Gladion was released from the hospital the day after he woke up, which was a week ago. Turns out the beasts didn't affect him as badly as they did Lusamine. Though, I shouldn't be surprised, since Lusamine was with the beasts for quite a long time, while Gladion only spent a week and a half with them. That didn't mean he was completely up to speed, though. He was still slightly shaken up, making him a little more fragile than normal. Another thing I should mention, is the fact he had become oddly affectionate since he woke up.

Now wasn't an exception.

The boy was huddled up to my side, arms locked around my waist and head resting against my chest as the two of us watched TV. Now, I wasn't about to complain about getting all this affection from him, but it did seem very unlike him.

"Hey, Gladion?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay? You've been kinda clingy lately."

Gladion lifted his head and gave me a somewhat worried expression "Am I making you feel uncomfortable?"

"What? Oh, no no no." I waved my hand rapidly in dismissal "I just wanted to know if you were troubled about something."

"Oh." He seemed relieved as he let out a sigh. He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear "It's nothing like that, I'm just taking my time to appreciate all the amazing things in my life."

AWWWWWWDHFHDJFFJJDFNDJKDNFJIFHEJKMGF

A large blush crept onto my face, and I turned my head to the side while covering my mouth with my fist "Oh my Arceus, you're killing me here Gladion..."

"Oh really?" He raised a teasing eyebrow "How so?"

"Because you're too damn cute! I can't handle it!"

Gladion laughed as he watched me become a flustered mess. Though, when calming down he gently pulled my hands away from my face and rested his forehead against mine.

"I wasn't kidding, you know. You are one of the best things that's happened to me. And to be fair, most of the others, excluding Lillie, are because of you. Like Sun and Hau, for example; We wouldn't have even met them if it weren't for our battle."

"Aww, they're special to you, my little edgelord's growing up~"

He grunted, pulling his face away before flicking my forehead "Don't push it."

I laughed "Sorry, sorry."

"Hey guys!" Hau greeted us cheerfully as he and Lillie walked in, hand in hand.

"Alola!" Gladion responded just as happily, chuckling afterwards.

They watched him with a raised eyebrow, and Lillie was the one to ask "Did we miss something?"

"No," Gladion grinned, pulling me against him "We're just enjoying life."

...

"Who are you and what have you done to my brother?"

"That's exactly what I thought!" I yelled "I think Nihilego's still messing with his head."

"WHAT?!" Hau charged forward and grabbed Gladion's face, staring intensely at him "Release my friend you damn beast!"

"Hau..."

"Don't worry, Gladion! We'll get you ba--"

"Hau, I'm not possessed." Gladion declared, eyebrow twitching in irritation.

"That's exactly what someone who's possessed would say!"

Lillie and I exchanged glances and sweatdropped, smiling awkwardly at our boyfriends' behaviour.

"Hau," I spoke up, deciding Gladion had been tortured enough "Gladion's not possessed."

"How do you know?" Hau asked, looking at me suspiciously.

"Watch this. Hey Gladion, your hair looks like half a happy meal."

"SHUT UP MY HAIR'S GORGEOUS!"

"See?"

"Hmm..." Hau let go of Gladion's face, turning on his heels and shrugging "Alright you have me convinced. But I'm watching you."

"Woopty doo..."

"Anyway we better be going," Lillie said as she grabbed Hau's hand. I raised an eyebrow.

"Where are you guys going?"

They blushed, glancing away from each other with shy smiles "Um... Our date?" Lillie answered bashfully, eying her brother with caution. Hau and I also turned to him, wondering what he was going to say.

But he only shrugged.

"Oh okay, enjoy yourselves and don't cause too much trouble."

Eh?

Our jaws dropped.

"Are you sure you aren't still possessed?!" Hau asked, waving his arms about. Gladion shook his head.

"I'm not. Though, that whole event made me realise something. That I should be more open about things." He gave a small smile "Lillie's free to date who she wants, and I need to accept that. Besides, you're a good guy Hau, and I know you'll treat my sister right, so I'm not too worried."

Wow... He's come such a long way--

"However if you do hurt her, I will turn you into Sharpedo chow."

Annnnd he's back...

Hau shuddered, moving to hide slightly behind Lillie. It failed since he was taller than her, but it did give her the signal that it was time to leave. With a nervous laugh she began tugging the boy out the door "Well this has been fun, but we really need to get going. So we'll see you guys later."

"Okay, have fun." I responded with a wave.

"But not too much fun." Gladion added.

Lillie rolled her eyes, and she and Hau left Gladion and I to ourselves. I turned to Gladion with a smile, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"Why does your face look like that?"

"Oh no reason... Just thinking about how much of a softie you are." I purred, resting my chin on my fist. Gladion smirked suddenly, which made me lose my teasing expression "W-Why are you looking at me that way."

"You know, I think I may be possessed after all..." He muttered, inching closer and wrapping his hands around my wrists. I gulped.

"Y-You do...?"

"Yeah... By none other than--"

He pinned me onto the couch, and began furiously attacking my sides.

"The tickle monster!!!"

"AH! NO DON'T-- BWAHAHAHA! STOP!" I screamed through laughter, attempting to rip his hands away. He laughed too, but when he did finally stop, his expression softened into a gentle smile. I stared back up at him, blinking slightly at his expression.

"Well well well, what do we have here?"

We blushed at the familiar voice, lips pursed together as our now wide eyes travelled to the doorway. Two middle aged women stood there with grins plastered on their faces, arms crossed as they raised an eyebrow at our current position.

"Uh, hey Mom." We smiled nervously, a bead of sweat forming on our brows as Gladion sat up on my stomach. Lusamine giggled.

"Hello, Gladion dear." She waved teasingly "Are you two having fun?"

Our blush intensified and we averted our gazes. This only caused the two females' smirks to widen.

"Well if you need anything, a condom for example, let us know." The blonde woman wiggled her eyebrows.

"Moooooooooom!" Gladion whined, leaning back against my bent knees.

"Sorry," She giggled "I still can't get over how cute you are~"

"I'm getting a lot of deja vu from this..." I muttered as Gladion and I exchanged glances "Is it just me?"

"Nope." He replied monotonously.

My mom placed a hand over her mouth, shoulders shaking slightly as she silently giggled. Her being a mute took a bit of getting used to- along with actually having her around, but I managed to figure out what she was thinking and feeling through her body language. Also, Lillie had taught me to read sign language so we could communicate.

It was nice. Having my mother again.

As for Gladion and Lusamine, their relationship had gotten so much better. Lusamine had helped Gladion a lot when it came to getting over the Ultra Beast incident, making sure he had what he needed and that he was in the right mind. I guess she became a sort of therapist for him. Not only that, but Gladion had started to actually think of her as a mother. He got a taste of what she went through, meaning he knows how hard and painful it was for her.

The burden was now something they bared together.

"So, are you going to stop sitting on my daughter or what?" My mom signed, frowning at Gladion. It took him a moment to realise what she said, as he was still technically learning, but when he did he scrambled off me as gently as possible.

"S-Sorry..."

"Aww," I teased "Poor baby's stuttewing~"

"Megan, I love you to bits, but can you kindly fuck off." Gladion said monotonously, sending me a side glance as I stood. I gave a shrug before turning to our mothers.

"So what are you two doing here? I doubt you actually just walked in on accident and saw us doing... yeah."

"Observant." Lusamine mused.

"She gets it from me." Mom responded with sass. Or... As much sass as you can with sign language.

"...Right..." Lusamine coughed "Anyway, Megan, can you and Maria go off and do your own thing for a bit? I'd like to talk to my son."

"Oooh, you're in trouble~!" I joked, poking Gladion's arm with a smirk. However, quicker than I could blink he had grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him. He leaned down, lips brushing against my ear.

"You know, I can be a bad boy... If provoked~" He whispered, sending shivers up my spine as his hot breath hit my skin.

NOPE NOPE NONONONO! BOYFRIEND'S TOO DAMN SEXY! I REPEAT, TOO DAMN SEXY! ABORT! ABORT!

I proceeded to back away twenty feet, arms held out in front of me as I waved my hands rapidly in dismissal "T-That won't be necessary! I assure you I am not trying to provoke you!"

Gladion smirked, crossing his arms and leaning slightly to the left "One nill." He declared, chin up proudly.

Cocky son of Ronald Mcdonald!

"Whatever," I scoffed, storming over to my mom "Later, delinquent."

"Wait, don't I get a kiss?"

I paused mid-stride, glancing at the boy from over my shoulder with an 'r u serious?' expression. He still had his arms crossed, and was giving me a flirtatious smirk that I didn't see on him often. I rolled my eyes, turning to face him with a hand on my hip.

"I'll blow you one, will that satisfy?"

He grumbled, sounding a little disappointed even though he was still smirking "I guess..."

I smirked and brought a hand to my lips, placing a kiss on the palm before facing it upwards. I made it look like I was going to blow it towards him. But, sadly for him, I wasn't gonna do that.

I pretended to toss it to the side, not wasting the opportunity to point in that direction like I was commanding a Lillipup "Go fetch."

His jaw dropped so fast, oh my god...

I snickered, proudly flipping my hair as I turned my back to him "Bye babe~"

(Gladion POV)

Well damn...

I watched as Megan sassily left the room, Maria following close behind after sending me a sly nod. As soon as they left I plonked onto the couch, running a hand through my hair and sighing "I suppose I deserved that..."

Mom giggled and sat next to me, ruffling my hair with a wide grin "Oh I'm sure she's just having lady problems."

I stared at her blankly for a moment "I mean... She is almost due--"

"Ah ah ah!" She waved a finger in my face "No time for that, we gotta focus on the matter at hand here!"

"...Which is?"

"When you're going to ask her, of course!"

I choked on spit, and began coughing into my fist "M-Mom! Wh--"

"Do you really think a sock drawer is a good place to hide things?" She asked smugly, holding up a small red velvet box between us. My eyes widened, and a large blush stretched across my face as I snatched the box off her and stuffed it into my pocket.

"It was the best thing I could work with at the time..." I muttered.

Mom rolled her eyes playfully, before grasping my shoulders and giving me an excited look "So? When are you going to ask her?" She asked again, voice slightly higher.

I blinked, unsure on why she wanted to know so badly. Yes, it was a big thing, but did she really have to know? I sighed.

"I don't know, mom. This isn't something I can half arse... I gotta make it as special and memorable for her as possible, but I... I don't know how." I played with the box inside my pocket "Besides... I don't know if she'll say yes or not."

"Of course she will!" Mom gasped "Why would you think otherwise?!"

I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly "Well... I haven't really been the best to her this year..."

"Are you talking about the Ultra Beast incident?"

I shook my head "It's not just that..."

.

"MEGAN! ENOUGH!"

.

"You can't be so careless about this! If these people actually have Matt and Liz we know they could hurt all three of you to get what they want! I'm not going to let you take the easy way out of this. Not without putting up a fight! That's probably gonna be the most retarded thing you've ever done!"

.

"No! I'll make you understand that things are in fact black and white! Mother's evil! Your fathers evil! It's really not hard to understand!"

.

"At least I don't turn into a savage beast that turns on its trainer! Twice may I add!"

.

"Why do you even care so much? Just get over it already! I don't need to talk, and you can't make me do shit!"

.

I mentally cringed. My past self was such an ass to Megan... did she really deserve someone like me?

Did I deserve someone like her?

Did she even want someone like me?

"Does she want this...?" I muttered unconsciously. I took the box out of my pocket and stared at it, gently tossing and catching it with my hands.

Mom sighed, before placing a firm hand on my shoulder. She had suddenly gone serious.

"Do you love her, Gladion?"

"... what?"

"Do you love her?" She repeated, sterner.

Yes. I wanted to scream out. Of course I loved her, without a doubt. She brought light to my world. She was my best friend and lover. She... was my world.

I smiled gently "More than anything."

"Then there's nothing more to discuss." Mom nodded "Fight for her, Gladion. You've never given up without a fight before."

She's right... I never give up easily. I'm not going to let nerves take over, preventing me from being with the girl I want to be with.

"Thanks mom." I smiled, pulling her into a hug before standing. Mom was confused as she called out to me.

"Where are you going?"

"...I'm taking the first step towards the future."

---

First step towards the future, you say? Haha... first step towards my demise is more accurate...

Here I was, standing- well, pacing in front of the room containing the possible cause of my death...

...

Oh my God, I'm gonna die.

I gulped. Why would I think this was a good idea? There's a high chance this wasn't going to work! And the small chance it would... it's so damn risky. I mean, was I out of my mind?!

.

.

.

Yes. I was.

I was going to do this. I was going to do this for her.

With a sigh, I slapped my cheeks to snap myself out of it before standing in front of the door. I knocked three times and waited, pulling on the collar of my shirt to hopefully release some tension from my body.

The door began to open in slow motion. I swallowed, sweat forming on my brow as the room on the other side came into view.

It opened further.

And further.

And soon... the one opening it was right in front of me. Taking a breath, I managed to make eye contact.

"Hi."

"Oh, hey Gladion." Luke greeted with a smile and leaned against the doorframe. I'm guessing he hadn't bothered to clean himself up today, as his hair was messy and fell partly over his eyes. Though that, along with his toned body shown through his tight black shirt made him seem all the more menacing "Can I help you with something?"

"Umm," I rubbed the back of my neck. Remember who you're doing this for, Gladion "Yeah, actually. I wanted to talk to you. Are... Ashe and Em with you?"

He shook his head "Nah. They went off with mom and Megan a little while ago, saying something about 'girl time'. I have no doubt Laura's with them, too. Sigh... it's tough being the man of the house." He sighed dramatically, running a hand through his hair. "Anyway come on in, I doubt you want to have your 'talk' out here."

You can do this, Gladion. Keep your cool, and remember the prize at the end.

"Thank you." I thanked, giving him a small bow before walking into his room. I sat down on the edge on the bed, and Luke followed suit.

"You alright, Glad?" He asked, placing a hand on my shoulder "You seem rather tense."

My eyes widened. I had to calm down. It was only Luke...

It was only Megan's brother... who was older, larger, and no doubt stronger than me... nothing to worry about, right.

"Sorry," I breathed "I guess I'm just a little uneasy."

"About what?"

Oh wouldn't you like to know...

With yet another sigh I turned to face the man, eyes stern as I spoke "Luke, as Megan's brother I know it is your responsibility to take care of her make sure she's safe. However, I... I have to ask you this, and I need you to listen as best as you can..."

Luke blinked in confusion, lips slightly parted as they formed an awkward smile "Uh. Okay."

I took took a deep breath, preparing myself before placing a hand to my heart "I love Megan more than anything in this world, and I would do anything to make her happy. I want to protect and be close to her for the rest of my life, no matter what the cost. She is my sun, and my moon."

"Gladion, what are you--"

"Luke... I stand before you today, to ask for your sister's hand in marriage."