Hope you all like it :)

…

Misty stumbled into the pub having to grab hold of the door frame to keep herself up right, she glanced around hoping to catch sight of Ash. He was sat in the far corner and as soon as he noticed her walk in he began waving madly to catch her attention, offering him a small smile she made her way over.

"Shots?" Misty asked when she saw six small glasses lined up on the table. "I thought we decided that was a bad idea?"

"Maybe." He shrugged. "So we'll just do these three each then go back to normal drinks."

"I guess there's no harm in that." She said, sitting down at the table.

With a smirk Ash pushed three glasses, one by one, until they were in front of her.

"Drink up, Rusty." He winked before raising a glass to his lips and downing it in one.

Rolling her eyes at his choice of nickname she quickly made her way through all her shots, raising her eyebrow in challenge.

"Impressive." He said, downing his other two shots. "If you can still stand I'll pay for your drinks."

"Easy." She smirked, getting out of her seat and taking a step to the side, only stumbling slightly before regaining her balance.

"Close enough." Ash laughed, standing too. "Vodka and lemonade? Double?"

"Of course." Misty smiled.

She watched as he swayed from side to side as he journeyed over to the bar, her head was spinning from the shots she'd just done. The rational part of her brain said they'd had enough and she should leave before she regretted it, but her emotional, and much more powerful, part of her brain wanted to stay, just be in Ash's company and forget everything else.

She slipped back into the booth and waited for Ash's return, fiddling with what she thought was her phone until it received a text.

Babe, hurry up and come home. I'm cold and lonely in this big bed without you x

Misty's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, who did she know that would send her texts like that? She quickly glanced at the ID, Dawn, and with a sigh realised it wasn't her phone.

"You've got a text." Misty said, sliding the phone towards Ash as he sat down with the drinks.

Picking up the phone, Ash glanced at the text before placing it in his pocket.

"Nothing important." He shrugged.

"It's Dawn." Misty said, taking a sip from her drink.

"Yeah, but I'm here with you so she'll just have to wait." He said, swinging his arm around her and bringing her into him so her head was resting on his chest.

"Won't she be annoyed?" Misty asked, knowing she should move away from him but instead was basking in the comfort.

"No, it's not like anything's going to happen. We're just friends, right?" He asked, with an edge to his voice.

"Yeah, friends." Misty nodded, as best she could from her position.

After that the conversation lulled into a silence, the pair just happy to sit in each other's company and drink. Once she'd reached halfway through her drink Misty felt her eyes begin to droop, she realised she should head back soon but instead decided she'd wait until Ash had finished.

"Mist?" Ash's voice broke the silence.

"Hm?" She managed to mumble back.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, causing her eyes to fly open.

"Tell you what?"

"About you and Gary." He clarified.

"Excuse me?" Misty asked, sitting up properly now and turning to face him.

"How do you think I felt turning up to Brock's wedding and finding out that you were dating him?" He crossed his arms.

"It's only been three months!" She shouted.

"You still should have told me." He pouted like a small child, a look Misty used to find endearing but currently it just annoyed her further.

"Why didn't you tell me about Dawn? A whole fucking year and I hear nothing about it."

"That's different." He moaned.

"How is different?"

"Because you know how I feel about Gary, I hate him!" Ash yelled.

"So? I'm not asking you to date him."

"You may as well be." Ash scoffed.

"What are you even talking about now?" Misty asked, feeling they were going around in circles.

"Because you and me, Misty, we're connected, hell we're practically the same person. So if you're dating someone it's almost like I'm dating someone. So every time you kiss Gary, I'm kissing Gary, and I do not like kissing Gary." Misty's eyes widened slightly at Ash's drunk ramblings.

"That's the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard! Sure we're close but we're not connected." Ash opened his mouth to protest but Misty soon cut her off. "And to be perfectly honest I don't think you'd like kissing any guy I'm with, Gary or otherwise."

"You're right, maybe you just shouldn't date?" Ash suggested.

"What? I have to stay alone while you date Dawn, who by your logic I am also dating?"

"The three of us could be very happy together." Ash smirked at the images flashing through his mind.

"I don't think so!" Misty shouted, hitting him on the back of his head.

"I'm not trying to start an argument." He sighed, looking down. "I want us to be friends."

"What do you think I've been trying to do this whole time?" Misty shouted, her anger not even slightly subsiding.

"I want things to go back to the way they were." He said, raising his gaze back up to meet hers. "And it can if you leave Gary and I…" But he didn't get to finish his sentence as Misty threw the remaining contents of her drink in his face.

"Don't you dare do this, you are not controlling my life anymore." Misty slammed her glass down on the table and walked out the pub, as best she could after all her drinks.

Wiping the moisture from his face, Ash quickly got up and followed after her.

…

Gary groaned slightly from his bed as he heard a drunk couple yelling in the corridor, successfully waking him up from his sleep. He sighed as he heard their voices getting louder as they made their way down the corridor.

"I don't want to see you again for as long as I live!" Misty voice echoed through the walls.

"I wonder what Ketchum's done now." Gary muttered, now able to identify the couple outside.

"Misty, just give me a chance to explain." He heard Ash's voice through his door as well now.

"No! Don't even touch me." She yelled back.

Gary forced himself from his bed and over to his door, hoping to move the couple along.

"It's two in the fucking morning, shut up!" Gary shouted at the couple. They both turned towards Gary, eyes wide like a deerling caught in headlights.

"Hey Gar." Misty smiled guiltily in his direction.

"Hey." He forced a smile, confused slightly by her smile. "Please, both of you, get away from my door."

"That's fine, we'll just continue this conversation in private." Ash said, with a glare towards Gary.

"No we won't, I don't want to be near you anymore." Misty shouted.

"Misty." He whined.

"You heard the girl, leave it." Gary said, taking a step towards Ash and sizing up to him.

Ash stared him down slightly before admitting defeat.

"Fine." He sighed. "I'll go, can we talk tomorrow?"

"Don't count on it." Misty glared before Ash turned and walked away. "Thanks for sorting that out Gary."

"It's okay." He shrugged, turning back towards her.

Misty looked up until her eyes reached his, a small smile playing on her lips.

"You're pretty." She whispered, reaching up slowly to stroke his cheek.

"And you're drunk." He said removing her hand from his cheek before grabbing her around the waist. "Let's get you to bed." He said, throwing her over his shoulder, a small squeal escaping her lips.

Gary carried her down the corridor until he reached her door.

"Key?" He asked, using his spare hand to grab the key and unlock her door.

He walked into the room and threw Misty down onto the bed, before turning on his heel to leave again.

"Wait!" Misty called, propping herself up onto her elbows. "You're not going to stay with me?"

"No, maybe another night Red." He winked, before leaving her room.

Misty sighed as he left and threw herself back on the bed, she couldn't figure her feelings out anymore. All the things she wanted seem to conflict with each other.

…

Misty sat slumped in a chair, leaning against a mirror, with a pounding headache.

"What happened to you last night?" May asked, sitting next to Misty in her bridesmaid's dress.

"Nothing, just slept." Misty mumbled.

"If you'd just slept when I put you down you'd have slept off this hangover, so clearly you did something." May crossed her arms.

"Too many embarrassing things." Misty groaned, pulling her head from the mirror and burying it in her hands.

"Come on, tell me. You know I'm going to find out anyway."

"Went back to the pub to see Ash."

"Oh god Misty, you didn't?" May asked in shock.

"It gets worse. We got into some massive argument about how we're connected and inter-dating or some shit like that, then when we got back here Gary ended up breaking it up."

"Then did you finally go back to bed?"

"Not exactly." Misty winced. "I may have come on to Gary a little bit."

"Jesus Misty! I can't leave you alone for one second, can I?" May scolded. "And what did Gary do?"

"Surprisingly, he was the perfect gentlemen. Turned me down then put me to bed."

"Really?" May smiled. "You know, I'm really starting to like Gary."

"Thanks, I'll bear that in mind." Misty rolled her eyes.

"Okay, Misty. Time to try on your dress." Suzy called from across the room. "And try not to vomit on it."

"I'll do my best." Misty said, slowly getting up and making her way over to Suzy.

May watched her go, the smile still strong on her face, she was warming up to the idea of Gary, if only Misty could forget about Ash for a minute she might be able to see he was a decent guy too.

…

Ash stared down at his feet, taking deep breaths to control his stomach that was currently making worrying noises, he'd really overdone it last night. He was meant to be getting fitted for his suit but he was afraid too much movement and he'd be sick.

"Me and shots do not mix." Ash said as Brock took a seat next to him.

"Whose idea was it this time? Yours or Misty's?" Brock laughed.

"Mine, as usual." He moaned.

"You alright mate?"

"Yeah, just hanging."

"Come on, I know this is more than just hanging. What's bothering you?" Brock turned to face him.

"I don't even know." Ash sighed, finally looking up. "Seeing Misty again has just messed me up."

"Right." Brock nodded.

"And this thing with Gary has screwed me up the most." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I just want things to be like they used to be, is that too much to ask?"

"Considering you're both dating new people I think it might be a slight issue."

"I guess so." Ash cracked a small smile.

"But you don't want her back Ash, not really."

"What are you talking about?" He whipped his head around so that he was facing Brock.

"You only want her because she's with Gary now." Brock said, giving him a look.

"That's not true." Ash protested.

"Yes it is, you've had two years to win Misty back but you never did and now suddenly she's with someone else and you can't get enough of her. Don't you think that's a little coincidental?" Brock raised his eyebrow at Ash, a smug smirk on his lips.

"I… But… She didn't…" Ash spluttered, at a loss for words.

"You've both got a chance to be happy again, don't ruin that with this petty need to beat Gary." Brock said, rising up to his feet. "Misty's not some shiny Pokémon for you two to fight over, she's a real person."

Ash slumped down in his chair with a sigh as he watched Brock walk away and join his brothers on the other side of the room, letting his words sink in while his head still spun from last night.

Gary watched Ash in the mirror, he realised something was bothering him and he could make a pretty big guess that it involved Misty. He looked towards Brock, who by the looks of it had just given Ash a scolding, before deciding their problems didn't really affect him. He glanced back at himself in the mirror before straightening his tie, turning slightly to see his suit from every angle, even if he was going to spend the wedding in the pews he still wanted to look good.

…

Misty leant against the wall in the elevator, waiting for the doors to shut behind her. She watched as they began to close, only to stop when a hand appeared between them. The doors slid open to reveal Gary stood there.

"Hey beautiful, where've you been hiding?" He smirked, stepping into the lift.

"Dress fitting." She said, moving her head from the wall onto his arm, a much softer surface.

"How's the head?" He asked.

"Still hurting, I think I'm going to just curl into bed and not resurface until breakfast." She groaned.

"Sounds like a plan." They rode in silence for the rest of the way until they reached their floor, the silence only continuing until they had arrived at Misty's door.

"You turned me down." Misty's voice called after Gary as he went to walk to his room.

"When?" He asked, turning back.

"Last night."

"You were completely wasted, I wasn't going to take advantage of you." He shrugged, turning and walking towards his door.

"But taking advantage of drunk girls is what you do." Misty called after him. "Why not me?" She asked, slightly insulted though she was never willing to admit it.

"You're more special than that." He said before safely making it to his room.

Once inside he threw himself onto the bed and covered his eyes with his arm, Misty words buzzing around in his head like an angry beedrill. Why hadn't he spent the night with her? Part of him had really wanted too, and not even a small part, he practically wanted to with his entire being but instead he'd walked away. He couldn't understand what had made him do it, but at the time he knew it had been the right decision.

He was pulled out his thoughts by a knock on the door.

"Hi." He said, opening the door revealing Misty on the other side.

"Erm, hey." She said, nervously smiling at him. "I just wanted to say thanks."

"For what?"

"For last night." She shrugged. "For putting me to bed and being a gentleman about it, and for dealing with Ash."

"It's what I'm here for. But whatever you said really did a number on him."

"What do you mean?"

"He's been sulking and moody all day today." He laughed with a shake of his head. "I can guess what temper caused that."

"Oh god." Misty whined. "I can be a bitch when I'm drunk, I should probably straighten things out with him. But I just feel… Never mind."

"What is it?"

"No, it's stupid." Misty shook her head.

"Come on, tell me." He gave her an encouraging smile.

"Fine, I just feel me and Ash spend our whole lives either breaking up or making up. That's not a healthy relationship, friendship or otherwise. I don't know, maybe I'm reading too much into it. What do you think?" Misty asked, looking Gary in the eye.

For the first time in his life Gary felt his throat turn dry under the intensity of her gaze, he wanted to tell her she was right and Ash didn't deserve her but he knew that wasn't the answer she really wanted to hear.

"I think the little arguments make you and Ash who you are and you shouldn't let it bother you."

"I guess you're right. Thanks Gary." Misty smiled, before turning around and heading back to her room.

Gary retreated back into his room and slumped down on the bed, he stared at the ceiling while his thoughts began to blur, too many spinning around at one time. He barely slept at all that night, instead he just lay on his bed with his thoughts, all of which had one familiar theme.

Misty.

…

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