"Let me get this straight. You met a random girl outside, and kissed her in the first five minutes of meeting her." Dawn is sitting on the end of my bed. She invaded my room again this morning. She's already dressed, her hair looking perfect, and I'm barely awake, haunted by a hangover.

"So?" I say, rubbing my head. I wish she'd wait until I've had breakfast to grill me about last night.

She sighs. "Well, was it at least good?"

"No," I admit. It's too early to get deep, but the words spill out before I can stop them. "What does it feel like, when you kiss Chloe?"

Dawn 'hmm's' for a moment, thinking. "It feels like fireworks are going off in my chest. Like every nerve in my body is on fire. My heart feels like it's going to explode. It's like, a really intense feeling that you can't explain."

I shrug, defeated. "I've never felt anything like that."

"Maybe that's because you're forcing it. You can't feel that with just anybody. You have to connect with them. You have to let those feelings come to you."

I consider her words. She makes a good point, actually. I sigh and throw the covers off myself. She shouts and covers her eyes. "Pants, Ash!"

"Well maybe you should stop coming in here so early," I argue, grabbing the closest pair of jeans. In the wardrobe I find a plain dark t-shirt and pull that over my head. "Okay. No more mushy stuff. Breakfast."

We head downstairs, but no one else seems to be awake. I don't blame them. I wouldn't be either, if it wasn't for this blue-haired devil. She sits me down and starts cooking an omelette, and places a cup of warm tea in front of me, saying it'll help. I sip on it, and eat the breakfast, which is surprisingly good considering Dawn made it. She doesn't ask anymore about the kiss, or Goh, and I appreciate that.

When we're finished, she takes the plates away and cleans them up. She's being strangely helpful, and weirdly quiet. Then she comes back and sits opposite me again, folding her hands together in front of her.

"What?" I ask, knowing she has something to say. Her expression is making me nervous.

"So, um." She grimaces, and I know whatever she's going to say, I won't like it. "Remember how you said you'd stay here for a couple of weeks if I did?"

"Okay?" I don't like where this is going.

"Please don't be angry," she mumbles.

"Dawn," I say sternly.

"Okay, okay. Well, Gary and Misty pushed their honeymoon forward, so they're going tomorrow," she explains. I'm confused. She thinks I'd be mad because I can't stay? I can tell there's more by the way she's shifting awkwardly, so I wait for her to carry on, raising an eyebrow at her. "And, um… I may have planned a road trip for us."

I blink blankly at her for a moment. "A road trip."

"Yes." She smiles sheepishly. "Around Galar."

"Galar?" I repeat incredulously. "I mean, okay. Just you and me?"

"And Chloe," she says. Well, that actually doesn't sound bad at all. I blow out a breath, relieved. Actually, a road trip around Galar sounds kind of nice. I haven't been there in a while, and maybe I'll get to visit Leon.

She clears her throat, and adds quietly, "and Goh."

"What?"

"Goh too." She winces. I don't even know what to feel. Dread comes first, and then irritation, because she's set this up. There's no way Goh agreed to go on a road trip if he thought I was going to be there. I'm guessing this is going to sprung on him like it's being sprung on me. I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes.

I stand up and start to leave before I take my irritation out on Dawn. I know she has pure intentions, but how did she expect me to react when she announced I'm being dragged along with her and her girlfriend, with someone I haven't been friends with for years? She'll go off with Chloe, and leave me with Goh, in the hopes that by the end of it, we'll be friends again, but it doesn't work that way. Not with Goh and I. We'll be lucky if we don't tear each other's throats out by the end of it.

When I get to my room, I start to pack my things, throwing them haphazardly into my case, not caring if things are clean or not, or if they get creased. I pull the zipper shut and hoist it back off the bed. I pack the rest of my things into the backpack I brought, and throw that over my shoulder, looking over the room once more, making sure I have everything.

I drag my case down the hall to Brock's room and knock on the door. He answers the door, eyes half-open, yawning. "Ash? Are you leaving?"

"Yeah, just thought I'd let you know. Come to Unova soon, yeah?" I ask.

"Of course," he says, and pulls me in for a hug, patting me on the back. "See you soon."

"See you," I say, throwing him a wave as I head back down the hall. I decide I'll text Gary when I'm home. I don't really feel like disturbing him and Misty this morning. They were probably up late. I pull out my phone and shoot May a text, explaining that I'm leaving, and that I'll see her soon.

I don't see anybody in the halls, or on the stairs, and make it to the door without being intercepted by Dawn. Outside, the sky is blocked out by thick, ash-grey clouds, a storm looming on the horizon. It's so dark it may as well still be night. I head out to my car, wanting to be gone before Dawn notices. She'll be upset for a while, but hopefully she understands why, and gets over it soon. She can still go on the road trip without me, anyway.

I throw my luggage in the trunk and climb in, starting the car. As I put it into drive and pull away, the sky opens up, and rains buckets down so fast the wipers can't really keep up. I drive slowly, wipers flying back and forth over the windscreen, for about forty minutes, until a thick fog rolls in, forcing me to pull over on the side of the road, still two hours away from Pallet, but I'll have to wait for the storm to pass before I can go anywhere, because the visibility is literally zero.

I try to turn on the radio, but I'm in the middle of nowhere, and the only thing it picks up is an annoying crackle. I look at my phone, but I have no signal. The only thing around me is trees, but I can't even really see them, the fog is so thick. I sigh and throw back my head, closing my eyes and praying that maybe I can sleep until it passes.

A knock on my window has me jumping up. A woman has her face pressed up to my window. She's in a raincoat, with an umbrella, which is barely holding up in the wind. I roll my window down a little, even though the rain starts to pelt me through the gap.

"Storm's not due to pass until tomorrow afternoon!" She shouts over the wind. "There's a motel just down the road, though!"

"Thank you!" I call back out the window, and she nods, stepping away from the car. I see the headlights of her own car through the fog. Not wanting to get lost, I wait until she pulls away and follow her tail lights slowly through the rain, until she pulls off, and I see the bright light of the motel sign. I park the car and consider not even getting out, and just sleeping in my car until tomorrow, but it's only midday, and I still have no signal. Besides, the wind is so strong it's rocking the car a little, and I definitely don't feel safe.

Resigning to the fact that I'm going to have to go inside, I get out and run from my car to the office, where an angry looking woman chewing loudly on something sits behind a desk reading a book. She doesn't look up when I walk in, or even when I clear my throat. She doesn't look up until she finishes the chapter, and places her book upside down on the desk.

"Hello," I say, when she finally looks up. "Do you have any rooms?"

"One left," she says blandly. "Room six. Thirty dollars."

I pull out the money and hand it to her, and she hands me a rusty key. She takes my name and number, and then goes right back to ignoring me. I huff and run back out to my car, grabbing the backpack but leaving the case for now, then running for the shelter of the walkway. I follow the numbers down until I reach six, and unlock the door.

The room is basic, but looks clean, at least. I can't believe my luck, having to wait out a freak storm like this when I'm trying to get home. I pull out my phone, and see I finally have one bar of signal, and a bunch of unread texts from Dawn, freaking out over my disappearance, and trying to explain herself. I open them, so she'll see I'm at least alive, but don't respond. I sigh and fall back onto the hard bed and kick off my shoes, crawling under the covers, closing my eyes. I think about the road trip, imagining all the things Dawn had planned, and how much fun it would have been if we were all still friends.

I finally call Gary, and he picks up almost instantly, sounding perkier than I expected. I explain that I had to go, but that when he's back from the honeymoon, I'll visit them again. He doesn't seem bothered, anyway.

I don't necessarily plan on sleeping, but I wake up some time later, fully dressed and groggy, my eyes stuck together. I groan and reach for my phone to check the time, and see it's 4:30pm.

Hopeful that maybe a miracle has occurred and the storm has passed already, I go to the small window and pull the curtain to the side, only to see the rain seems to be even heavier somehow, and the fog is still just as thick, rolling over the parking lot. I sigh and yank the curtain back, then stand there, considering my next move. I don't have any food, and my stomach is angry and empty. My only real option is to go to the office, and ask if they have anything.

I pull a scrunched up hoodie out of my backpack and pull it over my head, but don't bother fixing my hair before heading out of the door, locking it behind me. It's freezing outside, so I hurry down the walkway to where the office sits, not thrilled about having to speak to the lady behind the desk again. It only takes a few seconds to reach the doors, but when I do I freeze, because there's a man at the desk, and it looks an awful lot like-

He turns to the side a little, and I catch a better glimpse of his face. Yep. It's Goh. My heart somersaults in my chest, and I groan. How is it that we've avoided each other for eight years, and now he seems to be everywhere I go? I debate turning around and coming back in five minutes when he'll be gone, but then I remember the lady saying I took the last room.

I suck in a deep breath and push open the doors. He turns as I enter, and I see his face twist when he realises that it's me. I shove my hands in the pocket of the hoodie and frown right back at him.

The lady goes back to reading the book, satisfied that Goh must be done talking since he's looked away. I take a step towards him. "Of course you're here," he says bitterly.

"Real nice." I roll my eyes.

"Tried to leave for Vermilion," he sighs. "Guess you did too?"

"Left for Pallet. Didn't get far."

He shifts his weight awkwardly and looks around the room. "Looks like I'm waiting in my car for it to pass. No rooms left."

My stomach flips, my racing heart making me feel a little dizzy. I hesitate for a few long, silent seconds, before saying: "You can stay with me, if you want."

"Huh? You already have a room?"

"Yeah," I say. I feel so nauseous I might puke right here on the stained carpet.

Now it's his turn to hesitate. He seems to consider his options, no doubt wondering which is worse- having to spend over sixteen hours with me, or in his car. I can't blame him. The thought of him staying in the tiny room with me is making me want to curl up and die. I don't even know why I offered.

"No chance," he finally says, shaking his head, scowling. I press my lips together.

"Alright," I say, shrugging. I turn back to the door, reaching for the handle to leave.

"Okay," he calls out, in a tone that implies he's the one compromising here. "I'll stay with you."

I look at the lady at the desk to see if she's been listening, or is going to complain about us, but she doesn't seem to notice we're still here. I swallow hard and turn to lead him to the room, my pulse racing. He drags his case behind him, neither of us speaking. I unlock the door and hold it open for him to enter. He pauses in the doorway, staring in at the one double bed in the centre of the far wall, unmade from my unplanned nap.

He finally steps inside, and I close the door behind us. I wish he'd speak, to break the awkward tension, only made worse when I think about last night, and the fact that Dawn thought we'd been flirting. Then he just had to walk out while Rosa was there…

I cross over to the bed and throw myself down on it, figuring I may as well pretend he isn't here, and turn on the TV. The news channels are talking about the freak storm, and how it's the worst seen in decades. My phone buzzes several times on the bedside table, the screen lighting up over and over, but I ignore it.

"Someone's popular," Goh comments, sitting in a chair closer to the door, putting his chin in his palm. "That the girl I found you with last night? Thought you were done with women."

I feel all the heat in my body gather in my cheeks. "No. It's Dawn," I snap.

"You're ignoring her?"

"Kind of," I answer vaguely. He clearly doesn't know about the road trip, which means he must have left before speaking to Chloe or Dawn this morning. That's strange. I would have thought he'd at least find them to say goodbye, especially Chloe. What was he running from? "Did you not see them this morning?"

He doesn't seem to want to answer that, but eventually shakes his head, staring down into his lap. "I left early. Got stranded on a nearby road until someone told me about this place."

"Why?"

He looks up at me then, his eyes hollow, and I notice for the first time that he doesn't seem to have slept at all. "Just wanted to get away."

I can sympathise with that. I want to push for more information, but don't want us to start arguing when we're doing alright so far, so I turn back to the TV instead, flicking through the channels until I find at least a mildly entertaining quiz show. My phone vibrates a few more times until I finally pick it up. Dawn's texted me thirteen times since I last checked, going from apologising some more to getting annoyed, threatening to hunt me down. Then, her final text:

If this is about Goh, I won't invite him. I think he's left already anyway.

I huff a humourless laugh and start to type out my first response to her today: He has. He's with me. Stuck in a motel because of the storm.

It's not even five seconds before she starts to type a response, and only a few more before it comes through: Goh's with you? Why? Did you leave together?

I type back: Yes, and no. Long story. I'll call you later.

She responds with You better and I put my phone back down, sighing. Goh's on his own phone, thumbs flying over the screen like he's writing a paragraph to someone.

Only then do I remember I actually went to the office for a reason. I curse and sit back up, knowing I have to go back or starve. Goh raises a quizzical eyebrow at me, but I just shake my head, grab my phone, and head back out the room and to the office, ignoring him.

I approach the desk and clear my throat. "Excuse me. Is there anywhere to get dinner around here?" I ask, as polite as I can manage. The lady looks at me over the top of the pages, blinking.

"Diner a minute down the road," she says, pointing down the road.

"Thank you," I say, and leave her to it. I run over to my car and grab the only waterproof coat I own, though I'm already drenched before I make it back to shelter, so it's kind of pointless. When I get back to the room, Goh is digging around in his suitcase. He looks up and smirks at my wet hair, sticking to my forehead. I roll my eyes again.

"There's a diner down the road. I'm going." I say as I put on the coat. "Are you coming?"

He pulls his own coat out of his suitcase and stands, starting to put it on. I take that as a yes.

— — —

The diner is so quiet, I think there's nobody else there, until I spot a couple in the corner, no doubt taking shelter from the storm. I take off my coat and sit at a table, looking over the menu, and ordering when the waitress comes over. Goh orders the same thing as I do. We sit in silence, watching the rain out of the window.

I steal a glance over at Goh, but he's not looking, so I let myself watch him for a moment. He looks lost in thought, his brows knitted together, his eyes hard as stone. His jaw is set, like something's irritating him. Then his eyes flick to mine, as they have hundreds of times over the last couple of days. Only this time, my heart literally skips a beat in my chest.

Heat crawls slowly up my throat, and I look away quickly. There's something seriously wrong with me. I'm never this nervous- not even with people I've just met. This is Goh. We were once a team. Even if we have been estranged for years, I shouldn't be feeling this uncomfortable. My whole body is buzzing.

"So, why were you running from Dawn this morning?" He asks.

"I was irritated with her," I answer vaguely. He raises an eyebrow, and I sigh. "She planned a whole road trip without asking me, and I guess I just wasn't feeling it."

"A road trip?" He asks. Under the table, his knee brushes against mine again, only this time he jerks it away quickly, a polar opposite from last night. I clear my throat.

"Yeah. Me, her, Chloe, and uh, you."

His face scrunches up. "Me? Really?"

I shrug, crossing my arms over my chest. "Exactly."

He 'hmm's' and shakes his head. "Not happening."

Even though I rejected the idea myself, him also rejecting it hurts for some reason, and I roll my eyes and turn back to look out of the window. He sits back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest too. "Look," he says again, and my heart sinks. "I'm only going to offer this once, okay?" He sighs. "Do you want to talk about it, or not?"

My heart is beating so fast I think I might pass out. "Talk about what?"

He frowns. "What happened between us."

No, is my instinctual reaction. If we go down this road, I have no idea where we'll end up. I can't see it ending with us being friends. I see it ending with us at each other's throats again. Also, it's just plain awkward, but I've hesitated for far too long.

"Okay," I say finally, and reluctantly. He doesn't speak, just sits watching me, arms still crossed, like he's waiting for me to go first, but I have no idea what to say. "What do you want me to say? It's been eight years. We were kids."

"But we're not kids anymore," he argues, leaning forward. "And we still don't get along."

"I guess we're just not compatible," I say, feeling my irritation flare. It's like, when I'm around him, I just feel so much that it all gathers up until I let it out in the wrong way. "We don't have to be friends, you know. I can go back to Unova, and you can go back to Vermilion. It's not like the road trip is actually happening."

His face twitches, exactly the way it used to when he was annoyed when we were younger. After all this time, I can still pick up on his tells. "You're an ass."

"So are you," I say, even though I don't mean it. My heart is screaming for me to pour myself out to him, but I can't. I wouldn't even know where to begin. We'd both promised each other we'd never change, and that we'd always be best friends, and now we're sitting here, barely four foot from each other, yet we've never been further apart. The rift between us grows wider every day, even when I think we might have started to bridge the gap. We've both broken our promises.

The waitress reappears and we go silent, eating our food without looking at one another. My brain is completely fried, and I just want to sleep so I can drive to Pallet in peace in the morning, and be on a plane to Unova the next day.

Unfortunately, I still have twelve hours to go.