Chapter 12

"If you love someone, just tell them... before the moment passes by." -My Best Friend's Wedding

 --

Light filtered through the open crack of the window, finding its way through the cluttered furniture of the apartment to reach his eyes.  His lids fluttered briefly before opening fully.  He immediately regretted doing so the moment he did, however.  The simple sunlight felt as if it was going to burn a hole in his retina and an overwhelming throbbing filled his head.  Ash groaned, lifting up his fatigued body, his head pounded fiercely as he felt the full effects of his hangover.  He inwardly asked himself one question;

Why the hell did I drink so much last night?

And then, with the force of a thousand bricks and the heartbreak of a million deaths, he remembered.

The restaurant… Misty asking him to give her away… storming out onto the street… fighting... her walking away… going to the bar… drinking everything in sight…

Whatever followed the chain of events was nothing but a blur to Ash.  He ran a hand through his messy hair, not wanting to bother to put together the bits and pieces of what had happened after his drunken walk home.  But his fight with Misty was still vivid in his mind, each word of mistrust and denial that came from her mouth like a dagger to his heart.  He remembered it all, every terrible moment of it.  And it hurt him, more than anything had ever hurt him before.

His eyes drifted to the window of his apartment and he glimpsed at the numerous pedestrians scattered below, going on with their lives, happy and carefree, oblivious to the drastic turn of his.

He couldn't stay. Not when his only reason for being there was gone forever.

The idea that been lurking in a corner of his mind suddenly stepped out of the shadows and became a fully formed plan. He trudged to his phone, picked it up, and punched in the League's office number.

"Lance? Yeah, it's me. Look, I-I decided to relocate after all, that is if the offer's still available. It is?"  He sighed with relief.  "You'll tell them I'm coming out to Johto?"

He listened to Lance's voice barking out instructions of what he was to do and where he was to go when he reached his destination.

"Hey, Lance? Can you look into finding some other stuff for me to do out there? Like, other smaller tournaments and speeches and fundraisers and stuff …because I've decided to stay out there for a while."

He listened patiently to his recommendations and found himself staring at the picture of him and Misty which he kept on a nearby shelf.  He reached over, picking it up and studying it carefully.  "No. I'm probably not coming back to Cerulean."

--

Yawning, Lily descended the flight of stairs of the Cerulean Gym, rubbing sleep from her aqua eyes and twirling a ringlet of bright hair around her finger, completely unfazed by the fact that morning was practically over with and was now drifting into noon. She pulled her pink robe tightly around her body as she made her way to the kitchen only to see Misty sitting at the table, staring blankly ahead, clutching a coffee cup in her trembling hands.

"Morning sunshine," Lily muttered sarcastically, reaching for her own mug and proceeding to pour the dark liquid from the half-filled pot of coffee. "I was surprised to see you were already back when I got home. Usually, you're out with one of the many men in your life," she smirked waiting to see Misty turn around and roll her eyes in irritation at her comment. Instead her sister remained fixated in her spot, not moving a muscle or registering any kind of reaction. "That was a joke," Lily reminded her, but still Misty remained unresponsive. She shook her head to herself, dropping the subject. "Anyway," she began, starting a new conversation topic. "My night sucked. You know, I really thought that such a thing as a thirty-year old virgin was a myth but apparently it is not. Because I swear no guy who has had sex before can possibly be that clueless," she swung a lock of hair over her shoulder dramatically and examined her manicure. "Honestly, I think I'm just getting too good for these men, I mean..."

"Oh my God!" Misty exploded, suddenly coming out of her stolid state, abruptly interrupting her sister's rambling and flashing her an angry look, her eyes wide with fury. "Would you listen to yourself?! Here you are complaining about your night, just because the random stranger you decided to hop into bed with wasn't up to the standards of the ten million other guys you've been with. Seriously, Lily! You're twenty-six years old and you still behave like you're seventeen! You're an adult and you haven't even attempted to have any kind of a serious relationship! How can you possibly not see anything wrong with the way you act, going from stranger to stranger, meaningless experience to meaningless experience? It's disgusting, quite frankly. And you can be sure as hell that you're going to be kicking yourself in the end when you wind up all alone because you blew off every chance you ever had for love."

With a hoarse voice and choking up Misty sat her shaking body back down on the chair she had stood up from in the midst of her yelling, placing her elbows on the kitchen table and putting her head in her hands in a feeble attempt to calm herself. Lily simply stared at her, her mouth open in shock, still trying to comprehend the harsh words her sister had just thrown at her. After several minutes of uneasy, stunned silence, the older sister willed herself to speak.

"Wow," Lily muttered, her voice holding neither anger or hurt but simply surprise from Misty's outburst. "I was certainly not expecting that."

Misty's uneasy breathing was the only response heard.

"You know, I was this," Lily held thumb and index finger about a centimeter apart, "close to bitch-slapping you in the face when you basically told me what a gross slut I was but for some reason, I actually managed to hold back."

Again, Misty registered no sort of reply other than her shaky breaths and the first traces of anger began to sink into Lily's voice as she spoke her next words.

"What the hell was that, Misty?" she questioned irritably, her shocked calm voice seeming to drift away. "Can you please tell me why you found the need to go and attack me like that because I for one have no idea! I'm sorry that we all can't get married and have perfect fiancé's like you and go off and live a perfect life complete with the suburban house, two kids, and a minivan." Disdain dripped from each one of her words. "Jesus," she exclaimed. "What the hell is your problem today?"

Lily stood there, arms folded across her chest as she glared at her sister menacingly, impatiently tapping her foot as she waited for her to reply.

"Well?" she demanded exasperatedly but the only response she got was a sniffle. Lily inched her way closer to the table, trying to get a better look at her sister's expression, a task that was difficult since her face was obscured by her hands. Another sniffle was heard followed by the unmistakable sound of a muffled sob. Lily froze, her brow furrowed in confusion, anger beginning to subside.

Misty was… crying?

Lily bit her lip and hesitantly moved closer to her sister. "Misty," she muttered carefully, resting a hand upon the small of her back. That was all it took. The small sniffles and threatening tears Misty had been emendating suddenly let loose, transforming into a full blown crying session. "Misty," Lily said again but sister's sobs only worsened. "Misty, what's the matter?"

Misty sniffled loudly, managing to cease her weeping for a moment to speak. "Nothing," she choked out unconvincingly.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Myst, I haven't seen you cry since you were seven and you had a pretty good reason for it, considering me and Daisy accidentally let your Goldeen get sucked in the pool filter. So if you're upset now, it obviously has to be something big."

"Nuh uh," Misty shook her head adamantly.

"Misty," Lily eyed her sternly. "Come on, the only way I can forgive you about your little outburst is if you tell me what's going on."

Her sister sighed, lifting her head for the first time and revealing her red, puffy eyes and tear-stained face in the process.  "I don't even know where to begin…"

"Yeah?  Well, I've got plenty of time, so don't worry about it."  Lily reached over and grasped her sister's hand tenderly.  "Talk to me."

Misty gulped, swallowing the lump in her throat and wiped away the salty trails that remained on her cheeks.  "Yesterday, Ash asked me to go out to dinner…"

--

"So, let me get this straight…" Lily began ten minutes later, once her sister had finished explaining to her all the confusing details that were included with the events of the past twenty-four hours.  "Ash tries to tell you about Rudy, gets so mad and freaked out when you don't believe him that he is practically in tears when he storms off, just so he can go back to his apartment and sleep his ex-girlfriend?"

Misty nodded, biting her lip, and tearing the already shredded tissue in her hands into even smaller fragments.

"Huh," Lily said in what seemed like mock incredulousness.  "Well, that just makes perfect sense, doesn't it?" she inquired sarcastically.

"Ugh, Lily, you don't get it!" her sister exclaimed.  "You weren't there, he was so mad, I've never seen him that angry before.  And then this morning Melody goes and answers the door in the clothes she was wearing last night."  She dragged her palms down her face before massaging the temples of her forehead to reduce the headache that was coming on.  "God," she muttered to herself.  "I just, I feel like such an idiot!"

"Honey, I know what it looks like, but that doesn't necessarily mean…" Lily was cut off as Misty groaned in annoyance, apparently agitated with her sister's explanations.

"You know, for someone who is such an expert in this area, you're really acting like a dumbass."

Lily shot her a dirty look.  "All that I'm saying," she stated calmly, "is that you shouldn't jump to conclusions before you have your facts straight."

"Oh, yeah?" Misty challenged.  "Let me ask you something, Lil, have you ever been with someone who wasn't single and then had his wife or girlfriend walk in the house while you were there?"

Her sister snickered at the absurdity of the question.  "Like ten million times."

"Uh huh.  And let me ask you something else; had the two of you had a perfectly innocent night when she came home?"

The confident grin slid off Lily's face at the realization.  "Well, no," she admitted and her sister bitterly shot her a look that said 'I told you so'.  "But, hey, remember, that's me.  I'm disgusting, you said it yourself, remember?"  Misty averted her eyes downcast guiltily, aware of the fact that although Lily seemed to be unaffected by her previous outburst, there was no way she was forgetting it.  "I haven't had an innocent night since I was fifteen.  For all you know, Melody could have been dropping off some of his stuff o-or comforting him as he spilled his heart out to her about you."

"Yeah, maybe in a perfect world," Misty muttered sarcastically, bringing her coffee mug to her lips.  "And you know what the worst part is?" she asked after taking a sip of the brown liquid whose warmth had diminished several minutes ago.  "Before this whole thing I was so sure that I had everything figured out.  I thought that I had finally realized how Ash felt about me and that I was stupid for not noticing sooner."  She smirked bitterly, shaking her head to herself sadly.  "Boy, was I wrong."

"Myst," her sister sighed.  "You don't necessarily know that…"

Lily was cut off as a knocking filled the air.  Misty turned to walk over to the backdoor where the pounding was coming from.  She grasped the handle and swung the door open, a pitiful sense of déjà vu overwhelming her at the sight of Melody standing before her once again.

The brunette's appearance was a lot more refreshed than it had been that morning.  She had changed into casual pants and a shirt, her make-up neatly reapplied, brown locks pulled into a tight ponytail.  However, whatever she looked like played no role of importance to Misty, who shot daggers into the eyes of the woman in front of her.  The same woman, she brutally realized, was the reason for her impeding heartache.

"H-Hey, Misty," Melody stammered somewhat nervously, finally breaking the awkward silence.

"Melody," Misty replied flatly, simply out of politeness.

"Um, look, I'm sorry to impose on you like this but... are you busy right now?"

"No, no, not really," Misty admitted.

"Can I come in?" she queried weakly. "I think we need to talk."

Misty paused. Melody was by far the last person she wanted to see at the moment but she couldn't fight down the curiosity surging within her. She knew that the woman had not come here to gloat about her impending relationship with Ash and for some reason Misty felt that whatever Melody needed to talk to her about actually was very important.

Reluctantly, she moved away from the doorway, allowing Melody to follow her inside.

"Lily, Melody. Melody, Lily," Misty flatly introduced as she stepped back inside before taking her seat back at the kitchen table.

"Hey," Lily offered, reaching over to shake hands with Melody. "Um, didn't you used to be...?"

"Ash's girlfriend?" she finished and Lily grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, that's me."

"Used to be?" Misty muttered bitterly under her breath.

"And that would be my cue to exit," Lily noted to herself as she picked up her coffee mug and proceeded to exit the kitchen to give the two of them some privacy.

"You know," Misty began, her voice seeming to Melody to be almost too nonchalant.  "I'm trying to remember the last time I opened a door without you being behind it."  She looked up and glared at Melody, a reaction that caused the other woman to nearly jump in fear.  The venomous look in Misty's eyes was enough to send shivers of ice up her spine.

"Yeah, about that," Melody began, awkward tones hardly subtle in her voice. "That's what I kind of came to talk to you about."

Misty sighed. There was no way she wanted to do was go into a whole big discussion about the heartbreaking events that had taken place only hours before. The whole experience had basically numbed her, and she was avoiding the fact that this had to be dealt with sooner or later. She was so close to losing it again and there wasn't a chance she was going to have a complete melt down in front of Melody. "I guess I was just in a bit of shock when I saw you, that's all," she explained, her voice no longer as harsh as it had previously been but a far step away from being friendly. "I-I thought you guys had broken up."

"We are broken up," Melody confirmed.

Misty let a smirk escape her lips.. "Do you answer the door to all of your ex-boyfriend's homes in the clothes you were wearing the night before?" she heard the tone in her voice and the tiniest bit of guilt began to invade her for a moment for being so judgmental and rude.

Melody gulped. She had never been close enough to Misty to actually have any sort of a fight with her. But she had witnessed the redhead's fiery temper whenever she was yelling at someone else and had heard about it from stories that Ash would tell her.  But in all honesty, Melody was quite frankly a little scared of having Misty angry with her.

"That's the thing," she replied. "I did spend the night at Ash's, but nothing happened." Misty snorted in disbelief, shooting her a skeptical look.  "No, I'm serious.  I had let myself in earlier just to drop off some of the stuff he left at my place. I was planning just to leave a note but he wound up coming back just as I was leaving. And he was really, really drunk."

"Well, I did have dinner with him that night," Misty informed, shrugging her shoulders as some of the hostility eased from her voice. "Maybe I didn't realize that he had drank too much."

"No, he was like completely trashed. He couldn't even walk two steps without falling all over the place. Anyway, you know how Ash is when he's wasted."

She made a noise of understanding as Melody continued.

"So, I just went to get the hell out of there, leaving him to pass out on the couch in peace but when I was on my way out he started talking to me," she paused before continuing, locking her gaze with Misty, "about you."

Misty closed her eyes, more painful memories of the night before flooding back to her. "He hates me, doesn't he?" she asked softly.

Melody sighed. "Look, I know you and Ash have a lot of history together and I do not want to get involved with something that can get really confusing. Especially now that you're engaged to Rudy..."

Misty inhaled sharply at her last sentence. "No, I'm not," she found herself saying. Melody eyed her dubiously and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat, trying to be as vague as possible when explaining something that was actually pretty embarrassing. "Me and Rudy aren't getting married any more, we, uh, we broke it off."

"Wow," Melody muttered in shock, trying to adjust to this drastic turn of events. "Um, okay... this sort of changes everything..."

Misty frowned.  "What do you mean?"

"I didn't really get all of the details but I take it you guys had some sort of a fight last night?"

She groaned.  "Fight would be an understatement."

"Yeah, well, Ash was kinda upset about it."

"Upset?  How?"

"Um, considering the man was drunkenly crying into my lap, I'm gonna have to say he was more than a little shook up.  He just kept going on and on about how you rejected him and…"

"Rejected him?" Misty queried and Melody sighed, shooting her look that indicated that she did not believe her apparent obliviousness to what she was talking about.

"Misty, come on, you guys have been friends for what thirteen, fourteen years?  Can you honestly say that you have no idea what I'm getting at?"

Misty kept her gaze fixated on the table below as Melody spoke her next words in a soft tone.

"He loves you, he told me himself. You have to know that."

"I do," Misty whispered in reply, her voice barely audible. "Or at least I thought I had finally realized it. But when I went to his apartment to see him and you were there, I just, I thought I had just made a huge mistake," she admitted, looking up with pain filled eyes.

"Yeah, but now you know that you haven't," Melody told her gently. "It's not too late."

Misty sighed, shaking her head to herself. "Mel, I don't know..."

"Okay, but I do. I can see how you two feel about each other, okay, everyone can. So what, you two had a fight. But if you showed up on Ash's doorstep again and told him how you felt, there is no way in hell he is going to let a little disagreement stand in the way of your future together. There's nothing holding you back any more. There's no one in between, there's no me or Rudy to spot you. Let him know that you love him too, I mean it's about time."

Misty sat there, taking Melody's words into consideration.  In all honesty her explanations did make perfect sense and seemed to work out in the way that Misty would get everything she had always wanted with Ash.  But anxious fear held her back.  She had been so sure this morning that everything would work out, and she would finally get to live the life she had only previously dreamed of.  But that had all came crashing down before she could even begin to covert her fantasy into a reality.  What if the same thing happened again?  Misty wasn't sure if she would be able to survive another failed attempt to admit her feelings to Ash.  She was still only hanging by a mere thread, severe inner turmoil still evident within her.  And she feared that if the events of several hours ago repeated themselves, that thread would snap and there would be nothing holding Misty up anymore.

She sighed, averting her eyes back up to the woman in front of her.  It was funny, quite frankly.  Minutes ago, Melody was definitely the most hated person in her mind, Rudy following only shortly after.  But now that she had actually taken the nerve and time to talk to her?  To come to her home and try to savor what was left of her and Ash's friendship so they would finally be able to have a relationship?  The word selfless couldn't even begin to describe Melody's actions but Misty couldn't help but still wonder what exactly her intentions of getting her and Ash together were, when she clearly still had feelings for him herself.

"Why are you doing this?" Misty spoke up. "You still love him, don't you?" she asked gently at the end.

Melody sighed heavily. "Yeah, I do," she responded weakly. "But he doesn't love me, I know that now.  And besides, all I really want," she took a deep breath, offering a weak smile before finishing, "is for him to be happy. And I know you're the only one who can do that."

Misty shook her head, massaging her temple with one hand.  "God," she murmured to herself.  "This is all happening so fast.  What…" a desperate exhale escaped her lips as she looked up toward Melody with questioning eyes, "what am I supposed to do now."

"Go to him.  Just tell him the truth, tell him everything you've always wanted to tell him.  You have to." Melody told her.  "It's the only way to fix things, to make everything right again," she sighed, "to make everything the way it should be."

Misty stood there, her mouth closed in a tight line, no sound emanating from her lips.  Heavy unspoken words hung between them, creating tension so thick it could have been cut with a knife.  Nothing was said for another brief moments and Misty inwardly weighed out her choices and tried to adjust to yet another turn of events that had taken place since the night before.

The silence was broken as another voice pierced the air.

"Well, what are you waiting for?!"  Misty and Melody turned to see Lily, who had been witnessing the whole conversation from the threshold of the kitchen and was currently shooting her sister incredulous looks.  "Go see Ash!  Come on!  Go!  Get!" she exclaimed, hurrying into the kitchen and pushing Misty toward the back door's exit.

"All right, all right, I'm going, I'm going," Misty said, holding up her hands.  She pulled her jacket off the back of the chair and awkwardly slid it over her shoulders.  Her shaking hand retrieved her keys from the table and she took a self-calming breath while shooting the two women a nervous but happy glance.  "Wish me luck," she murmured sheepishly, apprehension evident in her voice.

"Good luck," Melody said quietly, the smallest of smiles forming on her face.  A gesture which Misty warmly returned.

"Yeah, yeah, good luck, good luck, now go, woman!" Lily cried before proceeding to hurry Misty out of the house.

Misty grasped the doorknob and pulled the door open, one foot stepping into the outside environment.  She turned back around and stole a glimpse over her shoulder at Melody who despite her teary expression, still held the same grin on her face.  Sighing, Misty stepped back from the doorway and reentered her home, stopping in front of Melody to envelop her in a tight hug.  The brunette retuned the embrace somewhat surprisingly.  Misty pulled away, tears identical to Melody's mirrored in her turquoise orbs.

"Thank you," she whispered softly.

Melody stared back at her.  "You're welcome," she responded back.

The two women's eyes locked once more, a deep understanding forming along with some sort of unspoken bond that indicated each was aware of the other one's emotions.  Without another world, Misty whirled back around and briskly exited.

--
I feel fine

Now the rain has gone and the sun has come to shine

Nothing can get me down today

Head over heels

Got my mind made up as I'm driving through the fields

Nothing can get me down again

Catch me if you can

I've gotta make a getaway


As the sun goes down, wakin' up my dreams

And in my mind you're with me once again

Out of my heart, into your head

And inside my heart there's a place for you

And in my mind I'm with you once again

Out of my heart, into your head

Chasing the sun

Tryin' to get away

From the rain that's gonna come

Hope I make it all the way


--

Misty flung open the door to Ash's apartment, not surprised to find it unlocked as usual seeing that it was daytime. Ash only locked his door at night and she constantly berated him that anyone could still just walk in during the day and how it was completely unsafe.  Every time, he had cheekily replied that if that did happen, the perpetrator would have her to deal with.

She burst through the doorway, expecting to see Ash sitting on his couch in his boxers, gobbling down cereal sloppily.  Instead, as soon as she was inside, a startled gasp escaped her.

The apartment was basically empty. Pieces of furniture had been removed, including Ash's couch, television, stereo...

Misty ran into his bedroom, opening the door swiftly. She found that the bed was still there, stripped of its sheets, pillows, and blankets, the battered mattress the only thing remaining. She moved over to Ash's dresser, frantically opening drawers, finding each one of them empty. She was about to close the bottom drawer after finding that its components had been taken out of it when something caught her eye.

It appeared to be a slip piece of paper and when Misty picked it up she learned it was a photograph... of her.

An initial shock ran through her body as she begun to wonder why Ash had a picture of only her in the first place and why he had left it behind when he had gone wherever he had went.

It was a close up shot. It was so close up that you could not register what the actual background was and only Misty's head and shoulders were shown. The picture had been taken in action. Her head was slightly turned to the side and from her expression you could tell she had been laughing. The photo was actually quite flattering to her. Misty's red locks had a neat but messy look and some of the straight strands had gone into her face where she was in the middle of using her hand to move them away. Her azure eyes seemed to have an extra sparkle in them and her rosy cheeks stood prominent on her pale skin.

But one thing tin particular stood out most to Misty as she stared at the picture of herself. Her smile. Her perfect set of white teeth were flashing brilliantly into a wide grin which displayed that at that particular moment in time, she had been in complete happiness.

She flipped over the photograph, hoping that Ash had scribbled on a caption so she had an idea of where and when it was from. To her luck, he had. Misty's eyes scanned the several words that had been written.

Misty.  Summer, 2000.

2000, Misty thought. She had been around nineteen to twenty years old when the picture had been taken. That had been about a year before she had run into Rudy again.

She flipped over the photograph, studying herself once more. The girl in the picture suddenly seemed like a completely different person to Misty. She was younger with fewer responsibilities. She had just moved back to Cerulean with her friends and was spending as much time with them as well as her sisters. She didn't have any stupid boyfriend to take up her time or have to worry about what spending the rest of her life would be like. The picture-Misty was happier, happier that the real Misty had seen herself in God-knew how long. And she knew why. Because that girl was with Ash 24/7 and not Rudy.

She heard the doorknob turning and immediately forgot about the picture, dropping it back to its position in the drawer. She jumped up and ran to the door, praying that she would see Ash walking through its threshold, with a very good explanation for all of this.

Instead she nearly collided with Brock and Tracey, who both jumped back in surprise at her presence.

"Misty?" Tracey asked confusedly as soon as he opened the door and saw her there. "What are you...?"

"Where's Ash?" she immediately demanded.

"What? Misty..."

"Where's Ash?" she asked again, this time her voice more urgent that commanding. She noticed Brock and Tracey exchange wary glances and was beginning to feel desperate. "What happened? Where did he go?" she asked, now beginning to sound desperate.

Brock moved from the doorway to stand in front of Misty who was now on the verge of tears. He put his hands in his pockets and shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortable. "He's gone, Myst."

"Gone? What do you mean, gone?"

"He already left; he's at the train station."

"What?! Already?! And didn't you stop him?" Misty cried.

"We tried to Misty, we really did," Tracey told her desperately. "But..." he trailed off and looked over at Brock for some help.

"Myst, he told us what happened last night and he was pretty shook up about it," Brock informed her. "Maybe it would be good for him to get away from everything for a while." Seeing the hope in Misty's eyes at his last word which indicated that Ash's absence might not be permanent, Brock hurried his next words.  "But Misty, seriously, he says he's not coming back. He wants you to be able to go on with your life."

"He is my life!" She noticed a pile of boxes in the corner of living room, labels on each one of them. "What's all this?" She pointed to the boxes.

"That's his stuff he left here," Tracey explained. "He just took his clothes and had the movers take what little furniture they could with them on such short notice. When he gets a place out there, we're going to ship all of this to him."

"This is ridiculous," Misty exclaimed. "He can't leave!"

"I'm sorry, Misty, but what do you want us to do?!" Brock exclaimed, beginning to grow exasperated.

She self-consciously ran her hand through her locks and looked back up toward them. "What time does his train leave?"

"Um..." Tracey muttered while looking at his watch. "12:30."

Misty glanced over at the clock whose hands read 12:14. "Shit," she cursed under her breath before running out the door.
--

I'm lost in a crowd

Tryin' to find my way

But the rain keeps fallin' down

Doesn't matter anyway

Catch me if you can

I've gotta make a getaway
 

"All aboard! All aboard!" the conductor yelled out as he walked back and forth in front of the train that would be leaving in a matter of minutes.

Ash sighed to himself and gathered his bags of luggage in his arms as he made his way over to the train. Well, I guess this is it, he thought to himself longingly. He still was unsure if he was making the right decision by leaving. It seemed as if he was just running away from his problems, leaving it all behind and never even dealing with the situation at hand. But then again what did he have to deal with?

He had lost everything. Even during Misty and Rudy's engagement, he still had her friendship; she was still the person he went to with every problem and every fear and vice versa. But now all of that was gone. Despite the fact that he could not be with Misty, she was a part of his life, a very big and cherished part of his life that he would be devastated not to have. And now he didn't. Because he had opened his mouth and in a feeble attempt to protect her, he had let her walk out of his life.

Ash couldn't stay in Cerulean; he couldn't live in an area where she was mere miles away from him along with her husband to be. He could not survive without her friendship and compassion; that alone would kill him. He needed to get away from her, from everything; it all just hurt too much to be in the place where his world had fallen apart. He had to be far from it all, he needed to start a new life somewhere else which would hopefully even compare the slightest bit to all he had lost.

With one last longing sigh, he readjusted the luggage in his hands and prepared to get onto the train to start all over again. But just as he was about to board, Ash stopped in his tracks at the sound of an all-too-familiar voice calling his name almost louder than the busy bustling of the train station.

"Ash!" Misty cried, while hurrying toward him. "Ash wait!"

He simply stood there and watched as she approached, her breath right away becoming rampant the minute she reached him and her jogging ceased to a halt.

"Misty?" Ash inquired, confused by her presence. "What are you doing here?"

"I... came... to... stop... you... from... leaving..." she managed to get out between sharp gasps of air. Ash noticed her discomfort and reached into a pocket of his suitcase and handed her a bottle of water that happened to so conveniently be there, she gulped it down thankfully. "I came to stop you from leaving," she repeated once her breathing rate had turned back to normal.

Ash glanced at her warily before asking her the obvious question. "Why?"

"Well, let me start by saying that I'm so sorry I ever doubted you," she stated bluntly. "You were right... Rudy was cheating on me all along."

A wave of guilt washed over Ash at her piece of information and his more arrogant side had to resist the urge to blurt out 'I told you so.' However, Misty did not seem very upset as someone who had just discovered what she had. In fact she seemed almost unaffected by it all but that did not stop him from displaying a sympathetic expression toward her.

"Oh, Myst," he sighed. "I didn't want to be right."

"I know," she immediately reassured him. "But you were, and it was a good thing I found out sooner rather than later. I can't thank you enough telling me before we were married."

Ash stared at her slightly quizzically, confused by why she was thanking him. "Um, you're welcome I guess?" he said unsurely. "But are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Misty answered honestly, letting a snicker of disbelief escape her lips. "I'm actually surprised by the fact that I'm not curled up in pajamas, eating cookie-dough out of the package while crying over 'Sleepless in Seattle' at the moment."

Ash smiled at the reference she made although not once had it ever applied to Misty. He had he ever seen her fall to pieces over a guy and that he was truly grateful for.

"You know," she continued, disturbing him from his thoughts. "It's weird. I always thought that if something like this ever happened to be I'd be devastated... but I haven't even shed one tear over him."  She shrugged, laughing slightly. "Then again, it's no use crying over something you never had to begin with."

A moment of silence began to exist between them as they each became lost in their own thoughts but contempt with the fixated gaze they both held. The quietness was eventually broken by Misty who took a deep breath, mustering up every once of courage as she took a step closer toward Ash.

"You, however... are worth crying over," she told him slowly. "Because you are someone who as always belonged to me and I cannot stand the idea of losing you for even a minute. I could care less about Rudy and whatever he does with the rest of his pathetic life, but I still will always be grateful to him because it was he who made me realize... that I'm in love with a guy who's a million times better than he'll ever be." Misty looked up toward him shyly, her aqua orbs an even more apparent shade due to her turquoise shirt as she fiddled with one of the buttons on her denim jacket.

"Do you know who that is?" she asked tenderly.

"I-I think that I do, but I've been really wrong about a lot of things lately so..." Ash's nervous ramblings were cut off as Misty brought her lips to his. All thoughts and logic thinking escaped from his mind and his brain just seemed to turn into mush at the feeling of her soft mouth against his own and her delicate arms wrapped around the back of his neck. Ash was able to return the kiss through his shock for a moment before Misty broke apart from him, eyeing him impishly.

"Do you know now?" she inquired playfully.

He smiled as she moved closer to him. "I think I've got a vague idea."

With those simple words of reassurance fourteen years of longing and frustration had been put to an end. All memories of other lovers coming between them and major fights they had was put behind them, because in that moment two people's biggest dreams had just come true.

Ash brought his lips to Misty's and they were immediately lost in another kiss would be the beginning of many more to come. He dropped his luggage, not caring where they landed and wrapped his arms around her waist before bringing his fingers up to run them through her hair.

"I love you," she breathed into his ear.

He then broke apart from her and stared deeply into her eyes. Both of their gazes were startlingly intense and Ash reached up to stroke her cheek lovingly before uttering the words they each so desperately wanted to hear spoken… and not in a friendly manner.   "I love you too," he murmured, cupping her face tenderly in his hands.  Tears filled Misty's eyes at the emotion in his voice and Ash leaned forward, resting his forehead against her own.  A sudden overwhelming feeling came over Ash and for the first time in years he felt he wasn't holding back from her, that he could finally speak the utter and complete truth.  "I've always loved you," he continued, feeling the need to let her know exactly everything he had felt behind the countless situations they had been through.  "So much," he went on, moving a lone strand of ginger hair out of her flawless face, "too much."  He swallowed the lump forming in his throat.  "These past few months have been hell for me, I-I couldn't take seeing you with Rudy, planning your future, knowing you'd be spending it with him and not me.  I was gonna kill him when he told me what he was doing to you.  And, oh God, last night when I told you and we fought..." Ash closed his eyes momentarily as the onslaught of unwanted memories ran through his mind, "I felt like dying, Myst, I went out and got so drunk…"

"Shh," Misty interrupted him from his rambling, bringing a finger over his lips.  "It's okay, I know.  Mel told me everything."

Ash's eyes widened.  Melody!  His mind screamed.  The only think he had been concentrating on all day was what had occurred between him and Misty the night before.  He had known he had went out and gotten drunk but he naturally assumed he just passed out in an overly-intoxicated stupor on his couch.  The bits and pieces of what he could remember came shooting back to him, Melody at his apartment, the stuff she had left there, crying to her about Misty…

"Oh my God," he blurted out and he immediately looked at Misty seriously.  "Myst, I swear nothing happened, she just came over to drop off some of my stuff…"

"Calm down," Misty laughed, resting a hand on his chest.  "I know that too, although, I immediately assumed the obvious when she answered your door in the dress she had been wearing the night before," she raised her eyebrows impishly.  "But the two us actually talked it out, and everything's okay now."

"Everything's more than okay," Ash told her meaningfully, leaning his head down once again.

Their lips connected once again in another open display for all the love and passion they held for one another. A huge weight had been lifted off both of their shoulders and all the heartache and confusion each had to experience through all the years suddenly seemed worth it for they had finally gotten what they each desired.

"Hey, buddy," the conductor spoke up, interrupting Ash and Misty. "Train's leavin' in thirty seconds... you gettin' on or what?" Ash stole a glance from the love of his life to the stranger. The answer to the question was quite simple.

"Nope, I'm not going anywhere," he spoke simply while pulling Misty into a hug which she gladly accepted. He glanced down at her smiling face and stared deeply at her before speaking his next words. "I'm right where I belong."

As the sun goes down, wakin' up my dreams

And in my mind you're with me once again

Out of my heart, into your head

And inside my heart there's a place for you

And in my mind I'm with you once again

Out of my heart, into your head

Take a look at the sky

Feel the sunshine

In your heart

In your head

In your own time

As the sun goes down, wakin' up my dreams

And in my mind you're with me once again

Out of my heart, into your head

And inside my heart there's a place for you

And in my mind I'm with you once again

Out of my heart, into your head

Out of my heart, into your head

Out of my heart, into your head

TBC

--

A/N: Aw, the happy couple's finally together.  Everything is good, only the epilogue left, thanks so much to everyone who has stuck around this far =)

Happy Valentines Day everyone!  May your day be filled with endless fluff ;)

Word of advice to all you people who don't believe in Friday the 13th, beware because it most certainly *does*!  I was never one to take superstitions seriously and yesterday was just a normal Friday without anything out of the ordinary.  That was until I was rummaging in my parent's liquor cabinet, preparing to once again succeed in swiping some alcohol,  when in the worst timing in the history of my life,  my mom and dad *walk in* in the house just as  I am pouring vodka into a water bottle.  Little to say they did not buy my excuse about looking for *toothpicks*.  Lucky for me, they actually thought the whole thing was *funny* and I had to sit there for an hour while my mom shot me weird looks and my dad told me stories of his supposedly wild teenage years.  Thankfully, they bought my explanation of being *curious* and believed me when I said it was the *first time* I ever did anything like this.  *sighs in relief* It's times like this where I thank God I have such gullible parents.

So, that's my little Friday the 13th bad luck story.  I am hoping you never have to experience anything like what I did.  The song was Out of my Heart by BBMak, Epilogue will be up in about a week and then it's bye-bye to The Game of Love *sniffles* I'm really gonna miss this story but I can't get all emotional on you guys now, I'm saying *that* for the last big A/N, chock full of thank-you's and all that good stuff.

Please review! =)