Thanks to every one who reviewed! I was hoping some people would like it.
Here's the next chapter, and please review once you read it. Oh! And a
big hi and a wave to Ara-chan Uchu!
Ash unlocked the door to his apartment and carried Misty's suitcase in, with Misty following behind. She looked around at his apartment, never having actually been in it herself. Ash set her suitcase down and turned to face her. He smiled and gestured to the couch.
"Go ahead and make yourself at home! I'll be right back" He left through a doorway and Misty gingerly sat down on the soft, leather couch. She didn't have to wait long, for soon Ash came back, with a bottle in his hands.
"This stuff is great for cuts and things" he told her as he sat besides her. Misty just stared at him. Ash gently took her right arm and squeezed some of the ointment on to it. Then he lightly and softly rubbed it into the cuts on her arm. Misty blushed at the contact, but didn't make a move to pull her hand away. Ash frowned a little as he concentrated on rubbing in the ointment without hurting Misty. He wondered if he should ask how long Brock had been doing this. He didn't want to bring it up, but he had to know.
"Misty." he said as he started on her other arm.
"How long has this been going on?" Misty looked down and away. She didn't want Ash to know what a weak person she was. She was ashamed of herself. Ash gently touched her chin and turned her head to face him.
"Misty, I know it has to be hard for you, but..please, I need to know." Misty swallowed hard as she looked into his eyes, and she could feel the tears well up.
"I was..never good enough for him. There was always fault with..something I had done, so he would say he had to punish me. It was usually, when he got.." she trailed off again and looked away as a tear trailed down her cheek. Ash growled under his breath and anger blazed in his eyes. When Brock got drunk, he'd hit her. Ash knew that Brock got drunk a lot, so this must have been going on for some time. Ash took a dab of ointment on his finger and rubbed it into the bruise on Misty's cheek.
"Misty. None of this is your fault. Brock is a jerk for not seeing what a treasure you are" Misty felt the blood rush to her cheeks when Ash said that, as he caressed her face. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. Ash finished rubbing in the ointment, but found he couldn't stop caressing her face. His fingers trailed down her skin and brushed over her lips, then moved to cup her cheek. Misty closed her eyes and leaned into his hand, hardly aware that she was doing so. What was this she was feeling? Brock never made her feel so, warm and content. Ash swallowed hard and abruptly took his trembling hand away.
"Y-you must be t-tired" he stuttered his cheeks glowing. Misty sighed a little. She missed his warm hand on her face. Ash stood and offered her his hand.
"Come on, let's get you to bed"
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Ash opened the door to his bedroom, where Misty's suitcase was already laying on the bed.
"You can stay here." Ash said then pointed to a couple of doors. "That door leads to the bathroom, the other is a closet" Misty turned around to face him. She put her hands on her hips and shook her head.
"I can't stay here! Where will you sleep?" Ash just smiled and shrugged.
'The couch is quite comfortable for me." Misty chewed on her lip and shook her head again.
"But Ash.. I can't take your room. I'll sleep on the couch. I-" she looked down.
"I don't want to be a burden."
"Misty" something in his voice made her look up into his smiling face.
"You could never be a burden" Misty's eyes widened. But before she could blush over what he said, Ash pushed her into the room and winked at her.
"I'll be on the couch if you need anything. Try to get some sleep okay? We'll talk more tomorrow" and with that he left, quietly shutting the door behind him. Misty stared at the door for a while, then went to her suitcase. Pulling out her sleep shirt, she headed for the bathroom. She'd feel more like herself after a shower.
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Misty came out of the shower, feeling much more refreshed. her hair was down and she wore a slightly revealing nightgown, which only just covered her bottom-half. She sat down on the bed and looked around. Something on the dresser caught her eye. Reaching over, she picked up a picture. She gasped softly when she saw whom of. It was her, last year when Ash had taken her to the beach for her birthday present. She didn't even know she had taken a picture of her. Looking at it, she remembered that day. How lonely she was because Brock was gone, then her surprise when Ash showed up in his swim suit and told her she was going to the beach. She had...a lot of fun, that day. She gently put the picture back on the dresser and got into bed. She turned off the lamp and closed her eyes, willing sleep to come.
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Ash lay stretched out on the couch, under a blanket, wearing just his boxer shorts.. He couldn't get to sleep, but he didn't really mind. There was too much to think about. Ash could kick himself for not seeing what was happening between Misty and Brock sooner. He made a silent vow that no one would ever harm her again, for as long as he lived. He wondered what exactly it was that made Misty desire Brock's affection. He knew it had to have something to do with her sisters dying, but even grief stricken, he would think that Misty wouldn't be that desperate for love that she'd put up with Brock and his beatings. Would she? It was amidst these thoughts when Ash heard a strange sound, coming from his bedroom. It was muffled, but something inside Ash told him to see what it was. He got up off the couch and headed toward his room, glancing at the clock along the way and seeing it was just turning 1am.
Misty buried her face in her pillow as the tears flowed faster. She had a nightmare, the same one ever since her sisters died. She had it almost every night, but this time it was different. Brock had been in it too. As she cried into the pillow, she heard a small creak. Misty looked up to see Ash standing in the doorway, a worried and confused expression on his face.
"Misty? Are you alright?" Ash asked as he crept toward her. Misty sat up and tried to wipe away her tears before Ash noticed, hoping that the darkness would cover up the act. But it was too late, he had already seen. Ash sat on the bed and wrapped his arms around Misty, pulling her to him. Misty tried to resist him, but gave up and buried her face in his chest, surrendering to the comfort he was offering. Ash held her and stroked her hair, gently rocking her. After awhile her tears slowed, the stopped all together. They remained in that position however, neither wanting to break the moment. Finally, Ash hesitantly cleared his throat.
"Misty.what happened? did you have a bad dream?" Misty nodded against his shoulder, and eased way from his embrace so that she could look at him.
"Would you like to talk about it?" Ash asked concerned. "I know it always helped me when I talked about my nightmares" Misty looked down and away. Se had never told anyone about her nightmare, and she rarely even spoke about the night her sisters died. Looking up and into Ash's soft brown eyes however, she felt compelled to tell him.
"My dream is about, the night my sisters died" Misty started. She refused to look at him, s she didn't see his eyes widen in surprise.
" The-they, are going to go out, to a party or something. But, before they go out, they tell me how worthless I am. how I'm only good at cleaning the house. they said that I wasn't worthy t be their sister, because I'm ugly and scrawny. They laugh at me and make me clean up after them while they drink wine and party. They're drunk now, and they tell me to clean the mess they have made and that they're going out. I try to tell them not to go, that they shouldn't be driving. But they sneer and hit me. They say things like 'What do you know??' or 'your to stupid, you don't understand a thing'. Then they'd go out, and I'd follow them. normally, in my dream, they run into a tree or something, only this time it was different. This time they ran into another car, a car that Brock was in. Before they..before they die they scream in anguish at me. They scream "why?? why didn't you save us? it's all your fault!' and then I could see Brocks face, sneering at me. He says that, he hates me, and that he's never loved me, and it's my fault that I let them die!" And with that she broke out into tears again. Now she looked up into Ash's surprised face as the tears rolled down her face.
"it's my fault! It was all my fault! I let them go out even tough they were drunk! I knew they were drunk but I let them go anyway. They'd hit me if I tied to stop them. So I let them go, and lost my only chance to be loved!" she was babbling now, she knew. But Ash still didn't move. Misty didn't notice, she just continued to shout her confession.
"Then came Brock! he said he loved me, said he'd take care if me! Deep down I knew, he didn't love me, but I didn't care. It was a second chance! A second chance to be loved. And now I've lost that chance too!" She buried her face into her hands and cried.
Ash sat on the bed as Misty cried unable to move. He had never known, never understood all that Misty had been going through. He had never realized just how bad her sisters had treated her, and just how much Misty had wanted to be loved. Ash could kill himself for not understanding all she had been through, was still going through! She had been through so much, been hurt so many times. He would never let her be hurt again. he abruptly snapped out of his trance and wrapped his arms around Misty again.
"Misty, NONE of that was your fault! Your sisters were to stupid to realize what a treasure you are, and their stupidity killed them in the end. You did NOT kill them. They did it to themselves. You were never at fault. not for what your sisters, or Brock have done to you" Misty looked up at him, and whispered.
"But if I had only just-" Ash put his finger to her lips and shook his head.
"Misty, there was nothing you could have done. it wasn't your fault, and it never will be." Ash gently wiped away her tears and cupped her face in his hands, staring deeply into her eyes.
"Your sisters and Brock were fools Misty. Fools for not seeing what a beautiful, passionate, caring, wonderful women you are." Misty blushed deeply at the compliments, and she shook slightly at the feeling of Ash's hands on her. Their faces were so close, their foreheads almost touching. Mist's heart felt like it was going to burst at anytime. What was this feeling?
Ash swallowed hard and mentally ordered his hand to move away from Misty, but it ignored the order, to move and caress her soft skin. He couldn't stop himself from moving closer to her, until their lips were almost touching.
"Do you really mean all of that?" Misty whispered as one of his hands moved down to wipe around her waist and the other gently brushed her cheek.
"With all my heart." Ash whispered back. This is it! His mind screamed, tell her!
"I-I, Love you, Misty" he said and closed the little gap between them. Misty didn't know what to do when she heard what Ash had just said, and was even more surprised when he kissed her. It wasn't a forceful, slobbering kiss like the ones Brock gave her. It was soft and gentle and made her heart sore. She closed her eyes and kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck. They held the kiss for more then a minute before they finally broke apart. Ash's face heated up and he gasped.
"Oh man! Misty I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Misty cut him off as she through herself at him, clutching him tightly.
"Please don't apologize" she said against his shoulder. "Please don't tell me that you didn't mean any of it"
"I meant everything!" Ash exclaimed. "It's just I don't know if you-" Misty lifted her head and started into Ash's eyes.
"I need you Ash" she whispered. "I need to know what it's like to be loved." She burrowed her head back into his chest.
"I think I love you too"
Ash wanted to shout his joy to the world, but instead captured her lips in his own again. Ash kissed all over her face and Misty moaned a little, falling back on the bed, and pulling Ash down on top of her. Ash trailed his kissed down her neck as her hands explored his chest and back. With extreme effort of will, Ash raised his head, only now noticing the revealing night gown Misty was in, what little clothes he was wearing, and were this could all be leading.
"Misty..?" He asked huskily. Misty brought his face down and kissed him.
"I need to you Ash" she whispered against his lips. Ash smiled shakily and continued kissing her as his hands trailed down her gown, then back up her skin. She lost all sense of the world as he said those three words she had gone past hoping for, all her life.
"I love you"
Did this seem, I don't know, rushed to anyone? Personally, it seemed off or rushed or something just seems wrong with the way this chapter ended. But I couldn't find a way to change it, plus I wanted to get this chapter out. Anyone think I should still continue this? I won't blame you if you don't. Please review, even if it is a flame. I can only improve (I hope) as a writer, and criticism or anything would help me out in writing. So anyway, review and tell me what you though of this chapter. Thanks!
Ash unlocked the door to his apartment and carried Misty's suitcase in, with Misty following behind. She looked around at his apartment, never having actually been in it herself. Ash set her suitcase down and turned to face her. He smiled and gestured to the couch.
"Go ahead and make yourself at home! I'll be right back" He left through a doorway and Misty gingerly sat down on the soft, leather couch. She didn't have to wait long, for soon Ash came back, with a bottle in his hands.
"This stuff is great for cuts and things" he told her as he sat besides her. Misty just stared at him. Ash gently took her right arm and squeezed some of the ointment on to it. Then he lightly and softly rubbed it into the cuts on her arm. Misty blushed at the contact, but didn't make a move to pull her hand away. Ash frowned a little as he concentrated on rubbing in the ointment without hurting Misty. He wondered if he should ask how long Brock had been doing this. He didn't want to bring it up, but he had to know.
"Misty." he said as he started on her other arm.
"How long has this been going on?" Misty looked down and away. She didn't want Ash to know what a weak person she was. She was ashamed of herself. Ash gently touched her chin and turned her head to face him.
"Misty, I know it has to be hard for you, but..please, I need to know." Misty swallowed hard as she looked into his eyes, and she could feel the tears well up.
"I was..never good enough for him. There was always fault with..something I had done, so he would say he had to punish me. It was usually, when he got.." she trailed off again and looked away as a tear trailed down her cheek. Ash growled under his breath and anger blazed in his eyes. When Brock got drunk, he'd hit her. Ash knew that Brock got drunk a lot, so this must have been going on for some time. Ash took a dab of ointment on his finger and rubbed it into the bruise on Misty's cheek.
"Misty. None of this is your fault. Brock is a jerk for not seeing what a treasure you are" Misty felt the blood rush to her cheeks when Ash said that, as he caressed her face. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. Ash finished rubbing in the ointment, but found he couldn't stop caressing her face. His fingers trailed down her skin and brushed over her lips, then moved to cup her cheek. Misty closed her eyes and leaned into his hand, hardly aware that she was doing so. What was this she was feeling? Brock never made her feel so, warm and content. Ash swallowed hard and abruptly took his trembling hand away.
"Y-you must be t-tired" he stuttered his cheeks glowing. Misty sighed a little. She missed his warm hand on her face. Ash stood and offered her his hand.
"Come on, let's get you to bed"
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Ash opened the door to his bedroom, where Misty's suitcase was already laying on the bed.
"You can stay here." Ash said then pointed to a couple of doors. "That door leads to the bathroom, the other is a closet" Misty turned around to face him. She put her hands on her hips and shook her head.
"I can't stay here! Where will you sleep?" Ash just smiled and shrugged.
'The couch is quite comfortable for me." Misty chewed on her lip and shook her head again.
"But Ash.. I can't take your room. I'll sleep on the couch. I-" she looked down.
"I don't want to be a burden."
"Misty" something in his voice made her look up into his smiling face.
"You could never be a burden" Misty's eyes widened. But before she could blush over what he said, Ash pushed her into the room and winked at her.
"I'll be on the couch if you need anything. Try to get some sleep okay? We'll talk more tomorrow" and with that he left, quietly shutting the door behind him. Misty stared at the door for a while, then went to her suitcase. Pulling out her sleep shirt, she headed for the bathroom. She'd feel more like herself after a shower.
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Misty came out of the shower, feeling much more refreshed. her hair was down and she wore a slightly revealing nightgown, which only just covered her bottom-half. She sat down on the bed and looked around. Something on the dresser caught her eye. Reaching over, she picked up a picture. She gasped softly when she saw whom of. It was her, last year when Ash had taken her to the beach for her birthday present. She didn't even know she had taken a picture of her. Looking at it, she remembered that day. How lonely she was because Brock was gone, then her surprise when Ash showed up in his swim suit and told her she was going to the beach. She had...a lot of fun, that day. She gently put the picture back on the dresser and got into bed. She turned off the lamp and closed her eyes, willing sleep to come.
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Ash lay stretched out on the couch, under a blanket, wearing just his boxer shorts.. He couldn't get to sleep, but he didn't really mind. There was too much to think about. Ash could kick himself for not seeing what was happening between Misty and Brock sooner. He made a silent vow that no one would ever harm her again, for as long as he lived. He wondered what exactly it was that made Misty desire Brock's affection. He knew it had to have something to do with her sisters dying, but even grief stricken, he would think that Misty wouldn't be that desperate for love that she'd put up with Brock and his beatings. Would she? It was amidst these thoughts when Ash heard a strange sound, coming from his bedroom. It was muffled, but something inside Ash told him to see what it was. He got up off the couch and headed toward his room, glancing at the clock along the way and seeing it was just turning 1am.
Misty buried her face in her pillow as the tears flowed faster. She had a nightmare, the same one ever since her sisters died. She had it almost every night, but this time it was different. Brock had been in it too. As she cried into the pillow, she heard a small creak. Misty looked up to see Ash standing in the doorway, a worried and confused expression on his face.
"Misty? Are you alright?" Ash asked as he crept toward her. Misty sat up and tried to wipe away her tears before Ash noticed, hoping that the darkness would cover up the act. But it was too late, he had already seen. Ash sat on the bed and wrapped his arms around Misty, pulling her to him. Misty tried to resist him, but gave up and buried her face in his chest, surrendering to the comfort he was offering. Ash held her and stroked her hair, gently rocking her. After awhile her tears slowed, the stopped all together. They remained in that position however, neither wanting to break the moment. Finally, Ash hesitantly cleared his throat.
"Misty.what happened? did you have a bad dream?" Misty nodded against his shoulder, and eased way from his embrace so that she could look at him.
"Would you like to talk about it?" Ash asked concerned. "I know it always helped me when I talked about my nightmares" Misty looked down and away. Se had never told anyone about her nightmare, and she rarely even spoke about the night her sisters died. Looking up and into Ash's soft brown eyes however, she felt compelled to tell him.
"My dream is about, the night my sisters died" Misty started. She refused to look at him, s she didn't see his eyes widen in surprise.
" The-they, are going to go out, to a party or something. But, before they go out, they tell me how worthless I am. how I'm only good at cleaning the house. they said that I wasn't worthy t be their sister, because I'm ugly and scrawny. They laugh at me and make me clean up after them while they drink wine and party. They're drunk now, and they tell me to clean the mess they have made and that they're going out. I try to tell them not to go, that they shouldn't be driving. But they sneer and hit me. They say things like 'What do you know??' or 'your to stupid, you don't understand a thing'. Then they'd go out, and I'd follow them. normally, in my dream, they run into a tree or something, only this time it was different. This time they ran into another car, a car that Brock was in. Before they..before they die they scream in anguish at me. They scream "why?? why didn't you save us? it's all your fault!' and then I could see Brocks face, sneering at me. He says that, he hates me, and that he's never loved me, and it's my fault that I let them die!" And with that she broke out into tears again. Now she looked up into Ash's surprised face as the tears rolled down her face.
"it's my fault! It was all my fault! I let them go out even tough they were drunk! I knew they were drunk but I let them go anyway. They'd hit me if I tied to stop them. So I let them go, and lost my only chance to be loved!" she was babbling now, she knew. But Ash still didn't move. Misty didn't notice, she just continued to shout her confession.
"Then came Brock! he said he loved me, said he'd take care if me! Deep down I knew, he didn't love me, but I didn't care. It was a second chance! A second chance to be loved. And now I've lost that chance too!" She buried her face into her hands and cried.
Ash sat on the bed as Misty cried unable to move. He had never known, never understood all that Misty had been going through. He had never realized just how bad her sisters had treated her, and just how much Misty had wanted to be loved. Ash could kill himself for not understanding all she had been through, was still going through! She had been through so much, been hurt so many times. He would never let her be hurt again. he abruptly snapped out of his trance and wrapped his arms around Misty again.
"Misty, NONE of that was your fault! Your sisters were to stupid to realize what a treasure you are, and their stupidity killed them in the end. You did NOT kill them. They did it to themselves. You were never at fault. not for what your sisters, or Brock have done to you" Misty looked up at him, and whispered.
"But if I had only just-" Ash put his finger to her lips and shook his head.
"Misty, there was nothing you could have done. it wasn't your fault, and it never will be." Ash gently wiped away her tears and cupped her face in his hands, staring deeply into her eyes.
"Your sisters and Brock were fools Misty. Fools for not seeing what a beautiful, passionate, caring, wonderful women you are." Misty blushed deeply at the compliments, and she shook slightly at the feeling of Ash's hands on her. Their faces were so close, their foreheads almost touching. Mist's heart felt like it was going to burst at anytime. What was this feeling?
Ash swallowed hard and mentally ordered his hand to move away from Misty, but it ignored the order, to move and caress her soft skin. He couldn't stop himself from moving closer to her, until their lips were almost touching.
"Do you really mean all of that?" Misty whispered as one of his hands moved down to wipe around her waist and the other gently brushed her cheek.
"With all my heart." Ash whispered back. This is it! His mind screamed, tell her!
"I-I, Love you, Misty" he said and closed the little gap between them. Misty didn't know what to do when she heard what Ash had just said, and was even more surprised when he kissed her. It wasn't a forceful, slobbering kiss like the ones Brock gave her. It was soft and gentle and made her heart sore. She closed her eyes and kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck. They held the kiss for more then a minute before they finally broke apart. Ash's face heated up and he gasped.
"Oh man! Misty I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Misty cut him off as she through herself at him, clutching him tightly.
"Please don't apologize" she said against his shoulder. "Please don't tell me that you didn't mean any of it"
"I meant everything!" Ash exclaimed. "It's just I don't know if you-" Misty lifted her head and started into Ash's eyes.
"I need you Ash" she whispered. "I need to know what it's like to be loved." She burrowed her head back into his chest.
"I think I love you too"
Ash wanted to shout his joy to the world, but instead captured her lips in his own again. Ash kissed all over her face and Misty moaned a little, falling back on the bed, and pulling Ash down on top of her. Ash trailed his kissed down her neck as her hands explored his chest and back. With extreme effort of will, Ash raised his head, only now noticing the revealing night gown Misty was in, what little clothes he was wearing, and were this could all be leading.
"Misty..?" He asked huskily. Misty brought his face down and kissed him.
"I need to you Ash" she whispered against his lips. Ash smiled shakily and continued kissing her as his hands trailed down her gown, then back up her skin. She lost all sense of the world as he said those three words she had gone past hoping for, all her life.
"I love you"
Did this seem, I don't know, rushed to anyone? Personally, it seemed off or rushed or something just seems wrong with the way this chapter ended. But I couldn't find a way to change it, plus I wanted to get this chapter out. Anyone think I should still continue this? I won't blame you if you don't. Please review, even if it is a flame. I can only improve (I hope) as a writer, and criticism or anything would help me out in writing. So anyway, review and tell me what you though of this chapter. Thanks!