Chapter 2

(Gary)

"DAMMIT!"

Gary screeched as he punched the wall of his room angrily, tears streamed down his cheeks. 'He hates me, he hates me…I feel like crap.'

He groaned as he flopped himself on his bed, smoothing down his slightly spiky hair down.

*Knock, Knock*

"Come in…"

Professor Oak entered Gary's room. He wore his white lab coat and had his gray hair combed down, he was only 40 years old though his gray hair came from all the stress the professor faced daily. Gary lifted his face from his pillow, "Hey Gramps…"

Professor Oak sat by Gary and frowned, "Gary? What's wrong, you've been crying."

"No shit Sherlock."

"No need to swear around me, you know?"

Gary sighed as he sat up, "Sorry Gramps. I'm upset right now, I didn't mean to snap at you." His grandpa looked concerned, "Is it about Ash?"

About seven months ago, Gary had told his grandfather that he was gay. His grandpa, being the open minded man that he was, just nodded and accepted that about Gary. Though when he told the old pokemon professor about his crush on Ash, the professor went into shock for three days.

"Hmm…you confessed to him, didn't you?"

"Yeah. It didn't go over well."

His gramps sighed, "Well, listen Gary, I warned you all these years about all of those nice girls you dated and then dumped. I told you that if you EVER found true love, you wouldn't be able to grasp it because of all of the horrible things you did to those girls, dating them for a month, saying you love them, then crushing their fragile hearts."

"Don't make it sound so grim."

His grandfather frowned and laid a hand on his grandson's shoulder, "I'm only telling the truth. I got another call this morning…remember that girl you dated? Mary Stone?"

"Yeah? She was my…sixteenth girlfriend? No, twentieth, how is she?"

"Dead."

"W-What?"

Professor Oak sighed, "She took her life last night, her last words were 'If I can't have Gary Oak, I'd rather die and go to heaven where I can always wait for him to change his mind there.' Now don't you feel terrible?"

"More than I did before…"

"Oh shoot, I have to go, I'm late."

Professor Oak quickly dusted off his pants and headed out, Gary narrowed his eyes, "Gramps…where are you going?"

"Uh, er, pokemon conference."

"Hey, you smell like cologne."

"You're imagining things."

*Ding Dong*

Gary reached the door before his grandfather and yanked open the door. His eyes widened as he saw the woman behind it.

"Holy…Shit."

"Hee, hee, nice to see you too Gary."

He looked back at Professor Oak who was smiling nervously, "Uh…Gary, allow me to explain." Gary glared, "You're dating… Ash's MOTHER?"

Delia blushed, "It's only one dinner."

Professor Oak smiled, "Well, the age difference doesn't matter-" Gary fumed, "MATTER? Look old man, you must be going through your mid-life crisis late, your 40 for crying out loud! And Delia is…is…uh, crap I forgot."

Delia giggled, "I'm 38."

Gary paused and turned red, "A t-t-two year difference only?" Professor Oak gave him a wry grin, "Yes, just two years apart, isn't that the age gap between you and Ash."

Gary face palmed and sighed, "Just go…"

Professor Oak bowed and offered his hand to Delia, "Ready to go?" Ash's mother giggled as the two of them walked outside, closing the door behind them.

"Ugh…now I'm gonna have nightmares."

'Well, besides that, I have to figure out how to win over Ashy boy. ARG! It was so much easier when it came to girls, all you had to do was drop a compliment and boom, you got a new girlfriend.'

He scratched his head as he came up with ideas.

'Think…Think…GOT IT!' He snapped his fingers and ran to the phone and dialed a number. Listening to the stupid waiting music made him a bit drowsy, but a woman came on the phone, sounding like she had recently consumed four pounds of sugar.

"Hi! This is Flower you make a! Flowers for that special lovey dovey someone! How may I help you?"

Gary grinned, "Hello, I'd like to place an order and have it sent to this address…"

-Twelve minutes later-

"Ok, got that settled, now let's see…what el-"

*Ding Dong*

He frowned, 'Gramps and Delia back already? Hope nothing happened.' He walked to the door and opened it, and was surprised to see Ash staring at him, clutching a flower in the shape of a Pikachu.

"Ash?"

"…Why are you doing this, Gary?"

Gary blushed and looked away, "I don't know what you're talking about." Ash threw the flower at him, "You bastard! Stop it already, ok? I told you that I DON'T want to end up hurt, and now you're sending me bribes and a note that has my feelings all confused?"

Gary frowned sadly, "But Ash…"

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"ASH-"

"GOD GARY! I'M. NOT. INTERESTED! JUST LEAVE ME THE **** ALONE!"

A tear trickled out of Gary's eye and he had to bite his lip to keep from crying. Ash stopped raging and looked at his old rival.

"Gary?"

"(Sniff)…God Ash…you have…NO idea how much I care."

"Gary…"

"CAN'T YOU SEE THAT I WANT TO BE WITH YOU?"

The raven haired boy reached up with his hand and brushed a stream of tears from Gary's face. It shocked the brunette, the simple touch of Ash's hand. Strong, and slightly calloused from training pokemon, lightly tanned from staying out in the sun.

And warm…so warm and inviting.

The older boy leaned into the touch as Ash continued to wipe away tears. "Ash…" Gary whispered as light shivers went down his spine.

Ash stopped and looked at him, and smiled a bit, "Look Gary…I like you and all, but if you want to be with me, it'll take commitment. You've known me since we were kids so you should know that I never do anything halfway, if you…if you're REALLY serious about me…us, I need to see that this won't just be a one night stand."

Gary's voice was hoarse as he spoke, "How can I prove it to you? Do you want gifts? Or perhaps some money?"

"I am not a whore Gary." Ash glared.

"Sorry…but what else can I do?"

Ash sighed, "Try being a friend first…and maybe things will pick up from there." Gary nodded and looked his old rival in the eye, "All of these things that you're saying to me…does this mean your…um…well."

"Gay?"

"Yeah…"

"Haha, well I'll be a Pikachu, I guess I am." Ash joked.

Gary's soul filled with hope, 'I still have a chance…I still have a chance.' He smirked, "Hey, you know that my granddad and your mom are dating now, right?"

"Yeah, kind of saw it coming."

"YOU DID?"

Ash rolled his eyes, "Duh, genius. They were always flirting with each other over the years, I'm just surprised it took Professor Oak THIS long to finally ask her out. I practically jumped for joy, you know?"

"But what if they get married?"

"Meh, who cares? Just because they get married, it doesn't mean we'll become half-brothers or anything."

Gary smiled and hugged Ash, letting Ash's sweet scent envelope him.

"EH?"

Gary pulled back at Ash's sudden response, he blushed and looked down, "Sorry. Forgot." Ash's shocked expression softened as the raven haired trainer tiptoed and kissed Gary on the cheek.

'W-Wha?'

When Ash stepped back down again, he smiled his perfect white smile, "I'll see you later Gary."

"O-Ok."

After Ash left, Gary closed the door and walked over to the sofa, his mind clouded with thoughts. He flopped down and absentmindly touched the spot on his cheek that Ash had kissed, it was still warm and slightly moist from the younger boy's lips.

He smiled to himself and closed his eyes.

"I love you Ash…I love you so much.." He whispered to himself, the words echoed off against the walls of the empty house.

And for once…Gary didn't feel so alone.