PART ONE!

WARNING: SLASH! If you don't like slash, don't complain to me after you read this. It's your own fault, and you probably have issues if you go ahead and read the story after this warning. Hmm.. Could it be...denial?

author and email-address: Meggie Pokemon

pairing: Ash and Gary!

rating: PG 13, I guess

disclaimer: Don't own, so don't sue me.

Author's note: XX! This is a really bad fan fic. I decided to
break it up into chapters because I'm having a bit of a block rightnow. So I have the first chapter done, and I'm working on the second one. I'd ALSO like to add that I'm not very good at making romantic fics, but you'll figure that out.

Smile for Me

Prelude:

He drifted through a hazy night sky, and came to repose nigh Gary did lay. Each star came to
softly illuminate his eyes, and with every force in the universe, he did love. They dancedtogether slowly, and as they kissed time was no more. They became one.

Part 1

The alarm clock sounded, and Ash woke up. He did not stir from his bed until late that afternoon.
Rain lashed down upon Ash's bedroom window. He sat on his bed, reading over a journalhe had kept with him since he started his Pokemon journey. A lot of it was dull reading, buthe was very interested in his entries dedicated to Gary.. For the first three years,

Ash knew he liked Gary, but he couldn't really come to terms with it. He didn't believe it was right, or was sure that maybe it wasn't really love he felt. Reading his journal, he remembered just how hard it was for him...

By the time he turned 14, he realized what he felt, and knew he couldn't deny it. From that moment on, whenever he came back to Pallet town he searched for childhood pictures of the two

of them together. He kept those in the pages of his journal, so he could look at them every now and then, because he wasn't around Gary that much. At the age of fifteen, Gary and Ash became friends, and no one knew about Ash's latent feelings for Gary. Ash loved Gary.

Ash sighed, and closed his journal. He ran a hand over its cover, and then returned the bookto his bag. He stood by the window, and watched the rain for a few moments. Tomorrow was his 16th birthday, and he couldn't wait to celebrate it with Brock, Misty, Tracey and Gary. Mayb he would finally get to tell everyone that he loved Gary. Maybe he would finally get to do something he had waited so long to do... "Bah," he thought aloud "that's just wishful thinking."

He needed to get out of the house. He felt so overwelmed with feelings. It was too much for Ash to let himself think about. He just needed a brief release from that of the intensity his heart felt.

Rain swam across Ash's face. He closed his eyes, screamed, and let the whole worl fall behind him.

"Huh?" Gary turned around. He was dripping wet, but meditation was a lot easier on the roof, for some reason. "What's that noise?" he spyed the area, and he saw Ash. He smiled.

"Hey! Ash! Up here!" called Gary. Ash flinched, then realized that Gary had just called to him.

"It's funny how things like this work out. You think of someone, and then you meet up with them."

Ash looked around, and then he found Gary sitting on his roof. He smiled, found a ladder,

and carefully climbed up to Gary. Gary scooted over towards Ash, and the two of them talked

about Ash turning sixteen.

"So I suppose you'll be getting a car, right?"

"Yeah, I overheard Mom talking about it."

"It probably won't even compare to MY car."

"We'll see about that!"

"Race?"

"You got it, Gary. So what were you doing on your roof? Can't you see that it's raining?"

"I needed to meditate. The rain doesn't bother me!"

"Yeah, but you look like a wet dog!"

"Maybe if the weather is nice tomorrow, you and I can go out for a drive in your new car

together," Gary looked Ash straight in the eye, and they begun to lean in without realizing it..

"and..we could..."

They stared at each other and for one fleeting moment, they connected.

"and we could...go..for a...Ash?"

"Yes, Gary?"

"You want to come inside and grab a soda with me?"

"That was stupid," Ash thought "now he probably knows I like him, and he doesn't like

me back. Just great, dingbat." He sat at Gary's table, and waited while Gary brought over a soda.

Gary sat down with Ash, and they drank together. They were both pretty silent at that point, but there was some kind of electricity between them. The two of them were so happy together.

"Remember that time we put bugs in Misty's sleeping bag after she was nasty to us, and when she woke up, she danced around in her underwear trying to get them off?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"It sure showed her not to mess with us!"

Gary high fived Ash.

"Why don't why do anything like that anymore, Gary?" asked Ash.

Gary looked around, and thought about it. Maybe it was because they were more mature now, or they couldn't really pull it off with everything they had going on?

"I don't know, Ash. Maybe we just don't have the time for that stuff anymore." Gary suggested.

Gary looked toward the front door. It was wide open, and Pikachu was standing in the doorway,

watching Ash and Gary curiously.

"I think you're little friend is watching us, Ash."

"Huh?" he looked towards the door

"Pikachu! Hey! What are you doing here? Were you watching us?"

"Pi Pika chu!" Pikachu pointed towards Ash's house, and motioned for him to come.

"Gary, I guess Pikachu wants me to go home. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you, I guess."

Ash slipped on a dry pair of pants, and a dry t-shirt. He checked the clock on his nightstand. "6 pm," Ash said to himself "I wish I were tired, I can't wait until tomorrow." He decided that it would be best to eat dinner right then, so he went into the kitchen. Misty was staying with Ash, and was sitting at the kitchen table with Mrs.Ketchum.

"Hi Ash." said Misty.

"Ash? Where have you been? You weren't in your bedroom, and Misty and Brock wanted to take you somewhere to eat, so we sent Pikachu for you!" exclaimed Mrs.Ketchum.

"I was at Gary's house. You should have told me you wanted me to eat!"

Mrs.Ketchum and Misty both sighed in unison.

Brock came in, wearing his usual attire. He had a grin on his face, and looked like he was about to explode.

"What's with you?" asked Misty.

"There was a pretty girl, and she gave me her phone number, and we went out on a date.

Then I tried to kiss her, and she wouldn't let me! She was playing hard to get."

"Were you dreaming?"

"Well?"

"...No! I wasn't dreaming! No!"

"Whatever, Brock. You can't even get a girl in your dreams. Now let's go eat, I'm starving!"

The three of them got into Mrs.Ketchum's car and Brock drove them to a resturaunt on the other side of town.

"So where are you guys taking me?"

"Oh, you'll see." said Misty.

Meanwhile, back at Ash's house...

"So, what did you get for Ash?" Mrs.Ketchum asked Gary.

"I got him something that'll really show my affection for him."

"Are you giving it to him with everyone else?"

"No, I think I'm going to give it to him when we test out the car you're giving him."

"That's really sweet."

"Mrs.Ketchum, may I ask you something?"

"Sure Gary, what is it?"

"Do you think Ash knows I have feelings for him? Do you think he likes me? You're his mother, so maybe you can tell."

"I don't think he has any idea, Gary, and I can't answer your second question. That's for you to find out for yourself."

"Would you like me to help you set up for the party? I know it's tomorrow, but we have nothing to do right now, so would you like some help?"

"How kind of you to offer. Yes, I would like that, Gary."

"I'll help you in a minute. You just go get the decorations, I need to use your bathroom."

"OK!"

Gary didn't really need to use the bathroom. Ash's bedroom was right next to the bathroom, and Gary wanted to look around it. He silently crept into the room, and looked around. He knew he shouldn't have, but besides catching glimpses of it when Ash entered or left it, he had never seen it before. He sat on Ash's bed, and saw that Ash's bag was right next tohim. "What the heck," he thought "it couldn't hurt to take a look inside this old thing."

He rummaged through Ash's bag, and then he saw Ash's journal... Gary wasn't sure whether it was right or not to look in it, but he figured that it might give him some kind of a clue as to whether Ash held feelings for him, too. He opened it to one of the most recent entries.

"Today I had a pokemon battle with a little boy. He was sure he could beat me, and I didn't want to make him feel bad, so I went really easy on him. I won anyway. I somehow wish that I hadn't won. I guess I'm kind of glad that Gary wasn't with me today. He probably would have gotten mad at me for beating a little kid, and we would have gotten into a big argument."

Gary felt he didn't need to read anymore. Now he was CERTAIN that Ash didn't have romantic feelings for him. He still wanted to give him the present he had planned on giving him when he THOUGHT Ash MIGHT like him. Now, he thought, Ash would just never be comfortable around him. He put the journal back in Ash's bag. He felt like he was going to cry. He could feel his eyes burning, and he tried to keep composed. He rubbed his eyes with his hands, and went to go help Mrs.Ketchum. Ash, Misty, and Brock returned 45 minutes later. By that time, the decorations were set up, and they had all decided to play a round of Monopoly. The game ended about an hour later, when Gary needed to return home. They all decided that they should make themselves ready for bed.

Brock and Mrs.Ketchum weren't really tired at all, so they stayed up later than the others, and they watched a late night T.V movie. Ash was, oddly, very tired, and so he hoped to fall asleep as soon as he got in bed.

That isn't what happened. Ash got himself a glass of water, brushed his teeth, and changed his clothes. He then tiredly climed into bed, and stared at the clock on his nightstand for 20 minutes, just day dreaming. Even after 20 minutes, he could not sleep. He soon heard soft footsteps right outside of his bedroom, and peered to see who it was. Misty was standing shyly in Ash's doorway.

"Ash? Are you awake?" questioned Misty, in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, I am Misty. What are you doing up? What's wrong?" asked Ash, while pulling himself up to a sitting position. Misty walked into Ash's room, and sat on the foot of his bed.

"Ash, do you think Brock is interested in me?" Misty asked Ash, seeming very serious.

"I don't know Misty. Why do you want to know if he's interested in you or not?"

"..I think I'm in love with him, Ash. I never REALLY liked him as much more than a friend

up until now, but I really think I do love him." stated Misty, in a whistful tone.

"Well," Ash sat closer to Misty, "why don't you ask him out? I'm sure he wouldn't refuse."

"That's just it though, Ash. What if he rejects me because I might hinder his chances of

getting a prettier girl? I don't think I would be able to live down seeing him again." said Misty,

looking rather panicked.

"Misty, I think you're talking crazy. You know he wants you too. Go 'make me proud', and ask him out." said Ash, in a joking manner.

Misty laughed. "Thanks Ash, I think I will."

Misty hugged Ash, and left.

Ash turned over in his bed, and reached to open the drawer of his nightstand. He reached into it, and pulled out a picture of Gary. Gary was standing in the woods, below a couple of trees. The sky was cloudy, and Ash remembered that it rained soon after the picture was taken. He fondly recalled sharing a coat with Gary, as the rain begun to pour in sheets. He could still see Gary's peircing eyes standing out compared to nature. He could still feel Gary's coat, and left arm around his shoulders, and how Gary's smile was so calming, so warming. He remembered running toward shelter, and then sharing jokes with Gary. Ash sighed, lightly traced the outside of the representation of Gary, and then fell asleep with ease.