Disclaimer: Image is not mine. It's from pixiv ( member_ ?mode=manga&illust_id=44748411). The characters aren't mine either.
Gold loved socializing. It was something that he was good at. Compared to his two companions that also represented the Johto region's PokeDex holders, he was someone who loved talking and interacting with many people. He loved getting to know people, especially if they were women. He loved knowing about new things, especially if they were about new Pokemon, because it helps his Breeding skills. He loved how they praised him, for being one of the people who defeated the Mask of Ice, as well as helping to defeat Archie in the Battle Frontier.
Today was different though. He hated being here right now, in this stupid gathering party, which is held in Platinum's mansion in Sinnoh. He hated how everyone looked so happy. He hated how everyone talked and laughed with each other. He hated the food, no matter how delicious it was. He hated the noise. He even distanced himself from the crowd, preferring to stay near the walls, being hidden from sight, just to avoid being spoken to. He just wanted to get out, go to Goldenrod, and just play pool all night long.
If it wasn't for Ms. Blue's coaxing, he would have already done that. If it wasn't for her, he wouldn't even have come to this stupid party.
How could he refuse the very precious Ms. Blue? He cannot. She is one of the most beautiful women he had ever met in his entire life. He loved her brown hair that reaches to her waist, as well as her magnificent blue eyes. Oh how he loved them very much. She also loved to show off her assets, something that he appreciates very much. He didn't care if he was three years younger than her; he has always preferred older women anyway.
He sighed as he let his hand run through his black, messy hair. He, himself, knew that he was just fooling himself to convince that Blue's the only reason why he's here. Oh no, it was another person.
The mere mention of Crystal's name made him come to this party.
He couldn't believe it at first when Blue called him and mentioned that Crystal's coming. That Crystal?! The woman who is practically married to her work?! She actually managed to make time for this gathering?! Are you kidding me!? That never happens! Is the world ending? Because he was sure that it was because Crystal never puts aside her work that easily.
But she did. Blue made sure that he heard it right - that Crystal really did agreed to go to the gathering, saying that she would make herself free on that day since it was pretty rare for all the Dexholders to gather in one place. He then curiously asked if Crystal asked about him, to which Blue said that she didn't.
He wanted to see her, so he agreed.
Well, he sees her now. They are not talking to each other, however.
Gold leaned on the wall and looked at Crystal who was on the other side of the room, talking with Prissy Boy (Ruby), the Rich Girl (Platinum), and that Businesswoman (White). They were probably talking about something related to their work, or something about their respective regions.
He knows that she noticed that he was here. Their eyes had met with each other more than once. She was just ignoring him, but who could blame her?
After that break up, there was no way to go back to the way they were before their relationship.
Gold always thought that they were never meant to be together, what with their personalities being opposites and all. He was surprised that they are even friends with each other. They were always clashing with each other to the point that they must be separated by their friends just to have some peace.
But you know what? They still ended up together at some point.
He didn't know how the hell did that happened. One second ago, they were arguing, and the next second, they were confessing to each other. But… it was fun, you know? Their relationship, that is. He made her feel special, gave her everything that he could, to prove to her that he was, indeed, serious about his love to her. That he was truly in love with the girl. Crystal even gave up her work at times, just to give time to be with him. Gold knew how hard that sacrifice was that for her. Crystal loved working, and for her to just give up what she liked? That was something that he couldn't take for granted.
The thing is that, he was an idiot.
He never realized how important that sacrifice was. He never realized how Crystal, no matter how much she wanted to just lock herself up in the laboratory and work until the sun sets, was doing her best to have a healthy relationship with him. That she would give up what she loved doing, just to be with him, even though she would probably be more productive if she did her work. So her time ended up being wasted when they start to argue, and now that he thinks about it, the things they argued were pretty pointless.
As time passed, Crystal's workaholic attitude came back and was getting into him, while Gold's ignorance and prideful attitude was making her irritated at him.
No wonder they ended it.
It was for the best. They couldn't continue something like that. They knew that it was hurting them both, and they both knew that the other didn't deserve that kind of treatment from them. Crystal also mentioned something about her being "mistaken about her feelings", but he couldn't remember it. He wasn't listening. It was probably from the shock of being dumped.
He loved her, but he was too stupid. Even now, he's still stupid.
Because he still loves her.
Crystal finally sat down as she took a sip from her drink, and Gold decided to do what he wanted to do ever since he arrived at this stinking gathering of theirs.
He decided to approach her.
"Hey"
Crystal looked up at him with those innocent sky blue eyes. He prepared himself for a slap or some harsh words from her mouth, but they never came. Instead, she smiled at him and moved to the side of the couch, giving him space to sit beside her.
"Hi"
God, he was so tempted to kiss her right now. Or maybe just touching her hand would be good enough.
"How's work?" He asked, his voice loud enough only for her to hear.
Crystal shrugged as she stared at the table in front of her, "Fine… I guess? I've been pretty busy with my job lately", she took another sip from her drink and chuckled before continuing, "A lot of stuff from Kalos are being sent to the professor's lab."
"Hmm…" Both of them sat awkwardly, never looking at each other while talking. He felt some of the people looking at them, but ignored them.
It has been 4 months since they last talked with each other, and the last conversation they had was when they decided to break up. He didn't know how they did it, but they managed to avoid each other during that time. Gold doesn't know what Crystal thinks about that, but he sure did know how painful those days were.
He gathered up some courage to look at her, only to notice that she was looking elsewhere with a smile at her face. His eyes followed her gaze until it landed on a certain redhead, currently talking with his "sister", as he prefers to call her. The redhead stopped for a while to take a glance at Crystal, who waved at him, to which he returned it with a smile and then returned to his conversation.
Oh.
So it was true after all. Gold didn't believe it at first. Red mentioned something about Crystal being glowing, while Green mentioned that Silver was frequenting the lab these days, offering his hand to help out the professor. He never believed that those two things had a connection because he knows that those two had never really interacted that much with each other. Until now, that is.
He had asked Green if Silver started coming after he and Crystal broke up, but Green said that Silver was doing it for almost a year now, but the visits did became more frequent after they broke up.
He sighed quietly.
"Are you happy?"
Crystal turned her head at him, her eyes widening at his words. He didn't even realize that he said it. It just… came out of his mouth all of a sudden. He looked at her, his amber eyes meeting with her light blue orbs. He looked at her, just to see – or hope – that maybe, just maybe, there was still some affection or love that is left for him. That everything was a dream, that everything was a mistake, that the girl didn't harbor any feelings towards his best friend.
Crystal's eyes softened, realizing what he was referring to, and he noticed that it was filled with guilt more than sadness, but she still managed to smile at him and nod.
"….Yes."
It wasn't the answer he wanted, but it was enough for him.
He stood up suddenly from their seat, surprising Crystal, and stretched loudly. Then he began to laugh, which made other people look at him, but he didn't care. He felt free all of a sudden. As if every negative emotion inside him were gone in an instant.
"Good! That means that I don't have to worry about anything at all!" He grinned as he reached his hand to her.
"Friends?"
Crystal looked at his hand for a second before taking it, and nodded.
"Friends."
"Hey Silver! Take good care of her for me, alright?!" He shouted towards the redhead who started to blush madly, trying to hide behind his red, shoulder length hair. The same was happening to Crystal too but she managed to laugh at Gold's actions. Gold then handed her hand to his best friend and patted Silver's back. Silver looked at him, guilt clouding his gray eyes, but Gold managed to mouth an "It's alright" and grinned at him.
The moment that he let go of Crystal's hand as he gave it to his best friend, he knew that there was no turning back. That he had finally accepted their past and was now ready to move on. It was alright now. She was happy, Silver was happy, and he was happy that they are both happy. He smiled at the sight of the two. It still hurt, but it didn't hurt as much as it did before. Sooner or later, he would probably make this a joke that he would tell to everyone.
Yeah. He was fine now.