Ash was looking for his keys in his jacket's pocket when he noticed the tab on the doorknob. He sighed to himself, smiling at how he still kept the habit of fetching his keys after he and Misty moved to this flat that locked with a keypad.

Ash entered the code and pushed the heavy door open. Honestly, the place still looked unfamiliar to him. It smelled foreign to him. It didn't have the coziness the old apartment had. Misty was with him (that was a good source of coziness) but the old place had its charm.

He walked toward his gaming room. The music was on in a low volume and Misty was lying down on his gaming chair wearing his sweatshirt.

"You really need to get off this chair." Sometimes, he had to pick her up and lock her out of this place so he can work peacefully. Misty liked to sit on his lap when he is drawing on his pad and it wasn't convenient (but he could finally relate to what Gary has been saying for the past few years).

"I was thinking." Misty pulled the back up and spun in the chair. "What if Brock never left?"

Ash blinked. He stopped the chair from spinning. "What?"

"What if Brock never moved in with Lucy?" Misty pulled her knees up. "What was going to happen to us?"

Ash shrugged. He put his bag on the ground. "I don't know."

"Were we going to stay in that apartment trying to eat each other's heads?" Not that they fully stopped arguing with each other, but now the arguments always ended in bodies slamming against the walls and rough kissing.

"Probably."

"And what's Brock's moving changed?"

"I don't know?" Ash narrowed his eyes. "Why are you trying to make me reflect on things after a long day of work? I'm on Low Power Mode over here."

"I'm just curious." Misty shrugged. "I happened to go through some old drawings..."

Ash slapped his forehead. He keeps forgetting he now has to turn off his computer because he has a girlfriend.

"I'm the main model of a lot of them." Misty playing with her hair, Misty reading a book on the couch, Misty petting his dog Mars – Ash had her pictured in all different positions, and some digital drawings were from college days.

"Okay. What has this to do with your question?" He put his headphones on his desk.

"I had no idea you had this crush on me for all these years – like, it's a long time, Ash."

"It's the same with you."

"Were you just going to go on and... live with it?" Misty frowned. Were they just going to live miserably because of how scared they were? She's tried to get over Ash at some point, but apparently, Ash never did. He was just living with the fact that he liked her and he carried that around.

"I guess, yeah." Ash nodded. "Our friendship was more important for me."

Misty leaned back. "It's a bit scary, if you ask me."

"Why?"

"Because you and I were ready to live miserable instead of growing some balls and confronting each other."

"I did it."

"That's why I asked you if it had anything to do with Brock moving."

"Maybe, maybe not." Ash can't count the number of people who nagged him to ask Misty out. "I was a little worried about living with you – like, just you and me... it was going to be weird. I'd have to deal with you without Brock being there."

"But isn't that a good thing? Being alone with the woman you like?"

"That's the other side of the story I could never see." He smiled.

"Remember when we kissed for the first time?" Misty spoke in a low voice. "I was crying, you were hugging me very tight, and we kissed?"

"Yeah."

"You should draw that."

Ash chuckled. "I wasn't there to see it. I was in it."

"I don't care. You have all these tools and apps – come up with something." Misty got off the chair.

"I still need my shower first." When Ash left the room, he could hear someone enter the code on their door keypad. "Brock and Lucy are here."

"Oh." Misty rushed toward the door – but quickly rushed back to their bedroom.

"Wear some underwear." Ash chuckled to himself as he walked to the bathroom.

"Hey! Where are the people of the house?" Brock closed the door. "I'm going to eat the pizza this time!"

"I made my own pizza!" Misty gestured to the kitchen counter, where her homemade vegan pizza lay. She noticed Brock came alone. "Where is Lucy?"

"She said she had something to do." He gave a shrug. "In other words, she doesn't like our Friday nights."

"Oh, well, her loss." Lucy just didn't really fit in the group. Ash didn't like her and was obvious about it, but Misty tried with the woman. Talking with her was great anyway.

"Where is Ash?"

"Shower."

"This is the best time to eat. Quick." Brock sat on the couch, soon was joined by Misty with her vegan pizza. It didn't look glorious but it tasted fine. It was small sized so she finished it quickly.

Brock filled his plate with pizza slices. "Does he eat your vegan stuff?"

Misty raised her eyebrows. "He ate my vegan butter before I could even make crepes with it – and I can't even imagine how he ate it."

Brock let a chuckle. "I'm so sorry."

"You left me with him!"

"Hey, I did you a favor."

Misty rolled her eyes. She nudged Brock when she saw Ash walking toward them, holding a bottle of whiskey.

He put it on the table and told Misty, "It's vegan."

"Noooo, no, no." Misty shook her head. "I don't handle it like you do."

"Now, I'm sure I'm dating the wrong girl." Ash got comfortable on the couch. "You don't game and you can't drink. What do I like in you?"

"You don't always get what you want." Misty grinned sheepishly at him.

"This couch isn't the same." Brock spoke after Ash sat beside him. Misty was on his left.

"Don't get me started on this couch. I've not over the keypad yet," Ash said.

"But we couldn't take our couch. You've made a big dent on it with your a$$."

"It's not me! The couch was old!"

"The dent was on the side. It's where you always sat down." Misty explained in her teacher-y manner. She dodged when Ash tried to hit her with a cushion. "This is an abusive relationship!"

"You don't always get what you want!" Ash mocked.

"Guys, please, it's Friday, we've had a long week and I live with a woman who takes two-hour showers. I need a break." Brock turned on the TV.

"Did we have to throw away that old couch?"

"With some more effort, we'll love this one. It's nice and expensive," Brock said.

"The question is, can it handle Ash Ketchum's a$$?" Ash was about to launch himself at Misty but Brock got on his way and pushed him to the back.

"It just gets you every time!" Misty looked away, giggling. Ash rolled his eyes. He picked up his phone.

Brock looked at the TV. It wasn't the same old TV. Something still didn't feel right...

.. but when he turned around and found Ash stuffing pizza into his mouth; one leg hanging over the arm of the couch, and Misty playing with her hair; braiding it and un-braiding it, Brock finally felt home, just like old times.

"Can I trash-talk Lucy?"

"Ash!"

Yep, just like old times.

THE END