A White Tomorrow [A Team Rocket Fanfiction]

Chapter 12

From then on, it was hard to concentrate on much else. It was at this time that, once again, James asked himself if Jessie really did mean the things she had recently said to him. She had her impulsive streaks, where she'd be too into the moment, but she also had her heartfelt, genuine moments too. James didn't know which one this fell under. If he guessed wrong, maybe running away yet again was an okay backup plan. After a crying session on the floor.

Oh, who was he kidding? Of course Jessie wouldn't joke around about something like this. They had joked about it before, but now it felt real. It seemed pretty promising and somewhat enjoyable now. Well, if it weren't for the other situations at hand. Cough cough, the entire team of criminals out to get them. James laughed to himself as he walked down the sidewalks of Cerulean. What a fun little mess they've gotten themselves into.

He'd also be lying if there still wasn't a twinge of fear at the idea of it all. He figured it would always be there, but it was nowhere near how he felt when this all began. He couldn't believe how much the past several months had impacted their lives, and even themselves as people. Himself specifically. His hand tightened its hold around the tiny box in his pocket. 

Hopefully Jessie wouldn't notice how much lighter her bag felt. She probably wouldn't; she did take a lot of money from headquarters. James was surprised once he counted it all and grabbed some of it earlier that morning. It wasn't a whole ton, nowhere near what he had waiting for him back at home, but it was a lot more than he expected. If he were Giovanni, he'd be pretty upset too. A "couple" thousand were her words back during their escape. Talk about Jessie being a jokester.

A moment before humiliation, he dodged a light pole last second once he realized he almost walked into it in his daydreaming. He hunched his shoulders in slight embarrassment as he looked around, and thankfully, no one was looking at him. He shook his head and sighed. Maybe after a meal and a good night's rest he'd be able to clear his head.

If only... He'd just wake up the next morning even more nervous. Only a couple more days until the festival, and then the twerps were gone for a week. And he still had to figure out how and when he was going to propose to Jessie. Did it really matter, though? All he had to do was surprise her with a speech, get down on one knee and ask a question as a bunch of people recorded it on their phones. She'd say yes either way. Easy peasy. Easy peasy my foot.

He stopped walking on his route back to the gym when another thought hit him. If he wanted to make things easier on him, then he'd have to come up with an excuse for going off into the city alone. Jessie and Meowth didn't even know he was gone. He spun on one foot and started to walk back into the streets of buildings, towards a nearby Pokemart. According to everyone else, he had just gone to the store to get a snack for himself.

It seemed like a pretty foolproof plan as he walked through the doors. The air conditioner and background music in the store gradually put him in a better mood as he looked for an aisle that would have some kind of promising junk for him. He was almost at the correct aisle when he passed by cosmetics, where he heard a familiar voice yelling.

Jessie was here with Meowth, and they had apparently gotten into some kind of argument. James froze. What are they doing here?! He swore they both were back at the gym with the twerps when he left, what did he miss? Then again, he had been out for a while. Choosing a ring for your girlfriend on a budget is no easy task. James quickly rushed to hide in the next aisle to avoid getting spotted.

"Why are we even doin' dis again, Jess?" Meowth asked after she had stopped yelling at him to pick up another shade of red lipstick.