Long time, no see! So between starting college, and getting a job and everything, I've virtually had no time to even breathe, let alone write... I'm on Easter break at the moment, and I got a sudden burst of energy, and voila! I give you... Chapter threeeeeee! For the record, I do not own 'Alejandro' by Lady GaGa: the song was in my head at the time of writing.
"Don't call my name, don't call my name, Nurse Joy, I'm not your babe, I'm not your babe, Officer Jenny!"
Misty was woken, not by her alarm, but by the sound of Brock singing along to the radio in the kitchen, choosing to change some of the lyrics to suit his taste. She stretched and yawned, dragging herself out of the bed and into the bathroom. Ten minutes later, she emerged, and made her way down to the kitchen, where the boys were dug into breakfast.
"Morning, Misty!" chirped Delia, from the grill.
"Morning, everyone," replied Misty, grabbing a slice of toast from Ash's plate.
"Hey!" mumbled Ash, through a mouthful of food.
Misty laughed and sat on a stool, taking a bite of toast.
"So, looking forward to another action-packed, fun day with Gary?" teased Brock, carrying his plate over to the sink.
Misty rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at her friend, while Ash laughed.
The funny thing about it was that Misty was kind of looking forward to the day. She'd been over at the Oak's every day for nearly two weeks, while the boys were off at camp, and although the first few days were initially torture, she wasn't finding it that bad. Perhaps Gary had realised that they were there for the long haul, perhaps Misty was just becoming used to his ways, but either way, the pair were able to hold an adult conversation without sniping at each other. They found it easier and quicker to sort out the never ending mess in the attic, when they weren't at each others throats.
"Oh, totally," exclaimed Misty, sarcastically, "Don't you know I live for my hours in the attic with Gary? What's on the agenda for camp today?"
"We're actually gonna be home a little later today, Mist," answered Ash, "There's a guy coming in from the Orange Islands today to talk to us about battle techniques, and we're gonna be having practice battles, so it'll probably run until after dinner. We'll be home sometime this evening."
"Sounds fun! So it's just me and you for dinner, Delia?" said Misty.
"Actually…" said Delia, turning to face the trio, "I won't be here for dinner myself. An old friend is in town for the weekend and I've been invited up to her mother's house for dinner. I planned on staying the night, but if you want, I could cancel, so you're not on your own?"
"No, no, don't be silly Delia!" exclaimed Misty, "I'll stay late at the Oak's, then come back and have some Misty-time, you go enjoy yourself!"
Misty didn't mind being on her own for dinner: growing up with her three older sisters, she spent a lot of time on her own anyways, considering they'd clear off after dinner to visit friends and boyfriends.
Ash and Brock left first, calling their goodbyes, and Misty followed them out the door ten minutes later, embarking on the short walk to the Oak mansion. She let herself in with they key she had been given, and humming to herself, walked through into one of the few living rooms. She stopped in her tracks, however, as her eyes fell upon Gary Oak, eyes closed, mouth open, lying on the couch with the TV remote in his hand. What distracted Misty from throwing a cushion at him to wake him up was the fact that Gary was topless. And boy, was she distracted. She allowed herself about ten seconds to take in the body he hid under t-shirts and hoodies most days, before snapping herself out of it, and nudging his foot with her knee.
Gary jumped, and his eyes flew open.
"What the - Misty? Huh?" he yawned, trying to make sense of his surroundings.
"Oh shoot, I must have fallen asleep watching TV last night…" he said, sitting up and stretching. Misty found herself looking at the ceiling, choosing to not look at his toned stomach.
"That was smart," she laughed, walking through the living room to drop her bag into the kitchen."
"I'm gonna head up to the attic and get started: follow me up once you've woken yourself up a bit."
Sure enough, Misty was joined by Gary in the attic about fifteen minutes later: fully clothed this time. They spent the morning making conversation and filling boxes with various items they found. Just before lunchtime, Gary found an old jewellery box, and Misty walked over to his side of the attic as he opened it.
"Man, that's a lot of jewellery!" gasped Misty, pulling a gold necklace out of the box.
"I guess it all belonged to my family through the years.." said Gary, "I don't know how it ended up in the attic though.. Hey, Mist, that necklace matches your eyes."
Misty looked at the necklace with the bluey-green stone set in the pendant, then looked at Gary.
"Who do you think you are, Casanova?" she exclaimed, bursting out laughing.
Gary's cheeks flushed red and he swore at her, turning back to the box.
"Aw Gary, I'm only playing with you! It is a gorgeous necklace though.."
"I don't think Gramps would want this jewellery shoved in a box," said Gary, "I doubt he even knows it's here! I'll leave it to the side for now."
They took a lunch break soon after, and the pair went down to the kitchen, where Misty prepared them both sandwiches.
"So, how's your boyfriend and Brock getting on in the PokéCamp?" asked Gary.
"First of all, shut your mouth, you know me and Ash are friends. Secondly, they're getting on great. Some guy from the Orange Islands is there today, so they're skipping dinner. Guess who's on her own tonight!"
"You know, you could always have dinner here?" said Gary, grabbing one of the sandwiches off the plate.
"Um, I don't think so, thanks for the offer though." replied Misty, taking a sandwich for herself.
"Why, don't you want people to know we're friends now, Misty?" smirked Gary.
"Aren't you hilarious?" scowled Misty, sticking her tongue out.
"Hey! I'm just saying, you're not as bad as you are when you're with those two losers!"
"Don't call my friends losers, loser!" said Misty, chucking the one of the sandwiches at Gary, who ducked just in time.
"I'm playin' with ya Misty," laughed Gary, "It's true though. I thought you'd be stuck-up and bossy while we were cleaning out the attic, but you're not bad company."
"I suppose you have a point," sighed Misty. "I mean, I thought you were gonna be cocky, arrogant, obnoxious, and mean… But you're not as mean as I thought."
Gary chucked a sandwich back at Misty and she laughed.
"Well, if you don't wanna come here for dinner," said Gary, "Wanna make me dinner instead? Living with Gramps when May is away usually means take out, and there's only so much junk I can eat."
"Gary Oak, did you just ask me to make you dinner?" laughed Misty.
"Yes, yes I did! Aw c'mon, I'm a growing guy, I need my nutrition and all that stuff!"
"Let me text Delia and ask if it's okay, I don't wanna impose on her house," replied Misty, taking out her phone to text her.
Ten minutes later, her phone buzzed, and Misty pressed 'read'.
'No probs Mist, hope u hav fun. Candles in drawer under sink in case u wnt 2 set mood;) D xx'
Misty shook her head and laughed as she read Delia's text, before putting her phone back in her pocket.
Gary had headed back to the attic a few minutes ago, and Misty shouted up the stairs to him.
"Hey Gary, we're on for dinner!"
Misty was impressed. Gary wasn't due to arrive for another fifteen minutes or so, and the table was set, the kitchen was cleaned, and the food was just about ready.
She had just placed the plates of lasagne on the table when the doorbell rang.
'Perfect timing' thought Misty, smiling.
She opened the front door and led Gary into the kitchen, where he whistled.
"Damn, Misty, that grub smells good!" he exclaimed, eyeing up the food on the table.
"Dig in," laughed Misty, taking a seat at the table, "I'm starved!"
"You should have put some candles on the table Mist, to set the mood," said Gary jokingly, picking up his fork.
Misty half-smiled and picked up her knife and fork, her mind going back to Delia's text.
They made small talk throughout dinner, Gary complimenting her on her cooking skills countless times.
"For as long as I've known you, you've never once complimented me on anything," noted Misty, "And suddenly you're full of them!"
"Well, I suppose I have to kinda make up for snapping your fishing rod," smirked Gary.
"I haven't forgotten about that, Oak," said Misty through clenched teeth.
"Alright, alright," laughed Gary, "Relax! Hey, where's Ashy boy's bathroom?"
"Upstairs, first door on the right hand side," answered Misty, standing up to clear the plates.
When Gary came back downstairs, he grabbed one of the dishes from the draining board and began drying it with a tea towel.
"Okay, so three things are out of the ordinary tonight," laughed Misty, dunking the last plate into the hot water.
"Firstly, you've barely insulted me at all tonight, secondly, you're drying dishes, which I thought was way out of your league, and thirdly, you're washing dishes for me. What's the deal, Oak?"
"Well, now that I know you can cook like that, you can expect a lot less insults!" said Gary, nudging Misty.
The pair cleaned up the rest of the dishes, and Gary made his way into the living room and dived onto the couch, pretending to be asleep.
"C'mon Oak," said Misty, laughing, "The boys will be home soon, and I wanna get ready for bed."
When he refused to budge, she grabbed his hand and dragged him to the front door.
"Thanks for the food Mist, I honestly can't remember the last time I had grub that good."
"It's no problem, you owe me a fishing rod and dinner now though!"
"Consider it done! My Gramps house, same time tomorrow morning?"
"You got it." replied Misty.
Gary walked down the garden path, and it was only when he walked through the gate that she realised that he hadn't let go of her hand until he'd walked out the front door.
Blushing to herself, she closed the door and made her way back inside, taking out her phone to check for messages.
'Hey Mist, grabbing food with some ppl from camp, should b home 10! Brock x'
Misty looked at the clock: it was only nine thirty. She changed into her pyjamas, and then headed into her room with the intention of reading her book until the boys got home.
As she lay her head on her pillow, it hit off something hard underneath.
"What the -" muttered Misty, reaching under her pillow.
She pulled out a small wooden box, about the size of a remote control, and opened it: a piece of paper fluttered out.
'Hey Misty,
I showed my Gramps that jewellery box we found, and he said most of the jewellery inside belonged to my mother and my grandmother. I know everything suits me, but girls jewellery isn't really my style, and I don't want everything to go back in the attic, forgotten about. The necklace really suits you, and it really does match your eyes, in a non-cheesy way. I suppose this is to say thanks for putting up with me in the attic, you're not as bad as I thought.
See you in the morning Mist,
Gary'
Misty looked at the necklace with the bluey-green pendant in the box, and took it out. After admiring it for a few moments, she carefully placed it back in the box, and turned out the lights, closing her eyes with a smile on her face.
Well! Thoughts? Yes? No? Continue? Throw it in the fire? I've gotten into this story again and I have half of the next chapter typed and saved, another writing session should just about finish it! I'd love to hear what you think of it! Amy xx