Chapter Twelve

"Ouch! Can someone grab this for me before I drop it?" I called, trying to squeeze my way through the door. It was moving day for Ethan, and we were all trying to pitch in and help pack all of his stuff into the truck he had rented. Somehow the boys had all left me with the largest box, and carrying it wasn't really working out.

A pair of hands took the box from me just as it slipped through my fingers, and I sighed in relief. Silver nodded at me as he turned around, heading back down the stairs of the apartment complex to pack the box. I had to admit, I was surprised that he had taken the box from me. It was almost too nice of him.

I turned back around to go grab another box, looking at Lynda sitting on the couch. Right. I had almost forgotten she was here. It wasn't like she was helping out or anything. She was just sitting there on the couch, her legs lifted up on our coffee table—which I would now have to clean—and her arms crossed as she just watched us all walk by with boxes.

Even Blue was here helping Ethan move out. He could be anywhere but here—like out trying to find a job—but he still made the effort to help. Lynda, on the other hand, could be anywhere but here, but she just sat around and watched us work our asses off. Which, quite frankly, I didn't really appreciate.

In the two weeks that I had known Lynda, I had deduced quite a few things about her: first, she was a pretentious bitch; second, she seemed to hate me for no reason in particular; third, she didn't like speaking to me and avoided confrontation whenever possible; and lastly, she actually seemed to have quite a bit of skill with Pokémon.

The first thing was easy to figure out; Lynda was about as ostentatious as they came, sticking her nose high in the air whenever she walked into a room and carrying an aura of pure self-adoration. As far as narcissists were concerned, I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting many—Lynda, though, probably loved herself far more than she loved Silver. And it kind of broke my heart a little to see him with her.

It didn't take much to see that Lynda hated me, either. From that triple date, I knew she had something against me considering all of the glares I kept receiving. And every time she had been over here with Silver since, she never stopped giving me those looks. It didn't even seem like she knew she was doing it; she hated me that much.

Of course, she never told me that she hated me. I had assumed it. In fact, she never spoke to me at all. Since meeting her, I had never had a conversation with her, and she always got eerily quiet whenever I was in the same room with her, as if she had to bite her tongue to physically keep herself from saying anything. It was impressive that in two weeks, the girl hadn't let anything slip. It wouldn't be long now.

The last thing was harder to figure out, and I had only discovered this through eavesdropping. Apparently, she was a Trainer at Whitney's Gym in Goldenrod, and when she was younger, she had been considered a Pokémon-training prodigy. But she had never actually gone on a Gym challenge. She chose to stay and train at Whitney's Gym instead, apparently hoping to take it over in the future.

That was always the worst. Bitchy girls who were actually good at something…

I had to ignore her. As annoying and mean as she was—without even saying anything—I couldn't be mean back to her. Silver and I had called a truce, and whether he intended to keep it or not, I did. If he loved her, then that was fine with me. If he wanted to marry her later on, that was fine with me, too. I just hoped it didn't have to come to that.

So, I continued moving, heading back to Ethan's room to grab the last of his stuff. But when I reached his room, I found it empty—Ethan's Azumarrill was carrying the last small box, looking particularly proud of itself for holding such a large thing. And there Ethan was, sitting on the edge of his bed, the mattress and bed frame only things left of it.

"Oh, Ethan," I whimpered, walking towards him and sitting down on the mattress beside him. He kept his head down, and I wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "I can't believe you're really moving out… and getting married. It kind of feels like yesterday we got this apartment, you know? And it's not going to be the same without you."

Ethan sniffled, finally looking up at me. His eyes were a little red, and I leaned my head against his shoulders. "Yeah. I'm sorry that I have to leave you with Silver."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I picked my head up, and Ethan and I turned a little on the mattress to look back at Silver. He was frowning, but the tone of his voice insisted that he was only joking. Instead of walking around the bed like a civilized human being, he bounced across the mattress to the other side of Ethan, sitting down beside him. And there we were: the trio, together for one last time.

"I never really thought this day would come… the day when one of us left," Silver admitted solemnly, and I sighed in agreement. "It was a little immature of us to think that, wasn't it? I mean, we had to know that this wouldn't be the arrangement forever. But I know I thought that. And now I don't want to believe that one of us is leaving."

"I can come back and visit," Ethan suggested, his voice optimistic. "We can have reunions here, and I can just—oh, I don't know. I guess things won't really ever be the same. I'll be a guest here, not a resident, and I can't stay nights or anything. But it's not like I can stay here forever, you guys. You know that."

There was silence for a moment, time for all of his words to sink in. He was right: things would never be the same again. Now that our little family had lost one member, it wasn't long before we lost another or had to downgrade. Because, quite frankly, I wasn't sure that Silver and I could pay rent between the two of us. Blue had even suggested that we get an apartment together somewhere else.

And I was considering it. I just couldn't tell Silver yet.

Ethan stood up, turning around to face Silver and me. With a tiny smile, he held out his arms, and I jumped to my feet, throwing my arms around him. Silver hugged him next, slapping Ethan's back like an old pal, and Ethan pulled me back into the circle for one last group hug. It didn't take long for the tears to start flowing from my eyes.

"I promise I'll take good care of him," a fourth voice interjected, and I gave a thankful smile to Mattie. She leaned her head against the doorframe, wiping one of her eyes. "We'll be in touch as soon as we get all moved in, and you guys can come up to the house to see it, okay? And we'll be getting started on the wedding plans really soon, so we'll keep you in the loop about that, too. And you guys can call whenever you want. I won't hog him; he's your best friend, too."

I laughed, pulling myself away from Ethan to go hug Mattie. "Thank you, Mattie."

"And you, too, Lyra."

She smiled one last time at me, grabbing Ethan's hand as he walked towards us. Silver and I followed them out of the apartment, watching as they drove away in their rented truck, standing outside for what seemed like forever watching them leave. Lynda, Blue, and Silver, after a minute or two, started back inside, but I wanted to stay outside awhile longer. Catching my breath was a little harder than I thought it would be.

A few minutes passed, and I sat down on the curb, holding my knees against my chest and staring out at the road. I knew staring wouldn't bring Ethan back, and it wouldn't clear my mind, but I couldn't go back inside now that it was just me and Silver. Sure, Blue and Lynda were there now, but it was still different. They didn't live there.

I jumped when someone sat down beside me, thinking that everyone had gone back into the apartment. The redhead chuckled a little to himself, not apologizing for scaring me, but neither of us spoke a word. There were so many unsaid things between us now, things that we wanted to say but couldn't. But one of us had to be first.

"I might move, too," I said, and Silver's head snapped over to look at me. I couldn't meet his gaze, and I continued to stare at the road. "I don't know when, but since Blue wants to move to Johto, I might get an apartment with him. So… I'm sorry to leave you all by yourself, but maybe Lynda will let you move in with her."

"What?" Silver was, as I could see through my peripheral vision, still staring incredulously at me, and I felt a pang of guilt. "But what's wrong with this arrangement? I mean, how often was Ethan really in the apartment, anyway? He was usually with Mattie during the day, sometimes at night, but you and I… we're always here. Nothing's changing."

"Everything is changing, Silver." I finally looked at him, and he seemed taken aback, his eyes wide as he stared at me. "Ethan was the glue that held us together. We will never survive living together without him. Who was the person we always talked to whenever we were fighting? Ethan. Who was the person who always solved our problems? Ethan. And a phone call and a visit isn't going to fix any of this. It's not going to work."

Silver didn't say anything for a moment, and it seemed as if he really had nothing to say at all. Because I was completely right. Ethan had always fixed everything. If I complained about Silver having too much raunchy sex late at night, Ethan usually soothed my anger and told off Silver. If Silver complained about my being a prude, then Ethan usually soothed Silver's anger and agreed with him.

"But you've only been dating Blue for three months. You can't move in with him! Isn't that moving a little quickly? What will you do if it doesn't work out between you?" Silver pointed out, and I narrowed my eyes at him. I really didn't want to start a fight ten minutes after Ethan left, but this was a little ridiculous. How hypocritical could one person be?

"Coming from the man who had sex with his girlfriend the first night!" I retorted, and Silver rolled his eyes. "You have no reason to say that I'm moving too quickly when my boyfriend when you don't even know how to zip up your pants! And if it doesn't work out, then… I'll find other arrangements. But don't you dare tell me how to run my relationship when you don't know how to run your own."

"What? I do—"

I held up a hand, and Silver stopped, crossing his arms furiously. "You don't. You were the one who argued that relationships don't exist anymore, and you're the reason why. Because sleeping with your girlfriend every night doesn't mean that you love each other. It just means that you think she's good in bed."

"I love Lyra!" Silver shouted, but as soon as the words escaped his lips, the two of us froze, a dark silence lingering over the two of us for far too long. He looked completely horrified at himself, a rosy blush forming on his cheeks. I stared at him, gaping at him in pure shock at what he just said, wondering if I had just heard him correctly.

Had he just said what I thought he just said?

"Lynda, I mean. I meant Lynda…" Silver muttered in attempt to correct himself. "Not you. I seriously meant Lynda…"

I brought a hand to my mouth, covering it to keep me from continuing to gape. Silver continued to try to convince me that he had meant Lynda, and I really wanted to believe him. Because there was no way that he had really meant me. Our names were so similar, after all, and it was entirely possible that it had just been a slip.

Right. That was exactly what it was: just a slip.

"That's why she hates me," I said, and Silver raised his eyebrows. "Our names… you must keep messing up our names or something… keep calling her Lyra instead of Lynda. And the more you keep messing it up, the more she hates me for it. Because you don't know your own girlfriend's name… even though you say you love her."

"I know her name," Silver insisted, and I chuckled dryly, rising to my feet. "Lyra, come on, I know her name, and I know your name. I've just been around you for so long… known you for so long. I've only known her for a few months, and I just—mess it up sometimes, I guess. It's just an accident… a bad habit."

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "And whose name do you call out when you're making love to her, Silver?"

All right, I could admit that was low for me. It clearly hit Silver below the belt, and he jumped to his feet, grabbing my wrist as I tried to make an escape. He tugged me back, spinning me around to face him, and I stared at him, trying not to look guilty for what I had said. But he didn't say anything to me. He just held onto my wrist, too tightly, staring at me with narrowed eyes for what seemed like eternity.

"Silver, ouch…"

"Fine, move if you want to!" he yelled, dropping my wrist like it was something disgusting to touch, and I cradled it in my other hand. He appeared so sickened by the sight of me now, and I felt my heart sink. "I don't care! Throw your life away and be with the guy who doesn't even love you! I'm happy with Lynda. How happy are you with Blue?"

I bit my lip in frustration, curling my hands into fists. "Happier than you'll ever be," I hissed, stomping my foot and running back into the apartment complex.

Author's Note: Yeah, just a slip, Silver? Just a slip, Lyra? You guys REALLY want to think that? All right, go ahead, guys. No, I won't argue with you. If you both want to think that, then you can go right ahead and think it. It's not like I have control over your thoughts—oh, wait, I actually do, don't I? ;)

Not such a long chapter—but I kind of liked the length of the last one. Oh well. I didn't want this to drag on forever, and there really wasn't as much to say. But I kind of liked the emotions portrayed through this chapter. It almost makes you feel bad for Silver, doesn't it? Bwah ha ha.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.