Everything In Between

IX

"Woah! You actually came!" Ellie chirped, watching Illusion walk up to her.

Ellie and two other boys stood in the Pokémon Center parking lot, hovering around a silver car.

Illusion stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets, "Yup..." he mumbled, burying his face in his red scarf.

Illusion suddenly received a hug, "Big brother! I knew you'd come!"

"Gray!" Illusion exclaimed, "Let go!"

"No!"

Illusion noticed his brother's boyfriend standing next to them, laughing.

"Danny! C'mon! Help me out!" Illusion begged.

Danny crossed his arms and smirked, "You know I can't control him."

Illusion pushed his brother off of him and smoothed out his coat, "I didn't know you were coming, D."

Danny put an arm around Gray's shoulder and pulled him close, "Heard it could get dangerous. I'm here to keep this one out of trouble."

Gray blushed, "I'm not gonna get into any trouble!"

Danny rolled his eyes and kissed Gray's cheek. Ellie put her hands on her hips, "It's probably a good idea you come, anyway. We could use your Emboar's brute strength. If I'm right, we'll need to do some heavy lifting."

Danny nodded.

"Let's get going, then!" Ellie said, "Everyone pile into my Corolla!"

Illusion frowned, "Is Juniper not coming?"

Ellie opened the drivers side door and got in, "She's got work!"

The couple scrambled into the backseat, so Illusion took the passenger seat.

"Shouldn't you be at work too?" Illusion asked.

Ellie shook her head and started her car, "Nah. I work Saturday through Wednesday!"

"Don't you have work?" Gray asked, leaning forward towards the front.

"Don't you?" Illusion snapped.

Gray held up his hands and settled back into his seat, "Fair enough."

Just the drive from Nacrene to Castelia was horrible. The ride was full of way too much off pitch singing for Illusion's taste. He'd need about three coffees before that could be tolerable.

The group stopped at a familiar bakery in Castelia City. The parking lot was absolutely full, and just looking in through the front windows, they could tell it was going to be a bit of a wait.

Gray groaned, "Ugh! I don't wanna wait!"

Illusion rolled his eyes and began walking towards the back of the building.

"Where are you going?" Gray asked.

Illusion looked over his shoulder, "Go to Sawsbucks and get us some coffee! I'll take care of this."

The group looked amongst each other, shrugged, and began walking down to the closest Sawsbucks. Illusion circled to the back of the building and found the back entrance. He leaned against the wall and knocked on the back door.

A woman with dark red hair poked her head outside. She saw Illusion and smiled.

"Illusion!" She chirped.

Illusion recognized the woman. He knew they had sex, but he couldn't remember her name. He'd have to either remember, or pull some bullshit out of his ass.

Illusion gave the woman a soft smile, "Hey you," he said flirtatiously, "Mind letting me inside? Pretty please?"

"Sure!"

The woman let Illusion inside, and he shuddered in delight at the warm bakery air. His set of blue and green eyes settled on a familiar brunette. He quietly snuck up behind her and-

"I hope you're not trying to scare your sister."

Illusion and the brunette in front of him both jumped and turned around. They were greeted by the icy cold blue eyes of their mother.

"Illusion? What're you doing here?" Juniper asked, "You're supposed to be with Ellie!"

"They went to get coffee," Illusion explained, "I came to get muffins."

"Well you can't just barge in here and demand food!"

"You're hungry? Why didn't you just call?" Their mother asked, grabbing Illusion's face and squishing his cheeks, "Can't let my baby go hungry!"

Illusion groaned, "Mom!"

Juniper rolled her eyes.

"Juniper," Their mother said, continuing to squish her oldest son's cheeks, "Get the blueberry muffins that are cooling."

"But Mom! The next batch isn't even close to being done yet!"

"Oh I wasn't asking, dear."

Illusion smirked. Juniper scrunched up her nose and retrieved the new batch of muffins. They were now cool enough to take out of the pan, so Juniper packed them all up in a box and brought them back over to her mother and brother. Her mother took a minute to stop fawning over her son to sign the box.

"Was that necessary?" Juniper asked.

"Yes," Their mother said. She took the box from her daughter and handed it to her son, "Save some for the others, okay? Especially your brother!"

Illusion looked down at the sickeningly pink box, "How many are there?"

"Twelve." Juniper grunted.

"We should be fine," Illusion said, kissing his mother on the cheek, "Thanks."

Juniper rolled her eyes.

"Thanks Juni!"

"Whatever..." Juniper grumbled, going back to her task.

Illusion smiled and shook his head. He turned back to his mother, "Call me after work, will ya? I...wanna talk."

The brunette raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Okay, sure."

Illusion gave one last goodbye to his family and rushed back out the door before the redhead could find him again. He stepped back out into the frigid winter air and started walking back to Ellie's car. He found the car running, and everyone was inside.

Illusion tried to open the door, but it was locked. He knocked on the window until Ellie opened the door. He scrambled inside, happy to feel the warmth of the car.

"I have blueberry muffins."