Chapter Text
The first time was when they were eleven. It was a couple months before they started their pokémon journeys, and a couple months before Green decided they couldn’t be close anymore.
The two of them decided it would be fun to climb the tallest tree they could find. By the time they finally made it up to the tallest branch that could support their weight, they were covered in dirt and tree sap, but they were just early enough to watch the sunset.
They sat on the tree limb in a comfortable silence, and drank in the beautiful moment. Red smiled softly, appreciating the moment and how their hard work paid off, and turned to look at his friend. But his smile quickly dropped when he saw the look on the other boy’s face.
Green was staring down at the ground, eyes cloudy and donning a blank look. He was swinging his legs back and forth, and sat dangerously close to the edge.
“Hey, Green? You okay?” Red asked cautiously.
Green was silent for a moment before he responded with a soft “Red?”
“...Yeah?”
“What do you think would happen if I jumped off?”
Red said nothing—unable to come up with a response to that—but his heart skipped a beat when he saw Green inch a little bit closer to the edge.
“Do you think people would be sad? Do you think they would mourn?” Green continued, his voice quiet and his tone flat. “How many people do you think would care? Three? Four maybe?” he gave a wry laugh, though neither of the two were amused.
“Green? You’re scaring me.” Red’s voice shook as he instinctively put an arm out in front of Green, ready to steady him, just in case.
“M’sorry,” Green muttered, noting Red’s concern and scooting back a little onto the limb. “I was just wondering.” He shot Red a reassuring smile, but his eyes still lacked they regular passion that was behind them. Green turned his head forward to watch the sunset, but Red could tell the view wasn’t what was on his mind.
Red let out the breath he’d been holding. Green isn’t going to fall, he’s fine, he can move his arm now.
Still, Red was hesitant to put his arm down. This wasn’t something he could just brush off. He was still scared for Green, and there was no way he could enjoy the sunset anymore.
“Hey, why don’t we head back home now?” Red proposed.
“Why? The sun is still setting,” Green pointed out, confused. “Isn’t that’s why you wanted to climb up here?”
“It’ll be dangerous to climb down in the dark,” Red lamely supplied. Not the greatest excuse, but a serviceable one. “Besides, there’ll be other sunsets to watch in our lives.”
“Oh. Okay then.” Green seemed a little disappointed, but Red was just glad he agreed.
Red began his climb back down the tree, and was a few branches down when he noticed that Green wasn’t following. Rather, he was looking off into the distance somewhere, still lost in thought.
“Green?”
Green blinked. “Right, sorry.”
He began to maneuver his way down the branches when Red held out his hand. “Here, let me help you.”
Green stared at his hand for a moment before hesitantly taking it. Another wave of relief washed over Red as he graciously accepted his hand. Red helped Green down to his level and they continued on climbing down together.
When they got to the ground, Red didn’t let go of Green’s hand. In fact, he did the opposite, lacing their fingers together and holding his hand tighter— afraid of letting him go, despite the fact that they were no longer in any possible danger. Green’s hand was rough and calloused against Red’s soft one, but Red wouldn’t have it any other way.
The began their walk home under the light of the setting sun, but by the time they made it back to Pallet Town, the night air was cold on their skin. Red started guiding them towards Green’s house first. Green didn’t argue.
Just before Green was about to head inside, he turned around to face his friend again. Their eyes met for a tense moment before he spoke again.
“Really, Red. I’m sorry for scaring you. You don’t have to worry about me, I was just wondering. I’m okay.”
He let go of Red’s hand, and slipped inside before Red could say else.
Red stood there worried, and left in the dark