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Let's be honest, it's been quite a while since the last time they saw Jules, and not because she's an evil bitch who ghosted her friends after going through an unimaginable traumatic situation down The Area Zero.
Nah, she's just busy, and she doesn't know how to say no.
Everyone knew Jules for her kind soul and altruistic behavior no matter what, and that was since day one, like…
Taking care of a suspicious pokémon she found over a cliff? yeah, sure.
Becoming a champion just because her friend asked her to? fine.
Helping the (not so) mean guy to find those weird herbs he was talking about? ok, why not?
Dismantle a whole fucking group of potential school delinquents? great!
That's not even counting what happened with the AI with homicidal tendencies that Jules was forced to defeat.. Anyway, one would think that all those missions would become obsolete once things, well, calmed down, however, Jules' big heart was not going to allow her to say no to the people who she appreciated the most.
It all started when Jules accepted without protest or complaint to be a tutor for certain members of Team Star, after that, the teracristallizations, the Pokédex, something about ancient beasts throughout the entire region, inspections of gym leaders, and don't even mention when Jules literally had to leave the region to go to a certain camp.
Not even after that was she spared from the different requests she received day by day, and at this point, they weren't even her beloved classmates from the Naranja Academy, or even her teachers... The gym leaders? Yes, of course.
Continuing with more of the same. Jules ran from one side to the other throughout the Paldea region; it seemed that even Koraidon himself was getting tired of her behavior. After all, what was all that? Why was she really pouring all her heart into helping the annoying young woman to increase the viewers rate on her streamings? That was even confusing for Jules herself. It was so weird, was she trying to end up looking like Larry?
Whatever, because if it was confusing for Jules herself, of course, it would be more even confusing for her friends. After some sort of small talk with both Penny and Nemona, well, they barely talked after that, not even with the damn SmartRotom, Jules probably wasn't even aware of all those missed calls.
Here's the weirdest part. He really wanted to talk to her, not kidding, maybe just ask about her day, or... Just admire her face as he used to do a few months ago.
The thought of stopping her had already crossed the boy's mind, however, before even taking the definitive step and starting a conversation with who he considered his best friend, the girl was already gone, probably on her way to the other damn side of the region.
It was like an inevitable sting. Arven began to genuinely worry, after all, he wasn't supposed to feel so nervous with the mere idea of approaching to talk to Jules, that's what friends do, they talk to each other.
Ok no, let's be even more honest, he was drooling over her.
Or at least that was what Penny told him after she found him shamelessly looking at Jules while she was just running to her Biology class.
“You’re literally drooling over her… I mean, it's nothing new, but still” As if it wasn't oblivious, Penny couldn't help but be shady about it.
“Shut up, pipsqueak” Not like Arven was any better at covering it, however, he decided that for the first time, he wouldn't deny those allegations, instead, he preferred to give her some lame excuse. “I… I just noticed she wasn't wearing her beret or her glasses. I was just wondering why, don't get any ideas”.
The thing is, Penny was everything but stupid, so she immediately knew that one or two things were true, the rest? just a shitty way to hide how hard he fell for Jules.
“I've heard she’s been spending time with Gym Leader Tulip, as her model if I'm not wrong. Make sense”.
“Is that so?” Arven asked “So she's been really helping everyone out there, huh”.
That information only left a couple of ideas over the table. In the worst case, Arven just realized he had competition, and probably the worst kind of. The last thing he wanted to hear is how much time Jules had probably been spending in Glaseado Mountain.
…
Past midnight, and not a single soul walked through the entrance hall. Disappointing.
The entrance hall and other places at the academy could easily get suddenly scarier by the lack of activity, noise, or even people. Too bad Jules was pretty much a coward, even if she didn't look like it.
Anyway, it's not like Jules has had other options than just walking to her dorm room. Of course, she tried to be silent, or at least make as little noise as possible; after all, the echo and the walls weren't going to do her any favors in the middle of the night.
However, she continued on her way, straight to the huge main stairs that led to the dormitory area.
Actually, no, none of that happened.
Jules hadn't even set foot on the first step when she had already been startled, potentially ruining her plans to remain discreet.
"Jules..." a calm voice called out the girl's name.
“What the-?! oh… Sorry… Arven, what are you doing here?” Yes, Jules was still agitated, but at least a wave of calm washed over her as soon as she realized who had called her name.
She knew it could be much worse.
"Jules, that's what I should be asking you. It's late. Do you have any idea how late it is? Past midnight and you—"
Okay, Jules knew where this was going, and no, don't think she was bothered by it, not in the slightest. What was really happening was just a matter of self-esteem.
No matter how close these two were, Jules always felt that twinge of guilt for making Arven worry so much about her. She might even say she felt she didn't deserve it.
"But I'm fine." Before even finishing the sentence, Jules smiled at him. She knew that had some kind of effect on the boy.
And did it? Absolutely. With that face, he could never say no to her.
That's exactly why he stopped himself from delivering the lecture he was about to unleash.
Maybe, just maybe, Arven was trying to disguise those feelings for Jules. The boy had the perfect alibi. They were friends, best friends; friends worry about each other.
Arven had no choice but to clear his throat and be honest.
"You should learn to say 'no.' " So now Arven just seemed embarrassed because of his own comment.
"Huh?"
"Well... sorry if that didn't come out right." More of the same. He was probably thinking about Penny's words at that precise moment. "Jules, you know what I mean. Do you never say no to a favor?"
Arven himself ended up questioning that question, after all, was he the right person to question Jules about that?
Nah, the girl agreed to help him search for the Herba Mystica without questioning him about anything.
"I guess I'm just trying to be kind" For some reason, Jules sounded disappointed with her own response.
Ah, great. Now they were both uncomfortable.
Jules couldn't help but lightly bite her lower lip. Some of the lipstick she was wearing got messed up because of that. Apparently, Tulip's hard work was still there.
Meanwhile, Arven pretended not to have seen that. He was probably going to think about it for the rest of the week.
Before either of them could say anything to break the ice, Jules's SmartRotom interrupted the moment.
Sure, an incoming call, and another favor to add.
*Grusha*
It was now or never. Arven knew what he had to do before the bastard from Glaseado Mountain made his life miserable.
"Jules..., you should stay to rest. If he really needs something, he can ask tomorrow."
Yes, he was definitely jealous. On the other hand, Jules was stubborn, and she knew nothing about setting boundaries.
"I don't think it will take that long, I mean—." Indeed, it seemed nothing was going to stop Jules.
"Juliana. I worry about you."
The girl was speechless. Honestly, she hated that name with a burning passion, but it was something she had to carry for the rest of her life.
"..."
Finally, the SmartRotom stopped ringing.
"If you stay, at least tonight, I'll make you whatever you want to eat." Somehow, Arven knew that would work. It had worked before, but as if cooking for her was no big deal, the boy added something else at the last minute. "If you stay, I'll carry you to your dorm room."
No more, no less. What the hell had he just said?
On the brighter side: Jules was laughing, and not in a shy way or anything like that. Arven's comment genuinely amused her.
"Sure, right. It's two damn floors to my dorm room." As much of a cheap excuse as Jules wanted to give, she was happy to have received such a proposal.
"Yeah, and?" Arven began to sound challenging in the best possible way. "You’re not heavier than my backpack. Have that as a certainty."
Once again, Jules laughed; she was nervous, but there was something about that proposal that she couldn't refuse, in fact, she would hate herself if she did.
Whether it was exhaustion or the sleepy feeling that came with midnight, whatever it was, Jules didn't know, and surprisingly, she didn't care to know.
Somehow, she had managed it. Jules rested her head on his shoulder, her chest pressed against his back, arms around his neck, and legs around his waist. Oh and sure she was also able to hear her own heartbeat.
To be quite fair, this is the type of stuff Jules was waiting to get by acting like a spoiled girl. She wasn't even hungry, she was just pleased by having him giving her all of his attention, nothing else.
At times, Jules was just that demanding, even when she wouldn't utter a word about it, or whether she wanted it or not; she would be greatly disappointed if it hadn't happened.
That's how capricious she could be when she set her mind to it.
Perhaps that's why she never said no when it came to that favor that was so difficult to fulfill. Yet, no matter how much she tried to mask it with friendship, it was starting to become a bit obvious to both of them.
Quite a few seconds later, they soon arrived at her room. The dorm room in question was a mess, by the way, well, it wasn't the pigsty Penny inhabited, but typically Jules kept her room in the perfect balance between simple and tidy.
Without even any sense of time, Jules was already lying on her bed, on her sheets, and other things that also took up space. Among them, a pile of empty Pokéballs, different uniforms for each season, and three bags with different designs. Nothing relevant.
The girl was lucky; the dim light in the room made it almost impossible to see the disappointed look on her face.
"Do you really not feel hungry?" He asked with an innocent look.
"No," Jules replied.
Another silence. At least this time it wasn't an awkward silence, unlike earlier; it seemed more like a prelude to something important, almost as if something significant was about to happen.
"Hmm, I promised you something, so I'll at least make you some tea. That should help..." As expected, Arven's noble intentions didn't seem like they would let her down. Let's see it this way: Jules couldn't say no to anyone, but Arven couldn't say no to Jules.
Jules couldn't help but laugh a little, maybe it was another side effect of guilt... or maybe something else. The boy seemed hopeless, doing this and that for Jules. Can't blame him, he had been through some pretty messed-up stuff, and of course, he was going to do everything in his power to not let her go; or at least, to spend the necessary time with her.
Jules didn't say anything more; she simply preferred to lie down on her bed and stare at the ceiling of the dorm room; which was barely illuminated by the dim light coming through the window, not far from the small kitchen inside the dorm room.
After a while and a few sighs, when Jules stopped hearing the sound of boiling water, cups, and a few other matters in her pantry, she knew where to focus her gaze.
"Arven, don't look at me like that," Jules complained without any beating around the bush.
"Like what?" well, well, Arven was a good guy, but he couldn't be more naive.
Instead of continuing with the awkward position he had to see her face, Jules sat in the middle of her bed, convinced that she probably looked like a mess.
"With pity." Jules didn't even know exactly what she meant.
That definitely caught him by surprise. Arven probably didn't even know how to respond.
"Ah, Jules, I'm not looking at you with pity," he sighed calmly as he moved from the kitchen to stand in front of the girl's bed. "Actually, I was just wondering why you look so... different?"
Liar, look at him there talking as if Penny hadn't explicitly told him earlier that morning why Jules looked the way she did. But oh well, what could he do, it seemed like Arven was running out of ideas, and this was one of the few times, if not the only one in these past few days, that he could talk alone with Jules.
Meanwhile, Jules could only wonder what prompted that question out of nowhere. Maybe it was her messy bangs that raised so much doubt for Arven, perhaps the absence of her glasses, or it could be that she wasn't wearing her usual white beret. Nah, it was the lipstick, the warm blush, and her ridiculously beautiful eyelashes. Tulip was truly talented.
However, Jules was more than confused. She slowly turned her head to the left and raised an eyebrow, as if her expression wasn't already enough to make it clear to Arven that his comment was very odd.
"About that..., well, Tulip needed a last-minute model, and—" This time Jules didn't get the chance to finish the sentence. Again.
"And you couldn't say no." For some reason, Arven seemed to have a lot to think about based on that deduction, which judging by Jules' expression, was true. "You look cute like this."
Oh wow.
Jules had faced a lot of pretty threatening things throughout the year, but this? This devastated her and fried her brain, just as her face flushed. In an attempt to avoid eye contact, Jules just focused her gaze on her favorite white boots.
"Well, thanks... That's much better than a lecture." A mischievous grin couldn't help but sneak onto the girl's lips. "Didn't think you'd notice anyway."
"I wasn't going to give you a lecture anyway. That doesn't mean I'm not worried about you, Jules. You spend all your time doing favors for everyone, back and forth. Tell me, is it so much fun spending all day at Glaseado Mountain?"
It wasn't a matter where Jules should be being nosy, but this was starting to sound more specific, like a more personal issue that needed to be addressed from the root.
"Glaseado Mountain? Wait, is it about the call from earlier?" Jules knew there was a lot more context behind that complaint.
"No..., Well yes, but when I brought you back to the dorm, your legs were freezing, I'd say they were ice-cold," Arven seemed slightly offended by the temperature of the girl's legs. "Jules, is that really so important? I mean, wouldn't you rather be doing other things...? Even Nemona has been asking about you, Penny too... I was wondering where you were...".
If there was something Jules was hoping to hear, it definitely wasn't all of that. She knew it would have an effect on him, sooner or later, however, she didn't think it would happen so soon, or not to that extent. Now she couldn't help but feel guilty for not only making Arven worry so much about her, but now she felt guilty for neglecting him in a way.
"I... I didn't know you were thinking about that so much. If you had asked me to come back from Glaseado Mountain... I surely would have done it for you." At this point, Jules was sounding dangerously sincere.
Ah yes, now it was Arven who felt guilty at those words.
"No, Jules, I didn't exactly mean it for that, although thank you anyway for being so honest. Just try to rest once in a while, okay?"
Jules really wanted to think about what she was about to say next, so in a bizarre move to gain a few seconds, she fell silent and simply tapped the part of her bed where there was a small available space. It was more than clear what she wanted.
Without waiting any longer, Arven sat down next to her on the edge of the bed.
"Listen, Arven, do me a favor, and please don't worry so much about me. Don't think I don't appreciate it, but you know I'll be fine," Jules tried to give him a sincere smile. "We've been through worse things; I can take care of myself."
"I know you can take care of yourself, Jules, but-"
Both were equally stubborn, thankfully each of them knew how to deal with it differently. In this case, Jules dealt with something that initially seemed too much, but after a few seconds of careful thought, she decided that taking a risk wasn't a bad idea, especially since this would be the most perfect context.
This time they were chest to chest, and once again Jules had her arms around his neck. A hug, who knows how long they had been waiting for this.
"Could you do me that favor, Arven?" With the proximity they had, Jules only needed to whisper to let him know.
He was nervous, ridiculously nervous, even Jules could tell he had his heart in his throat, but that's probably what she wanted.
"Jules—" She didn't even give him the chance to speak.
If there was anything to know about Jules, it was that she was greedy, very greedy, and if the next step could still be considered a comfort zone, she wouldn't have a problem going for it, and getting it.
She had thought the same: It's now or never.
"Pretty please," Jules leaned in even closer, not even intending to keep whispering, this time she had something else in mind. Well, she had to find a good use for Tulip's hard work. "You know, if you do it, I'll make up for the lost time, I promise."
Oh Arceus, what sleep deprivation did to these teenagers.
There was no turning back now; the pink lipstick was already marked on the boy's cheek. Jules swore she had never been so gentle with something in her entire life, but she didn't want to startle him or anything, yet it still made it embarrassing.
Meanwhile, Arven was more than satisfied, albeit very surprised by the sudden contact, but he was satisfied, especially since he used to think that sooner or later he would be the one to take the first step in these things; in fact, he thought that kind of thought didn't even cross his little friend's mind.
He sighed heavily, doing his best to maintain his composure. Other thoughts were lingering in the back of his mind, a bit ridiculous, but possible; he could only contemplate how much trouble they would have gotten into if someone had seen them in that position.
"Are you trying to seduce me or something, Jules?" Arven didn't even know where he got the nerve to say such a thing; he was more than surprised.
"Mhh, not really. Just trying to convince you," Jules chuckled underneath. "I know you can't see it, but the lipstick stain looks good on your face... Wait, wait, I have an idea."
Jules placed another gentle kiss on his face, only this time she changed the position of the lipstick stain. She continued with this one, and another, and another. It seemed like she had her purpose very clear, and as long as Arven didn't ask her to stop (which he didn't), she planned to keep going until there was not a trace of lipstick left on her lips.
After a few seconds, she stopped, and indeed, there was no trace of lipstick on her lips. On the contrary, the various lipstick stains spread all over the boy's face, from his cheeks, his jawline, his cheekbones, his forehead, and even his eyelids; everything was decorated with delicate lipstick stains.
"Happy now?" It seemed like Arven was having more fun with this than Jules herself.
"Yes. I'd take a picture if it weren't for the fact that I know Penny would eventually find it and use it to blackmail you. We don't want that." Jules certainly knew her friends well.
"How clever," Arven smiled at her.
If it weren't for the tea water, who knows what this would have turned into? At least now, Jules would think twice before deciding to spend her entire week doing favors for half the region.
Of course, she preferred doing this.