A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, guys and gals. They're very much appreciated! :-) Anyway, the last part was a lot of humor and not that much romance, so I've tried to make this one with a lot more romance, a little less humor. Haha, I know, I know, I got a little carried away with Brock in the last one, but I have a friend like him, so I was laughing and thinking of him while I wrote it. Sorry if it was a little too much!
Special thanks to Evezzz, who gave me an inspiration for a scene with one her pick up lines!
All disclaimers can be found on part one.
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Falling For You - Chapter Two
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"Now if I were a magazine, where would I hide…?"
Brock had narrowly escaped the fury of Officer Jenny by turning her in the direction of a purple haired cross dresser on the street. He said that it had been Team Rocket. The good hearted officer had believed him.
Now, he was taking refuge in the hotel room, scared to venture outside. He needed something to keep himself busy. Remembering Misty's magazine, he decided to find it to pass the time. After all, it could prove to be a valuable resource -- a look into the mind of girls!
"Aha, gotcha…" Brock beamed, holding up the prized pamphlet. It had been in someone's book bag. He frowned. Hold on. It had been in Misty's book bag. Uh oh.
Well, it was too late to put it back now. "And besides," he thought to himself as he scanned the front page, "It looks kinda… interesting!" His eyes caught an article on the front page. A Look into Our Minds: What We Wished Guys Knew! He got a vision of himself being fawned over by millions of females. "It would be a crime against woman-kind if I didn't read it!"
Eagerly, he flipped to the article and began reading it. What he saw almost made his heart stop.
No. It couldn't be.
"Number one," he read aloud, his voice wavering. "Pick up lines do not work."
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"Wait a minute! What do you mean, you're still mad at me?!" Ash sped walked past the other pedestrians on the sidewalk. The air was crisp and cool, and the sky was dark, the only light coming from stars twinkling around them. Misty started to walk faster. "You can't say that you didn't feel something!"
"Just forget about the whole thing. It was nothing." She dodged a stray meowth, which looked at her quizzically and continued looking for change. She sped up, bristling people as she passed.
"Misty, wait!" Ash jogged to catch up with her and grabbed her shoulders firmly, stopping her dead in her tracks. He wheeled her around. "That was not just nothing." His fierce eyes looked into hers, then softened. His voice was a quiet whisper. "Tell me."
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"Number two - when a guy says he understands, he really doesn't."
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Misty laughed, the tinkling melody making the people passing smile to themselves. She looked up at Ash. "Do you really wanna know?"
"Yes." His reply was firm.
She toyed with the idea of telling him what she really felt, but decided against it. "It. Was. Nothing." She broke away from his grip gently, and gave him a small hug. "Do you understand?"
"…"
"Ash?"
He sighed. "Perfectly."
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"Number three - when girls say yes, they really mean no. And when they say no, they really mean yes."
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Misty had pulled into the crowd now, but this didn't stop the determined young trainer chasing after her.
"Excuse me," he smiled apologetically as he made his way through the accumulating mass of people on the street. He caught a flash of Misty's bright red hair, and he tried to catch up. He did so without much difficulty.
"Misty!" he called.
This time, the fiery red head stopped, separating from the crowd. She put her hands on her hips, exasperated. "What?"
"Are you telling the truth?"
"Yes."
Ash was silent for a while. He didn't grab her this time, but pulled her closer into him. Misty was surprised by his gentleness. "…And, you didn't feel…" his eyes searched hers, looking for the right word. "Anything? Not a thing?"
"No."
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Brock snorted. What did these magazines know, anyway? Pick up lines worked every time!
Well, besides that obvious mess up, he thought that everything written in the magazine was somewhat true.
Stifling a yawn, he flipped through the magazine. What else could he do to pass the time? He skimmed the articles and his attention was caught by a quiz - What Kind of Girl Are You?
He cocked his eyebrow. He couldn't be that bored… could he?
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"Ash, can you just drop it, please?"
"No."
Misty sighed. Why couldn't she get this point through that boy's thick skull?! She did had feelings for him!
Oh wait, that wasn't right. It was the other way around - she didn't have feelings for him. Yeah. That was it.
She shook her head. What she really needed now was to sleep on it. "Let's head back to the hotel."
Ash only nodded in agreement.
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"If you were a burger," Brock read aloud, a pencil behind his ear, "your friends would be which of the following? Fries, chips, a drink, or napkins."
He thought for a while. "Chips," he stated proudly to himself. He moved on to the next question.
"If you were a utensil, what would you be? A knife, a spoon, a fork, or a spatula?" He gnawed on his pencil. Wow, these questions were deep!
"I'd have to go with… spatula." He made a check on the magazine and started calculating his score. "You are a vivacious young lady with a knack in the kitchen," he read aloud. He beamed. "You are knowledgeable about boys, but sometimes you get distracted with who you really like. But overall, you are a beautiful, smart young lady."
Brock beamed. Well, these magazines were never wrong…
Hearing footsteps outside the door, he quickly rushed to put the magazine back in it's owners book bag. In his haste, he accidentally opened the wrong pocket, and came across a picture frame.
It was a simple frame, with hearts in the corners, and the word "Love" printed across it in fancy script. In it lay a picture of Ash and Misty, both obviously younger, smiling happily for the camera. Brock remembered taking this picture - it was during a water pokemon festival in Cerulean that Misty had invited them to. They had had fun, dancing the night away. Well, now that Brock thought of it, both Ash and Misty had only danced one time each -- and only with each other.
Brock smiled. Was there something going on between them? This would be very interesting…
Hearing the key turning in the doorknob, he quickly replaced the picture frame and magazine, and plopped onto his own bed, pretending he was asleep. Unfortunately, he fell asleep in about 30 seconds.
Ash and Misty entered, in an uncomfortable quiet. After getting ready for bed, Ash unhappily took his place on the lumpy sofa, and Misty lied down peacefully on her bed.
And they still hadn't said anything to each other.
"Goodnight, Misty…" Ash muttered, as he turned his light off. But it was too late -- she was already asleep.
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She had been running towards him, yet he seemed like he didn't want to receive her. She kept running, yet he kept getting farther away. And finally, when she got to him… he laughed. In her face. The laughter was echoing, hollow, and it seemed to penetrate her to the very core…
"Misty?!" She was awoken by a gentle push, accompanied by a concerned voice. "Misty wake up!"
Misty shot up, groggily, and felt her forehead contact with something. She heard a soft "oomph" and felt a jab of pain, but she had more important things to deal with. Had it all been… a dream?
"Wh… what happened?" she asked.
"You ber screabing ind your sleep…" Ash said, clutching his nose. "Oww…"
"Sorry about that."
"I'll be OK. The more important thing… are you alright?" The effects of the collision had worn off, and Ash gingerly rubbed the tip of his nose.
"Yeah," Misty said, visibly shaken. "Just a bad dream." She lay down, staring at the black ceiling. She heard squirming to her left, and a barrage of strange squeaking noises. "Ash?" she asked gingerly. "Are you still awake?"
The sofa squeaked in response. "Yeah, I just can't find a comfortable position…"
Misty sighed. Her bed was small, but she was willing to share it. "Do you want to… share my bed?"
Ash perked up. "Sure!"
"Hey, don't get any ideas."
They settled themselves, using a pillow down the center of the bed as a sort of barrier between them. The space was small, but it was definitely a step up from the lumpiness of the sofa. Ash started snoring, peacefully.
But Misty couldn't get back to sleep. The dream, although weird, had shaken her. She was kind of glad that Ash was in the same bed as her now… it served as a kind of anchor to reality that the dream world didn't have. He was here, with her, now. And he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon…
Smiling, she felt her eyes closing. She reached over to hug a pillow beside her as she fell asleep, but misjudging her position, she grabbed onto Ash instead…
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Brock awoke to the sunshine shining, and the pidgeys chirping. Ahh, what a peaceful day…
Stretching, he yawned and looked around. His gaze caught a pleasant sight - two young trainers, sleeping peacefully. They both had blissful smiles on their faces. He beamed.
Ash began to stir. His eyes opened slowly, and seeing Misty in his arms, he smiled. Then he frowned. What was going on?
"Good morning, sunshine," Brock said cheerfully. He gave Ash a coy look. "Did I… interrupt something?"
Ash made a face. Eww, gross, Brock!
Instead of answering him, Ash unsuccessfully tried to get out of bed without waking Misty. As if she knew he was leaving, the sleeping redhead held onto him tighter. Ash just sighed. Staying there with her would beat training any day…
Brock just smiled again. He wouldn't bother them -- this time.
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Misty and Ash had awoken, looked at each other strangely, and pulled away. Brock had laughed.
"I've packed a picnic for today," Brock informed them. He showed them a huge picnic basket, and for a moment, everyone forgot about that morning's incident.
"Food…" Ash almost drooled over himself. He smiled. This was just the right thing to get his mind off of Misty. Perfect.
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It was the ideal day for a picnic. The sun was shining, there was a slight breeze blowing through the leaves, and everything just seemed calm.
Misty was carrying the basket, switching it carefully from side to side as she sauntered down the path. They found their picnic spot, and settled down. They ate in silence -- but Ash and Misty were already used to it. Brock, on the other hand, kept trying to make small talk and joke. It wasn't working.
After a big lunch, our favorite trio were headed back to the pokemon center when they came across a wishing well.
"Hey, who wants to make a wish?" Misty took three coins out of her pocket.
"Gimme!" Brock held out his hand greedily. After getting a coin from her, he threw it into the well. "I want a girl to like me!" He waited for a second. His started to tap his foot. "It's not working!"
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. Suddenly, the ground started shaking. Brock looked at his two friends with alarm. "What is that…?"
They saw a gigantic lady, as wide as two snorlax's, and about as tall, saunter over to them from across the park. The ground boomed with each of her footsteps, causing tremors. She was dressed in skintight black leather pants, and a tight, hot pink spandex shirt that showcased her… er, size. A pink feather boa completed her look.
"Hey, honey," her voice was deep and husky. She pointed a fat finger in Brock's direction. "Why don't you come over here and give Big Bertha a little lovin'?" She smiled sweetly, and Brock was shocked to find out that she was missing a couple of teeth. He smiled weakly.
"Err, maybe another day…" he started backing away.
"Well," Big Bertha continued, "You'd better take advantage of today. You're lucky, I just so happen to be single…"
Brock turned an unusual color, turned, and took off, with Big Bertha not far behind, spewing out random pickup lines.
Ash and Misty laughed -- moments like this were sure to be rare, now that things between them had changed. But then each realized their predicament - they were alone, together. So, they did the only thing they could to take their minds off of each other - they each took a coin, and made wishes, hoping that they would come true.
And fortunately for them, they would.
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For the second time, Brock had escaped the wrath of a "feisty" woman. He met up with Ash on his way back to the pokemon center.
Brock's close encounter with Big Bertha had really put things into perspective for him, in a weird kind of way. It made him realize that, although corny, true love was hard to find. And that if he could help two of his friends maybe find that love, it would be well worth his time.
"Hey, Ash? Come here. I have a plan…"
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"Are you sure this is going to work?" Ash gave Brock a doubtful look. "I don't think that me just waltzing up to her and telling her how I feel is the best way to go. And… I kind of think she already knows."
Brock shot him a mischievous grin. "Don't worry your spiky little head, Ash. You just go tell her. I'll handle the rest. Do you remember what I told you to say?"
"Yeah, but--"
"Trust me, Ash," he said wisely, holding up a finger. "I'm an expert now."
"But what you told me to say doesn't make sense! I mean, it's just a dumb pickup line--"
"Hey! Don't badmouth the pickup line!" Brock faked disappointment.
Ash just shrugged. He took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts. "I can't believe I'm about to do this!" Looking one last time at Brock, who gave him a comforting nod, he nervously went off to find Misty.
He spotted her sitting on a park bench, staring peacefully into space. "Misty?"
Her head snapped up, and she smiled. "Hi."
"Can we talk?" He ventured closer.
"Sure." She got up.
And then, an awkward silence.
From behind a tree, Brock slapped his forehead. Couldn't these two do anything for themselves? It was a good thing they had a friend like him. Grinning, he pulled a little wire, which ran from his hand, to the ground, to the trunk of the tree that Misty stood next too. It tightened, lifting itself off of the ground.
"Well, Misty…" Ash started walking in her direction. "I, um, just wanted to say -- wooaaah - mpphh!" The usual clumsy Ash, oblivious to his surroundings, tripped over the wire. Brock patted himself on the back.
Ash careened into Misty, and the both of them went sprawling into the ground. Fortunately for Ash, Misty broke his fall. Unfortunately for Ash, Misty's… well, mouth, broke his fall.
Misty felt the hard pressure of his lips on hers, and her eyes got wider, shocked. She felt him lift himself up, yet his lips never left hers. Finally, when he had lifted himself up enough so that the touch of his lips was just a sweet memory in her mind, she did something she thought she never would. She kissed him again.
"Ack, I'm so sorry Mist--" He was interrupted by her lips, which met his with such force that he could have sat straight up. He kissed her back. Finally, they separated, and Ash leaned over her. He realized they were still laying on the ground. He looked into her crystal blue eyes and smiled.
And then, a once in a life time thing happened -- everything in Ash's mind clicked. And he remembered what Brock told him to say. "Hey Misty?" he asked playfully, "Do you have a bandage?"
Misty eyed him carefully, suppressing a smile. "Why?"
A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Because I got hurt falling for you."
From behind a tree, Brock beamed. Pick up lines do not work. Eh, what do magazines know, anyway?
The End
A/N: Haha, clumsy Ash! Sorry if the length of this part was a little too long, but I thought that if I broke it up, the parts would be too short. I hope everyone enjoyed! Onto my next project… (and probably one or two one shots to get over writer's block.)
Oh, and if this wasn't my usual caliber… blame school and working on college applications! Writing is kind of a stress relieving thing for me. Haha. I really wanted to get this out before thanksgiving, too, so I didn't get much time to proofread and change things. I hope it's enough, though.
Until then, this is SPiN, signing out!
And as always, reviews and criticisms are greatly appreciated… ;-)