When We Were Younger. |Gladion X Moon|Pokemon Romance Novel|

-30-

Gladion laughs under his breath as I run my finger over the soft skin of his bare chest. I can feel our body heat radiating up from under the blankets, I don't think we've moved since we fell asleep. I spot a twinkle of happiness in his eyes as he runs his fingers over a wisp of my hair. Seeing him happy fills me with a sense of peace.

I'm falling even harder for him as he opens himself up to me. I have always suspected he had a sensitive side, and he has always shown that he is a caring person, despite being misguided at times.

"Your hair is so soft," he whispers, "I love the way it smells."

"I could just lay here all day!" I sigh, poking my toes underneath his warm leg.

Gladion smirks and pulls me close, his long arms wrap themselves around my body. A slight rush comes over me as our naked bodies touch, I can feel my face growing hotter as he nuzzles my neck.

"I could too, but the staff might be disappointed if we skip breakfast."

"The staff?"

"Yes, I decided to fully staff the ship for our stay. I know it's probably not necessary, but truth be told, I really miss them! Most of them have been working for our family since I was little. We should probably get dressed and head out to the deck now, I'd hate to keep them waiting."

I spend a bit of time in the bathroom freshening up, part of me doesn't want to wash the smell of him off.

I'm awestruck at the sight of Gladion when I finally emerge from the bathroom. The dark, navy blue slacks cling tightly to his long, thin legs. A pinstriped, white and navy oxford style shirt peeks out of the wide neck of his grey cardigan.

My admiration is interrupted when I spot my journal open in his hands, he is quickly flipping through the pages. I open my mouth and try to speak, but I find myself stumbling over my words. I'm so embarrassed at the thought of him reading my journal that I forget how to talk.

Gladion quickly shuts it and places it back on the desk. His nervous eyes dart back and forth between my mine as he assesses my anger level.

"That's your journal, isn't it?" he asks, cautiously.

"Yup," I say, too angry to say much more. My journal has always been very private to me.

"I'm so sorry, I should have realized when I saw the handwriting. It was just laying here so I picked it up."

"It's private, don't look at it again," I mutter, mindlessly snapping my finger knuckles.

"Don't worry, I didn't read anything. I couldn't, even if I wanted too."

I feel a bit relieved when it dawns on me that it's all written in Kantonese. I shouldn't be so mad, it was very careless of me to leave it out in the open.

"I'm sorry," he says, nervously reaching out to me.

I walk past him and grab my old journal. I open the beat-up book and pull out a few of the old pictures I keep tucked inside.

"Can you believe Arcanine used to be so tiny!" I say, showing him the picture.

Gladion breathes a sigh of relief and takes the picture for a moment, "I don't know who's cuter in this picture, you or him! Is that your dad?"

"Yes, it's one of my favorite pictures of him. He gave me this journal and Arcanine that day."

"You are about 10 in this picture? That's a very old journal!" he chuckles.

"Yeah, I don't write in it every day or anything, but sometimes it feels good to write my feelings down. I was supposed to start my Pokemon journey soon after that picture was taken, he gave it to me so I could track my progress. I ended up staying at home instead, I couldn't bear the thought of leaving my mother after he passed. But, I'm finally taking it now, so I'm sure he would be very proud."