Hey Guys!

Wow, I missed updating. I miss Dawn and Paul a lot and I haven't gotten to write about them in awhile. I've had this written for a pretty long time too, but I just needed First Light to settle before I felt ready to update again. Plus I was waiting for the Pokemon Watty Awards to be over with judging since adding on like this isn't exactly part of the story, yet it is exactly what happened. Now that the awards are over (I seriously need to find out who actually did win and read their stories), I'll try to update every once and a while. It's not like these hidden chapters are crucial to the story, they're just a different perspective. Because of that, I'd really love if you went back and read the chapter I say it's about (in this case, chapter 49). You could compare what Paul and Dawn are thinking. Authors need to make sure they're putting themselves in all characters' shoes and sometimes that requires writing in different perspectives to make sure they're representing a character correctly. Plus it's FUN.

So yeah, read chapter 49 first please! I think you'd get a lot more out of this chapter if you did, otherwise you may be lost with what's happening.

-Flips

Chapter 49B (Dawn's POV)

I hadn't even had time to scream as his body forced mine to go tumbling down. The only thought in my head by that point was to make sure I didn't hurt my wrist. If I landed on it again, I knew I'd be in some serious trouble and pain. So as I fell, I made sure not to put my hands down and just let myself fall on my back. Paul caught himself above me without hurting himself, but there he was. Right above me. 

Oh my gosh, Paul is on top of me. My eyes widened and I gasped. Where in the world did he come from? One minute I'd been getting hugs from all my Pokemon and the next I looked over my shoulder to see how Mamoswine was doing behind me to see Paul looking like he was tackling me. And here I was. With Paul. On top of me. 

I couldn't move as I stared at his face. I'd never really seen it up this close before. Not really. At least not with my eyes this wide that they felt like they'd pop out of my head. Oh my gosh, how was I not hyperventilating? Or dying from not breathing? I couldn't even tell if I was breathing or not because I was so focused on every single aspect of his face and at the same time feeling his legs against mine. He always wore cargo pants, but my dress was short enough that it didn't really feel like there was much between our actual skin.  

If I had been breathing before that thought, I wasn't anymore. 

"Are you ok?" Words somehow filtered into my brain, which had been so focused on touch and sight that I was surprised that I could understand them and match them with Paul's moving mouth. 

I paused for way too long of a time as I became mesmerized by his face and how his eyes never left mine. I took a deep breath. "Yeah, I think so." 

"Your wrist?" 

"Yeah." The word sped out of my mouth before I could think of it. I wasn't paying attention to words. 

His eyes. That was all I could think about. His eyes. In Sinnoh, everyone knew how cold his eyes could be. How his face would be furious and show this anger that I'd never really seen on anyone else's face. But now? Every time he looked at me was with this tenderness. It was even more obvious now, his face so close to mine. I could tell how open his face was when he looked at me. No guy had ever looked at me in that way before. No guy had ever made me unable to breathe, to think, to move. 

No guy had ever been on top of me. 

A sudden fear clawed sanity back into me and I had to refrain from pushing Paul off of my body. "Um, Paul?" 

"Yes?" I felt his breath on my face and froze again, torn between staying like this and wanting to get as far away from him as possible so I could figure out if there was a way I could be around him and not react like this. 

"You're still on top of me," I blurted out, almost wincing as I said it.  

Without any hesitation, Paul hurriedly got off of me, being careful not to touch me more than he already had. "I'm sorry."  

Weird. Paul doesn't usually apologize, I thought foggily. I was too numb to really think about getting up since I was going through shock or something since he wasn't touching me anymore. "No worries." 

Paul offered his hand immediately. I focused on his skin, remembering what his hand felt like. Calloused, like he was, but smoother than I'd expect. 

I grabbed it and he hauled my dead weight up so that I was standing. 

"Are you sure you're all right?" Paul asked again, sounding formal this time. 

I faced away from him so I could try to wake up, readjusting my clothes and brushing off dirt as I tried to get my mind to start working again. "Yeah. Just a bit startled, I guess." 

I cringed internally. That was the truth, but I was startled for all the wrong reasons. I was startled by how much I wanted Paul to be close to me. I was startled by how I reacted to our bodies touching. I was startled by how a little voice inside me had been wanting him to close the distance between us. The little voice that every time, got louder and louder and louder until I'd started hearing it everywhere, no matter what I was doing.  

I wanted it to go away. I thought that by traveling again, things would go back to normal. But they weren't. The little voice just kept getting bigger.  

My Pokemon ran up to me, giving me worried looks. I tried not to be embarrassed as I realized they'd all been watching my reactions to Paul landing on top of me. I was so glad none of them would ever make fun of me for something like that. I glanced at Mamoswine who looked guilty. What in the world was that face for?  

"Oh, hi," I began nervously as they continued looking at me like I might have another broken wrist. "Yeah, I'm fine, guys. Don't worry. I'm not hurt. You can all go play a little before bedtime if you want. Just make sure you're back here in less than half an hour, ok?" 

Pachirisu squealed in delight and scurried into the trees, followed by my other Pokemon. Mamoswine hesitated, glancing nervously at Paul. I frowned, wondering why I wasn't the only one who felt nervous. 

When he'd left, Paul said quickly, "Dawn, that really was an accident and in no way did I mean to fall on you."  

"What happened anyway? I didn't see." 

Paul explained the whole thing, how he'd tried to climb onto Mamoswine's tusk but ended up losing his balance. 

...So Mamoswine had made him fall on me? I thought about it. At first, I was a bit relieved to know that it was only a clumsy moment that had made him get so close to me. I mean, I'd been pretty freaked out. Paul wasn't exactly the guy to tackle a girl and... yeah. So knowing he hadn't been intending to do anything to me was pretty good news. 

The second thing I felt was disappointment. He hadn't wanted to kiss me or anything. I mean, I didn't want anything else to happen, or really anything to happen, but at the same time I felt the disappointment and that little voice screaming how unhappy it was. It angered me. Why'd I have to be sad that nothing happened? Nothing was supposed to happen.  

Trying to calm down, I pictured Paul slowly making his way around my Pokemon, climbing onto Mamoswine's tusk, trying to keep his balance, and falling off.  

A grin spread on my face. That was pretty funny. 

I wasn't upset or jealous that Paul always seemed perfect and never messed up, but the fact that he did just mess up was really funny. Maybe it's because I knew it bothered him a bit. My heart went out to him, of course, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to laugh about what his face must have looked like. 

I started laughing. 

"What?" He sounded wary. 

"That's just really funny." I kept laughing. 

"What is?" 

"You falling over." 

"Oh." 

I laughed harder at his response. Just the one word. Paul started looking behind him as if someone was holding up a laugh sign, which only made me laugh more. 

"I wish you could have seen your face," I commented, grinning, which became more forced as I wished I could have not seen his face, which had been inches from mine. If I hadn't, ignoring the voice would be easier. 

"Well, it wasn't as impassive as normal." Paul frowned at me. 

I started giggling again, then noticed I was staring at his face, which I wanted to avoid. Without thinking about it, I threw myself at him, hugging my body against his. With less hesitancy than he used to have, he wrapped his arms around me. It felt nice. I buried my face into his chest. 

If only I could hide from his eyes here, I wished, closing my own. When I couldn't see his eyes, he wasn't as tempting. I could feel his body against my own, but it could be anyone holding me right now. I could pretend he was Ash. I could pretend he was just some Trainer that I was friends with that didn't make me react the ways I did. 

I told myself that, but I knew better. Somehow I'd memorized what his chest felt like underneath his jacket. I even knew what he smelled like now. I couldn't really describe it, but it was a very natural guy musk that any person would really expect from Paul. He smelled really good without trying to- he smelled like him. Tough, yet not in the strong unpleasant odor kind of way. Just in the way that his earthy kind of smell wasn't ever going to get out of my head. 

"I can't believe I missed it." I tried to giggle again, but it wasn't real. I squeezed myself tighter to him and said, "I'm sorry Mamoswine made you fall over. He's a bit clumsy sometimes. You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" 

It did kind of hurt me. I lied, I thought, wishing that being this close to him wasn't so painful. 

"No," he answered. 

"Good." I released him quickly and pasted on another smile as I went over to my sleeping bag, getting it ready. I tried to picture Paul falling again to cheer me up. "That's something I'll remember the rest of my life. The great Paul falling over." 

"Technically I didn't fall over-" I chuckled a bit and he sighed. "Ok, fine. I fell over. Happy?" 

"Very," I said cheerfully, not meaning it. 

"Are you sure I didn't make you hit your head hard?" Paul asked, the concern in his voice obvious. 

I tried not to sigh as I smiled again. "I've been told I have a skull as thick as a Mawowak's. Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine." 

I watched as Paul unrolled his own sleeping bag, feeling a bit more at peace as I watched him doing something where his eyes weren't on me. I felt more at ease this way, knowing his attention wasn't all on me like it seemed to be more and more lately. I climbed into my sleeping bag and he climbed into his own, rolling to face me. 

"I'm still keeping an eye on you," he said. 

Great. So much for feeling more at ease. 

"I'll be keeping an eye on you too," I said sweetly back. 

"Why?" 

Because I feel like I'm doomed to always watch you and be watched and that's all that's ever going to happen between us. I thought. A shred of optimism wove its way through my doubt. Or maybe something would happen and I do need to keep my eyes open for it. Like him falling for me. Literally. 

"I don't want to miss you falling over." I smiled at him. 

"Alright, Troublesome."  

I frowned at how easily he said that with irritation. "I thought you stopped calling me that." 

"Old habits die hard." 

That's what I get for being optimistic for a second, I thought grimly, letting my good hand in my sleeping bag grip the fabric as if it was a stress ball. 

"Like falling over," Paul continued. 

I looked up at him, slowly connecting that he was trying to make me feel better. This time, my smile was genuine as I looked at him. 

Before our eyes could connect for a dangerous amount of time, my Pokemon came back into camp. 

"Ok, guys. Let's all get to bed. We start training again tomorrow," I stated loudly, rolling over in my sleeping bad as I heard cheers. "Good night!" 

"Good night," Paul whispered. 

I let my head face him, my eyes meet his for a second. "Good night." 

I turned over, facing away from him, trying to forget about his eyes, knowing it would take me forever to fall asleep.

I hope you guys liked it! I have more hidden chapters. Just be patient and I'll post more.

Pokemon Question of the Day: Would you rather be a Trainer that is only allowed to catch wimpy Pokemon, such as unevolved Bug types, or not be a Trainer at all?