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Chapter 2: The ones left behind

Of course she was nervous; they had packed their belongings in Cerulean to go back to Pallet. She was going to meet his parents, that even though were absent for the most important phase of his life, they still were his parents, and they still mattered.

No, she wasn't nervous. She was terrified.

But she had to be strong, because if she was nervous, then he was crumbling, and she could see through his tough charade, as she always could. Even though they were in front of the Cerulean gym, she could see the way he clenched his jaw, and looked absent for straight minutes, as if his mind had left his body from time to time, before shaking his head lightly and returning back to reality. Then he would focus on her and give her the tiniest smile. As if it were her the one that needed strength. Misty sighed, as she took his hand and entwined her fingers with his, squeezing his palm just a little. Gary stared at her oddly; How adorable, he truly believed she was buying his cool act.

Lily pulled Misty into a hug, but Misty refused to let go of Gary's hand, so she returned the hug with her spare hand. As she did, the two other sisters threw themselves into the hug, making one unbearably cute group hug, that Gary was also pulled into.

"Awww..." Violet lamented "I'm gonna miss you guys, you're both, like, SO adorable!"

Daisy pulled Misty into another hug, jerking her away from Gary's hold. "And hey, hun" she whispered. "Don't be nervous about meeting his folks, they'll love you" Daisy beamed. "You ARE a Waterflower after all" Daisy winked, and Misty smiled, raising an eyebrow at her older sister. "I'll be okay, sis, thanks" Misty said, appearing to be more sure of herself than she really was, however, it seemed to provide Daisy the tranquillity she needed, as she let Misty escape her bear hug.

Lily eyed Gary quizzically, making him gulp under the spotlight. "You better take good care of her, understood, mister?"

Gary sweatdropped, embarrassed for a second. "Yes, ma'am" he replied, bringing his hand to the forehead in an army soldier manner. The act seemed to lighten Lily up, as she smiled at the boy. "Thank you anyway, she's never been happier"

Gary remained silent losing all hint of humour in his eyes, as his eyes deviated to Misty, where she was standing next to Daisy, engulfed in a hug. His gaze returned to the two remaining Waterflowers and he smirked. He nodded briefly at both of them. "I won't ever hurt her, if that's what you're aiming at"

Violet beamed. "Oh my god, It kinda was, and hey, you, like, passed!"

Misty and Daisy returned to the scene, and Misty hurried to Gary's side. "Gary, It's late"

It was only 12pm, and Pallet was at a driving distance, abut they wanted to get there early, unpack, and be ready for dinner. Gary nodded at the orange haired girl, and picked up his handbag. "Better get going, then", Misty nodded, picking up her backpack.

They headed to the beaten up jeep and threw their belongings in the back. As they got on, Misty waved from the passenger's seat at her sisters. "Take good care of Togetic while we're gone!" she shouted at them as Gary turned on the ignition.

Daisy smiled. "Take care guys!" and the three sisters waved their goodbyes as the car finally started, and they could no longer be seen in the horizon.

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"Gary?"

Gary's head turned towards Misty for a second before returning to the road.

"If you don't stop clenching your jaw you're not gonna be able to open your mouth again, and as much as I'd enjoy having you unable to speak for a while, I'm gonna miss your constant chatter" She said light-heartedly.

Gary's blue eyes shifted in amusement as he realized he was in fact, clenching his jaw ever since they had left Cerulean behind, and rolled his eyes. "Look, Red, I know you're nervous, but you have got to stop tapping your foot, the sound is driving me nuts"

Misty looked perplexed as she realized in fact she had been tapping her foot against the tapestry and sweat dropped. "Okay, okay, let's settle. We're both a bit nervous, what do ya think?"

He seemed to ponder this. "Fine, whatever makes you feel better, pretty"

Misty just snorted, as unladylike as she could be. He was trying to deviate the attention to her, she was quite aware of that, but she didn't mind, she was determined to be his strong shoulder is he needed it as he had been way too many times for her.

The drive to Pallet was three hours, approximately, and the fidgety silent trip only made it seem longer. But as soon as they passed the "Welcome to Pallet" sign, everything seemed to speed up and in a flash, they found themselves parked on the front lawn of the Oak mansion.

Long time no see; Misty smirked at the wooden construction.

Gary sat there, in the driver's seat, looking straight forward, jaw still clenched making his cheekbone stand out, for a few minutes, parked in his own house's front lawn. Misty stared at him quizzically, rolling her eyes as she couldn't even see him flinch, or blink.

She smirked evilly leaning to his seat and planting a short peck on his cheek that managed to steal him away from the comatose status he was in. He blinked his eyes, almost startling awake and looked at Misty as he felt a pang of emotion flick through his stomach. He grinned, oh yes, he'd need a bit more than that in that precise moment, so he leaned to her, and captured her lips, pressing them against his, deepening the kiss almost instantly as his hand settled on her orange hair, tousling it. Misty giggled, nibbling on his lip, because it always drove him crazy, but soon the kiss came to an abrupt halt.

They were soaking wet, yet again.

Gary turned around, unbelief marked all over his face, as he looked back and found May grinning evilly holding a recently empty bucket of water.

"You guys arrived!" she greeted, as cheery as always, almost pretending she had not just thrown a bucket of water at them.

Moments like those made Gary wish his car had doors. Or at least a roof. But, before he could even start rambling and lose his temper, Misty squealed in excitement besides him and almost jumped over his head, tacking May into a big hug the brunette returned instantly, with a goofy grin in her face. "I missed you girl!" May shrieked in delight. "You don't even know how dull Samuel gets when he starts talking about science, I was in serious need of girl talk!" May dismissed the fact that her clothes were getting humid with the hug. Hey, at least it wasn't Gary, he had been the one that had gotten almost all the water from the bucket, after all.

Gary shaking his head free of the water that made his hair fall into his face, finally climbed out of the jeep, glaring at his older sister. He grinned evilly. "Don't I get a hug too?"

"Nah uh, brat-o, Misty's the dry one" May said, trying to avoid Gary's embrace, using Misty as a human shield, who gagged every time May pushed her and pulled her in her own defence. After a few moments of wrestling, Misty finally freed herself from the hug and straightened her clothes. "And professor Oak?"

May smiled cheerfully "He actually left a day after our parents arrived, he said he had something to do, nothing to worry about"

Gary would have been relieved at such news, but the early mention of his parents made his eyes waver as the blue in them shifted to a darker colour. Clenching his jaw again, he seemed to have completely forgotten about the status of his clothes and hair, and looked on to the wooden mansion. "Where are they?"

May looked concerned at the cold reactions her little brother was having, and shared a worried glance with Misty. "They left this morning to see, and I quote, If Pallet was as adorable as they remembered" May informed "They'll be back for dinner, so you have enough time to unpack"

They shared a moment of sepulchral silence, both females looking anxiously at the brunette. Misty was the first one to break the quiet. "Um... Gary?" she tugged at him, dragging him back to the car to retrieve their luggage. "Come on, let's unpack"

Gary nodded, finally reacting, and picked up both travelling backpacks and slung them over his shoulder. May smiled again at the chivalry display as she seemed to relax. "'kay, girl, I got room 17 all done and tidied up for ya!" As she did her trademark peace sign with her hand, Misty chuckled.

Putting the motive of why they were there aside, this looked promising. As they walked back into the Oak mansion, she couldn't help but to feel as if arriving to a second home, the same lawn, the same house, the same room...

It was just like the old times

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Author's Note: Thank you for your support! Wah, I almost got teary eyed with every review. Teehee, I'm just that much of a cry baby, I suppose.

One thing though, Before I go to my usual reviewing reply frenzy, I'd like to know how many of you actually want to get their reviews replied to, because I do know that sometimes it interrupts certain functions the e-mail's got, or, flood and takes precious storing space, so... The ones that want a review responded to, please add the world (Reply) at the very end of it. Thankees, of course, feel free to use it always, or as often as you'd like, or even not at all.

Also, I would have loved to introduce Gary's Parents in this chapter, but jumping from Cerulean to Pallet in a flash would have seemed rushed, after all, they couldn't leave without saying goodbye to the sisters, or saying hello to May, huh? And next chapter, I promise promise really really –Gary's parents!

FYI: I had to make their names up, I couldn't even find a mention of them anywhere. Bwahaha.

Midnight Mist

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