(Megan POV)

I would be lying if I said I wasn't extremely confused about his actions. I mean, he had literally scooped me up into his arms and was now carrying me to Arceus knows where.

Guess it's my turn to be surprised, huh?

Gladion's arms were secure as they held me close to his chest, his steps steady as he walked towards the... hotel rooms?

"Why are we here?" I asked, looking up at Gladion.

"So we don't have any interruptions." he answered seriously, putting me down gently as soon as we reached our room so he could unlock the door. I shifted nervously. What was I supposed to expect?

The door opened, and Gladion grabbed my wrists to pull me into the room. I fell into his chest, as my body wasn't completely back to normal yet, and I felt him place a hand on my back. The room was dark- the only light being from the hallway, which shone through the widely opened door.

"Megan."

I glanced up at Gladion, noticing his face had gone stern all of a sudden.

He suddenly held me tighter against him, arms securely around me, and before I knew it he had roughly pressed his lips against mine. This one was different from earlier. More passion. More meaning. More desperacy. He traced his fingertips across my jaw.

We kissed for what seemed like hours, and when we finally pulled away I realised that at some point Gladion had pressed me up against the wall. I stared into his eyes, my arms still around his neck, and he stared back with equal intensity.

"That's what you should've done a long time ago?" I asked, not even trying to hide my teasing tone.

"No..." he murmured, leaning forward and resting his head on my shoulder "I just... you have no idea how much I missed you..."

My eyes softened, hand reaching up to run through his hair. I did have an idea, as I had missed him just as much- if not more.

"I missed you too..." I whispered.

His arms were comforting. I hadn't really appreciated that until now.

"Seriously though why did you drag me all the way here?"

I heard him snort in amusement "You never change."

"We seem to share that trait, don't we?"

He brought his head up to look at me. He was smiling now "I suppose."

His hands traveled to mine, fingers intertwining as he rested his forehead against my own.

"I'm going to tell you something I've kept hidden for years," he whispered, not breaking eye contact "And I need you both to keep an open mind for me."

"Both?" I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Gladion let go of one of my hands, taking a Pokeball out of his pocket and calling out the creature inside. My breath hitched as the light faded.

Silvally.

I wasn't going to lie. Things were extremely awkward between me and the artificial Pokémon. I mean, the strength he had obtained over the years- he hadn't even earned. he hadn't even evolved under his own accord. I had experienced it all instead. And I felt extremely guilty for that. On the other hand, Silvally blamed himself for my malfunction, no matter how many times me or Gladion denied him having anything to do with it. he thinks I was almost killed because of him, and always keeps a distance as if I even touched him I would crumble away into nothing.

So yeah. Once separated, we didn't have the best relationship.

I nodded slightly in acknowledgement, and he nodded back with slight hesitance.

"You look well." I told him honestly. He did look better compared to after the operation.

A hum emitted from his throat, either as thanks or to return the compliment. Neither of us had made eye contact.

See? Awkward.

Gladion sighed, squeezing my hand before leading me towards the bed and sitting both of us down. He gestured Silvally to join us, who jumped up onto the bed to lie next to Gladion. Obviously he didn't find his trainer's presence as awkward.

Gladion brought his free hand up to rest upon Silvally's head, rubbing it affectionately which earned a few satisfied purrs from the Pokémon. With his other hand he brought my hand up to his lips, allowing him to place a soft kiss on the knuckle.

"Remember, keep an open mind." He murmured.

Silvally and I nodded.

Gladion took a deep breath, his thumb rubbing my hand as he thought of the right words to say "Megan, you remember that night you declared that maybe it was best we didn't get together?"

I mentally cringed "Yeah."

"Well, do you also remember why we started that fight in the first place?"

I paused for a moment "Because I kept pushing you to tell me something you didn't want to?"

"Correct."

My grip on his hand tightened "Yeah, I remember."

Silvally nodded in agreement. It seemed like he had seen everything through my eyes, meaning he knew everything that happened between Gladion and I.

"Well, I think it's finally time you knew the reason." Gladion declared seriously.

"What?" I my eyes widened, and Silvally's head shot up at his words with shock equal to mine. Even though only my voice was heard, I knew Silvally was saying the same thing "Gladion you don't have to feel obligated to tell us anything, we're not pushing you for answers."

"I know you're not..." Gladion let out another large breath as he began petting Silvally again. "But... I think it's time I start pushing myself."

He's serious about this.

My eyebrows pulled downwards in concern, but I nodded "In that case, I'll listen to anything you need to say."

"Thank you..."

Gladion was silent for a bit, thought that was understandable. It's hard opening up, especially when it's about something that upsets you. I could tell that was the case here. He took another deep breath.

"I knew."

Come again?

"Knew? Knew what?" I asked, both me and Silvally staring at him in confusion.

"The fact your gem would malfunction. I knew about it." He explained, averting his gaze to his lap. He began to explain everything, from his conversations with Wicke about what would happen to me, to what he did in the Aether Labs... All the way to how the gem was cracked in the first place. I grit my teeth at that part. He told me about how he kept this from me four four years, because he didn't want me to live my life in fear of a painful death.

I placed a hand on my chest, recalling how painful the malfunction actually was. My eyes casted downwards.

"I'm sorry I kept this from you two," Gladion murmured "I just thought... If I could make a cure before the deadline, you could live without even knowing about it. I guess... the thought of telling you I could lose you scared me."

I began shaking.

"Megan? Are you alright?" Gladion asked, unable to read my expression as my hair covered it like a curtain. Though, I'm pretty sure he thought I was angry, as I heard him shift on the bed.

"All these years..." I muttered, not looking up.

A concerned growl came from Silvally, and hesitantly he reached his head out to nudge my arm. I didn't react. I was frozen.

"Megan?" Gladion called again, placing a gentle hand on my other arm "Are you mad?"

I slowly shook my head no, not looking up.

"Then what's the matter?" He asked, worry building up in his voice.

"All these years..." I repeated, only this time I lunged into his chest and wrapped my arms around him "For four years, you were hurting and I didn't even know! You were worrying for my life, while I was busy enjoying it! Oh Gladion, I'm so sorry!" I cried into his chest.

Gladion, still shocked from my action wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin on top of my head "It wasn't your fault, Megan. There's nothing you need to feel sorry for."

"But... You were worried about me, and that caused you pain."

Gladion sighed, and I felt him hold me tighter. I felt something else wrap around my back, causing me to turn my head from surprise. It was Silvally, curling his large body around us in a form of a hug.

"I feel you should know, that there isn't a second that goes by where I don't worry about you," Gladion said into my hair "You are important to me, Megan. I worry about you because I care."

I said nothing.

I felt him place his hand under my chin "Hey, look at me."

Slowly I obeyed, letting his hand guide my head to stare up at him. His eyes were serious, but held gentleness in them, too. "I would die for you, Megan. I don't care if your demons are bigger, stronger, or even edgier than me. I won't hesitate to stand up to them, and I most certainly won't hesitate to look for every way to save you from them. Even if that may be a silly little gem."

Silvally growled slightly. We turned to him, wondering why he made that irritated sound.

"What's up with you?" Gladion asked.

He made a face resembling an evil grin, and pointed to himself with his claw before his expression went back to annoyed. I snorted, realising that he thought Gladion was referring to him as a demon. The blonde rolled his eyes.

"You took that the wrong way," He sighed "Besides you yourself weren't the gem, you were just trapped inside it."

Silvally did not seem reassured.

Gladion raised an eyebrow "Are you just jealous that Megan's getting all my attention?"

He turned his head away, embarrassed, but gave a small nod.

Gladion gave him a small smile, letting go of me and shuffling towards his partner. He wrapped his arms around his neck, stroking his fur gently which caused the Pokemon to unconsciously let out another purring noise.

"Same goes for you, you know." He whispered to Silvally "Both of you make huge impacts in my life, and I can't live without either of you. Another reason why I wanted to seperate you instead of preventing the malfunction, was because... well, because I wanted you to have a chance of living your life again."

Silvally looked down on him, his eyes gentle as he nuzzled his trainer's hair. I watched with a smile, happy that Silvally was finally able to actually be with his trainer. On numerous occasions I heard him calling out to Gladion, and that made we want to rip my chest open so that they could be together. Though, now I guess that's not necessary.

Silvally's eye opened to stare at me, causing me to flinch and turn away with a blush on my cheeks. I hadn't even realised I had been staring at them.

But then, I felt a claw on my back, pulling me towards the two. Silvally wedged me between him and Gladion, making me join their embrace with a gentle look in his eyes. It looked like he was no longer afraid to hurt me, which I was relieved about.

Gladion smiled, hugging both me and Silvally close to him "We need more moments like this."

"Like what? Confessing about long kept secrets?" I asked smugly.

"Don't know. Do you have any dark secrets you'd like to share with us?"

"...So how was the bachelor party?"

Gladion laughed, squeezing me tighter while Silvally just snickered at my flustered state. It was nice; all three of us finally together- truly together after many years. No freakish gem, no imprisonment, no experiments, no fear. Just a small... slightly odd family, looking out for each other. And that's all I ever wanted.

"Come on..." Gladion whispered, placing a gentle kiss on my forehead "Let's go back, your brother might want a dance from you."

I giggled, and nodded while grinning at him and Silvally "Yeah. let's go!"

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The end

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell

Sort of :3