Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the idea for this fanfic, which is not intended for profit.
Notes: I'd like to thank (as you know him) ObsidianX for giving me this idea a long time ago. This was a fanfic I never got around to finishing, but decided to give it another try. I hope to finish this sometime soon, but am busy and it will probably be put on the back burner while I work on some of my other (CCS) fanfics. Even though I support AAMR, this fanfic also has a lot of BAMR, and may end up kind of sad/dark. If you want to know, Ash and Misty have been married for a year now. They are both 24 now, and live in Cerulean City. Brock is now 27, single, and still lives in Pewter, running the gym along with some of his siblings. I'm not sure if this should be PG or PG 13…
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Regrets
Chapter Two: *Mixed Feelings…*
"Bri?" {"Misty?"}
Misty stopped humming and somewhat distractedly looked up at the small egg pokémon that was peering up at her in interest. She was the youngest daughter of her closest pokémon, which had long ago evolved into a Togetic. Pushing back a slight wave of annoyance at being interrupted from her thoughts, Misty smiled. "What is it Togepi? Are you hungry?"
"Toge toge pi togepi bri?" {"Who's that man that keeps coming over?"}
She felt herself flush, unable to find her voice for a moment. "… Don't you remember Brock? He's… a very good friend of Ash's and mine. We all used to travel together when we were much younger."
"Pi toge pi pi to togepi?" {"Well what have you been doing in the bedroom?"}
Even more flustered than before, Misty's face turned redder than her hair. She quickly tried to think of some excuse and when none came to mind, she changed the subject and dismissed the unexpected question. Misty checked her watch and looked out the window for the tenth time. "Oh look, my sisters aren't holding a water ballet show tonight. Why don't you go off and play at the gym with all the other pokémon?"
"Toge!" {"Okay!"}
She gave a small nervous smile, and pulled out Togepi's pokéball. The egg jumped and was sucked inside by the beam of red light. Misty placed it on the transporter, sighing in relief as it instantly disappeared on its way to the Cerulean Gym.
"Looks like you got rid of her just in time." A pair of arms suddenly wrapped around her, making her give a small shriek of surprise. "Sorry I scared you, but I just couldn't resist," Brock winked at her seductively.
Misty relaxed a bit and slapped him teasingly, "Pervert."
He grinned and pulled her into a warm hug. "What's wrong babe, you seem so tense."
She snorted and raised an eyebrow at him, "Babe, you seem so tense? What is this, a porno movie?"
"Why not?" Before she could react, Brock lifted Misty off her feet and held her in his arms, trying to keep a straight face. "Would you like to board the Brock Express, my dear?"
Misty couldn't help but giggle, for once feeling like a teenager again. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed it lovingly. "Yes." She poked him in the stomach, "but I better get first class or I want my money back!"
"You better hold on, because this is going to be a ride you'll never forget," he joked, gently running his fingers through her hair.
"Full speed ahead," she smiled softly.
Brock carried Misty as he ran towards the bedroom. His bad imitations of a train could no longer be heard over the sound of their laughter ringing in unison through the halls.
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Misty lay wide-awake, still lying in Brock's embrace. She sighed and rested her head against his chest, hoping the calm rhythm of his heartbeat would lull her to sleep. Instead of comfort, it gave her more unease. Now as she listened to him sleeping peacefully, her mind began to churn with all the thoughts and guilty feelings she had tried so hard to push away.
"Misty, are you alright?"
She turned in surprise to see Brock looking at her in concern. Without realising it, Misty had begun to cry and had accidentally woken him. He kissed her softly, "What's wrong?"
"Oh Brock, I… What are we going to do?"
His eyes darkened, knowing exactly what she meant since he had worried over it many times himself as well. "I honestly don't know Misty…"
There was a long silence between them, both unsure what to say. "Do you…" Brock's voice cracked a bit, "Do you regret everything that has happened between us?"
Misty's voice was no more than a shaky whisper, "Maybe…"
Looking hurt, he pulled away from her. "I knew I was a fool to think that you would actually return my feelings." Brock sat up, his anger began to rise as he continued, "Did you have fun throwing around my emotions, making me think that for once someone cared for me?"
"It wasn't like that – "
"Well damnit Misty, I'm not just some little toy for you to play around with until Ash comes home!"
"Stop!" Hearing the strong intensity in her voice, Brock closed his mouth and turned back to face her. Misty touched his face gently with a sad smile. "You know I would never use you like that Brock. I was never pretending, I really do love you so much…"
His expression softened a great deal, "But you still love Ash too…"
It was a statement, but Misty answered anyway. "Yes."
Brock sighed unhappily, "Who do you want to be with?"
She closed her eyes tightly, "I don't know, everything is so confusing and complicated."
"I see…"
"You are truly such a kind and wonderful person Brock. You've always been able to understand me better than anyone, and have always been there for me. I know I would be so happy to be with you and start a family with you…" Misty paused, "On the other hand, Ash was my childhood crush, and then my first real love. We've been together so long, and our wedding was the greatest day of my life. I have already vowed to spend the rest of my life with him."
He avoided her gaze, "So that means you want to keep that vow to Ash?"
"No… I don't know what I mean."
"I can't ask you to choose, but he is going to be home in a few days."
"I know…" Misty cursed in frustration, "No matter what my decision is, I will end up hurting one if not both of you very badly. All our friendships will be ruined, things will never be the same."
Brock was silent once again, only able to try and offer comfort by holding her close.
She looked up at him, "I need more time to decide, and Ash won't be home until Tuesday…"
Brock frowned a bit at what she was suggesting. "Misty, you are married to Ash, do you really think it is a good idea for us to continue our relationship behind his back?"
Misty bit her lip, "Probably not… but maybe this was destiny Brock, maybe you are the one I am meant to be with. I want to be with you as long as I can before I have to choose, because if you leave now, I'm afraid you may never come back."
"What if this just makes things worse? What if Ash finds out, he'll hate us you know that?"
She hesitated at that, but the determination didn't leave her face. "…I'm willing to take the chance."
"I… I don't know if I will be able to bare losing you Misty, this could make everything so much harder and hurtful."
"I know it's wrong… I wish there was some other way." Fresh tears glimmered in her bright eyes, "I understand if you want to leave, so just go now before I try to stop you."
Brock didn't move to get up, instead he brought his mouth down to hers and kissed her tenderly. "I can't leave you, if I did I would be leaving my heart and soul."
Misty held onto him tightly, "I love you."
"I love you too."
As she drifted asleep in his arms again later that morning, Misty felt both happy and horrible. Mixed feeling still stirred inside of her, making her feel sick. She had fallen in love with both of her best friends, one to whom she was married, and one whom she was having an affair with.
'What am I going to do?'
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