"You did what?!" Winona was on the other end of the Nav.
"I took Juan's advice and moved back to Sootopolis."
"I guess I should congratulate you on being able to take such a he step and cut Steven out for a bit. Honestly, the way you were with him made me think I'd never see the pair of you part."
"We're just on a break at the moment so we can re-evaluate our relationship."
Winona hummed. "How's that going?"
"It's quite liberating at the moment. Imagine – I could find someone who is even more amazing than him."
The other end of the line was silent. Winona couldn't imagine that. No one could imagine that. It wasn't that Steven was the best human to walk the Earth, but when they were together it was difficult to imagine them being with other people.
Everything seemed to return to how it had been, how it would have been if Wallace had returned to being gym leader when Steven returned from Sinnoh…if he hadn't had feelings for the other in the first place. Of course it would be a lie to say that he didn't still think about Steven, but he tried not to. He needed to prove to himself that he could live without him, and so far it was going well. Finally he got round to spending some quality time with Juan, something he hadn't really done since he'd left to cover champion duties.
"So you aren't looking to pursue a career as a coordinator?" Juan asked.
That had been the other option, but for the moment he knew that he would do better as a leader. Until this situation with Steven was completely resolved he didn't want to return to the contest fray.
His conversation with Juan was wonderful though. It reminded him of all the things that lay before him, all the goals he wanted to achieve.
It was a full week before Steven attempted to contact him.
"I miss you," Steven said into his Nav.
It wasn't that Wallace thought him incapable of missing another person, but he had thought Steven would return to his old ways of hiding in a cave and forgetting about everyone. "Do you? Would you say you're finding it hard to live without me? Because I'm finding it easy to live without you."
There was silence on Steven's end. Perhaps it did sound mean, but it was the truth. There was the sound of the call ending.
The next week he received another call.
"I still miss you."
"I still don't."
"You said you loved me. Say you don't."
Wallace stopped in his tracks. A part of him still did…
"Say it, Wallace. I need to hear you say it."
"I won't." This time he disconnected the call.
He could never say that he didn't love the man as a friend. Steven may have betrayed him as a lover, but he still wanted to be friends when Steven was ready.
There was no third call. Instead the following week he received a knock at his door.
"Wallace, please just talk with me."
He invited Steven in and made the usual cup of coffee he'd have. "Did you not think to call ahead to make sure I was available?"
"You always seemed to have time for me in the past."
"I suppose I did. Well, say what you have to say."
"I've come for some advice. You see, I have a friend who has done something terribly stupid to betray a friend's trust. Now he can't even have a proper conversation with that friend and he doesn't know what to do. What would you suggest he does to rectify the situation?"
Wallace smirked, he had to commend Steven on his plan, and so he'd play along. "Well I'd ask what that friend did to betray the other and ask him to reflect on it."
"And I'd tell you that he has thought about it every day, but his friend still won't listen."
"His friend is listening. Otherwise his friend wouldn't have invited him into his house."
Steven smiled. "I'm not going to ask you to take me back or anything. I can see this 'break' is the end. But please just take me back as a friend. You weren't just my lover, you were my best friend too."
"You were a good friend," Wallace admitted.
Steven moved to hug him, but realised that probably wasn't the best reaction right now. "I missed talking to you. So, how are things going?"
Whatever Steven was feeling inside didn't show. They talked like nothing had happened between them. Wallace couldn't help but laugh when Steven showed him the tiny thunderstone he'd found. Maybe Steven had got lonely with no one to talk to about his caving.
"Did you take the chance to talk to Roxanne during the tournament?" Wallace asked. "She's a rock specialist you know."
Steven huffed. "Yeah, I know. She even hands out the Stone badge. I tried to talk to her, but it was… Everything about her is so misleading. She just likes rock Pokémon. We spoke about her digging for fossils, but apart from that she's not a very cave-friendly person."
OooO
Life returned to somewhat normal until a young man named Wally came to the face the Elite Four. Steven faced him and lost and asked the usual question, but instead of refusing the offer, Wally took it. It was the end of an era and while Wallace had long since got used to the idea of not being champion, Steven felt a little odd to no longer be running the League.
"Do you think it would have been different if I'd faced him?" Wallace asked.
"No, he would have kept coming back. He really wanted it. But it feels so odd not being there. Maybe one of us should go back and challenge him for the title."
"We...well, you had a good run, but you know the rules state we can only go back if he asks one of us." Wallace said as he wheeled in more of Steven's rocks back into his Mossdeep home. "We're at the top of the list if he ever decides to take a break."
For now Steven was going to be working mainly from home for Devon Corp.
"Well, you know what this means," Steven said, excitement rising in his voice.
"What?"
"We finally have all the time in the world to visit other regions."
"I already had the time," Wallace pointed out.
"Well you've been lazy. Or maybe you didn't want to go alone?"
"I suppose a travelling partner would be preferable."
As the World Grand Festival was next due in Kanto that is where they headed. As agreed, Misty was there to greet them and even played host during their stay. Cerulean city was the perfect spot with 2 very close caves for Steven to get lost in and Saffron city, host of the festival, only a city over.
Steven did say he would go to watch Wallace in the festival, but in the mean time they barely saw each other. His first time in Kanto meant as much time in the caves as humanly possible.
"Look at all these moonstones!" Steven unloaded his haul on Misty's table. He started to pick through them and showcase his favourites, but the two water trainers had been in deep conversation about the differences between the contest categories. Misty was actually a very cool person, even without the water trainer bias. For the duration of the festival she became his Winona, the person he could talk contests with and get support from. He wished everyone could have come to Kanto with him, but then he realised that if they had he wouldn't have been able to make such a great new friend.
This year it was Misty's turn to take the cool contest title, but Wallace was unable to match her. He came third in the beauty contest, which he was pretty happy about all things considered. After the sudden decision to visit Kanto it was no wonder his Pokémon weren't on top form. He did however win his match against Misty which she actually gave him a badge for.
"Oh, you don't have to," he said.
"You beat me fair and square, so it's yours."
Steven stood clapping at the side. "Well done! Only seven more to go!"
"I'm not staying to win them all just so you can stay in caves. You know you can stay here without me if you wish."
"I promised dad I'd go home when you did," Steven muttered.
"How old are you exactly?" Wallace joked.
"Not old enough to know when to stop digging – and I never will be!"
It was almost as if he'd jinxed himself with those words. When Steven returned from Cerulean cave the next evening he knew his fun was over.
"Oh my, Steven, what happened?!" Wallace ran to help him as he hobbled into the house on crutches and sporting a grazed cheek.
"Nothing much. Just a small cave in. There's a really powerful Pokémon in there like nothing I've ever seen before."
"But you're okay? Is there anything I can do?"
"It's just a broken leg. Aggron managed to get me out safely. But yeah, if you have any way to fix a broken bone that'd be really useful right now." Steven frowned. "At this rate I won't be going anywhere fun for weeks…maybe even a few months. Ah well, at least I'm still alive, but it would have been a fitting death."
Wallace looked at him with a seriousness in his eyes. "You said it was a small cave in."
"Yeah, kind of small. I just mean that rock could have landed anywhere and I'm just glad it was my leg. What if it had landed on my spine? Then I'd be really sad."
Wallace took his hand and squeezed it. "I'm just glad you're okay. Don't scare me with all this talk of worse things or I might just have to make sure you never set foot in another cave."
OooO
Much to Steven's dismay their trip to Kanto ended soon after his accident and he ended up pretty much housebound while his leg healed. At least he had rocks to work on during his downtime. The peace and quiet in the house was a reminder of how much he'd enjoyed living with Wallace in Ever Grande. By the time the weekend rolled around and Wallace came to visit him he was bored of being cooped up.
"No one's stopping you from going out."
"Have you ever tried walking around in a cast that goes past the knee? It's not fun." Steven huffed from the sofa while Wallace tidied his house.
"Well maybe you should find a way to make your Pokémon useful."
"I do, but I hate tasking them with carrying me everywhere. It's bad enough I use them around the house for support – wait, no, don't go in there!" Steven grabbed a crutch and hobbled towards Wallace who had a hand on his bedroom door.
"Why? What's so secret?" Wallace turned the knob, unable to fathom why he suddenly wasn't allowed in his friend's room.
As he was about to step inside Steven collided with him, intent on pulling Wallace away, but he lost balance and they both toppled forward into the room.
Steven cried out as they hit the floor, even though he had Wallace to break his fall his leg still hit the floor with some force.
"Are you alright?" Wallace asked.
Steven gritted his teeth and smiled. "I'm sure I'll be fine. Might need some help getting up." He lifted himself so he wasn't crushing Wallace.
"So, what's in here that's so secret?" Wallace looked around as he removed himself from the floor. "Oh."
In the corner of a room stood an easel with a canvas, items Wallace hadn't expected to see in Steven's house. Yet it was what was painted on the canvas that caught Wallace's attention. The art wasn't finished, but the portrait of himself was more than recognisable. He didn't know Steven could paint so well…he was smiling over his shoulder with his hair blowing in the wind. He'd not seen a photo that captured him this elegantly.
"It's beautiful."
"Thanks," Steven said from the floor, an arm over his face.
"Why are you painting me?"
"Do you really need to ask?" Steven sighed. "Because you're the most beautiful person I've ever met."
"I would have painted you."
"I didn't just mean aesthetically. You're beautiful inside too. I've never met someone so kind and just all round wonderful. Urgh, no, I'm just going to shut up."
"I'd still probably paint you."
"Wallace, stop. I painted you because I still love you, okay. Just leave me here to wallow in my feelings and forget you saw the painting."
Wallace sat down on the floor and pulled Steven into his lap.
"Please don't take advantage of my inability to run away."
"I want us to try again," he said as he ran a hand through Steven's hair. "I realised last week that life's too short for me to not give you a second chance. I love spending time with you more than anyone else in the world and after all this time we've spent apart recently I see that I do miss you…Steven, I do still have feelings for you, even if I try to deny it. I'm willing to put my trust in you again."
Steven let out the breath he'd been holding. "Wallace, I swear to god, you better not be lying."
"And you better be ready to keep a promise not to break my trust."
Steven turned so that he could look into his eyes. "I swear to you, I will never do that again. If I had any lesson to learn, you can consider it learnt."
Wallace said nothing more, only brought their lips together in what they both considered an overdue kiss.