DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokemon!

A/N: Okay guys, on with this crazy story, this isn't usually my forte! AAML rules, but this time I'm expanding my horizons!


The next day dawned early and sunny, the sun's rays peeking through Misty's window. She cautiously opened one eye, not wanting to face what would happen today. Maybe if she just kept her eyes closed, it would all go away...

But of course, it was silly to think that way. How stupid to think everything would be better if she just stayed in bed? With a sigh she sat up, and gently nudged Togepi awake, who immediatly wailed for food. Just like any other morning.

Only this morning - this whole day - would be different.

"Yo guys! Breakfast's up!" She heard Brock's voice bellowing from the kitchen and then the immediate footsteps of Ash. A breakfast call-up was enough to fully wake him up.

Misty smiled at his traits, his own unique details that made him who he was. Ash Ketchum. A boy Misty had fished out of a river two years ago and who had never left her side since. You'd think that would make any two people the best of friends.

Misty used to believe this. She really did. She sighed at what she had lost in Ash. She was willing to share everything with him, to be open, to laugh and cry and celebrate with him...and he was so closed.

Slipping on her robe, she made her way out to the kitchen and stretched her arms as she sat down. Ash made some sort of greeting to her in between his daily scoffing of the pancakes, and Brock said good morning as he laid down her plate.

"Six pancakes! Brock, I'll explode!" Misty laughed, viewing the stack of pancakes that was drowning in maple syrup and carefully topped off with a cherry.

"You need it, scrawny" Brock joked, this statement resulting in a playful swat from Misty before she devoured her pancakes in a much more dignified manner than Ash.

"You know Ash, there's this great invention out, it's called a fork..." Misty muttered, rolling her eyes. Ash briefly looked up, a wide grin dominating his face. Maple syrup was all over his fingers, and Misty and Brock couldn't help but laugh.

"I know that" Ash mumbled in between mouthfuls. To anyone else, those three words would have been inchorent. But after two years, Misty and Brock had learned to understand the foreign language of Ash eating. They had also mastered the languages of Ash celebrating and hyper Ash.

"Well Ash, your match is in an hour and a half..." Brock announced subtly.

"An hour and a half?!" Ash and Misty both exclaimed at the same time, both for different reasons. Ash for the fear of not being ready, Misty for the little time she had left for her big confrontation. Well, she could always go after the match, but she wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.

Brock looked surprised. "Yeah, I thought you both knew that. It is 10:30 now, you know" he shrugged.

Ash looked at his watch, as if Brock was kidding. "You let me sleep until 10:30?!" he shouted in dismay.

"Well, yeah. Waking you up before then could be dangerous" Brock sniggered.

Ash looked more than a little offended. He shoved away the mostly eaten pancakes and shot up from his chair. "Well in that case, we have 90 minutes of preparation! C'mon, Pikachu!" he commanded, as the yellow mouse happily jumped up on its trainer's shoulder.

"I'll meet you at the stadium!" he yelled, heading outside, and then the front door slammed, leaving an empty feeling inside the house.

Misty and Brock both picked up on the emptiness and smiled. Ash was definatly the loudest out of all of them. "Um, Brock...I have a killer headache, I might stay here today" Misty said feebly, a worn excuse to stay away from any excursions. But Brock easily saw through it.

"I see" he sighed. "If you want the trainer's numbers, it's in the red guide book there." He flatly pointed to the coffee table and stood up to remove the dishes.

"Why would I want trainer's numbers?" Misty asked heatedly. Brock turned around from the sink and gave her a wary smile.

"Because I know there is someone you need to see today. It's eating at your brain, isn't it?"

Misty glared. "Brock, you are one of my best friends, I would never hide anything from you. But I would appreciate it if you minded your own business!" she yelled, the pressure being released from inside her.

Brock looked taken aback and Misty sighed. "Sorry Brock, I didn't have a nicer way to put it" she said with a wry smile.

Brock smiled back and shrugged. "Do what you want, Mist. I can keep it from Ash. I just don't wanna see anyone get hurt."

"I know" Misty said quietly. "But no one will get hurt because nothing has happened and nothing is going to" she vowed, both to herself and Brock.

"Whatever you say, ma'am. Just remind yourself of that when you're missing out on Ash's battle today" Brock said sadly.

Misty cringed, guilt now flooding her system. She had never, not once in her life, missed a battle of Ash's. And now she was giving one up to go and see his rival? What a bitch you are, she thought to herself. But she knew it had to be done. It had to, or the uneasiness that was controlling her, and possibly Gary, would never cease.

"Oh Brock, please don't. There's nothing more to discuss. I'm gonna lie down, are you alright out here?" she asked politly.

Brock nodded and watched her make her way to her room. Now he was feeling something he shouldn't. He had never felt it towards Misty before, but now he had only just realised it was sticking out more than any other emotion.

Disgust.

Misty flopped down on her bed and looked at the ceiling, tears forming in her sapphiere eyes. If she hadn't lost Ash before, surely missing out on one of his battles would do the trick. But then again...would he even notice?

That thought made her sit up in shock. He hadn't noticed when she missed out two-thirds of his last match. Of course he didn't notice. He didn't notice a lot besides Pokemon these days.

Falling back onto her pillow, Misty closed her eyes and savoured the surrounding silence. Brock had finished with the dishes and had gone to his room, maybe to get ready to watch the match. By himself...

Misty's mind screamed at the stress she was causing herself. Brock would survive watching the match by himself, no sweat.

Her thoughts never really went beyond the whole Gary thing, and before she had any time to switch to something else, a vague part of her mind heard the front door slam. Brock had left. Misty checked her watch, and realised that Ash would be battling in half an hour.

"Okay" she said calmly, hoisting herself off the bed and breathing deeply. She walked over to the coffee table in a sort of trance, gazing at the red leather book that held the names and numbers of hundreds of trainers. She only wanted one. One that she shouldn't even be thinking about.

Misty exhaled deeply and dialed the seven numbers that could ultimatly cause her even more grief then she was already experiencing. The dialtone was heard three times before a friendly "Hello?" was chirped down the other line.

Why does he sound so happy? Misty wondered fleetingly. Then she came back to reality and tried to clear her throat. "H-hi" she stammered. Wow, great start Mist, she yelled at herself.

There was silence on the other side. "Who is this?" Gary asked in curiosity.

Misty gulped. "Um...it's, uh..."

"Misty" Gary finished. She could almost feel him smiling through the word! He shouldn't be smiling! She sure as hell wasn't.

"Uh, yeah. Anyway, um, I really need to talk to you" she announced.

"My pleasure" Gary replied, taking Misty by surprise. That was not an answer she was expecting. But what was even more horrifying was the fact that it made her smile.

She physically slapped herself and shook herself out of the grin. "Can you come here as soon as possible?" she asked politly.

"Of course. Sounds serious" Gary noted. He sounded so different when he was talking to her instead of Ash or Brock.

"It kinda is" Misty said sadly.

"No problem, I'll be there in 15 minutes, maybe less, okay?" Gary asked.

"Sure. See you soon." Misty confirmed the arrangement and shakily put the phone down. Her cheek was still stinging from where she had slapped herself, but she knew she shouldn't have been smiling like that. That was a sin!

Briefly looking in a mirror on the way to the lounge, she saw that half of her face had gone red from the impact of her slap. How could she do such a horrible thing to her own body?

Damn you Gary Oak! You've done this to me! Misty shouted the words in her head but never spoke them. For she knew it was her own fault she was in this situation. She could've pushed his hand away when he put it to her face. She could've kept on walking when she bumped into him.

But she didn't. She had stayed. She had shivered at his touch, and felt something she had never felt before. She certainly didn't feel it when she wiped away Ash's tears of disappointment, or gave him a high five, or slapped him in frustration.

All thoughts were drained from Misty, as was the blood from her face, as two solid knocks echoed through the empty house precisely 15 minutes later. She slowly approached the wooden door, and commanded herself to at least put her hand on the doorknob.

Slowly, slowly, don't rush...the doorknob went around and Misty slowly and quietly opened the door. Of course she had expected to see Gary there, she had invited him after all, but she still felt shock circulate through her. She felt like all breath had been knocked out of her as she stared at him.

"Um...is there food on my face or something?" Gary asked nervously, feeling her eyes burn into him. This had been easy on the phone, to talk to her, but face-to-face was another story.

Misty finally found air and laughed shortly. "No no, I'm just off in another place...come in" she said, opening the door wider and inviting him in.

The apprehension and nervousness was etched on the faces of both the teenagers, and they stood in the hallway, facing each other as Misty closed the door.

"So..." Gary started.

Misty shook her head. "Geez, how rude of me, come sit down in the lounge." She lead the way and sat down next to him. "Do you wanna drink or something?" she asked, fiddling with her fingers.

Gary shook his head. "No thanks. I don't think you invited me here for a drink, did you?"

Misty sighed. "No, I didn't." She hesitated before continuing. "Gary, what happened yesterday...it's been playing on my mind ever since, I can't stop..." She trailed off and looked at the ground.

Gary smiled. "Misty, I know what you mean. I've been going through the same thing."

"Really, Gary? Have you REALLY been going through the same thing?" Misty asked, a bitter tone to her voice. "Has it been eating you up about how Brock saw us and could easily tell Ash? Have you thought about how this could break Ash's heart?" She was yelling by the time she finished.

Gary went quiet. "No, I don't suppose I have." An uncomfortable silence fell between the two of them, before they both sighed in unison. After this had happened, they each eyed the other and burst out laughing.

"Woah, freaky" Misty lightly commented. The laughter had broken the ice a bit and they both found themselves relaxing. "When are you battling today?" Misty asked politly, a smile finally on her lips.

"I'm not battling until tomorrow" Gary informed her.

"Oh. Are you ready for it?" Misty half-heartedly inquired. Her gaze was fixed on his dark, mysterious eyes. She was right. There was something in those eyes behind the evil she so often witnessed.

Gary never answered Misty's question. Instead he took her hand in his and started softly caressing it. Misty closed her eyes in an attempt to shut out the pleasure that was going through her, but instead found herself drowning in it.

"Misty...there is a side to me that doesn't appear when Ash is around. You seem to be the only one who brings it out" Gary said softly.

C'mon, why did you invite him here in the first place? To tell him to buzz off, that's why! Misty's mind reminded her. She sharply drew her hand away from his and stood up, nervously pacing the floor.

"I can't be 'the only one' Gary. I don't even know you very well! Nothing can be made out of this, so I..." She trailed off as Gary stood up to face her. "I think you should just leave" she whispered.

Gary raised an eyebrow. "Do you mean that?" he asked.

"Yes, dammit!" Misty yelled. "I do mean it!" Her voice got louder, but her eyes cast down towards the floor again. "I mean it, because nothing happened yesterday. I dunno what game you're playing, or why you're pursuing me, it's pointless!" she exclaimed, eyes still aimed at the floor.

"Misty." Gary's gentle voice made Misty lift her head to meet his eyes. She was not going to be defeated by him, she had sworn that to herself.

"Y-yes?" she answered meekly.

"Look me in the eye and tell me again that nothing happened yesterday" Gary almost commanded.

Right, easy, Misty thought. But as she locked eyes with him, she found it impossible. She was being hypnotized by eyes that mentioned nothing of hate, or rivals, or even Pokemon.

Just say it! "Nothing happened yesterday" Misty whispered, secretly shocked to find herself staring at the ground.

Gary grinned. "You can't tell me that, can you?"

"I just did!" Misty exclaimed in exasperation.

"Uh-huh" Gary said sarcastically. "So tell me that nothing is happening now. That you're not feeling anything right now, that this is a normal day to day conversation."

Misty was disgusted to feel two tears running down her cheeks at Gary's words. She never cried. And this was almost exactly like the scenario the day before.

As he had the previous day, Gary gently wiped away her tears, only this time no awkwardness passed between them. He found his hand lingered on her cheek, and was pleasantly surprised to find Misty place her hand on his.

Was she going to push it away? Was she going to stand there and make excuses about how she was feeling?

But Gary knew she wouldn't. They both knew now. Her hand hadn't moved, although Gary was now bringing it to meet his lips. A jolt of electricity went through the two of them as his lips made contact, and Misty found herself sighing in contentment. Ash would never do anything like this. Ash would consider this a disgusting, soppy scene.

In fact, Ash would probably run for his life at the mere thought of kissing a girl on the hand.

Gary smiled. He had done it. He had convinced her and now she was happy, which made him happy. Seeing her so upset before had honestly torn at his heart. But seeing this...hearing that happy sigh...watching a conetented smile radiate her already beautiful face...

That engulfed him in joy.

Still holding her hand, Gary now made no hesitation to lean forward and plant a soft, loving kiss on Misty's lips. She found it automatic to kiss him back, to enjoy the shivers of pleasure that were running through her body, to temporarily push Ash to the back of her mind.

The kiss was gentle but long, as neither of them wanted it to end, neither of them wanted to leave this wonderful place they were both visiting. They finally broke it off as lack of air became a priority, and could only beam at each other.

"Wow" Misty said breathlessly, her smile unwilling to leave her face. She should've been feeling guilty, remorseful, something like that...but all she felt was pure bliss. Besides, Ash didn't own her - heck, they weren't even going out!

"I know" Gary replied, his grin as wide as Misty's. They both soon found themselves lost in another kiss, unwilling to let go, to spoil the moment.

But they didn't have to spoil the moment themselves. As they pulled away, smiling into each other's eyes, and embraced in a wordless hug, Misty felt her heart plummet to the floor. For Ash Ketchum had walked in to witness his best friend and arch-rival playing tonsil hockey. And the shock on his face looked 10 times worse than the shock both Gary and Misty were feeling as they turned to face him.


A/N: Well there ya have it, chapter 2, chapter 3 will be up soon. It might take a while though cos I am in the middle of co-writing another story (don't worry, it's AAML, lol) and it could take priority to this. Flames, reviews, pleas, anything, just say it all in your reviews! Thanks a ton! ^_^