It feels uncomfortable to a third wheel.

The first thing everyone sees is the visor-capped girl with Princess Leia buns skipping down the sidewalk. She's clutching a boy's arm, a boy with dark navy hair who shuffles his feet, his face looking like a thunderstorm.

Everyone automatically assumes they're a young couple, happy in love…and then they see the mop-haired boy whose red visor is barely visible against his long hair. He is not smiling, and he walks as though something's weighing on his shoulders. He's trailing the visor-capped girl and the boy with the navy hair. Everyone knows that he's the third wheel, tagging along, not wanting to be left behind.

That's half of it.

The tagalong did not want to go originally for two reasons.

One: the boy thought it was supposed to be a date between the girl—Rosa—and the boy—Hugh. Rosa called him in the morning, asking him to go to the movies with her. She said it was going to be a 'group of friends'. But when he arrived, he just saw Hugh and Rosa, and Hugh looked thoroughly pissed off. The boy was fairly certain that it was supposed to be a date between Hugh and Rosa, and he had just ruined it.

Two: the boy has been antisocial ever since his cousin—and idol—disappeared. His cousin had been fairly close with the boy, and when he started his Pokemon journey at age 16, he failed to make any visits to the mop-haired boy. His cousin called frequently and sent letters, but then they stopped. In the last letter, the cousin had said a girl asked him to tag along with her to defeat the King of Team Plasma. Well, the king had been overthrown, but the mop-haired boy's cousin did not call. The cousin did not write letters. He simply disappeared. And the boy was crushed that his idol had left him, and fell into depression.

The cousin was named Hilbert Touya Black. The mop-haired boy is named Nate Kyouhei Black.

Nate wonders if his mom asked Rosa to take him to the movies with them. After all, Rosa and Hugh had been getting closer—Nate had noticed that. Another reason why he became depressed.

Nate had a massive crush on Rosa. Ever since she decided to be Battle Partners with Nate, he'd started to develop feelings for her. She had slowly worked her way into becoming Nate's other best friend—Hugh was his first. Nate didn't let a lot of people get in his life, for fear they'd leave him just like Hilbert had left him.

He'd tried—and failed—on telling Rosa he liked her. But every time, he'd clammed up and said something completely unrelated, like asking how her Pokemon were doing.

"Fine," she'd say cheerily. "My Snivy learned a new move…" and then she'd launch into a story and Nate would be kicking himself for not confessing to her on how he felt. And unfortunately for him, he was not the only one fighting for Rosa's attention.

First there was that green-haired boy, Curtis. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy, but he noticed that when Rosa described him her cheeks got flushed, and when she called him Curtis blushed slightly. Curtis definitely seemed to have a crush on Rosa, although Nate didn't worry about him too much—Curtis was really, really busy and hardly ever called Rosa anymore.

Then there were the Striaton Restaurant brothers—Cress, Chili, and Cilan. Cilan didn't seem very interested in Rosa, but Chili and Cress were constantly flattering Rosa, flirting with her and making her blush. It made Nate sick, and after he and Rosa had finished eating he'd pulled her out of there quickly.

Colress had flirted with Rosa slightly, too, although it seemed more out of cold amusement than out of romantic interest. Still, it was rather creepy, and after he had complimented Rosa's battle style (in a freakish way), Rosa had torn down the path out of fear and disgust. Nate followed her, but not before cursing off Colress. Colress was not amused.

Finally, there was Hugh, and that was where the competition for Rosa's attention started. Hugh had gotten much closer to Rosa than Nate ever had, and it was clear that Hugh interested Rosa far more than Nate. She apparently liked how he was dedicated on getting his sister's Pokemon back, or something like that. Whatever it was, it was certainly working out in Hugh's favor, who was starting to flirt tentatively with Rosa. Lately, Nate had started to become a third wheel among the two, and it worsened his depression.

"Go hang out with your friends," Nate's mother would say. "Maybe if you get some social time with your friends, you won't be so depressed."

But that was not the solution, Nate knew, as he watched, everyday, Hugh and Rosa getting closer and closer. It just worsened his depression.

He's been depressed for quite a while when something extraordinary happens.

His mother comes in with the mail one morning. "Nate, there's a letter for you."
She drops the envelope in his lap. Nate thanks her and goes to his room, shutting the door swiftly and opening the envelope.

What he reads nearly gives him a heart attack.

I'm coming.

-H

Nate reads it over and over again. There is nothing else. No ETA, no explanation on what had happened during the two years his cousin had been gone, nothing.

"Mom!" Nate tears down the hall, clutching the letter in his hand. "Mom! Mom, you've got to read this!"

His mother looks skeptical as she takes the note and reads it, sipping her coffee. She spits it out minutes later as her eyes skim over the note, waiting for the shock to sink in. Then she looks up and places her hands on Nate's shoulders.

"Nate—if he's coming here, he doesn't want his mother to know. Do not tell anyone."
"What about Rosa and Hugh?" Nate asks. He wants to share the news with someone.

His mother nods slowly. "Just those two. Nobody else. I don't think…I don't think he wants everybody to know he's alive." Then, to Nate's surprise, she breaks down and starts crying. "Oh dear Arceus…he's alive."

"Of course," Nate says. "I never doubted he wouldn't be."

"He's alive," Nate's mother whispers. "He's alive."
Nate suddenly feels awkward. He hadn't known his mother was also grieving over Hilbert's disappearance. He feels like he should let his mother rejoice in peace, so he excuses himself to go tell the news to his friends.

Hugh gives him a strange look. "Where did he go all this time?"

Nate shrugs, taking a bite out of his sandwich. "I don't know. He didn't say. He only said he was coming back."

He's just told Hugh and Rosa that his cousin is coming back. Rosa is strangely quiet. Finally, she looks up at Nate.

"Did he say anything about a girl coming back?" she asks quietly.

Nate shakes his head. "No…"

Suddenly Rosa breaks down crying. "My friend…she said she went with a boy…and I just thought it was your cousin…"
Nate reaches under the table and grasps Rosa's hand. She doesn't let go.

"I remember seeing your cousin on television," she whispers. "My friend said she battled with him at the Battle Train Subway. She asked him to journey along with him…and then I don't know what happened, if they parted ways or not. She never wrote back, and when she was on television she wasn't with your cousin…"

Nate had not watched the news then, so he didn't know who Rosa was talking about. He has a feeling that Rosa is describing the girl who asked Hilbert to journey with her, though.

"What's her name?" he asks curiously.

"Hilda…" that's all Rosa can get out before she's overcome with sobs. Suddenly, Nate's hand is torn away from Rosa's. Hugh pulls Rosa closer to him, closer to his shoulder.

"I'm sure she's okay," Nate tries, but Rosa appears not to have heard him. She sobs on Hugh's jacket instead.

"You might want to go, Nate," Hugh suggests.

Nate leaves the table feeling a lot less happier than he had been when he first arrived.

His cousin does not show up two weeks after his letter. By then, Nate was starting to lose hope.

Was it just a prank letter? Did someone else send a letter, knowing that Nate was depressed over his cousin's disappearance? He was starting to feel foolish on believing it was an actual letter from his cousin.

He wakes up one morning to someone pounding hard on the door. It's 3:30 in the morning, and his mother's snoring, fast asleep. Quietly, Nate grabs a broom from the pantry and opens the door, fearing it to be a burglar, or some Team Plasma grunt, or a wild Pokemon.

But it's not any of the above. Instead, it's a boy, around the age of 18. His clothes are dirty and his brown eyes are wild. He looks like he could be Nate's slightly taller twin brother.

When he speaks, his voice is hoarse, as though he hasn't used it in a while. "I'm back."

Nate doesn't hesitate to rush into his cousin's arms. He starts crying and fails to wipe them away, even after he lets go. "We all thought you were dead," he whispers.

Hilbert chuckles and ruffles Nate's hair. "Just taking some time off. But I've heard there are two new heroes of Unova."
Nate looks at the ground, suddenly embarrassed. Hilbert laughs and throws his arm around his cousin. "Looks like you have a lot to tell me."

Nate's mother is quite surprised when she sees a tired and worn Hilbert sitting at her kitchen table.

"Hello, Aunt Tori*," he says hoarsely. "How are you?"
Nate's mother is too stunned to respond. Nate watches her, waiting for her reaction.

Slowly, Nate's mother steps forward. "Hilbert?" she whispers, her voice cracking.

Hilbert shrugs, a half-smile on his face. Tori smiles and gives her nephew a large hug.

"Oh my Arceus…Hilbert! We thought you were dead!" She kisses his cheek.

"I'm alive," Hilbert says tiredly. "Don't tell anyone, though."

Nate's mother nods, stepping away and wiping her eyes. "I…I think I'll go make breakfast." She bustles herself in her kitchen, getting pots and pans. While doing so, Hilbert turns to Nate, whose been watching him shyly, as though the boy in front of him was a stranger. When Hilbert gives him an easy smile, Nate's weariness of his cousin falls away.

"Why don't you tell me what you've done while I've been gone?" he asks.

And so Nate does. He tells Hilbert about Colress, Team Plasma, the Gym Leaders, the Elite Four, Iris the Champion, the Subway Station, the superstar who kept calling him, Yancy. When he mentions this, Hilbert chuckles and ruffles his hair.

"Looks like you've got a girlfriend there, mate."

"She's not my girlfriend," Nate says, and feels his face turn as red as his visor. "She's really busy, and besides, I'm not interested in her." He hesitates, wondering if he could tell his cousin about Rosa. He had not told a single human being about how he felt about Rosa, not even his mother. He'd told his Oshawott, but that's all. Now, as he looks at Hilbert, he knows the truth would come out sooner or later.

"I'm interested in a different girl," he says quietly. "Her name's Rosa White."

Hilbert goes very still at this confession. Then he nods. "Pretty name. What does she look like?"

Before Nate can respond, his mother swoops in. "Aw, Nate has a crush!"

"Mom!" Nate protests, his cheeks turning red. That was exactly why he hadn't told his mother who he liked. He turns back to his cousin, who's trying hard not to laugh.

His mother just beams at him and turns to Hilbert. "Where were you all this time?"

"Trying to find N," Hilbert says quietly, appearing to be uncomfortable with all the questions placed on him. "We were tracking him."

"N's here," Nate suddenly remembers. "He's in Unova."

Hilbert freezes. "We ran into him in Sinnoh."

"Whose we?" Nate's mother asks. "Was there someone else involved? A girl?"

Hilbert's face darkens and he pushes himself away from the table, storming into the guest bedroom. He locks the door.

"Hilbert! Hilbert, I—oh, Arceus, I mess everything up," Nate's mother moans.

Nate shakes his head. "He'll come around. It's just a topic he doesn't want to discuss right now. Let him be for a few hours."

His mother nods and turns to the gaze at the window. "Oh, look—your friends are here! Why don't you tell them the news?"

Right, because that worked out so well last time. But it's not like Nate has a choice. So he walks out, his feet dragging like chains.

As Nate expects, the conversation is not as happy as he would've preferred. Rosa falls silent and then says, "That's awesome, Nate. Really."

She doesn't say another word about it.

Hugh changes the subject, talking about how much he hates Team Plasma, and Rosa perks up, avidly discussing the topic with him, but Nate turns away, staring at his house.

The guest window faces outside, getting a full view of the street. Normally the curtains are closed, windows dark, because nobody lives there ordinarily.

But there's a pair of chocolate brown eyes staring out of the window. And once they meet Nate's eyes, the curtain snaps shut.

Hilbert does not come out of his room for the rest of the day. He shows no sign of coming out the next day. Despite his protests, Nate is shooed out of the house by his mother. "You can't just sit around waiting all day for him to come out. You said he needs his time; so give him his time."

Of course, spending time with Hugh and Rosa is not pleasurable either. Nate listens and smiles and talks like everything is alright, but it's not.

"Are you okay, Nate?" Rosa asks, concerned.

He smiles and nods. He hasn't trusted himself to speak, not since he became depressed.

It was strange. Hilbert was back, so why wasn't Nate's depression gone?

On the third day, Hilbert comes out of his room.

Nate is not there to witness it, and he did not know Hilbert came out until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"So you two must be Hugh and Rosa," Hilbert says, his voice hoarse. Nate looks up at his cousin and sees the dark circles around his eyes.

Rosa and Hugh are speechless as they stare up at the former Unova hero. Chuckling, Hilbert pulls up another seat next to Nate.

"I've heard a few things about you two," he says. "Particularly Rosa. One of the two new heroes of Unova, huh?"

Rosa looks down, bashful, and mutters something unintelligible. Hilbert smiles weakly at her, and then turns to Hugh.

"And you're Hugh, aren't you? You remind me of my friend Cheren. You both have strong battle techniques that you want to put to use, huh?"

For once in his life, Hugh does not have any words.

Hilbert nods and turns back to Rosa, whose staring intently at him. His back stiffens, and his fists clench. He looks prepared to fight. But then he relaxes slightly.

"You have pretty eyes," he finally says.

Rosa blinks. "Th…thank you?"

"I've only seen one other person with the same ocean-blue color." He stands up, and the chair makes a screeching noise on the pavement. "It was nice meeting you two." He tips his hat in farewell and runs back inside Nate's house.

When he's gone, Hugh is free to speak. "There's something messed up about your cousin."

Nate shrugs, his eyes trailing his cousin. "He's been through a rough time, cut him some slack."

"No, but seriously. 'You have pretty eyes?' What kind of comment is that?"
"A true one," Rosa says quietly. "My…my missing friend…she has the same eye color as me."

And then she starts crying. Again.

She cries a lot, Nate reflects, when it comes to her missing friend. As he watches Rosa's tears splash on the pavement, he wonders if Rosa was as close to her missing friend as Nate was to Hilbert. Maybe they had been feeling the same way for months. Difference being, at least Rosa can put on a smiling face and a cheery tone in her voice, while Nate cannot.

"I need to talk to you."

Nate can tell from the raspy tone that it's Hilbert. He follows Hilbert in the guest bedroom and watches at Hilbert shuts the door and makes sure the window is closed before turning to Nate.

"I freaked out your friends, didn't I? Especially Rosa."

Nate does not respond, but that's a good enough answer for Hilbert.

Hilbert shakes his head. "I said that because Rosa is a mirror replica of the girl I traveled with. We were looking for N. And I told you, we found him in Sinnoh. We talked to him, I don't remember what we talked about—but then he offered us a choice. We could stay with him, or we could go return home. I said I was going to return home. My friend stayed with N."

"Why?" Nate asks quietly.

"If you haven't noticed, N's kind of…eccentric. I don't know how's he lived on his own for twenty or so years, but whatever the case is, he's not capable of living all by himself, completely without Pokemon. So my friend stayed with him, not out of love, but out of resourcefulness. She wanted to help him…grow up, that's the word."

Nate nods. "That's nice…and this has to do with Rosa because…?"

"Because I screwed up. I had the chance to tell my friend, the girl I was traveling with, that I liked her. And I didn't. It was a stupid decision. I had many chances with her…and I never told her."

"That's nice, Hilbert."

"No, it's not, you know damn well it's not." He suddenly sits up, transfixing his gaze on his younger cousin. "You. You like Rosa. You've had plenty of chances to tell her that, haven't you? But you didn't, because you're quiet and shy and you always ended up saying something else instead of what you wanted to say. If you don't tell Rosa soon, you're going to end up like me."

Nate feels uneasy. "What are you talking about? You're not making much sense!"

Hilbert inhales, then exhales. "You are headed on the exact same path that me and my friend were on. And look what happened. Do you want to end up like this?" he gestures to himself. "Broken and shattered on the inside? You're a mirror replica of me, Nate. And Rosa—she's a copy of my friend. Tell her. Or you'll regret it."

As far as Nate is concerned, Hilbert is in perfect health. He does not seem depressed. He does not seem angry, or sad, or miserable.

But Nate doesn't act like any of those four categories, either. He's depressed, yes, but how long did it take for his mother to notice this? Two months? Was he really that good at faking it? A wan smile, dragging his feet out the door, tiredly forcing himself to interact—nobody suspects a thing?

He gazes out of his bedroom window and spies Rosa and Hugh talking. They're holding hands, and Rosa seems to speaking to him.

Wordlessly Nate turns around and throws a pillow against the wall. He's quite certain Rosa is telling him that she likes him. Or the other way around. Either way, he feels like he's too late.

But then Hugh runs off, and Rosa slumps in a chair, the trademark smile on her face disappearing as she puts her head in her arms. Her shoulders shake with sobs. A new side of her emerges, one that Nate has hardly ever seen in his life. He watches her cry, a small puddle forming at the bottom of her chair.

Almost as though she senses him, Rosa's head shoots up and meets his eyes through the window. She holds his gaze for a few moments, and then grabs her bag and flees down the street, a trail of tears behind in her wake.

Nate sits down on his bed and wonders how he could misinterpret people's emotions for so long.

Christmastime comes around. Nate's mother decides to have a Christmas party.

Nate sits in the back, absentmindedly petting Oshawott while keeping one eye on Rosa, the other one on Hilbert.

There are a bunch of party guests crowded around Hilbert. No surprise there. He had been missing for two years, and to show up quietly, slyly, with no big bang would make everyone go nuts. Hilbert looks quite flustered and uncomfortable with the attention.

Rosa's on the other side of the room, standing near the punch bowl. She is determinedly avoiding Hugh's eyesight, who is standing near the window and staring at the falling flakes from the sky.

Did something happen that Nate was not aware of? Of course, Nate wasn't very aware of things in the first place anyways. But still…normally Hugh and Rosa would be chatting right about now and Nate would be the guy hanging back awkwardly, trying to tell Rosa that he liked her.

Tell her. Or you'll regret it.

He can't tell her. He can't use his words to express it. No, it looks like he would have to take action.

He gets up from across the room, his heart pounding with every step he takes towards Rosa. She turns to him, a surprised look on her face. "Nate-"

He kisses her. On the lips. Without another word. He feels her body stiffen in surprise, and then relax slowly.

He breaks away, and she's gasping for air like a fish out of water. "Sorry," he whispers.

Rosa looks up at him, and for a moment he thinks she's going to slap him. Instead she kisses him.

"What is there to be sorry for?" she asks when she breaks away.

He finds out what happened yesterday.

Rosa and Hugh were determining what extent their friendship was. They'd been misinterpreting their behavior all along—Hugh thought she was flirting with him, and she thought he was flirting with her. Neither one had an exact interest in each other. Rosa was crying because the way Hugh put it made it sound…hard. Like he hated her.

She was flirting with Hugh to make Nate jealous, she said. It worked.

Nate's about to ask for more details when the doorbell rings. He excuses himself and goes to answer the door. Rosa follows him, her fingers entwined with his.

Standing in the doorway is a girl around the age of 18. She has dark, wild hair pulled in a loose ponytail. She's dressed like its summer—jean short shorts, a tank top and a vest. But she does not look cold as she stands there, in the howling wind and snow.

Her eyes are the same ocean-blue color as Rosa's. Besides Nate, he can feel Rosa gasp, her body tensing. Nate gets a sudden feeling that this is the missing girl. The one who Rosa was friends with. If he sizes them up correctly, Rosa and the girl look like twins. And he recalls what Hilbert said: Rosa's a copy of my friend.

The girl nods, tipping her hat at Nate. "Is Hilbert here?"

EDIT 6/15: okay I'm really ashamed of this story, it's stupid and I really, really hate it, I feel like I was kind of ignorant and foolish when I wrote this, I'm so sorry.

*I named Nate's mom 'Tori', as seen. As far as my knowledge extends, the mom in BW2 was not named, so I named her.