Disturbia

Author's Note: There wasn't a huge response on 'It's Like I Waited My Whole Life', so I assume no one took to the story as much. / That's okay, though, because I wrote up the ShiShi bit. Be warned, though; it's not as cute as you would think...

Warning: Shonen-Ai. There's one curse word, too.

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon. I don't own the characters. I don't own a car. (That last one is false. :3 His name is Rusty.)

A Wonnykins Production

'It's a thief in the night,

to come and grab you.

It can creep up inside you

and consume you.

A disease of the mind;

it can control you.

It's too close for comfort...'

He disagreed with this from the beginning. Blowing off Daisy? Daisy? Was he nuts? He HAD to be nuts. That was the only way that idiot could even begin to believe that he could out-fox Daisy.

Ash was NOT pleased.

He'd thought that Gary Oak had been inviting him to the Halloween Party simply because he was being nice; that it was the proper thing to do, now that they were seeing each other. He'd been so happy to say yes. There'd be dancing and all sorts of rooms to have little, cute, private moments in. After all, even though they were, as stated, seeing each other, it came as a shock that Ash was more involved in the 'them' then Gary was, seeing as how the only comprehensible thought on the dark-haired boy's mind was always on the subject of Pokemon. Perhaps this would be the jump Ash'd been secretly looking forward to?

Alas, though, he was disappointed to find that Gary only invited him to keep Daisy, the ever-loving sister, from bothering him. At first, he hadn't understood why this was; hadn't Gary gone on and ON about how he'd missed his beloved elder sister? Hadn't he moaned about how little he could contact her? And now, all of the sudden, he was suddenly showing her the cold shoulder? And shoving Ash right into the middle of the fray?

It goes without saying that anyone could see why Ash Ketchem was positively livid.

In Gary's defense, though, the auburn-haired boy had admitted that he didn't really trust anyone else with keeping a distance between his sister and himself. He'd begged and pleaded and had all but bowed before the angry pokemon trainer to get him to come, after Ash had thrown a monstrous tantrum about being conned into the situation. He'd even agreed to wear half of a 'couple' costume; hence why Ash ended up belittling himself as Red-Riding-Hood.

But all the sorries couldn't make up for the already awful party Ash had, he realized, been coerced into going to. Having thought of Daisy as his own older sister, growing up, he hated watching her chase he and Gary around the back-yard, looking sadder as the chase wore on. In fact, he was almost relieved when Brock, of all people, took her attention off him for the moment. But, of course, things just couldn't settle into any bit of the dream he'd had about going. He hadn't had a single dance the entire night, and was starting to get tired of traipsing after his boyfriend like a red shadow the entire night.

'You could have said no, Ash. But it's HIM, so you couldn't resist, could you?' He cursed himself for it, now. The whole night was turning out to be utterly depressing, really. It may have been selfish, but he didn't join in the relief of everyone else when Gary finally stopped running off from Daisy and made amends with her, and he felt extremely jealous watching the older girl and Brock cut a perfect rug in front of the entire crowd. Where was he when all this was going on? In the back-round, watching as a spectator. He'd really wanted the two siblings to get along again, of course, and watching Brock actually fall into real love was a bubbly sort of feeling to experience, but...

'...this really BITES...'

Here he was, sitting at a table off to the side, watching the new pair stun the dance floor with precise movements. The supposed 'boyfriend' couldn't even be bothered to get him a drink. How crappy was that? And where was Gary, exactly? Yucking it up with some of his pals from Poke'Tech. People he could contact and see whenever he wanted; after all, he went to the same school. Ash was only here for the holiday, and then he and Gary might not meet again for some time.

He didn't know when he'd started to resent going to this stupid party. Maybe it was when Gary had nearly popped his wrist out of socket while yanking him to the side, at the beginning, or maybe when he told the younger boy that he REALLY must've had experience cross dressing, because he really seemed to have looked like a girl. Maybe it was when some random pervert grabbed his ass and Gary laughed at him when he started to get upset...

"It isn't FUNNY! That really hurt!"

"Lighten up, will ya? You're going to embarrass yourself if you make a scene."

But there was also the time span shortly before Gary and Daisy had made up...

"You think she'd get mad if she found out we were dating?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Maybe she'd yell. I'd REALLY love an excuse to tell her just what an example she's been..."

"You sound like you WANT a fight."

"Maybe I do. Is that a problem?...She's coming this way. Quick-"
That kiss had no meaning to Ash at all. That had been all Gary, trying to provoke Daisy into having a row with him. And they almost had.

Ash didn't know what he would have done if they had started to REALLY fight...He'd probably have left. And he was wishing, now, that he had.

"..." Maybe he ought to go home. He doubted anyone accept Pikachu and Dawn would notice. Brock was too into Daisy, and Gary...it was almost as if Gary was avoiding him. But he didn't have a reason, right?...

"You don't need to worry about my friends."

"Why?"

"I started dating guys at Poke'Tech; they all know I'm into boys."

"Oh...I haven't...told anyone I know."

"That's okay. We don't need to right now, if you don't want to."

Did Gary even REMEMBER having that conversation? He'd blown Ash off the moment the boys approached, and they'd been making cat calls at several of the girls for a while, now. Lies, maybe? Just a little, perhaps?

Pulling the fabric of the hood that drooped over his eyes, Ash debated whether or not to tell anyone when he left. Would anyone notice?

The chair squeaked in protest as he stood, taking a piece of candy out of a dish in front of him at the table as he went. He might as well have SOMETHING nice about the evening with him; sweets made everything seem better. He grimaced, however, when it touched his tongue: licorice. That was one of the few things Ash disliked tasting. But there wasn't a place to spit it out, so he found himself sucking on the foul piece of candy as he made his way to the Oak family's back porch. He was expecting someone to stop him, but no one did. Not Pikachu, not Dawn, not Brock, Daisy, or Gary.

The licorice suddenly tasted more vile in his mouth as he shut the door to the Oak's kitchen and made his way back to the front of the house for his coat. He hadn't realized how cold it was outside, amongst the heat of so many bodies packed together as they had been. The costume he wore was MUCH too thin, and he regretted wearing it at all.

He ended up swallowing the licorice mint as he walked. He almost WANTED to throw up, so why not help out that notion? Unfortunately, while it made his stomach turn, the stupid candy didn't make him vomit. Nothing was going to go his way, tonight, it seemed.

It was when he was pulling on his coat that he heard the kitchen door slam, feet padding hurriedly across the floors to where Ash was slipping into the sleeves of a, regretfully, thin windbreaker.

"Cold?"

Gary sounded serious when he asked, which annoyed the dark-haired boy. He yanked the other sleeve on, zipping up over the costume he wished he'd never bought.

The older boy stepped up behind him, giving him a hug that Ash hurriedly shook off. "Hey, what's with the sudden animosity?" Ash glanced over his shoulder to see Gary frowning at him.

"I kept you away from your sister, although that apparently fell through. So, since I'm not needed, I'm going home. Is that okay with you?" He didn't mean to add the extra bite to the statement, but it made him feel better as he said it.

"What? No, it's not okay! Why the hell would you even ask?!"

"Don't cuss at me." Ash muttered, opening the front door. "You know I don't like cussing."

A hand with fake, sharpened nails latched onto his upper arm. "Forget the cussing; why are you leaving? Party's not over, yet."

"Why do you want me to stay? I'm not in between you and your sister, anymore, and you haven't done anything else with me besides use me as a shield. You know that NO ONE probably knows that we're dating, right?"

"We agreed on that-"

"You mean, I did. You told me that EVERYONE you were close with knew about you being gay. You haven't even TOUCHED me the entire night! You must be SO confident!"

Gary rubbed the bridge of his nose; this looked rather comical, with his long nails. "Don't blow it out of proportion; we kissed. Don't feel neglected."

"We kissed so that you could start a fight with Daisy." Ash shot back, flatly. "And, for that matter, YOU kissed ME. I didn't do ANYTHING."

"Really? What was that you were murmuring while it was going on? Wasn't it, oh, I don't know, my name? Could that have been it? Or was that something else?" Now annoyed with Ash's argumentative state, the older boy spat out angry responses in reply.

Ash stared at him. "...So...what...is it only convenient for you to be nice to me when YOU need it to be?" Gary didn't respond, and Ash shook his head. "Why did you even bother inviting me? You haven't done anything but avoid me when you aren't dragging me around behind you for a lookout. It's fine if you don't want to admit that you're dating me, just don't invite me someplace and then ditch me like I'm the plague. That's not even how people in secret relationships act." And he scoffed, turning back to the door again.

"...You're so NEEDY..." It was a scoff right back in Ash's face, and he flinched, before saying:

"Then you obviously haven't been in a relationship before."

And he left.

Bum Bum Be-dum Bum Bum Be-dum Bum

The children had long since fled the streets, into the warm arms of their parents and into their houses, where they were no doubt sorting a hoard of candy a piece. Thus, Ash was alone as he made his way back home, damning the cold and damning himself for his small, barely wind-resistant jacket. He wasn't normally a jumpy person, but being as it was Halloween, the boy was a bit weary of walking by himself.

Even though he was constantly fighting to glance over his shoulder, his horrible night took most of his attention.

"You're so NEEDY..."

Needy, huh? So now he was 'needy' because he wanted Gary's attention? Pulling his small coat tighter around himself in a vain effort to will away the cold, he frowned down at the dirt road in front of him. How could he have even dared to say something like that; something so cold, that made Ash sound like he was the greediest person.

Excuse him for wanting some of Gary's focus, then. After all, he didn't NEED it; they were only dating, and that couldn't have been very important.

His eyes burned. He promised himself that it was nothing to cry about, but rejection seems to have that kind of effect on people.

'What a jerk...'

He vaguely wondered what Brock and Dawn, (Brock probably would have told her, by now, about what he'd seen Gary and Ash doing), would ask him when they got back.

"Were you not feeling well?"

"Did he stand you up?"

"Maybe he's seeing someone else..."

That last one hadn't struck him until now, but, somehow, he didn't think that Gary fitted the profile for having more then one person on his arm.

So lost in his brooding was the dark-haired trainer that he almost walked right into his front door. The house was dark and silent, as compared to the thriving mansion he'd just come from. Fishing out the house key, he unlocked the door and went in.

He could remember, a while back, coming home after trick-or-treating and sorting out his stash with his father, while his mother watched them and laughed. Now, though, the house was quiet. His mother had probably gone to bed, so he treaded lightly around the house.

The lights stayed off in his room as he entered it. There was enough light from the moon streaming in the window to see; no point in wasting electricity. Even though he was tired, and wanted nothing more then to fall in bed, Ash found himself, still clothed in the scarlet costume, sitting on the edge of his bed.

He took this time to brood on why he was even agreeing to date his supposed rival in the first place. For years, Gary was the only one who knew exactly which buttons to press to make him upset. He always felt a pang watching the older boy leave, and that, in itself, was unusual, seeing as how Ash had had friends that left him periodically.

But it was when the other boy made him happy that felt the weirdest. He never felt so utterly wonderful with anyone else, and, over time, he developed a strange sort of crush on his rival.

It was surprising that Gary then turned around and asked Ash to go out with him. Gary'd never struck Ash to be the type that batted for the same team. Nevertheless, Ash had accepted, and he'd been glad to.

But...with every good thing, there was an equally bad one. Hence this Halloween, which was literally imprinting itself in Ash's mind as one of the worst holidays ever, now. Either Gary had never dated and was ignorant to how to be affectionate with someone else, or he was still a spoiled brat who only played with Ash when he felt like it, not necessarily when Ash wanted it or not. Whichever it was, it still had the same effect on the smaller of the two.

He emerged from his thoughts and stared blankly at the floor, wondering why he'd stopped thinking about them until he heard the noise that had roused him.

Plink!

Blinking curiously, he looked over at his window. It wasn't raining...

Plink!

Startled, he got off his bed, staring at the window as another pebble hit it from the outside.

Plink! Plink!

Of course, if there were objects being thrown, someone had to be throwing them. Wearily, Ash opened the window, only to get smacked in the face with another pebble that had been thrown too late.

"Oops..."

Rubbing the red mark now on his face, Ash glared down at the culprit. Gary stared up at him, sheepishly, and Ash went to close the window.

"Hey, wait! Don't shut it!" The auburn-haired boy waved his arms frantically. "Come on! I spent the entire time getting here and then figuring out how to get your attention!"

Ash paused, then crossed his arms and leaned on the window frame. When it became obvious that Gary now had his attention, the older boy sighed in relief.

"All right...I know I hurt your feelings..." He stated, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was an as- a jerk." He corrected. Ash had to give him points for that, at least. "I should have been paying more attention to you."

"No, really?" Ash was tempted to say, but he kept his mouth shut.

Gary seemed to visibly wilt when Ash continued to stay silent. The overall effect was that of a kicked puppy, which was rather ironic when one considered that Gary was dressed in a set of wolf ears. "Oh man...I really screwed up..." Ash figured that he wasn't meant to hear this, so he pretended as though he hadn't. "...I didn't mean to make you feel like that. I'm just not...sure how to handle having you around. I haven't really done this whole thing before."

Ash groaned. "You're such a LIAR!"

"What?! No! I'm serious!"

"I mean when you were talking about seeing other guys, before, not NOW!" Sensing an oncoming headache, Ash rubbed his forehead. "You're a moron..."

"But I'm YOUR moron...right?"

There were a few minutes of silence. Sighing, Ash shut his window, and Gary drooped, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Rejection didn't sit well with him, and it was evident on his face.

There was the creaking of hinges, though, and the auburn-haired boy looked up, watching Ash walk out of the back door and across the grass towards him. He paused a couple feet away, crossing his arms again.

"...Yes. You're still MY moron." Gary let out a relieved whoosh of air. "But you're still a moron, none the less." And Ash whacked the side of the older boy's head.

"Ow!"

"You deserve it."

Begrudgingly, the taller of the two muttered, "Yeah, yeah, I know..." And then, he held out his hand. Bewildered, Ash stared at it, then up at Gary. "I never got to ask you if you wanted to dance."

They skipped the dance; Ash decided to hug him, instead. Maybe Halloween wasn't so bad, after all, and he thought this as they shared an actual kiss.

'It's a thief in the night

to come and grab you.

It can creep up inside you

and consume you.

A disease of the mind;

it can control you.

It's too close for comfort...'

But that's okay, because Love's all good, in the end...

-Fin-

Author's Note: So it was Ash angsting the whole time. But it was ShiShi, was it not? Anyway, I'm doing one for RikuxSora, too. Look for that, kay? Review, as always.