AN: Disclaimers from Chapter 1 apply. Dedicated anew to Chelle-sama. I swear I'll work on Kitaku again. I didn't mean to continue on from 'Best Man', but sometimes the Plot-bunny doesn't die when you whack it over the head.
Chapter 2: The Best Man (Maybe, Just Possibly) Gets
Sets a Date
There were a lot of pictures from Brock and Misty's wedding, Ash thought, and he'd gotten a copy of nearly all of them. But he'd stuffed most of them into a photo album that he rarely looked at. He'd only kept one out. It was the only one in which he looked truly happy; in the others he looked sad or lonely or wistful, even bored; in one he looked downright terrified. But not in this one. Ash stared at the picture in his hand; he hadn't gotten a frame for it, it simply sat on his nightstand--within easy reach when the silence of being in his Mother's house without his two best friends got to be too much.
Dancing with Misty, Ash reflected, had been wonderful...
* * *
Dancing with Misty was horrible, Ash reflected. She was impossibly graceful, so soft and sweet smelling and beautiful. 'Bad form' he chastised himself. 'Inappropriate to slaver over the Bride when you're not the Groom.' And speaking of the Groom, here came said Best Friend across the dance floor to re-claim his Wife. He had to, Ash realized, stop capitalizing those concepts. The sooner, the better. Ash stepped away from Misty with a sharp pang.
"Hey Brock, I guess you came to get Misty." He said and was surprised when Brock drew him, and not his bride, into a fierce hug.
"Thanks Ash, thanks for everything." Brock said, squeezing. "You don't know what this means to me."
Maybe it was the fact that Misty was glowing with happiness beside him, or maybe it was the fact that Brock was well and truly his best friend, but Ash felt something tight and strained and barbed inside of him ease. "Yeah, well, I wouldn't do it for anybody else." He said, meaning it.
"Oh Ash!" Misty smiled with fond affection and stepped up to embrace him. "One day Ash, I want you to be as happy as I am right now. I want you to know exactly what this is like." Misty released him, dashing at tears that had gathered in her eyes. "I want you to have all this someday."
Ash had to bite down hard on the inside of his lower lip before he could work his voice around an answer. "I want that too, Misty."
"And I want to dance." Came a new voice over his shoulder. "Could that maybe happen now, instead of in the amorphous future?" Ash turned to see Molly's blue eyes twinkling merrily over his shoulder.
"It's alright, you guys, you can keep dancing." Brock said before turning to Molly. "I think I can oblige you, beautiful young lady." He said, bowing gallantly.
Molly curtsied deeply. "I'm honored, kind and handsome sir." She rose with a grin. "But I've already danced with you Slick and you're taken. I was hoping I could convince Ash to take me around the floor again."
"I'm wounded." Brock laughed. "Are you trying to tell me that you want to steal my best buddy away from this serious talk about being light-heartedly happy for some nefarious purpose?"
"Got it in one, Slick." Molly winked. "I figured it was better than getting him drunk and propositioning him." Ash felt his ears heat.
"So then get to it!" Misty beamed, pushing Ash towards Molly. "We've got some dancing of our own to do."
Brock kissed her tenderly. "We sure do." He leered playfully. "And after that, the garter toss!"
Molly drew Ash away to the sounds of Misty's happy, laughing protestations. "Well," She said brightly, winding her arms around his neck, "that seemed painfully painful. You looked like you were willing to chew your own leg off in order to escape."
"It wasn't so bad. Not unless you count almost all of it." Ash sighed. "The thing is, really, it's not so bad because they're so...happy. They're happy."
She made a murmur of agreement. "Very."
He rested his cheek against her hair briefly. "Thank you for the rescue."
"No need to thank me. I actually did want to dance with you again. I've got to leave--I'm taking the river boat back to Greenfield and the last one leaves in twenty-minutes." She grinned impishly. "I thought you could use it as an excuse if you wanted. You know, I'm leaving, you're leaving, so we must be off having mad, passionate..."
Ash laughed. "No, thank you, you don't need to besmirch your honor--" Molly threw back her head and laughed, drawing smiles from some of the other dancers as Ash smiled down at her, "or mine. Brock and Misty are leaving after the garter toss to catch the magnet train into Goldenrod."
"Goldenrod? I thought they were going to honeymoon in the Whirl Islands." Molly frowned. "Geez, I'm out of the loop."
"They are, but first they're staying the night in Goldenrod. They're going to catch an early morning hot-air balloon ride into Olivine. They arranged to rent a boat at the harbor to get to, from, and around the Islands."
"That sounds nice." Molly said at the exact same time that an announcement for the garter toss went overhead. Ash steeled himself to join the growing, jostling crowd around Brock and Misty and was surprised when Molly simply didn't release him. She revolved them in a slow semi-circle so that Ash could no longer see the other half of the room. "Speaking of dancing..."
"We weren't."
"We are now." Molly shrugged. "I wanted to tell you earlier that you're a wonderful dancer."
Ash felt himself blush again as he muttered an embarrassed reply. "You don't have to say that, Molly."
"Good." She declared. "Because in all reality, Ash, you have the rhythm of a stick."
"Stick!" Ash startled, not even hearing the raucous catcalls from the crowd across the hall, "Stick? I'll make you eat those words, Professor." He swept her into a series of light, quick steps before dipping her with a low, laughing flare.
"Ash!"
He very nearly dropped her.
"Ash Ketchum!" He straightened, setting a giggling Molly on her feet, and turned to face Brock. He was storming across the dance floor, clutching something in his hands. "Here." Brock shoved the thing, a white, lacy thing, into Ash's unresisting hands. "I threw it. You caught it."
"Okay." Ash felt himself frown in confusion. Brock clapped him on the back.
"So. That takes care of everything." Brock grinned broadly. "Thanks again, Ash. Bye Molly, it was good to see you again."
"Bye Brock." Molly said around her giggles. "I'd tell you 'have a nice time' but that's pretty much a given." She waved as he strode across the room and blew a kiss to him and a waving, beaming Misty.
Ash waved too, before finally looking at the white thing he held in his waving hand. It was the garter. "Oh." He managed, staring. Now, what was that saying...?
"Catch the garter and you're the next to the altar." Molly's voice was full of breathless mirth as she propped her chin on his shoulder, still waving to the exiting bride and groom. "And you know, Violet caught the bouquet not more than an hour ago."
"That's right Ash." Todd was making a beeline for him and Ash suddenly had a bad feeling about the entire affair. "This means I'm going to need a picture of you, Violet, and your trophies." He slung the camera around his neck over his shoulder and gestured with the one in his hand. "Over by the bower, if you will."
A quick glance over his shoulder showed that Violet was coming up fast. Ash had a feeling that the look he aimed at Molly was panicked. "Too bad." She snickered. "I guess there won't be any hot, wild--"
"Ash!" Violet cried, "C'mon, it's time for more pictures! I do wish it had been that cute guy with the Jolteon, water and electricity and all that." Violet mimed a little shiver then winked at him. "But I guess you're not too bad. Alright Todd, where did you want us?"
"The bower." Molly supplied helpfully and Ash shot her a look of betrayal, which she laughed at. "Hey, Todd, I've got to go, can you get a picture of us?"
"Sure thing, Molly. Say 'Ruins of Alph'!" Todd grinned.
Molly looped one arm through Ash's and held the other out in front of her, thumb, index, and middle finger splayed in a very familiar victory pose. "Yeah!" She cried. "I got him!" And Ash couldn't help laughing as he, too, assumed his victory stance. The camera's flashbulb made bright starburst patterns in front of his eyes, painful to look at, true, but they were pretty.
* * *
Ash studied the photograph with the same close attention that he did every time he looked at it. He and Molly were leaning together, laughing at each other, not even looking at the camera. He'd been laughing at an event he hadn't even been sure he could hold a forced smile through.
The weirdest thing, the most unexpected thing, was that she seemed to be hanging around inside his head all the time now. He'd gotten a brief letter from her when the pictures were sent out, asking if he'd gotten a copy of the picture of the two of them. Ash had written a quick, two line reply stating that, yeah, he'd gotten a copy. He had a copy of most of them, if she wanted any other pictures.
She'd phoned him after that. He'd been out, but his mom had taken a message from her. He'd been fiercely glad to be gone when she'd called. He hadn't returned the call and had ducked out of the room the next day when his mom had called Professor Hale. He'd heard her say 'he's a bit bashful'. She wasn't kidding, either. It was weird. Weird, weird, weird.
And so normal was the word of the day when he walked into the kitchen to see his mom and Professor Hale on the phone. "'Morning, Mom." He grabbed an apple from the bowl on the table. "Hi, Professor. What are you two talking about?" He seated himself on the table and grinned when his mother shooed him into a chair.
"Professor Oak, actually. Your mother was trying to think of a plan to get Sam to take Professor Ivy to the Pokemon-Conference Mixer. And I still say setting him up with Philina is a mistake, Delia. Roxy is so much better suited."
"Nonsense, Spencer. Professor Maplewillow practically lives in the artic."
"Better to be cold and have somebody to snuggle up to than to roast to death in the tropics."
"He seems to rather enjoy the beach, you know."
"Actually, Mom, Professor Hale, Professor Oak is taking Jaspreete from the Growing Gardens Greenhouses to dinner tonight. They go just about every week. I think they're dating." Ash injected, taking a bite of his apple.
Which he promptly choked on.
"Professor Ivy's not interested in men anyway." Molly said, strolling into the room behind her father. "I found that reference you were looking for, Dad, before your 'pressing business' took over." She grinned at the screen. "Hi Mrs. Ketchum. Hey Ash." She winked.
Ash flushed. "Hey Molly. You look, um, busy."
Molly shrugged and leaned over the back of her father's chair. "I like to keep busy. It keeps me from gossiping about Professor Oak's love life."
"I wasn't gossiping." Ash muttered, feeling scarlet flames lick at his face. Molly only grinned and leaned closer to the screen.
"Hey--Professor Ivy?" She said quirking up an eyebrow. She leaned back and poked her tongue into her cheek. "I've got to get moving; I need to check in with the team on North End, I'll be back in time for lunch Dad. Bye Mrs. Ketchum, bye Ash." She fluttered her fingers. "Oh, Ash? Maybe the next time I call, you'll be in."
"Yeah, maybe." Ash agreed faintly as Molly sauntered out of view. Spencer Hale turned to watch his daughter leave and before turning back, eyebrows raised.
"So, Philina is like that, huh?" He grinned. "And Sam is dating. You know, Delia, I think we need a new hobby."
Ash headed for his room, his apple and breakfast completely forgotten as his mom laughed. "Maybe we could hook Professor Ivy up with Professor Maplewillow, hmm?" Normal was shot for the day, he decided as his mom and Professor Hale laughed uproariously.
And things didn't exactly get normal, either, over the next several weeks. It was, Ash knew, at least partially his own fault. After that first phone call, he'd called Molly's house the next day. She hadn't been in. Something must have had control of his mouth because Ash heard himself say "Well, tell her I was in today." He'd gone out, with nothing at all to do, for the entire next day only to return and find that Molly had called him. She'd left a message that she had been in, but wouldn't be for the next two days. After that, things had gotten inventive.
Eventually, Professor Hale and his mom took to letting the machine pick-up the calls, which actually made phone-tag a lot more fun--nobody could do 'petulant/offended/unaffected/pitiful' like Molly could. It wasn't until Ash nearly broke his leg falling out his window (and incidentally, past the phone screen) trying to get out of the house before his mother found him and made him take the call, that Ash decided to answer the phone.
"Hi, you've reached the Ketchum house." Ash began to recite the answering machine message. Molly looked like she was plotting what to say. "We're currently screening all our calls. Please wait for the tone and leave a message. Oh, and if this is Molly, I'm not in." He waited a second, watched Molly get ready to speak. "Beep?" He offered, smirking. It was oddly satisfying to watch Molly's mouth drop open, to see her eyes cloud over with confusion before she gave way to disbelieving laughter. "Beep?" Ash asked again. "Molly, you're supposed to leave a message."
Molly, doubled over and nearly hysterical, hung up.
Ash considered.
"Might as well." He said to himself. He dialed the Hale's number from memory. "Hi Mrs. Hale!" He said cheerily when Molly's mother answered. "Is Molly still in?"
Mrs. Hale nudged something on the floor with her foot. "Molly, Ash Ketchum is on the phone for you."
"I know! I know he is!" Molly sat up and into view. She was wiping tears off her face. "Hi Ash." She managed to deadpan.
"Hi Molly!" Ash chirped and had the pleasure of watching Molly dissolve into giggles again. Something mellow and content crept into his stomach along with the squirmy, nervous, anticipatory feeling Molly normally seemed to inspire in him. "Hey." He smiled when she'd calmed down.
Her answering smile was warm. "Hey. I've got to admit, this is an unexpected pleasure. I was under the impression that I unsettled you." She winked and Ash had the impression that she'd bitten her tongue on the word 'bashful'.
"You do." He heard himself say.
"Really?" Molly leaned forward, folding her arms in front of the phone. "Why's that?" She asked, propping her chin on her arms.
"I know what you want." Ash winced as he said it but plowed on. "And it's thinking that I might, you know, want that too. Maybe, one day. You know."
Molly sighed. "I think so. Do you remember what I said at the reception? I want us to be friends first, and if you can't, or don't want, to be anything else then that's good too. I like you, Ash--with or without you liking me. Friends is always a good place to be."
"Yeah, I remember. But you make me all...well. It's easy to avoid you. I didn't even like Misty at first, but I couldn't avoid her so we had to be friends."
Molly grinned. "You couldn't avoid her? I don't think I've heard this story."
"It's a long story. Well, no, it's not. I totaled her bike. She wouldn't let me out of her sight until I got her a new one. At first I couldn't even stand her and then I..." Ash bit his lip, remembering. "Anyhow, I was around her all the time...it's hard to be nervous all the time."
"I get that. It's a lot easier to fight-or-flight every time the phone rings." Molly nodded thoughtfully. There was a long pause during which Ash thought of, and rejected, all of two things to say. "Okay." Molly sat back, "Okay, it's my turn to get the 'nervous, unsettled, hope-I'm-not-humiliating-myself, not-so-springtime-fresh feeling'."
"What?" Ash blinked, smiling a little. "Regular-Molly seems like she'd be able to storm a castle all by herself, Nervous-Molly must have the ability to take over the moon."
"I was thinking more along the lines of you taking over Greenfield for awhile." Molly said, her eyes intent on his.
For a moment, Ash could have sworn that the world shifted on its axis. "Are you inviting me to Greenfield?" Perhaps it was a bit of a stupid thing to say, but it was really all he felt capable of coming up with, given the circumstances.
"Yeah. Yeah, I guess I am." Molly sat back, as though stunned. "I mean, it's not such a bad idea, really. You've dealt with the Unown, with their constructs--Entei, the crystal formations." She searched the desk quickly and came up with a notebook and pen. "In fact, this is a great idea! You can have a look around the Ruins and give us your opinion on it. You could stay over at the Pokemon Center; they double as a rooming house. I think. I'd have to check on that again. Hmm. We should get a transcript of your version of events from last time...hang it, that means that we'll need Misty's too...I can call her...I don't suppose either of you have blood samples from before that time available anywhere? Pediatrician's office? Misty might...I should check with the GLA..." Ash watched Molly scribble frantically for a moment, a grin titling his mouth.
"So, I'm the science project now?"
Molly's head flashed up. "What?" She blinked a few times. "Oh. No. Well, yes and no. The scientific factor is pretty neat, but mostly I want to get to know you. If you're here then we can't get away from each other so easily, no matter how scared we are."
"You were avoiding me?" It was Ash's turn to blink. It wasn't a bad feeling, this. This knowing that maybe, just possibly, he was getting to Molly as much as she was him.
"Why do you think I wasn't answering my phone?" Molly's cheeks were pink.
"I thought you weren't home." Ash grinned. Then, taking a deep breath, taking his life, and maybe--just possibly--his heart in hand, decided. "I'll do it. I'll leave for Greenfield tomorrow. Is that enough time for you to get stuff ready?"
"Yeah--I--yeah." Molly had stopped writing; eyes wide and only vaguely focused. "You..." Her cheeks colored again suddenly. "Okay."
"Okay." Ash agreed, nodding. It felt as though by making a decision the Butterfree in his stomach had decided to migrate someplace else. "I'll leave tomorrow. I should be there in a week."
Molly continued to blink and gape. "It's a date." She agreed faintly. Ash nodded again and hung up.
"Mom?" He called, standing. "I'm going to pack. I'm leaving for Greenfield in the morning." Greenfield? Molly? Date? Ash suddenly felt faint. That flock of Butterfree might have flown, but their offspring were back with a vengeance.
"Okay honey." His mother called back. "That's good timing, I've got a whole basket of clean unmentionables for you."
