Misty burst out laughing suddenly, gaining funny looks from Ash and Brock. Yet, she didn't care at that moment. She'd figured it out. It was silly when she thought about it. Why had she been so caught up on it? It was so silly! The answer was simple.

Boy were boys and girls were girls.

It was that obvious.

The issue Misty had been having for the past few days didn't seem so bad anymore.

The truth is, Misty had been extremely down about something. There were lots of things going through her mind. So it was really hard to pinpoint the exact issue of what was wrong.

She, Ash and Brock had somehow (miraculously) ended up travelling together.

Yet Misty felt so incredibly hurt. Late at nights, she'd found herself crying herself to sleep because it hurt that much.

But now, half of the problem was sorted.

It had all started one day. They were travelling like always. It was going to storm later on and that made Misty feel down. She had been enjoying the sun and for it to suddenly disappear felt rather heartbreaking.

And that got her thinking. Heartbreak. How much heartbreak had she experienced over the years, from so many different people? How much disappointment had she suffered? How many times had she forced herself to stop crying and get over it? How sad had she been?

As she was thinking, Misty let out an unintentional sniff. Head ducked so that no one could see her face as she thought, she could only feel Brock and Ash's gaze turn to her as they halted their conversation.

"Are you alright Misty?" Brock asked.

"Are you crying?" Ash asked.

"No," Misty said, no looking at either of them as she raised her head, "I'm fine."

At this, both boys shrugged and turned back to their conversation about how the best way to tackle the next gym was.

And Misty felt so angry. She was upset and neither of them even bothered to question it. Wasn't it obvious how she felt?

But then she felt sad.

Brock and Ash sure were close buddies. Was she even worthwhile to Ash? Or did he just bring her along out of pity? Was there any use to her being here? They were so close. It seemed that they'd stayed in contact with each other over the years and were as close as ever.

But Misty hadn't had as much contact. And now, she didn't know where to begin to repair their damaged relationship.

She was so incredibly jealous.

Brock and Ash were too close now and she felt left out of the loop.

But then, if she mentioned it…She didn't want to be included out of pity.

Why was she even that jealous? It's not like Brock wasn't her friend. It wasn't like Ash was being taken away from her…Right?

Not that Ash was hers to begin with…

Now that she thought about it…What was Ash? What did she want?

It seemed stupid, but Misty didn't really know what she wanted. Something was nagging at her and she couldn't tell what. What did Misty want herself?

A few days later and Misty was feeling no better. A slow depressive sort of state had started to sink in and she wasn't sure why.

Was it because the sun was gone and it had been raining for the past few days?

Was it because she'd gotten no closer to her friends than before?

Was it because she didn't want to be clingy?

Was it because she couldn't tell anyone to help her figure it out?

Come to think of it…Who were Misty's friends?

She'd spent so much time in the gym that she'd lost contact with most of the previous people she'd called friends. Her closest friends were Ash and Brock. And she didn't think she could talk to them about her issues.

But with Ash and Brock. Brock wasn't an option since he'd likely tell Ash what's bothering her (She knew that Brock couldn't keep secrets from Ash about her-Especially if Ash asked about it). And Ash himself seemed to be what caused her the most pain.

Yes, pain.

It was hurting deep inside her chest because she didn't know what to do.

She didn't know how she thought of Ash to begin with. It felt so confusing and frustrating. There was a possibility she could be in love with him….But that seemed so foreign and weird and it didn't sit right with her. Still, when she thought about Ash with another girl (she at least HAD to try the jealousy test after all) she felt so hurt and sad and strangely jealous. But when she thought of a future with Ash, it seemed so alien and strange; almost laughable. She couldn't see herself doing anything romantic with him. She could maybe see herself peck him on the cheek, but that was it. She could not imagine more than that. Her mind hit a wall and reared back to go fleeing the other way.

But even if she did like him like that (which she most certainly didn't!) then what did Ash see her as? Did he even recognise her as a friend? Was she still the girl who was harping on about her bike to him? Was she only a nuisance, a pest?

It all hurt and Misty was crying again.

Up until the door to her room opened and she hurried to straighten and clean herself before facing Brock and Ash.

"Hey, Misty, are you alright? I thought I heard you crying," Brock said.

Misty nodded slightly, fearing for how her voice would sound if she tried to speak.

"Wait, you are fine? Or you are crying?" Brock asked.

"I'm fine," Misty said, glad when her voice stayed somewhat normal.

"Brock and I are going to go grab some dinner," Ash said, "Wanna come?"

Misty nodded quickly, not wanting to be left out.

"Hurry up then," Ash said, "I'm starved!"

"Like a Caterpie looking for carrot tops," Brock added.

Both boys sniggered as if they had shared some inside joke and it made Misty's heart sink more. It was something else she was left out of.

Still, she plastered a smile on her face. "Aha, yeah, funny."

Both boys gave her a strange look.

"Are you sure you're feeling ok?" Brock asked.

"You're acting kind of funny," Ash said.

"Fine," Misty snapped quickly, grabbing her bag, "Let's go."

Misty was frustrated, hurt and confused all the way to the restaurant. Couldn't they tell she was hurting? Weren't they caring enough to push it and ask more? Didn't they know people eventually caved in when that happened? Obviously they didn't care for her enough.

They were laughing and joking and talking ahead of her while Misty couldn't get a single word in. Was there any point to her coming? It wasn't like she was that hungry after all.

And that showed when she was finally picking at her food. Ash and Brock were happily munching-well, Brock was munching, Ash was more like shovelling-food into their mouths.

"Ash putting you off Misty?" Brock asked, noticing her lack of fervour while eating.

Misty shrugged, wondering if he'd ask again.

She wanted someone to care.

And then the epiphany came that made her burst out laughing and both boys to drop their forks in surprise and stare at her strangely.

Boys were boys and she was a girl. Yes, that much was obvious, but it was the concept behind it all.

How could she expect these two boys to understand what was wrong with her when she didn't tell them? She couldn't even understand it herself.

It was all so stupid. Yes, the boys were dumb and maybe couldn't pick up on social clues, but she was just as dumb for expecting them to.

That made her feel a lot better. It wasn't like they didn't care, they just couldn't understand.

That was a huge weight off her still…there was still her other issue to deal with.

A week went by and Misty still couldn't figure out what it was that she wanted. But she didn't want to tell Ash or Brock about her issue.

She didn't want to tell them that she was jealous because then they'd have to consciously include her and it wouldn't be fun anyway. She didn't want them to do things out of pity.

Still, she had to tell someone because this insane jealousy was driving her mad.

Could she trust Brock maybe? Maybe a little? Oh forget it. This was going to drive her insane if she didn't get it out of her system. Maybe she'd feel better if she went on a rant and then the whole issue would disappear.

That sounded like a good idea and Misty was sick of feeling like this.

So at-she briefly looked at the clock- 2:24am, Misty crept out of her room and softly made her way to Brock's room.

She didn't knock. Knocking would wake Brock up. Brock sleep like a log. And Ash slept like a dead tree.

She opened the door in and let her eyes adjust to the new surroundings. Their room was a lot darker than hers. That may be because she was letting the moonlight in compared to their closed curtains.

She made her way to Brock and roughly shook the older boy. After a while, he jumped awake and sat up with a sharp intake of breath.

Misty covered his mouth as he saw her and went to exclaim her name.

"Sh," Misty hissed, "I need to talk to you for a while."

So Brock went on a late night/early morning walk with Misty in the cold air while she unleashed how jealous and confused she really was. And when she finished, Brock laughed.

"What's so funny?" Misty demanded, quite upset.

She had just unleashed everything and he had just laughed.

"I'm sorry Misty," Brock said, "But how can you feel left out when you never wanted to join us?"

Misty paused.

"We kept asking you to come with, but you stayed back," Brock said.

So it was all her fault that she was feeling this way? But…They'd talked non-stop.

"But you never let me join what you were talking about," Misty protested.

"Sorry," Brock said, sheepishly scratching the back of his head, "that was me. You looked upset so I drew Ash's attention away so he wouldn't bother you."

So Brock did care?

Misty's lips quivered. All this time it had just been a misunderstanding?

"And as for how you feel about Ash," Brock said, "I can't really give you the answer."

Misty blushed in embarrassment. She'd forgotten that she'd mentioned it.

"But, think of it this way," Brock continued, "If Ash asked you out, what would you say to him?"

Misty blinked, her mind going into overdrive. What would her answer be?

"Just think about it," Brock said, heading back inside, "Now, I'm going to bed. Night Misty."

And leaving Misty quite stunned, he headed into his room, a secret smile on his face.

A few days later and Misty had the chance to test for real exactly what was going on in her mind.

Brock had given Misty a funny look before excusing himself to go grocery shopping.

This left Ash and Misty in silence.

Neither of them were looking at each other. Neither of them were making a move to say a word.

Just both staring ahead as each thought in awkward silence.

Since when was silence between them awkward? Misty didn't really remember silence being awkward between them. Usually it was peaceful. Usually she'd cherish the silent moments between them. When words weren't needed to be exchanged. just the other's company was enough.

But now…It felt like something was changing and Misty didn't know if she liked it.

Until the silence was broken by Ash.

"Hey Misty."

"Yes, Ash," she replied, almost cringing at how eager and quickly she had responded.

"We'll always be friends right?" Ash asked, fidgeting slightly.

"Of course," Misty replied.

"Um…Well, you see, there's something I've got on my mind," Ash said, shifting slightly.

"Go ahead," Misty said, remembering ow much better she felt after relieving what was on her mind to Brock.

Ash was quiet and so Misty looked over at him, surprised when she saw a blush painting his cheeks a nice shade of pinkish-red.

After a few agonising minutes of silence, Ash finally looked up at Misty.

"I like you," he said, "and I mean, like-like you. Like, more-than-a-friend like you."

Misty's eyes widened at the sudden unexpected confession from the boy she considered to be thicker than a brick.

Ash stared at her with hopeful eyes. "And so I should ask you on a date. I don't know what to do, but will you?"

So much for not being thick as a brick, she thought with a sweat-drop.

But now she had no choice but to come up with an answer of what she wanted Ash to be to her.

Best friend or boy friend?

Did she like Ash like that?

After all the times she'd been heartbroken by this boy, could she do it again? Was she really liking this boy? More than her previous puppy crushes?

She closed her eyes, to block out his pleading look. She wanted to make this decision based on how she felt. Not from pity. She was not going to lead the boy guy on to believe something that wasn't true. She wasn't going to hurt him like that. She wasn't going to give in.

And then Misty laughed. It was stupid. The answer was so obvious. Why did she even need to get hurt and confused over this?

If she was really feeling how she had been before, over the past week, then there really was no need for her to be so confused of her feelings.

Misty reached and grabbed Ash's hand. "Yes."

Ash gave her a relieved, but none less large grin.

When Brock came back from his groceries, he found Ash and Misty together. They weren't doing much. They were only smiling and talking, but their linked hands explained everything.

And Brock smirked slightly.

Matchmaking was easy when you were the trusted confidant of both parties.

Me: Hi all! I have not dropped off the face of the earth!

Ash: Aren't you supposed to be writing Forget Me Not?

Misty: DO YOU WANT HER TO?!

Ash: Well, either story both has Pokeshipping, so I guess it doesn't matter

Me: No, Ash is right. I should be. I did leave off on a rather upsetting note didn't I?

Never fear readers who read that story! I shall keep working on it! I've just had a lot on my mind lately ^_^"

Misty: So you dumped it all on me? Thanks.

Me: Well, I figured I may as well write out my frustrations and I decided to write Pokeshipping because I haven't written one of those for a while. And once I started typing, the words kept flowing

Teehee, And I love Brock being a matchmaker. All matchmakers will get along with me and you all know it ;P