A/N: Team Roster: Jackson (Cinderace), Hudson (Mudsdale), Rosa (Bellossom), Theodore (Corviknight), Rouge (Weavile), Ophelia (Haxorus)

Chapter 28 - Completely Normal and Not Weird

Right.

This was normal. Completely normal. There was nothing weird about this at all.

Dolly was sure Hop recognized that too as they stood in the lift and stared at the door in front of them. The tinny elevator music scratched around them and Dolly jumped when Hop cleared his throat.

"Are you okay?" Dolly asked.

"Yup."

"Okay."

Dolly rocked on her heels and glanced around the lift. She put her hands in her pockets, only to take them out and hold them behind her, then she put them in her pockets again. She had every intention to lightly and casually whistle along to the elevator music, but her dry mouth only produced a faint 'ppflbllff.' So much for that. She peered out of the corner of her eye. Hop was clenching his jaw.

"Your face is all red," she said.

"No it's not."

"Yes it is."

Hop cleared his throat again.

"Are you sick?" Dolly asked as she turned to him.

"Sick of rubbish brothers and his rubbish friends, yeah," Hop grumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Dolly turned towards the lift doors again. She rocked on her heels, stretched, put her hands in her pockets, then took them out again and held them behind her. Her tongue felt awfully strange sitting in her mouth. Hop shifted his weight to his other foot.

"Did you say something?" she asked.

"Nope."

"Oh. I thought you said something."

"I didn't."

Dolly nodded.

This was completely normal.

After an eternity, the lift doors finally slid open and they stepped out. After walking up and down the hallway twice, they realized they were on the wrong floor, stepped back into the lift, went up a floor, just to realize they were on the correct floor, stepped back into the lift, and after another eternity, Dolly stuck her hotel card into the lock and finally pushed open the door.

As soon as Dolly flung her backpack to the floor, Jackson flashed out of his Poké Ball.

"Alright!" he grinned as he looked around the room. "This place is fancy. Finally a hotel room that fits my caliber."

Jackson trotted into the room and gazed around at the ornate decorations. He turned around, then froze.

Hop cleared his throat.

Jackson glanced to Hop, glanced to Dolly, glanced to Hop again, then glanced to Dolly again.

Dolly glanced to Hop, then glanced to Jackson. Her cheeks warmed despite herself.

"He's staying with us."

"Why?"

"There's no other open hotel rooms. Don't kill him, I asked him to stay."

Jackson glanced to Hop, glanced to Dolly, glanced to the one bed in the room, glanced to Dolly, glanced to Hop, then glanced to the couch against the wall.

"Dibs on the couch!" he called, then launched himself onto the furniture.

"What!" Dolly called. "No! You're staying in the bed with me!"

"No way," Jackson said as he kicked his feet up. "Last night was the first night I got some decent sleep without you grabbing at me. If he's here, you'll grab at him instead. If you don't like it when he touches you then I'll burn his fingers off, but something tells me that won't be the case."

"Jackson," Dolly huffed as she marched to her Cinderace.

A little flame burst over his fur wherever she tried to poke at. Her growling didn't faze him, because he only raised an eyebrow at her. He shrugged, turned over, and let out a yawn.

"Just at least wait until I fall asleep before you start kissing."

The heat blazed in her face at the words, and she quickly glanced to Hop again. She stood straight, tossed her hair behind her, and tried to look very in control of the situation.

"H-he… um… you're too tall to fit on the couch anyway," Dolly said as she shrugged delicately. "So really he's just being thoughtful."

She heard kissing noises and smacked Jackson with the throw pillow.

"Um," Hop said as he cleared his throat. "S-so, I, um, I can sleep on the floor, that's fine with me,"

"You don't have to do that," Dolly sighed. "That's just as bad as sleeping in the lobby."

"W-well, I, then…" Hop mumbled.

Jackson stood, pushed behind Dolly's shoulders, then sat her on the bed. He walked to Hop, pulled him by the shoulders, and sat him next to Dolly. He gave them both a pat on the hand, then laid on the couch again.

"I-it's a big bed, anyway," Dolly said as she shrugged again.

"Yes, you're right," Hop said.

Neither of them moved. Jackson sighed, then jumped when Dolly bolted up.

"I-I'm going to take a shower. Don't, um. Don't come in."

"I wasn't planning on it," Hop said, though his eyes followed her as she slid his jacket off her shoulders and stepped into the bathroom.

Jackson squinted his eyes at Hop, who raised his hands in defense.

"Why would I go in there?" Hop huffed. "Come on, Jackson, I thought we were mates now?"

Jackson squinted harder until his eyes were only a sliver.

"Are you just going to stare at me until she's done?" Hop sighed.

Hop wasn't sure how Jackson could see, what with how hard he was squinting. Was his stare always so unsettling?

"Right well, stare at me if you want, but I'm going to change," Hop said as he stood and rolled his eyes. He peeled off his shirt and tossed it to the floor as he rummaged around in his bag for another.

"Move, Jackson, I forgot my hairbrush," Dolly huffed when Jackson tried to shove her back into the bathroom. "Ow, don't push me!"

She swatted at him, pushed past him, and stepped over to the bed, only to freeze when she looked up.

"Oh," she said.

Hop glanced up, only to bite back a grin when Dolly's gaze trailed down his frame and lingered a few extra seconds. She met his eye, her face reddened three shades darker, and she tore her gaze away.

"I-I, um, sorry," she mumbled. "Forgot my hairbrush…"

"You know Dolls," Hop started carefully. "This is the second night in a row. If you want to see me without a shirt you can just ask."

And then her face darkened another three shades.

"Whatever," she grumbled. "You probably just want to show off."

"Show off what?" Hop scoffed as he walked towards her, then leaned down for his bag again.

"Your abs and your back muscles and all that," Dolly said as she raised her eyebrows.

Hop paused in his reach for his bag. He stood straight again and glanced down at her.

"What?"

"You know," she huffed again as she waved a hand at him. "All your muscles and nice shoulders and whatever. Trying to show off how attractive you are without a shirt on."

He raised his eyebrows.

"What?" Dolly asked. Then, her eyes widened. "Oh."

A small smirk inched onto his face as Dolly's blush deepened.

"I-I mean," she stuttered. "Not that… Not that I would think that, though, th-that, that, um…"

Hop casually leaned his forearm on the wall beside her head, and Dolly was willing it with everything in her to only look at his face.

"You think I'm attractive?" Hop repeated. It seemed he had the hint of gravel in his voice, and his eyelids lowered.

"I-I mean, objectively, I, uh," she stuttered. "You're, you know, fit, and, uh-"

Jackson stepped over, turned her by the shoulders, guided her into the bathroom, and closed the door behind her. Dolly heaved out a sigh, tossed her hairbrush onto the counter and held her head in her hands.

Tall, handsome, charismatic men: 4. Dolly: 0.

She jerked her head up when she heard a muffled shout from outside the door.

"It was a joke, Jackson!" Hop yelped. "I was joking, it was a joke, don't burn my face off! She's not even out here anymore!"

Dolly double checked the lock on the door, then triple checked it, before peeling her own clothes off and tossing them to the floor. She was grateful to get out of those things – she hadn't washed her clothes in ages, and it was like they were a layer of grime on top of her skin. The steam billowed into the room as the hot water spluttered from the showerhead, then rinsed over her in a steady stream. The thick air filled her lungs, and she breathed out a sigh of content as the heat trickled over her. She peeked out the shower curtain every few minutes though, just in case. As Dolly combed the shampoo through her hair, she heaved out a sigh.

This would be fine. Everything would be fine. She and Hop could maybe chat for a few minutes, then flick off the light and go to sleep. He would have a shirt on, and he wouldn't touch her or look at her or smile at her or bite his lip or do anything weird. And neither would she. She would tell him goodnight, then they would go to sleep and wake up and also be normal in the morning.

Dolly peeked her head out, and the door was still locked.

Right. Hop was out there with Jackson and he wouldn't come in. It wasn't like she wanted him to come in, she didn't want to see him without a shirt anyway. It wasn't like he would come in, toss all of his clothes onto the floor, step in with her, stare at her with those golden hooded eyes, lean towards her as the steam heated the air between them, rest his forearm against the wall over her head, brush his thumb over her lips, tilt her chin up, and he definitely wouldn't kiss her. He wouldn't press his body against hers, all firm and warm and wet and his lips wouldn't trail to her cheek then to her jaw and his tongue would stay in his mouth and not slide over her skin or her neck or her-

Nope.

Not tonight. Couldn't think about that tonight, that was for sure.

Dolly grunted in frustration and clapped her hands against her face. She read the label on the shampoo bottle instead. Why would she bother thinking about kissing Hop when she could read about methylchloroisothiazolinone or guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride? Exactly.

As the shampoo, conditioner, and soap gurgled into the drain, Dolly did wonder how he was feeling. Hop had a rough night the night before, what with the Beartic and breaking down in her tent, then even losing the semifinals to her and everything with Oleana and Rose that day. She would have to ask him about all of that before they went to sleep.

Dolly stepped out of the shower, dried off, toweled up her hair, and reached for her pajamas. She paused, sighed, and slapped her forehead. She unfurled her hair, wrapped the towel around her as securely as possible, laid another one over her shoulders, stared into the mirror, and gave a decisive nod.

"You can do this," she whispered to her reflection. "He is your best friend, and everything will be normal and not weird."

Her reflection nodded.

"He won't notice that you're only wearing towels instead of clothes."

Her reflection hesitated, then nodded.

"And you won't think about kissing him."

Her reflection pursed her lips, then nodded again.

"Because you don't want to kiss him anyway, you don't think he's super attractive, especially without a shirt on, because that would be weird."

After another sharp nod from her reflection, Dolly sucked in a breath of air and pulled the door open. She meekly poked her head out.

"Jackson!" she hissed.

"He's already sleeping, Dolls."

Her eyes widened.

"Well wake him up!"

"You wake him up! If I wake him up he'll kill me."

"You've got to be kidding me," Dolly groaned as she rubbed at her face. "Okay, um, close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Why do you think, Hop?!"

"Fine, fine, they're closed."

"Turn around too."

Hop sighed.

"Okay, I'm turned around."

"And put your hands over your eyes."

"Done."

"Don't look."

"Not sure how I can, at this point."

Dolly peeked her head out again, and the air conditioning blasted against her like a furious blizzard. She was surprised her hair strands weren't icicle shards when she stepped back into the room.

"Geez, it's freezing out here," she said as she clutched the towel around her shoulders.

"I can turn it-"

"Don't turn around!"

"Oh, right, sorry."

"And why aren't you wearing a shirt?!" she huffed.

"I was texting Lee, I was going to get one then you told me to turn around," he said. She could hear the smirk in his voice. "Are you sure you even want-"

"Yes."

Dolly tore her eyes away from his bare back and shoulders and those not-attractive dimples near the base of his spine. She scuttled to her bag, rummaged through her things, and pulled out a clean pair of shorts she bought in Hammerlocke. She pushed around for a shirt, only to find that a can of lemonade had busted open and every article of clothing she had was soaking and sticky, except for the shirt Hop lent her the night before. Dolly groaned again.

"Everything alright back there?" Hop asked.

"The universe is against me tonight," she mumbled. "Okay when I come back out, don't… don't comment on what I'm wearing."

"…What will you be wearing…?"

Dolly motioned to run back to the bathroom, only for her foot to catch on her bag strap. She tripped and a sharp pain shot through her ankle as she fell to the ground. She inhaled through her teeth as her ankle started to throb again.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," she said. She grimaced when she tried to untangle herself from the strap, only to wince again when she struggled to stand.

"Do you need help?"

"...Yeah, you can turn around," she said as she gripped at the towel around her. "I've got like, 40 towels on."

Hop quickly turned, stepped over to her, and knelt beside her. He gently held her leg as he unraveled it from her bag strap.

"I thought you said your ankle didn't hurt?"

"It didn't," she said as she tore her gaze from him. "I just stepped on it weird, I'm fine, really."

Something deep within her breathed a sigh of relief to see he was only looking into her eyes. Why did he have to be so respectful? Why couldn't he be selfish and ill-mannered? That would make it easier to not think about kissing him.

"Can you stand?" he asked.

"…"

Hop sighed.

"Come on," he said as he curled his arms around her waist. "I'll help you up, unless you want to spend the rest of the night crawling around on the ground."

She didn't.

Dolly wrapped her arms around him and again fought back the blush as her fingers gripped around his bare shoulders. Hop gently helped her stand, and she tried to balance on her one foot. She squeezed her eyes closed when she felt his breath on her neck.

Jackson turned in his sleep, clutched at her towel, and suddenly Dolly was feeling a bit of a draft around her shoulders.

Oh.

He clutched at her other one, and suddenly Dolly was feeling a bit of a draft everywhere else.

Oh no.

The air conditioning angrily bit at her as Jackson turned over in his sleep with a contented sigh, now comfortably blanketed beneath her towels.

Please.

She tugged at her towel.

This wasn't happening.

Jackson tugged it back.

Please, dear Arceus, this wasn't happening.

She tugged at it again, and those sleep Double-Kicks started up again.

Yep.

The only places she was remotely warm was her blazing cheeks and Hop's arms wrapped around her bare skin.

This was happening.

Neither of them moved, and Hop's arms were still frozen around her. One hand was between her shoulder blades, and the other was splayed across her lower back. Droplets of water tickled her skin as they trailed from her hair, and the second Hop's thumb moved to brush it away, she took in a ragged breath and her fingers clutched harder around his shoulders.

Nice and firm and warm and wet. She'd rather be reading a shampoo bottle.

A few more droplets trickled down from her hair, Hop moved his hand from her back, gripped one of the towels Jackson was clinging to, and ripped it from his paws. He slowly wrapped the towel around her back. After a moment, and then a moment after that, Dolly cleared her throat.

"I'm," Dolly whispered. "Going to need you to close your eyes again."

Hop nodded. She glanced up to see Hop squeezing his eyes closed and his neck arched to the ceiling, and she took a hesitant step back to tuck the towel around her again. Their skin peeled apart, and the soft sound of the towel brushing against her again seemed to crack like thunder in the silent room.

"…Good?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah."

She took another step back, only to grunt as her ankle throbbed, and she tripped backwards. Hop lunged forward to catch her, they tumbled onto the bed, and Dolly gasped when his fingers slid under her towel, up her thigh, up her hip, around her waist.

"H-Hop," she breathed.

She couldn't help how his name came out - it had the hint of a gasp, the hint of a moan, and Hop froze.

She could feel his heart pounding, even through the fabric between them. They lay like that for only a second, and Hop raised his head.

Her pulse was racing when he glanced down, because she had never made a noise like that before, and never before had she seen that look in his eyes. His pupils were dilated, he was hardly breathing, and it was like he hadn't eaten in days.

She didn't want to kiss him.

She didn't like how close he was. She didn't like how his hand splayed over her skin. She didn't like how he felt when he pressed against her.

She didn't want to kiss him.

Perhaps the more she repeated that, the more likely it was to become true.

She didn't like how the heat was flaring between them. She didn't like how he was the only thing in her line of vision. She didn't like that deep hunger in his eyes.

She didn't want to kiss him.

She didn't want him.

She didn't want to kiss him.

She so, so desperately didn't want him.

She didn't want to kiss him.

Every aching fiber in her body didn't want him.

"Hop…" she whispered again.

That hungry expression melted, his brows furrowed, then he tore his gaze away. He quickly untangled himself from her and turned away.

"Don't…" he started. "Don't say my name like that."

Dolly's skin still tingled, her heart still pounded, and she trailed her fingertips over her thigh, just as Hop had. She quickly sat up and more securely tucked her towel around her, along with a pillow and the sheets and the covers and another pillow.

"Jerry?"

Hop turned back around and wrinkled his nose.

"…What?" he asked.

"You said don't say your name."

He processed, then stared at her incredulously.

"N-no!" Hop huffed. "I meant don't say my name like that, like you're - l-like we're - I didn't mean just to call me some random name!"

"Well how was I supposed to know that?!" Dolly retorted.

"And who the hell is Jerry?!"

"I don't know that's the first name I thought of! I can call you Bill or something!"

"No, don't call me B- augh never mind," Hop huffed. "Can you put some clothes on?!"

"Tch, fine," she muttered. "…Harold."

"Stop!" Hop said, though his mouth twitched up at the corners. "Why are you picking the dumbest sounding names?!"

"They're not dumb names, Harold is a nice name!"

"It makes me sound like an old man!"

"That's not my fault,"

"Yes it is, you keep using dumb names!"

"Well looks like I'll never call you Hop then either."

His jaw dropped.

"How dare you."

Dolly tried to bite back her grin, without much success.

"What if I called you Gertrude?" Hop retorted. "Or Patty, or…"

He squinted his eyes.

"Don't say it," she warned through gritted teeth.

"Or what if I called you… the most old lady name of them all…"

"Don't. Say. It."

Hop leaned in, and whispered in her face.

"Dolores."

"That's it!" Dolly called as she hurled a pillow at him.

It exploded into a thousand feathers, and Hop was not in the aftermath of the Ducklett feather explosion. Instead, he was crawling towards her again. She was fully ready to shove him off the bed, and he was fully ready to take her down with him, until they heard a voice from behind them.

"HEY."

Their heads whipped to the couch, where Jackson was groggily glaring at them.

"Shut up."

"Sorry, Jackson," they whispered in unison.

Hop glanced down at her, and apologetically released her hands. After watching his cheeks tinge darker, Dolly glanced to the side, and so did Hop. He crawled off of her and flopped onto the bed. They both heaved out a sigh.

"Can you…?" Dolly started quietly.

Hop nodded, turned over, smushed his face into the bed, and put a pillow on top of his head. Dolly fumbled out of her mess of covers and sheets and hobbled back into the bathroom. She closed the door, locked it, and slumped onto the floor with a groan.

Yep. That wasn't weird at all.

Her skin tingled where he touched, and she curled her arms around her shoulders and hugged her knees to her chest.

They had never been that close before.

Her eyebrows furrowed.

He had never touched her like that before.

Dolly held her head in her hands.

He had never looked at her like that before.

Even though it was an accident, even though Hop did nothing wrong, Dolly felt a little vulnerable as she sat on the floor of the hotel bathroom. He probably didn't see anything, but that didn't take away the fact that he probably felt every bit of her that was pressed against him. If that rubbish hotel clerk had done his job right in the first place, none of this would have happened and she wouldn't be so embarrassed.

She sighed again and held her head in her hands. It was like his handprints were burned into her skin. Even though she had pushed images like that away time after time, for it to actually happen was something else entirely. She didn't know how to process everything she felt, either now or when he was so close to her bare skin. Why was this so confusing, why was this so hard? Why wasn't she more upset that he held her like that?

She shook the thought from her head again. That wasn't something she had the capacity to delve into right that second. Dolly lifted herself up off the floor, pulled on her shorts, slipped on his shirt, washed her face, brushed her teeth, took a couple deep breaths, gave her reflection a double thumbs up, and pulled open the door. Hop was still lying face-first in the mattress with a pillow over his head.

"Are you decent?" he asked. His muffled mumble was hardly coherent.

"Yup."

"I can chop my hands off if you want."

"Yes, would you please?" Dolly said. "I wasn't sure how to ask."

Hop breathed out a groan into the mattress.

"I didn't see anything either, if that makes you feel better. I'll go sleep in the lobby."

"I'm not mad, Hop," Dolly said. "I… actually wanted to say thanks."

"Thanks?"

"You… um… you have a lot of self-control," she said as she sat beside him. "That was all an accident and I was really vulnerable but you… you didn't take advantage of me when you very easily could have. I really respect that i-in… um… in a man..."

Hop gently raised his head.

"Well, yeah, I'm not some animal," he said. Then his eyes widened, and he shot up. "Did Raiha-?!"

"No!" Dolly quickly retorted as she waved her hands in front of her. "No, no, he stopped when I told him to, don't worry."

Hop squinted.

"Seriously, you don't need to chop his hands off."

He flopped back onto the mattress.

"I might do it anyway. How's your ankle?"

"It's fine," she said as she twirled her foot. "I should probably stay off of it for the night, though."

Hop grunted in agreement.

"How about you? How is your Beartic battle wound?"

Hop sighed and turned over so he was facing the ceiling. He rubbed at his chest and shrugged.

"Also fine. Whatever cream you used helped."

"Do you want me to re-wrap i-"

"N-no," Hop stuttered. "Um, it's fine, really. When I got to Wyndon a League doctor re-did it for me anyway."

Her eyebrows pulled together as he glanced away. It seemed the tips of his ears were tinged pink. When he looked back at her, he squinted his eyes.

"Is that my shirt?"

She glanced down and bashfully fiddled with the hem.

"Yeah, I hope you don't mind," she said. "A can of lemonade busted open in my bag and the rest of my clothes are sticky."

"It looks better on you than it does on me," Hop said with a shrug. "I don't mind if you don't mind."

"Great, because I'd rather wear this than nothing."

Hop cleared his throat.

Too soon?

He glanced to the side as his cheeks tinged red.

Yep too soon.

"B-but anyway," Dolly coughed. "How are you doing in general? I feel like we haven't had a lot of time to talk."

Hop glanced at her and his furrowed brow softened.

"Pretty good, in general. Thanks for asking, Dolls."

She nodded, and he sat across from her on the covers. She asked him about his thoughts, his feelings, and his reflections on everything that happened that day, and the day before, and they eventually ended up discussing almost everything since they started together in Postwick. Dolly hadn't realized how much struggle Hop had gone through as well. Although his downfalls may have not been as dramatic (or as publicized) as hers, she could understand the struggle of wrangling six fully grown and powerful Pokémon. Even more than that, what with how often he switched his team up in their Gym Challenge. He mentioned he was a little lonely throughout their Galar trekking, and Dolly nodded in understanding. She had her Pokémon team to talk with and laugh with, but that wasn't something Hop had. And although he had made friends with other Gym Challengers, he sighed and mentioned how much it stung when he started realizing a lot of people were using him to get to Leon.

When Hop yawned, he stood to flick off the main light. They were bathed in the warm glow of the bedside lamp, though their fervent argument over the best type of potato didn't leave room for appreciating the ambiance. They talked about other antics they got into when they were apart, funny Trainers they met, obstacles they had to overcome. He mentioned he fell off a hill when trying to catch a Duraludon, and he had a knot in his back the size of a Poké Ball. Dolly tried not to giggle at the image of Hop rolling down a hill while simultaneously flinging Poké Balls around. Throughout their conversation, Dolly's eyebrows furrowed whenever Hop winced. She was sure that Beartic attack didn't help, either. After a handful of times that he waved her off, she tried to look at him as earnestly as possible.

"I can rub your back, if you want," she said. "You keep wincing."

Hop tried to wave her off again, only to wince.

"I said I'm fine," Hop said, and Dolly sighed.

"I'm asking because I want to," Dolly said quietly. "You've done so much for me, Hop, let me do something for you. What happened to accepting help from your friends?"

His eyes flicked around her face, a small smile formed on his lips, and he breathed out.

"That actually sounds really nice," he said. "Thanks Dolls."

She crawled behind him as he turned around, only to pause a couple inches from his skin. The room was dark, he was warm, and Dolly's throat felt a little dry when her gaze trailed down again.

"Oh, uh," Hop said as he turned to her. "Just try not to be distracted by my nice back and shoulder muscles I guess."

"I'd smack you if I knew you weren't already sore," Dolly said as she rolled her eyes. She wondered if he could see the faint blush she felt spreading over her face.

Hop chuckled again and flopped onto the mattress. She did indeed try not to be distracted by his nice back and shoulder muscles, though it was a little hard not to stare. The second pressed against his back her eyebrows shot up.

"Geez, Hop, you're super tense," Dolly grunted as she rubbed at the knots with her elbow.

"Yup," he replied. "It's been a stressful few days."

Dolly nodded. She managed to work out a couple knots in his shoulders and started pushing at the ones in his neck. Poor Hop, seemed like every bit of him was tense... She massaged his neck, his shoulders, his back, his lower back, then did it all again. It was a little hard to not stare, and a little hard to not be distracted as her fingers traced down his spine, between his ribs, and along the lines of his shoulder blades. No, she had never touched this much of him either. How was his skin so soft? Was her back that soft? Did he use lotion or something? Geez…

After a few more minutes, her fingers were starting to get tired, and she leaned down to his ear. Her hair wafted down and splayed across his shoulder blades.

"You know," Dolly said quietly. "There is another way to help you relieve some tension."

It seemed like Hop stopped breathing. He slowly pulled back and furrowed his brow.

"What did you say…?" he asked quietly.

She trailed her fingers down the line of his spine again.

"I said there's another way to relieve tension," she said.

"What… did you have in mind?"

"I was going to say we should probably just go to sleep. Can't be much more relaxed than you are when you're sleeping."

Hop heaved out the breath he was holding.

"Oh," he said. "Okay, yeah, good idea."

"What did you think I was going to sa-"

"Nothing! Nothing," Hop stuttered as he grabbed at his shirt again. "Good idea."

He quickly crawled under the covers, and Dolly did too. He flicked off the light and settled against his pillow. The soft glow of the moon wafted from a crack in the curtains and highlighted his profile. They both breathed out a deep sigh, and Dolly's eyes tracked the movement of his throat as he swallowed. She lifted her gaze, and traced the curve of his eyelashes, the curve of his lips, the angle of his jaw, as he breathed out again. Her eyebrows pulled together.

Was Hop… always so handsome?

The moon's glow glinted when he opened his eyes.

"What?" he asked.

"What?" she repeated.

"You're staring at me."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are, I can feel you looking at me."

"Oh, sorry," Dolly mumbled.

"Is it because I'm super handsome?" he said with a cheeky grin.

Dolly nodded, and his cheeky grin was replaced with something of shock. He turned to her, and the moon was now shining behind his head. Wow yeah was he always so handsome? He was practically angelic. How was he doing that? Was he doing this on purpose? Heat rose to her cheeks as she pulled the covers up over her nose.

"Really?" he asked.

She nodded again.

"And I was… um," Dolly said quietly. "I was wondering since it's… kinda cold…"

Hop's eyebrows furrowed.

"And this blanket is kind of thin… and… the air conditioning is really strong…and… um…"

"Dolls…" Hop said. He leaned up on his elbows as a cheeky smirk inched back on his face. "Do you want to cuddle with this super handsome man?"

"W-well," Dolly stuttered as she glanced to the side. "T-today was just, overwhelming, and, and um, a-and you… you're good at it… and I, um… I feel safe… wh-when you're… close to me… so… um…"

Hop raised an eyebrow.

"Never mind," she grumbled as she turned around. "I sound like an idiot. Just pretend I didn't say any of that."

"No! No, c'mere," Hop laughed. "Come here Dolls, I'll cuddle with you."

He quickly slid over, curled his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. Dolly unintentionally let out a sigh when he brushed the hair off her neck, then he laid against the pillow with her. Hop gently started combing through her hair. As soon as he did, her eyes fluttered closed and she melted against him again. She wasn't sure about how she felt now that he knew her one weakness, and how he seemed to be keen on using it… quite often.

After a moment, she decided that she didn't really mind. Dolly turned, curled her arms around him, and nestled her face into the crook of Hop's neck. Thoughts of him and his safety and his friendship and his kindness softly drifted through her mind, just as gently as his thumb brushed over her cheek.

"I thought you'd never ask, to be honest," Hop said quietly. "I didn't think I could ask after everything that happened."

Her only response was a grunt.

"How's your ankle?" Hop asked, lightly trailing his fingers over her skin, and again through her hair.

"'sfine," she hummed, nestling into his touch.

"You're not very articulate tonight, are you?"

"Hmhmm."

Hop chuckled again, and Dolly nestled closer to him. She hummed out a contented sigh.

"I'm glad the hotel messed up your reservation," Dolly mumbled.

Hop's heart was thrumming again, and Dolly could feel it beating against her. Another soft thought brushed through her mind. She kind of wanted to stay like that forever... she kind of wanted to stay with him forever.

Then, she thought about it again, a little more clearly. They would always be friends, but could friends stay like this, wrapped in each other's arms, forever? Did Butterfree swarm in the stomachs of people who were just friends, whenever they were inches away from each other's lips? Did friends ache for the touch of a friend, or melt when a friend combed through their hair?

Did friends feel that gnaw within them, just as Dolly did?

When Hop hugged her a little tighter, a little closer, Dolly hummed out a sigh, and that silent question loomed over her again.

Could she be…?

Well… Probably not. They both liked cuddling, perhaps that was all this was.

Her breathing slowed, and the rhythm of Hop's heartbeat against her was strangely soothing. She tried to hold back another yawn. To think it was only that morning that she and him woke up on Route 10 together. And here she was again, lying with him as he combed through her hair.

Man, it had been a long day.

Yet, she was perfectly fine to end it just like this. Dolly breathed out a sigh of content. Her consciousness started to drift again, and memories of the flickering lights of Wyndon specked behind her eyelids like little stars.

Hop paused, whispered her name, and when she didn't respond, he brushed Dolly's bangs off her face. She was lightly snoring, breathing softly, and Hop hugged Dolly a little tighter, trailed his fingers through her hair a little more gently, and delicately pressed his lips to the top of her head. She turned in her sleep, and Hop sighed again. The moon was shining through the curtains when he cupped her face and brushed his thumb over her cheek. Hop's eyebrows pulled together, and he slowly shook his head as he breathed out.

"I am so in love with you."

A/N: Sorry if your name is Jerry, Bill, Harold, Getrude, Patty, or Dolores. Your name is not dumb.