AN ~ Hey all! So I got plenty of positive feedback over the last chapter. Hopefully I wasn't too rusty as I wrote it. So, since Ash has been pretty quiet and reserved in the past chapter, I think that an Ash POV chapter is in order (: don't you think? So, I hope you enjoy!
Side note ~ Forgot to mention this – I got a new laptop! With a lot of space, so I should be able to write lots more and be able to save it haha :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon unfortunately ):

Chapter 5 ~ I Need Your Love

ASH'S POV –

"Well Ashy, that was fun, wasn't it? See, I'm not all that bad. I don't bite," came a voice from beside me, from the taller beauty I once called my rival. The smile that he had was so genuine, and it made my heart stutter for just a second. I didn't even notice he called me 'Ashy', his stupid (yet cute…) pet name for me.

"Suuure," I reply, grinning also. I like this. No hard feelings, no teasing. Just being friends…

Gary snapped his teeth at me, as if he was going to bite me. I tried to fake a look of horror, but my huge smile was making that a bit hard to do. I continued to eat my ice cream as we tried not to die of laughter.

"Hurry up Ashy, I wanna get home," Gary said a few seconds later, his face betraying how tired he was. He seemed to be whining.

"Alright, alright, sheesh. Quit your whining Gary," I said, and threw in a dramatized eye roll for emphasis as I tossed my now-empty ice cream cup into the nearest trash can. We continued on the path we were on, meandering slightly, as we went back to his house.

A thought occurred to me. My furniture isn't going to be at my new house until tomorrow. "Hey, Gary? Since my furniture isn't going to come until tomorrow, am I allowed to sleep at your house again tonight?" I tried not to make eye contact, because it was an awkward question. Oh get over yourself Ash. You and Gary are friends. Nothing more. It's not that bad of a question.

"As long as you stay in your own bed," he joked, smiling. "Of course you can."

I wanted to die at his joke, but I managed to act normally. "Thanks," I said, turning to face him, and I decided that I wanted to walk backwards. So that's what I did.

"If you trip and fall flat on your ass, know I'm just gonna laugh mine off," Gary said, giving me a curious look.

"Sooo reassuring," I retorted sarcastically, not paying attention to where we were. I almost walked smack into the door to his house. He shoved me out of the way to unlock the door. Once the brunette accomplished this, I shoved him out of the way and went into his house, walking backwards still. Huge mistake.

I have no idea what happened. I'm guessing Umbreon or Eevee or even Pikachu tripped me as I was walking backwards, and I was flat on my back in a matter of seconds, the wind knocked out of me from the force of the fall. Not even two seconds later, Gary was on top of me. Like, right on top of me. How awkward.

"Uhhh…" came from both of our mouths as we both avoided the other's eyes. I felt my face burning up, most likely tomato red. If Iris were here, I'd never hear the end of this.

"Sorry about that… they can be a bit evil at times," the beautiful being on top of me said, not moving at all. Does he like this?

"'S ok," I mumbled, still avoiding his mesmerizing leaf green eyes, before I did something I never would have dared to do before. I reached up and gently cradled the sides of his face, turning it softly so we were looking at each other. I let out a huge breath that I hadn't know I was holding, and then slowly brought our foreheads together, to be even closer to his stunning eyes. "Your eyes… they're so breathtaking," I whispered, not breaking eye contact. But then it hit me. WHAT AM I DOING?! HE DOESN'T LIKE ME LIKE I LIKE HIM! I just practically let him know I like him! CRAPPPP! I shoved him off of me, muttering a quick "Sorry" before bolting upstairs, tears threatening to spill. Cilan could have cooked an egg off my face if it was as hot as it felt. When I made it to the guest room, I locked the door from the bathroom to my room, and my room door as well, before collapsing on the bed, silent tears tracing a path down my face.

I stayed locked in the room for the rest of the afternoon, just crying a silent river. He's going to be disgusted with me. He's gonna kick me out, he's not gonna want to be my friend anymore. He's probably going to make me move my Pokémon to either be with Professor Rowan or back to Professor Oak. Everything is going to fall apart. Dammit Ash what have you done?! I almost ripped out a huge chunk of my hair in frustration, the pain from that temporarily numbing the pain I felt from messing up everything with Gary. I didn't let Pikachu in – I felt bad about that, but I really needed to be alone.

I think I eventually fell asleep, because I don't remember anything between then and hearing Gary knocking on my door softly. "Ash? Please come down for dinner." Then I heard his footsteps retreating, down the stairs. A small whine from Pikachu outside the door could be heard, as if he was enforcing Gary's words and begging me to go eat. I slowly got up and went to the mirror on the dresser. Arceus I was a mess. But I didn't care anymore. I attempted to fix my hair but it wouldn't work, so I left it be. I unlocked the door, and looked down at Pikachu. I gave him a small smile to show I was ok, although I wasn't.

When I was downstairs, I briefly met Gary's eyes, before looking done. Although I said I didn't care, I didn't want him seeing me like this. I refused to look at him, or even speak. We ate in silence. It was awkward, so horribly awkward. Even the normally loud Pokémon were quiet.

When I had finished eating, I got up to go ditch my dishes in the sink, and then was going to continue to wallow in self-pity in my room. I didn't notice that Gary had gotten up at the same time, but I guess he had, because we both were at the sink in the exact same moment. We both faltered for a heartbeat – there was maybe a distance the size of Pikachu in between us. I looked up, and our eyes met.

"Ash." My name was whispered, no doubt an attempt to get my attention, but I didn't want to talk to him. He's going to kick me out for sure. I turned and was about to leave and head back to my 'sanctuary', so-to-speak, but I felt him grab my upper arm. I stiffened at the contact, both wanting and not wanting it. "Ash," he said, still talking quietly. "Please, talk to me." Do I want to? I don't know… However, I found myself shaking my head. I wanted to say no, but after crying for hours and not talking, my voice wouldn't work, so I opted to mouth the word instead. "Ash. Please," he begged. I could tell he was desperate to talk to me, but why would I if I knew what was going to happen? I shook my head no again, and refused to make eye contact with the being that I found to be so attractive. Why? Why do I?

He adopted a sterner tone and commanded, "Ash Ketchum, you are going to talk to me whether you want to or not. So it would be nice if you actually tried so I don't have to force you to sit there and talk to me." His voice immediately softened as he said, "Please Ashy. We need to work this out. I-I-It hurts me to see you so sad looking. It's not normal for you. Please." Whoa. Did he just stutter? Or say that me being sad hurts him? And why that pet name AGAIN?

My voice started to function then, and I replied, "Why should I? Tell me Gary, why should I talk to you? What good will come out of it?" I still didn't want to catch those stunning green eyes. "I know you just want to make fun of me for what I said. I can just tell." I tried not to sound so cold, but how I said it didn't matter, because it would still sound cold.

"I don't want to Ashy. I just want to talk to you. If you looked at me, you'd see that."

I found myself saying, "No. I don't believe you."

"GODDAMMIT ASH!" Gary yelled, startling me. I've never seen or heard him yell or at least raise his voice out of anger. Ever. "I'm serious! Alright? I am not going to make fun of you. I want to talk to you. I want you to look at me right now, though, so we can have this conversation. Or I am going to drag you against your will to my room to talk." WHAT?! I didn't move, because I was shocked.

Suddenly, I felt his hands grab the sides of my face gently and turn it to face him. He's… doing what I did to him… Why? I was confused. "There, that wasn't hard now was it?" he questioned, not letting go. The eye contact continued, and for some reason, my vision became blurred as salty tears threatened to spill over, which they eventually did. He moved one hand to wipe them away, and I started to cry harder, but I don't know why. "Don't cry Ash. Please. Don't cry." The soothing words only made it worse as the amount of tears I shed grew. He again surprised me by pulling me into a hug, my head resting on his chest. I eventually hugged him back, soaking his shirt in my tears, but he didn't seem to care. The gentle creature I knew growing up… he's back. I felt his chin rest on the top of my head as he continued to murmur, "Shhh it's alright Ash."

I'm not sure how long we were like that. Even when I stopped crying, he held onto me, not letting go. I like this. I don't want him letting go. But I didn't know what time it was, so I said, "Gary?"

I felt his arms loosen slightly, giving me some space to look up at him. "Hmm?" he asked.

"… I'm sorry for what happened with the whole tripping thing. I just… I have no idea what I wa-" I was cut off by one of his fingers pressing against my lips to stop me. He moved it, and went to rest his forehead with mine. Oh. My. Arceus. This isn't happening. Is it? Or am I asleep?

"It's alright," he whispered, not breaking eye contact. I didn't want him to either. We are so close right now. And this time it's willing. I felt my heart thud dully against my ribcage, and my breath get stuck in my throat. Willingly… Now I really didn't want to move. I wanted to stay like that all day, every day. But apparently someone else had other ideas.

"PIKAAA," came a high-pitched whine behind me. That was our cue to detach ourselves from the other, but not for the eye contact to break. Both of us had labored breathing. Suddenly, what just happened and what it could have meant became obvious to me, and I felt my face and neck heat up slightly. I could see his face was similar to how mine felt. He finally tore his eyes away from mine, much to my disappointment, to look at his Snorelax clock on the wall.

"Oh. It's 10:00."

Oh wow, we'd been like that for such a long time. How long, though? "I'm gonna go to sleep now Gary," I said, growing tired quickly.

"Alright Ash. Goodnight," he replied then added "If you have another nightmare, you can come into my room, okay?" I yawned, nodding as I did so. I silently left the room and went upstairs. I shut the door softly, then collapsed against it. Oh wow. What just happened? Because that happened, now I'm convinced he likes me. Gary, I need your love.

I need your love.

I need your time.

When everything´s wrong,

You make it feel right.

I feel so high.

I go alive.

I need to be free with you tonight.

I need your love.

I need your love.

…

Now I´m dreaming, will I ever find you now?

I walk in circles, but I´ll never figure out

What do I mean to you, do I belong?

AN ~ Well that's another chapter! And a long one too! I don't own the section of song at the end, Calvin Harris does. I did this to build on Ash's character, and really show you guys how he feels (; hope you liked! Please, rate and review, it keeps me going! I will switch back to Gary POV next chapter. See y'all when I next post!

Love,

Shadows(: