For Better or Worse -- 3
Disclaimer: We don't own Pokemon.
I woke up in the morning with a splitting headache. Leave it to Brock to have brought some liquor. Rolling out of bed, I checked the time. It was already past noon. I climbed into some pants and pulled a shirt over my head. Stepping outside my door, I heard voices in the living room. I recognized my mother, Misty, and Brock. Those were the only ones who stayed at my house. The rest of the family and friends were either at Oak's, Gary's, or at a hotel.
"Well look who's alive." Misty said in her usual tone. Brock looked at me with sympathy, for he had quite a buzz last night too. I only glared at him.
"There's cold breakfast on the table, Ash. If you would have gotten up when we called, you could have eaten it warm." Now that I thought of it, I did recall hearing them trying to wake me earlier. So I stumbled over to the table and put my head down next to the plate. Last thing on my mind was eating.
"Anyway," mom said, "I never would have thought Gary to get married. I mean, it's quite out of his character."
"Yes, but I think he's really happy," Misty chimed in, "I know Emily is."
I had almost forgotten about that little thing. Gary getting married. What a laugh. The idiot probably did it just to spite me. No, I couldn't lie to myself, for I had seen him. He was truly happy with that girl. But this was one battle I wasn't ready to win quite yet.
"Hey Ash." Brock said, summoning me over to where he was. I got up, not really feeling like it, but the smell of that food was making me even more sick, "we're gonna go outside for a while." He told mom and Misty. With that, we stepped out the door.
The blast of sunlight that greeted me nearly knocked me out. I threw up my hands to hide my sensitive eyes but my head throbbed like a drum.
"I know," Brock said, "I wasn't so hot either this morning." He handed me a pill which I readily swallowed. It would kill the hangover quicker.
"So what do you need?" I asked, sitting down.
"You know we're gonna have to plan Gary a bachelor's party, right?" He asked, sitting next to me. Actually the thought had entered my mind last night. Since I was the closest thing to him that may be called a friend, I would probably be the one stuck with getting it together.
"Yeah, I know." I said, not feeling enthused at all.
"Well since his wedding is in about three days, we need to get the show on the road." Brock grabbed me by my arm and stood me up, "I mean today we need to start." I stared at him, a part of me wanting to choke him for ever bringing that whiskey in the first place, another wanting to choke him for this damned party, and another glad he was here. I had missed my old friend.
"Fine. What you got in mind?" I tried my best to clear the cobwebs out of my head, but I only felt ready to vomit.
"Y'know, the usual. Drinks, food, and girls!" That sounded damned good, but at the moment, I only wanted to crawl in a hole.
"Great, but you sure you need me today? I'm still pretty wiped out." I turned to go back inside. But he grabbed my arm, stopping me.
"Nope. The best way to get rid of a hangover is to walk it off." Saying that, he stuck his head in the door and told everyone we were going into town, to be back later. And then he dragged me to his car, taking off for Viridian City.
All the way there, I dozed on and off, droning to the sound of his radio mixed with the drums in my head. It was getting better though, I had to say. That pill he gave me was doing its job. When we got to Viridian, about half an hour later, I was almost able to function normally. So we parked at a mall and got out. I left all the planning up to Brock.
That evening, we returned home, fully ready to set up the party. We had supplies (beer, food, party favours), and guests (the strippers couldn't make it. You don't want any from Viridian...bad buisness). Though I didn't like it, the only logical place to have it was at my house. So I was stuck with the task of getting Misty to take my mom away for the night.
Actually, it wasn't that hard, as my mom isn't stupid and had guessed something like this would take place. She left me with the warning to not destroy the house, and with or without her words, I didn't intend to let that happen. So she and Misty were to head over to another party or someting the night before the wedding.
"So Ash, get any good girls hired?" Misty asked, her look speaking volumes about how lightly I should tread across these egg shells.
"No, actually." I said, scratching the back of my head out of nervousness.
"Well it's not like I'd care," She said, crossing her arms over her chest, "but the girls around Viridian City are kind of nasty, right?"
"Yeah. And that's why we aren't getting any." That slipped out before I had time to think it over. Foot in mouth, big time.
"Oh, so you would have if they were from somewhere else?" She knew she had me where she wanted me.
"Well...maybe...but" I stumbled across about a dozen words of that nature.
"I swear Ash, you're so immature." She frowned and turned away.
"Well what do you expect? I mean it's tradition! Y'know, party girl pops out of the cake, the whole nine." I thought I had found some solid ground on which to stand...nope.
"But even a nasty girl can safely pop out of a cake. What else were you planning?" She had me again, pinned against a wall. But luckily, I was saved by Brock..
"Come on, Misty. Leave him be. It was my idea anyway." He walked by casually, drawing the attention on himself.
"Well I should have guessed that much." She said, and thankfully no more on the subject.
Next morning came and I wasn't sick. It felt so good to be well, I actually got up at around eight. I made my way downstairs to see a relatively dead house. Quiet as a mouse (that rhymed!). I went back upstairs and looked in Misty's room to see if she was awake yet. She was on her bed, staring at the ceiling. That kinda startled me, but I figured it was just a morning wake up ritual or something.
I knocked on the door and opened it a bit more, sticking my head in, "Morning."
She looked at me and smiled, sitting up, "Good morning."
"Whatcha doing?" I asked, as she didn't seem to exactly be herself.
"Nothing, just thinking. Come in." she patted her hand next to her on the bed. I entered and took a seat.
"About what?" I hoped she wouldn't take offence to my invading her private thoughts.
"Just trying to get my head on straight. It's been a fast few days, hasn't it?" She looked over at me, and I could tell something was on her mind.
"Yeah, it has," I leaned back on the bed and looked at the roof, "I still can't believe that idiot's gettin married."
"Don't you wish him the best?" She leaned back as well.
"Sure, I guess. If this is what he really wants to do, then I guess it's the best thing for him, right?" I looked over to her and tried to tell what she was thinking. Her gaze was fixed upward though.
"Yeah, I'd like to think so. But what about you? When do you plan to settle down?" She looked at me this time, perhaps trying to figure the same thing.
"I thought I already made that point." I said.
"Sure, you said it at the party. But I know as well as you that you just said all that to sound good in front of everybody. You just wanted to sound opposite Gary, right? If your ideas are anywhere near his, you're automatically trying to copy him. Is that what you think?" She smiled like she knew she was right. But hell, I really didn't even know.
"Whatever, maybe you're right. How 'bout it, wanna get hitched?" I stood up and walked towards the door, "come on, let's eat." I made my way downstairs, towards the kitchen. I expected Misty to follow close behind, but I didn't hear her for a few minuets. I started to worry that maybe I had hurt her feelings or something. But she came down eventually, dressed and ready for the day with a smile.
"What are you gonna cook?" she asked, sitting at the table.
"Wait a minuet, now. Who said I could cook?"
"You did, at the party." she smiled as if she knew something I didn't.
"At the...wait...I was drunk! That doesn't count." I walked over and sat across from her, "you should be the one cooking."
"Me? Why? We aren't married." We laughed a bit, but it quickly died. Then it was all quiet between us.
"Well I wish some damned body was...I'm starving." Brock rolled off the couch, and came over to join us.
"Morning, Brock. I didn't know you were awake." I said, pulling him out a chair.
"Me either. Till you two lovebirds woke me up with your chatter." He grinned and watched to see how we'd react. I saw his game and wasn't going to let it bother me.
"Now hold on there, mister," Misty said, turning red, "that's a little too far."
"What's wrong, Mist? You don't like me?" I asked, joking around with her.
"You'd better cool it, Ash," Brock said with a laugh, "you've got a bachelor's party to attend. You can't go if you're not a bachelor."
"And what does that mean!" Misty was fuming with emabrassment...I found it quite funny.
"Alright you two, stop ganging up on Misty," mom said, coming out of her room, "unless you want me to get in on this." I surely didn't want that, but I couldn't resist one more.
"Sorry Misty, I wasn't being fair. I know you love me too much to speak ill of me." Brock and I shared a good laugh from that one.
"I'm serious," my mom said, holding up a frying pan, "if you don't stop, no breakfast." I was too hungry to disagree with that order. But it was truly good to have us all together again. I had missed these moments. And as I started to think of them leaving again after the wedding, I found myself feeling rather sad about it.
"What's wrong, Ash?" Misty asked, "maybe you want to apologize?"
"For what?" I wasn't the type to let my worries overcome my fun. It'd all work itself out.
Mom cooked some fantastic breakfast, and we all gobbled it up like there may not be anymore after this meal. Afterwards, we all had to get ready to go to the church and rehearse the wedding. Can you believe it? Gary wanted me to be on of his best men.
So we got dressed and headed to the church. Everyone was there, and the whole time I felt ready to run for dear life. There were certainly better things I could have thought of to do today than this garbage. But mom and Misty practically shoved me into the car to go, so I couldn't get out of it.
And it went by slower than Christmas. They had to go over each and every step they'd take going up to take their vows, recite their vows, get the music all settled, arrange the decorations, make sure the food was right, figure out who'd sit where, sit and just talk in general, dote over each other's dresses they'd picked out...what a hell. Of course, the females were loving every second of it. You were having fun if you were a woman or a queer.
But the guys just did what we were told and tried not to screw up and drag this out any longer than we had to. I could even see the look on Gary's face that said he would rather not do all this. And indeed after everything was in order, Gary, Brock, Oak, and myself found ourselves sitting at a table sipping on some punch while the girls conversed. They'd look over here and laugh, returning to their little hive of gossip and such. It reminded me of high school...little clusters of girls giggling over the guys. What a waste of my time. And all that happened to take longer than the actual rehearsal.
Then came the day of the bachelor's party. Misty and mom took off to their destination, while Brock and I made the house ready. Now don't get me wrong, we damned sure didn't carry on over it all like the girls would have. But we made sure we had the essentials, cooler, food, music, and phone numbers. Just because we didn't feel safe with the strippers didn't mean we couldn't call over some girls for a bit of a party, right?
Actually, they were mostly Brock's friends, and we found a few of the old cheerleaders Gary used to have follow him. He was sure to get a kick out of that. When all was ready, it was about eight at night. We called Gary over and of course he knew what was going on. But he didn't object, and was front and center. Y'know, a man's last night of true freedom can never be too crazy.
And we had a good time, despite my disliking the situation. I made sure to steer clear of too many drinks, and instead occupied myself talking to a nice young lady of Brock's acquaintance. Gary was having a good time, though he was making sure not to get too close to any of the girls. I guess he was really gonna stay true to Emily. I had to give him credit for that, it's a shitty man who cheats on a woman.
When the party was winding down, I told him that too, "Y'know Gary, I'm proud of you." Yeah, I was a little buzzed.
"For what?" He asked with a laugh.
"It's a damned sorry man who cheats on his girl. This has been your ultimate test of faith. And you passed!" I toasted him a drink, to which all in attendance raised their bottle. The girls had gone home, leaving the guys to just sit and talk.
"But isn't that a little hypocritical of you?" He asked me, as we sat around.
"What?" I asked, not getting his meaning. I may have been a little more toasted than I thought.
"I saw you with that blonde tonight," He said with a grin, "what would Misty think?"
"Misty? Oh damn. You're right. I should throw away that girl's number, shouldn't I?" I dug in my pocket and produced a piece of paper with her phone number on it. Ripping it up, I stuffed it into an empty beer bottle.
"What's the deal, Ash?" Brock asked, "I didn't know you two were really serious."
"What two?" I asked, staring at Brock.
"Wow, he's gone." Gary said, eliciting a laugh out of all in attendance. In truth however, I wasn't quite as drunk as I let on. It was easier on me to act that way though, to give myself room to think. I was amazed at how I had really just felt bad about getting that girl's number. But Brock was right, Misty and I weren't together or anything. So why was I so worried about her?
But the next day did come, and I found myself with yet another bloody hangover.