….

Misty clutched her head as she pottered around the room, who thought an early check out was a good idea after a wedding? She felt incredibly hungover, her head was pounding and her stomach was swirling while she was stuck packing her room up.

The thought of the train journey she would be forced to take in a couple of hours made everything so much worse. If she had the money, she would have extended her stay for another night but sadly that was out of her reach.

How did she manage to spread herself around in such a short space of time? Her stuff had gotten everywhere! And she knew there was plenty of stuff under the bed but the thought of getting on her knees and crawling under there was almost too much to bear.

She'd managed about three dresses when she flopped down on the bed, she really deserved a rest.

Misty rolled her head to the side to see Gary's watch, he must have left it here after he spent the night. One stupid drunk act had changed everything. Tell her a couple of months ago she'd sleep with Gary, Misty would have laughed in the person's face.

Now just the thought of it made her smile. And not in a smutty way where your toes curl at the memory of your latest conquest. It was genuine happiness that she'd had that experience, that connection, with Gary Oak – of all people.

"I swear to god if you're sleeping, I'm going to be cross!" May shouted, bursting into the room without a hint of the hangover that seemed to be plaguing Misty, despite the fact they had been shot for shot last night.

"I'm not sleeping." Misty rolled her eyes, dropping the watch lest she be caught smiling over a simple accessory.

"But you don't seem to be packing either." She rose an eyebrow at the state of the room.

"I was, honest, but then the room started spinning so I decided I needed a rest." She explained with a small smile.

May frowned at her for a brief moment before flopping down on the bed beside Misty.

"Thank god!" May sighed. "My head is pounding right now and I don't even want to think about what I left in the toilet of our room."

"You're gross." Misty gave her a questioning look.

"Drew was in the shower, I could hardly flush, could I?" She shrugged, as if that justified what she did.

"Drew is blessed to have you in his life." She snorted.

Misty felt her eyes getting heavy and she knew she had to get up or else she really would sleep through check-in. With a huge effort, Misty rolled off the bad, landing quite gracelessly but least it gave her a chance to check under the bed for anything.

Just as she suspected, a couple of stray hairbands, her necklace, a roller and somebody's sock that may have been there since the last person visited.

"So, what does this mean for you and Gary?" May asked when Misty sat up and dropped her bounty on the bed.

"Nothing?" She frowned, technically there was no her and Gary. "Keep this relationship going for another month, two tops then claim it fizzled out and we are better as friends."

"This thing with Gary it could have become something." She frowned.

"No, it couldn't!" She scoffed, sure last night she felt like it could become something but her mind was highly muddled by alcohol. "You know what Gary is like."

"No, I thought I knew Gary and so did you but the Gary we know was from ten years ago." She defended, May always a romantic at heart, so was Misty at one point. "He's grown up"

"May, people don't change." Misty scoffed.

"Yes, they do!" May shouted, immediately wincing at the volume.

"Oh yeah, like who?" She challenged, throwing her under the bed loot into her bag.

"You." She pointed with a satisfied smirk.

"Excuse me?" Misty cried out indignantly. As much as she hated to admit it, she was a pretty reliable person that bordered on predictable.

"Nobody said change was bad." May laughed at her reaction. "This time last year you would never have been able to be in the same room as Ash, let alone speak to him. But you've changed, you're stronger now."

Misty pouted, May knew this was the official response when Misty had been proved wrong. May smirked triumphantly.

"So why can't Gary have changed for the better too?"

Misty shrugged; she didn't speak because she knew it was true. Not once this weekend had Misty felt like she was with the immature, womanizing Gary she had once known. He wasn't rude anymore, he wasn't arrogant. Sure, he still had a cocky confidence about him but it seemed almost sexy on him now, rather than the grating personality trait it had once been.

Had they both changed? And had the changed into compatible people?

…

Misty groaned as she dragged her suitcase over to one of the plush chairs in reception, her train wasn't for another couple of hours and she wasn't going to spend it sat on a hard bench drinking mediocre coffee when she had access to a bar. But, as she sipped her rum and coke, she realised being alone with her thoughts could be equally as torturous.

She couldn't get May's words out her head, should she really give Gary a chance. Granted this weekend had been the happiest she had been for a while but who's to say that was all down to Gary? She'd spent the whole time surrounded by people she loved, watched her best friend get married and get a long weekend of work. What if she'd confused that happiness for Gary and then they'd both end up hurting a few weeks down the line?

She just needed to be logical about it, not make any rash decisions despite what her heart was saying. As cliché as it was, she needed to do a mental pros and cons list.

Pro. Gary was ridiculously good looking, it wouldn't hurt to wake up to his face each morning. Con. Gary knew he was ridiculously good looking, why would he put up with someone like Misty who'd make him work for it when pretty girls were a dime a dozen in his life?

Pro. He'd make her toes curl if these few experiences were anything to go by, he was a man with a lot of experience after all – that did border on a con but Misty wasn't one to dwell on past conquests as she had her fair share too. The man knew how to drive girls wild. Con. He'd drive her up the wall, they both had fiery personalities which were bound to clash at some point. But least that would result in some incredible make up sex, if Misty was being honest she loved that sort of show down. So, perhaps she'd talked herself round to another pro.

Pro. She already knew his family and knew she liked them, that could often be make or break for a relationship when you found out you had a smothering mother in law. Con. He already knew her family, and her fiercely protective sisters wouldn't let the heartbreaker just waltz in without a little battle.

Pro. He's the first man that had made her feel good for a long time, and she didn't just mean sexually. Orgasms were easy enough to come by but the genuine feeling of happiness was a little harder to find. Con. She'd long since closed her heart off and it would take a lot of work to let Gary inside fully.

"Here's where you're hiding." The man of the hour said, dropping into the chair opposite.

"It's hardly hiding when you're in an open place." She rolled her eyes, taking another sip of her drink. "Why you looking for me anyway?"

"Was worried you'd already left for the station." Gary said with a smile, Misty's heart fluttering at the look.

Pro. His smile gives you butterflies.

"And why would that worry you?" She asked coyly.

"Thought I getter offer you a lift home, something a decent 'boyfriend' would do." He laughed, Misty begrudged the use of inverted commas.

Con. He thinks this is all an act that he can forget about in a weeks' time.

"It's fine, don't want to put you out." She pouted.

"It's hardly putting me out when I have to pass through Cerulean to get to Pallet." He laughed, holding her chin and thumbing at her lip. "What's with the attitude?"

"Don't want to return to reality I guess." She shrugged, hoping he'd interpret that as work reality rather anything else.

"No, after this weekend reality does some to be lacking a certain amount of fire." He agreed, pulling back and instantly making Misty miss his touch. "Right, let's get your case in the car while you do your goodbyes."

Gary gestured behind him slightly at the new Mr and Mrs Harrison who were lurking in the lobby, clearly intent on waving each one of their guests off personally. Gary gave them a quick nod as he walked past with Misty's bag, obviously he'd already said his heartfelt farewell or felt that it wasn't needed.

"You heading out?" Suzy asked, pulling Misty into her arms.

"Yeah, got to avoid that traffic." She smiled, moving on to hug Brock.

"It was so good to see you." Brock said, squeezing her tightly.

"You too." She whispered into his neck, desperately trying to hide the tear building.

She would really miss having them around, it was one of the worst things about growing up. When she was younger, she took for granted how easy it was to see her friends, to drop everything and visit. Now there were responsibilities, the chore of finding a day everyone was free, the dreaded distance. It had been great to have everyone in one place again.

"Right, I best be off." Misty cleared her throat. "Or else Gary will be sending out a search party."

"He's a good guy." Brock said seriously. "Hang on to him."

"I'll try to." She smiled sadly before turning on her heel to head to the car.

But did Gary even want to be held on to?

…

The journey back was awkward, neither one of them could find it in themselves to start the conversation, but what was there even to say? Thanks for the weekend, I'll forever cherish the memories but how long should we wait before we tell people we've broken up?

What had she been thinking? Faking a relationship like she was in some sort of cliched rom-com. And just like in the movies she'd fallen head over heels for something that wasn't even real. But unlike the movies, there was no happily ever after because Gary wasn't the prince charming.

If it was a movie, they'd runaway into the sunset together, their two shadows coming together in a kiss.

But that wasn't the ending Misty was going to get, all those electrifying kisses and embraces were nothing more than simple touches to Gary. He didn't want her, he just wanted someone to go home with. So, she'd have to go back to being that perfect pretender who felt nothing more than nostalgic friendship for Gary.

"Waterflower residence." Gary broke the silence as they pulled up outside her house.

"Thanks." She smiled, placing her hand on the door handle and hesitating. But why? Was she really expecting Gary to confess his undying love for her? This was all an ideal scenario she had created in her heads thanks to her many positive friends who didn't know enough about the situation.

With one last look at Gary she opened the door, hoping to remember this warm feeling when she was bitter and alone again.

"Misty, wait." Gary called after her just as she stepped out the car.

"Yeah?" She said, hopefully.

"I'll let you deal with our 'break-up', yeah?" He asked with a sigh.

"Yeah, I'll tell everyone. Give it a few weeks so people don't suspect it was a sham." She said, slamming the door a little harder than was necessary.

Without looking back she dragged her suitcase out the boot and inside, she didn't check to see if Gary was watching her go or not because her heart couldn't take it either way. In the end it was better not to know.

"Alone again, naturally." She sighed, leaning against her door. And just like in the movies, it started to rain.

…

Gary drummed his fingers against his steering wheel in time with the music, it was some electro-pop song from the 80s that usually wasn't his thing but anything to drown out his thoughts.

"Everybody wants you, everybody wants your love. I just want to make you mine all night." He sung unenthusiastically, anything to get Misty out of his mind.

If he was being honest, he was a little bit cross with her, thinking she could waltz into his life, take his heart and then waltz straight back out again? He felt he'd made it pretty clear that if she wanted, they could make a real go of it last night but she'd just brushed him off.

He'd have almost preferred it if she had outright rejected him but to ignore the confession completely was even worse. As if she didn't feel he even deserved the privilege of an explanation.

"Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na. Baby give it up, give it up. Baby give it up." He mumbled, flicking his windscreen wipers to a higher setting to compensate for the sudden downpour.

This is why he didn't bother with love, it only ended in heartache. And this was just the beginning of their story, imagine if he'd actually had a relationship? The pain just isn't worth the battle.

He was naïve to think that Misty would have wanted him, she was renown for giving away the things that she loved. She could pretend but the scars from her relationship were still there, making her bitter and untrusting. Ash had ruined her, first love always burnt the brightest and cut the deepest.

It was too late for Gary to change her, as much as he wanted to believe they still had a chance Misty would never leave the past behind. The ghost of Ash would forever haunt their relationship and playing second fiddle to Ashy-boy was something Gary would never do.

"Everybody sees you, everybody looks and stares. I'd just like to make you mine, all mine." He practically shouted, trying desperately to forget.

But he couldn't, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't keep Misty off his mind. Had he always loved her? Was that why his ten-year-old self had picked on her? Because he'd had a crush on her? Even growing up he'd enjoyed seeing her, watching her get all riled up over stupid comments he made. Had he really been nursing a crush for over a decade just for it to flow over thanks to a few days of fake dating?

Maybe Gary was just as bad as Misty, he'd closed himself off from relationships and in the long run it was for the best. It was time to let go of dreams of Misty, some things were better forgotten.

"Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na. Baby give it up, give it up. Baby give it up." He sung, not really listening to words anymore but just going through the motions.

But what if they put all that fear behind them and took a chance? Gary's head was screaming at him to leave it there, too afraid to start loving someone again but his heart was begging not to let go. Because as ridiculous as it was, he'd fallen in love.

"Screw it." Gary said with a smile, spinning his car around in what was probably an illegal u-turn if the beeps from the motorists around him was anything to go by.

His tyres screeched as they slipped on the wet road, he was bound to get a ticket for his speed but he didn't care. He needed to get back to Misty before this sudden boost of confidence left him.

He pulled up haphazardly, not caring that he had just abandoned the vehicle because all that mattered was Misty. He ran to her door, shirt sticking to his skin as the rain poured down. He shook his head with a laugh at the situation he'd found himself, who'd have guessed he'd be begging for a second chance with a girl? Usually he couldn't get them out of his life quick enough. But without trying Misty had worked her way into his heart and there was not way he was forcing her out again.

"Gary?" Misty frowned. "Did I forget something?"

"Yeah, me." He joked.

"What do you mean?" She asked in confusion

"Look, I'm not sure about you but connections like this don't just happen for me." He said gesturing between the two of them. "And I'm not throwing it away because we're both too stubborn to admit how we feel."

"And how do we feel then?"

"Come on Red, you love me." He smirked as Misty rolled her eyes. "But that's okay because I love you too."

"Really? For how long? Until the next best thing comes along?" She scoffed.

"Misty, you're the best." He smiled. "Nobody is half as good as you."

"What film did you steal that line from?" She laughed.

"Pretty sure it's a bond song." He joked. "Now, you going to let me take you on a date or not?"

"Go on then." She smiled.

"Come on Red." He held his hand out. "Let's grab a coffee?"

"What? Now?"

"Yeah, I think we've waited long enough to go on our first date. Don't you?"

"I couldn't agree more." She smiled, grabbing his hand.

Misty covered her head with her handbag as they both got soaked to the bone by the down pour but they didn't care. They felt like children again, young and carefree, giggling in the rain as they ran to Gary's car. Both their hearts full with hope and possibilities.

And just like in the movies, they had a cliched kiss in the rain.

…

I am planning an epilogue chapter as well but that's more or less the end of the story :) hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it