(Violence and Foul language ahead. You have been warned)

"You feeling any better?" Gladion asked Luke, walking over to place a bowl of chicken noodle soup on the bedside table. The man smiled, sitting up and supporting his weight with his arms.

"Much. Thanks for your help these past few days, Gladion."

"No problem, I'm glad I could help."

After finding out about Megan and Luke's condition, Gladion had been coming back everyday throughout the week to help. He treated Megan's 'battle scars' as she liked to call them from working, and made sure Luke had everything he needed to get better.

"So, why are you helping my sister?" Luke suddenly asked, giving Gladion a sly grin. The boy's eyes widened, and he hid his blush.

"Well... you know, that's what friends do right?"

Luke snickered "Riiiiight, 'friends'." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Get some sleep, Luke," Gladion began making his way towards the door.

"You know you can't hide from the truth, Gladion." He heard the man call out to him before shutting the door. He sighed, making his way to the living room where he found an exhausted looking Megan. She was laying sprawled out on the couch, one arm hanging over the edge while the other covered her eyes. Gladion smiled, walking over and placing his hands on the arm of the couch either side of Megan's head.

"Hey."

Megan lowered her arm to gaze up at him "Hey."

"How you feeling?"

"Blech... sore."

Gladion chuckled "I can imagine, but did icing the bruises help?"

She nodded.

"Good," he lightly ruffled her hair, causing her to giggle. He ignored the fluttering feeling in his stomach, which he had been getting a lot this week "So what are you going to do over the weekend?"

She shrugged "Dunno, probably sleep."

"Lazy ass."

"Hey you try lifting heavy objects from four in the morning for eight hours on end!" She whined, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting "It's nasty."

Gladion smirked "Well maybe you just have noodle arms."

Megan pressed her hand against his face, pushing him away. He laughed.

"Okay, I deserved that," Gladion rubbed the back of his neck "Seriously though, are you just gonna sleep?"

She turned over, resting her chin on her arms which were crossed on top of the couch's arm "Well, Luke's still not completely up to speed, so I may still have to take care of him. But apart from that..."

"So I'm not going to see you until Monday then?"

She frowned "Guess not..."

There was an awkward silence between them, causing Gladion to shift his feet nervously. An idea came to mind, but he felt kind of embarrassed asking her about it.

"Whatcha thinking about?"

"What?" He snapped out of his thoughts.

"You kinda make this weird face when you're thinking about something, so I got curious." Megan shrugged.

Gladion raised an eyebrow.

She blushed "I mean... it's not like I was watching you or anything, Ijustpayattentiontothatstuffsodon'tthinkI'vebeenstalkingyoulikeacreeperbecauseIhaven't!!!"

"Oooookay..." Gladion glanced off to the side "I was just wondering if you have enough energy to spend time with me now..."

"What?" The girl recovered, blinking at him in confusion.

"Well, I was thinking, since you'll be resting this weekend, that maybe we can spend some time together now. You know, go outside, hang out, be productive."

Megan smirked, pushing herself up so her torso hung over the couch. She brought her hands up to her chest and batted her eyelashes "Is Gladion Aether asking me out on a date~?"

"W-What?! No!" now it was his turn to blush "I just thought it would be a fun thing to do. You know, as friends."

She brought a hand to her face, resting the back of it on her forehead and feigning a hurt expression "Oh whatever will I do~? I've entered the friend zone~!"

Gladion stared at her blankly as she began cracking up. He smirked, grabbing her wrist and pulling her until she fell with a 'Thunk' on the floor.

"Ow!"

"Oops," he said plainly, letting go of her "Sorry."

"You're a mean fry, you know that?"

Usually he would get irritated when she made comments like that, as they were aimed at his hair, but this time it caused his smile to widen. Like, he liked it or something.

"Yeah, I know." He shrugged. He placed his hands under her arms, gently pulling her up to her feet before messing up her hair again "So are we going or not?"

"Hmm," she placed a finger to her chin "Alright, but, you gotta take me for ice-cream."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because it's what friends do."

"... Fine."

"Yas!!!"

---

"And he put so much baking soda in that the volcano exploded, sending foam everywhere in our kitchen!"

Gladion bursted out laughing, holding his ice-cream up as he bent over and clutched his stomach "D-Did he get in trouble for it?" He asked between laughs.

"He would have, but we were laughing too much so mom just let him off with a warning." Megan giggled, wiping a tear away "I gotta tell you, my family is crazy."

"Oh believe me, my family has had its fair share of crazy moments, too."

"Oh do tell."

"Okay so my dad works for this huge company right, and they have all this amazing tech. So one day, he decides to bring one home to show us and--"

Megan listened carefully, watching as Gladion's eyes lighten up when talking about his family. He cares about them a lot, even an idiot could tell that. And because of that, she couldn't help but smile.

But then, someone she'd wish wouldn't show up caught her eye, causing her breath to hitch. "Oh no..."

"And then it started flying-- Megan? Are you okay?" Gladion asked, turning to her in confusion.

"Bottle of bleach, two o'clock..." She spoke from the corner of her lip.

He furrowed his eyebrows, mouthing her words in confusion before following her gaze and-- His heart stopped for a moment, horror taking over his features "N-Natalie..."

"Gladion, we should probably go..." Megan suggested, reaching for the boy's hand-

"Gladion!"

They both flinched, eyes squeezing shut as they mouthed a cuss word. Natalie began walking towards them, a bright 'innocent' smile on her face as she waved at them. They stood up to meet her, neither looking very happy. She stopped right in front of them, eyes completely on Gladion.

"Fancy seeing you here, how've you been~?" She spoke in her usual perky voice, as if they hadn't broken up a couple weeks ago.

Gladion inched towards Megan, hoping she could shield him from his ex "Fine..." He muttered, not making eye contact.

Natalie didn't seem to notice the awkwardness, or the fact that Megan was standing there as she continued to smile at Gladion "So, what have you been up to since our little break-up?"

Gladion flinched, his jaw tightening as his head turned to the side "Dancing, mostly... And hanging out with my friends."

"Have you thought about how to win me back?"

Okay, that's it.

"Ex-fucking-scuse me?!" Megan shrieked as she pushed Gladion behind her, glaring up at this cake faced plastic bitch "You seriously expect him to want you back?!"

"It's not my fault I wasn't satisfied with what he gave me. I just got it from someone else. He was the selfish one, if he treats me right this time I won't do it again." Natalie's eyes narrowed "And why would you care? Aren't you that bitch my prince hates?"

"Okay, first off-" Megan poked Nat's chest with a finger "He's not your prince anymore. You ruined that when you sucked face with that manwhore. Second off, you're the one at fault here. If you weren't 'satisfied' you could've talked to Gladion about it, instead of breaking his heart. And third, I care because Gladion's my friend!"

Gladion secretly smiled, his chest fluttering.

"Since when? Last time I checked he thought of you as a sarcastic brat and wanted nothing to do with you." Natalie scrunched up her nose, staring at her in disgust "Not to mention you're ugly as fuck."

Something snapped in Megan "Yeah? Well that was then and this is now! When you cheated on Gladion I found him crying in the rain alone! He actually cried for you! And here you are acting like you've done nothing wrong, and acting like he's the one at fault! How can you be so cruel? How can you just rip a boy's heart out and throw it away, and then come crawling back like the parasite you are and pretty much ask him to beg for him to take you back?!"

Gladion placed a hand on her shoulder "Megan that's enough--"

"No!" She shook him off "This whore hurt you, and I'm tired of her thinking she's so high and mighty and thinks she can do whatever she wants! She needs to be put in her place, she needs to--"

"SHUT UP!"

She was suddenly on the floor, Natalie on top of her while slapping, clawing, and pulling at her hair. She tried to fight back, but Natalie's attacks were just too painful for her. She screamed as the woman punched her face, her cheek throbbing.

"ENOUGH!"

Natalie was thrown off Megan, while she was pulled to her feet and into someone's chest. Gladion held her shaking body protectively, while glaring at Natalie who slowly rose to her feet. She stared at him wide eyed.

"G-Gladion how could you--"

"Get out of here, Natalie."

"B-But--"

"Go!"

Megan heard Natalie's high heels clip as she ran away, but her eyes remained squeezed shut as her her head throbbed from the pain. Gladion stared down at her, his expression softening as he continued to cradle her in his arms. He reached up to weave a hand through her hair, causing her wince to tighten. He pulled back, jaw tightening.

"I'm so sorry... This is all my fault..."

---

Megan jolted awake, eyes darting to find she was lying on a bed in an unfamiliar room. There were cabinets filled with medicines along the side, along with a desk in the corner. She assumed she was in First Aid. She slowly sat up, hand reaching up to touch her throbbing and softly groaning. That was gonna leave a bruise.

"Ah, you're awake."

Megan's head snapped towards the doorway, causing her to wince from the sudden movement and hold her head in pain. The woman standing in the doorway rushed to her aid, placing a comforting hand on her back and muttering words of encouragement. Megan groaned again, lowering her hands to glance at the woman. She had white hair and tanned skin, as well as a warm motherly smile.

"Sorry for surprising you," She apologised "How are you feeling?"

Megan glanced down at her legs, which were covered be a blanket "I'm okay... I think?"

"That's good. Do you remember what happened?"

"Uhhh... I was walking around the park with my friend, when suddenly this girl came up to us and started spouting nonsense. I got mad and confronted her, causing her to attack me. And then Gladion- wait... Gladion!" Megan's eyes widened.

"Oh you're friend? He's waiting outside right now. He wanted to give you some space. Actually, he's the one who brought you here." The woman, who was called Burnet according to her name tag explained. Megan smiled slightly at that.

"Is he alright?" She asked.

"He was a little shaken up, but had no physical injuries." Burnet answered with a smile "If you can walk you can go see him."

Megan nodded, pulling off her covers and swinging her legs over the bed. She wobbled a bit when standing, but recovered quickly and slowly made her way to the door. Not before thanking Burnet, of course.

Megan stepped outside, feeling the nice cool breeze hit her face as she closed the door behind her. She looked around, only to spot Gladion leaning against a tree with his head down. He seemed to be troubled.

"Gladion?"

His head shot up, and he made eye contact with the girl "Megan!"

He began running towards her, eyes filled with worry, before stopping in front of her and grasping her shoulders "Are you okay? Do you have a concussion? Do you know who I am? Tell me what's two plus two!"

Megan blinked, lips parting as she stared up at Gladion "Ummm... Yes. I don't think so. I know who you are. And four."

Gladion relaxed slightly "So you're okay?"

She nodded, a small smile making its way to her face "I'm fine, Gladion."

He sighed with relief, head bowing as he continued to hold her shoulders "Thank God..."

Then, he pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt..."

Ba-Dump

Megan's heart began beating rapidly as Gladion's arms held her against his chest, her face heating up as his head nestled into her shoulder. Her hands were on his chest, gripping his shirt as she questioned the strange fluttering feeling in her stomach.

What are these feelings?