Well, the next chapter is finally up :D definitely took longer than I thought because of a slight obsession with The Hunger Games. Anyway, the chapter is up now and I hope you like it. Read awaym peeps and peepettes :D

Chapter 14: One Long Friday

It's all about the money, mon-

Can we pretend that airplane in the-

"Can you just pick a song already?" Garycomplained.

Leaf huffed. "No, not until I find a suitable song for the journey."

It was Friday after school and Gary had just pulled the car out of school grounds. They had not left Pallet Town yet but Leaf had already found a way to annoy Gary for the next few hours and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Just pick up the iPod and look for a song yourself instead of skipping through each song before we've even heard a minute of it." He complained. Leaf pouted but complied anyway. Only for one song though.

Going back to the corner where I first saw you

Gonna camp in my sleeping bag, I'm not gonna move

"That's better." Leaf said once she found a song that she liked enough to listen to. "What was all that trashy stuff on your iPod anyway?"

"It's not trashy, it's just because you listened to every song for what? A minute?" Gary pointed out, making the turn out of Pallet Town. "Maybe if you-"

Leaf hushed Gary. "Not until the song is over." Leaf said with a finger over her lips as if she were talking to a small child. She sang along to the song, putting her hand over Gary's mouth whenever he tried to say something.

"This song is soooo romantic." Leaf cooed. "Bet you're never like that to your girlfriends."

"You'll have to be to find that out." Gary said, firing a quick wink at Leaf then concentrating his attention on the road in front of him again. Since Gary bought the car, he had not driven out of Pallet Town.

Leaf pouted and continued to listen to each song for a minute then skipping it. Gary groaned. The next few hours were going to be long, tedious but a great memory one day. Just not today.

Xxx

Getting to Vermilion took longer than expected. Gary made sure to drive slowly so that he could take charge of his iPod too, leaving Leaf to sulk in her seat and only to get things her way again. It became a cyclical process: Leaf skipped songs, Gary got annoyed and took charge of the iPod and Leaf sulked and so on and so forth.

He pulled his car by the extravagant seventeenth century country house.

"So we just go in and interrogate her?" Leaf asked as she unfastened her seatbelt and turned to face Gary who was fixing the spikes on his head.

"No way. She'll never tell us anything with an approach like that. We need to be smooth and I've-"

Leaf interrupted him. "You've got a 'sure fire plan that will get us what we need.'" Leaf quoted. "Last time I heard those words we ended up in detention for three weeks."

"Ah, but this isn't school related, is it Leaf?" Gary pointed out.

"So? It just means when you're 'sure fire' plan goes wrong we'll end up in jail." Leaf pointed out bluntly.

"Trust me. It'll work perfectly… If you notice the 'go' sign this time." Gary said, reminding her of why they ended up in detention.

"I'll notice it if you give it." Leaf fired back. She genuinely believed she was not the one to blame for their pre-April fool's day festivities.

"Maybe you should ju-" Leaf interrupted Gary again and pointed to the drive way.

Gary looked over too, and noticed someone he did not factor into his plan. Professor Oak. He ordered Leaf to duck but it was too late. The professor had spotted them.

Xxxx

"And because you were gone for so long, we got worried about you and that's why we came." Leaf lied flawlessly like always, even convincing herself that that was the truth in the process of her explanation.

"Oh, you're so cute Leaf; just like how I remembered you to be." Professor Ivy said, her face was absent of a smile, making Leaf wonder if she was being serious or not.

Professor Ivy was known as someone who was hard to read. Even Leaf, and her usually accurate reading of people from their hand gestures and facial expression, found it hard to tell what the woman was thinking. But if Leaf believed her own lie, the outcome will almost always unravel as how Leaf would want it to.

Leaf looked at Ivy and smiled an innocent smile, trying to portray to the woman that she has no ulterior motives. Even someone as good with words as her didn't know what to say back.

Gary remained silent since they were spotted by the Professors, only speaking when spoken to and even then no more than a word or two at a time. He let Leaf work her magic and sat back, silently analysing the professor. Or at least try to. The woman's face conveyed nothing. Sometimes trying to read Ivy was like trying to understand what a brick is trying to say. Only harder.

"Anyway, since you are all here and it's getting late, I'll assume that you will all be staying here for the night." Ivy said, not sounding particularly pleased about the uninvited guests.

"Actually, we were planning on heading back to Pallet Town." Gary said, looking at Leaf who nodded in agreement.

"Gary, it's dangerous to drive at night, especially for a new driver like you." Professor Oak said, "We can all leave tomorrow morning."

Xxxxxx

Dinner was unnervingly quiet. The four people that were in the country house didn't speak to each other. The sounds of the cutlery hitting the crockery followed by the chair scraping back were the only sounds that resonated in the dining room.

Leaf and Gary both eyed the room, and the people in it, several times as they ate their roast beef and potatoes and once Gary rose from his seat, Leaf followed suit.

"That was slightly awkward." Leaf stated once they made it back to Gary's room. He shut the door behind her, letting them speak freely.

Gary nodded and picked up Leaf's bag. "Did you bring it?" he asked her. She nodded and Gary proceeded to unzip her bag pulling out a lot of paper and scrambling it on the bed then pulling out what he was really after: a bit of paper that had been folded up on itself a dozen times or so. He unfolded it. "Perfect."

Gary grabbed a few more things and shoved them into his pockets. Sneaking around the country house was going to be hard and even with the map of the house that he had ordered Leaf to bring; it was still going to be a tough task.

"And Leaf?" Gary said, catching the attention of the brunette, "That was some quick thinking back in the car." He complimented, referring to the moment when they were spotted by the professors in Gary's car. It took Leaf less than three minutes to formulate a lie in her head.

"Of course, but I must say, you caught on pretty quickly." Leaf complimented back as she too dug round in her bag for a few things that she thought might come in handy for their trawl round the house.

"I am Gary, aren't I?" he asked modestly as he stood up beside Leaf and waited for her before they started their mission. Leaf mock punched Gary's arm stood up beside him.

Gary unfolded the map and tried to understand it. The house was huge and working out where his room is was not easy but he managed it. Leaf and Gary tried to work out what was the best route to take to go to where they think the lab would be without encountering anyone in the house. Though there were only two other people, avoiding them was easier said than done. They had a few disagreements in the process, starting with which way to go when they leave the room.

"Okay, you go your way and I'll go mine." Leaf said, "whoever gets to the lab first should text the other person. And we'll need an alibi should we caught."

Gary nodded. Leaf had everything thought up in the event they got caught but he knew right there and then that Leaf was never going to make it to the lab. As cunning as she is, Gary knew from a few separate occasions that Leaf couldn't read maps.

"What's our alibi?" Gary asked.

"Wear a lost look on your face and tell anyone you see you're looking for the garden. After the lab raid we should meet in the garden, just in case one of us needed to use the alibi." Leaf suggested. "And if we can't find the way to the lab by eleven just meet at the garden."

"Okay." Gary agreed though he doesn't always understand Leaf's reason for making things so complicated for him.

xxxxxx

Leaf left the room second and walked in the opposite direction to Gary. She had a map discretely hidden in her belt and had memorised the first part of her route which she had split into four separate parts.

If only Leaf could differentiate a window from a door on a map…

Xxxxxx

Gary had successfully wondered down to the bottom floor. He had established that the lab was situated in the basement like his grandfather's one at home. But unlike his home, Professor Ivy's country house had the stairway to the basement hidden somewhere, away from the main stairs.

He took in the décor of the house as he moved, trying to use it to help him retrace his steps if necessary, but it was harder than it sounds since Ivy displayed no photos or paintings on the walls – they were as bare as a desert. The evenly spaced apart doors didn't help either.

Just faintly, he could hear the sound of people talking round the corner. He always remembers that distinct tone ivy uses when she's talking about very serious matters.

He heard a second voice. His grandfather's voice. Gary leaned against the nearest wall and listened to Ivy and his grandfather's conversation.

"But you won't." professor Oak said sternly to Ivy. Gary could picture his face as he spoke. He wasn't sure what his gramps was talking about but he had a burning feeling that it was something he needed to know.

"I'm not in on the project anymore. I can say what I want to who I want." Professor ivy said in her cool tone. She was never the one to be intimidated by people who had authority over her. "But if it means so much to you, I won't mention it."

"Thank you Ivy. That's all I needed to hear." professor Oak said gratefully," I think I'll be heading back to Pallet Town now."

"So soon?" Ivy said, though she didn't sound the slightest bit disappointed.

The professor nodded. "I have a lot of business to attend to back home."

As soon as Gary heard that he decided that the lab was going to be a no go for now. He needed to come up with a plan and fast. Gary looked around the hall hastily. He thought about diving into one of the rooms but decided against it. Maybe Leaf's advice earlier is a better idea...

He took a deep breath and walked round the corner casually. He was going to do exactly what Leaf said he should, minus the lost look though. Admitting he was lost would cost him his pride, as his family and friends knew all too well.

When he had turned the corner, Professor Ivy and Professor Oak were both gone.

Xxxxxx

Leaf had long given up looking for the lab and had stumbled across yet another corridor lined with old wooden doors. She popped her head into each room, but only fully entering one. The one she did wander into was clearly Ivy's. It was the room (out of all the ones Leaf had seen) that has photos and other trinkets that held some sort of sentiment.

She quietly shut the door behind her and crept further into the room, investigating the mess of books and folders that was scattered all over the floor. It somehow resembled Leaf's room back home. At least she thought so.

Looking around here was going to take time. All Leaf could do was skim through every page and hope Professor Ivy doesn't find her snooping.

Xxxxxx

It was almost eleven, the designated meet up time with Leaf at the garden. He knew he had to head out to the garden soon, somewhere he did know how to get to even without the map, but a voice inside his head kept telling him to move forward and don't turn back. The instinctive thing for him to do was to keep going.

Gary could see the slowest staircase down to the basement and according to his map, the lab was just down those fifteen or so steps.

However nothing ever runs smoothly. He could hear footsteps coming up the stairs. Judging from the sound of the footsteps against the wooden flooring, Gary could tell that they belonged to a woman.

Xxxxx

Leaf made herself comfy on the clean-cut grass. She sat with her knees tucked up in front of her chest and che checked her watch. 11:05. Gary was five minutes late, though that didn't matter. Knowing Gary, he probably didn't start to make his way to the garden until eleven on the dot. Maybe even after eleven.

Leaf took the sounds of nature in and let it sooth her. The stars above were shining brightly and they seemed much more abundant than what could be seen at this time of nigh back at home. Now she finally understood why pensioners choose to move to the countryside to grow old with their spouse. It made her wonder at times what her future husband and family would be like. Would she be able to move out into such a lavish home and just relax all day?

"Hey, sorry I'm late." Gary said from behind as he lightly jogged up to her on the grass and settled down beside her. Leaf thought it was unusual for Gary to apologise.

"I knew you would be." Leaf said, not bothering to turn round. "If I got a penny for every time you're late, I'd be rich."

"Hurtful. Leaf." he said with a laugh.

"Find anything?" she asked him.

Gary didn't answer right away. "Let's enjoy our time out here and talk about it later." He finally replied.

"Why?" Leaf asked suspiciously, whipping her head round to look at Gary. She didn't realize how closely Gary was sitting, not that she minded when people invaded her personal space. But what really confused her was when his face seemed to get closer, and closer and-

Before she could say anything else Gary's face was as close to Leaf's as it could get. Lips over lips.

Xxxxxx

… Eh soooo, the Gary and Leaf kiss… Was it real? Why now? Did Leaf like it? I shall reveal the answers to these questions and a lot of other things with other people in the next chapter.

And yeah, the song I made Leaf and Gary listen to in the car is called 'The Man Who Can't be Moved' by The Script. The reason for the song being in the story is… Well, I love it and I listened to it over and over again while I was writing this :D kinda like my inspiration!

Anyway, hope this chapter will suffice for now! Review like always, please!