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It’s been about 2 days since the Kalos Crisis happened in Lumiose.
2 days, since your boyfriend was stuck in a world-threatening battle against The Giant Rock. 2 days since you were frightened out of your mind thinking you were going to lose him. And the fear still lingers in your mind, even as you were laying right next to him in a hotel bed in Coumarine City.
Your boyfriend has fallen asleep before you, understandably exhausted from everything that happened these couple of days, and yet you couldn’t. You found yourself laying next to him as you watched him sleep, his peaceful expression feeling almost too good to be true. And maybe it was.
What if he couldn’t stop it? The thought races in your mind.
What if things didn’t work out? What if you really did lose him after the Kalos Crisis and that him being with you right now was just some grand hallucination you made to try and cope with it? It wouldn’t phase you if it was. Nothing would phase you after what happened in Lumiose.
You find yourself unknowingly reaching out to trace the lines of his face, in an attempt to prove yourself that he was actually real. And that’s when he woke up, his eyes blinking open groggily.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you-“ You stammer, pulling your hand back as if you touched the thorns of a wild Roselia.
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Steven reassured you as he pulled himself up in a sitting position. You can’t ignore the slight wince that escaped him as he raised himself up on his left arm. It got injured when the Giant Rock blasted him. After Lysandre came back to awaken it after they thought they pulled Chespie out.
“What are you doing up so late? You were supposed to have gone to sleep ages ago.”
“I…couldn’t.”
He raises his eyebrows thoughtfully at that.
“How come?”
He asks, although both of you weren't stupid, it's pretty obvious as to why. Even through his tiredness however, his ice blue eyes were still looking at you with such love and concern. You were his first choice in everything, after all. He would risk anything to be there for you. You almost felt bad. You wanted to give him the rest that he deserved, and yet you woke him up because of your own stress and anxiety.
“I just…”
It went without saying, you were also super tired to the point you couldn’t get your words out correctly, and yet the thought of “what if” things hadn’t worked out as well as it should, or that "what if" Steven and the others couldn’t stop that monstrosity weighed heavily on your mind, to the point that you couldn’t sleep at all these past few days.
“I just..wonder what could’ve happened if we couldn’t stop…that.”
He can’t hide the way his face falters at that. It’s been like that since the crisis was over. He’s tried to be his usual self. His cheerful, friendly, (slightly annoying ass) self ever since he came back from Anistar and you cried in his arms. And yet, you can tell the way the light in his eyes had dimmed slightly, the diamonds of his eyes losing their luster, how he struggled to carry himself more than usual. He too, was traumatized, and yet, he didn’t want you to see it.
That opens the floodgates for you as you start rambling then and there.
“I can’t stop thinking about what would’ve happened if we couldn’t stop that thing. I can’t stop thinking about all the vines, all the screaming-“
You were practically trembling, tears threatening to escape your eyes and his heart breaks. He knew that it had everything to do with that, for god’s sake, it’s the biggest Donphan in this room right now, and yet it hurt seeing you like this. It hurt that he couldn’t be as strong as he wished he could’ve been for you, because honestly, he was feeling the same thing you felt and then some.
You grip the ends of your pajama shorts as tears nearly fall out of your eyes.
“And..I keep thinking about…what would’ve happened..if..I lost you-“
Steven lets out a heavy sigh at that. His expression grave and sullen. He slowly drew you into his arms as he let you rest your head on his shoulder, patting your back in an almost parental manner. You don’t fight it. Instead you grasp his sleep shirt as if it was a lifeline, and he too, lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. As if he was trying to breathe you in, to remember the scent of you after being afraid that he might never feel it again.
“It's alright, I'm here sweetheart. Everything’s going to be okay now.”
He whispers into your hair, and it feels like meant to reassure him as much as it’s supposed to reassure you. It’s so warm, and tender. All him, and all alive. A couple sobs escape you, and he lets the tears stain his shirt.
He couldn’t ignore the way that you were practically numb the day after the incident. You had trouble talking, eating, and moving around more than usual. He knew that you were traumatized, that you were still in shock from everything that happened, but he didn’t want to press on it, both because, it wasn’t his place to, and also because he was going through the same thing, he just didn’t want you to see it.
You raise your head to look at him, and he places a hand on your cheek, caressing it with his thumb and wiping away your tears.
“You know, I was thinking about you while I was fighting Team Flare.”
“Huh?”
“I kept thinking about…how you were all alone in Lumiose." He murmurs in the dim light of the hotel room. A quiet confession meant only for you and no one else.
"I know you were more than capable of protecting yourself and the citizens but, I was just worried that I would never be able to see you again either.”
He admits, and you can see how shaken he still is within his eyes. It feels strangely intimate. You’re not sure if you’ve ever seen him so vulnerable and it nearly scares you.
“I kept fighting because I wanted to go back home to you. I kept fighting because I wanted to see you again.”
You were his home. The place he always wanted to go back to, and despite everything, you were the reason he kept going. Kept fighting. You always were.
Steven places a hand over yours. Nothing much, just something to keep you (And himself) grounded. To remind you that both you and Steven were here, and that you were alive.
“It’s gonna take a long time for things to get better, but we can handle it one day at a time.”
“Just as long as we get some therapy first-“ You remark snidely, and that elicits a chuckle out of him.
“Yes. We definitely need that.”
He says, and he smiles at you. The first genuine one in what feels like ages. And likewise, you return the same expression. Small, but it’s enough to make him reassured. He likes you better when you’re smiling anyway, and he would do anything to make you smile like that forever. He could go through all of the Kalos Crisis again if it meant keeping you safe. For you, he would do anything.
He stares up at the celing, placing a finger underneath his chin.
“I was wondering what we have to do afterwards. There’s the entire cleanup effort in Lumiose, as well as find out what happened with the Giant Rock, cause surely it didn’t just disappear after-“
You practically shove him into the mattress for that.
“No.”
You emphasize.
“We are not doing anything for at least an entire week alright? You and Metagross are staying here, taking a break and if you do anything else, I’ll kill you.”
You threaten him, although he knows this is just your way of looking out for him. Because god forbid he takes a break after all the shit you guys went through.
He lays back down on the bed with a sigh and you lay down beside him, gazing into his eyes. Both of you can stay up a bit longer, you think. Listen to the sound of Coumarine City, a safe haven created even after the crisis, the sound of his heartbeat as you two talk about everything and nothing at the same time. Your faces are so close that your noses just barely touch each others, and your voices draw themselves to a tiny whisper meant only for you two.
“You know I love you right?” You ask, looking into his eyes that has gained a bit of his light back. And he was looking into yours that shined in the same manner.
“More than anything.” His response comes immediately.
“Can we uh..try and stay out of trouble maybe? At least for the next year or so?…”
You say as you cup his cheek, and he playfully rolls his eyes at that.
“We can, although it seems like trouble follows us no matter where we go.”
You practically snort at that.
“Oh yeah, definitely. What are the odds that we would have to face two instances of the world almost ending because of giant legendary Pokemon going violent, and in both times you happened to be caught in the center of it?”
You ask, referring to that whole shtick with Groudon and Kyogre several months back. You could go on an entire rant about how you didn’t trust Lysandre back then and that Steven shouldn’t have either, but that’s all in the past now. You could save that for another day, you were tired enough as is.
“We must be the two most unluckiest people in the world.” You comment, to which he only smiles and places a small kiss on your forehead.
“I could never be unlucky so as long as I’m with you, darling.”