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Silver wasn’t stupid. He could tell Ethan liked him. He saw the way Ethan looked at him and heard the way Ethan spoke to him. He knows how to tell the difference between normal talking and flirting. He’s heard the conversations Ethan and Lyra have about him in passing. He’s heard the sentence “Just tell Silver how you feel!” too many times. He couldn’t deny the fact that he himself harbored similar, if not the same, feelings for Ethan. He should be happy. Part of him is. But the idea of Ethan being in love with him made a different part of him miserable.
Ethan is straight. Ethan only loves him because he thinks he’s a girl. Silver’s sure of it. He’ll never be seen as a real boy. He’ll always be a girl in everyone’s eyes. It made him sick to his stomach. He loved Ethan, but Ethan didn’t love him. He loved her. She didn’t exist anymore.
Silver started avoiding him. Being around Ethan was a constant reminder that he’d never be a boy in anyone’s eyes. It made him feel like a girl. He is not a girl. The most he interacted with Ethan was a passing glance if they happened to be in the same PokeCenter or mart at the same time, but Silver did everything in his power to make sure that didn’t happen. Ethan probably thought he was mad at him. He kind of was.
-
Ethan was sure he’d done something wrong. Silver would barely even look at him anymore. He just didn’t know what he did. He’s been friends with Silver for a while, but he still wasn’t exactly sure what made him tick. Maybe he said something wrong, he wasn’t always the best at wording things. Maybe Silver just got bored of him. Or found him too annoying to hang out with anymore.
There was one other possibility.
Silver knew. He knew Ethan liked him, and he was disgusted by it. It made sense. He wasn’t very subtle, and Silver got all tense and quiet when he flirted with him. Even if it was just jokingly. He shouldn’t have been so open about how he felt. He lost one of his friends because of it.
Would Silver really hate him because he’s gay? He didn’t think Silver was the type to be homophobic. Maybe he just didn’t like the fact that Ethan was in love with him. That hurt. Did Silver really hate him that much? He thought they were starting to be good friends. Maybe he should’ve just bottled up his feelings. Maybe then, Silver wouldn’t look at him with so much disgust in his eyes.
-
Silver got calls almost everyday. They were from Lyra, she kept telling him about how sad Ethan is, trying to get Silver to talk to him. He didn’t like saying no every time. He wanted to hang out with them, but he couldn’t bring himself to face either of them. Lyra talked to him the way she talks to girls. They both did. He could tell the difference.
On top of that, Ethan started following him. He saw him around a lot more, in the same towns and routes. He tired to avoid him as much as possible. He probably looked pathetic running away. Or like a total asshole. Probably the second one.
Silver’s phone buzzed in his pocket. Definitely Lyra. He let it ring, he didn’t feel like talking to her today.
-
“He won’t answer! ” she groaned. She’d called him at least 5 times by now. “He’s not gonna pick up, Eth.” she looked over at her best friend and sighed. “Why don’t you call him?” she really didn’t understand why he just kept lurking around instead of actually doing something.
“He won’t talk to me anymore, you know that.” he frowned. “He hates me. He hates me and I dont know why.” he put his head in his hands.
“Oh, c’mon. If he hated you, he wouldn’t answer almost everytime I call him to talk about you .” she rolled her eyes, patting him on the back. “Cheer up, man.” It was exhausting having to help her friends sort their stuff out. She couldn’t even be into the drama, there was barely anything there. Plus, she had to listen to her best friend cry over a boy every single day.
“Even if he doesn’t hate me, he’s still avoiding me. How am I supposed to talk to him if he acts like he doesnt want anything to do with me?” he peeked out from between his fingers to see his friend frowning at him. “ What?? ”
She subconsciously hit the call button again, she’s been doing it for a while now. It was basically instinct. Call, wait for it to stop ringing, call again, repeat.
‘Hi.’
He answered! Ethan practically jumped to grab the phone out of Lyra’s hands, which she glared at him for. It was a decently expensive phone, after all.
“Silver! Hey! Don’t hang up. Please.”
‘What do you want?’ Silver’s voice was quiet and monotone. Though, thats what he always sounded like, so it wasn’t too disheartening to hear.
“I just wanna talk to you. In person. Please .”
There was silence for a few seconds.
‘....Okay.’
Ethan pumped his fist in the air.
-
Ethan was surprised he was actually able to get Silver to meet up with him. He was standing just outside of Cherrygrove, fidgeting with the sleeves of his jacket. He’d been waiting out there for a while. 15 minutes, maybe. Maybe Silver wasn’t coming. He shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up. Of course Silver wasn’t coming.
He was about to give up and go back home. But he saw someone walking towards him. Someone he knew well. He had to stop himself from running up to Silver and tackling him into a hug. He beamed at him and waved his arms over his head. Silver looked on edge, taking careful, slow steps towards him.
“Hey! I was startin’ to think you weren’t gonna show.” he chuckled. Silver stared at him for a few seconds.
“Yeah.. I was debating on that.” he looked away when Ethan frowned “Sorry.” he pursed his lips and picked at the skin around his nails. This whole situation made him want to crawl into a hole and die. He didn’t know how to make it any better, either.
“It’s.. fine.” his throat felt dry. “Why’ve you been avoiding me? Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry, for whatever it was. I didn’t mean to make you mad, honest.” he rambled on and on for what felt like hours before Silver cut him off.
“You didn’t do anything. That’s not why im upset.”
“Then.. why’re you upset?” his head cocked to the side.
Silence.
“You can tell me, y’know.”
Silence.
“Is it because I love you?”
“..That’s part of it.” he finally answered. Kind of. It really just made Ethan more confused. He just stared at Silver, waiting for him to elaborate.
“I’m not a girl.” Silvers hands shook slightly. “You like me because you think I’m a girl. I’m not a girl.”
“I know you’re not a girl.” he stepped forwards. Silver stepped back.
“But-”
“Why would I think you’re a girl?”
“Because.. I..” Silver’s voice was shaky.
“Can I give you a hug?” he opened his arms and Silver froze for a few seconds before nodding. He wrapped his arms around Silver and rested his chin on his shoulder. Silver returned the hug and had to keep himself from sobbing. He wouldn’t be a crybaby.
“I used to be a girl.” he mumbled. It was barely loud enough for Ethan to hear. He played with Silver’s hair and gave him a comforting pat on the back.
“Oh.” he gets it now. “That’s okay.” he smiled, pulling away from the hug to look Silver in the eyes.
He’s never seen Silver cry before.
“You’re really okay with it..?” Silver sniffled. Maybe he would be a crybaby, just this once.
“I’m not an asshole. ” he grinned. “Obviously I’m okay with it.”
Silver just stared, dumbfounded. He felt really stupid now. They sat in silence for a few long minutes. Both of them waiting for the other to say something. They probably looked crazy, just staring at each other.
Surprisingly, Silver was the one to break the silence.
“I love you."
Ethan quietly gasped.
“I love you too.”