Spitfire, Chapter 9: In this world.

"I'm not sure what I was expecting." May muttered softly as her eyes were shadowed by her hair.

When she looked up to Misty and Gary, who stood in the doorway looking in on her, her eyes were fleshed out with only the faintest of tears, and Misty made sure to give Gary a hard shove as she approached the brunette. Misty pulled up a chair, plopped down, and placed her hand over May's.

"There's at least half a tub of ice cream in the freezer, I'm sure the jerk Gary would love to go grab it." Misty's words forced May to laugh slightly, she left one hand under Misty's, and then used the glove of her other to wipe her eyes—refusing the cry.

"Thanks, Misty. You always were a pal." May's smile cracked Misty just a bit, regardless Misty smiled back at her sadly. Inwardly, Misty disagreed strongly with the brunette, but she wouldn't voice her concern. Not yet, anyways. Gary stepped into the kitchen to do as Misty suggested, but May flagged him.

"No, I'm fine, Gary. I don't need any ice cream; it is a tempting idea however." May joked with a small giggle at the end of her sentence, but Misty could see past the shield May placed. May, out of all of Ash's traveling companions, could be easily considered the most compassionate, she wore her emotions on her sleeve; and while it was an admirable trait, it made her raw.

Misty pat her hand for comfort and exhaled. The auburn haired boy went to take a seat, but Misty waved him away with her hand. Instead, he leaned up against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed and a small pout. If he had known telling May would come as such a shock, he might have kept it to himself.

After half a silence, May's shoulders slumped and she sighed deeply.

"Why didn't Serena mention it?" She asked, glancing at Misty with her wet blue eyes. Misty shrugged her shoulders in return.

"Well, everyone else already knew after what happened at the Kalos League Championship—we just sort of figured you already did, as well." Misty's words didn't comfort the girl at all, and May had to readjust slouch while exhaling. This was just her luck, of course; the last to know everything. She tucked her arms away, crossing them over her chest while biting her bottom lip.

"I wasn't anywhere near a television for the last three months, at least." Her voice was quiet, confused, possibly fragile, but not hostile; she sighed, "It shouldn't bother me like this, should it?" May asked honestly, and looked to Misty who shrugged in response.

"I don't know, honestly. I mean..." this conversation was quickly moving from comfort, to awkwardness, and Misty shifted in response. "Did you you like Ash that much..?"

May's face turned a shade of red, but she placed her fingers against her lips. "I'm not sure. I didn't think that I did—but that news kind of shocked me a lot." She tapped her fingers along her jaw line, and sat back in her chair—Misty thanked the heavens that at least she wasn't crying. And so in favor, Misty grinned.

"Because Ash isn't the get-a-girlfriend type?" Misty inquired glancing to Gary for a very brief moment; he was watching Misty, rubbing his lips together while quietly listening to the conversation between the two girls. May shook her head, and let her hands fall back into her lap. She glared into Misty's eyes sadly, and half-smiled.

"I don't know? That sounds right, though. I just feel like I got kicked in the stomach, is all... it feels so weird." At May's statement, Misty could agree, but figured two pity parties was worse than one.

"Maybe you should talk to him...or her, about it? That could make you feel better." Misty's advice was solid, even if it was a bit hypocritical; Misty could never imagine having that talk with Serena or Ash; and it made her queasy just thinking about the direction that conversation would go. Ash would be obviously oblivious, and Serena would be highly insulted; or at least, Misty figured Serena would be insulted.

May's voice drew Misty from her thoughts, and the re-head looked at May while she spoke."I couldn't do that Misty, that's so..." May cocked her head to the side, as if her mind was changed suddenly. "It's funny, because they don't act like a couple at all." Misty's eyebrow queered at the comment.

"What do you mean?"

"He doesn't seem to acknowledge her as his girlfriend. Had Gary not told me, I would have had no idea. Have you asked him straight forward if they're dating?" The sadness fled May's eyes, and Misty could see a twinkle in them now that made her stomach uneasy.

"Well...no, but we all just kind of assumed."

"That's that then! I'll ask myself! I'm sure it's a misunderstanding!" May cheered, and rocketed out of her chair, elated all of a sudden. Misty nearly fell off her seat at the younger girls response, and she rubbed her face.

"Wh-what?" She stammered, fumbling with her words.

"We shouldn't make assumptions! It's best to ask forward!" She hummed, and skipped to the refrigerator to grab some of the dinner rolls that Delia had placed in there, and stuffed one into her mouth, and took another one out. "Yo' wan ne?" She muttered with her mouth full. Misty shook her head no, stunned.

"'kay 'en, I'm gon' head back into the living room—'see you in a bit!" Her sudden mood swing left Misty and Gary in a state of shock. How was it possible to be like that? To see only one vital error and then cling to that hope. Misty sat in her chair, elbows plunged against the table, holding her head in her hands.

What the hell just happened? Was that the most serious case of denial Misty had ever seen? Or was May really just that optimistic? Misty's eyes blinked once or twice, entranced by what had just happened, until the familiar scuff of boots scrapped across the floor. She rose quickly, cleared her throat, and turned on Gary.

"We're not on speaking terms right now." Misty declared before Gary even had a chance to speak, he put his arms out as if asking 'what did I do', and when he moved to open his mouth, Misty hushed him by raising her hand.

"No talky." She said, trying to move around him; but he stepped when she stepped.

"Why not?" He asked, but Misty was irritable; now that she was done mothering May, she returned to wanting to bash in Gary's skull.

"Because, I have nothing to say to you right now. I want to follow May."

"No you don't. That's the last thing you want to do right now? Why don't you go talk with Ash?"

"Because Ash has his girlfriend helping him, and May is clearly in a strong case of denial." She pointed past him to emphasis the fact that she wanted to follow May, but he crossed his arms in front of his chest, and Misty sighed; knowing that she wouldn't be getting around the Pokemon researcher. Instead, she sat back on her chair again, and crossed one leg over the other. She laid out her arms and gave him a look of disdain.

"Alright, Gary; speak, because everything you say is just so damn important." obvious sarcasm.

"How many girls like Ash this much? Because it could become a real problem for you."

"For me? Oh dear lord what kind of mentally unstable thoughts are you having?" She face palmed, growing ever impatient, but Gary tucked his hands into his pockets

"Obviously that you like Ash, and he likes you—to some point—in that little head of his, seeing me kiss you caused him to bolt from his second favorite thing in the world; food."

"Or maybe he was just upset that it was you? I mean, we've been friends for a long time, he probably just thought it was weird that one of his best friends was kissing his ex-rival."

"Jeez, you really are as dense as him sometimes! Are you going to tell me that look of shock didn't mimic the same one that you had when you saw Serena kiss him?" He smirked at this, and while faint tint of red covered Misty's cheeks, her resolve didn't dissolve.

"I wouldn't know. I didn't have a mirror." She grumbled; if she was using sarcasm so blatantly, Gary knew that his words were effective. He raised one index finger happily, and grinned like a bashful kid.

"You should be fighting for him Misty, when did you start rolling over?" This time, his voice was slightly desperate, and Misty eyed him.

"You know what, I'll answer anything you want to hear, if you can answer me one thing." She spoke this time leaning forward, rubbing her tongue over her teeth as if having a juicy piece of gossip. Knowing well that she couldn't, and wouldn't get out of this conversation if she didn't play his game; she entered the arena.

He nodded slowly, unsure of what Misty would tell him. "Go ahead." He spoke quickly, eyes narrowed.

"Why do you, Gary Oak, care so much about what I do?" She looked up at him, cocking her jaw to one side, and tilting her head. Stunned by her comment, Gary had to clear his throat and look up at the ceiling.

"Well...I'm, uh, you see." He stammered while rubbing his hands together, "I like the drama?" He spoke with a lack of confidence, but then his grin sealed his words. "I think that if my oldest friend is going to be with someone, it should be someone who will fight for him."

"Right." Misty spoke, knowing that it wasn't the truth, but would accept it as his answer anyways. "So you're in it for the drama, well, I'll have you know that the reason I haven't thrown a tantrum, is because I respect my oldest friend. That I don't want to ruin something that makes him happy because of my own selfish wants." While she spoke, she emerged from her chair, and extended her hand to clasp Gary on the shoulder for emphasis. Gary shook her hand off and once again crossed his arms.

"As noble as your cause is; you're going to tell me that you won't fight for what could be your future? What if Serena isn't the right person for Ash? What if May or Dawn, or Iris fight for him, and you still lose out? You're willing to sacrifice your own happiness, and possibly Ash's real happiness, because you don't want to get your hands dirty?"

Silence filtered through the air, and Misty stared intently into Gary's eyes; looking for some wedge of dishonestly. His voice was raw, shaky, even, and she couldn't help herself by taking a step back, and pursing her lips. Everything he said was true; while she secretly loathed the idea of Ash being with another girl, lied to herself that she was over him, attempted to chase him down the hallway to justify something that (if she was over him), wouldn't have even bothered her; she didn't want her own nobility to be tarnished over a devastating cat fight. She bit down hard on the inside of her cheek, and finally, exhaled, causing Gary to blink.

"I'll think about it; but in the mean time, keep your big mouth shut." The cross smile that she gave Gary made him smile back earnestly, and they stepped away from one another, both turning towards the exit of the kitchen. Misty believed that she saw the brief color of blue hair run past the kitchen door when she turned, but blinked her eyes in confusion. She didn't say anything.

"Well, when you do decide. Come talk to me."

"That, I cannot promise." Misty admitted with a laugh as the old quasi-friends stepped out of the kitchen to re-enter the living room parade.

–

Out on the deck, Ash felt his hands go cold. His feet were hot, and his head was spinning; he wasn't quite sure what the emotion he was feeling was, but it didn't feel right. His stomach did flips while he leaned over the balcony, half-gagging over his own emotions. Serena stood dutifully beside him, rubbing his back (which only sent pressure of needles down his spin). He nervously tapped his fingers against the railing until Serena slowly captured his hands in hers. Again, needles.

"Ash, calm down. What even happened?" She asked again, knowing that it had something to do with Misty, but having no idea what. She didn't have time to assess the situation before she darted after Ash.

Ash found that he was unable to answer the question honestly, or at all in front of Serena, and so he instead returned his gaze to the forest clearing in the back of his house, and let his stomach settle with large, deep breaths. Serena sighed slowly.

They remained like this for a couple of moments, when they first came outside, Ash was spewing nonsense, so Serena had kissed him to see if that would make things better—but instead, it stole his words, and he turned into a stone, staring out into the distance.

"I'm sorry, Serena." Ash finally spoke, cutting through the silence with a knife. Serena exhaled, and pat his back again, bumping him gently with her elbow.

"Don't apologize, I don't even know what happened." She tried again, but as Ash swallowed hard on the lump in his throat, Serena knew that no explanation would come—but what did she expect? Ash didn't know what it was either; just a wash of intense emotions, some of them mixed with anger and a hint of...jealousy? He exhaled again, and then slapped his face with both of his hands.

Whatever it was, he needed to figure it out later, he had a room full of guests in attendance, chairs to still be set up from his mom and dinner to serve in less than thirty minutes; his spiraling emotions were the last thing he needed to worry about, and so he shook his head; put it aside.

"Don't worry, I just felt really sick all of a sudden." Which wasn't a complete lie, he looked at Serena with a smile that he hoped would be sincere enough to hide his inner confusion, and she accepted it, just at it's face-value. His chest sunk a little, but he let her take his hand.

"Come on, let's go back inside." Serena chimed, and then took him by the arm to guide him through the back door. She pulled on his arm, and he let her lead him through the back door because his own feet still wouldn't move. As he stepped into the hallway, he saw in the distance Gary and Misty exiting the kitchen; he could feel the blood rush to his face but not from embarrassment. Just as it happens, Serena and Misty met at the door at the same time, and Ash bumped shoulders with the red-head in question.

"Hey there Ashy-boy." Gary joked, waving slightly; as if his old rival hadn't been getting touchy with his best friend. Ash looked from Gary, to Misty, to Serena, and then back to Misty. His face turned from confusion to disgust, and he nearly stuck his nose up at the young red-head. Misty seemed taken aback when Ash jerked his shoulder away from where they touched,

"Misty." He snarled, causing her, Gary, and Serena's jaws to drop as he then very casually strode into the living room, where he was met with a shroud of blue hair tucked underneath a hat.

"Hey, Dawn!" Ash spoke happily, approaching the blue-haired female that was speaking with May, having switched off his disgust for pure happiness. Misty noted that perhaps she saw blue-hair near the kitchen after all, and her stomach churned. Dawn probably heard what Gary said. "When did you get here?" He asked happily while approaching the girl and giving her a quick hug—something that right away upset May, who crossed her arms in quick discomfort.

While Ash started conversation with Dawn, who very sneakily eyed Serena and Misty between laughs. Serena and Misty stared at one another in confusion.

"The hell was-?" Misty started, but was met with an interruption of a head twist and turn from Serena, as she, too stuck her nose up at Misty and walked away to follow after her presumed boyfriend. Misty's jaw gaped at that, and she made a noise of complete shock. Gary's own mouth fell ajar, and he looked at Misty with wide eyes, and then at Ash, who refused to turn around, even after Serena came up and took his arm into hers. Her action sent red flags up over Dawn and May's heads that seemed to go unnoticed by Ash, and Misty exhaled slowly.

In fact, she looked to Brock with hopeful eyes of an escape plan, but Brock, and all of the other guests were completely oblivious to the destruction that just happened to Misty; and the last straw in her brain broke as she grit her teeth down hard, and let her fingers cut small crescent shaped holes into her palms.

Misty and Gary agreed silently on one thing: This was going to get messy.