Summary: After Leaf and Gary break up, Leaf moves on, but soon finds herself wishing that she had Gary back. When the opportunity to get him back through a talent show presents itself to her, will she take it? Songfic. One-shot. Leafgreenshipping/Oldrivalshipping.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or any of the characters associated with it, nor do I own the song 'That's The Way I Loved You.' That song is Taylor Swift's.
7/22/13: Read this at your own risk, because this was my first story on this site approximately three quarters of a year ago, and it sucks. XD I am a completely different person and writer now than I was when I wrote this.
That's The Way I Loved You
*A few months ago*
"Get out!" a brunette with forest green eyes screamed, tears pouring down her face. She threw the nearest thing she could find – which just happened to be an expensive vase – at the spiky, auburn haired boy across the room.
He ducked at the last second and the vase crashed into the wall behind him, shattering into a million pieces. He looked up at the girl, his brown eyes widened in surprise and anger. "You're fucking insane!" he yelled. "You just threw a vase at my head!"
"And I'll throw another one at you if you don't leave!" she retorted, trembling where she stood.
He glared at her and scoffed, "Fine, I didn't want to stay here with a loser like you anyways." As he stormed over to the door, snatching up his jacket as he passed it, she stared at him with undisguised hatred and fear.
He reached the door and grabbed the handle, wrenching it open – but paused before leaving. "We're through," he growled at the girl before stepping outside and slamming the door shut behind him.
Once he was gone she fell to her knees, sobbing and shaking in the silence that filled the room.
*Present day*
"Hey Leaf, do you want to come shopping with me later?" A bluenette with sapphire eyes asked the brunette lying on the couch as she entered the room.
The brunette looked up at her, her forest green eyes glistening with happiness. "Sorry, I can't Dawn, I have a date with Matt tonight!" she chirped, hopping up off of the sofa. "In fact, I need to go get ready right now!"
The bluenette, named Dawn, shrugged. "Oh well. Misty, do you want to come with me?" she called out to the red-haired girl in the kitchen.
"Nope!" came the reply.
"I'll come with you though, Dawn!" another brunette – this one with bright blue eyes – said, popping her head into the room.
Dawn grinned. "Well then let's get going right now, May!" she exclaimed, hooking her arm with the brunette's and dragging her towards the front door. She jerked it open just as the doorbell rang, and the two girls were met face-to-face with a tall, blonde haired boy with dark blue eyes standing outside.
"Oh, hi Matt," Dawn cheerfully greeted her friend Leaf's boyfriend. "Leaf will be right down in a minute. In the meantime, let's go May!" and with that she hauled her friend off to her car and they got in and left.
A few minutes later Leaf appeared at the door, and greeted the boy with a smile. "Hi Matt," she said as she stepped outside, closing the door behind her.
"Hey Leaf," he replied, smiling charmingly down at her. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes," she giggled as he linked his hand with hers, "Let's go."
He is sensible, and so incredible,
And all my single friends are jealous.
He says everything I need to hear and it's like,
I couldn't ask for anything better.
They walked down the driveway to where his car was parked, hand-in-hand, and before she could do anything, he reached out and opened the car door of the passenger seat for her.
She blushed and smiled before getting in; he shut the door behind her. He walked over to the driver's side and got in, strapping on his seatbelt before looking over at her.
"You look beautiful tonight," he commented, a light pink tint on his checks as he spoke.
"Thank you," she blushed furiously as he started up the car, and then they set off.
He opens up my door, and I get into his car,
And he says, "You look beautiful tonight."
And I feel perfectly fine.
They drove down the road, headed towards the restaurant they were going out to eat at, and Leaf looked out the window, daydreaming.
They passed through a neighborhood of houses, and Leaf quickly recognized where they were with a sick feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. As they passed one house in particular, the brunette thought she saw the outline of a person with spiky hair through the window, but quickly dismissed the thought, adverting her gaze from the window.
Yet painful memories still forced their way back into her head, and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly, trying to block them out.
*Flashback*
"I'm out of here," she snarled, stomping out of house and marching across the lawn. Rain poured down from the sky, plastering her hair and clothes to her skin, to which she paid no heed.
"Leaf, wait," a voice called out to her, but she ignored it, furiously wiping the tears out of her eyes. It was late at night, 2am to be exact, and they had just fought again.
Leaf got half-way across the street before a hand gripped her wrist, and she spun around. "Let go of me, Gary," she snapped, glaring at the spiky haired brunet before her, whose hair was weighed down from the rain and flopping across his brown eyes.
"No," he stubbornly replied, grabbing her other wrist. "You're being stupid. Get back inside before you catch a cold."
Her green eyes hardened, and she tore her wrists out of his grip. "No, leave me alone," she hissed, turning on her heel and heading towards her car parked on the other side of the street.
She only got a few steps before he grabbed her shoulders, spinning her around and crashing his lips into hers. She tried to fight the urge to give in to the kiss, but ultimately failed and melted into it.
When they pulled away, green eyes met brown, and she guilty looked up at him. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
His eyes softened, and he drew her into a hug. "I know," he murmured above the sound of the pouring rain.
But I miss screamin' and fightin'
And kissin' in the rain,
And it's two a.m. and I'm cursin' your name.
You're so in love that you act insane,
And that's the way I loved you.
Breakin' down and comin' undone,
It's a roller-coaster kinda rush,
And I never knew I could feel that much,
And that's the way I loved you.
*Present time*
Leaf and Matt sat across the table from each other, horsing around as they ate their dinners. She couldn't stop laughing at his jokes, unable to take a sip of her drink because she knew she would just spit it out a second later, cracking up.
After ordering and eating dessert Matt paid the bill and they left, but the entire ride home Leaf kept getting distracted by thoughts about him.
"I'll call you tomorrow night at six, okay?" he told her as he walked her up to the door of her house. She nodded, only half hearing him as she headed inside.
He respects my space, and never makes me wait,
And he calls exactly when he says he will.
He's close to my mother,
Talks business with my father.
He's charming and endearing, and I'm comfortable.
"So, Leaf, what are you going to do in the talent show?" Misty - a skinny, redheaded girl with green eyes that was also Leaf's best friend - asked her the next morning as they ate breakfast.
"Yeah, it's this Friday you know," May piped up from where she sat next to Dawn at the counter – who was half asleep.
Leaf bit her lip thoughtfully. "Well, I've already decided that I'm going to sing, but I don't know what song," she finally confessed as she took her seat next to Misty and dug into her breakfast.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find something," Dawn mumbled, trying not to nod off and let her head fall into the bowl of cereal in front of her.
"I wonder…" Leaf mused as her eyes wandered to the photo album lying in the corner.
That night Leaf sat curled up on her bed, the photo album in her lap. It was coated in a thin layer of dust; Leaf hadn't touched it in months.
Well, not until today, that is.
She stared at it for a long time, before finally – with shaking fingers – hesitantly opened the front cover. Just seeing one picture of her with him was enough to make her throat constrict and tears gather in the corners of her eyes.
She slowly looked through the pages full of pictures of them together, each one like a stab to her heart. By the time she reached the end of the album tears were cascading down her face, and she keep her hand firmly clasp over her mouth to stifle her sobs so her friends wouldn't hear her.
All of the time they spent together… all of the fights… all of it gone just because of one thrown vase.
As Leaf fell asleep that night, hugging the album against her chest, she decided she knew what song she was going to sing.
But I miss screamin' and fightin'
And kissin' in the rain,
And it's two a.m. and I'm cursin' your name.
You're so in love that you act insane,
And that's the way I loved you.
Breakin' down and comin' undone,
It's a roller-coaster kinda rush,
And I never knew I could feel that much,
And that's the way I loved you.
*Friday, at the talent show*
"…And lastly, we have Leaf Green, who is going to be singing a song for us!" the host announced, and the crowd of students gathered in the auditorium cheered.
Leaf took a deep breath before walking out from behind the curtains; she approached the microphone awaiting her in the center of the stage, smiling at the audience as she grabbed it off the stand.
"Hi, I'm Leaf Green – as you already know," she introduced, her eyes scanning the crowd. She could see her three friends – Misty, May, and Dawn – in the front row, cheering her on with big grins plastered to their faces, and Matt, her boyfriend, and few rows behind them.
However, she didn't see the one person she was looking for.
Her heart fell; her song would go to waste if he wasn't here to hear it. But just as she was about to announce the name of the song, she saw the auditorium doors open and a figure slip inside. Even though the lights above the crowd were dimmed, she could make out the spiky hair on top of the figure's head, and her heart leaped into her throat.
'This is it,' she thought to herself as she said into the microphone, "I'll be singing a song called 'That's The Way I Loved You'. I hope you enjoy it."
The music started, and Leaf nervously tightened her grip on the microphone as she waited for the intro to be over, and for her part to sing to start.
Everything rested on this one song – she had to sing it perfectly. She had to sing it for him.
After what felt like an eternity, the part where she was supposed to sing neared, and she drew in a breath, opening her mouth to sing:
He can't see the smile I'm fakin'
And my heart's not breakin'
'Cause I'm not feelin' anything at all.
Her eyes flitted to Matt, who was listening to the song, looking like he enjoyed it. She wondered if he thought the song was for him, but little did he know that the song was actually for someone else.
And you were wild and crazy,
Just so frustrating, intoxicating, complicated.
Got away by some mistake and now...
She thought she saw him tense up as she sang that part, freezing where he was leaning against the wall in the back. She poured all of her heart into her words as she sang, fighting back the tears that threatened to surface.
I miss screamin' and fightin'
And kissin' in the rain.
It's two a.m. and I'm cursin' your name.
I'm so in love that I acted insane,
And that's the way I loved you.
As she finished that verse, she saw him get up and walk away, disappearing out of her line of sight.
She wanted to cry out and call him back, scream, "No! Wait!" but she had to remember that she was still in the middle of the song and the talent show, and that she had to finish singing.
Breakin' down and comin' undone,
It's a roller-coaster kinda rush,
And I never knew I could feel that much,
And that's the way I loved you.
And that's the way I loved you.
I never knew I could feel that much,
And that's the way I loved you…
As soon as she finished the crowd burst into applause, cheering and calling out, "Encore! Encore!" but Leaf ignored them, sticking the microphone back on the stand before rushing backstage.
She needed to find him, to tell him-!
"Looking for someone?"
Leaf froze, her eyes widening. She knew that voice; she knew it all too well.
Spinning around she saw him leisurely leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk tugging at his lips. His spiky, auburn hair hung in front of his brown eyes, which sparkled with amusement.
Her mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air; she didn't know what to say as he pushed himself off the wall and approached her.
"So," Gary grinned, stopping a few feet away from her, "that's the way you loved me, huh?"
"I- uh, well…" Leaf stammered, feeling her cheeks heat up.
His mouth twitched and his eyes shined with laughter. Suddenly, he closed the distance between them, cupping Leaf's chin with his hand. "Now I should probably tell you how I loved you, right?" he whispered, looking straight into her forest green eyes.
Leaf gulped, blushing vividly, but didn't reply and so Gary's smirk grew wider. "This is how," he breathed before locking lips with her.
She gasped against his lips, not knowing what to do. She had a boyfriend – she shouldn't be kissing Gary, but it was so tempting to just give in to his caresses… But wasn't this is what she wanted, to have Gary back?
'Yes, it is,' she thought, smiling and relaxing as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing her up against his chest. She slung her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, passionately returning his kisses.
She felt him smile against her lips, and let him deepen the kiss when he asked. After a long while they pulled back, refusing to relinquish the other from their grip.
"I missed us; all of the time we spend together, all of our fights…" Leaf whispered, staring up into his soft, brown eyes.
He smirked and chuckled, "I did too," before capturing her lips once more.
7/22/13: If you managed to read through all that, then I congratulate you. Why? Because I just reread this story and I am like, horrified and completely embarrassed. This was my first story, and I seriously feel like this is really terrible and I really want to delete it. But I won't, because it's good to compare my writings skills then to how they are now (which I hope are a lot better XD). Read the A/N at your own risk. (I hope I didn't sound like a know-it-all or rude or ignorant when I first joined this site. I swear I'm nothing like that. Don't hate meee ;A; )
*PLEASE READ*
A/N: Okay, so I have a few things to say about this story.
The first thing is that this is my first story posted on fanfiction, and so I'm not sure if the rating should be K+ or T. Right now I have it rated T just in case, but if you think it should be otherwise, please tell me in the reviews.
Next off, I just wanted to say that the official shipping name for GaryxLeaf is, in fact, Leafgreenshipping – although it is commonly referred to as Oldrivalshipping. Oldrivalshipping is BluexGreen, Gary and Leaf's manga counterparts – while Conflictingshipping is LeafxBlue, their game counterparts.
I personally don't care what the shippings between Gary/Leaf/Blue/Green are called, but I know that some people are very strict about them, and so I just wanted to explain this to everyone.
I accept constructive criticism, but will strike down or ignore flamers/haters if they criticize me or my writing. (7/22/13: I sound so mean. XD Wow can I delete this A/N? Like, seriously?)
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and review/follow/favorite this if you want. :)
I will be sure to post more stories and one-shots in the near future, so watch out for them!
Edit 10/12/12: I found a few mistakes while rereading this and fixed them.