Chapter Text
Taking the time off from Blueberry had been easy enough. Sure, the administration hadn't been entirely thrilled when he'd requested one to two weeks of personal leave, but once he offered to do extra credit assignments and keep up with the work he missed, they relented. He did actually intend to do the extra work. Maybe it was about time he got off his ass and stopped dicking around at school. It wasn't like he had to come home after graduation (which was one of the reasons he’d prolonged his graduation in the first place). Besides, if he didn't do something soon, Crispin would be in the same year as him…and that just wouldn't do.
Before taking off, Drayton had left a note on his door for anyone that bothered looking for him. He shot Crispin a text directly, too…and contemplated sending one to Lacey. He decided against it, however—after all, he had said he needed space and time. How would it look if he reached out now—again—just to say goodbye? No, it was best to stick to his original plan for the time being.
In any case, leaving Blueberry had been easy. Coming home, on the other hand, was the tricky part. Drayton had no desire to talk to his grandfather about his two-week leave of absence from school. Really, he had no desire to talk to the man about anything, especially his school life.
So, obviously, he opted to use the spare key he'd gotten years ago and crash at Iris’ place instead. He was pretty sure he remembered her mentioning a trip to some event or summit for something or other, so she'd probably never even know he was there. Thankfully, he and Iris had been on better terms lately, otherwise he'd be screwed without a place. And Drayton had to admit he did miss the sense of familial bonds—even if they were still a bit shaky.
Having stashed up on snacks and the like before arriving in Opelucid, Drayton immediately set up camp at Iris’ house. By stocking up on supplies, he wouldn't need to go out for a few days, which would limit his chances of being spotted by…well, anyone.
The days passed by as a blur with Drayton staying up late, sleeping in, eating junk food, watching shitty television, and staring at his homework (which would prompt him to think about school and then immediately go do something else). Drayton had let his Pokémon out on arrival: Dragonite, Archaludon, Flygon, and Haxorus enjoying the spacious backyard (as well as occasional trips above the city in the case of Dragonite and Flygon), Kingdra frequenting the saltwater pool, and Sceptile coming and going as he pleased between the outside and the inside. He knew he'd have to properly take them out for a good stretch soon, but he still had time…
“Fuckin– DRAYTON!!”
Drayton groaned, pulling the other pillow over his head and curling further into the blankets. His head was fuzzy, if he could just sleep a little more…
“Oh no you don't, you little shit,” the voice shouted again. “Get. UP!!” Each word was punctuated with a sharp poke to the lump that he made in the bed.
“Mmmmno… lemme sleep a lil’more, ‘ris…” Drayton tried again to burrow back into the pillows and blankets, but his tormentor had other plans.
“I swear to Arceus, Drayton, if you don't get your ass out of that bed right now and tell me what's going on I am going to—” She let out a yell of frustration. “Don't fucking make me tell Grandpa.”
Well, that certainly got through to him.
Drayton lurched up to a seated position, almost immediately regretting the action. He blinked blearily in the direction of the door and Iris, who screamed immediately upon seeing his face and dropped the broom she had been using to prod him with. He clasped his hands to his ears and winced.
“What the fuck, Iris?! I'm up!” — “WHAT THE FUCK IS ON YOUR FACE?!”
Frowning, Drayton processed what Iris said. His face? He guessed that he could still have the black eye from Juliana's punch, although it had to be mostly faded now. Still, despite not being related by blood, Iris possessed Drayton’s family’s keen vision and perception.
With a sigh, Drayton rubbed his hand over his eyes to try and wake himself up more. “A friend hit me, and—”
“No, Drayton.” Iris cut him off, her voice trembling. Alarmed, Drayton glanced up and saw her shaking, her hands still covering her mouth. “Are you trying to look like Grandpa?!”
Unable to contain her laughter any further, Iris doubled over, her hands leaving her face as she clutched her sides. Tears streamed out of her warm brown eyes. “Please… you look awful, dude. And this room fucking stinks! Get your ass out of bed, take a shower,” her nose wrinkled as she fought back more laughter, “and for Arceus’ sake, shave your fucking face. And then you can come downstairs to help me clean up your dorm-room level mess while you explain to me why I came home thinking I'd been robbed until I noticed Sceptile watching cartoons on my couch.”
Drayton did as she said (looking at himself in the mirror intentionally nearly gave him a heart attack and reaffirmed his own conviction to never grow a beard). After his shower, he'd thrown on a pair of clean sweatpants and made his way downstairs, a towel still over his hair and around his shoulders. Looking around, Drayton saw the miserable state of the place and decided that, for all that Iris was being dramatic, she was completely justified in originally thinking she'd been robbed.
Sceptile grumbled a greeting before passing him to go outside and soak up some sun.
With a sigh, Drayton sat down at the kitchen counter and then proceeded to sprawl across it, listening to Iris move about the kitchen (probably trying to find the most palatable food from the selection he'd brought). He closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the cool of the counter.
“Okay, I'm going to give you some cereal, and then I'll call in my usual grocery order because all of this is going in the trash. And in between bites you can tell me why you're holed up in my house instead of being at school like you should be.” Iris pushed a bowl of cereal in front of him, frowning in concern as she slid onto a stool next to him. “What's wrong?”
Drayton pushed himself up off the counter, shaking his head to clear it while he pulled the bowl closer and took a bite. He tried to organize his thoughts, because really—what was wrong? The long answer was: everything, but the short answer? Well, he had no fucking clue.
“Who said anything was wrong?”
“You, when you came running home from school.”
“Can't a guy take a vacation?”
“So you voluntarily coming home during the school year is a vacation now?”
Iris’ comeback made Drayton pause. It was true…he didn't like to come home often. Between Drayton’s bitter memories of the Freeze and his crappy relationship with Drayden (and until recently, Iris too), it wasn't surprising that Opelucid wasn't exactly his favorite place to be. Anyone who knew him knew that if they paid attention. (Not that anyone really did pay attention or even knew him all that well. Except maybe Lacey.)
Drayton groaned and slumped forward to drop his head on the counter again. He missed the bowl only because Iris quickly pulled it out of his way.
“What the fuck! Okay, seriously now, what is going on?” Iris put a comforting hand on his shoulder as he brought his own hands up to cradle his face from the counter.
“I don't know.” Drayton's voice was a muffled grumble, and he'd argue with anyone who said there was even a hint of a plea or a whine. Thankfully, Iris took pity on him this time.
“Alright, let's figure it out. Is it about Grandpa?”
Drayton snorted. “No.”
“Something at school?”
“...sorta.”
“Okay. Something to do with the club?”
Drayton gave a shrug, squirming slightly on the stool. “I guess…”
“Something or some—”
Drayton groaned, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling. “Stop. Just…stop. I can't do twenty fucking questions right now.” He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face before finally looking over at Iris. “You, uh… remember my friend Lacey?”
Iris frowned slightly in thought. “Yeah… Clay's kid, right?”
With another sigh, Drayton nodded. “Well, I learned that she had all these wrong ideas about me… and honestly I don't really blame her, except it fucking hurts that she didn't just trust me or talk to me about any of it. And I'm trying to understand what that means.” He looked at her hopefully. “Any ideas?”
Iris snorted and rolled her eyes at him. “Based on what? Hurt feelings? No.” She leaned over to give Drayton a little nudge. “You're gonna have to give me a little more detail than that.” Her voice was soft and warm, as though she was coaxing a wild animal (though, honestly, when it came to getting Drayton to open up about his feelings, it wasn't that much different).
“Ugh, fine.” Drayton rolled his eyes back at her, though a small smile formed on his lips. He took a deep breath, running one hand through his damp hair to rub his scalp as he thought. “We sorta… fell out last year. We had tried dating… I know it was a risk, but it just… it was so easy, ‘ris, too easy. Things were great, but then all of a sudden she broke up with me and I couldn't get her to talk to me about why.” Drayton shrugged half-heartedly. “By the time she seemed to not hate me for whatever reason, it was too late. I didn't know how to try and bring it up, and she made it obvious she wasn't gonna do it. And…well, there's a lot of shit that’s happened in the last like, sixish months or so that I haven’t told you about.” He trailed off into a sigh as he decided against telling Iris the entire breakdown of the recent League Club drama. He didn’t want to be here forever. “It’s all important stuff, really, but the gist is that me and Lacey recently started patching things up a bit. I've been stepping up to help around the club more, and she's seemed to be more comfortable around me again. So, anyway…last week, Lacey was home visiting her mom, and our transfer member, Jules, was visiting with her friend from Paldea. I, uh, noticed that Jules and her friend—this dude, Arven—definitely wanted each other, but neither was gonna do anything about it, so I… helped?”
Drayton paused, realizing he was being much more elaborate than he usually was. He hated talking this much in one sitting.
Iris raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I'm guessing there's a lot more to it than that. Something tells me Lacey wouldn't mind you helping a friend. So, tell me. How did you decide to help them?”
“Heh…” Drayton gave Iris a sheepish smirk. “Well, I might have been a bit…unorthodox in my ways. In my defense though, this guy was really fuckin’ pretty.” He laughed at Iris’ groan in response. “I mean, that jaw of his! And you should've seen his eyelashes.”
“Shut up, Drayton!” Iris smacked him in the arm. “Ugh, you're gross. But I can see where this is going. What the hell is wrong with you?! Then what?”
With another sigh, Drayton ran a hand through his hair again and leaned back over the counter. “I got a black eye from Jules, and Lacey asked what happened to me when she came back from her trip. So…I told her…and she got pissed at me, and then told me…” He tilted his head back, eyes closed against the ghosts of his emotions from that conversation. “She told me why she'd cut me off. And told me all the things she's thought about me for the past year, and…gotta be honest, Iris. I didn't fucking like it.”
“You didn't like what?” Iris’ voice was soft again.
“Any of it. I didn't like what she said, I didn't like that she never even asked me, that she just believed—” Drayton leaned forward again, scrubbing his face with his hands before curling his fingers through his hair and tugging lightly in frustration. “It fucking hurts, Iris.”
“What exactly hurts about it? Is it that she told you these things? Or that she thought of them?”
Drayton shot her an “Are you kidding me?” look. Iris only shrugged back at him.
“Be more specific. Why does it hurt?”
“Because we were friends. Before we were anything else, we were friends. Y'know? We knew each other better than anyone else. I showed her around and looked out for her…and we got closer. When she asked me out…” Drayton shook his head, trying to think of the best way to explain the scramble in his head. “I dunno. It felt natural, and I thought everything was good. Now I find out that she'd been hearing rumors about me, and that I started to make her feel—fuck, I dunno—insecure or something, maybe? Which I never tried to do!” If anything, he'd tried for the opposite. “But she saw something happen and wildly misinterpreted it, and then she listened to someone who fucking hates me basically insist that I was cheating on her. Then she just…froze me out. I had no fucking clue about any of this until she told me, like a year later. And I just…”
He trailed off, finally out of words, and gave her a helpless sort of shrug.
“Oh, lil bro…” Iris reached over and gave him a hug, resting her chin against his shoulder as she leaned in to look at his face. “You're heartbroken.”
Drayton frowned, tensing, before glancing down at Iris. “I mean, it hurts, yeah, but…”
Iris sighed and gave his shoulders a small squeeze. “‘Yeah but’ nothing, kiddo. It's obvious you really care about this girl and what she thinks about you. Especially considering you're moping about it.”
“I'm not moping–”
Irish snorted. “Yeah, okay. Let me try again. You care about what Lacey thinks about you, right? Like a lot.”
Drayton squirmed a bit on the stool. “I…yeah…”
“Would you care this much if it was someone else?”
The frown returned. “No…”
“Exactly. Because you generally don't care what people think, right?”
A scoff. “No.”
“But because it's Lacey, it does matter. It matters to you that she thought that and that she listened to others instead of trusting you.”
Drayton opened his mouth to reply, but had to pause to think that over. Iris wasn't wrong. It bothered him a lot that she hadn't trusted him the same way he trusted her back then…and the way he still trusted her even now. Though, why should he still trust her? It wasn't like she'd given him a very good reason after she'd dropped him without so much as an explanation. There was nothing that said he should still trust her, except…
Except he knew Lacey. In spite of it all, he knew the type of person she really was. He knew that right now she likely felt horrible about her misunderstanding of him this whole time. He also knew that Lacey struggled with insecurity, and the rumors that followed him around probably didn’t help, even though he personally had never given her reason to doubt him.
If Drayton was being completely honest with himself, he could never blame Lacey entirely for the misunderstanding—which seemed illogical, but he couldn’t help it. Drayton knew that communication wasn’t his strong suit as he often expected to be understood through his unspoken actions rather than through his words. (Despite what many seemed to think, Drayton was fully capable of being fair and holding himself accountable for his part in problems and misunderstandings.)
While Drayton was deep in thought, Iris watched his face, observing the emotions he displayed as he slowly came to realization. “Welcome to the conversation, Draytini,” she interrupted him, grinning when he made a face at the nickname. “So what are you going to do now?”
Drayton's scowl morphed into a frown of concern. “I don't know.”
“Are you gonna tell her goodbye? That you don't want to talk to her anymore?”
“No!” His answer was quick, and though it wasn't shouted, it was spoken with conviction.
“Okay. So you want to make up with her, then?”
Drayton nodded and creased his brows. “But how—”
“Why don't you get her a gift?” Iris suggested. “Something meaningful.”
The cogs started to turn in Drayton’s mind. “A gift?”
“Yeah. Something to show you’re serious and that you really want to work things out.”
Drayton tilted his head. “I think you might be onto something.”
Iris scoffed and tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Of course I am. I was her age once, after all. I know the importance of a good gift.”
Drayton grinned—not a smirk or weak, forced smile, but a true grin. He knew the perfect gift already; it would have special significance to Lacey and, knowing her, she would love it. The only potential downside of it was that it could be difficult to obtain, but Drayton knew exactly what it was going to be, and that was the important part.
“Riss-Miss, you're the best!” He launched himself off of the stool and scooped her into a hug, crushing her against his chest and making her scream.
“I know I am!” Iris smacked at him, trying to push him away. “But don't think you're running off on some wild chase for this gift idea! You're going to clean this mess up first, and for Arceus’ sake put a fucking shirt on please!!”
After helping to tidy the house (and properly getting dressed, at least enough for Iris’ tastes), Drayton set to work on getting—or, rather, catching—Lacey’s gift. He studied its best natures, where to catch it, and more. He didn't want to upset her current team lineup, but he figured it would serve as either an alternate or the perfect partner. He couldn't help but feel proud of his plan. It would be the most effort he'd have to put into anything for a long time, but he couldn't have thought of a more rewarding way to spend his energy.
In between hunting for Lacey’s perfect gift, Drayton worked on his schoolwork and extra credit, all while bonding with Iris in his downtime. All in all, it was a really successful little vacation for him. He had gotten the breathing space he needed from both school and (ironically) familial pressure. It turned out that spending more time and communicating properly with his family members was a positive thing for him. At least, that was the case for his pseudo-sibling. Talking to Drayden, on the other hand…well, that would have to wait for another time.
Drayton’s breakthrough finally came when he was due to return to school in three days. It was only then that he had managed to catch Lacey’s Pokémon. The timing was perfect, really—he ended up with just enough time to talk Lacey up to her new (hopeful) companion. And talk her up he did. He let Lacey’s new Pokémon stay out of his ball practically the entire time and bonded with him as he spoke about Lacey.
(It wasn't that Drayton didn't think the little guy was great. It was more that his new trainer was going to appreciate and love him so much more than Drayton ever could. And Drayton would still be around for him, of course, but his new trainer was the absolute best, and he would never need extra attention or affection in her care because they would always be given to him. Drayton sang Lacey's praises to the little Pokémon all the way up until it was time for him to return to Blueberry.)
While leaving Blueberry in the first place had been easy, somehow, coming back was even easier. Lighter, even. Objectively, Drayton had less to pack save for that one extra Pokéball in his pocket. Upon returning back to the Academy, Drayton made for his dorm room to drop his things off. Normally, he may have taken the time to nap as well, but he was too wound up—too eager to get the ball rolling with Lacey and give her the gift he'd spent so much time finding.
Drayton figured that Lacey was in class, given that he'd returned in the middle of the day on a weekday, so he made a beeline for the Club room. Once there, he “broke” into Lacey’s locker (as in, he used the combination he probably shouldn't know but did anyway because he’d had access to everyone's files when he was Champion). He left the Pokéball inside, along with a handwritten note saying that he had missed her, he was ready to talk now, he hoped they could make up, and also, lastly, here was a little gift for her to show her his feelings.
Once finished, Drayton made his way to the Polar Biome to make up for the lack of training he and his Pokémon had done the past two weeks. (They’d trained a little, sure, especially while hunting down Lacey's gift, but it hadn't been their usual routine.)
A few hours later, Drayton's phone notified him of new text messages by suddenly hovering in front of him. His stomach clenched when he noticed they were from Lacey.
[Lacey: I got your gift and note.
Lacey: Can you please meet me at the Coastal Plaza in an hour?]
Drayton suddenly felt warm, and his heart began to race faster than it had during his recent training session. Lacey had mentioned the gift but hadn’t said anything about whether she liked it. He really, really hoped so, but he figured he’d have to wait to find out until he saw her in person.
He quickly responded.
[Drayton: of course, whatever you want
Lacey: Okay. See you then.]
Drayton swallowed. This was fine. It was going to be fine…
Since he had an hour, Drayton went to his room to shower and make himself as presentable as possible. As luck would have it, his shower took long enough that he had no time to gel his hair up, so he settled for pushing it back away from his face before scrambling out the door.
He was just about to head toward the Coastal Plaza from the Terarium entrance when another message from Lacey came through.
[Lacey: It started raining! 😡 Meet me in the alcove with the fountain at Central Plaza instead.
Drayton: okay, i'll be there in a sec]
Eager to get there as quickly as possible, Drayton hopped on Dragonite’s back and had her fly him to the Central Plaza. They landed at the corner Savannah entrance of the Central Plaza, and Drayton gave Dragonite a gentle pat on the chest before returning her to her Pokéball. He then sprinted down the narrow hallway to the room with the fountain. To his relief, there were no other students in the little alcove that he would need to chase out. With a trembling sigh, he sat on the edge of the fountain and waited for Lacey to arrive.
Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long—he heard quick steps echoing closer less than a minute later. Lacey.
She stepped into the alcove, and Drayton stood to go greet her. She moved faster, though, driving him back down to a seated position and trapping him there with her arms resting on either side of him.
Drayton blinked, bracing himself on his hands to lean back. “Hey, Lacey…”
“Welcome back,” Lacey said, and her hands trembled slightly. “I hope your trip was pleasant. I trust Iris and your grandfather are well?”
“Yeah—”
“Good. There wasn't much to miss here, but I took extra notes for you.”
“Oh, thank—”
“I missed you.”
Drayton blinked again, surprised both by Lacey’s confession and by the fact that, for once, he was unable to get a word in. “Oh. Well, I missed y—”
Lacey shook her head. “No. I missed you when we weren't talking. I missed spending time with you and laughing with you…” She took a deep breath, closing her eyes briefly before meeting his gaze again steadily. “I'm so sorry that I didn't just trust you. That I listened to rumors and let my own insecurities get the better of me, instead of just talking to you. That I wasn't fair to you. And I'm mad at myself for hurting you the way I did. Can you forgive me?”
The anxiety that had kept Drayton’s shoulders stiff dissipated, and he slumped a little in relief. He offered her a small smile. “Of course, Lacey. I—”
Lacey held up a finger to silence him again. “I’m sorry. One more thing: your gift. The Mawile.” Her eyes searched his own, and her brows knit together in a hopeful expression. “I need you to tell me what it means, Drayton.”
Drayton's breath caught at the question. He hadn't been sure what he was going to say even before she'd all but cornered him, but now… What could he say? He swallowed again, but she was too impatient to wait.
“I love him—he's adorable and sweet, and I couldn't imagine a more perfect gift. But I need to know what you meant by giving him to me. Because a girl could read into a gift like this, and I don't want any more misunderstandings between us. So I need to be absolutely certain that you meant what I think you meant by this, what I…what I hope you meant.”
Still holding his gaze, Lacey tentatively reached a hand up to lightly cup his cheek with her palm. Without hesitation, Drayton leaned into her touch, closing his eyes briefly before meeting her gaze again.
Not quite trusting his own voice yet, he nodded in response to her more than implied questioning.
The smile Lacey gave him next was radiant, like an inviting sunrise or the Northern Lights, and his heart skipped a beat. He hardly noticed her leaning closer until her lips were nearly on his.
“I'm glad.” Lacey’s voice was soft, no more than a whisper, but it rang sweetly in his ears as she brushed her lips against his. He accepted her invitation and slowly, gently pressed back into her kiss, sitting up straight so that he could meet her more comfortably.
As his eyelids fell shut, his own words to Iris days ago echoed in his mind: “It was easy. So easy. Natural.” With Lacey, it always was, and he hoped it always would be.
Drayton wrapped his arms around Lacey, holding her close. Sure, they had many more things to discuss before taking this much further, but for the moment he was content.
A huge HUGE thank you and shout out to the AMAZING litlyre! She drew a snippet from the fic and made me cry!
And ANOTHER amazing piece of art from the FANTASTIC melondramatics