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-Your POV-
"S-shall we go to a, um... a cafe or something for breakfast?" I stammer, tripping over my words. That night left a nervous feeling in my bones. It filled my soul with that first taste of thrilling love. He truly did care, my tsundere.
"Sure," Gladion still held the salty look in his eyes, but when my gaze met his, he seemed to soften.
"Lillie told me about a nice place down the street." I pull out my phone to check the address that Lillie texted me earlier. I wonder why she sent it... but worries aside, I haven't eaten in a while, and hot Alolan malasadas drizzled in sweet honey and powdered sugar would be amazing, especially with the fuzzy feeling in my stomach — the bittersweet aftertaste of raw exhilaration.
We now stood in front of the building, which was charming and made of wood, painted in vibrant, cheerful colors, and adorned with numerous flower baskets. After walking in and taking a seat by the floor-to-ceiling window, the server, who introduced herself as Nina, asked us if we wanted the couples deal. She has fluffy wine-red maroon hair and bright mauve eyes.
"No, no. We're not a couple." I smile up at Nina and she tilts her head.
"If you say so." She grins, vividly bobbing her head as if she knew something we didn't.
I look over at Gladion, whose face is bright red as he tries to hide it. I giggle, which makes him turn even redder. "Don't laugh," He grumbles.
"Sorry," I turned back to the server, "We'll just have two big Malasadas, thanks."
"Sure thing," She nods and promptly turns to get our order.
I came to this cafe for a couple of reasons. One, I want to eat some yummy breakfast that Lillie even recommended, even though it seems more of a thing Hau would eat. Secondly, I want to repay Gladion. I feel as if I owe him. I've made a resolution to make him laugh... or even smile at the least. He doesn't often look happy, so I'm going to try to make him genuinely smile like he did last night.
Our order comes, and we eat silently. I glance up at him a few times, and he meets my gaze calmly. Once we both have finished eating the fluffy donut-like pastry, Gladion looks like he wants to say something.
I tilt my head slightly, "Yes?"
"Uhm," He looks away, "Well, you know your trial captain charm?"
"Of course."
"W-well, I'm so sorry, but... it broke."
"O-oh..."
"Lillie said it's too fragile to fix, unfortunately." He appears to survey my crestfallen face. I was heartbroken. He sets a slim pouch the color of a dusky blue sky on the table.
I reach for it with shaking hands and slow, wavering breaths, remembering my mother's last moments before I took it off her dead body, all by myself. The coldness of her now-deceased body sinks into me as I pry the small bag open. The charm lays at the bottom in two pieces, in nearly perfect halves. I glimpse up at Gladion's concerned complexion.
"Gladion," I whisper, looking back down on the trial caption charm now two, "W... Would you like one?"
"One...?" His eyes widened when he realized I wanted to give him a half. "Oh, no, I couldn't take one. You shouldn't part with something so precious to you!"
"But you're precious to me too..." I mumble, and fortunately, he doesn't hear. Building courage, I say a bit louder, "Please take it,"
-Gladion's POV-
"Please take it,"
(Y/N) promptly stands up and moves over next to my seat. She leans close and ties a half around my wrist with the remaining thread, and does the same for herself.
Then, she quickly stands up on tiptoes and pecks me on the cheek before I have time to react. Her lips leave my face gently. My face reddened at the same moment a camera shutter made a loud CLICK.
Both me and (Y/N) whip around to see Lillie holding up her lavender Rotom phone with the many sparkly phone charms dangling from it. With a mischievous grin, Lillie begins to dash off without a word.
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