School, Dating, and Saving the World

How He Fell (pt. 2)

Silver knew he was in trouble.

Years of living as a criminal, suppressing his emotions, had taught him how to sense danger. It had taught him when and where to back down. Not that Silver really listened to that sense.

But right now? Right now, Silver felt danger.

"Jealous?" he said.

"Yeah, jealous." Yellow looked at him, fixing a stare with her golden eyes. Silver felt grateful that she could only read the moods of Pokemon and not people.

"Of what?" Silver asked.

Yellow blinked. "Gold. Gold and Crystal."

I'm not. Silver wanted to say it. But he knew that if the words rolled off his tongue, even naive little Yellow wouldn't believe it.

"It must be hard," Yellow said. "To have your best friends fall in love."

Silver glared. "Don't pretend like you know how I feel. Even if you are right."

Yellow looked down at her plants. "Right. Of course. I should be clear with myself first." She turned, and Silver could almost see the power and strength of the forest in her eyes. "I'm going to confess to Red soon."

Blue had told Silver, long ago, about a little blonde girl who fell in love with a boy who became Champion. It sounded like the fairy tales Blue had been fond of, a fantasy. Nothing substantial.

The way Yellow looked at him was full of reality. It was the look of a girl who knew her chances were slim, that knew there was a strong chance her heart was going to break in two.

"Good luck," Silver said, speaking the empty words. Yellow just nodded, going back to her plants like she hadn't just bared her soul to him.

"So. Which one are you in love with?" She scrunched her nose. "Wait, no, it's Gold, isn't it."

"How did you-"

"Your Feraligator. He's worried."

Silver looked down at the pokeball on his belt. Through the clear top, his Feraligator wouldn't make eye contact with him.

"I wouldn't say I'm in love with him," Silver said, cringing at his own words. "I ... I care deeply for him. Him and Crystal."

"But your heart beats faster when he pays attention to you, doesn't it? When he touches you?" Yellow smiled. Silver could tell she was thinking of her own experiences.

"Unfortunately." Silver paused. "He and Crystal ... They're good together."

And it hurt. Silver was rarely happy for other people. It was just how he was. But when he saw those two together, he genuinely wished them a lifetime of joy.

A darker part of him, a part that disgusted him as much as his father's crimes, wanted to tear them apart. It wanted to go back to how things were when they were children, when no one had feelings for anyone.

Sometimes ... sometimes that part of him wanted to be the one walking beside Gold instead of Crystal.

Silver could never hate Crystal for what she had. After all, he understood her position.

If he let himself, he could fall in love.

But if he loved his friends, he would never allow himself to.

"It hurts," Yellow said. "It hurts to be in love."

Silver could only scowl. "Which is why I'll never allow myself to be."

Yellow closed her eyes. "Maybe you'll do what I never could."

"Which is?"

"Move on." Yellow stood to her feet, scanning over her garden. "If this love is hopeless, I need closure."

The wind seemed to whistle in the leaves of the trees. Silver knew that Yellow was linked, somehow, to the forest. And at the moment, the forest seemed almost sad.

With the sunlight behind her, giving her an almost angelic halo glow, Yellow spoke to him.

"They could never hate you, you know. Your bonds are too strong. If the feelings ever get unbearable, you should tell them. It might hurt for a while, but they'll understand."

Silver knew when a situation was hopeless. He knew how Gold loved Crystal, as much as he pretended to be a jerk.

He only hoped that, between him and Yellow, one of them would get a happy ending.

_*_*_

It all went to pieces faster than Silver could imagine.