Chapter 10: Action Speaks Now

Ash and Gary are very OOC in this chappy, you'll see why later on

Response to Reviews...

EmeraldHeart12 - Yupyup, the Dawn and Paul situation will get ugly in the upcoming chapters xD That, I cannot wait to write.

pokemonSLR- Heehee, the Mario Kart bit was so fun to write, the guys are so competitive:') I love it too, I love most songs by Taylor:D Yeah, it's a valid point but if she told Paul then there'd be no Ikari;) Plus Dawn was an emotional wreck at the time...you get me. :)~

SYKpop7 - Aw, thanks so much!:D Ehehe, I have come to the conclusion that nobody is as dense as Ash, it's just impossible. XD

LAP/Kat- Why did you give me a choice, I can't decide between LAP and Kat! XD LAPKat? Hehe. This made me loool, the light of awesome? Yayz. You're funny:'D Dawn and Ursula's past will be revealed soon...when I make it up. XD

Roselia124- Ahaha, there's no way Gary would lose a game with Ash just to tease Leaf XD Hehehe I was in a very strange mood when I wrote that part of the chapter;D Contest is my MOST favourite too, they're just made for each other!:D

LoveLoverGrl - I'LL JOIN YOUR RANT, OMG URSULA GO DIE! LIKE NOW.

...

Hehehe, thanks for the rating! :)~

aznpandagrl- Oh, he totally pairs Oldrival. He just doesn't know it yet;) I'm with you there, it is unforgivable. Writing the parts with Ursula and Dawn were really difficult. Hehe! Any kind of Ikari makes me wanna roll around and squeal in the cuteness! :D

Fprmr1 - Hmmmmm I can't see them lasting much longer. That's allllll I'm gonna say;) It's an awesome scenario, but that's not the reason. Good guess though!:D
I noticed you also started replying to reviews on your stories, now we can reply to each other! Ehehehe I'm weird xD

ReadyToRockAndRoll- Be jealous;D Aw I'm kidding, thanks so much! Oh how I wish I could kill them. However, they're awesome at getting in the way so I need them around-.- After this is done? Hmmmmmm;)

Disclaimer - Ran out of witty things to say for this Disclaimer lark. Nothing belongs to me...sadly xD

~Misty's POV~

"May? What are you doing?" I asked sleepily, sitting up in my bed. My hair was still curly from last night and I forgot to tame it, so it looked like a big orange bush on the top of my head. So not attractive.

"Misty, I'm so worried! I can't find it anywhere!" May had a look of concern etched onto her face. I looked at her blankly, not knowing what she was talking about. I was too sleepy to think.

"What..?" I yawned, wrapping the duvet covers around me.

"My tiara, duh! I can't find it, Dexter's going to be so disappointed in me..." her voice was panic stricken and loud, she was bound to wake up either Leaf or Dawn, who were still quietly sleeping in their beds.

"May, it'll be around! We'll look later..."

"That's what you said yesterday!" May cut me off, I'd never seen her so worried about something before.

"It'll turn up, I promise." I sighed. I didn't want to make a promise that, potentially, I couldn't keep, but anything was better than May fretting and pacing around the room.

"I guess..." she smiled, putting on one of her red bandanas.

"Wanna get some food after I've changed?" I asked, trying to steer the subject away.

"Sure, I'm starving!" I heard May's stomach rumble loudly and giggled. She may have such a small figure, but man did she eat like a pig.

"I love food!" May and Ash declared at the same time as each other, their plates piled high. I looked over in Gary's direction and he just shrugged.

"It's obvious you love food, but do you mind saving some for us?"

Ugh, that sickly sweet voice. I hadn't spoken to Melody in a while, and I didn't plan to either.

"There's plenty to go around..." May looked a little hurt.

"Yeah you're right, better get some while it's still here I guess." Brianna smiled and everybody else thought nothing of it. How she could pull off being nasty to May in the sweetest way possible is beyond my knowledge.

"Hi Gary." I heard a voice chirp. I watched as Veronica sat down in the seat next to Gary, flashing him a smile.

"Heya Veronica...I was kinda saving that seat for somebody..." Gary looked uncomfortable, which was quite amusing to say the least.

"Oh I'm sorry, I'll move..."

"No it's okay, she's probably still asleep anyway." Gary smiled and they continued to talk. I gazed around, bored out of my head, and saw May sitting with Brendan. No offence to her or anything but he is so clingy! It's annoying.

"Hi Misty!" Ash chirped happily, sitting down next to me. He had an unusually large bump on the top of his head.

"Uh Ash..? What is that?" I asked, pointing to his head.

"It's my hair, duh!" Ash grinned. Oh my god. I admire his positivity and all but that kid is an idiot!

"No! The bump on your head, stupid!" I yelled, maybe a little too loudly as everybody stopped eating and turned to look at me. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Then just as everybody went silent, Ash decided to speak.

"Oh yeah, that! Last night I threw the controller up in the air in my awesome victory and it attacked me." he shrugged, like it was totally normal to do that.

"That's one way of putting it." Gary smirked. I giggled, but my laughter ended abruptly when Melody decided to sit next to me.

"Oh hello Misty, how are you this morning?" she flashed me a sweet smile. I returned the favour with a glare, but she laughed it off.

"Oh hey Melody, I've not spoken to you in a while!" Ash smiled warmingly. Damn him for being so friendly!

"Morning Ash...oh my gosh your head!" Melody's face had a look of shock and sympathy about it.

"It's fine, don't worry about it!" Ash smiled. Great, I'm stuck in the middle of their little conversation...this is just perfect.

"Morning!" Leaf sang as she skipped into the room, her long, straight brunette hair swishing behind her when she walked. Although her smile flickered slightly when she laid eyes on Veronica with Gary, she refused to let it get to her. I could tell she wasn't okay with it though, Leaf is about as easy to read as a picture book.

"Hey Leaf...I-"

"Ash! Heya!" Leaf spoke loudly, cutting Gary off. She sat herself down at Ash's right, stopping the blossoming conversation between Ash and Melody.

I was eternally grateful.

I smirked at an annoyed looking Melody, who just muttered something under her breath.

"Sorry, what was that?" I asked her, my voice light and happy.

Melody rose from her seat, before quickly heading off out of the kitchen.

"Hey Mist, where'd Melody go?" Ash stopped talking to Leaf for a moment, while looking around for her. I smiled and shrugged my shoulders innocently.

"I can't believe she'd walk off on you like that, in the middle of a conversation too! She's so rude!" I shook my head.

"Yeah..." Ash didn't seem fully convinced, which surprised me a little. Neither of us spoke after that and I found myself looking at Leaf for help again. Only she had her eyes fixed firmly on Gary and Veronica, who were laughing about something or another. I had a really, really bad feeling...

"Okay, time to get out of here now!" I hissed in Leaf's ear before she did something she'd regret. Only she didn't listen and continued to stare, her cold looks slowly turning into icy glares.

"May, let's go find Dawn and start song writing, come on!" I turned to May and she thankfully stood up, quickly telling Brendan that she'd see him later. I was about to grab Leaf before she did something irrational, but I was too late. The brunette jumped to her feet like a bolt of lightning and hurled the pain au chocolat she'd been smearing with chocolate spread right in Veronica's face. It somehow exploded when it came into contact, so she ended up being covered in chocolate.

Although this was the kind of thing I'd been trying to prevent Leaf from doing, I had to bite my lip to stop myself from bursting into a fit of giggles. She grabbed my hand and rushed out of the room, dragging me with her. We ran until Leaf ended up collapsing in the middle of the stairs she was laughing so hard. Tears were flowing out of her eyes, I was the same.

"What the hell happened to you two?" I looked up and saw Jimmy, a guy from Jordan's category, and Drew at the top of the stairs. He was looking at us with a raised eyebrow.

"I...Leaf..." I tried to talk but Leaf's laugh was contagious, so I ended up laughing harder.

"Leaf!" May rushed over to us, shouting up the stairs.

"Y...yeah?" she replied.

"Veronica's after you, she wants to kill you! Not literally but still...just get away from her!"

Leaf immediately stopped laughing and hurtled up the stairs, hiding behind Drew. That was when we heard the ear piercing scream I knew was coming.

"LEAF GREEN YOU BITCH!"

I ran after Leaf, and she was panicking. She'd obviously realised the impact what she'd done, and she didn't find it funny anymore.

"Misty, oh god, hide me!" Leaf yelped. I looked down the corridor and saw our room, we could easily lock ourselves inside for a while until Veronica calmed down a little.

"Get in the room!" I pushed Leaf inside and I was about to shut the door until May pushed past me.

"Don't even try leaving me out here with her!" May squealed and I slammed the door shut, locking us in.

"Phew..." Leaf sighed.

"Guys?" Dawn looked up, intrigued. She was wearing a red tank top and black jeans which showed off her figure perfectly. I noticed she had been reading some kind of book, but I couldn't make out the title.

"It's a long story." May sighed as we could hear fists pounding on the door.

"I swear to god Green, I'm going to smash your face in!"

Dawn narrowed her eyes at Leaf, "What have you done now?" she asked, talking to Leaf like she was a five year old child.

"I didn't do anything wrong, she had it coming!" Leaf raised her voice so Veronica could hear her. After all, she was still pounding down on our door. Dawn turned to us for an answer.

"She threw her breakfast at her." May shrugged and Dawn's lips curved into a grin. It's nice to see her smile actually, she was really upset about her argument with Ursula last night. She wasn't herself, that's for sure.

"I'm bored." Leaf sighed after a moment and we all turned to glare at her.

"If you're bored, then let's work on our song!" I grinned.

"Can't we just use one of May's again?" she whined. May rolled her eyes but said nothing.

"No, we're writing it together! Wasn't it was your idea in the first place?" I argued, refusing to back down.

"Fine...but I'm in a really bitchy mood right now. We are going to put on a show on Saturday!" Leaf grinned and we all set down to work, blasting music from my iPod dock for inspiration. Maybe it was also to drown out Veronica's screaming. I do wonder how the other contestants put up with us at times.

«Gary's POV»

Leaf has really done it this time.

I sped upstairs after Veronica, to find her taking her anger out on the girls bedroom door, screaming and raging. Thank goodness most of the other contestants are out of the house right now, last thing I needed was everybody around me.

"Veronica stop!" I yelled, shutting her up. The music the girls were playing, presumably to drown out Veronica's yelling, had just stopped and the hallway fell silent.

"You're...you're taking her side? She just humiliated me!" Veronica had tears in her eyes and I kinda felt bad...

"I'm not taking anyones side..." I lied, but that just annoyed her.

"You are, you're taking that sluts side! You're a hypocrite Gary!" Veronica glared at me, and something inside me just snapped. All sympathy for Veronica had long since passed.

"I know I'm a hypocrite, but don't you dare talk about my Leaf like that! If anyone's a slut, it's you!" I yelled at her in the heat of the moment and she slapped me across the face. I touched my cheek and it stung like hell.

"Leaf was right about you. And I didn't believe her." I shook my head and turned on my heel, walking away. I just didn't understand, Veronica was so sweet earlier on and now? Ugh. I think there's only one girl in this world that I understand...

Later on...

"This is awesome!" Drew grinned when he looked at the lyrics for our song. We'd taken a leaf out of the girls book (no pun intended) and began to write our song for Saturday.

Well when I say we, I mean Ash and Drew. Paul was completely frozen in his thoughts, and I had no intentions of thawing him out, so to speak. Meanwhile, I was feeling messed up, my emotions toying with my mind. Suddenly, a question popped into my head and I needed to find the answer.

I needed to find her.

I quietly headed out of the room, the three of them not noticing me leave. I picked up the pace, heading over to Tiger Rose's room. I counted my footsteps to calm my nerves, my heart was thudding. The door was still locked from earlier. I knocked on, but none of them bothered to open it.

"Leaf? It's me." I spoke and I heard the sound of the door being unlocked. She opened the door and I took a deep breath.

"Look...I know you don't wanna talk about it, but just answer this for me. Why did you get so mad at Veronica?" I asked and Leaf thought for a moment, blushing a little. She looked back at Misty, May and Dawn who were crowded around one of the beds, clothes and dresses strewn everywhere.

She stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind her. There was nobody else here, just Leaf and I. When I looked at her I got that same feeling inside me, the one I felt when Ash pushed her into me last night when we on the Wii, and the one I felt whenever I was near her. I had no idea why I was feeling this way, I never used to. She was just my annoying best friend who happened to be a girl, I've known Leaf Green all my life but I'd never thought of her in that way before. So why now?

"Answer me." I spoke quietly.

"I..I don't know, okay?" she shook her head and tried to leave, but I grabbed her hands, linking them with my own. Leaf had a tendency to run away from her problems but this time I just couldn't let her go.

"Get off me Gary! Why are you being like this..?" she snarled, suddenly trying (and failing) to rip her hands free from my grasp.

"Were you jealous of Veronica with me?" I blurted out and she froze in her place.

"N...no!" she cried, flushing an even deeper shade of red.

"You're lying, I know it! Just tell me the truth!" I was starting to get agitated.

"Gary, stop it! Why don't you just go back to Veronica! She obviously likes you!" she yelled in my face. I had the sudden urge to kiss her right there and then, but I think she'd slap me. She scared me in a way, I've never known anybody like her.

"I don't want Veronica Leaf...I want you." I spoke quietly, swallowing my pride. But she was worth it. When she realised I wasn't kidding around, tears sprung to her eyes. She ripped her hands away from mine with all her strength, her shaky hand grasping onto the door handle.

"I'm sorry...I don't like you like that! Please, just go!" She bolted back into her room, locking the door behind her. I sighed and leant against it, angrily bashing my head against the wood multiple times in frustration. I just confessed to her...and she wouldn't even look at me.

And that was when I lost it completely.

*May's POV*

"I don't know what to wear!" I put my head in my hands as Misty and Dawn began to argue over exactly what I should wear for my date with Brendan tonight. It was nice to see Dawn a little happier, but she was being annoying. My eyes swivelled to the door, which Leaf had just slammed as hard as she possibly could.

"Leaf? What's up..?" Misty stopped arguing with Dawn and pulled Leaf into a hug, those two had become really close as of late. Leaf burst into tears and I instantly knew she wasn't seeking attention like usual, those tears meant something.

"Hey hey...just let it all out." Misty soothed and Leaf continued to cry, her mascara was running down her face and her breathing was irregular. She looked like a complete wreck.

"I...I..." she tried to talk but she was unable, so she just cried harder.

"Leaf, sweetie you gotta calm down. Did Veronica do this?" Misty asked, sounding really worried now. I'd never seen Leaf so worked up like this before...

"N...no..." she took deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Then we heard a deafening male roar from right outside our door, and Leaf looked heartbroken.

"Who is that..?" Dawn whispered, and Leaf began to cry again.

Misty let go of Leaf, and Dawn took over conforting her. She carefully opened the door to see Gary yelling at nothing, pounding his fists and his anger on the wall. His eyes were filled with hate and and anger and his knuckles cut and bleeding.

"Gary..?" she whispered and he locked eyes with her. He wasn't himself and I knew it, he looked like a twisted, tortured soul.

"Let me in, I need to see her!" he growled in her face. Misty was open mouthed, Gary looked extremely violent right now.

"N...no! Don't let him in Misty, please!" Leaf screamed and Misty nodded, standing her ground. This only seemed to anger him more.

"Goddammit Misty, move!" he spat and Misty was firm, she refused to let him get to Leaf. He was beginning to scare me now, poor Leaf looked petrified. Misty tried to slam the door on him, but he grabbed hold of her wrists, despite her struggles.

"Gary, get off her!" I yelled, running over to them. All of a sudden, Gary hurled Misty to the side in a sudden uncontrollable rage, and her head painfully crashed against wall.

"What is wrong with you?"

I stood in the doorway, my eyes wide with fright as Ash had just come flying over. He slammed Gary against the wall, yelling his head off. Misty let out a loud painful groan and slumped to the floor, clutching her head. She'd hit it awfully hard. I came running outside and knelt down beside her, Leaf tried to follow me but Dawn kept her back.

Ash took one look at poor Misty in agony and punched Gary so hard he ended up on the floor. I had no idea he was capable of that at all...

"Misty!" Ash cried, leaning down beside her. Misty daintily opened her cobalt blue eyes.

"I'm...fine." she tried to sit up, but I could tell that she wasn't 100%.

"Are you sure? I just...I don't know what the hell happened. I've never punched anyone before." Ash entwined his hand with Misty's and she clutched it tightly.

"My head...it hurts so bad Ash!" Misty looked vulnerable, a side I'd never seen to her before. It was scary.

"You'll be okay Mist, I promise. You just need some ice for your head." he grinned, his smile warming. He helped her up to her feet, although she was a little woozy.

Gary stood up at the same time, his bottom lip was split and he had a sorrowful look upon his face. He looked at Misty and his mouth fell open in shock, I bet he couldn't believe he pushed her like that, I was still finding it hard to believe right now. I noticed that Leaf was standing in the doorway, a horrified look on her face when she saw Misty holding her head. Ash helped her up, and I couldn't help but notice that their hands were still clasped together.

"Ginger...I'm so, so sorry!" Gary rushed up to Misty as he'd finally calmed down and realised he'd just done. But it was just too late for apologies.

"No. You showed a whole new side of you that was just inhuman to me. You were acting like a possessed demon, and you hurt me! You threw me into a frickin' wall!" Misty shivered. She looked truly scared of Gary right now, and I didn't blame her.

"Ash..?" Gary whispered as he watched him go up to Leaf and hug her. Leaf herself was shaken up, I wasn't sure exactly what happened between Leaf and Gary earlier, but I know something went down. Something that made Leaf cry, looking torn and forlorn.

"We'll talk later." Ash sighed. "But it doesn't mean you're forgiven." He let go of Leaf and tried to walk away alone, but Misty followed him, a little dizzy from before. He smiled at her and they headed downstairs, as Ash had no intention of talking with Gary.

Gary looked at Leaf and he looked distant, still shocked. I glanced at Dawn who was standing nearby, and I had no idea what to do for the best.

"How could you?" Leaf whispered after a few silent seconds. She looked shattered, it was heartbreaking!

"I didn't mean for any of that...I was just so angry...please forgive me." Gary tried to walk closer to Leaf, but she quickly backed away from him.

"Are...are you scared of me?" Gary whispered as Leaf nodded.

"Please don't be frightened...it makes me feel like a monster." Gary ignored the blood escaping from his lip and continued to look at Leaf.

"You are a monster." Leaf spat, before locking herself in our bedroom.

My eyes flickered to Gary, and he looked heartbroken. I finally put two and two together in my head and it suddenly clicked. Everything made sense.

"You love her, don't you Gary?" I sighed as he nodded slowly.

"But I blew it. She hates me!" Gary's voice cracked, he angrily wiped tears from his face as he hurried to the bathroom. I watched him go, kind of feeling sorry for him. I didn't like his violence towards Misty just now at all, but I didn't hate him. I can't hate anybody. Even Drew…

"May remember, your date with Brendan." Dawn spoke quietly and I slapped my forehead, how could I have forgotten?

—Normal POV—

"Leaf...I need to get ready. Please let me in." May spoke softly to Leaf, who'd shut herself away in their room. When there was no response, May sighed as she saw Brendan appear at the top of the stairs.

"Hey...you ready to go?" Brendan asked her.

"Leaf's locked herself inside, so I can't get ready." May left out the details of Gary's rampage.

"You don't need to get ready, you look fine just the way you are." Brendan gave her a firm smile and she grinned back.

"I'll see you later Dawn." May nodded to the blunette, who waved the twosome goodbye for now.

Dawn watched the two of them leave, and she thought she was alone. She was about to head for the stairs, as Leaf clearly had no intention of coming out just yet, and she felt a cold hand on her bare shoulder before she could reach them. She suddenly felt very self conscious wearing her tiny little tank top.

"Not so fast Troublesome."

Dawn gulped.

Drew sat alone on his bed, just staring at the object in his hands. He'd had it in his possession for almost two days now, even though it didn't belong to him.

He just didn't have the courage to give it back.

Each time he looked at it, he was constantly reminded of the broken look on May Maple's face when he tried to apologise to her after Saturdays show. That was the one of the hardest things he'd ever done.

Maybe that was why he'd hidden it deep in his closet so the others hadn't found it.

The crystals etched onto this object gleamed like the sun, whatever angle you looked at it from. These tiny jewels were different shades of red and green, my favourite colour. Each tiny individual formed together to create a red rose with a green stalk, miniature crystals sticking out left and right on the stalk, presumably to create little thorns.

Brendan Birch was a thorn.

Drew felt angered that May had happily agreed to go on a date with him, but he knew there was some kind of hope. The way May looked at him before Birch caught her attention said it all, May was entranced, but she wouldn't admit it. She had to forgive him sooner or later, and Drew could already see her barrier against him cracking.

It was only a matter of time.

He turned his attentions back to the item in his hands. An idea appeared in his head and he began to smile. She would have to forgive him!

Drew grinned to himself. When May arrived home with Birch, he was going to be a hero and give her the tiara back that he 'found'

Nothing was going to stop him!

"Paul...what are you-!"

Drew's ears sensed a breathless feminine voice from outside, although he couldn't make out everything she was saying. He could have sworn this girl said 'Paul'.

The only Paul in this house is Paul Shinji, our Paul. The emo guy with serious anger problems.

"He can't get a girl before me!" Drew muttered to himself.

He listened out again, for anything but there was no sound. He was then startled by the sound of an adjacent door slamming shut.

The curiosity was overpowering at this point, so Drew left the tiara on his bed and walked out to see what was going on. But what he didn't realise was that he'd left the door wide open, and three pairs of devious eyes were watching his every step.

Authors Note - Hiya! It's a wonder that I managed to find the time to write this chapter, because of school and...I've kinda become addicted to Harvest Moon lately. The Tale of Two Towns game is just so relaxing, I love it! Anyway back to this. So much happened in this chapter, it's making my head spin XD I was going to put May and Brendan's date in this aswell, but I needed to cut the chappy off before then because it was getting too long.

I didn't want or mean to make Gary the bad guy here, it just happened. Ehehe he turned into Demon Gary XD I swear this story writes itself at times, I get inspired so easily!:')

That's all, please leave a review if you can! I love responding. I'm always checking my emails for the notifications from ff XD

Hope you liked it! Lalalala :)~