two, don't get Emerald so riled up, it isn't funny at all," I fumed, breathing heavily out of my nose. I felt a light touch on my wrist and saw Silver looking up at me with a steady gaze and almost unintelligibly shaking his head. I breathed in deeply, my fists unclenching. What a gift Silver had for keeping me calm.

Gold continued looking amused, but his smile shivered. "Sorry, Super Serious Gal. Didn't mean to upset you." He scratched his head, knocking the hat askew. I automatically fixed it on his head, an old habit. Big ocher eyes gleamed at me—he knew he was forgiven.

"Ooh! Ooh! Here they come!" Blue squealed, tugging on Whitley's arm. "Everybody act normal!"

"They invited us, it's not a surprise party," Green reminded her, arching his eyebrows. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Obviously, darling, but I can't wait to hear the news!"

"Shh! Quiet!" Pearl yelled, emerging from the kitchen with a bleeding cut on his cheek and chocolate dripping from his hair. Platina followed him, brushing her skirt off delicately and tossing her hair—she looked untouched by the food in the kitchen, even though a flour-coated Diamond followed closely behind her.

"What do you think it'll be?" Gold stage-whispered as I settled back in between the boys, tucking my feet under my butt. Silver shifted his weight to give me room and tucked his hands deep into his pockets, shrugging slightly.

"I just hope she's not pregnant, what with Red traveling all the time," I murmured, and Gold tilted his head in acknowledgement as the door flew open and Red stood in it, beaming like an idiot.

"Hi, everyone!" he said happily, pulling Yellow through the doorway and keeping her hand tightly in his. They were grinning at each other, big sappy grins that told a million tales. The information immediately clicked, and I began smiling just as widely.

"What?" Silver whispered, nudging me with his elbow. I shook my head, pointing at the couple in the entryway.

"Let them tell it."

"Guys, I—we—invited you here to share some news; well, big news. Or maybe not big news, depending on how you take it..."

"Red, dear, you're rambling," Yellow told him kindly, resting her other hand on his arm. "Should I say, or will you?"

"If you want to, you should do it, Yels," Red answered, kissing the crown of her head. Blue groaned.

"Oh for the love of Arceus! Spit it out!" She interrupted, making Yellow flush.

"Okay, okay...well, um...we're engaged?" Yellow made the announcement sound like a question, but that didn't deter the whoops of joy that filled the room.

"The ring! The ring!" White cheered, jumping up and down. Yellow removed her hand from Red's and splayed her fingers wide, exposing the thin, silver-banded ring set with a large topaz stone, little red rubies clustered around the face.

Blue positively screeched and launched herself at Yellow, her arms wrapping around the shorter woman tightly. Platina, being the second closest, began stammering her congratulations as she heartily shook Red's hand and squeaked at the ring. Whitley had grabbed White's hand and was dragging her quickly towards the new bride-to-be, nearly stumbling over Y, who looked uncertain about whether or not she was welcome in the circle.

Ruby was blubbering helplessly against Sapphire, who rolled her eyes and patted the top of his head grudgingly. "Ya big sissy, it's not a big deal," she said grumpily, though her blue eyes were soft and misty.

I sprang up from my sitting position, racing towards Yellow as fast as I could. Blue wrapped me into a three-person hug with her and Yellow, her smile radiant. Yellow was laughing, and crying, and smiling...I'd never seen someone so happy. Even when Blue and Green were standing at the altar only a few months ago, and Green looked at her like she was the only girl in the world—it barely compared to Red turning to Yellow like she was the sun in the sky. I squeezed Yellow even tighter, feeling like a sister was announcing her engagement, not my senior. But she kissed our cheeks and murmured "thank you" as the happy, squealing group backed off.

I stepped back as quickly as I could, trying not to get trampled. Green was patting Red heartily on the back, bestowing a rare smile upon him. Black, Blake, Hugh, Diamond and Pearl all repeated the action warmly—minus Black's shouting.

As I moved away from the group, I found myself tripping over Black and stumbling backwards, throwing my arms out behind me to catch myself. Instead of the thud I expected, I found an arm wrapped securely around my waist, holding me up and helping me steady myself.

"Be more careful," Silver murmured to me, unravelling his arm from my waist. "Next time I might not be able to catch you."

I blinked at him for a moment, a mix of grateful and confused whirling around in my mind. He was smiling his peculiar little half-smile, most of his face hidden behind thick red hair and the rest softened with concern. I hadn't realized how much he'd grown since I knew him, but I felt the thin muscles from under his coat and the sturdiness with which he had propped me up, like I wasn't a 110 pound girl. Silver tilted his head in acknowledgement of my silent thanks and then walked to help his brother-in-law with Blue.

"Well, if he won't catch you, I will," Gold's voice sounded by my ear, his hands resting on my shoulders. He snuck up so silently I would've jumped if I hadn't been so used to it after so long.

"You don't need to catch me, Gold, I'll be fine," I answered, turning to face him. His eyes always reminded me of soft, crackling flames in their energy, and right now they were burning right through me with their warmth. I felt a blush rush up my face and surprised myself.

He lightly tugged a pigtail, winked, and released me; Gold made his way to Red and Yellow, walking past Silver trying to unhook his sister from Yellow. He spoke Red's hand heartily, goofy grin in place. "Congrats, man. One lady for your whole life—you sure about that?"

Green rolled his eyes. "What about me? I didn't get that speech when I got married."

Gold nodded his way. "Yeah, but there was nobody for you but Blue. She would've found a way to make them disappear even if there was. Red, on the other hand," the goggled-idiot continued, ignoring my vigorous head shakes to just stop talking, "has tons of other honeys who would be happy to marry him. And Yellow would let them, because she's got all that sap about him being happy even without her or something."

He took an assessment of the room full of glares before realizing what he'd said and backpedaling quickly. "I-I mean, not that you aren't perfect for each other, because you are, and—"

"Are you saying I'm not good enough for Red, Junior?" Yellow interrupted, her normally sweet face looking very hostile. Yellow never used the terms 'junior' or 'senior' to refer to us or herself, because she thought they were demeaning when everyone was equal—which meant she was furious. Red reached to put a hand on her arm, but she shrugged him off.

"Not at a-all, Yellow! I was just teasing, the usual bachelor and groom stuff, you know?"

Yellow's face flushed a darker pink, and Red took her hand calmly. He wore a serene expression, which either meant he was missing the conversation or that he was going to let Yellow implode.

"Come on," I said sharply, grabbing Gold's arm and removing him from the circle of people. Silver watched me drag him away, towards the back guest room. I pushed him in and slammed the door, fixing a glare on his sheepish face. He backed up hastily when I stomped towards him.

"What is your problem? Every person in that room is celebrating an engagement, a future wedding, and you're asking him if he wants to sleep with other people?"

"Crys, you've gone supersonic, can you tone it down?" Gold asked somewhat-nervously, his hands covering his ears. At the expression on my face he dropped his hands and held them up in surrender. "Okay, okay, sorry. Continue telling me what a moron I am, please."

"You are a moron! This is one of the days every girl dreams of since she understood what a marriage is and you're ruining it for Yellow! I bet she started crying after you left," I said icily, pointing my index finger at him.

"Really? Everyone dreams of this?" Gold questioned, his hands falling. "They dream of a ring and one guy, forever?"

"Yes!" I practically shrieked, "every girl dreams of this!"

"Do you?"

That halted my rant, the question shocking me into silence. I opened my mouth and then closed it, with him waiting for my answer.

"Um, I mean...uh..."

"Well, do you?" He was getting impatient.

"Well...yes, of course I do! That's how I know how special it is for Yellow, because it would be that special for me."

Gold hesitantly stepped closer, judging my reaction. When I didn't step back or reach to hit him, he came forward again. Damn his height! It was so disconcerting to look up at him when I used to be the tall one. My head cleared his chin, but otherwise I felt like an angry little China doll. He smiled at me.

"Why didn't you say so? If it's a big deal to a workaholic like you, then I better go apologize to Yellow."

"What-what is that supposed to mean?" I spluttered.

"You don't do anything but work—including date—but you still want to be married one day! It competes with your love of doing everything at once!" Gold dramatically pressed the back of his hand to his forehead, earning a punch in the torso.

"Don't make fun of me," I told him, feeling hurt and dropping to sit on the bed.

"Well if it's a big enough deal that you would want it more than to know more than everyone else, I'm off to apologize to Yellow." Gold threw the door open to find Silver leaning against the door frame, who shot him a terrifying scowl.

"You scared me, Silv. Let me through, I need to apolo—argh!"

Silver had grabbed Gold by the collar and shoved him against the wall, his face burning with fury.

"Yes, you should apologize. But to Crystal first, you understand me?" He snarled in a low voice, looking at Gold like he would burn him alive.

"W-what? Why?" Gold feebly tried to turn his head before Silver dropped him, seething. Gold faced me, his eyes growing wide.

"Crystal...are you crying?" He sounded surprised. I was, too, until I felt the drops of tears onto my shirt.

"No," I sniffed, hastily trying to wipe my eyes with my sleeve. He knelt in front of me, catching my arm and gently setting it down beside me, cupping my face in his hands and using his thumbs to smooth away the tears. They lingered along my cheekbones, each new tear getting wiped away and replaced with the warmth of his skin.

"Crys...Crystal, I'm so sorry," he whispered, his eyes searching mine for a new emotion. I was just staring at him blankly, in awe of his tenderness. "I didn't mean to insult you, I really didn't." He tucked a stray bit of hair behind my ear and caught the last tear as it slid past my nose, his thumbs brushing the corner of my lips.

"I'm sorry," he murmured again, standing up and leaving the room, his shoulders hunched and back tense.

Silver came into the room slowly, looking at me for assurance. When I didn't respond, he sat beside me on the bed.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his voice quiet. We sat in silence for a few moments before I took a great sniff and shook my head.

"I'm alright," I responded timidly. Silver glanced out of the corner of his eye at me, sighed and placed his arm across my shoulders. We both stiffened immediately, and he sighed again.

"Gold can be a real piece of work," I grumbled, leaning my head against Silver's shoulder. I was used to casual affectionate contact—thanks a lot, Gold—but not so much from Silver. "I really appreciate you defending me."

"You're welcome," he grunted, his eyes flicking around the room. His hand slowly began to pat my shoulder, his awkward way of comforting me. I nuzzled my head further against his shoulder, enjoying the closeness. Silver was such a good person, and it was nice to have someone touch me without trying to cop a feel.

"Hey, Silv? Crys?" Gold came around the door frame, his eyes narrowing. I quickly assessed what he was seeing—me, with all of my weight on Silver, who had his arms around my shoulders and was rubbing gentle circles against my shoulder blade.

The flickering flames in his eyes froze.

"I'll—erm, I'm still sorry Crys. I guess you're okay now. I'll go," he said in a deadpan voice, turning on his heel.

I didn't chase after him to explain. I didn't even try.

I curled closer to Silver and cried a little more.