Three Couples, Six People, Many Songs(#12)
Song #12 - Dreaming of You, Selena
Misty sat by her phone, daring herself to pick it up. It had been a month since she and Brock had spoken, and she desperately wanted to break the silence. It hadn't been complete silence, for they e-mailed each other and talked online, but it just wasn't the same... She couldn't wait till spring break, when he would be back home again.
Going to college had been a hard decision for Brock. He'd been torn between staying with his siblings or pursuing some semblance of a future. After much persuasion on Misty's part, and his mother`s, Brock finally decided to go. He could help his family out more in the future with a good job.
But college meant Brock being a six hour drive away from home, and Misty rarely had the free time to go visit him. Senior year was hell for her so far.
"Ah damn it," she said, picking up the phone as she spoke. "Let's see... 555-8637." She pressed in the numbers, then waited patiently for Brock to answer, if he just so happened to be there.
"...Hello?"
"Brock?"
"Misty?"
"Hi!"
"Hey, how've you been? Is something wrong? Why're you calling?"
"I'm doing good, just calling to say hi."
"Oh, okay." Sounds of shuffling around. He'd likely been taking a nap or something, though it was only one in the afternoon. Maybe he'd been reading or doing homework?
"So how's college treating you?"
"Good. I've made a few friends up here. They're nice. You should meet them sometime."
A line from a song popped into Misty's head. "If you've been dating a man for four months, and you haven't met any of his friends, you are *not* his girlfriend." Well then, if she and Brock ever started dating, she wouldn't have *that* problem. "That'd be nice. It's just me and Ash now."
"How's the little guy doing?"
"He's not as little as he used to be. Had a brief, random growth spurt. He's almost your height. Well, if almost is four inches shorter."
Brock laughed. "He's always been a rather short guy. Good that he's catching up though."
"Yeah. He and Gary seem to have finally gotten together, though I think you knew that already. They're really weird, the way they interact with each other. They fight a lot."
"Well, so do we sometimes. That's just how some people show they care I guess."
Misty smiled a little and turned her head to one side. "Aww, so you do care!"
"Well of course I do, Mist! Honestly, would I put up with you if I didn't care about you?"
She giggled. "I could say much the same about you Brock, so don't even try to use that. Hey, so, got a girlfriend?"
"I knew you were going to ask that."
"Oh did you? So what's your answer?"
"Nope. I'm only a freshman, and the girls go for the older guys most of the time. It's weird, but I keep comparing the girls to you. Other than my sisters and my mother, you're just about the only girl that I really know, so I've been using you as a base standard."
"And how do they match up?"
"Well, some of them are pretty close. But you know what?"
"What?"
"They're not you. Oh crap! I have to run now, Mist. Talk to you later?"
"Sure thing. Bye!"
"Bye Misty!"
Click.
Misty got off her chair and then laid down on her bed. She took a moment to look around her room, allowing her eyes to linger on her cerulean blue walls, her paintings, her posters, the pictures of her, Brock and Ash, her table by the bed, her phone, her chair and her desk, her closet. Then she closed her eyes, carefully forming a picture of Brock in her mind. Had he changed since she last saw him in December? She hoped not. He was perfect. Perfect in his faults, perfect in his good points. Just...perfect. She couldn't deny it anymore. She loved Brock; she was in love with Brock.
Did Brock return her feelings? She couldn't be sure, but every now and then he dropped little hints. He always used to flirt with her, but she just thought he was joking around all the time. Yet now, he acted more serious, he treated her with more respect, he told her how much he cared about her whenever he could.
"Promise me we'll always be friends, no matter what."
"I promise."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
Friends... That thin glass barrier between her telling Brock that she loved him. She didn't want to ruin their friendship, to cause any strain. Even if he loved her now, they couldn't guarantee that things would work out. And if they broke up, how could they remain friends? Maybe they could still talk every now and then, but they could never be as close. It just didn't work that way...
/Forget that, Brock's gonna be back in three weeks./ She smiled at the thought, curling up in her bed and bringing back that picture of Brock. It had been after the prom, and they were sitting in the tree house. At one point she had looked at him, and he looked... he looked like everything she had ever wanted and everything she would ever want. His eyes were fixed on the lake, and a slight, natural smile was visible. He looked so peaceful right then, he looked like himself. He wasn't thinking about trying to make her laugh, or lecturing Ash, or being a role model for his siblings. He was watching the lake, and he was being himself. And that was the Brock she loved. She loved all the other Brocks, but she most of all loved the real him, the deep down inside him.
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Three Weeks Later
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"Hey, I'm gonna have to leave at six, my mother's making dinner. I think she wants to talk about me getting ready for the SATs or something." Ash said, kicking randomly at some of the gravel that covered the area around the train tracks.
"That's fine. Gives all three of us about four hours to hang out today." Misty shifted her weight from one foot to the other, looking down the tracks impatiently. His train was an entire eight minutes late.
"Chill out, Misty. He'll get here soon," Ash said, watching her display of Misty-ness.
"I know he'll be here soon. But he should've been here already." She tugged at her yellow tank-top.
"Do you like Brock or something, Misty?" Ash asked, eying her suspiciously.
"Huh?" Misty whirled around, her expression carefully guarded.
"You do, don't you. Your emotions are too controlled right now. If you didn't like him you wouldn't bother hiding your reaction."
"Since when were you the expert on emotions?" She turned away from him, fixing her eyes down the train tracks.
"Since when did you hide things from me?" Ash hug-attacked her from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his head on her shoulder. "So, when'd it start?"
Misty sighed and rolled her eyes, "Last year."
"Ooh, you're really good at hiding things." Ash let her go and ran a hand through his messy, black hair.
"No, you and Brock are just both really dense and blind to these things, plus you were busy chasing after Gary." She stopped at looked closer at what Ash wore. "Hey, isn't that one of Gary's shirts?"
"Yeah, why?"
"It looks too nice to be yours. You dress like a slob Ash." Misty grinned.
"That really hurt Misty. See, look, there's a tear!" He trailed a finger from the corner of his eye and down his cheek, then pretended to catch a tear in his hand. "No, wait. No tear. Guess it didn't hurt after all."
She rolled her eyes again, then flicked back her ponytail. "Slacker."
"Female dog."
"Rat bastard."
"Boy whore."
"Ouch. Um... Hey look, there's the train!"
"Really? Argh! You jerk!"
"Ha!"
Misty kicked Ash in the shins, then hopped back before he could catch her.
He leaned over and rubbed where he got kicked. "I really miss Brock being here. You picked on me less when he was around to yell out."
She smiled wistfully. "Yeah, I miss him too..."
"D'you love him, Misty?"
"Yeah." She blushed slightly. "Do you love Gary?"
Ash shrugged. "Dunno."
She frowned slightly. "He really cares about you."
"Yeah, I know."
"You're taking your SATs next term."
"I know..."
She walked up to him and placed an arm on his lean shoulders. "Hey, Ash. We're not trying to pressure you into anything. Just it'd be a really good idea if you studied."
"Misty, we've gone over this already." Ash folded his arms across his chest. "Hey, the trains really coming this time."
She turned her head, and there indeed was the train. A bright wave of content washed over her, and for a moment she almost seemed to glow.
Until she noticed Ash staring at her and grinning.
The first thing Brock saw upon leaving the train was Misty glaring at Ash, who was rubbing the back of his head. Immediately, he smiled, glad to know that at least some things hadn't changed.
"Brock!" Ash grinned at his older friend. "How's it going?"
"Good," Brock said, slinging his duffel-bag over his shoulder. "Hey Misty."
She smiled. "Hi Brock."
Ash rolled his eyes. They were gonna get together. That night too. He'd put all his money on it. If he had any.
"So where are we going?" Brock asked after a slightly awkward silence.
"We're going to watch as many movies as we can stand. Ash is gonna have to leave at six though," Misty said.
"Aw, got a date?" Brock asked.
"With my mother."
"Ouch." Brock winced playfully. "I feel for you."
"Yeah, well, what can I say?" Ash shrugged. "So, off to Brock's house and then the theatre!"
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"Ew... She's naked!" Ash shielded his eyes from the screen.
"Ooh, she's naked!" Brock grinned, earning a punch from both Misty and Ash, who sat on either side of him. "Wha?"
"Shhh!" Misty glared at the two of them. "Be quiet! Despite the nudity, it's a good movie."
"No it's not, it's full of cheesy romance crap," Ash said, very much glad that Brock provided a barrier between him and Misty. She looked rather pissed though. "Okay, okay. It's good."
"Glad you agree," she muttered.
"Heh... Look at the time! I have to go. Maybe I'll rent it or something. You two have fun without me somehow!" Ash got up and slipped out of the theatre.
Misty sighed, then fixed her eyes on the screen. Then blushed when she realized she was watching an almost 'chick-flick' alone in a theatre with the guy she loved. Somehow, she made it through the movie, but as they walked out to get tickets for the next movie, she wondered how she was going to survive that night.
"You wanna watch something funny now?" Brock asked, his usual smile fixed on his face.
"Sure, so long as it isn't gross." She looked over the list of movies. "How about that one?"
"Sounds good to me."
This time there were other people in the theatre, so Misty felt a little more restrained from jumping into Brock's lap. She even managed to somewhat pay attention the plot. The next movie, however, she found herself very much immersed in. Then Brock rested his arm across the back of her seat.
Now, Ash did that too when they went to go watch movies. But Ash was Ash, and Brock was Brock. She didn't know if he really just wanted to put his arm there, or if he wanted to put his arm closer to her...
"Gummi bears?" He offered her his box.
"No thanks."
"Okay."
They didn't talk again during the movie, and he didn't move his arm until he got up to leave. As they walked out of the theatre, they discussed what they thought about it, but Misty kept finding her mind drifting off to other things.
"Hey, you alright Misty?"
"Yeah, I'm just fine," she replied as they left the theatre. "Just a bit tired."
"Oh. Guess you don't want to stop by the tree house again then." He shrugged. "Maybe tomorrow."
She straightened up and looked at him. "No, it's fine. Caught my second wind." She grinned.
"Great! Want to get a taxi though? I'm not up for walking that far a distance after sitting down for so long."
"Same."
In the taxi they caught up on minor things. Misty informed Brock that Tracy had asked her out a few months ago, but she had politely turned him down. He was nice and all, but not her type. /My type is you./ She had thought to herself after saying that. When they reached the forest, Brock paid for the taxi and they headed in.
"Last one there's a rotten egg!" Misty yelled all of a sudden, running ahead of Brock.
"No fair!" He yelled, chasing after her. Somehow, by chance, or maybe just by luck, Brock caught up with her and then picked her up. He continued to run with her in his arms, but after she bit him he stopped and set her down.
"You bite hard," he complained, having not expected that. Sure she had bitten him before, but that had been ages ago.
"I don't like being run with," she retorted.
"Hey, there's the tree house!" Without even waiting for her to look, Brock ran up to it and climbed up ahead of her. She followed closely behind him though, and made it up right after him. "Not too bad," he said, looking around it. "Could look worse. It's been warm for this time of the year, and not all that rainy."
"It'll start raining soon though." She sat down at the edge where they had been that other night. Misty smiled as she looked at the lake, then looked up at Brock and patted the space next to her. "Sit."
"What, am I your dog?"
"No, you're my boy-toy. Now sit!" She pouted slightly, and he obeyed, grinning the entire time. "Good boy," she patted him on the head, messing up his spikes a bit.
"Nice view, huh?"
"Yeah."
"Remember last year?"
"Yeah..."
"Remember what I asked you?"
"Yeah."
"Your answer's still the same, right?"
"Yeah."
"Are you gonna keep saying 'yeah'?"
"Maybe." Misty grinned, but inside, she felt somewhat nervous. Should she tell him now? But what if she surprised him too much and he fell out? "Um, Brock?"
"Uh-huh?"
"I have something to tell you."
Brock turned his head sharply, his brown eyes questioning. "What? You're not seeing someone are you?" His tone seemed almost accusatory.
"No... Why?"
"No reason." He blushed a little and turned to face the lake again. "So what is it? Got accepted into a college you wanted to go to?" He turned to look at her again, his blush having somewhat faded.
Misty thought it over for a little while. She really didn't want Brock falling out... So she leaned in and kissed him. "I love you," she whispered as she drew back.
Brock's eyes were wide and fixed on her. From the moment she leaned toward her to after she had pulled away, his eyes were stuck on her, unblinking. "Y-you?"
"Yes, me."
"B-but..." He finally blinked. "I thought- I thought you didn't... You act like you almost dislike me half the time!"
She sighed and looked at the lake, trying to calm herself. So he didn't love her back? She was a fool to hope. "Well I didn't know how else to act around you... And you were always after other girls."
"Because I thought I couldn't have you. Mist, I had a crush on you for the longest time. Just, you were always so distant... I didn't think I had a chance." He looked at her and smiled, then looked at the lake. "But I guess I was wrong. Heh. Life's so messed up..."
"How long?"
"Dunno... Almost since we met really."
Misty scooted closer to Brock and laid her head on his shoulder. "So do I need to ask if you love me back?"
"No, but I'll answer anyway. I love you, Misty."
She smiled, and then closed her eyes as Brock wrapped one arm around her waist. She opened her eyes and looked at him again, noting the content smile on his face. She looked at the lake once more, fixing the image of this scene in her mind, burning it over the image of the prom night. Then she closed her eyes again, reveling in the warmth of Brock's body, in the scent of his cologne and after-shave, in the moment. She didn't have to dream about being with him anymore, she had the real him. Now she could dream with him.
"Hey Misty."
"Hm?"
"I can see down your tank-top."
"Argh! Brock! You so cannot!"
"Hehehe, I know. Love ya."
"Hm... Love ya too.".
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