"You should talk with him." Volkner said, starting to stand.
A hand caught his. "No, we're on a date. He can wait."
He rose an eyebrow. "You know you want to sort things out with him."
"But I-"
She was interrupted as he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "You'll be fine. He's more likely to cry than you, remember."
She sighed and watched him leave. He passed Flint just outside the cafe and shook his hand as they exchanged a few words she couldn't make out.
"Here's your fries."
She jumped and looked up. Volkner had left. There was no way she was eating all of those!
"Hey." Flint muttered as he sat at the table.
She nodded slightly, saying nothing as she stared at her lap. They were silent for what seemed like an eternity, and Besanii refused to look up.
"Besanii I-"
"I'm sorry." She said at the same time. Flint stopped short, surprised with her apology. "I have been vain, a-and ignorant and neglecting you. I guess for all these years I've taken you for granted and..." She looked up with teary eyes. "I'm so sorry, Flint. You've been here for me my whole life and it's about time I appreciate that. You're a brilliant, kind, slightly annoying but beautiful gentleman."
He smiled weakly. "You're not ignorant. A little vain yes, but never ignorant. I shouldn't have said what I said. Especially when I did."
"No, not really." She muttered, smirking slightly.
"...So, are we good?"
She nodded back at him. "We're good."
"Great!" His voice shot up in volume, causing the people in the cafe to jump and stare. "Then Volk won't mind if I help myself right?" He pointed at the fries and began shovelling three into his mouth at a time. She giggled and tucked in herself.
"So." He spat through a mouthful of potato. He waited to finish his mouthful after a stern, disgusted look from Besanii. "You and Volkner?"
"What about it?" She arched a brow.
He shrugged. "'s'about time."
She rolled her eyes. "I'm sure my father has been thinking the same about us two." She then heaved at the thought of her and Flint having anything more than a platonic relationship. She had repeatedly drummed it into her parents that she and Flint were never going to be anything more than friends, and it only got harder to convince them when he became what they would see as the perfect son-in-law/Elitist/handsome, charismatic man. She was sure they desperately wanted her to eventually marry him, but they would have to settle with adopting him if he were to become official family.
Flint chuckled, having known how good they would have been together, had they not grown up fighting and playing like siblings. Anything more would have been weird. "You could do a lot worse than me." He teased.
"And a lot better." She retorted, but then paused. "Why, do you-"
"NO!" He yelped, jumping so fast that he nearly spilt coffee everywhere. When everyone had politely averted their gazes after his outburst, he turned back to her and lowered his voice. "Not at all. You and Volk work so well together."
She turned a light shade of pink, glad to receive his blessing, not that she doubted she would get it. "I thought I'd lost him." She muttered. "But he came back, when I needed him, he came without me asking."
He smiled. "He may seem heartless and cold at times, but he's very observant. I think he'd worked things out just from me. And I said nothing."
"Shock, horror." She interjected sarcastically.
He just narrowed his gaze, but continued. "So what happened?"
"We talked." She shrugged.
Silence.
Then laughter. "Whatever, Besanii. You can't fool me."
"I'm not fooling you. He cheered me up, I fell asleep, he did too."
"You slept together!"
"Not the way you're implying, no." She rolled her eyes. "Stop being so filthy minded!"
"Can't help it."
"Yes you can."
"Fine." He sighed.
Besanii smiled gently, her eyes falling to her tea as she stirred it. "Flint?"
"Yeah?"
"I think... I might be falling for him. Hard."
Flint pursed his lips, his eyes alight with excitement. "Have you told him this?"
"No. And you can't. I'm not saying anything until he does. He's not the best at... Emoting, and the worst thing I can do is to be all over-emotional and confess to him and then scare him off."
"But Besanii... You should tell him how you feel. He's a grown man, he can take it."
"Let me do this my way."
"Of course, it's not my place to say anything." Flint shrugged. "But you should tell him."
"Oh shut up."
"Besanii's in looooove." He teased, tapping her nose. She swatted him away and stuck her tongue out.
"I'm not in love with him. I just... Care for him. A lot. It's hard to explain." She sighed.
Flint seemed to know anyway. "It's more than just liking someone, but you're not at the getting married and having kids in love yet."
"Exactly."
"Besanii and Volkner, sitting in a tree..."
"I'm leaving now." She said quickly, standing sharply and pulling her bag over her shoulder.
"Oh sit down, stupid." Flint chuckled, yanking her arm to sit her down. She glared at him playfully, but did not struggle. He smiled knowingly back at her, completely relaxed. "My little sis, all grown up."
"Yeah, s'bout time you did some catching up, eh?" Her eyes narrowed.
He held his hands up and chuckled. "Hey, when it happens, it happens. But I've got other things to think about at the moment."
She nodded. "I take it you're on the search party for Volkner's replacement."
"How did you know?"
"I'm dating a gym leader."
He snorted. "Yes I am. Which means I have to leave for the league tomorrow for a meeting, and then I'm probably going to be travelling for a while, searching for anyone who could possibly take the position."
"Oh." Besanii said quietly, remembering the conversation she'd had the night before. She looked down at her lap, twiddling her fingers as she tried to remain nonchalant.
"Hey." Flint's great, masculine hand came down on hers. "I'm not going to be gone long. There's no way in hell I'd miss you and Volkner forming a relationship." He laughed.
She failed to see the humour. "It'll be nice to have some peace and quiet in Sunyshore anyway."
He beat his chest. "You cut me deep, Boo."
"I try." She shrugged. "You'd better be back for my birthday."
"Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world." He chuckled. "Plus, travelling means I can get you a good present."
She grinned. "And an apology present?"
He grimaced. "Can't your bracelet be a sorry present?"
"I suppose..." She pouted, though she was only kidding, but it was enough to cause Flint to sweat.
"Glalie is unable to battle. The victory goes to Volkner!" Flint chorused, having judged the match for him. The challenger both of their hands and left, unusually upbeat for somebody who had lost.
"He's optimistic." Flint commented.
Volkner hummed in agreement. He headed for his balcony, where he would rest with a cup of coffee. Flint followed suit, kicking his feet up onto the balcony's fence.
"Go on then." Volkner sighed. "Ask what you want."
Flint peeked out of the corner of his eye at him, then closed them to tilt his head toward the sun. "I know everything already."
The blond huffed. "Whatever happened to a girl not kissing and telling..."
The elitist laughed loudly. "There was never such thing, Volk! No girl can keep a secret, especially an exciting one."
Volkner rolled his eyes and the use of his unwanted nickname again. "Grand."
"Jealous?"
"Of?"
"Me being told by Besanii first?"
"Why would I be?" Volkner shrugged. "Saves me the effort."
"She didn't tell me who initiated though." Flint said quietly, wafting his face with a magazine Besanii had left lying around.
"Why would that matter?" He frowned, even more so than usual.
Flint perked a brow. "So I know whether to kick your ass or not."
The Gym Leader rolled his eyes and said nothing. He knew Flint was giddy with excitement that his little cupid plan had worked. There was no way he would even attempt to ruin the relationship he would claim he worked so hard to forge. So what difference would it make if he kissed her first or vice versa? In fact, he couldn't even remember. They'd talked for a long while, and Besanii had said something...
"Do you love her, Volk?"
He blinked out of his thoughts and stared at Flint with wide eyes. He was staring straight back, his usually mischievous expression now one of seriousness.
"I-I..." How could he answer. If he said yes, would that freak Flint out? Would it freak himself out? But if he said no... That could be dangerous for his own health. "It's a bit early to be thinking about that, isn't it?"
Flint chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Volkner sighed in relief, twisting in his chair uncomfortably.
"You like her though. I can see that much." Flint smiled in that annoying 'I know everything' kind of way.
"We'll see how things roll out." He decided, staring out to sea while his thoughts scrambled frantically through the happenings of the past 24 hours.
