Why Did I Fall In Love!? (Boy x Boy Ship)

Chapter Sixteen: Gou's Next Move

Gou is lying wide awake on his mattress on the floor. He can't get the moment when Ash got upset out of his head. He feels like a real bastard. On the one hand, he is completely surprised that Ash had these feelings, and on the other hand, it makes this so much harder. Gou wasn't prepared for all this. He knew Professor Kukui was right, but he still wasn't sure if this would be the place where he told Ash, especially since he didn't know what to say, and especially since he wasn't sure how he wanted Ash to respond.

But... Here we are. This is where Gou is right now. This is the situation he is facing. So what is he going to do? He looks over at the couch. Pikachu and Raboot lay sleeping. Quite peacefully.

"Damn it!" Gou grunts throwing off his bed covers.

"Pikachu...Pikachu!" Gou says lightly nudging Pikachu awake.

"Pi~" Pikachu mumbles, not too happy at being woken up. Slowly opening his eyes to see Gou staring at him.

"I need your help!" Gou pleads. "I need to find Ash!"

Pikachu grogely pushes himself up, slowly moving towards Raboot to wake him.

"No!" Gou whispers. "Leave him!"

***********************
Gou and Pikachu are in the woods, searching for Ash. Pikachu is trying to pick up Ash's scent. Gou is hopelessly looking around. He can't see other than what the torch illuminates. Pikachu is really Gou's best bet at finding him.

"Anything?" Gou asks.

"Pika..." Pikachu answers shaking his head.

Gou sighs. This is not going well. Maybe he should've waited till morning. Gou really hates himself right now. Ash will be feeling hurt and embarrassed. Gou really can't believe he spoke to Ash that way. He was so insensitive. No wonder Ash ran off. Of course he'd be upset. Who wouldn't be?

"Pika!" Pikachu suddenly says sniffing.

"Have you picked up his scent?" Gou asks.

Pikachu suddenly runs off in a random direction.

"Pikachu! Wait up!" Gou pleads trying to run after him.

They keep running. Deeper and deeper into the woods. Gou is hoping that Ash is nearby.

Pikachu suddenly stops, almost causing Gou to trip over him.

"What is it?" Gou asks.

Pikachu looks frantically around him. He's reached the end of the scent trail but Ash isn't here. He doesn't understand. Gou is looking around too, Ash is nowhere to be seen.

"I don't get it!" Gou moans leaning against a tree. "Where is he?"

Gou looks up at the sky. He yawns. He looks at the stars in the clear, night sky, through the tall, thick trees. It's very beautiful. Very peaceful. Gou just stares. Infinite space, infinite stars and the neverending universe.

"Hm?"

Gou stares intently at one of the thick branches on one of the trees. There's a dark shadow up there. At first, he thought it was a Pokémon. However, as he concentrates on it, Gou realises that it's not a Pokémon at all. It's a person!

"Well, that explains why nobody could find him!" Gou scoffs.

Gou looks round the base of the tree, trying to find a way to climb up it. There doesn't seem to be any obvious way so, it looks like Gou will just have to jump and grab onto a branch and pull himself up. He looks up at the nearest branch. He sighs at the task ahead. Gou bends his knees, swings his arms a few times to get a bit of momentum, then *jumps*

"Damn!" He exclaims missing the branch. "Try again!".

*Jumps*

"Awk! Come on!"

*Jumps*

"Seriously!" He grumbles. "One more time!"

*Jumps*

This time he latches onto the branch and desperately pulls himself up with all his might.

How in God's name did Ash do this? Gou thinks to himself. He must have a lot of upper body strength. Something which Gou clearly doesn't have. Gou is exhausted from climbing the tree. He can't believe how far up this tree Ash climbed. He clearly made a huge effort not to be found.

After what felt like a never ending climb, Gou managed to reach the branch that Ash was perched on.

"Hey..." Ash greets.

"...Hey..." Gou responds. "Enjoying the view?"

"I just needed somewhere quiet to think." Ash explains.

"Everyone was looking for you." Gou says.

"I know...I saw them down below." Ash says.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Gou asks.

"I didn't want to be found!" Ash retorts. "I wanted to be alone!"

"Yeah... I suppose." Gou says, not really sure how to respond.

"What do you want?" Ash asks with slight annoyance.

"I-I...wanted to find you..." Gou responds.

"Well, you found me. Now what?" Ask shrugs.

"Come back with me." Gou requests.

"No!" Ash snarls.

"Why?" Gou inquires.

"Because I want to be alone, Gou. Please leave me be!" Ash demands.

"O-Oh...OK!" Gou replies defeated. He slowly retreats back before stopping and thinking for a moment. "No!"

"What?" Ash says turning his head to face him.

"I'm not going! We're going to talk about it!" Gou states.

"No we're not. I don't wanna talk about it!" Ash grunts.

"We're talking about it!" Gou insists crawling closer to him. He's actually amazed at how thick these branches are. These trees are not only so tall but the branches are so thick that they support 2 peoples body weights.

"Gou! Get lost!" Ash scowls.

Gou, undeterred, edges closer to Ash. "I'm not leaving until we've talked about it!" Gou says reaching his arm arm to touch Ash's shoulder.

But Ash slaps his hand away. Gou would be shocked but the force of Ash's hand is causing Gou to lose his balance. He's in a panic, he's trying to regain his balance but it isn't working. He suddenly looks down and realises how high up he is. The height starts to make him feel dizzy. His vision starts to get blurry, he's lost control of his balance, he's slowly leaning over to the side.

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu cries from below. Ash turns to Gou and sees him start to fall towards the side.

"Gou NO!" Ash cries grabbing Gou's arm and carefully pulling him towards him. Gou quickly grabs Ash's arm for extra support and is pulled in. Ash instantly pulls Gou towards him and naturally wraps him in his arms, pulling Gou into his chest. Gou is panting. Quite a near death experience, if he had fallen to the ground, it might have been all over.

Gou is secure in Ash's embrace. His head leaning against Ash's chest. His heartbeat thumping against Gou's ear. Ash's head resting against Gou's hair.

Gou is enjoying the warmth of Ash's embrace. It feels comfortable, it feels...right. It actually makes Gou smile. He can feel the butterflies in his stomach going wild.

Gou dares not move to interrupt this feeling. However, he can feel slight taps on his head.

*drip* *drip* *drip*

Is it starting to rain?

No...it's Ash's tears...