Therapy Chapter 4: Tension, a pokémon fanfic

Ash/Gary: 18

Misty: 17

Brock/Tracey/Rudy: 21

Daisy/Violet/Lily: 22

May: 16

Chapter 4 – Tension

She knew they were probably 'discussing' her behind her back. Of course they were. She had stormed out quite unexpectedly, knocked over her chair and almost fell straight across Ash's lap as she made a beeline for the staircase. She paced around the room frantically, trying to come up with more excuses as to why Rudy was coming here in the first place. Her mind was bluntly pointing out that she should just tell the truth before she got herself deeper and deeper into excuses and lies. Oh, how paranoid she was becoming lately!

"Damn you Ash, damn you!" she said bitterly. "Why did you all have to come now? When I'm like this… and… shit!!" She threw her hands up towards the ceiling in exasperation and frustration. She sat down on her bed and tried to think out things clearly.

"They do have a right to know, and what would it mean to them anyway?"

She attempted reasoning with her mind now. She thought about Ash. Would her think differently of her if she told him about Rudy and her circumstances with him? Of course not, why would he care anyway? He never had seemed to long ago… that's beside the point now. Sure, he was older and possibly more mature… She tried to picture him as being jealous. How stupid, Ash probably still fails to recognize girls as belonging to the opposite sex, even at his age. Turning herself over to her stomach, she grabbed her nearest pillow and let out a muffled scream of irritation and had apparently drifted off to sleep without realizing it.

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Meanwhile, the other eight people and guests downstairs were cleaning up and retiring into the family room, as they had done only a few short hours ago. Everyone seemed to be slightly uncomfortable after Misty's hurried exit from breakfast. Daisy, acting again as the motherly figure, came in and immediately started apologizing for Misty's irritable and bizarre behavior.

"I'm so sorry. I honestly thought Misty would be slightly less unstable when you all came to visit. This isn't turning out exactly how I had planned it…"

"And now guess who else is coming. Rudy! I thought that bastard would have stopped trying to weasel his way back into her life by now…" Lily interrupted.

"They're going out?" Ash asked, looking incredulous. Daisy shifted uncomfortably.

"Yeah. For awhile now actually, what has it been, almost a year? Mostly on and off stuff though, since her lives so far away. He asked her though, not vice versa. And for some odd reason, she accepted."

"It's her own damn fault for being so dependent on him in the first place. She needs to realize that guys need to be taught a lesson if they act that way with a girl…"

"Like ditching them like you two still do?" Daisy said scowling at them. "Right, that's real mature of you both, right?"

"It's more mature than what she's doing now. You've seen the way he treats her sometimes, and she tries to cover it up, which is why we're asking her to get help in the first place. Now that's mature." Lily said smiling stupidly.

Daisy glared at them and was about to reprimand them when Ash cut in.

"How does he treat her?" he questioned quietly. Everyone leaned in closer with their eyes watching intently and nervously at Daisy, who was shifting around in her seat, searching her mind for the right thing to say in answer. Lily and Violet just rolled their eyes and went back to filing their nails.

"He can be… very rude to her, and how ironic? With his name an all, but he just gets angry very easily, and you know what can come with anger and impatience…"

"It's like having two Misty's in the same room. One of the will eventually beat and kill the other" said Violet, making an odd, dark simile. Daisy nodded her head in agreement, even to her own surprise.

"They shouldn't be together, but like I said, Misty really isn't very stable right now and instability and Rudy don't match." Daisy looked over at Ash, who was sitting there very quietly and deep in thought. His face was creased with concern for his friend and she even detected that he was shaking slightly.

"He doesn't hit her… does he?" said Ash, his voice cracking slightly. Gary put an arm around him, which was shrugged off in response.

"She says he doesn't, but who knows anymore. I think she lies to us too. I've seen suspicious dark spots on her arms, but she's always making up some kind of story." Violet said.

The room was silent while its inhabitants gathered the information that was handed out to them by Daisy. Trying to make the most of the situation, small conversations between the boys and the girls broke out until finally the uneasy feeling had passed. The day and the time seemed to pass by so quickly, even though each one of them thought it would drag by slowly. No battle inquiries came for Misty and there wasn't really much to do around the house, so they sat and ate and watched the television. After all, the finals for the Indigo League were nearing and there was much anticipation and excitement to be felt. The boys' eyes were glued to the screen, and occasionally shouts of glee and sorrow erupted from their mouths, as they had decided to bet on many of the matches. May had entered into the girlish realm of the triplets and was, by the minute, becoming more and more drawn into it with every word they said. Soon a silence of eagerness from the boys and calmness from the girls fell over the room just as the sun began to set. This silence, however, was interrupted by Misty, who had cleared her throat in order to make her presence known. Everyone jumped to attention and stared at her as she began to speak. Feeling their eyes delve into her, she began to feel very perturbed and paranoid that her sisters had told them something about her while she was asleep. Furrowing hers brows, she said "Sorry to disrupt you all, but I'll be out for awhile." She took a quick glimpse over to where May was sitting with Violet and Lily.

"Be careful May. They may be nice to you at first, but then they'll turn on you so fast you won't realize what happened." In response she received two piercing, angry stares from her sisters and saw that May had scooted herself away quickly and quietly.

"Where are you going?" asked Daisy suspiciously. Misty glared at her and retorted back with a "You're not mom, Daisy." She then headed for the door to leave. Collecting her bag and car keys, she opened the door and stepped outside into the cool, balmy evening.

"Wait!" She didn't even bother to turn around. Instead, she walked faster.

"Wait, Misty, wait!" Ash said, pleading with her to stop. So she did and faced him.

"I have to be somewhere at seven. Make it quick, Ash."

"Where are you going?"

"That's none of your business" she stated and turned on her heel.

"If you're going to see him… please don't, Mist."

She stopped dead. He knew. And he had called her 'Mist'. His nickname for her from what seemed like such a long time ago. He was using it to coax her back inside, where it was safer for her to be, rather than out with an 'abusive' boyfriend.

"You know about Rudy?" she said, then smirked almost knowingly. "So you were talking about me. I was right." She stared at him with a wistful look.

"Yes we were, but not in a bad way. We were all worried about you and I asked about you and… what's going on."

"Oh, so now you're worried Ash. It's a little too late for that. You should have been worrying about me when maybe you had a chance of getting the old me back. That was too long ago now. It's been three long years Ash, and things have changed whether you like it or not."

"But you don't like it either Mist. Admit it. Why would you be enjoying life when he's around? Daisy told me about what he…"

"Like I've said before Ash, my personal life is none of your business. Stop trying to be a hero all the time and solve everybody's problems. You have your own too, I'm sure. Why don't you try looking at yourself for once?"

"Because I'm not the one who is hurting my self like you are Misty!" he yelled.

Misty stared at him.

"It's great to know that you care Ash" she said sarcastically. "I'll keep that in mind the next time you don't try to stay in touch with me."

With that, she hopped into her car, looking slightly satisfied and irate at the same time. He was left speechless while, once again, she sped off leaving him confused and sad about the situation. He dropped down to his knees, and began to cry very softly.

Misty checked the car clock. Five minutes until 7 o'clock. Perfect, as she was just about to drive into the Cerulean Airport's 'Arrivals' zone to wait for Rudy to emerge from the double doors. She parked her car and stepped outside, leaned up against the cool metal, and waited. She tried not to think about what everyone back at home was thinking about her right now. If she did, she would dwell on it too much and it would distract her when Rudy appeared. She turned around so that her stomach was pressed to the glass on the windows and that her eyes were level with the fading horizon. Pushing up her sunglasses, she marveled at the beauty of the dusk sky and felt a persistent feeling of sadness in her chest. She didn't feel alive anymore. She just wanted to give up; to never be seen again. How selfish of her. The hairs on the back of her neck and arms began to tingle slightly as they can into contact with the fingertips of a foreboding presence. Two arms looped their way around her small waist until the hands were firmly clasped together and the strong body had pulled her into an escapable hug. She felt his mouth lingering around the nape of her neck and she leaned back to nuzzle the hair and head of the person who caused her even greater pain. Is was time for fake smiles and laughter, and pretending everything is alright.

"Hey there, sweetie" he said softly before planting a chaste kiss upon her lips. How ironic. She smiled into the kiss and replied with a "how was your flight?" He dropped his arms from her waist and opened the door to the car and threw his luggage in the back seat. "Fine, but long, as usual. I wish you could come live with me so we wouldn't have to go through this whenever we visit each other" he said smiling. She knew it was a rhetorical request, so she returned his smile with one of her own. "You know I can't right now, we're both gym leaders and that means not leaving our posts." He rolled his eyes as she put the car in drive and sped off.

"So how is everyone?" he asked after a few moments had passed.

"Fine. In fact, we've got company. That's why I was slightly hesitant about your coming up here. I'm sure you'll remember some of them."

"Who?"

She looked at him and simply said, "You'll see." She didn't feel like talking anymore. Even though their conversation so far had basically consisted of nothing, she felt as though her energy had been drained from her the moment she felt him enveloping her. She turned on the radio, and let the music drown out the silence that was steadily growing. Her mind, much to her dismay, turned to thoughts of Ash and the rest of them and what they might be saying about her while she was out. Again, she started thinking about how everyone would react when they saw her and Rudy 'together'. Well, Brock, May, and Gary hadn't even met him so their opinion of him wouldn't be that bad. Tracey was old enough at the time of their first meeting to realize that Rudy was showing interest in her, and to extent, herself. Ash, on the other hand, didn't understand what was really happening during the battle. After they had sailed off from Trovita Island and Ash was out of earshot, Tracey had whispered that 'that battle was really over you, Misty. Ash just didn't know it!' She smiled softly at that thought. Ash was immature then but obviously his feelings towards her boy were now changed since he warned her against going to meet Rudy. Why though? She figured that he would never come to realize that Misty had liked him a lot throughout their journey's together, although he had sometimes managed to see through her playfulness. But he still hadn't figured it out. Maybe he had now or maybe he had feelings for…

No. That was ridiculous. If he had even the slightest regard for her and her feelings, he would have come to see her more often, like Rudy actually did, despite the distance. It could have worked out…

But we're just so stubborn and prideful. We would cancel each other out, just like we canceled each other out of our own lives in different ways. Nothing will be like it used to be now. We've become adults and you can't change the past. There. That's enough now. She told her brain to stop thinking about the past so she could get her life on schedule now and in the future.

"Misty, you know we just missed the turn to your street…?" Rudy said, interrupting her soliloquy of thoughts.

"Shit!" she said slamming on the brake while amazingly somehow missed a mailbox in the process.

"I think you're driving's gotten worse since last I saw you!"

She gave him a look of exasperation. "I was thinking. Lots of things on my mind, you should know that."

He snickered at her and received a punch on the arm in response. "Let's just get home, please? No thinking for you anymore, okay?"

She didn't even reply. She didn't want to get home.

As they walked towards the front door, Misty reached for her eyes and drew it slowly into the lock, turning it as slowly as possible. She dreaded the reaction from everyone inside and the reaction from Rudy.

"You going to go any slower? Jeeze, what is wrong with you today? PMSing? Great, now I have that to look forward to all week" he said scowling.

She glared at him. "I am NOT PMSing. I'm just not in a good mood."

He smiled mischievously. "I can take care of that…" he said, reaching around to pull her into a hug. She grasped his hands that were making their way towards her backside and pulled them down quickly and efficiently away from their destination.

"That won't take care of it," she said firmly. He shrugged and grabbed his bag as she finally swung open the front door. She tiptoed quietly into the house, and peeked around the corned into the family room. It was empty. She sighed in relief. Maybe they had gone out?

"What the hell are you doing? You're acting as though you don't want to be seen?"

"That's the point." He stared at her in disbelief. "You are so strange sometimes, Misty."

"Then why do you put up with me?" she said, snapping at him.

Now it was his turn to sigh. "I'm not here to fight like a child Misty. I just want to relax and be with you."

"Shh!" she said irritated. "I think I know where they are. In the gym."

"Great! Then let's go there."

"Why?! I thought you said you wanted to rest?"

"I do but I want to see everyone first! Come on" he said dragging her with him, "Let's go. What is wrong with you Misty?"

She screwed up her face and allowed herself to follow him after he had released her grip from her. Connecting the family room to the gym was a small corridor that served at the girls' entrance for shows. She walked in silence, as he talked on about something she couldn't quite catch. Finally, the made their way to the door that read 'EXIT' in big, bold, red letters.

'Here goes nothing,' she muttered to herself, kicking the door open while releasing a small jump from both her and the people on the other side. Her eyes looked down as Rudy looped his large arm around her waist again and walked, almost in a strut, towards the people with a smirk on his face.

"Going to introduce me, Mist?" he asked. She grimaced and even from where her eyesight was currently, she still managed to see Ash's body flinch at the use of the word 'Mist' being emitted from someone else's mouth besides himself. She looked up.

"Brock, Gary, May, Tracey… Ash… this is my… boyfriend. Rudy. You remember those two from our time in Trovita, right?" she said to Rudy as she gestured over to her fellow journeyers.

He smiled, well, smirked. "Yes, I do. Guess you aren't as lucky as I first thought, Ash."

Ash's eyes flared with anger. Misty could just feel the tension in the room already. This was going to be a disaster.

A/N: hey guys, thanks for the continued reviews. Tell all your friends to read my story! Would be much appreciated! Next chapter should be up soon. -Kat