Author's note: Just a little somethin' somethin' I wrote while I was away. Enjoy!
7/2/2014: Edits.
4/21/2018: Further edits.
Scribbled on Gum Wrappers
"Huh? What's this?" Dawn stooped down to reach a silver, crumpled up piece of foil on the ground.
She picked it up out of the dirt and inspected it. "It's a… gum wrapper?"
Dawn unfolded the wrapper as she closely followed the two partners and a certain yellow mouse in front of her. There was a single word written in black ink on the inside.
"you," it read in lowercase letters.
Dawn, puzzled, attempted to decipher the message. What could it mean? Who wrote it in the first place?
The bluenette looked ahead of her to see if any of her two companions happened to be chewing gum. Brock's jaw seemed remain in place—not him.
Her eyes then laid on Ash. He was walking at an angle so that Dawn could not see his face directly. Upon looking at him, though, she remembered that he loved gum; it was his habit—an addiction almost.
And how do I know this? Dawn mentally questioned herself. Only someone that genuinely cares about a person would remember such an insignificant quirk—oh right.
Dawn blushed as she kept her eyes locked on the back of Ash's head. Sure enough, he took out a stick of gum from the left pocket of his jeans. Ash popped the pink, rectangular piece into his mouth.
Curiously, he also took out a pen from the same pocket. Dawn watched, perplexed, as her… special someone… scribbled something on the inside of the wrapper, crumpled it, and dropped it to the ground. She noticed that he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand before taking out yet another piece of gum. Was he… crying?
As Dawn approached the other wrapper, she squatted to the ground and picked it up. She unfurled the wrapper.
"love," this one said.
Now she was even more confused.
Ash loves someone? I NEED to know who it is! …Not that I care…
The girl disregarded her thoughts and collected yet another wrapper off the ground.
"I."
Obviously the message, put together, read, "I love you," but who was it meant for?
Dawn's thought process was interrupted by the sound of Ash's voice.
"Dawn? I think you dropped this." Ash's eyes were noticeably red, but he wasn't crying anymore. The ground seemed to be pretty interesting to him, considering he never once dared to look up at his companion's face as he handed her yet another gum wrapper.
"But… I didn't drop any—" Dawn started to explain, but Ash turned away before she could finish.
What's this then?
Dawn opened the last gum wrapper. I love you. I screwed up the first few times I tried… but good thing you saw these things!
The bluenette could feel herself blushing intensely as she looked up toward the Trainer walking in front of her.
"Ash! I lo—" She stopped herself again. Perhaps she should wait until Ash was done grieving over running out of his favorite gum. Her confession could wait.
In Ash's mind…
Oh well, at least I have some wrappers that have that lingering scent… I'll just buy more when we get to Pastoria. But I've got Dawn! She's just as good as gum. Well, maybe. Heheh.
