"Oh Ash." A sing-song voice called out. "Look what I found."
Ash heard the tone and turned around carefully, only to see a baby blue book held firmly in Max's hands. "What is it?" he asked blandly.
Max smirked and flipped over the book.
"Misty…." Ash read quietly. Suddenly he paled. "Max! Put it back!" Ash jumped to his feet and attempted to grab the book from him. "What are you? Suicidal?"
A girl came humming down the hall, and as quickly as possible, Ash pulled Max in the room and shut the door behind him.
"Where did you get that!"
Max smiled superiorly. "It was in her back-pack."
"You… You went through her bag?"
Max shook his head. "She set it on the bed."
"Th-Then she'll notice it missing. Put it back!"
But Max had already situated himself on Ash's bed, and was opening the book with a giggle.
Ash ran across the room and grabbed one side of the book. "C'mon put it back. I'm serious; you don't want to be caught reading that."
Max shrugged lightly. "Then lock the door." He then reached out with his free hand and pulled on Ash's ear, giving him just enough distraction to pull it back from Ash.
Ash finally sighed and sat down on the bed beside him. The room was small, but not to small. They were all in Ash's house and at the moment, Misty, May, and Brock were downstairs. It was a simple get together. Misty had been traveling with them for a short time and they had stopped at Ash's house to recuperate. It was evening now, and Max had, for some strange reason, found it a good idea to take the journal of the girl he looked up to in their small group.
Ash shifted uneasily and glanced at the book. Misty would kill them. She would break down the door and beat them both to a pulp.
Why on earth did Max think it sensible to take her journal? It was something Ash certainly wasn't expecting. Apparently Max didn't know her as well as he thought he did, or Ash was sure he would've thought twice before taking such an action. Then again… Misty probably wasn't the kind of person that would hurt a kid. Now Ash was a different matter, but with Max she would probably scold him and send him off before turning her wrath to Ash. Something he certainly wasn't looking forward too.
"Put the book back." Ash muttered, but he didn't look at Max or make a move for the book.
"Dear journal, I 'm in love with Ash. Every time I look in his deep chocolate eyes I get lost and I can't breathe. I…"
Ash had slowly been getting redder and had a bit of a belated reaction to the words because the shocking way young Max put them together. "S-Stop that."
Max smirked and went on, bringing Ash to flush more and continue the pointless rambling. Finally he lashed out at Max and tried to grab the book, as Max jumped from the bed with a smile, still "reading".
"It does not say that!"
"Oh journal, I love him so much!" Max exclaimed.
"Cut it out! I'm serious!"
Max stopped running away and lowered the book from his gaze to see Ash, terribly flushed and looking quite annoyed with him.
Max decided he had tortured him enough and lowered the book. "Sorry. Learned it from reading May's journal."
Ash blinked. "May's journal has a lock."
Max smirked. "How do you know that?"
"Just because she writes in it every single night! Ugh!" Ash let himself fall flat upon his bed and covered his face with his forearm, willing the heat away. It was ridiculous that words that didn't even come from her had so much effect on him. "How do you get into her journal?"
"I can pick locks." Max smiled and sat beside him on the bed flipping through more of the pages. "Kind of sad that you're this close to the book and you'll never know what's inside it."
"I knew you were going to do this." Ash grumbled. "Never trust a kid. It just blows up in your face." He said it more to himself that to Max, as he really didn't want to hurt his feelings, then finally removed his arm and sat up.
"You know you're still blushing, right?"
"Quiet."
Max looked at Ash's face. Ash wasn't looking at him, but more at the book in his grasp, and Max smirked as he saw the inner turmoil. "What are you doing?"
"Huh?" Ash asked, not really listening.
Max raised the book and waved it back and forth, watching Ash's eyes follow it. Ash finally snapped out of it by shaking his head and looking away. "We should get back downstairs. They'll be wondering where we are."
Max shrugged. "They're watching a movie. They probably won't notice it for a while." He smirked again and looked up at Ash before asking slyly, "Wanna read it?"
Ash's gaze snapped to Max's face. "No!"
"Why not?"
"Because… Because she's my friend! That's how you lose friends! It's this thing called trust. I don't want to lose Misty… again…." He muttered the last word to himself.
Max shrugged. "Suit yourself." He adjusted himself so he was lying on his stomach, then pulled his back-pack off and pulled out a red journal with a Torchick on it.
Ash groaned.
"Don't worry." Max muttered, swinging his legs in the air. "I do this all the time. It'll be ok."
"You read their journals all the time?" Ash repeated.
Max shrugged. "Well, May's. I've only read Misty's once before this. She's not very good at guarding it when I'm around."
"That's because she doesn't expect you to take it!"
He didn't seem to hear Ash, and was immersed in the books he was reading. "Dear Diary…" he read aloud "I saw Drew again today after the contest. He won… again…. Grr. But he gave me a rose…." Max cut off here giggling. "Almost every entry has something about Drew's roses. He has to have given her over a hundred. Either that or May writes about it even if he hasn't given her one that day."
Ash bit his lip and shifted his position so he was beside Max, looking over his shoulder at May's journal. Max had been reading it out loud, so there really wasn't any difference between him hearing it or reading it. Right?
Within moments, both boys were looking over the entries and laughing together. Then Max suddenly switched books. He had just about started reading before it occurred to Ash what he was doing. He instantly jumped up and breathed out.
"Ash?" Max started in confusion.
"Shoot…. Sorry, Max. I'm done. We're going to be murdered if anyone finds out about this."
"But I'm not going to tell them, and you're not."
"But that's not how it works!"
"Why not?" Max asked obliviously.
Ash could hardly believe that Max was asking him a question. Then again, that may be hard for a boy to understand when he was pretty young and had spent a few years reading his sisters journal almost daily. "B-Because…." He paused and sighed. "Because it's an invasion of privacy. Teenagers need it more that kids do."
"Only if they're trying to have one and one time." Max grumbled, too quietly for Ash to hear, as he looked over another of Misty's entries. Suddenly he blinked and tilted his head to the side with his brows furrowed, as though he was checking what he had just read. His eyes suddenly widened in recognition and he stared at the page in awe for a moment.
Unfortunately, Ash noticed the look. "Max…? What are you looking at?"
Max quickly pulled the book towards him. "You're probably right. It's an invasion of privacy. We should put these back."
Ash blinked, wondering whether or not he should believe him. What was with the sudden mood change? "Max… are you hiding something?"
"No! I'm gonna put these back now! Bye!"
"Wait a second!" Ash definitely knew something was up now, and managed to grab the journal from Max before the page was changed.
"Oh great." Max covered his eyes as Ash raised the page into his view. He read over it for a moment, before a blush rose to his face.
"Hey Ash, do you…" Ash looked up as Misty casually opened the door and then froze.
He looked over the book then at her and then back to the book. "Ah! Misty! No!"
Misty stared at him blankly for a moment, then slowly her brows came together and she bit her lip and ran from the room.
"Misty!" Ash threw the book onto the bed and then took off after her, leaving Max to watch them go and let out a breath of anxiety.
"Misty, wait!"
Misty opened the door to the spare room, shut it behind her, and locked it with a firm click before throwing herself on the bed.
"Wait!" Ash pulled on the doorknob, just to make sure, then started pounding on the door. "C'mon Misty! Let me explain!" He stopped pounding and sighed, resting his forehead on the door. "I'm sorry Misty…."
"Ash?" May said in surprise. "What are you doing in here?"
Ash didn't seem to notice her and walked strait to the couch before dropping into it and burying his face in his hands.
"Ash?" Brock asked. May and Brock exchanged nervous glances.
"Did you see Misty?" May asked.
Ash nodded.
"What did she say?"
Ash dropped his hands a little and looked at her in confusion. "She didn't say anything."
"O-Oh…. Really…. What happened?"
Ash looked away again. "Uh… her journal…."
"What?" May asked, a tone of disbelief in her voice.
"Her journal…" he mumbled, barely audibly. "She saw me…"
May's mouth dropped open. "Ash, you better not be saying what I think you're saying."
"Ash, did you read Misty's journal?" Brock asked strait-forwardly.
Ash remained mute for a moment, then gave a stiff and, so small it was almost unnoticeable, nod.
Brock groaned and threw his head back.
"Ash!" May scolded.
"I didn't mean to!"
"How can you not mean to read someone's journal?"
"Max read yours!" He cried in defiance.
"Tattle tale!" a voice yelled from the top of the stairs.
May groaned and shook her head. "Great…. But that's beside the point. Ash, do you know why Misty came upstairs?"
Ash shook his head slowly.
"What did you read?" Brock asked.
"Uh…" Ash flushed and looked down.
May sighed. "Just go talk to her."
"I already tried. She locked the door…."
"Talk to her from outside."
"But I…"
"Please, Ash? Just trust me on this."
He took a deep breath, then nodded and headed back up the stairs.
"Misty?" He rapped softly on the door but it didn't take him long to figure out that he wouldn't be getting a response. He sighed and slid down the wall beside it. "C'mon Misty. Let me in."
A soft sound reached his ears and his whole body stiffened. He had thought that if she saw them she would be angry. Suddenly he discovered something much worse. She was crying. He closed his eyes. "Mist, please open the door." He asked much softer. "Mist?"
"Don't call me that!"
The words hurt. It was his name for her. His and only his, proving that they had a connection with each other that others didn't. But he tried his best to push that aside. She was talking now, so he was making progress. "But Mist…"
"Misty! There's a "y" on the end!"
Ash gulped. "Misty… I didn't mean it. It was an accident I swear, I just…"
"You can't read something on accident!"
"I'm sorry! Misty, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to. I wasn't going to. But Max was reading it and then he said something and I just got curious. I'm sorry! Misty, please! Can't you open the door so we can talk face-to-face? You can hit me or whatever. I don't mind. I deserve it. Just open the door. Please. Please Mist."
As if she could have let the door stay shut with that. The boy was completely ignorant to just how perfect he could be sometimes.
She got up and opened the door stiffly. "It's Misty." She muttered before going back to the bed.
Ash stood and entered nervously, realizing that really, he had just explained the whole thing and there wasn't much more to say.
"So…" Misty started. "How'd you get it?" she wasn't looking at him and her voice didn't sound angry, just skeptical.
"Max got it." He grumbled. "He said you left it out. He had May's too."
Misty sighed. "Oh."
"I… I'm sorry."
She bit her lip and then shook her head quickly. "That's not going to cover it this time."
Ash felt his heart drop a bit. "I didn't mean too, and I said I was sorry. What more do you want?"
She covered her mouth and Ash's eyes widened when he recognized the signs that showed she was trying not to cry. "Ash, do you realize what you did? This wasn't just an accidental fall out of a tree and land on top of me; it was a complete violation of my trust. I never thought you would do that. Maybe when we were younger… but now?"
Ash gulped. "I know…. I'm sorry."
She shook her head. "Could you leave? I need to think."
Instead of leaving, he took a deep breath and started forward.
Misty opened her eyes and froze seeing him barely over a foot away from her.
"What if I could make it up to you?" he asked softly.
Misty gulped and opened her mouth a little. 'Ash, you're horrible. You read something, didn't you? You're torturing me on purpose aren't you?' She gulped again and muttered, "Huh," intelligently.
Ash moved forward just the slightest bit more and grabbed her wrist with one hand. The action caught Misty off guard, and for a moment she was snapped out of it before looking at his eyes again. "What-What are you doing?" she whispered, starting to feel dizzy. 'Stop looking at me like that. I'm supposed to be mad at you.'
Seizing whatever frail amount of courage he had left, Ash tugged slightly on her wrist and leaned in the rest of the way, pressing his lips down upon hers.
Misty almost fell away from the shock of it all, and then in the next moment the dizzy feeling went away replaced by the thought that she really wanted this, and Ash was the one who had kissed her. Pure bliss. She stopped herself from falling and leaned into him, relishing the feeling she hoped would never end.
But of course it did end, like it always does, and Ash pulled back staring at Misty whose eyes had gone wide. "A-Ash…"
He gulped, licking his bottom lip subconsciously, then whispered, "May 8th. That… was… the only one I read." And he pulled back and went out the door, shutting it behind himself.
Misty was so in shock that it took her a few moments to register what he had just said, but when she did a blush ran to the tip of her ears. Of all the pages he could have read in the entire journal…. She put her hand up and fingered her lips, then suddenly fell backwards on the bed and let out a very girly giggle.
"Ash?" May asked. Ash walked by right by her as if in a daze. "Ash!" she jumped in front of him and snapped her fingers.
"What? Huh?"
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"How did it go?"
Ash blushed deep red. "It-It was good. Excuse me." Ash brushed past her and turned around, running right back up the stairs.
May and Brock looked at each other, quiet for a moment, and then burst out laughing.
A few minutest later, Ash was sitting on his bed staring into space. Max was sitting beside Ash on the bed and leaning over slightly so he could look at his face.
Misty knocked on the door, but Ash didn't answer so Max called out for him. "Come in!"
She opened the door and stood there for a moment. Ash looked up at her, blushed, and instantly looked away.
Misty shifted a little uncomfortably, then walked strait to the bed, where she picked up both journals. "I'll take these."
"Man…." Max mumbled.
Misty paused halfway to the door and turned around to see Ash still blushing and staring at the floor. She let a smile run to her face and walked up to him. "Ash?"
He looked up at her than looked back down.
"Ash."
This time he looked up and let his gaze stay on hers, still hiding his embarrassment. But he was completely caught off guard when Misty leaned forward, capturing his lips in another sweet kiss.
She pulled away and stood up, seemingly satisfied, then turned and left through the door.
Max looked at Ash's face again and started laughing. Ash's mouth hung open as he stared after her.
"She's got you completely wrapped around her finger." Max said through laughter.
Ash blushed again and grunted, before repositioning himself.
"Ash?" Misty called.
"Coming!" Ash jumped to his feet and ran towards the door, hearing Max snicker behind. "Shut up…."
Yay!The end! Lol.I took a different aproach in this one-shot. It's somewhat different to what I usually write, but I had a bunch of fun!
P.S. My computer is having a bunch of problems (soon to be fixed), so sorry if I haven't replied to any messages. I can't get into my email. Anywho, don't let that keep you from reviewing. I'd appreciate it.
Review!Review!Review!Please Review!