Coherent thought was lost to Gladion. Sleep could not come easily to Moon.

The bright sphere in the sky has the same name as her. That tall obnoxious lamp looked like him.

Simultaneously both had fallen from grace; unwillingly, regrettably, unfathomably.

Shared breaths, soft touches, longing gazes.

A kiss that didn't happen. A kiss that did happen.

Gladion finds his clipboard slipping from his hands, Moon's head slams on the patio table.

"What is wrong with you?" their respective company asks-

An intake of air. An exhale.

Moon looks at Lillie; Gladion looks at Hau.

"I have a confession to make."


"YOU NEARLY DID WHAT?"

Hau's surprise was the understatement of the century, his food dropping from his fork, his mouth agape as he stares at the destressin Gladion's features. And it wasn't like he was completely in the dark. Lillie had made sure to tell him of how her brother was being an idiot and how Moon wasn't taking initiative. And sure, even though he and Lillie both agreed that the two of them would get together eventually , he never thought he would hear the confirmation coming from his best man.

Arceus, this was Gladion! The man with the plan, the one who didn't just fall for people, the person who had very strongly expressed his disdain for that "girl who was at every wedding" for years- and yet here he was admitting that based on his ' observations'(code for his obsession over control and order) that he may have started to like Moon.

And that he may have tried to kiss her.

"So what happened then? You went on a whim and tried to kiss my best friend? Did she push you away or…?"

Gladion's pen taps incessantly on his board, his mouth scowling as Hau just stares and stares.

"She didn't push you away at all, huh?" Hau teases, Gladion glares.

Moon leaned in, her eyes closed, her lips beckoned. No. She definitely did not. "...I'm not supposed to like her," he defends and Hau just rolls his eyes in response.

Lillie was right, Gladion was an idiot.

"Well," Hau hits the table in front decisively decreeing that their official wedding meeting was now postponed for something much more urgent. His hands come behind his head as he leans back into the chair. "Lay it on me brother…tell me why it's so wrong to like Moon."

The term of endearment causing Gladion to scoff; it was odd, but after enough years of knowing each other Gladion knew all he could do was begrudgingly go along with it and his current mandate.

"I really don't want to do th-"

"Okay fine think fast-Moon is…"

"Annoying."

"Gladion," Hau urges as the blonde sighs dramatically.

"Reliable."

"Moon's face is…"

"Irritating."

Hau didn't even need to speak this time around.

"Decent."

"You wish Moon would…"

"Stop destroying my weddings."

"Ugh, you're no fun," Hau pouts as Gladion merely smirks, his hands finally putting down the clipboard he had found himself fidgeting with.

"She's Moon, Hau," Gladion says in disbelief, "what do you expect me to say? That she's cute with some wit that always keeps me on my toes? That I find myself completely enthralled with how she handles everyone, but me? How she once called herself Alola's sweetheart and that that nickname might as well hit the hammer on the head because when she's not off ruining my life she's out making everyone else smile?"

And that's when Gladion sees it. The very same sly smile Hau gave him when he first called him his brother-in-law. Knowing, cheeky, and absolutely living for the confession-the reaction.

"Yeah, I expected something like that."

"I'm leaving," Gladion spits out, grabbing hold of everything when Hau just laughs.

"Dude, this is your office," a valid statement, Gladion stopping in his tracks, Hau's chuckles only growing more and more as his own sanity decreases with every rise and fall of the sound.

"Fine then Gladbags," Hau breathes out, his laughs waning, "if you can't admit why it's wrong to like her, it just means you havemore reason to like her."

And it's with those words that Gladion feels his world crash. Hau was speaking reason. Hau was being logical.

He needed a proper response and all he could muster up is: "it's not professional to date someone in the bridal party."

And all Hau does is throw his hands up in frustration.

"That's a bad excuse, and you know it!"

Yeah. Gladion definitely knew.

That didn't mean he wouldn't use it though.


"So in the end you're telling me you let the opportunity slip away?"

Moon groans, her fingers digging into her hair as she tries to avoid Lillie's scrutinizing gaze.

"I panicked!"

"But you wanted it," Lillie chides, her own lips pulling into a knowing smile as Moon just sheepishly gazes at her. The flush on her face saying more than Moon would want to admit.

"I KNEW IT!" Lillie exclaims, Moon hiding her face once again. "YOU NEVER DID GET OVER HIM!"

"Ughhhhhhhhhhhh, I don't want to talk about it," Moon's voice muffled by her brash actions-her body slumped over the table, her cheek laying on the cold grating. They were gathered here to go over their upcoming dance lessons while Hau and Gladion discussed the newly narrowed ordered invitations-but instead here they were.

"I know we don't have to, but you two should," Lillie suggests only to get another groan out of Moon.

"Can I go tell him I quit?"

"You wouldn't want to give him that satisfaction."

"Arceus," Moon mutters under her breath, "it's fine I'll let my pride get more damaged instead of my sanity."

"Moon, if you leave I won't have a Maid of Honor at my wedding now would I?" Moon could hear Lillie giggling. Her laughter filled with a mix of excitement, giddiness, even hope. A crush, she once warned Moon about, had finally gotten to a point past contempt-even though it was now messier than it could have ever been.

"You could live without me."

"Hmmm," Lillie contemplates, Moon now shifting her face to look at her with a pointed look. "Pretty sure I can't, which is why you and my brother need to work this out."

And with Moon's silence Lillie couldn't help but to look at her with a serious expression.

"Why don't you want to talk it out?"

"Lillie," Moon mumbles, her head lifting from the table and instead propping itself up on the palm of her hand. "Alola knows he hates me," and the dejection in her voice convinces Lillie that these two would be avoiding the topic for as long as possible.


"Fine, but maybe you should consider taking a chance."


It had been this way since the wedding.

Moon knocks, Gladion opens. Her head darts down, his eyes glance up and they both murmur a quick murmured hello before sitting in hours of silence. Their conversations? Through email. Their questions? Through sticky notes.

Their mouths stayed shut and their focus stayed glued to their task at hand and this week it was rechecking the RSVPs.

Everything was strained. Awkward. And limited to stolen glances and unsaid words.

Neither one of them wanted to ask. Neither one of them wanted to explain.

Talking meant acknowledging and if they both stayed quiet the very delicate relationship they had barely established could stay civil. And civility is all they needed in order to get through the next few months together.

But both couldn't help but to replay the words Lillie and Hau had said to them for hours, over and over again.

That maybe they should talk, take a chance, clear the air...

"Mo—"

"Gladi—-"

"Ah—-you go first," they both offer, embarrassment showing up on their cheeks as silence washes over them again. This was entirely different from their usual vibe, let alone how different it was from their escapades at the open bar.

Maybe they could pretend nothing happened...

All they had to do was call it a flub. A mistake. A spur of the moment thing as they got swept up in the alcohol, the feelings. But Moon knew that the dreaded 'we need to talk' starter was what she needed to say to get a conversation flowing between two functioning adults. Moon chews on her lower lip, her legs shaking nervously, her hands fidgeting anxiously. Her focus was gone-she had already called out and there were two possible ways this could go:

Horribly wrong, or horribly wrong.

But she had to say it. She had to ask about what happened between them.

"Would you say we're friends?"

Nope. Nope. Not that. That was not what she was supposed to ask, but Moon would be lying if she said she wasn't curious about where she stood with the blonde. The blonde who supposedly hated her. The blonde who also almost kissed her. The blonde whodefinitely kissed her.

It was like Lillie said, she had to take a chance.

His head looks towards her so fast Moon swears he could have whiplash. His green eyes staring into hers wide, almost shocked. "I'm sorry, what?" his voice sounded foreign to Moon as it escaped the silence they had gotten used to. Just a low, smooth sound, filled with genuine surprise that she didn't know until then that she missed.

"Would you consider us friends?" her question resolute as she watches Gladion's mouth open and close unable to formulate the answer.

He fights the urge to look past her inquisitive eyes before shrugging. "I guess…" a pause, and then a smirk. Moon feeling her heart clamor at the subtle gesture. "But maybe it's more out of convenience. I'm just a watchful eye to make sure no more catastrophes happen."

And that's when Moon scoffs. Of course, leave it to Gladion to defend himself with sarcasm, and leave it to her to follow suit.

"Well then Gladion, given that we're such great friends then," Moon says says sweetly, "I assume we can throw our pasts behind us and you could do me a favor."

Moon takes all her preconceived notions back when she sees him quirk an eyebrow, maybe it was best they didn't talk about that night at all.