Episode 7: Can we be friends again? Pretty Please

After School

3:30 pm

Iris's House

Iris fussed with her hair trying it keep it in place as Axew tried to help her pick out an outfit for seeing Ash in a few minutes. Axew was very exhausted, all day he'd been playing with Iris's little brother, Lance. That kid was very energetic, a little to energetic for Axew's liking, even if he was a little baby Pokémon himself he didn't like to play as much as that little six year old.

"(Why do you need to look perfect anyway?), Axew question a little annoyed because Iris had woke him up just for a silly little thing like what she would wear to do a project with some guy.

At least she wasn't fussing over Trip, he thought. You see, Axew hated Trip for treating his Trainer so poorly. That douche.

Iris then stopped fussing with her hair because of what Axew had just asked. She set her brush down and sat on the chair in front of her dresser.

"I don't even know Axew, I really don't know" Iris replied kind of frustrated. Why was she fussing over being perfect for Ash of all people? She didn't need to impress him but for some reason she wanted to. Why did she want to! These thought just made her head hurt and her heart flutter.

Axew jumped onto the bed away from the closet he was formerly stuck in.

"(You just wasted my time)", Axew snapped. For a baby Pokémon he was pretty straight forward with his feelings.

"Sorry" Iris apologized. Axew just waved off the apology and shut his eyes, ready for a mid-day nap.

"Do the red leggings go with the green dress", she thought aloud with a confused look on her face, for a girl she was pretty clueless about fashion but she never seemed to care till now. And Axew seemed to notice this.

"(Only if you want to look like a Christmas tree)" Axew snorted. She obviously needed his help. He kind of wanted to help because maybe this new guy she was fussing over would replace the wretched Trip.

Ash's House

Ash ran into his room without even greeting his mother which was quite unusual for him and it surly wasn't a good Idea, because she didn't like rude children.

He only had twenty minutes to prepare for when Iris came over. He has to stop taking so many after school activities. I mean seriously he was almost late to his own house, that would've been horrible. If he had been late his mom would've tried to make conversation with Iris and it just would've been just plain embarrassing. His mom had so many embarrassing things over him.

He decided to run a comb through his messy raven hair. Not because he wanted to impress Iris or anything it's just that he knew it was always a good Idea to look your best that's it. Well that's what he told himself anyway.

"(Woah, History has been made), Pikachu announced mockingly. "(Ash Ketchum is combing his hair, what a site folks)" He continued pretending to be one of those sports announcers or whatever they're called.

"Shut up Pikachu" Ash whined playfully.

"(You're watching history in the making)" Pikachu announced into the hair brush in his hand that he seemed to be pretending was a microphone.

The door of Ash's room suddenly slammed open and standing there was his mother and she sure didn't look very happy.

Aww shit, I forgot to greet mom, Ash thought remembering his mistake.

"Oh hey mom, how are you doing", he greeted his mother and nervously kissed her on the cheek.

"Uh huh, now you remember me," Delia said, but instead of lecturing him on how rude it was not to greet your mom she went into complete shock of Ash combing his HAIR!

"Ash, honey is Misty coming over or something," she asked, complete surprise had taken over her voice.

Ash rolled his eye at this remark, wondering why a boy can't just comb his hair in this house without having to play twenty questions.

"Nah mom, can't a boy just comb his hair for no reason at all," Ash asked annoyed.

"Yes they can, unless they're you, sorry Hun but it's just strange." His mom laughed and started to leave the room but Ash stopped her.

"Wait mom, tomorrow or any other day for that matter, don't let Burgundy into this house" Ash demanded seriously. He was really serious because she had really creeped him out by coming into his home. He still shuddered at the thought.

"Yeah, Yeah whatever," his mother said nonchalantly before leaving and shutting the door. He had a feeling that she hadn't taken his remark seriously.

"(So why are you really combing your hair"), Pikachu questioned curiously, you see Pikachu was always the type to get into other people's business and you can guess where he got that trait from.

"Because I want to" Ash groaned, as he trekked over to his closet. The only reason he had to trek to his closet was because his room was so damn messy.

He got on his tippy toes and slid down a box that contained a hat. But not just any hat though.

A gasp escaped Pikachu's lips; he was in true shock at his trainer's decision.

"(That is your favorite hat)" Pikachu exclaimed. He knew for sure something was up now.

"(Come on Ash tell me what's up)" Pikachu begged. Ash decided to tell his little buddy because he knew Pikachu wouldn't stop annoying him until he told him.

"A friend is coming over that's all" Ash explained while groaning. Pikachu always got everything out of him no matter how much he tried to resist him.

"(A special friend)", Pikachu smirked, nudging his now blushing trainer.

"Ugh, whatever Pikachu" Ash replied as he slid his old hat off and placed his favorite one on.

Suddenly the doorbell rang and he knew who it was, Iris.

Whenever Ash thought of Iris he felt sympathy and delight. He knew why he felt the sympathy, because she was stuck with that jerk Trip. The delight was for their past friendship and maybe their future one too if Ash could manage to patch things up with her this today. But the delight was because of something else too, though he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

He stood from his crouched position and hurried down the stair almost tripping on his way down.

The door was opened by none other than Delia, who seemed to be quite surprised by the site of Iris, so surprised actually that she shrieked.

"I can't believe this, Iris Delilah Airisu is that really you," Delia questioned excitedly, stating her full name in the process. She couldn't believe her eyes little Iris from twelve year ago was standing on her front porch looking like a young woman. She had lost her cuteness and gained her beautifulness, in Delia's opinion.

"That's me Auntie Delia" Iris said putting on a genuine smile in the process, while using the old nickname she had used years ago. She was genuinely happy to see Delia, unlike she was when she first bumped into Ash.

Delia pulled Iris into a death hug that she considered her 'loving, gentle hug'."I've missed you and your mother so much," Delia notified.

"I sure didn't miss these death hug" Iris muttered to herself, just as she said this Ash appeared in the hallway looking quite amused at the situation. Delia was really knocking the air out of Iris at this point.

"Mom you got to let the girl breath," Ash chuckled cutting in. This remark shocked Delia out of her pleased sate and realized that the teen in her arms was squirming trying to get of her grip. "Sorry, hun I was just excited," she apologized. "Ash don't be rude say hello," Delia hissed smacking Ash in the back of his head, knocking his hat sideways.

"Hey there, Iris," Ash said nonchalantly while righting his hat. Though he was acting nonchalantly on the outside on the inside he wanted to dash over and smother her in big hug too, not enough to hurt her though.

"Hey Ash, ready to work on our project," Iris asked enthusiastically, by now her genuine smile had faded into the one she used at school, her pretend one. But this time fear wasn't in her eyes, it was just emptiness.

This caused Ash's smile to fade completely, his heart hurt because he knew she wasn't happy to see him.

Iris noticed this and the same pain in Ash's heart appeared in hers, but for a different reason, that reason being that she didn't like to see Ash sad but she couldn't help if she didn't know what was wrong. She wondered what could be wrong with him, she was acting nice enough, and in her opinion he should've been grateful, considering how mean she usually was to him.

"Um let's get to the project," Ash suggested straining his voice to sound happy. Iris nodded and headed towards the living room. She really didn't need Ash's guidance; she remembered the place good and well. She surveyed the room, nothing really changed. He still had the same old T.V and the décor was the same. She enjoyed the familiar surroundings. It made her feel more at home and a little less nervous.

"I'll bake some cookie" Delia chirped as she ran into the kitchen. "I remember just how you like them," she called out.

"Awesome" Iris shouted back as she descended onto the big, comfy couch. Memories of watching Sesame Street right in that spot came spiraling back to her. It had been Ash and Iris's favorite show while Misty was more into Yo Gaba Gaba, the 'things' on that show really creeped her out so whenever Misty wanted to watch it she would hide her face in Ash's shirt.

Ash slid off his book bag and plopped down onto the couch next to Iris. He searched through the cluttered mess that he called a book bag for the project directions.

Iris rolled her eyes at this, wondering why she was so idiotic to let Ash keep the project packet. She knew how unorganized he was. She remembered the times when Ash would lose something and beg her to help him find whatever it was, and she would always give in and they'd be searching for what seemed like hours.

"Ah hah I found it" Ash exclaimed happily at his success. The packet had become wrinkled from being at the bottom of Ash's book bag. He really didn't know how he lost these things or how they ended up in certain places, but I guess that's what happens when you don't keep track of your stuff. Iris snatched the packet from his hand and started to smooth it on the wooden coffee table.

"Perfect," she exclaimed smiling at the packet which was now straight and less wrinkly. Ash chuckled, man she was cute, wait cute did I really just think that. Why am I being such a weirdo? Cute, Ha! Ash knocked the thoughts to back of his mind and looked down where he spotted a bruise on Iris's arm, it was rather big, so it was kind of hard not to notice. Ash frowned at this; he could feel himself boil with anger.

"Did Trip do that" Ash asked quietly trying to hide the anger that seemed to appear in his voice.

Iris was startled by his sudden and very straight forward question. She looked down at her uncovered and bruised arm. She quickly pulled down her sleeve and was silent for a minute, thinking of what she should say. Then she replied a simple "No". She and Ash both knew it was a lie.

This made Ash's frown grow, but he decided to drop the subject for now anyway and ask about her harshness towards him.

"Why do you hate?" Ash questioned directly. She didn't even look up from the packet she had been 'reading' and he didn't look away from the blank television screen.

"You should know, you brought it on yourself," she replied plainly. But that didn't help Ash's situation and it sure didn't give him an answer to his question. He decided to ask another question thinking maybe it would clear things up for him.

"Is it because of Trip?"

Iris sighed thinking how could anyone be this insensitive. How did he not know, he probably forgot all the memories they had shared. Tears threatened to spill out of her eyes, she really didn't want to talk about this or be near him right now, not at all.

After he got no answer from her he asked another question, his eyes never looking away from the dark television screen. "Then what is it, I want to- I mean I need to know," he asked sternly. Just then he started to hear sobbing, he looked over at Iris where her hands were covering her face, he then came to the conclusion that she was the one sobbing.

Suddenly Delia came in with half a dozen sugar cookies. She looked confused at why there was a crying teenager on her couch.

Iris couldn't believe she was crying in front of him, he made her feel weak. She couldn't handle him or the tension in the room right then.

"I'm –sob- sorry but I –hiccup- can't do this". She snatched her bag and dashed out of the house like a cheetah on the hunt.

Iris House

3:50 pm

Iris speeded into her house without any word to Rose or Lance. She just couldn't speak at the moment, but even if she could she didn't want to. She ran into her purple painted room, slamming the door behind her. She plopped onto her bed and cried into her pillow.

That was embarrassing and horrible and Ugh! She had broken down in front of Ash because of Ash. She knew she had done it all before back in the day but now it was different they were distant now. The familiar surroundings of Ash's house had felt like a black hole that never seemed to end just like Ash's questions.

Axew's pudgy body ran over to where his trainer was lying and sobbing. He wanted to help but didn't know what to say. It was always hard to be comforting and sympathetic to someone who hates sympathy and comforting. The only reason she didn't ever want sympathy or comforting is because it just reminded of her of Ash. So all Axew did was lie next to her.

Iris mother hurried into her daughter's room wondering what was wrong. She didn't like to see her daughter like this, all sad and crying. She barged into Iris room, took the chair from the dresser and sat down next to her daughter's bed gently stroking her hair. She knew that Iris didn't want to talk at the moment by her motherly instinct, so she just stroked her hair till Iris had cried herself to sleep. She hadn't seen Iris cry like this since sophomore year (btw sophomore year I when Trip's mom died and he started being abusive towards her), since then Iris never seemed to be the same.

Ash's House

"What was that all about" Delia questioned angrily, wondering what in the world Ash could've of done to make Iris cry and run out of their so fast. Ash just shrugged, he really didn't know himself why Iris had run out of their home crying. He slumped all the way upstairs to messy room. He threw his hat of angrily.

"What did I do," He yelled at no one.

This sudden yelling woke up and startled his loyal, little buddy. Pikachu was getting concerned seeing his trainer all mad. He usually never yelled or threw things. His sudden behavior kind of intrigued Pikachu.

"(What's eating you)," Pikachu asked nosily. Pikachu wanted to help his trainer but he also wanted to hear what happened down there. Pikachu always loved to hear gossip, good thing he wasn't popular enough to spread it.

"Nothing" Ash mumbled slight hesitation in his voice, he trudged all the way to his bed trying to lie down but only to land on a pile of clothes and Pokémon action figures. Pain shot through his body (his back to his head to be exact).

"Damn" He yelped, as he sat up and rubbed his head. He groaned as he grabbed his sheets to pull himself up and onto the bed. He finally got on there and laid their staring at the ceiling thinking. If it isn't Trip, then why does she hate me could it be from when we were little, is that why Arceus showed me that scene in my dream? Maybe, just maybe that was it.

Hmph, I really wanted to know, Pikachu thought.

The Next Morning (8 am)

At School

Ash waited for Iris in front of her locker the next morning. He was determined to patch things up between them, he was nervous and the fact that he didn't know what he was going to say when she got there made him even more nervous. Would he just go straight to the apologies or just stick it into a random conversation, he really didn't know.

Iris made her way through the crowded hallway and when she neared her locker she saw Ash standing there. I should've stayed in bed this morning, she thought sadly. He probably wanted to make fun of her for being a cry baby or something insensitive like that. She stalked to where Ash was standing expecting something rude to come out of his mouth but was soon proven wrong.

"Hey Iris" Ash greeted quite nervously, all he got from her was a small wave, that he was pretty sure meant go away.

"What do you want," Iris asked with her usual harsh tone. This would surly upset Ash and it would have appeared on his face but right now his face was blank and all he wanted to do was get to the bottom of this. "Is the reason you hate me because of what happened back when we were little" He asked.

"Can you be a little more specific," Iris said pushing him off of her locker door. Twisting the lock, thinking of what her combination was. Damn, not again, she thought. Now she couldn't get her stuff and hurry to her next class to get away from him. I hate when I forget this stupid combination.

"Is it because of the whole ditching you for misty thing?"

"Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner," Iris replied mockingly, "Now that you know will you go away," she continued while doing a shooing movement with her hands.

"No I-I-I want to apologize," he stammered as she rolled her eyes. Little too late, she thought.

"Ha! Apologize about that, I don't even care anymore, I don't care how much you hurt me," she revealed. But he read in between the lines that she did care and that she was still in pain, and because she had started to cry again.

"I know you're still sad Iris, your crying for Arceus sakes, but I didn't know and I'm-," he started.

"Of course you didn't know you didn't know because you were too busy with Misty," she said between sobs.

Ash's heart hurt seeing Iris cry again surly didn't make him happy at all. So he moved closer to her and pulled her into a hug that she didn't seem to be fighting her way out of.

"I'm really sorry Iris; I never wanted to make you feel like this and if you except me into your life again I promise I will never make you feel that way again" he pleaded. Iris hugged him back. "I forgive you," she managed to utter out as he squeezed her harder.

Next Episode: I'm Helping him, I think

Well I hope you liked this chapter, it took some time to write and then type. Oh yeah I forgot to say that Arceus is kind of like god to them. Oh yeah I made up Lance, Iris's mom Rose, and Iris's full name.