Love Me Like You Do (Ash Ketchum x Reader x Calem)

- 26 -

I woke up with a jolt, a bead of sweat running down my face. I pushed a piece of hair out of my head as I let out a shaky breath. A snore coming from my left side urged me to see Calem sleeping peaceful, a bit of drool on my mouth. I let out a silent weak laugh. My voice was hoarse from all the crying earlier in the day.

I stood up from the bed and wrapped the blanket around my shivering figure. As silent as a Dedenne, I could be, I quietly closed the door behind me, careful as to not wake up Calem up. The Pokemon Center was completely quiet except for the sound of the rain outside hitting the roof. It was soothing which helped bring my sorrows down. The hallway was nothing but the sound of my slippers hitting the floor. I walked by Nurse Joy and Wigglytuff, who were sleeping at a table, soft snores escaped them.

I stopped directly in front of a glass sliding door, watching as droplets of water slid down. My hand was against the cold surface. Quietly opening the door, I stepped out and shut it. I sat down on one of the chairs and continued watching the rain. It hadn't stopped raining since this afternoon. The afternoon that...

"She's not you, that's it. She's kind and considerate of others unlike you. I—to be honest, I regret ever giving you that necklace. Had I not, I would've waited to give it to someone else like—"

"I regret ever falling in love with you!"

A heavy sighed escaped my lips. Just thinking about it brought me down. I still can't believe I argued with Ash. Sure we've argued before, but not this bad. I even confessed I used to be in love with him. But if I don't love him anymore, why does my heart hurt so much...?

"I won't lie to you. I can treat you better than he can and I will never hurt you in any way. I was there for you when he wasn't and I don't mind if you can't decide right away because I vow to protect you with my life no matter what. I love you."

And then after that, Calem confessed to me. It was a surprise. I never thought Calem had fallen in love with me. I always just thought he looked at me as a friend and nothing else. At the time of the confession, I didn't really know what to say. My heart did skip a beat and was filled with joy. Yet, all I could do was cry, cry until no more tears came out. I couldn't give him a proper response

"A confession," I whisper, another silent laugh escaping. "and an argument, all in the same day. I...what should I do?"

The rain continued to fall down from the looming, dark clouds.

~

The entire group sat inside the stadium the Pokemon Showcase was being held. They had woken up late and almost didn't it make it for the registration, but thankfully they made it on time. The seats were being filled by loads of people coming to watch the performances. The heroes sat in the middle, having the best view.

"So this is how the inside of a showcase looks like. Seems nice," Calem comments, looking around as Flareon laid on his lap, sleeping.

"You've never been inside a stadium?" [Name] asked, Sylveon sitting on her lap talking to Eevee.

Calem shook his head. "No, I was never interested in this type of thing."

"Oh, then you're going to enjoy this. The performances are always the best part," [Name] smiled as she continued to explain furthermore. Calem returned the smile back but noticed how fake looking it seemed. She was still hurt by yesterday it seemed.

This morning when Calem woke up, he noticed how quiet [Name] was. She wasn't her cheerful self. And to make manners worse, whenever she and him made eye contact, both of them would look away out of embarrassement. It was a miracle they were even talking normally now. The only problem was she wasn't smiling as brightly as before. Her eyes looked dull.