Sam set the final box on the uppermost shelf, pushing it back against the wall before backing away to inspect his work. After assuring himself that the job had been done well enough, he took the money he'd earned and left. It was strange, he thought, that someone would want to clean up their garage on Christmas Eve. It was even stranger that they would want to give someone else that task. Nonetheless, he had received payment, so he didn't mind. Coming across work became difficult during the holiday season.

None of it mattered to him in comparison to the events of the next day. He was finally going to propose to his true love, Olivia. Every time her name came to mind, a smile crept across his face. She was his other half, his missing piece, his significant other. She would finally be his. It was perfect, he thought.

Sam had been a man of honest virtues, good intentions, and generally well-aligned morals throughout his young life. As he approached the place in which he would be resting, he was reminded of how honest, hard-working people such as himself were treated in modern times.

Sam was homeless.

He lived in a shed that had been abandoned outside Celadon City. It was in good shape. Even he was in good shape! He had a damned heater in that shed. It was all he needed, aside from some food and a bed. He never let his situation bother him as much as it would have bothered another person. He kept his chin up and he kept working odd-jobs around the city. He found it quite amazing that in the four months that he had been homeless, nobody had learned that he was so except for the department whose job it was to evict him from his previous home.

At the same time, however, it bothered him. He had not told Olivia, his brunette work of art. Secrets ruin relationships. This he knew. So, he would tell her about his current situation and then propose. He knew that she would accept him, no matter his standing in the world.

----------

At two in the afternoon the next day, Sam started the lengthy walk to Olivia's house with a spring in his step. He didn't start the walk from his shack, but from the public baths. Yes, he was clean. However, he had a good fifteen minutes between himself and his destination, so he made sure to reinforce each step with the caution necessary to keep himself that way.

As he made his way down the sidewalk, a thought entered his mind that had entered many times before. He turned into a store that he had nearly passed and emerged holding a bag. Inside the bag was a Pokeball. He released the Pokemon, put the ring around its neck on a chain, and folded a note into its collar. He returned it to its ball, thinking nothing of it. He didn't want to distract himself from the matter at hand. Proposal was serious business! Although he meant to be taken in under her care, which was somewhat opposite of the norm, he knew that the proposal would strike her perfectly. He could just as easily have kneeled down next to her a month before and asked.

A few moments later, he found himself at her front steps. He clipped the ball onto his belt and threw the bag into the garbage can nearby, making sure to conceal any evidence from sight. His heart began to pound as his knuckle approached her door. Thoughts that he had not prepared for raced through his mind and clogged his blood vessels. What if she doesn't accept me? What if my homelessness is the deciding factor in my future? What if she never loved me all along? I love her, he thought. I love her no matter what. And she loves me.

As his heart rate slowed down, he gave the door three sharp raps and watched it swing open.

"Sam!" Olivia shouted, obviously excited to see him. "Where have you been, Ursaring?"

"I've been busy," he replied, trying to sound nonchalant. "How have you been?"

"Fine, fine," she said, gesturing him inside.

After making the usual idle conversation for a few minutes, Sam decided that he had waited long enough. It had been two years since they'd met. This moment was a small one, and an important one at that, but still minuscule. He waited for a moment before finally speaking.

"Olivia," he started, clearing his throat. A solemn expression came over his face as his mouth took over and he watched the events unfold. "I've always told you that any secret could ruin our relationship. I've been a hypocrite."

"Then... tell me what the secret is," Olivia replied, not understanding the tone of the conversation from Sam's point of view.

"I'm homeless. I have been for four months now," he continued. A broad, aching pain consumed his upper chest. "I live in a shed outside town."

"How are you..." Olivia whispered. She was making it clear that she thought that he was joking. "You're not homeless, Sam. You're too clean!"

"I've been using the public bath every day," he whispered back. While it pained him to have to share his secret, it felt good to get it off his chest. "I've got a heater in the shed and plenty of clothing. I've been working odd-jobs for people around the city for money. I rarely go hungry. But trust me. I'm homeless."

Olivia stared at him for a moment before her expression changed. She wore not a face of shock, or a face of welcoming forgiveness, but her visage was one of disappointment.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner, Sam?" she said, her voice shaking a little. "I would have helped you."

"I didn't want to-"

"You didn't want to be humbled!" she shouted.

Sam stood up from the couch and stood perfectly still, looking Olivia in the eye. She wasn't really going to do this to him, was she? He didn't know what to expect.

"You're just like every other man I've ever met, Sam," Olivia stated coldly, causing Sam's heart to race again. This couldn't possibly be happening. "You're selfish and ignorant of the thoughts of others. You don't ask for help so you can feel sorry for yourself. All you want to do is prove yourself to somebody."

"I... I'm not... I mean, Olivia..." Sam stuttered. The words failed to form in his head, nonetheless his mouth. "I came here to-"

"I don't care why you came here," Olivia growled, pointing at the front door. "I want you out."

Sam didn't want to argue. He stood up and left, disappearing down the street. He knew that she would get over it eventually.

Olivia crumbled onto the couch, her face in her hands. How could he disappoint her like this? She had always thought that he was different from the other men. She had always thought that he was her true love. Tears streaked down her face and dripped down her arms, painting spots on her jeans. She adjusted to get more comfortable, and as she did, something nudged the small of her back.

Her head shot up from her hands and she stood up, looking at where she had been sitting. There sat a Pokeball, its clip snagged on the fabric of the couch.

"I didn't know Sam had any Pokemon," she sniveled, reaching out to pick it up. She would have to find a way to return it to him. "How much unlike him to keep secrets."

She released the Pokemon inside to explain to it what had happened. She needed someone to talk to, and if nobody was available, something else would have to do. But when the creature formed in front of her, she gasped.

There stood a smiling Eevee, with a golden ring hanging around its neck and a note lodged under the chain. Its tail swept the floor beneath it as it stared at Olivia.

She reached out and took the note from the Eevee, trying to read through the tears that continued to pour down her face.

"Olivia," she read aloud. "My true love and truest friend. When I first met you, I knew that you were different from anyone else I had ever met. We were best friends as soon as we got to know each other, and only a few months later we were in love. I can still remember the night of our first kiss as though it just happened a few moments ago. Moments like those continue to happen every time I see you. Moments that I can never forget and I will cherish forever. Olivia, I want to make those moments keep happening. I want to spend my life with you. Please marry me, so I can be happier than you can imagine. Marry me and I will try to make you feel the same way. I love you."

Olivia sat down again, her cheeks soaked more than they had ever been before. She'd made a huge mistake, sending him out like that. Now she had to make things right. She had to find him and make him happy. She was going to accept his proposal to his face.

She brought the Pokemon back into its ball again, clipped it onto her belt, and left the house, hoping that she would be able to follow his tracks somehow.

----------

"How could I have been so wrong?" Sam lamented aloud, watching the thick flakes drift downward onto the asphalt. "I don't deserve her. I lied to her."

He looked out toward the path, which was hardly visible under the thick blanket of snow that was forming. He had a good fifteen minutes or so left, at the pace he was moving. He didn't mind, though. He found himself dulled. He couldn't tell whether or not he was imagining the darkness forming around him, and he didn't care, either. No darkness could hurt him compared to how he had hurt himself.

After fifteen slow, cold, gray minutes crawled past him, he found himself outside his shed.

"Home sweet home," he grunted, acknowledging that he was now stuck there. He jerked the door through the foot of snow that had formed in front of it and lurched inside, sick of his surroundings and himself. He slipped his boots off and sat down on his bed, wanting to go to sleep and wake up some indeterminable amount of time later. But he knew that he couldn't. It was around three in the afternoon, and he wasn't tired at all. He was bored. Instead, he pulled a book from the corner of the room and read it, trying to distract himself from the creeping depression that surrounded him. He knew that it was inevitable, though. He turned the page and watched it whip a tear from the air as it fell from his face. He closed the book.

Sitting up, Sam let out one short groan of anguish and fell back over onto his bed, sobbing quietly. I'm so foolish, he thought.

Sam heard something outside. Looking toward his door, he saw that it was cracked open. The snow had not allowed it to close with the force he had used. He stood up to close it, but it opened further instead, revealing Olivia. He dropped to his knees, silently begging forgiveness. Olivia walked inside and took off her boots, looking around at the warm womb that surrounded her. She sat on Sam's bed and began to speak to him.

"I want to marry you, Sam," she said, quietly. "I want nothing more. You can move in tomorrow."

"Why not today?" he said, a smile on his face.

Olivia pointed at the door again. Sam looked outside to see that there was around two feet of snow all around them.

"My phone gets the weather," Olivia explained. "It's going to snow about another foot and melt tomorrow afternoon. We're snowed in."

"That's fine," Sam replied. "We've got everything we need."

They hugged and kissed before deciding to lie down and rest for a while. That day had been a tiring one for both of them.Chapter End Notes:Please review... Nevermind. I give up. I hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't, write an angry review. Make sure you're really angry when you write it, though. I wanna see someone pissed over the anticlimactic ending