[ Jealousy ]

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Yes, romances between two childhood friends which would blossom only when they would get older and more mature indeed were very cliché. But no one ever said that cliché was forbidden, wrong or bad.

The male with whom you were walking through the typically crowded Nimbasa City was none other than a childhood friend of your own, Hugh. The two of you had met when you were only five years old, and had grown up in the very same town ever since. Hugh had always been and still was a very protective individual, but despite that, you had always been able to get along with him perfectly. After all, his overprotectiveness was the consequence of expressing his affection and him simply wanting to treasure you.

'Great friends' was your current or official relationship with him, but growing up alongside Hugh, it wasn't too unexpected that you had started harboring romantic feelings for the spiky-haired male at some point. Sometimes it was hard simply acting as if you felt nothing more, but telling him about what you truly felt was far too risky - or so you thought - since a very precious friendship would be at stake, and so you had kept quiet about your secret all these years. It was highly unlikely that something would suddenly bring you to confess at this point.

"Hello? Earth to [Name]?" Hugh's slightly irritated voice brought you back to the present, you immediately getting a bit flustered because you hadn't been listening to the male at all. "W-What did you say?" Was your almost immediate reply followed by a sheepish yet toothy grin. Your reaction only drew a sigh from Hugh's lips, but he was quick to repeat himself. "I asked if you wanted to get a Casteliacone first or ride the Ferris Wheel. This whole thing was your idea, so the least you could do is listen to people when they talk."

"Yeah, yeah I'm sorry. You talk as if you never space out." You rolled your eyes at the slightly taller male, gaining a playful smirk from him. "That's because I don't. I always have my guard up." Hugh proclaimed proudly, making you snort at his childish behavior. "Then how about you drop it, we're here to have fun, not fight crazy people who want to liberate Pokémon from human kind." You said with a small huff as you crossed your arms in front of your chest. Having made that remark a few months ago would have certainly angered Hugh, given the fact that he absolutely despised Team Plasma who you were so casually talking about now.

But that organization's evil deeds had been put to a stop quite a while ago, by you, Hugh and your other close friends who lent you their aid and support. Unova had pretty much returned to its original, peaceful state now that Team Plasma was gone. So after those rather stressful and dangerous adventures, you decided it would be a great idea to take a break and enjoy yourselves in Nimbasa City's theme park, gradually getting back to your former lifestyles that way.

Originally it was supposed to be you, Hugh and two of your other friends Nate and Rosa, but those two apparently had more important business to attend to - business you didn't dare to ask Rosa about for details. That was how this previously planned friendly hangout almost turned out to be some sort of date simulation. "You bring up those nasty jerks without even answering my question?" Hugh raised a brow at you, pretending to be upset as he shot you a glare. You knew that that was him just being playful, but you still played along by grabbing the male's arm as if you were hugging it, apologizing cutely or how Hugh liked to describe it in the depths of his mind. "Alright, I'm sorry!~ Since you're insisting so much, you must really want to get on the Ferris Wheel with me."

"Obviously." Hugh brushed your playful attempt at flirting off with a seemingly indifferent answer. Both of you were used to being touchy-feely with one another as well as making bold remarks and such, so neither of you got embarrassed in the other's presence so easily. Usually not at least, there were always a few exceptions.

And so, the two of you slowly but surely began making your ways to the stand that sold the tickets for the Ferris Wheel rides - walking with your arms still linked - but once you were close enough to the queue surrounding that very stand, Hugh appeared to be having second thoughts. "Actually, wouldn't it be smarter if we got our Casteliacones first?"

"And why is that? You're not Torchickening out on me, are you?" You raised a brow at him, beginning to feel a little disappointed since it was Hugh who made you desire to get on the Ferris Wheel to begin with. By the expression he made, it was obvious he was about to deliver you a series of excuses, so the sigh that escaped your lips couldn't have been avoided. "Yes, I'm listening."

"Well, wouldn't the scenery look nicer if we went after eating the Casteliacones?" Hugh asked rather... pitifully, getting a pair of rolled eyes from you as well as crossed arms above your chest. "That's just stupid, the scenery would look the same. It's not like we need hours to eat an ice cream."

"Well, then maybe we should wait until there's fewer people?" Now it was obvious that the spiky-haired male was trying to get himself out of this situation for whatever unknown reason. Both because of how he formulated his remark like a question as well as- "Hugh, we're literally standing in line right now."

"Come on, don't be such a wet blanket! Why the sudden change of heart?" You ended up groaning as you advanced small steps by steps as the number of people standing between you two and the ticket stand decreased. You thought that maybe if you kept insisting, Hugh would eventually give in and just come with you. After all, this was his idea in the first place.

Just when you were about to get some sort of answer out of the indigo-haired boy, someone calling your name from behind you gained your attention. Not only yours, but Hugh's as well, given how his gaze tried to meet with the one of the person in question. You turned around only to be greeted by a quite familiar face. "[Name]! So it really is you! I got worried for a moment."

"Curtis, long time no see! What brings you here?" Your face instantly brightened at the sight of the shy-looking blond. In reality, this seemingly timid boy happened to be a very famous celebrity idol who constantly appeared on several television shows. You had met him in a rather odd way, actually. Some time ago, you had happened to pick up a lost X-Transceiver here in Nimbasa City, and coincidentally or not, Curtis was the owner of it.

"I finally have some time off, so I wanted to ride the Rondez-View Ferris Wheel while I have the chance. Meeting you here has to be fate!" The boy dressed in green proclaimed, giving you a gentle closed-eye smile. Given that Curtis had to travel abroad to Kanto, Hoenn and Sinnoh from time to time, he indeed was quite the busy person, so when he stated that walking into you here was supposedly fate, he must have been referring to it as a way of saying that it was special that the two of you met like this sometimes despite his busy schedule.

"And who exactly is this guy?" Hugh blurted out suddenly and quite rudely at that, changing both the subject of conversation and the atmosphere around the three of you to a slightly more tense one. The spiky-haired male was glaring at Curtis quite intensely without even trying to hide it which made the blond pull a sheepish expression. You didn't notice, but Hugh instinctively scooted somewhat closer to you.

"R-Right, you two don't know each other, do you?" For some reason you felt like this wasn't such a good situation, so you immediately tried to somehow make it better by at least introducing the two to one another. "Hugh, remember the guy I talked to you about once? The one I met over the X-Transceiver? This is him, his name is Curtis." You smiled as convincingly as you could while attempting to wipe that glare off Hugh's face.

"And Curtis, this is Hugh, my... my...?" You trailed off for a moment, thinking about how you should refer to him. Was calling him a childhood friend okay? But you didn't want to childhood-friend-zone him! Then again, it wasn't as if he had romantic feelings for you in the first place. Not knowing what exactly to call Hugh, you finished your sentence there and hoped for the aura surrounding you to change to a more positive one again. "Well, Hugh is just Hugh, I guess!"

"It's nice to meet you." Curtis flashed the angry spiky-head a smile despite the sour look on his face and even held out his hand for him to shake. Hugh on the other end eyed his hand suspiciously, soon raising his gaze until his ruby orbs met Curtis' emerald ones. He then scoffed at the sightly shorter male, not even bothering to reciprocate the friendly gesture. "So basically, you're a stranger, huh."

"H-Hugh! Don't be rude!" You were surprised at the male's rather strange behavior that had surfaced out of the blue, and bumped his abdomen with your elbow as if to tell him to quit being like that. "He isn't a stranger, he's a friend! Besides, you might know him as 'Christoph' the celebrity idol! He isn't anyone you should be wary of."

"Tch." Was all Hugh provided as response to your explanation before he seemingly started walking away. "Where are you going?!" You blurted out, trying not to be loud in order to avoid attracting attention from the people surrounding you. There was no need to cause a commotion. "Nowhere. You keep chatting with that idol-friend of yours. I'll go get my Casteliacone."

"Hugh, come on don't be like that-" Just when you were about to reach out for his arm in order to stop him from leaving, a person conveniently decided to stand between you and Hugh, not allowing the body contact you had almost allowed to happen. A sigh of frustration escaped your lips as you tried to spot the spiky-head again, only to have your attention snatched by Curtis once again. "I'm sorry, I seem to have caused you trouble... Were you two on a date perhaps?"

"N-No, not at all! It isn't anything like that." You stuttered nervously as you waved your hands in a defensive gesture. You said that, but honestly you wished it were how Curtis had put it. Thinking about how Hugh must have been munching his ice cream somewhere, alone and upset, your lips slowly but surely began to curl, giving your expression a sad look.

"I'm sorry. Allow me to cheer you up... Want to join me on a ride instead? How about that?" The blond genuinely wanted to make you smile again, suggesting the idea since he couldn't come up with better ones on the spur of the moment. You would have loved to ride the Ferris Wheel, but not with Curtis. And ditching Hugh wasn't a correct thing to do since you initially came here to have fun together, so you had to politely decline.

But before you even had the chance to tell Curtis your answer, you felt your wrist getting grabbed, and soon enough, you were being dragged away. "H-Hey, what's the deal? Let go-" You struggled at first because you didn't know who it was that was touching you so casually, but once you turned around to face the person in question, there was no longer a need to fret as it was none other than Hugh who by the time you and Curtis had finished chatting had gotten the both of you tickets for the Ferris Wheel ride.

"H-Hugh? What are you?-" You couldn't even properly finish what you were saying due to all the bumping into people which was caused by the spiky-haired male dragging you along and skipping the queue. Hugh shot you a somewhat icy glance, never stopping to walk despite the other people's complaints. "You're here with me aren't you? Not with him, so let's act like it."

"Okay, I get it, just-" You were interrupted once again, but this time it was by Hugh stepping into the next empty cabin once the Ferris Wheel had come to a halt, pulling you along with him rather forcefully. The doors closed and you had practically been thrown at your seat as the machine started moving again. Having been cut off by the same person so many times on the same day had started annoying you, but it wasn't like complaining about it would have changed anything.

The indigo-haired trainer sat on the seat across you with his arms crossed above his chest, glaring at the floor while a rather tense aura began filling the not-so spacious area, accompanied by awkward silence. Not knowing how exactly to act in this situation, you started twiddling your fingers. "You know, there was no need to cause such a ruckus..."

"Are you expecting me to apologize?" Hugh huffed childishly, still not being in a good mood when he raised his eyes only to shoot you a slightly intimidating look which wasn't too effective. After all, you were used to pretty much all of Hugh's habits and actions, even if they were sometimes unexpected. You sighed rather loudly, bringing the palm of your hand to your forehead as if you were trying to support the weight of your head that way. "Why were you so upset? Curtis really isn't a bad guy..."

"You even ask why?! That guy was totally ogling you!" Hugh blurted out quite heatedly before avoiding your gaze by looking out of the glass window. The room fell silent after that and you could have sworn to see the spiky-head's cheeks redden. Not that you were one to talk. Suddenly you began thinking - in your opinion - ridiculous things which was the original cause behind the bright blush on your face. "Was he... jealous?"

You hesitated no longer and actually asked the same thing to the person himself rather cockily. "Are you per any chance jealous?" Hugh tensed up at your question, shooting you a glare which soon softened in a simply raised brow and a smirk. "Tch, you wish." The mood seemed to have been restored to normal even if Hugh looked out of the window the moment he couldn't handle the eye-contact competition with you anymore.

"I thought this was boring." You commented, smirking slightly as well as you observed the indigo-haired male concentrating on the orange-turning sky outside. He took his eyes off the sunset to glance at you, flashing you another playful expression. "It is, actually."

Just as he had finished saying his blunt reply, a sudden idea popped into his mind. One he was planning to tease you with and one he was certain you wouldn't be too eager to witness. And it indeed went that way. Hugh suddenly stood up while the cabin was in full motion, causing it to swing due to the disruption in balance.

"H-Hugh what are you doing-?!" And that was the moment when you started panicking. You got cut off by your own gasp once the cabin had started swinging even more due to the spiky-haired male's constant moving around. "H-Hey, stop! Quit doing that!"

"What's this? Is someone scared?" Your reactions seemed to be the cure to Hugh's grumpiness given the fact that he had begun smirking almost annoyingly, showing quite distinctly that he was having a blast. The passenger car was shaking vigorously, at some point you feared that the thing wouldn't manage to hold you two and fall off entirely, and that thought terrified you, so you stood up and tried stopping Hugh from moving. "Come on, stop it already-"

Another harsh wave of movement caused you to lose balance completely this time, resulting in you falling forward and right in Hugh's arms. He was a little surprised by your gesture, but his reflexes were quick enough to catch you before you fell somewhere else, even if that meant that he himself got thrown back and on his seat. "Whoa there... You okay?"

"You even dare to ask?! It's your fault in the first place that-!" You were still upset and started rambling as you attempted sitting up, only for your and Hugh's nose to touch due to the small distance between your faces. It was enough to temporarily silence you, and given the momentary circumstances it was also enough to make you blush a bright red color.

"You crappy Qwilfish-hairdo, this is all your fault." You didn't know what else to say in this situation, so you simply began blaming Hugh which seemed an appropriate thing to do in the heat of the moment. It did ruin the recently created romantic atmosphere but you were too proud to let your true feelings show, especially now. Avoiding to look him straight into his ruby eyes, you tried squirming away in order to get off of the male, but failed in doing so because Hugh was actually holding you by your lower back which prevented you to move so much as half an inch in any kind of way. "L-Let go, I can stand up now."

"I told you not to call me that, it's annoying." The spiky-haired boy said in a sightly irritated voice, referring to your prior accusation. That particular nickname had been created by you and another quite particular individual who adored Pokémon more than anyone else you had ever met. That person, N, said Hugh's hairstyle resembled one of his Pokémon friend's a lot. That kind of information hadn't been much appreciated by Hugh himself for some reason though.

"You're telling me about annoying? Speak for yourself and how you acted earlier. Your hair wasn't the only thing that resembled a Qwilfish, your pissed face did too." You pouted, soon enough frowning at the male in front of you and low-key celebrating what you had just said to him. You even almost laughed when you imagined the comparison of Hugh with the balloon Pokémon.

"Well, what was I supposed to do? Stand there quietly and watch you two flirt with each other?!" Hugh retorted, blurting out pretty much exactly what was on his mind. You didn't realize that what he said could have basically been considered as a confession that he had been jealous of Curtis all along, at least not right then you didn't. "What do you mean? We weren't even flirting!"

"W-Wait. Does that mean... you really were jealous..?" Again, you didn't want to get ahead of yourself, and you figured Hugh would tell you the very same thing, but it was quite the opposite as well as a rather pleasant surprise. "So what if I was, hm? I like you, so of course I'll get pissed if you start being all chummy with some other guy."

You were about to defend Curtis and make the indigo-haired male stop insulting him when realization finally struck you like Thunderbolt, once again shutting you up for a brief moment before a bright, almost blinding grin formed on your face. "What did you just say? Say it again!"

"Huh?! No way, it's embarrassing enough as it is. You should have listened properly." Hugh as well didn't seem like he was completely aware of what he had said, so he attempted avoiding the subject by changing it, but there was no way you would let an opportunity like this one just slip through your fingers. "Come on.~ I totally heard you say something important!~"

"Shut up, you're annoying." Hugh scoffed, looking to the side at first before he decided to lock his red eyes with yours, his serious stare capable of changing your expression into a more earnest one as well. He let go of your back with one hand only, bringing the same one to your face which he soon stroked. He slid it lower until it reached your chin. "But I guess that's what makes you cute, too."

Before you could properly react to the smooth things the spiky-haired boy started saying, he had already cupped your chin with his thumb and index-finger which led to even further silence. And just like that, Hugh pulled your face closer to his own, your noses soon rubbing against one another again, this time on purpose. But that was certainly not where it ended.

Hugh had gone as far as to bring his lips to yours, connecting them in a sweet kiss - or so it appeared to be at first at least. The kiss wasn't as gentle as you expected it to be, but that was practically Hugh's lingering jealousy taking over his body. Of course, you were surprised, almost shocked, that the childhood friend you harbored secret feelings for for so long had decided to initiate something like this on his own, but that certainly didn't make you turn as shy as to not return the gesture.

As rushed and somewhat lustful kisses were produced, you slowly but surely wrapped your arms around Hugh's neck, pulling yourself even closer to him than you already were. The male on the other hand proceeded in keeping the lead while also allowing his hands to travel lower on your body. Once they reached their destination, Hugh placed them on your rear, getting you to sit on his lap properly with that gesture.

Your heart commenced to beat faster and so loudly that you thought you heard its pace echo through your ears and into your head. The scenario seemed too good to be real, so you were almost disappointed when Hugh pulled away to catch his breath. The eyes you had been holding closed up until now slowly opened, meeting with the latter's ruby-colored ones. His actions weren't the only things that reflected his slight lust and longing, his sparkling eyes did as well.

And while you were busy panting, Hugh attacked you with another kiss, a deeper one this time since he directly slipped his tongue inside your mouth. Once again, you were caught off guard which resulted in you making quite the inappropriate noise for a second or two. As your wet muscles danced together, you let your hands which had been resting around the male's neck travel upwards.

Your fingers began intertwining with his spiky-appearing hair which in reality was very soft as you played with it. The heated make-out session continued, but as much as it was a let-down, it came to an end the moment the Ferris Wheel ride did. The sounds of the automatic doors opening as soon as it was safe for the passengers to step out was the sign you needed in order to really put an end to your passionate kiss.

The people who intended to get into the cabin after you coincidentally were a couple that happened to blush at the sight of your positions. You were a little embarrassed to have been caught like that, but Hugh didn't seem bothered by it in the slightest. And so, you and the spiky-haired male descended from the pod, hand in hand as a matter of fact.

"Since you came on the Ferris Wheel with me, we might as well go get ourselves Casteliacones, what do you think, Qwilfish-hairdo?" You hummed teasingly, snuggling up to Hugh's arm somewhat more as you flashed him an innocent look. You still couldn't process everything that had happened moments ago, but you couldn't possibly be happier.

"Well, well. Moments ago you were a blushing mess, look at you grinning like an idiot now." The spiky-haired male immediately teased back, causing you to pout but never lessen your grip over his arm as the two of you continued walking in the direction where they sold all sorts of sweets and snacks. "And stop it with the surname."

"Y-You stop it with saying embarrassing stuff, jealous Qwilfish!"

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