Hello :P It is Wednesday so I am back with another James and Lynne chapter like I said I would. This one is also inspired by What's Eating Gilbert Grape because I really see Gilbert and Becky's relationship similar to James and Lynne's. It is set during Misty's fatigued stage after Ash shuts down due to his own worries after Rey is born and focuses more on James and Lynne and like the title suggests - their love for one and other. I hope you enjoy!

Ages:

James: 37

Lynne: 30

Dylan: 4

Disclaimer: I own Lynne with AAML-TAML :3

My breath hitched in my throat and my body began to feel almost paralysed as quite the pleasant late evening in a tough time had gone drastically wrong. A large chunk of our group was peacefully gathered around the fire to reflect on the positive changes that had slowly begun to happen and Dylan and little James were playing together so sweetly when it happened. I don't even know how it happened. I don't even know why it happened. I don't even know what happened. All of a sudden there was just this loud voice and the whimpering from a little boy. That's when my body froze. It soon jolted back into action when James suddenly darted out of the front door of the Ketchum residence and the rest of the room was filled with mixed reactions but mainly groans for one way or another.

In times such as those that had befallen our group, normally I would have stuck like glue to my dear friend Ash. But this time I felt an urge to run after James. So that's what I did. Causing even more reactions and groans of confusions.

I wasn't as young as I used to be but I still managed to run virtually on the tail of James and I was so close to him I could feel the wind he was causing and the gravel he was kicking up and the shaking pant of his breath. He didn't stop. So I didn't stop. He just kept on running, his expression vulnerable and guilt ridden and his lavender locks flowing in the night time wind. He looked angelic. Some even would say he looked beautiful. But many would agree what he just did was neither angelic nor beautiful.

I sensed him squeeze his eyes tightly shut and clench his fists before suddenly running even faster. When he did this, I felt an instant twinge in my leg and I worried I would not be able to catch him up after all. Mild pain was surging through my leg and hurt pride was forming in my brain as I prayed that I would be able to keep up with him. I was too busy being silly and thinking of myself stupidly enough when James suddenly came to a halt, his eyes snapping open and skidding on the ground to stop himself flying into the person.

The ginger haired woman let a gasp when someone ran at her and her hand dramatically flew to her mouth, her blue eyes wide and worried. I couldn't help but smirk even at that point. How numb and guilt ridden James was versus how outwardly shocked and expressive she was. What a powerful combination.

James didn't even smile softly at one of his favourite people. Instead his legs stayed fixed on the ground and he swallowed, his pained green orbs slowly closing so he wouldn't have to face anyone.

Lynne let out a sigh of relief and held her hand to her heart when neither of them were hurt but her expression soon changed twice more in such a short space of time. Her eyes lit up upon seeing it was her James before they were laced with worry all over again when she saw his broken, blank expression and could see and hear his chest heaving.

She didn't say any words but she just looked at him with sad and questioning orbs, waiting for him to feel her gaze and explain to her when he opened his eyes. He swallowed roughly but he didn't look at her nor open his eyes and he stuffed his hands into his pockets. Lynne tilted her head on one side with even more concern and softly reached out to just touch his cheek.

It was at this simple yet powerfully loving action that caused the lavender haired male's brow to suddenly furrow and a tear to slide out of James' closed eyelids. After a few seconds he did open his eyes but he didn't look at Lynne or me, not even when I hopped onto her shoulder to peer at him with my own concern. He sniffed.

"I yelled at Dylan." He muttered miserably, taking one shaking hand out of his pocket to tuck a loose piece of extra-long hair behind his ear. "I yelled at him so loud. I…"

Lynne just breathed out quietly and continued stroking his cheek soothingly while I looked at him with soft eyes. That was one great thing about Lynne. She was unfazed by everything. She had been unfazed by most of what James had told her in the past. She was a lady with her head in the clouds but when it came down to it, she had her head on correctly. She knew that people were human and that humans often made mistakes.

When James didn't finish his sentence after a few minutes passed, Lynne swiftly wiped the falling tears from sliding down his face before going to cup his opposite cheek this time. She looked at him with all the softness and understanding in the world.

"I'm sure you didn't, James, I know you wouldn't." she shook her head and tried to meet his eyes sincerely but they were closed once again. This didn't deter her. "I know you didn't. If you had, I would have heard you coming up the path."

"But I did!" he responded quickly but not rudely or harshly as he suddenly opened his eyes, more tears spurting out of them at his own outburst. "I yelled at him."

That was all he said for a few more moments before shaking his head at himself and squeezing his eyes tightly shut once again. Lynne bit her lip and pondered what to do. She figured that words were not going to soothe him right at that moment. Actions and gestures were. She took a step forward so she was eye level to him even though they were shut and began stroking his hair near his eyes. I could see her own heart was clenching at the sight of James' still heaving chest but she didn't allow herself to get worked up for his state. He needed her at that moment. So she was going to be there for him at that moment. And beyond.

After quite some time of James inwardly cursing himself and sniffing quietly and Lynne stroking his lavender locks, he finally shuffled in his shoes and opened his eyes. He sniffed once again before speaking, still shaking his head.

"You shouldn't yell at anyone but especially not Dylan, you just shouldn't." he breathed out with miserable guilt, his strand flicking to the opposite side of his nose as he shook his head harder. "You don't hurt Dylan, you just don't."

Everybody knew how much James adored Dylan but no one more so than Lynne. She loved James as much as she happily admitted to it. He was a nice guy. He was a caring, sweet, funny and a unique family guy. He was charming and charismatic in his own quirky and insecure way. She just loved him so much and he felt the same way about her. And she loved more than anything how he adored Dylan. He was his unique and misunderstood grandson. And she simply loved observing them and watching them for all the pure love that they shared.

The orange haired female stopped stroking her daughter's best friend's hair before tucking his long locks behind his ears. When she spoke to him, she held both sides of his face softly.

"He's going to be okay, you know?" she breathed out, her eyes filling with more worry and concern when he went back to not looking at her but she certainly didn't give up then. She let out another breath before moving her fingers to entwine with his, still looking at him and nodding her head sincerely when he opened his eyes to look at her for comfort. "He's going to be okay."

As Lynne continued to nod, James couldn't help but nod once or twice himself when all of a sudden he was in her arms. She was just as tall as him and he wasn't a weedy man despite what some people said but he seemed so young and helpless as he cried quietly into her shoulder.

The lady from above bit her lip and blinked quite a few times so her own eyes wouldn't fill with tears at James' display of emotion and she just held him tight, rubbing his back soothingly. He wasn't done crying but he pulled away from her, his chest still heaving gently and the tears still pouring down his cheeks. One more slid down his cheekbone as he tucked that long and loose bit of hair back behind his ear again. He shrugged and looked at her vulnerably.

"I got nowhere to go." He uttered before breathing out shakily, the words becoming even more real now that he said them and his brow furrowed. I couldn't help but blink.

He had a mansion to go to. He had his grandparents' house. He had his daughter's house. He had his other daughter's house. He had the house he just ran from – the Ketchum residence. He had the hospital if he was really that desperate and feeling sad enough to risk feeling even sadder in the bed with Misty during her sleepy stage. I didn't know what he meant. But Lynne did. And that's why they were so dynamic together in their innocent, dreamy, tightly bonded way.

She nodded her head, her blue orbs filled with understanding as once again she reached to wipe James' tears away for him and following that she tucked his hair neatly behind his ears. She reached to plant a firm kiss to his forehead before nodding at him again.

It was when Lynne simply nodded and took her James' hand tight and led him down the road that I realised what her understanding eyes understood. James had many places to go to but none of them felt right. No matter where he went, home could never be home if his situation in life was currently unpleasant and something he couldn't control. I knew they both were thinking of this when I realised it. But we all kept quiet.

The lavender haired male just held Lynne's hand tight as unknowingly to him, she lead him off to his favourite place – the field he often was found at if he needed alone time or quiet time or space to gather his thoughts. It really was the perfect place. And certainly no secret runaway place. It had a nearby lake where he often took Misty or Jordan with him to see. It had corn fields and planes going over which he would often sit and watch with Dylan. It was his place. It was his happy place that wasn't a person. One of his happy places that were a person was certainly Lynne.

James couldn't help but smile as when he gestured for her to climb over the gate before him, she did just that. He couldn't help but inwardly giggle thinking of how Jordan would say she definitely wouldn't have done that when those two first met as youngsters. His face didn't smile, however, but his eyes did. They were growing softer and more accepting with the world and his actions now he was in her presence. She was beyond good for him. And he knew that.

Wordlessly but not awkwardly or tensely, we all walked in the dark over to the tree that James normally sat up against to think. I didn't see those two hold hands but it felt like their fingers were reaching out to one and other anyway. If it wasn't their fingers it was most definitely their hearts. They were connected in the purest and most innocent way. That had such affections for each other and they were in such great and fluid relationships that they could be honest about it with their partners. They were just great. Everybody in our group was great. I just wished life had been treating us all great in that moment in time.

For once, James didn't sit up against his tree like Lynne had suspected he would and I peeked from her shoulder as he let out a quiet groan before flopping on the ground, propping himself up on his arm against the grass that would be yellowing in the sunlight. It was November and the ground and air was cold but he didn't care. At that moment in time, he had all that he needed.

Lynne offered him a gentle smile even though he had gone back to his thoughtful and distant expression looking away from her and she sat down gracefully on the grass next to him. She folded her legs beneath her and absent mindedly played with the embroidery on her dress. We both peered over at James worriedly when we noticed his chest was starting to heave and pant gently again as we knew he had returned to thinking about what he had done.

Instead of looking into his eyes and waiting for James to tell her how to help him like she sometimes would to do him, she let out a sat sigh before laying down on the grass next to him, propping herself up on her own elbow so she could look at him closely.

"What can I do to help you, James?" she asked softly as she rested her head on her hand, watching him as he breathed out his nose and begun to play with a long and dying piece of grass.

The lavender haired male was many many things. And he was a man of dignity. But he most certainly didn't have too much pride. He appreciated and accepted when people tried to help him. Most of the time anyway. He managed a tiny smile at her before letting out his own sigh, poking her knee gently to get her attention before going back to fiddling with the grass.

"Talk to me, Lynne." He mumbled back in a low but not too broken tone, glancing briefly between her and the grass a few times before fixing on her eyes. He couldn't resist. "Tell me something good."

She couldn't help but soften and smile lovingly when she reflected on the fact that both James and her Jordan said this. She would have been quite happy to head off to dreamland about those two for quite some time but she did what James asked just for him, smoothing down her skirts. Her face soon lit up as she spoke her words, realising how passionately she felt.

"There's this certain area of 'up there' that you would just love, James. It's so beautiful. So peaceful. It's kind of like here, your field. It's kind of like here really but it doesn't change when the seasons change. It's bright forever. And there's barely any noises. But somehow it's soothing. It's just perfect."

James showed off a small smile himself as he moved closer to her, dropping the blade of grass he was picking and began innocently playing with a thread on the hem of her dress.

"I always imagined 'up there' was like neverland. Or wonderland. Is it like there?" he looked at her hopefully before his expression changed to that of inward fondness when he saw her thinking and blinking at him unsurely. "I guess both of those things are really a state of mind. They're whatever you want them to be. Both of those things for me are what I have and the life I share with these people now that we've all paired up and that you and Jordan are here. At least, it is when life is going well for us…"

We all breathed out sadly and James' eyebrows knitted together in mild frustration and disappointment in himself when he had made the conversation go sad again. Lynne was about to open her mouth and add something comforting or change the subject, I didn't know which, when the lavender haired male spoke once again.

"Did you used to watch Jordan right from when you had to go up there? How soon after you had to go up there were you able to watch over him?"

I breathed out quietly and glanced at Lynne when this too wasn't the happiest subject but I watched her smile and move closer to James herself. She loved talking to him. He loved talking to her. She had so much to share with him about her life before children and before she met him. He had so much to open up to her about his past and his mistakes. They both felt like they wouldn't run out of things to say and I agreed.

The orange haired female couldn't help but reach out and play with the sensitive male's fingers as they played with a thread of her dress and she smiled slightly to herself because of the contact as she spoke.

"I began to watch over him when he was ready for me to watch over him if that makes sense? With grief and losing someone, the first thing you do is often shut off and shut memories out and it's hard to remember times shared, even the happy ones." She breathed out almost guiltily but found herself relaxing again when James' fingers held hers and his eyes met hers. "But when he was ready to remember tiny and happy memories about me, I was able to watch over him."

The lavender haired male couldn't help but smile when he thought of his yellow haired best friend and her partner in life but that soon turned to a sigh of sadness when he remembered all that he had been through. I shared this sadness in my heart but I knew he was strong in his heart too. I nuzzled into Lynne's neck before jumping down onto the grass when James spoke again.

"It must have been awful at first though, right? You seeing him and watching him so early on and watching him deal with grief and being unable to do anything must have been unbearable. He probably shut off from the world so much."

Lynne was slow to nod her head sadly and although it was filling a lump in her throat remembering the various ways Jordan used to cope, she continued talking. She spoke for James, because he wanted to hear her voice. She spoke for Jordan, because she felt many things about him but all of them couldn't be further than shame or disappointment in him. He was the centre of a lot of our worlds. He just viewed himself in such a different way to us all and that was sad.

"That's what he did, James, yes; he shut off. Some days he wouldn't get out of bed. Others he had little Misty carrying on as normal and forcing him to carry on while blocking everything out. Some days he wanted to live. Some days he wanted to die."

James breathed out and his own eyes pricked with emotional tears when he heard the shaking in Lynne's voice but he didn't look away from her eyes. He pressed her palm and her fingers against his as he listened to her resume speaking.

"I think sometimes the girls couldn't get anything out of him. He was just there. They might have been able to get him to laugh or get him to play or get him to get mad. But that was it. Aside from that, sometimes it was like he was already dead. But then others, he was so alive while wishing he wasn't. I think the only times they truly knew how he was feeling was when he cried. Or when he snapped. Or when he yelled. Or when he hurt himself. Other than that. Nothing."

I was expecting James to throw his arms around Lynne's neck for both her and Jordan when he heard this but he did neither of those things. He was looking very thoughtfully as he looked down at Lynne's legs before he slowly looked back to meet her wondering and curious eyes. He showed off a tiny smile as his eyes lit up in an emotional way in the moonlight.

"I used to know a guy like that." He mumbled quietly and simply, glancing between her and her legs before focusing on meeting her eyes when he finally got a reaction out of her.

First of all she blinked her blue eyes before they softened and she held her hand to her heart. She was still holding his hand when she did this so his hand was on her heart. Both their hearts began to pick up with soft love as she moved closer to him. She nodded her head slowly as she reached her other hand out to stroke his face.

"I can imagine that." She mumbled simply as her fingers softly traced his jaw, trying not to get too emotional or sad that she couldn't protect him from any of the pain when she connected him relating to Jordan to the things he had told her himself.

After they remained peacefully quiet for a few moments with Lynne still stroking his face and James moving slightly closer to her, the orange haired female open her mouth to speak again but she didn't have any words to say to him at that moment. She could have asked him to talk to her about it. She didn't. She could have spoken more about Jordan. She didn't. She could have once again reassured him that life would be better soon and he shouldn't punish himself for what happened. She didn't. Even though she would have liked to.

But their eyes did meet. And they did move closer to one and other. And they did share a little kiss. I wasn't surprised. Both their eyes locked. James' thoughtful meadow green ones and Lynne's soulful blue ocean ones. Their eyes were full of such softness and admiration and love for one and other. Their lips were soft against one and others are they shared a gentle and lingering kiss.

As they pulled away slowly and moved a little away from one and other but remained close, James' eyes went back from glancing between the ground and her. Lynne let out a quiet and content noise at what just happened and held his hand closer to her heart. She finally thought of the words to say and she hoped they could be as sincere as their kiss was.

"People must think I'm pretty crazy or deluded or something because I don't worry about Jordan. Of course I do worry about Jordan day to day. But in the long run? No I don't. Because I know him. He can be reckless and he can be low and he can hate himself. But at the end of the day, as long as he has people by his side, he will be absolutely fine. So no. I don't actually worry about him."

This time, James opened his mouth to speak and, once again, he was about to mention that he identified with Jordan when Lynne put her finger to his lips. He blushed gently and smiled slightly like he had been kissed again but he just stayed silent, his eyes and ears listening.

Lynne smiled and wrinkled her nose softly at him out of habit before speaking once again, holding their hands to her heart and using the other to stroke his nose.

"I know, James. You're the exact same. You can do some stupid things in your opinion. You say you can be a drama queen and that you overreact and that you go inside yourself and sometimes act like there's different versions of you. But you have so many people around you who love you. And you live for that. And you live for them. And you love them. And they love you."

James couldn't help but breathe out emotionally and with grateful sincerity as his eyes filled with soft tears when he realised and heard from Lynne's soothing voice just how much she really did know him. She gave him the same sincere smile back as she moved to hold his face in both of her hands as she nuzzled her nose against his.

"And you know something, James?" she pulled away to look at him with earnest and heartfelt eyes before moving to touch her nose against his once again. "Everything is going to be fine. You are going to be absolutely fine."

And because these words came from Lynne's mouth and he heard them in her soothing tones, he believed her. Not because he was biased, far from it. But because he believed in her. And he felt in his heart that she believed in him. She was his guardian angel. She was his future valentine. She was even going to be the mother of two of his children. They had a deep and profound connection. And things like that were just so rare. And people were happy for them. So they just sat back and let them be and watch them love in the innocent, deep, honest and pure way that they did. Because by loving one and other, from afar, and from the occasional times they became one when things with their partners went haywire, they became better people. Through each other, they loved purer and deeper and they learned that love has no capacity nor guidelines or rules to stick to as long as everybody is happy. And when James and Lynne are together, trust me, everybody is happy. And that's just something so simple yet so magical the world needs more of; happiness.

The End.

There you go! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :3 So yeah, like I mentioned in my last James and Lynne chapter, I do really like them together but Jessie and James/Jordan and Lynne are the end game one. It mentioned in the last chapter how they would have one child and in this one it says two and that's because me and Shannon came up with their first one a few months ago and decided to give them another one recently. Their names are Jorgie and Johnny and I can't wait to include them soon. Having children who are half angels really does complete James' life even more. He can't be with Lynne officially all the time due to her constantly coming and going but having children with her means they are connected forever and that's something that means so much to him :3 Thanks again for reading and I will be back on the 28th with Dear Darlings so see you then!

AmyBieberKetchum signing out :3