She's the Icing to his Cake

by Prongs.xo

Ash decides to have a party for his 16th birthday before he heads off to a new region. All of his good friends show up, along with Misty. Now that they're older and more mature, will they own up to their feelings for each other, or shy away? Pokéshipping!

7. Chapter 7

I think I'll just start off by saying… Croteau, I think you'll find something in this story that will REALLY amuse you ;) Teehee.

And to everyone else, sorry again for the slow update.

Please review if you have the time! :)

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Ash was having a wonderful dream. He was being chased by hundreds of attractive girls, all wanting the autograph and pictures of the 'Champion'. They swooned around him, kissing him on the cheek, wrapping him in tight hugs. Brock was in a corner, crying in jealousy. Ash grinned and turned to the girl who had him in a tight hug. She had flaming red hair.
All of a sudden, Dawn appeared beside him, trying to peel Misty off of him. "Ash!"
"Dawn, what do you want?" Ash got annoyed.

"Come on, stop it," she replied grumpily, shaking his chest.

"No, can't you see I'm-"

"Get UP Ash!"

"Stop…"

"Ash!"

"ASH!"

Ash opened his eyes groggily and found himself lying in his bed. A pair of big, dark blue eyes stared down crossly at him.
He pushed Dawn's hands lightly off his chest and turned around onto his side. The dream was too good to stop, and he was eager to recommence it.

Dawn rolled her eyes and walked around to the other side of the bed to face him. "Get up, Ash," she said, now yanking his arm, trying to drag him out. "It's your birthday! The party is going to start soon!" Dawn, being the tiny girl she was, failed epically at pulling the growing beast that was Ash from his bed. She sighed, got up onto his bed, and sat crossing her legs by his.
"Come on, sleepy head. You've got to be up." Dawn shook him vigorously.

"No," Ash muttered stubbornly into his pillow. He peered at his alarm clock. "Why do I have to get up? It's only 9:00."

"Only 9:00?" Dawn asked incredulously. "Your party starts in three hours! You need time to get ready!"
"How? The decorations are all up." Ash grabbed her waist and gently pushed her off the bed, easily. He threw the covers back over his head.

Dawn, not giving up, grabbed his feet that were peeking out from the end of the bed and tugged with all her might. "You have to shower! Get dressed!"
Throwing the covers off his head angrily, Ash replied, "That would only take me 10 minutes! Let me sleep at least another hour!"

"Aw, but I wanted to straighten your hair!"

Ash froze. "What!?"

"Yeah!" Dawn hopped excitedly. "It would look so cool! Your hair would be all skater." When he didn't reply, she added, "You'd look hot."

Ash just stared at her. "You're insane." He kicked her lightly then receded under the covers once more.

Dawn sighed indignantly and marched out of her friend's room. Ash smiled victoriously, thinking he would finally gain the extra hour or two of sleep he deserved.

Was he ever wrong.

Sudden, he felt the covers ripped off him and the bed completely, exposing him in just his pink and purple boxers.

"What the hell!?" Ash turned around angrily. His face flushed as he saw Misty standing beside Dawn, who looked thoroughly satisfied.

"Nice choice of boxers, Ketchum," Misty smiled devilishly.

Ash looked down, mortified. He reached for the sheets to cover himself up, but Misty held them out of his reach. I win again, she mouthed.
"These were the last clean ones I had, okay?" Ash replied defensively.

"I'm sure. Come on, you should get up. It's almost ten." Misty grabbed his hand and yanked. He couldn't resist her touch, so he went along with her pull. Dawn stared at Misty as though she was magic.
"I guess being a gym leader gives you a lot of muscle," Dawn mused, shaking her head as she exited the room in front of Ash and Misty.

Misty smirked, smiling at Ash. She pushed him into the bathroom and threw a towel at him, which landed on his face.

"Shower," she commanded, shutting the door.

As Ash stripped down, he heard Dawn say, "Ash was so right about you."

"Ash talked about me?" Ash heard Misty's voice thick with curiosity.
"All the time!" replied Dawn. "He never shut up about you…"

* * *

Once he was squeaky clean and dressed to Dawn's satisfaction, Ash mulled around the house aimlessly. His best friends along with Drew were already seated in the living room, talking about the big party that was only twenty minutes away. Ash, pacing in and out of the kitchen, only starting paying attention once Dawn and May started talking about what activities would be fun to play.

"... Of course there's always the classics like Truth or Dare," Dawn was saying.

"That would definitely get interesting, wouldn't it?" May replied, giggling slightly.

"Well if you want interesting in that sense, that's where Spin the Bottle comes in."

"But what if you're with someone? Drew and I couldn't play."

Ash stormed into the room.
"Spin the Bottle? What kind of party do you guys think this is, a high school house party!?"

"Of course not!" May smiled at him. "It would be fun!"
"Especially Truth or Dare," Dawn added.

"There are a few things I'd love to ask you for Truth, Ash," said May, winking at him, and then looking at Misty obviously.

Ash glared at her. "We're not playing any stupid games like that."

"Well there's always Spin the Battle," added Brock unexpectedly from the arm chair in the corner.

"What's that?" asked Dawn curiously.

"It's like ordinary Spin the Bottle, except whoever the bottle lands in is the person you have to have a battle with," replied Brock knowledgeably.

"Is it a one on one or full party battle?" Misty asked.

"It doesn't matter, really. Usually it's just one on one, though."

"Well, I'm up for that kind of game," Ash said excitedly.

"Come on Ash," May raised her eyebrows at him. "We know you'd love to play it the normal way, and have it land on Mi-"

"Oh look, I think I see Gary!" Ash hurriedly cut May off. He shot her daggers and walked to the door, quickly followed by Dawn.

"Gary!?" Dawn said, her eyes wide.

Ash opened the door and was surprised to see Gary accompanied by a very pretty girl. She was short with tan skin, had medium-long black hair, Asian dark browns eyes and looked distantly familiar to Ash.

"Hey, Ash!" Gary slapped his old friend on the back.
"Hey Gary!" Ash smiled and then looked at the girl.

"This is Tiffany, I'm sure you remember her? She was in our Kindergarten class before she moved to Johto with her mom. Now she's back to live with her dad," Gary explained.

"Oh, hey! Yeah, I thought you looked familiar," said Ash amiably. He shook her hand and led them to the living room. "Er, yeah, we should probably move downstairs, there isn't much room here," Ash said as he noticed the full couches.
Gary walked towards the basement door, opening it and letting everyone in through first. Dawn stared at him in sight awe before turning around down the stairs. Ash then noticed the way his hand was around Tiffany's waist and he suspected that they were a couple. Well, this is sort of lonely, thought Ash, slightly bitter. There's May and Drew and now Gary and this girl. What if everyone else brings dates? Will I be the only single one here?

Ash took the door from Gary and watched him and his companion walk down the stairs. He stared at Tiffany, slightly disgruntled.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain on his left temple.

"Snap out of, Ash," said Misty, looking at him with a weird look in her eyes.
"OWCH!" Ash glared at Misty, in half a mind to poke her sharply back in the ribs for revenge. But, he knew that wasn't gentlemanly. He wouldn't hurt a girl, least of all Misty. "Snap out of what?" he retorted, opting to verbally abuse her instead.
"I saw you checking out Tiffany," the redhead replied, lifting her eyebrows.
The insulting retorts that were forming at high speed in Ash's mind were completely halted. "Checking out Tiffany?"
"That's what I said, dumbass." Misty pushed Ash down the stairs.
He almost went trampling down the staircase, but caught himself on the ledge in time. "Jeez, Mist, calm down," he replied, turning back to her. "I wasn't checking her out."
"You can admit it. It's okay."
"There's nothing to admit!"
"Then why were you staring at her?"
"I wasn't staring at her! I was thinking! And my eyes happened to land on-"
"Her butt?" Misty cut him off.

Ash rolled his eyes, grabbing Misty's arm. "Shut up, for once. Let's go down to the party." He dragged her arm, forcing her down the stairs.
"ASH KETCHUM, DON'T YOU DARE… MANHANDLE ME LIKE THAT!" Misty exploded at the bottom of the stairs, ripping her arm free from his tight grasp.
The light conversation that was taking place amongst the guests in the basement came to an abrupt halt.
Ash didn't even notice. His eyes widened, staring at Misty apologetically. "I'm sorry, Mist, I didn't mean to grab you like that," he said, deepening his voice, trying to sound mature and reassuring. He had, indeed, grabbed her arm a little more forcefully than he had intended to.
"Sorry?" Misty narrowed her eyes.
Ash shrunk away towards the wall. "…Yes?" he replied timidly.
"You ABUSE ME and all I get is a SORRY?!!?" Misty flared up again.
"Okay, what's going? Ash abused Misty?" Drew piped up from the couch, looking around confusedly.
"Don't take anything Misty says seriously, she's… PMS-ing right now," Ash growled out of the corner of his mouth to Drew.
"PMS-ING? I AM NOT PMS-ING, ASH KETCHUM, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" Misty turned away, and then wheeled around suddenly to face him again. "I've had ENOUGH of you." She stormed away up the stairs, leaving Ash utterly bewildered.
He shook his head and yelled after her, "JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE FEELING JEALOUS IT DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO TAKE OUT ON ME LIKE A FREAKIN' FIVE-YEAR-OLD!"
Ash, breathing hard, turned slowly towards his friends on the couch, who just stared awkwardly, open mouthed. Brock got up, rolled his eyes slightly and muttered, "I'll go after her…"
The group stared at each other for a few more awkward seconds, until May said, "Er, why don't you come sit down, Ash?"
Ash looked at the door for a few more seconds until the turned and sat on one of the couches where May and Dawn made room for him in between them.
The staircase suddenly creaked as someone walked down them.
"Let's hope she's calmed down now," said Drew quietly from beside May. Ash looked at the doorway fearfully, but he calmed down once Casey appeared.

"Ash Ketchum!?" Casey raced forward and greeted Ash, who got up once he saw here.
"Casey! Hey! It's been way too long!"
"What's up with Misty? She had so much steam coming out of her ears that she didn't even recognize me when I came in through the door!" Casey smiled slightly as she shook her head.
"She's PSM-ing," piped up Max, who had remained silent during the entire incident.
Casey laughed, slightly confused as she took a seat.
"That's what Ash said. She's PSM-ing. May, what does PSM-ing me?" Max looked to his older sister curiously.
May shifted uncomfortably. "It's PMS, Max, not PSM, and we'll talk about it later," she said quickly.
"But May!" Max whined. "You never tell me these things! Why don't you tell me now?"
"Because now is not the time, Max," May said, getting slightly annoyed.
"But MAY!" persisted Max.
Ash, not really in the mood for hearing the 'facts of life' talk again, quickly got up and mumbled incoherently about checking on Misty. He raced up the stairs, realising he might have made a mistake. Between enraged Misty and the facts of life talk, he'd choose the facts of life. But then again, this would be an excuse to-
"WATCH OUT!"
Ash's thoughts were cut off as he collided rather painfully with something, or rather, someone. A head of blonde hair obscured his view.
"Jeez, Ash, where are you in a hurry to get to?" Barry straightened up into his tall form, shaking out his hair. Ash noticed he was wearing his usual traveling outfit but holding a humungous wrapped box.
"I might ask you the same thing," Ash replied, scratching his head. "Is that for me?" he asked his friend, indicating the large box.
"You bet! You're going to just love what I got you, Ash!" Barry set the gift down by the other presents, which looked small and sad in comparison.
"Uh, everyone's downstairs, so I'll just meet you there." Ash smiled.
"Alrighty!" Barry headed down to the basement, leaving Ash in search of Misty.

It wasn't a hard search; Ash just followed the soothing voice of Brock that ended up coming from Ash's room. When Ash entered, he found Misty on his bed, crying. Brock was beside her rubbing her back and speaking calmly and reassuringly to her. Jealously suddenly erupted in the pit of Ash's stomach and he felt like going to Brock and ripping his hands off Misty. But, Ash had self control so he remained where he was. He acknowledged his presence by clearing his throat awkwardly.
When Brock saw Ash, he immediately removed his hands from Misty's back. Brock said something quietly into Misty's ear before exiting the room. As he did so, he gave Ash a very significant look. He muttered quietly, "I think she actually IS PMS-ing."

Ash looked closed the door behind Brock and walked up to Misty. He sat down beside her. Misty's face was in the opposite direction, so he couldn't see it. He heard her snuffling, which made him believe that she was still crying.
Ash slowly and tentatively lifted his left arm to put it around her shoulders. His hand hovered inches over her back for a few seconds, until he chickened out and returned it to his side. He scolded himself mentally for being so yellow, and opted instead to speak to her.
"Mist?" he moved his head around to see her face, but Misty just turned away more.
"Mist, what's wrong?" Ash's arm twitched and fidgeted, it wanting to touch and hold Misty more than anything. He wouldn't; he couldn't. He was a coward and he knew it. There had been a million opportunities in his life to tell Misty how he felt about her, but each time he could never bring himself to do it. There had been many times where all he had to do was grab her hand or kiss her on the cheek and everything would be resolved; there would be no need for words. Ash felt that this moment was one of them. But, he was Ash Ketchum. He could face a deathly hoard of Gyarados single handed with confidence, while the simple thought of telling Misty how he felt made him sweat a gallon.
"Misty?" Ash repeated, concern ridden in his voice.
"What do you want, Ash?" Misty said silently from behind a curtain of hair, which was out of its usual side ponytail, fanning out down her back.
"I want to see if you're okay, and what's wrong."
Misty remained silent.
Do it. Do it. Come on Ash, do it. Ash was fighting a raging battle in the back of his head. Come on, Ketchum. Just take her hand. That's all there is to it. But was it? What would happen, if he took Misty's hand in his? Would she squeeze his hand back and smile at him, or would she rip it back and yell at him? In so many ways, Misty was extremely predictable… yet not predictable at all.
Do it, Ash. Do it.
I can't, he told the little voice furiously. I'm a chicken. I can't do this. There's no way in hell I can do this.
Yes, you can. You can do it. You're sixteen, for Arceus' sake. Be the man that you are.
I'm not a man. I'm a boy. A little, terrified boy, with as much guts as I had when I was ten. I can't do it.

Misty was watching Ash out of the corner of her eye. She saw him flex his hand and the deepening crease in between his brows. She knew; she knew he wanted to hold her. But would he do it? Did he love her enough to do it?

Five more minutes passed.

Ash stood up and said, stuttering, that he supposed they ought to head back downstairs.

I guess not, thought Misty.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Anyone have any suggestions for the party?
I don't really know what I'm going to do for it, so all suggestions are welcome and appreciated :)
But don't worry, I pretty much know what's going to happen with out favourite couple here… ;)