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Chapter Text

Green had done everything right, he had a top tier team, he beat the elite four in record time, he was the youngest champion ever, and yet he still lost. He lost to Red no doubt.

Red… 

His childhood best friend turned bitter rival. It would have been one thing if he had lost to someone who had several years of experience, but no he lost to someone who had been training the exact same amount of time, who had gotten his starter on the exact same day. Of course it was Red. 

Right before their journeys up to the championship battle their friendship had fallen apart. Both were quick to anger, both only cared about reaching the top no matter who or what they destroyed to get there. Before, before starters, before battles, before all of it, they were as thick as thieves. They did everything together, they were neighbors, they were best friends.

Green glared at Red as he recalled blastoise, Red glared right back, there was no sorrow or remorse in his eyes, only the satisfied gloat of beating his rival in the ultimate competition. 

Surging forward Green tackled Red to the ground, but Red had been ready and quickly maneuvered himself to be on top. He threw a punch that landed on Green’s jaw. 

Not to be outdone, Green pulled himself up and landed a punch on Red’s eye. The boys were in a tussle throwing punches and wrestling on the ground. Their animosity from last year, coming out in full now. 

A firm hand gripped the back of Green’s shirt, pulling him off of his rival. He twisted backwards glaring daggers at the person who dared take him away from the fight; only to be face to face with his own grandfather.

“Green Oak! I’m so disappointed in you! Attacking Red because you weren’t a good enough trainer! You don’t love or respect your pokemon or anyone else, I thought I raised you better, but it seems that I wasted years of hard work on you.” 

Each word the professor spoke was a dagger to Green’s gut. He wanted to double over from the emotional pain of it all. Even Red, who had been just as angry as Green, began to look at him with pity.

“Fuck you old man.” Green shouted, well he had intended for it to be a shout but it came out of more of a raspy whisper. The tears that had been in his eyes since blastoise went down were now threatening to fall,  they very well may have been falling, judging by the new sting on his busted lip and swollen eye. Green turned and ran.

No one called his name or ran after him, he had even stopped a few yards out from the gym waiting to see if his grandfather, or Red, would come out. He waited a good twenty minutes before realizing that no, no one cared. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and started walking.

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Mount Silver was freezing cold. Despite buying a thick coat and all sorts of canned goods, Green was woefully unprepared for the treacherous mountain. Wild pokemon attacked him at every turn, had his own pokemon not been as strong as they were he would have easily been a goner. 

Green found a cave at the peak of the mountain. It was fairly small for a cave, but with enough room to let all of his team members out. Once everyone was out of their balls, Green took a good look at them, he sat down holding his knees to his chest. Alakazam, arcanine, exeggutor, blastoise, pidgeot, machamp, and eevee all sat around the small hearth he had built and had arcanine light. He looked down at his feet, feeling ashamed, it wasn’t only him who had lost. His team was also no longer a champion team. It was his fault, if only he’d been a better trainer, if he’d thought of different moves, then they could have won.

“I’m sorry team. We aren’t champions anymore. I wasn’t…I wasn’t good enough.” 

He began to sob, letting all of his emotions free. He was alone, only him and his team, and despite what his grandfather said, he did love and respect his pokemon. He felt eevee’s small tongue darting out to lick the salty tears away. Pidgeot wrapped him up inside of his feathers, the rest of his pokemon crowded around, attempting to provide comfort. They fell asleep like that, laying as a unit while the heavy winds whipped outside of the cave walls.

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According to the calendar Green had created on the cave walls, 6 years had passed since he went up to the summit. A lot had changed for Green during that time. For one thing he was no longer a snot nosed 11 year old with severe abandonment issues, now the only reason he had snot in his nose was because of how cold the arceus damned mountain was. 

The nice thing about living on a mountain was that all of his excess time and energy was focused on survival. When he wasn’t training his team, he was working on ways to survive. Spring and summers were spent foraging for nuts and berries, drying the berries to store for the winter, he and his team had gotten very handy and built a dehydrator. He’d trap and butcher small pokemon for their meat, turning the extra to jerky. 

One time he caught a magikarp, but the thing had been so damn feisty that Green didn’t have it in his heart to slaughter it; its spunk reminded him of himself. He took to training it, and eventually it evolved into the world’s fiercest (sweetest) gyarados. Fall and winter were worse than the spring and summer, the cold bit against skin, and Green had to hope that he had prepared enough food to last them through the winter, as things were hard to scavenge during the cold season. 

His second winter on the mountain, Green hadn’t prepared enough for himself and his team. Rather than starve his team, he cut his own portions in half. He lost quite a bit of weight that winter, and barely survived to spring. He made sure to never make the same mistake again.

The other part about winter that Green hated was that there wasn’t much to do. On days without blizzards he could spend the day training his team, but there was only so much training his team could handle. Winters were often spent in self-reflections. Where Green would contemplate every reason his life had fallen apart. 

Winters were spent thinking about everyone who he had disappointed in his life. His father, who left when he was 5, not wanting to stick around. His mother who couldn’t handle two kids, and sent the bratty and unruly one to live with her ex-father in law. 

Daisy lived with their mother, Green had heard her ask not to visit again when she thought no one was around. He had been 8, he hadn’t seen his mother or sister since. His grandfather, who made sure Green knew what a disappointment he was. Even Red, who had such a good friendship with, then destroyed it when it was time to become rivals instead. The worst of all was his original team, forced to live on top of a mountain instead of in the lap of luxury. The team who the championship title had been ripped from, because Green wasn’t good enough. 

Today was a spring day, which after the last winter of reflection, Green was more than ready for the work that came with it. He wasn’t sure how many more winters he could handle. Between his self-loathing and his bone crushing loneliness, they were getting hard to handle. 

“Come on guys! The sun is shining, the snow is melting! We’ve got berries to find! Come on, sleepy pants get up!”

 Green danced around the cave waking his sleeping pokemon, arcanine bouncing behind him. Out of all of his pokemon, the only one who was pleasant to be around in the morning was arcanine, the rest were late risers, but they had too much to do for his pokemon to be lazy; lazy was for the winter.

Green poked at a sleeping alakazam who peeped one eye open and made a threatening aura appear, Green poked again, knowing his psychic type well enough to know he was in no real danger. It begrudgingly woke up.

There were wicker baskets in a corner that had been sitting dormant for the last few months, Green began tossing them to his team. 

“Okay guys, whoever picks the most edible berries wins! Bragging rights for the victor. So on your mark, get set, go!” Green shouted and despite the earlier general sleepiness of his team, they were all ready for the competition. They might no longer compete at an elite level, but they were still a competitive bunch. Green laughed watching his team scatter into the forest, typically pidgeot or machamp won, using their flying abilities and multiple arms, respectively, to gather more than the rest of the team.

Eevee despite being extremely competitive as well had chosen to stick around the cave with Green today. His job, being one of the only ones two with thumbs, was to prepare and fix tools and other gadgets that had broken during the winter. 

On slower days, Green had taken to studying the wild pokemon of the area, he had multiple notebooks that were filled with any and all observations he made. If he ever decided to go down the mountain and back into civilization he’d have a whole textbook of information. Not that he had a real plan on going back down. When he had initially decided to go up the mountain it had been on sort of a whim. Just somewhere to hide for a bit, to figure out his emotions, but then after a while he had realized he didn’t have anything to go back down for. 

He’d vaguely thought about heading to Kalos once he turned 18, but he had no skills besides battling and he apparently wasn’t even that good at that. He’d wanted to be a researcher, but no one would take him without a degree or a family name, and he really doubted his grandfather would vouch for him. So for now, the top of a mountain was where he’d stay.

“Okay Miss Princess,” Green patted eevee’s head, “Let’s do some math, we’ve got another mouth to feed now so our numbers are off.” Green pet the little larvitar strapped to his chest like a baby.

He’d found the newest addition to the team a month earlier. During a pleasant winter day he and the team had been training. There was a family of two Tyranitar and 4 freshly chewed out larvitar. Green had actually been documenting the family for months now, the mother and father having buried their eggs deep underground and the four babies eating their way out to find their parents, he kept far enough away to observe but not be seen. The reunion seemed to be a happy one with the parents acting joyous at their young ones arrival, until the fourth, the smallest of the bunch, a different color from the rest of the siblings, came out from the earth. The parents immediately gathered their other 3 children and left, too fast for the baby to follow. Green waited for hours watching it, until night began to fall. He knew the little creature would not make it through, between the cold and the predators. It would be gone. The parents never came back.

He could hear his grandfather’s voice in the back of his head telling him to leave it be, just observe not interact, researchers didn’t alter the course of nature. But Green wasn’t a real researcher, no he was just a runaway with a family who didn’t want him either. So he’d scooped up the small larvitar and brought it to meet the rest of his team. His first shiny. 

Green bent down and began to work on getting the dehydrator back into running condition, it would need to be ready for this afternoon once his team brought baskets full of food. He might need to build a second one, last summer had the single one running constantly, and it still felt like he needed more food. Cutting things too close for comfort. 

There was the sound of a twig snapping, Green shot up, ready to send eevee out to battle. Typically one pokemon stayed close to camp in case of a wild pokemon. But instead of a pokemon there was a boy. Well not a boy, a teenager. Probably not that much younger than himself, how old was he anyway? 16, 17? Probaby 17. 

“Who the fuck are you?” The teenager asked, bewildered.

“I could ask you the same question, and what are you doing on my mountain?” Green asked, putting his hands on his hips, and resting his weight on one leg.

“Since when are you the Johto government?” The kid snorted.

Green tried to keep a smile from forming, but he couldn’t help it. This was the first interaction he’d had with someone who wasn’t a pokemon since he used all of his money to purchase supplies 7 years prior.

“I’m Gold! I came up here to battle wild pokemon, to train to be the very best!” The kid had an infectious grin that reminded himself of the good days when he’d been young. 

“Ah so you want to be a trainer do you? Fancy a battle?” Green asked, eyeing the kid tauntingly.

“Man, I've got a fully evolved typhlosion. Sorry, I think I’ll beat your little eevee and larvitar.” Gold said condescendingly. 

Green doubled over laughing. Gold stood there confused, did this guy seriously expect him to battle, it would be a one hit KO.

Green stood up and placed two fingers against his bottom lip and whistled. Out of the forest clearing came a rumbling, then the massive bodies of Green’s pokemon came stomping through. Gold’s mouth fell open, before he slapped his knee and smirked.

“Okay, let’s battle then!” Gold pulled a pokeball from his belt. 

Green smirked, feeling the heat of a battle build up inside of him. He’d assumed he would never battle again, and the prospect had an old flame re-igniting. 

In the end, it was an almost close battle, but Gold didn’t have the skills to beat Green. They shook hands and Green grinned.

“Okay kid, want some food? It’s mostly magikarp and berries but it’s still good!” 

Gold shook his head, “Sorry, I’ve got to head back down, my mom wants me home for dinner, but can I come back and battle you again? You’re seriously one of the strongest trainers I’ve ever met!” 

Green tried to not let his disappointment at his new friend leaving already reflect on his face.

“Sure kid, come back, and I’ll kick your ass again.”

Gold laughed and waved goodbye before heading down the mountain. Green felt his shoulders slump. His first interaction in years and it was already over. 

“Good battle guys, and good job on foraging today too! I’m proud of you all.” Green and his pokemon went to work preparing the berries to be dehydrated or eaten fresh. It took a lot of work but with his whole team, less the baby larvitar, helping they made quick work.

They had a nice meal with fresh berries and fresh meat before falling asleep in the pile formation they normally slept in.

“I hope that kid comes back.” Green said to no one in particular before falling asleep surrounded by the only things that loved him.

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“Reeeeedddd.” Gold whined before plopping down on the sofa in Red’s office. 

Looking up, Red scowled. He had a monster amount of paperwork and the last thing he needed to be dealing with right now was Gold begging for a rematch, although he’d much prefer battling with Gold than doing paperwork that Lance had sent over for him.

When he was a kid, he thought being a champion meant battling nonstop, but what it really meant was doing paperwork constantly. He wished he could run away sometimes, but every time he thought that, he’d think about Green, who had actually run away, and the months that he’d spent looking for his once friend. He saw how downtrodden the professor had become, blaming himself for his grandson's disappearance, the whispered worries that Green had died. He could never do that to his own mother. 

Red looked up at Gold raising a single eyebrow.

“So you know how I’ve been bored and I said I’d go up Mount Silver to see if I could find some tough pokemon to battle or whatever.” 

Red made a motion with his hand telling Gold to continue. Honestly he wasn’t sure how Lyra and Silver dealt with the round-about way Gold told all his stories, although it did remind him of Green sometimes. He hoped Green was okay wherever he was, happy too. Safe from the ghosts that had haunted him as a kid.

“Well anyway, my team was super overpowered so I pretty much obliterated everything, so it wasn’t all that fun, but when I got to the top of the mountain there was this crazy strong trainer! Like insanely strong! I’m pretty sure he’s stronger than you!” That caught Red’s interest. Gold noticed that Red was piqued and continued.

“At first I thought he was just some hiker, but after he beat me, he was like come back anytime to battle. I think he’s like a mountain man who lives in a cave or something. I wanna go up again and fight him, wanna come with? I asked Silv but he told me he had better things to do.” Gold frowned, annoyed with his rival who constantly blew him off.

A trainer that beat Gold? Red wanted nothing more than an exhilarating battle, he hadn’t had a decent battle since Green, no one came close. Red nodded his head and tipped his hat. This could be fun.

The next morning Gold met Red at the bottom of Mount Silver. He had a whole hiking backpack which seemed like overkill compared to the small amount Red carried, just a first aid kit, some revives, a water canteen, and a few bars.

“It’s stuff for the mountain man, I figured he’d want some treats in exchange for battles, when I tried to pay him when he beat me he asked what I thought he’d do with cash, so I figured we could do like a trade thing.” Gold said, pulling out his pokemon. 

Red shrugged his shoulders before beginning the ascent up the mountain. Gold had been right, their teams were so overpowered that any wild pokemon were no match. The trek up the mountain was quick. Gold kept Red entertained with whatever came to his head. 

When they finally reached the peak, there was no one to be seen. Red raised an eyebrow. Gold looked around till he spotted what looked like the mouth of a cave. He jerked his head indicating for Red to follow making his way to the cave. There were two strange oven looking creations outside of the cave, full of drying berries. Gold called out before entering the cave.

“Hey Mr. Mountain Man! It’s me Gold, I’m here for another battle! I brought a friend who can definitely beat your ass this time!” Gold gave Red a cheeky smirk who refrained from rolling his eyes. There was no one in the cave, but signs of someone living there were all over.

A small bed, pans for cooking, a hearth with smoldering ashes, in the corner was a pile of empty pokeballs. 

“Should we wait here?” Gold asked looking around at the cave, there were marks all over the walls, Gold wondered what they were for, passing of time perhaps? If that was the case, the guy had been here for years.

Red was investigating the backpack of the cave dweller, something about it was hauntingly familiar. He couldn’t place it, but he was sure he’d seen it before. He went to pick it up but before he could someone called from the mouth of the cave.

“Gold?” Red’s head shot up, that voice, it was like a ghost’s. 

“Hey Mountain Man! I brought my friend to battle you, he’s stronger than me and will beat you for sure!” 

Green crossed his arms over his chest, a smile playing on his lips. 

“Okay kid, bring your friend out and let’s do this.” Green turned and walked out of the cave. 

Red’s body suddenly felt heavy, his legs not wanting to move, but he pushed himself forward. There was no way, no, not after all of these years, it couldn’t be. Gold seemed to not notice his friend’s state and practically skipped out of the cave. 

When Red made it to the mouth of the cave, his suspicions were confirmed, who was standing there talking animatedly to Gold, but Green, an older Green albeit, but Green nonetheless. The young man in question turned to welcome the newcomer then froze, the smile on his face fell upon seeing who was there. 

“R..Red?” Green stuttered. Beginning to back away towards the woods. Gold furrowed his brow in confusion.

“Wait, do you know each other?” 

Red took off running just as Green did, sensing Green’s movements only a nanosecond after he made them. Red had grown a lot over the last few years, his body was in excellent shape, no longer the scrawny child, whereas Green it seemed hadn’t grown too much, he was much too thin probably from living on a mountain. Red caught Green quickly, tackling him into the ground. Green brought his arms up to protect his face, fully expecting Red to unleash fury. They were rivals after all, and the last time they’d seen each other Green had ruined Red’s championship day by starting a fist fight.

Instead, Red collapsed on top of Green gripping him like he’d disappear again, sobbing. Green found himself relishing in the touch, the first hug he’d had in years. After what felt was too quick Red pulled himself off of Green, he helped Green stand, and they took a long look at each other. Red had grown several inches taller than Green and had taken on quite a bit of muscle mass. Though Green hadn’t seen his reflection in a mirror in years, he knew Red looked a lot better than himself. His weak diet didn’t help.

“You aged well.” Green managed with a smile, his voice hoarse from the tears at the reunion. Out of everyone he could have seen again, Red was the one he wanted to see the most, and the one he thought least likely to want to find him.

Red looked Green up and down and frowned, Green looked too pale, his skin lacking life, too skinny, he obviously wasn’t eating enough, even though his team looked healthy. He must have been taking care of them over himself. 

“I don’t look that bad, do I?” Green awkwardly laughed, crossing his arms over his chest to try and hide himself from Red’s piercing gaze. 

Reaching out to Green’s hair, Red noticed something, it was styled. He pulled his hand back, the action of touching Green’s hair too familiar.

“I bought like 5 industrial sized hair gel containers before I came here, I’ve only used one.” Green grinned cheekily, his old persona coming out again. 

Red couldn’t hide the grin on his lips, it was so like Green to think of his hair when he marooned himself on a frozen wasteland. Neither boy noticed Gold slipping over.

“So you must be the infamous Green Oak.” 

Green nearly jumped out of his skin having forgotten that Gold with Red.

“Uh yeah, that’s me Green Oak.” He gave a two fingered-salute. He hadn’t done that in years, it felt foreign to him. 

“This entire time you’ve been here.” Red said, surprising Gold, who hadn’t ever heard Red speak out loud. Green looked away, Red’s pikachu was off playing with eevee and larvitar. Machamp and gyarados were on babysitting duty of larvitar while Green was dealing with the other humans.

Green rubbed the back of his neck, he’d heard Red speak plenty of times, sure Red didn’t speak to most people, but back when they were kids they had regular conversations, although Green had always been adept at reading Red’s facial cues.

“Yeah, came up here, right after you know.” Green waved his hands in the air,  “Haven’t come down since…Anyway, you’re here to battle I’m sure? Gold probably promised you a good time, sorry to disappoint.” Green looked around at his team. They were strong, and had grown stronger on the mountain, but he knew Red, there was no way he spent the last few years letting his battling skills get rusty. 

Red would always be better than Green, Green knew that. He knew it at the bottom of his soul. 

Red shook his head, he couldn’t battle Green, not again. Last time he beat him it ended up with Green running away for 7 years, now Red had finally found him again. There was so much they needed to talk about, but Gold was here and most of this was private. He’d have to come back alone. 

“What no battle?!” Gold whined, looking at Red “And I brought all of this crap to give him when he beat you! I wanted to see you lose so badly!” 

Red raised an eyebrow.

“Will you battle me at least?” Gold asked, turning to Green, pouting slightly. Green looked at Red then back at Gold and shrugged his shoulders.

“Sure, kid, but don’t expect to win because you surprised me with my old friend.” Green said, 

Red’s face changed for a slight second, Green referred to him as an old friend, not rival. Sure they had been friends when they were young, but the last time they spoke not so much.

Despite the fact that Red was watching from the side lines, Green still went into battle mode. All of his focus on the fight in front of him. His methods had changed a lot in the last few years, any kind of erraticness from before had been replaced with precise and exact actions. Green was good. He beat Gold, easier than he had last time. 

“Great battle, Green!” Gold said chipperly. He pulled the backpack over to Green. Green looked down at it and narrowed his eyes.

“Last time you said you didn’t need money since you lived on a mountain, so I figured if I lost a battle to you again I should bring you some stuff instead.” Gold opened the pack and began to pull out items, cans of food, soap, blankets, a few magazines, some books, all things a mountain man would appreciate. 

“You didn’t have to do this. I just appreciate the battle itself. But the canned food will be really helpful for the winter!” Green said as he picked one of the cans to investigate, canned pasta, he hadn’t had this since he was little. His mouth watered looking at it.

Gold shook his head.

“Nah man, you beat me fair and square, have to pay you somehow! Oh! My mom packed us bentos too! I hope you like curry!” Green nodded excitedly and motioned towards his cave. The pair followed him.

“Sorry, I don’t have guests…ever, so it’s floor seating” 

Green said as he laid down a few blankets on the floor around the hearth. Gold didn’t seem to mind and plopped down onto the cave floor. Red took his time, looking around. There were a few things laying around, but for the most part the cave was barren. There was no bed, just a mat, a few articles of clothing folded neatly in a corner, the jars of hair product, and some containers with dried foods. No wonder Green was so small, he didn’t even eat. 

Gold handed out the bentos to Green and Red. Green waited patiently for everyone else to start before digging into his. After his first bite, he wanted to cry. This was the first food that wasn’t foraged he’d had in forever. He forgot how much seasonings could change a dish. He savored every bite, enjoying the different textures, the rice especially made him want to cry. He didn’t notice the way Red was observing him, or the frown growing on his lips.

Green scrapped the box clean, half of him wanted to lick the delicious sauce but decided against it. Gold stretched his arms over his head and emitted a loud yawn. He checked the time on his watch and stood up.

“Well I better head back down if I don’t want my mom to kill me! You comin with Red? Or did you wanna stay and catch up?” Gold asked, grabbing the empty bento boxes and sticking them in his backpack. 

Red looked at Green, Green’s eyes were somewhat hopeful, for what Red wasn’t sure. He had plenty of paperwork he needed to get through, but that all could wait for another day. No right now, Red had a lot to say to Green, a lot of unanswered questions, why did he run, why did he never come home, was it Red’s fault, could he have done anything to save his old friend, was he punishing himself for losing by staying up here.

Red motioned to Green as if to say I’ll stay here.

Green gulped, when Gold asked if Red was staying, part of him got excited at the idea of spending more time with Red, but the other part of him wanted to scream, why would Red want to spend time with him. What would he even say? 

Gold stood up and waved.

“Come back any time! You don’t need to bring stuff with you either, I’m happy just to battle!” Green called after him, Gold gave a thumbs up and headed out of the cave. Green turned back to Red, his stomach turning into knots. 

“So…How have you been, Red?” Green asked, trying to sound casual, hoping that Red couldn’t hear the pounding of his heart. Arcanine curled himself around Green, sensing his trainer’s duress. Green laid back down into the warmth of his fur.

Red grabbed his cap and ducked his head. He had so much he needed to say, but no clue how to start.

“Why?” Was all he could muster.

Green bit his lip and looked down, eevee and larvitar had since hopped into his lap and he spent time petting them, unsure of how to answer.

“I lost Red, you know that. What was I supposed to do, stick around? Wallow in my own humiliation? I couldn’t do it.” Green whispered, there was so much emotion in his voice.

“I missed you.” Red said, he didn’t expect Green to bark out a dry humorless laugh.

“I don’t believe you. It’s okay. I’ve come to terms with it now. I wasn’t wanted.” Green looked away, he may have come to terms with it but it still hurt him to think about. 

Red stood up abruptly and stomped over to where Green was curled up. He crouched down and grabbed Green’s face forcing him to look.

“I looked for you for months, I’ve always kept my ear out for you. I wanted you, Green. You are my friend.” Red said it with so much sincerity that Green almost believed him. Unshed tears threatening to fall, Green averted his eyes.

“Bullshit Red. You hated me, even before the championship shit. I was just the kid you were forced to hang around because there was no one else around.” Green stood up, feeling anger and pain, humiliation, fear, every emotion he’d pushed down deep the last 6 years come festering to the surface.

“I wasn’t forced to hang around you Green. You were my friend! My best friend!” Red felt himself shouting, what was wrong with Green, acting like he wasn’t cared for. “Everyone has been worried about you. Thinking you're dead.”

Red grabbed Green’s shoulders trying to convey with his eyes how much Green meant to everyone. 

“I’m not you Red! People don’t love me! The town, the league, hell even my grandfather, they all always loved you more! Every part of me is a fucking mask! No one loves me and no one misses me so stop fucking lying and get off of my damn mountain.” 

Green shoved Red’s arms away and stomped off to a corner of the cave. His chest heaving with sobs. He hoped he was alone, he hoped Red had left and wouldn’t come back. Instead a pair of arms wrapped themselves around Green enveloping him in a tight hug. Green couldn’t fight it anymore, he let his emotions out. He held onto Red like a lifeline.

“Why didn’t they want me” He sobbed into Red’s neck. Red just held him closer, wishing to take the pain away, only able to rub Green’s back. 

Once Green’s sobs had quieted down to little hiccups, Red pulled away. Green raised a hand to wipe his swollen face. He sheepishly grinned.

“Sorry Red. Guess I forgot how to act around people.” Red shook his head. No, this was years in the making. He pulled at Green’s hand in an obvious let’s go.

“I’m not coming down just because you found me. I…I can’t Red. This is my home now. I don’t belong.” Green said defeated. Red grit his teeth. Then forced himself to relax, Green had always been stubborn just like himself, that was the whole reason they had fought in the first place, both too stubborn to admit that they wanted to be around each other even as “rivals”

“Can I visit again?” Green looked at him funnily. 

“I’m not going to force you Red, it’s okay. I’m really fine. I’ve been up here for 7 years and I’m still healthy.” Red looked at him, he really didn’t look healthy. He needed another 15 pounds and some sun. 

“I want to.” 

“If you want to, I can’t stop you. But don’t do it because you feel bad. You’re not the reason I’m here.” Red tipped his hat, despite what Green said, Red was sure that he was certainly a reason Green had hidden himself away on that mountain.

Red raised a hand and waved a little goodbye.

“Bye Red. It was good to see you. Sorry again for freaking out on you.” Red nodded and tipped his hat before whistling for pikachu, the electric mouse scurried up Red’s arm and chirped a little goodbye to its new friends.

The trip down the mountain, Red was lost in thought. What was he going to do about Green? Obviously the boy had a lot of issues he needed to work through. He was too small, too pale, and he seemed lonely. He was Green Oak, he’d spent his whole life surrounded by people, the life of the party, now he was in self-isolation. 

Red knew what he had to do, he had to convince Green to come down the mountain, and until he did that Red needed to make sure Green was taking care of himself. It was obvious he cared about his pokemon, they were all much healthier than him. Red thought back to the words the Professor had spit at Green. Green didn’t care about his team, which wasn’t true, even a little bit! And, Green hadn’t been the only one fighting, Red was throwing just as many punches, he would have been the one to lunge if Green hadn’t first. They both had so much anger built up.

By the time Red made it down to the bottom of the mountain he had formulated  a plan to get Green home. First he’d make weekly trips up the mountain bringing supplies and home-cooked meals, second he’d do everything he could to rebuild the friendship that the pair had before they started their journeys, and third he wouldn’t tell anyone where Green was. There was no telling how the Professor would react, and the league would probably try to drag him down and force him to battle for them. No, not even Red’s own mother would find out.

Sending a quick text to Gold to keep his mouth shut about the identity of the mountain man, Red put his plan into action.

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Chapter Text

Green didn’t expect to see Red again, or Gold for that matter. He had assumed that once Gold knew his real identity he’d have no reason to come back. Anyway who would want to battle a loser like Green when Red was so close. So Green continued with his daily routines of training and preparing for the winter. The items Gold had brought would be really helpful, but he couldn’t rely on them, he still had a lot to do. 

It had been two weeks since he saw Red last, he had doubled up on his efforts to prepare for the winter. He spent his every waking moment working hard, attempting to exhaust his body to the point where he wouldn’t be able to think before falling asleep. Because if he thought, he’d think about Red and how handsome he looked, and how much he’d grown. 

Green had spent his most hormonal years alone on a mountain. He’d had more than enough time to figure out his own sexuality. He’d spent many a night stroking his hard cock to the image of a dark haired man with a strong jaw and intense eyes. It was wild how much grown Red looked like Green’s imaginary partner. It was worrying actually, especially since the last time he touched himself he cried out Red’s name as he came. That was several days after he’d seen Red, he hadn’t indulged himself since then.

“Blastoise can you lift this for me, bud?” 

The water pokemon lumbered over to Green and lifted the frame that Green had made, Machamp held the otherside as Green tied the ends together. He was attempting to build a greenhouse, if he could grow fresh food during the winter months and the summer months he would be a lot better off. Red’s reaction to him had got him thinking, he needed a way to ensure that would be enough food. Sure now it was him who went without but what if it went bad enough that he couldn’t feed his whole team. If he could just build something. 

His other idea was digging a pool in his cave, maybe he could take to breeding magikarp. The problem with that was how cold it was in the cave some days in the winter. He’d have to come up with some way to control the temperature. If it got too cold and they froze, then that would be tons of meat wasted. He thought about constant flames burning, but that would have to be a lot of extra wood, and his team was already spread pretty thin on the prep work. 

“Maybe if we built a little house inside of the cave? Then we could keep the heat inside, we could also grow that water weed stuff that you guys like to eat, how much sun do you think it needs or if we can get it to grow without?” Green asked his pokemon who were helping him build his greenhouse, they chirped back answers despite not having a clue what Green was going on about. 

“You’re right Machamp, we also need to figure out how we’d feed the additional pokemon. Maybe that can be a project for next summer, this summer we need to finish this greenhouse.”

Green was so busy working and conversing with his pokemon that he didn’t see the new arrival. Until he felt a tap on his shoulder. Green jumped five feet in the air, he turned around fists up ready to take out a wild pokemon only to see Red with a very amused expression on his face. 

“Red?” His jaw nearly dropped open, did he hit his head while making the greenhouse, there was no way Red was here again. Red raised a hand and lowered his cap a smidge. 

“What are you doing here?” Green asked.

“You.” 

“Red, listen, you don’t have to feel bad for me. My life is fine, I’m…content here.” 

Red shrugged his shoulders and went into Green’s cave, he began unloading supplies. More canned foods, some notebooks (he’d noticed the well worn ones last time), pens, new clothes, warm pajamas, even treats for Green’s team.

“Red, I’m serious, this is too much.” Red shook his head, he pulled out a candy bar and tossed it at Green. As kids he remembered Green would always spend his allowance on these peanut butter cups. Green’s face lit up.

“You remembered?” Red nodded, of course he remembered, Green had been his best friend, they’d spent most of their life together. What better way to rekindle their friendship, and maybe more, than with the joys of chocolate and peanut butter.

Green tore open the package, reminding Red of a kid on Christmas, he pulled one of the chocolates out and handed it to Red. Red took it and pulled the wrapper off. He watched Green do the same, this was so eerily similar to every time they got these as kids. It was always the same, Green would always tell Red to buy his own and that he wasn’t sharing, but always gave one of his to Red. 

Green bit into the sweet, he seemed to melt with the chocolate. He suddenly looked young and carefree again. Red felt something swell in his chest. This was the Green he remembered, not the worn down one.

“Thanks Red, that was amazing! I haven’t had one of those in years!” 

Red nodded again, then pulled out some more supplies for Green, these were more comfort items, a towel, pillow, and a small solar generator just big enough to charge a cell phone.

Green lifted an eyebrow at the phone and generator. Smart phones had been introduced to the world while he was on the mountain. This was the first one he’d seen. Red powered it on, this was a special kind, a sat phone, Green could have text, calls, and internet access anywhere in the world, it had cost a pretty penny, but Red was the champion, money came at him easily. 

“What is all of that, some kind of bomb?” Green wrinkled his nose. 

Red repressed a smile and turned it on. It was fun knowing more than Green for once, as kids Green was always more studious so he was the one always explaining things to Red, not that Red had minded, he always enjoyed having his friend teach him things. He thought Green would end up as a teacher one day. Maybe a professor, not a mountain man, out of the two of them, he was sure that would have been him, he was always shy, didn’t like being around people, but Green, Green was the opposite. 

This life didn’t fit him at all.

“Cell phone.” Red opened the phone and began clicking the apps. He’d downloaded a weather radar app, a messaging app, and a few first aid how to apps.

“This is really cool!” Green exclaimed, taking the phone from Red, trying to work through how to use it, despite it being his first experience with one, he quickly figured it out, even sending his first text message to one of the pre-added contacts.

[Green]: Hi Red!!

Red felt his own phone buzz. He looked down and saw the contact he had added for Green. An idea came to his head. He picked up his phone and turned on the camera.

“Smile.” Green instinctively smiled for enough time for Red to snap the photo. 

“Wow! It’s a camera too! This will be amazing for my research notes, thanks Red, really.” Green looked up at Red through his long lashes, Red’s heart picked up in speed. He blinked away the feeling, later, once he convinced Green to come down the mountain, then they could date.

“Research?” Red cocked his head, he looked like arcanine when he found something interesting to play with.

“Oh yeah, I study the wild pokemon, I fill up those notebooks,” Green gestured towards the corner where there was a stack of notebooks that Red had seen last time.

“It’ll be nice to add photos, or at least have references besides my notes. Actually my little larvitar was from a family I was studying. He was abandoned by his pack because he was a shiny. I know I should have let nature run its course or whatever, but he was so small and it was cold out and he wouldn’t have lived through the night, so I caught him, and now he’s our resident chomper, right buddy.” The larvitar had jumped into Green’s arms, enjoying a pet.

There was something in Green’s eyes when he looked down at the small larvitar, a kinship. When they were kids, Green used to lie to the other kids at school and say that his parents were dead, no one knew the truth, that he had been abandoned. Red knew, he also knew how much it affected Green, how every little rejection cut him deeper and deeper, until he was finally cleaved in two.

“Send them to me?” Red asked, Green smiled brightly and nodded, still fiddling with the phone.

Red pulled out two bentos and shoved one towards Green. Green took his, looking surprised.

“Did you cook these?” Red shook his head.

“Mom.” Green’s face fell, he bit his lower lip and looked away.

“Did you tell her where I was?” 

“No. Just that I was meeting a friend for lunch.”

“Oh, thanks. Could you not mention to anyone I’m here. Sorry I just…I don’t think I could handle seeing anyone else.” Green looked down at the food in his hands, shame filling his gut, the food looked inedible now. Not that anyone would try to find him, he thought bitterly.

“No one knows.” Red promised. Green looked up, he tried to hide the shame in his eyes.

“Sorry.” Green looked down and opened the box. He began to eat. The food was good, amazing, better than even the curry, he’d always loved Red’s mom’s cooking.

Red went home shortly after the meal, he still had work in the morning, and he didn’t want to overload Green just yet. 

That night while Green laid down on his mat, his head resting against his new pillow in his new clothes, he held his new cell phone, the messaging app open on Red’s name. He typed and retyped, not sure of how he should phrase what he wanted to say. 

[Green]: Thanks for today, it was good to see you again. Thank you for all the stuff.

Three little dots appeared, Green wasn’t sure what that meant until Red’s message came across the screen.

[Red]: 🙂

[Red]: Let me know if there is other stuff you want me to bring next time.

Green bit his lip as he tried to compose a message. This was too much already, he couldn’t help but to feel like a burden on Red. Maybe he should go somewhere else, find another home, where though? Plus seeing Red again felt amazing, a crush that had long been buried coming up to the surface.

[Green]: You’ve already done more than enough Red, I can’t ask you to bring me more. I know you feel guilty, but you shouldn’t. I’m happy! I was always meant to be here.

Frowning, Green pressed send. He wasn’t happy, not even a little bit.

Clicking out of the messages, Green decided to scroll through the contacts. There was a contact for Red, one for Gold, Green smiled at that, maybe the kid would be down for a battle, if Green decided to stick around the mountain that was.

The other contacts gave Green pause, one was his grandfather, the other, Red’s mother, neither of those people would ever want to speak to Green. His grandfather didn’t want him in the first place and Delia was most likely furious for the way that Green had treated her precious son. He felt like deleting the contacts so as to not accidentally reach out as he learned his way around the phone, but he held off. 

There was one more contact in his phone, Daisy. He wasn’t even sure how Red had gotten her information. Green hadn’t seen his sister since he was 8, and she didn’t want anything to do with him then. 

Exiting the contacts, Green began to explore the apps, as Red had called them. The weather radar would be great in winter if it showed approaching blizzards, he would have a chance to prepare extra firewood.

“Do you guys want to leave the mountain?” Green asked as he nuzzled into arcanine’s fur. The blankets that Red and Gold had brought had made their sleeping situation significantly more comfortable. 

Eevee shifted slightly to get more comfortable but other than that no one said anything, not that they would. 

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s a good idea either.” He closed his eyes and drifted into a soft slumber.

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“Pidgeot, let’s see how well this holds up to blizzard winds, use gust and aim it for the greenhouse.” Green took a few more steps away from the structure, holding on a little tighter to larvitar, the little guy had recently been allowed to start training, and he wanted to get involved with everything his older teammates were doing, even when it was dangerous.

Pidgeot flapped his wings releasing forceful gusts. The structure held up. Green grinned and high fived machamp. 

“That thing is cool!” A voice said from behind Green, he whirled around to see Gold standing watching along with Red and two people Green didn’t recognize. 

“Thanks, it’s a greenhouse.” Green said, rubbing the back of his head. Trying to not look surprised at the guests. Red had not sent another message since the last one and that was weeks ago, so Green had assumed that was the end of everything. He hadn’t expected anyone to come see him again. 

“I brought extra friends this time!” Gold spread his arms out, “This is Silver,” he patted the red headed boy on the back, he scowled angrily in return.

“He’s my rival, and best friend!” 

Green felt a pang of nostalgia, there was a time when Red was his best friend and rival, well not at the same time, but still.

“And this is Lyra, she’s the best!” He pointed at a girl with a silly hat that was giving eevee some attention. She looked up with a big smile and friendly wave.

“Nice to meet you all.” Green gave his best grin and a two-finger salute, the more he did it the less off it felt.

“Up for a few battles today?” Gold asked grinning, tossing a pokeball up in the air and catching it a few times. 

Glancing at his team, Green held back a sigh, they had a lot to do, but they deserved to have fun battling. He would just skip meals for a few days to get the numbers right. It wouldn’t be the first time he went without eating. 

“Felt like getting your ass kicked again, kid?” 

Gold held his stomach laughing, the others joined in, even Silver gave a hint of a smirk. 

The three kids took turns battling Green, he beat them all. He found himself grinning widely, actually enjoying himself, his team as well. He loved to battle, loved being around people, and while he commanded his pokemon in take down after take down he felt like himself again. He could forget for a while who he was and all the sadness that came with being him.

“Okay Green you beat us again! Here’s your loot!” Gold picked up a duffle bag and tried to hand it over to Green, who held his hands up to refuse it.

“No! You don’t need to give me anything, I’m just happy to get to battle. These are just friendly matches.”

Gold pulled the duffle bag back for a minute then smirked.

“Okay, then as a friend I brought you a gift!” He shoved the bag into Green’s underfed arms forcing him to take it rather than let it fall to the ground.

“I…Okay..Thank you.” Green finally said.

Glancing over at Red, Green bit his lip. Red had never offered to battle, which was good sort of, he was pretty sure the floor would be wiped with his team, but a part of him wanted to feel the thrill of battle with Red again. He wanted to see just how strong his former friend had become.

“Oh! Lunch! Silver made food for all of us!” Gold grinned, pulling his own backpack off, he pulled out a large container with what looked like onigiri. 

Green looked over to Silver, who seemed to have a light blush on his cheeks, he didn’t seem to be the cooking type, but Green had only just met and battled him.

Gold handed him a triangle. He took a seat on the dirt as he waited patiently for everyone to have theirs before digging in. The rice was perfectly seasoned and there was some kind of meat in the center that tasted divine. 

“So Green, got any embarrassing stories about Red? I need to lower his coolness factor some.” Gold asked with a mischievous smirk, Green glanced at Red who just rolled his eyes. 

He rubbed the back of his head as he answered, “Well, Red’s always been cool, so I’m the only one who did embarrassing stuff.”

It was more true than he wanted it to be, Red had always been the picture of cool indifference to most things, whereas Green would often get too excited. It was a fairly common occurrence for Green to slip and fall, skinning his knee while racing down some hill while Red walked calmly, or Green losing his grip and falling out of a tree, or for him to get a fright from something in the night and cling to Red. The more Green thought about his childhood the more he realized that Red was just there because there was nowhere else to be. Why would he want to be around Green, no one else did. 

His shoulders slumped and the light that had dimmed in his eyes. Maybe it was time to leave the mountain and find somewhere else, Gold and his friends would figure out that he wasn’t worth their time soon enough. And it wasn’t like Red would ever have romantic feelings towards him.

“Do any hikers make it all the way up here?” Lyra asked, daintily wiping her face. 

“No, Gold was the first person I’d seen the entire time I’d been here.” Green said with a shrug, taking another bite of the food. It was really really good.

“Do you ever come down the mountain?” She asked, he could tell she was trying to stay casual.

“Nah, I’ve gotten pretty comfortable here,” Green said, hoping he didn’t sound too pathetic. 

Silver and Red were the only ones who didn’t speak much it seemed. He wondered if those two got along well. 

“You’ve made a dehydrator and a greenhouse, anything else?” Gold asked as he walked around observing the still standing greenhouse. 

“I weaved a few baskets and made some clay containers for dried food, but nothing overly interesting. I’m afraid there’s nothing exciting up here.” Green said, holding his hands out.

“Do you ever get bored? I’d go crazy if I was alone up here all the time, I don’t know how you do it, you seem pretty social too.” Gold said, not realizing he was dipping into dangerous territory.

Biting the inside of his cheek Green held his tongue, of course he was bored and lonely, how could he not be.

“Too much work to be bored, plus I have my team, we keep each other entertained.” That was pathetic even to his own ears. 

Silver seemed to keep looking at his cell phone then glaring at Gold. It was probably time for the kids to head back to their loving families. 

“Gold.” Silver said, his voice held obvious annoyance. Gold just rolled his eyes.

“Eh, sorry Green, we’ve got to get going, mom gets upset if I stay out too late.” Gold scrunched his nose up in obvious annoyance. “I’m 15, I don’t think I need her telling me when I can come and go anymore, ugh she drives me crazy sometimes.” He lamented.

“It just means she cares about you.” Green said, and how he wished he had someone who felt that way about him. As a kid he could have stayed out all night and his Gramps would have never noticed, he actually did a few times, crawling into Red’s bed for a last minute sleepover without Red’s mom knowing. 

“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry.” Gold looked down and kicked a rock, but instead of looking at Green, he stared at Silver when he apologized. Silver gritted his teeth and crossed his arms looking away with a soft tch .

“Alright, see you next time, Green!” Gold said, patting Green on the back.

“It was nice seeing you again Gold, you don’t have to bring anything next time except your A-Game!” Green said with a laugh.

“Thank you for the battle today! It was great meeting you!” Lyra grinned, she went in for a hug instead.

“Come to battle any time you want. I want to see more of your Johto pokemon!”

Silver just nodded towards Green and began walking down, Gold and Lyra jogged to meet him. Red leaned up against a tree. It would have been easy to forget he was there with how little he interacted with everyone, but to Green his presence was acute.

“You staying for a bit?” Green asked, feigning indifference. Red didn’t say anything, just observed.

Green went to work putting the final touches on his greenhouse, almost forgetting that Red was still watching him. Until his arm was being grabbed and he was being pulled toward the cave.

“What’re you doing?” Green asked as Red shoved him down onto the floor and took a seat next to him. He didn’t answer, instead pulling his backpack off and rummaging through it till he pulled out the candy Green liked so much.

“You didn’t have to do this.”

“I wanted to.” Red said as he pulled one of the cups out for Green and the other for himself.

“Thanks, Red.” Green whispered as he ate the candy. He closed his eyes, enjoying the sweetness.

“I’m spending the night.” Green’s eyes shot open.

“What?!” He nearly shouted, spending the night? Why would he want to spend the night in a shitty cave on a wasteland mountain when he had a nice warm bed in Pallet Town, wait did Red still live in Pallet, or did he have his own place by now?

Red nodded slowly as if Green just didn’t understand.

“Why?” 

“Want to hang out with you.” Red said with a shrug. “Is that a problem?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, I mean, all I have are the canned foods you and Gold brought and foraged stuff. And it’s pretty cold here at night. You’re probably going to be uncomfortable.”

“You do it every night.” Red said.

“Yeah but…” Red held up a hand to stop him.

“I brought food too, why aren’t you eating the cans we brought?” Red asked.

“Oh, I’m saving them for winter. Food is scarce then, so the cans will come in handy.”

“Is that why you’re skin and bones, because you don’t eat during the winter?” Red asked, looking Green over with a critical eye. 

Green pulled up a blanket to hide his thin form. He knew he looked bad, but didn’t need Red to point it out. 

“I make due with what I have, okay? Don’t be an ass.”

“You’re not healthy, Green.” Red said, his voice firm, but worry seeped in.

Green could feel his temper edging up. Why was Red pretending to care, he’d never cared about Green in the past. Green opened his mouth to say as much when Red reached over and grabbed one of Green’s hands. 

“I’m just worried, Green.” 

“I’m fine, really.” He wasn’t fine, not even a little bit.

The little larvitar was tired from playing with pikachu and eevee, it climbed into its place in Green’s lap. 

“Can I read some of the notes you’ve taken?” Green perked up.

“Sure, they’re not very organized, but it’s pretty good info that you aren’t going to find anywhere else.” Red stood up and picked a notebook from the top, he came back to sit near Green then opened it and began reading. Green went to work organizing the gifts that Gold had brought and added the supplies to his written inventory. 

Red lost track of time while he read the research that Green had been conducting. Everything was so detailed, he took lots of time to document every little piece of information he could gather. It was impressive. Green could easily become a famous researcher if he tried. 

When Red finally looked up from the work, Green was nowhere to be seen. It was growing dark. Red stood up setting the notebook down, he momentarily panicked that Green had made a run for it before seeing eevee and pikachu curled up on a blanket together. Green wouldn’t go anywhere without eevee. 

“Green?” Red called as he walked out of the cave. Green and his team were busy moving dried food from the dehydrator to clay jars. 

Green looked up from his work. He frowned slightly.

“Hey, Sorry. I had to get this stuff out to get the next batch on. You can do whatever.” 

“Can I help?” Green stilled. 

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to.” That seemed to be their conversation of the day.

Red went to work helping move berries over to the jars, then once they were finished they began to put the baskets of fresh berries into the machines. They worked in silence, which was rare for Green, normally he babbled on to his team, but with Red here it felt wrong. 

They finished quicker with Red helping. Green looked exhausted, it had been a long day. 

“Let’s eat.” Red said as they reentered the cave. Green nodded.

“Do you want to call your team out? I have plenty for them too.” 

Red shook his head, he only had one ball with him, charizard. Green prepped some food for charizard and pikachu, glad that it was only two extra mouths instead of six. They were already behind on winter prep. This year will be hard.

After all the pokemon were fed, Red had prepared the food, well dished it out anyway. His mother had made it for him. 

“Do you maybe want to eat it outside? The stars are beautiful here.” Green said looking at the exit to the cave, Red nodded.

He followed Green holding the plates till they came to several large rocks, Green climbed up first and grabbed the plates from Red before Red climbed up second. They sat and began to eat. Green was right. The view was amazing. 

Red had never seen the stars so bright. He glanced over at Green, his eyes were glued to the vast expanse. It struck Red how beautiful Green was. He needed to gain some weight for sure but he was still stunning. 

“We got lucky, it’s a nice night out, sometimes there’s too many clouds and you can’t see anything.” Green took another bite of his food and looked over at Red.

“I’m sorry, Red. For the way I treated you, for attacking you, for ruining your day. I just need you to know I’m sorry.” 

“Green. I treated you just as bad, I would have tackled you if you hadn’t tackled me. I’m sorry, for not running after you when you ran out, for not standing up for you, for not trying to keep our friendship intact when we left home.” 

Neither said anything else, but looked up at the stars, their vastness reminded them just how insignificant their quarrels had been.

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After that night Red began coming up the mountain once a week, he had stopped bringing canned goods, since Green wasn’t eating them. The whole idea was that he would eat the canned food now and hopefully start to get healthy. Of course, all Green thought about was the winter. Red had originally planned for Green to be home well before winter, but now it was late summer and Green kept saying the same thing.

“Red, you already know that I’m going to say no.” Green rolled his eyes at the question that Red had asked weekly for the last several months. 

He was starting to feel desperate. He needed Green to agree to come down now. Once winter came, Red doubted he’d be able to make the trip up as frequently, and despite the fact that Green had survived several winters before, he was looking worse and worse. Red had taken to having nightmares, finally coming up the mountain after weeks of not being able to and finding Green frozen to death.

Red frowned. 

“Everyone misses you. I miss you. Please Green, come home. You don’t even have to go to Pallet, come with me to my apartment.” 

“Red. Stop, please. Can we end this visit on a high note, please?” 

Red ground his teeth, every time he mentioned that Green was missed, Green would lock up, this time was no different. He was running out of time. He sighed and pulled Green into a hug, they’d started doing that a few months ago, he hated how small Green felt in his arms, how breakable he was. It wasn’t supposed to be like that. An idea came to him.

“Call him. See if he misses you or not instead of just assuming.” Green frowned and tried to pull away from the hug, but Red was stronger.

“Not now.” 

That was better than, no. Red finally ended the hug.

“See you next week, Green.” 

Green watched him go. Red leaving was the worst, Green spent all week looking forward to Red’s visits, despite the fact that he typically lost a full day of prep. Winter would be bad this year, but Green couldn’t bring himself to care. Being around Red again felt so good. He had fallen again, hard.

Grabbing the cell phone Green opened it to the messages, Red would text when he made it home for the night, giving Green peace of mind. He went back to the contacts, there were multiple times he had thought about calling his grandfather. He missed him, but his grandfather had rejected him. He didn’t want him, there was no point in reaching out. Green wasn’t wanted.

Still though, his finger lingered over the contact. Red did keep saying that the professor missed him, and if he could prove it to Red that no he wasn’t maybe he’d stop bringing it up. 

“What would you do buddy? If you had a chance to see your parents again?” Green asked scratching the larvitar curled up with eevee resting near Green’s side. It looked up at him with big happy eyes, not a care in the world. 

“If he yells, you guys are going to have to spend all night cheering me up.” Green said to his team resting around him. 

He hesitated for a minute then pressed the button to call. 

It rang 3 times before a familiar voice answered.

“Hello?” 

Green couldn’t say anything, he just breathed heavily into the receiver. 

“Hello? Is someone there? I can’t hear you.” The professor said, 

Finally, Green mumbled, “Gramps.”

The professor was silent then a very shaky, 

“Green?” His voice thick as if he were going to start crying any second. 

“Green, please where ar-” 

Green ended the call. He couldn’t do this, he wasn’t strong like Red was, he was weak and scared and…the phone was ringing. Professor Oak’s contact lit up the screen. Green stared, he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t handle being rejected again. He blinked the tears out of his eyes. The phone stopped ringing. 

A notification popped up, 1 new voicemail.

He couldn’t listen to it, not now. He needed time. He laid down on his cot and closed his eyes. 

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You look worse than normal.” Gold said, poking Green in the side. 

“Thanks, you look nice too.” Green said, sarcastically.

“I mean you look sick. Are you feeling okay?” Gold asked, tapping Green’s forehead. He frowned at Gold’s general being.

“Are you trying to psych me out to beat me? Cause that won’t work.” 

Gold shook his head. Then pulled out a pokeball. Green hugged the coat sent by Red closer. Red had been unable to come up the mountain this week, something about champion duties, this had happened a few times over the last few months, but Green was getting the feeling that he wouldn’t be able to see Red again till spring. Snow was already on the ground and Gold had mentioned that the trip up had been harder than usual. At least he had the phone, they could text whenever. It still broke Green’s heart, not getting to see Red, he looked forward to seeing him more than anything else.

They decided to do a three team battle, to speed things up, Gold wanted to head down the mountain quickly. Green won, but barely. Gold might have been on to something, Green had woken up with a headache and achy legs, but he didn’t have time to waste laying down, winter was close, the fall was over. Green wasn’t near prepared enough. Too many visits had slowed his progress. He had done the math, and to make sure everyone had enough, he would have to skip every 3rd meal. 

“That’s the closest I’ve ever come to beating you. Normally I’d gloat, but I think you’re sick.” Gold said, handing over a prepackaged meal to Green. 

“I’ve got to head home. I’ll see you next time, mountain man.” Gold hesitated, “I’m supposed to ask if you’ll come with me, but we both know you’ll say no. Stay safe, Green.” 

He waved goodbye as Gold went down the mountain. He quickly shoveled the food into his mouth as he instructed his team to find whatever was left to be foraged. 

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upon opening his eyes, Green wished he hadn’t woken up. His head was pounding, his chest felt tight, he was freezing cold, his body shaking uncontrollably, his nose was leaking, his throat hurt, and coughs wracked his small frame. He hadn’t gotten sick, the entire time he had been on the mountain, and now was the worst time to get sick, winter was too close, they weren’t ready, he couldn’t waste a day.

Green tried to stand but found his legs uncooperative. His team looked at him worriedly. He closed his eyes for a minute, just to rest them-

He woke up feeling even worse than earlier. He was so cold, arcanine felt like ice. He couldn’t remember where he was for a minute. A sense of dread overtook him. 

Ding

Green was pulled back to the present by a message on his phone, it took him a few minutes to gather the energy to reach out and check the thing. He had to reread it 5 times before he understood what it said.

[Red]: Gold said you seemed sick, are you okay. 

Green tried to type, but it was too much energy to focus on the screen. He clicked call.

Red answered on the first ring.

“Green?” 

“I’m scared” Green’s voice was weak and raspy. 

“Green, where are you? I’m coming now.” Red’s voice was no nonsense. 

“Home, don’t feel good. I want my mommy.” Green whispered, he was near delirious. Red grit his teeth and grabbed his pokeballs. 

“Don’t hang up, okay Green. Just keep talking to me.” Red rushed out of the building, ignoring Lance’s question of where he was going.

“Red? Am I gonna die?” Green asked, his voice wavering.

“No! You’re okay, you’re sick. I’m coming to take care of you.” 

“You always take care of me Red” 

Red urged charizard to fly faster towards the mountain.

“I always will Green.”

Green looked around the cave, he was confused, why was he here, why wasn’t he in his bedroom. Did him and Red sneak out to camp? Red’s mom would be mad if she found out.

“Red? Red?” He asked.

“Green, stay with me okay, I’ll be there soon.”

“Where’s gramps? I wanna go home.” 

“I’m almost there, then I’ll take you home okay? Just a little longer.” 

“You’re mom’s mad.” Green slurred, his vision was cloudy, he couldn’t remember why he had snuck out, maybe gramps and him had fought, 

“Sleepy.” Green said.

“Green stay awake please, keep talking to me.” Red’s voice was bordering on hysterical. If Green fell asleep while delirious he would slip into a coma, right? Or was that a concussion? 

“Green? Green?!” Red began to frantically shout into the phone, Green had stopped answering. 

The flight up the mountain took too long. Every second mattered. When Red finally landed he was greeted by arcanine carrying Green, he was unconscious laying on top of his beloved pokemon. Eevee ran up to Red holding Green’s backpack, his pokeballs and cell phone were in it. Red quickly recalled everyone before gently taking Green and recalling arcanine. He held Green close, he was burning up. 

He pulled Green up onto charizard’s back and held on tight as he urged the pokemon to the hospital in Viridian. Green mumbled nonsense as Red held on tight. Charizard sensed the danger and flew faster than she’d ever flown before.

She delivered them to the emergency room where Red carried Green inside, nurses quickly took him back behind closed doors. 

“We’ll call you back once we get him stabilized,” The nurse said, patting Red’s shoulder. 

He sank down into one of the chairs. The room was mostly empty, but Red still needed some privacy. He walked down the corridor until he found some conference rooms. They were unlocked. Red let himself in. He was the reigning Kanto champion, he could get out of trouble easily if someone found him.

Pulling his phone out he went to dial the professor but clicked on his mom instead.

“Hi baby.”

“Mom…I messed up.” Red could feel himself tearing up, this was his fault if he had only-

“Red, what’s wrong, what happened.” Her voice was full of concern.

“I’m at the hospital, I’m okay, but Green is really sick.” He heard a gasp on the other end of the line.

“Green…Oak?”

He nodded, even though she couldn’t see. Tears began to fall.

“I found him months ago, he was living alone on mount silver, he didn’t want to come home, he didn’t want me to tell anyone where he was, I…I thought I could convince him to come home, but…but…he’s really sick. Mom I’m scared” 

He heard quiet shushing noises on the other end of the line.

“I’m coming now, do you want me to call Samuel?”

Red wiped his eyes.

“No, let me do it.”

His mother hung up the phone. Red knew what he had to do, the professor would be upset for sure. He never should have kept Green’s location hidden, he should have told someone, maybe they could have forced Green down. He was so sickly and now he was clinging to life in a hospital. Red was angry with himself.

He dialed the professor’s phone number.

“Hello Red,” The professor said cheerfully.

“I need you to come to the hospital; I…I…I found Green.” He heard what sounded like a sob on the other end of the line. “I-” 

Before he could apologize he was cut off. 

“I’m on my way.” The line went dead.

Red thought about sending a message to Gold, but Green was about to be reunited with his family, Gold didn’t know about any of the issues surrounding Green’s disappearance; and Green would not be happy if he knew Red was telling his secrets.

Red rubbed his eyes again, he stood up and left the conference room, he never ran into a soul. He sat in the waiting room by himself staring holes into his hat that he’d taken off of his head to avoid being recognized. He didn’t have the energy to talk to fans. 

He wanted to pull pikachu out of his ball but the hospital had a strict policy against free pokemon outside of rooms. The hospital doors opened, Red glanced up. His mother along with the professor came rushing in. He wondered if they had traveled together; and if they had, did his mother fill the professor in? 

The professor went straight to the admissions desk, Delia went to sit by her son, lovingly rubbing his back. Red sat up then laid his head on her shoulder as she wrapped an arm around him, he was much bigger than her so the angle was awkward but he needed comfort.

The professor came over to where they were seated. 

“They’re admitting him, we can go see him, if we check in through the hospital.” The professor said, then walked in a daze towards the hospital portion of the building. Red and Delia followed.

Red clutched his hat in his hand and tried to focus on the weight of Green’s backpack on his shoulders. He had to be okay. He had his team to think of, what would they do without him. 

No one said a word the elevator ride up, Red needed to apologize, but all he could think about was how light Green had felt. He should have forced him down months ago.

There was a doctor in the room already.

“Hello, are you the family?” The doctor asked, looking down at the chart in his hand.

“Yes, I’m his grandfather.” 

“His paperwork says he’s been living on a mountain for the last 7 years, is that true?” 

The professor raised an eyebrow and looked at Red who looked down at his shoes.

“Yes, I found him a few months ago.” Red finally spoke up. 

“Well that explains why he’s so underweight and malnourished.”

“What was his diet like?”

“Foraged berries and meat. I brought him food when I visited, but it wasn’t enough.”

“He has an infection that’s typically pretty minor and wouldn’t even warrant a doctors visit, but due to his poor health, we’re in the situation we are in. He’ll be here for a few days on IVs, then he can be released but he’ll need to start eating more, and stay off the mountain. He’ll wake up later, he’s on medicine that makes him drowsy.” 

Red risked a glance at the professor, he was looking at Green with wide eyes. He tentatively approached reaching just one hand out to touch Green’s arm. Red looked away, his mother stood next to him rubbing his back. 

“Let’s go get some chairs from the nurses.” She whispered towards Red, he nodded. This was a private moment for the professor.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Green blinked awake to the sun streaming in. He felt more comfortable than he had for a while. He looked around, he wasn’t in the cave…He bolted into a sitting position, he felt a tug on his arm and noticed an IV, this was a hospital room. 

What was he doing in a hospital? Where were his pokemon? Shit. He tried to think back, the last thing he remembered was Gold waving goodbye, he had felt sick, did he decide to go down the mountain? He couldn’t remember.

There was a controller next to him, he grabbed it and pressed the nurse call button. They could explain things right? Moments later a small framed nurse came in with a smile.

“Good morning Mr. Oak, how are you feeling?” 

“I’m okay, but I…I don’t remember coming here?” He frowned down at his hands. 

“One of your friends brought you in yesterday, you were delirious with fever. The doctor will come in and explain everything to you. For now why don’t you have some breakfast.” She stepped outside and pulled a tray of food in, setting it down on the table by the bed, she rolled it so he could eat while sitting. 

“Th..Thanks.” 

“Of course, call if you need anything, all of your medicine is IV right now so I’ll be back in a bit to change your bag.” He nodded, looking down at the food. 

There was a bagel, cream cheese, scrambled eggs, and a fruit cup. A steaming hot cup of tea sat off to the side. He took a bit and nearly cried, he hadn’t had eggs in forever, he devoured them quickly. He slathered the cream cheese on the bagel then stuffed it in his mouth barely chewing. The fruit was so much better than the berries he’d eaten on the mountain. The mountain- His pokemon!

He needed to get a hold of someone who could go check on them, Gold or Red, maybe even Silver. Red was champion, they’d be able to find him right? Green wished he had the cell phone Red had given him. Maybe the nurse could call the league? Before Green could come up with a plan there was a knock on the door, an older man in a doctor's coat peeked in.

“Champion Green, the nurse said you were awake, good. I’m Doctor Jones.” He reached out and shook Green’s hand.

“I’m not a champion.” Green said, looking down at his now empty plate. 

“You were for a period, once a champion, always a champion. Anyway I came to check up on you. You had a pretty nasty fever and infection, exacerbated by your unhealthy lifestyle.” The doctor raised an eyebrow at Green before taking his stethoscope and listening to Green’s lungs.

“Deep breath.” Green sucked in a lot of air.

“Well the medicine is working, your lungs sound much better than they did yesterday. You’ll be out of here in a few days. But you need to gain a few pounds and can no longer live on a mountain.” The doctor said sternly.

“I…” Green sighed, defeated, “Okay.”

He watched the doctor leave. What was he supposed to do now? He didn’t have a home except that cave in the mountain. Maybe he could find a forest outside of town, set up camp, get a job. But who would hire him? He had no skills. 

The nurse walked back holding a clear bag. 

“Switch time, this one might burn a bit, if it’s too much let me know.” 

Green watched her work on switching out the medicine bags then remembered his pokemon.

“Do…do you have any way to contact someone? Someone at the league? My pokemon are back on the mountain, and I need someone to go get them.” 

The nurse furrowed her brow, she walked over to the side table and picked up a backpack that Green was just now noticing. 

“Are these your pokemon?”

She handed the bag to Green, he opened it and saw 8 pokeballs, he sighed in relief.

“You can let a smaller one out if you’d like!” She said with a cheery grin. 

Grabbing eevee’s ball was a simple choice. He tossed her out, she immediately nuzzled up close to him.

“Hey girl, I’m okay.” 

“She’s a cutie. Call if you need me!” The nurse said, giving eevee a quick pet on the head. 

They watched her go before they relaxed again. Green pet her softly. She purred in pleasure.

“So what happened? How did I get down? Do you know, girl?” 

She chirped a response. Green leaned back and closed his eyes attempting to ignore the subtle burn of the medicine pumping into his vein. 

He must have dozed off because he was jolted awake by a knock on the door. It opened and through it walked Red. His shoulders slumped, so that explains it.

“Did I call you to take me to the hospital?” Green asked, he was glad it wasn’t Gold, he’d already destroyed his image in Red’s eyes.

Red nodded, then sat down next to Green. 

“Please don’t go back.” He just barely whispered it, but Green heard it loud and clear. 

“I won’t, the doctor…told me I couldn’t, but I don’t…” Green let himself trail off, it wasn’t Red’s burden to figure out what to do with Green, he had to figure that out himself.  

Red’s head shot up, he looked at Green with hope, he grabbed his hand. Eevee shifted from her place curled up sleeping in his lap.

“Move in with me?” 

Green bit his lip and turned away. Shaking his head he spoke,

“I don’t have a job, I don’t…It’s okay Red, I’ll figure something out.”

Red frowned and opened his mouth to say something when the door to the hospital room opened. Green expected it to be one of the nurses coming in again, but instead he was greeted with his own grandfather.

“Gramps, I-” His apology stopped on the edge of his tongue as his grandfather ran to him and wrapped him in a hug, Green tensed at first.

Why was he hugging him, he was a waste of time, why would his grandfather even come to the hospital? Green decided it didn’t matter, in that moment at least, he lifted his arm without the IV and wrapped it around his grandfather, he was vaguely aware that he was crying if the wet spot on his grandfather’s shirt was any indication. 

When he finally pulled away, he sat down in the chair that Red had previously been using, it was just the two of them in the room.

“Green, I’m sorry.” Green opened his mouth to retort, but his grandfather held up a hand to stop him, “What I said to you…I was angry at the way you were acting, but I never should have said it.” 

Green couldn’t meet his grandfather’s eyes, he looked down at the IV in his arm, the burn was almost to the point where he wanted to call the nurse, but it helped keep him grounded. He was in a hospital room where his grandfather was trying to ease his conscience about Green leaving. He would do the right thing and release his grandfather from any guilt, then he could leave and never have to think about his failure of a grandson again.

“I forgive you,” He took a deep breath, “It was true though, just because you were angry. I still needed to hear it.” 

He closed his eyes waiting for his grandfather to leave, the old man was finally free, instead of a door being closed he heard sobbing. He opened his eyes, his grandfather was bent over, sobbing, he suddenly became aware of the iron grip on his hand.

“Raising you was never a waste of time, I’m so sorry that I made you feel that way Green. You being in my life was the best thing to ever happen to me, I love you so much Green. I’ve missed you so much, I was so worried.”

This wasn’t happening, this was all a dream, it must have been. His grandfather hated him, he regretted taking him. 

“You…didn’t follow me.” Green whispered staring at the hands holding on to his.

“What?”

“After…I lost, you didn’t follow me. I waited, no one came.” Green whispered, his voice thick, old wounds being reopen.

“I thought we both needed time to cool off, I thought you’d come home and we could talk, but you never did.” The professor pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at his eyes, “We looked for you for so long, I thought you were-”

He looked away, Green laid his head back, wincing at the burn in his arm when he shifted.

“Then you called me. I left you a message, did you listen to it.” 

Green frowned and shook his head. 

“I didn’t think you did. Please listen to it, Green.” 

“Okay.” Green whispered,

“I don’t deserve it, but I’d like a second chance.” 

Green looked up, his grandfather stared at him with earnest eyes. Green didn’t know what to say, it was all too much, he really wasn’t even sure he believed any of it. He kept his mouth shut, he didn’t want his grandfather to force himself to be around Green because he’s sick.

“I’m not going back to the mountain.” He finally said, maybe that would be enough and the old man wouldn’t feel guilty.

“Good.”

They sat in silence for a while, the professor never let go of Green’s hand. Eventually the nurse came back to change the bag of medicine.

“Did it burn?”

“Really bad, actually.” Green said with a laugh, he eyed the new bag suspiciously, “Is that going to burn too?”

“Nope, you won’t feel a thing. Lunch will be here soon.” 

She left.

“If you’re hungry you should go eat.” Green said, looking down at the hand still being clasped. 

The professor shook his head. 

“Delia is coming with food, for you too, you can eat two meals, you need it.” 

Almost as soon as he said it, Delia came into the room carrying a bag full of food. Green flinched just a bit upon seeing her, would she be mad? 

“Green! I’m so glad you’re awake, how are you feeling?” She asked as she unpacked the food.

“I’m okay.” He said carefully. Red came into the room carrying another bag. 

“Is she here?” The professor asked Delia.

Green frowned, who else could it be?

“She just stopped to take a call. Here Green, eat this, all of it please. We’ve got to get some meat on your bones.” Delia said not unkindly, handing him some food. 

“Thanks,” Red had taken a seat on the other side of the bed, his grandfather had finally released his hand and was sitting back eating the food. 

“Eat up, Green.” Delia said as she sat down next to Red.

Green took a bite, it was amazing, much better than the hospital food this morning. 

“Knock, knock,” Someone said, opening the door to the room. A young woman with light hair, fair skin, and freckles walked in. She looked familiar but Green couldn’t place it, she was stunning, he wondered if she was Red’s girlfriend, the thought filled him with dread. 

She stood behind the professor smiling at Green, the more he looked at her the more familiar she became,

“Daisy?” 

“Hi little brother, it’s been a while!” She said brightly, why was she here? She grabbed a meal from the bag and sat down next to their grandfather.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Red, Samuel, I saw a little park down the way, let’s take Green’s pokemon out, we can feed them too.” Delia said, in an attempt to give Daisy and Green some alone time.  The men stood up, taking Green’s backpack with his pokemon, eevee chose to stay in Green’s lap.

Green and Daisy were alone in the room.

“You’ve grown a lot.” She said as she pet eevee’s fur.

“I…I’m confused,” Green finally said.

“About what? Oh I guess you wouldn’t have known, I moved in with gramps, actually shortly after you disappeared.” 

“Oh.” 

“I wanted to get to know you better, gramps too, but I had missed you, you know?” She said with a soft smile. 

“You missed me?”

“Of course I did! I was so angry after mother stopped letting me come visit.” Green furrowed his eyebrows.

“But you said you didn’t want to have to visit anymore, the last time I saw you.” 

Daisy frowned.

“You were listening in?” Green nodded. “Well you obviously didn’t hear everything because what I said was that I didn’t want to have to visit anymore, I wanted you to come home with us.” 

Green’s head shot up.

“What?”

“Yeah, I hated that I only got to see you when mom would let me, I wanted us to be a family again, but… it wasn’t your fault, she was…is…difficult.”

“Why…didn’t she want me?” Green needed to know, what was so bad about him that his own mother rejected him.

Daisy sighed then ran a hand through eevee’s thick fur.

“You look like dad…Just like him actually, and she, well after he died she just-”

“Wait when did he die?” 

“When we were kids,” Daisy frowned.

“I thought he left, he didn’t want me.” Daisy surged forward and grabbed Green into a hug.

“Oh Green! No, they were separated, but dad, he wanted us, he and mom were fighting for custody, she was angry he left her, but then he was in an accident and he died. It all happened within a few months, you were so young it was hard for you to understand, and she really wasn’t the same after.”

It was suddenly as if his whole life had been a lie. He didn’t know what to say, he just returned the hug until Daisy sat back down.

“I was thinking, maybe you could move in with me and gramps? I really want a chance to get to know you again.”

“I don’t know.” 

“Well how about you just stay for a few days and see how you feel? If you feel uncomfortable we will help you find somewhere else to stay.”

“I guess.” 

Daisy clapped her hands together with a big smile.

“Oh Green I’m so happy!”

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That night everyone went home, except Red who lingered by the edge of the bed.

“Red, thank you. For coming and getting me. Sorry for causing you trouble.” Red shook his head firmly.

Sitting down next to Green, Red grabbed his hand, he began to rub soothing circles with his thumb. He was quiet, trying to build up the courage to say what he needed to. To show Green with finality that he wanted him.

“I love you Green.” Red said, a blush covering his face, “Nothing I’ve done for you has ever caused me trouble.”

“You…love me?” Green whispered, his voice unsure. Did Red mean as a friend, in the same way he’d tell Gold? Or…No there was no way. Red couldn’t love him back.

“I really do, Green. I can’t lose you again.” He brought Green’s hand up to his lips and gently kissed the knuckles. Green sucked in a breath, his chest suddenly feeling tight.

“Red I need you to clarify, are you…confessing?” Green asked, his stomach in knots.

Red nodded once. It suddenly felt like a damn had broken in Green’s heart. Red wanted him, Red loved him? 

“I love you Red, I have for so long!”

Grabbing the back of Green’s head, Red pressed their foreheads together. He ever so gently kissed Green, just a quick press of the lips, there would be time for more, when Green wasn’t in a hospital bed. They rested their foreheads together for a while just enjoying each other, until a nurse came in and shoo’d Red out.

Red kissed Green one more time before leaning in for a hug.

“I’ll be back in the morning, Green. I love you.” He whispered as he hugged Green, 

Green closed his eyes and whispered back. 

“I love you too Red, I always have.”

He watched Red leave, a warm feeling in his chest knowing he would be back the next morning, and the next and the next.

Once he was alone, Green grabbed the cellphone out of his bag, he clicked to the voicemail he’d been too scared to listen to. He took a deep breath and pressed play.

“Green…I’ve been so worried. Please Green, come home. I’m so sorry, for everything I said to you. None of it was true. Green I love you so much. Please at least call me back, let me know you’re okay. I’ve missed you so much. I love you Green”

Tears flowed freely down his face, his entire life he thought no one wanted him, but it turns out he was loved. He wished he had listened to the message sooner, but he had the rest of his life now.

Green fell asleep with a smile on his face and love in his heart.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey Red.” Green looked up from his bed with a smile. He set his book down before standing up and stretching his arms over his head. 

Red was pleased to see him filling out. Over the past few months Green had acclimated to being back in civilization quickly. After the initial week, Green had decided to stay with his grandfather and sister, to get to know them, to rebuild the broken relationships.

Red had gone back up the mountain right after he was released to get all of his notebooks, he hadn’t told Green he was going to do that, but after reading them the professor immediately got to work on getting Green published. He was starting university in the fall. Where he would be moving into Red’s apartment.

“Did you get my text?” Green asked, playing with the hem of his shirt. 

Red nodded, he leaned in and wrapped his arm around Green’s waist, pulling him close. He pressed their lips together. 

Tonight they were going to go all the way for the first time. 

Green never felt unwanted again.