CHAPTER 2
It was a warm, sunny and breezy afternoon in Pallet Town. Ash was with his former rival Gary Oak, in a small hideaway in the forgotten bush area around the back of the Oak's house. They were there playing and training their Pokémon, Ash was also helping Gary with some Pokémon research. The very reason why Gary and Ash were no longer rivals was because Gary gave up the idea of becoming a Pokémon Master; now his dream was to become the best Pokémon Researcher, like his Grandfather Professor Oak. The little hide-away was a clearing in the middle of the bush, revealing lush green grass; on one end of the clearing they had a tarp tied between a few trees to form some kind of a shelter for when it was raining and there was a small stream running strait through the center of the clearing. The two boys had been there for almost the whole day and the sun was starting to go down behind the rolling mountains that pretty much surrounded Pallet. They thought that it would be a good time to start heading home.
Meanwhile back at Ash's house, Misty had arrived and was walking up to the front door with Daisy beside her. Misty didn't know why she was nervous but as she reached her hand up to ring the doorbell she couldn't help but to hesitate. She really didn't want Ash to open the door; she wanted him to either be off with Gary somewhere or in his room being lazy. But just as she was about to press the button she heard someone call her name from behind, it was a very familiar voice. "Misty?" She quickly spun around in shock. It was Ash and again she had no clue why but this was worse than having him open the door. "Oh. Uh. Hey Ash!" She managed to finally say the words. "What are you doing here?" Ash asked as he reached the front door. "Oh, didn't your mum tell you? I'm staying here for a while, to help celebrate your birthday!" She replied with a sudden wash of relief that this wasn't awkward. Unlocking and stepping inside the house Ash replied, "That's great! Mum was talking about inviting you but I didn't know she actually called." Ash said happily. "Well actually I called, last night. I wouldn't miss celebrating a friend's birthday! And you know that." She said. "Yes I know that all to well. Remember that time when you made Brock go home just to celebrate his dad's birthday? That was one of the most hilarious thing you did to him!"
"Oh yea! I remember that! I wonder why he didn't want to go home? I would have!" Ash just shrugged in response.
Misty and Daisy were following Ash through the house and into the kitchen where Delia was making herself a cup of tea. "Hey mum, look who I found out front!" Ash cheerily announced. "Hey guys, Daisy, would you like a cup of tea or coffee?" Delia asked. "Oh no, I'm sorry I really only came to drop Misty off. I said I would be back before it got dark, so I can't stay for long." Daisy replied. "That's fine I'll manage to find some kind of company with Ash and Misty," Delia looked out the window and saw the sun almost dipping behind the mountains around Pallet. "Well I guess you better get going if you want to make it back before dark there looks like there's only about an hour or so till it starts to." Delia suggested. "Yeah I should… well I guess I'll leave you to be bored by Misty." Daisy said looking over to Misty and seeing her poke out her tongue out playfully. Daisy happily returned this by slightly pulling her ponytail. "Ouch!" Misty cried. "You said that you wouldn't do that again!" She whined. "Well I kinda haven't seen you for a year. I think this can be an exception." Daisy protested. "Well… I suppose…but no more!" Misty compromised but with clear annoyance in her voice.
Five minutes later Daisy had left for home and Misty was up stairs helping Ash and Delia set up a rollaway bed for Misty in Ash's room. They surprisingly didn't have much trouble getting the bed down the hallway and through the door, usually they would have to try a couple times to get it through the door. The bed had sheets, blankets and pillows on it in a matter of minutes but that was after Ash insisted on helping and stuffing it up a couple of times. As usual Ash had cleared out a drawer for Misty to put her stuff in.
Misty was putting her stuff in the drawer and she got to her present for Ash, she looked around to see if Ash looking near her, because she didn't want him to see that she had got him something that was in a really nice box just yet, she also didn't want him to see it and open it to see what she got him. Lucky for Misty he was on his bed polishing his badges and Pokéballs. She quickly grabbed the small box and tucked it underneath her clothes. She closed the drawer and turned around, Ash had just finished too and was clipping his Pokéballs back onto this belt. Ash looked up and thought about something for a second before saying, "So, is there anything you want to do, you know while you're here?" Misty was kinda surprised at the sudden question. "Well, ummm, not really." Except for telling you I like you a lot and hope you feel the same. "Right now though I just want to go to sleep, long car rides either make me feel sick or make me tired."
"Well I hope you're not too tired! Mum's making dinner now! You don't want to miss that now do you?"
"Yeah, I guess not. I love your mum's cooking! It's even better than Brock's!" "Yeah that's what happens when you're at home a lot looking after me!"
"Yeah, looking after you and your huge appetite! You're always hungry! Do you ever think about anything else other than Pokémon training?"
"Yes I do thank you very much! I think about mum and I don't always think of Pokémon training when I'm thinking about Pokémon! I could be thinking about how annoying it would be to live in a Pokéball, are they annoying Pikachu?" Pikachu looked up at the sound of his name. "Pika!" He chirped and nodded. "Is that why you don't go in yours Pikachu?" Misty asked him, he nodded again. A strong smell of roast chicken started to come from the kitchen; Ash tilted his head back and smelled the air. "Mmmm… roast chicken for dinner tonight! We should go down now it'll be ready soon." Ash got up and headed for the door Misty trailing just behind. "You coming with us Pikachu?" Misty asked, he hopped up, ran of the bed and jumped onto Ash's shoulder.
After an unusually quiet dinner Misty and Delia were talking about girly stuff like what Misty's sisters were doing on their holiday so Ash excused himself from the table and headed up stairs to his room. He had been sitting there getting bored with the TV for about 45 minutes when Misty walked in. she was about to sit down on the floor next to Ash but he stopped her saying, "Wait. Don't sit. I want to show you something." He got up and gestured towards the open window. "Look out there, at the wall to the right, there should be something there." Misty shrugged and walked over to it and looked out. "It's a rope ladder. What's the big deal?"
"Oh. You underestimate me. Go up it."
"What?! Are you trying to kill me, Ash Ketchum?!"
"No! Fine I'll go first!"
Ash walked over to the window. Reached out to grab the ladder and used it to help pull himself up to stand on the windowsill. He was about to start climbing the ladder when he yelled to Misty. "Just remember that you are going to do this next I want to show you something that is up there!"
"Yeah, I know. I will don't worry." She called back. Ash climbed to the top, turned around, knelt down then looked down to the window. "Okay Misty! You can come up now!"
"Umm. Okay!" She poked her head out of the window so she was looking upwards, and in about 5 seconds Ash had his hand out and was helping pull Misty up onto the roof. Their faces were now centimeters away from each other and he grabbed her by the shoulders. "Okay, now close your eyes…"
TO BE CONTINUED...
All Credit of the song I am using later in this fic goes to Mayday Parade! It is an awesome song and they are an awesome band! You should check out their music if you're into pop-punk/punk-rock! And please review this fic! I'd really appreciate it if you did!
