It all began when she couldn't sleep.

Soledad sighed; walking down the hallway of the lodge area of the Goldenrod City pokemon center, passing closed doors where fellow trainers were snoozing the night away. Despite it being so late at night – around eleven, if she wasn't mistaken – she felt wide awake, carrying a sense of loneliness as she moved through hallway after hallway, frowning at the fact that she was apparently the only one there with a temporary case of sleeplessness.

She wasn't worried about anything. She wasn't sick. The entire center was practically silent. Because of this, she didn't know why she couldn't sleep. She had retreated to her staying room in the center shortly after her rivals and (in a way) traveling companions – May, Drew, and Harley – had gone to bed, disappearing behind the doors of their own rooms. Soledad had laid on her bed and closed her eyes.

But, she never fell asleep.

Now, she was wandering the center's halls, contemplating on releasing her pokemon. If anything, her pidgeot would usually keep her company in these situations, but Soledad didn't want to risk waking her if she was asleep. It was the same with the rest of her pokemon. And she didn't want to wake May or Drew; May would just fall back asleep as soon as Soledad finished explaining her case, and Drew would furrow his brows at her and demand that she go back to bed – even if Soledad were to tell him that that was what she had been trying to do for the past few hours.

Apart from them, there was…Harley.

Soledad smiled softly at the thought of Harley; the purple-haired, effeminate coordinator who had been her friend for as long as she could remember.

But, she didn't want risk waking him if he was asleep as well. She knew how much he cared about his "beauty rest"; though, there had been occasions in the past where Soledad had to wake him for various reasons, and he didn't growl at her as if he would if anyone else had disturbed him. He always made exceptions to his rules when it came to her, and she couldn't help but wonder why-

Soledad stopped in place when she heard a bump – a hard bump, as if something metallic had just hit against tile. It was then when she backtracked to a short hall she had passed seconds ago, peering down it, blinking at the fact that light was coming from a doorway on the other end.

The center's cafeteria.

Arching a brow, Soledad headed towards it, somewhat relieved at the fact that, maybe, she wasn't the only one around who wasn't tired. She approached the doorway and looked inside.

Speak of Giratina…

"Harley?"

The tall, purple-haired male stumbled in place, looking over his shoulder with a spoon hanging from his mouth. He grinned. "Hey, Sol!"

Soledad blinked. The green jacket that made up part of his cacturne-themed outfit was missing, leaving the black undershirt behind. His matching hat was also gone.

She raised her eyes back to his face, asking, "What are you doing?"

Harley looked around, as if wondering why Soledad was staring at him like she was. "I was hungry, so I thought I'd come down here for a snack."

Swiftly nudging the refrigerator door shut with his boot, Harley dropped a tub of cookie dough ice cream onto the table beside him. He grabbed the spoon that had been hanging from his mouth; but before he could flip open the lid he looked back at Soledad.

"What are you doing up?" he asked.

"Can't sleep," Soledad muttered, still irritated by the fact.

"Oh…" Harley looked back at the ice cream tub before he looked back at her. "Why?"

"I don't know…"

Harley arched a brow, but then frowned. He swiftly crossed the space between them until he was right in front of his redheaded friend. Soledad inhaled sharply at the sudden closeness. Her teal-colored eyes focused on his metallic blue-green ones. Arceus, he was handsome.

"You're not lying, are you?" Harley then said, breaking the silence that had been hanging over them.

Soledad shook her head; escaping the trance she had been in. "W-what?"

Harley furrowed his brows in concern. "Sol, everyone knows that you're always so calm and stuff. It's rare when you can't sleep, and when you can't that means something's bothering you."

Soledad couldn't help but chuckle. "Nothing's bothering me, Harley. I assure you."

Harley huffed, turning around, placing his hands on his hips. "Fine, hon. If you don't want to tell me…"

Rolling her eyes, Soledad put a hand over Harley's shoulder. "I appreciate the concern, but I just can't sleep tonight. It happens to everyone. Even me."

Harley's hand came up and softly covered hers, and before Soledad could elicit a response, Harley spun around and grabbed both of her hands in his. Soledad looked down. His touch was soft; it always had been – nothing short of a side effect of his effeminacy.

"Remember when we were young, Sol?" Harley asked, a warm smile on his face. "We never kept secrets from one another."

"How does my sleeplessness remind you of the past?"

Harley shrugged. "I don't know. I've just been thinking lately. With all the traveling and coordinating we've been doing, we haven't had a chance to…uh…reminisce? Yeah, reminisce. I miss talking to you, Sol."

Soledad looked down, frowning. Indeed, she and Harley hadn't talked in quite a while; whenever they did it was either about their pokemon or about their training, but never really about each other. Over the last few months, they had been acting more like rivals than the friends they had been before.

"I miss talking to you, too…" she said. She chuckled. "I was always able to tell you about anything."

And you would always listen.

"Come on," Harley said, tugging her towards the nearby table.

Soledad blinked. "What for?"

"No one else is up. We're the only ones here, and we don't seem to get times like this often. Let's talk, hon."

Soledad met Harley's eyes, on which he smiled goofily at her. She couldn't say no, because she didn't want to say no.

She sat down on one of the table's chairs. Harley took the seat opposite from hers. Soledad looked around, confirming silently that they really were the only ones in the entire cafeteria.

Folding one leg over the other, Harley put a finger to his chin. "Let's see. What to talk about…what to talk about…" He looked at her.

And grinned.

"How about I ask a question and you answer it truthfully?" he said. "And we can take turns."

Soledad arched a brow, though she wasn't really surprised by Harley's random proposal. She remembered that, during the times where they talked in the past, he would always invent some interesting way to do so. Stifling another chuckle, she leaned back and asked, "Even if it's personal?"

Harley blinked. "I…uh…I guess that's the answerer's choice."

This is going to be interesting, Soledad thought. It would also occupy her until she grew tired.

"Okay," she said. "Shoot."

Harley hummed in thought. "Ever committed a crime before?"

"Interesting question, Harley."

Harley stuck his tongue out, and Soledad laughed. "Fine, fine. Um…I trespassed once – and on a property I didn't even know was private - but that's about it."

Recognition flashed across Harley's eyes. "Didn't you-"

"Tell you that before? I think so. You might've asked that question during one of our previous talks."

"Damn," Harley said. "Your turn. I'll think of something."

Soledad tapped her chin thoughtfully. She already knew where and how long Harley had had Cacturne, she already knew all about his hometown of Slateport, and she knew of various events that had happened in his past – and all because of the talks they used to share.

"Ever had a crush on someone before?" Soledad eventually asked.

Harley looked up, and then turned his eyes away from hers. He swallowed hard. "I…uh…maybe…"

Soledad's heart skipped a beat, but she obscured it with a fake cough.

Silence hung over them. He looked at her, and she looked at him.

"Hey," Harley suddenly said, as if trying to change the subject, "did I ever tell you the time I went to that coordinating party back in Hoenn? The one where this drunk lady kept on trying to hit on me?"

"I-I don't think so," Soledad said.

"Well, alright, so there I am at the party, staying in the back and drinking my punch. Then, out of the blue, comes this woman who's stumbling over her own two feet. I don't know who she is – I don't even remember seeing her in the contest – and, before I know it, she's all over me. She's even trying to kiss me!"

Soledad blinked, and Harley continued, standing up to emphasize his points.

"Anyway, she keeps on trying to kiss me, even trying to pull me towards some bedroom – or was it a bathroom? – and I'm continuously pulling in the other direction. Eventually I get free and I run out of the building and down the street. I was tempted to call my darling Cacturne out to deal with the matter but I didn't want a lawsuit on my hands."

Soledad rolled her eyes as he finished. "You never saw her again, I suppose?"

I hope.

"Thank Arceus I didn't," Harley replied. "Is that the kind of stuff Drew has to go through when he runs into a fan? A sober one, even?"

"Kind of."

Harley snorted, as if offended by the fact that someone else would try to touch him.

Soledad looked down on the ground, and then back up at Harley. She chuckled slightly; she couldn't help but find humor in the moment. "If I tried to kiss you right now, would you push me away?"

At that, Harley seemed to freeze in movement, his face slowly falling. His back was facing Soledad, and he was silent.

Feeling regret for hitting another nerve, Soledad quickly said, "I'm sorry, Harley. I-I didn't mean that. I was just joking-"

"No."

Soledad paused, watching as Harley slowly turned around, expression serious, eyes deep.

"No, I wouldn't push you away," he said.

Soledad's heart skipped another beat, and she inhaled sharply. He wasn't joking; she could tell.

Using his turn, Harley asked, "Would you kiss me back?"

"Yes."

Soledad had whispered that word, but Harley had heard it all the same.

"One last question," she said, her voice still quiet.

"Shoot."

A small smile tugged at Soledad's lips. "Can you prove it?"

At that, Harley smiled. "Yes I can."

And he walked over as she stood up, where he cupped her face in his hands like he had always wanted to do. He leaned in, his nose brushing past hers, and their lips met. Wrapping her arms around him and pulling him closer, Soledad proved what she had said. She kissed him back, her fingers tangling themselves in his hair.

Eventually, they pulled away, breathing heavily.

"Well," Soledad said. "That's one less secret I have to break our rule keeping from you."

Harley grinned. "Like the reason why you can't sleep?"

"That's not a secret, either."

"Hmm? You finally going to answer?"

Slowly, Soledad laid her head against his chest, breathing in his scent. His arms were still around her, and she had never felt more relaxed. "Yeah. I couldn't sleep…because I can't…not without you right beside me."

"That's so corny, hon."

She looked up at him. "You wanted the truth, right?"

Smiling softly, Harley leaned down and kissed her.

"Yes I did."

Drew yawned as he walked into the pokemon center's cafeteria, May right behind him. With the fact that it was nine in the morning, all of the tables were filled. Drew frowned, running a hand through his hair as he looked at May.

"Where's Harley and Soledad?"

May shrugged. "Still sleeping, I think."

Drew furrowed his brows. "But they're always up earlier than we are."

"Maybe they're in a really good sleep?"

Drew sighed. "Neither Harley nor Soledad are up when it's time to get moving, and all of the tables in this cafeteria are filled. I can already tell this day is gonna be lame." He scanned his emerald-colored eyes around, where he then spotted a lone table by the kitchen area. And on it was a tub of…

"Or not," Drew quickly corrected himself, quickly making his way over to the table and the tub of cookie dough ice cream.

If he had weaknesses that existed, cookie dough ice cream was definitely one of them.

He grabbed the spoon right next to it, slipping off the lid-

"Son of a- Who the hell forgot to put the damn ice cream back in the damn freezer?!"

AN: Sometimes, I just need to be cheesy with my romance...even though I probably already am.