I'm sorry it has taken me so long to update, but my life has been pretty hectic lately, and I was undergoing what seemed like a writer's block. I also wrote like five different versions of this until one of them actually made me happy.

Hope you like it, and its weirdness :)

Disclaimer: too bad it isn't mine yet :(

Jam

He loves jam.

Specially the one his mother makes. There is always a different flavor available on the fridge for him in a neatly arranged jar with a small note that contains a few loving words.

She loves it too, and she knows how good Mrs. Ketchum's jams can be. She never hesitates on opening the fridge and pulling out the delicious jam when she visits him. And they would talk away while spreading the jam over toasts, or crackers, or simply licking spoonfuls of it as they catch up with each other's lives.

Today is no different. The first thing she does after greeting her friend with a long awaited hug is walk to the kitchen while blabbing away about the last amateur trainer that dared to step into the Cerulean City Gym. Her hair is a bit longer, he notices, but just a few inches. Besides that, she's still the same red-headed girl he had befriended so many years before.

"Raspberry!" she squeals while pulling out the jar with the gelled fruit inside "Raspberry's the best one."

He disagrees as he says that raspberry's actually last on his list, while peach and strawberry fight for the first spot. He sits himself on the kitchen table, his mouth already watering as she places the jar on the white surface of the table and sits by his side.

But today she hasn't bothered on opening a pack of crackers, or placing slices of bread on the toaster. She hasn't even bothered on bringing two spoons for them to dip in the jam and then lick.

Today she opens the jar and dips her own index finger inside. The jar is only half-full, but that doesn't seem to bother her; it was still a large jar. She pulls her finger out and places it on her mouth, her lips enclosing around it. She tastes for a moment, considering, and then her finger reappears completely clean and with a satisfied sigh she mutters "still great."

She pushes the jar towards him, offering him to dip his own finger inside. He hesitates for a moment, considering how much his mother would disapprove of such an unhygienic way of eating her jams, but forgetting about it he pulls out his fingerless glove from his right hand and dips his finger inside.

And he realizes that raspberry didn't taste so bad on his finger.

They take turns to dip their fingers on the jam as they talk the afternoon away. He learns that she has gotten three new Goldeens to battle for the Gym, and that Daisy is dating a new mysterious guy and refuses to introduce him to her sisters. Speaking of her sisters, she reminds him of the fact that they leave her in charge of all the battling and paperwork while they only busy themselves with the water shows. She waves her hands around in exasperation as she tells him about the latest all-nighter she pulled thanks to them.

He takes a chance to tell her about the new attack Pikachu has learned, the three Tauros he sold, and about the job that Professor Oak has offered him on his lab, which he doesn't yet know if he should take or not.

And an hour has passed, and the jar is almost empty, except for a small amount remaining on the side. They stare at each other, almost daring one another to steal the last bit of jam. But of course she's quicker, and the jam envelopes her fingertip as she chuckles and he looks at it through slightly narrowed eyes.

He keeps silent; he would sure have a brand new jar of jam on his fridge by tomorrow for sure, while she wouldn't get another taste until her next visit. Raspberry was his least favorite after all.

"Sorry, Ash" she says, and he knows she doesn't mean it at all. Her playful smile doesn't help either.

"It's alright" he says.

She taunts him while waving her jam covered finger in front of his face. She asks him teasingly if he's sure he doesn't want the last bit, and he reassures her that it's alright for her to have it, although he doesn't know up to what extent he really means it.

Food and losing had always been his weaknesses.

But the taunting continues, and she brings the finger up to her lips until they touch the jam, only to pull it away and leaving only a speck of the fruit on her lips, like a badly applied lipstick.

"Are you sure?" she asks again, and he rolls his eyes. Her jam covered finger is close to him now, and it gets so close that the gelled fruit touches his lips, just a fraction. He licks them, savoring a trace of the sweet raspberry taste. The act seems to send a spark inside him, and he regrets letting her have what remained of the jam a little bit more with each second that passes.

It's too late; her finger is already inside her mouth, and she licks it clean with a content expression. It isn't until she catches a glimpse of his face that her content expression gets replaced by a frown.

"What?" she asks seriously, and he guesses that something on his features is giving away the current struggle he's having inside him. He tries to dissemble it by meeting her look, but he fails as his eyes are too busy focusing on what remains of the jam, ridiculously applied as a cheap, purple lipstick on the red-head's lips.

"Stop staring" she says worriedly.

And he does.

He always loved jam. Jam on toast, jam on crackers, jam on pancakes, or just jam on a spoon. His favorites had been peach and strawberry, always fighting for the first spot.

But today raspberry becomes his new favorite. And God, does it taste great off her lips.

As always, thanks for reading, and hoped you enjoyed!