Well…. I have nothing else to say except that I am back from the dead. I was stuck in a coma twice and ascended to heaven thrice. You know I'm kidding. Just school stuff, usual teenager depression, and a ton of laziness plus bans from laptop. AND HERE I AM, ALIVE AND SORTA WELL. Someone commented on this fic that there will still be people who read it even if my updates take reaaaally long. Thank you so much :') ahem even though my fics are shitty ahem

Lots of conversation here! But you know, bonding is always great.

Silence continued with a blushing Ash and an awkward Paul.

Just then, there was a knock on their door.

"Ah, come in!" Ash, in a hurry to break the silence, blurted that out.

"Um… This is Nurse Joy. I'm here to return your well rested, well-fed Pokemon!"

"Yeah, you may come in-"

"Pfft!" Paul could not help but let out the laugh he was holding in, and rolled on the floor.

"W-What? What? Wha—" Ash stammered, not knowing his mistake.

"O-Open… door…" Paul choked out between fits of laughter."

Ash stood up and opened the door, taking all their pokeballs as well as his Pikachu, and zoned out as a giggling Nurse Joy walked back to her counter.

Ash kicked the door close with his legs, placed all the pokeballs on the floor, and locked the door. Pikachu stared at him with twitching ears, unsure of what was going on.

…locked…the door…

"….The door… I LOCKED IT, NO WONDER SHE COULDN'T COME IN!"

"That's… not…. the main point, you…" Paul wheezed, "This isn't your home or some work office place, you can't just invite someone in like that.. Pfft-"

"….oh."

And with that, Paul went back to rolling on the floor. Pikachu, who did not know what was going on, just rolled with him.

"….Are you done laughing yet..?" Ash narrowed his eyes, taking his own pokeballs from the mix.

"Pika." Pikachu stood up, then sat down, still oblivious to the situation."

"No, Pikachu, I am not going to explain it to you.."

Pikachu sighed in defeat, and went to sleep in his tiny bed.

Paul finally got up after about two more minutes and sat upright. He took a deep breath.

"Well, sorry for laughing at you."

Ash shrugged, "no big deal, that happens a lot. Just me and my wandering peace of mind."

"If you were trying to sound cool, you totally failed. I have no idea what that meant." Paul replied, amused.

"Me neither." Ash confessed, "Maybe I was trying to sound like Cilan. He says all these weird Connoisseur stuff. It does sound awesome though!" Ash clasped his hands together.

"Ah, your previous travelling partner. Sounds like a pretty neat guy."

"He sure is neat. He keeps everything nice and tidy."

"That wasn't what I meant. Context, Ash, context."

Ash rested his head on his palm and grinned at Paul.

"Of course I knew that. Just wondering if you'd notice. I'm not that dumb, am I?"

"I want to say yes, but you are smart in some ways so I'll let you pass…" Paul shrugged.

Ash shouted a celebratory squeal at being 'smart in some ways' and leapt at Paul. Poor Paul almost choked, but hey, at least hugs were an 'all clear' for them now. Not that Paul would allow that in public, no, no, absolute no. No one shall see Ash's cute face when he hugs him, that's an absolute no-no, it will always be restricted to only him. Selfish much? Paul doesn't think so. Not like Ash would openly hug him in public anyway, it was too embarrassing for the raven-haired.

A meant-to-be fun and childish hug became a comfortable yet slightly embarrassing moment for the two, and they silently embraced, snuggling into each other. Paul accidentally let out a relaxed sigh, shutting his mouth as he did so. Ash, upon hearing that, just embraced him tighter.

Little did they know that Pikachu had been pretending to sleep, as it opened an eye slightly to take in this rare view. Well, not like they would even bother. They probably even forgot that Pikachu was there. As lonely as that sounds, for that long hugging moment, the world only consisted of the two of them.

As they broke apart after about a minute, they merely stared at each other, letting out an embarrassed chuckle.

"Do you like hugs, Paul?"

"From you, yes."

"….Did you know how cool and flirtatious you sounded..?" Ash said softly, a pink tinge on his cheeks. He shifted, gazing into Paul's eyes. "It's kind of embarrassing…. But it's really nice.." Ash twiddled with his fingers.

"W-Well…"

And it was at that moment that Paul knew, he had fallen way too deep into the heavenly pits of teenage romance. And that wasn't such a bad thing.

HOLY MACARONI I CANNOT BELIEVE I JUST TYPED THAT I MEAN OMFG WHY. ANYWAY IF ANY OF MY READERS ARE STILL THERE ALL THIS FLUFF IS FOR YOU BECAUSE IM A FAILURE OF A WRITER SKJNBDSIUJVHINJDSK

By the way, my major exams will be over on 6 November 2015! Just a heads up, because I'm about 93% sure I will update more from then, since I have like…. More than 3 months of holiday. GOOD EH? GOOOOOOOD EHHHHH? I will make up for my irresponsible update timings lmao I hope so.

Till next chapter, (IT WON'T BE LONGER THAN 3 MONTHS OF WAITING I PROMISE)

xoxo Geral xoxo

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