Fury and Confusion (A Pokemon Fanfiction)

Chapter Seventeen

She kissed me. Acerola sat up in bed, looking down at the girl sound asleep next to her. Lillie was on her side, still in her white hoodie and short shorts from the day before, her bare feet poking out from the bottom of the cream duvet. Maybe it was exhaustion, maybe it was stress. Lillie had a lot of things she didn't talk about, though a stolen kiss in the night was something Acerola certainly hadn't been expecting. She ran a finger over the girl's inner thigh.

Maybe I'm overstepping my bounds here, but you did kiss me last night when I was asleep.

The scar on Lillie's thigh was wide and pitted, dimples where the stitches pressed out from the skin. Lillie was no longer wearing bandaging on the wound – it was closed now, though the process looked like it had taken a while. After the trial, Lillie would probably have to see a doctor to get the stitches removed properly. Acerola gently grazed the tips of her fingers around the ends of Lillie's shorts, lifting the fabric slightly to see the entire wound. It was an ugly scar, pale and rough and certainly not very feminine. It was one the girl would likely be covering up for years.

She kissed me.

Acerola withdrew her hand. It had felt like a dream, half conscious as she was when it happened. In her dream-state it had been Ilima kissing her again. She had turned away, fleeing from it, but seconds later she woke fully, realizing what had really happened.

She glanced up towards the half-open window, the wooden slats letting in glowing morning light, the shine of it leaving long warm streaks across the bed. Acerola felt her legs brushing against Lillie's under the bed sheets.

The sleeping girl turned, lying on her back and Acerola examined her. Thin, slender, petite, even though she was taller than Acerola was. She wondered if Lillie would grow a few more inches before she was done. Subtle curves were hidden beneath her white hoodie, her arms out next to her, leaving her looking very vulnerable. Acerola looked over to where Hau lay snoring, then out the window. She could see the pampas grass shimmering in the morning sun.

Kissed by two different people in one day, Acerola chuckled ruefully at the thought, I guess that's an accomplishment of sorts. I didn't expect her to have the guts to do something like that. Acerola brushed some hair away from Lillie's cheek. Maybe you're even more like Ilima than I thought you were.

"Huh?" Lillie stirred and Acerola looked back at her. "Ilima didn't wake us up with the pan?"

Her voice was groggy and muddled, a comfortable sound that Acerola found herself enjoying. She smiled at the younger girl as Lillie sat up. For a while their eyes were locked, at least until redness seeped into Lillie's expression and the girl looked away, one fist tightening around a clump of bed sheets.

Cute. Acerola smiled to herself. You're tempting me to play with you.

Still, the thought of getting Lillie back for invading Acerola's personal space held some appeal. She'd have to think of some suitable torture – a benign one, of course – to inject into the girl's life, but now wasn't the time.

"I think it's because I'm in here." Acerola smirked. "I don't think he would want to wake me up like that. Probably doesn't want to piss me off any more than he already has."

"Would Ilima think about that sort of thing?" Lillie pondered, furrowing her brow. Acerola shrugged, falling back on the bed next to Lillie, one arm casually strewn across Lillie's stomach. The girl stiffened but accepted it being there. Eventually Lillie started absently playing with Acerola's hand.

It was another hour or so of quiet conversation on the bed before Acerola finally sat up again, urging Lillie to get up as well. They found Ilima on one of the rocking chairs of the lanai, watching as the waves rolled in and the Wingull darted through the air. He turned to them and Acerola found herself staring coolly back for longer than she had intended.