A/N: I haven't written anything since Do's and Don'ts ended. Apologies for that; I did have something planned, and still do, but I still have a lot of details to iron out with it, and I lost my muse since I stopped writing D&D to be honest. So, I decided to write a one-shot to try and get my muse back. Hopefully it's worked, and I really hope you enjoy it! Ash and Misty are both fourteen, and this is set during Christmas (sorry, I know it's July, but you'll see why at the end), some point during the Hoenn season. This is shameless fluff. I apologise, but I'm feeling fluffy at the moment, and it makes a change from the darkness of D&D :P
Misty let out a deep sigh, shuddering as she did so. She wasn't sure if it was the bitter cold from the snowy, December night, or the events that had just unfolded in the house that were causing her to shiver. Her breath was visible due to the low temperature, reminding her more of her frozen surroundings. She cursed herself for not grabbing her coat during her departure, but her brain had been clouded by embarrassment and upset, only intent on leaving. She leaned against the porch fence, looking out over the empty, darkened field before her. The snow nearby sparkled like a million frozen teardrops due to the light spilling from the kitchen window. Some rested underneath her bare arms, but she was too involved in her humiliation to notice or care. She sighed again, her head dropping as she fought back tears, the evening's proceedings constantly replaying in her head, taunting her.
The sound of the porch door opening caused her to drop back into reality, momentarily silencing her bullying brain. Her hair and dress glided around her as she turned to see who had disturbed her time alone. She had prayed it was Delia; the woman had become like a mother to her, supporting her and helping her through personal turmoil such as the one that had occurred that very night. Sadly, it was not Delia, rather her offspring, stood with a very sheepish grin on his face as he locked eyes with the redhead. The music from the party still underway inside blared through the gap in the doorway until Ash tentatively took a step outside, snow crunching under his feet as he did so. He shut the door behind him, causing the music to become muffled, unable to penetrate the glass barrier. For a moment, Ash stood staring at the snow beneath his feet. His presence irritated Misty more every second, and his seemingly pointless intrusion caused her to snap at him.
"What do you want, Ash?" she growled, before turning back toward the darkened outskirts of Pallet. She heard him gulp, clearly unsure of what to say.
"Um," he began, quietly. He cleared his throat, and then spoke normally. "I wanted to check you were okay."
Misty scoffed, and shook her head in disbelief. "I'm fine."
It was Ash's turn to scoff. "Oh yeah, you really sound it!" he responded, sarcastically. An awkward silence fell between the pair, as frozen into place as the white snow that surrounded them. The stifled music continued to blast out, with the occasional intermittent of loud talking and laughter.
"Aren't you cold?" Ash asked, instantly noting the stupidity of his question. To Ash, it was pretty damn obvious she was cold; her skin nearly matched the colour of her cerulean dress. It was a short party dress, so her legs were exposed, and the sweetheart, strapless neckline meant her shoulders and arms were open to the cold also. When she'd first walked in the door, every male, including Ash, had been a little flustered; it was unusual to see Misty in a dress, looking so girly. She was wearing strappy, silver heels that clearly belonged to one of her sisters and her hair was down, tickling her shoulders. Ash had smiled silently to himself as he noticed she was wearing the silver water drop necklace he'd sent her for her birthday that year.
Misty muttered that she was fine, causing Ash to roll his eyes. Wordlessly, he stepped over to her, removing his suit jacket as he did so, revealing his shirt that was as white as the snow that surrounded them. She was about to refuse his offer, in her typical aggressive manner, but Ash interrupted her.
"Just shut up and take it," he snapped, as he placed the jacket on her shoulders. "You're obviously freezing, and I'm fed up of wearing a suit anyway," he said, proving his words by pulling his red tie open, leaving it to lie flimsily at either side of his buttons.
"Thank you," Misty murmured, pulling her arms into the sleeves of his jacket. She found herself reluctantly loving that it smelt of him. "You've never moaned about wearing a suit to these parties before."
"Have you tried arguing with my mom?" Ash said, indignantly. "We've been throwing these Christmas parties for every year since I can remember. I gave up trying to get out of wearing a suit when I was like, seven."
Misty chuckled lightly, imagining the scene. Moments later, silence fell again between the pair. Misty tore her gaze from Ash and returned it to the darkness. Ash continued to watch her and, noticing the sadness in her eyes, he felt his heart drop.
"I'm glad you came, you know? Despite what happened…" he tried, tentatively. Ash still found her erratic temperament hard to predict.
She tried her best not to look at him. Every time Misty saw him after she left the group, she swore he got more handsome and charming each time. All those little quirks that used to anger her into oblivion she now realised she secretly loved, and probably did back then too. She found it hard to stay mad at him now, especially as their time together was sparse and precious. Their arguments were now usually just play fights; they'd be smirking at each other the entire time, a cheeky glint reflected in both their eyes.
"I miss you," was all she said, barely above a whisper. Ash sighed.
"But you're not happy you came?"
Despite herself, she turned to look at him, locking her cerulean to his brown.
"I didn't say that; I'm always happy to see you," she admitted. "You're my best friend. But… If I could remove certain things from tonight then I would."
Ash nodded for a second, digesting her words. "But why are so-" then it clicked. "Ohhhh!"
Misty raised her eyebrows at him, "What?"
"Misty," Ash began cautiously. "Was… Was that your first kiss?"
Her cheeks and nose were already dusted a faint red from the cold, but now she was positively scarlet. "I'm not answering that!"
"Is that a yes? Please Misty, you know my deductive skills aren't great. I just want to make things right."
"Well you can't!" Misty snapped. "It's not like you can give me my first kiss back, can you?" Her face softened slightly when she saw his distraught expression. "I don't blame you; Brock was following us around with that stupid mistletoe for most of the night, when he wasn't trying to use it on every other female for himself," she scoffed, and Ash chuckled lightly. "If we hadn't have kissed, he wouldn't have stopped. It's just… Doesn't it matter to you, that your first kiss, well, I assume it was your first kiss, was in front of all those people, it wasn't special?"
Ash paused for a moment. He looked over at the field blanketed with snow, his eyes serious, their usual boyish twinkle temporarily absent.
"It was my first, on the lips at least," he stated. Misty rolled her eyes.
"You don't have to remind me," she muttered. Thankfully for Misty, he didn't seem to hear.
"But it was special for me. Okay, the circumstances, I admit, weren't great… Gary yelling out crude comments definitely wasn't ideal. But, it was with you, and that's pretty special to me."
She stared at him, dumbfounded. "Because it was with… m-me, made it special?"
He smiled at her fondly. "Well, yeah, you're my best friend," he didn't seem to notice her smile drop. He took a deep breath, returning his gaze away from her, losing confidence to admit the next part. "You make me feel… Weird, Mist," he said, matter-of-factly then looked at her to gauge her reaction. Misty raised her eyebrows, not sure whether to laugh or to be horribly offended. "Don't look at me like that! What happened in there… It's really confused me."
"Doesn't take much!" Misty remarked.
Ash let out a cry of disagreement, causing Misty to giggle and flash a radiant smile at him.
"Seriously though," Misty said. "What has made you so confused?"
"Well, various girls have kissed me on the cheek," Ash began. Misty scoffed, once again muttering she didn't need a reminder. "To be honest, I didn't get what all the fuss was about. Brock was obsessed with girls and getting kisses…"
"And probably a lot more if he could," Misty mumbled, causing Ash to smirk momentarily.
"Anyway," he said. "I just… I didn't feel anything, apart from a bit of dampness on my cheek."
"And what does this have to do with me?" Misty asked, folding her arms, for both added warmth and because her defensive nature was setting in.
His gaze wasn't on her again. "With you, it was different."
Her heart stopped. She mentally kicked herself for allowing herself to get her hopes up. Taking her astonished silence as a cue to continue, he did.
"My heart started beating really fast, my stomach flipped, my hands went all clammy… I don't what this is but… I think I like it."
Misty was speechless. Ash had matured a lot in the four years she'd known him, but it hadn't struck her until that moment. His interpretation of love was still very immature, but the sheer fact he'd had the courage to admit he felt the way he did to her, so effortlessly, made Misty feel incredibly proud and humbled; she'd spent nearly half a decade feeling the same way, and she knew what it was, and didn't have the bravery to tell him.
"If you don't hate me, can you do me a favour?" Ash murmured.
"W-what?" Misty stammered, still a little shell-shocked from his confession.
"Kiss my cheek. Maybe I felt what I did just because it was on the lips, I don't know, I just…" he paused, exhaling in frustration. "I need to understand what I feel."
Misty felt like her throat was closing in, her heart skipped a beat. She nodded timidly, murmuring an agreement. She took a deep breath, hoping to inhale some bravery.
"Close your eyes," Misty instructed, her voice shaky. Ash assumed it was because she was cold.
His eyes fluttered shut obediently, and she stepped forward. She placed her hand on his shoulder tentatively for support and she stood on her tip-toes to reach his cheek. He felt her warm breath against his cheek and heard her uneven breathing echoing in his ear. After a few seconds, Misty slowly gravitated toward him, and placed a loving, delicate kiss on his left cheek. She leaned back, and was surprised when her back met his hand. Her face was inches from his, and both their breathing was laboured. Ash had felt sparks coarse through his veins at her touch, and his hand had reached out without thought to stop her from leaving the close proximity to him. She felt his eyes burning into her, and suddenly she was numb to the cold around her. Bravely, she looked up to meet his eyes, which were drowning with desperate immaturity. He was terrified and exhilarated at the same time. He'd never felt so confused and so sure of something at the same time. He gulped, not removing his eyes from hers, his heart pounding with anticipation. Misty was like a deerling in the headlights; unable to move, or even think. Suddenly, Ash lurched forward and his lips met hers in a frantic plea to explain to her what he could not phrase. Misty squeaked in surprise and before she could melt into the kiss it was over. Ash had pulled back, taking her surprise for disgust.
He dropped his hands from the small of her back, and suddenly she felt very cold and hollow.
"I'm so sorry," Ash cried, talking at a rapid pace. "I'm so, so sorry. I'll leave you alone now, forever, you'll never have to see me again," he began to walk toward the porch door, but his rant stopped when he felt a tug on his arm.
"Ash," Misty said firmly. He froze, and she stepped toward him, placing her hands on his cheeks. Her hands were red raw from the cold, but the shiver Ash felt at her touch was not because of the chill.
She stared at him with meaning, wordlessly conveying every feeling she'd ever held for him. In that moment, he knew she felt the same way he did. He wanted her close, and the fact he finally understood that she felt the same way about him made him feel completely giddy inside. She smiled shyly at him and he reflected her grin.
"So, I guess this makes us, uh, you know, two people who are bonded by uh, stuff and uh…"
Misty chuckled at his ramblings. "Ash, are you trying to ask me to be your girlfriend?"
Ash rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "Yeah, I suppose I am. You know, if that's what you want…"
Misty leaned forward, and for a second, Ash thought she was going to kiss him. She paused right before his lips and whispered against them.
"I thought you'd never ask."
Suddenly, Ash felt his head become damp in spots. He reluctantly tore his gaze from Misty and looked up to see tiny snowflakes were beginning to fall from the sky. The change in weather came moments after Ash and Misty's relationship had changed forever. Ash grinned, watching the little flakes glide down from the pitch black sky. Misty reflected him, giggling as one landed on her nose. The new couple looked back at each other, grinning. Ash ran a hand through Misty's auburn hair, which held specs of white from snowflakes.
"I know I suck at all that mushy stuff," Ash said, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "But it just started to snow and that song you really like just started playing inside. This is kinda romantic right? Decent for a proper first kiss?"
Misty smiled lovingly, caressing his cheek. "It's perfect."
Their lips met for the third time that night, and Ash found more confidence within him every time. As he held Misty in his arms, smiling into the kiss, he thought that, maybe, just maybe, that mushy stuff wasn't so bad after all.
A/N: If any of you have read D&D you may remember I vaguely mentioned that Brock was the one who got Ash and Misty together and that he did it using mistletoe. So, I decided that I'd write a one-shot relating to that. I hope you enjoyed it, whether you've read D&D or not :)