Characters: © Nintendo © Creatures, Inc. © GAME FREAK inc. © Pokémon

Warnings: Shonen-ai, Fluff

A/N: This fanfiction is dedicated to my sweet sister, who you may know as MelleCurtiss or MelleXillia. Have an awesome birthday~!


I reach out to you

He had his back turned to me and hadn't turned around once. Yet, I hoped for him to notice my presence. Everytime I tried to reach out to him or calling him, he disappeared into the snow, leaving me all alone in the darkness. I couldn't ever reach him.

I woke up and looked at the time.

"8:30"

I was late again. I hurried with getting dressed and left my apartment without eating breakfast. It was an usual morning. No one expected me to be at work early, so it was no surprise that no one was there when I arrived. Normally, I'd ditched this stupid job, but after getting scolded a lot by the mother of my best friend, I became the gym leader of our hometown.

Yeah, my best friend...

After defeating me and earning the title of champion, he left to Mt. Silver. Since then, I was only dreaming about him. What was he doing now? Was he okay? Too much time has passed since the last time I saw him. I wanted to see him; to talk to him. But even if I tried, I couldn't ever reach him. ...That was okay. I didn't need him... No, that was a lie. I always knew that I needed and missed him a lot. After all, he was my first and only love...

Looking at the paperwork I still had to do, I noticed that everything was blurry. I was crying.

Normally, Eevee would've tried to cheer me up, but after punching and shouting at it, it left me alone and never came back. Our bond wasn't as strong at it should have been. I gave the rest of my Pokémon to my grandfathers care.

Everyone was worried about me. His mom, Blue, Grandfather... they all cared about me. But why didn't he care? Why did he leave me all alone? I didn't know although I knew him very well. He wasn't the type to speak, but I still could understand him. He loved his Pokémon and friends. He was always nice and caring. Sometimes he would smile out of nowhere... Oh, what I wouldn't give to see that smile again... But that wasn't possible anymore... I had the responsibility to stay here. I wanted to go to Mt. Silver, but Blue wouldn't let me, saying it was too dangerous to go in my current state. It's not that I didn't try to accompany him. I really wanted to come with him, but he just went without me! All the things we did; that one night after we got our Pokémon... everything... did that really not matter to him at all?

That night... I fell in love with him after I saw how lovely he treated his Pikachu. Later on our journey, I confessed to him and he... he kissed me. I was so happy back then... but now...

After this one kiss, we started going out. We went on our journey to become the champ; together... Those painful memories were hunting me like a curse. And all the unanswered questions I had left. Would I ever be able to ask him all that? I didn't know, but I hoped for it.

After my tears dried down I looked up, only to find Blue staring at me.

"I... I wanted to bring you some breakfast... Are you okay?"

She was so sweet. It was really kind of her to still care about me after I was so depressed and cold to everyone.

"...It's alright."

She putted her bag on the table and walked behind me.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

She then putted her hands on my shoulders and began to massage me.

"Why don't you come over tonight? I'd love to watch a movie with you!"

"You really don't have to-"

"Nah, silly. I'm doing this because I want to! Not because of you!"

She stopped massaging me and began to chuckle. I forced a smile.

"I appreciate it, but still..."

"Come on! We haven't done anything since Red left us! You could enjoy your life once a while, you know."

I turned around, staring at her. She was trying so hard and I still couldn't bring myself to do something.

She sighed, walked over to her bag, pulling out the breakfast she made for me and handing it to me.

"Seriously, when will you get over him? It has been one year after he went to that mountain and you still act like it was yesterday. I know you're not the type to dwell on the past, so how come you're still like that?"

"Hey, it's not that easy for me. I still love him. I can't just get over it, dammit...!"

I angrily began eating the bento Blue made for me.

"Green... there is something I have to tell you..."

Receiving no answer, she continued.

"Actually... there are some rumors about Red."

I immediately stopped eating and looked at her. She was serious.

"What rumors?!"

"There was a boy here a while ago... I think his name was Gold... Well, the rumors say that he has met Red on top of the mountain two weeks ago... and..."

"...And?!"

She looked on the ground.

"T-they say that Red is returning here... after this Gold killed his Pikachu."

"What?! Are you... are you sure?!"

"That's what they said."

"No..."

Was this really true? Red's precious Pikachu was... dead? ...He was finally coming home? I didn't know if I should be happy or sad... but to be honest, I was rather scared. How would he react? What will he do? And goddammit, where the hell was he now?

"Green, don't do anything stupid. He just lost his Pokémon, so don't just storm ahead and scold him or whatever it is you want to do."

"I... I need to go..."

"Eh? But what about the trainers? They'll soon-"

"You can battle them in my place. Bye."

I left so quickly, she had no time to say something. I ran to my apartment. My heart was beating so fast. He was finally coming home...

I looked at the screen of my mobile phone for some time, before finally typing in the number of his mother.

...

"Hello?"

"Hey. It's Green."

"Oh, it's nice to hear your voice, honey. But aren't you at work?"

"Is... Red already back?"

"Oh... uhm..."

"Is he back?!"

"...Yes. He arrived three days ago."

A long pause.

"Can I come?"

"I can't stop you, can I?"

I hung up and let myself fall back into my couch, covering my face with my hands. He was at home. He was finally home. I could finally ask him all the questions I had.

Realizing I had no time to waste, I ran out of my apartment over to his house. I stopped right in front of his door, catching my breath. Then I knocked.

His lovely mother opened the door. She looked worried.

"Green, honey, he's a total mess. He didn't even cry... I don't know what to do to cheer him up. Please... don't be to harsh on him."

"Where is he?!"

She let me in and looked up. I hurried upstairs, shaking out of excitement and fear. I didn't bother to knock at his door, so I entered the room without doing so. And there he was, sitting on his bed and looking on the ground.

"Red..."

He stared into my eyes the moment he heard me. They were full of pain, regret and fear. So he too was fearing what I would say? I seated myself next to him, never breaking the eye contact.

"You're finally home..."

He just nodded. I realized that I was smiling. How long has it been since I last smiled without forcing it? I couldn't remember.

"I'm glad you're okay."

He did nothing.

"I heard about Pikachu... I'm sorry."

He looked away, trying to hide his pain but I could see it. I hugged him without thinking. I could feel how his body tensed up.

"Pikachu wouldn't want to see you like that, right? It would want you to cheer up! I think it's watching you from up there."

Again, he nodded. He closed his eyes and hugged me back.

"Where is it? Is it buried already?"

Red's hug grew tighter.

"Lavender Town" he said.

I missed his voice so much. He was always only talking to me. Even if it were just short replies... I felt really special because of that.

"My Raticate is also buried there... Wanna go visit those two?"

He shook his head.

"Later."

He began to cry. His warm tears fell on my chest and I could hear his whimpering.

"Everything's okay, Red..."

Again, he shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Green. I'm so sorry!"

This took me by surprise. My body moved on his own. I grabbed his shoulders and kissed him. It was a light and sweet kiss, just like the first one we shared. He looked at me, blushing. I too was blushing. I pulled away.

This was what I wanted to hear since he left. A mere apologize was enough for me. Most people would call that weak, but it meant a lot to me when Red apologized. He wasn't someone to apologize at all, because he never did something bad. And I believed him. I believed that he was sorry.

Red noticed my mental absence and mistook it as doubt.

"You have to believe me. I... I didn't want to leave you, but I also wanted to become stronger. I thought Mt. Silver would be to dangerous for you..."

His look was full of sadness and regret. I could see that he was trying hard. He never talked this much at once. I let out a chuckle.

"Don't worry. This year without you was the hell and I hope you're prepared to repay your debts! But as long as you don't leave me ever again, everything will be okay."

His face lit up and he smiled a little.

"I promise!"

We decided to spent the rest of the day together. First, we needed to visit Pikachu and Raticate. Second, we needed to visit Blue, so she could see how Red was doing and third, we needed to spend some time together.

We walked to my car, hand in hand. Everything felt so great and new, even though we were holding hands since we started dating. I never realized how addicted I grew to him until he left.

His mother gave us some flowers and I started driving. We heard some music as we drove to Lavender Town. It reminded me of the old times we had. We would always listen to some music and I would sing along the lyrics. I was a happy man back then, just as happy as I was now.

Normal people wouldn't forgive someone that easily... but it was Red. Despite my anger, I still comforted him, because he lost his most precious Pokémon. And I didn't think that it was wrong. After all, he was still my best friend. And friends were there for each other.

We got there really quick. Lavender Town wasn't that far away anyways. And the new freeway they built made everything easier for us. We walked to the graves and Red took his hat off. I placed the flowers on their graves and sat down in front of the grave of Pikachu. Red did the same and took my hand in his.

"Hey, Red. How exactly did this happen? I mean, Pikachu and you... you two shared the strongest bond... How could someone defeat you?"

Uneasiness was shown in Red's face. I stroked his head with my free hand.

"Sorry. You don't have to tell me."

"...Thanks."

We cuddled a bit and I talked mostly about me, because I knew Red didn't want to talk. He finally wasn't tense anymore.

The next thing on our list was visiting Blue, who was still doing my job. We entered the Gym and walked straight to my office. Sitting on my chair with the face to the wall, she noticed us.

"Green! You shouldn't just leave like that. Those rumors probably aren't true anyways! I mean, who could defeat him and his Pikachu, after all they've been through?-"

She finally turned around, seeing who she was talking to.

"Oh... Red..."

Red only hid behind me. I could feel how sad he was. He still must have blamed himself for what happened to Pikachu.

"The rumors were true, Blue." I said.

She looked surprised and was regretting what she just said.

"Oh, Red, I'm so sorry for you! I didn't want to say that..."

Red nodded and Blue looked relieved.

"Now you two, come over here and sit down. I'll make some tea!"

We walked to my desk and sat down.

"Hey, isn't there any coffee left? Red and I don't like tea that much."

"Oh yes, I'll make you some coffee then. How much sugar?"

"Red's with two sugar cubes and I want it black."

"Coming!"

Red stared at me.

"Mhm? What is it?"

He looked down, blushing.

"Y-you still know that stuff..."

I only laughed.

"It has been a year, not ten."

"But still..."

He leaned closer to me, giving me a tender kiss.

"I missed you, Green..." he said while blushing really mad. He was so cute!

"I missed you, too-"

"Stop acting all lovey-dovey when I'm here!"

Blue putted the two coffees on the table and sat down beside me.

"How about: Stop being here while we're acting all lovey-dovey!"

We laughed and I could finally hear Red chuckling again.

"Red, seriously, don't ever leave this guy! With you, he's laughing again! You don't know how many times I tried to make him laugh!"

Red nodded and smiled.

"I promised that already. I will never leave him again!"

We left the Gym around 8o'clock and it was already getting dark outside.

"Hey, wanna go to my apartment?"

Red looked surprised, but nodded.

We walked the short way there and soon arrived.

Red looked around. I could see the sparkle in his eyes.

"Green... this room totally matches your personality."

"Hahaha, what do you mean by that?"

"Messy but still clean. Really warm and comfortable, unlike my house."

I was leading him to the couch.

"I don't know about that. Just make yourself at home. I'll make some dinner."

"Nooo."

"What? Why?"

"You're terrible at cooking."

"I was terrible, but I got better. With you left, I had to cook on my own, y'know?"

He nodded. I walked to my kitchen and started to melt some chocolate. Red had a sweet tooth so I wanted to make something special. I was planning to do banana cream with hot chocolate on top. I cut the banana, put it in the mixer and added some water, sugar and some chocolate drops. It was almost finished. I simply put the cream on the dishes and added the hot chocolate sauce. It wasn't really cooking, but he didn't really need to know that.

"Here." I said, not ignoring the awestruck face Red made.

"Y-you did this?"

"It's hard to believe, right? But yes, I did this just for you~!"

He smiled and nodded. It was his way of saying thanks and I loved it. We began eating and Red really seemed to enjoy it. At some point Red leaned closer to me, for a rough and needy kiss. We were fighting with our tongues. Red tasted so good, so sweet, so... Red. I needed more of him and slit my hand under his shirt. He then broke our kiss, needing some air to breathe.

"We should stop at this point" he said. I couldn't refuse to that, could I?

"Alright."

I took him into my arms and put a blanket over us.

"I love you, Red. I love you so much."

He blushed really mad and buried his head in my chest. I think he was waiting for me to say this all the time.

"...Love you, too."

We were like that, until both of us fell asleep.

He was standing there, having his back turned to me. The snow storm calmed down and birds could be heard. I walked closer and called out to him. Suddenly he turned around, smiling at me. I took his hand and the snow turned into grass and lakes. Life was born. A new and bright future was awaiting us... I could finally reach him.