That Summer | Raihan x Piers [Pokémon]

Chapter 13 ❀ A Confession?

Raihan had already suspected it, but later truly never came, and so he wasn't given a chance to clear things up between himself and Piers. The two Trainers had arrived in Wyndon and done some exploring the way they had said they would. During that one week the boys spent going around the city, visiting shops and other attractions. Things between them seemed to have reverted back to normal which made Raihan wonder if his worries had been unnecessary after all.

The Champion Cup was drawing closer and closer until the day had finally come. The two boys were just checking out of Rose of the Rondelands in order to head over to the stadium. "Are you nervous?" The taller male asked as the two walked side by side, not bothered by their slow tempo in the slightest. Piers felt as if his boyfriend had seen right through him — then again, reading his feelings from his face wasn't such a difficult task.

"A little, I guess. Aren't you?" The pale boy replied, watching Raihan and how he confidently adjusted his orange hairband. "Well, of course I am. But I'm more excited than nervous." The caramel-skinned Trainer replied, grinning at the shorter male with a glimmer in his turquoise eyes. "I mean, can you imagine? The person who wins every battle will be Galar's champion!"

"I hear that in the first round of the preliminaries, it's gonna be Gym Challengers who face off against each other, and after that, Gym Leaders will join the tournament too." Raihan continued and by that time, the two boys had already reached Wyndon Stadium. Piers groaned a tad when being informed about that major detail, following the taller male into the mostly red building. "Oh man... I hope I don't get that fightin'-type Gym Leader as my opponent, he was so hard to beat."

"That was our fourth Gym! You and your Pokémon have gotten much stronger since then!" The light brown-skinned boy retorted while bringing his hand into Piers' spiky hair, ruffling it and making a bit of a mess out of it. The shorter male couldn't prevent a faint blush from forming on his cheeks at the praise, but he already felt much more confident about the whole Cup.

Piers didn't know why he had that impression, but every time he and his lover would get signed up for their battle, it seemed like the person in the tracksuit who stood behind the reception counter was always the same one. He kept his thoughts to himself though and showed the mentioned man his Challenge Band, allowing him to do his work.

It was Raihan's turn to get formally checked in and since there wasn't much time before the first match, Piers decided this would be a good opportunity to take care of certain needs. "I have to go to the bathroom real quick. I'll be right back." The pale boy whispered in hopes that the staff member wouldn't overhear.

"Will you be fine on your own?" Wether it was in the restroom or in the changing rooms, ever since the incident on their first meeting and in Ballonlea, Raihan had a hard time letting his lover go to these places alone. The spiky-haired male knew very well that he was only worrying and he appreciated it deeply, though he was positive that he would be able to defend himself if something were to happen to him this time. He felt far more secure now that he was dating Raihan for some reason.

"I'll be OK. Besides, I bet those guys didn't even manage to clear all the Gyms, so they're probably not even here." Piers stated and made a fair point, to which the raven-haired boy had nothing to fear anymore. The moment he replied with a quick 'alright' and turned his back to face the shorter male, Piers made his way over to the bathroom.

There were still a lot of people in the reception hall, but notably less than at the opening ceremony — which was understandable. To Piers' pleasure, the restroom was empty and so he went to position himself in front of one of the urinals that was almost at the very end of the room.

Someone else entered the toilet stalls while humming, but the pale boy had no reason to look up from the wall in front of himself. The individual who had just stepped inside, being the happy-go-lucky persona he was, created a reason for Piers to give him his attention. "Hey, I know you! You're Raihan's friend, right?"

The spiky-haired male felt obligated to meet the person's gaze and wasn't too surprised to meet the gaze of a golden-eyed Trainer. Though the situation was awkward due to him — well, taking care of what people took care in the bathroom — Piers didn't want to come off as rude to someone who was fairly well-befriended with his lover. "And you're Leon."

"We're in the same block, so we might end up battling against each other! Since you're travelling with Raihan, you must be strong, too! I look forward to our match, so don't you go losing on me!" The purple-haired Trainer continued rambling, Piers only humming in response after putting on his pants properly. The two of them weren't even that close and yet Leon treated him the same as he would his own rival. It made the shorter boy think that perhaps getting closer to his boyfriend's circle of friends wouldn't be that bad of an idea.

Without minding too much about it, Piers allowed Leon to follow him outside the restroom like a little Ducklett until they ran into that orange-haired girl with glasses who was always around him. "Leon, what took you so long?! Do I have to start worrying about you getting lost in the bathroom, too?"

"Come on, Sonia, you're exaggerating." The taller male laughed despite feeling embarrassed about the female making fun of his dismal sense of direction. Piers began to sense that the two would soon get to chatting about their own businesses, so he decided it was a good time to rejoin with Raihan.

The pale boy froze in his position momentarily the instant his eyes darted to the reception counter though, and as if to rub salt into the wound, Leon just had to be looking in the same direction. "Who's that with Raihan?" Indeed, there was a person standing right beside him, someone of shorter stature and female presence.

"Hey, isn't that...?" The girl wasn't simply talking to him, she was handing him something that in spite of the distance was clearly recognizable as a letter. "A confession!" Leon completed his sentence from earlier, saying that one word almost a tad too loudly. He and Sonia obviously didn't know about their friend's relationship with Piers, so it was only natural that they chattered away about how well Raihan would look with that girl.

Piers could feel his chest clench before his heart sunk entirely in the pits of his stomach. Why was it that every time he'd regain confidence about his relationship with Raihan after a difficulty or two, there always had to be something that hit his minimal insecurities to the point where he'd be sent back to square one?

The pale boy saw his lover's loyalty with his own two eyes when the taller male scratched the back of his head sheepishly while turning the girl down politely, but he still felt anxious and impatient nonetheless.

Do you think we're doing something wrong?

Again, those cursed words echoed in Piers' mind, just after he had managed to discard them after their many dates this past week. "That's right..." The spiky-head thought, allowing his cyan orbs to drop to the ground. "For Raihan, bein' with a girl is much more normal than bein' with me."

"Confession or not, I'm up against him right off the bat! Our match is about to start, so get your bum to the front seats already!" Sonia burst out, shaking Piers out of his trance and reminding him as well that Raihan's battle was just about to begin. Even if he was sad, he wanted to be supportive of his boyfriend — after all, Raihan never failed to back him up when he needed it most.

The shorter boy left the two other Trainers without turning around or saying goodbye before making his way over to Raihan whose face innocently lit up at the sight of his lover. He greeted him with smalltalk which led Piers to believe that he wanted to act as if the girl from earlier never confessed to him. Well, according to Raihan, his lover didn't witness that small scenario, so why would he even need to bring it up?

"I've gotta run now. I expect your cheers to be the loudest!" The caramel-skinned Trainer grinned and quickly looked right and left to make sure that no eyes rested on them when he planted a fugitive peck on Piers' lips. How could he even stay upset about anything when Raihan would flash him such bright, genuine smiles?

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My note to you:
So much drama ughh— This is actually the first time I put so many obstacles into a story, and I'd be lying if I said that I'm not enjoying writing this. x3

I'm sure you've noticed by now, but everything that's happening in this '6 years ago'-timeline is like one big prologue to their main story when they're older, so don't worry too much about them not having a peachy relationship right away. ^-^

Thank You for Reading!