Chapter 2

"Gravity isn't responsible for falling in love."

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"So, I tell her right before I leave to just pick any meal and call the caterer with her decision since I had to go meet with the florist and she can't even do that," Misty complained as she moved the components of her salad around, picking out all of the carrots and peppers and pushing them off of her plate. Ash watched her continue her rant, barley listening to what she was saying just observing her motions intently with a smirk on his face. "I honestly do not know what I was thinking when I agreed to let her help me with the preparations two months ago," Misty continued in the same agitated tone. "I mean, Lily's the type of person who takes you clubbing Saturday night, she is most definitely not the kind of person you want planning the most important day of your life."

"Well, why do you need Lily to help you with the preparations anyway?" Ash queried, simply out of politeness. He honestly did not want to engage of any talk of the wedding. For the past eight weeks it had been all he had heard about, he did not know he was going to be able to stand another three months of it let alone the big day itself.

"Well, I can't plan it all by myself."

"Well, why doesn't your, uh, wonderful husband-to-be help you with them?" he asked, the sarcasm in his tone going unnoticed by Misty.

"He's too busy with work to do anything to help plan the wedding," Misty responded coolly as she stuffed a piece of lettuce in her mouth

"Oh?" Ash questioned, suddenly intrigued. He tried to hide the happiness in his voice and felt a pang of guilt for being pleased with the fact that they were having problems. "Are you two fighting?" he asked a little too eagerly.

She shrugged. "Well, other than the arguments about the wedding... no," she answered and Ash's crestfallen expression returned. Her brow furrowed upon seeing his change in demeanor. "Why?"

"No reason," he replied, in the indifferent, nonchalant voice he'd learn to perfect... The one he used every time he spoke to Rudy, the goddamn boyfriend Misty had been with for over a year and was now marrying.

Ever since their first date, after Misty had told them she was going out with Rudy, the gym leader who liked her all those years ago and whom had recently moved to Cerulean, Ash had been waiting for the day she would come home in tears, and he would be there with open arms, waiting to hold her tightly. He knew it was parsimonious and was ashamed, but there was nothing he could do. He had been the best friend, the one to comfort Misty, for over a decade. He would listen to the sound of her soft, feminine tears over the phone, and he would jump up and go over to the gym. She would tearfully tell him about the latest breakup or freakish date, and he would hold her and tell her that the right guy was out there, that she deserved better. Sometimes she would fall asleep in his arms and he would hold her, watching her sleep, studying the way her eyes fluttered open and shut while she dreamed, the way her lips curved into a sweet smile.

Sometimes he would fall asleep too, and they would awake with their bodies and faces pressed together much too close, and she would smile and kiss his cheek, and he would brush the hair away from her face, and they would have the most intimate moment. Then she would thank him for being the best best-friend in the world, and Ash would smile ruefully and leave, feeling like the most pitiful idiot in the world.

Because he'd fallen in love with Misty. He'd fallen hard.

And now she was dating this Rudy guy. And now there were no more nights of comforting Misty, no more tears to kiss away or whispers to be heard. She was always busy with Rudy, here and there with him at one time or another, beginning to have less and less time to spend with Ash.

That was a reason why Ash was so thrilled to be sharing this meal with her. In the days before Rudy had come back into Misty's life they had gotten together for lunch just about every day. Their daily tradition had turned into a weekly one which led to a monthly one after she had gotten engaged. Ash had managed to find an hour of the day where Misty wasn't busy with the wedding or with Rudy for the two of them to spend some time together. And despite the fact that she arrived, ranting and raving about the wedding preparations which reminded him of all he was losing, Ash was simply just glad to have her in his company.

A natural silence had fallen upon the two as they both indulged to eat their lunches. Misty watched Ash from the corner of her eye as he took another huge bite of his hamburger, oblivious to the fact that she was watching him. She observed as he continued to sloppily eat his meal, secretly wishing that she would be in a position to tell him to eat politely because that type of behavior would not be acceptable in a couple of months. Because he would be the one that she was marrying.

Misty had known for years that she was in love with Ash. It was a fact that she, as well of the rest of the world excluding him, was very well aware of. She could easily deny the fact to anyone who accused her of it but she could not deny it to herself. It was true, she knew it was, and despite the fact she could not admit that fact to Ash, she was at least able to accept it inwardly. There was no use for her to try to convince her mind that she was not in love with him when every fiber of her being knew that she was.

But now, Misty wished she had the power to be able to persuade herself that she did not love Ash and that she did not wish it was him instead of Rudy who asked him to be her's forever, and that it did not kill her that she was going to spend to rest of her life with someone who was just simply not him.

Every day she wondered why she had accepted Rudy's proposal. It had not even been romantic or a real proposal for that matter. The topic of marriage had come up in a conversation between the two of them and therefore they decided to go ahead with it. She did not have the heart to refuse when Rudy suggested they give it a shot or when he took her to pick out her own engagement ring. Misty had always felt too guilty rejecting anyone for one matter or another. Her guilt when rejecting was also linked to her fear of rejection, which was why she never dared to speak a word of her feelings to Ash.

So she sat and weighed out the pros and cons of being married to Rudy. Forever was a long time, Misty had decided, too long of a time to be alone. So if she could not spend it with the object of her desire, she might as well spend it with someone who could offer her a good life and hold the slightest bit of comparison to warm her heart just a little bit.

Her pondering came to a stop after a moment and it was then Misty realized that the conversation between her and Ash had died and they were simply sitting here, eating and not saying a word. A light bulb suddenly went off in her head as she became aware of something that she needed to be updated on frequently. She curled the tablecloth between her fingers before opening her mouth to speak.

"So," Misty began, trying to stir up the new topic. She looked down at her plate, crunching lettuce between her fork so Ash would not be able to see the envious expression about to form on her face. "How are things with you and Melody?" she asked, struggling to keep her voice sounding causal and curious rather than burning with jealousy.

Ash bit his lip, feeling slightly guilty at himself for the words 'Melody, who?" were just about to pass through his lips, indicating that he could not care all too much about his current girlfriend, Melody who they had met all those years ago on Shamuti Island.

Him and Melody had been dating on and off for a while. She had moved to the Kanto region about five ago and they had been together for most of that time. Ash knew that they did not have much of a future but despite that fact he stayed together with her. His motivation for asking her out had been after a conversation with Misty on how serious her relationship with Rudy was getting. Out of spite and jealously he found the need to appear just as happy as he was so he got together with Melody to make him appear so. It was not as if he did not like Melody.  She was a perfectly nice woman and was just as a devoted and loving girlfriend should have been... but she wasn't Misty and therefore she didn't stand a chance of winning love into his heart.

"They're all right," he answered unenthusiastically much to Misty's pleasure. He then looked up at her. "Why?" he challenged, in the same tone Misty has spoken moments before.

Misty shrugged, trying to remain nonchalant. "Just wondering," she responded, popping a slice of cucumber in her mouth, hoping he would believe her. Secretly, she knew she had no reason to be jealous. She had somebody of her own so Ash's relationships should not have bothered her. Misty couldn't help being envious, however, no matter who she was with at the moment the fact that he was with another woman drove her crazy with  envy and spite.

Ash sighed inwardly. He admitted to himself that he was not the best boyfriend in the world to Melody and could afford to treat her with a lot more attention. He had been trying to months before, back when he was forcing himself to love someone else so it would not hurt him so badly that he could not have what he truly wanted. Ash gave up on that one night, however. Although it was that night that proved that he could never have Misty it also proved that he could never love anyone but her. The night when all of these revelations came bubbling to the surface. The night when Misty and Rudy announced their engagement.

Ash recalled sitting in Tracey's apartment the night a small get-together had been planned. Brock and Tracey had been seated in armchairs, beers in hand, watching the football game that illuminated the television. Ash, unfortunately, was forced to listen to the dramatic ramblings of his Melody's day as she latched onto his arm like he was her possession.

He remembered Misty and Rudy entering the apartment fifteen minutes after the rest of them had arrived, smiles on both of their faces. He remembered everyone but himself jumping up to embrace the happy couple when they announced the new of their engagement. He remembered his delayed reaction to the news as he halfheartedly congratulated them, hugging Misty and avoiding Rudy as usual. He remembered the gut wrenching pain that enveloped him the minute his brain processed the information he had been given. He remembered the feeling of a knife stabbing his heart repeatedly, never stopping for a moment to let him breathe. But most importantly, Ash remembered realizing that he had lost his chance with Misty forever.

"Ash. Ash? Ash?" Misty waved a hand in front of her best friend's face to attempt to get his attention. He had been staring intently into his coffee cup for several minutes and she was beginning to wonder if he was listening to her at all. "Hello? Earth to Ash!" she repeated in a louder tone. This was enough to pull him out of his daze and he looked up at her with confused eyes. "Finally," Misty sighed. "What the hell happened? You completely spaced out on me; I thought I'd lost you for a sec." Misty's smiling face furrowed into a worried expression when she noticed that Ash did not even crack a grin to her small joke. "Everything okay?"

Ash met her concerned stare and then, once more, instead of pouring out his heart and soul to her he bit his tongue and willed back the words he so desperately tried to speak. "Don't worry, Myst. I'm fine, I was just... thinking."

"About what?"

About how I love you, he thought. About how I've loved you for as long as I can remember. How I want to take you in my arms and never let you go.

There was so much he could say.

She's getting married, Ash reminded himself sternly. If you said any of those things, you would look like a fool. Things would become awkward and your friendship would be ruined. Do you want that to happen? No. You must never tell her how you feel. So he said the last thing on his mind.

"About how happy I am for you and Rudy."

TBC

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A/N: I hope this chapter cleared up some more things. I think you can sort of see how I had the first and second put together from the way chap. 2 starts off. Also, I know that it is sort of cliché to use Rudy as Misty's fiancé when it has been done so many times but I couldn't really think of anyone else to use. Of what I know, he's the only character in the show that had an interest in her and had somewhat of an attitude at the same time. I thought about just making up someone of my own but that seemed boring. Same thing with Melody. Oh yeah, and there'll be a cheesy love quote at the beginning of each chapter, I just decided to do add that, lol. R=R =)