To Bloom Again

Chapter 12: Home (Final part)

Content warning for drug references.

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One month has past and Wallace awoke from his slumber at the hospital, fully alert and fully recovered from his accidental overdose. He stretches his arms before reaching for a magazine while awaiting for both breakfast to arrive and to get discharged.

Meanwhile, in the hallway, Steven was pacing back and forth, on the phone with the pokemon league committee. It was long and very, very tedious.

He was now feeling one hundred percent better, but something has been bugging the crap out of the teal haired man ever since he regained consciousness and it wasn't about Marina or her father's addiction to LSD.

Wallace wanted to go back home to Sootopolis city, a place he hasn't been to for about two years and thinks it's the right time to go back for a little while to focus on himself.

But it's not going to be easy telling Marina that he has to leave, especially since the two have gotten close and now are good friends. Not only that, Marina still has trouble communicating with people other than him, Steven and her family members and he's the best one that does a good job helping her with that. Not to mention how she's going to react to the news.

Still, Wallace wanted, no, needed to go back home and he gave himself twenty four hours to tell everyone about it, no matter how nerve reckling it felt.

"Knock, knock. May I come in?"

Wallace quickly stopped what he was doing and turned his head to the right to see who was at the door. To his Surprise, it was Hugo, holding a card in his hand, posing fabulously.

"Yes, you may." Wallace replied as he grew a smile.

"I heard about what happened to you last month and I thought, since I'm already in the area, why not give Wallace a visit."

"Me? V-Visit M-Me?" Wallace asked, coyly as his heart skips a beat. He couldn't believe it. His celebrity crush is here, visiting him at the hospital, in his sexy, shiny jumpsuit that he wears during contests. This can't be real and yet, it was, and Wallace tried his best to not get aroused. After all, this IS Marina's older brother and the thought of him getting turned on by a relative of hers made him feel gross.

"Yes dear, " Hugo said in a concerned tone, "I wanted to make sure that my little sister's friend was doing alright." He pulled up a chair and sat close to his bed, crossing his legs, "She thought you had a heart attack due to the stress of y'all journey. Blamed herself, too."

"Goodness me, I must have scared her into thinking that."

"Don't blame yourself, huh. This wasn't your fault." Hugo grew a bit irritated, "If anything, it was my damn father's fault for placing the gummies all over the place. He needs to get off that stuff and just stick to marijuana like my mother."

"Marina told me the same in a text. They're trying to convince Alfred to go to rehab. Maybe that's why you're here."

Hugo paused for a moment, "Maybe. At least I get to see Marina once more before I head out to Kanto."

Wallace stood up, intrigued by that last statement, "Hugo, if I may ask and you don't have to answer if it's too personal, why are you going to Kanto?"

Silence filled the room for a brief. Hugo wasn't too sure if he wanted to blab about his personal life to someone he barely knows, but taking into account that Wallace was Marina's friend, he did anyway, with pride and a soft giggle, "I'm going to see my fiancée for the first time in six months."