Baffled Hearts - a Brock x Ash (Pokemon) fanfic

Chapter 3

'Good job Pikachu, Swellow! You guys really worked hard today! Keep up this hard work and we shall become Pokémon master in no time!' Ash gave an excitedly pep talk when they finished probably their 10th round of battle. Pikachu and Swellow cheered between huffs and puffs of tired panting.

'Speaking of time, I wonder what time it is...' Ash looked up at the clock, horrified, he gave a little shout, 'oh no! it's already 9:30pm, well past 9:00pm. We better head back now or else Brock is going to nag me until my ears fall off!' He hurriedly picked Pikachu up and retrieved Swellow back to his pokeball and ran up the stairs two at a time.

As he approached their room Ash slowed down and tried to calm his breathing down. Finally, after taking several deep breaths he is no longer panting and his heart rate returned to normal. But as he placed his hand on the doorknob, his heart started jumping crazily in his chest again. The metal doorknob felt heavy and hot, like it had been scorched by a Charmander. He wondered what Brock was doing on the other side of door – was he worried about him? Would he be angry that he came back so late? Would he start nagging at him once he opened the door? Shaking his head wildly to get rid of all these thoughts, Ash gently turned the doorknob and slowly pushed the door open just a crack. To his surprise, the room was completely dark. No Brock standing arms crossed against his chest, stewing words to scold him. Seems like Brock's asleep already, Ash thought disappointedly, which surprised himself – why am I disappointed? He was about to shake his head wildly to get rid of these weird thoughts again, but Pikachu nudged him softly on the head to remind him to be quiet. Ash nodded at Pikachu, then, carefully, inched towards his bed, grabbed his pyjamas and towel, and carefully again, tiptoed to the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Hearing the bathroom door shut, Brock opened his eyes and stared at the thin line of light shining from underneath the bathroom door. The monotonous hum of running water created an ambient background for him to make sense of his feelings. He didn't usually sleep this early; normally, he would wait till Ash returned from training, scold him for training for so long, and then they would go through tomorrow's plan together before having a little late-night snack, and finally, head to bed. But with so many feelings weaving in and out of his mind, Brock simply didn't know how to face Ash. Brock felt stupid – he, Ash, May and Max always either camp together or sleep together in a room (because Pokémon centres are usually always crowded). It had been so long since it was just he and Ash in a room together that he got so nervous and tried to camouflage his feelings by confessing boundlessly to Nurse Joy. Now he felt stupid, extremely stupid that he wasted such a good chance to spend some time alone with Ash. Before he could wallow more in his self-pity the bathroom door cricked open. Brock hurried and shut his eyes (not that there was any difference between his opened and closed eyes) and tried to breathe as normally as he could. The silhouette against the bathroom light stood there for a moment before the light switched off and the room was again bathed in darkness. With his eyes still closed, Brock heard the soft sound of zipping and fabric shuffling, then Pikachu yawned softly, putting an end to all thoughts and movements inside the room.