I am spiraling so hard guys. I turned in a piece for my workshop class that I was so unhappy w but I am struggling so badly during this damn lockdown that I couldn't think of anything else to turn in and my professor emailed me and was like this is so unlike your other work, seems slapped together, and just isn't up to par with what you're capable of and I literally just burst into tears and didn't even email him back. This SUCKS.

"Get out, Leaf," Gary growls, moving from the living room to their bedroom. Leaf follows, hot on his heels.

Her hands are clenched tightly by her sides. "You don't get to kick me out because you're pissy that I've found out what you've been doing behind my back."

Gary whips around quickly, eyes burning with embarrassment. "Actually, I can. I'm the one who pays the bills while you spend your time trying to beat the Pokemon League. You should just give up because you aren't strong enough, Leaf!"

She grits her teeth. "If I gave up, that'd make me just like you." The venom dripping from her words strikes something deep in Gary.

He reaches out and latches onto the collar of her shirt. "I did not give up on being a trainer. I realized that something wasn't meant for me and I pursued something else." He releases her and instead grabs a suitcase from under the bed. "If you're trying to shame me for researching Pokemon like Gramps, then it won't work. Gramps and I learn new things every day and instead of being stuck as a washed-up Pokemon trainer, I'm growing and discovering myself!" As he says all this, he is throwing her things into the suitcase.

"Oh, really, Gary?" she laughs, "You must be so mature now, still going to meet up with one of your googly-eyed cheerleaders without telling me and throwing condescending insults at me. You're so grown up."

He clicks the suitcase shut. "If you had let me explain, you'd know that she met with me to tell me she had just gotten engaged." He holds it out to her, not wanting to be near her anymore. "Get out."

Tears well in her eyes. "Why can't you just let me love you? You make me feel so insecure all the time and when I get upset, you just spin it around on me."

"Leaf, you can only get upset so many times before it all gets so ridiculous! I can't even go run a few errands without you getting mad that I didn't invite you. I'm trying to be considerate of your training time so of course I'm not going to ask you to run out with me!"

She snatches the bag away from him, her cheeks rosy. Nothing else leaves her mouth as she secures her Pokemon belt around her hips and turns out of the room. The door slams behind her, echoing in the now empty apartment. Gary bites his lips so hard he tastes blood. He sinks down against the bed and pulls his knees to his chest.

Hours pass before he hauls himself up. He simply lies himself in bed, replaying the argument over and over in her head. What could he have said differently? How could he have prevented it? Why did it always have to be so black and white with her?

Days pass and he finally decides that together, they are too toxic. He picks up the phone and, with a bated breath, dials her number. "Gary," her voice is off, but Gary can't place why.

"Leaf," he breathes, "you should come over. I want to talk."

She laughs quietly, it sounds hopeful and he doesn't have the heart to mention the talk won't be pleasant. "Mkay, I'll be over in ten." He has no time to say anything before she hangs up.

Gary sighs and sits on the couch, trying to get his body to relax as he waits. Just as the tension finally leaves his shoulders, there is a loud crash outside. Curious, he walks to the window and peers past the darkness. His eyes widen at the sight of a horrific crash. A green car is wrapped around a light pole with a human-sized hole in the windshield. He quickly grabs his phone and dials emergency dispatchers.

"Yes, hello. Someone has just crashed into a light pole directly in front of my apartment."

"Is the driver injured? What's your address?"

He squints to see if he can spot the driver. "It's the apartment complex right outside of Pallet Town. It's-" His words catch in his throat.

"Sir?"

Gary stares at the familiar white hat sitting at the foot of the vehicle. It can't be. The phone slips past his fingers as he rushes out the front door and down the emergency steps. He bursts through the door, his heart pounding in his throat. "Leaf!" he screams, eyes wild with the need to find her. "Leaf!"

"G-Gar-" a voice comes from a ways ahead of the accident. He sees skids of blood shining starkly against the dark pavement leading all the way to a body bent every which way.

A sob bursts past Gary's lips as he sprints to her. Cuts litter her face while glass protrudes from many of them. All he wants to do is hold her, but he is horrified of hurting her even more. "I came," she says hoarsely. Gary can smell the alcohol radiating off her. She must've been drinking when he called. Bile rises in his throat and it takes every ounce of strength to keep it down.

"I'm so sorry, Leaf," he cries. "I'm so sorry."

...

Gary runs his thumb over Misty's forehead, taking notice of how pale his skin is compared to hers. Misty holds his other hand. "It was my fault she was even on the road. I made her come to me when I should've been the one going to see her. What kind of immature asshole makes his girlfriend go to him so he can break up with her? She shouldn't have been on the road." His voice cracks with nearly every sentence as he tries to hold back tears. "It's why I went to the gym to see you. I knew you had a drinking problem and I just left you alone."

Misty's fingers immediately swipe over his lips, silencing him. "I'm not your responsibility, Gary. You don't have to have that weight on your shoulders. I'm the one who drank. You wouldn't have been able to stop me." She pulls him impossibly closer. "Leaf could have said she was drunk. She is the one who chose to get into that car under the influence. You can't control the actions of the people around you."

"The way her mother was screaming at me and her father just wailing at her bedside... I don't think I'll ever be able to forget the noise. They wouldn't let me speak to her when she woke up and I haven't heard from them since they moved to Johto." He breathes out deeply. "It's for the better. She doesn't need me as a constant reminder in her life of why she can't walk anymore." He quickly swipes away tears, hoping she won't notice.

"It all makes sense now," she states, tugging at the uncomfortable tube under her nose. "She is the reason you're so mature now. The whole time we were in Sunyshore, you were thinking of my feelings and you always made me feel... light, like all my problems meant nothing, like they'd all melt away."

He reaches out and traces the lines of her face. "I never meant to keep anything from you. I just felt so burdened by it all and I didn't want to spread that burden to you, especially since you had so much on your plate already. I'm just so used to keeping that part of me buried that it's hard to open up."

"You let me burden you with my problems."

"Because you're worth it."

"You are, too, Gary. From now on we share our burdens. Confide in me and I'll do the same. We don't go through anything alone. Not anymore."

Gary can't stop himself from leaning down and capturing her lips in a gentle kiss. He slowly pulls away, his eyes hazy. "I love you, Misty Waterflower."

Only one or two more chapters left. I'm sad it's nearly over.