"I don't know if you can see this or not, Hau, but this is awkward as hell."

Gladion found himself at the Malasada Shop—again. This time he was only with Hau, who insisted he had to come with him as part of their "bonding" or some nonsense like that. He felt out of place and almost bolted before looking at Hau's face and deciding he couldn't afford to disappoint him.

Lillie was going to be visiting the next day, and Gladion had practically begged Hau to move their rendezvous to then since it would be less strange-feeling with his sister there. Hau had refused, replying sternly that the whole point was for him and Gladion to warm up to each other and that having another person there would ruin the vibe.

Gladion hadn't eaten his malasada at all. He ate, of course, but he wasn't really a fan of food, and he certainly didn't love food like Hau did.

On the other hand, Hau was almost done with his malasada, and he took such big bites of his malasadas sometimes that Gladion didn't doubt he'd finish it off in just one.

"Is it? I don't feel awkward at all." Hau beamed. "I really appreciate you doing this, Gladion. I mean, I want to be friends with you."

Gladion scoffed. "Yes, I picked that up."

"Aren't you excited to see Lillie? I miss her so much. I used to see her every day, you know? But now it's only for one week every month. It just...it sucks." Hau switched the subject for no particular reason. He was so jittery that his mind often wandered off into random places at unpredictable times, which didn't go unnoticed by Gladion. "Are you bothered by the fact that I used to, well, sort of have a thing for her?"

The fourteen-year-old narrowed his eyes dangerously. "What do you think? Anybody having a, as you say, thing for my sister bothers me. It's gross and weird, and if she actually does end up with them I'm going to have to watch over their every move to make sure she doesn't get hurt again."

Hau giggled. "You're making me happy that it's Selene that Lillie ended up with instead of me."

Gladion frowned. "What made you like her anyway?"

"Are you kidding? Lillie's an amazing girl!" Realizing he sounded just a tiny bit too enthusiastic from Gladion's glare, Hau smiled and lowered the volume of his voice. "She's one of my closest friends, and I was close to her even before I became close to Selene and Elio, much less you. She's just...something else. She's kind and brave and...well, beautiful, I guess."

"You can stop now," Gladion mumbled. "Are you really over her? You still sound like you're in love with her."

"No, I'm over her. You don't have to worry about me. You can just focus on bringing down Selene now." Hau took a gigantic bite of his malasada, finishing it off in one bite like Gladion had predicted. "It wasn't love in the first place, though. It was a crush. I thought I was in love, though, and I used to have daydreams about Lillie and I getting married, which is...really embarrassing to say."

"You seriously used to have daydreams of getting married to my sister?" Gladion winced. "That thought is not welcome in my head. God, you could've kept it to yourself."

Hau wiped his mouth roughly with a napkin, although he wasn't even close to getting all the crumbs and cream off. "Maybe, but that wouldn't be any fun! And anyway, Gladion, you can't pretend you never had a crush on someone."

Gladion felt his face get red, and he could feel some sort of humiliation burn through him like acid.

But as quickly as the feeling came, he realized he had no reason to feel that way.

He'd never had a crush on anyone in his entire life.

"I don't have to pretend," Gladion said tartly. "I've never had a crush on anybody."

"Oh please!" Hau laughed. "You don't have to be shy with me! You know I had a huge crush on your little sister. And as guys, we're supposed to talk about this stuff, right?"

"Do you have any idea how stupid you sound right now?" Gladion asked sharply. "And anyway, I'm not lying. I never had time for that kind of thing. I spent almost my whole life in Aether Paradise confined and abused by my mother, and the two years after I ran away were spent trying to survive without getting hurt."

Hau's smile dropped away, and suddenly the boy looked thoughtful. "Yeah...yeah, that makes sense." Then he paused, as if deciding what to say next, and his trademark smile returned. "But you have time now, don't you?"

Gladion glowered at the Trainer sitting across from him. "I suppose, but it doesn't make a difference, because nothing has changed. I've still never had a crush on anyone, and I don't plan to. If I can't protect Lillie or Selene from falling in love, I can at least protect myself."

"Oh, Gladion, you should know better than to say that!" Hau said in a jokingly chastising tone. "You know what's going to happen next, don't you? Just because you said you won't let yourself fall in love, you're going to fall in love with someone!"

"Superstitions, excuses to embarrass me," Gladion answered dismissively. "When will you stop? And also, I'm not going to eat this." He nodded curtly down at his untouched malasada.

Hau looked up at him with big, soupy puppy eyes. "Can I have it?"

Gladion smirked. "Why would I say that if I didn't want you to take it?"

"To torture me," Hau replied, like it was obvious. With that, he instantly took his friend's malasada, taking a humongous bite out of it.

There was an awkward silence for a few minutes, Gladion watching warily as Hau tore the malasada apart. Finally, Hau spoke, albeit rather quietly, especially for the green-haired boy himself. "So, Gladion, I just wanted to tell you something."

Gladion sighed exaggeratedly. "What."

"No matter what happens, I'm always going to be with you. Even if Selene and Elio aren't—and I'm not saying Lillie, because I know she'll always be with you, too—I will be there. I know how much your mother hurt you, and...I want to be there when you need me. I know you hate when people try to comfort you or take care of you, but I think you need it, regardless of what you say. Maybe even want it. So I'm here, you know. We're friends now, so I thought I should tell you that."

Gladion narrowed his eyes and glanced up at Hau, trying to figure out if he was joking or not. He'd been looking down the entire time while the younger boy was talking.

Hau looked completely serious, almost frighteningly so, since he was almost never serious in the first place.

Gladion's eyes shot back down.

"I won't need any protecting."

Hau smiled and leaned over from the other side of the small table, tilting Gladion's chin up so that their eyes were forced to meet. The blonde gulped.

"I know. You're more than capable of surviving by yourself. You're amazing," Hau said gently. "But you need some help living on your own. Living and surviving isn't the same thing, and I want you to live."

Nobody had ever cared whether Gladion enjoyed his life or not.

His mother had managed to keep him alive, but he might as well have been dead.

Nobody had ever cared if Gladion was surviving or living.

And here, before him, was a boy who, for some unfathomable miracle, did care.

He couldn't think.

He couldn't turn away.

He couldn't understand Hau, but he couldn't see anything except him, could he?

Gladion knew how strange this must look for the other patrons of the Malasada Shop. The two Trainers weren't saying anything. Their eyes locked unblinkingly, their faces at an uncomfortably close proximity, it was nothing Gladion was used to, and hell, was he blushing?

He was. He could feel it.

Damn.

Why?

Wait, was Hau blushing too?

No, it was probably an illusion. He was probably just seeing what he wanted to see.

Wait.

Wait, wait, wait...

Why would he want to see that?

"Do you really care?"

It came out quieter than he expected, and Gladion could swear he'd never heard his voice that soft before.

"Of course I do."

Gladion thought something was about to happen, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what.

Then Selene burst in, the sound of her borderline-violent footsteps and the chill that came with her slamming open the door being a startling end to the trance.

"Gladion, Lillie says your mother wants to talk to you over the Xtransceiver! Get over here! You too, Sunshine Boy! Hey, what the hell are you two doing anyway?"

God...

Why now?

Gladion felt like he was getting somewhere—emotionally—for the first time in years. He couldn't understand how or why, but something was happening. And it was because of Hau.

Why did his mother always end up ruining everything?