Favor For A Friend? 6: Fighting Feelings

When Paul woke the next morning, the first thing he felt was the pain in his left side. He immediately winced. 'Gosh that hurts.' But unfortunately, it was expected. 'Still, it doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would. It's not unbearable.' Then he felt coolness on his skin. 'Riiight, the ice pack Ash brought me. No wonder it doesn't hurt as bad as it could.' He thought. The next thing he felt was a certain amount of weight on his chest. 'Huh? What the?' When he looked down, his eyes widened, red rose to his cheeks, and his heart started pounding. Ash was curled right up next to him, his head on Paul's chest, and arm around Paul's stomach.

'How the heck did he get in that position?' Before his mind could come up with a logical reason, Ash sighed in his sleep and snuggled deeper into Paul's chest, making the mauve haired boy blush even more. Paul felt it odd that he was letting Ash sleep still. Surely he himself should have been uncomfortable. Strange thing was, it wasn't uncomfortable at all.....if anything, it was MORE comforting to have Ash sleep on him like this. Paul then couldn't hold back a smile. He lifted his right arm, which had conveniently found it's way around Ash's waist, and ran his fingers through Ash's hair. The younger trainer was surprised to feel how soft it had was. He had thought since it was always messy with the hat, it wouldn't be that soft. 'Guess things aren't as they always appear to be.' Paul thought.

The Veilstone trainer looked at the Pallet trainer's peaceful expression as he slept. 'He sure is cute.' Paul thought with a smile. Realization struck him. 'Oh no, you did not just think he was cute! That's ridiculous! You CANNOT start having feelings for him....you are not allowed to!' Paul scolded in his head. But you know you are. His conscience told him. 'Shut up, I am not! I won't!' He was so engrossed in fighting his thoughts, he didn't notice Ash wake up.

The raven haired trainer yawned and stretched. He then remember where he was and then noticed his position. He slowly slid off Paul's chest with a red face thinking the other boy was asleep. When he looked at him, he saw Paul was indeed awake, but he wasn't paying attention to him. "Paul?" He whispered. No response. Ash arched his eyebrow, and then smirked. He poked Paul on the nose and the mauve haired boy jumped in surprise. Ash laughed out loud.

"Geez, Ash, what were you trying to do? Scare me half to death?" He questioned, his heart still pounding.

"You didn't answer." Ash told him still laughing. "I couldn't think of a better way to get your attention."

"Not by scaring me." He said embarrassedly. Ash smiled at him.

"What were you thinking about?" Ash asked. "You were completely lost in your thoughts."

Paul flushed. "Nothing." He replied turning his head.

"Ok...." Ash said still a look of amusement on his face. "How's your side?" He asked.

"Huh? Oh, uh, it doesn't hurt as much as I figured it would." Paul answered.

"That's good." Ash then sat up completely in the bed and pulled the covers back. "Let me see it."

Redness rose to Paul's cheeks again but allowed the other boy to lift his shirt. "How's it look?" He asked.

"Better. And we can most definitely rule out that a rib is broken." Ash told him while rubbing his side gently. He pulled his shirt back down. "That's a good thing." Paul nodded. The two stared at one another for a few moments. "Uh well, I guess we should get up and shower and stuff." Ash said sliding out of the covers. Paul sat up.

"Pikapi?" The two trainers looked around for the voice of the electric mouse.

"Pikachu?" Ash asked looking around the room for his beloved partner. Paul then arched his eyebrow and pulled the covers up. Pikachu poked his head out of the warm covers and tilted his head.

"Pika?" Ash laughed and kneeled on the ground by the bed.

"Morning Buddy. Sleep good?" He asked petting Pikachu on the head.

"Chu!" He exclaimed happily.

"How in the world did he get under there?" Paul asked.

Ash shrugged. "Probably crawled under there to keep warm, right Pal?"

"Pika, pika!" He chirped nodding.

Paul chuckled. "You sure are a very strange Pokémon." He told Pikachu.

"Chu?" He questioned cocking his head to one side.

Paul then laughed. "I don't mean in a bad way."

"Pika!" He chirped happily.

Ash smiled. Paul sure was changing. Three days ago, Paul wouldn't have complimented any Pokémon if had been paid to. Paul was a lot sweeter than anyone really realized. It was like Ash had always thought. Someone just had to give him a chance. And he sure was good looking too. Ash's eyes widened as he frowned. 'What! Where did that come from!' He thought. Ash looked at him scratching Pikachu behind the ears. 'But it is true...' He didn't notice the smile appearing on his face. 'I really like his hair...and his eyes...they're so beautiful. Who knew that they'd be such an amazing color...at first glance, they look so dark and black, but they're not...it's just like him too. People think he's just a jerk with no personality, but when you really get to know him...he's amazing...' Ash thought.

Unbeknownst to the raven haired trainer, Paul noticed the staring and looked at Ash. "What?" He asked.

"Huh?" Ash questioned coming out of his thoughts.

"You're staring." Paul told him.

Ash flushed. "Uh, oops...haha, my bad." He said embarrassedly. "I'm just gonna go, ya know, take a shower and stuff." He quickly grabbed his bag and ran into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Paul and Pikachu looked at one another. "Ok...your trainer is one strange guy." He told Pikachu.

"Pikachu." He nodded and Paul laughed.

Inside the bathroom, Ash rested his body up against the door. 'That was too close...why can't I stop thinking about him? He's just my rival...sure I've learned a lot about him but...no, no way...I can't! I cannot have feelings for him! He's not the guy everyone thinks but still...falling in love? I can't!' But you know you are. His conscience told him. Ash sighed and closed his eyes. 'Yea, but all that's happening is me setting myself up for heartbreak in the end...' He thought. "Oh well, guess it happens." He said to himself. He sighed, pushed himself off the door, and turned on the water.

In the room, Paul got up from the bed, Pikachu also getting off, and then made it. "Well, at least it doesn't hurt that bad." He told the electric mouse who nodded back at him. He then walked out of his room, Pikachu jumping to his shoulder and then walked to the living room. Reggie looked up from the paper.

"Morning." He greeted his brother with a smile. He noticed Pikachu.

"Morning." Paul replied with a smile of his own as Pikachu jumped down and jumped on the couch. That got Reggie's attention. He hadn't greeted him with a smile in years.

'That's most definitely odd.' He thought. 'Maybe Ash being here was a better idea than I thought.' "How's your battle scar?" He joked. Paul threw a harsh look at him, but Reggie noticed the playfulness in it and was surprised to see that as well.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" He asked.

"They went to see some old friends. They'll be back a little later." Reggie answered. Paul nodded walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge. "But in all seriousness, how is your side?"

"It hurts but it's not as bad as I had thought it was going to be." He replied. Reggie was also surprised by his answer. Usually Paul just answered him with one word answers like 'fine', or 'good.' Paul sure was acting different. 'Maybe not acting...' Reggie suddenly thought. 'Maybe just changing...hm, I sure hope so.'

"Well that's good. Looks like Ash is taking care of you." He said mostly joking as he watched Paul pull out orange juice out of the fridge and pour some in a glass.

"That he is." He replied not really paying attention to his answer while putting the orange juice back in the fridge. Reggie arched his eyebrow and smiled a little. Paul noticed the look. "What?" Reggie shook his head. "No really, what?"

"Just think about what you just said to what I said." He said while smirking at his brother. Paul thought for a second and his eyes widened, a blush appearing on his nose and Reggie's smirk deepened.

"I-I meant-I mean-he just-ugh." Paul said looking away. Reggie laughed. "It's just...he is taking care of me..." He turned to the breeder. "If you really think about it..."

"Very true. Maybe once this whole thing is done and over with, you two can start to be friends." Reggie told him.

Paul walked over to the couch Reggie was on and sat down. "Maybe..."

"What's stopping you? You obviously are getting used to him and you're most definitely not as harsh."

Paul sighed. "My, uh, my new found feelings..." He told him softly, turning his head away from his older brother.

Reggie smiled. "Feelings?"

Paul nodded and sighed again. "I can't believe I'm falling for him." He said embarrassedly.

"Wow." Reggie said shocked. "This is big. Wow. I can't believe it either." Paul shook his head. "Well, what is it about him you like?"

Paul looked at Reggie. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if you have feelings for him, there have to be reasons."

"Gosh, I-I don't even know. I mean he's really sweet and all. He has a huge heart. He always thinks of everyone else instead of himself." Paul didn't notice himself starting to smile, but Reggie did. "And he's protective. You should have seen him yesterday when he stopped them. I-I just, he was amazing. He didn't care to think that I was jerk to him or anything, he just helped. And same with this whole thing. And you can't forget how adorable he is. Oh my gosh, he's cute. Those big, innocent eyes, and that messy black hair. Did you know, even though it doesn't look like it, it's amazingly soft. Like, like silk. I just can't get over that. And his eyes, oh my gosh, wow. You think, with first glance, that they're brown, but if you really look, they're this deep amber color, and so beautiful. And...and...what?" He ended his list as he noticed his older brother giving him this very funny look.

Reggie laughed. "Alright, now I'm confused." He told his brother. Paul arched his eyebrow. "You just said you had no idea how you were falling in love with him, but then you have this gigantic list of everything you love about him. It's pretty obvious to me you have feelings. I don't even think you knew how much you smiling while describing him."

"I-I, uh, but I..." His face was red.

"Pikapi!" Both the breeder and trainer turned to see Pikachu looking down the hallway and watched Ash came into the living room with his hair wet, some sticking to the side of his face.

"Hi Reggie." He greeted happily.

"Morning Ash." He said back with a smile of own. Pikachu jumped into Ash's arms. Reggie took the chance to glance at his brother and noticed the star gazed expression he had. He shook his head. 'Though, I can see why he's attracted to him. He is pretty adorable, I do have to admit.' He thought.

"I just wanted to tell Paul I was done in the bathroom." Ash said.

"Oh, right." Paul said standing. "I'm gonna go, ya know." He walked past Ash and nodded to him, who just smiled brightly back at him.

When Paul walked into his bedroom down the hallway, Reggie couldn't help but laugh. Ash turned to him. "What?"

"Ah, nothing. Brother stuff. He's just weird." Reggie told the raven haired trainer.

"That's very true." Ash replied sitting next to Reggie.

"So, how are things working out with this whole thing?" The breeder asked. Ash looked around the room. "Mom and Dad are at a friends' house. No need to worry."

Ash turned his attention back to the older male. "Well, I don't know how to answer that." He said with a smile.

"Well is as bad as you thought it would be? I mean I've noticed Paul's changing. I don't know if you can see it but I sure can."

"Yea, I can see it. And I'm glad. I think it's just what I've always thought." Ash said.

"Oh, what's that?" Reggie questioned.

Ash shrugged. "That someone just had to give him chance. I knew he wasn't really a bad guy, he just had a cover. I didn't know why or what happened, but I knew if someone would give him a chance, he'd be the person I could see hidden inside." Ash explained.

"So, you've always thought he was a good guy?" Reggie asked amazed.

"Well, not at the very beginning, but after a while I did. I could see it."

"Hm, I never knew someone could actually see past his façade." Reggie said.

Ash shrugged. "I've had many masks of my own." Reggie arched his eyebrow making Ash laughed. "It's complicated. Lots of things in my past." Reggie shrugged. Just then the front door opened and Brock and Dawn walked in.

"Knock, knock." Brock said walking in.

"Morning Brocko!" Ash greeted standing up. "Morning, Dawn."

"Morning Ash." They both replied. Reggie stood up as well. "Morning Reggie." They both said again.

"Morning you two, Mom and Dad are out so it will be just us for breakfast." He told them.

"Alright, I'll make breakfast." Brock said.

"I'll help." Reggie said. The brunette nodded.

"I can go out and feed the Pokemon!" Ash suggested excitedly.

"Sure Ash, that'd be great." Reggie said. "I'll send Paul out when he gets out." Ash nodded.

"Dawn, you said you wanted to learn how to cook, why don't you watch today." Brock said.

"Sure thing." She replied.

"Ash, you know where the food is?" Reggie asked. The trainer nodded. "Alright, take our Pokemon out there then." He said handing his own and Paul's Pokemon to the raven haired boy.

"Take ours as well." Brock said handing his own and Dawn handed him hers' as well.

"Alright, be back in a bit." Ash said. Pikachu and Piplup followed.

Ten minutes later, Paul walked in the kitchen. He noticed the three cooking but looked around. "He's outside feeding the Pokemon." Reggie said when he noticed Paul standing there looking around.

Brock and Dawn turned to the younger trainer. "Uh," Paul lightly blushed. "Thanks." He told his brother. Reggie nodded as he walked out the front door. Reggie smiled, shook his head, and turned to finish breakfast. 'I seriously hope those two end up together. Paul needs someone like Ash.' He thought.