A/N: hi guys! first, I want to apologize for such a long update since school has been dominating my life *cries* recently, i felt very discouraged as a writer to continue writing this story, as well as just writing in general. however, i feel like it's the least i can do for YOU guys who have been encouraging me and supporting me by writing reviews and liking my stories. thank you all for the unconditional support and love you give me because it REALLY means a lot to know that people like what i'm doing. this chapter will be short, but i promise more chapters will start coming out after this (more frequently i should say!) please enjoy and review as always!

Sometimes, being with him felt wrong.

Maybe it's because he's almost a decade older than her and that alone is scandalizing to some people. Or because he's just completely and utterly out of her league because he's Steven Stone and that's enough reasoning for anyone to deem themselves unworthy of being in his presence.

She even remembers that one time Phoebe asked her what Steven saw in her and she just remembers opening her mouth like a Magikarp and then shutting it slowly because even she was a little dumbfounded. It's not like Phoebe was insulting her, well indirectly he was, but everyone was authentically curious when Steven announced to the Elite Four that they were a thing- since a thing is what would describe them best. She remembers her response, one because it was pretty blunt and two because it was the truth. She had said, "To tell you the truth, I don't know myself. There's nothing extraordinary about being with me. But what I do know is that I like him. A lot. I'll be with him as long as he'll have me."

Phoebe must have been satisfied with her answer because she gave her a quick squeeze on the shoulder before strutting off to find Glacia.

Thinking back, she felt naive at the time. Scared. Being the teenager she was, no one could really blame her if she felt skeptical and it was common knowledge to know that Steven Stone was notorious for his so called "soul searching", or his fancy way of describing his constant disappearing acts. In the short times they hung out together, the tiny dark voice in the back of her mind would whisper to her, telling her to not be so surprised if she wakes up one day to find his side of the bed empty and the clothes in the closet gone.

However, if there is one thing to know about Steve Stone it is to know that he will never disappoint. Never.

In their ups and downs, they are still here, still something. She thinks they are in a different light now, one where love is an art that they are both learning. She smacks him a little more than what's necessary, he's a little too passive sometimes for his own good. But he's the only one that memorizes every smile, everything that makes her eyes light up and the feeling of his hand skimming the length of her back, rubbing soothing circles into her pressed skin is falling into a whole different world where it's just the two of them, timing ceasing to exist.

And when warm hands grasp her soft cheeks, guiding her mouth to his, that's all she needs to know that being with him is far from wrong.

i havent written a fanfic in months and my writing seems so iffy to me but i hope you liked it! reviews are extrememly appreciated!