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After Gloria was crowned Champion of Galar, Hop hadn't realized how hard it would be to share her attention with others.
At first, the sting of losing to his childhood best friend and the disappointment of not beating his brother were enough to bring Hop’s spirits down significantly. But, eventually, he was able to move on from how hurt he felt and find it in him to be proud of his best friend’s success.
The real trouble began when Gloria moved from Postwick to Wyndon and her schedule began filling up and he missed her and he couldn't believe she was gone and they were in a long distance relationship and how was he supposed to survive without seeing her smile daily? Even after all these years, he still felt the pain of her absence as though it was a fresh wound.
Hop pressed the back of his hand to his forehead before pulling up his chair and taking a seat. He was waiting for Gloria who was supposed to meet him at a ritzy restaurant in Wyndon.
So, he waited and waited and waited.
Where was she?
Taking a sip of his water before setting the glass back down, Hop checked his Rotom phone again. There were still no missed calls or texts from her. Furrowing his brow, he drummed his fingers against the tabletop.
Was she standing him up?
His waiter seemed sympathetic every time she passed by his table, and he felt terrible taking up a spot in the restaurant when Gloria clearly wasn't coming. After apologizing to the waiter, he stood, shoving his chair in and striding out the restaurant.
Was it too much to hope that his childhood best friend – his girlfriend – would have a few hours to spare? Did she really not want to hang out with him?
Hop kicked at a few pieces of broken asphalt as he trudged down the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets. Today sucked.
“Hop?”
His head jerked up.
“Hop!”
He didn't want to look – not when he knew it was her, not when she'd just stood him up, not when she could've done literally anything to prevent leaving him hanging.
Gloria caught his arm, but he pulled away. “Hi, Professor.” Her use of his new title would’ve had him blushing under different circumstances. “I’m sorry I'm late.”
“You're not late, Gloria,” Hop stated as coldly as he could. “You stood me up. I've been waiting for you to show up for over an hour, and you didn't call or text me.”
Instantly, Gloria stiffened. “Hop, I – I'm sorry.” She cleared her throat. “I guess I lost track of time.”
Hop folded his arms over his chest. He didn't want to scream at her or hurt her feelings, but he was frustrated. “Yeah, you lost track of time. We had a date planned.”
“I’m sorry, Hop, but I’ve been doing the best that I can.” Gloria was getting frustrated too. “As the years go by, more and more is expected of me as Champion, and I can’t bear the thought of letting anyone down.”
With a ragged sigh, Hop turned away. “Yeah. You can’t let anyone down except your boyfriend.”
Gloria reached out to him. “Hop, please, can you at least try to understand? I didn’t mean to leave you hanging, and I’m sorry that I did, but –”
“We’re not fine, Gloria,” Hop replied, tugging at the ends of his hair in exasperation. “Nothing about this is fine.” He couldn’t hide the hurt that laced his voice anymore. “I know that you’re Champion and that you have tons of responsibilities. I understand better than anyone how much is on your plate now.” He met her gaze. “For as long as he was Champion, Lee rarely ever had any time for me, and that hurt, even though I understood.”
Realization filled Gloria’s eyes as she opened her mouth to speak again.
Hop cut her off, continuing, “I can’t be so low on your priority list if we’re going to make this work, Gloria.” He pressed his fingers to his temples in order to stave off the throbbing pain. “This is the third or fourth time this has happened, and my feelings are really hurt.” His lips turned downward, “I care about you a lot, but I don’t think that I can go on like this anymore.”
“I’m… Hop, I’m so, so sorry.” Gloria’s voice cracked lightly, and little tears prickled at the corners of her eyes. “I had no idea you felt this way, and you’re right. I’ve been a sucky friend, let alone girlfriend. I’d like to do better… If you’ll give me a chance.”
As his insecurity slowly lessened, his worry for his girlfriend increased. “I forgive you, Gloria.” Hop opened his arms and sighed as she stepped into his embrace. “This is something we can work on, yeah?”
Gloria buried her face in his chest, tears lightly streaking across his dress shirt. “Absolutely.”
Clearing his throat, Hop glanced down at her. “I… I guess we lost our dinner reservation then, huh?”
They both laughed shakily, disentangling from each other’s arms. Gloria slipped her hand through his. “We can go back to my place,” she offered. “I’ll cook you dinner to make up for how late I was, and then we can catch up.”
“Sounds good to me.” Hop tugged lightly on her hand. “Let’s go.”