Fuck, why did I run?!

Gladion was currently mentally scolding himself, his back up against one of the trees in the park as he gently hit the back of his head against it. He had been so shocked by the appearance of Laura, that he had literally made a run for it out of the apartment. He did text Avory soon after saying they'd come into College early to do the rehearsal tomorrow, but he was still slightly embarrassed about it.

"He's probably going to ask me about it tomorrow..." he muttered to himself "I guess that's future me's problem."

Gladion sighed and took out his phone, beginning to scan through his contacts for someone to talk to. Lillie was a no go, because she was on her quote unquote 'friend outing' with Hau. That's what she told everyone, anyway. They didn't buy it. They were obviously going out, if you know what I mean. Sun was helping his mom. Rose had probably gone home to facetime Guzma. And--

His heart skipped a beat when the contact 'Sarcastic brat' came on screen, causing him to shake his head for a moment to regain his composure. It was true talking to Megan made him feel better, but he just realised he like liked her, after he found out he couldn't have her.

His chest panged at the painful reminder.

Plus... he had just found out Avory was dating her sister. It's not like he was going to tell her; it's not his place, but what if something about it slips out? What if he ends up spilling--

Calm yourself, jackass! It's just a phone call.

He sighed and slapped his cheeks, before finally pressing dial and bringing the phone up to his ear.

Beep

Beep

Bee-

"Hello?"

His heart fluttered yet again from her voice, until he regained his composure and cleared his throat "Hey Megan."

"Oh, hi Gladion." She sounded happy to hear him speak "What can I do for you?"

"Well... uh..." It's not your place to tell her "I just wanted to talk to you, I guess. Also I wanted to see if you wanted to meet up somewhere, if you're finished hanging out with Rose that is. Of course you don't have to, but I just thought--"

"Frenchfry you're rambling again~"

Fuck

Gladion mentally facepalmed "Sorry... So err, do you want to?"

It was silent on the other line for a moment, which made Gladion wonder if Megan had hung up already. However he let out a sigh of relief as soon as she spoke again.

"Sure. Where do you want to meet?"

"Well..."

---

"Gladion..."

"Yes?"

"Of all places, why McDonald's?" Megan asked, pointing around the fast food restaurant where they sat. Gladion shrugged, giving her a smirk.

"Well for one, you still owe me a McDonald's."

"You're still hung up over that?!"

"Hey I need my payment for working with a short annoying brat."

"Oi!"

"Words of the past." He held is hands up in surrender "In all seriousness though, I honestly just wanted to talk to you, and this place was pretty close to where both of us were."

Megan was silent for a moment "Fair enough..."

The boy snorted "Honestly Megs... Did you seriously believe me with the whole you owing me thing?" He pointed to their already bought meals on the table. She turned away, her puffed cheeks turning slightly pink as she reached for her Big Mac.

"N-No..."

He chuckled at her cuteness, reaching for another fry before hearing Megan mutter something on the lines of 'cannibalism' under her breath. That earned her a dramatic eye roll.

"So anyway." He began "Avory and I are going in early tomorrow to practice, I was wondering if you and Lillie wanted to come with."

"I thought you were practicing at Avory's house."

"Something... came up."

"Like what?"

"Like his girlfriend coming home." He technically wasn't lying, and Megan could see that. She sighed, resting her chin on her palm.

"Alright. I'm not usually one to get up early, but I guess Lils and I could use the practice." She said with a shrug, dipping a fry into ketchup and popping it into her mouth "Are we going to meet at the studio or..."

"Actually I was planning on giving you guys a lift again."

"Hell yeah, I'm all for that!"

Gladion chuckled again, which he seemed to be doing more and more around her, until he saw a smudge of red by the corner of the girl's mouth "Oh err, you got some ketchup right--"

He froze instantly when he realised his hand was inching towards her face, his eyes widening as he retracted it and cleared his throat. He pointed to his mouth to mirror were the food was "R-Right there..."

Megan slowly reached up and wiped the ketchup off her skin, still staring at Gladion with a bit of a baffled expression. Both of their cheeks had reddened as they averted their gazes. Neither of them knew they liked each other, so they didn't know how much the other was holding back. To be honest, Megan just thought what just happened was instinct since Gladion was in a relationship not to long ago.

Speaking of that...

She noticed Gladion was staring out the window behind her with squinted eyes, causing her to raise an eyebrow at him "What's up?"

He frowned, nodding to the window "I think that's Natalie."

"The bleach bitch?" Megan turned around quickly, scanning the street outside for the girl. Lo and behold there she was, leaning against a charity shop on the other side of the road. She was staring at her phone, meaning she had no idea that there were eyes on her. Megan scoffed "Well double double toil and trouble, looks like a witch has crawled out of her cave."

"Seriously Megan." Gladion groaned under his breath. Megan only shrugged and continued to spy on the girl.

"Wait wait wait! Hold up, is that..." She pressed her hands against the glass and brought her face closer "Oh God it is."

"Who?"

"Leven."

"What?!" Gladion abruptly stood and made his way over to the window, only to notice the blue haired boy approach Natalie and begin to converse with her. His eyebrows knitted together "Since when were they all buddy buddy?"

"I don't know why your so surprised, bitches hang out regularly." Megan scoffed "Wait hold up, their leaving."

Gladion watched the two leave together, heading to the right while conversing about God knows what "Where'd you think they're going?"

"Dunno, but we're gonna find out." Megan claimed, grabbing the boys wrist, and her strawberry milkshake and dashing out the doors. Gladion groaned again, realising it would be pointless to protest, and just let himself be hauled around like a ragdoll.

Welp. Looks like he was going to spy on his ex girlfriend

---

"Did you really have to get sunglasses?"

"Yes! We are on a stealth mission, Gladion!" Megan whisper yelled as she put on her newly acquired shades, before peeking around the tree the two of them were hiding behind "Look at the two of them... No doubt cooking up an evil plan that'll end all evil plans."

"...Or they're just talking."

"Shush! I am trying to listen!"

Gladion rolled his eyes and also poked his head out, resting his arm on top of the girl's head as he lazily watched Natalie and Leven talking. It seemed normal enough. Natalie says something. Leven says something back. Natalie laughs- wait what?

"The hell?" He muttered. He wasn't jealous. Oh no, he was over that girl. It was just that over the two years of being together she had never laughed like that. It was different. More... genuine. That hurt him. Maybe she was really only using him to satisfy her needs...

If that was the case, he was mad at himself for not ending it with her sooner.

"Crap!" Megan pulled back and grabbed Gladion by the collar of his shirt, pulling him behind the tree and out of sight "I think Leven saw us."

She was right. Gladion could just about see the bluette approaching, causing him to mentally panic. Yup, they were screwed.

He was brought out of his stressing however, as he felt Megan pull his hood over his head and hiding his face and hair. He gave her a confused look as she grabbed his shoulders.

"Follow my lead." She whispered, before doing the absolutely unthinkable.

She stood on her tippy toes and smashed her lips against his, wrapping her arms around his neck. He yelped in surprise, his face burning as she continued to kiss him. However, he did eventually wrap his arms around her waist and return it. He opened one eye, only to see Leven walking away from their location with Natalie in tow. He managed to hear him mutter something on the lines of 'Get a room'.

Megan pulled away, her hands sliding down his chest as she stared up at him. His arms were still around her waist as he scanned her face, hoping to get a clue to why she did that while also trying not to lick his lips which probably tasted of strawberry milkshake at that time. Megan cleared her throat as she gently pushed away from him, causing him to reluctantly let go of her. Her face was still red, but she tried to speak as casually as possible.

"Sorry about that... I've learned that public displays of affection make people uncomfortable and commonly make them look away." She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly "But I panicked and sprung it on you without giving you an context. For that I apologise."

"I-It's fine." Gladion squeaked, waving his hand in dismissal "It was actually good quick thinking considering the situation."

She hummed "I guess we're even now, huh?"

She has a point "I guess so..."

Megan smiled, still slightly bashful, before jogging off in the same direction Leven went "Well come on! We still haven't found out what they're up to!"

"You know they might just be hanging out!" Gladion called out to her, she waved him off.

"I don't care, I wanna know!"

Gladion rolled his eyes and followed after her, his eyes not leaving the back of her head as her hair bobbed up and down. He licked his lips without realising it, allowing him to taste the kiss he shared with Megan. He was right. They did taste of strawberry...

Gah what the hell! It was just a kiss. And it was only to get Leven to piss off. It meant nothing.

Besides even if it did mean something, it didn't matter. It didn't matter if his heart was beating a million times an hour. He couldn't have her, because it would ruin both their relationships with Lillie. She said it herself.

Needless to say they followed Leven and Natalie for the entire afternoon, and it turns out they were just hanging out. Megan was pretty salty about it, but Gladion bought her a bag of Doritos and she was good again. The kiss remained in the back of their minds, however they wouldn't let it ruin the time they spent together that day.

It was fun. In a crazy, stalker-ish kind of way.