Chapter 6: Shell

The song played. It was September by Daughtry. Violet listened to the lyrics, singing of the things remembered, but no longer there. The music was serene and calm, but also powerful.

As the final words faded away, Violet was awestruck from the beautiful music choice. She noticed Bryce was still looking away, lost in thought.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah," he said in a hollow voice, still lost in his mind. "That song was as wonderful as when I heard it last, two years ago."

"If it's your favorite song, why have you only heard it once and just now?" She asked. Even though Bryce had opened up to him, there were still some clouds within his mind.

He replied slowly. "I didn't want to listen to it so much that it lost its meaning to me." He looked at her for a moment, then at the ground. "And also," he said even slower, "I…wanted to find someone…important to me to listen to it with me." He finished, blushing slightly.

She felt herself blush as well. Violet knew that she meant a lot to Bryce, but…the way he worded that reply just now… she shook the thought out of her mind. "So what meaning does the song have to you?" Violet questioned.

To a normal or unobservant person, Bryce would look to be perfectly fine, but Violet could tell his aura was dark. "It reminded me of times I had with the friends I had before one moved and the other left me for more popular people. Even though those memories will never come back to life, they're all I had…before you."

Violet felt a few tears fall from her eyes. She got up and hugged Bryce tightly. "I don't want you to ever feel that way again."

"Nor do I." he replied.

As the two sat together and watched the sun set, Violet leaned against Bryce's shoulder. At first, he was too frightened of doing anything she might find awkward, but after a few minutes, he finally was brave enough to drape his arm around her. As soon as he did this, however, he noticed she was asleep. He chuckled. Slowly, Bryce picked up Violet and began carrying her to his bedroom. While he was headed there, he softly sang a few lines of another song.

"Then I saw beautiful, it opened up my eyes. When I found beautiful, it opened up my life. Now I know beautiful, and how things should be. You are my beautiful...Beautiful to me."

He looked down at her sleeping form and smiled. Through the time Bryce had spent with Violet, he realized, and now knew, she wasn't like anyone else he had ever met…and not because she was a Pokémon, but because she truly cared about him and wanted to help him.

Despite the fact that Violet was asleep, she had woken up once Bryce picked her up. She blushed, but luckily it was hidden under her fur. Bryce thought she was beautiful. Did he mean she was beautiful on the inside or outside? Or maybe he thought both. Either way, she appreciated the gesture. *He's a sweet person as well.* She thought.

After placing her on the bed, Bryce went back to get his stereo and music player. On the way back, he heard Violet giggling on the other side of his door. Blushing, he made enough noise to let her pretend she was asleep again. Before falling asleep, he softly said, "You're not asleep, are you?"

Her response was another giggle, closer to a laugh. He chuckled as well before falling into a deep sleep…

Author's Notes: So can you figure out the other song Bryce sang while he thought Violet was asleep? I would like to point out that September (by Daughtry) was my favorite song LONG BEFORE they over killed it on the radio.