Serena POV

It was a late midnight in the streets of Lumiose city. No sound was around me just the steps I was taking as I walk all by myself to the Lumiose tower. Then I finally arrived at the place.

Ash was waiting patiently outside the Lumiose tower as I walked up. He had a Starbucks coffee in each hand and as I drew closer to him, he handed me one. I took it gratefully, silently groaning with the shiver that ran through my body as his fingers touched mine.

Ash withdrawal. I thought I had gotten the whole 'I shiver when Ash touches me' thing out of my system after all the Walls's cuddling, but apparently- not.

Luckily for me, Ash never seemed to notice these episodes and I hoped that he would continue being the King of Oblivion.

"Thanks," I muttered, taking a quick sip of the burning hot coffee which sizzled my tongue.

"No problem. I thought you'd be kinda cold." He looked around. "Did you walk over here?" He pointed beside at the black limo.

I nodded in response. My MetroCard had just expired a month ago and until I got my next paycheck I was going to have to hoof it. I was definitely not asking my mom for transport money.

"Yeah." I agreed.

Ash sucked in a cold breath. "Bummer. I'm giving you a ride home today, even if I have to kidnap you," he told me.

I shook my head. "You don't have to," I protested weakly, even though I was already leaning back against the comfy leather in Ash's limo.

"I know I don't have to. But I'm going to. So there." He stuck his tongue out at me playfully and I grinned.

"Okay. You don't have to kidnap me, I accept your offer."

"You damn right you do," Ash laughed. He linked his arm through mine. "C'mon, let's go inside before we get arrested for loitering." He added.

As we walked into the big building and once we were through with the security check, we walked to the ticket purchase line which was very long.

"Have you ever been arrested for loitering?" I asked, looking up at Ash curiously.

He grinned, shaking his head. "Nope. You?"

"I've never been arrested. Never had trouble with the law."

Ash grinned wider. "Goody goody," he said.

"Have you ever been arrested for anything?"

"Yeah," Ash replied, looking off into the distance while I still gazed at him. "Two Driving under influences. My dad wanted to neuter me after the second one."

"Oh." Was all I could say. Every time Ash said something about his dad, it sounded kinda bitter.

"Damn, look at the lines! We're gonna be here till midnight," Ash mentally complained, exaggerating, of course.

"That's part of the appeal of being here," I told him. I didn't mind waiting in the lines. As long as I had my hot coffee in my hand and Ash by my side, I could wait forever.

"Waiting is not appealing to me," Ash muttered darkly, sticking his free hand into his pocket.

The line moved torturously slow, but finally we reached the ticket purchase desk, which took us about half hour.

"Hi, we'd like two tickets please," Ash said, smiling charmingly at the lady behind the desk. She was wearing a smart black suit and a nametag on chest saying 'Kendall.'

"Alrighty, then. Are you heading to the 86th floor observatory or the 102nd floor observatory?" she kindly asked him with a smile plastered on her face.

Ash glanced at me in puzzlement then looked back at her. "What? Don't you just go straight to the top floor?"

"They have two observation points," I told him. Kendall was staring at Ash, obviously thinking 'he must be a tourist.'

"Jeeze, the more you know," Ash mumbled. "Uh, the 102nd floor, I guess. Better views, right?"

"Oh, definitely. And it's amazing at night," Kendall said. I told you so. She looked at the computer screen beside then back at Ash"That'll be 70 note, please."

Ash didn't even blink once at the cost as he reached into his pocket, drew out his black card and slid it across the granite table handing it to the women. "You can just put that on my card."

He looked across the busy packed lobby, groaning at the throng of people milling around. "These lines are killing me." He turned back to Kendall. "Hey, isn't there any way we can- skip the lines and just get on the elevator? We don't wanna go on the tour or anything."

I'm pretty sure there isn't a tour, Ash.

Kendall nods in response. "We do have an express ticket that lets you skip to the front of the line," she told Ash.

"We'll take it," he exclaimed immediately, while my heart sank at the thought of how much it would cost. Ash grinned at me over his free shoulder as Kendall recalculated our ticket fees. "See? It works!"

"But its 45 note extra," I pointed out worriedly.

"So the total comes up to 120 note," Kendall announced.

"Yeah, that's cool. Charge it," Ash said easily.

"Ash! That's 60 note each! We can just wait in the line, you don't need to spend all that cash!" I retorted worriedly. Racking my brain on how would I pay him back.

"But I don't wanna wait," Ash said sulkily like a child.

"Patience is a virtue," I said wisely. It was wasted on him.

"I am patient," he explained. "I just don't like waiting for something if I know I can change it." He said.

Finally, Kendall handed us our tickets and Ash's card at the same time. "Here are your tickets; the elevators are right over there. Enjoy yourselves," she said with a smile stuck on her lip and pointed out at the far corner beside. I took a glance of where she was pointing and saw some people entering in the elevator, waiting for it to shut.

"Thanks, we sure will," Ash said, quickly propelling me to an elevator, ignoring jealous looks from people in the lines as we soon arrived in the elevator.

"We are gonna have so much fun! This is so awesome," he exclaimed with a short fist pump as the doors automatically closed behind us. The lift rose quickly as the other passengers talked quietly amongst themselves.

I glanced at Ash who had a wide smile on his tanned face then back down at my own feet with a sorrow expression crawled over me.

"Hey, Sere. What's wrong? We're about to have an adventure, why do you look so sad?" Ash replied, catching my broken expression.

I looked up at him and blinked a couple times, hardly believing that I was about to say this.

"Ash, I can't pay you back," I whispered, stepping closer to him so that he would hear me properly.

"For what?" Ash frowned, looking confused.

"The tickets," I elaborated. "Well, I can pay you back, but not until I get paid because my friend- I mean, I don't have the money right now." I couldn't hold his gaze and quickly looked away, feeling embarrassed. "I hope you don't mind."

"Dude, you're not paying me back."

"I have to, Ash. It's too much-," I started, wishing that I had waited till we were out in the observatory to tell him this. The elevator suddenly seemed way too small and not private at all. Great timing, Serena.

"Sere, be quiet."

I gaped at him. "What?"

"You're not paying me back. What kind of a person would I be if I said you should pay me back?" Ash shook his head in disapproval. "No way."

"Ash-." Was all I could say until he continued over me.

"I don't wanna hear it. Change subject." He actually sounded and looked mortally offended and I bit the inside of my cheek.

"Um, okay. Thanks. So much," I said quietly.

He glanced at me and sighed. "Sere, it's not a problem."

We were silent for a while as we got to the 80th floor and were transferred to another elevator, this time it was bigger and the right size for us to fit.

"What's your name mean?" Ash suddenly asked, looking at me in the eye. Talk about changing the subject.

I stared blankly at him, still embarrassed with the whole ticket thing. Open mouth, insert foot. "Huh?"

"Serena." My stomach flipped as he said my original name, a small smile crawled on his face. I kid you not. So much for him not remembering my name, huh? "I've never met a Serena before."

"Unless you're talking about a strawberry," I told him.

"Serena's the name of a strawberry?" Ash asked in amused, wrinkling his nose in thought. "Sweet!" He nudged me. "No wonder you smell nice."

Hold up. Ash Ketchum just said I smelt nice. Memory book!

I smiled at him with a faint blush across my pale cheek, glanced down at floor covering up my red face just as the elevator door split opened with the cold wind lightly blowing my short hair as it waves. "T-Thanks."

We both exited out of the opened elevator, accompanied by other people following behind and walked to the enclosed observation point. I stepped near the railing and place my hand on the cold metal which gave me a tingle all over my body, gazing around in front of me. The entire city was bathed in lights. I was speechless. The view was absolutely breathtaking.

"Wow, it's so beautiful," I breathed, slowly walking to the other side of the railing and stared down. I looked back at Ash and caught him staring at me in short distance. Why? Did I really have something on my face? Deciding to ignore that, I motioned to him. "Come over here. Is that the Bridge?"

"Oh, yeah! That's pretty cool, huh? Awesome view." Ash came up behind me, not quite touching me. If you know what I mean.

"Yeah, the view's amazing. It didn't look like this when I was in the fourth grade." I muttered.

Ash chuckled softly near my ear. "I'm sure. I would pretty much love to come here every day. Well, every night, at least. It's just so peaceful up here." He replied.

Unexpectedly. He slipped his arms around my waist and gently put his chin on my shoulder, making my heart raced, I steeled myself so that I wouldn't twitch, jerk or hurt him.

"I know what you mean," I said, willing my voice not to shake. Being so close to Ash, feeling his body against mine- it wasn't conducive to my sanity.

"This is the kind of place you'd want to come to with your better half, isn't it?" he mused, glancing at a making out couple near us.

He sounded wistful and I wondered if he missed dating Miette, really dating her, not creeping around with her in supply closets and deserted bathrooms. Probably. Especially since she was the one who dumped him.

"Yeah," I sighed, feeling wistful myself. What did I know about that? I was single!

As if he read my mind and wanted to toy with me, Ash asked. "Do you have a better half?" he let go of me and stepped around, leaning against the railing by giving me an intrigued look.

I laughed heartily. "Do I look like I have a batter half?"

Smirking, Ash said "More than one."

"In a good way?"

"As in you can't keep them off you," Ash replied.

I smiled uncertainly. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should, I meant it as one. So. " he paused for a second. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

I shook my head. "Nope, I'm single."

"Why?" He asked curiously, raising an eyebrow with his head steady in place, looking into my eyes.

"Why am I single?" I giggled and shrugged at the same time. Ash didn't laugh; he just stared intently at me. "I don't know, I just am."

"It can't be due to the lack of offers," Ash said slowly, taking a sip of his coffee in hand.

"It kinda is, actually," I admitted. I was no femme fatal. Guys weren't falling over themselves to get to me.

"I refuse to believe it," Ash said. "I mean- dude. You're cute." My mouth dropped open and I was powerless to stop it. I stared at him as he continued. "Like- seriously beautiful."

I couldn't talk. I couldn't move. I just stared at Ash, who had the most sincere look on his face and I wanted to cry. Nobody had ever called me beautiful, especially not a cute guy with his raven hair falling into his cola eyes.

"Oh. T-Thank- thank you," I managed to croak.

Giving me that adorable crooked smile, Ash said "I mean it." ZOMG. I am going to faint on top of the Lumiose tower and it will be Ash Ketchum's fault. "So, what you doing on Saturday night?"

Still befuddled from all the compliments I had received in such a short amount of time. I replied "I'm either going to see May in the fashion show or just stay home and read."

Probably the latter. I was sure that if I went to the fashion show, Aria would find a spot for me as a model. No thanks.

"Read what?" Ash grinned cheekily at me. "Pretty boy?"

I'm never going to live that one down.

"Well...no," I said lamely.

He laughed. "Ha, you're a sucky liar."

"I'll probably be reading a magazine," I told him.

"Okay." Ash grinned at me like he didn't believe a word I was saying but had just decided to humor me. "Sere, do you want to be my date for the gala on Saturday?"

Just when I thought the night couldn't get any stranger...

I laughed out loud. "Well, I have to make sure that my fairy godmother is available to conjure a dress up and turn a pumpkin into a carriage for me," I snickered, wiping tears of laughter from my eyes.

Ash had jokes, didn't he? So why wasn't he smiling?

"I'm actually being serious!" he simply exclaimed, slowly placing his hot coffee on the metal rail bar beside.

I grinned at him. "So am I!" I joked. Two can play at this game. I was so on to him. First the 'I love you' thing, now this.

"You think I'm playing? When I have this serious look on my face?" He pointed.

"Improv. You're pretty good, I must say."

"Sere... I really am asking you to be my date to the gala," Ash said patiently while I stared at him. Maybe he isn't joking. But- what?

"Why?" I conformed, Raising one eyebrow.

"Well, because-," he started, but I interrupted almost immediately, Dawn style.

"If you expect me to believe that you want to take me to a fancy gala just a couple of weeks after we've started talking to each other, you must think I'm stupid." Ash opened his mouth to answer, but I talked over him. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

"No." He shook his head.

"Good. So why do you want to take me to the gala?" I questioned curiously.

He smiled at me, sticking his hands into his pockets as he slouched against the wall. "Because I think every pretty girl deserves to go to a gala."

I stared at him. "You stole that line from Jim Carrey in Yes Man," I corrected.

Blushing on his z-marks cheeks, he said "You see how bad I am at this?"

"You could be better," I agreed, even though I wasn't too sure what 'this' was. He wasn't serious about asking me, was he?

"I haven't done something like this in a long time," he said defensively. "I'm rusty, okay?"

"Something like what?" I asked. Why is he talking in riddles?

"Ask someone out," Ash replied, looking down at his own feet.

"You're asking me out?" my heart thudded.

"Well, yeah. I think so," Ash said, biting his lip and giving me a grin look.

I scratched my cheek, unable to believe what was going on. "You think so or you are?" I asked.

Ash laughed. "I am, Sere. You know. A friendly date. Platonically, like you suggested I should do with Miette."

I waved my hand in the air to stop Ash right there. Maybe I was denser than I thought, but this wasn't making sense to me.

"Let me make sure I'm hearing this right. You're asking me to the gala." Ash nodded, his eyes not leaving my face. "You want me to be your platonic date." Another nod. "Why?"

"Because- you're doing something nice for me, Sere. You're helping me with my list."

"But- Ash. What I'm doing for you- it's not a big deal!" I said. Was it?

"It is to me," he said softly.

I shook my head. "You don't need to invite me just because you feel obligated to me," I told him, suddenly seeing where he was coming from. He thought he owed me this.

"Trust me, I don't. And I'm not. I'm inviting you because- I think you're sweet, nice and you deserve a night out on the town."

"Really?" my eyes widened in surprise as a hot blush forms on my cheeks once again.

"Yes. And someone told me that if I can stand to be around you while you're helping me with my list, spending 5 hours with you at the gala should be easy."

"And who was this someone?" I asked. Who else knew about me helping him with his list?

"My doctor," Ash simply replied.

"You confide in your doctor?" And you refuse therapy? Odd.

"I told him I didn't have a date for the gala." He shrugged.

"And he decided to tell you to take me?" You're the man, mystery doctor who.

Ash nodded. "Something like that. But- he's right. Right now, I can't think of anyone I'd rather go to the gala with more than you. Seriously. I know its weird, but you're the only person I think I would have fun hanging with. Maybe the aneurysm's messing with my head, I heard they do that." Another crooked smile. Be still my heart.

"Ash?" Was all I could say, breathing out his name.

"Yeah?" Ash said. I stretched out my arm.

"Can you pinch me?"

Ash gave me a quizzical look. "Um..."

"Please."

"Okay." Giving me a look that said 'you are strange', Ash pinched my arm softly.

"Thanks." I blinked up at him, descending my arm down beside my hip. "So you really did ask me to the gala."

"Yeah. And I'm hoping you'll say yes."

"Your friends are going to be there," I said. Misty and Miette and Arceus knows who else. If they saw me walk in with Ash- dead Serena Yvonne would be. "What'll they say when they see you with me?"

Ash narrowed his eyes. "You sound like you're making excuses."

I shook my head quickly. "I'm not! But people are going to talk. You know that."

He signed. "I know. So we'll give them something to talk about."

"Misty and Miette are going-," I started, but Ash held up a hand, stopping me from speaking.

"Look. It's not about Misty and Miette. They have nothing to do with this. I'm asking you to the gala." Ash's voice was firm, even and oh so sexy. "That's it. You can say yes or no. if you say yes, I'll deal with my friend's questions."

"And buy me a coffin after your fan girls kill me."

"A bright pink one," Ash agreed, grinning at me. "But- yeah. All I'm asking of you is to come with me to the gala. No jokes."

I couldn't help but smile at the hurt look on his face. He's so cute when he's offended.

"I'll be your date," I finally said, just to be rewarded by that insufferably adorable grin which lit up his shining cola eyes. "Thanks for asking me."

He gave me a one armed hug. "Thanks for saying yes," he breathed, his lips planted on my forehead. "We'll have fun. Don't worry."