DISCLAIMER: I can't believe I have to say this…do you honestly think a 17-year old Kiwi owns Pokémon? If so, I think you need help, lol.

A/N: Here we are at chapter three, woohoo! There are times when I am amazed I'm even posting this story, it's taken me ages to write and I've been on and off about actually finishing it. But I have finished it and I am posting it, so just…I'll stop rambling and let you read, sorry!

Chapter three - Harbouring a Secret.

The sun was shining through the slight slit in the curtains, conveniently beaming right on my tightly shut eyes. But that wasn't what woke me up. It was the consistent ringing of the phone.

"Coming" I groaned, slowly pulling myself out of bed. My sisters obviously weren't home - if they had been the phone would've been answered halfway through the first ring.

"Hello?" I yawned.

"Misty, you haven't been out the past 4 days! I'm worried about you! I mean, I didn't call before because I saw you crying, but now I'm scared, is everything okay?"

I sighed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Trust Mom to call on Judgment Day. It had been 4 days since Ash's little visit and since then, no, I hadn't been out. I'd been thinking. And today had to be the day...

"It's okay Mom, I'll go out tonight" I falsely promised. By the time the day was through, I knew I'd be too exhausted to do anything.

"Now Misty, I know what that voice means. You're trying to get off easy, aren't you?" Mom said with obvious teasing in her tone.

"No Mom" I said wearily. "I'll go out tonight."

"Where are your sisters?" Mom suddenly asked.

"I dunno" I shrugged. "I suspect they've woken up next to some guy they don't even know thanks to the extraordinary amounts of alcohol involved in last night's activities."

"Misty!" my mother said sharply. "How dare you accuse your sisters of that!"

I cringed. Favouritism. It's lethal, but it runs rampant in our family. Unfortunately, I'm always on the wrong side of it.

"So why were you crying? What happened?" Mom nosily inquired again.

"It's really none of your business" I replied.

"Misty, I'm your mother -"

"Aren't I the lucky one?" I interrupted sarcastically.

"Don't take that tone with me, young lady! I've been very good to you since you've come home, allegedly scarred for life by that Ash boy" Mom said.

That was when I lost it. Mom had hardly been good to me since I came home. She'd been forceful, demanding and totally unsympathetic, if you didn't already figure that out.

"Oh bite me, Mom! Ever since I came home all you've done is force me out, watch me like a hawk, convince me that there is life after Ash and all this shit!" I yelled. Oops. That wasn't the right thing to say. But my anger was overriding my common sense.

"Misty Waterflower, you watch your language! I can't believe you would speak to your own mother like that!" she exclaimed.

"I can't believe how you took my story as a joke when I came home! If it had been Daisy or Lily or Violet then all the tissues and sympathy flowers would be out. Not the teasing and the forcing and the video

cameras!" I shouted.

"You should just be lucky we took you in at all. Your father was so disappointed you gave up Pokémon training just because you had your first failed so-called relationship. Did you honestly think you loved that boy? At thirteen?" Mom asked.

"I DID LOVE HIM, MOM!" I screamed, refusing to let my tears fall. "I fell in love! I was happy! Get over it!" With that I slammed the phone down, the chinging clunk reverberating around the lounge. Without a second thought, I picked it up again and dialed a number I had been too apprehensive to call before. It was amazing what anger had done to me in the past couple of days. It had given me a weird kind of confidence.

Hey, I wasn't complaining.

The phone on the other end rang. And rang. And rang and rang and...you're getting my drift. But I refused to admit defeat. Even the nervousness I was sure would be dominating me when I made this call was subsiding thanks to my increasing anger.

The dial tone sounded about 12 times before he finally picked up.

"Morning." Ash sounded sleepy, which wasn't unusual. It was 8:30 in the morning, and by his standards that's pretty damn early.

"Ash, I can't think through this any longer. When and where can you meet me?" I asked.

"Misty? Are you serious?" The shock in his voice was no surprise to me but still sent jolts of anger throughout my ravaged system.

"Of course I'm serious!" I snapped. "So when and where?"

"I dunno Mist, I only just woke up, could you give me a minute to get dressed?" Ash inquired.

Oh yeah, I was still in my pajamas. "Can you make it to the pier in 20 minutes?"

"Sure thing" Ash said uncertainly. "Misty, why are you suddenly so eager to see me?"

"I'll answer your halfwit questions when I see you. In the meantime, move it to the pier" I commanded. I didn't say goodbye before I put the phone down and then swiftly unhooked it. No doubt Mom would be furiously calling right about now, and I just couldn't deal with both her and Ash on the same day. So she could listen to the engaged tone rather than her deranged youngest daughter.

So after the world's quickest shower and an even quicker decision on what to wear, my feet started doing battle with my brain as I walked to the pier.

Brain - you know, he might just repeat the whole scenario from two years ago.

Feet - shut up and let her walk!

Brain - she must be so stupid, going back to a guy who trashed her completely.

Feet - we're not stopping, you know. No matter how much you insult her you can't make us stop.

And on and on until I reached the recently completed pier. Washbay Beach was gorgeous during the day, when the teenagers retreated to their beds after a hard night's partying. Now people were fishing, swimming, rollerblading and quietly strolling along.

I made it to the end of the pier and saw the spiky black hair I knew so well. Can you imagine how disgusted I was when I found myself smiling? I almost literally slapped myself but thought better of it. Talking to Ash

with a hand imprint on my face would not be a good look.

Instead I put on my neutral face and slowly walked towards him. He was barefoot, his feet dangling precariously over the edge with his back to me. Before I knew what was happening, I was sitting beside him, legs also swinging over the side.

"Hi" I said simply.

Ash turned to face me and gave me a broad smile. "Hi Misty. So what's turned you round?" He was not one to beat around the bush.

I looked out to the sea, a lake of glass that was harshly reflecting the sun's rays. "I don't think anything's turned just yet" I said cautiously.

"Well something must have happened to make you sit here beside me and talk to me as if I were a normal citizen" Ash replied.

I sighed. "Mom called this morning" I started.

Ash paused. "And...?"

"To make a long story short, she's been spying on me and wanted to know what made me so upset the other night" I explained.

"You were upset? Tough, controlling Misty actually felt emotions other than anger?" Ash teased.

"Don't start, Ash" I said flatly. "I'm not in the best state of mind right now."

Ash backed down. "Fair enough. So what's wrong with a caring mother inquiring about her daughter?"

"That's the thing. She doesn't care. She just wants me to be out there, supposedly enjoying myself, getting amongst people. She didn't worry about the fact that I was bawling for 2 hours in an empty house, no sir" I said bitterly.

"Why would she want you out there?" Ash asked.

"You have no idea, do you Ash?" I said with a short and bitter laugh. "You destroyed me so bad that I didn't go out properly for two years."

"You told me that" Ash pointed out.

"And what, do you think that's normal or something?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

"No" Ash said, shaking his head. He sighed heavily and looked me straight in my eyes. "I didn't think I would upset you that badly. It killed me to do it to you, but I thought you wouldn't care."

I was, honestly, shocked. "Why did you think that?"

"Because I didn't think you were taking the whole relationship as seriously as I was. Like I said, Mist...I was falling in love with you." Ash repeated the words he had told me four nights ago.

"You know, I do vaguely remember you saying that" I said softly. "But of course I was taking it seriously! Mom has this crazy idea that because we were only thirteen that it didn't mean anything, but Ash..." I trailed off. This could get soppy if I wasn't careful.

"What?" Ash raised an eyebrow expectedly.

"Alright, fine, I was in love with you. Okay? Are you happy? I was so in love with you that when you dumped me I was so emotionally distraught that I went home, practically locked myself in my room and became a little shit towards my mother" I blurted out in a flurry. "And now she calls, expecting me to be a duplicate of one of my sisters, and you show up, expecting me to fling myself into your arms like nothing's happened..."

"Misty, Misty, slow down!" Ash exclaimed. "I haven't expected anything from you! I've only just come to realise how badly I hurt you, and God, I can't describe to you the incredible amount of remorse and regrets I have following that."

There was an eerie silence as I caught my breath and let his words sink in. He actually sounded genuine. This was a huge improvement from when he had flatly announced his desire to never lay eyes on me again.

"Misty?" Ash asked softly. "Are you okay?"

I shook my head. "I'm just thinking" I said vaguely.

"I figured" Ash grinned. He ran a hand through his already mussed up hair. "Is it safe to ask you if you wanna grab some nachos or something? You woke me up and got me started so early I haven't had time to eat."

Was it safe? Hmmm. "For now, I suppose it's a little safer" I said sheepishly. "But I want you to know, before you dive into anything stupid, that you haven't redeemed yourself. Comprendo?"

"I know Misty, I know. And I'm not diving into anything, except maybe the chance to get to know you again" Ash said. He stood up and extended his hand towards mine. "Come on, nachos or what?"

I feebly smiled, still not feeling completely at ease with him yet. "Too hot for nachos" I concluded, accepting his outstretched hand. "But an ice block would be nice."

"Man you're boring. You haven't changed in food tastes anyways." Ash rolled his eyes but he was smiling. I dunno what it was about that particular smile, but I seemed to sort of reflect it.

Okay, stop throwing tomatoes already! I was NOT falling for him! Don't think I'm that stupid! My brain was frequently reminding me that this was the very same guy who had sliced and diced my soul only two years ago. Do you honestly think I would be crazy enough to let the stuff I felt two years ago come crawling back so quickly?

I was smiling. Big woop. For one thing, remember, I was getting a free ice block. Who wouldn't smile at the prospect of that on a 90 degree day?

We walked along the boardwalk, keeping conversation to a minimum, which would usually have suited me fine. But something came sneaking towards me, something I desperately tried to evade from my system.

Curiosity.

What the hell had happened with Ash and Giselle? If the League so desperately wanted him to be seen with someone respectable, why hadn't they flipped when they called it quits? Had they really called it quits? Did the League even care? Had Ash fabricated his story so he didn't look like the bad guy?

Personally, I was inclined to say yes to the last question. Guilt can do crazy things to people, and surely Ash was no exception. But then if that was the truth of it all, why couldn't he just tell me straight out why he

had left me?

We had been walking for about a minute before Ash was stopped by some idolistic Pokémon fanatic who was dying for an autograph. I watched in fascination as Ash calmly accepted the kid's praise and almost automatically signed a cap.

The kid left and Ash turned to me, looking bored. "You know, sometimes I wish they'd leave me alone" he confessed.

"Well you had to expect it" I said sensibly. "Being the youngest Pokémon Master ever has to bring in a few admirers, don't you think?"

Ash shrugged. "Yeah, but..." He stopped himself and almost instantly turned on that smile again. "So what did you want? A Popsicle or something?"

I stared at him in bewilderment. Curiosity strikes again, I thought warily. Why did he stop himself? What was he keeping from me? I nodded slowly and we resumed walking.

"Ash..." I said cautiously. "What happened with you and Giselle?" I was remembering the odd look that had come on his face four nights ago when he had told me it never went anywhere.

He literally stopped walking and I noticed his face was slowly but undeniably losing colour. As in, he was going pale.

"Well..." He sighed and looked towards the water again. "It was complicated" he said simply. There was an awkward pause as I tried to analyse his words. Complicated? What did that mean...?

He turned to me with another broad smile, as if nothing had happened. "I'll shout you this time."

"This time?!" I asked through a laugh. Feeling a little more light-hearted, I added "You'll owe me a lot more than just this, you know."

"So I'll get the opportunity to owe you more?" Ash asked hesitantly. We continued walking but I could feel my throat almost closing up. Yikes. How to answer a question when I was unsure of the answer was beyond me.

"Um, well..." I stuttered. Ash raised an eyebrow, expecting an answer, and I wearily put my hands up to my forehead. "Heard the saying good things take time?" I asked. Ash nodded in response and I continued. "Well, if you take your time it might turn out better than either of us thought it ever would" I said.

Ash knitted his brows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not gonna go leaping into your friendship pool right away, you know that, I've told you that a million times over. But if you let it flow gradually then, who knows, I might even consider seeing you again after

this" I explained with a wry smile.

Ash beamed back at me. "So if I asked to meet you tomorrow would you say yes?"

Woah, he was hasty. I thought I just told him the whole time thing. Sigh. "I dunno. That's not giving it a lot of time, is it?"

He looked sheepishly at the ground and, finally, I must've got my point through. "I guess not" he mumbled.

"A week maybe" I shrugged. "Whatever. Just not tomorrow! I've got enough to deal with right now" I said with a shudder, remembering the little 'discussion' I had had with my mother.

"Okay, that's cool" Ash replied. Two minutes later I was gratefully sucking on a popsicle and he was munching on nachos, and I began to get the dreaded familiarity of two years ago. We would often get food items such as the ones we were consuming now, and sit in happy silence as we were doing now.

Oops. Had I let myself get in too deep already? Nah. We were only eating. I could eat with anyone, especially if they shouted me.

I finished off the iceblock and chucked the stick into a nearby rubbish bin. "Well, I'd better be going. I have no idea when my sisters are getting home and they'll be pissed if they know I'm having fun and not a hangover" I grinned.

Ash smiled back and stood up with me. "So I'll drop by some time?" he asked hopefully.

I raised an eyebrow. "Remember what I said. You haven't wiped the slate clean. Buying me an iceblock won't see to that."

Ash shrugged. "Yeah. I'll see you later." I weakly smiled back, feeling my head spin, and watched him walk off in the opposite direction of where my bach was situated. Maybe I had gone too far. Given him too much hope or something. There was not one point in that meeting where I didn't feel anger. Even if it slightly, SLIGHTLY subsided, it was still there.

With what must've been my two hundredth sigh, I dragged my feet back to the bach, my head now a solar system of thoughts. I knew that solar system would be in orbit for a while. A black expanse pricked with fast moving objects centered around one thing. The objects were my thoughts. My thoughts were centered around Ash. And I didn't have the sense to figure out half of what I was even thinking.

A/N: Well yeeha! LOL, sorry, that was random. Anyways, thanks for sticking it out so far (if you haven't left in a tranced state of boredom) and more will be here soon. IT GETS BETTER! I swear it does, would I lie to you? Haha, see ya soon peeps, and thanks so much for the reviews!